CH 2

"My village has been destroyed."

One day a year ago, I was idly looking up at the sky by the riverside of the neighboring village where I had evacuated.

――The year was 3000 AD, when the humanity was in a so-so pinch. Violent creatures such as monsters were rampant and human corpses fell off every day.

My village was also attacked by them, but I was able to escape safely.

By the way, the reason why the world has transformed into such chaos is an unknown energy discovered by scientists about a thousand years ago.

It is a mysterious energy that can only be seen through by a state-of-the-art optical microscope, under the eyes of someone with strong inspiration, and the source of its eruption is a mystery till now.

Due to its mysterious properties and magical appearance, scientists named it as an object of fantasy – Magical Power.

People who had begun to suffer from the shortage of fossil fuels all at once started researching magic.

As a result, within a few years, they discovered an alternative to electric power, and even invented an amplification method.

The world was thrilled with the good news.

Their future is now secure.

If the energy problem was solved, there would be no more wars in the future.

――However, the festive mood did not last long.

One day, an accident occurred at a large-scale magic amplification station around the world.

The moment the highly concentrated magical power penetrated the skins of then employees, their bodies changed.

The Japanese became『Oni』, the Americans became『Zombies』, and the British became『Vampires』― They also became the representatives of fantasy creatures in each country and began to run amok.

The amplification station was destroyed by them, and super-high-density magical power flowed out all over the world.

Cows turned into『Minotaurs』

Pigs into『Orcs』

Chickens into『Cockatrices』

Similarly, many other animals also transformed into fantasy monsters that could only be seen in virtual world.

Thus society collapsed and 97% of the population was wiped out due to the monstrosity of human’s careless handle of magical power and the tyranny of mutated creatures later called『Monsters』.

Like this thousand years had passed and the very few humans who did not mutate even after being bathed in magical power hid in remote areas. They also gathered livestock that had escaped the transformation, and hid with breath stuck in their throat.

Most science and technology was lost, and civilization fell to the level of the Medieval Ages.

Even so, people developed weapons that use magical power as the driving force, "Magic Armaments", to counter the monsters.

In recent years, humans have established nations in various places and struggled to regain the authority of mankind.

Well, but

"No matter how the world transforms, there will always be bad guys."

Monsters were attacking villagers, but it was the humans who controlled their directions.

『Black Mage』― They are the humans who uses magical artifacts for evil purposes and attacks the village together with the trained monsters.

As a result, most of the villagers died.

Somehow I managed to escape and was accepted into the neighboring village.

And now――I have been pretending to be a NEET for about three days with the broken thought of being a『Heartbroken youth who lost his hometown』.

Yeah, actually, I'm not hurt so much that I can't recover...!

"...I don't really care about my village that much. I didn't have any parents or relatives, and even more, I didn't have any friends or lovers...!"

Ugh, I’m starting to feel heartbroken in a different way...!

All the guys of my age would just look at me from afar. Even though some would talk to me once in a while, it was really awkward and I felt like they were just trying to be nice to me, especially girls.

“But I guess that’s okay. I’m not much of a talker and I always have sour look on my face.”

Older people used to call me a 'mature' man, but that's not true. I was just nervous.

On the day of the attack, some of my peers invited me to hang out (awkwardly), but I turned them down because I was busy, and even if I went I would just ruin the atmosphere.

In fact, without my parents, I made a living by taking care of the little kids in the neighborhood, so I had a job that day as well.

“How can I―who is gloomy and doesn’t get along well with others―have friends? Besides, I have black hairs, which is rare around here. I guess they’re even looking at me with strange eyes.”

Anyway, in addition to being alone for the rest of my life, I always thought that something like this would happen, so I wasn't hurt that much. In today's world, it's a daily occurrence for farming villages to be attacked.

Especially since I’m living alone and was well aware of the danger of today’s world, even after being timid, so I was more prepared than everyone else.

I had trained myself to run for cover in case of an emergency, and I had thought of an escape route that would allow me to hide easily.

Thanks to that, I survived―and I took the little kids from the village and a few others of my age with me.

"I was going to run away alone, but..."

When the black mage and a horde of monsters appeared, I

cried ‘Don’t come here!’ in my mind, but right at that time, the little kids were also clinging to my body.

In front of the attackers, tiny cries echoed, and naturally―in fear―the little hands that clanged to me had a lot of strength, that I couldn’t shake them off at a short period of time.

“So I had no choice but to dash… with my heart steeled to die.”

In desperation, I cut through the nearby forest while little kids hanging all over my body.

As I had set out as an escape route, I slipped through trees, slid down a slope, ran through a loophole I secretly dug, stepped on a trap I had prepared, and ran away with all my strength.

――On the way, I encountered people of my age who were also fleeing into the forest.

The first time I saw them, I thought for a moment that I'd use them as decoys, but then I realized that if I left the little kids in their care, my body would be lighter.

Then I somehow managed to escape safely from there, along with the coolies that were carrying the little kids―No, I wasn’t safe to be precise. I kept it a secret from everyone, but a monster's fang grazed my butt, while running away from the village.

I’m glad that these people didn’t notice the hole in my pants―that was covered in mud, but it hurt really bad.

“Even now, the wound on my butt is still aching. However, I wonder if it’s time for subsiding the『Heartbroken youth who lost his hometown』move. Maybe I’ll start working tomorrow.”

I stand up while stretching my back.

I’ll be 18 next year. Unlike the other guys, I haven’t lost any relatives, and if I kept playing around with a heartbroken mindset, I'd be shunned.

“Come to think of it, I wonder if those who survived still hate me. After all, they found out that I had prepared an escape route...”

I hope they don’t speak ill of me in the neighboring villages.

That's when I was about to leave the riverbed with these thoughts in mind, suddenly, I noticed that a stick-shaped object caught on the edge of the river. I approached it to see what it was.

I thought to myself, ‘Is this… a sword?’

The thing that was stuck was a sword wrapped in a jet black scabbard.

It has an unusual shape, thin and slender. If I remember correctly, this type of sword is called "Katana" in the Far East long ago.

I heard that it is very sharp and looks cool. As I looked at it, I remembered what Fukashi-kun (who was not among the survivors I rescued, so he is probably dead) said, ‘It's a very valuable weapon with a beautiful blade like a work of art. Well, we have 100 of them.’

You lie too much.

“How can a valuable weapon be thrown in river? Should I take a look?”

I immediately picked up the item in question and put my hand on its long sheath.

What kind of sword is this? If the story about it being like a work of art is a lie, then Fukashi-kun (deceased) will definitely go to hell.

Well, it fell into the river, so it might be rusty.

"Anyway, let’s pull it out and see if it’s...!?"

And then the next moment.

The moment when Jet-black blade―on which even the light couldn’t be reflected―was exposed, a sharp pain ran inside me passing through a place that could be called『Soul』.

“Gghh!?”

It feels like being pierced by a blade and I could no longer stand still.

The pain was so great that I was about to collapse on the spot… and that's when I realized.

“I… I can’t move my body!?”

Even though my brain was telling me to『get on my knees』, my legs remained motionless. Instead, my back straightened up.

The muscles of the whole body turned tense without stagnation, and even the way I stand on the ground changed. My figure transformed into a stance representing that of a first-class warrior.

"What in the world is... Uwaa!?"

I didn't even have time to ask questions, because――my legs started running at full speed.

"What the hell is this!?"

My legs moved on their own, and that too at a speed which was astonishing to believe. In a sprint that even I have never been able to put up till now, I rushed towards the village!

“What the hell is going on!?”

――Thus, with the jet-black blade in my hand, I ran amok to cause a great uproar...!

Author Notes:

Next time, we'll have a little battle with someone else's point of view!

Thank you so much for reading all the way to the end!

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