Fake Saint of the Year

Translator: Kagura

Editor: Azeria

Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!

Chapter 4: Speech

“Alfrea Magic Knight Training Institution” – better known as the Magic Knight Academy. 

Despite its official name not having the word “Academy”, everyone still referred to it as one. 

It was an institution that gathered and trained youths from all over the world who wish to become knights. The future of humanity’s strength rests on its shoulders.

Named after the first Saint Alfrea, those who overcome its strict training regime are guaranteed to become brilliant knights.

The highest-ranking students were also selected to be a part of the Saint’s guard, which was considered a dream job by many youths looking to play a major role in humanity’s future.

Although it was called an educational institution, the place where the new students were gathered resembled a huge chapel.

The ceiling and walls were painted in various shades of white, blue, red, yellow, and green, creating a solemn atmosphere.  

Every student sitting in the audience had gone through rigorous testing and the narrow gate to get here.

They were full of enthusiasm and the mood surrounding them was charged with emotion. 

Among them was the seventeen-year-old Vernell. 

“As expected, this atmosphere is different…” 

Today was not only a big day for the new students but also marked a beginning. 

They had already passed through the narrow gate, but from here on, the others who had also passed would become their friends and rivals.

Among them, only ten percent would be able to become official knights, and the rest were to be assigned positions below knighthood.

A Magic Knight is both the spear and shield that fights against the Witch alongside the Saint. A hero that all those who live to fight long to be.

Therefore, the path to becoming a knight is not easy. Nearly thirty percent of all soldiers in active duty were those who had once aspired to be knights and had their dreams shattered.  

Besides, only a select few were chosen to become a Guard Knight and were to be stationed close to the Saint. 

That was the peak that Vernell was aiming for. 

Ever since the day that the Saint, Elrise, saved him, he has been dreaming of one day fighting beside her. 

He has never let go of the pendant, a symbol of the promised reunion. 

Now, he has finally arrived at the starting point. 

In the past, he was desperate for everything. He wanted to curse everything. 

She was the one who saved him with a hug. 

She had given light to his life that had been shrouded in darkness. 

Back then he had made up his mind that, no matter what, he wouldn’t be swayed by the darkness.  

He will follow the path of light that she had shown him. 

As she looked at Vernell, the girl… Eterna, a friend from the same village, grimaced with mixed feelings. 

“You look happy, Vell.” 

“Does it look that way? It’s no good… I’m only just standing at the entrance. I need to seriously brace myself. I can’t be satisfied with just this, I have to get stronger to be able to stand on the same stage as that person. ” 

Eterna had met Vernell when he was fourteen and had just arrived in the village she lived in.

She had beautiful silver hair and a reputation as the prettiest girl in town. 

That’s not an exaggerated expression at all. 

Because it was a poor village, it was not possible to adequately care for one’s hair and skin, so her natural beauty has dimmed somewhat. But even then, when it came to beauty, she would not lose even to Saint Elrise. 

She was interested in Vernell, with whom she has grown up within these last three years. 

She doesn’t know whether it’s romantic feelings…

However, in her village, it was natural for a man and woman who were familiar with each other and close in age to get married. Something Eterna faintly believed would eventually happen with herself and Vernell.

And that wasn’t an unpleasant thought to her. 

But the whole time, Vernell’s gaze was locked on something far away, and in his eyes, another woman was reflected. 

“There are quite a lot of people here….” 

“You mean there’s a lot of rivals?” 

Not many people aim to become knights. 

However, in recent years, the number of applicants looking to become a knight has increased. 

The reason for this is Saint Elrise, who is celebrated as the greatest Saint of all time. 

A recruit who was saved from demons on the battlefield knocked on the door of this academy after retraining himself both physically and mentally. 

A girl whose scars, both those of her heart and body, were healed for free has become a master archer and has come to return the favor.

And a boy with darkness in him, who had despaired of everything and longed for the light had entered the school as a young man. 

Many others who had been saved by the Saint, whether directly or indirectly, were also here. As well as those who had watched her from afar. 

Such youths have come to this school one after another, and the past few years have become an era of a great abundance of talent that has never been seen before.

“Now, Saint Elrise-sama, please greet the new students.”  

Then, the greatest Saint of all time, the one who produced this abundance of talent went up to the stage. 

Everyone is fascinated by her appearance. 

Shining blonde hair that reached her waist. Fine white skin and jewel-like eyes. 

The pure white dress looked as if it existed only for her, and the white flower decorating her hair only enhanced her charm. 

She was eternally fourteen years old, a being who had long since abandoned the effects of aging, and was full of youthful vigor. She looked exactly as she had when Vernell met her a long time ago. 

Even time bows its head in front of a miracle, for not even the passage of time can diminish her beauty. 

It was as if they were struck by lightning, the new students were unable to look away from the Saint’s divine appearance.

“Everyone, congratulations on getting through the difficult entrance exam. I would like to express my sincere admiration for your efforts.” 

A voice that sounded like a ringing bell rang out, shaking the eardrums of the new students. 

But what came out of her mouth was something they hadn’t expected. 

“However, though it may be misconstrued as destroying your dreams, the knights are not as glorious as everyone might think. Knights are the ones who fight on the front lines. It is a dangerous life and most people die before a year has passed. The cruel reality is that even should one or two die honorably in battle… the general situation would not change at all. Most “honorable deaths” are deaths… of honor only… with no prospect of military gains.” 

This was an unexpected denial of Knights from the Saint that the Knights are sworn to protect. 

Being a Knight was not as promising a job as you might think. 

It was a harsh statement about the dangers and a necessary reality check. 

On top of that, she spoke without concealing the fact that dying as a Knight was meaningless. 

“So before you set out on this path, please look back again.

Is that really all right? Is it okay to give up your life to protect another person such as a “Saint”? I would rather see you live and protect your family than die an honorable death over something like that. There is not a single life in this world that should become a shield for me and die an honorable death for my sake.” 

A knight is the Saint’s shield, spear, and substitute. 

The knight is there to keep the Saint alive. 

The knight is a sacrificial pawn for the Saint to be able to fight the Witch in perfect condition. 

No matter how many flowery words you put on it, things such as “hero,” “warrior’s honor,” or “honorable death,” its essence remains the same.

A knight is a sacrifice. A knight is a substitute. 

That was affirmed by none other than the Saint herself. 

Seeing that figure, Vernell thought that she hadn’t changed from that time and… laughed. 

He understood, and he was determined. 

He was here today because he believed this was acceptable. 

From the Saint’s point of view, the more substitutes the better, but she didn’t think that was right. 

So this was her attempt to keep aspiring knights away… And even if there were no knights, she would probably still take on the Witch alone. 

He wanted to protect her because she was like that. 

It was a feeling that everyone here had in common. 

“Defeating demons is not the only battle. Protecting your family, giving birth, and raising children is also a great battle. That alone will make your lives far more valuable than mine. Please think this through once more. Do you really think this is the place to use… your lives?” 

Elrise’s unusual speech, as if to kick out the new students, was over. 

However, no one hesitated after hearing that. 

No one left their seats. 

Everyone was already prepared. They had made up their minds. 

Even if one person dies alone, it does not affect the rest of the world and is treated as an “honorable death” like many others. 

But what did it matter? 

Then we’ll just fight alongside the Saint as sacrificial pawns. 

As a result, Elrise’s speech only confused a few students, including Eterna… and further fueled the determination of everyone else.


Hah ~~~~~~~~~ I really can’t deal with this. 

I wonder if they are suicidal or something? 

No one left even when I told them that the knights are just pawns to be discarded and left to die for nothing in return. 

In the first place, I don’t need a meat shield. 

I can fly through the sky, remember? Just how are you guys going to protect me?  

If you guys can’t fly, you’re just in the way instead.

Hah ~~~~~~~~~ I really can’t deal with this. 

Ah, I am feeling demotivated. 

As someone who understands themself, I know I am a shitty person. But more or less I wouldn’t feel guilty over a matter that’s similar to a speck of dust. 

Still, if a stranger were to die for me in vain… well, yeah. That would leave me with a bad aftertaste for a bit… perhaps. 

No, sorry, that’s a lie. The truth is, I probably wouldn’t feel anything. 

When you hear on TV that someone you’ve never met before has died in an accident, you may think, “Ah, that’s sad,” but a few seconds later you may not even remember his name, and the next day you may have forgotten that you even saw the news. 

Unfortunately, for me, the deaths of so many knights and soldiers are on that level of recognition. 

That’s why it is even more meaningless to die for me. 

It’s a real waste of life to die as a meat shield for someone like me. 

But I can’t allow myself to remain idle. From now on, the school will be packed with events. 

Well, even if I were to leave most of them unattended, our main character, Vernell, would solve things with his own strength like bang-bang. And with a bang-bang raise the affection of the sub-heroines, and bang-bang they’ll fall in love, but some events cannot be left alone.

There are events where depending on the choice the heroine dies or a mob character dies, or someone becomes unhappy. 

How should I put it, even if you made the right choice, the mob characters die rather easily. 

It would be nice if Vernell-kun is competent enough to choose only the right choices, but some of them are impossible to avoid the first time through. There are some options that you wouldn’t “normally” choose, and there are some that only appear after clearing the game once… In other words, some choices are not available in the first place. 

Some heroines will die in the first play-through of this game. 

I’m talking about you, Eterna. On the first play-through, no matter how hard you try, you will become the last boss. 

Well, Eterna will still die even if she enters the true end on the second play-through. Isn’t this child too pitiful? 

Other heroines will die as well except when on the main route. Such as the Witch, the Witch, the Witch. 

Furthermore, there is a beautiful female teacher at this school known as Fara, but this person will also die during the first play-through. 

For some reason or another, Fara-san attempted to assassinate Eterna and so Vernell confronted her on the first play-through. After the fight, her demeanor suddenly changed and while apologizing for her actions threw herself off the cliff to her death.

So, on the second play-through, you are able to bring Eterna with you to this fight (in the first play-through this is considered way too dangerous as Eterna is the one being targeted). Eterna’s power then reveals that Fara-san was just a victim being manipulated by the Witch, and Eterna’s Saint power freed her from the Witch’s control. 

Incidentally, this event hastened the revelation that Eterna was the true Saint, and triggered the Elrise condemnation event, thus avoiding Eterna’s fall into darkness. 

In other words, this event is an important event for both Fara-san’s survival and as a means to stop Eterna’s fall into darkness. 

… Or rather, you tried to assassinate Eterna here, then after it failed you realized that Elrise is a fake, right Witch-san? 

Well if you’re the Witch, a force that exists to oppose the Saint, you would usually notice, right? 

Rather, you’d notice such things even if you weren’t the Witch. 

For the time being, I can assume that they already know I’m a fake. 

Next, after Fara-san is released from the Witch’s control, the events will continue to move forward but I don’t think I have to worry too much about this. 

In the first place, since becoming Elrise I haven’t done any evil deeds. 

Instead, I built up my fame so that when I returned the Saint title to Eterna there wouldn’t be a raid on Eterna’s village and we could avoid the fall into darkness event altogether. 

But, just in case I’m investigating the idiots that would attack while I can. 

Anyway, I know when Fara-san will try to assassinate Eterna. 

All I have to do is interrupt the event and say that Fara-san is being manipulated. 

Gahaha, it’s my win. Let’s take a bath.


Translator Note: Thank you very much for reading. If you find something wrong with my translations, please leave a comment for me to improve. Have a good day.

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Golex9000k
Golex9000k
1 month ago

Everything is for the saint

Catman48
Catman48
11 months ago

There exists a great saint filter between her mind and mouth. This filter saintifies all her thoughts and says them in a saintly manner, thus increasing her saint rep even higher.

Cruelsanto
Cruelsanto
4 months ago
Reply to  Catman48

I agree lol

Raizen
1 year ago

Such a tactician saint

Eternal perspective
Eternal perspective
1 year ago

Thanks for chap
Mc isn’t a blind optimist but calculated realist. No matter how he deprecates it the fact remains that opposite of caring is actually indifference. If he really didn’t care at all as he claims he should have remained passive and only interfered in the parts thar affect him.
The fact that he goes to such lengths to even save a mob or two who’d die anyway in an event says a lot.

Also he’s mistaken, to the witch a saint like fake is still a bigger problem than an not saint like real saint.

Who Knows?
Who Knows?
1 year ago

Definitely fun seeing the stuff the guy does, haha

Kzalca
2 years ago

This dude is just outright hilarious. I absolutely love how the writing just changes drastically. Props to you too for translating it so good! Thank you!

tsukii
tsukii
2 years ago
Reply to  Kzalca

we are honored you enjoy our work! thank you!

Mighthose
2 years ago

A realistic saint.

tsukii
tsukii
2 years ago
Reply to  Mighthose

in a way, it is; even irl saint might actually like her inside despite their actions in public

anon
anon
2 years ago

He’s truly the saint of all saints

tsukii
tsukii
2 years ago
Reply to  anon

in a way, she is. since other people too busy wallowing in their suffering, her actions brought them hope

Bully Maguire
Bully Maguire
2 years ago

I hope eterna doesn’t go the wrong way because of her jealousy

tsukii
tsukii
2 years ago
Reply to  Bully Maguire

well… woman jealousy could go far…

mavg
mavg
3 years ago

MC is pretty decent person I think. She felt guilty for sacrifice another person’s life. She has lenough spine to actually do something and not “go with the flow ” in order to try to retain her “reincarnate future events cheat”.

lol
lol
3 years ago
Reply to  mavg

mc is a dude who continues to think of himself as a dude even after living as elrise for a while, so. he’s a he and not a she lmao. but yeah he’s a p decent dude and p self-aware about how far his empathy stretches.

tsukii
tsukii
2 years ago
Reply to  lol

she conscious of her flaw but not so conscious on her good deed

tsukii
tsukii
2 years ago
Reply to  mavg

yea, she isn’t as bad as she claim herself to be. even if she did all that for selfish intention, the people she save were real