A sharp clang of metal echoed through the air as Gottfried's eyes blinked open. The world around him lurched into focus bright overhead lights, tiled floors, the sharp scent of steel and oil. Then came the roar of a train rushing past, its wheels clattering against the rails like a relentless drumline.
He gasped softly. "Huh…?"
Crowds surged on both sides of him, brushing past without a glance—suits, school uniforms, travelers dragging rolling luggage. Announcements boomed overhead, a woman's voice crackling through the speakers as she called out arriving and departing lines.
Gottfried turned in a slow circle, confusion twisting in his chest.
This place… I know this place.
His footsteps carried him forward almost on instinct. And with every step, shards of memory from his previous life flickered, familiar sounds, familiar faces, familiar chaos.
"Don't tell me…" he whispered, breath trembling, "…Osaka Station?"
He walked farther, weaving through the river of people, searching for an exit. any landmark that could confirm this impossible sight. But then he stopped.
Someone stood before him, blocking his path.
Both of them froze as their eyes met in the middle of the rushing crowd two versions of the same soul, staring into each other across the noise and movement.
The boy ahead grinned.
"Yo."
Gottfried's eyes widened, shock tightening every muscle. "Aren't you… me?"
Kaito nodded once, calm and certain. "Yeah… I am."
Kaito slipped both hands into the pockets of his dark-grey jeans, his thumbs hooking casually outside as he tilted his head."Miss the old world?"
Gottfried's jaw clenched. His fist tightened so hard his knuckles trembled."I'm fully conscious, but I don't feel like I'm talking to myself! You're not me! Don't play with my body, Kaito!"
The moment he shouted, something shifted. The noise of Osaka Station faded like a dying echo. The bustling crowd dissolved into drifting haze until only the two of them remained—alone beneath the cold fluorescent lights.
Kaito let out a long, almost tired sigh."I should've died peacefully… but I still wonder why I got reincarnated."
"Tch." Gottfried clicked his tongue. "Idiot. That's literally my everyday question!"
A smirk curved on Kaito's lips."That proves it. We're one. The same soul, aren't we?"
He stepped closer, the sound of his shoes echoing in the empty station, and gently patted Gottfried's shoulder.
"Gottfried… that day, when the car crashed and burned… no one survived. They all exist in your new world now. You just need to find them."
Gottfried's eyes widened, but the weight of the truth dragged his eyelids downward. A hollow ache clenched around his heart."I… didn't survive either, in that world."
"I know." Kaito's voice softened not pity, but understanding. "But don't worry. Someone will find you soon. Someone fast enough to keep you alive."
Gottfried looked back at him sharply. "What about Dad?"
Kaito lifted one brow. "Oh? You really care about him now, huh?"
He circled around Gottfried slowly, voice teasing."I mean, I did notice. When you fought that demon, you kept screaming, 'Dad! DAD! Dad!!! Leave my dad alone!'"
"Shut up!" Gottfried snapped, face burning in anger. "You bastard! I don't care! I—I never had a father before! I lived with my mother since the day I was born!"
Kaito smirked. "You mean we."
Gottfried growled. "Yeah, we! Whatever! Why am I still here if you said I survived?!"
Kaito crossed his arms, expression turning serious for the first time. "I've got one mission for you: visit the Kingdom of Caismar… and find a girl named Vanessa."
Gottfried blinked, the name hitting him with a strange emptiness. "Vanessa…?"
A memories flash through Gottfried he remember a old stories his Dad used to tell before bed. "And… Kingdom Caismar? Isn't that the oldest human kingdom? Before demons even existed? The one named after Caismar, the leader of the heroes who won the First War?"Confusion rippled through him, sharp and instinctive. "And who is she?"
He turned to look at Kaito—
But Kaito was already gone.
"Oi!" Gottfried's voice echoed through the empty station, bouncing off the hollow tile walls. "Don't leave me hanging!"
Back in the present
A horse-drawn carriage rattled across what should have been a peaceful meadow. But the fields were no longer green. The once-colorful wildflowers had been scorched into brittle brown patches. Dirt and shattered earth stretched endlessly, broken by smoking craters left behind by violent magic.
The guards tugged the reins, slowing the horses as they stared at the ruined landscape.
"What… what happened here?" one whispered, terror tightening his voice.
Ash drifted lightly in the air like dying snow as the carriage rolled deeper into the devastation. Inside, a young woman pushed aside the curtain—her delicate white dress brushing her knees, her pink hair glowing softly against the dim light. Her eyes widened at the sight of the destroyed meadow.
This place used to be beautiful…
The guards continued cautiously until they saw two bodies collapsed in the center of the field—one young boy, one grown man. Elias' hand still clutched Gottfried's.
The horses halted at once.
Two guards jumped down and hurried toward the bodies—but before they could approach, the carriage door swung open. The saint stepped down, skirts sweeping over the dead grass as she rushed toward them.
"My saint, don't go near!" one guard cried. "Stay back! This place is dangerous—someone fought here!"
"But I can help!" she protested, voice trembling. "At least let me try—for one of them!"
"We don't know—" the guard tried to argue, but she brushed his hand aside and ran past him.
She knelt beside Gottfried, her breath catching."His chest… it has a huge hollow…"
Her gaze shifted to the other body—Elias. His skin was mottled purple, covered in deep gashes. Crystal formations were beginning to grow across his arms and chest, glittering with a toxic sheen.
A sharp, acrid scent hit her nose. She flinched back in alarm."Poison crystal… This was a demon's work!"
The guards immediately pulled out their swords, forming a protective ring around her.
"A demon?! I told you this wasn't safe!" one shouted, eyes darting across the ruins. "But how did a demon get here?!"
She ignored their panic and turned back to the bodies, tears forming in her eyes."Wait—listen to me. I can only revive one… Please, take the younger!"
The guards hesitated, exchanging troubled looks—but her plea left no room for argument. Carefully, they lifted Gottfried's limp body and carried him into the carriage. The saint climbed in right after, cradling him gently.
"Go!" one guard shouted, slapping the reins. The horses bolted forward, pulling them away from the battlefield as fast as they could.
"We must report this to King Seraphiel at once!" a guard called back through the window.
The saint nodded, holding Gottfried tightly as she began channeling her healing magic, her hands glowing with soft pink, holy light.
"I still have a chance to regenerate your heart… Please… stay alive. it will take a lot of my stamina and power... we need you to tell us everything…" she whispered, her voice trembling as the carriage rushed toward safety.