"No... way..."

I whispered the words once more, drawing closer to the mirror.

All that remained was the frame.

Hundreds of shards lay scattered across the floor, a jagged, miserable ruin.

"This... this can't be..."

I picked up a fragment with trembling fingers. I peered into it, but it only reflected my own face. It was just an ordinary mirror.

Refusing to give up, I began to line up the pieces one by one.

If I could just arrange them all perfectly and glue them back together, maybe it would work. It was like a puzzle with no solution, but I had to believe it was possible.

"Wait! This one... it's still alive!"

Among the scattered shards, I found a single fragment that still connected to the other side.

It was the largest piece by far.

The mirror must have been broken over there as well, because instead of showing the room's entrance like usual, it reflected the basement entrance from a low, angled perspective.

But still—this meant my future was still tied to that world by a thread.

"Yes...! Thank God..."

Of course, the shard was far too small for me to pass through. I might have been able to fit an arm, but that would have been suicide while the Automaton was likely still prowling nearby.

That thing was targeting only me, so the girls should have been safe even if they returned—assuming it wasn't just a mindless berserker now.

But... but still.

What do I do now...?

As I stared into the fragment that dimly reflected the basement, my brain, paralyzed by shock, tried to find a way forward. The answer was obvious.

But I... I didn't want to let that answer enter my mind, not even for a second.

* * *

"Ah! That's right!"

It suddenly came back to me.

The clan perk—teleportation.

Teleport to the home base.

I could go back!

"Teleport! To the Clan Home!" I shouted at the Clan Ring.

I was frantic.

I didn't even stop to consider the possibility that if I went back, I might never be able to return to Earth again.

I just wanted to be there.

The result was silence. Nothing happened.

"Hey! Come on! [Teleport]! To the Clan Home!"

No magic circle appeared.

No Vocation Board manifested.

"Damn it! Clan, Clan, Clan! Vocation, Vocation, Vocation! Hey! Answer me...!"

This was Earth. Not another world. Not a land of fantasy.

There were no spirits here.

Teleportation didn't work.

I couldn't even pull up my Vocation Board.

In this world, I had no Vocation, no Unique Job, and no Skills.

That was the reality I was standing in.

* * *

I kept rearranging the mirror fragments.

There was nothing else I could do. And now that teleportation had failed, this was the only sliver of hope left to cling to.

The mirror had been reduced to dozens—hundreds—of pieces.

A slick red liquid seeped from my fingers, making the shards slip from my grasp.

"Damn it... what the hell..."

Before I knew it, my hands were covered in cuts.

Despite my efforts, the mirror was nowhere near restored.

"Ugh... h-ha... damn it... sniff... ugh..."

A sharp sting hit the bridge of my nose, and I couldn't hold back the emotions surging within me.

Through blurred, watery vision, I stared into the shard that continued to show the dimly lit basement.

Light from the wooden door I'd left open spilled across the floor, reflecting a piece of a world I could no longer reach.

The Automaton was nowhere to be seen.

Had it left? Or was it standing just out of sight?

The mansion was empty.

I didn't know what had happened with the parade, but they had probably managed fine without me. Dida might have been planning something else, but he'd already achieved one of his goals. He likely wouldn't sabotage the parade itself.

They must have been wondering why I hadn't shown up.

Would they be okay? The parade might have been fine, but I wasn't sure about the party afterward.

...No, they were all capable. They would do great even without me. I wondered how many hours it would be before they returned to the mansion.

Diana or Shamash-san would notice the broken barrier. Then they'd see the shattered window, the basement door standing open... and finally, the broken mirror. They would realize I was gone. They would connect the dots.

The afternoon sun streamed through my window, heartlessly illuminating my dark room. It shone on the six-tatami space of an unemployed, twenty-something man with no redeeming qualities.

My mind went blank. Then it turned a fiery red with rage and regret.

That tiny shard of magic. The mirror that connected me to that world.

Why...?

How did this happen...?

How did things end up like this...?

...There was no mystery to it.

Dida was the villain, but I was the fool.

I had been naive.

I thought I could just keep coasting in that kind world.

I thought the happiness would just last forever. Or rather, I hadn't thought about it at all.

Even after hearing Ion's story, or Isaac's... I had never truly felt the reality of the danger.

If I had chosen the safest path, I shouldn't have paraded Ion in front of everyone. I shouldn't have done something as flashy as a Knight Order parade. Maybe I shouldn't have gotten cocky and summoned a dragon.

Standing out draws malice. I should have known that.

My heart wouldn't stop racing. My fingertips felt numb. A wave of regret surged up from my toes, turning into nausea, sweat, and tears that I couldn't suppress.

I vomited on the floor, and as my head slowly cooled, the reality of the shattered mirror finally sank in.

Beyond my tear-streaked vision lay the mirror, broken into a thousand pieces.

* * *

I took a deep breath.

After a while—after I had calmed down just a fraction—I began to examine the only piece of the mirror that had survived.

No one had returned yet.

Overwhelmed by regret and self-loathing, I had been writhing on the floor of my room for what felt like an eternity, but when I looked at the clock, only about two hours had passed.

The mirror was now just a tiny fragment, roughly 25 cm square, but it was still "alive." I could fit my arm through to the other side, and I could pass objects through. As long as it hadn't completely lost its function, there might still have been hope.

"T-That's right. Diana has her magic, and Shamash-san is there... Y-Yeah. It's okay. It's going to be okay...!"

I muttered to myself, over and over. I had to. If I didn't force myself to believe there was still a future, I felt like I would truly be crushed under the weight of it all.

* * *

How much time had passed?

At the end of what felt like an infinite stretch of time, I finally saw movement in the mirror.

I didn't know what the shards looked like on the other side, but several pieces must have overlapped at just the right angle, because I could see the entrance to the basement. The light from the doorway was suddenly blocked by a silhouette, and Diana appeared in the backlight, her face pale with terror.

"Diana... Diana!"

I screamed at the mirror.

She had found the shattered remains and stood there frozen, her hands over her mouth.

One by one, the others followed: Marina, Rebecca-san, Elepipi, Etowa, Aurica, Ion, Shamash-san, and Shello-san.

They all stood there, stunned.

My eyes met Marina's.

Among them, only Marina, Ion, and Shamash-san could actually see into this world.

Marina screamed something and rushed toward the mirror. On their end, my face must have looked like it was trapped inside a tiny window, a prisoner in a glass cage.

Marina kept shouting, while Ion and Shamash-san took turns peering into the fragment as if to confirm it was really me.

I shouted back, ignoring the risk of disturbing the neighbors, hoping my voice would somehow reach them.

But it was no use.

No sound passed through.

I saw Shamash-san notice the Automaton—or perhaps she had noticed it from the start. She opened the doll's back and removed the Spirit Stone. It seemed Shamash-san knew exactly what the thing was.

She handed the stone to Diana, who was still standing there in a daze. Shamash-san grabbed Diana by the shoulders, shaking her and shouting something. Marina was sobbing, clinging to Diana's clothes.

Diana's expression hardened into one of resolve, and she stepped toward the mirror. She couldn't see me, but I reached out. I thrust my hand through the fragment.

A chilly sensation. It was Diana's hand—the same cool touch I had felt many times before. I gripped her hand with everything I had, and she squeezed back. We were confirming to each other that the magic wasn't dead yet.

When I let go, Diana looked at the Spirit Stone with tear-filled eyes and began to chant. Her Spirit Magic surged, overflowing through the mirror. It was likely the same magic she had used to "rewind" Marina's injuries and heal her.

This magic will fix it.

The mirror will be restored. And then everything will go back to the way it was.

It was a prayer. It was the only hope I had left.

Even when the light leaking from the mirror faded.

Even when nothing about the mirror changed.

Even when Shamash-san lowered her head in the mirror.

Even when Diana, her eyes vacant, was shaken by Marina inside the mirror.

Everything—

Everything belonged to the world inside the mirror.

Like something from a dream.

* * *

Regret came crashing down on me.

Why did I go to that memorial service? I should have just refused. The parade was so much more important.

Why didn't I ask someone to stay at the mansion? If Shamash-san had been there, this never would have happened.

Why did I even talk to Dida? I should have just ignored him. Even if he tried something later, I would have been fine as long as I was with the others.

Why did I run toward the mansion? If I had run toward the city, I could have found help.

Why did I try to escape through the mirror after the barrier was broken? I was faster than the doll; I could have just run through the forest and headed for the city.

Endless "what ifs" kept pouring into my head.

If only I'd done this then.

If only I'd chosen that then.

Regret always comes too late.

There would never be another day in my life when I felt the weight of those words as heavily as I did that day.

* * *

I lost the will to do anything.

I spent my days in my room, staring at the mirror, trying to rearrange the broken pieces, ruminating on memories of the other world, and holding Diana's hand.

Diana carried the functional shard with her everywhere. Whenever I reached out, I could touch her. I stroked her hair; I wiped the tears from her cheeks. I held her hand and felt her heartbeat.

But it was like touching a ghost—a fragment of an illusion that could never truly be reached. Two worlds separated by a single sheet of glass. The distance felt so small, yet we couldn't cross it.

It would be better if we weren't connected at all—

The thought flickered in my mind for a moment. There was nothing more I could do from this side. I just had to wait for them to find a way to fix the mirror on their end.

Surely Rebecca-san, Hetty-san, Shamash-san, and Priestess-chan were searching. I had to believe that. I had no other choice.

* * *

Even after the mirror broke, Rebecca-san and Hetty-san visited the shard frequently.

Marina gave me daily reports with a smile that I knew was forced. Sometimes Etowa would come by and show me drawings on paper to report on the shop's status.

It seemed the inventory was still holding up, but I sent whatever stock I had left in my room through the mirror anyway.

Shamash-san seemed to be researching the structure of the mirror. Since we could only communicate through gestures, I couldn't be sure, but she spent a lot of time clutching her head over complex magical formulas drawn on paper.

I was relieved that Dida seemed to have vanished, but my days were aimless and hollow. I knew I couldn't go on like this, but I couldn't bring myself to take a single step forward.

I hadn't opened my laptop in weeks. The items I'd listed on the auction site must have sold long ago, but I couldn't find the energy to handle the transactions. I'd probably get a "Very Bad Seller" rating, but I honestly didn't care.

On the other side of the glass, Diana cried every day. I worried whether she was eating properly or if staying cooped up was hurting her health, but I was doing the exact same thing.

I was a shut-in again.

I only left my room for the bathroom or to go to the convenience store in the middle of the night for food.

My mother, who worked night shifts and was rarely home, eventually noticed something was wrong and tried to talk to me, but I didn't want to deal with her.

Nothing mattered. I almost wished the whole world would just end.

I knew it was wrong. Everyone over there was working hard. I needed to do what I could. But even though I understood that intellectually, I couldn't do it.

Then, one day, a month after the mirror had shattered, I reached into the glass as usual and was handed a bundle of papers and a stone.

"Letters...? And... is this a Spirit Stone?"

And with it was a single letter. In shaky, uncertain Japanese, it was addressed:

『To Danna-sama — From Aurica.』

It was a letter from Aurica.