---

“···Me!”

It was a voice that felt somehow familiar.

At the same time, it was a voice that tugged at the strings of her memory.

Where had she heard it before…?

That thought didn’t linger long.

“Luna…!”

“·····?”

“Luna, wake up! How long are you going to sleep? The sun is already high in the sky!”

Due to her drowsy state, Luna rubbed her eyes as she was forced to get up.

In her vision appeared someone she should never have seen.

“Mom…?”

A quivering voice slipped from her lips.

“Uh? What’s wrong?”

In an instant, Luna was caught off guard by her mother’s soft smile, a sight she had seen once before.

She quickly scanned her surroundings with wide, startled eyes.

Wooden walls and floors.

A small room contained a bed she recognized, with herself seated upon it.

It was a cramped space devoid of any symbols of wealth, yet it radiated the warmth she remembered so fondly.

‘…This was definitely an inn.’

Her last memory was heading to the inn with Luke after finishing a quest, each retiring to their own rooms for the night.

And yet here she was, awakening in this strange situation.

As she spiraled into confusion, the woman standing before her spoke with gentle lips once more.

“Oh my, look at you! Did you have a scary dream or something?”

“A dream…?”

Could it be that everything had just been a dream…?

“Just how terrifying was it that your face looks so pale…?”

As the woman’s hand touched Luna’s cheek, her thumb stroking gently, oddly, though the contact was on her face, warmth spread throughout her entire body.

Had it all just been a dream…?

Yeah… this is reality.

A future where her entire family perished… couldn’t possibly be real, right?

It must have just been a frightening nightmare.

As she began to convince herself that everything that had happened was just a dream, tears started to roll down her cheeks.

The one person she missed so dearly, now standing right before her—someone she thought she could never see again.

“Mom…!”

Luna threw herself into the arms of the woman before her, tears flowing freely, a side of herself she had never shown anyone.

“Sniff… Mom…!”

“There, there…”

For a time, Luna sobbed in the comforting embrace of the woman, who stroked her gently.

*

After what felt like five hours but was truly only five minutes, the woman brushed Luna’s reddened eyes with her thumb and asked,

“Are you feeling better now?”

“…Yes.”

“Then hurry and get up to eat. Dad and Damian are already waiting.”

Dad. Damian.

That’s right…

The ones who died in her nightmare weren’t just her mother but also her father and brother—her entire family.

“You understand? So hurry up and get ready!”

“Yes…”

As the woman left the room, Luna sat on the bed, then jumped up in a flurry to change her clothes.

Clattering down the creaky wooden stairs quickly, as soon as she entered the living room—

There they were, the precious people she had longed to see, filling the place she missed so much.

Her mother pouring soup into bowls.

Her father moving a dish of food to the table.

Her brother, filling up the spoons and chopsticks.

Luna stood, starstruck, taking in the sight.

At that moment, Damian caught her gaze.

“Hey! Sis, why are you so late? It’s not fair to be slacking off all alone!”

Her beloved brother.

Just as she remembered him.

With a chuckle, she smiled sheepishly and apologized as she approached the table.

“Sorry, I overslept.”

“You’re awake now?”

“Yes, Dad. Hope you slept well.”

Luna, still feeling the traces of her late slumber, hurriedly moved to help set the table.

Breakfast was a comforting bowl of meat soup and a simple vegetable salad, made by Mom.

“Thank you for the meal~”

As she took a spoonful of the steaming soup, Luna nearly shed tears once more.

Though it wasn’t made from exquisite ingredients or exotic foods, the care behind it made it taste like something she thought she’d never experience again.

She moved the spoon, unable to speak, as if entranced.

“Wow… Sis, were you that hungry? Want to eat my share too?”

“No, I’m fine. You eat up. You need to grow taller than me.”

“Now you’re saying I’m short, after being sweet to me?”

Damian wasn’t short at all.

Luna was just unusually tall among girls.

“But it’s true, isn’t it?”

“What?!”

Typical sibling banter unfolded, and soon enough, laughter filled the dining table, along with their parents.

After finishing their joyous meal, Luna gathered her hunting gear with Damian and her father, Tiago, casually donning leather armor as they stood at the entrance.

The siblings bid farewell in unison.

“We’ll be back!”

As they stepped through the door, they heard their parents call back.

“Take care now.”

Having seen their parents wave goodbye, the siblings stepped out into the familiar sights of their nameless village, far from the Beastman Kingdom.

While not bustling with grand buildings or throngs of people, the townsfolk were friendly, and Luna had a fond attachment to her home—she felt nothing was missing.

“Hey there, Dael. Off hunting again today?”

It was the uncle who lived next door.

He was a kind man who frequently traveled back and forth with his cart to gather supplies for the village from the Beastman Kingdom.

His easy-going personality made him a good friend of their father.

“Uncle, hello!”

The siblings bowed in greeting, and the man welcomed them with a bright smile.

“Hey there! Luna, Damian. Good morning!”

Seemingly just passing by, Tiago exchanged words with the man.

“Well, if I don’t go, who will take care of my family?”

“Is that so? Be careful out there; I’ve been hearing bad rumors lately.”

“Hehe, what’s funny is that it’s the porters who are worried about the hunters.”

As they made their way out, they encountered many familiar faces in the community.

“Off to hunt again? Here, take these lunches so you won’t go hungry.”

“Tiago, make sure to grab some fresh veggies on your way back, we just harvested them.”

“Stay safe, and if anything happens, just run, alright?”

These were all faces from her past.

People she had left behind but who were still alive.

Luna’s smile widened, never faltering as she greeted them.

Her lips curled upward even more when Dael inquired.

“What’s got you in such a good mood today? Did something nice happen?”

“Hehe… I had a nightmare.”

“A, a nightmare…?”

“Yep!”

“Uh, really…?”

Seeing Luna smile brightly while explaining she had a nightmare left Dael momentarily speechless.

Is she feeling okay?

A hint of doubt floated into his mind.

“Dad! Look over there!”

Just then, Damian’s ears perked up, pointing silently to one direction.

There, standing on two legs, was a huge bear clinging to a tree.

“Good job!”

“Hehe…”

“Is today Damian’s turn?”

“Yes!”

Tiago was the village’s only hunter.

For a living, he hunted monsters and wild beasts emerging from the nearby forest.

Luna and Damian had been training under him, steadily improving their skills by taking turns hunting every day.

Today was Damian’s turn.

Unlike his older sister, Damian wielded a one-handed sword and a buckler like a warrior.

“Bears are stronger than weak monsters like goblins, so be careful.”

“Got it!”

Damian sneaked around to the bear’s blind spot, hiding among the foliage.

Then, like Luna had done before, he utilized wind magic to create a stepping platform and leaped behind the bear in an instant.

-Slash—!

“Rooaaar!”

Damian struck the bear’s back with a preemption, blood spraying out in an arc.

The sharpness of his blade, enhanced by wind magic, was beyond imagination, yet it was still staggering to take down a bear in one strike with a one-handed sword.

The wounded bear swiftly turned around to counter, and Damian used the wind as a platform again to dodge swiftly.

“Ugh… I’m so nervous.”

“Dad feels the same. I can’t stop my heart from racing.”

There wasn’t much of an age difference between Luna and Damian.

While being a boy naturally afforded him more raw strength than Luna, she still outshined him in magical prowess.

Prepared to intervene immediately if needed, Luna and Tiago stayed on alert.

Fortunately, Damian successfully hunted the bear by himself.

However, he was drenched in sweat and still mastering control over his magical energy, which he had consumed greedily.

“Looks like Damian took care of the hunt today.”

“So, what? Am I finally not trailing behind you, Sis?”

“You still have a way to go.”

“Geez, can’t you just give me a break?”

After that, Tiago led the way as Luna and Damian supported him, continuing to hunt in the forest for a few hours.

They caught wild boars and hunted any goblins they stumbled across as well.

As time passed, Tiago and the siblings began heading back to town.

During the journey home, a feeling of uneasiness crept over Luna, but she brushed it off, thinking it was just her imagination.

-Bang!!

As they neared the village, a loud crash echoed through the air.

That noise brought Luna back to the root of her discomfort.

The dark harbinger behind the incident had surfaced, the very memory she had desperately tried to forget.

Luna sighed deeply, lost in despair.

“Oh… oh no…”

At that moment, Dael, sensing the strange shift in the village, shouted.

“Luna! Damian! I’ll head in first, find somewhere to hide!”

With that, he dashed towards the village.

“No, don’t!”

While trying to pursue him, Damian held her back.

“W, wait, Sis! Dad told us to hide!”

“Let go! We need to hurry! If we don’t help, everyone will die!”

If they didn’t act swiftly, everyone would perish.

The same horror would repeat itself.

Lost in the bliss of momentary happiness, she hadn’t prepared for what she knew was coming.

She was still just a bystander.

With all her might, Luna yanked her arm free from Damian and sprinted towards the village.

As the trees blurred past her, the village came into view.

What had felt like peaceful moments mere hours ago was now overshadowed by an approaching disaster.

The village burned.

The guards were locked in battle with invaders.

Corpses littered the ground.

Once draped in green and brown, the village was now painted red.

And there, at the edge of her vision, stood a familiar figure.

Her father, Dael.

Across from him stood an intruder, holding Luna’s mother hostage.

A knife hovered threateningly in front of her mother.

Though Dael was stronger than Luna, he was still powerless to change the situation.

As the stunningly familiar scene unfolded, memories she desperately tried to banish resurfaced all at once.

The next images played out in succession like a well-rehearsed play.

“Luna…”

Before she knew it, Dael’s eyes were filled with her reflection.

Those eyes brimmed with sorrow and love were ones she never wanted to see again.

And now, they reappeared, haunting her.

“Run away…”

That was the final line in Dael’s one-man show.

Having surrendered for the sake of his family, Dael was mercilessly slaughtered before Luna’s eyes by the intruders.

Not only that…

Her mother, Luni, soon fell victim as well, killed on the spot as she was deemed too old for sale.

‘Why can’t I move!!!! Why!!!!!!!’

Why did she remain still, watching as her family was slaughtered before her eyes?!

Was this tragedy compelled by some playwright?

Was she merely a marionette in this tale?

Either way, Luna was powerless to act.

As she clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug into her flesh, she couldn’t help but feel the warmth of blood trickling down.

Then, cracks appeared in her vision, and soon she heard a shattering sound.

*

When Luna finally opened her eyes, she found herself back in the inn on the bed she last remembered.

The memories had been so intense that the nightmare lingered in her mind like a curse, torturing her even in reality.

How she wished it had been a dream she could forget.

“……”

Caught in a daze, her eyes landed on a pair of daggers resting atop the nightstand.

Sworn to exact her revenge, Luna gathered the daggers and stepped out of the room.

 

---