The Grassis I thought of wasn’t a particularly good country.

The royal family and the nobles, who were busy quarreling and fighting among themselves, had only one thing they agreed on.

In the past, the kingdom was glorious, and the founding king was great…

But their endings were different.

The royals blamed the nobility’s arrogance and extravagance for the kingdom’s weakening power, while the nobles pointed to the incompetence and indulgence of the royal family, including the king.

It wasn’t like a pot calling the kettle black—they were all covered in the same filth, and to me, it was laughable, almost pathetic, watching them fight.

Arrogant, reckless, incompetent, indulgent…

Weren’t those words applicable to all of them?

Besides, is there any country that’s doomed from the start?

With the pillars of their house now crumbling, all they can say is how great it used to be, how brilliant it once was…

So what?

If the past was so great, why not invent magic that can reverse time and go back to it? But since they can't even do that, all they can do is babble.

That’s why I never considered Grassis to be a good country, and I never liked it either.

After I started remembering my past life, and after realizing I was in the body of a four-year-old girl in a shabby shack in a dark alley, I knew I was destined not to like Grassis.

The poor didn’t worry about tomorrow; they were too concerned about making it through the evening.

Begging, pickpocketing, stealing, robbing… Occasionally, people ventured out of the city, but a stable life was far from their reality.

If they were unlucky, they died; if they were lucky, they’d fill their bellies for the day.

So, the people who were supposed to be my parents must have kept me around as an investment of sorts.

They probably believed that if they refrained from eating one marshmallow today, it would return as more than ten marshmallows in the future.

Ironically, they were the opposite of me.

I wonder how they planned to cash in on their investment.

Maybe it was as they said: to warn them of danger before dying, or perhaps they intended to use me as a meat shield or bait.

Who knows, maybe they would’ve sold me to a slave trader or a brothel.

I’ll never know the answer.

The ones who knew the answer became part of the garbage heap one especially dark night when even the moon hid from the streets.

According to the rumors in the slums, they were just unlucky.

A miner who died before the canary…

The world is full of such ridiculous events.

But that was that, and now that the caretakers who fed the bird were gone, the bird had to find a way to survive.

The bird left its small, narrow cage and joined a group of orphans who were in similar situations.

Life in the group was easier than I thought.

There were quite a few times when people gave me food or offered me favors to win my favor.

Why didn’t I use my strength to take it by force? I’m not sure.

Maybe it was the freshness of being a child.

There’s a saying that the more innocent a child is, the more cruel they can be, but I prefer to believe otherwise.

Two years passed like that, and then a horde of monsters invaded the city where I lived.

Looking back now, it wasn’t that threatening of a horde.

If the city had been prepared, it could have been stopped without any casualties, just barely.

But the guards, drunk as usual, couldn’t ring the warning bell, and the gatekeepers, lying passed out next to them, failed to close the gates.

It was as if they had invited the monsters in with open doors.

Naturally, the monsters didn’t refuse the invitation, and in no time, the city was a sea of blood.

 

Break in text

“Haa… Haa…!”

My legs felt heavy.

Looking down at them, it felt like I was wearing weighted sandbags, but all I saw were legs covered in dirt and filth.

Why?

I didn’t bother to ponder it.

It wasn’t a particularly important question, and thinking about it wouldn’t help me survive. Taking one more step was more important.

When the first screams echoed through the city, I immediately headed for a small hole in the wall.

It was the passage used to smuggle goods into the city.

Honestly, hearing screams in the city wasn’t all that unusual.

It could have been a poor person clashing with a noble, or mercenaries fighting… It was quite common in Grassis.

Still, I ran.

Perhaps, like my new name suggested, I sensed a danger others couldn’t.

Whatever the reason, I managed to escape the city safely, but…

“Keerrr!”

“Kyaaak!”

“Huff, huff…”

Even my breath wouldn’t come out properly now.

The monsters, who seemed to enjoy toying with their prey, slowly approached me as I stood there, unable to move.

Their bloodstained jaws and claws covered in flesh.

I gritted my teeth, staring at them through my blurry vision.

“…Hoo.”

I guess this is where I’ll die.

I don’t want to die, but I don’t know if I have any lingering attachments either.

I only knew that I didn’t want to die helplessly.

I pulled out the dagger from my clothes.

It wasn’t in good condition, scavenged from a pile of trash, but it was my lifeline.

I steadied my breath and gripped the dagger tightly with both hands.

 

Flash!

A wolf-shaped monster lunged at me.

It moved faster than I expected, and as I hastily threw myself to the side, something black grazed past my face, making my cheek burn.

Ignoring the dripping blood, I kept my eyes fixed on the monsters.

It’s clear now.

These things were toying with me.

If they had really wanted to eat me right away, I would have been dead soon after escaping the city.

But they deliberately slowed down, giving me just enough time to run, and only one monster would attack at a time, even deliberately missing its mark.

Even a fool could figure it out by now.

“Hah, haha…”

I let out an involuntary laugh as a thought crossed my mind.

Have I ever laughed since regaining my memories?

Surprisingly, I couldn’t recall.

Not because I had forgotten, but because I’d never laughed even once.

“…Congratulations.”

No wonder the kids were so desperate to make me smile—they couldn’t do it, but you guys managed to pull it off.

Thanks to the monsters' patience, I had regained my breath.

Facing the threat of death, my adrenaline kicked in, and the weight that had been tying down my legs vanished.

I wonder, does hunting and playing with prey make the meat more tender?

Though my flesh should be plenty soft already without such games.

With that silly thought, I leveled my dagger and aimed it at the monsters.

I knew I was outmatched in speed and strength.

I had never learned how to fight properly, but somehow, I felt that charging in first was the right answer, so I bent my knees slightly and pushed off the ground.

Thud!

Like a spring being released, my body shot forward at high speed, closing the gap between me and the monster.

The creature’s eyes followed my movement, and my eyes locked onto its, tracking them at a slower pace.

As I got close enough to feel its breath, it jumped to the side, dodging the rusted tip of my dagger.

I dug my foot into the ground, dragging it along to forcibly stop my momentum.

Twisting my body, I swung the dagger toward the spot where the monster had jumped.

It missed again.

Not because the monster had dodged—it was just out of reach.

A short, growling sound came from its throat, as if it was mocking me.

If only the dagger had been a proper sword… Or if my arms were just a bit longer.

Setting aside my brief frustration, I leaped backward just as the monster’s claws slashed through the air where I had been standing.

“…Hoo.”

Only three exchanges, and I was already out of breath.

…This child’s body really is inconvenient.

With my short limbs, I have to move much more than an adult, but even a little exertion leaves me winded.

Not to mention my lack of strength and stamina.

The only upside is how fast I recover, but that only matters if I survive the fight long enough to rest afterward. In this situation, it’s meaningless.

How much longer can I hold out?

Once? Twice?

Negative thoughts kept swirling in my head, but I didn’t let them show as I adjusted my grip on the dagger.

If I can’t survive, I’ll at least take one of them with me.

Even though I wasn’t satisfied with the exchange rate, I knew that was the best I could hope for.

That’s how big the gap was.

Before I could catch my breath, the monster swung its claws again.

I tried to counterattack, but the monster didn’t see my actions as a threat. It still had that mocking attitude, its slow, lazy attacks clearly meant to toy with me.

Clang!

“Urgh…!”

The strong vibration from the impact of the claws against my dagger traveled up my arm, biting into my muscles.

I nearly dropped the dagger.

Ignoring the throbbing pain in my arm, I desperately wracked my brain for a solution.

How… How can I…

Suddenly, a chuckle slipped out.

I hadn’t been thinking straight.

If I was already planning to take one of them with me, there was no need to worry about my safety.

Even if I lost both legs, I could still crawl over and stab that smug face with my dagger—that would be my victory.

Once I resolved myself to that, breathing became a bit easier.

Perhaps sensing the change in my attitude, the monster I was facing became more cautious.

I’m not an animal trainer, but the thought of forming this strange bond with a creature made me sigh.

If I had known this would happen, I would’ve watched more dog training channels in my past life.

Despite my internal rambling, my body was still dodging attacks, and my breath was growing labored.

With time, I was getting used to the monster’s attacks, and my evasive movements became more efficient, but that didn’t mean my physical abilities were improving. It was still impossible to turn the tide.

If I kept holding on, I was sure an opportunity would come.

And then, finally, the moment I had been waiting for arrived.

Roar!

“…!”

This is it!

Frustrated by my repeated escapes, the monster let out a fierce roar and charged at me with all its strength.

Big movements mean big openings.

The charge was too fast for me to react easily, but I had been anticipating it, so I narrowly dodged it again.

Crash!

The monster’s head slammed into a boulder behind me.

Seizing the chance, I rushed toward it before it could recover.

Stab!

Yelp!

It let out a sound like a dog whining.

…That sounds a bit strange, but anyway.

Just as I raised my hand to finish it off, twisting in pain, a heavy force crashed into my back, sending me flying forward.

“Kyaaah?!”

“Ugh…”

Pain made my vision flicker as I blinked in and out of consciousness.

I’d forgotten—I wasn’t fighting just one monster.

I tried to get up, but my arms gave out beneath me, causing my face to hit the ground over and over.

Eventually, I didn’t even have the strength to push myself up and just lay there, glaring at the monsters.

They no longer seemed interested in playing; all three were approaching me at once.

“You bastards…”

The hand holding my dagger trembled violently.

In the end, I wouldn’t even be able to take one of them down with me.

With eyes burning with rage, I prepared myself for the approaching death.

The lead monster raised its paw, and just as it was about to strike—

Slash!

Black blood sprayed as it vanished.

A diagonal line appeared on the remaining two monsters, and they soon followed the first into the afterlife.

In their place stood a man who had appeared out of nowhere.

“You’re a brave little girl! What’s your name?”

Blink, blink.

“…Who are you, old man?”

“Oh, old man…?”

That was my first meeting with Garid.