She stood at the roots of the Tree of Tartarus and sighed.
âHaa, I shouldnât have come here againâŠ!â
[ âŠâŠ ]
The sword remained silent.
No, itâs no wonder that it wasnât saying anything back.
A sword shouldnât be saying anything back.
âIâm leaving.â
Radis seized the roots stuck at the edges of the hollow space of the Tree of Tartarus and began scaling the wall.
[ Aha, thatâs why you both couldnât awaken. ]
ââŠâŠâ
[ You, did you go back in time? ]
Radis almost fell because she slipped on a root.
Her eyes widened as she turned to look behind her, there towards the upright sword.
âWhat did you say?â
[ Hoooh, so it got this complicated. None of you remained complete, nor did you awaken. Indeed, thatâs how the throne originally is. ]
âWhat on earth are you saying now?â
[ Ehehehehe! ]
The sword started giggling wickedly.
[ You donât know what youâve done, huh? I know you want to know, but before that, weâll have to finalize our contract! To maintain my ego⊠Hestia, give me a name! ]
Radis had no choice but to sigh heavily.
Then, like some revelation, the note on the ground caught her eye.
ă N ot tr ash. ă
ââŠRegia?â
{ t/n: it doesnât translate well, but basically the non-burnt parts in the note (ottr) is ë êž°ì, or Regia. }
As soon as she said the name, a bright red flame soared once again from the sword.
This time, it was a bigger fire than the first one.
The sword flared up like a gigantic torch and lit up the cave.
[ RegiaâŠ! What a good name. It means âkingâ. My name really suits meâŠ! ]
âNo, thatâs not what I mean.â
[ Hestia! Youâre the one whoâs spiritually connected to meâthe one whoâs supposed to help me protect the balance! You have awakened me from my long slumber with the strength of your blood, and you have given me a name worthy of my new self as well. Our contract is sealed! ]
The sword chattered on so fast like dadadada that if it had a tongue, it would have definitely bit it.
[ Regia, I like it a lot. Hahahahaha! ]
ââŠâŠâ
Radis watched the excited sword throw out sparks and sprinkles in all directions⊠Gradually, the flame died down and the sword also went back on the floor and lay flat there. She watched it all with a flabbergasted expression.
ââŠYou done? You like it that much? Well, anyway, letâs continue what we were talking about a while ago.â
[ âŠâŠ ]
âYou mentioned that I went back in time, right? How did you know that?â
[ âŠâŠ ]
âAnd what did I do? You said something about that. Canât you at least tell me that?â
[ âŠâŠ ]
âSo now youâre pretending to be a normal sword?â
[ âŠâŠ ]
âWooowâŠâ
Radis rubbed her sore nape, feeling her blood pressure rising.
* * *
She wanted to leave the sword behind, but she couldnât since it said something about her going back in time and some other thing.
Radis was really reluctant to bring it with her, but she eventually slipped out of the treeâs hollow opening with the sword roughly attached to her waist.
She knew she could escape Monsterwood, but Radis once again found herself at the stone door.
âThis has been nagging at me.â
Those marks on the spot where the moss was peeled off.
Radis removed the thick moss covering the surface of the stone gate. She used the sharp edge of the haunted sword that was pretending to be a normal sword.
As expected, there was something here.
The surface itself of the stone gate was quite smooth, but there was a long line that seemed to have been carved there on purpose.
Radis chipped away at the moss along that line.
And at the end of that line was an arrow.
âIs there really something here?â
Radis also scraped off the moss at the part where the arrow was pointing.
âThisâŠâ
Yep, thereâs something there.
There was an incantation spell there, written with ancient letters.
It was similar to the runes that I saw at the teleportation gate, but at a much smaller scale than that.
In the middle of the vertically written spell, there was a hollow circle.
âIf this is a gate, too⊠I should put a magic stone here.â
But Radis didnât have a magic stone right now.
âShould I get Arachneâs?â
After slaying a monster, Radis usually would take the magic stone without thinking, but she felt strangely uncomfortable getting Arachneâs. After all, Radis watched Arachne die in vain like that.
But if she had to take it, then she would.
âHmâŠâ
Radis placed her hand over the center of the spell, just in case.
âHâŠ!â
The runes glowed brightly.
âHowâŠ?â
As if she was being sucked into an abyss, her vision turned dark.
And there was a feeling of disintegration all over her body.
[ âŠtia. ]
âHuh?â
[ You really⊠came⊠back⊠]
Perhaps far away, perhaps right in front of her eyes, a candle was lit.