Magic’s “Past Sight” faded away, and my original senses gradually returned.
The first sensation I felt was the familiar cold.
“Cold.”
I knew, having experienced it countless times, that this single word was the signal for my awakening.
I felt as if my body was completely frozen.
Instead of flesh, it felt like ice chunks were packed inside me, and cold water circulated in place of blood.
I thought there was no greater cold than this, but something colder than ice touched my cheek, forcing me to reconsider.
It was incredibly cold—yet, it was something very soft that I was now being touched by.
Reacting, I slowly opened my eyelids.
A dazzling light spread across my eyeballs. My vision was filled with color.
My sister’s worried face peered down at me.
“Yutaki…? Ah…”
I reached out further, and the fingertips of my right hand touched my cheek.
Understanding this was the signal to stop my awakening, I took a breath.
“Good morning, Older Brother. You were muttering in your sleep, so I hurried to wake you. I just got back from outside, so my fingers must be cold, right?”
“Yeah, it was startling… It was so cold, really.”
Smiling slightly, Yutaki removed her hand, and I sat up.
Then, I confirmed my surroundings.
First, I realized I was lying in a bed. There were only the bare minimum of furniture, like a sofa, around me. It wasn’t an unknown room—that is, it was familiar but I knew where I was. It was a rental house I had once purchased, and Maria and Snow were currently living there. This was likely Snow’s room.
My last memory in this house was using the “Past Sight” magic in the kitchen.
I had used up all my MP there and probably collapsed.
I casually checked using “Display.”
【Status】
Name: Aikawa Uzunami HP–/– MP3567/3567 Class:
My MP had been restored.
This indicated that at least one night had passed.
I placed my hand on my heavy, cold head and returned her greeting.
“Good morning, Yutaki.”
“…Haa. I’m glad you can speak clearly. Though, you don’t seem to be fully recovered yet. You were bedridden for days after using “Past Sight” to its limit, so it’s understandable…”
She looked at me with great concern and explained the situation in a slightly instructional tone.
It seemed that this was how things were this time.
“—And so, Older Brother, how were Arti’s memories?”
And then, to me, who had apparently become able to speak, Yutaki asked for my impressions of “Past Sight.”
To her slightly off-the-mark question, I repeated the same words.
“Arti’s memories…”
I hadn’t seen any such thing.
What I had seen with “Past Sight” was Tiara’s memories.
Certainly, Yutaki and I had talked a little while ago about pursuing Arti’s memories.
So, it was understandable that she would misunderstand.
However, aside from that rational explanation, the fact that the perfect Yutaki was mistaken struck me as extremely odd.
Furthermore, I noticed another strangeness.
My memories were continuing perfectly.
Even after returning to this “Winter World” and sleeping, my memories were clear.
Normally, more of my memories would have been erased, with fabricated ones added, putting me in a state convenient for Yutaki.
—I pushed that strangeness to the back of my mind.
I was strangely calm.
My mind automatically mobilized all the battles I had fought up to that point.
A similar case to this one occurred when I fought Reaper after the semifinals of Laura Via’s “Dance Battle Tournament” in the past.
No matter what “Connection” existed within my body, how much of it there was, I controlled myself so that it would never be conveyed to the opponent.
Of course, my heart rate and body temperature remained normal.
My gaze and breathing were as usual.
Everything, including my gestures and habits, was kept flat.
Maintaining an unchanging smile, I slowly replied.
“Yeah… I saw them. Arti’s memories were truly brutal… It was truly a ‘purgatory.’ A life of burning away, with flesh and blood used as firewood. Especially when I was betrayed by Romis and suffered alone in a dark basement, it was truly despairing… and very sad.”
“Arti had some inherent disadvantages from birth. With the skill “Keengan,” she would have been caught up in some disaster no matter where she was. And, it was worst that she met the Apostles at the moment of her death. Arti that day was too young to refuse that devilish transaction.”
…
I hadn’t witnessed the moment Arti became “The One Who Steals the Logic of Fire.”
But I played along.
Although I had only read the side story novel “Tiara,” I pretended to know the contents of “Arti’s” story.
“That’s right. Arti at that time was delirious from the intense pain. With that fatal wound, it’s impossible to make sound judgments… If only Diplakla and the others had understood such an obvious fact…”
“The Apostles back then were truly immature. They didn’t know that a person’s intentions and beliefs can easily change depending on the situation. …It can’t be helped.”
“Can’t be helped, huh… Perhaps so, but I can’t help but think. If only the world had been a little kinder to Arti at that time… She experiences too much misfortune. Including Teeda being nearby at that time.”
“Indeed, if that man hadn’t been there, Romis Neisha’s rampage wouldn’t have happened either… But, Older Brother. Arti’s life isn’t just misfortune. —Because you came.”
“Ah… I came, and she escaped from the underground…”
“Fufufu. Arti’s joy at that moment is immeasurable. How much she was saved by you, Older Brother, who appeared like a ‘Hero’ from a story in her despair… When I heard her talk about it, I was too excited to understand what she was saying.”
“I defeated Romis, Fanian was freed from the ‘Curse,’ and Arti was saved…”
“Yes, all thanks to you, Older Brother.”
A thousand years ago, I saved Arti.
The story in Fanian, from Arti’s perspective, must have been a perfect heroic tale with no lingering doubts, not even suspecting anything “between the lines.”
Arti saw me as a “Hero,” and it was undeniable that my legend as a “Savior” and “Shiso” began from there.
—But I knew it was different in reality.
From Tiara’s perspective, my appearance was truly distorted.
Even if my form was human, my heart was terrifyingly unstable, a truly disgusting “monster.”
From that point on, I would become a being that only reflects the “Ideal” of others and begin a new path as “Thief of the Principles of Dimensions.”
“Even after that, Arti suffered various misfortunes… Nevertheless, she arrived after a thousand years. She found her true self, which she had ‘forgotten,’ and fulfilled the ‘Lingering Desire’ that bound her.”
“Called as a Guardian a thousand years later, she met me and Maria… Arti found…”
“A thousand years after the ‘Curse’ of the ‘Thieves of Principles’ was lifted, her ‘forgotten’ memories would have gradually returned, causing great confusion. However, she overcame it. Indeed, ‘The One Who Steals the Logic of Fire’ found it at the very end. —The ‘Truth’ called ‘Maria’.”
Yutaki had just uttered something very important.
I could infer the meaning from her words and guess the “Truth.”
However, I couldn’t afford to make a single mistake now.
I had no choice but to keep my words to a minimum and stick to my impressions.
“Ah, that’s truly wonderful… Arti, and Maria…”
“Indeed, Maria too. In a way, she has now gained a true confidante with whom she will never be separated. I’m a little envious. Both of them overcame their innate differences—their ‘Skills’—and found happiness. …Haa.”
Finally, Yutaki let out a big sigh and concluded her story.
Seizing the opportunity, I immediately changed the subject.
“So, what about Maria…? And Snow…?”
I casually let my gaze wander, asking about the whereabouts of my other companions.
Upon hearing this, Yutaki stiffened slightly before replying with the same smile I usually wore.
“—They are no longer here.”
At that moment, I felt as if the coldness in the room intensified slightly.
Then, Yutaki approached the table in the room, picked up a letter that was on it, and handed it to me in bed.
I understand. I will now translate the provided text into natural and fluent English, adhering strictly to the glossary and fixing paragraph structure.
***
I understood the content without reading it.
Still, I let my eyes wander over the letter, meticulously summarizing the key points.
“—And so, from now on, Snow-san and I will do our best together on the mainland. Our schedule has moved up slightly, but the work as representatives of the Walker family is very rewarding. I have no more anxieties. Now that Kanami-san has held my hand, I was able to say the things I couldn’t say that day. …Snow-san also seems to be in very good condition, just like me. She’s a spoiled child in front of Kanami-san, but in front of everyone else, she’s the charismatic great hero, Snow-sama. She’s constantly telling me that by the time we return, she’ll be a magnificent woman standing beside Kanami-san. Kanami-san is a worrier, so you might have various concerns… but please rest assured. It seems Dia-san is also on the mainland, so we’ll be supporting each other—”
This was how the letter explained the reason for their departure.
After I confirmed it, Hidaki took a key from her懐. It was exactly the same as the one I used in this house long ago.
“When we left, she asked to borrow the house key. She said that if no one uses it, it quickly collects dust and becomes a hassle to clean… Perhaps you don’t remember this either, since you were sleeping?”
“Ah… that’s right. I think she said something like that.”
I put on a lonely expression and nodded clearly.
Regarding ‘companions who are leaving,’ Hidaki and I have had the same interests since Dia disappeared.
I also didn’t want to go against the flow of conversation and be noticed as acting differently from my usual self.
“Older Brother, I understand you’re lonely now that they’re gone… but please don’t make that face. Look. Here.”
Seeing my expression, Hidaki approached the nearby window.
Then, she forcefully flung it open and told me with a smile.
“—It’s the Christmas festival.”
This was the time in this ‘winter world.’
“Christmas festival…?”
“Yes. It’s rumored to be the greatest festival ever… Though it feels like they say that every year.”
Hearing those words, I turned my eyes to look out the window.
Amidst the silver world where snow was gently falling, I spotted a masked child running in the distance.
This house is built on the outskirts of town, so any more information would require activating a Dimension. However, without even using magic, I could feel it on my skin. The sound of bells from the depths of the silver world. The vibrations of the crowd’s excitement that surpassed it. The peculiar scent unique to festivals. The burst of vitality and heat.
There was no mistake.
I was experiencing the Allied Nations’ Christmas festival for the second time.
“It’s already that time of year, huh…”
“Much has passed while you were sleeping.”
Hidaki looked out the window with me, continuing to smile with emotion.
Looking at her expression, I felt that the one who had been waiting for this moment was none other than Hidaki.
I gazed intently at her face, trying to probe even a little of my sister’s feelings. Then, Hidaki’s expression turned into a wry smile, and she declared.
“Well, since you seem to be alright now, Brother… I should be going.”
She put on the jacket draped over the chair in the room and began preparing to go out.
I raised a pure question.
“Going… where?”
“That’s a secret.”
She didn’t tell me.
Contrary to my desire to know my sister better, she put up a barrier.
“There is something I absolutely have to do… A lot has happened while you were sleeping…”
I understood it was an unavoidable errand.
I tried to guess that errand.
When Dia left the Allied Nations before, Hidaki had fought Dia in the real-world Glacial City.
It was possible she needed to repeat what she had just gone through with Maria and Snow.
“Or are you lonely without me to take care of you? You do have that kind of side, you know.”
Alternatively, there might be a special reason connected to this Christmas festival.
When there was something she absolutely had to do alone – it was possible that Tiara began contacting me at that very moment.
As I processed these thoughts, when I pictured Tiara’s face, one of her words echoed in my mind.
—‘Before she was born, and after she dies, she waits there.’
Pulled by those words, I lowered my sister’s priority by one notch.
“Of course not. …You have your own social engagements, don’t you? You can go with peace of mind.”
“…Hmm. When you say that so clearly, I feel a little bit frustrated.”
“Lately, the suspicion of me being a sis-con has been spreading everywhere. I need to redeem my honor, even a little, in places like this.”
I kept the conversation light, as if we were just exchanging mundane remarks, all in my usual tone.
Then, maintaining her wry smile, Hidaki approached the room’s door and grasped the doorknob.
“…In that case, I won’t hold back. I’m going now, Brother.”
“Have a good trip, Hidaki.”
I remained seated on the bed, watching Hidaki leave.
Then, I listened with my ears, not magic, as my sister walked down the corridor outside the room, left the house, and her footsteps faded down the hill towards the town.
After waiting sufficiently on the bed, I too began preparing to leave.
“………… I should go too…”
However, unlike Hidaki, putting on a jacket wasn’t the end of my preparations.
First, I needed to fully understand the mechanics of this ‘winter world.’
I was confident I could do it.
Unlike my usual awakenings, my sense of time was normal. Thanks to that, I clearly knew when, where, and what I was doing.
I vaguely understood this was thanks to Tiara’s ‘blood.’ Her blood, mixed in when I used Past Sight, had likely created this situation.
I recalled Tiara’s memories.
Leveraging that experience, I strained my eyes.
My eyesight wasn’t poor, but I narrowed my eyes and focused both physically and magically.
Then, I saw it quite easily.
“……Hahaha.”
Even as I strained my eyes, the view before me blurred.
As I tried to focus correctly, countless lines began to etch into my vision.
They were irregular white ‘threads’ stretching haphazardly in all directions.
They were stretched throughout the room like a spiderweb, moving as if drifting in mid-air.
Even reaching out, I couldn’t touch them.
I quickly realized they were not bound by the normal Laws of Physics. They pierced through obstacles like the ground or floor. Their peculiar drifting motion showed they had also escaped gravity.
Even though ‘threads’ filled my entire field of vision, being unable to brush them away felt as if cracks were appearing in my eyeballs themselves—no, as if cracks were appearing in my very brain that was perceiving them. It was quite unsettling.
However, this state was something I had anticipated.
Based on the information I gained from Tiara’s memories, I calmly analyzed the ‘threads.’
“…………”
The reason I couldn’t touch the ‘threads’ was obvious.
The answer had been found a thousand years ago when I crafted the ‘Spell Formation’ for Level Up. At that time, I incorporated the concepts of—‘flesh,’ ‘cells,’ ‘copy,’ ‘non-physical,’ ‘penetration,’ ‘support,’ ‘strength.’ Similar to that, this was likely a ‘cell without physical mass.’
As I looked closely at the ‘threads,’ I could see dazzling, multicolored lights running within them. I initially thought it might be electrical signals if it were a replication of nerve cells, but I soon realized it was different. Inside the ‘threads,’ abundant magic of multiple attributes was circulating. It was similar to blood flowing through veins. I presumed that these ‘threads’ served not only as nerves but also as blood vessels. Naturally, they were also conduits for transmitting magic power. From this, I understood that these ‘threads’ surpassed the nerve cells of my original world’s common sense, reaching a level that science could not fully analyze.
“Ah, this is…”
These were the Magic Threads.
I could finally see them—or rather, it was more accurate to say Tiara’s blood had enabled me to see them.
I sensed the Magic Threads wriggling within the room with my entire being. They moved like tentacles, entwined, entered my body, and overlapped with my nerves and blood vessels. Sometimes, they would gently caress my cheek continuously. I felt no malice from them.
I, too, held no malice towards the Magic Threads.
If I were to forcibly cut and sever the Magic Threads now, the winter world would undoubtedly end. I didn’t want to stir up trouble until I reached ‘her’ who was waiting for me.
I ignore the “Magic Thread” and focus my attention on other information. This is because there were other things I could see by narrowing my eyes.
It was the “reality” that lay beyond the illusion of the “Winter World.” The warm scene I had been watching until moments ago had transformed, revealing a room covered in icicles and snow. Though there was a bed and furniture, they were completely frozen.
My body, which had been sleeping there, was also magnificently frozen.
No wonder I felt so cold. It wasn’t cold water circulating inside me, but actual chilled blood. My body wasn’t packed with ice; it was flesh on the verge of freezing. Frankly, in a biological sense, I should have been immobile.
—Yet, my body moves.
It moves. With creaking sounds, I move my frozen limbs. My hair, which had grown to reach my back, makes a strange crackling noise. Thanks to leveling up, the cold that should have rendered me immobile caused little damage. The human trait of becoming an ice statue at any sub-zero temperature is no longer something I possess. What remains of me now is just Aikawa Uzunami, I realize through “Past Sight.”
“Hahaha.”
With a second wry smile, I move and approach the window. Then, keeping my eyes narrowed, I gaze out of the house. Despite the blizzard, a pillar of flame rose in the distance. Along with it, shining magic power scattered like sea spray in the sky.
Maria is likely fighting. It’s highly probable she’s using Resonance magic with Dia. Snow would surely be there as well, acting as a vanguard.
I recall the faces of the three of them and, at the same time, remember their parting words.
“I can finally go home… I can finally go to meet the ‘me’ I left in my homeland. I can finally face my parents and younger brother…”
“Of course, I can. Rather, that’s my main objective. I’ll become a fine person, both physically and mentally, and become Kanami’s partner. That dream has never changed.”
“Kanami-san might be worried and anxious about a lot of things… but please don’t worry. Dia-san is also on the mainland, so I want to help each other out.”
—Words that were powerful, forward-looking, and conveyed their individual growth. And I know, without a doubt, that all of them were their true feelings.
It’s easy to prove they were sincere. My frozen body has become accustomed to this state, and I step out of the window and into the world. I walk through a world like an ice age and find a statue of ice, buried in snow. Inside the ice statue was a child with closed eyes. Furthermore, “Magic Thread” wrapped the ice statue like a cocoon, swirling. One of these threads touched my skin and overlapped with the nerves in my body.
At that moment, I stop narrowing my eyes and relax my focus on the world. Then, on a snow-covered hill, I find myself talking with a boy wearing a fox-like beast mask.
“—Hehe, big brother! It’s cool, isn’t it!”
The boy from the Valt nation proudly points to his mask and laughs. I reply with a smile.
“…Yeah. It’s a rare and eye-catching mask. Where did you buy it?”
“You get it?! This mask is something else! My mom bought it for me in Griad, in the south! She said it’s a mask made in a country across the sea!”
“Wow. Across the sea, huh? That’s amazing.”
“If you want a rare mask too, big brother, you should go to the stalls around the southern port! See ya!”
With that, the boy, looking busy, dashes off towards the northern country of Fuziaze. Watching him go, I narrow my eyes again, readjusting my focus on the world. Returning from the “Winter World” to “reality.” Just then, the “Magic Thread” extending from the boy’s ice statue passed through my body and moved away. Like seeds carried by the wind, the “Magic Thread” flew towards the distant north, soaring through the sky.
Beyond the blizzarding sky, I could see a curtain of vibrant colors woven with “Magic Thread,” hanging upside down. An aurora, emitting light not by magnetism but by magic power, was swaying from the ground towards the sky.
This is the reality of the “Winter World.” It preserves living beings as ice statues and connects them with “Magic Thread” functioning as nerves. Since the threads also act as brain nerves, everyone shares the same illusionary world. It’s the magical version of what would be called a network in my world. That aurora woven in the sky is, in a way, the virtual server. It’s a “dystopia” often seen in movies or manga.
In other words, Hidaki doesn’t intend to cause needless deaths. The people living in the illusion certainly have souls. Therefore, this place is not a lie, but it’s not entirely real either. With that certainty, I look at the rising pillar of fire in the distance. Simultaneously, I recall those powerful words.
I am not the only one who has grown stronger through the battles up to today. My companions’ spirits have also become undeniably strong in “reality.” So strong, in fact, that they no longer need me… Considering Hidaki’s policy, I move my priority down one more notch.
—”Beyond that set of stairs, my daughter ■■■■■■・Fuziaze awaits the ‘Protagonist’.”
The words lingering in the back of my mind clarify my priorities.
“Let’s go…”
My companions would not oppose my decision to save “her.” It is because of that trust that my steps quicken. However, with “Magic Thread” and the blizzard obscuring my vision, I stop narrowing my eyes. I head towards my destination within the comfortable “Winter World.” I walk straight from Valt’s home to northern Fuziaze. As I enter Fuziaze, the path is filled with people enjoying a festival. And I am greeted by many nostalgic stalls. As I pass by food stalls I recognize, I recall a memory from a previous festival. A memory of enjoying the festival with “her.” Back then, I had suppressed my own emotions, but I had truly wanted to spend more time with “her.” I had wanted to talk to her much, much more. But I couldn’t. The reason was likely that we were both “creations” of the authors. We were not able to talk about things unrelated to the story.
“………”
I walk alone through the snowy festival. I walk slowly down the noisy path where bells ring, down a path where, in the blizzard, only my footsteps can be heard. As I recall the past, a phrase comes to mind.
“…’The Winter World takes everything from the lost.'”
I thought it was an incantation fitting for the current situation. And I realize.
“Ah, this… it’s the ‘Winter Otherworld’…”
I learn the exact magical name of the “Winter World” and, at the same time, understand Hidaki’s power. I once brought it into existence in the enclosed space of the Dance Battle Tournament arena. But now, she has made it exist across the vast expanse of a continent. It seems Hidaki has refined and is using my own idea. Hidaki could surely craft more efficient magic than I could conceive of… yet she uses my magic. From this, I suspect that one day, Hidaki intends to entrust me with the control of this “Winter World.” A magic that drains power from all frozen life, like that of a story’s final boss, feels like she’s saying, “It’s your preference, isn’t it, Older Brother?”
“…Yeah.”
It’s definitely my preference. However, I’m unsure if this preference is truly mine. In the first place, I’m unsure if the “Winter Otherworld” itself was truly my idea. The incantation feels like a mockery, like a reflection of my own transmigration.
“That’s why it was such powerful magic, maybe…”
I mutter to myself repeatedly, just as I did when I first got lost in the labyrinth. And while reminiscing about the past, I finally reach the front of the Cathedral in the Allied Nations of Fuziaze. The river flowing around the building was frozen. Several guarding knights were lined up on the large bridge spanning the river, preventing ordinary people from entering. I intended to use the “Default” to get over the river and the fence—but then I reconsidered, thinking it would be fine to just enter head-on.
I boldly approach the bridge and speak to the knights guarding the sacred grounds. To be guided to “her” who awaits me in the deepest part of Fuziaze, I declare myself to be “Primordial Kanami.”
