Ch.88Return to the Beginning (13)

“Sigh…”

The hunched grandmother clicked her tongue while sighing repeatedly.

That’s definitely the Witch of Sighs that I know.

But why is she here? And how?

Even Blanchard couldn’t escape from the south?

No, I can’t put the Witch of Sighs and Blanchard on the same level.

The Witch of Sighs is a very ancient witch. No one knows how long she has lived.

Wizards grow stronger as they age, which is why elf wizards use magic beyond imagination.

In that sense, I can’t rule out the possibility that the Witch of Sighs opened a dimensional gate to this southern region.

But if so, why?

In the game, the Witch of Sighs was an important NPC.

You enter the Subspace of Sighs, complete tedious grinding quests, and get several items.

Since you can level up a bit faster than regular hunting, she’s practically a must-visit NPC for mid-level players.

But she’s definitely not a main character who affects the story…

“Mom! How could you just leave like that!”

At that moment, a young woman appeared with a sharp voice.

She was a pale woman with black hair, wearing a robe.

Judging by the pattern on her robe, it was a style that was fashionable very long ago.

Could this woman possibly be the Witch of Sighs’ daughter?

“I had dinner all prepared! Where on earth are we?”

The woman, who was grabbing the Witch of Sighs’ arm while looking around, spotted us.

“What’s that?”

“Sigh… How did it come to this…”

The Witch of Sighs sighed as she saw Alreina in the black flames.

“Mom. Do you know what that is? Huh? Wait a minute…”

The woman’s narrowed eyes widened as she looked at Alreina.

“Alreina?!”

When we were hunting the Scarlet Dragon before, I told Alreina to find the Witch of Sighs.

They must be acquainted from that time.

“What happened to you, looking like that! And you are? Don’t tell me you’re Jack?”

The woman rolled her eyes in complete bewilderment as she saw the black energy binding my limbs.

“Mom? What’s going on? Do you know what this is? You came here because you knew, right?”

“Sigh…”

But the Witch of Sighs just kept sighing.

Alreina, who had been watching the suddenly appeared wizards, slowly raised her hand toward them.

“Get out of the way, both of you!”

“Sigh…”

As the Witch of Sighs flicked her finger, the ground where Alreina and I were standing split open.

“Jack!”

With Liberone’s cry behind us, Alreina and I fell through the crack.

* * * * *

When the wizards first appeared, Alreina felt puzzled.

This wasteland was a place no one knew how to enter or leave.

It was strange enough that a Holy Knight and a potion shop owner had come this far, but now wizards too.

Moreover, one of the wizards was an elderly woman who looked like she could pass away any day.

Yet somehow, she seemed familiar.

“Alreina?! What happened to you, looking like that!”

The young wizard recognized her and called her Alreina.

The Holy Knight, the potion shop owner, and now this wizard—they all call me by this strange name.

That’s not my name.

My name is…

What was it?

I don’t remember.

Anyway, Alreina was curious about how these wizards had entered this place.

If she could find out, she could send her army northward.

I’ll destroy the entire world that took away what was most precious to me.

So, what I cherished most was…

Um, that was…

Right, the potion shop owner.

When I first started adventuring, he filled my bag with free potions and all sorts of survival tools.

And he wrote a strategy guide about what would happen in the future.

When I asked why he was doing all this for me, he said:

He was just doing his best. Doing his best from where he stood.

I did the same.

I did my best from where I stood, reading the strategy guide thousands upon thousands of times.

I saved the continent while overcoming countless life-threatening dangers.

But at the end of that adventure, what I found was the shop owner’s death.

Why did he die?

It’s because he joined the kingdom’s adventure party.

Why did the kingdom explore the south?

Because I had eliminated all the evil things on the continent.

When peace continues, people waste time, money, and effort on useless things.

So in the end, this world betrayed me.

If I hadn’t gone on an adventure and had stayed at the shop owner’s store, he wouldn’t have died.

But the shop owner gave me the strategy guide.

Without that guide, I wouldn’t have gone on an adventure.

Even if I had, I would have given up soon and returned to the Starting Village.

So the one who killed the shop owner was the shop owner himself who gave me the guide.

I’ll kill the shop owner.

But first, let me deal with these wizards.

I’ll capture them so they can’t escape and find out how to leave this cursed wasteland.

However, the elderly wizard was faster than Alreina.

By instinct, Alreina realized that an inexplicably advanced magic was unfolding beneath her feet.

But it was already too late to dodge.

Alreina and the potion shop owner fell into the gaping subspace.

* * * * *

[Gasp?!]

When Alreina opened her eyes, she inhaled sharply in surprise.

A bright red plain stretched out to the horizon before her eyes.

What is that?

After staring at it for a while, Alreina realized that the plain was moving slightly.

No, it wasn’t the plain that was moving.

Because it wasn’t a plain, but a sea.

In the desolate noise of blood-red waves washing up and receding on the white sandy beach, Alreina looked up.

Stars twinkled in the purple night sky.

A purple night sky—it feels extremely ominous.

Looking around, all she could see was the sandy beach and pitch-black mountain ranges.

Where did that old wizard send me?

Somewhere on the continent? A completely different world?

Alreina experimentally stretched out her arm wrapped in flames.

Following her will, black whips danced and struck the ground.

Since her power seems intact, this place can’t be too far away…

Hmm, what could it be… Let’s start walking.

Alreina slowly walked away from the beach.

Beyond the beach, she was greeted by completely dried-up trees.

When she touched a branch, it crumbled to ash.

There must have been a major fire.

Alreina passed through the burned forest and crossed over a mountain.

Since all the trees had burned down, she could see far into the distance as she descended the slope.

What lay at the foot of the mountain was a ruined city.

The once-bustling city was now devoid of people, with empty buildings.

The river flowing beside the city had dried up, leaving only a parched riverbed.

As she entered the city through the tilted palisade and gate, something scurried away.

It was a quadrupedal black monster—the same kind of creature Alreina had used as soldiers in her legion.

Now she noticed red glowing eyes flickering in the shadowy alleys.

Emaciated monsters with exposed ribs were wandering around the city, drooling.

Some were digging the ground with their front paws, while others were gnawing on wooden pillars of buildings.

Some were carrying skeletal remains that had barely maintained their shape.

Suddenly, Alreina wondered if this might be the aftermath of her army sweeping across the continent.

Somehow, it seems I succeeded in the end.

As she continued walking through the streets, Alreina stopped.

A very familiar building caught her eye.

A modest two-story building.

Originally, there would have been flower pots on the windowsills and the door would have been wide open.

Now, all the windows were broken and the roof was half-collapsed—a desolate abandoned building.

Alreina knew this building all too well.

Although she had only seen it once, it was unforgettable.

It was the potion shop in the Starting Village.

So this is… the Starting Village…

Just as a monster was lurking near the shop, Alreina split it in half.

Passing by the dead monster’s corpse, she entered the shop.

The shop was in shambles.

All the shelves had collapsed, and broken glass shards covered the floor.

And bloodstains were splattered everywhere.

After looking at the shop’s devastation for a while, Alreina went up to the second floor via the creaking stairs.

On the second floor, where the collapsed roof revealed the sky, Alreina couldn’t find anything.

She only discovered a few torn and blood-soaked men’s clothes.

Alreina hesitated for a moment, unable to gather her thoughts.

Did the shop owner die? Wait. Wasn’t he already dead?

No, I think he wasn’t dead. How did it go again…

Maybe he evacuated to the north.

Her mind was too confused to think clearly.

So she decided to accept the last thing she remembered as fact.

The shop owner evacuated to the north.

Let’s go north. I don’t know how far my army has advanced northward.

So Alreina passed through the northern gate of the city and headed upward.

She passed through several cities, crossed uninhabited areas, climbed mountains, and traversed valleys, continuing northward.

But all Alreina found were ruins that had been mercilessly swept away.

After walking for a long time, Alreina stopped.

She had reached the Nambu Mountains—the edge of the map.

But she couldn’t find the shop owner anywhere.

Maybe he fled in a different direction, not north.

The continent is vast, after all.

Alreina came down from the Nambu Mountains and walked in another direction.

The purple night sky where the sun never rises.

The sound of the blood-red sea waves heard from everywhere.

A terribly silent world where she couldn’t meet anyone except the occasional monsters.

Alreina wandered through such a world for 7,000 years.

* * * * *

7,000 years later.

Alreina staggered and finally collapsed.

Kneeling down, Alreina couldn’t regain her senses due to extreme dizziness.

The black flames of corruption had already disappeared, and Alreina was now naked.

For 7,000 years, she had wandered every corner of the continent without missing a spot, but she couldn’t find the shop owner or any living thing.

Even the monsters that occasionally appeared had all died, and in the end, only Alreina remained in this vast continent.

Out of habit, Alreina felt around her body for the strategy guide.

But the strategy guide that had always been her support when she wavered was now gone.

Am I really… all alone?

Overwhelmed by unbearable loneliness, Alreina could barely breathe.

With her head bowed, Alreina thought:

In a world like this… I’d be better off killing myself…

“Alreina.”

At that moment, someone called her name.

When she looked up, a young female wizard was looking down at her.

“After rolling you around for 7,000 years, your venom has finally subsided a bit?”

“Who are you?”

“It’s me.”

“Who?”

“The one who will lead you to the shop owner.”

“How…? The shop owner is dead…?”

“Follow me and you’ll see.”

The female wizard smiled and extended her hand.

“Where are we going?”

“Starting Village.”

“That place is already gone. I saw it 7,000 years ago.”

“What you saw was fake.”

At the wizard’s words, Alreina looked around at the desolate world.

This world is fake? But it feels so real?

“This is the image of the world you destroyed according to plan. The result of a reckless failure caused by a vengeful heart with obscure origins. This is the outcome.”

To the silent Alreina, the female wizard extended her hand.

“Come on, Alreina. The shop owner is waiting for you.”

“The shop owner?”

Alreina absentmindedly grabbed the woman’s hand and stood up.

Led by the woman’s hand, Alreina walked endlessly to some place.

After passing hills and dried-up streams, a small village appeared.

Alreina recognized it as the Starting Village.

Wasn’t the Starting Village already destroyed?

Wait a minute… The place I saw before was too big to be a village.

That was the upgraded Starting City, and this is the Starting Village before the upgrade.

Does that mean there are two Starting Villages?

Well… let’s go see.

As they approached the village, the surroundings gradually brightened.

Surprisingly, the sun had risen in the sky that had been entirely purple until now.

At the same time, the barren landscape instantly turned into full color.

As they got closer to the village, the whole world seemed to return to normal.

At that moment, Alreina suddenly realized that the female wizard who had been guiding her had disappeared.

“Hey! Hey! Where are you!”

When she shouted, a villager turned to look at Alreina.

“Little one. Are you lost?”

Little one…?

Looking down at herself, Alreina realized that not only the world but also her body had returned to the past.

Small height, loose boots, big bag. It was exactly the outfit she had when she first started adventuring.

Then maybe the shop owner is here too…!

“Excuse me, is there a potion shop here?”

“A potion shop? Yes, there is. Go that way. But why would a child like you need a potion shop?”

After pondering that question for a moment, Alreina answered.

“I… I want to go on an adventure.”