Chapter 21
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Magical Initiation (6)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The first day in another world was something special.
Before I knew it, my clothes had changed into something straight out of an isekai story.
The aerial drone that had vanished from my hand in an instant.
The fantasy village scene that couldn't possibly exist in the real world.
At that moment, instinct kicked in. This place was another world.
At first, excitement overrode any fear. The thrill of experiencing an isekai I'd only ever read about in novels or comics made my body shiver involuntarily.
I couldn't help but get worked up. Of course not. Honestly, doesn't everyone dream of an isekai adventure at least once?
And that chance had come to me.
Before the awe could even fade, one person caught my eye. An old lady in ragged clothes selling greens by the roadside.
I approached her without hesitation and struck up a conversation.
Asking where this place was.
Confirming if it really was another world, just like I'd imagined.
All while harboring expectations. What special perks would I get here? What kind of protagonist role would I play?
But what flew back at me instead was a blade.
It obviously wasn't some kind gesture of handing over a weapon. No one would call jamming a knife into a stranger's neck an act of kindness.
I was so shocked that I cursed without thinking and kicked the old lady away before bolting.
That was my first day in another world.
"I kicked the old lady selling greens."
In a single sentence summing up the memory, I spat out what I'd done on my first day there.
It was bittersweet, but now I could say it with a slight sense of relief.
Time really does turn things into fond memories, it seems.
"......"
"......"
"......"
But no one said a word. The silence grew even heavier and more awkward than before.
I couldn't wrap my head around it.
Why the hell were they suddenly acting like this?
They'd asked me to tell them, so why clam up now?
Shouldn't they at least react? That'd be polite, right?
As if sensing my frustration, the mint-colored Magical Girl broke the silence.
"Hey...... you, what the hell did you just say......?"
It wasn't proper speech, but I charitably let it slide. My isekai experience must've been way off from what she expected, shocking her senseless.
So, I figured I'd elaborate a bit more.
"Exactly what I said. I kicked the old lady selling greens on the street. It was no big deal."
It really wasn't.
Compared to the chain of events that followed, that first-day mishap was just a minor blip.
"Was that old lady secretly loaded with Magical gear or something?"
"Nah. Her clothes were falling apart."
I answered flatly.
The mint-colored Magical Girl asked again.
"Th-then...... was she a normal person disguised as a Magical?"
"Doubt it. Her complexion was rough, and she looked pretty frail all over. Lucky for me, though. Made her easy to kick away."
"Hey...... what'd you say to the old lady when you kicked her?"
"Oh, that? Told her if she's old, she should just die peacefully."
"......"
I'd answered diligently, and now they shut up again.
Didn't they feel bad for the one talking?
Another heavy silence descended over my utterly unremarkable words. At the same time, everyone's inexplicably piercing glares zeroed in on me alone.
Feeling a bit embarrassed under all those stares, I tacked on more words.
Forcing the brightest smile I could muster.
"Seriously, it was nothing, right?"
That instant, a scream-like shout rained down on me.
"You crazy fucking bastard!!!"
It was the mint-colored Magical Girl.
Why the hell was this bitch flipping out again?
Was it some Magical Girl mental illness?
All Magical Girls are nuts, confirmed.
Ignoring my thoughts entirely, the mint-colored Magical Girl raised her voice, veins bulging.
"What the hell were you thinking, doing something like that?!"
"I wasn't really thinking anything......"
"No thinking? Huh?! How can a person even do that?!"
I couldn't understand it.
What the hell had set her off so bad?
If anything, I was the victim here.
But even more baffling was this.
"Senior, sorry for saying this after asking, but... this is too much."
Sora was openly showing her discomfort, even putting some distance between us.
I was floored.
Shouldn't she at least take my side?
"You told me to say it."
"Y-yeah, but I didn't expect this!"
Not satisfied with just Sora, now even the whitey who'd been quietly watching chimed in.
"Blackie...... you're not human......"
"Black people aren't human? Don't you think that's going a bit far this time?"
"No, seriously, not human! If anyone's extreme, it's you, blackie!"
At this point, I felt truly wronged.
Sora scolding me, whitey going full racist.
The real world and isekai were no different.
No one on my side.
Right then, the mint-colored Magical Girl yelled at me once more.
"How could you do something so vicious?!"
Who the hell was vicious here?
Not me, that's for sure.
"And you call yourself human after doing that to a poor old lady?!"
"What's so poor about that bitch?"
"You think you're qualified to call her a bitch?! Think back on what you just said!"
Now the mint-colored Magical Girl even had tears welling up.
Still annoyed, but I decided to rethink my words since she was pleading that hard.
There had to be something to it.
"Hm."
Stripping it down, it went like this.
I kicked an old lady selling greens.
A poor, sickly one who could barely move.
And topped it off by telling her to die peacefully in her old age.
On paper, total asshole move.
But to survive in isekai, it was unavoidable. Anyone would agree all my actions were pure self-defense—
"Huh?!"
Oh, shit. Hold up.
"Getting it now? Do you?! Even if we're Magical villains, we don't do shit like that!"
That's when it hit me.
Why everyone was reacting like that.
Thinking back, my explanation had been way too lacking.
Hell, I'd answered every pointless detail while skipping the one crucial cause entirely.
Anyone hearing just that would think I was a fucking monster.
"N-no, wait! It's not the weird thing you think!"
I hurriedly tried to explain. Otherwise, I'd be irredeemably trash.
Yeah, not villain trash—literal human garbage.
Assault, theft, torture, fraud, murder → true villain.
Bullying a poor, sick granny → scumbag.
So I desperately defended myself.
"It's complicated to explain, but I didn't do it because I wanted to! It was all self-defense!"
No matter how little I cared about others' opinions, I had zero intention of getting socially crucified.
But it was hopeless.
"Self-defense my ass!"
"That old lady was a real bad guy!"
"You're the bad guy, you fucker!"
"No, I had my reasons! It wasn't on purpose! For real!"
"You said you weren't thinking anything earlier!"
I wanted to explain somehow, but they shot down every word, making it impossible.
"No, on my first day in isekai, this random old lady suddenly tries to stab me for no reason! I had no choice!"
"How's a poor, sick old lady gonna do that to a stranger?! If so, you must've pulled some Magical bullshit first!"
Even when I barely managed to get a word in, they wouldn't listen.
This wasn't it at all.
How the hell did things spiral like this?
"Wow, fuck."
Right then, a curse word cut through out of nowhere.
Just three syllables. Light enough to brush off as nothing.
But.
No one brushed it off.
Not the Magical Girls who'd been picking on me.
Not even whitey or Sora, who'd been scolding me.
Me neither.
It was inevitable.
"I'm such an idiot for even speaking up. And you call yourself human after that?"
The speaker was the Monster.
Yeah.
The Monster me and whitey had subdued.
It was lying on the ground, spouting words. It didn't even have a mouth—its head was a goddamn flower pot—yet it spoke clear as day.
Not the twisted roars or screams typical of Monsters.
A clear voice, speaking human language.
Then, from that flower pot head, another voice rang out.
"What kinda fucking asshole is this?"
An utterly unforeseen situation.
While no one else dared speak, only Sora frantically piped up.
"W-wait! How can a Monster talk?!"
But the Monster ignored her shrill cry.
"Hey, even so, that's crossing a line."
It just kept venting its discomfort at me.
"How's there a worse piece of shit than me here? I'm losing my mind."
No eyes on it, yet I felt its glare boring into me.
"Live like a human, for fuck's sake."
I was utterly dumbfounded.
Fine, I admit my story wasn't straight. I got that the lack of explanation caused the misunderstanding.
But this was too much.
Not content with crazy-ass Magical Girls, now even the enemy Monster was bitching at me.
And a fucker with a bonsai pot for a head was lecturing me on humanity?
This time, I couldn't just take it.
"Hey, you fucker! There's a reason for all this on my end—!"
"Can't stand the sight of trash like you anymore."
But before I could finish, the Monster shook its head.
"Let's not meet again, you scum."
And then it killed itself.
- Bang!
Using whitey's magic wand.
Whitey had her finger on the trigger, and the Monster had pushed it to fire magic at itself.
A nonstop parade of incomprehensible events.
Monster talking.
Monster disgusted with me.
Monster suiciding with a magic wand.
The sheer unexpectedness left everyone silent, clueless about the reason or flow.
The only ones breaking the silence were two people.
"Oh! My kill!"
Whitey, cheering gleefully.
And.
"Fuck......"
Me, sighing out a curse laden with exasperation.
My first day as a Magical Girl ended with the Monster's suicide.
What a shitty day.