Corrupted Reincarnation: The Eldritch Maid

[Null POV] Year 5, Day 207 (Morning, continued)

Everyone stood confused. Processing. Trying to understand.

Isekai. Divine child. Thirteen thousand years. Coca-cola from home. Too much. Too fast. Too overwhelming.

Finally Ealdred talked. Seeing Spy. "So there indeed was someone. Had my doubts for quite some time."

Spy spoke. "Hello. I'm Spy. Null's other half."

Silence. Pause. Everyone waiting.

Finally Null ended it. "TALK."

Ealdred's eyes literally rolled. "What exactly?"

Null wasn't sure where to even start. What he was before. How he arrived here. Thirteen thousand years—this number still looked insane.

Decided to start with something classic for isekai. "What year are you from?"

"You mean Earth years?"

"Yes."

"1914 to 1943."

Null's mind froze. [Did I hear century wrong?]

Looking at Spy. He looked frozen too.

Null managed. "How?"

"I don't know. I don't control time. It was just when I was born and when I died. But I met five others of my kind. They were all from later times. Century at most difference. And the order they arrived didn't match the years they died." Pause. "Plus all our Earths were slightly different. One of them didn't even have this stupid war I died in. Many mysteries. I have no answers for any of those."

[Parallel Earths? Timelines? Different versions? And war... 1943... that's World War 2.]

[Perhaps not proper to ask how he died. Too personal. Too painful maybe.]

"Your life on Earth?"

Ealdred sighed. "It was long ago. Try to ask yourself same question in thirteen thousand years. See how much you remember clearly."

He took a moment to collect his thoughts, then started.

"What I remember? Some things are more clear than others. Usually firsts or just more extremes. Lived on old Earth. In the years when it looked determined to tear itself apart. Don't remember much about before the war. Had a brother. Don't remember his name. Had mom. Don't remember her name either. Remember her smile. But not sure if it's actually hers or just... fabricated memory. Fiction my mind created. Don't remember anything about dad. Either never had one or not worth remembering anymore. Not sure which."

He continued. Slow. Careful. Pulling fragments. "Think I worked in some repair shop. Have some memories of that. But not sure again if real or just... impression. Feelings without source."

"Was mobilized when the war was already in full swing. Served as mechanic. Never shot a gun once in direction of enemy. But saw more than my fair share of corpses and horrors. Both friends and foes. Usually needed to dig those out from our tanks and various machines that needed new life." He went silent for a moment, the bitterness clear in his face. "For some reason all the bad things stuck better. Good memories faded. Bad ones remained. Always remained."

"My luck ran out in a city of snow and cold. Trapped there with many others. Hell—except the freezing kind. Died in front of a burned-out house. Under tank tracks. Don't ask why I remember the house was burned. That detail just stuck. Was hard to find anything standing normally there." His voice went flat, emotionless and distant. "That's how I died. That's how I left Earth. Under tank. Crushed. Done."

He took a breath.

"Machine-related death seems to be some requirement to get a second try here. All others of my kind had similar deaths. Car. Truck. Train. My tank was more extreme but counts also. Those from future were theorizing it's some kind of Truck-kun law. Pattern. System. Rule maybe. Never confirmed. Just: observation."

[Shitty time and place to live. Wrong everything. Perhaps better not to ask more about Earth. Too painful for him.]

But then Null remembered. "And after you got here... that time had any isekai stories already? Wait. Oni? Your Earth has those?"

Ealdred rolled his eyes more. "NO and NO. I was totally normal human. Just ended like this here." Gestured at himself. Oni form. Large. Strong. Different. "In this group of isekai I traveled with later, two more ended up not human. One ended up catkin—she had some cat fetish apparently. About the other, we had no idea why. My form..." He paused. "Probably because of how I died. In war and everything. Got this form specialized for fighting maybe. Combat. Survival. Made sense for where I ended up. What I needed to do."

Ealdred walked behind table. Sat in one of the chairs there. Tired. Resigned. But willing to continue.

"If we're already talking about it, there's perhaps few things that would be useful for you to know. If you ever meet more isekai. Not any arrived for ages. But who knows." He looked at Null. "You probably live for eternity. If your stupidity doesn't get you killed first."

"When I arrived this world, I got small instruction loaded to my memory. One from our group called it 'game guide.' Things like magic system basics. Races. Some info about monsters. Plus info how to use divine power that every isekai is gifted."

[Divine power. What Dirty Dog wanted from Spy. Power of a hundred isekai. That's what she said. That's what she wanted.]

"Divine power?"

"Yes. This is what makes isekai so dangerous but also quite literally one-shot heroes. When you arrive, you have limited amount of it. For example, you can use it so ten squats makes you one of strongest in the world. You can use it to acquire new magic abilities. Increase your luck. Make wishes. Whatever. But once it runs out, you're just regular person. Normal. Average. Done."

He continued. "I understood quite fast—using it like that gets me nowhere. Just temporary boost. No foundation. No future. On Earth there were also some stories about pet monsters and companions. Same here apparently. So I made wish to find a friend. And some point later, found the Twins. Probably saved their lives with it. They looked half-dead when I found them. Wish healed them. Connected us. Made us family."

Spy asked. Clinical. Assessing. "How strong are those isekai? Possibly dangerous to Null?"

Ealdred thought a bit. "Probably not. But don't get surprised if one shows up strong."

He went quiet, gathering harder memories.

"Soon after I found the Twins, I met group of five isekai who traveled the world. Searched for ways to immortality. We had a century of adventures together. Until true dragons found us." His voice went cold. Distant. "We tried everything. Used our divine power. The Twins. Every trick we could think of. They just played with us. Killed the others. Me and the Twins only managed to run due to sheer luck. This was three true dragons versus six isekai plus Twins. You managed to take down one. And I think Dirty Dog was more powerful than any of those three. This is also why the Twins had this kind of panic fear for true dragons. Trauma burned into them. Terror that never faded."

He went quiet — and then something almost like a smile crossed his face. "I kind of liked training Dirty Dog though. Some nice old payback. For friends lost. For everything."

Null summarized. "Be careful then. But not mortal danger?"

Ealdred agreed. "Probably not mortal danger. But isekai can surprise. Can have strange abilities. Can use divine power in unexpected ways. Just... never assume an isekai is what they look like."

He remembered something. Pulled a book from item box. Opened it partway. Put it on table.

"Found this lot later by random. It's story of six heroes and their loyal dragon. It's total bullshit. Don't believe single phrase of it. But well—that's how legends are born. How truth becomes fiction. How we become myths."

Null looked at the picture there. Group of six. Three humans. Catkin. Elf. Oni. Plus two-headed dragon. Text next to it using some kind of letters she'd never seen. Strange. Foreign. Alien.

22 spoke. "I can translate. But it looks to be some kind of kid story."

"Yes. That's what nearly ten thousand years of storytelling and rewriting does. I wonder so much actually survived at all. Wonder if anything's still accurate. Probably not. Just... entertainment now. Myth. Nothing more."

22 asked. "You said those isekai looked for immortality. What's with that and divine children?"

"They're like everyone else. Mostly. When by default this world has limit like thousand years—can increase or lower a bit for how you live—then isekai due to divine something, I guess, default is perhaps around two thousand. Or that was oldest member of this group who was literally walking corpse at the end. Falling apart. Dying slowly. Unpleasant to watch."

22 confirmed. "So no easy immortality."

"That goes only to true dragons and some other reality-breaking monsters. Everyone else dies. Eventually. Some just take longer."

Alpha asked. Quiet. Careful. "Did you have any kids?"

"Had few in early days in this world. Some accidents during our hero travels. Later, after everyone was killed and I hid myself, had few more." He fell silent, the grief of it pressing down. "But when I found out I'd outlive everyone due to the Twins keeping me stable, keeping me alive... didn't want to bury more. Didn't want more loss. Didn't want to watch more people I cared about die while I continued. So stopped. No more children. No more connections. Just... Twins. Just students. Things that could continue without breaking me more."

His voice went flat. "And the final change was when I lost... sexual interest. Romantic interest. Seems after seeing so much anatomy over so many centuries, those things stopped mattering. By perhaps my three-thousandth birthday, breasts and curves meant nothing. Just bodies. Meat. Nothing special anymore. Training became purely professional after that. No attraction. No desire for anyone. Just purpose. Just teaching. That's all I had left."

Alpha asked more. "Anything else interesting you did?"

"No. Not really." Ealdred's voice was distant. Tired. "After our party was destroyed, I hid myself. Found interest in training maids. When Empire took over this area and started to expand, I decided to move back here. They were powerful. Heard rumors they protected isekai. So hoped maybe dragons wouldn't follow. Afraid of Empire. Well—it looks they actually were respecting Empire. Never seen one here after that."

He continued. "However, when I arrived this continent, things were strange. Lot of stories about isekai making heroic things. But looked like Empire kept them under guard. Under watch. Plus all isekai in stories and rumors were humans. So I moved to here. Where Republic is now. That time it was quite bizarre area. Both under Empire control and not. Nice place to hide. Lived here until Paradise was destroyed. Never saw it sadly. Was in dungeon that time. When I got word, ran out fast. But explosion was over. Only desert left."

"After that, took part in independence war here against Empire. Once it ended, just kept doing the same thing—more and more as everyone got richer. Training and teaching. Building legacy. Hiding, surviving, repeating."

Then something came to mind.

"Oh. Around five thousand years ago, I used my last bit of divine power. All I had left since the fight with true dragons. Made wish to find someone who can take over Twins' connection. Save them. Keep them alive after I'm gone."

"So it led you here?" Null asked. "To me?"

"Not sure. Maybe. Maybe not. I had almost nothing left by then. Power nearly gone. But when I met you first time, got some strange feeling. Like maybe this was it. Maybe you were the answer." He paused. "And the Twins were super into you. Instantly. Attached. Devoted. Though your total disregard for life made me hesitate initially. But I guess monsters stay monsters."

"Thanks?"

"It wasn't a compliment."

Ealdred stood again. Started walking toward the door.

22 spoke. "So you're still just going to do it? Turn yourself in?"

"Yes. Don't actually care that much anymore anyway. Twins are safe. And I've been running like mouse in wheel for eternity. Tired. Done. Ready."

Then something cold settled in his voice.

"If you ever find this bastard who's behind it—don't give him fast end. Make it slow. Make it hurt. Make it educational."

Then walked out of the dome.

Outside: nobody.

Empty space. Ealdred gone.

22 said quietly. "There are signs of teleportation. Ealdred probably teleported away."

Null felt really hesitant. Finally asked. "Spy. Ideas?"

Spy's voice came. Careful. Measured. «Host. None. But Ealdred looked like someone with a plan. To die in the name of his maids. His legacy. If you go after him, you need to be ready to drag him back with force. And then probably hold him with force. Keep him restrained. Keep him from trying again.»

"I know. And while I'm holding him prisoner, whoever's behind this attacks again—kills more students and maids, uses the distraction, finds some way to use Ealdred being captured as leverage. Everything just gets worse."

Null felt completely cornered. [Don't know what to do. Can't save him, can't let him go, can't stop the attacks. No good options—only bad choices and worse choices.]

The Twins looked sad and lost, eyes wet with distress.

[Need to help them. Need to make them feel better. Need something. Anything.]

Null decided to cheer up the Twins at least. "Twins. I found something fun."

Twins looked at her, waiting and hopeful.

"Bunny's ears. Soft and calming. Playing with them is really nice. You'll definitely like it."

"Dwarves seem to like those?" Twins asked, uncertain but curious.

"Yes. Very much."

Null located Bunny with life sense. She was in the main house. In her office.

Null took the Twins' hands and started walking. "Come. Bunny wanted goddess ear massage. She'll get it. And you can watch how she works remotely. Learn from that—it's productive and calming."

[Ealdred gone. Can't save him or stop him or fix this. But can help Twins. Teach Twins something nice—something peaceful that isn't loss and sacrifice and goodbye. Small thing, but it counts.]

They walked. Twins followed, sad but willing and trusting.

Toward Bunny's office. Toward ear massage lessons. Toward whatever small comfort could be found.