"So I really did travel to a 'World of the Past' back then?" Eriri asked in shock. "Does that mean... I actually got isekai'd?"
Sawamura Sayuri looked at her daughter with sparkling curiosity. "You crossed worlds, Eriri? No wonder your body here turned into an empty shell. It must have been missing its soul."
"So, tell me, what kind of world did you go to?"
Kawashima Toya didn't interrupt the mother-daughter conversation. Instead, he observed the vacant-looking Eriri sitting on the lawn.
Dull eyes. No soul.
The body is running on pure instinct, barely maintaining the basic functions of life.
Through his Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, he could see it clearly: the "idiot" Eriri was just a biological machine, a husk without a pilot.
After a while, Sayuri let go of Eriri, looking visibly disappointed. "I thought you went to some exciting fantasy world."
"Turns out you just went to a horror game setting."
"Are you really my biological mother?!" Eriri looked at her in disbelief. "I almost died in the 'World of the Past'!"
"If Kawashima hadn't shown up, I would have died without anyone even knowing!"
Toya ignored their bickering and focused his analysis on the Eriri he had rescued. As he suspected, the Eriri he brought back somehow possessed a physical form, even though she should have been just a soul in that world. Her soul and this new body were perfectly synchronized, meaning she didn't technically need her original shell anymore.
"Sayuri-oneesan, Eriri... you have a choice to make," Toya said calmly.
"What choice?"
"If you need anything, just say the word. I'll prepare it immediately," Sayuri said, her expression turning serious as she stopped teasing her daughter.
Eriri felt a sudden wave of panic. "Kawashima, did you find something wrong?"
Toya gave a faint smile. "Don't be nervous. It's a simple choice."
"The 'Idiot Eriri' is just a shell without a soul. The 'Moving Eriri' has both a soul and a body."
"In short, we have one extra body."
"So, make a decision: do you want to keep the idiot shell as a pet, or should we dispose of it?"
"I can handle the corpse disposal for free."
He made a quick cutting motion across his neck to emphasize the efficiency of his service.
"Eeeek—!" Eriri gasped, terror flashing in her eyes. "Kawashima, can you not say such scary things?!"
"Dispose of it, huh?" Sayuri pondered, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "That's not a bad idea. But killing isn't something you should do, Toya-kun."
"Eriri should do it herself. After all, it's her own body."
"We shouldn't let our savior dirty his hands with blood."
Sayuri is even more ruthless than I imagined, Toya thought, secretly admiring her decisiveness.
She was actually suggesting Eriri execute her own doppelganger. Even if it had no soul, it looked exactly like her. For Eriri, that would be a traumatizing experience.
"Mom! No way!" Eriri shivered violently. "I absolutely cannot kill myself!"
Sayuri looked troubled. "But Toya-kun is our savior. Are you really going to make him do the dirty work?"
"It's something you can easily do yourself, yet you want to trouble him?"
"..." Eriri fell silent. After a long pause, she whispered, "Is there really no other way?"
"Cough. Alright, stop." Toya laughed helplessly. "Stop spiraling. Let me think of a solution first."
If he didn't intervene, Sayuri and Eriri would probably start discussing the most efficient way to murder the shell and hide the body to avoid a police investigation.
Just as he was trying to come up with a plan, a message appeared in his mind—likely a tip from Nyaruko.
"Oh? I can do that? Being a Savior really has its perks."
Toya's eyes turned calm and detached, resembling a supreme deity as he looked at Eriri and the shell. He shouted with authority:
"By the Edict of the Savior, return to your true form!"
In the unseen spiritual realm, a majestic, holy thunderclap echoed.
BOOM!
Under the disbelief of Eriri and Sayuri, the soulless shell slowly stood up and began walking toward Eriri.
"Hey! It's a zombie!" Eriri screamed, preparing to grab her mother and run.
"Stand still!"
Toya's calm voice halted her. "Let it come to you."
Hearing his command, Eriri mustered her courage and stood her ground.
Just as the two were about to collide, the power of causality began to glow with a mystical light. A soft, five-colored radiance enveloped both Eriri and the shell, obscuring them from view.
A moment later, the light faded.
Only one Eriri remained, sitting on the ground and rubbing her forehead. "Ouch! That shell actually bumped into me!"
"Eriri, the idiot shell is gone," Sayuri said in surprise.
"It worked." Toya nodded.
Just moments ago, Nyaruko had transmitted the method to fuse the two bodies. The technique was simple: use a command to drive the rules of the world. However, to command the world's rules, one needed the status of a Savior.
Of course, if one was strong enough, they could just ignore the rules entirely.
Controlling the rules of the world... I might be able to use this in combat.
Toya imagined a scenario where he was deadlocked with an enemy of equal strength. A single Edict from him could instantly flip the situation.
It's a pity I can't replicate the full effect from the battle with Cundi.
During that fight, the Savior status had fully manifested. He only had to call out, and any Noble Phantasm he desired would appear. If he needed help, calling a name would summon that hero instantly.
Unfortunately, that was a one-time bonus from the Root for his first manifestation.
[SystemNotice: World Mission "The Mysterious Call" Completed.]
[Reward: 10,000 Origin Points delivered.]
[SystemNotice: World Mission Issued: The Past Has Arrived, But Where Are the Present and Future?]
[ClearCondition: Complete the Banquet of the Present or the Banquet of the Future.]
[Reward: 1,000,000 Origin Points and the Truth of Past, Present, and Future.]
"One million Origin Points?" Toya was shaken.
Simply completing one of the remaining banquets in the Mirror of Past, Present, and Future would yield a million points.
He had never encountered such a terrifyingly rich reward.
"With a million points, I could buy a top-tier Noble Phantasm from the System Shop."
"But rewards this high always come with proportional difficulty."
Toya's excitement quickly cooled.
He remembered Nyaruko's warning: Do not attempt the remaining two banquets.
The system's exorbitant reward was essentially a warning sign in itself. Until he was strong enough and confident enough, he shouldn't risk entering the mirror again.