Roxana slowly opened her eyes.
For a brief moment, her gaze rested on an unfamiliar ceiling of dark lacquered wood, polished smooth enough to catch the pale wash of morning light creeping in through the window lattice. There were beams overhead, carved with patterns she did not recognize, and hanging from one wall were skulls of strange beasts she could not name at a glance, long-jawed things with curved fangs and ridged brows. Beneath them lay a thick woven carpet dyed in earthy reds and golds, its edges slightly frayed from age and use.
And yet, rather than panic, a smile slowly curved Roxana's lips.
It was a small smile at first, fragile and private, like something she had no intention of sharing with anyone. After all, she had just been dreaming of the happiest day of her life.
Not the endless hollow praise that followed the name Roxana Soprano that barely mattered to her, instead what she dreamed about was her first time meeting...him.
William.
Even now, with the last warmth of sleep fading from her skin, the memory of it lingered sweetly enough to make her chest tighten.
Roxana exhaled softly, schooling her expression back into its usual elegant calm before pushing herself upright. The movement tugged faintly at her body, reminding her of pain that had not fully gone. Her brows softened just a fraction.
Her crimson-pink eyes swept the room with measured care. Everything about it felt distinctly different from the village exterior she had seen before losing consciousness. The furniture was carved cleanly, the walls lined with cured pelts and ornamental trophies, and even the air smelled unusual, cedarwood, incense, old fur, and something faintly sweet, like dried fruit or flower pollen warming in the sun.
Then she heard it.
A soft rustle.
The almost inaudible tap of feet shifting over wood.
Roxana turned her head toward the sound.
There, near the far wall, stood a young woman before a polished mirror, pacing back and forth.
A line had been drawn on the floor, and the woman kept moving across it with absurd seriousness, stopping every few steps to adjust her posture. Her brown hair fell in soft waves around a pretty face that was trying very, very hard to become seductive. A black one-piece dress hugged her small frame. Orange fox ears tipped with white fluttered every time her concentration wavered, and behind her, a fluffy orange tail with a white tip flicked and swayed so openly it might as well have been announcing each of her emotions one by one.
"No no… that's not how mother did it…" she murmured gravely.
She turned.
Placed a hand on her hip.
Tilted her head.
Then, with immense dedication and not nearly enough dignity, she leaned toward the mirror, narrowed her eyes, struck a sultry pose, and blew herself a kiss.
"Muah~"
She added a wink.
Then immediately clapped for herself, delighted.
Roxana watched in silence.
Amusement shimmered in her eyes.
So this was the one.
The fox-eared woman she had seen before losing consciousness. The one who had stood between her and that monster.
That… lizard?
Roxana's smile remained gentle, but her thoughts cooled.
Calling it a lizard was already being generous. That creature had only resembled one in shape. In truth, it had been too large and too vicious, a monster like a living biological tank. Even now, recalling its claws, its speed, and the casual brutality with which it had cut through players made something sharp twist in her chest.
William.
Her fingers tightened slightly over the bedsheet.
Her beloved had gone out there himself.
He had thrown himself into danger instead of staying where he belonged, by her side, protected by the countless fools who should have been grateful for the chance to die in his place.
Such a useless village.
After gathering everyone, they had barely amounted to two hundred people. Two hundred. Pathetic. Worse, most of them still barely understood their Talents. A collection of half-awake lambs pretending to be an army. If only more players had chosen this novice village, there would have been more bodies. More shields. More sacrifices. Then how could her William have ended up among those who had to act as one?
With her careful management of public opinion how could he been so stubborn? It was clearly because he did not trust those incompetent pieces of trash that he had needed to be there himself.
Roxana thought, squeezing the sheet over her thigh until the fabric creased. 'If there had only been more disposable people, or at least more competent ones, my William would not have needed to risk himself at all.'
Her heart clenched with anger. Still, despite the turmoil inside her, nothing in her expression changed.
Her smile remained warm.
As if she were merely a beautiful girl quietly enjoying the sight of a woman practicing in front of a mirror.
In truth, however, Roxana's mind was already racing, turning over every possible way she could make use of the woman before her. Silly as she looked, that did not fool Roxana in the slightest. This woman had to be powerful.
At the very least, she should be as strong as that black-scaled lizard, perhaps even stronger if she had truly managed to repel it and save her. Roxana's thoughts drifted back to the final moment before she lost consciousness: the black-scaled lizard suddenly vanishing from her sight, followed by the abrupt appearance of this woman.
Naturally, the most probable explanation was simple. By then, her state of mind must have already begun returning to normal, and she was no longer perceiving the world in that strange slowed clarity. In her injured state, the lizard's natural speed had simply become too fast for her eyes to follow. After all, it was not as though that black-scaled monster had been flung away with such force that even her enhanced vision could not track it, right?
Thus, the most reasonable conclusion Roxana could draw was that the woman before her had repelled it. As for defeating it? Killing it? Roxana did not think that was possible.
Then, perhaps as if finally sensing something, the fox-eared woman froze.
Her tail stopped mid-sway.
Her ears twitched sharply.
Slowly, very slowly, she turned.
Her wide amber eyes met Roxana's.
For a heartbeat, both of them were still.
Roxana saw the emotions clearly the exact instant the girl registered three things at once.
First, that Roxana was awake.
Second, that she had likely been awake for a while.
Third, that she had almost certainly seen everything.
The fox girl's face drained.
Roxana's smile brightened.
She tilted her head slightly, then let out a soft, melodic chuckle.
"Fufufu~" she laughed. "May I join the fun as well?"
"…!"
The fox girl made a tiny sound somewhere between a gasp and the death cry of a stepped-on squirrel.
…
A short while later…
"Waaah… you promise you won't tell? You promise?" Inahime wailed, watery eyes trembling as she clung to Roxana like a wronged child bargaining for the last scraps of dignity left in the world.
She was extremely unwilling.
No, that was too mild.
She was unwilling beyond unwilling.
But what could she do?
According to the information granted by the Will of the World, otherworlders were immortal. Kill them, and they simply returned to life. Which meant she couldn't even silence this girl the traditional way. If she killed her, this pink-haired disaster would simply come back to life and tell everyone.
Her life would be over, the image she had carefully crafted would die.
Worse, her mother and siblings would somehow hear of it from tens of thousand kilometers away causing her a social death!
Thus, despite the humiliation, this was the only method Inahime could think of.
"Now, now~" Roxana said gently, patting Inahime's back with graceful sympathy that somehow only made the fox girl feel more aggrieved. "I already promised, didn't I? I can keep this little secret between us… in exchange for one favor."
Her tone was soft.
Like a saint negotiating with a sinner.
"Besides," she continued, lashes lowering slightly, "back in my world, I'm rather used to public performance. Cameras, stage presence, expressions… things like that. Teaching you a little wouldn't be difficult."
Inahime blinked.
Her tears stopped with astonishing speed.
"Really?!"
She pulled back at once, eyes shining.
Roxana nearly laughed.
Inahime, meanwhile, was already reevaluating the situation. She didn't know exactly what a camera was, nor did she fully grasp Roxana's profession, but intent crossed all language barriers in Gaia. Simply put, what Roxana had said to her was the ability to enchant an audience.
It was very useful to her.
After all, Inahime had been self-taught up until now.
And self-taught meant she had no one to correct the weak points in her craft as she rarely got a proper review of her performance. Each of her tricks needed to be carefully planned before doing it, but now she could show them to this girl first!
The more she thought about it, the less disastrous this became. Perhaps this wasn't bad at all, instead it felt like an opportunity!
Inahime straightened at once and nodded with sudden solemnity, as if she had come to a deep and wise conclusion.
Then, with dramatic ceremony, she reached into the region of her modest chest and pulled out a large folded sheet of paper as she stole a glance at Roxana's reaction.
Roxana's brows rose immediately.
Her lips parted into a small O.
The reaction was immediate and genuine enough that Inahime's chest puffed up on instinct.
'Yes. Yes, look shocked, be amazed!'
The fox girl's tail wagged harder.
In truth, the trick had taken effort to perfect.
Her bosom was not nearly as generous as her mother's legendary abyss, that unfair, all-devouring cleavage that seemed capable of storing half a royal treasury. Inahime, cruelly abandoned by fate in that area, had been forced to compensate with intellect.
Can't naturally store things with her bosom? No problem, just follow this genius Inahime!
A small storage equipment had been sewn discreetly into the inner lining of her dress.
Then all she had to do was touch the correct spot while making it look like she was retrieving something from her chest.
'Kukuku~' Inahime laughed inwardly, nearly glowing with self-satisfaction.
And Roxana did not disappoint her with her reaction either.
"Wow~" Roxana breathed, staring at the paper with wide-eyed admiration. "Where did that come from? Amazing. Could you teach me?"
Inahime lifted her chin at once.
"Ahem. Ahem." She waved one hand, trying to appear magnanimous rather than unbearably smug. "Just a small trick. I can teach you later."
Her tail wagged so hard it nearly hit the mirror.
After receiving a sufficient amount of praise, Inahime cleared her throat again, bit the tip of one finger, and let a bead of blood fall onto the page. The paper shimmered faintly, lines across its surface coming alive one by one.
Then she held it out.
"Here," she said. "Drop your blood on this."
Roxana accepted the paper carefully and lowered her gaze.
Its script rearranged itself the moment she looked at it, becoming perfectly readable.
"A contract?" she asked.
"It's nothing much," Inahime said quickly, trying to sound casual. "You keep my secret to yourself, and you teach me your performance tricks. In exchange, I help you once, like you asked. And don't worry, this is a special contract governed by the Will of the World. Once both sides accept, neither side can break it."
Roxana's eyes moved over the document again.
Her smile did not change.
For the faintest instant, her tongue clicked lightly against the back of her teeth.
Inahime's ears twitched.
"Hmm? Did you say something?"
Roxana lifted her eyes at once, all innocence and warmth.
"I did not~," she said sweetly. "I was only thinking how reassuring that sounds."
Inahime squinted for a second as she looked at Roxana's innocent face.
Then scratched her cheek.
Perhaps she had imagined it. She had been under enormous stress, after all. A cracked sky, a terrifying red-ink like substance, and the possibility of social annihilation if today went badly… hearing things was understandable.
Yes.
That must be it.
Roxana looked back down at the contract.
Although she was a bit unsatisfied she couldn't squeeze more things from Inahime in the future, she still bit her finger delicately.
A crimson bead welled up.
Then fell on the paper that glowed slightly before vanishing into thin air.