When I opened my eyes again, I was surprised to see what greeted me.
Instead of the familiar meadow, the scenery that could be seen from the hill, and Fenrir’s figure, what entered my vision was the beautiful vast blue sky. To my left, right, and every angle showed the sky…
What? How can it be possible? Just where am I?
Before I could comprehend this weird phenomenon, a strong gust of wind came out of nowhere and I was forced to close my eyes and covered my head with my arms.
As I felt that the wind subsided, I put down my arms and opened my eyes again. The scenery was still the same, but suddenly, a familiar spectre of light swooped its way right in front of me and stopped there!
“Ah… You’re…,” my voice shook a bit.
It couldn’t be, right?
A gentle and softer light enveloped that spectre of light and gradually, the figure of a child could be seen. It was a small girl with a very long and wavy white hair—a rainbow spectrum shining on it. As she opened her eyes, I could see that her eyes resembled a kaleidoscope—wait…
I’ve seen her somewhere before!
This girl is…
The one I encountered in the chapel of the Harmonia Academy!
“You’re… Noia?” I asked as I pointed my trembling finger at her.
Because she was a very remarkable girl with her features of a living angel, even if we only met once and it was such a brief meeting, I’d never forget a girl like her.
But why did Noia appear from the spectre of… Eh??
The mysterious girl smiled softly before yet another soft light enveloped her as her appearance changed again. This time, she simply became the male counterpart of her female self. Still in the form of a small child, with the same kaleidoscope-like eyes, and silky white hair with a rainbow spectrum. However, his hair was short, and his attire was that of a boy, and he showed a cheeky smile that fitted this appearance of his better than before.
“Noia… You… are the god that reincarnated me…?” I asked before I recalled something important.
‘Aion-sama—our God’s gender is unspecified—some may address Aion-sama with ‘he’, while some may address Aion-sama with ‘she’.’
Was there a reason for it?
Could it be that Aion-sama simply could turn into a male and female, and thus…?
Also…
‘Aion-sama is often portrayed with the image of a pure, innocent child.’
If that was the case, then the spectre of light god who reincarnated me… Noia… Could they be…?
The boy smiled as he looked at me and then said with an otherworldly voice.
“Correct.”
“…!!” This gave me a dejavu…
“You can read what I just thought, right?” I asked for a confirmation.
The boy’s eyes closed in a smile, “Yup!”
The identity of the god who reincarnated me finally came to light! They were none other than Aion-sama, the Alpha, the god of beginning and the god of life…
If that was the case, then what were they planning?
Also… The thing about my death being an accident and the offer of my reincarnation…
“As you already guessed. That was all a lie. Your death as Reinst wasn’t something I accidentally did. I thought you’d accept my ‘compensation’ of reincarnation if I were to tell you that, but…,” Aion-sama shrugged and shook his head.
“Ah…”
“In the end, I forcefully reincarnated you in a hurry. I apologize for that,” Aion-sama apologized.
…Did I seriously make a god apologize to me?!
I quickly waved my hands and said with a troubled expression, “No, I apologize for my rudeness and bad attitude towards you, too… Indeed, with such a circumstance, I wouldn’t agree. But now I’m thankful that you did what you did.”
“I’m glad to hear that!” Aion-sama chuckled.
“Uhm… So…,” I hesitantly asked, “I’m sure there’s a reason why you reincarnated me as Lyra, right? It’s not simply because you took a pity to my life, right? I am really thankful that you gave me this life that I wanted, so… I’d do my best to repay you!”
Aion-sama showed an evident surprise on his face before his expression softened. He floated on the ground as he laughed.
“That is so you! Hahaha!”
“W-well, but I’m correct, right? I’m sure you want me to do something as Lyra.”
“Hmm… Is it correct? Is it wrong? I wonder…,” Aion-sama said in a teasing tone.
“Hey…,” I wanted to scold him for not being serious, but my opponent was Aion-sama, a god…!
“Nah, don’t worry about it. I just want you to do what you want and what you feel like the right thing to do,” Aion-sama suddenly said.
“Eh? Is that it?” I blinked in my disbelief.
It was so easy, are they sure?!
“But I’m asking about what you want me to do…,” I muttered.
“Yeah, I believe that if you do that, then you’re doing what I want you to do already.”
“How are you so sure?”
“I believe in you,” Aion-sama said.
I was surprised to hear that.
A god believed that I would choose to do what they wanted me to do… Isn’t that such an enormous trust?!
But if they dared to believe in me…
“Thank you very much. I promise I won’t let you down,” I said with a determination in my eyes.
“Don’t be too uptight. Just be happy and thankful of me, that’s good enough,” Aion-sama said as he waved his hand around.
“I will!”
As soon as I answered, another gust of wind blew past me, and my reflexes got the better of me again.
But when I opened my eyes, I saw the familiar meadow and felt like my posture was changed.
I remembered I was standing when I was talking to Aion-sama, but I felt like I was sitting and leaning… on something warm, fluffy…
“Fenrir?” I called out to the one I was leaning my back to.
“Lyra, are you alright? I sensed a disturbance for a moment before you returned to consciousness,” Fenrir’s face appeared before my eyes as he asked me in worry.
“Mm, yeah… I’m fine. As for that disturbance, I was just talking to an old friend,” I answered as I slowly got up and patted my pants, clearing away any dirt from it.
“An old friend? What kind of person are they that they can cause a disturbance to my technique?” Fenrir was puzzled.
“Hmmm… They are an otherworldly being…,” I answered vaguely. I didn’t really want to tell that Aion-sama, a god, had seen me and talked with me several times already.
One, I didn’t want anyone to see me differently, even if it was Fenrir.
Two, if for some reason this fact was spread out, would they think I was a saint and then I’d get taken to the temple or church and then…
“Otherworldly being… They must be extraordinary.”
As if sensing my reluctance to reveal the whole truth at this moment, Fenrir muttered those words as he nodded.
“Yeah, they are,” I smiled.
“And you… look a bit different. How do I say it, you seem more… fresh? Happy? I guess,” Fenrir had a difficulty in describing the change he felt in me.
Even I wasn’t sure what exactly had changed, but I could feel that I had changed.
I felt… lighter, for some reason?
“Mhm~!” In any case, I nodded and smiled at Fenrir.
“It seems to be a success. I’m glad, then,” Fenrir said.
“Shall we return now, Fenrir?” I asked.
“Then, it’ll be faster this way,” Fenrir said.
“Hm? Wha—”
Before I could finish my sentence, Fenrir already grabbed my collar with his snout as he flung me to his back.
“Hold on tight,” Fenrir said and my hands reflexively hung on to his mane.
“Wait, what are you—”
Again, Fenrir didn’t wait for my words to be finished as he quickly dashed, bringing me on his back.
“Slow dooowwwnnn!” I said in the middle of our journey.
“Enjoy the ride,” Fenrir said without slowing down.
“Heyyy, the wind is ticklish, hahaa!” I couldn’t resist the urge to laugh at the ticklish wind caused by Fenrir’s speed.
I turned around to look at the fast-changing scenery. It was beautiful.
Then, I laughed out loud without caring about etiquette and mannerism. Just a carefree laugh, to express how happy and peaceful I felt.
Arriving at the front of my residence, Fenrir stopped, allowing me to dismount from his back.
“I’m home!”
I said as the maid opened the door for me.
She then helped me change into the indoor slippers.
“Where’s Mom?” I asked her.
“She is in her study,” the maid answered.
Off to the study I went, then.
I knocked the door to Mom’s study room lightly.
“Who is it?” Mom’s voice could be heard.
“Mom, it’s me. I’m home,” I announced.
The sound of footsteps was heard before the door was opened. And what greeted me when it was opened was…
“Welcome home, dear.”
Mom’s warm smile and words.
I felt a warmth surging from deep within my heart as my face broke into a smile. Then, I just let my heart get the best of me as I proceeded to hug Mom.
“Did you have fun?” Mom hugged me back as she asked me.
“I did!”
For some reason, although we were communicating like usual, I felt like it was different somehow. Perhaps… because I felt like I was just Lyra now?
I still remembered vividly the memories of the time when I was as Reinst, but I didn’t feel as attached. It was like browsing an old photo album.
“You seem more cheerful. Did something good happen?” Mom asked.
As expected of Mom! Or was it a mother’s instinct? She was so on point!
“Hmm, yeah, something like that.”
“That’s good then,” Mom said as she patted my head, not prying further.
Mom was always like this. She knew that I didn’t intend to tell her the full story, so she didn’t pry, too.
I was lucky to be blessed with a mother like her.
“Mom, are you busy?” I asked.
“Not really, why?”
“I feel really motivated right now. Can you teach me more about magic? Oh, maybe about dark magic? I feel like I can do it better now!” I said in a high spirit.
“You know I can’t say ‘no’ to that request, right?” Mom asked with a smile.
“Hehe, of course!” I happily clung to Mom as she let me enter her study room.
Of course, Fenrir followed suit after me.
Thus, it marked the end of my attachment to my past life as ‘Reinst’.
From now on, I am and I will always be just Lyra.
Alrescha Lyra Hartmann.
And no matter what kind of difficulty I may face in the future, I believe I can overcome them in order to live my life to the fullest!
