Chapter 5

Mirabelle saw a woman who was now unconscious, having collapsed in a puddle of her own blood. A sword was still clipped to her waist. Mirabelle couldn't help but wonder if she was seeing things. She couldn't believe that her own "mother" had collapsed in her own blood, looking like she might be dead.

Although Mirabelle claimed that she didn't care about anything in this game world, she had already developed feelings for the woman who had raised her for 15 years already. She hadn't let her know anything about her birth mother, but Mirabelle knew everything that had happened—

In fact, she even treated her foster mother as her own family. She didn't want to lose her own family. This was her mother who had raised her for 15 years already.

Nikaidou Yuuki was someone who had lacked parental love. In his original world, his parents had died not long after he was old enough to understand how things worked.

He really desired to have a peaceful life together with his family, but his younger sister had ended up killing him. It was precisely due to such a desire that Mirabelle didn't want to lose her "mother."

Even if Mirabelle wasn't her birth daughter, she already viewed her just like she would her birth mother. She recalled how her mother had taken care of her for so many years already. She felt like her heart was being torn apart with pain when seeing her mother like this.

"Hey, hey, mother! Mother!! What happened?"

Mirabelle shook her foster mother's body; she then used her slightly serious eyes to look directly at her mother who was collapsed in a pool of blood. Two rows of data appeared which scared Mirabelle so much that her eyes widened.

HP: 30/300 (constant bleeding, verge of death). MP: 200/200.

It seemed like someone had caused an injury on her foster mother's stomach, which was still bleeding even now.

"M… Mirabelle…"

The injured mother gently called out her "daughter's" name. Perhaps she had sensed Mirabelle's soft and tender hands constantly shaking her.

"S… sorry, even… though… we agreed… yesterday… to… accompany you… and be by your side… for your… 15th b… birthday… but… cough cough…"

Mirabelle's tears were already beginning to drip without her realizing it. She wasn't someone originally from this world. She shouldn't have so easily cried for the sake of a quest in the game.

However –

She never thought that her mother would still be thinking about her even while on the verge of death, that her mother was thinking about yesterday's promise on how to spend Mirabelle's 15th birthday together with her.

"D… don't say anything else! Mother! Wah… Right now, I-I will immediately cast a healing spell on you!"

Mirabelle placed her hand on her mother's body as a green glow appeared on her hand. She then immediately transferred her MP into a healing spell on her mother's body. Although Mirabelle's average stats couldn't compare to a human's, she had a really high affinity for spirits.

These were the elemental spirits that the world consisted of.

—At least, she wanted to cure that "constantly bleeding" condition!

She was transferring her MP into a healing spirit and using it to slowly mend the injury. However, a major problem appeared. Her mother's "constantly bleeding" condition had yet to disappear even by the time that Mirabelle's MP reached zero.

Damn it, was this because her MP stat was too low? Or did she need something like bandages in order to stop the bleeding!?

Her mother had already lost consciousness. However, she was still smiling towards Mirabelle. Mirabelle clenched her fist, being extremely unwilling to just accept the situation.

—She would have to go outside.

No matter what, she would need to go outside in order to purchase bandages and medicine for treating her mother. Almost all of the medicine at home had been used up already.

Her mother would occasionally bring injured elves to their home for medical treatment, that was how Mirabelle had learned the elves' healing magic.

"No matter what happens, you absolutely can't go out from here…"

Her mother's loving voice echoed in her ears. Mirabelle turned around in astonishment, as she had thought that her mother had woken up from her unconscious state.

Yet, Mirabelle only saw her mother still sleeping there quietly.

—So that had only been her own hallucination.

More accurately speaking, this was a memory, not a hallucination. Long, long ago, back when Mirabelle was only a young child, her mother had made her promise this.

"No matter what happens, you absolutely can't go out from here."

However –

Mirabelle glanced at her mother who was currently on the verge of death. Thanks to Mirabelle's healing spell, her foster mother had temporarily recovered about 20 to 30 hit points.

The conditions of "constantly bleeding" and "verge of death" were still present. Even if these conditions were cured, a large amount of medicine would be required to help treat her mother's condition. It was highly likely that her mother would die here if she didn't go outside to find some medicine.

Mirabelle had transmigrated to a world that she still wasn't familiar with. Her mother had constantly accompanied and taken care of her since birth. To Mirabelle, she was just like her birth mother, no, a mother even more important than her birth mother.

Mirabelle's only thought right now was that she couldn't possibly let her mother die just like this. That was why her tiny hands trembled as she pushed open the heavy metal door.

"Mother, I truly apologize. Even though I promised you before that I would absolutely never leave here no matter what happened, but…"

If it's for your sake, I'm going to do this even if I have to break my promise. You won't be angry at me, right? Mother Dorothea—

And so, Mirabelle directly used her trembling tiny hands to push open the heavy metal door.