And so it was, that the unfated soon find themselves on the brink of eternal slumber.

Snow fell. A droplet of ice landed on her face, as the warmth of her blood slowly dyed the snow a beautiful crimson hue. She began rethinking her life choices, and many regrets came to life.

A will to be something, to be better, to be superior, to be something greater. All crumbled at the fragility of one's fate and the folly of human nature. Her red trench coat, the one she always wore for its beautiful radiant red, now seemed fittingly ill-suited for what was to be her end. A crimson dot in a sea of snow, all forgotten and abandoned.

And so, she closed her tired eyes.

And the light faded away.

But the whim of fate is one that no soul could predict, throwing about all men and women as she pleases. Upon opening her eyes once more, the familiar warmth of yellow morning light brushed her face. A salty wind from an unfamiliar window caressed her nose, lifting a bit of her hair.

She looked around the room and noticed an uncanny old architecture, one she would have seen in museums or ancient parts of Europe. Dark satin wood, white wooden walls, and windows with tiny squares filled with flattened shells.

A visceral feeling suddenly entered her body. Blood rushed, and waves of emotion coalesced into an indescribable feeling that made her feel confused yet energetic.

She widened her eyes, the light that had faded, returned, and she spoke.

"... I am alive."

However, it defied her expectations. As she turned to her left, her gaze fell upon a mirror, but the reflection it revealed was not her own. Before her stood a stunning young woman with lustrous brown-orange hair and captivating copper eyes. She cautiously slid her feet out of the plush white bed, her eyes trembling with disbelief. Slowly, she approached the mirror, hoping that her vision had deceived her.

She clasped her face, leaving no room for doubt: the woman staring back at her in the mirror was unmistakably herself.

The sound of a falling ceramic suddenly caught her attention. She swiftly turned and saw a girl dressed like a maid. She had dropped a bowl of water. From her guess, the girl was no older than 16. Her brown hair and blue eyes made contact with hers.

"Ah! Lady Josephine, you've awaken already! Oh, thank the Divines!"

'... Josephine?' she wondered. 'Is that the name of this body?'

"My Lady," the girl continued, "Is there anything I can do for you?"

She thought for a few moments. Her eyes shook about. Suddenly, she moved towards the window and opened it widely.

The bright light momentarily blinded her. But as the effects faded, her eyes widened upon the sight of the landscape in front of her. A seaport village graced her eyes. Hundreds of villagers populated the lands, and into the sea, and a few sailing boats came and went.

Far beyond the shore cape were mountains reaching the end of the lagoon. A forest-filled area with wild-life and little human habitation. The sight of a fertile, virgin land brought her utter shock.

"... Tell me..." she asked, "What is my name?"

"Eh?" the maid girl tilted her head, "Your name is... Josephine Kalingrad. Your father calls you... Josee."

"... I see," Josee lightly closed her eyes, breathing in the fresh scent of air.

"... Josephine Kalingrad," she lightly spoke her name.

'... None of this makes any sense, and this isn't a dream either. Or perhaps it is.'

She lightly stared into the sky, her eyes lazily opened, reflecting a smirk of annoyance.

"... The whims of fate. Why resurrect me in a shit novel?"

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

It had been three days since I arrived in this world. I waited, but the call to wake did not come, confirming this was not a dream. I sat here, in the night, in front of my table, with a lamp burning oil. My body wore a white nightgown, a refreshing cloth, and the most expensive one I owned.

Alone, my hand wrote in a language that should not exist in this world, with a feathered quill I had never used before. Diligently writing every bit of memory of the old world, and more importantly, of this world.

After much careful asking and deliberation, I had come to the conclusion that this world truly was the shit novel I had read before.

"Josephine Kalingrad," I spoke my name.

A 17-year-old girl.

Dangling in my hands was the diary of this stupid girl. It almost disgusted me just reading the first page.

A side-character working for the villainess in exchange for money she sends back to her poor village. She was supposed to die, taking the blame for the villainess' crimes against the heroine.

A loose woman protected by four men she seduced. What a disgusting piece of shit.

My father, Baron Kalingrad, was currently in the capital city, attending the annual Noble's banquet. He hoped to find someone who would invest in our measly port territory, Aquel. Potentially, this port could be a major hub, but piracy and the threat of a sleeping beast made everything a sore deal.

"... And we're in debt," my father borrowed 50 gold coins from Baron Rotweiss to fund his travels. Assuredly, Rotweiss did it with a greedy smile. His intent to steal our territory was all too obvious.

Thinking of that, I turned to look over the village. The houses were old, many buildings were decrepit, and the last storm had washed away half the houses. The rest of the village lived in makeshift sheds. It didn't help that the nearby forest was not exactly safe. It was the safe haven of foul beasts. So, the people could only get so much material from it before retreating. I could understand why Josee's father was in a desperate stance.

He was an inadequate ruler.

Though it would greatly benefit me if this village prospered, after all, I needed money... to get stronger. My eyes automatically turned dark, and I heaved a sigh of desperation.

"... This is a chance... given to me. I don't know by whom or by what."

"... But I will make use of it."

And this shitty story.

"... No matter..." I spoke coldly, "... This is a vain story of blindness and regret, of a meaningless life spent on vanity. It only rightly deserves to be destroyed."

I stretched my hands before picking up the piles of documents to my left.

"... Now then... shall I secure some funds?"

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

"... I see," Josee coldly spoke, in a manner that made all servants in the room, man or woman, shiver in fear.

Two soldiers wearing worn-out brigandine armor stood before Josee. Busy looking at the documents, she did not give a single glance at the man kneeling in front, a man known in the village for his loyalty to the baron... but also for his excess.

What terrified them was not the mere coldness of Josee, it was the utter indifference as she ordered the guards to cut off one of his ears when he refused to answer.

In all their lives, they had raised this young daughter with their very eyes. A young, beautiful, and cheerful girl.

But that girl was nowhere to be found.

All that was left was a ruthless leader.

"... So, how much gold did you give to Baron Rotweiss from start to now?"

"M-My lady... I-I don't understand why you're s-saying th-"

"... Gouge his eyes," Josee coldly ordered.

"H-His eyes?!" the two guards stared at one another in dismay. Although they were men holding weapons, battle was barely a part of their daily lives, as most residents of the humble village, though poor, had a sense of camaraderie. So, fights were mostly between drunkards.

Not torture.

"M-My lady!" the man kneeling on the ground, wearing an opulent dark suit, held his bleeding left ear in fear. His body shivered, his sweat poured like rain, and his brown eyes rapidly invigorated by the threat to his life.

"I have been the steward of this barony for 24 years! W-What you're doing is unfair, unjust, and inhumane! I will make sure the baron hears of th-!"

"Are you two fuckers deaf?" Josee's cold swearing caught the two guards off guard.

The head maid stood behind Josee, her face crumbled into a mess of swelled tears and panicked eyes. Holding her head with both hands, she stepped heavily towards Josee. But before she could open her mouth, Josee cut her off.

"... Or do I have to accuse you both of insubordination and have you tried under the Noble Laws of the Kingdom?" Josee casually remarked, flipping the pages of a ledger before writing in a notebook.

"A-As you order, my lady!" the two shouted in unison. One of the guards stepped forth and took his dagger, already bloodied from the previous transgression. The other guard pinned the man down. The steward struggled with all his might, but what good would that do against two trained guards? Paleness and sweating drenched the guards' faces.

But an order was an order.

"N-No!" As the dagger came right at his eyes, the steward finally gave up.

"2500 gold! Approximately 2500 gold! I paid them because of my gambling habits!" The man looked up, barely seeing a fraction of Josee from the ground due to the papers covering her table.

"... I see..." Josee replied with no sense of surprise. "... Gouge his eyes."

And the two guards, with no question, began their assault once more.

"Wait, wait, wait! P-Please, my lady! My lady Josephine! I used to change your diaper! W-Why-ARGH!!!" A blood-curdling screech pierced the ears of every servant within the household. Shivers ran down their spines, and the head maid immediately fainted. The other servants quickly carried her, rushing her out of the room.

'... I always thought... Sure, this household may not be the wealthiest, but the sea in these parts is bountiful. The taxes obtained is small, but we shouldn't be this poor'

Josee finally lifted her quill. After sorting through documents for a whole day, she surmised the missing values, inconsistencies, and errors. She concluded that someone was embezzling their funds.

"... Sign here..." She handed a piece of paper in front of her table. With cold eyes, she ordered once more.

"... Pull him up and make him sign here." As the guards pulled the blood-filled steward, who seemed to almost lose consciousness, they picked his hand and placed a quill in it.

"... Sign it," Josee ordered.

"W-What is this... ARGH!"

With no more patience, Josee replied, "... Sign it, or I'll personally butcher you."

"Y-YES!" With blood flowing from his hands, the steward signed with great swiftness, as if his life depended on it. Josee took the signed paper.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

It was a legal document stating that he was forfeiting all funds he had accumulated to Josee Kalingrad.

"... Good," Josee nodded before looking straight at the guards.

"... Send him to the gallows and have him executed. All his property are to be seized and his family exiled."

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

With the acquired gold from the steward's house and the funds on the way from the merchant's guild, I currently had a total of 94 physical gold and 23 gold from the merchant's guild.

A sufficient amount for my short-term goal, but this was just pocket money for the rich.

Well... I'd amass a lot of money soon.

For now, I had to build a business to get a lot of money. This village was a mine of opportunities that I could use. Seeing the outside of the carriage I was sitting in, this village truly was poor. The filth and shit outside disgusted me. How unsanitary.

It made me frown.

No matter. They should be grateful, for I shall dawn civilization upon them.

I looked at the arm-guard on my right forearm, a leather guard with metal plating underneath. Currently, I adorned a leather armor with a white tunic and long-sleeved undershirt. A dagger sat at my hips, and I carried a sheathed sword in my right hand.

The carriage reached the outskirts of the village, approaching the cursed forest.

Now... I supposed it is time.

The reason why I must become strong.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

A forest of madness.

Did it make sense that a forest like this, filled with horrifying monsters, existed, and yet they did not invade the village?

No. Because this forest was artificial. Because it shouldn't exist unless created by a sentient hand.

I walked through the shadows of the forest, wielding the necklace of evasion, an heirloom of the Kalingrad family. With the magical necklace, I remained hidden among the trees, away from the dangerous eyes of predators.

Reptilian monsters, large apes with extra arms, insects of colossal size.

They were beings that brought fear to anyone they encountered.

But I'd been through worse. I supposed monsters were all the same, regardless of worlds. I walked further down into the forest, hiding in the bushes, dead logs, and treetops until I found myself right in the middle of a crevice.

A tiny, inconspicuous crevice.

"... So, it is here... the crevice that one of the male leads would find."

I entered.

Squeezing through the rocky walls, eventually, I found myself inside a gloomy cave. With a lamp in my right hand, the fire illuminated the dark and moist cavern, revealing a world of stalagmites and centipedes.

I walked forward, and right in front of me, behold. A chasm to the abyss. I did not know how deep it went, just that whatever I needed lay below there.

A boon, so to speak.

I went out again, squeezing through the entrance where I tied a rope from my bag to a tree. Then I tied that rope to my waist before going back once more.

Standing at the edge of the chasm, a sudden flash of memories rushed through my mind, a moment that almost felt like yesterday but truly a lifetime ago.

"The whims of fate," I lightly smiled before jumping down and starting to scale the walls with my hands and a curved axe. The lamp, hanging by my waist, illuminated the surrounding walls. And as I kept going deeper into the chasm, the area grew wider and wider... until I saw it. The markings on the wall.

A fragment of history long forgotten.

Within the walls were depicted titans. Strange and horrifying alien entities standing a hundred meters tall, lording and destroying everything in their wake.

It depicted mankind's struggle, fighting, warring, surviving. In spite of their weakness and the utter annihilation of countries, men fought. And men died.

As I fell down, the depictions of their fighting and struggles, grew fewer and fewer... until nothing was depicted but mountains.

But those were not mountains.

They were bodies, the corpses of warriors who had fought. But ultimately failed.

My feet eventually touched the ground.

And I saw skeletons around me. With a single touch of my feet, many quickly turned to dust.

I did not know them, I did not care about any of them. They were nothing but an irrelevant fragment of imagination. And yet...

A melancholy waved through my mind.

I did not understand.

I shook my head.

"... No matter," I spoke.

I strode steadily forth.

And suddenly, flashes of memories appeared. Memories not of my own.

A war.

They struggled, they fought against the titans. Millions were killed. Many cities burned.

I did not care.

Many families tried, most were broken, many mothers killed their own children.

Shut up.

A world filled with nothing but madness. Betrayal was like air. To worship the titans, perhaps it would give them preferential treatment? It did not.

Enough.

Corruption. Many brothers fought on their own. Fathers killing their sons. Mothers, ending their daughters.

"... Enough!"

I turned around. With a deep frown in my brows. What was it?

I don't even understand.

Perhaps magic was left behind to tell a tale. But they're speaking to the wrong person.

It matters not to me.

And eventually, I arrived at a door. A small, insignificant door. Lies beyond this is what I needed. A sword used by the second male lead. A sword capable of tearing down titans, if only it had been used for its intended purpose.

I opened the door.

But a dark sword that was supposed to be standing still on top of a pedestal was nowhere to be seen.

"… What?", confusion struck me. But quickly, I focused on what was in front.

It was just an empty pedestal, with nothing in it… Except, embers.

I stood still in silence, quietly observing.

"...Hmm", deeply I contemplated.

Eventually, I decided to approach, but somehow, something told me to come near. To touch it.

And before I know it, I stood right in front of that ember

"… What are you?", I asked. For those embers… insignificant embers amidst the ash… felt otherworldly.

As I kept staring at it… a question suddenly popped in my mind.

In the novel, the second male lead entered here to get a sword… but it is said he made a wish before obtaining it. A wish to  a whisper… and that whisper is…

[[What art thou seeketh?]]

It beckoned me.

"… I see", I finally understand.

"… hmm… haha", I smiled, I giggled, and then I laughed.

That shitty novel which bears the image of this world is not a tragedy, but a comedy. The last chance to save the world, a fragment of the past, all wasted to save a single stupid woman.

I understand now.

"… This… is the ember bearing the concentrated essence of the people from the previous cycle"

All their hopes, and dreams…

[[What art thou seeketh?]], it whispered once more.

The answer is simple…

"… I seek the power to-", and I stopped.

I don't know why. But something feels… wrong. I don't know.

"… I seek the power to", but I couldn't finish my words. As I stare deep into that ember, I am suddenly reminded of what I once were.

An enthusiastic Engineer from another world. A woman, bearing to see the world become a better place, only to die a death of no renown.

A worthless, insignificant death.

"… I… I seeketh", and the feelings. The emotion. The anger, the betrayal, the indignant!

The MADNESS.

What I saw in the ember… what I am seeing. What I am feeling.

I saw a reflection of my own... from the feelings of those that came before.

And I felt Anger.

Angry!

I grit my teeth.

I shook my head, trying to clear the cloudiness. But the anger, the frustration, the fury, the madness, it all kept growing stronger that I couldn't help but clutch my head.

I  SHOULD HAVE KILLED THEM WHEN I HAD THE CHANCE!!!

THEY SHOULD HAVE DIED! NOT ME!

BETRAYAL! I WAS TOO KIND. I KNEW FROM THE START!

DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!

"… DIE YOU PIECES OF FUCKING SHIT!"

I fell down, kneeling. A pouring rain seemed to fall from my eyes.

"… I just wanted… to make everyone happy…"

The memories flashed.

The torture, the humiliation, the destruction of my research, and the triumph of human greed. It all painfully flashed like a ruthless fucking film.

"… I just wanted to build things… why… why is everyone so mean?"

Within this forgotten cave, only the whisper of my tears can be heard.

An hour passed, and I remained there. Motionless, thinking, feeling, analyzing…

I asked many questions, built hypothesis, struck down many, argued with myself, considered a thesis.

Until I eventually came to a conclusion.

This ember, the final evidence of a desperate hope of what once came before, long forgotten…

Who am I to deny their wishes?

Just like that girl laying down in a cold snow, with her blood seeping through the ground, whose dream has been denied.

Who am I to deny theirs?

And so I stood up. With hands raised forth, I placed them into the embers.

As if to notice my determination, the whisper asked once more.

[[What art thou seeketh?]]

I poured my mana into the ember. With what little mana this talentless body have, I poured everything inside.

"… You ask what I seek?", I answered. And with great determination, I whispered.

"… I seek to rekindle this flame"

And for the first time, since the dawn of era, the embers that had never flamed, that was never supposed to be kindled, were once more…

Set Ablaze.