Chapter 224: Takatsuki Makoto arrives 1,000 years into the past
I crossed the gate and an intense headache attacked me.
I held my head and by the time I noticed, I was inside pitch black darkness.
I couldn’t see anything, couldn’t hear anything.
I felt like all my senses were taken away.
I don’t know if my eyes were open or shut.
Am I breathing or am I not?
How much time passed?
It might have been an instant, or maybe a long time.
I couldn’t even notice that I had lost consciousness.
◇◇
The moment I woke up, I was in an unknown place.
There was a rainbow colored barrier around.
(Is this…the spell of Ira-sama?) (Makoto)
I lightly pushed the barrier with my finger, and it crumbled without making a sound.
Looks like it was set to be undone the moment I woke up.
When I looked around, what was reflected in my eyes was an unduly vast wasteland.
There wasn’t enough grass for it to be called a prairie, and there weren’t enough trees to be called a forest.
A wasteland that hasn’t been tended to.
I don’t remember this.
Is this 1,000 years in the past…?
I look up at the sky.
It was covered in pitch black clouds.
The light of the sun isn’t coming down, and the whole world looks ashen.
(Pitch Black Clouds…) (Makoot)
The sight of the Dark Era that I learned of in the temple was spreading before me.
This is without doubt 1,000 years in the past.
(…Noah-sama.) (Makoto)
I call her inside my mind, but there’s no response.
I opened my Soul Book.
The words [Goddess Noah-sama’s Apostle] are gone.
The Spirit User Skill I was given is still there. The dagger on my waist is also proof that I was the believer of Noah-sama.
(I had no acquaintances in this world…) (Makoto)
My memories of the time when I left the Water Temple and began my journey alone.
No, I could have returned to the Water Temple if I felt like I couldn’t take it.
Also, I knew that Fuji-yan was in Makkaren.
But here…I don’t even have a place to return to.
Uneasiness gradually began to rear its face.
…[Clear Mind].
Calm down.
“Let’s search for Savior Abel…” (Makoto)
Move forward.
Stop thinking unnecessary things.
It is okay. I am sure things will go well.
◇◇
“I don’t see a single person though…” (Makoto)
My monologues grew in frequency.
I have been walking around for several hours already.
I saw wild animals here and there, but I haven’t met a single human.
I am getting depressed.
Or more like, is there no town or village?
Where am I?
Ira-sama said I should be appearing somewhere in Rozes, but this place doesn’t match any part of my memories.
If only I could at least find the Shimei Lake that is at the center of Rozes, I could tell my location…
At that moment…
“…..?!”
“…..~.”
I heard a conversation from afar.
Yay, humans!
I was about to run there, but I stopped myself.
…This is currently the Dark Era that’s ruled by the Great Demon Lord.
There’s the chance it is demons.
Rather, the chances of that are high.
“[Stealth].” (Makoto)
I erase my presence and slowly get closer to the source of the voices.
Fortunately, the grass of the wasteland is tall, so I could get close just by crouching.
With Eavesdrop, I listen to the conversation.
“Hehe~, this is my prey. I found it.”
“What’s with that? Don’t say something so stingy. Give me half.”
“……Ah! …S-Save me…”
The conversation I heard couldn’t be called refined by any standards.
A miss, huh.
“[Farsight].” (Makoto)
There were 3 people.
One is a young girl.
She is trembling most likely because of fear.
The remaining two…are monsters.
One is a chimera, the other is a griffon.
They look like normal monsters, but they are talking fluently.
…Monsters could talk 1,000 years ago?
“Then, I will get the upper half.”
“Aah, not fair. The lower half is hard to eat.”
The two monsters seem to be having a discussion about how to share her.
The girl couldn’t move at all from pure fear.
At that moment, letters showed in front of me.
[Will you save the girl?]
Yes ←
No
That time when I left the Water Temple and when I fought goblins for the first time passed through my mind.
I didn’t hesitate in my choice.
“XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (Spirit-sans, Spirit-sans, lend me your strength).” (Makoto)
(((((((Okay~!!!)))))))
When I called the Spirits, I received a response that surpassed my expectations.
As if they were waiting impatiently for this moment.
A massive amount of mana gathered in an instant.
The air trembled and the ground shook.
Crap, I gathered a bit too much mana!
“What? Who are you?!”
“Oi oi, is a human planning on going against us?”
The monsters obviously noticed me.
The two monsters were coming at me at an astounding speed.
I was thinking about hitting them with a surprise attack like I did with the goblins a long time ago though…
I messed up here.
…Well, fine.
“Water Magic: [Ice World].” (Makoto)
I shoot the spell at the two monsters.
“The weak water mag—”
“I will first bite off your head an—”
Those were their last words.
The result of freezing even air itself was the completion of two ice monster statues.
Not only that, the plains that could be seen in the whole area to the trees had been frozen.
…Hmm, the power has been higher than my estimates for a while now.
But let’s leave the details for later.
I ran to where the young girl is.
“U-Uhm…”
“We are running.” (Makoto)
If we stay here, the chances of other monsters coming is high.
I pulled the trembling hand of the little girl and left that place.
◇◇
We ran for a while and it seemed like we could hide in the shadow of a tree, so the little girl and I stopped there.
“Are you okay?” (Makoto)
When I asked this, the girl nodded.
Her age is around 10-12, I think.
Unkempt black hair and tattered clothes.
But when I look closely, I can tell that she has a cute face.
“Uhm…why…did you save me?”
The little girl asked with scared eyes.
I don’t really have a reason though…
I was troubled in what to answer, and the little girl continued speaking.
“The monsters that you defeated are affiliated to the demon lord army. Their comrades will notice the abnormality, and they will begin searching for the culprit. When that happens, you will be tortured till death…”
The little girl had a pale white face.
I see, so they were part of the demon lord army, huh.
“By the way, are the other monsters a lot stronger than that?” (Makoto)
“If we exclude the lieutenants, a platoon is made up of more than 20. If they were to attack at the same time, there would be nothing remaining of a human—”
“20 more of those just now, huh… There’s no problem then.” (Makoto)
“Eh?”
The little girl had her eyes wide open as she looked at me.
“Uhm…what do you mean by that…?”
“If it is monsters of that level, 20 or 30 is no problem. I will freeze them in one hit.” (Makoto)
In order to not make the girl feel uneasy, I directed the gentlest smile I could make.
Well, the reality is that I would probably be okay even if it were more than a hundred of those.
As Noah-sama said, Spirit Magic is specialized for wars.
It is strong against numbers.
“Could it be that…you are a Hero-sama?”
Her eyes were not blank like they have been until now. Light had returned to them.
Her cheeks were slightly flushed.
Oops, I raised her hopes too much.
“No, I am not a Hero…but I am looking for one.” (Makoto)
“A comrade of a Hero-sama then!!”
She took that as me being the companion of a Hero.
“By the way, I don’t know much about the area around here… Where are we?” (Makoto)
“Eh?”
The little girl directed a gaze of suspicion at me.
Eyes that were saying ‘what is this guy saying?’.
Even a person like me that couldn’t read the atmosphere could tell this.
Looks like I made a strange question.
“W-Well…actually, I was attacked by a really strong monster before I got here, and I hit my head. My memories are hazy now…” (Makoto)
I made a bad excuse.
“I see…”
I don’t know if she believes me or not, but she didn’t question me further.
I did save her life after all.
The little girl answered me.
“This is the human farm of the Demon Lord Bifrons-sama.”
“……”
There’s a lot to retort to that, but…
‘I don’t know where you will be teleported to, but the place you will be teleported to will be deeply connected with you’.
I remember the words of Ira-sama.
Now that I think about it, I did meet a person(?) from the Dark Era.
The Demon Lord that I finished off 1,000 years in the future.
I am super connected.
Looks like I have arrived in the territory of the Immortal King Bifrons-san.
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