Past Life, Past, Present

Arc 14, last part, begins.

“It's your!! Fault!! Dammit!!”

“!!?”

A sudden flash of pain shot through my abdomen, and I snapped awake.

Without thinking, I twisted away and opened my eyes to see what was going on.

Looking down at me as I lay there was a man with black hair just starting to gray.

That face...... that face......?

It's all hazy, somehow.

I can't quite remember it.

......I can't remember?

Feeling something off about my own thoughts, I try to move my body to get a sense of my surroundings, but it doesn't work.

My body won't move.

No, it is moving.

I'm desperately curling into a ball, trying to protect myself from the attacks of a man who stomps on me over and over while spitting abuse.

If it were me now, I'd have sprung up and beaten a man like this to death in no time.

......If it were me now?

Ah, I see.

I've got the situation figured out.

The man kicks me in the stomach from the side with his leather shoe, sending me rolling.

I use that moment to steal a glance at my surroundings.

Dirty walls covered in black mold.

A wooden floor riddled with gaps.

There are no windows, but thanks to the gaps in the walls and ceiling a little sunlight gets in, leaving the room dimly lit.

Without a doubt, this room is the storeroom where I lived in my past life, as Aihara Runa.

In other words, I'm currently in a dream, re-experiencing memories from when I was Runa.

This has happened before.

“You, murderer's, daughter!!”

Now then, as for who this man is—the one screaming while kicking and stomping on the currently skin-and-bones high-school girl Aihara Runa-chan—this is my foster father.

Runa was the daughter of a murderer.

This is an absolute fact; apparently, my father was a criminal who had actually killed many people.

And my mother died before I was old enough to remember her.

Because of that background, I was the black sheep of the family, shuffled from one relative's house to another, and this man was the foster father who had finally taken me in.

“Because you're!! Here!!”

Now then: because I'm here, what, exactly?

I'm starting to wonder, long after the fact, about the words of this man who continues to beat the crap out of me.

Sure, it's entirely possible that taking in a murderer's daughter like me brought gossip and whatnot—reputational damage, basically—down on the “family”.

But specifically, what kind of damage did this foster father's family suffer?

Actually, I don't know.

Because ever since I was taken into this house, I've basically been shoved away in this storeroom, and I've hardly ever had any contact with the “family”.

That's probably why this foster father's face is somehow blurry.

And why there's nothing specific at all in his lines.

I barely remember him anymore.

After keeping up the violence for a while, even my foster father must have gotten tired.

Giving my back one last kick, he left the storeroom, breathing heavily.

After that, the one who comes to me, as if to take his place, is my foster mother.

Sure enough, her face is blurry too.

With my foster father I at least vaguely remembered his hairstyle, but with this person I don't even have that.

A fuzzy blob of a person, her face completely covered by a mosaic.

And for good reason: I've had even fewer chances to come into contact with this foster mother than with my foster father.

The foster father came to beat me every chance he got, and there were a few times he acted as my “father” in public.

But this foster mother is different.

I've hardly ever even heard her voice.

“............”

Is that because it's not in my memory, or because she really never spoke to me?

Without a word, my foster mother flung food scraps that looked like kitchen garbage onto the storeroom floor with a splat and left right away.

Once every few days, this person gave me food like this.

That's why I vaguely remember this person's existence.

I mean, how the hell did I manage to survive in an environment like this without dying?

I think so all over again as I lick up the scraps spilled on the floor.

The environment surrounding Aihara Runa was truly abnormal.

What the heck?

Was I cursed?

“............Ugh.”

At this point, I clutch my stomach.

Maybe I was kicked too much, or maybe there was something bad in the food scraps.

“Ugh, uu...... uuuu!”

Writhing in intense abdominal pain, Aihara Runa rolls around the dust-covered room.

Even as I let out groans, no one comes to help.

Time passes, but the pain doesn't subside, and my strength gradually drains away.

I suffered, and suffered, and suffered, and then...... I let go of consciousness.

◇ ◇ ◇

“It's your, fault......”

Words much like the ones I heard earlier reach my ears, and I come to once again.

It's a small, suppressed voice.

Yet, it's a voice filled with hatred and sadness.

And at the same time, I feel something strange around my neck.

A big...... big hand is squeezing my throat.

I can't breathe!

“......Because you were born...... because I carried you......!”

I immediately try to thrash and shake off the hand, but once again, my body won't move.

It won't move, sure, but it's a little different from before.

The me of now can't move this body, same as before.

The difference is that, in the first place, “the me in this body” is unable to move her body freely.

Yeah, if I just leave it at that, you won't know what I'm trying to say.

My current body is very small.

And I possess only enough motor ability to wiggle my arms and legs.

For that matter, my vision is also somewhat blurry.

In other words, I'm still trapped in a dream, and this is an event that happened after I was born as Emi...... I'm re-experiencing things from when I was a baby.

“U......”

Oh, the hand strangling me has loosened its grip.

“U...... u, uh......”

A woman looking down at me, sobbing, tears spilling down her face one after another.

I stare at her intently.

This woman, who was trying to kill me, is my birth mother in this life.

A woman named Rana or whatever, who I met again recently.

It's hard to tell because my vision is blurry, but the area around Rana's eyes is red.

She must have been crying her eyes out.

Her cheeks and such, on the other hand, are blue.

She's been hit; they're bruises.

“Guooooo......”

From nearby, I can hear a man's vulgar snoring.

Since I can't move, it's impossible to look around and confirm, but this is definitely the snoring of my birth father in this life, that trash of a man.

He's probably drunk again and fast asleep.

“U, ua, aaa...... I'm sorry, so sorry...... I'm sorry......”

Rana said it through her tears, and crumpled where she was.

Since I couldn't move, Rana simply vanished from my view, and only the shabby ceiling, riddled with gaps, filled my sight.

Really, even after reincarnating into this world, I'm amazed I managed to survive......

This is undoubtedly thanks to Omake-sama.

Rana's violence only goes this far, but that trash of a man is a different story.

He punches a baby pretty much for real, after all.

If I hadn't been taught 【Body Strengthening】, I would have definitely died.

Oh, and as for mastering the common tongue of this world, I'd actually already started working on that with Omake-sama's help at this point.

That's probably why I can understand Rana's words, even though this is from when I was a baby.

“Guooooo......”

“Uh...... uh......”

Even so.

Judging by the light coming through the gaps in the ceiling, it's currently daytime.

It's broad daylight, and yet that trash of a man isn't working, just drinking and sleeping.

Where did the money to buy that alcohol come from?

At the time, I just wondered about it without finding an answer, but now I have a vague inkling.

I bet that trash of a man was somehow begging for money from that old man called Arcus.

That old man seems to be wealthy, and he probably lent him money, thinking it was a request from his younger brother.

Without ever seeing how the trash of a man was actually doing.

Most likely, out of goodwill.

Out of goodwill, the old man gave the trash of a man money, and then.

And then, he kept this hell going.

Just a guess, though.

Yeah, I really couldn't have become family with that old man after all.

“............”

Hm.

Once again, my consciousness begins to fade.

Me or not, as a baby I'm naturally fragile.

I probably used up all my stamina and couldn't stay awake any longer.

Unable to keep my eyes open any longer, I felt my consciousness sink back into the darkness.

◇ ◇ ◇

“............Hm.”

I snap awake.

“Hm!!”

I spring up in a panic.

I ready my fists.

【Magic Sensing Threads】, deployed all around me.

No one moving besides me.

No hostile entities.

“............”

I slowly lower my fists and look around.

It seems I'm in a room inside some building.

On the floor, a fluffy carpet with an intricate pattern on a brown base.

The walls have cute wallpaper with a subtle floral pattern.

The desk, the chairs and the other furniture in the room gleam, their chocolate-colored wood glossy in the light spilling through the window.

And above all, this bed I'm standing on is a canopy bed.

......Yeah, no mistake.

This is a rich person's room!

<Fuwaaa...... Ah, Emi! Good morning!>

Ah, it's Omake-sama.

Good morning.

Hm, which means.

I ready my fists once more.

With a pyon, I spring off the bed, flip in midair and land on the floor.

The carpet is super fluffy.

While savoring that feeling on the soles of my feet, I run through the forms my master taught me.

Yeah, I can move.

Moving, moving, my body's moving, check.

Which means since my body's moving, I'm not dreaming right now!

Good morning, Omake-sama!

<What are you half asleep for, Emi? Is your body all right? Right before you lost consciousness, it looked like every bone in your body was being snapped to pieces.>

I'm fine.

No pain, and my body's moving without any problems.

A full-body fracture or so? For the me of now, a night's sleep fixes that.

After all, I'm living in a fantasy world now.

<Please don't brush off something as abnormal as a full-body fracture healing overnight with ‘because I live in a fantasy world.’ Other fantasy-world folk don't make a full recovery just by sleeping. Your specs are simply high.>

Really?

I got praised, yaaay.

<......Haah. In any case, Emi, I'm glad you're safe.>

Yeah, seriously.

It's all coming back to me.

What's with that lady?

She's way too strong.

......I lost, huh.

<Lairine Rune...... she was as powerful as the rumors suggested.>

Eh, what?

Omake-sama, you knew about that lady?

<Yes, just her name. A special-grade adventurer with the epithet ‘the Immutable’...... I just remembered: I've only ever heard her name, in the Muscle God's Isekai Reincarnation Broadcast from 100 years ago.>

I see, in an Isekai Reincarnation Broadcast from 100 years ago...... 100 years ago!?

<Yes. It seems Lairine is an ageless being.>

Huh!?

What's that, is that even possible!?

<Very rarely...... but people like that usually ditch the surface pretty quickly and ascend to godhood. Yet she's still here on the surface.>

Does she have...... some kind of lingering attachment to the surface?

<Or, her behavior was so bad that she's been banned from the Divine Realm......>

Banned, she says.

“The woman banned from the Divine Realm,” she says.

......I don't like the sound of that.

What kind of epithet is that?

And I lost to that Lairine.

Which means.

<Going by the talk before the fight, you've become>

Lairine's.

<Daughter, that is. For some reason she seemed to want that desperately, and though I don't know how many days you've been asleep, I'd guess the paperwork and so on was mostly taken care of long ago, wouldn't you?>

............

Haaaah...... for reaaal......

That baffling woman is my mother?

I walk around the room aimlessly, scratching my head.

I steal a glance outside the window.

Under a deep, rich blue sky that looks like summer, a beautiful green carpet spreads out in every direction.

It looks like grassland.

I can see something like a small pond.

There are no forests, but in the distance, something like low hills rise up, encircling this building.

Where the hell am I?

Seriously, where the hell is this?

<......Do you hate the idea of that one becoming your mother?>

......I don't know.

I don't know, Omake-sama.

You know, when I reincarnated into this world, I thought to myself.

That this time, I wanted to be loved by a family.

<Yes>

In my previous life...... I wasn't loved.

Aside from one person, I didn't even have friends.

I thought that in this life, in this life for sure, I wanted to try being loved.

<Yes>

And then I was born, and my family in this life was, well, you know.

Thanks to being born with the mind of an adult, I've taken it relatively calmly.

But toward my birth parents, I think, “Die.”

Though I only realized recently that it was never “I'll kill you.”

Anyway, to me, my family in this life was just a bunch of trash.

<Yes>

And someone like me is getting a new mother?

There's no way I can just say, okay, got it, and be happy about it.

I'm not that much of a pushover.

<Yes>

......Hey, Omake-sama.

<Yes, what is it?>

I wonder if I can really become family with that person.

<............>

I wonder if that person will keep me from ever feeling lonely.

<............>

I wonder if I'll be loved.

<........................I wouldn't know.>

Omake-sama said that in a slightly moody voice, and then fell silent.

I flop down on my back on the carpet, spread-eagle.

It's fluffy and feels great.

The light streaming in from the window makes it nice and warm.

Somehow, it feels very peaceful.

Judging by the impression of this room, I think the building I'm in now is quite large and luxurious.

And yet, there's very little sign of other people.

I'd expect to hear more things, like the footsteps of people working here.

It's very quiet.

So, I let my guard down completely.

Once again, without me even noticing, my eyelids were trying to block out my vision.

......But it was then!

Doon!!

Somewhere far away inside this building.

That such a sound of destruction suddenly rang out.

“!!”

Startled, I spring up again and focus my senses.

Doon!!

Doon!!

Doon!!

The sound keeps ringing out, on and off, and little by little it's getting louder.

Which means.

<Emi!>

Yeah, Omake-sama.

Something is...... breaking through walls and coming straight toward us.

To surprise that “something,” I leaped up in one bound and stuck to the ceiling with 【Silverfish】.

Doon!!

Doon!!!

DOON!!!!

While I was doing that, the sound of destruction drew closer and closer, and then...... stopped right there.

“............”

I gulp.

Whoever it is will probably break through the wall and enter this room.

What should I do?

For now, maybe I'll land one punch with 【Black Arms】 from a blind spot, then decide based on the reaction.

If it doesn't seem to work, I'll break the wall and run.

If it seems to work, I'll just beat them to death.

It's very eerie that I can't feel any killing intent from the other side of the wall.

Sweat slowly seeped from my forehead, forming beads that flowed and dripped from the tip of my nose toward the floor.

Right...... at that very moment!

“EMI...... CHAAAAN!!!”

“Gu, aaaaaaaa!!?”

The ceiling I was stuck to was destroyed by a sudden impact, and I was slammed down onto the floor!

Not from the side, but from above!?

I messed up!

Were those sounds of destruction from the floor above!?

On reflex, I brace for the impact of the fall with 【Body Strengthening】 and magic power conversion.

But.

“............?”

The impact I'd braced for never came, no matter how long I waited.

Because.

The very culprit who'd smashed the ceiling and slammed me to the floor...... Lairine Rune.

Was hugging me gently.

“Ufufu...... Emi-chan, good mooorning! I sensed you'd woken up, and I...... just couldn't sit stiiill”

Lairine murmured as she rolled across the carpet, now strewn with bits of ceiling, hugging me tight.

I managed to peel my face away from where it was pressed against her chest and looked up at Lairine's face.

Lairine's eyes are dewy with rapture, and her cheeks are flushed red as she breathes hard—haah, haah.

“Ah, Emi-chan...... do you understand the situatiooon? Let me say it properly: good morning, Emi-chan. My name is Lairine Rune. I'm your mom, who's been searching and searching and searching and searching and searching for yooou! You've been lonely all by yourself until now, haven't you? But it's okay. From now on, I'll be with you forever and ever and ever and ever and eeever?”

After saying all that in one breath, Lairine kissed me on the lips and started rubbing her cheek against mine.

“Ah, it's Emi-chaaan...... Emi-chan's awaaake...... Emi-chan Emi-chan Emi-chan Emi-chan Emi-chan Emi-chan Emi-chan Emi-chan Emi-chan Emi-chan Emi-chan Emi-chan Emi-chan Emi-chan Emi-chan Emi-chan Emi-chan Emi-chan Emi-chan Emi-chan Emi-chan Emi-chan Emi-chan Emi-chan Emi-chan......”

Eh, eeeeh!!?

Wh, what is this!?

Th, th-th, this is, a mother's love!?

Hey, Omake-sama!?

Omake-sama!!?

<TH, THIS, WOMAAAN!!! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, LEAVING ME OUT, HUUUH!!!>

Eh, wait, eeeeh!!?

Why are you snapping!!?

Get a grip, Omake-sama!!?

The partner in my head is, for some reason, totally losing it, and is no help at all.

My prized brute strength doesn't work on her either.

I had no choice but to resignedly accept Lairine's embrace.

A critical situation with no room for resistance.

That's how it ought to be, anyway.

Being hugged by Lairine.

Felt just a little bit good.

It was soft and warm.

............This sensation.

Something I've never felt before.

I wonder if this...... is love...... being poured into me right now......

Is this softness and warmth what a mother is, I wonder......

Or something like that, anyway—that's what I was thinking, but after that, Lairine's excitement built and built until she started squeezing for real, and her hug snapped every bone in my body to pieces all over again, so I ended up laid up for one more night.

Like hell a mother like that should exist!!

Will I even be able to survive living with this woman?

Maybe I should start figuring out a way to escape this place as soon as possible.

Like, seriously.