Everything here was beautiful. Flowers covered the ground as far as I could see, smelling sweeter than anything from my world. The sky was perfectly blue with fluffy white clouds. A soft light made everything glow gently. Far away, a tall white tower reached up into the sky.
But what really caught my eye was the woman sitting at the table in front of me.
Lady Ava looked more beautiful than anyone I'd ever seen. Her long white hair flowed down her back, and her pink eyes sparkled as she smiled at me. She held a teacup that had just appeared out of nowhere, taking small sips like this was completely normal.
"Do you not like the milk? Or do you want tea too?" she asked, waving her hand to make another teacup appear for me.
"Can I have some coffee instead?"
"Nope, that's really bad for your body. So here's milk instead." With another wave of her hand, she makes a glass filled with milk appear on the table in front of me.
It's just pure white milk without anything in it... "Can I have a latte then?"
"Nope."
"Tch."
In the end, I can only drink this milk because this woman just won't give me coffee at all. Speaking of milk, I don't even remember the last time I drank this.
I'm so used to drinking coffee in my previous life that it's basically become my daily consumption.
"Pffftt- what the hell is this??? There's no taste in this milk!"
"Of course there is no taste." Lady Ava easily deflects the burst of milk from my mouth, then puts her teacup down elegantly and rests her head on her palm.
"Because we're in your dream."
"Huh? What do you mean this is my dream?"
What Lady Ava said doesn't really make any sense to me because what I'm feeling right now feels real, especially that previous dark place and the weird giant blue line...
"What is the last thing you remember?" Lady Ava said again, waking me up from my thinking.
"The last thing..."
I remember being angry at the other kids because they didn't want to play with me... and then I'm helping Aunty Nana preparing ingredients...
"!? The lines! I remember seeing so many lines in front of me! It also appears on Aunty Nana's entire body!"
"Do you know what happened? Why are there lines appearing suddenly?"
Lady Ava is still smiling as I feel confused and asking multiple questions when she suddenly makes a hand mirror appear and then gives it to me.
"What is this for?"
"Go on, look at it~"
So weird why Lady Ava giving me mirror hand for some reason but oh well.
I pick up the small mirror. There's my usual face - black hair that reached down to my neck, round child cheeks with that little extra baby fat just like usual.
"Wow..."
Then I see them.
My eyes.
The blue part glows really bright swirling around. But the pupils...
Violet. Not just that it's like living violet. Rippling. Twitching. Circling around inside the pupils.
"This is so mesmerizing..."
The usual black eyes of mine are no longer there, replaced by this... thing. Not that I'm complaining-these eyes are
really cool.
"Hmm, maybe I can go into a show or something after becoming an adult."
With eyes like these, people would definitely get curious. I'd get popular, earn tons of money-no more corporate slavery!
"Unfortunately, if you do that, you'll get hunted by every single magus in the world," Lady Ava suddenly said, smirking.
"What do you mean? Why am I gonna get hunted by that... uhh Magus? Why does that term seem familiar to me?" It's like I've heard it before but I don't remember where.
Lady Ava drinks another sip from her tea before suddenly pointing at me-no, it's more like she's pointing at my eyes.
"Magic Eyes of Direct Death, or what you people call Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, are a type of Mystic Eyes that are considered so rare they're thought not to exist at all. If other Magus find out about that, you'll become their human experiment for research."
"Mystic what? Is this gonna be a lore dump where you tell me how rare my abilities are?" I remember this kind of plot from so many manhwa I read before I died in my previous life.
Unfortunately, there's no manhwa in this world-I already asked Aunty about it, but they don't even know what manhwa means.
"Anything with an origin must have an end, a time of death determined at the beginning, and as it already exists." Lady Ava keeps talking while ignoring what I'm saying.
"Except for a few beings. With your eyes, you can see the lines of something that can be killed."
"What? You mean the lines I saw before?"
"The lines are something like the weakest parts of the joints between molecules in an object, or a predesignated switch within the genetic makeup that activates the death of the object."
After that, Lady Ava starts explaining about the Mystic Eyes especially my eyes and how rare they are, their usage, even their limitations.
Not gonna lie, I already don't know what the hell she's talking about halfway through the explanation.
Either way, all I know is my eyes are really rare-like Rainbow-tier rarity in Mystic Eyes that can't be replicated by anyone.
Finally, Lady Ava notices I clearly don't understand anything. "Oh my~ I'm sorry. It seems I explained it way too quickly."
"I'm so used to that guy who understands everything so fast, I got carried away." Lady Ava giggles while covering her mouth.
"That guy?"
"No matter~ Do you have any questions? We have a little time before you wake up."
"I'm curious about who that guy is, but I have more important questions than that. By 'lines,' you mean the lines I've been seeing? How does that actually work? How can me cutting a line kill anyone? And why me?"
"I actually don't know much about your Mystic Eyes. Everything I said about your eyes is just theories-I've never had that kind of eyes myself. I can replicate lower Mystic Eyes, but yours? Impossible for me."
"As for why you... probably because you're lucky~"
"Imagine that-being born with the rarest eyes in the entire world~ That definitely calls for a celebration~" Lady Ava claps with a face full of smiles.
But that's clearly a fake expression. After years of working full-time and dealing with people wearing fake smiles, I know one when I see it. Lady Ava is hiding something she doesn't want to tell me. But since she said I'll wake up soon, I'll let it go.
"Then what about Magus? What does that mean? Are they like magic users in a fantasy world? I thought I was born in normal Japan."
For some reason, hearing that makes Lady Ava try-and fail-to hold back laughter.
"Pfffttt-HAHAHAHAHA!"
"Hahahaha, that was good, Rikka! But unfortunately, those Magus are way below what you described."
After a minute, Lady Ava finally calms down and continues: "Magus, or mages, are practitioners of magecraft-the magical science every Magus learns in your era."
"The 'Magicians' you're talking about? Only a handful still exist since the day mana left Earth along with the Lady of the Lake. Magicians can perform true miracles-things impossible to recreate with modern science."
"I see. So Magus are basically the standard mages, not archmages from fantasy novels."
"If you want, you can think of it like that."
Lady Ava goes on to explain how every Magus must follow rules to avoid involving normal people and hide magecraft.
Magecraft is just manipulating things that already exist in reality-only skipping the usual time and materials needed. It can't create phenomena outside this universe. To make something, you either pay with another object or modify what's already there.
Unlike magic, which bypasses all that to achieve the impossible through true miracles.
And since magecraft relies on Mystery, Magus must keep it secret. The more people know, the weaker the Mystery becomes-until magecraft itself disappears.
"Most Magus have one goal in mind when studying magecraft-to reach the Root and uncover true miracles."
"The Root..." The moment I muttered that, something flashed in my mind.
"The giant blue line that was so bright it lit up the entire place..." I remember how scary that darkness was before the blue line appeared.
The moment it appeared, I didn't feel scared anymore. Everything felt warm and comfortable, like it was calling to me... Like a mother calling for her daughter to come home.
"Rikka, wake up! You need to stop that!" Suddenly, Lady Ava snaps her fingers in front of my face.
"Huh? What's wrong?"
"You stopped paying attention. I told you-it's time for you to wake up."
Lady Ava stands from her chair and walks to my side, offering her hand. I take it since I'm still short and need help getting down...
But I didn't expect her to pick me up the moment she grabs my hand instead of just helping me down!
"Hey! What are you doing?!"
"What do you mean? I need to help you wake up~" She smiles.
Now that she's carrying me, I'm way too close. Her scent-like a field of flowers-and her stupidly perfect face make my heart race.
'Calm down. We're both girls. This is fine.'
"No matter how distant it is, I sit across from Paradise. I will be waiting for you to return. Open your eyes and sense the way."
She chants this while leaning closer.
"Wait, wait! I'm not ready-"
Chu.
Her lips brush my forehead as she whispers, "Blessings of Utopia."
My eyelids grow heavy. The warmth of her arms, her scent... Everything fades to black.
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Lady Ava POV
After the little girl disappeared, now I'm alone in this place again.
"Ahhhh, that was really hard." I sit on the previous chair while making another tea appear.
That was harder than tutoring Arthur. I wonder what that child is doing right now.
At least Arthur was easier to talk to than that kid. "Especially with those eyes that kept glowing when looking at me."
Those eyes that could kill anything that can be killed-except perfect creatures like Archetypes or beings without the concept of death.
That child could even kill me if she wanted to. But with her current abilities, she doesn't stand a chance.
"But with her personality, I know she won't do that."
Looking at the empty chair where Rikka sat earlier, I think back to what happened.
When I mentioned the Root, she completely zoned out, trapped in her own mind.
"What does the Root have planned for her?" The moment her body awakened, the Root immediately called to her.
The only reason I saved her was curiosity about a soul from another world being brought here. It's rare for the Root to interfere like this.
"Those two aren't doing anything to stop her either."
Add to that Gaia and Alaya-they definitely noticed a foreign soul entering their world but did nothing. She must have some purpose here.
"But what...?"
Everything's such a mystery. Unraveling it will be fun~
"Oh right, you can come out now, Cath Palug."
The moment I say that, rustling comes from the flower garden as something runs toward me-then leaps.
"FOUUU!" Thankfully I catch it before it smacks into me again.
"I'm sorry, alright? If she saw you, she'd be terrified-especially with those eyes of hers."
"Fou fou!"
"I know, I know."