A desiccated wind whistled through the cracks of the weathered wooden walls.
The village leadership had gathered in the Meeting Hall, where a stifling silence hung heavy. The floorboards creaked, the flickering light of a dying oil lamp wavered, and every man present kept his eyes cast downward.
"It has been two months since the last rain," an old man rasped. This was the advisor, the Village Elder and Former Village Head. "We managed to pull in the harvest just in time, but the river is a mere trickle, and the wells have run dry. We will not survive the winter at this rate."
"Could we not summon a skilled Water Mage?" someone asked.
"Out of the question. Our stores are bare; we couldn't support another mouth, let alone an expert."
"What about seeking help from the Lord?"
"I hear every territory is in a similar state. There is little hope there."
"If that is the case—" Another man picked up the thought. "—Indeed. Then we have no choice but to pray to the Great Tortoise."
The moment that name was uttered, the atmosphere in the room grew even bleaker.
The Great Tortoise—an entity dwelling deep within the mountains, regarded as both a god and a monster. Tradition held that it demanded a sacrifice in exchange for bringing the rain.
"But is it certain? Will praying to the Great Tortoise truly bring the rain?"
"When I was a child, we faced a similar crisis," the Village Elder said. "The Great Tortoise favors Magic Power. At that time, my own sister was offered up, and rain was restored to the village. I am the witness."
"If the Elder says it is so, then it must be true."
"The problem, however," the Village Elder continued, nodding solemnly, "is whom we shall offer up." He paused, letting the silence stretch. "Fortunately, is there not one in this village right now? One with no family to speak of."
A stir spread through the room at the Village Elder’s words. He had finally given voice to the answer everyone had been harboring in their hearts. They all pictured the same orphan girl.
"Does she possess enough Magic Power?"
"We shall worry about that if it comes to it. We have kept her precisely for a moment like this."
"But, to go from being sold as a slave to losing her life as a sacrifice..."
"Should we all perish instead?" the Elder snapped. "She is a resource, and the time has come to use her. It is as simple as that."
Originally, they had intended to sell her to a Slave Trader once she had grown a bit more. However, the desperate weather had forced their hand, warping the girl’s purpose and accelerating her end.
"She will be a sacrifice for the sake of the village. It must be what she desires as well."
"When shall it be done?"
"Strike while the iron is hot. The sooner the rain falls, the better for everyone."
The air in the Meeting Hall was now so thick with resolve that there was no room to overturn the decision. A cold wind, heralding the coming winter, blew through the cracks in the walls.
The sound of footsteps echoed through the forest as the group climbed the mountain path. The girl was being hauled like cargo by a grown man, her struggles entirely in vain.
Surrounded by men who threatened to break her limbs if she resisted any further, she knew fighting back was useless. A single swollen cheek from a previous blow was all the proof she needed.
Eventually, an ancient, moss-slicked Shrine came into view.
Resting atop stone steps, the wooden Shrine had been built by the villagers when the settlement was first founded. It had begun as little more than a wooden box with a roof, but over the long years, the creeping moss had granted it a mystical aura that commanded the villagers' faith. The girl trembled with primal terror.
"Lie face down right there," the Village Elder commanded.
The girl obeyed, laying herself flat upon a monolithic stone slab. When told to spread her limbs, she did so, her body hugging the cold earth—and then, a sickening crunch of bone and the wet tearing of muscle rang out. A split second later, an agonizing scream erupted. Massive rocks had been dropped onto her hands and feet.
"AAAAAAAAGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
The rocks were far heavier than the girl or any of the men present. The limbs pinned beneath them were reduced to shredded pulp, incapable of even the slightest movement. Her screams tore through the mountain air.
"This ensures she won't flee," the Elder remarked.
"H-Hey, was there really a need to go this far?" one of the men stammered.
"There was. If you leave a sacrifice unbound, they will run before the beast can claim them."
The girl no longer heard the old man’s cold voice, nor the hesitant whispers of the men who were terrified of their own handiwork. The sheer intensity of the pain had blocked everything else out. She screamed until blood sprayed from her throat.
That voice was the summons for the Great Tortoise.
"Keep it down. We haven't even made our escape yet."
"AAAAAGH—Guh!!"
The Village Elder clamped his hand over the girl’s throat. With a strength unimaginable for a man his age, he crushed her windpipe until the sound stopped.
"Farewell. Fulfill your duty to the village."
"…!"
"Come, let us leave before the Great Tortoise arrives. Hurry now—you are all valuable labor, and I have no intention of letting you be eaten."
"…Right."
Driven by fear and the weight of their atrocity, the men fled the scene.
"Aaaah… hhh…"
Her throat began to clear, but the will to scream had been drained by the agony. Tears had run dry, and she could do nothing but press her face into the dirt. Tears, saliva, and bile soaked her stone bed.
Gradually, the pain began to fade into a dull numbness.
She felt a presence. She wondered if the men had returned, or if the monster had finally come for her—but the aura was not frightening. When she forced her head up, a sphere of light was hovering before her.
『Will you offer everything to the Spirit?』
"..."
『Will you offer everything to the Spirit?』
The question resonated directly within her mind.
"Save… me… I’ll give it… I’ll give… everything…"
『Agreement confirmed. Commencing connection—Right then, I’m coming to the rescue.』
"…Eh?"
『Oh, I can customize quite a bit here.』
"Hyaa… ah, ah, ah… fyah!"
A different kind of sensation began. With sickening pops and cracks, her body stretched and contracted. Her hair lengthened, shifting colors and back again. New limbs sprouted where the others had been crushed. Parts of her vanished as if they had never existed, only to be reformed in new configurations.
It was as if her very essence was being molded like clay. The restructuring of her flesh was violent and intense—yet it was not an unpleasant sensation. Unlike the blunt trauma of the rocks, this was a sharp, searing pain accompanied by a wave of sweet, overwhelming pleasure.
This was what it meant to "offer everything." Her former self was being systematically dismantled and remade. She could feel her identity dissolving into the light.
For an hour, her body was kneaded and reshaped until the transformation finally reached its end.