This is the third part celebrating 20,000 bookmarks.
This installment is completely unrelated to the main story. It’s a side work I dug out from the very early plot and rewrote. While I’ve used the existing setting, the ways people meet and interact are quite different.
I hope you enjoy it.
“Enemy attack! Enemy attack!”
I had let my guard down.
No, it was fundamentally impossible for ordinary people to always be on guard.
I had friends, stout knights, people who would protect me.
While I was basking in that sense of security, it happened during my deepest sleep.
“Lord Jirou! Lord Jirou! Please wake up!”
It wasn’t a gentle shake. Eshlee grabbed my shoulder with all her might, shaking me with an intensity that an earthquake wouldn’t even match.
It might sound ironic, but I, who was always wary of calls from the company, woke up reflexively.
“!? ”
I shot up.
“Get ready quickly! It’s an enemy attack.”
“Enemy attack? Enemy attack!?”
At first, I didn’t understand what was happening as I was still half-asleep, but when Eshlee told me, I heard noisy sounds all around, followed by sounds of struggle, and explosions like those only heard on a battlefield. The word “tekishuu” connected in my mind with “enemy attack,” and I was instantly fully awake.
Before I could even think about what was happening, my hands were putting on armor, and I reached for my fine sword.
Eshlee, who had been sleeping in the same tent, was already dressed and on guard near the entrance.
I was flustered and couldn’t put on my armor properly.
I fumbled, checking to make sure my armor wouldn’t come off while I was moving.
“What’s going on?”
“They’re not bandits. It seems to be the regular army.”
“The regular army? So, from another country?”
I asked Eshlee, who was peering outside the tent. With her sharp eyes, she relayed the information she could glean from as far as the cloudy sky.
When I heard “regular army,” I thought of the Hanzibal Empire I’d heard about, but…
“No, it’s the Demon Lord’s Army.”
Eshlee denied it.
“The Demon Lord’s Army!?”
The Demon Lord’s Army? Wait, did the final boss attack?
What kind of enemy was attacking?
I heard frantic shouts, and outside, along with a cacophony of clattering sounds, something flashed for a moment, followed by a deafening explosion.
“We’re heading to the unit commander. The enemy’s target is probably…”
“Me.”
It didn’t take long to grasp the reason for this battle.
There was only one reason to launch a surprise attack on such a large unit.
They weren’t carrying treasure, or transporting large amounts of food, nor were they attacking any specific land.
I quickly realized that the target was the escorted individual, protected by such a regular army.
Through a gap in the tent, I could see an explosion in the distance.
The thought that this was happening because of me sent a wave of nausea and immense tension through me.
Memories of me scoffing at manga and anime protagonists lamenting, “It’s because I was here,” resurfaced. Now, feeling such guilt and remorse, I understood how they could have such expressions.
“…Understood.”
“I will guide you. Do not leave my side.”
“No, but…”
Eshlee said, raising her staff and preparing to move through the commotion. However, she was supposed to be accompanying me as a healer.
Her combat ability in front was inferior compared to other knights.
I hesitated, wondering if I should be led by her, and if I should be the one moving forward, but I shook my head.
“…Understood. Please.”
“Yes, certainly.”
When it comes to a job, you call in the expert.
There would be no good outcome if a roughly an amateur like me tried to do something in a battlefield.
Don’t get full of yourself, Jiro Tanaka.
You may have become special after being summoned to another world, but you haven’t become the strongest.
You have no experience killing living creatures.
You don’t know the battlefield.
You are still a being that needs to be protected by the knights.
Your growth is fast, but you are still immature.
Telling myself this,
“Well then, let’s go.”
“Alright!”
I followed Eshlee, who gave me a brief moment to take a deep breath, and exited the tent.
“We’re going to the unit commander.”
“Yes! We will provide our escort.”
And then, four knights who had maintained vigilance around the entrance surrounded us further, and our movement began.
It’s not easy to find a place where a hundred people can camp.
Ideally, it would have been better to stay in a village or town, but it was impossible to accommodate everyone. Also, since goblins had made their nests in the mountains, we had no choice but to camp along the way.
That’s precisely why we pitched our tents in a relatively open area, established a perimeter, and set up camp, but it turned out to be our undoing, leading to this attack.
“Hero-sama!!”
And then, just as we began to move, making the clang of armor resound, the unit commander appeared with a small group of elites to meet us.
We didn’t know when the enemy might attack.
Being able to join forces with someone stronger than me in such a situation, where my mind wasn’t at ease, provided a different kind of relief.
“Are you unharmed?”
“Yes, somehow.”
Though I couldn’t tell who it was at first due to the full plate armor and helmet covering his face, I recognized him as the unit commander by his voice.
Sorry, I was delayed coordinating orders. The Vice-Captain is in charge of the scene now, so you can relax for a while.
It didn’t feel like it had been even fifteen minutes since we met, but from a unit leader’s perspective, it might have been considered late.
“No, it’s alright.”
“Hahaha! To be so calm in this situation is quite something!”
Unexpected things had happened, and I was flustered, but I was still in a state where the surreal situation hadn’t fully sunk in, which was why I could still converse like this and, on the surface, appear composed.
One wrong step, and I might have made a spectacle of myself in a panic.
The sheer terror of dying instantly on this battlefield if I showed such helplessness was what kept me barely clinging to my composure.
It was like a cup filled to the brim. That was my current state.
“Unit Leader, what are the plans from here?”
“We’re preparing to retreat. It shouldn’t take more than fifteen minutes, but if push comes to shove, we’ll abandon our supplies and retreat to the nearest town. However, that would be troublesome for the enemy too. There’s a possibility they’re lying in ambush along our retreat route. I’ve sent out swift horses and familiars to request reinforcements from the town. If all goes well, reinforcements should arrive in half a day. We’ll proceed with a slow retreat to coincide with their arrival.”
It was understandable that his words were concise.
My inner self was urging me to run, but what good would it do to escape alone in this situation?
There was nothing I, with no experience, could do by rushing in.
I was desperately mobilizing my reason, telling myself not to do anything unnecessary.
“……”
“Something wrong?”
“No, honestly, I’m surprised. Even a new recruit wouldn’t be able to handle this calmly. Perhaps the Hero has a talent for battle.”
The Unit Leader paused for a moment at my demeanor.
Even with such praise, I didn’t feel any joy.
On the contrary, I felt I had wasted time, and a slight irritation grew.
I had to calm down; panicking would lead to nothing good.
I must always keep my thoughts calm.
“Is that so?”
“No, I apologize. I shouldn’t have said that here. If you can maintain your composure like this, you’ll survive. Don’t worry.”
Sensing my state, the Unit Leader apologized.
“No, I’m sorry for not being composed.”
“It’s rare to be composed during your first battle. Don’t worry about it.”
Although I responded to his apology, the Unit Leader shook his head, as if resigned.
Meanwhile, the battle on the battlefield was intensifying.
“Hmmph.”
An explosion sounded closer than I expected, and the Unit Leader, looking in that direction, grunted.
From his expression, I could tell the war situation was not favorable.
“Eshlee.”
“Yes.”
“I…”
Compelled to do something, I turned to Eshlee and tried to say something.
But the words wouldn’t come out.
What could I, who had never killed a living creature, do on the battlefield?
What could I, who was nothing more than a burden, do?
As I was grappling with these thoughts.
A particularly loud explosion echoed.
“Report!”
“What is it!?”
“There was a Spirit User among the enemy! They’re a mixed unit of Dark Elves and Ogres! Our front line is struggling, and the third platoon has many wounded! Other units are trying to rebuild the front, but there are more Ogres than we anticipated, and we can’t hold them!”
And then, misfortune continued.
The enemy had deployed far more troops than we had predicted.
“What?! This is mere miles from the capital; how could they deploy such a force?”
“I don’t know. But it’s certain that there are powerful Ogre individuals and Dark Elf Spirit Users.”
“……”
The situation was worsening by the minute.
The Unit Leader, with a grim expression, contemplated what to do next.
I never expected to be in such dire straits during what was supposed to be a simple Goblin subjugation.
“There’s no choice. We abandon our supplies at this very moment! The second and third platoons will form the rear guard and retreat!”
“!”
And so, a desperate measure was decided upon by the Unit Leader, sacrificing lives for the sake of retreat.
I almost blurted out, “Are you abandoning them?”
“Hero, this is necessary. They are always prepared to die for their faith. Our purpose is for you to survive, nothing more. If you survive, their deaths will not be in vain.”
But I hesitated to say it.
I immediately realized that these words were only coming from a place of not wanting to feel guilty, because I didn’t want to bear the responsibility that someone might die because of me.
Realizing this instantly, I stopped myself from speaking.
Sensing my emotions, a hard hand was placed on my shoulder.
He didn’t say I didn’t need to feel guilty.
However, being told that they were prepared to sacrifice their lives, I truly felt the reality of this otherworld.
More than anything, feeling their resolve in those words.
“…Understood.”
“I appreciate that decision.”
I chose to follow the order.
This place is truly more mentally gouging than a Black company.
“Retreat! The first and fourth platoons will assemble in the center and then retreat to the town at full speed! The second and third platoons will switch from defense to offense and attract as many enemies as possible!”
And now, I had made the decision to have lives sacrificed.
The guilt was immense.
As expected, a Hero is nothing good.
I wanted to die.
But perhaps it was precisely because I lacked the resolve that I felt this way.
The Unit Leader’s shouts to hurry.
“Sir Jirou, this way.”
Pulled by Eshlee’s hand, who was guiding me toward the carriage, I resolved to flee this battlefield.
I have no choice but to act without words.
I wished with all my heart that I had superhuman strength.
But realistically, my strength is at the bottom of the Knights’ Order. Barely stronger than an apprentice.
Even if my growth ability is fast, that’s all it is. I’m still a fledgling that needs to be protected by those with stronger power.
I ran towards the carriage at a sprint.
At that moment.
“Ah! Eshlee!”
A shiver ran down my spine, and I pulled Eshlee’s hand, following my intuition.
“What!?”
Eshlee stopped at my sudden action, about to ask what was wrong, but before she could.
Black flames engulfed the carriage and horses, obliterating them.
No, that’s not it.
“A giant of black flame?”
It was so huge that its fist alone seemed to be the size of a person. The flickering body indicated that it lacked substance.
“A spirit!?”
“Impossible! Did you allow an intruder!?”
Unlike me, who was looking up at the black flame giant with multiple arms in astonishment, the other two, though surprised by the sudden enemy attack, immediately went into a state of alert.
The surrounding knights followed suit a moment later, swords and shields raised, preparing for the giant before them.
Then, as the giant crushed one of the carriages with one of its many arms, scorched the ground, and pulled its arm out, it turned towards us.
Two figures appeared from the giant’s shadow.
“Is that the Hero?”
“Yes, judging from the information from the intelligence department, it seems so.”
“Hmm, he looks kind of weak.”
“He was only summoned about a month ago. He’s in a state before he becomes strong.”
From their voices, they sounded like women. Both wore something like robes and hoods, obscuring their faces in shadow.
Could they be using magic tools to hide their appearance?
“Dark Elves.”
The captain, after staring at the giant, subtly glared at the two figures.
“Well, if a spirit like that was summoned, you’d know it even if you didn’t want to.”
One of the women shrugged at the captain’s words, not denying the answer. Instead, she turned her gaze to the woman beside her, seeking her agreement.
The knights surrounded me in a rough circle. Their movements showed a clear determination to protect me.
Are these women really that strong? I can’t tell the difference in skill. I won’t get arrogant thinking I can win. The captain’s wariness tells me these women are dangerous.
“Ah, I’ll ask just in case, but will you hand over the Hero there? We’ve been told we can let you go if you do.”
I was pointed at by one of the seemingly casual women, who were apparently dangerous individuals, and was asked to be handed over.
“Never! We will not hand over our hope to a mere demon race serving an evil god!”
“Well, I expected you to say that. Still, I don’t want to go to unnecessary trouble.”
For my part, I was grateful not to have been caught in the unforeseen event of being handed over to such a formidable enemy who appeared out of nowhere. But.
“What about you? Would you like to come with us?”
I thought I was going to be killed, but the words that came were an invitation.
“Huh?”
Despite being recognized as the Hero, I was asked if I wanted to come with them.
Is this like an invitation from the Demon Lord offering me half the world?
“Because if you stay on your side like that, you’ll die.”
“What?”
However, confronting the woman who stated my impending death more clearly than the silly question I had been considering, my brain finally overloaded and froze.
“Don’t say absurd things!”
Before my brain could process her words, the captain’s patience snapped, and he roared. His voice was so loud that I wondered how he could produce such a bellow from a full-face helmet. That’s when I finally understood the woman’s words.
Die if I stay on this side? What does that mean?
“You’re not kidding, are you?”
Could it be that the Demon Lord is far more powerful than we imagine, a being that is virtually impossible to defeat? But the way this woman is speaking… I shook my head, dismissing the thought. I forcibly cleared my mind, telling myself not to be swayed by the enemy’s words.
Even as I was doing this, the conversation continued. The casually dressed woman, exposed to the captain’s angry shouts, spread her hands to her sides as if shrugging, seeking agreement from the woman next to her.
“Aren’t *you* the one being absurd?”
The other woman, the one standing next to her, broke her silence with an exasperated gesture, glaring at the captain with barely concealed anger.
“The ‘Holy Sword Project’.”
She then uttered the words clearly so that we could hear.
“!?”
“The Holy Sword Project?”
Is “Holy Sword” the kind of sword that Heroes wield? I was summoned as a Hero, but I haven’t received a Holy Sword. I thought it had been given to the other Hero, but based on this, perhaps not? And it’s not just a Holy Sword, but a project, as if they’re trying to create a Holy Sword. The captain suddenly fell silent.
“I won’t let you say you haven’t heard of this.”
“That’s right, you see, it’s a project that should be known to everyone, including you and that Hero, everyone around the Hero is aware of it, you see!”
“Shut up!! We won’t let them destroy our hope!!”
“Whoa, he’s resorting to denial.”
Before the captain could utter the crucial words, he swung his sword and charged at the giant.
“Follow the captain!”
“Uooooooooooooooo!”
“We’ll leave the rest to you!”
“Our hope!”
The knights followed suit.
“Hero, this way.”
“Jirou-sama.”
“Ah, ah.”
Without understanding what was happening, I was led by the remaining knights and pulled by Eshlee to escape the battlefield.
“Ah, Sue’lla, now it’s troublesome because you wanted to talk!”
“It was bound to happen either way, Keiri.”
Behind them, the women seemed to be talking, but for now, all I could do was run, a sense of distrust simmering in my heart.
The knights found some surviving horses and mounted them. I don’t know how to ride a horse, but a knight held the reins, so I was instructed to just hold on desperately.
With great difficulty and Eshlee’s support, I managed to get on a horse.
Compared to the Knights’ Order, which had nearly a hundred people on the way there, we escaped the battlefield with a small group of only five.
Unlike in Japan, the night here is bright enough to see clearly. The creatures, horses, are running, and I can see the ground clearly.
One person in front, a knight holding the reins of the horse I was on to my right, and Eshlee to my left, with another person behind us, we were just running down the road in a small group.
What was that is still unclear in my mind, unable to return to reality, I just kept running.
I tried desperately to calm my mind, but fear, surprise, and confusion were all mixed together, and I couldn’t.
All I knew was that my existence had caused lives to be exchanged.
“Jirou-sama, are you alright?”
“…!”
Eshlee called out to me as I clung to the horse, but I didn’t have the strength to reply.
I couldn’t maintain my composure mentally, and my mind was so cluttered that I couldn’t understand anything. However, the common sense that I shouldn’t lash out at Eshlee stopped me from acting solely on emotion.
“Knight, a short break!”
But Eshlee, realizing I was at my limit, proposed a rest to the knight leading the way.
“We cannot! We will cross the mountains and run to the town beyond without stopping. Please bear with it a little longer!”
However, the knight’s answer was no. He firmly refused, stating there was no time to rest and that we had to get away from this place immediately, not slowing down.
“If we keep this up, we’ll surely rendezvous with reinforcements from the town! Jirou-sama, please hang in there until then.”
Hearing his words, Eshlee tried to encourage me, but I, who was mentally exhausted rather than physically, didn’t have the余裕 to nod.
All I could do was desperately hold onto the horse and try not to fall off.
All I could do was wait for the horse to run to the town.
I felt a rare wish for it to end soon.
But reality is not that sweet.
“Yes, excuse me for a moment.”
A figure suddenly appeared beside us as we ran along the mountain path and jumped at the knight holding the reins of the horse I was on.
“Hoi!”
As the figure leaped onto the horse, they quickly twisted the knight’s neck and killed him.
“Jirou-sama!”
But I wasn’t able to watch that unfold.
The person controlling my horse was gone, and the horse started to run wild.
“!”
I gritted my teeth and held on desperately, but I didn’t know horses could be this wild. I endured for a while, but I had no experience riding a raging horse.
“Uaa!?”
As the horse neighed and reared up on its hind legs, I was thrown off.
“Ouch!”
I managed to roll and avoid landing headfirst, but it still hurt from the momentum. I tried to get up and survey the situation, but.
“Don’t move.”
In that moment, another person approached and pressed a staff against my neck. A blade made of magic power was extended from the tip of the staff, as if ready to kill me at any moment.
Without moving my face, I turned my gaze towards the wielder of the staff.
“…”
The woman looking down at me silently had a face I hadn’t seen before, but this time, I was lucky enough to see it. She had a beautiful face with a hint of cuteness. She said she was a Dark Elf, and like the species I knew, her ears were slightly longer and pointed.
“Suella~, did you secure them?”
“Yes, how about you, Keiri?”
“Hmm? They look like they’re ready to fight with all their might.”
While they were confirming things, the battle situation was changing. Eshlee and the knights were looking this way with their weapons drawn.
“Damn you, Demon Race! Taking hostages is cowardly!”
“Cowardly? Surprise attacks are a basic tactic of warfare. There’s no rule that you can only fight honorably. Besides, you people would have thought of something like this, wouldn’t you?”
Now in the position of a hostage, there was nothing that could be done. The two who had challenged the battle, the captain and the other, had caught up to us on horseback, and were now here. That meant the captain had lost.
I realized that unless some kind of transcendent power awakened within me, my life was forfeit, as I had never once managed to defeat the unit captain.
While the knights who had been guarding me were stronger than me, I felt that I could win depending on how I fought.
It was precisely for that reason that I believed that even with a numerical advantage of one extra soldier, they couldn’t turn the tide of the situation.
Ah, what can I even say?
I felt like a god had declared that my life had reached its end.
The moment I thought that, all the burdens I had felt and endured until then overflowed, and I just stopped caring.
I lost the will to resist.
Even when I worked at a black company, I worked desperately to survive, and even after being summoned to another world, I acted desperately while under surveillance; was this the outcome?
What can I say, my life has been quite bizarre.
The woman taking the knights and me hostage was making quite a commotion.
I listened to their conversation as if they were speaking about someone else.
Because, by that point, it no longer concerned me, and I no longer cared.
But.
“You keep saying ‘give it back, give it back,’ how important are the materials for the Holy Sword to you?”
Even in such a mental state, I couldn’t let those words slip by.
The unit captain also reacted strongly at the mention of the Holy Sword project.
And the materials for the Holy Sword.
“Hey.”
With that word, I felt something connect within me.
It was precisely for that reason that, amidst the noisy commotion, I found myself in a mental state where I could speak to the woman holding me hostage.
“What is it?”
The woman, realizing I was speaking to her, replied from the direction of my voice.
I had considered the possibility that she might not reply, but I was grateful that she did.
If I was resigned to dying, or if I was in a state where I could just talk to the woman arguing loudly, it honestly didn’t matter which, but it was easier to talk to someone closer.
Besides, they seemed to possess information that I had not been privy to.
It was for that reason that I pieced together the information I had painstakingly gathered like a puzzle, and even though the situation was still full of holes and not yet a complete picture, I asked this question, wanting to confirm that information.
“Does the Holy Sword not exist in this country?”
I hadn’t intended to raise my voice, nor had I meant to lower it.
But my voice, strangely resonating, naturally silenced the noisy woods.
“Yes, at least to our knowledge, we heard that the Holy Sword capable of constant use was lost in the battle against the previous Demon Lord. And while the one enshrined in the cathedral now has the function of a Holy Sword, it is said to be too worn out to withstand actual combat.”
“So, a Holy Sword that can be used doesn’t exist.”
“Yes.”
And my prediction, while not spot-on, fell within an acceptable range.
*I see, I see, so that’s how it is.*
At that point, I found the situation so amusing that I started to laugh.
“Ah, how ridiculous.”
As I uttered those words, I felt a wave of exhaustion wash over me.
“Hero-sama! Do not trust the words of the Demon Race!!”
“That’s right! The Holy Sword exists!! Please, gather your resolve!!”
I suddenly felt an urge to smoke.
The knights seemed to be saying something loudly, but considering Ashley’s dark expression, you can probably guess.
Their words of denial sounded hollow, and their words of encouragement felt superficial.
Because of that, all my willpower to resist was completely drained.
“Hmph, how can you say that? You people are the ones who trust those words the least, aren’t you?”
“Shut up, witch! A wicked woman trying to deceive the Hero and plunge the world into chaos!!”
“First witch, then wicked woman; pick one and stick with it.”
Trust is something that initially makes one feel motivated to build, but once it’s shattered like being kicked aside, it’s hard to find the motivation to rebuild it.
There was still a slim possibility that the knights’ words were true, but given how flustered they were, it didn’t seem very likely.
At that point, I felt a strange sense of resolve.
If my fate was already sealed, I wanted to decide how to use the remainder of my life.
I was starting to think that dying would be fine.
And so.
“Hey, I know this is probably not the right time to ask…”
To the Dark Elf, who I sensed a hint of kindness from, and who had softened her grip, realizing I was exhausted and had no will to resist.
“Could you grant me one wish?”
I made my request based on intuition.
Today’s Quote:
Surrender lowers one’s values but also reveals them.
Thank you for your comments and指摘 of typos every time.
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This week marks the 20,000 bookmark milestone, so the next update will be on Sunday. Thank you for your understanding.
We are also currently serializing another work: Pandora Pandemic Panic. We are fighting back with various things in secret bases, etc., after Pandora’s Box was opened again!! Please check it out as well!!
