Doctor Nina Norris and Knight Carter Cage step into the courtroom. They glance at each other, then at the figure who captures the world’s attention—the devil. What emotions they must be feeling is anyone’s guess.

Damn, their timing is impeccable.

I never saw Knight Carter in real life before. He’s definitely… different from the boy in the memory… Gulp! If looks can kill…

Aiyeee! Saint Carter is so cool! He has that impenetrable iceberg energy!

I know, right!? Saint Julius has his boyish charms, but Saint Carter has that choke me, daddy look!

Doc Norris looks so young. Are you sure she’s an Elder?

Elder is a title, not—

I know, I know. I’m just saying she’s a hot piece of ass!

Carter! I’m glad you’re here! You saw the broadcast, right!?

I saw.

Isn’t it amazing?! All of us get to finally reunite with mama! Uh, I mean, the saintess! I mean… Oh man, this trial is one mind-blowing revelation after another!

Behave yourself, Knight Julius June. Everything you say and do is being witnessed by the whole world. So far, you have tarnished the prestige of our order with your childish jeering. Not only that, you even proposed a play-date with our mortal enemy—Adrian Acker, the Devil. ‘Shame’ cannot describe the feeling I have for you at this moment.

Carter…? What do you mean, enemy?! Don’t you see the footage on screen? She’s Eleanor! She’s been Eleanor all along!

Saint Eleanor is dead. Adrian Acker killed her.

But—

Acker murdered our saint in cold blood and now he’s twisting history right before our very eyes—making a mockery of the dead! Is it fun, Acker? To boldly lie to the world and see them dance to your tune?”

But Memoria doesn’t lie! This is the truth! The whole truth of what happened back then!

And what evidence do you have to support that, Julius? Have you ever been exposed to Memoria before today? Have most of you ever even heard of it? Or do you simply take the judge’s words that this obscure spell is infallible? The same judge who showed a clear bias towards the worst criminal in history and proposed the use of Memoria, to begin with?

T-that is… It can’t be…

Open your eyes, Julius. Open your eyes, all of you! Can’t you see that this is all a trick!? A ploy by the devil? How moronic can you be to believe any of this bullshit!

N-no way…

Now that he mentioned it… Yeah… Yeah! The memories that were displayed didn’t even make any fucking sense! The manaless daughter of an elder becoming a shapeshifting monster who seeks hatred!? Absurd!

B-but Memoria… B-but the judge and… Holy shit, you’re right! None of the things we saw seemed remotely realistic!

…Make a bold enough lie and the world will believe it…

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

It can’t be… It can’t be… but…

Knight Carter’s words create a wave of doubt that ripples across the planet.

Order! I said order in the court!

The judge tries to calm the situation, but even he is being doubted. Can it be? Is it all a lie? These questions and more are shared between millions of people on earth. And at the center of it all is Sword Saint Carter Cage who glares intensely at the defendant.

Duke Ambrose is about to step up to dispel Carter’s claims, but Doctor Nina stops him.

Let me handle this, Ashton. If sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch can’t be believed… then there’s only one way to communicate the truth to these people. That said, however…

Nina looks at the devil who is, once again, the most hated person on the planet.

…let her have this moment before I rip out her heart for the world to see! Fufufu!

Back to the screen, Eleanor looks at her new teacher fangirling over her old persona with twitching eyes. The fact that the woman is an elder doesn’t help.

The duke has already left, leaving Eleanor in a dim laboratory with a mad doctor with wild hair. Nina is using a spell to observe the vial in greater detail without noticing her.

“Umm, doctor? Dr. Norris?”

“What?” Nina replies without looking away from the vial.

“About my studies…”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I have books lying around somewhere. Go read it or something, I don’t care. Now, shew! I’m busy.”

“Okay. Oh, and miss, what if I need study materials?”

“Grab whatever you want from the shelf. Just don’t make a mess.”

Eleanor looks at the rare herbs and medicines and gives an evil smile.

“Thank you… teacher… I’ll make the most out of them.”

Eleanor explores the building and discovers a state-of-the-art laboratory, every western medical book she’d ever need, and handwritten notebooks by Nina herself.

“Perfect, it’s like I’m a kid with the key to a candy store. Hehehe! Hahaha haha!”

“Hey, keep it down, up there!”

“I apologize, teacher!”

Eleanor spends her days studying and conducting experiments in Dr. Nina’s house. During her free time, Duchess Gilda and Princess Grace take turns taking her to visit various sights around the capital.

Today, she’s visiting Tate Co., one of the most successful merchant companies in the kingdom, and is owned by none other than…

“Tessa.”

“Y-yes, master!?”

“It’s been two months since I assigned you a task. Is it done yet?”

“W-w-w-we’re in t-the final testing stages and-and-and… Hic! I need… I need more t-time and…”

“Tessa… Tessa, Tessa, Tessa, why are you crying? Is it because you think I’m angry, hmm? I assure you, I’m not angry.”

“R-really master?”

“Really. Come here. Come closer, Tessa. Don’t worry, I won’t bite. That’s right. Move your legs, just like that. Closer. Closer. Come, come… Good girl.”

Eleanor holds Tessa Tate’s chin as her nails grow longer… sharper.

“M-master, why are your eyes so r-red?”

“So I can take a closer look of you, dear.”

“M-M-Master, why are your f-f-f-fingers so long?

“So I can better hold you, dear.”

“M-M-Master… w-why are your teeth so s-s-s-sharp?”

“So I can better… eat you!”

Eleanor bares her fangs and Tessa Tate runs out of the room, screaming. Weeks later, she finally gets a liquid mana container in her hands.

Tate explains that the technology is still in early development, and as it is, can’t store much mana for long periods.

“I apologize, m-master! This is the best I can do right now!”

“Don’t worry, Tessa. This is exactly what I wanted. Only, can you make it smaller and… explode on impact?”