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“…As you can see, I’m just an ordinary girl you could find anywhere.”
“ “There is no child like you anywhere.” ”

My best attempt at misdirection, backed by all the acting skill I had, was promptly and firmly shot down in perfect unison.

What a flawless harmony—don’t tell me these two are actually on pretty good terms?

“I’m not joking around, Lady Laika. I’m asking you seriously.”
“And I answered seriously, didn’t I?”

Even if it was serious, it wasn’t the truth.

Not that telling the truth would make it any more believable. There’s not a single precedent for someone like me—no reference point to make it easier to accept.

Even if I earned their trust, I still wasn’t eager to confess to my past as a convict, even if the sentence had long been served.

“It’s okay! Master’s not a bad person! She’s just a little more twisted than most people, kind of mean, and her personality is, um, well… but she’s good at heart!”
“Momo… you realize none of that’s helping, right?”

Her well-meaning backup shot me in the back with every word. I’ll remember this, just you wait.

“But this puts me in a bind. Even if you press me, there’s nothing I can say. So what happens if I stay silent?”
“Depending on the situation, I may have to resort to rougher methods.”
“Runira, what the hell… Don’t tell me that’s why you brought me here!?”
“So that’s what the basement’s for. You really thought this through, didn’t you?”

My only exit was the staircase behind me, and to reach it, I’d have to turn my back on Runira and the Guildmaster. No way they’d let me slip out that easily.

The Guildmaster looked thrown off by how quickly things had escalated, but he was still a man of Rigel. I couldn’t count on him to take my side.

“Going up against the top two people running Rigel, huh? Yeah… that’s gonna be rough.”
“Master, no fighting! I’m siding with them!”
“And you, Momo, what exactly do you think you’re doing?”

She’d been sitting next to me just a moment ago, but now she was somehow seated across the table.

Her little fists were clenched tight—she was ready for all-out war. Dealing with the other two was one thing, but I really didn’t want to get into it with this loose cannon of a girl who could do anything at any moment.

“Besides, everyone, Ms. Roche’s waiting for us upstairs. If we start a ruckus down here, she’s just going to yell at us again.”
“ “ “………” ” ”
“That’s right, fight’s over! Master, no one trusts you because you’re always hiding things. Just lay it all out there, bam!”
“But Momo, it’s not exactly a story people are going to take at face value. Not everyone’s built like you, you know.”
“…Was that your way of calling me dumb just now?”
“Who knows? But you’re right—this standoff isn’t going anywhere. The question is, what exactly do I even tell them?”

Resigned to Momo’s persistence, I raised both hands in surrender.

Trying to argue head-on with this stubborn little fireball would take all day. Might as well talk—easier on the nerves.

“First off, I’ll admit it—I’m a lot older than I look. At the very least, I’m way older than Momo over there.”
“…It seems you’re not joking. In fact, that actually makes a lot of sense. But how? What kind of method was used?”
“It involves a forbidden spell. But it wasn’t by choice—it was more like a curse cast on me by someone else.”

Binding a human soul and transplanting it into a different vessel—that’s the darkest kind of sorcery. Just being caught using it would normally be enough to cost you your life.

I hesitated to bring it up, but if I was going to talk about how I came to be, I couldn’t avoid it.

“If you want to punish me, go ahead. I’ll resist if I have to. And if it comes to that, the Guildmaster who hired me over there is probably going down with me.”
“Huh?”
“We’re not going to try to punish you—not when our own lives are at stake. But Mintark will be held fully accountable, with Arnitta and me taking responsibility.”
“Huh?”
“Ahaha, fair enough. While you’re at it, I’d appreciate it if you could start looking for my replacement as soon as possible.”
“Replacing the person who saved Aldebaran from crisis and is making waves even here in Rigel? That’s a tall order—but I’ll see what I can do.”

The Guildmaster was now drenched in cold sweat, completely out of his depth.

Still, with that, I could say the groundwork for my replacement was laid. There was a lot left to do before I could hand things off, but at least one chain binding me had just been broken.

“Well then, I’ve given you the rough outline of my background. Any other questions?”
“Yes!!”
“…Go ahead, Momo.”
“Wow, you look really annoyed, Master! But I want to know—why are you so strong?”
“You always ask the most abstract questions… But for the record, there are tons of people stronger than me.”

I didn’t mind being acknowledged for my effort as a wizard, but calling me “strong” missed the mark.

I didn’t consider myself inferior to the runts at the academy, sure, but in terms of raw talent with magecraft, I was lower-middle at best.

There are monsters out there who far surpass me. Given another ten or twenty years of experience, even someone like Stell and the others could probably outclass me.

“Mintark, what’s your assessment of her abilities?”
“If I fought her ten times and managed to force a draw even once, I’d consider myself lucky. Her precision and analytical skill in magecraft are unmatched.”
“I see. If you’re saying that, then she’s definitely a monster. Forgive the intrusion, but who was your teacher?”
“Ugh…… I really don’t like calling that one my ‘teacher.’”
“I think it was Ms. Yuuri, wasn’t it? The one they made a statue of at the academy?”
“Hey, you idiot—!”
“ “Yuuri Rin!?” ”

Once again, their voices overlapped in shock as they stared at me, wide-eyed.

Building a statue in her honor says it all—around here, the name “Yuuri Rin” wasn’t something you just casually threw around.

“Don’t tell me you’re connected to Lady Yuuri Rin!?”
“If that’s true, this isn’t just some historical curiosity—we’re talking about the disciple of Rigel’s legendary enigma!”
“Her face! Her voice! Her scent! What words did she speak…!?”
“How did she command the liberation of Rigel? Is the record of her breaking down castle walls with her bare hands actually true…?”
“Ugh, I knew this was gonna happen, that’s why I didn’t want to say anything!!”

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