episode_0003

As I walked down the hallway, the shadows of the three people shook roughly.

The oil lamp was different from modern fluorescent lights or LEDs in that it was a lamp with a real flame burning inside. The flame itself always flickered unstably, so it was natural for the shadows to shake a little.

But now, they were shaking much more violently than when I walked past earlier.

My hand holding the lamp was trembling, causing the shadows to shake even more.

“Huh? What’s wrong with you? Did you eat something bad?” Grandpa asked. He didn’t seem particularly worried, more intrigued than anything.

I had always maintained a blank expression in front of Grandpa. Most kids were scared of him, but at least I could hide my emotions in front of him.

It wasn’t because I had any special talent. If that were the case, I wouldn’t be trembling like this now.

There was a time in my childhood when I dreamed of becoming a voice actor. I had my own—

…No, no.

Now is not the time to talk about that.

I need to think about how to handle the current situation.

There were no wounds on my body. I didn’t feel any pain. So there was no evidence that I had been hit by that thing.

But the pain at that moment was so vivid that it was hard to believe it was just a dream or my imagination.

The sensation of falling face-first on the carriage floor. The eerie sound of something breaking in my mouth. Something hard and small moving around in my mouth, the taste of metal, and my vision blurring—

Thud.

Grandpa hit my leg with his cane, causing me to stagger for a moment.

“You useless thing. Can’t you hold a simple lamp straight? If the light shakes, it hurts the eyes. Do you want to take responsibility if my eyesight gets worse here?”

Grandpa’s eyesight was not something that could be called good. He could see a kid misbehaving at the end of the room and immediately run over to hit them with his cane.

But I tried my best to hold it straight.

I felt cold sweat running down my spine.

I didn’t want to be hit anymore.

When was the last time I had been hit by something? It had been over ten years just counting the years. Especially as an adult, unless you get into a fight with someone, there’s no reason to get hit. And if you’re the type to throw the first punch, you can’t function properly in society.

I didn’t feel the pain right now, but…

If this continues.

“Unnie?”

I was startled by Claire calling me.

When I turned my gaze, Claire was looking at me with a worried expression.

…Right. I was sold to Claire. And I got hit. I don’t know the exact reason, but maybe the person trying to buy me had that taste in mind while making me like that.

I thought I should have just stood still when the same situation repeated. If the person waiting outside was the same person, the same thing would have happened again.

…And.

And if I didn’t experience that, then… the one who would experience it would be Claire.

What should I do? How can we both get out of this situation?

My head was spinning fiercely, but no matter how much I thought, I couldn’t think of anything a five-year-old could do.

“What are you muttering about? Look straight ahead and walk. The person is waiting for you.”

With just a few words exchanged, or more accurately, just Claire calling me, Grandpa got annoyed and tapped my leg with his cane.

“….”

With a child being mercilessly beaten with a stick in front of us, we could do nothing but stay silent. Even I, who had already been exposed to brutal violence before, felt even more terrified.

I just hoped that the person waiting in front of us wasn’t the same person I had seen before.

And then,

“Go on, greet him.”

The old man said.

Looking up, the man in front of us was wearing a nice coat and a silk hat. He had a monocle over his eye, and his nose was covered with a thick mustache.

“Ah….”

Seeing my despairing expression, the man responded as if intrigued.

And then, everything unfolded exactly as I remembered.

*

“….”

I wake up hunched over again.

I was back a few minutes ago.

“Unnie?”

Claire called out to me.

I opened my eyes at her words. There were no wounds on my arms, and there was nothing rolling around in my mouth. I didn’t feel the metallic bitterness, and my vision was clear.

I was back to before we met that man.

Frantically checking my body again, Claire looked at me strangely.

Looking around, the children were watching me.

I….

So, did I turn back time?

Or did the being above, who might have sent me to this world, turn back time for me?

I racked my brain, trying to recall the world-building setting from the game I had played.

There is a god in this world. But whether that god is a sentient being or not is unknown.

The setting of the god that appeared in the series so far has been the same. Players speculated that the god might be the same person. The setting created a kind of coercion as if it were the will of the world itself, and some players criticized it as a convenient setting to make the story progress smoothly.

Is this also one of those convenient settings?

Can a god turn back time? If so, what criteria are they using to turn back time?

Could I have turned back time before getting hit? Maybe I need to be in danger of dying to turn back time? No, it wasn’t a risk of death. It hurt terribly, and I felt like I was going to die, but the man didn’t intend to kill me. He bought me as a commodity, and if I got completely damaged during processing, it wouldn’t be good.

Then, could it be… my ability?

“Claire!”

And now, a familiar, unpleasant voice that was starting to become more familiar was heard.

“Someone has come to take you! Come out happily!”

Once again, the situation was repeating itself.

*

I still don’t know exactly about my ability. I can’t use it freely. Is there a limit to the number of times I can use it, or is there a maximum amount I can use at once?

How did I end up having such an absurd ability, and if there is someone who gave me this ability, what on earth are they thinking—

—I didn’t have the luxury to think about such things.

Being hit is scary. I’m not someone who is used to pain. I’m the kind of person who cries all day if a book gets a fold on the page and throws a fit if a vase falls, lying down and making a fuss.

But even so.

Even so, there were plenty of opportunities.

I confirmed it once again.

I could turn back time.

This time, I could turn back the moment I saw the man’s face.

“Unnie…?

I opened my eyes at the voice I had heard several times already. There were no wounds on my body. I was still in good health.

And only then did I vaguely feel like I knew what my criteria were for turning back time.

Intense emotions. Or desperation.

If I regret my choice and my emotions crumble, I inevitably return to this point.

I don’t know why this is the point, or if I can change the point. I didn’t have the luxury to think about such things.

“Claire!”

And once again.

“Someone has come to take you! Come out happily!”

Time repeated itself.

*

Even if you experience the same thing three times, it’s difficult to adapt. Well, even if you just take on a regular office job, you probably won’t fully adapt and will make mistakes in the first month. But right now, I was going through the life or death… more accurately, the life or ruin of my life.

Suffering to that extent doesn’t turn into resistance. No, in the first place, a five-year-old child’s body is not strong enough to withstand an adult man’s punch.

But still, I fiercely shook my head.

What should I do?

How can we both get through this terrible situation without experiencing it?

It didn’t seem like it would be useful to tell a man that we were useless. In the first place, things like personality were not necessary in a man’s standards. I was thinking of ‘processing’ in a man’s own way.

Claire killing a nobleman and setting fire to the palace was a much later event. If Claire were to take my place here, I might be fine, but Claire would suffer for years.

In that case, it’s better for me, who has a chance, to stop it.

Let’s not think about the limit… Let’s just pretend it doesn’t exist. Even if it does, it’s meaningless because I don’t know.

What should I do, I thought, and then I remembered that there was an oil lamp in my hand.

Something I could ‘use’ right away.

“Is this the one?”

The man is coming towards me.

I didn’t have time to think.

I threw the lamp with all my might towards the man.

“No…!?”

The old man next to me shouted loudly, and the woman behind the man screamed in surprise.

I don’t know what Claire said.

The lamp thrown with all the strength of a five-year-old child—

—did not set the man on fire.

Crack!

Before the lamp could touch the man’s body, he struck the lamp with the staff he was holding.

The lamp broke in midair, oil spilled, and a fire started, but that was it.

“….”

The man looked at me without changing his expression.

“Oh, shit.”

*

“Unnie…?”

I came back again.

Fortunately, I was able to turn back time before the man could do anything. It felt like as the number of times increased, my skills also increased.

There are no special conditions for turning back time. If I strongly wish for it, I just go back.

I still don’t know how to turn back the point further than now. Even if there is a way, it probably won’t be useful right now.

“It’s okay.”

I reassured Claire.

I still had a chance.

In fact, as time passed, I was the one who became more advantageous.

*

This time, I threw the lamp again.

But this time, I didn’t throw it towards the man.

I threw it towards the old man next to me.

Fortunately, Claire was next to me rather than the old man, so there was no flipping over of the burning oil.

“Screaaam!”

The old man, engulfed in flames, screamed and jumped around like crazy. The fire that had initially only caught his legs gradually rose up, engulfing his upper body as time passed.

The flames soared so high that his face was not visible.

The problem was, I had never done such a thing to a person before.

No matter how much of a trash someone is for selling young kids to the market, they still look like a human on the outside. Even if you think about hitting someone you dislike, your hands tremble, but this was a whole different story.

As I stared at Claire next to me, frozen in the same way—

I felt someone put their hand on my shoulder.

“Ah….”

I was pulled back roughly by the hand—

*

—Again.

Let’s make sure the man doesn’t even think about coming in.

You can’t scare the man. Setting a fire in front of a man won’t make him flinch.

In that case, I might as well.

“Claire—”

I waited for the man to come.

“There’s someone who wants to take you—”

And if you follow. The man grumbles, Claire smiles at me.

“Well, it’s a good thing I came out. Come in here with me.”

And I accepted the lamp.

And as soon as I accepted it,

I smashed the lamp on the floor near the entrance leading to the hallway.

“You…!”

Since I smashed it towards the entrance, a few drops of oil splattered inside, but fortunately, it didn’t catch fire.

“What are you doing right now—”

But the man’s words didn’t finish properly.

I grabbed the man’s coat collar as he awkwardly raised his cane forward,

and with all my strength, I turned my body.

Even if the man was strong for his age, with his upper body bent forward, a little force would make his balance crumble.

“You crazy woman…!”

The man’s eyes widened as he fell to the ground, still holding the cane up with both hands, turning towards the burning pit on the ground.