Volume 3 Chapter 128: Charlotte, From Another World?

Olsylvia Academy, North Campus. Filomena Nobility Academy Society Activity Area, Rose Society’s base camp, in a hidden corner of the Pilgrimage Hall within the McPherson Monastery.
　　
Bella hesitated for a moment before approaching Charlotte, who was seated quietly in the corner. After all, the monastery was her territory. There was no reason for her to shy away just because this fake loli had revealed her true self.
　　
“Chairman Charlotte, how rare to see you here of all places?”
　　
“Erm… you are… Elder Sister Bella!”
　　
Charlotte spoke, rather hesitantly. She seemed to have caught herself before calling out Bella’s name. Somehow, Bella could tell that Charlotte appeared to be quite surprised, especially at the fact that Bella was here. To be accurate, she was stunned that Bella was able to find her.
　　
Compared to their last few exchanges, Charlotte’s voice was much more feminine. After paying more attention, Bella could feel that this loli’s voice was too different from the last time they had met. Previously, she was able to detect a hint of a male’s voice. This time, it was a girl’s voice through and through.
　　
Since they had last met, the acting skills of the Director of the Wronged Angels Society had improved tremendously, to the point that the falsehoods could easily be taken as the truth. This time, it was so natural that Bella had almost begun to treat Charlotte like a real girl.
　　
“Secretary Bella, you’re here!”
　　
“Er, Vice President Aurora, what are you doing here?!”
　　
Before Bella could chat up Charlotte any further, she heard another girl’s voice calling out her name. When she turned around, she saw that it was the “Thunder Knight” Aurora. Aurora stood there, with her navy hair swirling around her. She was wearing a formal suit of armor specifically for Holy Knights and had a gorgeous, intricate cross in her hands.
　　
“Bella, you… after all, you are still the secretary of the Student Union. Yet, I don’t see you ever showing up there. Even though President Lucia does not say anything, but I’m sure she’s feeling rather gloomy inside.”
　　
“Well… Vice President Aurora, you see… I’m extremely busy with the Rose Society. There are always others who attempt to take control of my society’s territory, especially on the weekends. I can’t even catch a break, let alone show up at the Student Union. I have an idea: why don’t you join the Rose Society and share a little bit of my workload? Then I will finally be able to make time to head down to the Student Union.”
　　
“You… Fine, I’m not in any of the societies anyway, so there’s no harm in putting my name down in your society. But…”
　　
“I thank you in advance then. By the way, Vice President Aurora, you seem to be really close friends with Daphne! Why don’t you invite her as well? Many things have to be done in the Rose Society and I’m afraid the workload might be too much for one person.”
　　
“Well… alright. Bella, seriously, you’re really good at negotiating terms! I’m sure I can get Daphne to come along too as I don’t think she joined any societies. However, you have to keep your word and head over to the Student Union as soon as you can!”
　　
After much effort on Bella’s part, Thunder Knight Aurora finally agreed to join her Rose Society. Furthermore, she had agreed to bring Dusk Knight Daphne along with her. Bella had unintentionally recruited two more extremely powerful ladies into her Rose Society. From this moment on, Bella had managed to flirt with all of the most famous and influential female knights within the Olsylvia Academy.
　　
Aurora had come to the McPherson Monastery to pray. She was a Holy Knight that strongly believed in the Radiant God, and her faith never wavered. According to Hayley, one of the four Holy Maidens, Aurora had already submitted her request to be a part of the Knights of the Church.
　　
To prevent Aurora from being brainwashed by the Radiant Church’s puritanical nonsense, Bella had secretly instructed the Holy Maiden Hayley to reject her application. The reason would be that the Knights of the Church were full at the moment and would temporarily stop accepting any new applicants.
　　
Even after hearing that, Aurora was determined. One by one, she approached the other Holy Maidens, Daisy, Susan and Sophia, to submit her application. As they were all on Bella’s side, all of Aurora’s efforts were pointless as she was rejected again and again. The reasons they gave were all the same—the quota was full and they were not accepting anyone.
　　
Bella had browsed through many of the Radiant Church’s sacred writings and realized that they were all propaganda materials that were used to brainwash their followers.
　　
Bella did not allow those who did not subscribe to the Radiant Church’s faith to touch the sacred writings at all. As for those who already did, Bella would use her specialty to cause them to fall, which was what had happened to the four Holy Maidens, President Maria, and Holy Swordswoman Cynthia.
　　
“Bella, there’s something that I’ve always wanted to ask you. Earlier on, you seemed to… it was as though you were mumbling to yourself over there. This is a monastery, and I don’t think that talking to yourself would be an appropriate thing to do!”
　　
“Alone? Aurora, you’re joking, right? I was… Aurora, we are in broad daylight! Don’t frighten me like that!”
　　
“I’m not trying to scare you. You’re the only one here. From afar, I could already tell that you were speaking even though there was no one around. For a moment, I thought that you were… anyway, you frightened me as well.”
　　　　
Aurora’s beautiful face was solemn and she did not look like she was joking at all. Bella was shocked at how Aurora could have said something so frightening in broad daylight, and with a straight face too! This was not funny, it was a little distasteful too.
　　　　
Bella was not talking to herself as Charlotte was sitting right there; was Aurora unable to see her? Bella turned to look at the sofa, only to see Charlotte still seated in the same place, in the W position. She was silently observing the interactions between Bella and Aurora, not making a single sound.
　　　　
Bella had every intention to explain this to Aurora that Charlotte was there was well until she caught sight of a nearby window. In it, she saw something extremely eerie, and she was completely at a loss for words.
　　　　
The windows of the McPherson Monastery were made of transparent glass which reflected the interior. However, Bella could only see the sofa, and Charlotte was nowhere to be found. In other words, Charlotte did not have a reflection at all which was really spooky!
　　　　
Bella rubbed her eyes and took a closer look at the reflections on the window. She then ascertained that other than Aurora and herself, there was no other person in the reflection. This loli’s reflection did not exist!
　　　　
“Bella, what’s wrong? You look a little pale. Are you unwell?”
　　　　
“Aurora, I… I’ll be fine. Do you have a mirror? Can I borrow it for a moment; I forgot mine.”
　　　　
“Alright, I thought that there was something really wrong with you. It’s just a mirror, you can use mine!”
　　　　
Bella swallowed the uneasiness bubbling up in her heart and took the small hand mirror that Aurora had handed to her. Pretending to tidy up her hair, Bella secretly directed the mirror behind her towards Charlotte. As the images aligned, she was so shocked that she almost dropped the mirror.
　　　　
The mirror showed an empty space where Charlotte was supposed to be: no one was on the sofa. However, when Bella looked up, her eyes clearly saw that Charlotte was sitting there. Could her eyes be lying to her? Was this living breathing person a figment of her imagination?
　　　　
Aurora did not stay for long and left the McPherson Monastery after a short while. After Bella had used Aurora’s mirror, she looked warily at Charlotte. Aurora could not see this loli at all. To be accurate, she was the only one here who was able to see her and no one else could.
　　　　
“Elder Sister Bella… what’s wrong? Your eyes look really scary right now! Did I do something bad?”
　　　　
“Charlotte, don’t move. I need to verify something.”
　　　　
Carefully, Bella moved behind Charlotte. She needed to confirm that Bella was not a departed spirit. Other than that, she had no other reasonable explanation for what was going on. Strictly speaking, departed spirits would never appear within holy grounds like a church. No departed spirit would willingly be cleansed like that.
　　　　
Charlotte did not look any different as she sat there in the W position. Once she had made up her mind, Bella grabbed the loli from behind and skillfully placed her hand on Charlotte’s chest, trying to determine if there was a heartbeat.
　　　　
At the same time, Bella had secretly conjured a small black energy ball in her palm. If there was really something wrong with Charlotte, she would not show any mercy and attack at once.
　　　　
“Hey… Elder Sister Bella, you are… this is… annoying, stop that! You can’t touch… not here. You better stop this, otherwise, I’ll get angry and ignore you.”
　　　　
As she made contact with Charlotte’s chest, Bella swallowed nervously as she felt an astonishing bounce and elasticity. The bounciness, the shape on this loli… hold on, Charlotte was crossdressing as a girl, right? How is it that the “equipment” would feel this real?
　　　　
Subconsciously, Bella’s hand began to roam. It made a beeline down Charlotte’s chest, past her belly button and went right to the most mysterious place on Charlotte’s body. By now, she would never believe that Charlotte was a crossdresser. Without a doubt, this oppai was definitely real. As long as she’s cute, even if she were male… definitely not, especially if she were male.
　　　　
The good thing was that Bella had pushed away the dangerous thoughts in her mind in time and managed to avoid having to sell her soul to Lucifer. Fortunately, the heavens were not playing some kind of sick joke on her. Bella did not encounter “the big fellow” when her hands were at Charlotte’s critical area.
　　　　
“Elder Sister Bella, you’re too naughty. You touched me… there. I’m leaving; let go of me!”
　　　　
“Charlotte, stop kicking up a fuss. Elder Sister thinks you’re too adorable and lost control of herself for a moment. Why don’t I buy you some candy? Will you forgive my little slip-up?”
　　　　
“Hmph, don’t think that I can be bought off by a few pieces of candy. I have principles too! Even if you… hey… this candy can’t be found anywhere else? And this one too… I… I forgive you.”
　　　　
Charlotte’s high moral stance lasted for a full ten seconds, and then she gave in to Bella’s “sugar-coated bullets”. Bella was an experienced old-timer who had flirted with countless girls, including lolis. Since Charlotte was a real girl, she would not be able to escape Bella’s flirtatious wiles and charms.
　　　　
After everything that had happened, Bella was finally able to relax as she looked at Charlotte who was happily munching on her candy while in her embrace. Bella had personally verified that this Charlotte was not an imposter but a real loli.
　　　　
The only thing that still confused Bella was that her previous encounters with Charlotte had pointed to her being an imposter. Otherwise, that group of philosophers in the fraternities would have been the first to realize that something was not right.
　　　　
Could Charlotte be truly like her? Could she change her gender at will? Did this mean that before she had morphed into a petite loli, she was a young boy in disguise? Bella could barely wrap her head around that thought. She now highly suspected that the Charlotte whom she saw previously was a fake.
　　　　
The Inner World. Olsylvia Academy, North Campus. Filomena Nobility Academy Society Activity Area, the Pilgrimage Hall of the derelict McPherson Monastery.
　　　　
Bella stared at the McPherson Monastery which had been reduced to rubble in an attempt to adjust to what was happening. This was a parallel world. To be exact, this was a parallel world to the Other World that Bella was in.
　　　　
In her past life on Earth, Bella had seen information about parallel worlds in some of the novels she had read. She never expected that in this Other World, she would be able to experience the fabled parallel worlds for herself.
　　　　
It was magical enough that she was able to cross over to the Other World. The fact that the Other World had parallel worlds really blew Bella’s mind. If Charlotte was able to bring her to this parallel world, Bella suspected that her powers were around the same level as the Chaos Bringer Noesha. Both of them were able to carry another person across the barrier between worlds.
　　　　
“Elder Sister Bella, is this strange? It’s nothing, really. This is the parallel world of the Other World over there. However, this timeline would never repeat itself.”
　　　　
Charlotte walked among the rubble with a euphoric look on her face. She seemed to have changed somehow when she arrived in this world. Bella moved carefully within the ruins. As she walked further into the familiar building, she sank deep into her thoughts.
　　　　
This parallel world felt like one of the worlds that Bella had been to before. In this world, after lying dormant for thousands of years, the Twelve Demon Kings emerged from their slumber to unleash yet another bloodbath on the humans on the human continent. Under the brave leadership of the Saviors from the five human empires, the humans fought to the death against the Demon Kings. In the end, as history could not be unwritten, the human race was eventually annihilated.
　　　　
Bella had read about this apocalyptic world in one of the four forbidden books, Galsworthy’s Prophecy. Before, she had always thought that it was just some insane ramblings written by the old guy. She had never expected this ending to have happened before.
　　　　
No wonder the Radiant Church had banned the book. If the humans knew that their demise was inevitable, many of them would potentially lose their will to live in an instant.
　　　　
In this world, the Radiant Church was morally upright, which was vastly different from the one that Bella knew. Ten thousand years ago, when the Twelve Demon Kings had first invaded the human continent, the first few generations of Radiant Popes had all died honorably on the battlefield. None of them had agreed to compromise with any of the Demon Kings. When this world finally ended, the Radiant Church was the first to be destroyed by the Twelve Demon Kings.
　　　　
At the moment, there were no humans left in this world. Other than some undead who were roaming around, there were no other living beings around. After the Twelve Demon Kings had successfully destroyed this world, they had all succumbed to the injuries they had suffered during the intense battles with the Saviors. Without the leadership of the Demon Kings, their underlings were thrown into confusion.
　　　　
Bella stared into the distance where there were many zombies with missing limbs roaming the dilapidated streets. These undead creatures must have been left over after the Apocalyptic War. Without the control of the Demon Kings, their armies were left unchecked. Many of them gave in to their primal instincts and began to fight amongst themselves, killing relentlessly. The world had descended into complete chaos and had returned to the prehistoric times.
　　　　
Bella and Charlotte had arrived at the ruins of the original St. Louis Church Academy. Beneath the broken bust of the Radiant God, they found the last will and testament of the Radiant Pope. After the church’s headquarters had been wrecked by the Demon Kings, the Radiant Pope of this world had brought his remaining troops here. This was where they had welcomed the final Holy Battle with open arms.
　　　　
The zombies wandering the roads did not react to Bella and Charlotte at all. It was as though they were invisible as none of the zombies had bothered them. Maybe on this side of the parallel world, Bella did not exist.
　　　　
Bella flipped casually through the Radiant Pope’s papers and was stunned as she saw many unknown names within it. Most of them were completely different from the ones in Bella’s world. For example, the Church’s heir was not President Maria, the four Holy Maidens were not the ones she knew, and Cynthia was not the Holy Swordswoman either!
　　　　
After further investigation, Bella got a bigger shock. On this side of the parallel world, anyone who was related to Bella did not exist at all. This parallel world could be fake! She did not recognize any of the names that she saw. There was no Princess Felia and she did not see any familiar names among the Princesses of the Octavia Empire.
　　　　
“Charlotte, what’s wrong with this world? This is completely different from the world that we have come from! Could this parallel world be fake?!”
　　　　
“Er, Elder Sister Bella, actually… the world over there is the fake one. To be precise, the world over there had been distorted already. What happened here was supposed to be the inevitable end to the development of the world’s history.”
　　　　
“Why… Why is it that so many of the girls I know do not exist in this world? Charlotte, are you really sure…”
　　　　
“Me? I’m just a special traveler. The timeline on the other world has already been changed. The ending of this parallel world would never appear again. Those who do not appear here are all…”