“Lonis, summon my weapon.”
“Huh?”
“I told you to summon it, so summon it. Quit asking so many questions. Do you want me to discipline you?”
“Ugh…”
……
Lonis silently recited an incantation, and a gigantic crimson hammer appeared in Elucia’s hand.
The hammer looked like it weighed several hundred kilograms, but in Elucia’s hands, it was as light as a bamboo stick. She lifted it with ease.
A shadow swept past. Elucia’s figure returned to that of a girl, and she gripped the heavy hammer and swung it forward.
KABOOM!
The door sealed in ice and snow melted away.
The solid ice turned into a stream that trickled across the ground… and the sight left Lonis staring in shock.
“This is…”
“Heh heh. Now we can smash open every frozen door in the entire Snowrealm Kingdom. What do you think, Lonis? Is there anywhere you want to go?”
“Somewhere I want to go…”
“The quest hall or the palace lounge. Either one’s fine.”
“Ugh…”
Elucia’s words made Lonis’s heart jolt.
Back in her previous life, when she was the Hero, the quest hall had been the place she visited most often. Adventurers from every corner of the world gathered there, but most of them were only average. She was the only one who could complete S-rank quests.
So whenever she went to the quest hall, the other adventurers would look at her with envy and admiration. The receptionist at the front desk would often gaze at her with hearts in her eyes, too.
The palace lounge was much the same. Its huge floor-to-ceiling windows offered a view of the different plants in the palace garden throughout the year, so she’d loved resting there back then.
Royalty and nobles alike had treated her with awe. Noble young ladies would often cast flirtatious glances her way, too. It had been a life of comfort and privilege.
Nothing like now, when Elucia kept her as a slave maid, a pet doll, and a weapon rack all rolled into one!
(Huh… wait, Elucia?)
……
Lonis remembered how much effort she’d gone to just to meet that princess. She’d dressed as handsomely as she could, and had even waited in the lounge for an entire day and night just to catch a glimpse of the princess’s face.
But the princess seemed to be avoiding her. She never showed up.
From that day on, Lonis had resolved to save the world…
What was there to be so proud of? She was just a princess! Just you wait. I’ll save the world and become the king’s chosen husband for you. Then you’ll be my wife!
The idea was a little ridiculous, but it had still spurred Lonis onward back then.
And now…
If that princess had been Elucia all along…
Did that mean Lonis had somehow achieved her wish after all?
……
Lonis’s heart jolted. Elucia frowned and gave a cold snort.
“Hmph. Since you can’t make up your mind, I’ll decide for you.”
“Huh…”
“Come with me. Quit dawdling.”
……
……
Lonis never would’ve guessed that Elucia would take her to the very back of the palace.
Beyond Snowrealm Castle was a mountain. There used to be a platform at its peak, where you could gaze out over the vast, snowy land.
Now, though, row upon row of tombstones stood there in neat lines.
They were buried beneath the snow, seemingly forgotten on this mountaintop for a long, long time.
“Th-this is…”
Lonis looked around in shock. On the tombstones, she could make out many familiar names.
For instance, there was the receptionist from the Adventurers’ Guild. Her tombstone said she’d died at twenty-three. She’d had no combat ability, but had kept the guild’s affairs in perfect order. In five years on the job, she’d never made a single mistake.
Then there was an old general who’d left a deep impression on Lonis. He’d defended the kingdom for years, yet lived in a very plain house. He’d given the kingdom’s rewards and his own surplus wealth to people who’d fallen on hard times.
And of course, Lonis found the names of others on the tombstones, too: a bishop, noble young ladies, the king, and the queen.
(What… is going on?)
Lonis turned around and saw Elucia standing off to one side, her expression perfectly calm.
The black-haired girl hadn’t laid down any offerings or knelt to pay her respects. She simply stood there, quietly taking it all in, as if none of it had anything to do with her.
Did it really have nothing to do with her?
No…
Lonis sensed that although Elucia seemed calm, a great many memories must be stirring inside her.
Unlike Lonis, an outsider, Elucia had grown up in the palace. She’d lived under these people’s watchful eyes since she was a child.
So seeing that everyone was dead must have stirred up a lot of feelings for her, right?
……
The silver-haired girl opened her mouth, wanting to say something… but Elucia spoke first.
“Lonis, I know you have questions.”
“Huh?”
“But knowledge never comes without a price. If you want to know what happened in the past, you’ll have to give something in return.”
“Give something… in return?”
“That’s right. It’s the principle of ‘equivalent exchange.’ Miracles don’t happen for free…”
Elucia raised an eyebrow, a sly smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “And as a slave maid, the only thing you can do for me is let me play with you. For every question you ask, I get to toy with you once.”
“What?!”
Lonis trembled and protectively covered her chest, her face turning pale. “Toy with me… you mean…”
“Of course. I mean playing with your body, like a good little maid. And even if you refuse, I’ll still toy with you. This time, though, you’ll have to cooperate.”
“Elucia!”
Lonis flushed bright red. What was this supposed to mean? She’d been lost in sorrow, remembering her homeland, unable to let it go.
But now Elucia had turned her feelings into sheer embarrassment with just one sentence… Actively cooperating while Elucia toyed with her? That was way too humiliating.
No matter how far Elucia went, Lonis wouldn’t be allowed to resist. Even if she was mortified and ashamed beyond words, all she could do was thank Elucia for her “reward.”
But…
Lonis couldn’t simply turn her back on the past. She wanted to know about Elucia, yes, but she also missed the life she’d lived as the Hero.
Had those people really lived in this world?
Had everything she’d done as the Hero meant anything? Had it mattered?
What was the Underground World?
Why had Elucia become her companion?
……
So Lonis spoke up.
“All right. If I have to put up with you bullying me, then so be it… But, Elucia, don’t try to fool me. You have to tell me the truth.”
“Hmph. Since when does a maid get to set terms for her master?”
“Huh?”
“But since you’re such an idiot, I won’t bother lying to you. Ask whatever you want~~”
“Then…”
The silver-haired girl clenched her fists and took a deep breath. “The NPCs I met in the dream world—were they real people, or fictional characters? And what connection did they have to the people lying in these graves now?”
……
……
Lonis asked the question with determination.
