The Stranger
The man looked familiar. No, that face was impossible to forget. How could I possibly forget the bastard who tried to rape me? To be honest, the memory was burned so deeply into my brain that it bordered on repulsive. Just seeing his face, let alone breathing the same air as him, made my skin crawl. He was the person who had given me the most intense feeling of hatred in my entire life, so it was only natural that my reaction to him would be anything but pleasant.
Why the hell did the iron pipe guy save a creep like this?
“First of all, what the fuck was that Rima Crystal?! Why is everyone losing their minds over it like the place is on fire?”
“Rima… what?”
Whether I glared at him with axe-like eyes or not, the man simply kept spitting out his one-sided complaints with an expression that screamed pure annoyance. The fact that I had saved his life didn’t seem to register with him at all. He was the very definition of a self-centered asshole. If this were Earth, he’d be the perfect specimen of a guy I’d curse out and immediately cut off. And what the hell was a Rima Crystal? What kind of pervert calls something by a name like that? Wasn’t it a bit too unfriendly to throw unfamiliar terms at someone from another world who knew nothing?
The word “crystal” suggested it was probably some kind of stone or metallic material… Ah, maybe he meant that amethyst-like rock? Come to think of it, I had definitely beaten the shit out of the perverted lolicon pedophile bastard right at the entrance. After that, I took his money, and in return, he’d thrown me one of those mysterious purple stones that seemed to have come from inside the giant monster’s body. Now that I thought about it, the wanted poster had also mentioned something about “illegal Rima Crystals.” It looked like my random guess that the rock I’d casually picked up might actually be incredibly valuable had been spot on.
Even if I hadn’t given it to the man and had just brought it in myself, it was obvious that would have caused problems too. Looking at that face of his, I could tell for sure. I hadn’t exactly intended to use him as a shield, but thanks to my impulsive actions, it seemed he’d ended up getting chewed out. What had they called them? The guards? The way that guy who was supposed to be guarding the passage alone had acted, and hearing regular citizens like Miss Nia openly talk about bribes… It didn’t seem like a proper organization at all. Which meant the Rima Crystal I’d brought had caused quite the stir.
At least I could tell that the man in front of me had gotten himself into trouble because of it. I hadn’t meant to, but it felt pretty satisfying. Pushing those thoughts aside, I kept my face completely blank and spoke in a mocking tone.
“By the way, you. Weren’t you crawling on the ground like a worm earlier? Now you’re acting all high and mighty? Why don’t you try coming at me like you did back then?”
“──Ah, no, that was…”
The cold words I spat out while lightly swinging the iron pipe over my shoulder. In that instant, all the blood drained from the man’s face—the same face that had been acting like he held all the power. He must have gotten so heated that he’d blurted everything out without thinking, only to belatedly remember what I had done to him. They say if you have a bad head, your body suffers. This was exactly that.
“…I’m not doing this because I want to. Searching like this isn’t even my job.”
“You were just following orders?”
“Yeah. I was the only one who knew your face, so… I got dragged out here against my will to do something that was never in my stars.”
When I played along, the man nodded frantically. It seemed he’d decided that talking with me might actually work. His words suddenly sped up.
“Look, sure, a Rima Crystal of that size is rare. The higher-ups would naturally be curious about how someone got their hands on it. But assault? That kind of thing doesn’t even count as a real crime around here. Slip them the right amount and you can get bail no problem. The whole point of the wanted order was that. Everyone gangs up to squeeze a little extra out of it… that kind of thing. So…”
“Turn myself in?”
“Huh? Y-yeah, exactly! Turn yourself in! That’s the fastest shortcut. You don’t want to deal with annoying stuff either, right? Let’s both make this easy and walk away clean.”
A world where an attempted child rapist could talk about walking away clean with a straight face. This place really was completely insane. If nothing else, I could tell that this was a town that placed far more value on something called a Rima Crystal than on sexual assault or violence. Letting out a mental sigh, I lowered the iron pipe from my shoulder.
“…Yeah, whatever. I don’t care.”
Maida Ren had said it. Go to the guards, turn yourself in, and negotiate appropriately. Miss Nia’s father had seemed to roughly agree with that idea too. So I had decided to just go along with the flow for now. It wasn’t like they would suddenly drag me away and kill me or torture me or anything that extreme. Even though I didn’t particularly like it, I had chosen to follow this village’s customs. Just as I was about to nod at the man in front of me—
“Yumi, surrender. Oppose.”
“Huh?”
The white girl who had been standing there like a mannequin without even making a sound suddenly cut in. I turned to her in surprise. Her expression was blank, but that only made her words feel infinitely more serious.
“Sister. If you go, you die. Torn to pieces. Dismembered.”
…Excuse me?
The things that happened after that were quite chaotic. Still, let me try to summarize. The white girl named Yumi suddenly declared her opposition to me going to the guards and turning myself in. Thankfully, she then asked me this:
‘Sister. That man. Should I kill him?’
‘Ah, no you can’t!’
‘Tsk.’
When I reflexively shouted in rejection of murder, she dismissed the greatsword she had been holding. Then, clicking her tongue, she charged at the man who was standing there blankly and kicked him hard in the shin. With a women’s boot—sturdy enough to be called combat footwear—the man screamed as he rolled across the floor. Before he could even aim his rifle, she grabbed my hand and started sprinting down the opposite path.
The sound had been a sharp crack, so that was definitely at least a fracture. It was the first time I had seen someone get hurt that badly up close, so I was scared, but at the same time, a strange thrill ran down my spine. In the beginning, I couldn’t even think of resisting Yumi’s actions. In the end, I was dragged along like a piece of luggage as she dashed down the carriage road at a speed comparable to a car. I had no choice but to match her pace if I didn’t want to be scraped across the ground. I couldn’t even shake off her arm. The sticky, obsessive strength with which she gripped my hand was not at a level I could casually resist.
About five minutes of involuntary full-speed sprinting later, my stamina was still perfectly fine. If it had been my original body, I would have collapsed in under ten seconds. I never knew that the single piece of chicken I had eaten on the way out of Miss Nia’s house would have such tremendous power. Not only did just drinking water clear my mind completely, but eating one measly low-calorie protein chunk gave me this kind of output. Just what kind of efficiency did this body have…?
I was randomly marveling at that when it happened. Sharp whistle sounds began ringing out from both ends of the main road. It seemed the man who had been subdued by Yumi had finally called for his comrades. The delayed reaction meant he had spent that much time writhing in pain. It really was satisfying.
‘I’ve been waiting for this moment.’
Having successfully lured them onto the main road, she explained something I hadn’t even asked about, which annoyed me. This time she dragged me into a complicated back alley. A few soldiers dressed exactly like that man popped out here and there to block our path, but—
‘Move.’
With that single word, the small girl’s body slam sent them flying. They couldn’t even scream properly before they ended up rolling across the filthy ground like bowling pins. I felt a little concerned about the ones groaning on the ground. I hoped no one had died. I repeated that baseless hope to myself about five times.
“Arrived.”
When I came to my senses, an unfamiliar dead-end alley lay before me. And there—
“…A container?”
In a filthy place filled with a wall over five meters high and all kinds of trash, it sat there. Six meters wide and three meters tall. The familiar dimensions made it look very similar to the shipping containers I used to see on Earth—a portable structure.
The inside of the container-like structure with its lights on felt chilly. There was one foldable wooden chair near the entrance, and in the corner stood several large rolled-up vinyl-like things. The single window had thick panels on both sides that could block it at any time, which felt somewhat suspicious. Also, the floor seemed higher than it had looked from outside. Overall, the space appeared narrower than expected. Maybe it was coated with some special material. It might have been lined with insulation or soundproofing. The similarities to modern Earth objects sparked a bit of curiosity, but there was one presence that captured my gaze far more intensely than any of that.
“Yumi, reporting mission complete.”
“Thank you for your hard work. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No, Yumi. Fine. Sister also fine.”
“That’s a relief.”
He was a man who let out a kind laugh in a low, resonant voice. The hand that gently stroked Yumi’s head as she approached with small steps looked affectionate. I couldn’t guess his age. But it was clear he was an extremely old man. Countless wrinkles. Hair white enough to look bleached. Skin covered in age spots. On top of that, he sat in what looked like a wheelchair, suggesting trouble with his legs. To anyone looking, he seemed far from healthy.
But what truly captured my gaze wasn’t any of those things.
…His eye color is seriously beautiful.
It might be a bit rude to think that about a man, especially an elder, but I couldn’t shake the impression. Beautiful emerald light. Two eyes that felt as strong as jewels that only grew more brilliant with time were staring directly at me.
“…It’s been a long time.”
“──.”
The unfamiliar old man spoke first. With Yumi standing beside him like a bodyguard after she reported her mission complete, he said:
You haven’t changed at all.
Those words made me realize that the reason Yumi had brought me here was for this meeting with the old man. For a moment, the thought that I needed to say something dominated my mind. But no voice came out. A small hesitation had bloomed in my heart and shaken the resolve I had been holding onto. Still, the conflict lasted only a moment. What I had to do was clear from the beginning.
“You look like you have no idea what I’m talking about. Well, that makes sense. After all, that little kid has aged this much. It’s no wonder you wouldn’t recognize me.”
Whether he knew about the complicated feelings swirling inside me or not, the old man continued speaking with a joyful expression as if he were meeting a precious old acquaintance.
“It was already more than a hundred years ago. I wonder if you remember.”
“──I’m sorry.”
A hundred years ago. I cut off the old man who spoke of an unimaginable span of time and apologized first. It was both an apology for the trouble I was about to cause and a signal that I had firmed up my wavering heart.
“Oh dear. My name is Rudel Ars. It’s the name of the nine-year-old boy who fearlessly begged you to teach him flight magic.”
The old man took my reaction as nothing more than me not remembering him. He answered in a casual tone, his voice tinged with the faint nostalgia of recalling old memories.
…I’m really sorry. I never meant to trample on someone else’s cherished memories. It was something I had expected, but the uncomfortable feeling was still unavoidable. I took a deep breath and spoke again.
“I’m sorry. I am not the person you know.”
“……Pardon?”
“The original owner of this body is no longer here.”
“……”
“The original owner abandoned this body and handed it over to me before disappearing. That’s why I don’t know you. I’m a blank slate of a person who doesn’t even know where this is or what I should be doing.”
Pretending to know anything would only cause problems. The green eyes widened at the words carrying that meaning. Deeper wrinkles spread across the old man’s face. I thought he simply hadn’t understood what I said. That was understandable. If our positions were reversed, it would be the natural reaction. If I met an old friend from my school days, greeted them happily, and then said, ‘I got body-swapped, so I don’t know who you are,’ there was a 100% chance they would think I had gone insane from some kind of accident.
But—
“……Is that so.”
“Huh?”
After dozens of seconds of silence, the old man’s words that finally returned completely overturned my expectations.
“……So that’s what happened. In the end, you fulfilled your long-cherished wish. Lady Benifrigael…”