~Chapter 13~
Shiz pointed at the dirty ground with her tiny finger. It was just dirt, and there was nothing particularly noticeable.
“Did you see a bug or something?”
“No, not that, but it’s black and huge. Don’t you see it?”
Even with my eyes wide open, I couldn’t figure out what Shiz was talking about.
As I continued to look confused, Shiz, seeming frustrated, thumped her chest.
“That! That! There’s a crack in the ground! Just like the sharp, pointy glass I broke in your room last time.”
“A crack?”
I looked again, but I still couldn’t see anything that looked like a crack.
Seeing that I couldn’t find it, Shiz pouted.
“It goes from here to over there, and it’s huge!”
“Huge?”
I mulled over her words, and suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind.
‘Could it be that Shiz can see cracks?’
The term “crack” comes from the way something looks when it’s broken, like glass with a visible fracture.
‘But no one should be able to see cracks like that… unless you use special equipment…’
No, now wasn’t the time to think too deeply.
Anyway, if she can see cracks, then I should use it!
I immediately picked Shiz up.
“Shiz, can you keep telling me where the crack is going?”
“The direction?”
“Yeah, the direction. I need your help to solve this problem.”
“Me? Help?”
Shiz seemed to think for a moment, then grinned slyly. Again, it was a wicked smile.
“If I help, what will you do for me?”
“You little schemer! Can’t you just help me?”
“Mr. Principal said it. There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world—”
“Ugh, fine! I’ll buy you a yummy snack. I know a great cake place!”
“Yay!”
Shiz, now satisfied, happily pointed the direction to me while I held her.
“Right!”
“Huff, huff, here?”
“No, no, too far! Go back! Yes, here!”
“Ugh, okay, okay! Stop pulling on my clothes!”
I followed Shiz’s directions carefully. Then, at one point, Shiz shouted.
“Right there!”
She was pointing at a small well on the side of the village.
“That’s the biggest one!”
“So, you’re saying it’s the well? Got it. Good job, Shiz!”
“I did well?”
“Of course! Thanks to you, I think I can solve this problem.”
“Hehe, I did well, right?”
Shiz beamed with joy after receiving praise.
I wasn’t sure how this happened, but it seemed like my theory was correct. Shiz could actually see the cracks.
She must be some kind of being from a different timeline, or maybe something else, but thanks to her, I felt like I could handle this situation.
‘Aska seems to still be not here.’
The opportunity was now. I quickly ran over and looked inside. What I saw was unmistakably strange.
Inside the well, where water should have been gathering, there was a bright flower field instead. The space was distorted, and the inside was much bigger than the entrance.
“Wow!”
Shiz, still in my arms, reached out toward the flowers inside the well.
I gasped, afraid she might fall, and quickly put her down.
“I’m going to handle this, so you wait here for a moment. Don’t go anywhere, okay?”
“Can’t I go in too?”
“No! It’s dangerous!”
“Eh…”
After getting Shiz’s promise to stay put, I immediately jumped into the well.
“Ugh.”
The moment I entered, I felt short of breath.
The flow of mana was so strong that I could feel it on my skin. The density was so thick, it felt like I was sinking into deep water.
The falling speed also felt unusually slow.
‘It feels like the gravity inside this well is weaker.’
It took longer than expected, but eventually, my feet touched the ground.
Rubbing my tingling cheek, I looked around the wide flower field.
Inside the distorted space of the well, colorful butterflies fluttered above countless flowers.
It was a peaceful scene, but it was hard to believe I was standing at the heart of a dangerous crack.
‘Huh?’
I didn’t notice anything unusual from above, but once I was inside, I saw something. I reached out and grabbed a flower right in front of me.
“This is…”
The flower crumbled with a soft crackle, leaving pink stains on my hand. Was it dye?
‘These flowers… they’re not alive. They’re paintings.’
It looked like they were drawn. The appearance was similar to a child’s doodles made with pastel colors.
Naturally, I thought of the six-year-old I had left above.
‘Could this be related to Shiz?’
I had an inexplicable, strong feeling that it might be.
I took out my staff and began absorbing the twisted mana from the well.
The heavy atmosphere that had been pressing down on me started to dissipate.
The flowers that had been spread out like an illusion inside the well gradually faded, and the fresh grass and sparkling butterflies slowly disappeared as well.
After blinking a few times, the well returned to its original state. I could feel the mana, which had been stagnant and tangled, flowing properly again.
Did it work?
I looked up and focused on the area outside the well. As I stared at the round sky above, a small head suddenly popped up.
It was Shiz.
“Sis, sis! The black crack is gone! Whoosh, it’s all gone! Did you do it? You did, right? You’re amazing!”
Behind Shiz’s excited voice, I no longer heard the screams that had been echoing just moments ago. It felt like cheers were distant, ringing out somewhere far away.
“Yeah, I think I handled it well.”
“Wow!”
“Wow.” Wow…
Shiz’s exclamation echoed loudly in the well.
It was a relief that I could resolve the crack so quickly. If it had been left unchecked, who knows how much worse it could have gotten.
I don’t even want to imagine.
As I calmed my heart, I suddenly became aware of Shiz’s presence. Oh no, I hope no one sees us!
I quickly lifted my head, and there was her small, round head in my view.
“Stay here, don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right up!”
“Okay!”
Just as I was about to use flying magic, I heard something rustling at my feet. I looked down, thinking maybe I had stepped on some leaves, but what I found was something entirely different.
“Huh?”
Scattered on the dry well floor were old sheets of paper. They were filled with messy handwriting.
But when I glanced at them, they seemed strangely familiar…
March 5th.
Today, I met a boy I had never seen before at the orphanage. His name was Aska, I think. He was such a handsome young master. He spoke to me while I was crying, and his face was so good-looking that I stopped crying.
Aska ♥ Relshiz
Next time we meet, I’ll confess.
I froze as if I had been doused with cold water.
I knew this content.
Of course, I did. I wrote it.
“This…?”
The identity of the scattered papers was clear.
“That crazy…”
These were the pages from my childhood diary, which I had used as a medium for the regression magic, but I had woken up to find it gone—disappeared without a trace, so I had no idea where it was.
It was my childhood diary.
“Here, a mushroom that will change your life.”
“Ah, thank you! Thank you so much!”
Aska returned the 0.5 research grant safely to the farmer’s arms.
The farmer, tearfully overwhelmed with emotion, offered him a lot of potatoes and carrots, but Aska didn’t accept them.
Aska wasn’t in a position to need potatoes or carrots, and I wasn’t in the mood to accept them either.
Why is my diary at the center of the crack?
I had assumed that the magic failure would have caused it to disappear along with everything else.
I never expected to find it like this, and now I was in a half-panic state.
Please don’t tell me that my diary will keep showing up at the center of every crack…
I gathered all the papers and looked them over, but there were far fewer pages than in the original diary. It seemed likely.
How could things be this messed up…
