Chapter 36: Sia Yggdrasil

-Giggle.

A child’s laughter echoed in my mind.

I don’t know her exact age, but she definitely looked younger than my current self.

Maybe even younger than Jahy.

Carefully lifting my heavy eyelids, I looked around.

A black space, empty of anything. Seems familiar.

[Here…]

“Oh. Goddess-nim is here too?”

Usually, the Goddess couldn’t interfere with dreams. Maybe this isn’t a dream.

[Indeed. Doesn’t seem like a dream. But do you know you collapsed?]

‘What’s there to say? If I hadn’t collapsed, I wouldn’t be in this dark place.’

“Isn’t this where I met you, Goddess-nim?”

[The space itself is certainly similar, but it’s not a space I summoned.]

If not the Goddess, then why am I here?

If I don’t wake up soon, Lilac and Jahy outside will worry. And the person who is this body’s biological mother…

“Anyway, why did I faint again?”

I was in top condition right before meeting Lilac. Why did I collapse again?

“Did something special happen… or?”

Thinking about what, it seemed Lilac held me and showed me a portrait.

And that portrait was.

“Me.”

It hasn’t even been a year since I possessed this body. But my current appearance became so familiar that the moment I saw the portrait, I instantly recognized it as my past self.

“Was there something about that?”

[Perhaps. Seems like a memory left by the child who was the original owner of the body.]

Original owner. Meaning the girl who lived before I possessed her.

I still don’t even know her name, how she lived, or what she did.

But one thing I could tell was.

‘She definitely wasn’t living happily.’

Even now, looking in the mirror, though much improved, eyes lost in emptiness stare back at me from beyond the glass.

Every time I see those dead eyes, goosebumps rise, and I rub my arms to calm down.

Why did it reach that state? Why did she live in such a place? How did her body become like that?

Worries I often thought about. But ultimately, answers I couldn’t find.

Maybe the place I’m in now could solve those worries?

[There’s a possibility. But isn’t it too dark here? Can’t see anything-.]

As the Goddess looked around and uttered words mixed with sighs.

Rustle rustle.

The surrounding scenery began to change.

First, the ground formed, then grass grew, trees shot up, and a blue sky opened.

And finally, completing the forest, the sounds of a stream and insects could be heard.

“Huh.”

[Could this be the place that child lived?]

“No. That one lived on the outskirts of the Demon Realm. This place is probably…”

The place the girl lived when she was young. Maybe her hometown.

The intuition flitting through my body said so. Thus, I spoke with conviction.

“Let’s look around a bit. Since there’s a stream nearby, there’s probably a house too.”

[Mm. That certainly seems better.]

The Goddess agreed with my words, seemingly thinking staying here wouldn’t achieve anything.

“Then let’s see what this body’s past was like-.”

-Kyaaa!

Flinch.

“!”

A young girl’s scream echoed through the forest from nearby.

Tat tat tat.

My body moved before reason, running towards the source of the scream. Fortunately, this wasn’t reality, so stamina seemed unlimited.

Shortly after, arriving at the source of the sound.

“Nihihi! Stop licking!”

A little girl was rolling around on the ground, playing with a large cat.

Then, noticing my arrival, the girl playing with the cat smiled brightly and greeted me.

“Hi, Unni!” (Unni: Older sister, used by females)

The child’s energetic voice struck my eardrums. Despite her greeting, I remained frozen in place, unable to say anything.

Because the child in front of my eyes.

“Wow! Unni, you look exactly like me!”

Flinch.

The child, having approached unnoticed, reached out and grabbed my white coat. Startled, I flinched and stepped back.

The child, no, the ‘original owner’, looked at me strangely as I moved slightly away.

White hair mixed with silver, just like mine. Golden eyes, as if forged from molten gold. Chubby forearms, baby fat not yet gone.

I had occasionally imagined what this body looked like when it was younger.

And the incredibly matching result stood right before my eyes.

Pressing down on my trembling hand, I forced myself to think calmly and asked the child.

“Uh, umm. Little one.”

“Hm? Why, pretty Unni?”

‘Was the original owner always like this?’ I learned one more thing.

“Haha… uh.”

Trying to ask, my mouth wouldn’t open easily, so I laughed awkwardly, stalling for time.

I don’t know why I’m so nervous either. Human psychology is quite something.

“How old are you?”

Finally managing to open my mouth, I spoke clearly. As the words came out cleanly this time, the tension in my body also eased.

Now, this body seemed to react to the presence of a child looking exactly like itself, causing a rejection reaction. Just felt that way.

However, if I didn’t perceive the child as ‘me’, the tension eased.

Is this what meeting a doppelgänger feels like?

As the child released my coat and looked up with bright eyes, the tension surged again. No matter how I thought about it, seeing someone with the exact same face as mine would be creepy.

Rationally, I thought it was okay, but my body seemed unable to accept it.

Forcing a smile, I waited for the child’s answer, and finally, the child laughed out loud.

“Me? I’m 8 years old! How about Unni?”

8 years old. So she’s 8. Then it’s at least 11 years ago now?

What reason could there be for becoming like this after more than a decade, enough time for mountains and rivers to change?

Such a brightly smiling child. Why did she become so broken and dilapidated, giving up on life, resigning herself to a dying body?

Pity made bitterness swirl in my mouth. It felt more bitter than drinking a bowl of herbal medicine, making my stomach churn.

Smiling bitterly, I placed my hand on the child’s head and gently stroked it.

“Unni is 19. Super old, right?”

“Gasp! H-how old is my mom again…?”

Thinking of her comparing my age to her mom’s made laughter escape.

Moreover, being still young, she seemed to forget her mom’s age easily.

If this is 11 years ago, then probably.

“Isn’t Mom 32?”

The words slipped out unconsciously, making the child flinch. Then she looked at me with sparkling, surprised eyes.

“Gasp! Why didn’t I know Mom’s age? But how does Unni know?!”

‘Of course, I know. Because she’s my mo-.’

Flinch.

[Child…? What’s wrong?]

The Goddess asked worriedly, but my mind currently had no room to answer her.

The child’s words sparked a thought, lodging itself in my mind.

Why do I know my biological mother’s age now, here?

And why did it feel so natural to think of her as my mother?

An unknown question led to another, then.

Zap!

A faint electric current seemed to flow through my head, erasing the question I was just thinking about.

‘Goddess-nim.’

[Are you okay?]

‘Do you know what I was just thinking?’

[Hm? Of course, it was about ■■■-. Wasn’t it? Wait, what is this?!]

The content the Goddess spoke was filtered. A slight electric shock hit my head, making me momentarily forget what I was thinking. So I asked the Goddess for help, but.

[It seems. The master of this place blocked it.]

Master of this place? Then isn’t that me?

[Perhaps that girl. More accurately, the remnants of that girl.]

‘Am I not supposed to know yet?’

If so, it can’t be helped. I quickly gave up and organized my thoughts.

Not remembering felt unsettling, but struggling to recall would obviously be tiring.

I’ll find out eventually anyway. Knowing now would likely be useless.

Quickly calming down, I answered the child’s question.

“Uh, umm. Well, Unni is an amazing person, so she knows everything in this world…?”

Making myself sound like an omniscient god. Usually, innocent children believe such lies without suspicion.

[Trash.]

‘You sure have a lot to say to a Saintess.’

[Be quiet and let’s listen to the child.]

Tch…

“Wow?! Then are you a god? But Mom said there are no gods!”

‘Pfft.’

[My child was an apostate even when young.]

‘Please don’t take a young child’s words so seriously.’

Anyway. Responding to the child’s words, I put my all into acting and played along.

“Not a god… but similar.”

[Th-that…]

Leaving behind the Goddess, who repeatedly stammered in a shocked voice, I anticipated the child’s reaction.

As expected, indeed.

“Sooo amazing Unni!”

Seeing the brightly smiling, happy child warms a corner of my heart.

She should have been this bright originally.

“Then can I ask just one more thing?”

The tension disappeared. My body also seemed to view this child and me as separate beings. Even though we are, in reality, the same person.

“Yes! Ask anything! If it’s something I know, I’ll tell you everything!”

The child agreed refreshingly. Watching her for a moment, I smiled slightly and spoke.

“Perhaps, what is your name?”

Information I wanted to know.

Even when I first met Lilac, I wondered how to introduce myself.

Lilac seemed somewhat familiar with my name. Where could we have met?

Come to think of it, Lilac also showed me the portrait.

Ah, I miss her.

Lost in stray thoughts. The child’s mouth opened, and an unexpected name popped out.

Extremely familiar and friendly. A name somehow difficult to place in the middle.

“My name is Sia! Sia Yggdrasil!”

Sensing something was wrong, I hastily tried to open my mouth, but.

Noticing my body becoming blurry, I closed my mouth.

“See you later. Sia.”

Suddenly, the child who identified herself as Sia smiled wryly and waved her hand.

And helplessly, I tried to reach out and call her, but.

“Sia!!”

Seeing the familiar ceiling and the worried gazes looking down at me lying in bed made me realize.

I was ‘expelled’ from that place.