Brief Farewell

Three minutes later, Heavy Metal wears off, giving Lyrica relief from the weight squeezing her against the head of the Guardian Snake.

Without wasting a moment, Lyrica uses 50dB Jazz Harmony, allowing her to ignore the pain from her left arm and right ankle by 50% in three minutes.

"Do you need help?"

Riko extends a helping hand to the girl. Lyrica hesitates at first, but seeing that they need to hurry and get out of the forest, the girl wordlessly takes the young knight's hand.

Together, they descend to the surface, where they meet Magdalo together with Cardo and Roberto who are helping Marlo stand.

"Let's go!"

They then followed the direction towards the south. It took around two and half minutes, but after safely avoiding creatures creeping at the outer parts of the forest, Lyrica and the others finally step out of the Forest of No Return.

After that, they make a stop at a lone tree along the way.

Cardo and Roberto carefully put Marlo's back against the tree. They then did the same afterward.

Cardo sighed before uttering a long groan of relief.

"We're finally out of that forest..."

"I can't believe we're alive..." Roberto followed suit.

"It's all thanks to that kid," Marlo added as he and the two other knights take a glance at Lyrica. "We owe her our lives."

Meanwhile, Lyrica takes her right arm away from Riko, creating a distance between her and the young knight as the five-second countdown rang from her headphones.

On the other hand, Riko watches Lyrica fix her own dislocated arm right before she suddenly collapses to the ground. Riko's expression changes in worry.

"H-Hey..."

"I'm all right..." Said the girl abruptly as she let out a painful moan. "It's just a side effect."

Before anything else, Riko and Magdalo shared a glance as if they're communicating with their minds.

Riko shifts his gaze on the girl right as he approaches her. The young knight clears his throat, allowing Lyrica to know he's near. However, she did not bother turning right to face him.

"What do you want?"

The young knight takes a moment of brief silence. And then, he opens his mouth.

"I'm sorry."

"..."

While Lyrica remains silent, Riko continues to offer his sincerest apologies to the girl for putting herself in trouble for Riko and the others' sake.

"And thank you."

Riko expresses his gratitude to the girl for saving him and helping them get out of the forest alive.

The young knight had voiced out everything he had in his mind, except for one thing. But the girl doesn't seem to be ready to communicate with anyone at the moment. And so, to show respect to the girl's privacy, Riko turns back and tries to get back to the others.

"It's a little early, but also a little too late. But..."

The girl spoke out of the blue, stopping Riko from going away.

"... At the very least, you realized your mistake."

Lyrica's words lifted a weight off Riko's shoulder. He felt relieved. But at the same time, he felt a sense of responsibility.

The responsibility to not let the same thing happen ever again.

With that now out of the way, Riko who regained his confidence asks the girl, "Are you... One of the FOUR HEROES?"

"Heroes?"

Lyrica is bewildered. Meanwhile, Riko is confused by her reaction.

"I... We are wondering if you're one of the rumored heroes that were sent here in Alteria."

Lyrica's eyes wandered in confusion.

"It's the other reason why we came back to help you get rid of that giant snake," Marlo added.

Lyrica could not fathom the words that came out of their mouths. Four heroes? It's the first time she heard about it. But she did, however, learn that she's the fifth person that got transported in Alteria.

It's not too far-fetched, but the four heroes they mentioned could be the first four that came to Alteria.

"Sorry, but I'm not the one you're looking for."

A hint of disappointment lies underneath Riko's poker face. He looks at Magdalo who heard the girl's answer.

Without a doubt, Magdalo is disappointed to learn that the girl isn't one of them. But at the same time, he's glad that he returned with Riko and let no one else share the same fate as Karlo. Such is the duty of a knight.

"So? Why did you think I was one of them?"

To answer the girl's question, cardo pointed out that it was Riko who suspected her to be one because of her unusual appearance. Her clothes, and the thing on her head. Apart from the fact that she's speaking Tagalog, everything about her tells Riko and the others that she came from another world.

"Again, it's a rumor," Roberto stated. "Maybe it's just that? Just a rumor?"

"Maybe? But you did come from another world, right?" Marlo asked the girl, wanting to make sure.

The girl nodded, affirming Marlo's question.

"I came here after making a deal with someone."

When Magdalo asked what kind of deal she made with that certain someone, Lyrica shook her head and refused to disclose it.

They may have worked together to get out of the Forest of No Return, but that doesn't mean she can already trust them. Especially after seeing those people in white armor who are badly wounded.

Lyrica would like to ask them about those people in white armor, but she's afraid it might trigger something troublesome. And she's nowhere near in shape to be prepared for anything at the moment.

"So, where's that someone you made a deal with?"

"...Even I don't know, but it's a place far from here."

Riko's question helped Lyrica remember the last conversation she had with the voice. It was at the moment right before she plunges to the Guardian Snake's head.

...

With Marlo's help, Lyrica reaches the perfect height to land a knock-out blow to the Guardian Snake. But before everything else, just like what happened the first time she started conversing with the voice, everything around Lyrica was put to a halt.

"What in the?"

"Time out!" Uttered the cheerful voice as she makes some sort of whistle.

"What are you doing?!"

"Why so mad? Is it that bad to take a little bit of your time?"

"Don't you realize how you're ruining a decisive moment?"

Brushing the girl's complaint aside, the voice freely continues to speak.

"Words cannot describe how much I'm impressed with you, Lyrica."

"Huh...?"

The voice expressed her thoughts to the girl.

From picking up and understanding things about the world and her powers to formulating the right course of action in certain situations, and then executing them flawlessly to get rid of the obstacles on her way.

"In such a short time, you did a lot of incredible things. It goes to show that you'll be able to do things on your own. And I'll be able to go without worries."

"Say what? you're leaving? Are you going somewhere? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Lyrica began pondering after bombarding the voice with questions. Seconds later, she opens her mouth once more.

"Ah, that's right. You did say you're only meant to send me here and that's it, but you ended up doing more than that."

"That's correct." The voice replied. "But worry not! Because the deal will remain in effect until you've given me proof, and you fulfilled your desire."

"Who said I'm worried about the deal?"

"Eh..."

To the voice's surprise, Lyrica isn't the least bit worried about the deal. If anything, she's more worried about the people she's trying to help.

"Who knows what's going on inside their heads?"

"There's only one way to find out, don't you think?"

Lyrica thinks so, too. It's only that the method itself is purely troublesome for her.

"... So this is it, huh?"

"Yeah. We'll have to part ways for a while."

There's no reason to be emotional. They've only known each other for less than a day after all. But more than that, the two believe that they'll meet again eventually.

"Now then, it's time for me to go..."

"Wait."

"Hm? Lyrica?"

"You forgot to answer one last thing."

The voice wondered what could it be. She was pretty sure she answered everything Lyrica asked her. Or so she thought.

"Who are you?"

"Ah..."

Thanks to Lyrica, the voice remembered the one question that remained unanswered until now.

"My name is Mousai. A goddess. You better remember it."