"Strange..." I stare at the ceiling of the room. Without Nerina here, I can’t fall asleep. Actually, it’s been three days since I’ve been able to sleep. It’s weird, and I miss having something to sleep with.

But not specifically Nerina—something else is missing. It’s genuinely unpleasant, and it’s not like I need to sleep, but I still don’t like being awake at night.

"I think I’ll eat something..." I get up and head to the kitchen, but the feeling of emptiness and silence is so uncomfortable to experience. With Nerina here, at least there’s someone, and it takes away that hollow sensation.

"Haaa..." I try eating some fruit, but I feel kind of nauseous, so I throw it away. Being alone makes me face the fact that without Nerina constantly demanding attention, all I have left to think about is that I have no memories.

"That sounds so stupid..." I throw myself onto the thread sofa, watching the moon through the window. If Nerina hadn’t told me, I’d never know I’m inside a simplified domain. It’s curious to imagine that fact.

’Why do I have experience using a domain...’ When I think about that specifically, a strong feeling of disgust comes over me, like the reason I learned to do this in the past was for something extremely selfish and treacherous.

’I feel a connection... to the other puppets, but I can’t reach them from in here... and I don’t know if I should try using that ability to pull them to my position...’ If I could access that "thread," I could ask those puppets I’m sensing what my past was like.

But I also feel great reluctance to even try doing that, and feeling that fear makes me feel small and cowardly. But obviously, my life on this island with Nerina isn’t working out perfectly.

She wants something from me that I feel a little disgusted trying to give her. Should I sacrifice part of my comfort for the pleasant life she’s trying to give me? Or should I try to remember the past?

’Both options seem bad and make me uncomfortable...’ I keep staring at the moon through the window. Unfortunately, I can’t just push the future forward like it’s a little cart. Eventually, I’ll trip, and the "cart" will fall on top of me.

’Nerina seems anxious... Is it my fault?’ Nymphs have that strange "passive" attraction effect. Just as Nerina is attractive to me, I must also be attractive to her. Maybe she hasn’t noticed, but her anxiety seems strange.

Because the more days pass, the more anxious she seems for us to have something. And it’s a fact that I’m emitting this seduction "passive" all the time, since I don’t even know how I’d supposedly turn it off.

’It can’t be that bad... right?...’ Life is made of sacrifices. I think that view of life suits me well. Puppet creation makes this "equivalent exchange" clear, where not everything is perfect.

And it never was. To get something, you have to work for it. To improve something, you have to train and practice. And even though I’m weak, with Nerina’s help, I’ve learned several tricks to do new things with my powers.

"Should I build a living puppet so I’m not alone?" I feel kind of strange trying to create one. I’ve thought about it before, but when I started, my hands began to tremble, and I gave up, like I wasn’t meant to make it.

I really hate not having memories. Because things like this have some hidden meaning I can never understand, but it exists and limits me.

"Nerina will be back soon... I should take this time to decide." I still hadn’t decided if I wanted to stay or leave. Nerina is nice, and we really are friends. I have feelings of friendship for her.

So in the last few weeks we’ve lived together, it hasn’t left our relationship as strangers. I don’t know if we were friends in the past, but we are now, and that’s what matters.

Although Nerina is more of a teacher than a friend. She gives lectures and lessons based on what I want to learn. She tells me where I’m going wrong, and praises me when I get it right, while genuinely helping me grow my power personally.

"Nerina-sensei... yeah... that’s really strange..." I really need to think about what I want from this, and what I don’t want from this. For now, I’ll have plenty of time to "drown" in my thoughts.

...

...

...

"Miss Eve, what are you doing?" A soldier asks me cautiously while I look at the horizon. I pause briefly to look at him.

"Nothing." When I say this coldly, the soldier leaves. But I keep observing one specific point, where I feel Evelyn-sama. The connection is very weak, which is strange, but not impossible considering the distance.

But what’s strange is that Evelyn-sama didn’t say anything about disappearing for so long. Although she made it clear to me that I should continue with the ships, it’s already been a month of travel, and she still hasn’t returned.

She flew off with that dragon in a completely opposite direction. For a brief moment, her connection "stopped," and then after a few hours, it started moving again and stopped at that place, where it remains to this day.

’Why has she been stopped in one specific spot for so long?’ I really don’t understand. She seems fine, which is good, and if her mount had died, she could fly alone with her wings or create a new one, so there’s no way she’s trapped on an island.

’The more I think about Evelyn-sama, the more confused I get about why she’s stopped on some strange island...’ Fortunately, no problems have happened here among the boats.

Despite the constant monster attacks, the boat’s quality is undeniable. The humans deserve congratulations because these boats are really holding up, and only 2% of them have sunk.

And that was because it happened at night, and the monster attack was massive. So it’s a demonstration of the vessels’ efficiency and their defenses, which falls within the acceptable range.

Since according to Evelyn-sama and Esther’s plans and the former Demon King’s measures, up to 10% of ships sinking before reaching the continent was expected.

"Hey, ship captain, can you feel it?" I look at the ship captain. He stares at me, then looks in the direction I’m looking, probably thinking about what I’m asking him.

"Are you referring to the Demon Queen? If so, yes, her magic can be seen from here. It’s kind of disturbing to imagine that range. Not even Commander Marie can emit magic from that far without it becoming extremely weak."

’Just as I thought...’ Has Evelyn-sama gotten stronger? She wasn’t capable of emitting that much magic from such an immense distance. Actually, her magic normally only covered the castle and could be felt in the kingdom. Now it covers an immense area and can be felt for miles.

’Her power doesn’t seem to have increased directly, but her magical control and Hikishin release have become intense... and very dense...’ I don’t know if I like that fact. It makes Evelyn-sama a target.

Since anyone in the area can tell she’s there. If someone wanted to target her with some long-range magic, it would be easy to see exactly where she is now to aim correctly.

’I heard that Evelyn’s father could generate magical attacks from one continent to another, and the Angel Queen can also fire magic from one continent to another...’ This bothers me a bit.

Because the Angel Queen, as long as she knows where Evelyn-sama is, can hit her anywhere. I can’t even imagine being able to do that myself. The more time passes and the greater the distance, the weaker and more dispersed the magic becomes.

So firing from one side to the other like that is so monstrous that even if it’s a weak attack, it’s still far above what most living beings can do.

’There’s also that thing...’ I look down. Everyone can see it. A giant eye, the size of an island below the boats, is very deep in the sea, but you can see it down there.

We only noticed it because of the movement of the pupil from side to side. This thing sometimes appears and watches us for a few hours before disappearing. When this thing appears, most of the monsters leave.

And we’re not sure what it is, but it’s dangerous, so no one does anything against this giant eye. Because if just the eye is the size of an island, then the body itself would be like an immense mountain.

Besides, this thing doesn’t attack. It just watches curiously and then leaves, although these last few days, it’s been following us 24 hours a day.

"Haaa... maybe it’s better this way. It would be dangerous if Evelyn-sama got caught in the chaos if this thing down below attacked." I murmur, shrugging. I just have to wait. The sea voyage is tedious, and I can’t even train, so all I can do is watch the sea, which, despite being beautiful, is easily one of the most boring things I’ve ever seen after five minutes.

"W-Wow..." I step away from the edge of the boat when the pupil of whatever is down there seems to be staring at me. Even for me, this is kind of scary. I still have some sense of self-preservation.

’I think I’d better go rest a bit...’ I head toward the door leading to the lower inside part of the boat. I’ll sleep a little to keep my mind serene and calm.