“Hohoho.”
I looked at myself in the mirror and smiled with satisfaction.
It was only natural.
The reflection in the mirror was no longer of a tiny newborn baby. Now, I was a fully capable three-year-old who could move both arms and legs freely!
Moreover,
“Hah… I can talk.”
Goodbye to the days when I could only express myself with sounds like ‘mya’ or ‘bya.’ Now, I can speak properly, even though my pronunciation is still terrible.
I smiled widely, then shifted my gaze from the mirror to stare into the air.
After receiving the ‘fast-forward’ reward from completing the prologue, as soon as I claimed the reward, my mind felt detached from my body as if I were experiencing an out-of-body experience. It was as if I was looking down on myself from a third-person perspective.
Time sped by quickly in that state.
There wasn’t any particular event that required my attention. At most, there was a ‘test,’ during which I casually demonstrated some summoning magic.
However, I didn’t summon any monsters. I only summoned small objects and, at most, a living animal.
Was this acceptable? I wondered, but…
– They said two monstres were summoned, right?
– It seems it used life force for the summoning. For now, let’s focus on increasing the magical power. Someone who can control monsters would be an asset to us.
The demon tribe accepted this explanation, so I was able to move on.
‘Not bad.’
Yes, it wasn’t bad at all.
I had planned to take it easy in the upcoming tests anyway.
‘The fact that the system progressed in the same way confirms that my judgment was correct.’
I crossed my arms and let out a slight nasal sound.
‘The fast-forward stopped at three years old, which means an event is about to happen.’
I need to stay sharp if I want to survive and ultimately beat this damn game world.
‘They’re all dead, for real.’
I grinned wickedly, a smile far too sinister for a child.
And then it happened.
“Baby, you’re smiling weirdly again.”
Martin, who had woken up without me noticing, placed his hand on the top of my head and spoke.
“Baby, who are you planning to kill at today’s party?”
How did he know I was thinking about wreaking havoc?
This sharp-eyed guy.
I quietly patted my chest to calm myself down and responded nonchalantly.
“What are you talking about? I’m not going to kill anyone.”
“You had that exact look on your face. I can tell.”
“You don’t know anything. Martin knows nothing.”
I deliberately turned away with a sulky expression, and Martin’s face turned pale. It was quite amusing to see such a large, bear-like figure looking so troubled.
‘Something feels off.’
From my perspective, it felt like two and a half years had passed in the blink of an eye, but these guys had been by my side all this time.
Didn’t they notice anything strange about me during that time?
Those two and a half years weren’t truly mine.
Thinking this made me feel somewhat bitter.
‘Let’s get a grip. This isn’t what’s important.’
I shook my head a couple of times and started to think.
Martin played a significant role during the fast-forward scenes.
After killing the creature I summoned, Martin stopped talking to me and just hovered around.
He only started talking to me again during the second test.
I don’t know why, but after that, he followed me around like a shadow, as if he had never avoided me in the first place. Even though I didn’t engage with him at all in the fast-forward scenes, he still chose to look after me, even forsaking his beloved sleep.
‘What is he thinking?’
Nisha said that Martin knew the homunculus would all die…
‘Is this related to that?’
Hmm.
Well, since I’m not Martin, there’s no way for me to know what’s on his mind.
So, I decided to give up on trying to figure out Martin’s thoughts.
I already have plenty to worry about, so why bother? Besides, Martin’s goodwill is beneficial to me, not harmful.
“Where’s Arthur? Where did he go?”
“The vice commander is at the dining hall. He said he’d come up after preparing for the party.”
“Preparing what? We’re just going to eat and blow out candles ourselves anyway.”
I shrugged my shoulders as I replied.
In the fast-forward scenes, there was a birthday party.
At that time, it was just me, Arthur, Martin, and the members of the First Legion.
But the members of the First Legion were kicked out before the party even started because Arthur caught them pinching my cheeks like I was some sort of slime.
Since then, the First Legion members were banned from entering the annex.
“Tell him to hurry and come up. It’s not like I can dress myself alone.”
“I’ll help you.”
“No way. Last time you helped me, I got a scratch on my back. You can never pull the clothes up properly.”
“………”
Martin, who had reached out his hand, silently stepped back. He then tapped his ear and moved his lips slightly. It was a whispering spell.
Soon after, there was a knock on the door, and it opened.
“Lady Shekina! Have you been waiting? Oh, I’m so sorry. I’ve been all over the place.”
Arthur’s smiling face was the same as always. I tugged at Arthur’s sleeve and smiled slightly.
“No matter how busy you are, you should still help me change my clothes. I almost froze to death in just my pajamas.”
“Oh no! I’m so sorry! I can’t believe I left you out in this cold weather!”
“Yeah, well, as long as you understand now.”
I scoffed in response.
“…Baby, I cast a warming spell for you.”
“Shut up, you idiot.”
Ignoring Martin’s whisper, I allowed Arthur to help me dress. He zipped up the back of my blue dress tightly and then looked at my reflection in the mirror.
“You’re getting cuter by the day, Shekina. You’re really… No, no. You’re very lovely.”
He was probably about to say I looked more like a demon. Then he likely hesitated, not wanting to draw distinctions between demons and homunculus.
‘Well, it doesn’t really matter to me since I’m human.’
My face wasn’t bad for a human. Actually, to be precise, I was cute enough that I could easily slap a demon three times and still look adorable.
With hair that sparkled like silver dust, pale skin with a rosy hue, and large, almond-shaped eyes with double eyelids that curled up like a cat’s, I was bound to be called a beauty someday—someone who could even rival a saint.
‘It’s kind of amazing that I’m this pretty, considering I’m just human.’
Well, I guess this was all part of the system’s arrangement.
“Yeah. I’m cute. The cutest in the world.”
Leaving the smiling Arthur behind, I focused my attention on my body.
It was almost as if I had skipped over two and a half years.
During that fast-forwarded time, I hadn’t done any real magic training. Although I had received some magical energy from the first legion’s demons, that was all.
‘Since I chose to be a summoner, I didn’t bother with formal magic training.’
As a result, this body…
‘…Has no circles.’
I had plenty of magic, but no circles had formed.
No circles meant I couldn’t use magic.
‘This is a problem.’
I can’t freely use summoning magic because it’s too conspicuous. And if I can’t use magic either…
‘I could end up dead at this rate.’
I needed to start training immediately.
‘I’ll stick close to Martin and Arthur until I form my circles.’
Having decided that, I smiled at Arthur again. Arthur’s nose wrinkled in displeasure.
“I’d like to style your hair differently today since you’re even cuter than usual.”
Arthur grabbed the hairbrush with a determined expression.
“I’ll put in extra effort this time.”
And so, he began to brush my hair.
“…….…”
After watching in the mirror for a while, I couldn’t hold back any longer and spoke up.
“Arthur, are you trying to make a nest out of my hair? Are you planning to put some birds in it?”
“No, no! Why is this not working the way I want it to…”
“Oh, Arthur. My hair looks like it got struck by lightning.”
“I don’t quite understand what that means, but I’m doing my best…”
“Arthur, you have clumsy hands.”
“…I’m sorry.”
I have no idea what he did to make my soft hair turn into this mess. Clicking my tongue, I took the brush from him.
“Never mind. I’ll do it myself.”
Then I calmly brushed and tied my hair. Arthur’s eyes widened as he watched me.
“Oh, Lady Shekina, you’re really skilled at this.”
“Yeah. I’ve done it a lot before…”
Oops, that was a mistake.
“Sorry?”
“I meant I’ve practiced it before.”
“Oh! Lady Shekina, you really are a genius. You’re not even fully grown, and yet you can brush and tie your own hair…”
Ignoring Arthur’s admiration, I let out a sigh of relief.
I almost let it slip that in my past life, I had to take care of my own hair because no one else would.
‘…Tsk.’
