Where am I..?

I remember that I went to bed early because I was feeling really sleepy for some reason..

Oh, then this must be a dream!

"Hello, Nadina Loctine" said a deep and magnetic voice that seemed to have popped out of nowhere

Wtf? Do I have a voice fetish or something because I'm pretty sure I just hallucinated about a dude with a really nice voice... What a weird dream this is..

"Nadina Loctine" the voice repeated.

I know I act like one at certain times, but I'm not an idiot, so I quickly realized that this probably wasn't "just a dream" or "hallucination".

"Who.. are you? Where am I? This isn't actually a dream, is it? Oooooh wait, don't say anything, let me guess.. are you some sort of old grandpa that's here to give me a super awesome golden finger because you took pity on me?"

"W-wha? Old grandpa?! Why on earth did my lady choose someone like you to be the next.. arghh... nevermind. You are partially correct, this is the Void of Planes and I have brought you here to pass on a message from Miranda."

"Miranda? Did something happen? Is she okay?"

"Lady Miranda is perfectly fine, no need to worry. She wanted to notify you that she's going to pass on her seat as the Realmkeeper of Plane 105 to you."

"Waitwaitwait, let me digest this information. First of all, what the hell is a Realmkeeper? Plane 105, is that something edible?"

"... Let's start off with the basics. A plane is an existence that creatures such as humans live on. Let's take Earth as an example. It's a plane that constantly develops at a pace we would consider.. pretty fast and it's where humans and animals live on. There are millions of planes out there and each one has its own Realmkeeper. The planes are ranked by their number, so Plane 105 is ranked 105th out of the millions of planes out there. That's already considered an top notch existence. Meanwhile, a Realmkeeper is the one who manages the plane and make sure that the plane is healthy. As a newly appointed Realmkeeper, your job is no easier than the other veterans because it is to prevent plane invasions from enemies and cast out any irregularities. Minor details like healing a space crack or fixing BUGS can be left to your assistants. BUGS are basically existences that had too much "Blessing", and they can also be known as a son or daughter of the gods above due to the heaven defying luck. How they became so lucky can have various reasons, but I'd say the most common reason is because of a spacial crack that led to a strand of unknown substance from outside of your plane entering the body of the said individual. Assistants, as the name suggests, are those who help Realmkeepers keep their plane healthy and prevent any disasters that are to befall the plane. Each Realmkeeper is only allowed to have 3 Assistants, so choose wisely. That said, if an Assistant dies, the Realmkeeper is allowed to appoint a new one. Forming a contract with an Assistant is easy, you just have to voluntarily give them a bit of your blood and they will be forced to follow you until they die. If there is even the slightest hint of betrayal in their hearts, the contract will devour them. Of course, if you're going to give a beast your blood to create a master and servant contract or donate blood to a dying child, that won't form an assistant bond between you two. Lady Miranda had told me to tell you that contacting her is no problem and she's really sorry for throwing so many responsibilities onto you."

"...I seem to have inherited something incredible."

"Of course. Being a Realmkeeper is a huge privilege and it's something that an ordinary mortal, or even the most powerful mages and swordsmen in Plane 105 can only dream of becoming. But every good thing has an equal amount of negativity in it, so all the responsibilities of this plane are pushed onto you. Which is to say, if the plane perishes, then you're screwed. I have no idea why my lady chose you, but she must have her own reasons. Do not disappoint her."

"Can I... reject this? I mean.. look at me! Such a laid back and cute little girl, could you bear to have such a beautiful person like me take on all that work?"

".... Yes."

"F*cking hell. Fine, but do I get any benefits for being a Realmkeeper?"

"Duh. Everything in your plane can be controlled by you, and you can travel to other planes for a vacation as long as you have a plane permit for the said plane. If anyone wants a plane permit for Sairale, they must come to you, but you CANNOT just randomly give them out to strangers! Only stupid people do that. It's like giving your personal information to a complete stranger you met online." After he said that he handed me a little black booklet that somewhat resembled a passport. 

I opened it up and found that most of the pages were blank except for the first one. On that page were words that were imprinted in a shiny golden hue with a stamp underneath. The words read: Nadina Loctine is permitted to travel to Plane 017" and the stamp was a picture of many letters and numbers put together. It kind of looked like a.... code? Not only that, but the stamp itself radiated a faint, yet powerful aura, as if it was representing an entire world. 

"So this is a plane permit.. huh? Kay that's cool, but what's the deal with the gods and goddesses? Miranda referred to herself as a goddess and Nico as a god..?"

"Oh, Realmkeepers are basically gods to the mortals, and even immortals of their plane. Truthfully, there is no god. Planes are naturally birthed and we Realmkeepers are chosen by the plane to become their master. In that sense, Miranda didn't choose you randomly, she chose you because you probably had the highest compatibility with Plane 105."

"I wonder how the ranks of planes are decided..."

"They're decided through the ranking competition, duh. How else do you think we choose the rankings? By lottery? Oh, don't forget that all the Realmkeepers will be holding a meeting soon. We will inform you when that happens. I'd advise you to.. hone your skills because there's going to be a ranking competition at that meeting just like every other one we had."

"Damn, just a few hours ago I was living in an otome game, how did things suddenly get so complicated?"

"Who knows, have fun. Bye."

"Bye.. WAIT! I STILL HAVE THINGS TO ASK... andd he's gone.. Just great. And I still don't know his name. Well, I guess now that I'm a Realmkeeper, I won't need to follow the plot anymore? Nah, I'm having too much fun~"

"Nadina!"

"Hmm? Someone's calling me?"

"NADINA LOCTINE GET THE HELL UP!"

"AHHHH!"

I woke up and the first thing I saw was an angry Lyra holding a bucket of water.

"Wait, I'm up! I'm up! Please don't pour that on to... me.."

*Splash* Too late..

"DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?! IT'S 8:50. 8:50!!"

"Hmm? I seem to have had an ear infection and heard wrong. What did you say? Surely it's not 8:50, right?"

"Oh, you heard me right. IT'S 8 FRICKING 50. WE'RE ALMOST LATE!"

"AAAAA! WHY DIDN'T YOU CALL ME UP SOONER?"

"I DID! YOU WERE THE ONE THAT WAS SLEEPING LIKE A FLIPPIN' LOG!"

"GO GO GO! I CAN'T BE LATE AGAIN OR MS.KELLY WILL ACTUALLY MURDER ME THIS TIME!"

"SAME HERE, I'M GOING TO BE LATE 'CAUSE OF YOU?!"

I don't know if it was because of my new Realmkeeper abilities, or due to the fear of knowing my teacher is about to murder me, but I only took a minute to dress up and eat.

I grabbed Lyra and flung her over my shoulders (like a pro) and ran to class.

"Run faster Naddy! There's only a minute left!"

"SHUSH! I'M ALMOST THERE, PLUS YOU'RE REALLY HEAVY!"

"30 seconds!"

I turned a corner and *BAM* I smashed into someone. This gives me a serious sense of deja vu... WHO CARE?! I NEED TO GET TO CLASS!

"Oww... Naddy, 15 seconds! Get up, we're almost there!"

I sprinted faster than I've ever done so in my life and at the last second I ran into class and threw Lyra onto her seat while I sat in mine.

*Ding Dong*

"We..huff. finally.. huff. made.. it!"

"This school is really big! Couldn't they have set up a teleportation circle of something to make life easier?!"

"Shut up! I was the one who did all the running!"

Lyra and I quickly ran to our seats, disregarding our usual images and sat down as if all that drama from before never existed. We both breathed a sigh of relief when we saw the teacher walk in after we sat down.

"Ahem! Class, we're going to take attendance now!
Liam Fairmond"

"Sup!"

"Reito Hashigawa"

"Present"

"Melodie Furanchika"

"H-here!"

"Nicolas Clark"

"Hello there~"

Ehh..? Nicolas..? It can't be THAT Nicolas, right? Nah, I'm probably overthinking it. The Nicolas I know isn't as flirty as this... weirdo.

. . .

"Lyra"

"Here!"

"And... Nadina Loctine"

"Here~"

 "Okay, let's learn about the basic properties of the four basic elements. Fire, water, earth and.. blah blah blah.."

I'm still pretty shocked over the fact that I, an ordinary transmigrator, became the Realmkeeper of Sairale. This probably means I'll have to go find some assistants, huh? 

Haaah... I used to look up to dad since his level was so high that I couldn't even determine it, but I guess this fits the saying "There's always someone who's above you". Don't get me wrong, I still look up to him, but everything got so damn.. annoying.

If the prize for ranking higher is good food, then I'll consider it. But the problem is, I don't get much for being a Realmkeeper. Instead, I got a new set of responsibilities thrown at me!

So troublesome..

I'll just go to sleep.

"Miss Nadina Loctine! Have you been paying attention? Come up and answer the question on the board!"

I woke up from my daydream and looked around. Everyone was staring at me while Lyra looked at me as if to say 'You're really screwed this time'

I looked at the board and there was a math problem..? I thought we were working on magic.. when did it turn into math?

Oh right, I remember now. Magicians don't just yell some cringey thing like [Fireball] and spit out fire, we have to calculate the trajectory and amount of input we put into out attack. If there's too much of something we may harm out allies, and if there's too little it could end up with a devastating result.

Plus, when creating new spells, we need to calculate the distance and angles between each line and pattern in a magic circle before we draw it, or it's going to fail.

When I arrived in front of the blackboard, my face went like "WTF".

That's because the question on the board was a freaking elementary school leveled question!

It's just 3x + 6 = 21

I mean, dude, no wonder we don't have cell phones in this world. It's way to underdeveloped! I'm learning grade 6 math at 14 years old for gods sake!

I picked up the chalk and sighed while writing:
3x = 21 - 6
3x = 15
x = 5

"I'm done"

I turned around and saw both my classmates and instructor looking at me wide eyed as if I was some kind of monster.

"W-what?"

They snapped out of it and my teacher praised me, saying that I was the first person to solve it this fast and that was actually supposed to be a question for 2nd years of this school.

...

If that was a question for 2nd years, the what the heck are we learning? Why don't you just teach us kindergarten work!?

After I opened my book and saw the standard 1st year questions.

1 + 1 = ?
3 + 5 = ?
10 + 1 = ?

Holy shit, you're actually teaching kindergarten work?!

- - -

I later on found out that by the end of these 6 years, we're expected to learn everything from elementary school up until the end of high school. Like, nani?! (Nani = Japanese for "what")

Everyone relies on magic, so we only need so much material for calculating spell trajectories and input, so no one really cared about all that other stuff.

Cell Phones? There's something called a light wristband.

TVs? Who the heck has time for that when we're all trying to be able to level up? If you have so much free time, try to go and ascend straight into heaven instead!

Modern Buildings? The mansions that nobles live in are at least a few times larger than those. Commoners also have pretty decent houses, so who cares?

Cars? There's something called a teleportation circle, and it's 100000x faster.

So to sum it up, since we basically have everything... so no one bothered to improve it.

Though if I had to list one thing I found unsatisfying, that would be the fact that there's no WIFI in this world.. so I can't watch anime or read novels QAQ

But oh well, since I've become a Realmkeeper... I'll just get stronger and go crash into some modern world like Earth to "borrow" their WIFI.

But that's also why I like it here. Unlike back on Earth, if I didn't get at least a 100 on my exams, my parents would heavily reprimand me.. And even if I did, they would say "It's expected of you, what are you being so excited for? Only trash would be happy to get a perfect score". It made me think that maybe I'm really just a worthless child.. A waste of space and...

Ah! Right, sorry. I was caught up in some.. dark memories.. again.

But that's fine. I'll get over it because I've already decided to live my new life the way I want to!

There are those who'd miss their parents because they transmigrated... but I'm not one of them. I guess my only regret was that I wasn't able to show my parents the fact that I'm not trash, instead I'm fine the way I am.

However, I don't have the right t judge the way their personalities are. Perhaps their parents were also strict with them. Either way, I am living on Sairale now, not Earth and we no longer have any connection with each other.

If I keep grieving over the fact that I had such a tragic past, then I would be ashamed to face Miranda and everyone else that has supported me in my new life.

Oh, but of course I'm thankful for the fact that they gave birth to me, unfortunately I think that their ways were wrong. So I'm going to appreciate the love my new family has given me and leave behind my past, even if it isn't easy to do so.

But I'll still try, because I'm not "perfect".

Plus, there's that saying of "Cry a river, build a bridge and get over it", right? 

"Alright class! I'm assigning a project today and it's due next week on Monday. Don't forget to do it! Everyone is to find a partner and no, it cannot be your desk partner. The two of you have to come up with a unique magical display that can awe others. You are to come and show it to the entire class next week while explaining what it is."

I snapped out of my line of thoughts and was startle by what our teacher just said. Lyra and I looked at each other as we both saw the hopelessness in the other's eyes. 

We couldn't be partners?! Why did you make up such an annoying rule!?

"Lyra~ Wanna be partners?" a flirtatious voice suddenly came from behind us

I turned around and saw that familiar purple haired boy. His hair was dripping over his shoulders like a waterfall and he had a devastatingly handsome face. But that's not what I cared about the most. The male in front of me gave off a really familiar feeling, but I just couldn't remember it...

"Oh, hey Nicolas. Sure, why not."

Nicolas.................... oh god. THIS IS NICOLAS?!

I just remembered everything.

This was my other best friend that I met when I was kidnapped. Goddamnit. Why do people I know just start popping out of nowhere, not that I hate it that Nicolas is here.

"Yay!" Then he looked at me and said "Oh, it's another pretty lady~ You seem quite familiar though...?"

...

What the actual frick

The Nicolas I knew wasn't a huge flirt..

This must be a fake! Yeah that's it! Hahaha...

"Naddy, I know that face. Stop lying to yourself. It's not a fake, this is the real Nicolas"

... What happened to that pure tsundere boy?

"Naddy...? You mean Nadina Loctine?" He asked. After he realized my identity, his gaze turned ice cold for a millisecond before returning back to what it was. Once again, I obviously didn't miss that obvious gesture of hostility. 

"Yeah, duh. Who else?"

Nicolas looked at me and grimly said "You two.. aren't you on bad terms?"

"Why would we be on bad terms?"

I glared at her and she seemed to realize she let it slip.

"So.. you're on decent terms? But the rumors..."

"Don't believe those crappy things. You trust me more than some stupid rumors, right?"

"Y-yeah..."

Aaahhhh screw it. It's not like one slip up will kill me. If worst comes to worst, I can just erase his memory. Plus, judging from his expression, he doesn't buy what Lyra said at all.

"No way~ Miss Lyra and I are the best of friends~"

"Oh, then Miss Nadina, wouldn't you like to accompany for some tea later~?" He said as he instantly turned "playboy" mode back on.

"I'm terribly sorry, but I've got something of the utmost importance coming up later. When I have more time, I promise to do so."

"No problem~"

We looked at each other and as if understanding what the other wanted, we parted ways while I tried to find myself a partner.

As we passed each other he whispered, "If you even try to lay a hand on Lyra, you're dead."

Oho~ what do we have here? A wolf wearing sheep's clothing, eh? Well, that's to be expected, after all, we all grew up fighting for what we have right now, even if I was born a princess, I had it harder than anyone else in those three years.

But still, I can't say it doesn't hurt to see that the person that was by my side through those hell-like days doesn't recognize me. I'm guessing that he thinks I am forcing Lyra to say all these, but who can I blame other than myself? I was the one who came up with the crazy villainess plan after all.

Even though I don't need that anymore, anyone would be suspicious if the arrogant ice princess's attitude changed in the blink of an eye.

All I hope for is that when the time comes, he'll accept the fact that I'm actually Dina.

"Oh, look who it is~ If it isn't my wondrous sister in law!"

God. Flipping. Damn. It!

Without turning around I already knew who it was from the annoying tone of his voice. 

"Ohohoho~ If it isn't the I-can't-perform-any-other-spell-other-than-[Reflect] second prince~"

As soon as I said that, Liam's face turned beet red, but he still tried to act cool by smirking and saying "Whatever, everyone else has partners, so my dear sister in law, you're stuck with me!"

"Kay" At this point, I don't give two sh*ts about getting involved with capture targets anymore. As long as my attitude doesn't change, all is fine. This lady is a Realmkeeper now! Mwahahah   ~(⌒▽⌒)~

"..." Kay my ass. At least give some kind of reaction! Why did sister in law's arrogant attitude suddenly change?

"Here's the plan. I'll decide what we're doing and you make it, okay partner?"

"Huh? oh ok deal.... WAIT, HECK NO! You ain't making me do all the work!"

"Tsk"

"..." Tsk your mom! At least try to hide the fact that you wanted to push everything onto me! 

"Ok fine. Mr. I'm-so-smart-but-I-can't-perform-any-other-spell-other-than-[Reflect] second prince, why don't you some up with something?" I said while rolling my eyes dramatically

"You..!! Arrghh, ok how about we meet up tomorrow 9 AM? It's a Saturday so we can go into town to get some inspiration for our project." I've never really talked to my brother's fiance much, but I've seen her a few times and saw that she was the spoiled and bratty pink little princess type. But there's something I'd like to say to my naive past self. SPOILED MY ASS! As if a bratty kid could ever out talk me! This girl definitely has the most crappy personality and spouts the most viscous words out of everyone I've ever dealt with, even my elder brother! And that's my elder brother you're talking about! He's that type that pretends to be angelic, but is actually a demon... just thinking about it gives me chills!

"Suit yourself." Nadina said as she put on her usual icy cold facade.

"As expected of the school's ice queen. You really don't smile, huh?"

"Shut up."

"..."

#Everyone bullies me, what to do? QAQ