TRL 03

Chapter 3

“What the—when did you get here? You don’t even have stealth skills like Ethan. Why do you always show up without a trace?”

Startled, Rita sprang to her feet and reached for the gun that had been taken from her.

“Give me back my gun!”

“Where’s the output limiter on this thing? Ollie, did you do this?”

The man furrowed his perfectly shaped brows and glared at the woman in glasses. She folded her arms and gestured toward Rita with her chin.

“She was about to blow herself up instead of the gun. What else could I do? Sera, who examined Rita, said it’d be better to just remove the limiter.”

“…Unbelievable.”

The man let out a heavy sigh, returning the gun to Rita with a grim expression.

“Rita, you know every time you go wild, I feel like I lose a year off my life? Please take it easy.”

“You’re one to talk. You charged in headfirst and only lived because of me.”

“That wasn’t charging in—it was a strategic breakthrough.”

“So, if I hadn’t gone wild during that ‘strategic breakthrough’ mission, would Captain Gide Pascal have survived or died?”

Rita replied, twirling as she holstered her returned gun at her hip. The man, apparently named Gide, gritted his teeth and muttered,

“Yeah, fine. You saved us by going berserk.”

“Then instead of worrying about me, focus on planning our next move.”

Rita tugged him away from the other “Pascals,” pulling him toward the only intact spire of the ruined fortress.

As they headed inside, she lowered her voice.

“Has Senior Is returned from recon?”

“He came back just a little while ago. That’s why I came to find you.”

“Good news, bad news?”

Gide silently held up three fingers. Rita scoffed.

“Three bad ones? Damn it. What are they?”

“We’ll discuss it inside.”

He opened the door for her like a gentleman and added,

“I can’t talk about it with anyone else. I need your input.”

“Geez, Captain, don’t you rely on me a bit too much? What would you do without me?”

“You still haven’t figured that out, Rita?”

He chuckled at his own joke before quietly adding,

“I can’t live without you.”

She dreamed about the day before she died.

Rita woke up.

As soon as she woke from the dream, she sprang up and tensed her entire body. The place was unfamiliar—none of the familiar presences of her comrades could be felt.

She couldn’t believe she had slept so soundly in a place like this. Cautiously scanning the surroundings, her hand went to her waist.

But her familiar gun wasn’t there. Instead, her fingers brushed against something smooth—long strands of hair.

She brought it before her eyes.

The strands glimmered like threads of gold in the morning sunlight streaming through the window.

“….”

It wasn’t her usual reddish-brown hair. It was a striking, vivid golden color—almost unnaturally so.

“This isn’t my body.”

Remaining alert, she slid off the bed. It was much too soft—an awkward luxury for someone used to sleeping on bare dirt or worse.

She felt drawn toward the sunlit window.

Outside was a well-maintained garden in full bloom. Beyond a fence entangled with budding rose vines stood a birch forest, its white trunks adorned in fresh green.

It was a spring landscape she’d only ever seen in pictures—coming from a world where even sprouts were rare, where everything was gray.

Above that vibrant scenery stretched a sky of brilliant blue—not hazy, murky, or filled with ominous clouds.

“A sky this clear?”

Mesmerized, Rita opened the window. The air that flowed in was fresh and floral—not unpleasantly heavy like what she was used to.

Birdsong echoed clearly.

And then she saw the sun—bright and dazzling, not the fading, ashen ember she’d last seen in her world.

She realized again, with full clarity:

“What I saw yesterday wasn’t a dream. This really isn’t my world. It’s a completely different one.”

Her memories from the day before resurfaced.

She thought she’d died—but she had opened her eyes underwater. Then, a man had mistaken her for his younger sister who had disappeared ten years ago.

“I told him I wasn’t his sister, but… he didn’t really believe me.”

She’d been taken aback when he turned his back on her without hesitation.

In her experience, nobody exposed their back so carelessly to a stranger.

So, she’d decided to trust him, at least for the moment.

She looked around as he carried her. The birch forest, the lake bathed in sunset—it had all been so vividly beautiful, she’d unintentionally gasped in awe.

Then they arrived at a massive, luxurious cream-colored castle like something out of a fairytale.

After that…

She remembered nothing.

She’d lost consciousness in an unfamiliar place?

“I didn’t faint from an injury. And judging by my condition now, it wasn’t drugs either. So… did I just fall asleep?”

Rita Pascal fell asleep defenseless? With no comrades around?

She’d let her guard down.

“Even my clothes changed. Someone undressed me and put new clothes on, and I didn’t even wake up? What the hell. How long was I out for?”

A cold shiver ran down her spine. Then—knock knock.

The knock startled her—not because of the sound itself, but because someone had approached that closely without her noticing.

“My senses are totally dulled. Because this isn’t my original body?”

This body was completely untrained. She couldn’t even feel her Od—her natural combat energy—that usually flowed as easily as breathing.

She couldn’t afford to face an intruder in this weakened state. No matter how peaceful the scenery or luxurious the room, she had to be on guard.

She instinctively looked for something she could use as a weapon.

“Miss, are you awake? I’m coming in.”

When there was no reply, the maid carefully stepped inside—and gasped.

The bed was empty. No one was in sight.

The young lady who had returned after ten years—gone again!

“Th-this is bad—mph!”

Just as she was about to scream and alert others, her mouth was covered.

“Quiet.”

A voice whispered behind her, and a sharp shard of a broken mirror was pressed to her throat like a blade.

“Make a sound and I’ll kill you. Nod if you understand.”

Trembling, the maid nodded. Rita slowly released her grip, then noticed the girl’s hair color.

Reddish-brown.

Just like Rita’s original hair. Though their eyes and facial features were different.

Keeping the glass shard ready, Rita interrogated her.

“Where is this place?”

“Th-the Duke of Laskail’s estate, miss…”

“Where exactly is that?”

“Pardon? It’s in the duke’s territory… D-don’t you remember?”

“I don’t. Describe the location.”

“Th-the Laskail estate is… in the northern region of the Kairam Empire, on the Kornu Plains, near the H-Hinder River…”

As expected, Rita didn’t recognize a single name.

Suppressing a sigh, she changed the subject.

“Who are you?”

“I-I’m a maid of the ducal house, assigned to serve you starting today. M-my name is Hannah…”

“A maid? Were you the one who changed my clothes?”

Her torn, wet clothing from yesterday had been replaced with an elegant, ankle-length nightgown.

“Yes, yes! I—I changed your clothes last night…”

Hannah frantically nodded. Rita, holding onto a faint hope, asked,

“When you changed my clothes… did you see any of my belongings?”

“W-what?”

“Anything like a dagger, ID tag, belt with small pouches, necklace, or a compass.”

“N-no, there was nothing…”

So she thought.

She’d already known she had nothing when she woke up—but she’d clung to hope.

Grinding her teeth, Rita asked one last question.

“Then, what happened last night—”

“I’ll answer that.”

A man’s voice cut in.

Rita tensed again. How had he approached without her noticing?

Turning, she saw the golden-haired man who had carried her yesterday, standing by the door.

Come to think of it—his hair was the same golden shade as hers now. Their eyes, which she had glimpsed again in the shattered mirror, and even their faces, bore an undeniable resemblance.

She’d noticed it back when she first saw her reflection in the lake.

“Yeah… This body and that guy really are siblings.”

He stepped into the room slowly.

“Let’s talk, Rita. Let the poor maid go.”