We walked toward the kingdom for almost three hours.
Every time I asked the goddess if she could help us move faster, she would simply reply in an overly high-pitched and annoying voice:
"You'll lose the charm of enjoying this new world."
My feet were practically about to blister.
Not to mention I had to carry the boy for half the journey.
When we reached the capital, many people instantly recognized the prince.
"Prince Enry!"
Some shouted in excitement, others in concern after seeing the state he was in.
Our clothes were torn, and there were stains of blood.
I was surprised that no one found the goddess's presence strange.
"Restia!"
"Lady Restia, good day!"
Some of them seemed to know her. I suppose her presence here isn't unusual.
At the castle entrance, men in metallic armor received us.
I assumed they were the kingdom's knights.
One of them bowed.
"My prince, I regret everything that has happened."
The boy simply smiled.
"It's alright."
Behind them emerged a man much larger than the others, wearing imposing red armor.
His voice was deep and rough.
"You may enter. The King is waiting."
As we walked through the halls, I saw hundreds of paintings—mostly royalty.
They wore extravagant clothing.
Just before I could enter the pavilion leading to the throne room, a guard with an eye patch over his left eye stopped me.
"You cannot enter."
He gestured with his hand.
"We will head to another room."
Slightly confused, I followed him.
His steps were firm; he didn't even check whether I was still behind him.
He opened a blue door.
Inside, four people stood around a circular table.
I felt uncomfortable with all of them staring at me.
The guard left us alone.
One of them approached me. His face was sharply defined, and a scar ran across his cheek. His voice was serious—almost robotic.
"It's good to see you again, Eleanor."
I was confused. I didn't remember my name until now.
Though I can't say I mind it.
Another one, shorter, spoke in a teasing tone.
"Good to see you again. This time I'll actually eat all my vegetables." He let out a light chuckle. "I'm Theo."
A silver-haired girl approached timidly.
"I missed you."
Without warning, she threw herself at me.
A gentle embrace.
Far too warm for someone I didn't even know.
"You must be confused. Don't worry," she whispered in my ear. "Ah, you probably don't remember. I'm Rhea."
The black-haired one with red eyes didn't seem as pleased.
"I'm Jack," he said, extending his hand to shake mine. "Listen, we're aware of your situation. We know it must be difficult to understand everything so quickly, but we don't have much time to explain it all."
Everyone stood up and formed a line to leave.
In what felt like a synchronized march, we headed somewhere.
"We're entering the Timeless Dungeon."
"The Timeless Dungeon?" I asked.
We descended a staircase that seemed endless.
I was surprised the castle had such depth. It should be impossible for normal humans to dig and build this far underground—but considering this world has fantastical elements, construction probably isn't the remarkable part. It's what lies below.
When we reached the bottom, a white light greeted us from behind a massive stone door lined with glowing white patterns.
"Theo, open the door."
The shorter one placed his hand on the stone.
It simply vanished.
We all entered.
"Listen, Eleanor. Some time ago, you died."
"And it was grotesque," Theo interrupted. "So grotesque I wouldn't even describe it."
"Can you leave that for another time?" Rhea replied. "Let her understand the current situation first."
"As I was saying…" Jack sighed. "Since that day—when all the containers overflowed—the kingdom has been on the verge of collapse."
Restia emerged from a thin white mist.
"Monsters, ghosts, everything you can imagine."
"What are you doing here?"
"I couldn't leave you all alone."
"You know each other?" Rhea asked.
We both answered at the same time.
"Unfortunately."
Though I'm the one who should regret it most.
It was incredible and unsettling—like a labyrinth.
The walls grew narrower.
We came across a hole.
They made me go first because, according to them, if I died now it wouldn't make much difference.
"All clear!"
I didn't even know what we were supposed to be avoiding.
Jack said that the giant creature that attacked the prince and me didn't come from down here.
"Look, there are a few over there."
At the end of the corridor were creatures with elongated limbs.
They had eight arms—like a spider.
And eight eyes. Their legs were hairy…
Wait.
They were spiders.
Sorry, but I expected something more fantastical in this world.
Theo patted my back.
"Go earn our trust, new Eleanor."
I gripped my revolver.
I was a little nervous.
The goddess approached me.
"I have to go," she said as a pink veil surrounded her. "From now on you'll start from zero, so don't try what you did before. You won't be able to."
I assume she meant the massive shot that disintegrated those giants.
Start from zero?
She throws me into this and now she doesn't want to help?
About ten meters away from the creatures, I opened fire.
One.
The impact was so strong that one of the spiders dropped instantly.
Immediately, I realized it hadn't fired a bullet.
Light?
A faint pink glow came out of the barrel.
If this doesn't shoot bullets, then what's the cylinder for?
The chamber where ammunition should be loaded was empty.
This makes no sense.
Two remained.
A sharp sonic sound alerted me.
A whip-like strike sent me flying.
I didn't manage to dodge.
The pain in my back matched the one in my neck.
I nearly shattered the dungeon wall.
I turned my head looking for my companions.
A damn dinner party?!
There they were. Jack, Theo, Rhea… and—
A guy. The one who accompanied us. He had greeted me earlier but never introduced himself.
I had tried talking to him on the way down, but he barely responded.
I gripped my weapon again.
This time I decided to be less conventional.
In the world I come from, it's best to find stable ground and stand firm to hit your target.
From the start, I knew it wouldn't work like that here.
I ran toward them.
Dense balls of webbing were launched at me.
I dodged some. Others hit me—but I refused to be intimidated.
When I stood face to face—
One, two, three—
Blood splattered across my face.
One, two, three—
It covered the rest of my clothes.
"How disgusting."
I stepped down from the mound of their corpses.
The rest of the team approached.
"So you're done already," the quiet guy said as he walked up to me. "I'm Luan."
"Yeah."
It's not like I cared what his name was.
None of them helped me with this.
Rhea pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and gently wiped the blood from my face.
Her voice was warm and playful.
"From now on, welcome back to the Eighth Brigade."