What Was Lost
"Why did it have to be you who did that?"
Who is that?
Someone was crying in front of me. My mind felt hazy and unmoored.
Through the blur of my vision, two women came into view.
Blonde hair, a petite frame. A robe and a pointed hat.
Master?
Tears streamed down her face, raw with desperation — an expression so utterly unlike anything I had ever seen from her that I almost failed to recognize her at all.
And across from her stood another woman.
Dark hair. My vision was too clouded to make out her features clearly, but I could tell with certainty that she wore an awkward smile.
"You... you were against it until the very end!!!"
Dorothy's voice cracked as she sobbed, raw and furious.
"You didn't do anything wrong..."
She trailed off, her hands trembling.
"Dorothy."
The dark-haired woman smiled gently and drew Dorothy into her arms, cradling her shoulders.
"Can't be helped. It's because I turned out to be far too capable. Hehe."
She was comforting her.
"Whether Tera falls or not — just go kill that bastard already!!"
Dorothy clenched her fists until her knuckles went white.
"With my magic, at least the strong among the mortals should survive. You don't need to sacrifice yourself."
What?
Master?
That was... a rather controversial take.
The dark-haired woman gazed down at Dorothy in silence, her expression soft with the weight of old memory.
"A long time ago... I made a promise..."
"To protect people..."
Dorothy's voice shook as she whispered the words.
"Don't you resent us...?"
The woman chuckled softly and carefully wiped the tears trailing down Dorothy's cheek.
"I promised that too, didn't I? Not to hate people."
Sweat-soaked hair clung to my forehead. My body felt leaden, my lungs tight and heavy. The memories from the dream flickered through my mind and faded.
What the hell was that dream?
I pressed a hand to my forehead and tried to steady my breathing. Then something strange registered.
I blinked on instinct. My vision didn't change.
Huh?
I slowly raised a hand and rubbed my eyes.
My left eye — the one I had always overworked — was fine.
Haa... of all things...
But the right one...
Nothing but deep, pitch-black darkness.
I wasn't particularly surprised. Just a quiet sense that what was coming had finally arrived.
I had known from the start. That the price for forcing the Evil God's power would come due someday.
Still...
I sat up slowly on the bed and let out a sigh.
If it had been the left, at least I would have been used to it.
I had plucked out my left eye in every fight for so long that having to relearn everything from the other side felt like a genuine inconvenience.
Guess I'll have to use the right one from now on.
I propped my chin on my hand and sank into thought.
Then—
Creeeak—
The door opened, and Master walked in.
"You're awake?"
I looked up at Dorothy. She wore her usual blank expression, but something about her felt faintly irritable — a sharp edge just beneath the surface.
She closed the door and crossed the room toward me.
"Don't even think about lying. I already saw everything. You were pretty wrecked."
I flinched.
Of course she would notice.
"Even my magic can't restore a soul. That's an entirely different field. So what did you lose as the price?"
I hesitated. Having one eye out of commission was a familiar state of affairs for me. I didn't particularly want to worry her.
But Master's thinking seemed to run in a different direction.
"Haa... It's because of things like this that I can't help but worry about you."
Dorothy followed my gaze for a moment, then let out a very small sigh.
"......It's your right eye."
She murmured it quietly. Her expression crumbled, just slightly. I turned my head as if it were nothing.
"I'll adapt quickly with a little training. You know that."
But Dorothy only looked down at me in silence. She sighed once more — barely audible — and then continued, her voice slow and deliberate.
"Until you reach Level 7, the Evil God's power is forbidden."
What?
I started to open my mouth, then shut it the moment I met Dorothy's resolute gaze.
"......"
She didn't look away. Her voice was firmer than usual, without the slightest tremor.
"I don't want to watch your body break down any further."
I stared at her in silence. Somewhere deep in Master's eyes, the memory from the dream seemed to surface again — the face of a woman who had been crying.
A small laugh escaped me before I could stop it. For all her power, Master had a surprisingly endearing side.
"Hmm... I think you just had an irreverent thought."
Level 7.
Two ranks above my current level. Looking at the numbers alone, it might not seem like much — but it was a realm of an entirely different dimension.
A stage where one must complete their own story.
Those who studied magic or martial arts had to forge their own secret arts and unique magical paths. People like me, who had climbed through a unique ability, had to achieve the awakening of that ability.
Fewer than two hundred people across all of Tera had ever reached it. It was a height I might never touch, even if I trained for the rest of my life.
This world was diverging further and further from the original story, and I was living in a way the original had never accounted for. As unpredictable situations multiplied, I knew better than anyone that a moment would come when I couldn't survive without becoming stronger.
And yet — forbid the Evil God's power until a Level 7 that might never arrive?
...But.
I looked at Dorothy quietly. Her expression seemed as calm as always, but beneath it, clear worry and a hard-edged warning sat firmly in place.
Could I really say no to a face like that?
I tried to speak, then pressed my lips shut.
"...Alright. If that's what Master says."
It was a lie. An answer that slipped out so lightly it felt awkward even to me. Dorothy studied my face for a moment, then sighed.
".......There's no way a kid like you would listen that easily."
She didn't believe me. Of course she didn't.
But she didn't press further. Master simply... let it go.
I quietly averted my gaze. An awkward silence settled between us. Then a thought struck me, and I looked up at her again.
"……Are you okay, Master?"
I spoke carefully, watching her face.
"You weren't supposed to leave the Academy."
Dorothy's expression twisted, just slightly.
"You broke your Geas to save me."
I held her gaze without flinching.
After the war between the Gods and the Transcendents, the world had become unstable. The mere presence of Transcendents remaining in Tera was enough to push reality to the brink of collapse.
Currently, only three Transcendents remained in Tera: the Administrator of the System Management Bureau, the Evil God, and Master.
That was the absolute limit the world could bear. Even that had not been enough — she had been forced to strike a deal with the scales within the Akashic Records and bind herself with a Geas.
The Geas placed upon her was simple:
Do not leave the Academy.
Dorothy said nothing. She looked at me for a long moment, then answered slowly, a bitter smile touching her lips.
"Don't worry about me. The future that was meant to come has simply been pulled forward a little."
The future that was meant to come.
There was no need to ask what that meant.
In the original story, she leaves Tera and returns to the Spiritual Realm — after being attacked by someone. And like the great witch she was, Master already knew that future. She knew it could not be changed.
Knowing she was someone who would leave someday was one thing. The fact that my own hands had accelerated that departure was something far more terrible.
I quietly lowered my head.
What am I acting surprised about now? I mocked myself. My life had always been like this — even before I came here.
In my previous life, I had lost my family. And here, too — the people of the mansion I had grown close to.
Whenever I drew near to someone, they eventually became unhappy.
Then what about Dorothy? Master, who stood beside me even now, protecting me?
A Level 10 mage. As far as I knew, the strongest and most perfect being in existence.
Even someone like that — if I stayed by their side...
Only now did I understand.
I really am...
Knock. Knock.
A sudden rapping at the door. I looked at Dorothy on reflex.
Who is it?
Dorothy sighed quietly, then jerked her chin toward the door.
"Come in."
The door opened slowly.
Creeeak—
And beyond the threshold, a figure appeared.
Bella?
My body tensed on instinct.
Bella closed the door behind her and walked slowly into the room.
Why? The fact that she was here at all made no sense.
Could it be...?
"You left her memories intact?"
I had assumed — naturally — that her memories would have been erased. As long as Bella knew about me, not only she but my entire plan would be at risk.
"It's fine. I already checked everything. She's safe."
"That's... that's not the issue."
People who got involved with me always ended up unhappy. Even Dorothy — a Transcendent — had not been able to escape my curse.
So would Bella be any different? Absolutely not. I couldn't bring myself to look her in the eye.
"...If you get involved with someone like me, you'll be in danger too, Senior."
My voice trembled, but the feeling behind it was honest.
"So even now, erasing the memories would be—"
"Unbelievable."
Bella's sharp voice cut through mine.
She stood with her arms crossed, frowning slightly.
"I am a knight."
Her tone was absolute.
"No matter what threat there may be — a knight has the right to choose their own battlefield."
She looked straight into my eyes as she said it. Meeting that unwavering gaze, I understood: no matter what I said, she would not be moved.
A small laugh broke the brief silence.
I slowly turned my gaze away from Bella — and found Dorothy looking between the two of us, shaking her head lightly with a faint smile at the corner of her mouth.
"Alright, alright. You two must have things to talk about."
"Master?"
I called after her, but she was already turning away.
"Then I'll leave you to it."
She walked toward the door with perfect naturalness.
"Have a good talk between the two of you."
"W-wait—!"
The moment I reached out—
Click.
The door closed.
She had truly left me alone with Bella and walked out of the room.
I stared at the door in bewilderment, then slowly turned my head.
Bella bit her lip as she looked at me — an expression that seemed angry, and yet somehow full of pity.