A cut to the skin of her forearm, and blood dripped onto the bathroom sink. A regeneration of said wound, and the stains of blood reverted back to her body.

A cut to her cheek, and blood dripped onto her white clothes, staining it red. A regeneration of said wound, and the stain disappeared as if it had never been there at all.

She felt pain, and she winced at each cut towards her body. The last two cuts were not the first to be done towards herself. Several more had been done afterwards, and each time her body reverted it. She had spent about half an hour doing this, testing the newfound power within herself.

Marilyn placed down the razor that her father had used to cut away at his beard, for he always wanted to be clean-shaven to look young and presentable.

She really shouldn't have done that. There was no point to it, other than perhaps short-term relief. But still, she shouldn't have done that, so she would stop, she would never do it again even if forced to.

She looked at the mirror, placed above the bathroom sink, which was why she had used the steps that had been stored in here. Her eyes were unusually neutral about this revelation, but her mind was in deep thought.

That moment, exactly two days ago, when she had…died. She had thought of it to be a bad dream, but it all felt too real to be one. It was a horrifying thought, surely. But somehow, she felt nothing of it except for the initial rush of pain.

The notion of death did not apply to her, it seemed. And whenever she suffered a wound, said wound reverted itself as if it had never occurred to her at all.

If death did apply, she would've died. If it had simply been regeneration, there would have been traces of blood left by her injuries. But a reversion of her wounds to the point her clothes were not ruined, it felt like the world did not allow her to die.

She wouldn't necessarily want to test this idea further, it would upset both her mind and the people around her. The act is unnatural, too detrimental. She may have reincarnated into this world in an undesired way, but she would not glorify it at all, including this.

But whatever the case may be, she would have to accept it for now. She would have to prepare herself for bed afterall.

Who knows, her immortality might come in handy for her survival.

"Whatever it may be…I'll use it to its utmost extent, when it's necessary."

A declaration made to herself. If her wish were to be that she would help people, if the situation calls for it, she would ensure herself that their safety and livelihoods were above her own. It was the traditional thought of heroes, the heroic fantasy no less.

Her immortality had just made that wish more preferable to her than ever, and so it shall be.

————————

"So you were saying that this was not natural?" said the voice of a soft woman, a beautiful woman, with white hair and emerald eyes. Her motherly features were present, ever so delicate, yet bringing a sense of passion and love.

Anna Althorn, the wife of Robert Althorn, was sitting upon a leather chair that was present by the fireplace. It was late evening, about one hour after the entire family had eaten dinner together. Her gaze was focusing upon her husband, who was currently standing before her, crossing his arms and in contemplation.

Robert nodded to her speculation. The topic they had been discussing for some time now involved the oddity of the Phantom Dragon's presence within this very territory, no less one that was unusually tough to kill. And aside from that, the knowledge that the village chief, Mr. Bell, had told this information was something that he wouldn't want to share with anyone else…

"It was certainly very odd, I say," he responded. "I don't exactly have any solid theories, but don't you think the evidence we have right now could mean something bigger was going on?"

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"I don't think so. You did say the presence of Phantoms had been increasing due to their migration to the more rural areas after they had been forced back from the nearby cities," she said. "As for the evidence of Mr. Bell saying those words to you, the fact that he seemed rather distressed about the recent events suggested that he had no self-driven motivations in mind."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"The victims that the dragon had claimed were all from various neighbouring communities, correct?"

"Yes, but where are you going with this?"

"It could simply be that he discussed that fact with you in private so he wouldn't drive his people into panic. An early prevention of disaster," she said, smiling a bit. "But that was simply my observation, from the information you gave me. All I could do was to compensate in places you lacked in."

For the most part, no, she was very much correct, or could be. The reason why news hadn't even reached the people early on of the Dragon's arrival could be because of its 'Hunting Ground' hiding its very presence from the locals. That should be the case, but he would have to talk about this further once he got back to his real job.

But all in all, Robert sighed, "I feel like this was just me overthinking it again, but I'll send a report of this to the capital. I need to focus on reinforcing the village's Phantom Wards by tomorrow after this."

He quickly noticed a frown, or more of a pout, from his dear wife. It was a cause for concern, which made him respond with, "I didn't say anything wrong, did I?"

That frown curled upwards. "You are too kind, you know that right?" That smile was certainly contagious, for sure.

And as a result, he smiled as well, "How couldn't I be? It was the reason you fell for me. Your father had certainly approved of the right man because of this."

"Such arrogance, you deserve punishment for that." Faking disappointment, a rather childish jest.

The two of them laughed, their love for one another raised to a new height. It's a rather wholesome love story between the two, that crucial detail was certainly noted upon by the youngest member of the family, Marilyn. They wouldn't know, but she had witnessed glimpses of their romance, which still brought a degree of embarrassment from her.

She had been listening into their conversation ever since she left the bathroom. She had yet to go to bed, a bit bored and distressed about her circumstance.

But remembering Robert's act in saving her and Bethany. And Bethany's act in protecting her despite her own recklessness…it shined something within her.

For a total of six days she had been thinking about this wish, of wanting to become someone that could help others. She wanted to become strong to reach that wish. But how…?

Her train of thought was quickly halted, for both of her parents had noticed her hiding spot, behind a large vase at the end of the room they're residing in. Her father spoke first.

"You've certainly gotten more active." He commented, sitting at the opposite chair to her mother's, gesturing to her to come and sit with him.

Marilyn had no particular choice but to follow, leaving her hiding spot and rushing to his father's lap. She's still rather embarrassed about this, especially with the mentality of a young adult. But she could not deny the warmth she feels.

"So, any arguments to be made of you not preparing to sleep?" Robert would say again.

"U-uhm…I uhh…" She's faltering on her wish to be said to him.

Her mother smiled, laughing a little as she leaned forward. "You seem quite nervous, something wrong?"

Marilyn relegated herself to not respond, looking away from her, shaking a bit as if in fear of the wrong answer. It caused her mom to be a bit anxious about the reason why.

For all this time, Marilyn had been keeping her interactions with her own mother at the absolute minimum. Marilyn's fear of her is irrational in her eyes, but it's not without good reason. Afterall, unbeknownst to all of them, Marilyn had a bad experience with mothers. It's the main reason why she's here in the first place.

The moment of silence brought a bit of awkwardness, so Robert chose to break that.

"So, anything you want to talk about?" He said, in a cheerful tone to try and bring her mood up. "There's no need to be scared. We'll try to understand."

Marilyn turned her head downwards, and quietly she would mutter her words. "M…magic."

"Hm? What did you say?" He replied.

"I-I…want to learn magic."

That was her wish, a rather simple one for her big goal. She didn't know if she could use magic. But she figured that since she's her father's child, who can use magic, she would also be able to use it.

Robert was a bit appalled, someone this young wanting to know more about magic is quite rare. But to know that his own daughter, at six years old no less, wanted to learn about the thing he's talented and rather obsessed with. It's simply…

"Amazing!"

He stood up, picking Marilyn up by her armpits with his own two arms, having her face him.

"Huh?" She was definitely confused.

"Ehhhh!?" Her mother was definitely confused.

Bethany, who just arrived into this room and witnessed his bizarre act, was also confused.

He was almost crying tears of joy. It was very rare to see him this excited, for most of the time he could be seen as a very gentle man. But—

"I know you have the aptitude ever since you're little, but I was not sure if you even wanted it! But now that you do, I will make sure to teach you everything I know, starting from tomorrow!"

"...Huh?"

Still, Marilyn was very confused.