I blinked once. Then again. Then a few more times. But the view didn’t change. So yeah. My second life probably ended very fast. Killed in the dumbest way possible, in the middle of a midnight fight between two unhinged monsters. And I had just started getting used to this one too.

  I tried to sit up, just to see if all that green was real or some kind of mirage. That’s when I noticed the real problem. I wasn’t dead. I was trapped. Aoi’s arm was wrapped tight around my chest, and Midori’s leg was thrown over mine, pinning me down like some pillow.

  I carefully lifted Aoi’s arm and slid it off me. She shifted a little, frowned in her sleep, but didn’t wake. Good. Then came Midori’s leg, slow, painstaking work to slip mine out from under hers. It took effort, but I managed. Free at last. Well, mostly.

  Both of their heads were resting on my shoulders. If I stood up too fast, they would smash heads, wake up, and start another hair pulling war. So I leaned a bit, eased Midori’s head off my shoulder, and held it steady. Then I turned and did the same with Aoi. Holding both, I slowly lowered them until their heads touched.

  I let out a deep breath, like I’d just slipped out of the claws of two lionesses. Then I stood back and watched from a safe distance. They slept like good little sisters. Calm, peaceful, cute… I almost felt sympathy. Almost. Then I turned my head away fast.

  I bent down and touched the grass. It felt real. I pulled some and smelled it. It even had a smell. So this wasn't a dream. Which raised a much worse question. What the hell happened while we were asleep? A snowy mountain doesn’t turn into green spring land in one night. Something was very wrong. And my brain was already about to give up trying to make sense of any of it.

  Then I heard it. Aoi sniffed, once, then twice, still asleep, her face twisted like her dream had personally offended her. She pulled her head back, held her breath, and I knew exactly what was coming. I flailed, tried to move, but, of course… way too late.

  “Rrr-achoo!”

  

  Aoi sucked in a lung full of air and sneezed in her sleep. Not a normal sneeze, nope. The blast slammed straight into Midori like a dragon roar, who was sleeping right next to her. Their heads slammed together with a nasty crack. I slapped my own face and sighed. Yeah. I already knew how this was going to end.

  “Ugh!” Midori yelled.

  “Ahh!” Aoi cried.

  They stared at each other. One second, then another. Then, of course, they both blamed the other.

  “What do you think you are doing, you ugly worm!”

  “What do you think you are doing, big headed snail!”

  Hands shot out. A handful of hair was grabbed hard. They started pulling and rolling on the ground like wild animals. One moment Midori was on top. Then Aoi. They kept rolling until they ended up right at my feet.

  “Let go of my hair!”

  “Let go first!”

  While they were still tearing at each other, panting like two maniacs and clearly fighting to the death, I bent down and gently tapped both of them. I spoke as calmly and patiently as a saint on his last nerve.

  “Ladies please—”

  

  Midori’s hand came out of nowhere. My head snapped to the right so hard I almost heard my neck crack.

  “Stay out of it!”

  

  Aoi followed up from the other side. My face swung left, and thanks to them, I briefly enjoyed a full panoramic view of the green mountain.

  “Back off!”

  I stood there, cheeks burning, silently realizing one thing. This was going to be a long day. I bit my tongue next and squinted, staring at them with a mix of anger and regret.

  Then I took a deep breath, stood up, walked as far away as I could, found a lonely rock, and plopped down. I just watched. That was it. A painful, annoying trailer of my disaster filled future was playing in front of me.

  Slap sounds mixed with fabric tearing. Choked shouts merged with curses so heavy I had never heard anything like them in both my lives. They rolled on the ground, trying to kill each other and failing, for half an hour or maybe half an eternity.

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  In the end, they either got tired or decided murder would take too much effort. They pulled away and sat in opposite corners, gasping for air. I just looked at them with fed up eyes.

  Midori’s kimono had slipped off one shoulder. Her ponytail was ruined, hair loose, and her lip was split and bleeding. Aoi’s kimono was no better too, it was torn from thigh to calf. Her long, smooth hair looked like it had been hit by lightning, and there was a small cut near her eyebrow.

  Did I feel bad for them? No. Did I feel bad for myself? Yes. And I had a feeling I would keep doing that for the rest of my life.

  “Okay. Is it done? Are you happy now?” I asked. My patience was gone. I waved my hand around us. “If you are sane now, can one of you explain this? Please? Where did the snow go? And where did all this grass come from?”

  They finally noticed it too. Their eyes widened as they looked around, confused. I went on, tired.

  “Aoi, was this your thing? Or... Midori, did you teleport us somewhere while we slept?”

  They both shook their heads at the same time, staring with blank eyes. One look at their stupid faces told me they had no idea at all.

  “Then what the hell happened last night?”

  “I don’t know,” Midori said, shrugging. “I fell asleep right after you.”

  “No idea,” Aoi added, looking around.

  “What do you mean, no idea?” I asked, turning to Aoi. “You’ve been here for years, never seen anything like this before?”

  “No,” she said fast. “And I don’t think it happened before I got here either.”

  Midori scanned the area suspiciously, then her eyes widened in excitement as she looked at me. “Hayato,” she said, “open your mana vision.”

  Aoi had probably done it already, because she gasped in surprise, “Whoa!”

  “Aoi, if it’s okay—”

  She waved her hand like, yes, go ahead, completely focused and reading me in an instant. I let go of my domain, pulled a bit of her mana into me, and opened mine as well. Mana was everywhere, but not the suffocating kind from before. This time, it was different. A strange, abundant flow, moving freely all around.

  “What does this mean now?” I muttered.

  “That means—” Midori started, but Aoi cut her off.

  “Last night’s rain wasn't just normal rain. It was a—”

  “Mana rain,” Midori snapped, shooting her an annoyed look.

  I looked up at the sky and remembered the mana ball we’d sent flying. Then came the lightning, the black clouds, and the rain. Yeah, that made sense. I just stood there, staring, hoping the thing I caused stayed limited to that place. And inside, I prayed it wouldn't lead to some strange problems later.

  “By the way,” Midori said while checking the edelweisses in her bag to see if they were still alive, “somehow my mana source is full right now. I can even send us back to town if you want—”

  “Yes!” I yelled without thinking, excitement winning instantly. Then I paused, my eyes drifting to Aoi. “But,” I added, voice dropping, “how are we taking her with us?”

  “Who said we’re taking her with us?” Midori asked, calm but sharp. “She’s staying here on her beloved mountain. That was the deal.”

  “Wait, what?!” Aoi yelled, shocked. “I don’t remember any deal like that!”

  “She’s coming with us,” I jumped in, getting hit by Midori’s sharp stare. “I mean, she has to. She keeps producing mana nonstop. And if we leave her here, everything just snaps back to how it was.”

  “Alright,” Midori said, walking toward me. “She’ll walk then. Should take a month, maybe… but she’ll make it. She’s strong.”

  Midori tapped my shoulder. And just like that, we found ourselves at the gates of the town, and of course, leaving Aoi alone on the mountain.

  “…Huh?” I muttered, looking around.

  That was when two guards at the gate dropped to one knee at the exact same time and saluted me. I looked at them, I looked at Midori. I squinted at Midori.

  “Damn it, Midori. What did you just do?!” I barked.

  She crossed her arms and looked away, pretending I didn't even exist. That did it. I grabbed her arm and yanked her to face me.

  “You think this is funny?”

  “You know I can only teleport myself and one other person—”

  “Shut up.”

  I turned and scanned the area, opening my mana vision. Midori was almost empty. The guards had some mana but not much enough. Still, I released my domain and pulled mana from them and the surroundings.

  The guards collapsed immediately. So I let them go and focused on the surroundings instead. Lucky me, mana was everywhere. The grass was bright green, like spring had speedrun the world.

  “Okay,” I muttered to myself, barely holding it together. “I just need to use this new power of her... But how?”

  I thought hard. Summoning, right? How did that even work? Then I remembered Midori’s teleport and the demon lord's domain. It had to work the same way.

  “Alright,” I said. “Just imagine it. Picture Aoi. Imagine her here—”

  I was still mumbling and trying when Aoi appeared right in front of us. I didn't even get a second to feel proud. She walked past me, went straight to Midori, and slapped her across the face. Hard.

  

  Midori’s hair flew as her head snapped to the side. She raised her hand to strike back, and I barely caught both their arms in midair.

  “Enough!” I shouted, one breath away from another berserk moment. “We have someone to save. Right now!”

  Midori finally turned to me. Her sharp glare, aimed at Aoi, met the desperate look in my eyes and cracked. She sighed, lowered her hand, and gave a small nod.

  “Fine,” she said, swallowing it just this once.

  “Let’s go,” I said and rushed ahead. I didn’t slow down even when I spotted the gasping guards on the ground. “Sorry,” I called back. “I… I owe you a week off.”

  People stared as we tore through. They didn't even have enough time to show their respect or bow. I burst into the mansion like a raid, slammed the door open, and went straight to the room the old man was. I finally stopped there, bent over, hands on my knees, dragging in air. A second later, Midori and Aoi caught up behind me, just as out of breath.

  The general was already on his feet. Still wrapped in bandages here and there, but standing, doing slow walking drills with the servant holding his arm. The moment they saw us, both froze. He was about to bow right there, half broken and all, when I waved my hand to stop him.

  “No need. Really. How’s the old man?”

  “He’s getting worse, my lord,” the servant said.

  Then Midori walked up, pulled an edelweiss from her bag, and snapped the flower’s head right off.

  “Hey!” I blurted. “You killed it.”

  She raised an eyebrow at me. “So what? You didn’t expect him to get up and chew it, right?”

  She opened the old man’s mouth with one hand, crushed the flower into a wet mess with the other, and let a few pathetic drops drip in. One. Two. Three. That was it. Then she stepped back. We waited, and nothing happened. I sank to my knees, buried my face in my hands, fully ready to give up on the world. Then I heard that familiar voice.

  “Young lord?”