Chapter 4
“Don’t be scared. It’s okay, I’m here. I’m your big sister, so if anyone tries to touch you, I won’t let them get away with it.”
Even in the midst of this, Kaliona tried to reassure Liriope, despite her own anxiety about the situation.
Seeing this, Liriope swallowed the obsessive fear rising within her, trying to calm her churning stomach.
Her mind steadied, allowing her to think rationally about the situation.
‘Who are you? What are you doing talking inside my head?’
[That’s not important right now. I went to the trouble of turning back time for you, so unless you want to die senselessly today, get a grip.]
The reprimanding tone grated on her, but that was a minor issue.
Liriope instinctively held her breath at the shocking content of the voice echoing in her mind.
What did it just say?
Turn back time?
‘So… this isn’t a dream or some afterlife?’
[Correct. This is reality.]
A sensation—whether a shiver or goosebumps—ran through her entire body.
Reality.
The present, where her sister was alive and no tragedy had yet begun, was reality.
Time reversal, something even the greatest archmage of the era, the master of the Southern Magic Tower, deemed impossible, was beyond common sense.
Yet, to her own surprise, Liriope accepted the words instantly.
Was it because everything here felt too vividly real?
Or perhaps because she so desperately wanted to believe it?
Either way, Liriope instinctively knew the mysterious voice in her head was telling the truth.
[Contractor, you must already sense it, but the Sacrament is unavoidable. So don’t cause trouble and stay put.]
However, her elated heart was doused with cold water by the voice’s next words, chilling her instantly.
‘No way. You’re telling me to become a mage of Bellegoat again?’
If she had truly returned to the past, how could this be?
To crawl back into this hell—how absurd.
With a mix of doubt and anxiety, Liriope pressed urgently.
‘You said you turned back time? Then why this moment? Couldn’t you have sent me back to before I entered the Northern Magic Tower? Why this specific time?’
[I didn’t decide it. It’s likely tied to your deepest wish.]
The voice in her head, slightly annoyed at being questioned, added coolly.
[Didn’t you wish to return to a time when you and your sister could face each other and smile sincerely? This must be the last moment that was possible.]
In that instant, a storm surged in Liriope’s heart.
The scene she saw upon waking after losing consciousness in the rain-soaked forest flashed before her eyes.
Her sister, eating freshly baked bread in a warm room, smiling purely with joy.
The time just before the Sacrament, before entering the Northern Magic Tower, was the last truly happy moment for the sisters.
Even after that, before Kaliona grew cold, she would sometimes smile maturely despite the harsh days, reassuring Liriope.
In those moments, Liriope could briefly forget her worries and smile along with Kaliona.
But was Kaliona never truly okay, even then?
Did she force herself to appear strong for her younger sister?
Just like now.
“Come on, go in. It looks like we’re not late. Head to the center of the ritual hall and stand with the other children. Once the Sacrament is over, you’ll be reborn as true members of Bellegoat.”
The female mage who escorted Liriope and Kaliona pushed them toward a small door.
Hoping against hope, Liriope tried to channel her mana, but nothing happened.
She was in the body of a complete child, before her mana core had formed.
Even if she could use magic, what good would it do? She had lived her life labeled as half-baked.
‘So, there’s really no way to change what happens today? I have to go through the Sacrament and become a mage of Bellegoat again?’
A faint sense of futility and resignation settled in her heart, then quickly faded.
No, to feel disappointed over something like this was pathetic.
What did it matter if she had to live as a half-baked mage in this hell again?
Wasn’t this opportunity already a once-in-a-lifetime miracle?
She knew roughly what the future held, so she might at least be able to change Kaliona’s fate. For that alone, Liriope would sell her soul to a demon.
[What…? A demon? Are you calling me that? You insolent brat…]
‘Fine. If I can’t avoid it, I’ll accept it. I don’t know who you are or what your purpose is, but it doesn’t matter. Even if you want my life or my soul, I’ll give it. If this life isn’t enough, I’ll pay the price in the next one too.’
Clunk, thud!
As if an invisible force of fate was pushing her forward, the heavy door, disproportionate to its size, closed firmly behind her with a dull sound.
‘If I can save Kaliona, nothing else matters.’
In the large room filled with an eerie atmosphere, the children who had arrived earlier were gathered.
Coincidentally, the boys who had picked a fight at the dining hall earlier were standing near the door and spotted the sisters first.
“What’s this? Why are you two only showing up now?”
The red-haired boy grumbled in his usual irritating tone.
“If the Sacrament gets delayed because of you, are you going to take responsibility? I didn’t even eat much earlier because I was saving room for something tastier, but waiting for you already made me digest everything.”
“He’s right! Take responsibility!”
“Give our leader an extra piece of meat later!”
The smaller boys following him crossed their arms and barked at the sisters.
It wasn’t intimidating at all, but the leader seemed pleased with his followers’ loyalty.
“Hey, kid.”
At that moment, one of the mages escorting the children approached, patting the red-haired boy’s shoulder encouragingly.
“I’m betting on you for this batch. So show some grit and meet me in the inner circle.”
The mage left with a meaningful smile.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
The boy, rubbing the shoulder the mage had touched, muttered uneasily.
For the first time, a troubled expression crossed his usually cocky face, as if he sensed something ominous.
“Everyone, attention! The Sacrament will now begin.”
At that moment, a middle-aged mage, who had been looking up at the ceiling as if checking something, drew the children’s focus.
“Today, you will be reborn as proud members of Bellegoat. Unfortunately, not all of you are qualified for that honor, but this is merely a necessary sacrifice and trial for the glory and prosperity of the great Northern Magic Tower. So show your grit and may as many of you as possible survive today.”
“What does that mean…?”
Before the children, puzzled by the mage’s words, could ask anything, the magic circle drawn on the ceiling activated.
Wooong!
An ominously dark mana instantly engulfed the entire room.
Like a living creature with a will of its own, it greedily opened its maw and swallowed the defenseless children whole.
In an instant, a pop sounded nearby, and the floor was stained red.
One of the children, who had been standing perfectly fine moments ago, vanished without even a scream, leaving only a vivid bloodstain in their place.
That child was unlucky to have the worst aptitude for becoming a mage of the Northern Magic Tower but fortunate to die unaware of what had happened.
“Kyaa, kyaaaah…! H-he’s dead, urgh!”
Someone’s ear-piercing scream, followed by vomiting blood, signaled the start of the merciless selection process.
