When I heard about Edel’s plan in the Holy Kingdom.
“…If my power ascends.”
I asked Edel.
“So, if I could rewrite the system as you said, could I… bring back my father…?”
“Could you revive him? Well, it’s not impossible.”
“…!”
“But, are you sure about that?”
“Your father is likely reincarnated and living a new life by now.”
“…So what?”
“Even if we could retrieve his mories and physical form with so effort, would he be happy to be revived that way? The man nad Garid doesn’t seem like the type who would be.”
I paused.
I wanted to say, “It doesn’t matter,” or “My father would be glad,” but I couldn’t bring myself to say it so easily.
I believe that as long as a soul is the sa, the person remains the sa. But would my father, who’s now living a new life, think that way?
Maybe he’d think he’d only regained life by sacrificing soone else’s.
And knowing him, he would never be pleased with a life reclaid at the expense of a stranger.
Would he resent ?
Would he ask why I revived him? Would he resent for not wanting to live off another’s life?
Or would he be grateful?
Would he embrace , saying he missed ?
Or perhaps, both.
He might resent deep inside, but suppress it for my sake, because my father is kind.
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t foresee how my father would react when we t again.
Would I have understood him if we had shared more conversations?
Now, I feel I’m starting to understand what it ans when people say children can’t know their parents’ hearts.
“You still have ti, so think about it carefully. But don’t take too long.”
Edel granted a reprieve, knowing I couldn’t readily give an answer.
When everything was over, she asked to give her my answer.
She spoke of success as though failure wasn’t even a possibility.
With my answer postponed, I left the Holy Kingdom and traveled to Laxia, eting many people along the way.
So were familiar, so were strangers, and so rembered one-sidedly.
The conversations I shared with them left with small and large doubts alike.
But the one who confused the most was a mber of the Demonic Race I t in Laxia, who was struggling along with a body on the verge of death.
“Well… I think I’d feel miserable. As I said, I don’t want to live at the cost of others.”
“Even if it was the life of a heinous criminal?”
“Yes, even so.”
That was sothing I could never agree with.
But if Garid had heard his words instead of , he would have agreed.
He would have laughed heartily, slapped him on the back, and maybe even invited him out for a drink.
“Choose.”
After experiencing all of that, when I once again stood before Edel, the path I had postponed lay open before .
Edel told that I could no longer delay my choice among the many paths before .
“…I will.”
I had no intention of delaying any longer anyway.
“I will leave.”
To a new world.
No, to the world I once lived in.
The desire to see my father again hasn’t disappeared.
But more than wanting to see him…
“I… don’t want to be hated.”
Fear overshadowed my longing.
“Hmph. So, our little Kana is a coward?”
“…Can’t you just call a dutiful daughter instead?”
And I began to feel that bringing my father back would only dishonor the life he had led.
“You can’t spend forever longing for soone who’s gone.”
After all, he must be living a new life now.
What I must do is ensure that his new life unfolds peacefully, just as he once saved when I was on the brink of death.
Now, it’s my turn to repay that debt.
“And also…”
I murmured softly as I looked at the girl fighting and bleeding in the mirror Edel had made.
“I want to live… too.”
To experience what a normal life is like.
***
“It’s just… what I wanted.”
That single sentence encapsulated all my thoughts.
“Just…?”
Da-eun repeated my words, sounding a bit confused.
After repeating the sa gesture a few tis, she seed to process it and nodded.
“So, does this an I get to be with Kana now?”
“…Is that really enough to satisfy you?”
“Emotions aren’t always so easily explainable, are they? There are people who feel a fateful connection the first ti they et and end up marrying. Isn’t ‘just because’ enough reason too?”
“You sure like to talk about emotions, Da-eun.”
“…Ugh!”
Da-eun’s face flushed red, probably recalling the passionate speech she had given earlier to Edel and .
Then, suddenly, she looked troubled, her expression filled with complex emotions.
She truly displayed an array of expressions fitting of soone knowledgeable in emotional theory.
What could she be thinking about?
Before I could ask, Da-eun, hesitating, opened her mouth.
“I’m sorry. Until now, I always thought the world Kana was in was… just a ga. I an, by
“You don’t need to explain. I already know.”
“Huh? You… know? How?”
“…Uh, Edel told .”
I ignored the surprised look on Edel’s face that seed to say, “I did?”
But just because the words had been spoken didn’t an the questions had been answered.
…It is a ga, though.
The gods of both worlds collaborated specifically to create it in the form of a ga, so isn’t it natural to think that way?
When I shared my thoughts, Da-eun hesitated again.
“But… back in the Holy Kingdom, you got angry….”
“Oh, that.”
They say the ground hardens after the rain, and that incident helped bring us closer.
Though at the ti, I was a bit harsh.
“…Sorry about that.”
Looking back, there was no reason to be mad at Da-eun.
If anything, I should have taken it up with the one who created this world as a ga.
“I was… a bit powerless.”
“People who are incompetent always say that. Anyway, um—don’t worry about it.”
Comforting words aren’t my forte, so I tried to brush off Da-eun’s words when a forgotten curiosity resurfaced.
It was a question I had wanted to ask back in Silia but didn’t get the chance to.
Maybe now, I could finally get an answer.
“Why were you so kind to ?”
According to Da-eun’s own words, if she had thought of Silia as just a ga, there wouldn’t have been any need for her to treat kindly. Yet, she had treated warmly, even sharing details of her life in this world.
“…As I said before, I just wanted you to be happy, Kana.”
“What I an is, why would you care so much about a re NPC?”
“A re NPC? You’re not.”
Da-eun’s tone was resolute.
“I can’t quite put it into words… but it just felt that way.”
“Were you just copying ?”
“No! I wasn’t!”
“You’re reacting so strongly that it makes even more suspicious.”
“I’m telling you, it’s not that!”
When I narrowed my eyes, Da-eun flinched and jumped up in surprise.
Only after I told her it was a joke did her anxiously waving hands settle down.
“Looking back, I think what I felt was that ‘fateful connection’ I ntioned earlier.”
“….”
“Oh? Your face is turning red! Are you embarrassed?”
“…No.”
As if anyone would be embarrassed by sothing like that.
Despite my denial, Da-eun persistently looked around, trying to catch my gaze.
“…Enough already.”
Thwap!
“Ow!”
Da-eun finally cald down after receiving what could only be described as a calming dose—a light knock on the head.
I watched her clutch her head in pain, displeased.
“More importantly, aren’t you forgetting sothing?”
“…Huh?”
“When you introduce yourself, there’s sothing you’re supposed to do, right?”
“…Ah!”
Introducing oneself isn’t just one-sided; it’s about both parties getting to know each other.
Realizing what I ant, Da-eun let out a small exclamation. She cleared her throat, adjusted her posture and clothes awkwardly, and extended her hand with a bright smile.
“I’m Shin Da-eun! Looking forward to being with you!”
Clasping her hand, I felt the warmth of her touch, and I smiled back.
“Yeah. Looking forward to it.”
It was just a handshake, but why was my heart racing?
“Is this… love?”
“…Don’t say weird things right in my ear.”
I shoved Edel, who acted more like a gossiping noblewoman than a deity, to the side.
Love? What love.
Edel, with her smushed cheeks, mumbled.
“You said you wanted to experience a normal life. Well, that includes love, so why’s it so weird?”
“If that isn’t a strange ti to be talking about love, then what is?”
“Love can bloom at any mont.”
“….”
Had Magi seeped into her brain?
Deciding it was pointless to argue, I opted to ignore Edel.
“But….”
Looking around, Da-eun spoke up.
“Are you staying here, Kana?”
“It’s only been a few days, but for now, yeah.”
“A few days? Then why….”
“Are you only now calling ?”
“…How did you know?”
“It’s obvious what you’d say, Da-eun.”
Answering her was easy.
“I needed ti to get my strength back too.”
After crossing dinsions, I needed ti to recover from the aftereffects and adapt to my body, so I’d been lying in bed for days.
Even now, if I tried to step out of bed, I probably wouldn’t make it more than a few steps before collapsing.
“So you’re not wearing that hospital gown for no reason.”
“Does anyone wear this kind of thing for no reason?”
“Surprisingly, so people do….”
Finishing her sentence, Da-eun looked at sheepishly.
“Then… does that an you’ll keep staying here, Kana?”
“Yeah. Most likely.”
Since I had neither money nor a place to stay, I’d have to stay with Edel for now.
Not that it wouldn’t be possible to scrounge up so money by shaking down Edel, but with my condition, staying here was the only option.
“Then…!”
Hearing my answer, Da-eun squeezed her eyes shut and shouted.
“Co live with at my place!”
“…Huh?”
Stunned by her sudden offer, I stared blankly at Da-eun.
Later, Edel would describe my expression at that mont as “having a clueless look on my face.”
—
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