"...."
"....."
".....Yu.....yumi...."
"...Yu...mi....yo.....?"
The faint voice of a young girl echoed, quiet, fragmented, as though it were dissolving into the void.
"....."
"...."
In response to that call, there was only a boundless silence—still, as if time and space, in that very moment, had been frozen beneath a layer of eternal ice.
The girl drifted in a haze, her mind clouded, empty.
Empty, like the very space that was cradling her.
She could not perceive, could not think.
All she knew was that, in the dimness of her sight, there was only a darkness, pitch-black, vast beyond measure.
That emptiness, that desolation, wrapped around her, slowly pulling her down into an endless dream.
"But… why is it so dark?"
The maiden, with what little consciousness remained, quietly wondered.
.....
The morning sun gently pierced through the silver-gray clouds, lighting up the cerulean sky and casting its glow upon the world after a frigid night.
Its light was soft, weaving itself into the glittering snow that blanketed the frost-laden branches, resting gently on the sparse leaves of the withered forest, casting shadows across the snowy stone-covered ground. Then, with a playful glint, the sunlight slipped through every crevice, illuminating even the darkest corners.
And then, that tender sunshine brushed across the fair face of the emeral-haired maiden. Not only that, it even toyed with the silky lashes on her half-closed eyes.
That playful teasing made her brow twitch slightly.
"Mm… mmu…." The girl murmured, a hint of displeasure in her sleepy tone, like one who was annoyed at being roused too soon.
She shifted slightly, trying to dodge the sunlight, curling up once more to continue her slumber.
One second… two seconds…
Wait—
Suddenly, the girl seemed to sense something amiss. She slowly opened her eyes, but immediately squinted at the dazzling brightness.
It took a moment of composure before she rubbed her dazzled eyes, then gently lifted her lids.
What met her gaze was a coarse stone wall, the soft sunlight casting over it, gliding across the naturally worn layers of sediment.
And she, at this very moment, was lying on some thin, fragile surface, a feeling of slight grit and prickle beneath her, occasionally sending tingles up her back.
Kyouno blinked blankly. For a fleeting second, confusion clouded her mind.
And then, in the very next moment, vague fragments of memory came rushing in like a flood.
"!!!"
Kyouno jolted upright, springing to a seated position in alarm.
Her eyes flew open, wide with shock as she stared around at her surroundings.At this moment, all around her were nothing but cold stone walls, cracked and scarred by natural fissures.
It was a cave!
"What... what's going on?!" Kyouno trembled as she muttered to herself.
Just a minute ago; yes, just a minute ago, hadn't she still been sitting under the bridge, chatting with Yumiyo?
Then why... why was she now here, in this cold, lonely cave?!
Wait… wait a minute… she remembered!
Before she met Yumiyo, before she arrived in that modern world, wasn't she fighting a Master-Tier Beast—Gravelmaw?!
"Yes… that's right. I defeated it, and then…"
And then she collapsed, drained completely of strength.
At that time, Kyouno had thought it was the end, she would die from sheer exhaustion.
But then, she'd found herself in that modern world, she'd met Yumiyo, and a string of strange events had unfolded ever since.
Could it be… all of that… was just some absurd dream?!
Was she only now waking from that illusion?
But hold on… how was she still alive?
With the wounds she'd taken, and her body utterly depleted, she should've died, shouldn't she?!
Kyouno gripped her head, tugging at her hair, her mind spinning, an avalanche of questions swirling through her brain. So many, in fact, that her thoughts were on the verge of overheating, like her skull was about to release steam.
Utterly drained, she let her arms fall limp behind her, her body slumping down.
And then, her hand touched… hmm..... Something… soft?
Kyouno blinked in confusion and glanced behind her, only to see—
A heap of fruit. All kinds of wild berries and foraged fruits scattered across the stone floor.
Well, not exactly on the stone floor, beneath the pile, there was a layer of dry leaves, like a makeshift platter.
The girl stared, stunned. She suddenly recalled the rustling sensation she felt while lying down. She looked down, and now realized that beneath her lay a bed of dry leaves, crudely assembled, shielding her from the cold and filth of the stone ground.
"This is…" she murmured, stunned.
She gently peeled back the worst of her battle wounds.On those torn, battered spots, layers of bandages had been carefully wrapped, tight and firm, hardened as though they'd been applied long ago.
All of this, the food, the place to rest, the treated wounds...
Someone… had taken care of her?!
But who could that be?
Back during the battle, aside from her and the snow wolf, there was no one else around, right?
Don't tell that… it was the snow wolf that looked after her?!
"No. No way," Kyouno immediately shook her head, chasing off the ridiculous idea.
Sure, maybe a wolf could drag over some food or scatter leaves into a makeshift bed. But these bandages? How could it manage that? It's just an animal!
Besides, it wasn't just the bandaging, Kyouno could also feel that her body had almost recovered.
If it had only been bandaged, with the severity of her injuries, there was no way she would have healed so quickly.
"It's… Light Magic," Kyouno murmured.
To rapidly heal a person's wounds, there were only two kinds of magic that could do so: Wood-element magic, which restored vitality and accelerated natural healing;
Or Light Magic, also known as Holy Magic, capable of miraculously healing injuries, though it couldn't restore stamina.
Right now, even though her body had improved, Kyouno could still feel her strength was far from fully restored.
But her wounds?
They had all but vanished, the bandages were practically unnecessary.
So that means…the one who saved her, was a Light-Magic mage?!
But then… just who was it?
While pondering, Kyouno once again cast her gaze around the cave.
The place was dusty and cold, its rocky walls covered in moss and tangled cobwebs. Clearly, there wasn't the slightest trace of human presence here. Which meant, whoever had saved her, whoever they were, had long since gone.
"Haizz..." Kyouno let out a long, slow breath, trying to exhale the mountain of tangled thoughts in her mind.
Even though she still didn't know who had rescued her, at least the question of why she was still alive had finally been answered.
But… there was still one big question that remained—
"...Yumiyo..."
That frail little girl, so thin and sorrowful. Their stroll through the modern world. Those quiet, gentle conversations...
Could it all really have just been a long, elaborate dream?
But how could it be?
If it were only a dream, why did it all feel so real?
The strange things in that world, how could it only be merely figments of her imagination?
She didn't even have a vivid imagination in the first place!
How could it be…
The sorrowful, forlorn look in that little girl's eyes; the soft, quiet words she spoke; the tears she shed, both of joy and sadness—
Could all of that truly have been just an illusion…?
Kyouno sat in silence.
A quiet sense of . . . disappointment welled up in her chest.
But then, suddenly—
She felt something… rigid, pressing against her waist?
"Wait… could it be...?"
Kyouno hastily reached into the side pocket sewn into her coat.A single thought had emerged in her mind.
And then, as her fingers closed around the object inside and she drew it out—
Her heart skipped a beat.
Resting in her palm now…
Was a dainty, soft-pink hair clip—its design simple yet unbroken, unpolished but clearly well-kept and cherished.
It was the hair clip Yumiyo had given her.
Kyouno froze, her breath quickening.
Everything she had seen—
The modern city.
Those strange vehicles.
And… Yumiyo.
It was all real.
A surge of emotion flooded the girl's heart, so much that she couldn't quite process it all.
But within her, a feeling stirred.
A trace of joy.
A quiet sense of relief.
So everything she had experienced… had truly happened.
That sweet little girl who talked with her—
Her little friend—
She was real.
In that moment, a gentle wave of happiness flowed into the young girl's heart. And at the corner of her lips, a quiet, contented smile began to form.
....