Aurora Night

Aurora Night

A few days later, in the center of Ish City, Ivette passed through a curtain of steel and weeds and found a patch of woodland. She decided to turn it into her own estate.

This place had probably once been a park of some kind. There were relatively few building ruins left, and it even had a beautiful little lake. If she could build a house here, it could barely count as a lakeside home.

Of course, building an estate was a major undertaking involving fields such as architectural planning. Even as a master of magic, Ivette would still need a great deal of time and knowledge to make it happen. So the foremost priority of her farming life remained collecting all kinds of hardcover books and absorbing the technological legacy left behind by the Origin Civilization.

Ivette even often thought that her existence had nothing to do with Black Tower Pharmaceuticals—after all, Black Tower Pharmaceuticals itself had been destroyed. Perhaps the gods needed someone to witness and record the existence of the Origin Civilization, which was why she had transmigrated and become ageless and unable to die—or starve.

And so, as she collected knowledge, built her estate, and reclaimed farmland, more than a decade passed.

During that time, Ivette traveled through all three cities on Ish Island, from the capital, Ish City, to Grayport City in the southwest, then Luya City in the far north. She marked several dangerous areas that seemed to be nests of Mutated Creatures and could not be approached, and visited the ruins of countless towns and villages. But just as she had expected, she never saw a living person.

Yet she did not care. She had even grown somewhat numb, merely appreciating the scenery along the way in solitude. Only when she occasionally found a hardcover book bearing the technological legacy of the Origin Civilization did the slightest ripple stir in her heart.

Sometimes, she wondered if Ish Island was simply too remote, which was why she could not find anyone. Perhaps somewhere on the three continents, there was a human settlement that had already sounded the horn for a counterattack against the Mutated Creatures.

That gave her a little motivation. She began studying magical engineering, considering whether she might be able to repair some magical equipment or even cobble together a few crude, primitive magical circuits by hand. If she succeeded, she would be able to use some medium- to large-scale magic with higher rune specifications—ten-thousand-rune spells, perhaps even hundred-thousand-rune spells.

But...

Whenever she thought of the horrifying number and strength of the Mutated Creatures in the sea, Ivette felt her hopes become bleak again.

Crossing the sea was impossible. She shook her head inwardly. I'll never cross the sea in this lifetime.

It was not because she was cowardly. She had seen it with her own eyes: a serpentine sea monster once cruising along the distant horizon. Its terrifying body stretched for who knew how many kilometers, and even from dozens of kilometers away, it was still utterly shocking, as though a myth had descended upon the world.

Even more astonishingly, that sea beast was not a carbon-based organism like ordinary Mutated Creatures. Its body was covered in scales, but the small portions of exposed flesh were steel and iron bones left over from centuries ago!

Yes, by then Ivette had learned that the mysterious factor that once caused biological mutations could infect not only carbon-based creatures. Even some Mechanical Puppets and magical mechanized soldiers controlled by AI could be infected, parasitized, and fused into frenzied forms that were half machine and half organism.

No wonder the Origin Civilization had fallen.

If even machines could not escape infection, how could humanity resist?

So Ivette silently named that sea monster the Steel Sea Dragon Beast, sincerely hoping that it would stay as far away as possible—preferably never coming anywhere near Ish Island.

That night, auroras appeared in the sky, an exceptionally rare sight.

It had been nearly three hundred years since her transmigration, yet it was Ivette's first time seeing an aurora in the night sky.

She brought out her little stool and sat on the top floor of the three-story wooden house in her estate, quietly admiring the view. Behind her, the interior and some of the estate's branches were brightly lit. Every light bulb was powered by a simple magical energy generator Ivette had repaired some time ago.

Just as she immersed herself in the tranquility, an extraordinarily abrupt scream suddenly rang out from the forested city beyond the estate.

"Ah—!!!"

In an instant, Ivette's pupils contracted. Her first reaction was not to rush out and save someone, but to wonder whether she had seen a ghost.

—She had wandered Ish Island for so many years and was certain there could not possibly be anyone here. How could she suddenly hear such a clear scream from a human woman?!

From the sea? Impossible. The ocean had become a nest for Mutated Creatures. How could anyone cross it under such circumstances?

From the sky? That was somewhat more likely, but how had she failed to notice anything at all?

Could it be a Mutated Creature?

Had some humanoid mutant awakened its memories and gained the ability to speak?

Very quickly, intense curiosity overcame her vigilance. Ivette flipped over the railing and leaped down from the third floor, riding the gale straight toward the scream. Four flaming dragons emerged from rune circles and swept outward around her, their firelight illuminating every direction.

All the Mutated Creatures drawn from the darkness, humanoid or otherwise, were reduced to ashes beneath that sweep of blazing flames.

A minute later, on a road at the end of the darkness, Ivette saw the source of the voice atop a vehicle stripped down to its frame. It truly was a human—moreover, a little human girl with blond hair and blue eyes, perhaps not even ten years old. She wore an exquisite classical-style dress, and her pretty little face was filled with panic.

"Σ(⊙▽⊙"a%!~zxcvb&*!!"

When she saw Ivette, she excitedly waved and blurted out a string of unfamiliar words that Ivette could not understand at all.

Not Black Tide Language... Was it Emerald Language? Or Silver Mirror Language?

Ivette's thoughts raced. She had only learned Black Tide Language in the Dream Mist. Since their languages differed, her first thought was that the other girl was a survivor from either Emerald Continent or Silver Mirror Continent.

"Who are you? How did you get here?" After floating down onto the road in front of her and watching the little girl jump down from the car in panic, Ivette decided to try Black Tide Language first.

But the girl immediately looked bewildered. She clearly did not understand what Ivette had said.

This was a little troublesome... No, it was still fine. At least she did not seem to be a mutant, but a genuine human. They could deal with the language issue later...

With that in mind, Ivette stopped trying to communicate. Instead, she made a gesture and guided the girl toward the estate.

A few minutes later, back at the large estate in the city center, Ivette settled the little girl into her three-story wooden villa.

When she had built the house, she had never considered that there might be a second resident. As a result, she could only give the girl the sole bedroom and sleep on the sofa herself.

At the same time, she took out some meat, vegetables, and fruit from her homemade little refrigerator and made a simple magical barbecue to soothe the girl's nerves.

But the girl's manners were unexpectedly good. Though she looked starving, she did not lose her composure even when faced with freshly grilled meat and fruit.

At the dining table, she first gave Ivette a slight bow in thanks. Only after Ivette nodded did she sit down, press her hands together in a prayer gesture, and finally pick up her knife and fork to eat in small bites.

Of course, even so, it was clear that the girl had not lowered her guard in the slightest. As she ate, she carefully examined the room, occasionally stealing reverent glances at Ivette. Before their eyes could meet, she would jerk her gaze away as though shocked and pretend nothing had happened.

At the sight, a trace of softness appeared in the depths of Ivette's calm eyes, like a river frozen for centuries quietly beginning to thaw.

She thought that her days ahead probably would not be as boring as before.