---
**[Scene - Last Night - Rei's Dorm Room]**
Moonlight streamed softly through the girls' dormitory window. Rei sat cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by a circle of dark symbols.
> "Mind Communication - Connect me... to the ones I call family."
Her spell connected through the ether, her eyes glowing a faint violet.
A moment later, the glowing magical screen surface came to life.
Two warm, smiling faces—a man and a woman in their late forties—appeared.
> "Rei! Long time no see, sweetie!"
> "Are you doing alright at the academy?"
Rei smiled softly.
> "I'm fine, Papa, Mama. Sorry I haven't contacted you sooner."
They chattered, clearly having missed her dearly.
---
**[Flashback - Years Ago - Year 201 of the Velgrith Federation - A Forest Village on the Ironwood Border]**
A young girl was found by Theo and Mira, villagers, left for almost dead at the edge of the forest.
The pendant tied to her infant wrap was a twisted silver ring.
Mira, unable to have children of their own, took it as fate.
They adopted Rei as their daughter. Her unusual purple eyes were strange... but they never questioned it. They loved her deeply.
---
**[Flashback - A Deeper Past - Rei's True Parents]**
Before that, in a hidden cave at the edge of the Demon Empire, Rei's true parents—two rare, human-appearing high demons—whispered to their infant daughter.
> "Our daughter must live, even if we are gone."
They kissed her forehead, tears falling, and placed her inside a magically warded basket.
Soon, the Demon Lord's troops arrived. Cold. Mechanical. Cruel.
Their only "crime" was forming a peace treaty with a small human border town. They hoped to create harmony.
But the Great Demon Lord saw it as treason.
> "Let this be a warning to all demons who dream of peace."
They were executed without trial.
Their only remaining legacy was Rei.
---
**[Scene - Present - Rei's Dorm Room]**
Rei's hand tightened around the pendant given by her birth mother.
> "And Kuro-kun saved you, didn't he?" her adoptive mother on the screen asked gently.
> "Yes, he... he saved me before I even understood the meaning of salvation."
> "We all owe Kuro-kun a debt," Theo said.
But Rei stayed silent. She knew Kuro had slain the half-demon with terrifying precision. They didn't know the full truth.
> "And I stayed by his side... willingly."
She nodded to her parents.
> "He's... different. But he's trying to make the world better."
Mira laughed.
> "Just like you."
They talked of pleasant things, and soon the magical surface faded.
---
**[Scene - Rei's Thoughts - Alone Again]**
As silence returned, Rei looked up at the ceiling, her pendant glinting faintly.
> *If the Great Demon Lord knew I survived... would he try to kill me too?...*
She thought of her Kuro—her Master, her savior, her... her only tether to both past and future.
> *"I'll protect him too. Even if I can't show weakness, I'll share his pain."*
Her hand brushed her chest.
> *"I wonder... if he has ever smiled."*
Just then, a soft breeze passed through the open window, carrying the sound of a bell—an echo of Kuro's dark clock, faint and distant.
She smiled.
> *"Yes, Kuro-sama, I'm still here, in the shadow of my Master."*
But Rei pondered... for what reason had the half-demon found her and imprisoned her in the Abyss...
This was precisely due to the machinations of the First Summoned Hero. The half-demon had arrived at the small village where Rei and her adoptive parents lived with the First Summoned Hero's assistance, and had taken Rei's adoptive parents hostage, threatening to release them only if Rei surrendered herself. Thus, Rei ended up imprisoned in the Abyss.
---
✦ **To be continued...**