MCPTD 07

Chapter – 07

Now, more than ten years after my regression, I am twenty-four years old.

My life has changed a lot compared to the past.

I became an adult, which made it easier to deal with Uncle Marshal’s schemes, and I gained capable aides—including my former guardian, Bell Dio.

Thanks to them, even when I step away for a while, the family continues to run smoothly.

That alone brought me great comfort.

I had also become much brighter than before.

A huge part of that change came from my pen-pal correspondence with Ppuppu.

Just as I had said, we never once met in person. But the letters we exchanged over the past nine years warmed my heart.

“I look like a smol and kyute teddy bear.”

Once every season.

Whenever his letters arrived, I would often correct his spelling.

“Not teddy bear spelled that way. It’s spelled like this.”

He doesn’t seem to understand very well, I thought.

No matter how many times I corrected him, his strange way of writing always returned the next season.

I had put quite a bit of effort into it, so it was a little disappointing that it led nowhere.

Still, the Ppuppu I remembered was just a round little kid, so even that part felt rather cute.

And so our letters continued for a very long time.

Even through the periods when I endured bone-grinding pain and nearly lost sight in one eye.

Exactly four times a year.

Spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

But at some point, Ppuppu’s letters began to change in a rather peculiar way.

“Soon the world peace that noona likes will come!”

Well, putting aside the bizarre spelling…

Below the text was a drawing of a fierce, muscular bear holding a vicious sword.

What is this insane bear supposed to be? Is this some kind of SOS signal asking for rescue?

But whenever I received Ppuppu’s letters each season, I couldn’t help but smile.

Lately, every day has been enjoyable.

It was thanks to the power of kindness I discovered, starting with Ppuppu.

Today as well, I stepped into a hospital filled with the smell of medicine. At the same time, I gave a small nod to the nurses.

“Hello. Everyone’s been well, right?”

“Oh my, welcome, my lady!”

I smiled brightly and waved.

Using my personal fortune, I had built a large hospital in the commercial district.

The ward that treated patients free of charge had become well known among the poor as the first place to visit when they fell ill.

“Waaah! Hello!”

The child bowing politely beside the nurse was named Ron.

Unfortunately, he came from a poor family and suffered from a rare disease.

“Hey Ron. How are you feeling?”

“I’m really good! What about you, noona?”

“I’m doing great too.”

This child had no idea that I was the owner of this ward or his sponsor.

To him, I was just some older sister who occasionally visited the hospital.

I patted Ron’s head and said,

“It’s not enough to just be okay. You need to be healthy. Right?”

The child clutched his hospital gown sleeve tightly and said,

“That’s right! They say a new medicine is being developed!”

“That’s good news.”

After smiling at Ron, I carefully inspected the hospital interior.

I’m glad everything is running well.

After making notes about the supplies the hospital needed, I quietly left. A satisfied smile naturally formed on my lips.

“This really is quite enjoyable.”

But among all this happiness, there was one problem.

“Cough… cough…”

After checking that no one was around, I quickly covered my mouth while leaning against the outer wall of the ward.

When the coughing finally stopped and I removed my hand, there was blood on my palm.

My coughing and hemoptysis had been getting worse lately.

While people were regaining their health and happiness in the ward I built…

My own end was truly drawing near.

As soon as I returned to the Viyetri mansion, I lay down on my bed.

I had no particular intention of avoiding my approaching death.

I’ve already made sure the family will function properly even without me.

I kept my deteriorating condition strictly secret from the outside world and placed trustworthy aides at the forefront in my stead.

However, the thing that concerned me after my death…

Was the series of very suspicious events happening in this world.

Someone had appeared who did not exist before my regression.

For the past few years, endless reports of victory had been coming from the frontlines.

At the center of it all was Aldehyde.

A man who appeared out of nowhere and conquered the continent with overwhelming strength, bringing peace to the Empire.

And just a week ago, I heard he had returned to the capital.

“Completely suspicious.”

I had been too sick to investigate him before, but now I intended to look into him little by little.

But first, I need to focus on what I must stop.

Several months ago.

A strange phenomenon occurred where cracks began forming in the center of the continent around the imperial capital, and monsters from the underground world began to crawl out.

Numerous casualties resulted from the creatures emerging from those fissures.

In truth, the cracks themselves were nothing special, since they had also existed in my previous life.

The problem is that today, the largest crack ever will appear at the opera house.

After deciding to do good deeds, I made a promise to myself: I would save as many people as possible before I died.

Because seeing people smile happily made me happy too.

And so, after spending the entire winter in seclusion, I wrapped a shawl around myself and stepped outside.

But then…

In front of the opera house.

Today, a crack will appear here.

Until now, the cracks appearing in the capital were minor—like a magnitude 2.0 earthquake.

From such tiny fissures, at most, beginner monsters like slimes would appear.

But what was about to happen now would be different.

The warning signs would grow stronger, and more powerful monsters would begin emerging from deeper cracks.

I checked my wristwatch.

In five minutes, the major precursor tremor would occur. Countless people would panic and run.

And I need to evacuate them safely.

So it should have been very quiet and empty right now…

Boom! Crash!

A loud noise shattered that expectation.

“This isn’t the right time yet… what is that?”

I froze as I looked at the shattered ground, as if an earthquake had struck. Something seemed wrong.

I tried to approach the ticket booth where the noise came from, but it was as if some kind of barrier had been placed—I couldn’t get any closer.

“Alright, alright! Everyone move away!”

…Huh?

Why were knights gathered at the opera house?

Before I could process what was happening, I ended up being pushed back and isolated together with numerous civilians.

What… is this?

My confusion didn’t last long. About 50 meters away, I spotted a man standing alone.

“Come here, my cute little monster friends.”

The cold-faced man was destroying the opera house.

No… that wasn’t right.

It wasn’t destruction…

He was holding a shovel with a strangely intense expression.

But it was a gardening trowel.

Why was he holding a gardening trowel? Was he planning to plant flowers or something?

No, seriously… what is he doing?

As I stood there bewildered, just moving my eyes, the man suddenly grinned.

Then he lightly flicked the monsters climbing out of the crack with his finger.

“They look cute.”

Orcs, spiders, basilisks…

There were over a hundred monsters.

And yet he was smiling like he was having fun.

He really looked completely insane.

And the bizarre behavior of that madman did not end there.