Unfamiliar World

The gruesome horrors in her line of sight, the dark atmosphere, growing heavier with each step she took, the heavy, metallic smell of blood. Yet the undefeatable urge, the determination, the fiery gaze in her eyes, led her to believe this was the purpose of her whole life. But this wasn't what she was here for, she was merely a tool for Divine Authority... At that moment... It was as if her entire life flashed before her eyes all at once.

She carries severe trauma from her past. One night, her world completely fell apart. Right before her eyes, her mother was killed in a horrific incident caused by her father during one of his violent breakdowns. She was too shocked to scream, too terrified to move, and far too young to understand how something so horrible could happen so suddenly.

Even long after that night passed, the memories never truly left her. The sounds, the fear, the sight of blood across the floor — they continued to haunt her every time she tried to sleep. But despite everything, she was too afraid to tell anyone what had happened. Fear kept her silent. So eventually, unable to endure living there any longer, she ran away and went to live with her grandmother...

She's always been afraid of standing out... She either hides from society or blends in with everyone else... She used to constantly search for a way of detaching herself from the cruel reality she's lived through, whether that was by reading books, novels, watching anime... Or even making up fake scenarios in her head...

Things started getting better for her ever since she began living with her grandma...

Her grandma's house wasn't all that fancy. By society's standards, it was basically considered trash. But that was the only place she truly felt comfortable in. It even had a cute little garden with beautiful flowers that she and her grandma took care of every day...

The house always smelled like hardwood, cinnamon, and a faint layer of dust...

She liked the environment...

But one night... She felt a bit too cold...

She was in bed, trying to sleep, but suddenly her rest was interrupted by a bright light falling from above, illuminating the entire room...

Maya sat upright in bed and immediately braced herself for something horrible to happen. She covered her eyes tightly, expecting the worst possible outcome... Clenching her teeth together so hard they hurt, squeezing her hands until her nails dug painfully into her palms...

Suddenly...

THWACK.

The sound echoed throughout the room.

Slowly, she lowered her guard and opened her eyes...

Her heart hammered violently inside her chest as she looked down at the ground...

There, sprawled across the hard wooden floor, was a tall woman with unusual attire...

She had fox ears... And two fluffy fox tails wagging around behind her like she hadn't just plummeted through the ceiling seconds ago...

Maya couldn't believe her eyes.

Panic immediately overtook her.

She ran around the house in circles, desperately searching for her grandma, for anyone, for anything that could reconnect her back to reality... She genuinely thought she was trapped inside some kind of nightmare...

She knocked over tables.

Vases shattered across the floor.

Furniture scraped loudly against the wood as she tore through the house in desperation...

But her grandma was nowhere to be found...

Eventually, exhaustion consumed her.

She collapsed onto her knees, clutching at her hair like it was the only thing keeping her attached to reality itself...

The fox woman lazily stumbled over toward her and casually plopped down beside her.

She let out a deep breath before speaking in a tired, slurred voice:

"Look, sweetie... It's me... Your—your grandma, Hiyori— hic Uhmm..! Haha..!! I'm just doing the 'cosplaying' you youngsters are going crazy for these days... Mmh~"

She purred softly, rolled over onto her side, and gently tapped Maya's forehead.

The moment her finger made contact...

A strange warmth flooded into Maya’s mind.

Her thoughts shut down instantly.

And everything went black.

...

When she finally woke up, she was back inside her room...

Morning sunlight poured through the curtains and warmed her face softly.

For a brief moment, she convinced herself that everything from last night had simply been a horrible dream...

She slowly got out of bed.

Looked around.

Everything seemed normal.

Relieved, she walked toward the front door and opened it...

Then froze.

This was not her world anymore.

She slowly looked up toward the sky...

Two pale moons hung overhead.

Her eyes widened.

Around her stretched what looked like a small medieval village where peasants wandered around market stalls and farmers sold their goods openly through the streets.

And far off in the distance...

Towering above the horizon...

Were two enormous castles.

Her jaw slowly dropped open.

She turned around to look back at the house behind her...

But instead of the familiar old home she once knew, it had transformed into a medieval-style cottage.

The girl stumbled backward slightly, breathing heavily.

She looked around frantically for her grandma... For anyone...

She even pinched herself repeatedly, trying desperately to convince herself this had to be a dream...

Then suddenly...

She felt something moving.

A strange sensation crawled upward from her leg to her shoulder.

Not a normal shiver.

Something physical.

With trembling caution, she slowly turned her head toward her shoulder while keeping her eyes squeezed shut...

Her hands shook violently in front of her.

Then, slowly...

She opened one eye.

Perched on her shoulder was a strange flower-like creature.

It had two alien-like eyes attached to its core through roots... Floating leaves that acted like tiny hands... And thin roots connected the creature directly to her shoulder.

She took a shaky breath...

Still trying to convince herself this was all a dream...

Carefully, she reached up and lightly petted the creature's petals.

The flower creature immediately let out a high-pitched purring sound in response.

Surprisingly...

That actually calmed her down a little.

Still overwhelmed, she started walking around in circles outside the house, desperately trying to think about what she was supposed to do next...

But little did she know...

She had an audience.

Hidden within the darkness of a nearby alley stood two members of the Bandit Crew.

Scarlett "Scar" Flintlock... And Old Barr.

Scarlett looked like a young girl around eleven years old... She also seemed to have bandages covering her right eye. But despite her appearance, she was highly intelligent and experienced with countless weapons. Even though she was small, she usually acted as the brains of the crew.

Then there was Old Barr.

A massive, older man with dark skin, ragged clothing, and a giant chained mace resting over his shoulder. A huge scar stretched across his face beneath a worn bandana.

Scarlett leaned against the alley wall and spoke with visible irritation in her voice:

"So... Barr... I've felt a disturbance in the mana ever since this newcomer arrived... I don't know what's going on with her... But she doesn't look like she's from here... She's going to be trouble... And I'd bet my last coin she's carrying something valuable we could sell..."

She kicked a small rock deeper into the shadows of the alley.

Old Barr scratched the back of his head uneasily.

"Err... I ain't too sure about this, boss... We don't know anything about the newbie... We can't just rush her outta nowhere... What if she's got the power to vaporize us all?"

Scarlett immediately looked at him with irritation.

"If someone had a power like that, they would've already made it obvious, you imbecile! Trust me..."

Meanwhile, Maya continued taking nervous strolls around the pavement outside the house.

She still wore the same oversized T-shirt and baggy sweatpants she'd gone to sleep in.

She was barefoot.

Her black hair was messy and unkempt.

Then suddenly—

A sharp sting pressed against her back.

Her breath hitched instantly.

She didn't dare turn around.

Then she heard an arrogant, high-pitched voice behind her.

"Hey! Just where do you think you're walking around dressed like that, newcomer? If the guards catch you looking like this, you'll probably get executed on the spot..."

The voice belonged to Scarlett.

She lightly pressed the tip of a dagger against Maya's back while grinning mischievously.

"Tell you what... If you've got any goodies on you, I'll trade you some clothing so you'll blend in around here... Got it? But if you wanna get executed instead... That's fine too~"

Suddenly, the flower creature on the girl's shoulder let out a high-pitched growl.

Using its leaves and roots, it smacked the dagger right out of Scarlett's hand.

Scarlett froze.

Her eyes slowly lifted toward the strange flower creature.

She was used to seeing weird monsters and creatures all the time...

But this thing...

It had a terrifying aura around it.

She bit her lip nervously and swallowed hard despite trying to maintain her composure.

"...What even is this thing...?!"

Then she shook her head aggressively, trying to regain her confidence.

"Whatever...! Fine! You want clothes or not? Empty your pockets."

Maya nervously searched through her pockets.

Inside, she found only a single wireless earphone...

And one of the rare trading cards she used to collect, with a fire-type dragon illustration on it.

Scarlett immediately snatched the earphone and stared at it in complete awe.

"What is this object...? Some kind of communication technology? Or maybe some valuable artifact..."

She turned it around carefully between her fingers.

"Whatever... I don't really care what it is... What matters is that I can definitely sell this for a good price..."

Then she looked down at the trading card suspiciously.

"Oh...? Are you trying to mock me? You think you can fool a band— I mean... A merchant... With a piece of paper?"

She narrowed her eyes while examining the card more closely.

"What even is this illustration...? Some kind of ancient dragon...? A magical talisman...?"

Then suddenly...

Her expression changed completely.

The card slipped from her hands.

Scarlett stumbled backward in genuine fear, almost tripping over her own cloak as her entire body began shaking uncontrollably.

Her fingernails dug painfully into her palms while she stared at the card in horror.

Then she slowly looked back up at the girl.

"D—DID  YOU SLAY THAT CREATURE... AND TRAP ITS SOUL INSIDE THAT MAGICAL SEAL FOR ETERNITY...?!"

She blinked in confusion.

Then slowly realized...

Scarlett genuinely believed it.

A tiny grin formed on her face.

For once in her life...

She wanted to know what it felt like to be the one in control.

So she decided to play along.

"Y-Yeah!" she declared proudly, placing her hands on her hips. "And I'll do the same thing to you and your crew if you don't give me back my belongings and shoo away! Hmph!"

She even swayed her head slightly like she was scolding a child.

She looked incredibly proud of herself for saying that.

Scarlett's confident demeanor shattered instantly.

The once fearless bandit now looked tiny in comparison to the girl standing before her.

Shaking violently with fear, Scarlett carefully placed a vest and a pair of sturdy boots at the girl's feet alongside the earphone and the "ancient magical seal with a dragon trapped inside it."

The last thing the girl saw was Scarlett slowly backing away toward the dark alley she came from.

Her shoulders trembled the entire time as she desperately tried to preserve what little dignity she had left all while muttering “Witch… Witch…” the whole time before finally disappearing into the shadows…

 

Maya watched with a stupid grin plastered across her face the entire time. When Scarlett disappeared, Maya finally let her expression fall, releasing a breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding.

She checked her surroundings once more…

When she looked to her right, she saw the same marketplace again, the townsfolk happily going about their shopping.

After carefully observing the market for a while, she turned her head and looked to her left. The same endlessly stretching road, the same ruined buildings.

Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at the horizon once more. After everything with the bandit, she had completely forgotten about the existence of the castles…

She let out a little sigh of relief.

It felt as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. But Maya found that really suspicious because at the same time, her shoulder had physically became lighter in a strange way. She glanced to the right, toward her shoulder, only to realize that the flower creature was no longer there…

She narrowed her eyes and carefully scanned her surroundings.

The moment she felt something touch her foot, her eyes widened like saucers again, and without wasting a second, she quickly looked down.

What she saw was a root extending toward her from beneath the door. The root tapped the girl once more before retreating back under the door.

Maya narrowed her eyes, straightened her shoulders, and took a deep breath before reaching for the doorknob…

As the door creaked open, she opened only one eye… And what she saw took her breath away.

How had she not noticed it before…?