A red-gold moon hung in the sky as if a single drop of crimson had been stirred into the light. A massive beast scrambled away into the shadows, its desperate whimpers echoing through the trees. Standing in its place was a small silhouette, as still as a statue.
"It’s okay... I’m... on your side..."
With those words, the small figure slowly—collapsed. That was my first encounter with her—Lurdona.
***
— Before Reincarnation —
My previous life was a mess—
black companies, a lost decade indoors, fired from a convenience store on the first day.
Then, like every cliché isekai protagonist, I was hit by a truck.
A waning moon hung above the road.
A black cat walked along a fence.
As my consciousness faded,
my cracked smartphone drifted into view.
“Ah… I still need to cancel my AI girlfriend subscription…”
Then, nothing.
***
— 9 Hours Earlier —
When I came to, I was standing on a hill overlooking a mountain village nestled in a valley. Gentle, unfamiliar grasslands stretched out before me. The morning air felt crisp.
I crouched by a nearby lake and peered into the water. Reflected there was my younger self.
I was wearing black trousers, a worn-out gray shirt, and a thin, dark-green half-coat. I looked so unremarkable that I probably wouldn't stand out even in another world. My face was young, but my eyes... they were dead. A lethargic gaze paired with a loose, unmotivated mouth. My hair was a messy, short mop.
"Ah... so it’s a reincarnation." And a rejuvenation at that. My face was clear, and the chronic aches in my knees and lower back were gone.
Then, I noticed something monumental. "This soil... it’s high-quality! I could make some incredible pottery with this!" If I have one passion, it’s working with earth. Not vegetables—ceramics.
...This is perfect! I’ll just knead some clay and enjoy a peaceful slow life!
I spotted a grand manor nearby. Thinking I’d ask for some clay, I approached the front door only to find a notice posted there.
[FOR SALE: 10,000,000 GEL, FURNITURE AND CLOTHING INCLUDED] (The text translated automatically in my mind.)
"10,000,000 GEL? How much is that even worth...?"
The moment I muttered those words, the notice—unbelievably—began to speak.
"Oh, hey! A fellow reincarnate from Japan! What a coincidence—I’m from there, too!"
"Wait, seriously!?" I barked at the floating notice.
It had the weight and grain of real washi—too good to be wasted on a notice.
"Don't worry, I'm just a 'Guidance Spell' left behind! You want this house, right? It’s a steal! 10 million Gel, basically one-to-one with Yen. If you want it, just press your thumb right here!"
I pressed my thumb into the glowing frame. The whorls of my fingerprint shined like luminous ink before—vanishing. Normally, I would never make such a reckless decision, but the sense of camaraderie—of finding a fellow countryman—had made me careless.
“Thanks for your purchase! Enjoy your ‘peaceful’ slow life! Oh, and I left 100,000 Gel in the dresser drawer as a little parting gift. It's all yours!”
“Thank you!”
As I gave my thanks, the contract shimmered and vanished into thin air.
***
— 7 Hours Earlier —
I checked the drawer. The money was there. I went straight for the shed.
There, I began kneading a pile of high-quality clay.
“Finally... my peaceful, mud-caked slow life begins!”
I couldn’t help but shout it out loud. I was just that damn happy.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
But that peak of happiness lasted exactly six hours. Six hours later, the "Final Contract" arrived, enclosed in a heavy, black envelope.
On the 'Final Contract,' a single sentence made the blood drain from my face.
[ Correction: Due to a slight verbal slip regarding the number of zeros, the purchase price has been adjusted to 10 billion Gel. ]
Ten billion. I remembered, back in my old world, I made barely enough to survive.
Even if I worked twenty-four hours a day without sleep for a thousand years, I wouldn't even clear the interest. I realized then: I hadn't reincarnated into a fantasy. I’d reincarnated into a financial black hole.
"Like hell I’m doing this," I muttered, standing up. "I'm leaving. I don't have to be tied down to the place where I first spawned."
The moment I said it—
A cold, mechanical weight crashed onto my shoulders, pinning me to the floor. The contract on the floor began to glow with an eerie light. A soulless, grating voice—like stones grinding together—echoed directly in my mind.
[ Violation detected. Initializing forced compliance. This contract is bound by the Absolute Law of this world. Breach of debt will result in the immediate forfeiture of your soul.]
"...So, it's work or die?"
Outside the window, a red-gold moon hung silently in the sky. Its light, which should have been a beautiful source of mana, felt like a spotlight illuminating my inescapable reality. I lost consciousness for a few minutes, my brain short-circuiting.
"..."
When I woke up, I turned my back on the contract and silently started kneading the clay again. Mindlessly. Desperately. I felt like if I didn't, my soul would simply vanish. But the clay wouldn't set. My tears wouldn't stop, turning the high-quality clay into a muddy slurry of regret.
"I'm still a loser. Even in another world... inside, I'm the same pathetic idiot."
I pressed the mud into a specific shape. —A Haniwa, a hollow-eyed guardian of clay.
I finished the figure, which stood nearly as high as my chest, but I was at my mental breaking point. I couldn't stay here another second. I had to get out, even if it was just for a moment.
"I'm—I'm just going out to find more materials! I need better clay from the mountains to pay this off!"
I shouted the excuse toward the glowing contract, as if pleading for permission, and then I bolted. Unable to face my own failure, I fled from the mansion—fled from a debt equivalent to several generations of labor.
***
I hurried through the forest, the cool night air stinging my tear-swollen eyes.
I felt it watching me—The Haniwa.
No matter how far I went, the trees and the smell of the earth remained the same. It was eerily quiet, as if the forest were swallowing the sound of my footsteps.
Then, shattering that silence, a roar erupted from the thicket.
"This is bad, isn't it...?"
Emerging from the trees was a monstrosity—a massive hybrid that looked like a cross between a bear and a goblin. My heart pounded.
Its claws caught the moonlight.
I ran, but there was nowhere to go; I scrambled through the brush, but it caught up instantly. I tripped, and a massive arm swung upward, ready to crush my skull.
"S-Someone, help...!"
My chest thudded—and for a heartbeat, I felt a strange tugging sensation, as if an invisible thread connected my heart to the workshop I’d just fled. Suddenly, a high-pitched whistle tore through the air from the direction of the manor.
Something streaked across the moonlight like a falling star, slamming into the earth right in front of me. White patterns, like moonlight woven into runes, exploded from the impact point, covering the ground until it became as bright as day.
The glowing Haniwa, still damp with my tears and the smell of fresh earth, intercepted the massive blow. (Is this... the Haniwa I just finished making!?)
Then, a red magical circle manifested in front of the clay figure, and a blast of crimson light erupted, blowing the monster back. But the Bear-Goblin managed one final spiteful strike against the Haniwa.
A dry sound echoed, and the Haniwa was cruelly snapped in two.
"...Ah."
I crawled toward the pieces, reaching out, and saw an unfathomable, eerie "darkness" swirling within the cross-section. Behind me, the Bear-Goblin struggled back to its feet with a desperate roar and a leap.
I braced for death, and my vision shifted into extreme slow motion. A fragment of earth, mixed with my tears and unconscious obsession, spilled its mud-like darkness—and that was when the world turned upside down.
The red-gold moon filled my vision as a small shadow leaped from the shattered Haniwa. It danced through the air, reflecting the moonlight and trailing a streak of crimson light before pausing for a fraction of a second in mid-air.
Then—the air split apart.
A girl-shaped "thing" hammered a heel-drop into the monster's skull.
It wasn't a sound a living creature should make; it was the impact of a heavy tank. The beast didn't even have time for a death rattle before it staggered back into the depths of the forest, utterly defeated. Silence returned, and the shadow landed softly beside me.
She had crimson hair, looking as if she had been unearthed from the age of myth. Her deep red eyes peered into my "dead" ones, and her skin was white like unglazed earthenware. Her body was covered in painful-looking cracks, and her limbs were still encased in clay like a makeshift cast.
"It's okay. I'm... on your side."
Her eyes wavered with pity, looking like a merciful goddess, yet also like a cursed doll foretelling its master's ruin. Then, she slowly closed her eyes and collapsed into my arms.
"Wait... hey!?"
I caught her in a panic, finding her body surprisingly light... and terribly cold. A girl with skin of clay was sleeping in my arms. I held her, resting my hand on her cracked shoulder, and let out a heavy sigh.
"...This is going to be one hell of a 'slow life'."
There was no answer, and above us, the red-gold moon swayed silently in the sky. At that time, I didn't know that the ominous moon or the staggering despair of "10 Billion Gel" were omens of a ridiculous future.
I just wanted to knead some clay.
That was all I wanted.
That was my first mistake.
— Present —