Fragments of the Forgotten World
After we survivors filed our report, an investigation was launched, and the masked attackers' identities came to light. They were criminals who meticulously targeted parties entering dungeons with forged tickets. Their leader, the man with invisibility, had already been wanted by the Council as a high-priority fugitive with multiple prior convictions. The injured masked men we captured confessed they were nothing more than mercenaries hired by him. In short, he alone was the mastermind behind every attack.
Even more shocking was the revelation that our party wasn't the first to be ambushed in that castle-shaped dungeon. A full Council investigation uncovered numerous bodies buried in remote areas. All of them were Awakeners whose disappearances had already sparked separate inquiries. Three entire parties had fallen to these killers. Their goal, of course, was the expensive equipment and valuable raid supplies each party carried. Since dungeon raids were inherently life-threatening, even the poorest parties came prepared to some degree. While looting one party might not yield much, repeating the act three times added up to a substantial sum.
Their method was simple. They would release the forged raid ticket for a chosen dungeon onto the black market. Once a party entered, they would strike while the group was off guard, wipe them out, and retrieve the ticket from the leader. Then they would sell the same ticket again. It exploited the fact that leaders always carried their raid tickets as proof of entry. They repeated this pattern until a dungeon break became imminent, at which point they would finally clear the boss. The hidden corpses inside would vanish along with the gate, leaving no trace. It was the perfect two-for-one scheme.
Yet even their flawless plan had one fatal flaw: what if the prey they targeted fought back and won? Our case was exactly that. According to the investigators, such an outcome was extremely rare. Their repeated successes had bred arrogance, leading them to grow careless. The decisive factor in our victory had indeed been superior coordination, so the investigator's guess held some weight.
In the end, we who repelled the attack were the victors. But the empty spaces left by our fallen comrades were vast, and none was larger or more irreplaceable than the leader's seat.
Once everything was settled, I shut myself inside the house and lived like a shut-in for a long time. That scene refused to leave my mind—the moment he threw himself forward without hesitation to save me right before the door closed. The reason he died after surviving the fight with the masked men was me. Because I… because I thought the battle was over and stepped back onto the field, I handed that man the perfect opening. The result was this. The mastermind escaped, and I sent the leader who had always looked out for me to his death. No matter how I looked at it, the cause was my own moment of carelessness, believing everything was finished. The price for that single mistake was far too cruel for me to accept.
The surviving party members who escaped with me tried to encourage me. They said the leader's choice had been his own decision, so I had no reason to carry guilt. They told me he wouldn't have wanted to see me like this. Yet the more I heard those words, the deeper I sank into an endless black pit. Their kindness only felt like sharp arrows piercing me. Every time they spoke, the fact that my brother had died because of me was carved deeper into my mind.
My spirit, already drowning in crushing guilt, grew dangerously unstable. To make matters worse, the party itself faced crisis. The biggest reason was the absence of the man who had been our center. On top of that, during the investigation it came out that we had used a forged ticket, and we were hit with a massive fine. The party, already financially devastated, could not bear the burden. Though the remaining members tried desperately to keep the group together, the vice-captain, who had overused magic, suffered severe aftereffects and chose to retire. With that, the party was officially disbanded.
The collapse of the first party I had ever signed an exclusive contract with, the first place I had felt a sense of belonging, hit me like a hammer. If he had lived… things would never have reached this point. Once again, the responsibility fell on me. Many members who had been living comfortably after settling into the party were scattered to the winds. I was no exception.
Before I could even sink into despair, harsh reality came knocking. I still had some savings from my previous stable income, but it was running out fast. If I didn't want to be thrown onto the streets and starve, I had to work. That meant returning to the very place that had shattered my life—the dungeon.
I briefly considered finding other work, but in a world where jobs were already scarce, someone with nothing but physical strength had few options. A few months after the incident, I started working as a porter again. At first, simply stepping inside a dungeon made me dizzy, but as time passed I regained some stability. They say humans are creatures of forgetfulness, and that saying proved true. Still, the trauma carved into my mind that day remained vivid.
Perhaps that was when it began—the moment I stopped showing any emotion toward the parties I raided with. I received a couple of exclusive contract offers afterward, but I turned them all down. Unconsciously, I had grown terrified of growing attached to people who might die at any moment. It was almost an instinctive defense mechanism. If another comrade I grew close to died because of me, I knew my mind wouldn't survive it. So I kept my distance. Even during brief conversations or while working, I wore only a businesslike smile and never revealed my true feelings.
By then, some part of me as a human had already broken. I simply buried those memories beneath the urgent need to survive and looked away. As long as I could keep living, those memories might have stayed buried forever… if he hadn't shoved them right in front of my eyes.
Pulled from my deep reminiscence, I once again stared at the massive castle filling my vision. To me, that place was the source of a nightmare that had given me horrific memories and the destroyer that had shattered my everyday life.
“…I don't know what you were thinking when you recreated this place, but start explaining. And don't think you can brush it off with your usual nonsense.”
The voice that slipped from my lips sounded chilling even to me. Though the tone itself was clear and pleasant, the icy fury it carried seemed cold enough to lower the surrounding temperature. My gaze made it obvious I had no intention of letting this slide.
Ulthar responded with an expected expression and a faint smile.
[Hmm~ Even your angry face in that transformed state is charming. There's a fierce allure you don't usually show… Still, please don't glare at me like that! I was just about to explain everything anyway. ]
As usual, Ulthar spoke in a sly tone, yet remained perfectly composed even under my sharp stare. Instead, he openly licked his lips while looking at my face—an utterly deranged perverted cat. Even so, he stayed within certain bounds and obediently answered my demand, which only made him more irritating.
[…This world is a recreation of the moment right after you escaped the boss room, based on the memories you and the other party members carried when you fled the dungeon. In other words, the dungeon's owner—the boss—is still inside. The special training mission is simple: break through the castle within the time limit and clear the dungeon safely. Ah, and you'll be doing it alone.]
After hearing Ulthar's explanation, I couldn't hide my shock. Clearing a dungeon naturally included the entire process, but conventionally it meant defeating the boss. Being told to do all of that alone was something I couldn't accept as reasonable. Yet there was something even harder to understand.
“Hold on. Even setting the difficulty aside, why this dungeon? If you pulled the background from my memories, there were plenty of other places you could have chosen…”
[You're right to wonder about that. The biggest reason was that I needed a memory with a strong impression, as I mentioned earlier. But honestly, there was another reason. I wanted you to overcome this trauma yourself…]
“So recreating this space was also part of the training… Is that what you're saying?”
[You understand perfectly. A magical girl—the hope and dream of everyone—can't carry darkness in her heart, can she? She must be mentally noble and pure as well!]
When I asked with a deeply furrowed brow, Ulthar nodded vigorously in enthusiastic agreement. Knowing his intention didn't improve my mood in the slightest. No matter what reason he gave, this place was a scene of horrific tragedy I never wanted to face again. Accepting such an absurd justification would have been stranger.
Ulthar paid no mind to my reaction and continued.
[And I'm not telling you to attempt the raid empty-handed! I'll at least provide enough support to make it possible. Besides, failing won't be a big problem. This is a dream world, so even if you die, you'll simply revive. Unlike reality, you get more than one chance.]
The way he casually said something so chilling in such a calm voice was absurd. I stared at Ulthar with a look of disbelief and let out a deep sigh. It was true that a dream world was an all-powerful space that could be freely manipulated. Even if I failed, I could simply reconstruct it. It really was the perfect world for life-risking training.
“…I understand well enough what you're trying to make me do. Honestly, I have no idea about the success rate or how ridiculous this sounds, but since it's your idea, you must have thought it through. Still… there's one thing I need to make perfectly clear.”
As I spoke, I slowly walked toward him. Once I was right in front of his face, I looked him straight in the eyes and opened my mouth again.
“From now on… don't ever steal my memories again. I don't know how it feels from your side, but from the side being violated, it's extremely unpleasant. Especially memories like these.”
My expression as I issued the firm warning was utterly serious. It felt strange to say such words directly, but the being before me seemed capable of doing even more outrageous things. It wasn't that I had any past I particularly wanted to hide. It was simply that memories were important fragments that made up a person's personality, and I felt an instinctive rejection at having them all laid bare.
Ulthar stared at me with a peculiar expression for a moment after hearing my words. Then, just as quickly, he smiled again and accepted my demand without resistance.
[Understood. This situation was special to begin with. I never intended to examine every single one of your memories from the start.]
His clear and straightforward answer left me with a quiet doubt inside. Normally he would have teased me a bit before reluctantly agreeing, yet this time he accepted immediately. Something felt suspicious, but I had no time to investigate. Right after that, the detailed explanation of the training began in earnest. The subtle question was soon buried and forgotten.
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[Aah~ I went to all the trouble of preparing this with good intentions, yet I wonder if I only earned hatred instead.]
The black cat, now alone, muttered while gazing ahead with subdued eyes. There stood her contractor, just about to enter the castle. Upon reaching the entrance, Seoah hesitated for a moment as if recalling something, then quickly shook her head and stepped inside. Watching from afar, she stretched her body and recalled the earlier conversation.
[Don't carelessly look into other people's memories, huh. I wonder if you'll still be able to say that once you learn what you did in the previous world… Hehehe.]
She murmured softly and briefly recalled memories of the previous world. The worst monster, the absolute ruler who reigned over all living beings with overwhelming power. Devoid of even the slightest human emotion, he had been the true Demon King of that now-erased world. She could not allow the same path to repeat.
Using the memories confirmed from the previous world, she had laid meticulous plans and taken preemptive measures to eliminate every risk factor. Thanks to those efforts, while it was still too early to be certain, the developments in this world were flowing in a markedly different direction from before. Even so, the task she had to accomplish remained clear: to raise the worst Demon King who had once driven this world to ruin into the greatest magical girl beloved by all. That was the new first step toward creating the desired “result.”