When I regained my consciousness, I opened my eyes straight away. The first thing I felt was how light my eyelids were, which might be a good indicator as the last few times I felt a heavy sensation, nothing good came of it…
And what came to my field of vision almost caused me to scream or faint.
A very close up face of a wolf was there right before my eyes. Its menacing red eyes were staring at me, and then the menacing horns…It was none other than Fenrir.
What’s more, it was like he was going to eat me!
But I gotta stay calm, stay calm…
…then he licked my face using his tongue!!
“Ekh, don’t eat me!” Too bad, my mouth leaked out my true feelings as I tried to avert my eyes from him and shielded my face using my hands. I wanted to back off, but my head was already on the ground, so nothing I could do.
“Pfft.”
Excuse me, did you just laugh at me?! You moron!
“Don’t worry, I won’t eat you,” Fenrir said.
“Y-yeah, I won’t let you do that, too, I can fight back!” I said as I waved my hands at him.
The moment I saw my hands that were flailing around, I gasped.
These hands…seemed like a child’s hands!
I touched my cheeks using them. Hmm, I couldn’t tell, but…
I proceeded to touch my hair and noticed how I had my hair in twintails and when I brought my hair to my vision, it…the color was galaxy blue!!
Hooray, I’m back as Lyra?!
“Phew, finally! That scared me! What did you do to me?” I asked Fenrir.
“…You just overcame a trial I gave you. Congratulations, little girl. I shall acknowledge you as my master,” Fenrir said as if it was a matter of fact.
“Huh, a trial you gave me? Wait, me, as your master?” My mind still couldn’t process everything.
“Yes. Didn’t you come here in order to form a contract with me? You’ve obtained it.”
“…I honestly have no idea…”
“…Then why did you come here?”
“I…I was chasing after a wyvern. I accidentally went here, it wasn’t on purpose, I swear!”
“……”
“……”
Both of us were silently looking at each other with a look of disbelief.
“B-but I overcame that trial, right? So, you will be my Familiar, won’t you?” For the time being, I understood as much and I was thrilled to think that I would have a Familiar of my own!!
“Yeah. So, you still want to form a contract with me, little girl?”
“Of course!”
“Despite having no idea of who I am and what my powers are?” He asked with a face that seemed to be saying, ‘How interesting.’
“Yeah. I don’t mind. We can get to know each other after forming the contract. Why does it matter?” I tilted my head to the side.
I meant, I pretty much didn’t have any criteria of Familiar. Any Familiar that wanted to be mine would be welcome! And having such a strong-looking, no, he might really be strong…having a Familiar like Fenrir might be dreamy!
“Very well. I shall proceed as you wish. Now, put your hand on my fang and–,” he said as he bared his fangs at me.
“Hell no! How do I know it’s not your trick to eat me?!” I was frightened. He could as well swallow me in one go if he wanted to.
“…So much trust, to think that we’re going to be master-Familiar from now on.”
“Uh…Okay, okay, I’ll trust you,” I said. Either way, I could heal myself if he were to injure me, but I didn’t want to feel hurt…
I was quite afraid of him because of how intimidating he was, how big he was, and the fact that he kinda attacked me when all I wanted was just to say “Hi, sorry I went to the wrong direction, let me go, thanks.”
Nevertheless, I should try to trust him for now. So, I put my right hand on his right fang.
“Now pour your mana into my fang,” He said, and the fang reverberated as his voice leaked out.
“Alright,” I closed my eyes and did as he said.
A warm sensation also flooded my body the moment I poured my mana to his fang. Could it be his magical power?
Are we doing an exchange of mana right now, to form the contract?
The warm sensation circulated within my body for a while before it finally stopped. I opened my eyes right away, and Fenrir pulled back his fang from me.
“From now on, we are an equal partner,” Fenrir stated.
“An equal partner…?”
“Yeah. That’s the most I can compromise. I don’t want to form a contract if I had to be someone’s servant. Are you not satisfied with it?” He asked.
“Eh, no, I am so happy that we’ve become an equal partner!” I happily stated.
I honestly forgot the nature behind Master-Familiar contract. About how I could even be my Familiar’s servant, yikes!
Thankfully, Fenrir set up an equal partner contract.
“Nice to meet you, Fenrir. From now on, let’s be good friends!” I said as I extended my hand to him.
Things went silent after that.
Uh, right. Did I expect him to give me his hand or what?
But then, Fenrir shoved his head to my hand.
“Sure…How should I address you again? Is it Reinst or…?”
“WHOA, WAIT WAIT! YOU KNEW?!” I almost popped my eyes out of their sockets.
“…Of course. I saw it in your trial.”
“Ah, that trial. Can you tell me more about it? Also, it’s Lyra, not Reinst,” I stated.
“Alright, Lyra. I am basically a wolf beast of nightmare. My power is to enter someone’s dream. I can also gouge out someone’s fear to them inside that dream. That is why my power is quite sought by the others. Many want my power to induce fears to their enemies,” Fenrir said with an angry stare.
“Ah…So, that’s why you were so guarded towards anyone who’s come here?”
“Right. I secluded myself because I couldn’t stand being among those who think like that. My…previous master was a good person, and I honestly thought he would be my last.”
“And how did you know I am a good person? Why did you choose me?” I asked.
“The condition to forming a contract with me…The first and foremost, they have to be someone that can fight their own fears. Not many can do that. Also, while inside their dream, I can get to know what kind of person they are,” Fenrir said.
“…And that’s how you found out about me…that I was Reinst? Aren’t you surprised?” I asked.
“Yeah. But I’m not surprised because reincarnation is a natural thing.”
“…I see.”
For some reason, I felt as if something that had been weighing me all this time was lifted. Perhaps it was because for the first time in forever, I finally had someone who knew that I was Reinst, someone I could confide in about my worries regarding my past self?
“But don’t tell anyone else about it. Nobody knows,” I said with a very serious expression.
Fenrir nodded.
“Ah but your trial…Overcoming my fear…So, my fear is…That everything I’ve experienced as Lyra is nothing but a lie, and that I have to resume living as Reinst, huh?” I pondered.
“No single person has only one fear, but that is one of your biggest fears,” Fenrir explained.
“Makes sense,” I nodded.
But then, I thought of something.
“But hey, did you create a make-believe future based on my imagination and your imagination? Because if it’s only my dream, everything’s supposed to be revolving around the things I know, right?” I tilted my head.
The thing that doesn’t make sense the most is the existence of Trevant in my dream. And the Gamma cult. I practically knew almost nothing about them. Or could it be my imagination was too wild?
“…That is…”
“That is?” I asked as I put my hand on my chest. And at that time…
“Huh, what is this?” There was something on my chest. I took it out with my hand and…
“HUH?!” I was very surprised to see that I was wearing another necklace, and it was none other than the jewel…that I saw in my dream. The jewel that was extracted from the meteorite that hit Reinst when she was thirteen.
“Fenrir, you can even make something in my dream manifest in reality?!” I lifted the jewel up and looked at it under the sun. It was pretty and no mistake—it was definitely the same jewel.
“……”
But Fenrir was silent.
I was about to ask him again when I heard a faint familiar voice.
“Lyraaa…”
Someone was calling for me!
Wait, could it be my friends?! Right, I must have gone for too long!
“Ah, anyway, that’s awesome, Fenrir. I’m going to reunite with my friends now, they must be worried of me. Follow me, I’ll introduce you to them!” I quickly followed the direction where I heard the voice.
***
Fenrir didn’t follow Lyra right away. He was still silent as he was thinking of the odd things that occurred during the trial he set her to.
True, up to some point, it was exactly as Lyra said. Since it was only her dream, Fenrir could only manipulate the factors that Lyra already knew. But at some point, everything seemed to be out of his control.
Plus, the existence of the necklace that should only exist in her dream…
“…,” Fenrir couldn’t think of an answer no matter what, and he didn’t want to make the little girl who just formed a contract with him to go into a panic mode. He would try to figure out this matter himself, then tell her.
Deciding that, Fenrir finally walked to follow Lyra.
Not long after that, a specter of light went out of one of the trees near where Fenrir and Lyra were, floating in the sky before it flashed so brightly. Then, a figure of a transparent child appeared in the sky.
The child smiled looking at Fenrir and Lyra who were walking together.
***
“Lyraaa, are you hereee?”
“Lyraa, where are youuu?”
“Graaarrr!!”
The voice of humans and monsters grew clearer as I continued to walk on the right path.
Before long, I saw all my friends walking in the forest to find me! Their backs were facing me, so I had to greet them first.
Ah, Autzag returned first to them? How nice, Autzag. So I was chasing after you for nothing…
“Everyone, I’m here!” I said as I waved at them.
All of them quickly stopped shouting and turned around—and then…
“Hiiii!” Briar and Iris shrieked.
“Lyra, come here!” Clavis bared his fangs and gestured me to go behind him.
“Lyra, watch out!” Alt-nii was as concerned as Clavis.
Everyone else quickly turned on guard as they called out to me, and I could tell why.
Fenrir was walking behind me, and they might think that I was being targeted.
“Ah, no, no, don’t worry. Fenrir is not an enemy! He’s our friend!” I said as I gestured Fenrir to come next to me, and I gently put my hand on his head.
“What…?” All of them asked in disbelief. They went silent, waiting for me to give an explanation, so I did.
I skipped over the details of my trial, of course!
“I happened to get lost when I was searching for Autzag and happened to meet Fenrir. …He sort of gave me a test, and I passed. In the end, he became my Familiar,” I said.
“…You what?!” Luca blinked.
“Getting lost can lead you to have a Familiar?!” Kiri was in awe.
“Cool!” Freyr and Freyja exclaimed together.
“Lyra-neesama is awesome!” Leticia said.
“This is a fated meeting!” Dmitria said in a fiery tone.
“Getting lost then meeting a life partner…How romantic,” Valerie trailed off to her imagination.
When I looked at my friends one by one, I…I almost teared up.
I finally could see them again. The friends that I knew.
And then…
Alt-nii, the light in his eyes was as dazzling as I remembered him all my life. He looked so cheerful and well…
Clavis…You’re still here.
Luca…Thank goodness you existed! Leticia too…Kiri was also there next to them.
Freyr, Freyja, Ein…They were the same ones as I last remembered.
Carbuncle, Iris, Harvey…
Briar, Valerie, Dmitria…
While they were still looking at Fenrir and observed him, I quickly ran towards Alt-nii and hugged him. Incidentally, since Clavis was next to him, I also hugged him. I was in the middle of Alt-nii and Clavis.
“L-Lyra, what’s wrong?” Alt-nii was confused.
“Eh? Lyra?” Clavis blushed a little.
“…Nothing,” I said.
We were only separated for a while, but to me, I already experienced a long time without seeing them…in my dream.
I was glad they were here and alright.
Then, I moved to hug all my friends one by one.
Iris, Harvey, and Carbuncle.
Freyr, Freyja, and Ein.
Briar, Valerie, Dmitria.
Then…Luca, Leticia, and Kiri.
“W-what? Were you so scared from getting lost?” Luca asked.
“Oh, shut up, you,” I said right away.
“Ehehe, Lyra-neesama!” Leticia looked so happy.
“Huh? Lyra, you okay?” Kiri was worried.
Luca, Leticia…Did you know that in the dream I saw, you two never existed at all?
I…was glad that you two were here with me.
Thank you for existing.
The image of Trevant flashed in my head. I felt a little bit sad because I could never see him again, but in the end, he was nothing but a fragment of my imagination, right?
Still, he was way too realistic that I couldn’t help but be sad, too.
But my joy still outweighed my sadness.
And I prayed in my heart. That if such a reality existed, please God…Aion-sama, make them happy as well.
And I would definitely try my best and live to the fullest. For I knew that my life here, right now…is a blessing I don’t ever wanna lose.
