Leave a comment

I had been in this world for a month and a half, and during that time, I had a vague sense that I was going to die in some way. Even when bound by my contract, a kingdom was not to be underestimated.

I should have been aware of this for quite some time, but it took me a really long time to accept it.

It might seem that a month and a half wasn’t that long of a time for something like that to be accepted. However, it seemed long and amusing to me, because I’d believed that I’d be dead on my first few days here.

Should I have woken up and asked for advice before the princess came to us? Should I have decided on a meeting time in front of the King? Should I have just stood on the sidelines?

Those thoughts constantly ran through my head, but none of them seemed realistic. The last one could have been possible, however, I doubted if it would have given me the life I have now.

If anything, it would’ve been best to be in a kind of privileged position before coming to this world, just like Ichinari.

However, none of these mattered now. In order for me to survive now, I needed to be strong enough to at least be on par with my other classmates. Then my classmates wouldn’t be able to touch me so easily.

But to do so, no matter how hard I tried, time was not enough. Even if I tried to grow at twice the rate of my classmates, the difference in our status was about 150-230.

I could close that distance by 30 in thirty days. Looking at our status alone, I would need 150 days just to be a match for the weakest in the class. In other words, I’d need more than 100 days. Given the tight situation I was in, there was no way I could survive for another 100 days.

What was worse, was that the hate wasn’t constant. The hate towards me grew progressively worse. Even if one of the reasons for this was my mistake in my initial response, from then on, it was the kingdom’s actions.

They were making moves both behind the scenes and in the spotlight to try and ensure that I wouldn’t be able to apologize and make amends with my classmates.

I believed that the reason they gave each of us a room was precisely to prevent us from gathering and talking. To the extent that they did not violate their contract with me, it seemed they had gone very roundabout in their attempt to steadily hunt me down.

It was somewhat complimenting to know that they’d go to such lengths for someone like me. It had been a grave error on my part to think that I’d won simply because I’d managed to get one up on them.

Bottom line, I believed the Kingdom was very disturbed by my contract with them, and they wanted me to back out of the contract or face dire consequences.

There was plenty of time to prepare, and I was sure they would move soon.

At the same time, the kingdom must have thought of us as nothing more than tools, or something of similar value. If they really had good intentions, then they would’ve asked for a different place to talk and be more careful when signing the contract.

Which was also why they couldn’t break the contract now. However, this meant that I’d either remain alive and be tormented forever, or I’d die.

If that were to be the case then I’d gladly choose death. As such, I’d die.

Maybe this useless struggle that I’d done all this time, was just a way for me to try and get my head straight.

◇◇◇

The fateful day, the fateful moment, began when I returned from an early morning run.

Many people, including my classmates, were gathered in front of my room. Something big seemed to be happening given the first princess was also there with them.

As I watched the scene before me, I searched my mind for any signs of foreboding. Perhaps the fact that Alks had not been with me since last night was one.

Ichinari noticed me coming back and came up to me, grabbing me by the chest.

“Toriyama, what were you doing all this time?”
“My daily run, what else?”
“How can you be so carefree after what you’ve done!”
“What I’ve done?”
“Don’t play dumb!” Ichinari yelled and threw me.

This was the physical strength of a Hero. He managed to throw me against the wall with ease. Even though my increased Endurance was high enough that I could endure it, it still hurt like hell.

“Today we found Lady Alks’, your personal maid’s body. We’ve been told she was r̲a̲pe̲d̲ and beaten to death without any resistance.”
“I had nothing to do with it.”
“Is that all you could think of?”

This was not good, is what I thought. No matter what I said, I wouldn’t reach Ichinari. I was already a r̲a̲pi̲s̲t̲ and murderer in his mind. And not only in his. All of my classmates viewed me that way.

Only the four who didn’t care about me were missing. I was surprised that they’d all gathered here this early in the morning.

I was also surprised to see Takuma looking at me and smirking most of the time with a look of superiority, and couldn’t help but wonder if anyone else saw that. But in the end I guessed that I was the only one.

My resigned mind was calmer than I thought it would be under such circumstances.

“What proof do you have that I did it?”
“Didn’t I already say it? There was no resistance!”
“And you’re saying that leads to me?”

He was surely being led to the wrong answer. And from none other than the first princess, who had a sad expression on her face.

“We heard about your skill from Sion. You sign contracts with people and force them to do things.”
“I’m also obliged to follow that contract you know?”

I didn’t know what Ichinari’s relationship with the first princess was, but for him to call her by a nickname, then it surely wasn’t something ordinary.

“Then it’s all good if you make them promise they won’t resist, right? I heard that Lady Alks had shared she hated being your maid, and that because of your skill, it’s hard for her to protect herself from you!”

I was impressed they had come this long way. They must have been using words to check and see how they could get away without violating the contract. I was sure they could not have told obvious lies about me.

Categorizing the statements about how tough it was to protect oneself due to the contract or how hard it was to be a maid as lies was challenging. It was difficult because no one had ever asked why it was hard.

“And not only did you have a contract with Alks, but also with Sion! And that was right after we got summoned here!”
“I sure did.”

I sure had. And not with just them, but with everyone in this kingdom. In front of all of my classmates.

“I trusted you, Toriyama. When the first problems occurred, Sion told us that you might have dangerous ideas, and that although we were lucky the king was lenient, we should be careful as you might drag us down in the future. But you too are one of only 25 of us that got here from Earth, so we decided to see what would happen.”

I too had hoped and waited. After all there were only 25 of us.

“And yet, all we kept hearing were bad deeds. And despite this we still continued believing. But to think that you would do something like this…”

So that’s how it was. Ichinari had only heard about the bad side of things. He hadn’t seen all the bullying I’d gone through. There were so many things I wanted to say. I couldn’t count the things I wanted to admit. But that didn’t matter anymore.

I’d already given my final feelings to Fumitsuki. Looking back at it all, the final feeling in my heart, which I thought was empty, was most likely a desire for revenge against all of them.

As such, if I could somehow deal with this desire for revenge, then I’d have nothing else to think about.

And the way to deal with this desire was to…

“I, too, believed in you. We’re classmates after all. Only 25 of us came here from Earth.”
“Then why?!”
“Even if you ask me that I can’t answer, because I haven’t done anything.”
“In that case release Sion’s contract. She’s always on edge, you know? Scared of not knowing when you might assault her and she won’t be able to resist.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Then I have no choice but to kill you. Come outside!”

I don’t think that such a declaration should normally said openly like this, is what I thought, but I didn’t feel like pointing it out anymore.

◇◇◇

A familiar training ground.

At the center of it all, I was facing Ichinari. It was a duel, but I was unarmed, while Ichinari was holding a gorgeous sword. No one said anything about that.

I knew that after coming this far death was something I could not escape and that I was already halfway in my grave, but apparently the fear of death still had a hold on me.

My legs were shaking, and my teeth were chattering, but I kept them in check with my will. It felt like I actually had no idea what it actually meant to die.

“I’ll ask one last time. Release your contract with Sion.”
“No.”

When I managed to squeeze out that reply, I was met with a barrage of curses from the onlookers. The only one who looked at me with a blank expression was Tsukihara.

“Then this is where we say goodbye.”

Ichinari, carried by the voices around him, thrust his sword toward me.

The next moment I found myself with a sword in my chest. I could hardly even see it. This was the difference between our Status and Skills. It was my loss that I hadn’t been able to reach this level.

I was neither smart nor capable. I was not smart enough or capable enough to fight the schemes of a single kingdom. So I was prepared for it. But the pain of having a sword thrust into your heart was not something you could endure even if you were prepared for it.

Every time I yelled out in pain, every time I moaned inaudibly, many of my classmates laughed. They said I deserved it, that they didn’t like me, and that it was refreshing to see me gone.

If I were to show them that their words didn’t reach me, would I be able to get some revenge? Would showing them a wry smile be enough to get back at them?

Despite thinking this, the sounds that came out of my mouth only made them smile even more. It hurt, it was painful, it was hard, it was scary, I couldn’t help those sounds.

Even though I’d prepared myself, dying was scary. The pain was intense, yet death came secretly. The depths of my heart grew cold, and I gradually lost myself.

I screamed for help, but no one came. I screamed that I was scared, but no words came out. In my fading consciousness, the last thing I saw was a beautiful blonde woman.

When all of us were first summoned here we were captivated by that beautiful face, and yet at the time I remember I saw something wicked in it.

They’ll definitely be dumbstruck when they find out the truth later. They’ll definitely be worked to the bone by this kingdom. The moment those thoughts crossed my mind I felt my heart let go and be fulfilled.¹

1. Editor: Finally… the true story begins now. Adios overused template, adios naive hero, adios abusive classmates.