The crowd suddenly began to stir. Through the gaps between people, Leticia caught sight of a brilliant light. It didn’t hurt her eyes; instead, it carried an immense, sacred presence. Just looking at it eased the pain on her lips a little.

What was that?

She stared in astonishment, hardly able to believe it, and raised her head to get a better look.

But her height was a chasm she couldn’t possibly leap across, and there were just too many people gathered in front of her...

Still, the faint smell of burning and the crackle of the flames both made it clear: a fire had started.

“How does that work?”

Leticia was secretly taken aback. “Had they already lit the firewood just now?”

No, that couldn’t be right. She hadn’t heard the crackling of burning wood, or smelled a fire starting...

Besides, that still didn’t explain how the brilliant light had suddenly appeared...

At this point, we need to pause and explain Leticia’s background.

That’s right. She wasn’t a native of this place, or even a part of this world. It all began two months ago.

Once upon a time, he’d been a fine young man: ambitious and hardworking (he hated studying), cheerful and outgoing (a shut-in otaku), always ready to help (by doing all sorts of pointless things), and full of imagination (a total chuunibyou).

He had an ordinary name, an ordinary family, and an ordinary life. Up until he turned twenty, things hadn’t always gone smoothly, but there’d never been any major setbacks. He’d never even been hospitalized or seriously ill.

This was the kind of guy the world had apparently destined for an “ordinary” life. Then, on his twentieth birthday, something extraordinary happened. Well... when he thought about it, it was actually pretty ordinary.

He died. That was it.

After all, death’s just another part of the cycle of life, aging, sickness, and death. Totally normal~

There was no accident, nothing strange about it. He wasn’t hit by a car or struck by lightning. He didn’t fall from a windowsill or slip into a river.

He simply died of old age.

Yeah. Dying of old age at twenty, in the prime of his youth. You really couldn’t make this stuff up.

He didn’t know that, though.

As far as he could remember, he’d simply gone to sleep and woken up in a strange place.

And he’d become a girl.

As a normal person with a normal mind and a logical way of thinking, she could subtly glean information from the people around her. And whenever her own words or actions seemed strange, she could cover for them with a reasonable excuse.

She’d thought that two months would be enough for her—Leticia—to gradually get used to this world, which looked like the Western Middle Ages.

But today, she realized that her understanding of it was still far, far too shallow.

“Is this how The Church displays its power? Magic? Or divine arts?”

Her thoughts raced. Leticia blinked. “Ugh, no matter how logically I think about it, I can’t make sense of any of this. Not just this fire that suddenly burst into flames, but witches, too... They’re not supposed to exist in a normal world, are they?”

Though she knew the Middle Ages back in her world had been pretty chaotic too.

“Heh heh heh... Hahahahahaha!”

The Witch’s laughter pulled her out of her thoughts. “So this is your so-called holy fire? Hahaha! It’s completely useless!”

“Enough, demon!”

Pastor Marshall’s voice was hostile. Leticia could practically picture the old man glaring, his whiskers bristling. “May you turn to dust beneath the power of the Lord!”

“Dust? Dust? Hahaha... Hahahahaha...”

The Witch’s voice gradually weakened. Leticia knew that no matter how fiercely she spoke, she only had this one life. “You fools! How could I possibly die?!”

Her voice suddenly turned shrill, as if it were tearing through everyone’s eardrums. Almost everyone clapped their hands over their ears, unwilling to listen to her hysterical words.

But her voice still wormed its way into their ears like a demonic chant, like the deepest and most vicious curse.

“I won’t die! I’ll sleep in the darkness, and one day, I will awaken!”

Her mad laughter was finally swallowed by the flames.

...

The people began to leave.

They had witnessed a Witch’s final madness and her end. As they watched the ashes in the flames, they felt as though something had filled their hearts, leaving them strangely satisfied.

As the crowd dispersed, Leticia saw the smiles on their faces.

A chill ran through her.

“Uncle, shall we go back too?”

Supporting her uncle, John, Leticia asked with some effort.

She was still so little. At just ten years old, managing to support more than half an adult man’s weight through an entire burning and watch it to the end was already impressive.

Even if that adult man was very thin.

“Mm. I’ve put you through a lot, Leticia...”

Uncle John had returned to his usual self by now: quiet, but kind and gentle. He patted Leticia on the head and said apologetically, “I made you bring a man like me here, and then you had to hear the foul things that demon said before she died.”

“It’s okay. As long as the Lord is in our hearts, even if a demon stood right in front of us, it wouldn’t affect us at all. Right?”

Leticia smiled as she spoke. She didn’t believe a word of it, but she was pretty good at saying the right things.

“You really have grown up, haven’t you...”

Uncle John was deeply gratified. He’d watched Leticia grow up, and whenever she did something a little strange, he’d simply assumed it was a phase and unconsciously overlooked it.

Oh, a quick word about Uncle John: his full name was John Bovanado. He was an ordinary resident of Innsmouth from a poor family. On top of working the fields every day, he also worked nights as a miner in a mine some distance from the village to help make ends meet.

He and Leticia depended on each other. John was all alone, while Leticia’s parents were related to him. After they passed away, he took the little girl in and raised her.

As for John’s illness, you could say it was half the result of overwork.

The demanding work, less than five hours of sleep a night, and terrible living conditions were all wearing down his body and eating away at his health.

His collapse was simply what was bound to happen once he reached his breaking point.

There were ways to treat him, but in this world, without some occult or religious means, from a purely scientific point of view, it was probably better to let him eat, drink, and enjoy himself while he still could.

“I hope I can grow up soon, so I can help take some of the pressure off you, Uncle!”

Leticia smiled and rubbed her cheek against John’s scarred, calloused hand. Just as she was about to lead him away, she heard a warm laugh behind her.

“As long as the Lord is in our hearts, even if a demon stood right in front of us, it wouldn’t affect us at all... Is that what you said?”

When she turned around, she saw that Pastor Marshall had somehow come up behind them. “Child, where did you hear that?”

“Pastor.”

“Pastor.”

Leticia and Uncle John greeted Pastor Marshall first. (This world had a fairly strict hierarchy. As a pastor, Marshall ranked far above ordinary villagers, so people were expected to bow and pay their respects when they met one.)

“That’s all right. We’re all lambs of the Lord. There’s no need to be so formal.”

Pastor Marshall smiled and waved his hand. He took two steps forward, then crouched in front of Leticia, looking as kind as an ordinary grandfather next door. “Child, I remember your name is Leticia, right? Could you tell me where you heard what you just said?”

There shouldn’t be anything wrong with that, should there...?

Leticia shrank back a little. “Pastor, um... that was just what I thought when I heard Uncle talking.”

“Oh? What did he say?”

Pastor Marshall asked kindly. Perhaps he noticed how nervous Leticia was, because he smiled. “Don’t be nervous, child. I want you to know that there’s nothing wrong with what you said, and nothing blasphemous about it. If anything, it’s quite the opposite.”

“That’s why I wanted to ask where you’d heard those words. But they were your own thoughts, then...”

Quite the opposite? So that little piece of flattery had landed squarely on old Pastor Marshall’s sweet spot?

Well, it didn’t seem like there was any danger, then...

It was impossible not to feel nervous around someone who’d just burned a Witch to death.

“Yes, Pastor.”

Leticia nodded. “Even though... that Witch’s words sounded so frightening, so terrifying, when I thought about how we were under the Lord’s protection, I felt there was nothing to be afraid of...”

Leticia felt like her acting right now was absolutely Oscar-worthy, even by the standards of her old world!

Not a single flaw!

At the girl’s innocent words, Pastor Marshall’s expression turned a little strange.

It was as if he were trying to keep up his kindly demeanor, but couldn’t quite hold back a laugh...

“Ah, it’s nothing. Sorry, sorry...”

Pastor Marshall came back to himself and smiled as he patted Leticia on the head. “You’ve said that very well, child. If the Lord is in each of our hearts, then what is there to fear, even if a demon comes among us? If only everyone else understood that, there wouldn’t be so many fallen souls...”

His tone grew stern and angry as he spoke.

But he soon settled back into his usual calm.

“You’ve spoken very well, child.”

Pastor Marshall said with a smile. He patted John on the shoulder, took a small box from his clerical robes, and handed it to him. “You have a good niece. The Lord will bless both of you.”

Uncle John was so moved he could hardly speak.

A bitter fragrance wafted from the box. Leticia recognized what it was as soon as she smelled it.

It was the medicine the pastor had given her last time. Uncle John’s condition had improved noticeably after taking it. It was good stuff.

“Thank you, Pastor!”

“Thank you, Pastor Marshall!”

Pastor Marshall smiled and waved at them. “There’s no need for that. After all, we’re all companions beneath the Lord’s light.”