WorldEnd: What Do You Do at the End of the World? Are You Busy? Will You Save Us?, Vol. 1

by Akira Kareno

  It would be easy to just evade this slashing attack. If he did, however, then his attacker, careening at him with full force, would be led by the laws of physics to draw a perfect parabola in the air, then splash into the swamp behind him.

  What could he do?

  His body moved just before his mind could reach a decision. He took half a step forward, slipping to the side of the wooden sword’s arc. He then spread his arms, ready to stop the attacker’s tackle with the upper half of his body.

  Impact. His assailant was heavier than he’d supposed. The lower half of his body couldn’t endure it.

  His warrior instincts started working on their own. His consciousness switched gears for combat and tried to activate the venenum in his body. That would stimulate his muscles and speed up his decision-making.

  But then bolts of pain shot through his entire body.

  He faltered.

  Willem fell directly backward—right into the swamp behind him.

  The loud splash echoed all over.

  …The spray of water died down. Heat rapidly began vanishing from his back, which had sunk into the swamp.

  There was a small light in his attacker’s right hand, probably made from magic. The tiny glow lit up a part of the darkness, cutting out their own little world.

  Sure enough, the attacker was straddling Willem’s stomach and looking down at him over her nose.

  She had bright-lilac hair, like the dawn. Sharp purple eyes.

  “Hey! Pannibal! What are you doing?!”

  A new magical light grew closer this time, dancing among the trees. It finally pushed away the darkness, and there appeared another girl.

  She had sky-blue hair which Willem felt he’d seen somewhere before.

  The purple-haired girl lifted her head and said proudly, “I’ve subdued the intruder,” then huffed again.

  “There’s lots of water on the ground here, so you might slip if you— Huh?”

  The face he’d seen the other day looked at him with (most definite) surprise.

  “The intruder? What? You…? Why?”

  “Hey there…”

  He lifted his hand lightly and smiled weakly.

  Willem couldn’t stay soaked forever.

  He took a bath.

  After scrubbing away the mud, he changed his clothes, fixed his hair, and stood before the mirror.

  As always, the man with black hair and black eyes stood before him.

  His face gazed back at him lifelessly with the eyes of someone who had never been good at fighting. A vague smile sat naturally on his face, so much so that it almost seemed like his bones were shaped that way.

  There was one occasion when he’d tried wearing fake horns and fangs to hide the fact he was featureless, but it was almost sad how poor of a mismatch it was. They were, after all, parts for displaying one’s brutishness or wild nature or whatever out in the open, meaning it only suited those who had a certain degree of those qualities.

  He checked himself, just to see if the pain was still there. This was what happened when he tried to use even a little magic—can’t believe I’ve wasted away so much. A long time ago, he’d been able to fall asleep with enough power for a battle still active in his body, but he knew he wouldn’t accomplish anything yearning for things that were long gone.

  So this should be the facility.

  From the inside, though, it didn’t seem to be built that way. The floorboards in the halls were worn, the walls plastered, and several small rooms were evenly spaced throughout. The papers pasted on the wall showed the chore rotation schedule alongside signs like THE TOILET ON THE SECOND FLOOR IS OUT OF ORDER and NO RUNNING IN THE HALL.

  Then there were the little girls hiding behind things, peeking out at him as he passed.

  “This way.”

  That girl with the cerulean hair was guiding him.

  He studied her more closely this time.

  By emnetwiht standards, she looked to be in her midteens or even a little younger. She had no features and was built similarly to an emnetwiht, but…her hair, a fresh blue that reminded him of the clear spring sky, was not something emnetwiht were born with. He didn’t think any sort of dye could produce that kind of natural hue, either.

  She was oddly calm and acting cold compared to when they’d met at Tin Stalls. But that was probably not her normal disposition. Whenever she grew nervous or hesitated, he clearly saw those ocean-blue eyes of hers waver.

  They say a man away from home feels no shame, so maybe that’s how she’d felt when he saw her back in town—her embarrassing, unpainted face that she didn’t usually show in her day-to-day life.

  She’s the kind of girl who’ll never be honest, he thought. He’d once had a junior colleague like that. A nostalgic feeling crept up on him, and a smile naturally spread across his face.

  “Wh-what?”

  “Nope, nothing. Take me where we need to go.”

  She sometimes glanced at him restlessly, as though she was about to say something, but after thinking it over, she would swallow her words and put distance between them. He couldn’t come across all familiar with her while she acted like that, so he kept silent and stayed half a pace behind her.

  The girl with purple hair called Pannibal—who was probably just around ten years old—looked between the two of them curiously.

  “Pardon us.”

  Willem was taken to and let into a small room with a little table where two chairs sat along with a bookshelf, a bed, and a collection of miscellaneous trinkets.

  “What part of this is the warehouse?”

  He was getting impatient and couldn’t help but mutter it out loud.

  “—I knew that would be the response, so I had monitoring and reporting done in form only.”

  There was a woman in the room.

  She didn’t have any features, either.

  From her appearance, she was about eighteen—same as Willem—or a bit older.

  She was tall for a woman, and her eyes were roughly level with Willem’s as well.

  Pale-red hair poured gently down to her back. Her eyes were a serene spring-green. She wore a bright-green blouse and a white apron dress over it.

  Her demeanor was calm yet reserved, suggesting a good upbringing.

  The woman beamed happily.

  “Welcome to the secret weapons warehouse. Nice to see you again, Willem. Are you getting taller?”

  “…Why the hell are you here, Nygglatho?” he groaned, saying the woman’s name.

  There was a clatter on the other side of the door. He pretended not to hear.

  “Why? Well, this is where I work, of course. I was quite surprised when I heard the story from Glick, you know. I didn’t imagine that he would be sending you over.

  “Oh, and congratulations on the promotion, Second Enchantments Officer Willem Kmetsch. You’ve advanced with quite the extraordinary speed, shooting so far up the ranks on the very same day you joined the military!”

  “Don’t tease me. It’s only a title just to look good. I have to be a certain rank to apply for this job, since it’s a Guard facility, after all… But hold on, when he said, ‘I know someone, and she’s got a decent job, and she’s looking for people,’ he meant…”

  “Oh, that’s probably me.”

  “Goddammit.”

  Willem was going to punch Glick next time they met.

  I’m not gonna hold back. He set me up for this trap, so he should be ready for at least that much.

  “But you must have had quite the trouble in the forest at this time of night. We would have collected you from a nearby island if you’d sent a message.”

  He was encouraged to sit.

  A tea set clattered as it was placed on the table before him, probably prepared while he’d been bathing.

  “I’ve been on Island No. 25 for a while, so I’m not used to the airships. I honestly thought I’d be getting here quicker—I’ll send a message out ahead of time in the future.”

  “Plea
se do… That uniform looks good on you.”

  “Well, the guy actually wearing it thinks it’s too tight and can’t breathe.”

  “Aw, you don’t have to sound so sad about it. You look twice as delicious as you did when you first woke up.”

  “So my life is in twice the danger.”

  “Gosh. Don’t be so mean. Just trust me. Didn’t I tell you already? Even if I am a troll, and though you are the most delectable, rarest treat in this world, I don’t have any plans to eat you right now.” Nygglatho placed the palms of her hands together and tilted her head slightly. “Because what a waste that would be. You’re the last of your kind. I’m not so boorish that I would destroy that for the sake of a momentary craving.”

  She looked adorable when she did that.

  But a chill ran up and down Willem’s spine.

  “…Though of course, if the man in question says it’s all right, I might think about it.”

  “Nope. I don’t think so.”

  “Really? You don’t think you’ll change your mind? Not even an arm—no, a finger?”

  Willem couldn’t take it. He felt more and more threatened the longer the conversation carried on.

  Trolls are a classic, traditional monster. They’ve been a favorite topic of ghost stories among travelers for a very long time.

  Beautiful young men and women mysteriously living alone, isolated from populated regions.

  They kindly invite tired travelers into their home, greet them with a feast, enthusiastically taking care of them before gobbling them up in the middle of the night.

  Willem thought that was all just a legend or a fable to teach novice travelers not to let their guard down in unknown lands until relatively recently. When he’d learned they were a kind of ogre that had existed since long ago, his jaw had dropped as he stared blankly in surprise.

  …And then immediately after, the monster in question had laughed at him and said, “How complicated it would be if you treated me like a legend.”

  There came a clatter from the other side of the door.

  There were a number of people creeping about in the hallway. Willem pretended not to notice.

  “Tell me about the job. I’ve been told I don’t have to do anything, but I don’t know any details. What should I be doing tomorrow? No, is there anything I should be starting today?”

  “Hmm… Well, do you plan on staying here?”

  “Of course. I came here as the manager of the weapons under the Guard’s name. Even if it is just in name only, I can’t even keep up appearances if I don’t at least stay in the same building.”

  “The previous manager and the one before that showed up on the first day, then never came back for the remainder of their employment.”

  “Is that allowed?!”

  This job was even more low-key than he’d first heard.

  “So, well, if you’re serious when you say, ‘I’m not staying in a place like this!’ then there’s no problem if you leave and go live on a different island…”

  “You’re not gonna say that, then let it end with me stabbed in the back the second I turn around, will you?”

  “Oh, how awful. What do you think I am?”

  I think you’re a demon who eats people.

  Willem sighed.

  “Well, even if it is a meaningless job, it goes against my principles to just throw it away. I came here with the intention of staying.”

  “You did? Good!” Nygglatho clapped her hands together by her face and rejoiced. “Then we need to prepare a room for you quickly. Oh, perhaps we should eat dinner first. You must be hungry, right? There might be something left in the dining hall… We’ll prepare a feast for you tomorrow, so look forward to that.”

  Willem gave another deep sigh.

  He could never handle Nygglatho very well. Even ignoring how she always directed her appetite toward him (though he couldn’t ignore it, really), as an adult male, there were other parts of her behavior that left him uneasy.

  “Heh-heh, it’s been a year since I took care of things for you. This makes me happy.”

  Willem was a man, a young person—basically a sad creature—who carried a mercilessness that was hard for his heart and body to bear. Consequently, he couldn’t help his heart dancing at a situation in which a young girl (not to mention one of a related race) would be looking after him with such a bright, kind smile.

  But he couldn’t get the wrong idea. Her friendliness toward him wasn’t sexually motivated. It was essentially the same attitude a farmer showed his cows and chickens.

  The troll girl was likely showing him such kindness in order to uphold the cycle of “raise with love” and then “eat.”

  Calm down, my instincts. Come on, logic. This thing in front of me is a predator. My heart is beating faster because of the approaching threat to my life. Don’t forget that.

  He repeated that to himself several times, somehow managing to bring his heart rate back down to normal.

  “What’s wrong? You look down.”

  The young woman in question was oblivious to this young man’s struggle.

  “…Let me just double-check. You’re not planning on eating me, right?”

  “Of course not. I really do want to take care of you. But see, trolls have a drive to offer guests the best possible hospitality. I won’t ask you to fulfill all my desires (yet), but you won’t mind humoring that instinct of mine, will you?”

  “Okay, why don’t you say what you just whispered to yourself again, out loud so I can hear it?”

  “I didn’t say anything,” she answered calmly, and when Nygglatho rose quietly, the door opened.

  There was an avalanche.

  Peach, jade, purple, pink. Young girls—all of them around ten years old—with different hair colors all collapsed atop one another on the rug.

  “Hey, stop pushing!” yelled the girl at the bottom of her accomplices.

  “S-s-s-sorry!” Another bowed her head up and down furiously.

  “Hey, Nygglatho. Don’t mind us,” said one of them…Pannibal, from earlier, with a calm expression.

  “Yo, sorry to barge in!” Still another smiled brightly like the sun.

  Like a dam gushing forth, they all spoke at the same time.

  Nygglatho ignored it, placed her hands on her hips, and stood imposingly before the girls.

  “Go back to your rooms.”

  There was no debating her command. The girls stopped moving.

  One of them slowly raised her hand. “Um, we wanted to say hello to the new manager first…”

  The other girls nodded in agreement. But…

  “Did you not hear me?” Nygglatho peered at the children as she slowly tilted her head.

  “But—”

  “Listen to what I say…” Nygglatho beamed a brilliant smile like a blooming flower. “…Or I’ll eat you.”

  Her voice was a gentle, like a mother cooing to her baby.

  The girls vanished from the room in an instant. It was actually impressive how quickly they left; not a whiff of hesitation.

  “Well then, let’s go.”

  Nygglatho whirled around and called out to Willem.

  “…Okay.”

  He answered and, overwhelmed by the situation, slipped out of his chair.

  As they ate, Nygglatho kept a bright, happy smile on her face.

  Thanks to that, Willem didn’t feel very alive.

  The manager’s room was almost completely empty.

  The room itself wasn’t that small, but the only things inside were a bed and an empty closet. There was also a wall lamp. That was all. Nothing covered the wooden floorboards. Willem couldn’t even find curtains to cover the window or anything sensible like that.

  The view outside the window was an inky-black darkness. It was an overwhelming blackness that seemed it might consume him if he just stared at it—or crush him completely.

  “Phew.”

  It’s not a bad room, Willem thought.

  He h
ad lived in apartments meant for working boggards up until then.

  Even ignoring the problems of cleanliness and such, he and boggards differed vastly when it came to their bodies. He had a terrible time sleeping on the beds provided, so every night, he wrapped himself up in a blanket and slept on the floor. Most rooms were heaven compared to that.

  He threw his things on the ground and lay on the bed. The mattress was soft, and the sheets smelled faintly of the sun. The tiredness in his body slowly began seeping out of him, and his consciousness faded.

  “…But first.”

  He tore himself away from the bed before he truly fell asleep.

  First, he had to take off his stuffy military uniform. He also wanted to stow his few casual clothes in the closet. There didn’t seem to be any place to put his belongings, but he didn’t have many of those in the first place so would simply leave them in his bag.

  It was quiet.

  His body, used to the hustle and bustle of Island No. 28, welcomed the comfortable silence. Then—

  “What do you think? Is he asleep already?”

  “I—I dunno. It’s my first time seeing a boy.”

  “Keep your voice down a little more. The target will hear us.”

  —the small presences and whispers beyond the door marred the silence. It must have been the kids that Nygglatho had chased away earlier. They could be called tough or not easily discouraged, but they were definitely energetic.

  Willem stepped quietly and approached the door. He held his breath, put his hand on the doorknob, and after counting to three, whipped the door open. Again, the girls fell in an avalanche, tumbling into his room.

  “Wh-what?!”

  “I-I’m sorry, I’m sorry!!”

  “Hey, manager. Nice night out, ain’t it?”

  Willem leaned over, and when his eyes met with theirs, he placed a finger to his lips. After they looked at him with wide eyes, they, too, put their fingers on their lips, as though they understood what he was trying to say.

  “Nygglatho’s gonna eat us.” The shared glances of everyone assembled there whispered the same sentiment.

  It was standard practice throughout the world to threaten children into behaving by citing the existence of demons, no matter the era.