episode_0342

『Everything is according to His will.』

『Even with transcendence, mortals cannot defy it.』

Six doors each swallowed a person whole before vanishing. Yuri, Lulu, Nyx, Aspi, Tier, Eve. All were simultaneously dragged into a dimensional rift.

Nari suddenly felt the surrounding energy grow cold. She hadn’t noticed it when surrounded by people, but now that they were gone, it was an undeniably lonely and desolate place.

Such was the universe.

She bowed her head and trembled silently. Yog-Sothoth wouldn’t leave her in this state of shock.

『Know your limits.』

『Meet your end with the desperation befitting a mortal.』

Darkness approaches. A voice heavy with immense pressure began to crush against Nari’s skin. Blood rushed, and her body started to contort.

Taking a deep breath, she looked at the ether in her palm and smiled softly.

“You’re still alive.”

Faint threads of ether connected by mana resonance. The tremors emanating from the other end distinctly revealed each presence. Gentle, warm, alluring, firm, yet sometimes fragile, and possessing an unwavering, strong heart.

‘I’ll definitely get you back.’

Nari clenched her fist tightly and raised her sword.

*Whoosh—*

A brilliant white wave spread from her. She completely dispelled Yog-Sothoth’s magic and steadied herself.

『There is a suitable opponent for you.』

『O, Black Earth Goddess of Abundance,』

『A feast for your hungry offspring is here.』

*Screech—*

A black door appeared and slowly began to open. Once again, black tentacles emerged from within.

However, these were no ordinary tentacles. They were something like a black goat-like beast. It moved its seven cloven hooves, running across the abyss.

To fill its famished belly, it wielded black tentacles like hands, its greedily open maw dripping saliva.

*Meeeeeee—*

The starving beast’s cry assaulted Nari’s ears again. When she opened her eyes, she was surrounded by house-sized goats, or rather, masses of tentacles.

There was no light, only darkness. Darkness pervaded everywhere her gaze fell.

“Shub-Niggurath…”

Black tentacles sprouted from her melting body. The grotesque sight chilled her to the bone. The main body hadn’t revealed itself; only these young goats were visible.

Yet, the immense pressure weighed down on this ritual. What filled the surroundings wasn’t simply blackness and darkness, but defeat and death.

So Nari laughed.

“Just like always.”

She gathered the ether and powerfully dispersed it from the center of her body. A whiter, more intense wave than before pushed back the young goats.

The small motes of dispersed ether began to take on human form. They soon became spirit clones identical to Nari.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, numbers for numbers.

“Go.”

Hundreds of white clones, wielding shadowless swords, darted through space.

* * *

Amano Miya Yuri.

She doesn’t even know her own family name. Her parents never told her.

Far southeast of Liberty Port lies a distant island nation, the Yamato Empire. Despite being an Eastern empire, the ruling class’s behavior wasn’t much different from the West.

Amano Miya Satsuki, the second daughter entangled in a succession dispute, escaped to the Central Continent with her retainers, establishing a small country where they lived peacefully.

That country is Yuri’s homeland, the Hinata Duchy, and the late Queen Amano Miya Satsuki is Yuri’s great-grandmother.

As the bloodline diluted, so did the ambition for power. By Yuri’s mother’s generation, they desired a life just like ordinary people.

So, she met and married a common merchant, running a small inn and giving birth to Yuri.

Yuri’s hands were small but strong. Helping her mother from a young age, she became proficient at odd jobs despite lacking talent.

Laundry, cleaning, cooking – by the time she was eight, she could do everything to the standard of an adult.

Wearing a pristine apron over her worn clothes, her neatly arranged brown hair covered by a kerchief, she flitted around the inn, attending to the guests’ needs.

“Yuri! One bowl of noodles please~”

“Two beers here!”

“Yuri~”

The elderly who had worked in the fields. The young men who had gone hunting. Everyone loved Yuri without exception. Because she was a lovable child.

“Coming right away~”

She ran around the inn with a lovely smile, as she had done for more than half of her short life. She had good stamina and her work skills were comparable to an adult.

She spent the day productively. After meticulously cleaning the floors and tables of the first-floor dining room, finishing the overdue laundry and taking a bath, she quietly returned to her room and lay on the bed.

And she closed her eyes, as peacefully as the night before—

“…!!”

—She gasped again.

Yuri immediately jumped up and looked out the window. The dark night sky, the street in front of the inn where lights were gradually going out. It was exactly the same as the slightly hazy memories of the distant past.

And, her face clearly reflected in the window. Due to her stunted growth, it was almost identical to her current appearance. Only slightly younger.

“Your… Highness…”

Yuri’s gaze returned to the room. A small bed, a small wardrobe, a small table and a small chair. Everything matched her memories.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind: Eve’s story of dying alone, then returning as a child.

“I… died…?”

Her entire body went limp. Wearing the softest pajamas she owned, she collapsed onto the floor.

“H… huhu…”

It was time to sleep. She was so tired from a full day’s work that she could fall asleep immediately. Yuri buried her face in the blanket for a moment, sobbing, then fell fast asleep.

.

.

.

That day, Yuri slept in for the first time in her life.

Her parents weren’t the kind of harsh people who would nag a child under ten for not being able to help. They left Yuri sleeping soundly and began their day’s work.

Yuri didn’t wake up until the sun was high in the sky. Then, in her pajamas, she rushed to the first floor, and seeing the warm faces from her memories, burst into tears again.

“Mo… Mother…”

“Yu, Yuri…? Why are you suddenly…”

“Waaaaaaaaah…”

Her fluffy hair sticking out, she cried in her parents’ arms. For a nine-year-old, it was perhaps a very natural reaction.

The guests, seeing the sight of a perfectly ordinary child for the first time, smiled wryly, tidied up their own things, and left.

Yuri inadvertently gave her parents their first day off.

Just one day. Only that day passed warm and tenderly. They went shopping leisurely, ate delicious food together, and slept in the same bed that night.

Then, the next day, Yuri was back to her old self.

‘How… much did they grieve.’

She imagined the Princess’ death. Yuri felt as if her heart would stop instantly. Her breath hitched, and her body became stiff.

“Haah… haaa…”

Leaning on the wall for support, she clenched her fists.

‘She must still be there… Until then, until I meet her again…’

*Whoosh-*

A blue mana swirled around her fist. The body training, mana breathing techniques, martial arts, magic – everything she learned in her past life was still vividly in her mind.

‘I absolutely… need the strength to never fail again.’

Her training began.

.

.

.

“Yuri! Two beers here~”

“Coming right away!”

*Thump-thump-thump-*

The two young men ordering beers felt a heavier sound than usual. Yuri’s footsteps seemed twice as heavy.

“Yuri…?”

“Oh, heh-he- Sorry, was I too noisy? It seems I’ve put on some weight.”

“Didn’t you eat too much yesterday? It’s good to take a break, but everything in moderation.”

“Thank you for the advice!”

*Clang-clank-clank-*

Returning after serving the beer, Yuri hid behind a wall and quietly lifted her apron. Large sandbags were tied to her thin ankles.

“I can’t… I need to train more, to make no sound at all…!”

She was told she looked thinner again the following week.

“Yuri, the laundry’s all done—”

“I finished it!”

“O… oh, right. You’re faster than before after a day off?”

“Heh-heh, thank you. I’ll work even harder after my rest!”

Yuri stood with her hands behind her back, leaving the laundry room. She gathered the water mana with the hands hidden behind her.

“Hup-”

*Tat-tat-tat-*

She ran down the inn corridor, carrying the house like a mountain on her head.

“Hoo…”

*Whoosh-*

She practiced her mana breathing techniques whenever she got a chance. It wasn’t difficult since she had a natural aptitude for mana.

She perhaps worked harder than in her previous life as an adult. There was only one reason.

Because, before long, the Carcen Marquis’ soldiers, disguised as the Empire’s army, would turn the Hinata Duchy into a wasteland.

She couldn’t repeat the same mistakes. If Yuri was born without anything, her one talent was tireless effort.

Acceptable failure allows for repeated attempts to achieve success. That was Yuri’s method.

There may not be a third try. This time she absolutely could not fail.

One day while she was building up her strength, the Carcen Marquis’ soldiers started their invasion earlier than expected. Yuri quickly swallowed her surprise and strapped a dagger sheath to her thighs.

‘Did the future change…?!’

Leaving her panicked parents behind, she climbed onto the roof. She couldn’t lose them again.

“Yuri, Yuri!!”

“Where are you… please answer!!”

She gritted her teeth and ran toward the battle. There was no other way. Maybe she had returned to the past to save them, she thought.

‘I’m sorry…!’

*Bang—*

She spotted the soldiers and quickly hid behind a wall. She drew a dagger, wrapped it in mana, and prepared to dash out in an instant.

Then it happened.

“—?!”

A huge ball of flame flew from afar and fell directly onto the Carcen Marquis’ army.

*Boom—*

Seeing the soaring flames, Yuri felt a sense of déjà vu. Not a single spell but a chain explosion of fire, woven like knitting using multiple spells.

Then, she saw an inexperienced-looking mage descending from the sky. Under a large black wizard’s hat, a great mage with fiery red hair smiled.

“…As expected. You did, too, Yuri.”

“Lulu… Teacher…?”

The address, ‘Teacher’, came out automatically. Their appearance matched the memories of the past.

There was a crowd of soldiers barely escaping the explosion. Yuri was about to run out again when she paused.

Black mist began to rise from across the battlefield.

“Ehehe… Ehehehehehehe!”

Mist, shadows, and sharp fingers. Soldiers were all turned into bloody lumps, their lives hanging by a thread.

“I am the Great Spirit who’s returned!!”

An appearance and voice that instinctively made her facepalm were right before Yuri.