Chapter 159: An Unpleasant Reality

- Abelis Academy City, Entry Ceremony, Almost A Year Later - Rose's POV –

I’d finally reached adulthood. After 9 Miscalin years, 18 Earth years, I’d grown from a tiny wiggly worm person to something approaching the largest creatures I’d even heard of on Earth. In that time, I’d grown so used to my current self that even thinking about my past life was difficult, the trauma of that time also fading away somewhat. Although the constant reminders of it in the form of Logic were a bit jarring to be honest.

Outside of those reminders though, my life was pretty much perfect. I had a 3, going on 4, year old little sister that frequently forced Momma to contact me through Image Stone so she could talk to me, many friends that were supportive of me and helped me in anything I did, above average grades due to my seemingly higher intelligence in my current body and, to top it all off, a growing relationship with the woman I loved. Honestly, this life was so far beyond my old one I had no interest in returning to it.

[Haaaaaaah....! Finally! I thought Principal Night was going to talk our ears off with that boring speech! I mean, I know that we’re in our final year now and, with war looming, we’re likely to be called away before the year is up, but...] - Karen

[I slept though it...] - Veronica

[…] - Everyone

[Ow!] - Veronica

[Don’t just admit that!] - Malaise

[Y-You almost did too! I saw you nodding off a few times!] - Veronica

[I-I was just resting my eyes! Focusing on her... words? What are you doing?] - Malaise

Noticing my warm smile at the people that I loved, the embarrassed nerdy fox stared at me quizzically. Veronica was right though, the speech had been about how classes would be affected by the coming war and what would happen for anyone honor bound to fight. With most of the students being nobility it was expected that most would be called to the conflict, although not directly into the most severe fighting in most cases. The lower class students, the ones that had been sponsored or gotten in via scholarships, would be exempted from the battles for the most part. Their use wasn’t as fodder for a war between large powers. Nobles, with a few exceptions, weren’t quite that lucky. Although that outlook only really depended on who was looking at it. Compared to the common soldier, and especially conscripted militia, the relative safety of noble children was enviable.

[Oh, I’m just admiring all of my cute friends. Don’t mind me and just carry on flirting.] - Rose

[W-W-We're not flirting!] - Malaise and Veronica

They were totally flirting. Something had changed in the relationship between the perverted princess and nerdy maid duo. Karen thought that one, or both of them, had confessed to the other but neither seemed willing to admit to anything yet. Either way it was obvious that they were even more aware of each other as the always perverted Veronica would even get embarrassed sometimes. Just like now.

[Oh, don’t play coy, we all know exactly what you’ve been doing with your new shared dorm room. Rose and I have been enjoying ours as well!] - Karen

[A-Are you really?] - Argent

[Awawawawawa!] - Urz

[That’s a lie! We haven’t done anything... like... that...] - Rose

[So, it’s true?!?] - Argent

[Wow, I didn’t think you had it in you. Good job Rose!] - Veronica

[K-Keep it to a minimum while in school...] - Malaise

[Awawawawawa!] - Urz

[It’s not true! It’s not! We haven’t done anything like that yet!] - Rose

[Yet?] - Everyone

Oh shit! I knew I made a mistake as soon as I finished speaking. It was certainly true that we hadn’t done anything too explicit yet, although that urge was powerful since we were alone in a single occupancy room together, but we might have... maybe... perhaps... fooled around a bit?

But only a bit! We never went beyond some skinship, the kinds of stuff that woman do all the time together! According to Karen... who I’m now realizing has an ulterior motive...

B-But anime shows that kind of stuff all the time and it’s... extremely unrealistic and drawn for fanservice... Well, shit.

[Pardon the interruption Young Miss, you have a call waiting from your grandfather.] - Annabelle

[R-Right, I should take that! Immediately! Never know how important it could be! Hahahahaha....] - Rose

Oh thank the Goddess!

Laughing nervously as I “smoothly” extricate myself from my verbal gaff I do a mental thumbs up at how well I handled that! Totally natural! Well, whatever, I hope whatever grampa has to say it’s good news.

- Abelis Academy City, Private Viewing Room - Rose's POV –

It wasn’t good news.

[So, you’re saying that the Church has declared war? Already?] - Rose

[Not officially no. As of now it’s only “military training” near the border as well as massing of troops in cities bordering our allies. It is clear, however, that such a declaration will be coming soon, likely within the next two months.] - Grampa Richard

[I... see... and why are you telling me now?] - Rose

[I... I have it on good authority that the Church will make an open demand for your imprisonment. Before they officially declare war on us, they’ll open “negotiations”, a sham of a thing, and try to force the Alliance to give you up in exchange for pea-] - Grampa Richard

[Then do it! I’ve died once I ca-] - Rose

[NO! I won’t allow it to come to that! None of your family will! But even if we did give you to those bastards, it wouldn’t do any good, they’d still start the war eventually. They might hold off a few more months to give the illusion of following through on their side of the deal but they’d come up with some kind of excuse to move forward with it regardless.] - Grampa Richard

[But...!] - Rose

He was right, I knew he was. I’d already had this conversation with Karen several years ago and back then I’d reluctantly agreed with her. But now, confronted with the possible deaths of thousands, I was once more presented with the same argument and this time, rather than ring true it seemed to echo more of excuses and wishful thinking. Even with all that I was still afraid of death however so a small part of me was relieved that my new family wouldn’t give me up even if they had to turn on the rest of the Alliance. It was unspoken but the way grampa’s face hardened, his serious expression, came through clearly, even through the blurry blue figure in the Image Stone.

[I’ll hear nothing more of it! Now, luckily their secret weapon in the form of the Summoned Hero is still being contained in custody so the Church, currently, doesn’t have any direct forces to combat your grandmother and I, but this is only as far as we know. This Keitaro that you faced in the Arena may not be the only Summoned Hero that the Church has access to. We’ve gotten various reports of a powerful individual within the Church’s ranks that is concerning. Regardless we should be more than enough to combat anyone they send out to face us.] - Grampa Richard

[I... I see.] - Rose

A flinch. That’s all that I let out when that horrible place was mentioned. In the years since the... incident... most of the raw emotions from that time had faded, time was the great healer after all, but even so it’s mention still managed to draw out an instinctual revulsion from deep within. It turns out that I’d never grown past the trauma entirely just like I’d thought at the time. Unfortunately...

[Understand that I am only telling you this much because of what they are likely to demand. It would not be right to hide something like this only for your peers to confront you about it. Most of them should be aware of the tactics of the Church but some may not be. Be prepared.] -Grampa Richard

[So, I’m supposed to- what, just sit here and let the Church kill thousands? When it could be sto-] - Rose

[I SAID I'D HERE NO MORE OF THAT!] - Grampa Richard

His outburst nearly brought me to tears, flashbacks to two, very different, people yelling at me about my lack of effort, about my bringing shame to the family, dominated my mind. I knew it was different. I knew, logically, that the reason he was yelling was different from those two. That he was only doing it out of love. But it still brought back memories that I’d rather forget. Even now, nearly a lifetime later, I was still shackled by what those two had done to me. Even in a different life, with a different body, and loving parents, the fear that they’d instilled in me made grampa’s words bring tears to my eyes.

[Haah... I’m sorry my sweet baby girl, I didn’t mean to yell. I just... I just can’t bear to give you up to those monsters. You have no idea what they do to people like you, the lengths they’ll go to break our hearts. If I could... If I could I’d make sure you were completely uninvolved with what’s coming. Unfortunately, that’s not an option. Do-Do you understand?] - Grampa Richard

[<sniff> Yes grampa.] - Rose

I did, I truly did. As someone who, in my previous life, was born far after the point where war was a regular occurrence, I’d never had to truly think about the horrors of conflict, the crimes that went along with it. Even worse, I was now intimately connected with those horrors, even if it wasn’t my fault or choice. I wasn’t familiar with such things. Grampa was.

In my favorite class, history, I’d learned much about the past events of this world and, in the last year, learned even more about the recent history of the Alliance and why it had been created in the first place. I’d vaguely known about past conflicts with the Church but heard nothing about how recently the last one had been. The one that my grandparents had been involved in personally.

- Holy Fos Empire, Backwater Border Town - Unnamed Soldier's POV –

It’s been nearly a month since we were stationed at this town in the thrice-damned middle of nowhere and my buddies and I were starting to get restless. None of us joined the army to sit and do nothing in the backwater and only so much drink can keep you busy. Luckily the local brothel was always open for business since the town’s priest turned a blind eye to such things. The small bribe the regiment gave him to continue to ignore the den of sin also helped.

The whore house also had one other thing that helped with the long wait for us to finally take the fight to those inhuman bastards. Somehow, they’d managed to purchase a few slaves from far to the south and we could get unlimited time with the bitches. Now these slaves weren’t just any untouchable’s, they were special. The kind of thing that you didn’t expect to find outside the gentlemen clubs of the capital. Or so I’ve heard. I’ve never actually been there. These slaves were those bastard demi-human's.

- Holy Fos Empire, Backwater Border Town – Undercover Spy's POV –

Another day, another set of ignorant racist’s wanting to abuse me as much as the establishment rules would allow. Luckily these idiots weren’t actually willing to do any permanent damage since it had been made very clear that they’d be liable for any injuries. A precautionary measure for someone in my profession. On top of that, while it wasn’t widely known, the commander of these troops thought himself to be in love with me and would have executed anyone who dared to actually hurt me. Not that his affections were shared by my side. As a “demi-human” I was one of the enemy, the people that these fanatics considered themselves to be better than, as such, the Commander did as well.

[Are those new bruises? Commander Devotion is not going to be happy with the men that did that... Did you get their names at least?] - Matriarch Ellis

[It’s fine, I’m sure that someone as merciful as the Commander will forgive them of my deserved punishment.] - Beatrice

[Haaaah... I know I might not be the best person to say this, considering... but you need to take better care of yourself, Beatrice. There’re not many professions for people like yourself that can be as safe as this and I don’t want to see you coming to harm for no reason. Will you at least promise me that you’ll say no if those soldiers go too far?] - Matriarch Ellis

My “boss”, or “owner”. Honestly when I’d snuck into a shipment of slaves to be sold to border town brothels, I’d expected the person that bought me would be as racist and bigoted as any within the Church’s borders. Instead, I’d been purchased by someone that viewed Demi's as people too, albeit in a way that made it clear that she still considered me lesser. A good thing too since this assignment had been much easier with the ability to leave the brothel for periods of time without being questioned by the Matriarch. A fact that made me both grateful and a bit guilty, as it was extremely likely that she would be killed if it were discovered what I was actually doing here.

[I appreciate your care for someone like me, thank you.] - Beatrice

[Haaaaaah... that wasn’t an answer Beatrice, but fine... you’re welcome I guess.] - Matriarch Ellis

[M-Ma'am! Commander Devotion has arrived! He’s asking for... her.] - Lucy

[Thank you, Lucy, we’ll be down to greet him soon, could you please escort him to the VIP lounge for now?] - Matriarch Ellis

[...fine. Tch!] - Lucy

That look of hatred, the way her eyes showed that she thought of me as trash, as less than human, was a more common reaction than the Matriarch. It was those gazes that reassured me that I was doing the right thing, that this thing called the Church must fall. If not for the people like me, then for those like Ellis who thought differently. Regardless though, I’d need to put on an excited face for that fat pig of a Commander, it had been an unexpected windfall to catch the eye of a military leader, but I’d need to do even more unpleasant things to maintain my place by that bastard’s side.