It's warm.
When I lifted my head, I saw the eyes of a woman looking at .
“...Mom.”
“You’re finally awake—”
My mother was saying sothing to . My head hurt too much to understand her words, but I could tell from her expression that she was deeply sad.
“If you just hold on a little longer, I’ll take you to a place where it doesn’t hurt—”
“......”
When my mom is sad, I feel sad too.
To , my mother was the entire world. Because I was in pain, my world grieved with . I wished I could be healthy and free of pain. I wanted a strong, healthy body.
I didn’t want my mom to be sad anymore.
That was the only thing I ever wished for.
Maybe that wish ca true—because at so point, I stopped hurting. Life was poor and lacking, even a child could tell, and there wasn’t anything you’d call abundance. But I was happy.
Even so, I could tell.
There were tis when a shadow passed over my mother’s face. And I sohow knew that shadow would eventually tear my mother and apart.
“There’s sothing I forgot to bring.”
“......”
“I’ll just go back for a mont. I’ll be right back. Just a few nights, and I’ll be back. So don’t get sick. Listen to your teachers—”
It was all full of things I couldn’t understand as a child. All I understood was that my mother was leaving . And I would have to wait for her to co back—not knowing when.
But—
I nodded.
Because I knew, no matter how long it took, no matter how many nights passed, my mother would co back to just like she promised.
So every ti the sun set, I’d bring a chair over to the window, climb up, and stare down that faraway alleyway.
One day, two days.
One year, two years.
Yes, that’s right.
I had always been waiting.
And then, when I grew older, I couldn’t bear to just wait anymore. I decided to go find her myself. To find the mother who had once been my entire world—I stepped out through the window I’d always looked from.
I turned the corner of that alley I’d only ever gazed at.
And then—
I lost my way.
You could say I beca a lost child. So—how much ti did I spend wandering, trying to find my way back?
Still, it wasn’t all aningless.
Even though I thought I was just lost and aimless, I experienced unexpectedly joyful things. And now, I had a family of my own.
Yeah.
I built a place to return to—on my own. Everyone’s waiting for .
So—
I don’t have ti to be lying around in a place like this—!!!
Thoom—!
It happened the mont I steeled my resolve.
Thoom—!
Sothing massive collapsed with a crashing impact, shaking my whole body. Maybe because of that, I was finally able to escape the tight confinent that had trapped like a prison.
“Pwah—!”
The first thing that burst out was a breath I felt like I’d been holding for ages. My chest and heart felt like they would explode from the sharp inhalation. In front of was a massive divine statue.
The once-floating godly statue had lost its posture and fallen, rolling across the ground.
I didn’t know what had happened, but sohow it had broken whatever weird brainwashing or hypnosis it had cast over .
I think—I’d started seeing a desert or sothing like that...
━━Hioooong...!
Then I heard a familiar cry. You could probably guess it just from the sound—but of course, it was a spider. Because spiders go hiooong.
“Bael!”
━━Hioooong...!
When I turned my head, the paper spider Bael raised its two front legs toward , alternating them. Was it a gesture of joy?
“Bael, co back!”
But the smile of delight on my face soon twisted into a frown.
Because Elga, with Bael perched on her shoulder, looked to be in terrible shape.
“Elga-nim, are you all right...!?”
“...Well, I’m alive, sohow. But that one over there is in worse shape than .”
Shff.
Elga’s hand pointed toward Ayra, who was groaning with a horrific wound. The only small relief was that Priestess Miriam had reached out with a glowing hand toward Ayra.
“Your Majesty, this may leave a scar.”
“...Nngh.”
“Still, I feel strangely energized. Right now, I feel like I could even bring soone back from the dead. Maybe it’s this bright space—”
As she spoke, Miriam looked just as energized as she claid. The healing light flowing from her hand touched my cheeks and gently faded.
If Priestess Miriam is here, that must an...
I turned my head and spotted the man fighting the giant.
Compared to the massive body, he looked as small as an ant. I didn’t know how he could be fighting so fiercely. But he was soone fit to be called the protagonist of this story.
No matter what he did, I wouldn’t be surprised.
What I had to do now was use the ti he was buying us to gather my family and break through this crisis together.
Cough.
Maybe her senses were returning—Ayra vomited a large mouthful of blood. But her face had far more color than before.
“Ayra-nim, are you all right?”
“...Looks like the world really loves . Escaping death’s doorstep yet again—surely they ant when they spoke of Ayra von Taranteira, the queen who even defies death.”
“If you’re cracking jokes, I suppose you’re not doing too badly.”
“It’s not a joke.”
As I approached, Ayra clenched and opened her hand. anwhile, Priestess Miriam approached the visibly injured Elga and reached out a hand.
“Rapid healing might feel a little ticklish.”
“How ticklish could it—pffthahaha!”
This was the mont I keenly realized how valuable it is to have a healer in your party. If I’d known, I might’ve brought another priestess as a wife.
Just then, Ayra pinched my nose.
“Hyek—!”
“I sensed a very impudent thought just now. But given the urgency of our situation, I’ll let it slide. I am a generous queen, after all.”
Shff.
Ayra let go of my nose.
Then she unrolled the magic wand I’d gifted her and muttered an incantation. A strange magic circle appeared in the air—and sothing ca tumbling out of it.
“We’re finally out! Nare! We’re out!”
“Unni, I get it, but move your butt! You’re crushing my back!”
“Mirna-nim, Nare-nim. Please get off first before you say anything.”
It was Mirna, Nare, and Professor Stella. I was both confused and overjoyed to see them fall from the air.
“Teo, have you forgotten who gifted you the [Squirrel Vault]? Spatial storage magic is no big deal for a queen like .”
“Ah!”
Now the pieces fit in my head. While under attack, Ayra had hidden Professor Stella and the twin sisters Mirna and Nare inside a space she’d conjured herself.
I’d thought they’d vanished without a trace—but now, relief and hope filled .
Yes. Hope. It was hope that moved my body.
“This ti—we all fight together!”
At my ringing cry, I saw the ladies’ faces fill with determination. A completely different mood from when we were overwheld by the giant earlier.
“Unni, now’s the ti to use that.”
“I know.”
Mirna pulled sothing from her bag—a small black block of wood, about the size of a palm. When she snapped it in half, black smoke began to billow from the wood.
At the sa ti, Nare and Mirna muttered an incantation in unison. The black shadow soon took on the form of a dragon—not inferior at all to the giant.
When it spread its wings and let out a roar—
Stella and Elga grabbed onto the scales at the tip of its tail. The dragon’s massive wings beat once, launching them like arrows past .
KWAAAAH—!!!
The dragon and the giant crashed violently together. Elga, propelled into the air, raised her halberd high and brought it down with all her strength toward the giant’s body.
“teor Slash!”
Accelerated by speed upon speed, Elga’s razor-sharp halberd collided with the giant’s ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) body—carving off its upper left shoulder in a clean slice.
I was stunned.
I never realized Elga was that powerful.
Then Ayra said,
“Elga’s halberd fought the Fla Church for a long ti. Even back when gods didn’t exist in this world—it has been cutting down enemies. There’s a reason it chose her.”
Ayra’s gaze turned to the twin sisters, Mirna and Nare, chanting their spell.
“The sa goes for the dragon. When the god of fla was still a naless spirit, the dragons fought it fiercely. Sa with the elves. This place is full of his weaknesses.”
Stella leapt from the dragon’s back, landing on a huge shoulder and arm. She twisted her body acrobatically and drove a dagger into its flesh.
“Fairy technique: Random Hitting!”
Her attack naming style was a bit... questionable.
But Stella’s physical ability far exceeded what I’d estimated. I didn’t know the noble ladies could fight this well.
I’d brought them hoping they’d help—
But I hadn’t done anything myself.
Because my magic didn’t work on the giant known as the god of magic. Ayra seed to be in the sa situation—catching her breath as she surveyed the battlefield.
Then Ayra spoke calmly.
“There’s a way to defeat it. But Teo—I'll need your help.”
“My help?”
“Inside that giant is Solomon. His body was used as the vessel for a god. He was probably prepared for it from the beginning.”
“So what do you need to do?”
“But—maybe because he had such a strong sense of self—he hasn’t completely disappeared. You saw how he flinched at the na Beatrice, right?”
“Beatrice...”
“That thing is, in a sense, a giant Ars-Nova. The principle is the sa. If we fluster it and draw out Solomon’s lingering consciousness, we might find a way through.”
As always, Ayra’s explanations were hard to follow.
Maybe because she lived in such a self-contained world—she didn’t seem to think she needed to explain further. She just believed I’d understand and carry it out.
“First, you need to kiss .”
“A kiss?”
“No ti to explain.”
Pressed by Ayra, I kissed her. Amid the urgency, the softness of her lips felt oddly out of place.
Then Ayra said,
“That was actually a lie.”
“What...?”
“But thanks to it, I feel stronger now.”
Shing.
She picked up Mirna’s longsword from the ground. Drawing it from its sheath, the light reflecting off the sharp blade flashed in Ayra’s dark eyes.
“This cool sensation... I haven’t used a sword since I took the crown. It’s been a long ti.”
Clack.
She dropped the scabbard and stepped forward, gripping the blade with her slender hand as she walked across the glowing ground.
“Teo Gospel—on my signal, charge in!”
Her bright, ringing voice filled with strength.
And I ran.
Toward tomorrow.
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