Chapter 1

PROLOGUE In Line for Reincarnation All of a sudden, I realized I was in a long, dimly lit tunnel, standing in a line with an assortment of people: men and women, young and old. I’d been trying to get some sleep on the overnight bus en route to my company’s ski trip. I didn’t remember getting off the bus, so suddenly being in an unfamiliar place seemed, well, not so great. Somewhere in the line people were saying things like, “Seriously?” and “Just reincarnate me already!” A woman farther up was handling the questions and guiding everyone. She seemed used to the work and kept things moving like some sort of assembly line in a manufacturing plant. Does that mean the bus was in an accident…? Everyone here…died? Was heaven at the end of this line? I was relieved to learn there really was some sort of afterlife, that it wasn’t just nothingness. I hadn’t considered that I might die, and there was still so much I wanted to do. But this tunnel might just as easily lead to hell, so I guess I shouldn’t get too comfortable yet. There was also a chance I was just dreaming; maybe I was getting ahead of myself by considering all these serious possibilities. I didn’t see my coworker who was on the trip with me, either. He’d said he was getting married soon, so if he did indeed survive, then I guess those so-called death flags weren’t all that effective. I was glad, but if the bus happened to crash in the snowy mountains, then it’d be really rough waiting for rescue to come. Hope he doesn’t get frostbite or anything. There had to be someone here from my company who’d been going on the trip like me. I tried to get out of line to look, but my feet wouldn’t move. I could only keep moving forward. There was no way for me to see if I recognized anyone. Is that…is that Igarashi? Did she die, too…? You could call her my sworn nemesis. She was my manager. I thought I could see her a little ways ahead in the line. It had to be her; that woman had the same long, shiny hair with brown highlights. At twenty-five, she was four years younger than me, but she already had this uppity businesswoman air to her. There were quite a few of my male coworkers who were totally taken by her strong character, but she was my immediate superior. Emphasis on the superior part. However, it seemed like not even she could get out of this situation. She was just filing obediently forward like me, but I still felt that overwhelming presence of hers. Being behind her didn’t make it any less overwhelming. There was a girl in front of me who seemed like a high schooler. She had reached the person who was managing the queue while I was thinking, and she took something from her. The guide then pointed toward the light ahead, and the girl walked forward. I’d seen that girl when I was getting on the bus. Her hair was so black, it practically disappeared before my very eyes. She seemed like the traditional Japanese beauty, but she had a friend with her who was a bit more girlie, and— Actually, now probably wasn’t the time to think about that. Before me stood a woman whose clothes looked like they came right out of a fantasy game. Her seemingly natural purple hair was just long enough to brush her shoulders. She dressed relatively casually: a shirt with half-length sleeves and one of those skirt things that wasn’t really a skirt. A skort? But longer. Anyway, it definitely wasn’t the kind of thing you’d see in Japan. Her hat looked similar to a beret, but it had some detailed crest on it. Her whole ensemble gave me a magic user vibe. The girl was handing something to the people in line and sending them on ahead. She looked calm and had kind eyes, but her voice was clear and energetic. She left me with a good impression. “Next, please. Here, take this,” she said. “Go straight ahead, and the first thing you’ll need to do is go to the Guild and choose your job. You may not take any detours.” “Guild? Hold on, what exactly is up that way?” I asked. “Ahead is the Labyrinth Country, where your souls have been collected for reincarnation. I’m afraid you cannot choose to be reincarnated somewhere else,” she replied. There were so many other questions I wanted to ask, but it didn’t seem like I’d be getting much more of an explanation. She did explain one other thing, however. “You’ll be starting your new life as a Seeker in the Labyrinth Country. I also live in the town ahead when I’m not guiding the reincarnates, so we may meet there someday.” So there wasn’t a god or angels ahead. She made it sound like I did have some sort of special power, but I guess I’d have to wait to learn about that. I took the sheet she offered—it wasn’t really paper, more like a sturdy card made of leather—and headed toward the light in front of me.