Chapter 5: Square 4: Value of Strength
The sound of water.
The air felt strangely clear, and the light hitting my face was warm.
Lured by the faint scent of flowers, I slowly opened my heavy eyelids.
"...Huh?"
A white ceiling. A soft blanket covering my body.
I sat up with my still-heavy body, trying to organize my confused mind.
"Oh, you’re awake?"
When I turned toward the voice, a girl was arranging flowers in a vase.
It was the black-haired girl I had helped.
"I’m glad. It’s already morning."
The girl was gently and beautifully arranging the flowers.
As I watched her, my mind gradually cleared, and I recalled what had happened yesterday.
"I see... I was rescued after that..."
I looked at the shelf beside me. My belongings had been neatly organized.
"Did you... pick up my stuff for me?"
"Yes. The mirror-like device was broken, though..."
Mirror... right, the tablet.
"No, it’s fine. I probably couldn’t charge it here anyway, so it’s okay if it’s gone."
"Charge?"
The unfamiliar word made the girl tilt her head.
It seemed this world really didn’t have scientific technology.
Looking closely, even the IV-like device didn’t contain liquid — it had crystals inside.
An aura-like energy slowly overflowed from them and flowed into my body through the tube.
"Um, this is..."
Without thinking too deeply, I tried to ask her about it.
When I looked at her eyes, I finally noticed.
"Ah... yes? What is it?"
The girl’s eyes were bloodshot red.
I had been so focused on fighting that I forgot — I had only saved her little sister.
Her parents were already dead by the time I arrived.
It wouldn’t be strange for her to still be crying and calling out for her parents.
Yet she had held it in and was taking care of me.
She really was a strong and kind girl.
For now, I should tell her I’m feeling better.
"Thank you. I’m completely fine now."
"I’m glad to hear that.
The doctor said your magic power was completely empty.
Also... here, this is for you."
In the girl’s hands was a small bag labeled 400,000 yen. Inside was an ornately decorated piece of paper with a long message about a "reward" or something.
At the bottom were the seal of the Royal Knight Order and the signature of a high-ranking guard.
"Is this some kind of bounty?"
"Yes, it’s compensation for your contribution to the subjugation."
Contribution... even though I only injured one of them.
This large sum of money showed just how dangerous those three really were.
On top of that, the female leader had said "Let’s meet again."
Just remembering her voice still sent chills down my spine.
"Um... could you accept this money?"
She held out the small bag with an anxious expression.
But I wasn’t in the mood for a victory celebration by taking this money.
"Did you get the bag from the guards?"
"Well... yes.
But one of the big guard uncles said that since things will be hard for you from now on, you should take it."
"Then you should keep it."
I pushed the bag she was offering back toward her chest.
"No, I can’t!
You saved us and now you’re even giving me money..."
"Really? Then I won’t hold back..."
I lightly pinched the bag she was holding.
"And this is pocket money from me."
While patting the girl’s head, I made her grip the bag.
"It’s fine.
I may not look it, but I make decent money.
I have a bit of an unusual job.
You saw the clothes I was wearing, right? They were new to you, weren’t they?"
"...Are you really sure?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
The girl looked down, awkwardly wiping her tears.
She made a dark expression for a moment as if looking away, then gripped the bag tightly and looked up.
"I will never forget this kindness for the rest of my life!
Thank you so much!"
She wiped away the tears that spilled from her eyes once more and ran off somewhere.
"...Was that the right thing to do?"
Her problems couldn’t be solved with money.
Was there really nothing else I could have done for her?
"...No, anything more would be meddling."
I collapsed back onto the bed.
I stared blankly at the ceiling, but since I had slept enough, I couldn’t fall asleep again.
"Let’s see, where’s my phone... ah..."
I thought about reading some webcomics, but I realized the obvious problem.
There was no way this place would have signal.
Fortunately, my watch was battery-powered, so at least the time wasn’t off.
"I’ve really become completely useless."
I took out my smartphone from my bag, saw the 3% battery indicator, and slumped my shoulders in disappointment.
"Sigh... guess I’ll take a walk."
I straightened the collar of the ill-fitting hospital gown and left the room, pushing the IV stand.
At that time, the girl was in a magic item shop near the hospital.
She gripped the 400,000 yen in cash tightly and wandered around the store, examining the items.
The shopkeeper, unable to ignore her overly careless behavior, called out to her.
"Little miss.
This isn’t a place for a girl like you. You should head home soon.
It’s gotten dangerous around here lately."
"I know that."
The girl’s voice was very dark, carrying a heavy, lead-like atmosphere.
Ignoring the shopkeeper’s concern, her gaze was drawn to one particular item.
"Excuse me, can I have that one?"
When the shopkeeper saw what she was pointing at, he frowned.
"Wait, little miss.
That’s not something a child should be handling..."
"Just sell it to me!! I have the money!"
A darkness inappropriate for a child flickered deep in the girl’s eyes.
Overwhelmed by her intensity, the shopkeeper silently shook his head.
As he watched the girl leave with her purchase, his hands were trembling slightly.
"What is this?"
In the rest area of the hospital hallway, a square box-like object — something like a vending machine from my original world — sat there conspicuously.
It had a coin slot, a retrieval opening at the bottom, and illuminated drinks.
But of course, it wasn’t actually a machine.
It had a stone construction like a statue, with glowing stones visible through glass in places. The unique shape gave off the impression that it was used for some kind of ritual.
"And there’s only one thing being sold?"
A simple package labeled "Magic Power Can" in red letters.
Only this one type was neatly lined up inside.
"Should I try drinking it?
But I have no idea what it tastes like..."
I stood frozen in front of the vending machine-like object, tilting my head in confusion.
Then a deep male voice came from behind me.
"There you are!"
A volume completely unsuited for a hospital reached my ears, and a large hand firmly grabbed my shoulder.
"Huh?"
"I finally found you!
The guy in black clothes with the weird scarf... wait, huh?"
A familiar face and a familiar voice.
Several seconds of silence passed between me and the well-built man gripping my shoulder.
"Oh, I remember!
You’re the guard who warned me yesterday!"
"You’re the one from yesterday!? ...Ah, no."
The guard gave a loud cough and performed a crisp, soldier-like salute.
"I have heard that you are the one who defeated Nest Darlich, an executive of the Blue Rose."
"Nest... Oh, that dark-skinned woman?"
The leader of the trio. Come to think of it, I never learned her name.
"So it really was you... I mean, it was you, sir.
On behalf of the guards, thank you!"
The guard bowed deeply.
So this was the "big guard uncle" the girl had mentioned.
However, I had never heard of "Blue Rose."
"That Blue Rose...? Is that the name of their team or something?
Also, the woman mentioned something about ’Yellow Heart.’"
"No, Yellow Heart was a bandit group that disbanded long ago.
She was one of the top executives of the criminal organization known as Blue Rose.
Here, this is the wanted poster."
I looked at the wanted poster he handed me.
The face was only partially visible through the hood, but the features matched what I remembered.
It listed her race as Dark Elf — as expected of another world.
I hadn’t seen any in town, but apparently there were other demi-humans as well.
My eyes slid down to the bottom, where there was a long string of numbers.
"Um, one, ten, hundred... sixty million!?
The bounty is sixty million? Are the digits correct?"
Even by Japanese standards, an eight-digit bounty wasn’t something you saw often.
No matter how you looked at it, this was outrageous.
"Even this is considered cheap.
She’s a monster spoken of in legends."
From the guard, I heard stories of her attacking slave traders and devouring both them and the slaves, single-handedly annihilating dispatched subjugation teams, commanding dragons in massive battles, and more.
The more I heard, the more inhuman she sounded, and I found myself listening as if it were someone else’s problem.
The fact that I was still alive seemed like nothing short of a miracle.
"Still, this world doesn’t have photographs, huh."
The wanted poster had a large handwritten bounty written below a sketch portrait.
Other details included clothing, characteristics, and race.
I understood that much, but there was an unfamiliar item next to the bounty amount.
"...What’s this ’Estimated Level 5’ written under the bounty amount?"
"You don’t even know that? What backwater did you—
Ah, no, excuse me."
The guard gave another loud cough to cover it up, glanced at my IV drip, and started walking.
"You shouldn’t push yourself with a tired body.
Let’s continue this conversation in your hospital room."
"Estimated Level is a statistic created by the town’s experts measuring a person’s strength. It estimates destructive power, danger level, combat ability, influence, and so on..."
For over ten minutes, the explanation continued steadily in my hospital room, but it was roundabout and hard to follow.
I took out a notebook and pen from my bag and summarized it in my own way.
"So basically, it’s like this:"
Level 1 Livestock or insects, etc.
Level 2 Ordinary citizens
Level 3 Well-trained soldiers
Level 4 Elite combat professionals
Level 5 Knight Order captains or equivalent organization bosses
Level 6 People who can take on large forces alone
Level 7 Those with power equivalent to a nation
Level 8 Existences capable of causing major disasters
Level 9 Beings considered dangerous throughout history
Level 10 Imaginary monsters capable of destroying the world
"Roughly, yes.
There are almost no people at Level 6 or above.
You can think of Level 5 as the highest level you’ll normally see."
Levels 8 and 9 were basically characters from picture books.
According to the explanation, the woman I fought yesterday was at the highest level.
"Can I ask one more thing?"
The guard, drinking water brought by the nurse, replied, "What is it?"
"To be direct — why was that girl’s house targeted?
For such a major criminal to target it, it should have been an ordinary civilian home."
After a brief pause, the guard answered with a troubled tone.
"...Actually, that house wasn’t the only one victimized.
It seems two other residences were attacked as well."
I frowned deeply at that answer.
"...That’s the first I’ve heard of it."
"The first fatalities occurred at that house. The others were fortunately empty.
This information is not yet public, so please keep it confidential."
I was relieved there were no more deaths.
But that still didn’t resolve my questions.
"Is there any common point among the three attacked houses?"
The guard nodded deeply at my question.
"All the victimized homes had basements.
No valuables were taken, so they must have been searching for something else... Ah!"
The guard glanced at the clock and hurriedly stood up.
"I’m sorry, I need to get back to work soon!"
"Ah, thank you very much.
Sorry for keeping you so long during work hours."
"Not at all. Well then—"
...I ended up talking casually without using polite language.
Well, no one will blame me.
After all, I had achieved such a major feat.
"...Nest of the Blue Rose, huh."
If this were a game, defeating the boss enemy would clear the stage.
Would defeating the Blue Rose change something?
Even thinking about it in circles on the bed, I couldn’t come to any conclusions.
So I simply closed my eyes and escaped into dreams.
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