In ancient times, humans and demons were hostile to each other, they were constantly at war.
On the human side, there were 3 main families that could kill demons:
Salvatore
Bianco
Luminosa
Among the 3 families, only Salvatore could kill high-level demons.
While the other 2 families could only reach mid-level demons.
On the demon side itself, there was 1 demon named Beluard who could fight Salvatore equally.
But.. Salvatore's first ancestor, Zeanna, who had suffered many human lives because she was the main power of humans in fighting demons, suddenly sided with the demons.
Both parties, humans and demons certainly did not agree with that and in the end 1 demon named Ash, and 1 human from the Luminosa family who was the leader of the Luminosa family, worked together to separate them and restart the war that had stopped.
In the end, when the war finally started to reappear and peaked, Zeanna killed Beluard. But, in the end, because of her sin of betraying humans and siding with the demons, Zeanna was sentenced to death by the people she used to protect. That was the last human-demon war.
The person who triggered Zeanna's death sentence was... The leader of the Luminosa family, Yua Arancia Luminosa. And I, Erika Tristiana, am Yua's reincarnation.
I was the one who caused Zeanna to be sentenced to death. After Zeanna died, Yua killed herself because of her deep guilt and regret.
Vivi, you are Zeanna's reincarnation. Therefore, to atone for my mistakes in the past, I... I want to protect you and make sure that in this life, you can live happily.
----------------
After hearing all that, I couldn't believe it. And I didn't know what to say. I saw the regret and sadness on Erika's face.
This was indeed unacceptable to human logic, as was the case with me who had returned to the past.
Zeanna... Is she the same person as Zea who appeared in my subconscious?
Is this all related to me returning to the past?
I have so many questions, but I can't say them.
Finally, there's only one thing I can say.
"Thank you."
That one word suddenly came out of my mouth.
Erika, even if what you said is a lie, but... I still want to thank you.
Thank you for protecting me all this time.
Thank you...
.
.
Erika who heard that, then could only cry.
I patted Erika's back who was crying to at least be able to comfort her.
I can now at least understand why Erika protected me all this time.
"But Eri... I don't think I can do it," I said.
"Eh?" Erika started to stop crying.
"Stay away from Risa, I can't do it."
"Why? It's okay if you can't stay away from her right away, at least from now on don't get too close..." Erika said pleadingly with a worried face.
Sorry Eri... I also have my reasons...
If I want revenge, I can't keep avoiding the source of the problem...
Even though I don't know the source of the problem, Risa is still involved in the incident "that night" and I can't just avoid it.
I have to find out more about all of this.
"Sorry, Eri."
***
- Night -
After finishing talking with Erika, I went home and did my usual activities at home, then went to sleep.
But...
Again when I woke up, I was in my subconscious...
"How is it? Now you believe what I said, right? ~" said the red-haired girl who reappeared in my subconscious.
"... There's something I want to ask," I said hesitantly.
"What?"
"'Salvatore's first ancestor, Zeanna', is that you?"
Unusually, Zea just kept quiet with a sad face as if she had been betrayed. And in the middle of that, she answered...
"Yes, that's me."
I had a lot of questions. But, as if she has already known, Zea said, "You certainly have a lot of questions. Even so, I can't answer them. In the end, you'll find out for yourself. The real truth."
.
.
After she said that, I woke up.
"The real truth"
What Erika told me was still not the whole story?
Was there still something hidden?
Was Erika hiding it from me? Or did she not know?
There were a lot of questions piling up in my head, that I didn't even know where to start asking and who to ask.
"Bianco..."
After recalling Erika's story, there was one person that came to my mind.
Eden
His family name is Bianco.
I have to ask him.
***
On the other hand, in the refreshing morning, Risa came to school with a tired face.
.
.
- Last night -
In a house, precisely in the living room, Risa was sitting on the sofa playing with her cellphone.
"Big Sis~" called a 12 year old girl who was none other than Risa's younger sister.
"What?" Risa answered with an annoyed face.
"I want ice cream!!"
"Buy it. The supermarket is close, just go out the alley."
"Buy it!!" said the 12 year old girl with sparkling eyes.
"Buy it yourself!!"
"I'll treat you."
"Still don't want to!!"
"How about we play rock, paper, scissors to determine who buys it?" the little girl asked.
"No!"
"Don't tell me you're afraid of losing?" the little girl teased her sister.
"What?!! Of course not! Come on!!!!" said Risa not wanting to lose.
"Rock, paper, scissors!"
Risa has always been terrible at playing rock paper scissors, and this time too...
Risa lost to her little sister.
"W-what... How..."
"Big sister?" called the girl with a mocking face.
"Arghhhhh, okay...! I'll buy it...!!" Risa replied in an annoyed tone as she prepared to leave the house to buy ice cream.
.
.
- On the Road -
After finishing buying ice cream, Risa walked home. "Phew, I've bought the ice cream, it's time to go home."
"Hey, Risa!" called a magenta-haired girl.
Risa looked and her eyes widened when she saw the girl who called her earlier. "You... You were the one from back then...!"
"Hehe, thanks for helping me that time," said the girl with a smile.
"Gosh, next time you should bring your friends or family there! Besides, this is my first time meeting someone who got lost in the mall!"
"Haha, I got separated from my friend, hehe... And my cellphone battery ran out, so yeah... By the way, what have you been up to?" the girl asked.
"Ah this? I just bought ice cream for my little sister," Risa replied with a smile.
"Hmm... Risa is very kind, huh~ Without you realizing it, all this time you've always given in to your little sister, right~ You really are a good older sister~"
Hearing those words, Risa was silent for a moment. "What..."
"Ah that's right, that was your parents' request, right? Risa is very kind, huh~"
Those were unusual words to be said by someone who had just met.
The girl said that with a smile and her eyes that seemed to turn bright red made Risa speechless and didn't know what to say.
At that time, only one thing came to Risa's mind.
'Who is this person? How could she...'
"Ah, without me realizing it, it's already so late, I'll go home first~"
The eyes that had previously looked bright red changed back to magenta and unknowingly made Risa return to normal and she became confused, so she could only say "Yes..."
The girl then left and a few moments later turned around and said,
"Ah, I almost forgot about it."
"My name is Rosetta"
"See you again"