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"...Huh?"

Klaus stood up from his green couch and took in his surroundings. Yeah, it was indeed the opulent library from his dream the day before. Dozens upon dozens of bookshelves had filled the ground floor, with large chandeliers hanging from the tall ceiling.

Winding golden staircases from his left and right seemed to be leading towards the first floor. The foot of these staircases had a silver metal plate bolted on top of them.

A soothing, floral scent wafted in the air.

Slow, relaxing piano music played in the background.

"You're here again."

A young woman greeted Klaus. The sleeves of her baggy purple robe fluttered as she floated in front of him with a smile. The left portion of her blue hair tied to form an intricate swirling appearance.

"...Who are you?" Klaus asked warily.

"You can call me Brynhildr. I'm not the same Brynhildr that you often read in books. Frankly speaking, I merely took her name. Right now, I'm an entity that served as a mediator between the reincarnated people in their Dimensions."

"Okay... Can I get out of here?"

This question earned Klaus a smack to the head, and he yelled in response. "What's that for?!"

"Fool. Unlike yesterday, your connection to the reincarnated person has grown stronger. The Draugrs are agitated and provoked by your presence in this dimension."

Klaus gritted his teeth at the pain. "Reincarnated person? Draugrs?"

Before Brynhildr could answer, a bone-chilling howl reverberated throughout the library. Strange black liquid shot up into the air and formed a dome around Klaus and Brynhildr. They were trapped right away.

Brynhildr bit her lip, her eyebrows furrowed. To think that the Draugrs that resides in between the Personal Dimensions had come here because of Klaus. It completely slipped her mind that Klaus's circumstances could attract those vile creatures at a moment's notice.

They had to defend themselves. Klaus himself needed a method to protect himself one way or another.

"Klaus Weber, this is your Dimension. However, you have not seized its Crown yet, so you only have a limited amount of control over it. Even like this, you can create a weapon to protect yourself with an image of it in your mind."

"What do you mean by that? Again, you're talking nonsense!"

"Just do what I say, fool!"

Black puddles appeared right before these two before it shifted form into wolf-like creatures. Their gleaming pair of red eyes stared at Klaus, and the boy shivered.

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"Think of a weapon, Klaus!" Brynhildr ordered desperately.

"Eeek!" A wolf pounced, and in the next moment, Klaus shut his eyes instinctively. He'd thought the wolf's uncanny rows of teeth would tear his flesh apart, and yet, that didn't happen. A stifled whimper followed by a loud thud forced Klaus to open his eyes.

A flash of light.

The gleaming silver longsword in Klaus's hands shone ever so brightly as he stared at it in disbelief. He'd summoned the blade unexpectedly. For him, it took a few moments before he regained his senses and focused on his surroundings.

"You did it."

Brynhildr hovered close to his side as the remaining wolf-like creatures snarled at them.

"Can you do something to them?" Klaus asked as he took an awkward fighting stance. He'd never fought with his fists before, much less while using a sword.

"I can't do that."

"Eh? So, you're telling me that I have to get rid of them all myself?"

"Don't worry. These Draugrs are of the lowest rank. Even the way you are now, they can't hurt you."

Though while Brynhildr did say he had nothing to worry about, it was a fact that had Klaus not summoned his weapon in time, he wouldn't make it back then. Klaus realized this as well, and he shook his head.

If this entity or whatever wouldn't help him, then he could just focus on the enemies before him.

He just had to swing his sword the moment they pounced. "Hyah!"

Klaus brought down his sword, and it split one of the wolves in half as if it was butter. He was genuinely surprised by this. The remaining wolves trotted swiftly to both sides warily as their eyes watched the threat before them.

His presence had suddenly become threatening to the Draugrs.

"This thing is not heavy at all."

The sword's double-edged blade was one meter in length. At first glance, this weapon seemed quite heavy. But, Klaus's impression changed after swinging it once or twice. He could guess the weight was roughly a kilogram.

He'd read a lot of books about knights before, and he'd always wanted to experience how it would feel like to become one. A grin appeared on his face as his confidence spiked.

"Bring it!"

Klaus swung his sword in a wide horizontal arc with a trail of light following the blade's movement. Like before, his enemies stood no chance and disintegrated after being defeated.

He'd kept to his own rule that he would swing at the space where he thought the wolves would appear when they pounced. The wolves were too slow.

Klaus slashed once again. Since his strategy worked, he let his guard down and swung his sword without thinking much.

Voom!

The longsword barely missed the last wolf. Seeing an opening, the wolf contracted its maw wide open and lunged for Klaus's neck.

Klaus was startled by this and hastily hit his longsword's guard against the wolf's head. He'd managed to stop the attack luckily.

"Finish it off now!" Brynhildr shouted.

Both hands gripping the longsword's hilt, Klaus brought the blade down vertically, and it pierced the wolf's skull without effort.

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The black dome trapping Klaus and Brynhildr disappeared, and they breathed a sigh of relief. What had just happened? Klaus was still in disbelief. After the fight had ended, his hands shook, and he dropped the longsword.

"Why were they here? What's their purpose for coming to this place?" Klaus asked as he stared at his dropped longsword.

"...Most of the time, the Draugrs are non-hostile and would stay away from Personal Dimensions. But reincarnated people going in and out of their Dimensions would more often than not attract them, like moths to flames."

"...Reincarnated people? You said this before as well. What do you mean by that?"

Brynhildr narrowed her eyes at him. "You have quite an affinity to this place. The Draugrs might come again, so I suppose I don't have any choice. Try to remember it, Klaus. Your previous life."

With two fingers pressed onto the boy's forehead, Brynhildr allowed her power to flow into him. It took a few seconds for her to unlock the seal placed on his memories, but she managed to do it in the end.

"I had sealed your memories due to a certain someone's request. Frankly, that person thought that it was for the best that you don't remember about your previous life. It was a desperate decision. But you see, I think that has to change right now."

Garbled voices filled Klaus's mind as memories he never knew he had abruptly flashed before him. The memories of when he was only a five-year-old kid until now went by quickly in his vision. However, these were most certainly someone else's memories, wasn't it?