Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

Hey, Regulus—do you have any idea what’s going on?”
“How could a mere mortal like myself ever hope to grasp the depths of My Princess’s far-reaching schemes? But one thing is certain—her insight is unparalleled.”
“…I was a fool to ask you.”

“That reminds me, Coppelia! Is your underwear made of cotton?”
“Wait—hold up! You’re still stuck on that?! Still obsessing over her panties?!”
“No, it’s silk. —And honestly, didn’t I already tell you? Don’t run your mouth while Lady Clara is having a serious conversation, you peasant! Also, eavesdropping on girl talk? That’s perverted. Wouldn’t you say so, Lady Clara?”

Coppelia gave me this ugh, gross expression, and beside her, Cestlavie was visibly restraining himself with a clenched fist, shaking with the urge to punch her square in the face. Regulus, for once, was actually holding him back from behind.

By the way—there isn’t a single actual girl in this group by the strictly traditional definition.

“Silk, huh…”

That’s pretty fancy stuff. The St. Ravier Church is poor, so even the Shrine Maiden Princesses themselves usually wear cotton. …Wait a second. Is all the money from that shady fan club of hers going straight into Coppelia’s wardrobe?

I started to grow suspicious of the fully-automated maid standing in front of me—but for now, I’d gotten the answer I needed.

“…If that’s the case, then things are looking even more dangerous.”

While we were still deliberating, on the other side of the pool, Colin and Maria Lou were also having an important conversation across a five or six-mertes distance.

“Colin… I’m not human. I’m an imitation—created by a faction of zealots within the Church who wanted a substitute for the Saint. More precisely, I wasn’t born from a woman’s womb. I was made in a flask through alchemy—a monster shaped like a human being.”

Maria Lou’s lips curled into a self-mocking smile.

“An… artificial saint? But why would they make something like that?”

Colin’s voice was a hoarse whisper, and Maria Lou’s smile deepened into a full sneer.

“Did you know? About a hundred years ago, Saintess Snow set foot in this land. Back then, the people were caught in the chaos of the Holy War between the Demon and the Divine, Finis Jihad. It was the Saintess who saved them. But she grew disillusioned with how the Church worshiped her and never returned. In other words, the Church has been hiding something—they’re desperate not to let the world know that their object of worship abandoned them.”

Even as Maria Lou’s words verged on a damning confession, I just nodded and thought, Yeah… that tracks.

But for someone like Colin, born and raised in the Holy Capital, the shock must’ve been immense. He was speechless.

Cestlavie, who also came from a Church background, just shrugged it off with a mutter: “Well, anyone could figure that out if they looked into it.”

Meanwhile, Coppelia declared angrily, “To trifle with life is unconscionable. Such disregard for human dignity is the work of devils. The Church should be ashamed of itself.” She had completely shifted the blame, playing the innocent like it had nothing to do with her.

“So, the Church tried to create a substitute for the Saint. At first, they tried pairing the most magically gifted individuals in the Church. Then they turned to magical and chemical enhancements. This was the so-called Dolly Kadmon Project. But despite all the time and effort, they got nowhere—

“—That’s when they turned to the few strands of Saintess Snow’s hair that remained. Thus began the Artificial Saint Project. They secretly brought in a genius alchemist from outside the Church and poured a fortune into the research.”

At the mention of a “genius alchemist,” Coppelia puffed out her chest for no reason.

“But that project also failed. For some reason, it only produced hideous monsters. So they tried something else—extracting just the ‘Saint’ elements and transplanting them into other vessels. I’m the result of that research. Colin, you saw all those discarded monsters on your way here, right? I’m the same as them. No, I’m the womb that created them.”
“The womb…?”
“Not long after I was born, the alchemist vanished—took the research and the funding and disappeared. Maybe he ran away to avoid being purged after repeated failures, or maybe he was just in it for the money from the start.”

…That last one definitely sounds more likely. At that moment—when Maria Lou said “maybe he was in it for the money”—Coppelia averted her gaze very conspicuously.

“Without the alchemist or the data, the project had to change course. I was the only one with some degree of success, so they began modifying me—trying to use me as the foundation to build the artificial saint by incorporating other elements. As a result, I became what you see now. I can’t survive anywhere but this pool filled with Alkahest.” Maria Lou gestured toward the main body of Echidna—then pointed to herself in human form. “This version of me is a copy that Echidna created. A duplicate of a duplicate, made just to observe the outside world.”

“So, what do you think of all this?”
“Well…”

Cestlavie quietly asked, a pained look on his face. It’s hard to say. I wanted to tell him I sympathized—but cheap words would feel wrong in light of what Maria Lou’s endured.

I want to save her, if I can. But is that just my selfishness?

“I see. So she’s a very experienced Milf. Basically a s̲l̲u̲t̲, then. Yikes.”
““Just shut up already!””

Colin stepped forward, slowly but firmly, stopping just at the very edge of the waste-filled pool.

“…I’m sorry. I’m too dumb to really understand all this. But to me, you are family, Maria Lou. Someone I owe my life to. And someone important. So let’s go home.”

Maria Lou’s face twisted into a bittersweet smile. She shook her head slowly.

“I can’t. The Church already knows I’m the ‘Red Ram.’ And besides—”

She suddenly began coughing violently and curled up like a jackknife in the golem’s arms.

“Maria Lou!!”
“—Whoa there!”

Colin instinctively lunged toward her, nearly diving into the corrosive pool—but Cestlavie, who had anticipated this, hurled a charm. The rock beneath Colin’s feet warped like a vise and clamped down, immobilizing him.

“Damn it, let me go!”
“Hey now, don’t be reckless. You saw what happened when she dipped that bandage in, didn’t you?”

Cestlavie tried to calm the struggling Colin.

“Indeed. The pool’s edge and surface still seem to retain the effects of the Alkahest. You should be careful.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Well, I noticed it when Coppelia got splashed earlier. This liquid…”

“Is breaking down—just like the Red Ram over there, right, Miss Adelheid?” A crisp, composed voice rang out from the half-open mouth of Echidna.

And emerging from within was— “Eliza…?”

—for some reason, Eliza was there. Completely naked.