No Personal Feelings in My Warhammer
One month is both short and long at the same time.
Even though I declared a month-long break and already feel like a whole week has passed, I also catch myself thinking I still have three whole weeks left.
And my VTuber illustration was supposed to arrive in about two weeks, right?
I'd originally thought it would take a full month, but it looks like it's getting finished faster than expected.
That means even after I receive the illustration, I'll still have a week left. I should use that time to test a few things.
I was genuinely surprised to learn that becoming a VTuber required separate equipment, but fortunately my phone and the reverse capsule supported all the necessary functions.
Anyway, I have three weeks remaining.
Obviously, I wasn't planning to spend those three weeks just fooling around and doing nothing.
There were still plenty of things I needed to take care of.
“You’re here? Well, I figured you’d show up around now.”
When I didn’t respond, she let out a small snort and held out her hand.
“Hand it over. Quickly.”
At her words, I quietly opened my inventory, took out the Some Dwarf’s Warhammer I’d obtained during the Albion raid, and passed it to her.
Her nickname belonged to a player with striking flame-red short hair—Silon.
She was one of the extremely rare player smiths in New Dimension.
“Whoa. No matter how many times I see it, it’s still amazing. If a Unique looks like this, I can’t even imagine what an Epic would be like?”
Silon clicked her tongue in admiration.
I’d had the exact same thought the first time I saw it. Most New Dimension players probably felt the same way.
“So? Same as last time?”
I nodded and handed her the materials I’d gathered.
“But how long has it been since the last upgrade? You’re already bringing me more? Well, it’s good for me since I get paid.”
Silon pointed at the warhammer Tyrant in my hands.
…I never imagined things would turn out like this.
It wasn’t like I didn’t feel any regret. After all, I was throwing away all the materials I’d invested in refining Tyrant.
I’d somehow managed to succeed in the final refinement after surviving a nightmarish 25 consecutive failures…
But a new weapon had appeared with better base specs than Tyrant, so there was nothing I could do about it.
Since New Dimension was fundamentally an RPG, improving your specs was only natural.
“Sure. It’ll take about two hours, so come find me when time’s up.”
“Oh, and by the way… Isn’t it fine to use voice chat now?”
The moment I finished the request and was about to leave the forge, Silon’s voice from behind made me flinch as I turned to look at her.
“Why do you look so surprised? At this point, everyone who plays New Dimension probably knows your voice. There’s no need to keep making things inconvenient for yourself, right? Typing everything out one by one must be incredibly annoying.”
“Is there anyone who plays New Dimension and hasn’t seen your stream, Miss Lene?”
What was I supposed to say to that?
My face grew incredibly hot. To put it bluntly, I was embarrassed.
The fact that someone who knew me from before I started streaming had watched my broadcast made me feel like all my shameful secrets had been exposed.
Even though I hadn’t done anything weird.
“Anyway, you don’t have to keep typing everything anymore, right? Your voice sounded nice too.”
“Doesn’t matter what you used. As long as it sounds good to the listener, that’s what counts.”
I didn’t want to leave even the slightest room for unnecessary trouble.
“…Yeah. If that’s more comfortable for you, then that’s what you should do.”
Fortunately, Silon didn’t press the issue. She simply nodded in understanding.
What should I do for two hours?
There was no real need to stay logged into New Dimension, but since I was already connected, I didn’t want to go through the hassle of logging out and back in.
I didn’t have anything else to do anyway.
…In that case, maybe I should just take a simple walk around the area?
There was no point in forcing myself to do something out of some weird sense of obligation.
Back in the other world, whenever I had nothing to do… well, I usually just stayed cooped up alone in my room.
Huh?
Why am I suddenly feeling sad…?
…Anyway, let’s just look around nearby.
With that thought, I slowly began walking.
There wasn’t really anything to see, though.
I’d already explored the entire area the first time I came here.
What am I even doing…? The thought crossed my mind for a moment, but I quietly looked up at the sky and let out a soft sigh of admiration.
In the quiet night sky, a river of stars flowed gently along its course.
Come to think of it, back in the other world, I often looked up at the sky whenever I went out to catch heretics.
To avoid revealing that I was an inquisitor, I would wear adventurer-style clothing and walk the streets like any ordinary adventurer. When evening came and it was time to camp, I would frequently gaze at the night sky.
Why was that?
Was it because of that saying about how someone who can look up at the sky three times a day is a happy person?
It felt like that might have been the reason, but then again, maybe not.
One thing was certain: even though I’d held so many complaints about the other world, whenever I looked up at the night sky like this, I could feel moved without any thoughts getting in the way.
The night sky embroidered with constellations was so beautiful that I would sigh in wonder every single time, no matter how many times I saw it. I… really loved it.
I don’t know why.
Does something you like need a reason?
The refreshing breeze that announced the arrival of night.
The fact that I didn’t need to worry about anyone’s gaze.
The feeling of being the only person left in the world.
The vast night sky that seemed to say my worries and concerns were insignificant.
The way the moon and stars kept illuminating that black canvas.
I simply liked it all.
It was all good.
Even after coming to Earth and starting New Dimension, I would still stare at the night sky for no particular reason.
“Huu…”
I didn’t particularly like my life in the other world.
I barely had anyone I could talk to normally.
That goddess constantly tormented me in twisted ways for her own amusement.
And the tasks given to me as an inquisitor always required me to be prepared to die.
Yet whenever those memories from the other world surfaced, I suppose this was what people called nostalgia.
“I wonder if that kid is doing well…”
Suddenly, I thought of that child.
The one I’d found while heading out to interrogate heretics as usual—bleeding out and dying in a corner of the grass.
Since the child’s entire family had been killed, I at least treated their wounds and took them to the church.
Fortunately, the kid recovered after a few days, and for some reason, that was when the mischievous pranks began.
Hiding my clothes.
Interfering with my meals.
Crawling into my clothes during morning prayers…
Even now, thinking back on it, there were so many troublesome incidents.
I wonder if that kid is doing well now?
…Well, there’s no need to worry.
That child always seemed to prefer following the other priests around more than the person who actually saved them. I’m sure they’re doing great.
Since I wasn’t there to stop them, they’ve probably been eating everything in sight and gotten really chubby by now.
To think I’d miss even the kid who used to torment me like that… As expected, I really am too nice for my own good…
“Lene!!!”
Whoosh!
A staff stabbed into the ground with a sound that sliced through the air.
…What?
I’d managed to dodge and create distance, but the incomprehensible situation made my body freeze for a moment.
To think someone would do something like this inside a town.
If I hadn’t dodged and died, it definitely would have counted as PK.
This had happened before, too.
That time I’d been suspected of using hacks because of it.
I was bewildered that this was happening again when I’d never done anything to deserve grudges.
Shaking off those thoughts, I quietly observed my opponent.
Male. Pure white male priest robes. A staff in his right hand. A cross decoration with a circle in the center.
It was the basic equipment given when first choosing the path of a heretic.
The thought that a heretic had come looking for me because they wanted to repent… didn’t even cross my mind.
If that were the case, they wouldn’t have launched a surprise attack from behind.
In other words, this was clearly some evil scheme of the heretics.
Then I, as the inquisitor, had no choice but to make them repent.
“…Huu.”
Perhaps because I’d been reminiscing about the other world when the ambush happened, I felt slightly irritated.
But I was a professional inquisitor.
No personal feelings would be contained in my warhammer.
Well, the fact that we were inside a town was a bit unsettling… but fortunately Silon’s forge was in a fairly secluded part of the village, so there were no other players or NPCs nearby.
If I quickly made him repent and left the area, it would probably be fine.
“Hup…!”
I steadied my breathing and stepped forward.
Gripping Tyrant firmly, I lowered my stance and accelerated with a slight timing delay.
Just because my opponent was dressed like that didn’t mean I’d let my guard down.
It could be a trick to deceive me as a heretic.
I leaped forward in an instant and pulled my left arm back with all my strength.
If he couldn’t react, I’d swing it as is.
Even if he did react, I’d crush him from the front with full power.
That was the justice embodied by the inquisitor Selene.
And the heretic opponent… reacted.
I thought it was only for a brief moment that he was trying to deceive me by changing his appearance.
The heretic took a stance I could never have imagined.
“Turn on the stream, Lene!!!”
As he shouted that, he spread both arms wide to his sides without offering any resistance.
Boom!
With the sound of his entire body being crushed, the heretic’s body flew far off to the right.
And then death.
It was instant death, plain and simple.
“No… way…”
My whole body began trembling from the shock.
I wanted to scream that this couldn’t be happening.
I wanted to deny the situation, saying it made no sense.
That confident posture and the shout to turn on the broadcast.
There was only one thing it could mean.
The person I had just killed was one of my fans.
“No… way…”
I had just.
Swung this warhammer.
And killed one of my fans.
What slowly crept over my body… was the emotion called despair.
To think a heretic had appeared among my fans.
This… was something that could never be taken lightly.