The Thread of Causality
What is the 'causality' of a Causality Seamstress?
It was the only way to save the princess.
No, that wasn't right.
I had already failed to save her.
To be precise, the Tower had never intended to let me save the princess in the first place.
She was destined to die here. Even if I had arrived sooner, the outcome would likely have been the same.
If the Tower had wanted me to save her, it would have sent me in much earlier.
Was the princess truly destined to meet her end in this place, leaving nothing but a corpse behind?
My fingertips trembled.
No.
If it was me, I could change it.
My skill name.
Causality Seamstress.
It was easy to mistake it for a simple puppet-making skill, but it was more than that.
Causality.
Simply put, cause and effect.
A Causality Seamstress was a class that could alter cause and effect. It meant I could rewrite the princess's fate.
My gaze fell upon her.
...Turning the princess into a puppet.
That was the task assigned to me.
I caught my breath and opened the door to the Puppet Workshop.
"Spider."
The spider puppet picked up the princess's body and carried it inside.
We stepped into the depths of the workshop, a space cluttered with the remnants of my past creations. There, the princess's corpse was laid to rest.
Naturally, this was the first time in either of my lives that I was handling a human corpse.
Wait, can the princess even be considered human in the first place?
She was a being who existed solely within the Tower. In that sense, she was no different from the monsters. They, too, lived and died within these walls.
The only difference lay in how I perceived her.
...But I can't just force myself to be cold-hearted by pretending the Tower's residents are the same as monsters.
I had always been soft-hearted. That was one thing about me that had never changed.
I grew attached too easily, and sometimes I let myself get dragged into things. That was who I was.
Denying my own nature wouldn't change anything. I might as well accept it.
And do the absolute best I can.
I placed my hands on the princess's body. Golden threads began to seep from my palms.
To me, the princess was a person. So, I would bring her back as one.
Inside the Puppet Workshop, the quiet sounds of my crafting echoed softly.
After what felt like an eternity, I slowly lowered my hands.
I had spent months dedicating myself to puppet crafting day in and day out. I believed I had reached a level where I could take pride in my work.
Yet, this was my very first human puppet. I couldn't guarantee success, so I watched her in silence.
How much time passed?
The princess's eyelids fluttered. Holding my breath, I watched as her eyes snapped open.
She bolted upright, raising both hands in a defensive guard, ready to fight at a moment's notice.
"...Princess."
I called out softly, meeting her sharp, beast-like gaze. Her eyes widened in surprise.
"Ha... Yuna?"
She spoke my name.
"Is it truly you, Yuna?"
Her voice was a mix of confusion, anxiety, and disbelief.
"Have I... finally died?"
She looked utterly hollowed out as she remembered her own death.
"So, I failed."
Immediately after, the princess's body collapsed. I knew instinctively—this conversation was merely a script I had imagined. Her soul was not in this body.
My eyes glowed with a vivid blue light.
"Again."
I didn't want a mere human puppet. I could make those whenever I wanted. What I needed right now wasn't a doll, but the princess herself. The princess of a fallen kingdom.
My hands moved again. I failed repeatedly, but I didn't stop.
The human puppet collapsed.
It collapsed again.
And again.
Perhaps because puppet crafting consumed mana, blood began to pour from my nose as a toll for overexertion. I wiped it away and sat back down. I could feel the sensation slowly returning to my fingertips.
It's not the puppet's vessel I need to create.
I had made plenty of vessels. What was missing from this human puppet? It was the princess herself. Her soul.
The golden threads from my fingertips began to turn translucent. As they did, my eyes began to register things that had been invisible before.
The princess's soul, which had been shattered into pieces and scattered, was no longer in this world. I began to weave those fragments into the shape of a puppet.
My mana drained rapidly. My hands shook, and my vision spun, but I refused to stop.
Work.
Work.
Work!
The moment I poured all my desperation into completing the soul puppet—
Click.
A sound like gears locking together echoed from within the princess. Her eyelids fluttered. This was not my command; it was a ripple she created herself.
Finally, her eyes opened, revealing brilliant, sun-like irises.
"Ha... Yuna?"
She called my name. The resonance in her voice was entirely different this time. Tears began to well in her eyes.
"It was you... you who called out to me so many times."
She stepped forward and pulled me into a tight embrace.
"I am sorry. I woke up too late."
She gently wiped the corner of my eye with her thumb. It came away stained with blood. I must have bled from my eyes as well from pushing my mana to the limit.
"Thank you for calling me back."
The moment she offered her gratitude, a notification appeared.
You have completed the creation of 'Sistia pan Erpasha', the Princess of the Ruined Kingdom.
You have acquired the skill 'Soul Puppet Creation'.
Relieved, I leaned against her.
"I'm going to rest for a bit..."
I was completely burned out.
After resting for a long time beside the princess and my puppets, I finally managed to pull myself up.
"It's been a while, Princess."
I offered a bright smile to ease her worried expression.
"I am glad to see you are well."
"Well, you were technically dead, Princess."
A bitter smile touched her lips. She was well aware of her own demise. Looking at her now, she seemed taller than before.
Has more time passed than I thought?
Time inside the Tower seemed to flow differently. Once she saw I was fine, the princess slumped back, letting out a exhausted sigh. She looked like she had been through an ordeal.
Now that she was safely resurrected, it was time to hear her story.
"What happened to get you captured like that?"
"Ah."
The memory seemed to hit her, and she shrank back, slowly lowering her head in defeat.
"...I attempted to enlist the aid of the demi-humans in place of fallen humanity."
Fallen humanity. The phrase brought the ruined kingdom to mind. So, humanity had indeed perished in this world.
"They claimed they would grant my request if I could defeat their greatest warrior."
"...And you challenged him?"
She quietly averted her eyes. That was answer enough. She had challenged him, and she had lost. As a result, she was taken as a sacrifice and killed.
"...I had no choice. I had to follow their laws to convince them."
The princess carried the heavy burden of her kingdom's fall. That was why she had risked her life to face them, even though she failed.
"But why did you become a sacrifice?"
"...Rumors spread that offering me, the princess of the kingdom, would spare them from destruction."
"...You fought them knowing that?"
"..."
She remained silent, looking away. She was quite the princess.
Ding!
A notification rang in my ears.
A Place Among the Beasts
📍 Objective: Have the princess of the ruined kingdom accepted as a member of the Beastkin.
A quest to help the princess. It didn't seem impossible, but...
Still.
She had already lost. The Beastkin only accepted those who won in combat, so a duel was unavoidable. Would they really accept a rematch from a princess who had already failed once?
"Princess, do the Beastkin allow rematches?"
When I asked to make sure, her face darkened instantly.
"No. Once branded a loser, one is always a loser to them."
Which meant even if she wanted to try again, they wouldn't let her.
The premise is flawed from the start.
I felt a surge of resentment toward the Tower, but complaining wouldn't solve anything. This was Nightmare difficulty, after all. Unfair setups were par for the course.
In the end, the princess is the one who has to fight.
I pondered the problem for a while until an idea struck me.
Come to think of it, the quest only says to make her win. It didn't specify the method, did it?
I looked back at the princess. She was sitting on the floor, barefoot and in tattered clothes, sighing deeply. Her confidence was completely shattered. Even if they allowed a rematch, she probably didn't believe she could win.
But that wouldn't do.
"Princess, you realize I brought you back as a puppet, right?"
"Yes, but..."
"Even though I replicated your body almost perfectly, you are still a puppet. You can fight like one."
Her eyes widened.
"...You mean with the power of a puppet, I might stand a chance?"
"Exactly."
She was my masterpiece. She could easily hold her own against the Beastkin now. A spark of determination returned to her eyes, though the issue of securing the rematch remained.
"My foolish challenge has only complicated things."
She looked down, realizing the obstacle, but I had already thought of a solution.
"Princess, I have a suggestion. Would you like to hear it?"
"...I am in no position to refuse anything."
It was a proposal that might shock her, but after I explained the details, her expression turned complicated.
"If you do that, you will be hated."
"It's fine."
This was the Tower, not our world. And even if I was hated...
"Once you rebuild your kingdom, just make sure to paint me as a hero."
When I smiled, her eyes went wide, and she bit her lip.
"I will. I promise you, on my honor."
Well then, it was time to play the villain before becoming a hero.
"Everyone."
The doors to the Puppet Workshop flew open, and my army poured out.
"Time to work."
We were going to gather some monsters.