Before Sarasa could even object to the goddess’s sudden words of parting, her consciousness sunk into darkness.
The next thing Sarasa was awakened by was a cool breeze on her cheek.
“Hm? Is the window open? Wait...”
When she opened her eyes, she saw before her an endless expanse of grass.
“I’m...sitting?”
She was seated on what seemed to be a set of wooden steps. She looked quickly back and saw the door to a mountain cottage behind her. In other words, this was the exact spot and moment she had been reincarnated to.
“Come on, aren’t I supposed to wake up in a bed looking up at an unfamiliar ceiling or something? This feels like a rip-off,” Sarasa grumbled, though there wasn’t anyone around to hear her.
She looked down at her hands and found that she’d shrunk in size, just like the goddess had said she would. She appeared to be around the size she was in elementary school. She was wearing boyish clothes that were easy to move around in, and her black hair fell to around her chin, the same length it had been when she was an adult.
She stood and she didn’t feel any dizziness. She wasn’t tired either. She felt like she could run at full speed if she wanted to.
She looked around. The cottage seemed to be somewhere around halfway up a tall mountain. There was a gentle downward slope in front of the building, and far in the distance she could see the tiny shape of something that might have been a town.
“It’s like Heidi’s cabin.”
She looked straight out in front of her and saw a herd of some sort of animal crossing the path leading up to the cottage.
“Are those deer? They look like they have big antlers.”
She looked up and saw several birds wheeling around on massive wings.
“Are they eagles? Or hawks? I’ve never seen birds like that before. Guess I landed somewhere with a lot of nature...”
Sarasa liked nature, so the thought excited her. But the longer she watched the birds flying above, the more she couldn’t help noticing their wings seemed too small for their bodies.
“Kyeee!”
“‘Kyeee’? What a strange cry. Guess that’s what hawks sound like in this world. Huh?”
One of the birds suddenly folded up its wings and dove toward the herd of animals she’d been watching.
“What? A deer’s gotta be way too big for you!”
But the bird got bigger and bigger as it drew closer until it caught one of the fleeing deer in its talons. The moment it began to fly back up into the air, however, something flashed like a mirror reflecting the sun.
“Gyeee!”
“Wh-What?”
In time with its cry, the large bird fell to the ground along with the deer. A person who appeared seemingly out of nowhere walked over to them, looking as though they were checking whether the two animals were still alive. Even from far away, Sarasa could see the person’s bright red hair that was tied back, and a figure that immediately identified her as...
“A woman...”
The woman reached out and the bird and deer vanished.
“Wh-Where’d they go?”
Before Sarasa could solve that mystery, the woman strode over to the cottage. She was dressed lightly with a sword at her hip, and she was beautiful.
And Sarasa could see something slipping in and out of view behind her.
“Watch out!”
The creatures Sarasa was catching glimpses of weren’t deer. They were a pack of large dogs with manes like lions.
As if spurred on by Sarasa’s voice, one of the dogs leaped at the woman, but the next moment, it was flying through the air with a pathetic whimper.
“She punched it? A dog that big?”
She hadn’t even touched her sword. All it took was an artless swing of the woman’s fist, and the dog had gone flying through the air.
While the other dogs cowered, the woman made her way up to the cottage. It must have been her cottage.
Sarasa got down from the steps and introduced herself. “Umm, it’s nice to meet you. I’m—wait, huh?”
But after sparing her little more than a glance, the woman looked away and headed for the steps, giving her a wide berth. In that glance, Sarasa saw her beautiful green eyes.
Thud. The door closed behind her.
“She ignored me? Huh? Wasn’t I supposed to be sent to the person who needed me the most?”
“Grrr...”
While she was staring slack-jawed at the door, she heard an ominous sound coming from behind her. Oh yeah, her mind supplied, didn’t that woman just punch a dog?
The dog in question? It had gone flying, sure, but Sarasa wouldn’t go so far as to say it had been defeated.
“Not to mention there was a whole pack of them...”
“Grrr...”
“Aaaaah!”
Not bothering to look back, Sarasa raced up the steps and banged on the door.
“Let me in! The dogs! They’re behind me! Aaah!”
“Growl!”
“Gyaaa!”
It was all over. That goddess had told her all she needed to do was be here, but she was going to die on the same day she had been reincarnated.
Sarasa crouched down and squeezed her eyes shut, clasping her hands together. “It was a short life...”
Should she at least try to fight back? That wasn’t happening. A pillow was just about the only thing Sarasa had ever hit.
“Hey.”
“Please let it not hurt at least...”
“Hey!”
Sarasa opened her eyes. The door was open and the woman from before was standing there as if she wasn’t sure what she should be doing.
“Ah! Dogs! There! Growling!”
“There’s a protection field, isn’t there?”
“P-Protection field?”
Come to think of it, for as much time as had passed, the dogs hadn’t attacked her. Sarasa turned around apprehensively.