Did the original Myne really die?


At one point in the story, Myne tells Lutz that she is actually a
reincarnation, and the original Myne was in all likelihood swallowed up by the
heat of the Devouring. I found this explanation kind of strange. As a Japanese
person, Myne should be familiar with reincarnation. But here she guesses that
her soul was dropped into an existing person who died, and she seems fairly
confident with her guess. At the very least, I haven't seen her offer an
alternative explanation where I am in the light novels (volume 3).

So is it really the case that the original Myne died? Or is Myne simply a
reincarnation as in many other Isekai stories, who suddenly regained her
memories of her previous life?




In the official fanbook, in the Q and A section, the author seems to disagree
with Myne's assessment.

> **Q:** [...] What happened to Myne's soul from before Urano came into the
> picture? Is this reincarnation?
>
> **A:** This is a reincarnation story, so Myne's soul remained Myne's soul.
> It's just that she remembered her time as Urano, and since Urano lived so
> much longer, the sheer quantity of memories overwhelmed Myne's. She's not a
> different person, so to speak, but... it's complicated. [...]

This answer would seem to indicate Myne is simply wrong. It isn't unreasonable
that she would come to this conclusion, however, as she did seem to experience
the original Myne disappearing. I'll note that the author seems a little
evasive in that last sentence, saying it's complicated, so there could be
something else going on that the author isn't ready to reveal. Regardless, I
think this shows we don't need to trust Myne when she says the original Myne
disappeared because she got swallowed by the Devouring.




In the official fanbook, in the Q and A section, the author seems to disagree
with Myne's assessment.

> **Q:** [...] What happened to Myne's soul from before Urano came into the
> picture? Is this reincarnation?
>
> **A:** This is a reincarnation story, so Myne's soul remained Myne's soul.
> It's just that she remembered her time as Urano, and since Urano lived so
> much longer, the sheer quantity of memories overwhelmed Myne's. She's not a
> different person, so to speak, but... it's complicated. [...]

This answer would seem to indicate Myne is simply wrong. It isn't unreasonable
that she would come to this conclusion, however, as she did seem to experience
the original Myne disappearing. I'll note that the author seems a little
evasive in that last sentence, saying it's complicated, so there could be
something else going on that the author isn't ready to reveal. Regardless, I
think this shows we don't need to trust Myne when she says the original Myne
disappeared because she got swallowed by the Devouring.

