"FOUND YOU!" A soldier yelled as he spotted Anna. Kaori instantly turns her head to notice the man's voice—it was the Emblian axe fighter, and she definitely remembers him as well.

"Drat! How did one of those Emblians get here already?" Anna grits her teeth and clenches her Nóatún axe, whilst stretching the other arm to protect Kaori, "Stand back! I’ll take care of him somehow!" Somehow they ran to outside the Temples of Askr, but the axe fighter continued to pursue them. Both Kaori and the Commander stopped in their tracks, knowing that they can't go on without a fight.

"Now, let's move!" Anna instructed and rushed forward, which the Emblian axe fighter did the same. Both clashed their axes at the same time, but the red-headed commander managed to sneak a secret swing at him, causing him to be defeated. Anna then turned to Kaori with a relieved smile.

"Whew!" She sighed, "We took care of him. My name's Anna. I’m the commander of the Order of Heroes." Anna introduced herself and offered Kaori a handshake. "I'm Kaori. Pleasure to meet you." Playing it oblivious, Kaori smiled and returned the Order of Heroes' Commander's handshake.

"We believe that Heroes should live free. Our enemies, however, enslave them—the fiends. This realm has gateways to the worlds where Heroes come from." Anna explained,

"Have you heard of the World of Awakening?"

"Well, a bit of—"

"How about the World of Birthright?"

"I definitely have, but—"

"Or the World of Conquest?"

"Same goes—"

"There are so many more!" the Commander beamed a smile, but then a serious frown formed on her face, "The Emblian Empire invades those worlds and binds their Heroes to service. We fight for their freedom!" A sigh escaped her lips, "That soldier was from the Emblian Empire, which will soon invade our neighboring kingdom Askr. I was desperate for help. I performed a summoning ceremony. And you just appeared out of nowhere."

"Really?" Kaori tilts her head in confusion. She definitely remembers all of this...

"Lucky us! But there's no time to rest. We have to act fast if we’re going to save our kingdom!"

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After walking away from the first battle, Anna held a gun-like weapon—Breidablik.

"First things first." Anna hands the new summoner Kaori Breidablik, "I summoned you here with the divine Breidablik. That's the name of this relic I've brought." Kaori carefully observes the relic. It still looked and remain the same from her past life... "It fires something out of it, according to legend, but Breidablik doesn't look like any bow I've ever seen. The legend also calls it 'the true key,' which, if raised high, will summon the Great Hero who can fire it." the Commander explains, "That'’s what I did. And now you’re here. So it's all yours now."

"Thank you." the sand-beige haired summoner smiled, causing Anna to beam a smile back.

"Hopefully you can figure out how to—"

"THERE SHE IS! GET HER!" The opponent axe fighter yelled after spotting the two. Kaori throws her head back in annoyance.

"Seriously? The same guy?!" She groaned in annoyance. "Drat. More of those Emblian soldiers." The red-haired grits her teeth. "I can't defeat them all by myself, and you're not equipped to help me."

Remembering how Kaori had summoned a hero back in her previous life, she quickly configures Breidablik, whilst Anna steps back to protect her.

"You run while I hold them off. Take Breidablik and get out of here, Kaori!"

WHOOSH!

"What's that?! That bright light, coming from..." Anna spoke, stunned at what had just happened. Kaori's eyes widened in horror...

"Need me?" A masculine voice came, "All right. I'll help." Armed with the wind bow—the Fujin Yumi—a man with long, ash-blonde hair and wearing a Hoshidan archer's outfit that has cornflower blue and white with red decorations on it, appeared before both Kaori and Anna.

"I'm Takumi, a prince of Hoshido and wielder of the divine Fujin Yumi. Which makes me pretty useful, I'd say."

Takumi. The last Hero she had killed in her previous life...

"How'd you do that?" Anna asked in awe and relief, "You summoned a Hero, Kaori! You just picked up Breidablik, and you're already able to use it!"

'More like I used a cheater's edge here...' Kaori thought, hiding her sheepish smile. "But there's no time to chat now. This Takumi and I need to get to fighting." Both Anna and Takumi readied their weapons against the Emblian axe fighter, who brought along a bow fighter.

Takumi readies a green wind arrow on his Fujin Yumi, raised it to eye-level and shoots at the axe fighter, giving the latter some damage, then Anna finished him off. The bow fighter, avenging his fallen comrade, retaliated by shooting his bow at Anna. "I'll finish them off! It’s time to attack!" She shouted to inform Kaori, and swung Nóatún a few times before the bow fighter is defeated as well.

"We won! And it's all thanks to you, Kaori." Anna beamed a smile, walking towards the sand-beige haired summoner. Takumi gave her a small smile. Kaori tries to smile, but the memories of her past life of how she had ended the two made her feel guilty. She shakes her head to get rid of these thoughts and smiled at the two. "I just... didn't know what I could do to help, so..." She stammered awkwardly.

"Why, none of us in the Order of Heroes can actually summon these Heroes." Anna shrugged, then laughed, "Ha! I never doubted for a second that you were the Great Hero. You're the one who will save our kingdom. Our order is small, Summoner, but welcome to our ranks. That goes the same for you too, Prince Takumi." She turned to the Hoshidan archer which he nodded in response. The red-head turned back to Kaori. "Please, help us find more Heroes to assist us. Now that you're here, I just know that we’ll win our fight against the empire."

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After some time of a walk, Anna brought the two over to the Askran Castle, where there are a few heroes waiting; some noticed Kaori and observed her bizarrely. "This is Kaori. She's our Summoner of the Order of Heroes. And this is Prince Takumi—from the World of Birthright. Please—make them feel welcomed and at home." The Commander instructed.

A young spy with short, light-brown hair and wearing a red scarf, vibrant green top, white pants and dark-brown boots was the first to approach Kaori. "The name's Matthew." He offered Kaori a handshake, which she returned, "I'm in the service of the young master—I mean, milord—Hector. Good to meet you."

"Good to meet you too, Matthew." She smiled softly. Then, a young child with short, green hair and wearing dark-coloured clothes that matches well with a dark mage was reading his tome then tilts his head up. "I am trying to learn the deepest secrets of the dark arts. But if you must know...the name's Raigh." He smiled a little.

"A pleasure to meet you.. Raigh." Kaori nodded.

Another archer like Takumi, but this one has mid-length blue hair and wearing posh archer's clothing approached and instantly takes Kaori's hands, causing the latter to be surprised at this.

"I am Virion, the finest archer of the fairest of realms. Delighted to be of service." He spoke with a posh accent. "Uhh... O-Of course! Nice to meet you too... Um... Virion."

Takumi frowned and folded his arms when Kaori goes awkward with the Elite Archer. Then, they hear a door opening.

"At least you seem to have the manners."

A mature, feminine voice came from the shadows. As she stepped forward, the flickering torchlight revealed a woman clad in a high-class burgundy dress, exuding authority with every poised step. Her lightish brown-red hair was tied into a low bun, plaits encircling it like a crown. Twilight-pink eyes scrutinized the new Summoner with a gaze that was both assessing and dismissive.

"But know this—you would do well to dedicate your time to perfecting grace and obedience, rather than meddling where you do not belong." Her voice carried the weight of expectation, of an unspoken command that demanded compliance. A practiced smile followed, one that did not reach her eyes. "After all, you represent my household now."

Kaori observes closely at Susan with a nonchalant expression. In her first life, she had admired the High Lady for her appearance and gracefulness as a noble woman, but now... The Summoner realises that Susan is merely a crass woman. A smirk formed on Kaori's face as she then bowed.

"Of course. I will strive myself to be as graceful and obedient as I can... High Lady Susan."

Everyone in the Askran Castle Hallway had surprised expressions (except for Raigh, who's too busy dabbling in the dark arts; Virion who's just admiring himself so much, and Takumi—the latter doesn't seem to care too much about this.) on their faces.

"That's new," Anna muttered under her breath. "Didn't know that Lady Susan had the heart to take strays into her care."

"O-Oh... Actually... Kaori..." The High Lady stumbled her words from this embarrassment, "Why don't you just call me your 'Mother' instead?"

The sand-beige haired Summoner smiled at this, "Of course, Mother..." Mother. The word felt foreign, unnatural on her tongue. Susan wasn't her mother, nor was she her family. She was a captor in silk and pearls, and Kaori was just another piece in her collection.

"I must apologise for my late arrival!" A soft, sweet feminine voice came, her boots clacking against the tiled floors as she came down the stairs. Kaori recognises her voice. Her transformed orange eyes widened. "Oh, and welcome back Anna! I see you brought some guests with us today?" Anna folded her arms and smiled at the approaching Hero. "Yep—we've found ourselves a Summoner for the Order of Heroes! She's great so far—she just summoned a new hero! You should have seen her!" the red-haired commander boasted with a proud smile on her face.

Kaori still remained stunned, her body flinched at the incoming guest's voice. "If there's anything I can help you with at all, please! Don't hesitate to ask! I'm Destiny—the Goddess of Destiny." Destiny beamed a smile, both her held hands to her heart. Kaori instantly took a step back, her expression filled with shock and horror, fearful purple eyes taking over.

'Destiny!' She thought. The sand-beige turned her head away, still refusing to believe that she's actually seeing the person who betrayed her. Kaori had always looked up to Destiny as a beautiful, perfect, older sister-figure, despite the two being the best of friends. She had always admired her like the sun in the sky and wanted to become close to her... But she was constantly in her orbit. Destiny always made her feel so small in her past life, and made Kaori withdraw into herself, until, in the end, the last thing Kaori saw was Destiny's radiant smile before the former got stabbed in the back.

'Destiny... I won't let my life end in tragedy like it did before...' Kaori grits her teeth in anger.

Noticing her darkened expression, Destiny tilts her head, and extends her hand out. "We're going to be comrades, are we not?" She beamed, "You may call me your 'Sister', if you'd like." Kaori brushes her thoughts off and smiles, taking the Goddess of Destiny's hand and shaking it. "Thank you... Sister." She beamed a forced smile.

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After a tour round of the Askran Castle, night falls. The Heroes that were already in the Order of Heroes began to properly settle into the castle. Kaori lingered in the summoning chamber, her mind weighed down by the memories of her past life as she lied down on her bed. The sight of Takumi—alive and standing before her—was both a comfort and a torment.

"You're still awake?" Takumi's voice cut through her thoughts, startling her. "AAAAH!" She let out a small yet loud scream, and turned to see him leaning casually against the doorway, his arms crossed. His usual stoic expression softened slightly. "Everyone else is already resting."

Kaori managed a small smile, clutching Breidablik tighter in her hands. "Yeah. Just... getting used to things. It's been a long day." she did slight nods.

He stepped into the chamber, his sharp eyes scanning her. "You handled yourself well back there, for someone who's apparently new to this. Summoning me like that—it felt... odd. Like you knew what you were doing."

Her breath caught. Of course, he noticed. Takumi was observant to a fault. She quickly looked away, pretending to inspect Breidablik. "I guess I got lucky."

"Hm," he replied, unconvinced. "Lucky, huh? Even so, you were quick to adapt. You didn't hesitate once."

Kaori hesitated, her grip tightening on Breidablik. She wanted to tell him everything—to confess how she had taken his life in her past life, how she had watched him fall with the very weapon she now held. But the fear of his reaction, the risk of exposing her secret, silenced her.

Instead, she offered a noncommittal shrug. "I guess... when you're thrown into a fight, your instinct takes over."

Takumi studied her for a moment longer before letting out a soft sigh. "You’ve got potential, Kaori. But don't think you have to shoulder everything alone. If you’re going to be the Summoner, you'll need to rely on the Heroes you summon."

His words made her chest tighten. She looked up at him, her expression softening. "Thank you, Takumi."

"Don’t mention it," he said, turning toward the door. But before he stepped out, he glanced over his shoulder. "Just... don't push yourself too hard. I've seen what happens when people try to take on too much by themselves."

Kaori blinked, her heart sinking at the hint of vulnerability in his tone. She remembered the loneliness and insecurities that had plagued him in his world. He had been so determined to protect Hoshido, yet that very resolve had led to his possession in her past life.

"I won't," she promised softly, though the words felt heavier than she intended. "Goodnight, Takumi. And..." A small blush scattered across her face. "Thank you."

Takumi gave her a small nod and a smile before leaving her alone in the chamber. As his footsteps faded, Kaori let out a shaky breath, her hands trembling around Breidablik.

"I'll do better this time," she whispered to herself, her voice trembling with resolve. "I'll make sure you don't suffer like you did before. I'll do my best to protect you in this life..."