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“It’s been a thousand years, wasted in vain.”

I walked unsteadily along the cobblestone corridor filled with musty dampness.

I had long forgotten how to walk, thanks to the excessively long prison life, but surprisingly, human memory seemed to be quite good.

However, even so, it was very difficult to walk in this attire with both hands bound by chains.

“Hey, I won’t run away at this point, you know? Can you remove these bothersome restraints? And I want my hair cut too, it’s grown out too much and it’s extremely annoying.”

“…Shut up and keep walking.”

In response to my reasonable requests, the man walking in front of me returned a muffled, grumpy voice.

He had a slender figure that seemed twice my own, dressed entirely in black garments that covered his entire body, and an eerie mask with a beak attached that concealed his expression.

Thoroughly suppressing his own individuality, this being was the grim warden of the dreary prison and the man in charge of my release procedures.

“Forgive me, it’s been a while since I’ve been outside, so I became a little talkative. Besides, it’s unbearable to walk with these cursed chains binding me.”

“………”

Ignoring his ‘don’t speak to me’ atmosphere, I continued the conversation without concern, but the ball of words I threw didn’t return.

Instead, as if on cue, he engraved a sign in the air with his fingertips, and torches set at regular intervals along the corridor were lit simultaneously.

What was this about? The dim and unsteady moss-covered corridor wouldn’t become easier to walk in just because of the flickering illumination from the flames, especially since the crucial chains hadn’t been loosened.

“…Your consideration is truly touching.”

Swallowing the urge to snap back, I offered an insincere thanks. It wouldn’t make any difference even if I spoke up.

More than that, the skill to light all the torches with just those short gestures was quite impressive “magic.”

———Magecraft. Yes, magecraft. Ah, that’s right, there’s magecraft in the outside world.

“I wonder how much progress has been made in the world during my absence.”

“…Who knows.”

Unusually returning a response, the man in black stopped in the middle of the corridor and held out his palm as if there were a wall right in front of him.

No, perhaps there was something there that I couldn’t see. I could faintly sense the flow of magical power leaking through the cracks.

“You have served your 1000 years well. Repent for your sins and return to the embrace of our god.”

“God, huh…”

Perhaps it was a set phrase he had to say, he gave me the insincere farewell and tapped his finger on the void.

The white-fringed space gradually opened, and from within, cold wind and dazzling light streamed in.

My eyes, accustomed to the darkness of the prison, couldn’t bear the brightness enough to look directly ahead at the door.

“…What’s wrong? Hurry up.”
“Don’t rush me, I’m savoring the moment of awe here.”

Resisting the hair’s rebellion against the wind, I approached the door step by step.

It wasn’t just a strong wind, it was a gale. And the air touching my skin was freezing cold. Just where was I being thrown into?

Slowly adjusting my eyes to the light, I opened them… only to find a completely unexpected sight waiting beyond the door.

“……Wait, what is this?”
“Hurry up.”
“Hurry up my a̲s̲s̲! Are you telling me to die?”

Beyond the fully opened door, there was no trace of the ground. All I could see were the shining stars within reach and countless clouds spreading below.

“You can’t see the ground, how many meters high are we? It’s not a height where humans can fall and survive.”
“Hurry up.”
“No, listen to me…”

However, the man in black seemed entirely unwilling to listen to my protests.

Before I knew it, the only way back was blocked by the ridiculously large body of the man, leaving only the vast sky ahead.

“Hurry up.”
“Wait, listen to me! Did you get mold in your ears and brain or something? How can you push me into such an unreasonable situation? Wait, don’t push me, I’m falling, I’m falliiiing!!”

I desperately attempted to negotiate, but it was futile from the start with someone who wouldn’t listen.

Taking advantage of the unfair difference in physique, I was pushed towards the exit, and finally, my small body was kicked off into the distant sky.

“Don’t ever come back.”
“Damn it, handle me more carefully!!”

I glared at the warden looking down on me from beyond the door that unnaturally cut through the starry sky.

It was only a few seconds until I fell into the clouds, but I firmly engraved that figure into my mind.

“…I’ll remember this! You better do the same. I’ll definitely pay you back for this one day…!”

Amidst the descent, where I couldn’t even tell how many meters aboveground I was, I spat out curses and flames burning in my chest.

――――――――…………

――――……

――…

“It’s… it’s so co-c-c-c-c-c-cold!!”

Everywhere was snow, snow, snow, piled up so high it almost reached my knees. But it seemed like the snowfall from the sky was far from over. It was more like a blizzard, actually.

I desperately trudged through the snow, my loafers soaked through, clutching my school bag tightly.

I didn’t know where to go, I didn’t even know where I was to begin with; my head had been spinning in confusion since earlier.

“W-w-what’s going on…?! I-I-I was just at the station…!”

My phone, operated with fingers on the verge of freezing, refused to pick up any signal, and the map app was useless too.

I remembered waiting for my usual commuter train on the station platform, but why was I in a place that felt like the South Pole? Or the North Pole?

“S-Someone!! Is… is anyone there?! Please help me!!”

Yelling into the blizzard was futile, there was no way there’d be a response, all figures and voices were blocked by the snow.

The cardigan I had worn over my uniform was almost useless, and gradually, I was losing feeling in my limbs.

“I-I-I can’t… anymore…! W-why is this happening…?!”

Finally, my legs gave way, and I collapsed onto the snow, with no energy left to get up.

If only I had eaten the cake in the fridge instead of saving it, if this was my fate.

“Ugh… Mom, Dad… Grandpa, Grandma… Please forgive your unfilial child…!”

――――――CRASH!!

Just as I was prepared to freeze to death, something fell with an incredible noise right in front of me.

“Wha…! cough cough! What… now?!”
“Ah, sorry about that. Didn’t think there’d be someone here.”

Snow thrown up by the impact covered me, and I was startled back to reality from the verge of sleep.

And the one who spoke to me, while I spat out the snow that got into my mouth, was a girl with a somewhat mature atmosphere.

“Clumsy landing, but I suppose it’s a success… that 1000-year gap in activity is pretty painful. But that damn warden, this would’ve killed them if it was anyone but me.”

Apologizing once, she seemed not to care about me at all, murmuring complaints to herself.

With long eyelashes, double eyelids, a well-defined face, and porcelain-like white skin, she looked like a doll, and her waist-length silver hair was so beautiful it blended with the snow.

If you overlooked the strange clothes sewn onto her sleeves and the sturdy chains wrapped around her, she could easily grace the cover of a fashion magazine.

“You there, do you know where we are?”
“…Huh? Uh, um? Oh, right! I-I-I’m lost, it’s so co-c-c-c-cold!!”
“What a lively kid you are, and not a local either. Then I have no more business with you, sorry for disturbing you.”
“Oh, no, I’m not in a hurry or… wait! no! wait a minute!”
“You’re really lively.”

Grabbing the shoulder of the girl trying to go through the blizzard alone, I stopped her.

She was dressed even lighter than me, and the coiled chains around her looked really heavy.

She didn’t have any luggage at all, and her equipment didn’t seem like it would be enough to survive.

“M-m-m-miss, are you lost?! I-I-I-I-If you’re okay with me, shall we look for your mom together?!”
“I don’t think you’re in any state to worry about others… Sigh, ‘Illuminate, guide of fire’.”
“Huuh?”

As she chanted something and snapped her fingers, a small ball of fire appeared between us.

About the size of a ping-pong ball, yet it emanated a gentle warmth that seeped into the core of my body. It was like the comforting heat of a fireplace.

“Apologies for the simple incantation, but it should be sufficient for temporary warmth.”
“Huh? Huh? Huh? What’s this, a ball of fire? A m-magic trick?”

The fireball that appeared in front of me wasn’t suspended by a string, and it showed no sign of extinguishing no matter how much it was buffeted by the wind.

With no clue about its origin or mechanism, the incredibly mysterious flame… felt like actual “magic”…

“…W-Who are you?”
“I’m Laika Galactica, a Wizard despite appearances. But since it’s likely a short acquaintance, you don’t need to remember.”
“W-Wizard…?”

Magic, even I understand it’s the stuff of fairy tales.

But the floating fireball before me was so fantastical, and the inexplicable warmth amidst the snow was beyond any explanation.

So, surely, “this world” and “the world I was in” were different…

“Now that I’ve introduced myself, it’s only fair to ask for your name.”
“M-Me, I’m…”

This was the meeting between me, Momose Kaguya, and my master.

And it was the beginning of a story that would continue until the day of parting.