CH 4

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Suddenly, I felt a sense of levitation―no, a sense of falling. My consciousness awakens undeniably, and I instinctively brace myself to withstand the impact of the fall.

“Guh!”

The impact. I don’t know where I hit, but my body hurts anyway, and I can’t breathe. I roll on the spot on instinct rather than reason and try to get up with my hands on the ground.

“Gyaagaa!?”

There was a sharp pain in my hand. Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! What? What’s happening? I look up, still dimly lit. I see the soles of the shoes approaching.

“Gubuuhh!?”

I was kicked in the face as hard as possible. The shock stuns me more than the pain. I’ve never been exposed to such violence before. I was an ordinary person who had only fought in fistfights when I was a child.

But if I don’t resist, I will die. I don’t want to die.

“Resist, and I’ll kill you.”

The moment I thought that, a voice that sent shivers down my spine came down from above my head. At the same time as the voice, a heavy pressure is pressing on my head. Perhaps it’s stepping on my head.

“What is a human doing here?”

From the sound of the voice, it sounds like a woman. I can’t answer if she says what I am doing. Should I answer that I’m lost?

“Why are you silent. Answer me.”

“I dwon’t now… I’m zust happened two be heree.”

It seems that I have a massive nose bleed, and I can’t speak well.

“Tsk… the spirit of life.”

A pale green-colored light came on in the dim darkness, easing some of the pain all over my body. Surprisingly, the bleeding in my hand that had been pierced by something also seemed to have stopped. It still hurt everywhere, but it was somewhat better. What is this? Is it some kind of magic or something?

“You should be able to talk now. Now, talk.”

A cold voice comes from above my head that is being stepped on. The voice? Does she understand my language?

“I don’t really understand it either. I found myself standing with my clothes on in the opposite direction of the wilderness and the forest. I don’t even know where I am. I just parted into the forest to survive, looking for water and food. I even burned a living tree to see if I could find anyone. So I was in distress.”

At this point, I let go of any doubts about why the language is understood and just tell her like it is. As I speak, I’m desperately trying to think of something to break the current situation. And even for a moment, if I could just get through the gap… No, it’s impossible. She’s definitely more used to fighting than I am, or rather, she’s more experienced in fighting. She also uses magic-like powers and has a sharp weapon that went through my hand. If she wanted to kill me, she would have done it with her first shot. I will be prepared, but I don’t want to do anything right now.

“You expect me to believe that kind of crap?”

“It’s true. If you don’t believe it, that’s fine, too. From now on, you can continue to believe only what you want to believe, turn away from the truth, cover your ears, and continue your unreasonable violence.”

“You got a big mouth on you, huh; I don’t like that.”

“Maybe we can get along. I also don’t like you being a wild and violent――guh.”

The force on my head tightens. It will break, it will break, my head will break. The contents will come out. But I’m gonna fight back. I don’t like this woman. My body may bend, but my heart will not! Oh, isn’t this just like in the manga where I should say, “just kill me already”? I know she’s going to violate me! Like a doujinshi! Like in a doujinshi!

“A human being, of all people, would call me violent and barbaric, is that what you’re saying?”

“I-I don’t know who you are, but…! I think it’s narrow-minded to look at things in a single category of human beings. I mean, I don’t know how brutal and violent humans in this world are, but what does it matter to me who suddenly wandered into this world yesterday?”

I can’t help but wonder if humans are mild-mannered and intelligent creatures, but at least I don’t care about the ties between this world’s humans and this woman. I believe that the woman who is stomping on my head is not human. I’m not sure if she is an elf or a beastman or something like that that speaks a hostile language to humans…?

But are the humans of this world doing something that would be considered barbaric to someone who can communicate with them in this way? The technical and cultural level of this world seems to be relatively low.

As I was thinking about this while being knocked on my head, the woman who had been silent while stepping on me for a while opened her mouth.

“Who are you?”

The woman asked me that question again. I think about the woman’s question’s intent before opening my mouth.

“My name is Shibata Kosuke. Shibata is my family name, and Kosuke is my name. My age is twenty-four, and I don’t know how many days a year is in this world, so it might change when I convert it to my age in this world. At any rate, I’m a man who has been an adult in my world for four years now. I’m from somewhere else, somewhere far away, probably not here. There had never been a planet that big floating in the sky that I knew of, nor had there ever been a planet that big in the sky. And the moon was even smaller.”

“Does the word “Adol” ring a bell?”

“What is that? Is that a name?”

The only Adol-san I know is the red-haired adventurer from a certain famous action RPG. [TLN: Adol Christin from Ys series.]

“What do you think if the existence of Adol is what’s putting you in the situation you’re in now?”

“Seriously, Adol is the worst then. I mean, how long am I gonna have to get trampled on?”

“…Kuku, you’re calling Adol the worst?”

The woman smiled a little amusedly before pulling away her feet, which were stomping on my head. Once freed, I shook my head and looked up at my attacker, brushing the dirt off my cheeks and head.

“Wow, dark elf beauty buhuaahh!”

I was kicked in the face. Why!

“This is what happens when you call an elf with a skin color like mine a “dark elf.” Remember that.”

“Use your words, you savage people.”

The woman also went easy on me, it wasn’t enough to make my nose bleed, but it was powerful enough to scatter stars behind my eyes. If this kick causes cerebral hemorrhage and I die because of it, I will come out as a ghost. No, I’m not a bastard, though.

I stood up while rubbing my nose and took another good look at the woman in front of me. Yes, she’s beautiful. She’s a beauty of a level you don’t often see on TV or something. Her skin is brown, with a fine texture and no blemishes. Her hair is light in color. The color of her hair is pale. It’s probably not gray, but it’s called silver hair. Even in the dim light, it shines brightly. She was wearing a tight leather-like bodysuit, but her chest was plump and tight. The volume is overwhelming. This fellow is extraordinary.

“Where do you look?”

“Your boobs, what’s wrong with it?”

“You’re an honest man. I don’t mind that sort of thing.”

The brown elf woman grinned. Yeah, she’s pretty, but her eyes and her smile are not good. It looks like this fellow has definitely killed a few people, and that grin can only be evil. I just can’t help but think she could do with a flowery smile like that.

“So, I’ve got a lot to say to you.”

“Okay, speak up.”

“I’m sore all over my body, and injuries with no medical supplies can be fatal, so heal me since it looks like you just cured me with magic before. You hurt me because of your one-sided misunderstanding or something, so I can demand at least that, right?”

“Hmm, it’s worth considering, but I’m still not convinced you’re not an agent of the Holy Kingdom.”

“Really? Then let’s talk it out, shall we?”

I resisted the pain and retrieved the hammock that was hanging from the tree first. One side of the part that hooks up to the tree had been cruelly cut off, but it seemed to be able to be repaired by putting it in my inventory and consuming the material. When I performed the repair and turned back to the woman, she looked as if she had seen something interesting. Shit, I shouldn’t have shown her my secret.

“That’s an interesting trick. How did you turn it off?”

“Do we have to talk about that?”

“If you want me to trust you.”

“I don’t think you’re going to be honest with me as well. The distrust is mutual.”

I can’t let my guard down with this fellow. The reason why this fellow listens to me without killing me is that she can kill me right away if she wants to. She’s equipped with what looks like a huge knife, and she can also use magic-like things. Probably, she has received some kind of combat training. The tight-fitting suit is also much more defensive than the sweatshirt top and bottom that I wear.

“Uh, it’s hurt… well then, why don’t we just tell about each other’s information.”

“All right.”

As I sat down on the ground and crossed my legs, the woman leaned against a handful of trees and gave me a curious look. For now, it seems she’s willing to go along with the conversation. Maybe she’s a surprisingly well-informed person.

Then the woman and I talked to each other. We talked about the names of each other’s worlds, geography, world affairs, the names of the stars floating in them, religions and gods, culture, food, clothing, military, politics, and many other topics.

First of all, this world or Earth? Or the name of the star is named Reese, apparently. The name of the big star in the sky is Omicle, the name of the moon is Runicle, and the name of the sun is Cycle. The name of the continent I’m on now is the Pence continent, and this is a shallow place in a large forest area called the “Black Forest” near the southern end of it.

Incidentally, the area beyond this forest is a vast wasteland called the Omit Great Wilderness. It’s going to take about ten days on foot to get out of the wilderness. If I had stepped out into the wilderness instead of the forest, I’d be dead in the wild for sure! Moreover, there are many insect-type monsters lurking in the ground, and even those who are well-traveled seem to find it difficult to cross the wilderness alone.

And the world situation is… this continent seems to be in the midst of a war situation right now. The Holy Kingdom of human supremacy and the empire of a multiracial nation clashed for control of the fertile plains in the center of the Pence continent. The oppression of non-human races in the Holy Kingdom intensified accordingly, the resistance movements and rebellions frequently occurred in various places. The opposing side’s empire also broke away from the territories close to the Holy Kingdom, and a large scale rebellion of slaves also occurred, and the two countries had internal troubles. They say that the world is in turmoil as they continue to fight a murky war while carrying on with it. Well, it’s a turbulent, chaotic world.

And this Black Forest, located at the southern end of the Pence continent, across the Omit Great Wilderness, is the sphere of influence of the Holy Kingdom.

Originally, the elves lived in this forest, and the refugees of different races who couldn’t bear the oppression of the Holy Kingdom are gradually gathering there after passing through the Great Wilderness of Omit. The Holy Kingdom has noticed the refugees’ movement, and the elves and refugees are nervous that they will eventually send troops to them.

“Do they have to bother to send troops to you? I don’t think there are many merits in attacking the forest through the Great Wilderness.”

“We elves are an expensive commodity among humans. The humans want as many good-looking, ageless sex slaves as they can get. And we’re good as a baby.”

Without exception, a child born from a human and an elf crossed is born with powerful magical powers. When she says powerful, she’s only speaking in human terms. That’s how the human nobles took in the blood of different races such as elves and genetically maintained a greater magical power than the commoners. Although she told me some pretty fishy details, I understood that the humans wanted elven slaves anyway. Yeah.

“I’ve come to a point where I’m convinced that you’re not from this world.”

“Oh, sure. Then heal me.”

After a quick talk, the woman honestly healed my wounds with her magic. Ah, this feels so good. My whole body feels warm and fuzzy like I’m in a hot spring. This is good.

“Fumu. You’re getting a lot of love from the spirit of life, huh?”

“Really? I don’t know what that means, though.”

A ball of green light is flying around me. Is this the spirit of life? If so, am I going to awaken my magic too! Seriously, I can become a wizard too? Is that like spirit magic?

“But I don’t feel any magic from you at all. You have zero talent for magic.”

“All of my hopes are now gone!”

What the hell, you have made me expecting it! Goddamn it.

“Then let’s go.”

“Go where?”

“Our village. If you want some other elves or beastmen to find you and kill you without question, you can stay here.”

“I’ll go with you, Maam.”

I answered immediately. As expected, I don’t want to be attacked in my sleep and beaten to a pulp again.