WCSVL 01

Chapter – 01

In a deep, deep forest where green trees grew thickly, a woman in tattered clothing was running at full speed down a path that wasn’t a path.

“I’m going to die, I’m definitely going to die!”

Branches and grass whipped against her body, but she paid no mind to the increasing scratches as she ran. When she fearfully glanced back, she saw a strange, unidentified creature—something like a mix between a wild boar, a bear, and a scorpion—chasing after her.

Her face twisted in terror as she faced forward again, pushing herself to run even faster with a desperate expression.

“I will never forgive them!
I’ll get my revenge!”

***

Morikawa Ruri—daughter of a foreign model mother and a diplomat father.

Born with the same platinum blonde hair as her mother and lapis lazuli-colored eyes—the very inspiration for her name—Ruri had inherited the excellent genes of her beautiful parents. With her Japanese-featured yet striking appearance, she seemed born into a life of privilege!

However, it appeared she had used up all her luck there, as her environment was not one where she could innocently embrace happiness.

Ruri firmly asserted that her misfortune began without a doubt when the Shinomiya Asahi family moved in next door.

Asahi, the same age as Ruri, had been a cute child from a young age, but everyone around them always favored and gave preferential treatment to Asahi.

It wasn’t that Ruri had a bad personality, but people always sided with Asahi. The kindergarten teachers, the other children, and even their parents.

Whenever there was a fight over toys, Ruri was always the one who got scolded.

Following her mother’s advice that Asahi, with her Japanese features and cute looks, was probably easier to approach than the strikingly beautiful Ruri, who looked more foreign, Ruri had accepted that reasoning even as a child. But having blatant favoritism constantly displayed before her eyes, it was perhaps inevitable that Ruri grew a little cynical.

Then, on a certain day, the problem arrived for Ruri, now a 19-year-old university student.

Ruri quietly opened the door and checked left and right.

“Alright, she’s not there.”

Confirming Asahi’s absence, Ruri dashed out of the house with a desperate intensity.

Because their houses were next door, Ruri and Asahi had attended the same elementary and middle schools. She regretted not going to a private school—a feeling that hit her at the middle school entrance ceremony. She still remembered the shock of her mother’s words: “If you hate it that much, you should have gone to private school.” Considering their family’s financial situation, she could have even attended a high-tuition girls’ school that Asahi’s family could never afford.

Thinking that, she entered a high school with high tuition fees, but somehow, Asahi—who shouldn’t have been there—was there…

When asked why, she was told, “Because I wanted to go to the same school as Ruri-chan!” When she scolded Asahi to consider her parents’ financial situation, she only received a smiling reply: “It’s okay.”

Ruri was intensely curious about how Asahi’s family, with a regular salary man father and a homemaker mother, managed to scrape together the money, but Asahi’s presence had completely ruined Ruri’s high school life.

So, she studied hard and entered a prestigious university with high deviation scores. As expected, Asahi failed the exam, and Ruri couldn’t help but pump her fist in victory. To get even a little distance from Asahi, she moved into an apartment near the university, but somehow, Asahi moved into the same building.

Apparently, she said: “I got into a junior college near Ruri-chan’s university, and since I was at it, I thought it’d be nice to be in the same apartment. Too bad it’s not next door, though…”

Since then, the one place Asahi couldn’t enter—the university—became Ruri’s sanctuary. She even started going there on days she had no lectures, but with high probability, she would be caught by Asahi right after leaving the house and end up going to school together (for Asahi, it was “together”). To avoid that, she tried leaving at different times, but she’d always get caught. Just like now…

“Ruri-chan, wait~!”

*(She must have animal-like senses of smell and hearing,)* Ruri thought.

At the demon’s call, Ruri felt exhausted but didn’t stop walking; she quickened her pace. Asahi caught up and puffed out her cheeks.

“Come on, we promised we’d go together when we have classes!”

*(I never made such a promise! You said that all on your own!!)*

Cursing inwardly, Ruri focused solely on walking. This was the result of years of deliberation on how to deal with Asahi, who never listened no matter how many times she was rejected.

*(She’s air, she’s air…)*

All the while, Asahi kept chattering away, unbothered by Ruri’s lack of response. Her ability to keep talking cheerfully to someone who completely ignores her was nothing short of a natural monument-level lack of social awareness. If it were Ruri, she would never speak to someone again unless she had business with them.

As they approached Asahi’s junior college, a group of four—three men and one woman—came toward them. The four, who smiled and greeted Asahi, were middle school classmates Ruri also knew. When they saw Ruri next to Asahi, they openly twisted their faces in disgust.

“Hey, it’s you again.”
“Asahi-chan is too kind to leave you alone, but you don’t need to bother with someone like her.”
“Everyone, don’t say that—Ruri-chan is my best friend.”

*(Wait a minute. Since when, and who made whom their best friend? That’s just you saying that on your own.)*

Ruri wanted nothing to do with them and tried to keep her distance, but for some reason, Asahi clung to Ruri, who barely responded, rather than the people who fawned over her. People were always gathering around Asahi—so much so that you’d wonder if it was some religious group, with nothing but worshippers flocking to her.

From their perspective, Ruri, who was specially treated as Asahi’s best friend, was nothing but a thorn in their side, and they constantly targeted her.

Even those who didn’t associate with Asahi seemed to find these worshippers abnormal, often casting pitying glances from afar at Ruri, who always looked troubled when Asahi pestered her. But once they got involved with Asahi, they too would turn hostile toward Ruri—it was a real handful.

For Ruri, it was nothing but a nuisance. She had wracked her brains countless times, trying everything to get away from Asahi, but all her efforts were brushed aside. She had put large sums of money into offering boxes at shrines, prayed, bought suspicious-looking pots—yet still, no sign of any effect.

*(Damn it, maybe I should try some black magic from that one country next…)*

As she tuned out the surrounding commotion and lost herself in thought, the ground beneath her feet suddenly began to glow.

“Huh? What’s happening!?”

She heard Asahi’s panicked voice, but the light was so bright she couldn’t keep her eyes open. Squeezing them shut, she felt a sensation like falling on a roller coaster and an overwhelming nausea, instinctively dropping to a crouch.

When she next opened her eyes, she was sitting not in a familiar cityscape, but in a place that looked like a stone-paved temple.

“Oh! It worked!”
“The shrine maiden has arrived!”

Before the stunned Ruri, elderly men in white ceremonial robes resembling priests and older men were rejoicing, completely ignoring Ruri and the others.

“…Huh?”

Her thoughts began to move again but quickly fell into chaos. Looking around, she saw Asahi and the four middle school classmates who had been with her just moments ago. They too seemed unable to grasp the situation, their mouths hanging open in bewilderment.

Then, a man dressed like a Western prince spoke.

“Welcome, our long-awaited shrine maiden princess…?”

The man, who had been speaking cheerfully, froze in shock as his eyes fell on Ruri and the other classmates—everyone except Asahi, who was closest to him.

“Priest, what is the meaning of this?! There are three women here!”

As the man raised his voice, one of the elderly men in ceremonial robes stepped forward.

“It appears we have summoned not only the shrine maiden princess but others as well.”
“Which one is the shrine maiden princess?”
“The shrine maiden princess is said to possess a rare coloring and the power to attract everyone.”

The man in princely attire, addressed as “Your Highness,” examined each face—Asahi, Ruri, and the female classmate—one by one, then smiled at Asahi.

“Then you must be the one. You are the most charming person here.”

*(What an insulting man! I’m not narcissistic, but I inherited my mother’s blood—I’m plenty good-looking too!)*

Ruri fumed inwardly.

When the man knelt before Asahi and extended his hand, as if a knight were offering his love, Asahi blushed and timidly placed her hand in his. She sent passionate glances toward the handsome man.

Witnessing this, a thought struck Ruri. *If I just paired Asahi with a man she likes, wouldn’t she leave me alone?!*

Thanks to entertaining such ridiculous thoughts, her previously muddled head began to clear.

*(Just a moment ago I was in the city, and now I’ve suddenly been transported somewhere else—that’s impossible. Maybe I was knocked out and kidnapped somewhere. But what’s this ‘shrine maiden princess’ business? Don’t tell me Asahi’s followers have started something crazy again.)*

She thought, *If they’re Asahi’s followers, it’s entirely possible,* and sank into that familiar exhausted feeling.

“Um, where is this place? If you only need Asahi, I’d like to go back to my world.”

She spoke to one of the nearby priests, who then looked to the man for instructions.

“What shall we do with the others?”
“Right, first we must report to His Majesty. We’ll ask His Majesty how to handle the others.”

*No, I want to go home now,* she tried to say, but before she could get the words out, the priests made her stand and led her away.

They were brought before an elderly man sitting on an ornate chair elevated high up—apparently the king, judging by his lavish attire—and prompted to kneel. Only Asahi was allowed to remain standing.

“Welcome, shrine maiden princess. We have eagerly awaited your arrival to bring prosperity to our kingdom.”

Asahi, flustered by the incomprehensible words of the elderly king, stammered a reply.

“Um, thank you… very much… But, um, where is this place? I was just in the city a moment ago…”
“This is the Kingdom of Nadasha. You have been summoned.”
“Huh, summoned…?”

Ruri, who had been listening with her head bowed, along with the other four, couldn’t hide her shock.

*(You can’t seriously mean that fantasy nonsense!)*

To summarize the king’s explanation: according to an ancient prophecy passed down in the kingdom, summoning a shrine maiden from another world would bring prosperity to the land.

At first, they were all skeptical, but after being shown magic right before their eyes, they had no choice but to believe. Ruri felt a slow burn of anger rising—had she been kidnapped because of some dubious prophecy?

“The shrine maiden princess is said to possess a rare coloring. Your golden hair and blue eyes—there is no doubt you are the shrine maiden princess of the prophecy.”

At the words of one of the priests—who seemed high-ranking and was so frail he looked like he might ascend to heaven at any moment—Ruri’s expression stiffened. Fortunately, her face was bowed, so no one noticed her reaction, but she was deeply shaken.

Ruri had platinum blonde hair—more white than silver, like her mother’s—which stood out considerably in Japan. She already suffered unnecessary trouble because of Asahi, and she didn’t want to stand out any more than that. On her mother’s advice, she had worn a wig since elementary school. Dyeing it would have been easier, but she couldn’t bear to damage her mother’s beautiful hair, so she opted for a wig.

Now, with a brown wig, glasses to hide her features, and makeup techniques passed down from her mother, she looked plain and unremarkable—a background extra, at best.

Unlike the plainly disguised Ruri, Asahi, since entering junior college, had started mimicking Ruri’s looks—dying her hair blonde, wearing blue colored contacts, and going all out with makeup.

If they were talking about golden hair and eye color, Ruri could have been a candidate too, but she had no intention of pointing that out. In fact, it was convenient if they were mistaken. Asahi, far from denying it, seemed delighted and was chatting happily with the prince-like man they’d first met.

*(Good, let’s pin it on her. She doesn’t seem unhappy about it either.)*

Asahi was hopeless in the head, and while there was a chance she’d forgotten Ruri’s existence, she didn’t seem troubled, so it was fine—Ruri concluded, and steeled herself to speak to the king.

“Um, is she the only one you need as the shrine maiden princess? If I’m not needed, could I please be sent back to my original world?”

*Please don’t say there’s no way back,* she prayed silently as she awaited his answer.

“Unfortunately, the summoning magic is one-way only. No magic to send you back has been developed. It may be developed in the future, but currently, there is no way to return.”

It was over…

The others, who had been excited about the fantasy aspect, finally seemed to grasp the situation and their faces turned pale.

“No way… So we can never see Mom and Dad again…?”

As Asahi started sniffling and crying, the king and priests panicked.

“D-Do not cry. I swear you shall be treated as an equal to the king, and you shall never want for anything. Yes, so you won’t be lonely, we will arrange for you to stay together with those who were summoned with you.”

And so, without consulting Ruri or the others, they were set to live in the castle.

*(Well, that’s fine, I suppose. It’s not like yelling ‘kidnapping’ here would do any good… And they did say they’d provide food, clothing, and shelter.)*