Lowell woke up in a strange place.

It was dark, but several lights illuminated the place which move around as if they had life.

Lowell tried to speak, but nothing came out of her lips.

She knew she was dreaming because Lowell knew this place is weird from the start.

“It looks like he came back momentarily.”

The lights spoke and looked at her curiously.

The place became too bright for Lowell's eyes so she closed them shut.

A group of voices started to bicker with each other.

“Isn’t it supposed to be she?”

“It’s because you messed up with the modifications! We should have made him a boy instead! This would bring us more trouble instead!”

“Why not?”

“One of the dark gods is hiding at Twilight World! When we … him, it looks like the dark god slipped with him. This is bad news! [email protected]#^!$%@”

One spoke in a weird language after that. It’s a language even Lowell didn’t know…

After a certain period of time, one of them approached her.

“We met again, Human.”

Lowell trembled with fear.

She thought they didn’t notice her presence, but it looks like they just deliberately ignored it awhile ago.

Again? What does that supposed to mean?

After that, she noticed that her voice came back.

It looks like they controlled my own voice.

“Well, we know you might come back someday, but it looks like you’re back too soon. Oh, it’s not you’re dead again, but It’s just you’re in the state of Mana Depletion.

Lowell opened her eyes, just to see a Yellow Star floating in front of her.

“W-who are you?”

“Well, I could tell you, but you’ll probably forget it after waking up. This is a good timing, so we’ll add a very important memory. You may find this a burden, but we’ll also give your second Mission.”

“Mission?”

“Because we can’t meddle with mortal affairs, we can only help you by giving you our blessings. Since you arrived here before being reincarnated, your present body got influenced by Space, or the Spatial attribute. We’ll give you a little gift, but you can only use it when you reach… hey guys, what tier of that world can use ****?”

When the Yellow Star asked the other stars, their color turned into red, as if mocking the one talking to Lowell.

“High Rank Professor Tier, you idiot.”

But the Star didn’t mind it.

“I see, I see.”

“Sir, what is this skill your talking about?”

“Oh that? Just a sub-skill derived from your spatial element. We can’t change your destiny, but we could only help you create and lead a good one.”

“Okay..”

“Now, for the major memory… I can’t say it now, but you’ll realize it later on. For your new mission mission, it's still stay alive, but now we’ll add – beware of the evil god Gladius.”

“Gladius?”

“He’s an evil god, named after his demon sword Gladius.”

“Evil God, is that different from Demon King?”

“Actually, unlike the Demon King who was a native of that Planet, the Evil Gods are previously normal Gods which defected from our Primordial Oath.”

“Primordial Oath?”

“Well, hearing it right now isn’t a good idea. It’s just as vast as the Akashic Records.

“Akashic Records?”

Lowell's curiousity started to increase as new information unfold in front of her.

“It is all the knowledge of the universe stored in a single plane, which is the astral plane. I wouldn’t go deeper, but both of them are created by an Omnipotent Being.”

“Okay…”

Lowell can only agree because just hearing the words Akashic Records and Primordial Oath made her head hurt.

“Now, for the main characteristics of Evil God Gladius! Actually.. He’s a battle-maniac and a ruthless individual. He is a master of sword, and his main point and greatest advantage is that… He’s unaffected by any type of skill that uses mana.”

“Isn’t that…”

“Unfair? Yes, it’s unfair, especially for a person who excel on using mana to protect themselves. That’s why we said if you encounter him, escape at all cost. Be careful, since he slipped through our divine barrier which we deployed around Twilight Planet when we let you pass through it and reincarnate. His main objective now is….”

“Is?”

“If you were a boy, it’s pretty impossible.. but now, it was pretty bad..”

“Boy? Pretty bad? What?”

Lowell became confused upon hearing that line.

I should've been born boy? it’s pretty bad now that I’m a girl? What?”

“Well, his objective also changed… it’s now… make you…”

Before Lowell could hear the Star’s last words, she started to vanish from the place.

***

“Lowell!.. my Daughter!!”

My vision’s dark, but I heard a woman’s voice. It was weak, but kind. I tried to speak, but to no avail. The whole place was surrounded by sound of raindrops.

“Mom, I’m sorry… it was because of me… Dad left us…”

The one who responded was a voice of a little girl. She was sobbing while clinging to her Mom's shoulders.

“Did you fight with them again?”

The voice of the woman sounds worried.

A big splash was heard.

She knelt on the ground to console her child.

“Because.. they said Mom was a prostitute… and she bewitched Dad… so Dad left us…but isn’t it because of me? He left us because I was born..”

The woman hugged tightly the girl who was condemning herself.

And the dark world in Lowell's vision became a monochrome world, a world that lacked sound.

Just the two of them hugging each other in the rain.

***

“Lowell, Lowell!”

Lowell heard a voice of someone familliar to her.

I think it was Weiss…

“Ugh….”

She started to wake up.

“Lowell?! I’m glad you woke up… What are you doing there, lying on the roadside??”

Weiss sighed as he asked her.

He looks like he’s gonna cry any time now.

Lowell noticed she was now sitting on a bench.

As she look around, she saw her Big Brother and Weiss having a worried look on their faces.

She also noticed that the Kitten was sitting on her lap.

Lowell tried to look for the serpent, but it wasn’t around anymore.

“What happened?”

Both of them asked Lowell, but she can’t tell them what happened because she thought it was too weird to explain.

“I just felt dizzy… How long did I stay unconscious?”

After asking, her Big Brother answered her inquiry.

“We decided to follow you since you might get into trouble, so it’s just a few minutes.”

Just a few minutes.. but I felt it was more than an hour or so.

Lowell had troubles remembering what she dreamt, but she knew it was a very sad one.

Whenever she tried to remember it, a piercing feeling pricks her heart.

“Ah-?”

“Hmmm?

Weiss starts to remember something and looks at her with deep suspicion.

“H-hey, Lowell… W-who’s this G-gladius you’re dreaming o-of?!”

“Gladius?”

When Lowell heard the name ‘Gladius’, she felt a deep fear towards it.

“You’ve been repeating ‘Gladius’, ‘Gladius’ in your sleep. With that expression, it looks like you know something!”

Lowell think Weiis misunderstood her fear into something else.

I couldn’t think why..

“Ah? Oh?! Look! We need to hurry!”

Lowell pointed towards their shadows. Maybe because of her knowledge in Physics, she reflexively pointed at their shadows to express what time is it.

Lowell think it works here too, since she observed that the movement of the sun here is the same as the origin of the two books.

“Hah?!”

Qazar and Weiss, who didn't have the knowledge she had, looked at her weirdly.

“I-I read on a book that shadow’s location can tell the time. Since your shadow was long, I think it’s gonna be sunset pretty soon…”

Lowell tried to fool them.

I’m sorry, Big Brother and Weiss.

Her Big Brother still looks at her with suspicion but Weiss looks at her with astonishment.

He held her hands and gazed with a sparkling eyes.

Lowell became surprised and became nervous.

“W-what is it, Weiss?”

“You’re really smart, Lowell!”

“Hah.. I-I see…”

It looks like I averted the situation..

“‘It looks like I averted the situation.. ‘ I see.”

Lowell heard her Big Brother speak without any feeling on it.

She felt she was poured with cold water when she heard it and puts on an awkward smile.

“B-big brother?”

“What is it, my Little Sister?”

He’s smiling… but I knew he’s already mad… He never call me that way normally.. I couldn’t think of any way to escape this..

“H-how did you know?”

“Oh? I just ‘Accidentally’ used a skill..”

A smile was still on his face.

“What is this ‘situation’ you’ll need to explain to us?”

Lowell tried to avert the situation again by telling her Big Brother something that she thought he couldn't resist.

“W-we need to buy food for the Kitten…”

Lowell tried to stand but her Big Brother held both of her shoulders.

Lowell was locked on the bench.

This is bad!!

“My Dearest Big Brother, W-what are you doing?”

“Nothing~”

“You aren’t mad about earlier right…?”

“There’s no point to be angry right? It was ‘my’ fault to begin with~”

He talks nonchalantly.

“I-I’m sorry!!”

Lowell can only apologize.

“You don’t have to be sorry~ Just tell us whose this ‘Gladius’ is and I’ll let you go~”

“E-eh?! I-I don’t know!! Ah! It's a sword! I saw a sword a while ago and the merchant...”

I don’t want to make them worry..

“You made us worry already, though.”

“Please stop reading my mind, Big Brother!!”

When did my Big Brother learned to bully people… but..

“S-say, brother… when did you develop your ability?”

“Oh? This? Just a few moments ago, when I saw you lose consciousness.”

He continued.

“I was sooo stressed what would I do, so I tried to clear my mind.. Strange, but I didn’t unlock it before I was left by my real Mother and Father… If only…”

He thinks of using it to rebuild his true family… I think he didn’t unlock it earlier since he still didn’t show signs of being a Demon King Successor..

“S-sorry!”

Lowell apologized because she made him remember a traumatic past…

Traumatic? I think my dream is a traumatic story.. but I don’t remember the whole details…

“Don’t be sorry.. but.. I think I overused it.. Now, my head’s getting dizzy…”

“Eh?!”

Her Big Brother, who was holding Lowell's shoulders, had his head fall into her shoulders instead.

It looks like his ability has reached its limits.. Lowell didn’t know what happened, but she's glad she escaped the interrogation of her Big Brother.”

“Weiss, can you wait for me here? I’ll buy Pet food for the Kitten. I’ll leave Big Brother and the Kitten with you..”

“Are you sure you’re alright?

Weiss looks at her with worry.

“The shop’s already there, so don’t worry about me.”

“O-okay..

Lowell entered the store.

She bought what she needed, and left the place.

When she returned, her Big Brother was already conscious, but is having a hard time walking straight.

“Let’s return home.”

“Okay.”

Qazar responded weakly while Weiss responded like normal.

Weiss and Lowell supported Qazar while walking.

The kitten was on Weiss’ shoulder while Lowell carried the pet food on her other hand.

When they're almost halfway from their home, her Big Brother walked by himself.

They reached their home before sunset.