Subaru woke when the light filtering through the broken roof turned soft and white, no longer the pale blue of early morning. She lay still for a moment, staring at the cracked ceiling above her, dust floating lazily in the air. It felt like noon, or close enough. Her body felt light. Not empty. Full.
She inhaled slowly, then exhaled.
"…Huh."
There was no ache. No stiffness. No lingering panic clawing at her chest. The strange inner pool she had come to recognize as mana felt calm and complete, like a cup filled to the brim. For a brief, dangerous second, she almost forgot everything. The forest. The deaths. The loops. The horns.
Almost.
Reality returned the moment she shifted and felt fabric slide against her legs. Frills. Stockings. A body that was still not hers.
Subaru sighed and pushed herself upright, rubbing her face with both hands. "Right," she muttered. "Fantasy world. Demon girl. Still real."
She swung her legs over the side of the makeshift sleeping spot and stood. The abandoned house was quiet, just as she had left it. No new sounds. No presence pressing against her senses. Whatever those senses were, they stayed silent.
After stretching her arms and back, she stepped outside.
The village looked the same in daylight. Less frightening, maybe, but more sad. Houses leaned against time itself. Doors hung open as if waiting for people who would never return. The sun revealed details she had missed at night. Scratches on walls. Burn marks on wood. Old footprints fossilized in mud.
She walked through it slowly, not rushing. Since she had survived the night, she might as well be thorough.
House by house, she searched again.
Most of it was useless. Broken tools. Rotten food stores. Furniture too damaged to carry. She found scraps of clothing, but none better than what she already had. A cracked mirror showed her reflection again, horns hidden beneath the cloth turban she had wrapped the night before.
She paused in front of it, tilting her head.
"…I still hate this," she said quietly.
Moving on, she entered a smaller house near the center of the village. This one had a low table and shelves that had not fully collapsed. She checked them carefully. On the bottom shelf, half hidden beneath debris, she found a small pouch.
It jingled when she picked it up.
Subaru blinked, then opened it.
Coins.
Not a lot, but not nothing either. They were heavy, round, and unfamiliar. She rolled one between her fingers, feeling its weight. Real. Solid. Useful.
She stood there for a second, then did something that surprised even herself. She stepped back, bowed deeply toward the empty room, and spoke clearly.
"Thank you for the money. I will put it to good use."
It felt silly. It also felt right.
She tied the pouch securely and tucked it away, then left the house without looking back.
By the time she reached the edge of the village, the sun was already beginning to drift westward. She adjusted the cloth around her head, making sure the horns stayed hidden. The fabric was soft against her skin, surprisingly comforting.
North.
That was the direction she had chosen. Not because it felt right, but because it felt less wrong than the others.
She started walking.
The road, if it had ever been one, was mostly gone. Grass and dirt replaced stone, but the path was still faintly visible, like a memory the land had not fully let go of. Trees lined both sides, thinner than the forest she had fled from, their leaves whispering quietly in the breeze.
Her pace was steady. A little too steady.
After an hour, she noticed it.
"…Am I walking fast?" she asked herself.
She slowed down deliberately. Her body resisted, like it wanted to keep moving at that speed. When she relaxed again, she found herself covering ground far quicker than she should have.
"Right. Demon body," she muttered. "Of course."
She kept going.
As time passed, she became aware of movement beyond her sight. Shapes. Presences. Small things watching her from the trees and brush. She did not see them directly, but she felt them, like faint taps against the edge of her awareness.
They stayed away.
Subaru frowned. "That red-haired guy was a hundred," she said under her breath. "You're what, five?"
Whatever they were, they did not approach. Perhaps they sensed what she was. Or perhaps they sensed what she could do. Either way, she did not bother drawing her weapon.
She walked for hours.
Her thoughts wandered as her feet carried her forward. Not to anything useful. Just fragments. Her parents. Games she had played. The smell of convenience store food. Things that felt distant and close at the same time.
Every so often, she touched the turban again, checking it was still secure. It was becoming a habit.
Eventually, something changed.
It was subtle at first. A faint pressure. A warmth in the air that was not from the sun. Subaru slowed and closed her eyes, focusing.
Mana.
Not wild. Not hostile. Structured. Many sources, overlapping but distinct.
Her eyes snapped open.
"…A village," she whispered. "Or something like it."
She could feel it clearly now. People. Or beings like people. Magic in use. A place that was alive.
Her hand rose to her head again, fingers brushing the cloth. The horns beneath felt heavier all of a sudden.
"Should I?" she asked no one.
Information meant risk. But ignorance was worse.
She took a breath, tightened the turban one last time, and stepped forward, heading north toward whatever waited ahead.
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