by Ryota Hori
Such were the connections between people. In the end, a person can’t survive all on their own, and hate this world as he might, that was one fact that would never change.
Whatever god governs fate, it must have been a cruel, whimsical and ill-natured bastard with a taste for irony. He’d robbed Ryoma of the family he loved and trusted on the one hand, but granted him two irreplaceable girls in the Malfist sisters.
Ryoma hesitantly knocked on the door to the sisters’ room.
“Yes, one moment...” Laura’s serene voice said from behind the door.
“It’s me. Mind if I come in?”
“Ah! I’ll be right there!” Realizing their guest was Ryoma prompted Sara to hastily open the door.
Ryoma walked into the room slowly and cautiously, so as to not spill the contents of the tray.
“Is something the matter?” Sara looked at Ryoma’s face quizzically.
Laura, who was sitting on a bed set in the back of the room, had the same expression.
“Nothing major... I just thought it’d be nice if we could eat together.”
Seeing Ryoma place the tray on the table with an awkward smile, the sisters broke into happy grins.
The meal Ryoma had that day with the Malfist twins was by no means a luxurious one, but to him it felt like the warmest, tastiest meal he’d had since arriving in this world.
Chapter 1: Assailant
Three figures moved through the dark forest, trying to stifle their footsteps as they went. This was the forested area extending to the north of Pherzaad, the largest trade city in the western continent. This place was far off the main road, several days away from the nearest village.
Never thought the techniques Gramps taught me would come in handy here...
Parting his way through the trees while trying to hide his presence as best as he could, that thought crossed Ryoma’s mind as he felt the presence of the Malfist sisters at his back.
Ancient Japanese martial arts were a comprehensive, systematic set of techniques developed to ensuring soldiers’ survival on the battlefield, and wasn’t limited simply to methods of killing the enemy. It also taught how to dampen one’s presence and sense the presence of others, which was imperative for scouting purposes; how to swim while wearing armor and a helmet; what native herbs could be used for medicine; and other techniques necessary for survival.
At the time, I kept asking myself when the hell would I put these skills to use. Pretty ironic... Skills that were useless back in Japan became so much more meaningful once I was summoned here.
When people hear the words “ancient Japanese martial arts,” the first things that come to mind are jujitsu and kendo, and those technically weren’t incorrect associations. Most currents of martial arts that have persisted since the time of the warring states into the modern age have systemized, and ended up becoming specialized and refined for a peaceful world.
As a result, jujitsu and swordsmanship were sublimated into judo and kendo respectively, cutting out what was deemed unnecessary in the process. There were many techniques that, despite being written in the manual, weren’t practiced by most people.
But even in such a period, Ryoma Mikoshiba’s grandfather taught him all the family traditions which had been passed down since ancient times, not leaving out a single one, and among them were skills that one wouldn’t, or rather couldn’t, put to use in the modern age.
This method of walking that Ryoma imparted to the Malfist twins was one such technique that was lost to the ages. Walking while muting the sound of one’s footsteps was an obvious technique for those who spent their lives in the forest and lived through hunting. Failing to do so would not only result in prey escaping, but also put one’s life at risk.
That said, in the modern age, where most people live in cities, this technique likely only remains in use by the Matagi, the small population of native hunters that live in the Tohoku region, or otherwise in special guerilla training in the military.
Whatever the case, such techniques for surviving in a forest were deemed as unnecessary for modern life. Nature, however, was different. They may have been unnecessary in Japan, one of the more developed countries in Ryoma’s world, but were immensely useful on this Earth, which had many areas that were undeveloped and untouched by man.
These skills were useless for life in Japan, but here in this world they served as his lifeline, and Ryoma couldn’t help but break into a self-deprecating smirk at the irony of it all.
Standing at the lead, Ryoma suddenly stopped and raised his right hand.
It’s up ahead... As always, I’ll act as bait and draw his attention. You two look for a chance to get the drop on him... Go!
Without turning around, Ryoma silently signaled as such with his hand to the Malfist sisters, and then crouched and took a chakram out of one of his leather sacks. Abiding by his signal, the sisters’ presences disappeared from behind him.
This was their tactic for certain victory, one they’d practiced and pulled off countless times by now. Prowling at the end of Ryoma’s line of sight was a single praying mantis. It had a slender, green body and two massive scythes for hands. But one thing set it apart from the type of mantis Ryoma was used to seeing; its massive form stood at one hundred and forty centimeters tall.
A Large Mantis.
Infamously known as the Woodland Butcher, it was a type of monster feared even by seasoned adventurers. In Ryoma’s old world, praying mantises were never any larger than a dozen or so centimeters, but the one standing before him now seemed to openly mock the idea of common sense.
Ryoma could only see its back from where he was standing, but the large mantis seemed to be currently occupied with eating. The severed lower half of a wolf lay at its feet.
Bending his body like a bow, Ryoma unleashed the chakram, which cut through the wind and flew toward the mantis. Despite having compound eyes that were capable of seeing in every direction, it still wasn’t able to pick up the sight of a chakram whizzing through the air from a thick forest.
The next moment, the chakram drove itself deeply into the large mantis’s defenseless back. He didn’t know if this thing could feel pain, but the large mantis turned around without so much as a moan of agony, tossing the carcass it carried in its front legs, and facing Ryoma, its wings spreading out to intimidate the one getting in the way of its meal.
Its eyes seemed inorganic and cold; the emotionless, glass bead-like eyes of an insect. But Ryoma could tell it was enraged for having been attacked and injured by surprise.
That’s right. Keep your ugly eyes fixed on me, big boy! Your enemy’s right here.
Holding its front legs before its face like a boxer, the large mantis approached while tightening its defense, looking for an opening.
Its sharp mouth was dyed red with wolf’s blood, and its two saw-like scythes gleamed in expectation of the blood of a new prey.
Taking it from the front is impossible...
Ryoma threw two more chakrams with the intent of keeping it in check, but the mantis swiped them away with its front legs. They truly were menacing weapons, capable of tearing prey to bits, and yet the iron-forged chakrams had no effect at all.
Ryoma silently unsheathed his sword, holding it beneath his right side while hiding the blade behind his back.
A flank stance.
It was a stance that allowed one to adapt ad-hoc by observing the opponent’s movements. And Ryoma didn’t divert his gaze from the mantis for a moment. Because if he would look away for even a second, the large mantis would cover the ten meters between them with a single bound and attack him. Both animals and insects flock enemies the moment they show an opening.
Good boy... Stay focused on me!
Their gazes remained locked for only ten seconds or so. Still in his flank stance, Ryoma covered the distance with one bound, and the mantis swung its front legs as if rising to the challenge. Fluttering its wings, its green body rose into the air.
A hard impact crashe
d against Ryoma’s body. His tempered muscles swelled, clashing with the large mantis’s massive frame. His face went red with effort and his breathing stopped in his throat. The mantis kept pressing downward, intending to crush Ryoma.
The sword and the scythes locked and pushed against each other. If Ryoma were to relax his strength for even a moment, he’d be knocked down against the ground immediately. Instinctively realizing this, the large mantis’s thoughts were fixed entirely on finishing off the prey before its eyes. And that would render the wide range of its compound eyes meaningless.
Its consciousness was fully concentrated on Ryoma, and not knowing that doing so would only hasten its journey to the grave, the large mantis slowly approached Ryoma’s face, opening its sharp jaws at the same time.
“Now!”
With Ryoma’s shout as their cue, the Malfist sisters jumped out of the bushes, their blades whistling through the air as they swooped down on the mantis.
The Malfist sisters’ prana streamed to their first chakra, the Kundalini Chakra located in the perineum, filling their bodies with superhuman strength. Their blades were aimed at the four hind legs supporting the large mantis’ massive frame.
Even this creature, which prided itself on its vitality and agility, couldn’t have blocked a surprise attack from both sides, and the sisters’ slashes, reinforced by martial thaumaturgy, dug into its joints and cut through them.
“Sara, keep cutting off its other legs. Laura, aim for its torso!”
Cutting off the front legs of the mantis, which had collapsed due to having lost the ability to support its own weight, Ryoma urged caution. It was when one was most confident of their victory that they were the most vulnerable.
Ryoma was determined to snuff out the enemy’s life. Some may call it abnormal cowardice, but Ryoma instinctively knew that those who lacked it could never survive in this world.
“Let’s take him out in one go!” Ryoma shouted, seeing the mantis’ severed legs twitching on the ground at the edge of his field of vision. “These tenacious buggers have a bad habit of not staying dead when they should!”
No matter what world it was, insects boasted the highest vitality of all living things. Even with their heads sent flying into the air, they were capable of continually fighting until their vital signs were completely quelled.
That said, something truly unexpected would have to happen to overturn Ryoma’s victory. Even with a sword plunged into its body, the mantis would have unflinchingly retaliated, but having lost its scythe-like limbs which served as its greatest weapon, it had lost the means to strike back.
The time to finish it off was now. Ryoma plunged his sword into the mantis’ head, gouging at its wound. The mantis struggled desperately at first, but its movements gradually grew duller until its large body became completely still.
What a feeling. I could never taste this back in my peaceful life in Japan... But...
An exchange of lives. Ryoma looked down on the mantis’s remains, a savage smile on his lips. He’d felt so alive, as if he was basking in the afterglow of an exhilarating moment. It stood as proof that Ryoma Mikoshiba was adapting to this world.
But on the other hand, Ryoma felt as if there was a lump in his heart that simply wouldn’t go away.
What am I going to do from now on?
Pleasure and emptiness stood back to back. With those two conflicting emotions in his heart, Ryoma began skillfully dismembering his prey.
After leaving Mireish, Ryoma and his group made their way to Myest Kingdom, where Pherzaad, the greatest trade port of the western continent, waited.
According to the book they borrowed from Annamaria, Ryoma learned that any chance he had of returning to Japan was essentially close to zero. So he decided to give up on finding a way back, and instead focus on surviving in this world.
No amount of crying would change the situation, and once he’d realized this, Ryoma’s heart went through a great change. That change was profoundly influenced by the Malfist sisters’ great devotion and affection for Ryoma.
Still, if he were to live in this world, he would need some kind of purpose or objective. If he was some hero summoned to save the world, things would be simpler and his objective would be made apparent soon enough. But as things were, Ryoma didn’t have any purpose to speak of.
Of course, even if the environment he lived in before being summoned to this Earth was a bit unusual, he enjoyed a fairly normal high school life, and naturally had dreams and aspirations just like everyone else.
But those aspirations were limited to the frame of life in Japan, and in this Earth, which was inferior to Japan in terms of both cultural and societal development, they were only unattainable dreams.
If he had to think of a single purpose, it would be to exact revenge on the empire of O’ltormea that summoned him to this Earth. But he’d already killed the one who directly summoned him, Gaius, and lacked the power to exact revenge on the country itself. And even if, on an individual level, he would slay the emperor, he still wouldn’t kill the system that made this empire function.
So he gathered his strength, for the day he would be able to exact revenge. He hadn’t given up on his dream of going back to Japan, but living for nothing but vengeance felt all too barren. If revenge was all one lived for, they would eventually degrade into nothing but a demon.
And so Ryoma traveled the continent, earning money by completing the guild’s requests. He thought that perhaps by seeing many places with his own two eyes and gaining experience, he’d find and earn something.
Of course, there were other options he could take. In Ryoma’s bank account slumbered a sum of money the common person in this world wouldn’t be able to earn in a lifetime. That said, Ryoma had no intention of reaching for the money he’d gained from the slave merchant Azoth. It was a large fortune, enough for him to spend the rest of his life without having to work.
Even in such a turbulent world of war and strife, the power of money remained as mighty as ever. Money might not have been able to buy everything, but it did enable one to force their will in most matters. If he’d wished for it, settling down in some safe town and living a comfortable, extravagant life was perfectly possible.
But that wouldn’t give any meaning to his life. Ryoma craved it, from the bottom of his heart... A purpose to live for in this world...
The trade city was surrounded by sturdy walls. In the city’s east was the largest harbor in the western continent, where circulated not only merchandise from across the continent, but also goods imported from the eastern and central continents.
People walked busily through the streets, which were lined on both sides with buildings made out of stone. The trade city of Pherzaad was such a lively, bustling city.
“Let’s stop by the second-hand store first.”
“Stopping by the guild to report our requests would be more efficient.”
The group of three walked down the main street, their large sacks digging into their shoulders. They were full of monster fangs, claws, skin, flesh and bodily fluids, which were useful for producing food, medicine, weapons and tools.
In many fields, the developed nations of Ryoma’s world were far more advanced and affluent than this world, but this Earth wasn’t inferior to Ryoma’s world in every way. A major factor in that was the existence of monsters, which were only products of fantasy and imagination in Ryoma’s world. The many items one could produce from their bodies sometimes yielded effects far more advanced than anything Ryoma ever saw. While monsters were pests that threatened people’s lives, they were also an irreplaceable resource unique to this world.
“Laura... Our guild requests still have plenty of time remaining. Can’t we dispose of the goods we’ve harvested, have lunch once we’re light on our feet and do it then?”
They were careful to pick things that wouldn’t be too bulky but would still fetch a decent price. Though, given the amount, each sack weighed slightly more than forty kilograms. The large
mantis’s bodily fluids were especially precious, and would have to be processed quickly by an expert; otherwise, its quality could degrade.
Of the materials one could gather in the forest near Pherzaad, the large mantis’s bodily fluids— which served as a key ingredient for extremely effective medicine for external wounds— was among the more valuable ones, and was constantly in a state where the supply for it never quite kept up with the demand. As such, it sold for a pretty sum.
In addition, the guild request they took to pick medicinal herbs still had several days remaining for its time limit, but reporting it as soon as possible was the wiser choice. There was no telling when something unusual might happen.
“Really? I thought it would be better to report it now, than forget and panic about it later. That way, we’d be able to relax at the inn with nothing to be concerned about... What say you, Master Ryoma?”
The Malfist sisters’ glances fixed on Ryoma’s back, who was leading their stride ahead. For all they were concerned, both choices were moot. What mattered was their master’s opinion. Still, each of their gazes were filled with the honest expectation and hope Ryoma would pick their own personal suggestion over the other’s.
“Well, let’s see... I’d love to kick back at the inn for once, but forgetting to report our quests wouldn’t be good... Well, I guess we could split up, finish all the work and go back to the inn for a dip in the bath. I’d rather not look for some place to eat in when I smell like this.”
The sisters beamed at Ryoma’s words. After several days of hunting, their bags were full of materials they got from the forest. Walking around town with those bags was taxing, and having spent days in the wilderness, they naturally didn’t have any chance to bathe. The most they could manage was wiping themselves off with a wet cloth. This was, of course, more of an issue for the sisters, being young ladies as they were, but this was unfortunately an unavoidable part of the mercenary and adventurer lifestyle.
