Not a barbarian warrior.

Although she was only seven years old, Lorena put her heart and soul into playing house.

She swung the tree branch hard at Eugene’s head.

Thwack-!

Eugene, who had been lost in thought, was startled by the vividly felt pain and came to his senses.

‘Crazy… Not just taste, but pain can be felt too?’

As he finally showed a reaction, Lorena shouted loudly for him to serve the meal right away.

Eugene grabbed the little Lorena’s shoulders and said seriously:

“Lorena, stop playing house now and wake up. This is a dream, a dream…!”

However, she asked with an expression of not understanding:

“Mister, why are you suddenly breaking the flow! And what dream all of a sudden?”

Eugene explained that this world was a dream created by magic, and that Lorena had made it.

Then young Lorena tilted her head and pinched her own cheek.

“Ouch! If this was a dream, it wouldn’t hurt, right? Are you sick somewhere, mister?”

“…”

She was completely immersed in the dream and showed no signs of waking up at all.

The briefly interrupted house play soon resumed, and Eugene had to go along with her until sunset.

As the sun began to set, Lorena invited Eugene to her house.

“Actually, today is my birthday. Mom said she prepared a delicious pie today! Let’s eat together!”

As they entered the large log cabin, her mother greeted her daughter and Eugene warmly.

Her family members didn’t ignore Eugene like the other villagers, but they weren’t particularly surprised or wary either.

A little while later, Eugene had dinner with the three of them.

A well-baked apple pie was served on the table as dessert.

As Lorena, today’s main character, carefully cut the pie, a sweet aroma wafted out from inside.

Lorena, who was munching on the pie, swallowed and smiled happily.

“Is it that delicious?” her mom asked, and the young girl replied:

“It’s the seventh most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten!”

Hearing her subtle evaluation, Eugene recalled something that had happened long ago.

Was it delicious?

Yes, yes… It was the twenty-third best meal I’ve had so far…

Suddenly curious, Eugene asked her:

“Lorena, what’s the most delicious thing you’ve ever eaten?”

Young Lorena shook her head seriously at Eugene’s question.

“Mister, it’s hard to rank food. How can I decide what’s the best when they all taste different?”

“…Didn’t you just say the apple pie was the seventh most delicious?”

“That means it was seventh among the ‘delicious foods I’ve eaten so far’.”

“…?”

As Eugene tilted his head, her mother laughed and added an explanation.

“On her fifth birthday, I made her a meat pie, and since then she’s been putting numbers on especially delicious things whenever she eats them. But it turns out that wasn’t ranking, but the order.”

“Ah…”

Eugene nodded as if he finally understood.

‘Is it like the order of induction into a hall of fame? Then what she said before about twenty-third place was also…?’

While he was lost in thought for a moment, Lorena, sitting next to him, quickly snatched the half-eaten pie from in front of Eugene.

“Ah, my pie…!”

She put Eugene’s pie in her mouth and spoke while chewing:

“Nooo… I thought you were full since you weren’t eating it…”

Eugene just chuckled as he watched her moving her jaw diligently while looking to the side.

After dinner ended like that, Lorena’s family provided him with a small attic-like space.

Eugene climbed the ladder to the second floor, spread out a blanket there and lay down, muttering:

“Sleeping in a dream… I wonder if I’ll dream again here too?”

As Eugene pondered what to do next, Lorena’s words came to mind.

The, the former doesn’t matter… I can find you and wake you up. But in the latter case… This is just a guess, but probably… we’ll wander in a nightmare…

It-It might be just a moment in reality, but it will feel like a long time in the dream…

I-I don’t know… If we’re lucky, it might be a few days, if we’re unlucky… about… a year…

She had said that if they didn’t recognize it was a dream, they might wander for a long time in a world that had turned into a nightmare.

“A nightmare… Nothing much has happened so far… But it would be better to wake Lorena up quickly…”

Eugene closed his eyes, thinking about what method to try tomorrow.

Several days had passed since Eugene started staying at Lorena’s house and spending all day with her.

Because he didn’t know when a nightmare might appear, Eugene spent each day playing with Lorena.

This also meant that he hadn’t been able to wake her up in the dream so far.

“Now, Lorena, look at this.”

Eugene demonstrated the magic she had taught him.

When a bang-! sound erupted from the tip of the well-trimmed branch, young Lorena clapped her hands and rejoiced.

“…Lorena, have you ever heard a story like this?”

Eugene tried reciting the contents of the erotic books that had been in her house again.

However, the young girl just tilted her head, not understanding.

He also tried making the food she had said was “the twenty-third most delicious”, and telling her about small things they had done together in reality. But it was all in vain.

“Haa… What on earth should I do…”

Eugene sat on a large tree that had grown on top of a hill and let out a deep sigh.

He looked down at the village spread out below the hill.

People were busy moving their bodies, each doing their own work.

Someone swinging a sickle in the field, someone tending to livestock, someone twisting dried flax to make rope…

It was an extremely peaceful scene.

Eugene saw Lorena squatting alone among them, enjoying playing in the dirt.

She retained the appearance of a pure little girl without a single stain.

Time passed as he quietly watched her. Once again the sun set, and night came.

Before going up to the attic, Eugene said goodnight to Lorena and asked:

“Come to think of it, your father hasn’t come home yet? Where did he go?”

“Ah… Dad will probably come home a bit late… He must be with his friends…”

The young girl’s face looked a little gloomier than usual.

Eugene realized anew that she was still a spoiled child at this time and smiled.

“I see. Well, sleep well and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You sleep well too, mister…”

Eugene went to bed again today without any particular results.

Late that night, when everyone was asleep, a sharp scream was heard from below.

Eugene reflexively got up, grabbed the sword next to him, and ran.

He quickly jumped down from the attic to the floor below.

Someone was grabbing young Lorena’s hair and shouting loudly at her.

“Lorena!”

Eugene swung his scabbard like lightning and struck the guy’s head.

“Ugh!”

As the man collapsed powerlessly, Eugene first checked young Lorena’s condition.

“Lorena, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Fortunately, there were no bruises or bleeding. She was shaking and muttering something.

Eugene put his ear close and could hear what she was saying.

“I’m, I’m sorry… Ple-please… Don’t, hi-hit me…”

In that moment, Eugene’s eyes widened.

I’m, I’m, I’m sorry, ple-please, don’t hi-hit me, do-don’t do this, sa-save me, some-someone he-help me, ple-please…!

The scene of Lorena having a nightmare after fainting from hearing the mandrake’s scream before overlapped with this scene now.

Eugene hugged young Lorena tightly and whispered in her ear, just like he had done then:

“It’s okay. It’s all over now. It’s okay.”

After calming her down like that for a while, she fell asleep as if collapsing.

When Eugene carried Lorena in his arms to the bedroom, her mother was collapsed.

He quickly checked her condition. She had been hit and was unconscious, but her life wasn’t in danger.

Eugene came out of the bedroom and kicked over the guy who was lying face down on the floor, unconscious.

When he opened the window, the moonlight brightly illuminated the man’s face.

Lorena’s father was bleeding, reeking strongly of alcohol.

Eugene frowned and clenched his fist.

“…Is this her nightmare…”

At that moment, a black figure leapt through the window and pounced on Eugene.

Eugene instinctively bent his body backwards to dodge, but a long red line was drawn across his chest.

“Kuk-!”

He immediately drew the sword from the scabbard in his hand and counterattacked.

The black figure split in two and splattered blood.

Eugene quickly closed and locked the window, then went out the door and looked around.

Black wolves with four eyes, monsters called Garum, were glaring at Eugene with glowing eyes.

He let out a sigh of relief.

“This was… my nightmare…”

In the early days when Eugene had been possessed by this body, these four-eyed wolves were like walking death to him.

“But not anymore.”

Eugene spoke in a small voice so as not to wake young Lorena.

“Come on, bring it on.”

At that signal, the four-eyed wolves pounced towards Eugene.

The moon set and the sun rose.

After bandaging his body and sleeping, Eugene got dressed and came down from the attic.

Then, as if nothing had happened last night, Lorena’s parents greeted Eugene with their usual morning greetings.

“Good morning.”

“Did you sleep well last night?”

Eugene muttered quietly as he looked at Lorena’s father, who seemed fine:

“I’m sure I tied him up with rope… How…?”

“…?”

Eugene, who had been standing there with a puzzled face, hurriedly opened the door and looked outside.

The dozens of Garum corpses he had killed yesterday had vanished without a trace.

“What on earth…”

Eugene quickly searched for Lorena with an unbelieving face.

She also gave her usual morning greeting, but tear stains remained around her eyes.

Seeing this, Eugene quietly asked so that others couldn’t hear:

“Lorena, do you remember what happened last night? You don’t have to answer. Just nod if you remember.”

Then Lorena nodded.

Only then did Eugene become certain.

That only he and Lorena remembered yesterday’s events.

After finishing breakfast, Eugene took her to under the tree on the hill.

When he carefully asked about what happened yesterday, she, who was only seven years old, said with teary eyes:

“Daddy… When he comes home late after drinking with friends… He always did that… But the next day he pretends he couldn’t have done such a thing and acts like he doesn’t know…”

“Didn’t you try asking the villagers for help? What about your mom?”

“Mom told me not to tell other people… She said everyone lives like this normally…”

She sniffled for a while, then burst into tears.

Eugene hugged the sobbing Lorena and patted her back for a long time.

If his nightmare stemmed from past memories, Lorena’s past must be the same.

A past of growing up being beaten under a father who turned into a monster when drunk.

The nightmare stemming from that past was still holding onto her ankle even after she became an adult.

Having realized that much, Eugene waited until young Lorena calmed down, then looked at her face and said:

“It’s okay. From now on, that won’t happen anymore.”

“…Really?”

“Just trust me. Don’t worry now. I’ll thoroughly fix your father’s nasty drinking habit.”

Young Lorena smiled brightly with her face covered in tears and snot, and hugged Eugene again.

As he hugged her tightly, Eugene thought.

It seems he had finally found a way to wake Lorena up.