The first thought that came to mind when I saw Isabel calling me “Angel” was this.
“I don’t want to disappoint her!”
Yes, I really didn’t want to.
The reason Isabel was so delighted to know of my existence wasn’t just because having a guardian angel was an honorable thing.
Before returning, Isabel’s last memory was of Darex, who had become a demon god, destroying the entire world.
And then, she opened her eyes in this place.
How lost must she have felt?
If I had left Isabel to revel in the joy of her return and let her run around excitedly, she might have been happy at first but would have later despaired at the realization that she had come back alone.
But now, I had appeared before her.
For Isabel, this must have felt like a literal sign from the heavens.
‘It’s not strange for her to rejoice, thinking, ‘The Goddess hasn’t abandoned me! She even sent an angel!’’
So then…
“Angel…?”
The voice calling out to me weighed heavily on my chest.
Of course, it would.
Stay calm.
I’m not doing anything bad—I’m just here to help Isabel.
But how should I respond?
How should I speak to sound like an angel?
Countless responses ran through my mind in a short span of time—Hello, Isabel. Nice to meet you. How does it feel to return? You pray well, and so on.
Among all those choices, the one I selected was…
“I have arrived, my little lamb.”
With the deepest voice I could muster, I attempted to replicate the most angelic tone I could imagine.
‘…Ah, so embarrassing.’
I tried my best, but it didn’t sound convincing at all.
Even to me.
Yet, upon hearing my ridiculous response, Isabel’s expression gradually brightened.
Wow, she’s getting even brighter.
It’s like turning up the brightness on a phone in a dark room—so dazzling…
“Angel!”
Goodness.
I’m the angel here, so why does she look like she’s the one glowing?
“Angel, are you really the guardian angel sent just for me?”
“Y-Yes, I am.”
“Then, you must have been the one who sent me the glowing messages! But they’re gone now? Where did they go?”
Of course, they disappeared.
All the quests Isabel saw were just illusions I had created.
Now that I was responding to her prayers directly, it seemed I couldn’t summon divine revelations, descend formally, or create illusions.
Anyway, it looked like I had managed to smooth things over.
There was no sign of suspicion in Isabel’s expression.
She didn’t seem disappointed either.
Rather, she looked utterly ecstatic.
So, I cleared my throat, preparing to get to the main point.
“Even angels clear their throats, huh!”
It seemed Isabel found every single action I took to be fascinating.
“…Little lamb, do not interrupt me.”
“Ah!”
She reacted so dramatically with that “Ah!” but continued chattering excitedly for a long while.
She went on about how my voice seemed to echo in her mind, how she was grateful to Sunya for letting her meet me, and how this was her first time seeing a guardian angel.
Then, she looked at me with a sheepish grin.
It was an endearing sight, in a way, but for someone with a long road ahead, I could only sigh.
It was time to finally get to the main point.
“I… am an angel sent by the Goddess to aid you, who have regressed to the past.”
Isabel tilted her head in confusion.
Did I say something wrong?
Thankfully, she asked about something else.
“Angel, what does ‘regressed’ mean?”
“It means going back to the past while retaining memories of the future.”
“Aha! So this really is the past?”
Isabel began counting on her fingers as she continued speaking.
“Did you see? Jeremy, Otam, Sherry… All my friends were alive! Father Graham, Sister Susanna, and even Rina… Rina’s diary, which she hid under her bed, was still there! That’s great, right?”
By the time she said, “That’s great, right?” her eyes were shimmering with tears.
Oh, dear.
“If this really is the past, then Sir Marcel must still be alive and well, right? And Erica and Keizo too…”
I flinched.
Marcel, Erica, Keizo.
Including Isabel, the four of them had formed the hero’s party to fight against the Demon King’s army.
But Erica and Keizo died in the battle against the Demon King, and Marcel, along with Isabel, succumbed to dark magic and perished.
She must not have fully processed all those emotions yet.
Still, instead of crying, Isabel wiped her teary eyes with the back of her hand and smiled brightly.
“Sorry, Angel. I won’t cry anymore. Because you came to me.”
Yeah, I guess it’s a good thing I came.
For the first time, upon seeing Isabel’s tears, I thought that accepting Sunya’s offer was the right decision.
If I hadn’t come, Isabel would have had to suppress all these emotions alone.
And…
“I should go tell Sister that I’ve regressed! She’ll help me!”
There would have been no one to stop this impending disaster.
“Isabel, I understand that you’re happy, but you must restrain yourself. You must keep the fact that you’re a returnee a secret.”
“So someone who returns is called a ‘returnee’! But why do I have to keep it a secret?”
“If people find out that you’ve come from the future, it will cause a huge commotion. You won’t be able to move freely… and…”
I hesitated to say this part, then carefully continued.
“If the Demon King’s army learns that you’re a returnee, they might advance their plans and act sooner.”
At the mention of the Demon King’s army, Isabel’s expression changed.
She became more serious.
The Demon King’s army was the main villain faction of An Old Tale—an organization that had been amassing power in secret while waiting for the Demon King’s resurrection.
Three hundred years ago, when the Demon King perished, they were nearly wiped out alongside him, but a few remnants had continued expanding their influence in the shadows.
These forces, which had long been lurking in secrecy, fully revealed themselves the moment Demon King Daerex was resurrected and launched their operations across the continent.
An Old Tale turned into a brutal dark fantasy because of the massacres orchestrated by the hidden Demon King’s army.
So it was only natural that Isabel grew serious.
“The Demon King’s army might move sooner? That can’t happen! I’ll make sure to keep the secret about being a returnee!”
She declared it with great confidence, but for some reason, I couldn’t quite trust her…
But there’s no helping it.
“Young lamb, based on your first timeline’s experience, you must expand the forces that will stand against the Demon King’s army and accelerate the growth of yourself and your allies even more than in the first timeline. You must ensure that you are fully prepared to defeat the Demon King.”
Ah, keeping up this tone is so difficult.
The longer I talk, the more awkward it feels.
This is why I shouldn’t have tried to stick to a persona.
With a much more relaxed expression, Isabel responded.
“If the time before I returned is the first timeline, then this must be the second one, right? So what should I do first?”
“First, let’s check if you have a returnee’s privilege.”
The concept of a returnee’s privilege would be completely unfamiliar to Isabel.
Look at her—she’s practically demanding an explanation with her eyes.
“It’s… like a gift given to returnees.”
“Wow, a gift?”
“Don’t get your hopes up too much. It might not exist.”
Though I warned her that it might not exist, she would probably have at least one.
Of course, Sunya didn’t just send Isabel back alone—she assigned me to her as an angel.
But I doubt that was all she did.
After all, in a broader sense, I might be helpful, but I wouldn’t be much use in resolving immediate crises.
So let’s think.
What would Sunya have given Isabel?
Hmm… There’s one thing worth testing.
“Isabel.”
“Yes, Angel!”
“Try saying ‘status window.’”
“Try status window!”
“Without ‘try.’ Say it again.”
“Status window!”
I waited to see if anything would happen.
But judging by Isabel’s expression, nothing had changed.
What a shame.
Right, it makes sense that Isabel wouldn’t be given a status window as a returnee’s privilege.
After all, a creation god from another world wouldn’t be familiar with a modern concept like a status window.
But now Isabel was looking at me with sparkling eyes after shouting ‘status window.’
Wait, is she expecting something to happen?
I can’t do anything for her, though.
I think I’m starting to sweat.
She must believe, “Since the Angel told me to do it, something amazing will happen!”
“Well done. Good job.”
“Angel, what is a status window, anyway?”
“…It’s like a magic spell that gives you strength when you shout it.”
“Aha!”
Look at that satisfied expression, as if she just learned something incredible.
I feel guilty now.
Anyway, now that we’ve confirmed there’s no status window, we need to try another method.
In the hero’s party, Isabel’s role was that of a healer who wielded divine power.
She could grant blessings that enhanced physical abilities, create protective barriers, and even swing a staff imbued with divine power.
Since this world doesn’t have a ‘skill’ system, healing, blessings, and barriers are more like ‘techniques’ that require repeated practice.
Given that Isabel has already gone through the first timeline, she should be able to use all of them.
So if I were Sunya, I would grant Isabel divine power as a privilege—an immense and high-quality divine power.
“Isabel, let’s check if you have a sacred mark.”
“A sacred mark?”
In the story, Isabel only became known as a saint after the major event called the ‘Undead Parade’ that took place in the middle of the narrative.
It was a catastrophe where an army of undead rose all over the continent due to the power of the necromancer Dorothea, one of the Demon King’s generals.
Even as she coughed up blood from exhaustion, Isabel alone held back thousands of undead.
Just as her barrier was about to collapse at the critical moment, she received the sacred mark from the Goddess Sunya, granting her divine power beyond human limits.
After that incident, Isabel inherited the name of the saint who had disappeared 300 years ago.
If I were Sunya, I would have given Isabel the sacred mark as a returnee’s privilege.
If this were a game-based fantasy world, she would’ve been given skills or traits.
But since this world doesn’t work like that…
Upon hearing my words, Isabel nodded as if she understood—then immediately turned around and started pulling off her robe without hesitation.
Um… Is it because I’ve become an angel?
Seeing her bare skin does feel a bit embarrassing, but only just that.
It’s like my sense of masculinity has lost all meaning.
Oh well, that’s actually a good thing.
Considering I have to watch over Isabel day and night from now on, this is probably for the best.
Anyway, thanks to Isabel’s dramatic disrobing, I was able to confirm the cross-shaped sacred mark on her back.
They call it a sacred mark, but up close, it looks more like a fine-lined tattoo.
And since Isabel has a small frame, it appears rather large.
If she ever exposed her back, people could probably recognize it from far away.
“Put your clothes back on.”
Isabel had been pulling her robe over her head, so her face was buried in the fabric when she asked in a muffled voice.
“Was the sacred mark there?”
“It was.”
“Ah! Then that means I have a lot of divine power!”
With some struggling, Isabel finally managed to pull her robe back down.
After fixing her clothes, she suddenly made a sheepish expression.
“Erica always told me not to do this…”
“It’s a relief that you remembered now.”
In any case, I’m glad Sunya has good instincts.
Granting Isabel the sacred mark as a privilege after she returned, wounded and on the brink of death, was a smart decision.
If Isabel already has the sacred mark, then she must possess divine power strong enough to stop the Undead Parade.
But wait a second…
Isabel has only just started her second timeline and is still just an ordinary priest.
If she already has saint-level divine power, she must conceal it from other clergymen to avoid drawing attention.
Attracting too much attention immediately after returning would be dangerous.
The church might try to take control of her just because she has the sacred mark.
That would prevent her from moving freely.
In other words, just like the fact that she is a returnee, Isabel must also keep the sacred mark a secret.
“I’ll give it a try!”
But of course, our dear Isabel wouldn’t realize that!
“W-wait…!”
Before I could stop her, it was already too late.
A radiant light burst from Isabel’s hands as she gripped her cross.
Whoooosh—
A sudden gust of wind swept through the room.
Along with a massive resonance that filled the space, a dazzling halo of light rose from Isabel’s hands.
Isabel, who was inside the room, couldn’t see it.
But as an angel, I could feel it.
The pillar of light she had created pierced not only the ceiling of the room but extended beyond the roof of the church.
And then, at a point higher than the tallest spire of Zero Prime, it spread outward in all directions.
My God.
A massive, semi-transparent dome of light now enveloped all of Zero Prime.
This was the same barrier she had used to stop the Undead Parade!
“Look! Isn’t it amazing?”
No, I mean—yes, it is amazing!
But if you use it now, everyone will notice, Isabel!
We’re supposed to avoid drawing attention!
Cliche Novel 