by Ryota Hori
“Are you alright? You didn’t get burned, did you?” She asked him with a kind, gentle voice.
The boy, who had expected to be shouted at, raised a frightened gaze at the woman.
“Are you sure you’re fine? You didn’t spill any soup on your legs, did you?” Sara asked, looking down at the bowl that lay overturned on the ground.
There was steam rising from the rim of the bowl. It had fallen over spectacularly, all its contents spilling directly to the ground beneath it and spreading the scent of soup all over.
“Yes... It looks like you only burned your mouth... You don’t need to rush when you eat. Be careful, all right?”
Sara’s words made the boy stare at her with surprise. He realized she was honestly worried about his well-being. The children looking at them from afar also realized this.
“Anyway, eat cautiously next time... Huh, wait... Huh?! Wait! No, stop!”
His soup had already seeped into the dirt, and wasn’t edible. Sara intended to give him a fresh bowl of soup, but the boy didn’t understand that. He unflinchingly kneeled down and began picking up the vegetables and chunks of meat that lay on the ground, now filthy with dirt, and tried to shovel them into his mouth.
Had Sara not stopped him, he would have surely eaten them, filthy as they were.
“I didn’t mean that... Erm...” Sara was flustered by this unusual turn of events, but then pointed at Lione. “Over there! That lady with the red hair over there. She’ll give you more soup, so eat that.”
The boy turned an anxious, doubtful look in Lione’s direction. The dark light filling his eyes told all there was to know about their past. So Sara spoke up loudly, so all the children would hear.
“It’s all right! Do you understand? If you drop food to the ground, you don’t have to eat it. There’s enough for everyone. All right? So be careful and take your time when you eat.”
At Sara’s prodding, the children fearfully brought the bowls to their lips. If nothing else, they realized they were allowed to eat.
“Phew... I hope this is all right...”
She realized Ryoma’s feelings perfectly well. He didn’t give them hot meals and new clothes out of the kindness of his heart. He did it to make them have a will of their own. To bring out their desire. A desire for food, for clothes, for a home. To understand how they were treated compared to others, and the discrepancy that showed.
Desire inspired ambition in people, prompting them into self-improvement. Desire was the strongest motivator human beings could possibly have. By knowing desire, people could yearn for more than they had.
But slaves lacked that, naturally enough. All they had was resignation towards a reality they didn’t believe they could change. And so long as they were resigned to never gain anything, no amount of hardship would mean anything. They had nothing to begin with, after all.
But that could change by reminding them of a single thing — that they were human. Living beings with the will to move forward. Of course, they wouldn’t remember that immediately. Their despair wasn’t so simple that it could be resolved at once.
That was what set them apart from the Malfist sisters. The two of them may have been war slaves, but they still had the pride of their family to fall back on. Something to support their hearts.
That was why Ryoma gave the children six months to be educated. That was the time limit they were given. If they were to regain their human will during that period, all was well. But if they didn’t...
What would he do with them...?
In truth, no one knew the answer to that question yet. Not even Ryoma himself.
Sara moved away from that thought and looked around. The children were wolfing down their soup and bread, and if one were to ignore how silent they were, it almost looked like a lively sight. Some of them were already forming a line in front of the pot, asking for seconds. If nothing else, they recalled the joy of eating a fine meal.
It looks like a success for now, at least...
Laura, who was standing beside the children, seemed to be thinking the same thing. She sensed her younger sister’s gaze and nodded back wordlessly.
They gave them a taste of the carrot. Now to remind them of the stick.
What lay in store for the children was a period of harsh training they would need to endure at the hands of Lione, Boltz and the Crimson Lion mercenaries. At first they would go through basic training to increase their stamina, but gradually they would be taught combat techniques. They would mainly be trained with spears and swords, as well as unarmed combat and how to handle horses.
For a whole month, they would be worked to the bone. And following that, they would be taught to use thaumaturgy as they trained. And after that month, they would be sent out to experience real battle.
Ryoma had no need for warriors that couldn’t fight. Only those children that would be able to kill other people and monsters and survive that exchange of lives would be granted freedom. Anyone who couldn’t do so would be dealt with in the same way as any escaped slave — death.
Ryoma Mikoshiba only desired the strong. In this harsh Earth, any ideas of equality or saving the weak were only harmful to those that harbored them. He couldn’t afford to save those that couldn’t put in effort or lacked the will to live. He could help others grow stronger, but whether that truly happened depended solely on the individual.
Would these children die as the weak or live on to be strong...? No one could say for sure. At least, not yet...
Epilogue
Labored breaths escaped Asuka’s lips incessantly. She couldn’t tell how far she’d run already.
“Over here! Hurry!” Kusuda, who had taken the lead, waved toward her.
He stood beneath a tree overgrown with thick leaves.
“Keep going, Tachibana!” He’d repeated those words for what felt like the hundredth time.
How long has it been since...?
It felt like she’d been running for half the day, but that couldn’t be. After all, the moon was still shining down on them from above. It had likely been an hour or so. They’d been on the run, trying to stealthily get as far away as they could. And worse yet, they were in a dark forest. There were no signposts and no one they could ask for directions from.
And yet, they were lucky enough for the fact that Kouichirou Mikoshiba had fought as wildly as he did and drew attention to himself. This helped them escape the castle and reach the forest.
But the way this is going...
Tachibana was holding a handkerchief against his wound, but it was gradually becoming more and more stained with red. His only way of stopping the bleeding was by applying pressure to the wound. If they could stop and rest somewhere maybe they could treat him, but they were unfortunately on the run. The clotted blood was tearing off as they continued running. And yet, they couldn’t afford to stop.
“Miss Kiryuu, hurry!” Kusuda motioned for her to rush over.
“I’m sorry, I’ll be right there!” Asuka called back to him.
Truth be told, Tachibana was already a burden to them. At first he was capable and lucid, but as they kept running his consciousness was beginning to fade.
But...
They all knew that logically speaking, leaving Tachibana behind would be the optimal course of action. But neither Asuka or Kusuda thought to suggest it. They knew that they were pushing themselves against a wall by doing this, and in fact, if either of them were to suggest leaving Tachibana behind, it would likely be done.
But this was why they couldn’t stop. They feared that the moment they would stop, all the emotion they kept bottled up would rise to the surface.
Before long, the light of dawn began painting over the sky. By the time the sun was approaching its zenith, Tachibana crumbled to the ground. They’d been running along this unpaved route for hours without anything to eat or drink. It wouldn’t be surprising if they were to pass out from fatigue.
“Mr. Tachibana! Are you all right?! Hang on!” Asuka call
ed out in surprise.
“Tachibana!” Hearing Asuka’s exclamation, Kusuda hurried to Tachibana’s side and grabbed him by the shoulders.
“Mr. Kusuda, don’t shake him like that!” Asuka stopped him, flustered.
“Ah, sorry!” Recalling the wound to Tachibana’s head, Kusuda hurriedly let go of the man. “But what do we do? What the hell can we even do in the middle of the forest?”
For the time being, they laid Tachibana against a large tree’s trunk and let him rest. Kusuda’s expression was bitter. It would normally make sense for him to take over as leader, but he was still inexperienced. Overcoming this crisis would be difficult for him. The fact his speech had been growing rougher was proof of him losing his nerve. Asuka couldn’t blame him for it, though.
“I don’t think we can keep going like this... We need to make sure Mr. Tachibana gets treated first. And we need water and food,” Asuka suggested.
It was a reasonable idea. They were all nearing their bodies’ limits, after all. Force of will kept them going so far, but it wouldn’t last them for much longer.
“Still, we can’t go back the way we came... And if what Mr. Mikoshiba said is true, this is another world, right? How are we supposed to treat him? Where would we find a doctor?” Kusuda fired off his questions one after another.
Asuka wasn’t responsible for this situation, of course, but Kusuda’s tone seemed to blame her, as if it was somehow her fault. But upon watching her fall into silence, Kusuda was overcome with guilt.
“I’m sorry...” Kusuda bowed his head. “That was wrong of me.”
“No... It’s alright.”
They both knew that quarreling here would be the foolish thing to do, and so they came to a compromise.
“Let’s let Tachibana rest here...” Kusuda said. “I’ll go look for food and water for the time being.”
He then pulled his collapsible baton out of his bag.
“Judging by those people we saw yesterday, I don’t think it’ll be of much use... But I guess it’s better than going empty-handed.”
“Then I’ll...” Asuka said, as she tried to get up.
Kusuda stopped her, though.
“No, you stay here, Miss Kiryuu. We can’t leave Tachibana here alone in this state.”
Asuka immediately realized they didn’t have any other option.
“All right. Thank you, and good luck,” Asuka said, bowing her head.
Kusuda nodded back and soon disappeared into the forest.
“It’d probably be best if I don’t touch it directly...”
Asuka used her face sheet to clean Tachibana’s wound as he lay down. The blood clots had closed the wound to his forehead, and the bloodstained handkerchief, flaky to the touch, clung to his skin. The first sheet she used was soon dyed a dark red from blood, sweat, and filth.
“What’s going to happen to us now...?” Asuka whispered, wiping his face with a second sheet. “Aah... It’s so dirty...”
Asuka was discouraged as she watched the sheet turn black. Anger and doubt surged up in her heart. She kept asking herself why they’d found their way into this world, but couldn’t come up with an answer.
But it was then that Asuka heard a soft chiming sound, like a bell’s, ring out in her ears.
“Huh? It can’t be...”
She turned to look in the direction of the sound, where she found a katana propped against a tree’s trunk. It was Ouka, the sword Kouichirou gave her.
“Why? Why are you calling out...?”
It was as if it was calling out to Asuka, trying to warn her of something. Asuka gripped the katana. And at just that moment, a massive shadow barreled toward the girl.
“Aaaaaaaaah?!” Asuka exclaimed in shock.
But while her body was about to squat in place and freeze up, she suddenly stopped moving. A heat suddenly blazed through her limbs. It felt as if the blood running through her veins turned to lava. And then, Asuka unconsciously released Ouka from its sheath — drawing it at lightning speed.
With her body positioned as it was, she moved as if she was a doll having its strings pulled, and thrust the blade into the mass lying on the ground. A long, pained howl of agony rattled the forest’s trees.
Asuka’s confused mind was beginning to realize what just happened. The first thing she saw was the body of a dead animal lying on the ground.
“No way... Is that a tiger?!” Asuka whispered in surprise.
Lying before her was the dead remains of a large animal that weighed five hundred kilograms. Each of the fangs extending from its mouth were larger than most knives Asuka had seen. Its claws were also sharp, and the shape of its face was decidedly feline.
“But this isn’t a tiger, is it...?”
Looking closely, what should have been a tiger’s sleek fur was a coat of fur that seemed to be made out of sharp needles. And more than anything, it was far too large to be a tiger. Typically, tigers weigh three hundred kilograms at most. But the tiger-like animal lying dead in front of Asuka was nearly three times the size of the tigers she had seen in the zoo. It also seemed to have a third eye on its forehead. A three-eyed tiger.
Once she noticed the third eye, the cogs inside her head began spinning.
Yeah... This isn’t Earth, is it...?
Even after braving that much danger and hearing Kouichirou’s explanation, Asuka still couldn’t tell if the reality playing out before her eyes was real or a dream. She didn’t want to admit it, and preferred to believe this was all a product of her imagination.
But the three-eyed tiger that had just attacked her and which she cut down forced the gears within her mind to move. The act of taking a life rattled the heart of a normal human being to the core. That made it clear why Kouichirou chose to come back to Rearth in order to save Asuka.
But what really bothered Asuka right now was the odd sensation that had overcome her body when the tiger attacked her.
“But I... How did I...? It’s like someone else was moving my body... Yes, it was like something was controlling me...”
But the indescribable sensation still lingered in her fingers. Her nostrils felt warm, and were filled with the scent of blood, which she had smelled too many times since yesterday. Her gaze turned in the direction of the smell, where the massive three-eyed tiger lay on the ground with a vertical slash across its stomach.
It seemed her initial slash when she first drew the blade ended up being a fatal blow. The creature’s intestines were spilling out of its stomach and onto the ground. She thrust her blade into its forehead, so as to make sure she took it out of its misery. But even so, it was a gruesome slash.
It can’t be. I couldn’t have done something like that...
Kouichirou did train her a bit in swordplay, but it wasn’t anywhere near the thorough training he’d put Ryoma through.
And yet, fate was moving far too fast to afford Asuka any time to think...
“Hey, I think that howl came from that way!”
“Yes, that sounded like a Third Eye’s roar.”
“All right, everyone, remain cautious! As large as those things are, Third Eyes are savage predators and can mask their presence to ambush their prey. If you let your guard down, it’ll bite you down before you know it!”
Those voices were accompanied by the sound of twigs being crushed by multiple footsteps.
Those voices, there’s people coming here... What should I do...?
Unable to decide if she should hide or ask them for help, Asuka stood stock still. Before long, a group of men clad in metallic armor appeared from the thicket.
“It smells like blood... Did we finally corner that thing?” the man leading the group remarked, sniffing the air suspiciously.
He was a young man, about one hundred and eighty centimeters in height. He had a thin but well-toned form. He looked to be in his mid-twenties. He was a handsome man with gold hair, tied into a ponytail at the back of his head. He looked like he might be the most popular member of an idol group
in Japan.
The man soon noticed Asuka’s presence, and his face stiffened.
“Who are you?! What are you doing here? And that behind you... Wait, that’s a Third Eye!”
From his perspective, he’d just found a girl standing in the middle of the forest, gripping a bloody sword. His reaction could be called appropriate. It was like a scene from a horror movie. And when he realized the beast he was sent here to slay was lying dead at her feet, his confusion only deepened.
But what came next only served to leave him even more astonished.
Upon seeing the man’s face, Asuka suddenly collapsed.
“Huh?! What, what’s wrong, all of a sudden?!” the man exclaimed and hurried to her side. “Aah, what is going on here?!”
The man clicked his tongue and reached for the water canteen dangling from his waist.
“All right, have this, drink it!” He lightly tapped on Asuka’s cheek a few times and tipped the canteen against her lips.
Of course, he knew that it contained not water, but some brandy which he carried in place of smelling salts. It was naturally illegal to do so. But in the state Asuka was in, brandy served just as well as water.
Asuka’s throat gulped twice, then thrice. Her eyelids fluttered and half-opened, but her stamina was already at its limits. She let her consciousness slip without drinking much.
“Hey! Hey!”
He called out to her again, but Asuka’s limp body showed no response. The rest of the group soon appeared behind the man, wearing matching suits of armor. An insignia of a cross held against the sun was emblazoned on their armor, likely the symbol of their group.
They were probably knights serving some country.
“Leader! Why did you break formation?” One of his subordinates approached the man. “Normally you’d stay at the back of the line... Wait, who is this girl?”
He noticed Asuka lying unconscious in the man’s arms and tilted his head in surprise. None of the men present understood this situation.
“I don’t know... What is she doing in the forest...? But she’s still breathing, so I don’t think she’s in danger of dying.”
