CH 03
It was a peaceful afternoon like any other.
Luna had gone to help the village chief with the fields, and Remilien was at home studying.
She had been learning ancient magic from her mother in her spare time, and reading books to learn more.
The people of their village, Lultvi, were not wealthy, but they were good-natured. They tried to help each other in any way they could.
When Luna lost her husband and needed to find a job to support her daughter, everyone rushed to offer her work.
They felt sorry for Remilien, who was always home alone, and shared food with her, or gave her books for her intelligence.
Thanks to them, she was getting closer to her goal.
‘First, I need to improve my magic so that I can safely reach the tower. Gain enough knowledge and education to get a job…’
She was reading intently, reminding herself of her goals, when there was an urgent knock on the door.
“Honey, are you home by any chance? It’s Mary from next door.”
“Oh, come in!”
Remilien quickly ran to the entrance hall and opened the door.
Mary, a friendly-looking middle-aged woman in her 50s, smiled and greeted her.
“What can I help you with? My mom isn’t here.”
“Oh, really? It’s just, it’s nothing… Oh, here, take this first.”
Mary must have gone to the local market, she took out a delicious-looking apple from the basket and handed it over.
“Wow, thank you! I’ll share it with my mom.”
“Well… Hm, something doesn’t seem right, you know what I mean?”
She stared at Remilien’s face intently, tilting her head.
“What’s up? Tell me and I’ll pass on the message for you when my mom comes.”
“Well, you see…. I heard a rumor that someone was looking for people in the village. And offering a lot of money.”
“People… you say?”
Despite a bad feeling, Remilien asked without showing any signs.
“Yeah! Heard they’re looking for a girl your age and her mother who live nearby.”
“…!”
“But it can’t be you, since you doesn’t look anything like they say. They said the mother was an unusual color of blonde, but your mother has black hair, doesn’t she?”
“Yes…”
“And they said her mother side is incredibly beautiful. Well… objectively, your mom is not that pretty.”
“…”
It’s good that the illusion spell is working, but Mary’s words were not positive at all.
They were searching everywhere, and every person was looking for was Remilien‘s mother.
Beris must have sent them to this faraway land.
‘Beris knows that mom uses magic.’
The possibility that she could have used illusion magic to change her appearance was not unthinkable.
Those seeking her would have knowledge of it. A difference in appearance was not something to be dismissed.
“Of course, it’s not your story, right?”
“Oh yeah, sure! She must be a real beauty, that’s why he’s willing to spend money to find her!”
Remilien forced a smile, casually chatted, and then Mary left.
But after closing the door, her legs gave out and she slumped down.
‘…This is bad.’
If I had known this would happen, I would have changed my gender and pretended to be a son instead of a daughter.
The people in this village were nice, but maybe it was wrong to stay in one place for so long.
Remilien chewed her lip and wrapped her arms around herself.
If they were in the next village now, they would be here soon enough to investigate.
But it would seem suspicious to go looking for her right now, and it’s almost dinner, so she’ll be home soon anyway.
Long-distance teleportation required preparation, and until then, they couldn’t show any signs of running away from the village or appearing suspicious.
Remilien closed her beloved book and waited for Luna to return from work.
***
“Mom!”
Remilien ran up and hugged Luna as soon as she returned for dinner.
“Oh, honey, Rien. What’s wrong, are you hungry?”
“That’s not the problem, mom. We have to get out of here quickly…”
She told Luna what she had heard as fast as a rapid-fire cannon.
Luna’s face turned as pale as a blank slate as she listened.
“That… person…”
Luna’s shoulders shook slightly, as if she was still traumatized by Beris.
She wondered if she might have resigned herself when she was caught, but it’s been already three years since she escaped and lived freely.
She’d already gotten used to life without Beris, and if she went back to the hell she’d been in…
“It’s okay, Mom!”
“Oh…….”
“Get ready and run! They haven’t come all the way to this town yet, and I’m lucky I heard about it from Mrs. Mary first.”
“Um, yeah… Yes, Rien. Mommy’s… gotta get her bearings.”
Luna nodded stiffly, as if she’d finally come to her senses.
“I’ll get the teleportation ready. Let’s get our things.”
“Yeah! I’m energized, so we’ll be able to travel more easily than before.”
Luna smiled weakly and stroked her daughter’s hair.
Her hands were trembling a little from fear, but she seemed to be suppressing it for her daughter’s sake.
“…It’s okay, it’s going to be okay.”
Despite her cheerful behavior to reassure her mother, Remilien was anxious inside.
‘I don’t know if we’ll be able to get away, or if they’ll come after us again.’
‘We don’t know how long…… we’ll have to run.’
But somehow she pushed the thought away and moved her hand.
Such thoughts were a luxury in the face of the immediate crisis.
***
With teleportation, there was no point in running outside and creating witnesses anyway.
They decided to cast the spell as soon as they were ready inside the house.
The mother and daughter were anxiously packing their bags with important items.
She just hoped Luna’s spell would be ready soon.
Then they could teleport away safely and escape this crisis.
Remilien prayed and prayed and prayed as she clung tightly to Luna’s arms.
As the day slowly grew darker.
Their keen ears picked up a strange sound.
It was the rumbling of the ground as a group of men approached the house.
“…Mom.”
“Shh.”
In the unlit house, the mother and daughter kept their mouths shut and didn’t make a sound.
Then the footsteps were completely close, and someone knocked hard on the door.
The two held their breath even harder.
The door rattled a few more times, but then it stopped, as if it had given up.
Remilien let out a barely-contained gasp.
“Oh, no, I didn’t think they’d come so soon.”
Come to think of it, if Mary knew…
If not her, then someone else could have rattled off some information, like, “There’s a mother and daughter family in the next town over.”
And could tell them where the house was located…….
Remilien felt the nape of her neck grow cold.
‘I’d rather they thought we’d already fled and back off…’
“Bang!”
A loud bang rang out, shattering Remilien‘s expectations.
Someone had slammed a blunt object against the door with tremendous momentum.
It didn’t end with that one blow. Bang, bang, bang…
Until the door shattered.
“…Let’s get out of here!”
Remilien bit her lip and grabbed Luna’s hand, pulling her to her feet.
“Mom. Teleport, how far is it?”
“If I concentrate as hard as I can, it’s about fifteen minutes…”
“Okay!”
We just have to run and hold out until then.
I don’t have any great magic, but I should be able to distract them somehow…
As soon as Luna is ready, she’ll teleport away.
She finished her calculations and took off running.
Remilien slammed the back door, then stomped her feet as hard as she could and ran out of the house.
“Get her! Over there!”
“You can kill the kid! Don’t let the girl go!”
Remilien smirked at the sound of their shouts.
‘Truly, my presence meant nothing to Beris.’
It would only give her the creeps to think that man had any affection for his daughter anyway.
Remilien urgently drew a magic circle.
“Ugh!”
Pepper flew out of the circle. The wind was blowing in the opposite direction, so it hit the enemies directly in their eyes.
While they rubbed their eyes and screamed, Remilien didn’t hesitate to run into the forest with Luna.
The forest was complex, but the mother and daughter duo were familiar with the geography. If they could hide from them for the next ten minutes or so, they were confident of victory.
“Rien, I’m sorry, Mommy’s sorry… Mommy’s magic…”
“No, Mom’s getting ready to teleport. Don’t worry about it, just focus. I’ll deal with it.”
Remilien continued to outrun her pursuers, using all sorts of tricks like turning a section of land into a swamp and laying down a bunch of bombshells, like in the Christmas movie where the kid takes on the thieves alone1Home Alone.
Three minutes until teleportation.
Until then, Remilien had been basking in the glow of victory.
It’s okay now.
She could run away with her mom again.
But she quickly realized how foolish that idea was.
“Kill that cheeky little brat!
“Is the magic circle ready?”
Remilien realized late that there were battle mages mixed in with the group of pursuers.
So far, they had only been caught off guard.
‘I’m a fool…’
To think I could escape with such a hasty plan.
“Boom!”
A beam of magic like a fire arrow flew out.
The sharp light pierced through her chest, and Remilien felt the pain of death for the second time.
“Children do not choose their parents.”
As she was coughing up blood and dying, the sentence popped into her mind.
It was a common question on community message boards.
“If you were born again, would you choose your current parents?”
She could answer that question with more confidence than anyone.
“I want to be born again as my mom’s daughter. But I hope I never cross paths with that jerk of a father again.”
That’s the way it should be.
She was dying right now, trying to resist her father’s pursuit.
Even if she was reborn, she’d still be his daughter, and the thought of it gave her goosebumps.
“Rien… Rien!”
I could hear Luna’s distant cries as she clung to me.
“Mommy, I’m sorry, I had to go first.”
If she survived on her own, she’d be tortured for the rest of her life in the Mountain Hell.
I felt sorry for her, knowing that my eyesight was completely ruined and I couldn’t see her face, the most beautiful face in the world.
“Rien, I’m sorry for giving birth to you as my daughter……”
“Whatever you say, mom.”
“I loved being Mom’s daughter.”
There were so many things I wanted to say, but my completely broken body couldn’t even breathe properly now.
“No… Rien, Rien…!”
Death was familiar to me, having already experienced it once.
The sensation of a black mist enveloping the body and separating the soul from this world.
Alas, this was the end.
Will I be reborn again, as I was this time?
If I am reborn, I still want to meet my mom…
“Rien, don’t worry. Mommy will find you…”
With Luna’s words fading away, Remilien‘s consciousness was completely cut off.
But at this moment, she didn’t realize it.
This moment was not the end, but a new beginning.
The beginning of a long, long journey to save her mother from a bad ending.
