He had all the reason to believe that this was the girl that the four nobles he met near the slums earlier were searching for. With her lavender hair and beautiful upper-class dress, he was certain of it.

“U-Umm...” she murmured quietly to Rio, as though it took all of her energy to speak. She was probably suffering from dehydration after being in the sack this whole time.

“Sorry... Could you take me... to the castle...?” she panted out.

“Castle?”

“Please... I’ll tell my father... to reward you...”

“Your father...” Rio shuddered. There was no way that would end well.

“And also, water...”

So she was thirsty after all.

“Lie there and wait for a bit. Don’t move,” Rio said.

He walked over to the barrel where the water was stored. His nose had already become desensitized to the smell, but seeing the bloody scene with his eyes made his expression twist. Contrary to the constant revulsion turning his stomach, Rio was strangely calm as he asked himself what was he doing here. He filled the wooden mug he usually used with water and quickly brought it back to the collapsed girl.

“Here. Water. Don’t drink it all at once.”

He lifted her head to make it easier for her to drink and offered her the mug. It would have been best to add some salt or sugar to help her dehydration, but such fancy ingredients weren’t available in the shack.

The girl gulped down the water gratefully.

“Puhah... hah...” she coughed.

“Slow down. Drinking too fast is bad for you,” Rio warned.

“O-Okay...” she replied weakly.

Perhaps she was relieved she had quenched her thirst, because in the next moment, she lost all the strength in her body.

“H-Hey!”

Rio tried to wake her frantically, but she was out cold.

“Did she pass out...?”

Figuring that was the case, Rio closed his eyes and held back the urge to sigh heavily. He gently let her lie back down, when...

Creak. The floor of the shabby old shack groaned, breaking the silence of the room. Rio whipped around to see a masked man approaching him—

The masked man lunged, trying to stab a knife into Rio’s body. He was going to be killed. Heart-stopping fear ran through Rio in that moment. Suddenly, his hands moved of their own accord and he skillfully parried the man’s swing; the knife missed its mark and slashed through empty space instead.

“Wha...”

A surprised voice leaked from the man’s masked face as Rio looked at his hands in astonishment. His physical body had reproduced the movements that Amakawa Haruto mastered in his previous life. Rio had been so desperate that his body reacted instinctively.

But now was not the time to be distracted.

Was this guy hidden this whole time? Why is he trying to kill me?

The first real battle of his life had been suddenly thrust upon him. Rio was panicking, but that was understandable. He’d never faced off with someone holding a blade with the intent to kill before, previous life or not. His body felt hot and he could feel the thudding of his heart echo through his body. He hadn’t even moved very much, yet he was panting for breath. He was terrified — his legs trembled where he stood. Rio braced his trembling hands to fight and inched backwards. The masked man regarded him cautiously, having had his attack smoothly evaded. He kept the knife pointed at Rio.

To be honest, that first attack was pure luck. Rio couldn’t imagine the man was an amateur, and Rio was still a child, after all. If he came at Rio for real, their difference in physique would end the match swiftly.

The man slowly closed the distance between them; at this rate, Rio was as good as dead — that he was certain of. But even if he tried to escape, he wouldn’t be able to run far with his small body. He was completely cornered.

Then...

Haruto.

An unfamiliar voice echoed in Rio’s head. It was the clear, beautiful voice of a girl... yet there was something abnormal about it, something that made the voice sound weak. But suddenly—

“...?”

Rio’s eyes widened. A tremendously beautiful peach-haired girl had appeared before his eyes — but it was only for a moment, as she was gone in the next instant. A hallucination? Was he seeing and hearing things? Rio’s eyes darted around the room to check, but he couldn’t see the girl anywhere. And more importantly... had that girl called him “Haruto”?

A name that no one in this world could have known...

Rio stood there, baffled and unsure of what was happening, when—

Now is... not the time. I’m going to teach you how to use your ode — or your essence... Remember this feeling.

Once more, the voice of the phantom girl echoed in his head. So it wasn’t a hallucination, Rio thought.

“W-What do you mean ‘how to use essence’?!” he shouted back at the voice, grasping at whatever straws he could reach.

He could see the man before him flinch, but Rio didn’t have time for him right now.

Sharpen your mind. There should be light... flowing from your body. Use that light to enhance your body... and its physical abilities. Picture it in your head. Don’t worry. You can do it... Haruto.

Broken sentences echoed in his head with the girl’s voice. It wasn’t a very detailed explanation... But in the next moment, Rio’s entire body felt like it was being wrapped in a layer of warmth.

Now you can move... past the physical limitations of your body. Have you remembered... the feeling? You have to maintai... sorry, I can’t —

The girl’s voice cut off completely.