Manga / Umi no Misaki

Umi no Misaki is a seinen manga by Kou Fumizuki, creator of Ai Yori Aoshi. It was serialized in Young Animal from 2007 to 2014.

Shortly before his father gets transferred to New York, Tokyo High School student Goto Nagi travels to his deceased mother's birthplace on the island of Okitsushima. Soon after he arrives a local girl named Shizuku offers to show him around and even saves Nagi's life when he accidentally falls off a cliff. However, when he meets her again the next day at school she refuses to have anything to do with him.

Nagi soon learns that Shizuku only felt free to be herself with him because she thought he was a tourist, something that's not longer possible now that he's going to stay. That's because Shizuku, fellow classmate Soyogi and his neighbor Karin are the Cape Maidens, worshiped as goddesses by the people of the island as representatives of their Dragon God. And because his mother was also a Cape Maiden and his birthday matches the day that the previous Dragon God died, the islanders believe Nagi is the current mortal incarnation of the Dragon God.

Naturally, the position comes with a harem: the Cape Maidens. And just as naturally, all four of them have some decidedly mixed feelings about that. Now Shizuku, Soyogi and Karin must fulfill their duties as Cape Maidens by earning Nagi's favor while Nagi tries to settle into his new role as Dragon God. It's not always easy trying to figure out just what the Dragon God is supposed to do... especially since there's some very important things about being the Dragon God that the locals aren't going to tell him.

Umi no Misaki differentiates itself from stereotypical Harem Series by its character development and its approach to the Harem Genre's standard tropes. Although Shizuku is originally set up as the obvious winner, Nagi spends time with all three of the girls, shows an interest in their daily lives and hobbies, helps them with their work, cooks for them and shows genuine concern for their feelings.

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Provides Examples Of:

• Accidental Pervert: Nagi is constantly catching glimpses of Karin in various states of undress, because the neighboring house has been vacant so long she's gotten out of the habit of closing the curtains.
• A God Is You: Downplayed but present. Nagi, although he doesn't have any magical powers, and isn't too sure what to do with his position. He has indirect social power over the island through the Maidens; they're highly-regarded figures whose lead the islanders tend to follow, and as he helps the Maidens defrost and grow more confident in themselves, those changes are going to influence the islanders.
  • Also kind of subverted: Getting told that he's the reincarnation of the dragon god doesn't change his personality in the least, and he mostly tries to get people (especially the maidens) to treat him like a normal person. It's just the maidens (at the beginning, before Character Development kicks in) that treat him like a god. Although it seems as if most of the people of the island don't yet know he's the Dragon God. Aside from Nagi, the Maidens, Rinne, Karin's grandmother, Kisaragi-sensei, and the actress friend she told, only one other person — who may be the school principal — has been confirmed as knowing.
• All Men Are Perverts/All Women Are Lustful: Major aversion. Four teenagers with no parental supervision and implicit community approval to sow as many wild oats as they can? You'd think they'd be screwing like bunnies. Instead they're preoccupied with romance and none of them has sex until they're convinced they're both genuinely in love and loved in return.
  • This is all but stated to be the result of all four (as well as a few side characters) being re-incarnates with extensive experience with each other, and therefore are as focused on the emotional connection as most would be the physical. Though the girls are much more comfortable with teasing Nagi with peeks at their bodies than most would be.
• A Party, Also Known as an Orgy: Near end of story, Nagi is told to go to the temple where Maidens will wait for him. The resulting ceremony quickly turns into an orgy thanks to an aphrodisiac, and it's not until after that Nagi learns that the orgy was the whole point.
• Armor-Piercing Question:
  • Nagi to Soyogi: "After all, you're a woman, aren't you?"
  • Nagi to Karin: "Is there something you want me to do? Just tell me what you want me to do."
  • Really, the Maidens' emotional armor stands up against Nagi about as well as paper armor would a sword. He casually stumbles across things some of them have kept secret for most of their lives, like Shizuku's secret room full of plushies and manga.
• Arranged Marriage: A multiple-choice arranged marriage, no less. Or so it seems...
• Art Evolution: In particular, over the couple months of the first 12 volumes, Nagi goes from a short-haired young man to a boyish character design with a Dragon Ball hairstyle.
• Balanced Harem: Nagi is determined not to let any of the girls feel left out or like he's ignoring them because he likes them all. This becomes an active thing when the girls say Nagi has to spend time with each of them exclusively and not pay attention to anyone else.
• Barbie Doll Anatomy: Regularly averted.
• Beach Episode: Nagi ends up at the beach quite often, usually with Shizuku.
• Belief Makes You Stupid: Nope. However, how the maidens see Nagi is coloured by their beliefs. Karin is the least devout and simply thinks of him as a boy. Shizuku truly believes that he is the reincarnation of the Dragon God, and thanks the god for appearing in the form of Nagi to her. (The other two mention she's always been a bit irrational about her faith.) Soyogi is devoted to her position and, before she sorts out her feelings, at first only pursues him out of duty.
  • Except, it turns out it actually does. Knight Templar Shizuku seems determined to do the Murder-Suicide Ritual with Nagi. Moderately devout Soyogi mostly mopes about it, and does nothing. Only Karin who does not treat her island religion or traditions too seriously, actively tries to do anything to prevent the ritual. This casts their actions in an entirely different light.
  • And now triple-subverted, at least in Shizuku's case. She never intended to kill Nagi, and in fact has spent nearly the entire series planning how to end it with only her death, regardless of who Nagi chooses.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Shizuku can be scary when she gets angry. As kids, Soyogi once ate a cake roll Shizuku had left as an offering for the Dragon God. Shizuku tied her up and left her in the shrine. By the time the islanders came to cut her loose, Soyogi was delirious from exposure. It's the first hint there may be something wrong with her. Even if she genuinely loves Nagi (Karin believes she does not) that comes second to her duty as a Maiden.
• Be Yourself: Shizuku and Soyogi originally stick to their Cape Maiden persona when in public, but their private personality eventually starts to come out.
• Blush Sticker: Permanently featured on Rinne, Karin's little sister.
• Ceiling Cling: Among Kisaragi's hidden talents.
• Cerebus Syndrome: It starts about 100 chapters in as darker elements get introduced as the series builds towards the dramatic climax.
• Character Development:
  • Nagi is gradually becoming more aware of his responsibilities towards the Cape Maidens.
    • He also becomes more and more comfortable becoming physical with the girls. He starts off being nervous just kissing, to kissing the girls whenever he felt ready with no fear, to attempting to have sex.
  • Karin starts off as insecure because Shizuku and Soyogi both have a fuller figure than she does and are more dedicated to their religion than she is, but eventually comes to realize that as far as Nagi's favour is concerned, she's a serious contender.
  • Soyogi originally pursues Nagi's favour out of pure duty. Eventually, she develops a more feminine side and decides that she wants to pursue him as a woman and not just as a Cape Maiden.
  • Shizuku spent most of her life isolated from everyone because of her position. She started to relax when Nagi showed up. She loves Nagi, or does she? She does. Ye gods, she does.
• Close-Knit Community: showing some of the downsides: The reverence paid to the Cape Maidens leaves them socially isolated, and it takes a while for the islanders to warm up to Nagi.
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: Shizuku's measures to Karin and Soyogi sneaking out to see Nagi. None of them like it.
• Curtains Match the Window: Soyogi and Karin.
• Cute Little Fangs: Kisaragi
• Defrosting Ice Queen: The Cape Maidens all started a little chilly. It didn't last, though Soyogi holds on to it the longest.
• Double Standard: Invoked by Karin early on after she tells Nagi not to peep while she and Shizuku are in the bath:
  Nagi: Besides, you were the one who was peeping!
  Karin: Shut up! I'm a girl! So it's no big deal!
• Dreaming of Times Gone By: Rinne has dreams of a previous Rising Dragon Festival, and in recent chapters, of drowning. She also has a pathological fear of the ocean. Make what you want out of it.
• Dying Town: Okitsushima island. Many people come to it for vacation, but almost nobody new who tries to live there stays for more than a few months.
• Erotic Dream: Seems to be a reoccurring problem for Karin. Maiden of fire indeed.
  • Recently, Rinne also had one that may have caused a feminine Nocturnal Emission.
• Expy: Karin's visual design is just about identical to Natsuki, a minor character from Ai Yori Aoshi, and Natsuki has a childhood friend named Keisuke whose design is strongly reminiscent of early Nagi minus the spiky hair. Natsuki and Keisuke have a similar playfully affectionate relationship, as well.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Nagi's Art Evolution tracks his gradual shift towards truly embodying the Dragon God.
• Fanservice: The Maidens each desire Nagi's attention, and aren't afraid to show some skin to get it. They also each tend to offer their own "variety" of fanservice: Shizuku gets a lot of bathing suits and wet dresses; Karin gets a lot of very tight clothing, and gets caught naked or nearly so to fuel Nagi's Accidental Pervert moments; while Soyogi's is more psychological, being rather Tsundere and very forward when it comes to pursuing Nagi... and is also quite well-built and favors frilly underwear, which doesn't hurt.
• A Fête Worse than Death: Suspected by Nagi at the start, but quickly discovered to be incorrect.
  • Due to the upcomming "Rising Dragon Festival", there is a very distinct possibility of this trope being played straight.
• Fiery Redhead: Karin, both in temperament and as the Maiden of Fire.
• First Girl Wins: It certainly looks this way, and the other two complain about Shizuku's "head start" from time to time.
  • Ultimately subverted by way of the 'Marry Them All' ending. And yes, this includes Rinne.
  • Played with in that each maiden is a "first girl" to some degree: Shizuku is the first girl Nagi meets, Karin is the first to fall in love with him, and Soyogi is the first to make sexual advances.
• Food Porn: A number of characters are good cooks, and some of the spreads are positively mouth-watering.
• Foreshadowing: In chapter 17, Karin's grandmother and another elder speak of the need to keep Nagi on the island and not drive him away. This is because he will likely be sacrificed in the Rising Dragon Festival to return his soul to heaven.
  • In chapter 50, Obaa talks about humans continually existing in a cycle of living and dying which cannot continue without sex, combined with shots of the night sky and of the ocean.
• Gag Penis: Nagi, apparently. Karin's reaction on discovering this is a strong candidate for Funny Moment. Soyogi may have failed her Sex as Rite-of-Passage because of it.
  • Well he is the Dragon God.
• Genki Girl: Kisaragi, who looks and acts like a 12-year-old pervert.
  • Pervert, indeed. Early in the series, she comes to his house to wake him up, and ducks under his blankets (this is how she learned about his endowment), saying, "Get up or I'll do something unseemly to you."
• Girl Next Door: Karin, both literally and figuratively.
• Heavy Sleeper: Shizuku. Nagi is also able to sleep through people throwing themselves quite violently on him.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Shizuku intends to protect everyone, and satisfy the islanders, by sacrificing herself and only herself.
• Idiot Hair: Kisaragi
• Ignore the Fanservice: Kisaragi slips into Nagi's room and shakes him awake wearing either a bikini or a bra and panties. His lack of reaction disappoints her. On the next page, she notes gloomily that he's become very adult and admits that makes her feel lonely.
• Ikea Erotica: when Shizuku asks Nagi: "I ask of you to have sexual intercourse with me in this place". Less so when it comes to actual sex.
• I Have Boobs, You Must Obey!: Subverted. Soyogi may be clinically aware of the power of Fanservice to manipulate the adolescent male psyche but she's a bit too clinical about it to actually make it work. She gets much further when she starts showing Nagi actual affection instead of just trying to trigger his lust.
• I Kiss Your Hand: People receive the Maidens' (or in the girls' case, Nagi's) blessings by bowing before their hands.
• I Knew It!: An In-Universe example. Rinne knew Nagi was the Dragon God when she first met him all those chapters ago.
• The Immodest Orgasm: Soyogi's back is very sensitive...
  • As of the latest chapters, that's not the only part of her. Nagi actually gets a little bit concerned after she passes out...
• Incompatible Orientation: One of their classmates, Shizue, shows signs of having a strong crush on Soyogi, who isn't interested and thinks the girl is only joking, anyway. Despite the fact that the classmate regularly cooks for her (at least once hurrying to Soyogi's place to welcome her home in a Hadaka Apron), including bento lunches which she tries to feed her, and even dropped to her knees to fondle Soyogi and nuzzle her belly the one time Soyogi let her share the bath. Joking. Yeah, right.
• Innocent Fanservice Girl: Soyogi is fully prepared to do whatever it takes to win the Dragon God's favour and can walk in front of him naked without batting an eyelash.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: More like I Want My Beloved to Live. Soyogi tries to convince Nagi to board the next ferry off the island so he isn't killed during the Rising Dragon Festival. Too bad the last ferry before the festival already left, so Nagi's stuck on the island.
  • And now it turns out Shizuku, who was previously hinted to be attempting Murder-Suicide with Nagi, has in fact spent most of the series trying to make sure everyone is both alive and happy. Except for her.
• Lovable Sex Maniac: Kisaragi-Sensei
• Male Gaze: Specifically, Nagi's. At times, the Maidens seem to be going out of their way to get him to look.
• Marry Them All: Possibly a 'You Never Asked' answer to the love triangle, given that the competition for Nagi's Favour between the maidens was seemingly sparked by themselves. The Obaa at the temple mentioned the Maiden's duty to devote themselves, but not that only one of them could gain favour. So, until said otherwise...
  • While certainly possible, the girls have made it clear in no uncertain terms that they consider themselves in competition and aren't interested in sharing. In addition, Nagi himself has shown conflicting feelings about liking all three of them. Shizuku however, tells Nagi: "If you fool around with anyone but us, I won't forgive you.", implying "Marry Them All" is indeed quite possible. Assuming one of them doesn't kill him in the Rising Dragon Festival. If favor is linked to the Rising Dragon Festival, then this may have lead to an "Everybody Dies" Ending. In the end Nagi said Screw Destiny and did Marry Them All.
• Marshmallow Hell: From Mike.
• Meaningful Name: All three of the Cape Maidens. Shizuku's name means "droplet", and she is the Maiden of the Sea. Karin, the Maiden of Fire, has the character for fire in her name. And Maiden of the Wind Soyogi's name means "flutter", as in leaves fluttering in the breeze.
  • Rinne also counts as her name means reincarnation. As in her being a Cape Maiden in a former life who gained the favor of Nagi's previous life.
• Missing Mom: All of the main characters. Nagi's mother is dead and Shizuku and Soyogi both live on their own. Shizuku's mother lives on a nearby island but they are estranged, apparently because Shizuku's position has built a wall between them. Karin and her sister live with their grandmother.
• Morning Wood: And Karin gets an eyeful.
• Murder-Suicide: The maiden selected by the Dragon God for the Rising Dragon Festival is supposed to pull this on the Dragon God so his soul may return to Heaven.
• Must Make Her Laugh: Played straight, but limited. Getting Shizuku to smile is Nagi's main concern once he learns he's the Dragon God.
• Naïve Newcomer: Nagi isn't really naive, but he is largely ignorant of the island's customs when he first arrives.
• Naked First Impression: Karin to Nagi. She could have closed the curtains....
• Nice Guy: Nagi is sensitive, honest and kindly, though passive.
• Not a Morning Person: Shizuku
• Not So Stoic: Shizuku and Soyogi
• Not What It Looks Like: Subverted. Any situation this trope might be applied to is exactly what it looks like.
  Shizuku: Ka ... Karin. This ... um ... it's not what it looks like. I was helping Nagi get to bed when we tripped. And he ended up on top of me...
  Karin: But all I see is that you are on top of Nagi.
  (Nagi is sound asleep, exhausted after a long day.)
  • Done straight later on: Nagi is spending the day at Soyogi's home when Shizue walks in on him in the shower. Soyogi was not amused.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Kisaragi. Despite looking and frequently acting like a child, she has a degree in anthropology and is very knowledgeable about traditional and obscure religious practices such as those of the island and knows how to ferret out details and put the pieces together. She even offers Nagi some coaching on how to get into his role.
  • It's revealed at one point that she's a graduate of Tokyo University (Todai). Only the best of the best pass the Todai entrance examinations (which is why Kaito is suddenly so enthusiastic about having Kisaragi tutor him when he finds out).
  • Kisaragi's old friend, actress Mike (Satomi Keiko), also turns out to be surprisingly insightful, considering her usual scatterbrained manner.
• Older Than They Look: Kisaragi, who looks like a Token Mini-Moe despite being a high school teacher.
• One of the Kids: Kisaragi, who acts her apparent age most of the time, preferring to play than to teach.
• Parental Abandonment: Nagi's father took advantage of Nagi's trip to the Island to accept a job transfer to New York City. Granted, Nagi does have the family house to live in and his father did make arrangements for Karin and Rinne's Grandmother to look after him, but still..
• Past-Life Memories:
  • After some time on the island, Nagi starts dreaming of his past life as the previous Dragon God, finally affirming to himself he truly is the Dragon God.
  • Around the time Nagi remembers being the Dragon God, Rinne remembers some of her past life as a Cape Maiden of the Ocean and the lover of the previous Dragon God. But she doesn't fully remember the Rising Dragon God Festival (with good reason, since it likely ended in a Murder-Suicide.)
• Personality Powers: The Cape Maidens. Relatively subtle, in that their powers are more extreme aptitudes than actual supernatural abilities.
  1. Shizuku, the Maiden of the Sea, takes to the water so well that she may as well be a porpoise in human form.
  2. Karin, the Maiden of Fire, is an extremely social Fiery Redhead who helps tirelessly with the farm work of the island and tends to the people, much as the sun helps the crops grow.
  3. Soyogi, the Maiden of Wind, has an uncanny sense of the weather, while holding herself as distant from others as the weather patterns she can predict.
• The Power of Acting: When Mike gets really into a role, she can make herself sound - and, in dim light, even somehow look - like who she's playing. Nagi is stunned when she seems to become Karin, then Soyogi, and finally (though with more difficulty) Shizuku while coming on to him.
• Reconstruction: Of Harem Series in general and Reincarnation Romance in particular.
  • A great deal of the heartwarming moments come from everyone realizing that just because someone cares for someone else, it doesn't mean that they can't care for you in a way you both find mutually satisfying.
  • The story arc itself is that though Nagi and the girls have an emotional and spiritual connection, they're still strangers at the onset and it takes time and patience for them to truly know each other. But the process of learning about each other is truly pleasant, especially with that chemistry and semi-familiarity.
• Reincarnation: Nagi, as part of godhood. Rinne was a Cape Maiden of the Ocean and the previous Dragon God's lover.
• Reincarnation Romance: Nagi and Rinne were lovers in one of his previous incarnations. Also counts as May–December Romance
• Relax-o-Vision: A drunken Kisaragi-sensei gives information on how to please a man to the maidens; we don't hear what she's saying, just their reactions.
• Religion Is Wrong: Averted at first- the story (and Nagi) is neutral about the islander's beliefs, accepting it as part of their culture. While Nagi is bewildered by the need to choose and "grant favour" to the maidens, he is able to appreciate the folk shinto of the island. However, late in the story with the revelation that the culturally significant Dragon God Ritual includes a murder-suicide, there is significant resistance by Nagi and the girls to somehow subvert the ritual and render moot that bit of the culture.
• Rescue Romance: Shizuku dives off after Nagi after he falls off a cliff, but it's mostly unrelated to their romantic relationship and never comes up again.
  • Considering recent events, this could become very important. Shizuku tries to pull a Heroic Sacrifice by killing herself to end the Rising Dragon Festival. Nagi immediately jumps after her.
• Sand Bridge at Low Tide: Okuhime island, which is joined to Okitsu for only a few days a year. Naturally, there's a story and cape maiden ritual associated with it.
• Scenery Porn
• Screw Destiny: Nagi ultimately decides to Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!. And the islanders have to accept it if they truly believe he's the Dragon God.
• Sensei-chan: Kisaragi has the appearance and the attitude but she is a bit more competent and gets a bit more respect than is typical for the trope.
• Serious Business: Anything and everything related to the island's religious practices.
• Sex as Rite-of-Passage: The whole point of Nagi's favour, for those who haven't figured it out yet, though it takes over 90 chapters to get there Nagi and Soyogi do it in Chapter 91, Shizuku and Nagi do it in chapter 96. Karin and Nagi do it in chapter 112.
• Sexy Shirt Switch: Kisaragi tries it but Nagi is unaffected.
• Shrines and Temples
• Shout-Out: Nagi comes to a new town, meets a local girl who gives him her straw hat, the hat blows away in the wind, and when he gets to school the girl doesn't acknowledge that they've met before. Does this sound familiar?
• Small Town Boredom: While not bored per se, Nagi's classmates do mention that young people pretty much have to leave the island if they want to find someone to marry, which is a big reason Okitsu is a Dying Town.
• Sorry to Interrupt: Subverted. Odds are, whoever's interrupting isn't sorry and actually wants in on it.
• Sprouting Ears: Shizuku, after Mike specifically states she does so.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Kisaragi does this on occasion.
• Super Drowning Skills: Kisaragi, which leads to a hilarious scene at the beach party when her students are "purifying" Nagi by tossing him into the ocean. Drunk, she tells them to purify her too. Her students only remember Kisaragi can't swim after she hits the water .
• Supreme Chef: Nagi, Karin and Shizuku.
• Third-Option Love Interest : In addition to Three Maidens and Kirasagi, there is also Rinne, or maybe Mike.
• Trickster Mentor: Kisaragi-sensei seems to think of herself as one although there are traces of Hot for Student as well.
• Two-Teacher School: Kisaragi and the principal are really the only two faculty seen. Semi-justified in that the entire island only has 17 school-age residents and Nagi's homeroom consists of 7 or 8 of those. Each teacher has to pick up multiple subjects just so they can perform a full day's work.
• Two-Timer Date: Averted. Even if Nagi wanted to go out on a date with two of the girls at the same time, the three of them would just go together. And the third girl would probably find some way to slip in as well.
• The Unfair Sex: Karin invokes the "It's different when a girl sees a boy naked" stereotype.
• Unknown Rival: Karin had always felt she was the weakest of the Maidens. But in truth, Soyogi considers Karin her superior because while Karin seemed to slack off at Maiden training, she has always had a deeper connection to the people of the island and could make them smile so effortlessly, something Soyogi feels she could never do.
• Untrusting Community: It takes a while for Nagi's classmates to accept him, since most people who come to live on the island end up leaving after a few months.
• Unusual Euphemism: To gain/give "favor".
• Unwanted Harem: Subverted (and seemingly on the way to being entirely Deconstructed). All the people involved want the harem; the girls all admit that they love Nagi, and he shows equal consideration towards all of them.
  • It's telling that all three of the girls are written not just as a group that Nagi can't decide between, but whom the reader also would have a hard time deciding between. None is clearly better for Nagi than the others, nor is Nagi clearly better for any particular one than the others. Each Maiden is obviously meant to be equally attractive as the others, physically and mentally, yet each in different ways.
• Well Done Daughter Girl: Shizuku, who feels she can't live up to the example of her mother, who was also a Cape Maiden and left the island when her daughter took up the role.
  • Played almost verbatim when Nagi, understanding this part of Shizuku's relationship with her mother, tells her, "You've done well." Shizuku breaks down into uncontrollable crying with the emotional release.
• Wham Episode:
  • Chapter 100 - Implies that Nagi and Rinne might become a couple. Also a Cliffhanger.
  • Chapter 104. Readers see part of the Maidens' training for the Rising Dragon Festival since a young age of seven or eight. The Festival is a Murder-Suicide with the maiden killing the Dragon God so his soul can return to heaven.
  • Chapter 116: Shizuku has been planning nearly the entire series to die alone so everyone else could be happy.
• Wham Line: In-Universe. When Kisaragi-sensei sees the girls on the day none of them are with Nagi, she asks them if they were "used women" Karin and Soyogi yell they weren't. Shizuku's silence is the Wham Line in this instance.
  • According to Karin warning, if Nagi choses Shizuku at the Dragon God festival he might be killed by her
• What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: Soyogi has detailed notes. Graphs included.
• What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Played straight and then subverted with Karin. Of the three Maidens, she has always been the most social, making "heart" her Personality Power, but it left her feeling inferior to the others because the Maidens are supposed to be distant from the people of the island. Turns out that in a romantic comedy, Heart Is an Awesome Power, making her a very serious contender for Nagi's favor.
• Where the Hell Is Springfield?, It is never definitively stated where Okitsu is, but based on what is shown in the Manga, it appears to be in the vicinity of Okinawa.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: Rinne. Justified as she is a reincarnation of a previous Cape Maiden who had the Dragon God's favor and remembers some of her previous life.

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