Chapter 108

I opened the basement door and stepped in. No, I didn’t even take a single step. There was no ground to step upon. In an instant, I plummeted with no end in sight below me. I was bungee jumping without a rope, or perhaps skydiving without a parachute?

─!

Collar fluttering, the air resistance pressed against me. I felt it whipping around me with my eyes closed as gravity drove me down.

─.

The descent continued for some time, but just when I grew used to it.

Boom–!

I arrived. My body, which was stretched out in a straight line, now touched the ground.

“…”

I lay still and managed the pain in my lower back. I didn’t know if it was my tailbone, my ribs, or both that had broken. It was a definite fracture, but this Iron Man body quickly recovered. In the meantime, I looked up to the sky. A clear blue greeted me, text from the status window glistening over it.

「The Darkness of the Imperial Palace · Devil’s Mirror: Episode 1」

◆ Quest Overview: In Sophien’s Regression, Exploring the Devil’s Mirror

Episode 1. In other words, it was Sophien’s first year.

“…Hmm.”

This area appeared to be the garden of the Imperial Palace, but no one was visible. It was a world that was noticeably empty. However, if I looked closely at the paths crossing through the area…

Rustle— Rustle—

With the sound of a rake, the messy leaves were being neatly arranged. The garden shrubs were also being pruned, as their cut branches floated in the air before being placed in a sack. The things people did were happening on their own.

“…”

I suddenly found a piece of glass that had fallen to the floor. I lifted it with Psychokinesis and let it catch the reflection of the world behind me.

…Definitely, there was nobody in my world.

—Retel. Are you done pruning?

There were people reflected in the glass, living their lives in the world beyond the mirror.

─I am. Her Majesty likes a neat look, so how about making it square like this?

─Does she? Isn’t it too square?

The gardeners of the Imperial Palace were arranging the garden while consulting with each other. Suddenly, one of them found the piece of glass I held aloft.

─Huh? What. That piece of glass is floating over there, right?

He pointed at the glass moving with Psychokinesis. Startled, I dispelled the magic.