The sudden arrival of the Imperial Magic Corps startled everyone, though the imperial soldiers themselves seemed even more shocked.

When they saw the princess safe and sound, they could hardly believe their eyes. They had marched into the Forest of Death under a secret order from the emperor himself, only to find that someone had already rescued her before they could even make a move.

They retrieved Xiejit’s body, then learned that the one who’d defeated him was a girl named Lunorette. Respect naturally showed on their faces.

“On behalf of His Majesty the Emperor, I offer you our thanks. Thank you for rescuing Her Highness Wensidia. The Empire will reward you handsomely, Miss Orphis.”

The squad captain expressed his gratitude with full formality, but the girl couldn’t feel happy at all. Just ten minutes ago, she had killed someone. She didn’t think that was anything worth celebrating.

“To thank Rockefeller Academy for your assistance, we’ll escort you all out of this forest.”

The captain was very polite and suggested sending them back. No one objected. Compared to walking, everyone would much rather take a carriage.

“You really are outstanding among the younger generation. I’m sure your family will be proud of you, Miss Orphis. The merit of saving the princess is yours alone.”

The captain kept praising her, but Moyu herself still didn’t feel happy in the slightest.

Theos watched quietly from behind as the captain showed the girl such respect. He unconsciously clenched his hands, hiding his expression.

Sure enough, it was frustrating.

On this mission, Theos was stuck as eternal number two again. First place was never his. He really wanted to know why that girl was that good.

That unwillingness buried deep in his heart was something only he knew.

No one noticed anything off about Theos. Wensidia walked over to the soot‑covered Moyu, wanting to say something.

“Um, Lunorette, if you don’t mind… would you ride in the same carriage with me…?”

“Sorry, Wensidia‑senpai. I’d like to go back alone.”

Rejecting Wensidia’s offer, Moyu Manatsu answered wearily.

“I see…”

Disappointment was plain on Wensidia’s face, but Moyu didn’t pay it any mind now. She held her injured stomach and walked out of Wensidia’s sight, not noticing her expression.

She’d done her best. She’d fought properly in Lunorette’s place. That should be enough, right?

Even now, she still didn’t really understand why she’d turned back halfway, gone back to the battlefield on purpose. She could’ve chosen to run.

Maybe it was so she wouldn’t regret it later. The girl made up a reason for herself.

“You did amazing, Lunorette. I knew you could pull it off.”

Saria wore her usual smile, her face full of pride. She was truly happy about how her friend had performed.

“Congratulations, Lunorette.”

Iril also came over to congratulate her.

“Thanks.”

Moyu forced a smile, trying her best to look like Lunorette.

Just then, a hand settled on her shoulder. Moyu turned, and Caina’s face filled her vision.

“Let’s share a carriage, Luno‑chan.”

She bit down extra hard on the last words, clearly emphasizing them on purpose. Moyu had no idea what Caina was plotting and didn’t dare refuse.

“You two are really close, huh.”

Saria sighed emotionally.

Caina only smiled and said nothing.

Moyu Manatsu quietly put some distance between them. She didn’t want to join this little group’s conversation—especially now that Caina knew her true identity. She didn’t dare get too close to Caina at all.

She took a pendant out of her pocket. She’d secretly taken it from Xiejit’s body. There was a photo inside, probably his daughter. Moyu didn’t even know why—on some impulse, she’d just taken it.

Xiejit’s corpse would definitely be disposed of by the Empire, and this keepsake of his would probably be destroyed too. The girl didn’t want that. She sneaked it out instead, thinking maybe it would be useful someday.

After tucking the pendant back into her pocket, the girl finally felt a weight lifted off her shoulders. So much had happened in the last two days, but this experience was one of the most important entries in her life.

“I just wanna go home and play games.”

Even after all that adventure, what she cared about was still online games. She just wanted to go home, sleep, and then wake up and keep gaming. If she could, she truly never wanted to come back to this world again. Before, it hadn’t felt like much—but now that she’d seen how complicated this world was, she just wanted to return to the online one.

Dusk fell. After two days in that forest, they finally left it. The imperial carriages started moving, hooves thudding against the earth as they headed out of the forest. With imperial troops guarding them, they had no need to worry about monster attacks.

Inside the carriage, Moyu sat across from Caina, not sure what to say. After all, the other girl knew who she really was.

“Um…”

She wanted to say something, but no words seemed right. Her fingers interlocked nervously.

“Thank you.”

“Eh?”

“You did a lot of bad things, yeah… But in the end, you really did rescue the princess. You fought in Luno‑chan’s place. Whether as her friend or as just an ordinary girl, I wanted to say thank you.”

The hostility from a few hours ago was nowhere to be seen on her face. Her words were no longer sharp.

Faced with that sudden change, Moyu Manatsu didn’t know how to respond.

“Can I ask you something? Why did you fight so hard?”

“You’re asking why I… I…”

“Because this whole thing had nothing to do with you, right? So why did you come back? You could’ve just run.”

“…I don’t know either. I just felt like… if I ran away, I’d definitely regret it.”

That was the answer Moyu managed to give. Honestly, it barely counted as one, but she had no other answer.

Back then, she could’ve chosen to run. In that chaos, no one would’ve blamed her for escaping. But in the end, she didn’t. Maybe she’d thought it would affect Lunorette’s reputation. Maybe.

“Why’re you looking at me like that? Do I look that weird?”

Being stared at like that made Moyu uncomfortable.

“I was just thinking… maybe I misunderstood you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe you’re not as awful as I thought.”

Looking at this face she saw every day, but wearing expressions she wasn’t used to, Caina felt a little ripple in her chest.

At first, she’d thought this person was some criminal who’d stolen her friend’s body. But now it didn’t seem that simple. If the other girl really had stolen Luno’s body on purpose, why would she come back? Why fight so desperately? Why keep attacking even after taking such serious injuries?

If she’d done it all on purpose, she wouldn’t have tried that hard.

That was what Caina thought.

“What’s your relationship with Luno‑chan?”

Caina asked.

Moyu was at a loss for words for a moment. Seeing how serious Caina looked, and realizing there was no longer any point in hiding her secret, she finally sighed and told her everything. Including how she and Lunorette had swapped bodies.

Caina listened intently, occasionally letting out little exclamations. Curiosity shone plainly in her eyes.

“So that’s how it is. You and Luno‑chan swapped bodies… No wonder she felt kinda off for a while.”

Caina rested her chin on one hand, thinking.

“So the one who sometimes woke up and couldn’t even dress herself… that was actually you?”

“If you have to put it that way, you’re not wrong… but could you be a little more tactful…?”

“The one who got chased around the entire academy by Sivrena—that was you too?”

“Yeah… that was me…”

“The one Theos beat in combat practice was you?”

“Yeah.”

“The one who caused that gunpowder explosion during experiments was you too?”

“Can you stop dragging out my black history already?!”

Caina studied her for quite a while before finally accepting that there had been a stretch of time where she’d actually been hanging out with this girl. The other party was impressive in her own way, hiding it so well. If Caina hadn’t been careful enough, she might never have noticed.

“So that’s how it was. I really did blame you wrongly. Sorry.”

“It’s really not that big a deal.”

“I want to apologize for what I said to you before. I’m sorry. I lashed out without understanding the situation. That was my fault.”

“Hey, why’re you bowing? Don’t make it so formal!”

“No. I have to apologize. If I did something wrong, I should say I’m sorry.”

“You really don’t have to… And besides… you weren’t wrong. I did do something I shouldn’t have done.”

Moyu’s face dimmed a little, as if she’d remembered what she did yesterday.

Caina quickly figured out what she meant. So this girl really did feel guilty about what she’d done. Maybe she wasn’t bad at heart.

“Then go apologize properly.”

Caina smiled.

The girl looked up at her, her eyes full of emotions she couldn’t name.

“It’s okay. I’ll be there with you. Owning up to your mistakes isn’t anything shameful.”

Her expression shifted back to that familiar noble‑lady smile from before, and Moyu felt a strange sense of comfort.

It was almost unbelievable that they’d made up like this.

“Yeah.”

But this wasn’t bad at all.

The carriage rolled on, out of the forest and toward the academy. It wouldn’t be long before they were back.

“By the way, I still don’t know your name. Let’s do this properly. I’m Caina Sodarana.”

Caina gave her a gentle smile, showing the sincerest feelings she had for this girl from another world.

The girl stared blankly for a few seconds, her cheeks turning slightly red. Something welled up inside her, something she couldn’t put into words—probably happiness.

“I’m Moyu Manatsu.”

It was the first time she’d spoken her real name to someone in this world. Until now, she’d always used Lunorette’s.

“That’s a lovely name.”

“Thanks.”

“Can we be friends?”

“Eh?”

The sudden question startled her. Moyu thought she’d misheard.

“Can I ask… why do you want to be my friend?”

“Mm, that… Because I think you’re a pretty good person~”

“There’s a flag for that too now?”

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing.”

“So that means you agree, right?”

At this point, there was nothing else to say. Moyu only nodded, keeping the rest to herself.

Aside from Yuki and Lunorette, Moyu Manatsu had gained one more friend.

“Little Moyu-chan.”

“Why are you calling me by a nickname?”

“Because it’s super cute~”

“Please use something else.”

Night fell. The moon hanging in the sky was beautiful, shining with its own charm amid the glittering sea of stars.

Her adventure in the other world had come to an end.