10.Miscalculation and crisis

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris/Yanagi

I drank several bottles of magic water to replenish my lost magic
power, and probably about an hour had passed by my experience.
It was when I felt healthy enough to return to the original path I
walked… that I noticed numerous footsteps coming toward me from
that very same path.
Emerging from the depths of the forest were men, each of them poorly
armed and of an appearance that at first glance did not suggest a
decent occupation.
It was already too late to turn on my heel and run away in the swarthy
atmosphere, and the other side appeared as if it had known of my
presence from the beginning, and the road leading to the street was
blocked in the blink of an eye.
“Heh, you really are a beautiful young lady, miss. Mind if you ‘heal’ us a
bit?”
The bald-headed man who seemed to be their boss spoke up, as if he
had already known me.
“How did you know…?”
“Yeah, about that…”
The man’s face contorted into an ugly grin, like a beast tormenting its
prey.
“This fellow here confessed everything, correct?”
He slapped on someone else’s back and pushed him into the front.
I didn’t want to believe it. I had come to this world and met only one
person, and there couldn’t be any others.
“No… You must be joking… right?”
He… sold me out?
Scott-san looked at me apologetically. I turned away from his gaze as
soon as our eyes met.
“I’m really sorry, miss…”
Blood rushed to my head.
“Silence! I don’t want to… hear anything from you!”
I shook my long hair and began chanting with my staff at the ready.
The four spears of light that appeared were a sign of my rejection.
“Kuh…!”
My body creaked from the recoil, and another four spears were fired.
However, it was difficult to simultaneously pursue moving targets. Two
of the four spears hit the men, while the other two lost their guidance
and flew away into the void.
But there was no time to be discouraged about missing the target, so I
turned on my heels and retreated.
“Just press on! That light won’t kill you anyway, as long as one of us
catches up, the rest won’t matter!”
I clenched my teeth.
The enemy ringleader was right. My weakness was exposed earlier than
expected.
I kept firing the spears to reduce the opponents’ number and ran
away… but my body strengthening magic I applied to myself only gave
me enough speed to barely buy time even with those weak legs of mine
running with all their might. Still, the difference in physical strength was
significant, and the distance was slowly closing in.
I had already fired three times. The men who were hit by the spear of
light fell down here and there, but looking at the state of these men,
the shortcoming of my attack was obvious.
No matter how powerful it is to knock a person unconscious with a
single blow, “Divine Spear” does not have the power to kill or injure.
The enemy number was still overwhelming.
And on my side, my limbs had been unusually heavy since a while ago.
My throat was in pain.
Even though I was at level 1, my status should have been set much
higher than the initial one, and from the way I felt, I should still have
enough magic power for a few more shots, but already the feeling in
my limbs was beginning to fade away.
“… Lea Lea… Di Viega!”
I tried to fire “Divine Spear” again, but my concentration was
momentarily disrupted by a figure that was much closer than I
expected.
The recoil from “Divine Spear” blew my light body away without mercy,
sending me spinning several times…
“Aaah!”
My back struck a tree hard, squeezing the air out of my lungs. I had to
quickly get up and run away, but my lungs, gasping for oxygen, would
not allow it, and when I barely regained my breath, my pursuers were
right in front of me, their hands outstretched.
Memories of the knife-wielding man flashed in my mind.
The burning pain in my back. The girl crying in my arms as I reassured
her that she’s okay over and over. The disappearing sensation in the
lower half of my body…
“YAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!”
In my screams, I summoned several spears without chanting and shot
them out randomly, knocking two more men unconscious.
The recoil caused my body to slam against the tree trunk, creaking my
bones. At least I wasn’t blown away again.
“(pants heavily)… It’s no good… I can’t run anymore…”
My limbs lost their strength and I fell helplessly into the snow, unable
to do anything about it.
Ah, I see, is that so.
Something had been tormenting me and inhibiting my movement for a
while now… fatigue.
It was something that I had felt many times during my journey here
since I woke up in this world, but kept deceiving myself with magic.
I should have been more careful. Even though I’d verified that “Divine
Spear” causes an “uncontrollable recoil” to my body, I didn’t even think
about that possibility. I had assumed that “HP” and “MP” were
separate, as in the game, and that they did not affect each other.
The magical backlash that I thought was “a little bit” had unknowingly
struck this slender body many times, saving it from danger, but at the
same time weakening it.
“Hahaha, found you! Do you really think you can get away with this,
you little shit?!”
One of the man caught up to me, grabbed me by the hair, and pulled
me up, but my limbs were no longer able to resist, and I was pushed to
the ground with my hands behind my back. I felt something like a
coarse rope being wrapped around my wrists, scraping my skin like
sandpaper.
I was restrained in a position that reminded me of “that time”, whether
I liked it or not.
Please stop, I don’t want any reminder of that time!
I thought I had been able to forget about it. If I remembered here, I
wouldn’t be able to resist anything anymore. There was only a dark
future ahead.
But… the fear overflowing from the once-opened wounds of the past
quickly took away my will to resist and blackened my consciousness.
Scott
“Young miss, no…”
Her petite body, limp and unmoving, was bound round and round by
the vulgar hands of these men.
The face that had smiled at me then was now as bloodless as snow, and
I could just see her eyes downcast like a doll.
Around me, men were excitedly enjoying the spoils of war and playing
with the unconscious girl’s body. Stunned by the sight, I jumped when I
felt a hand on my shoulder.
“All thanks to you, pal. Be sure to inform us of any treasure like this the
next time, okay?”
Yes, I had sold the young miss to these lowlifes out of selfishness.
I had plunged a lovely, kind-hearted girl who healed me, saved my life,
and shed tears of joy for my survival, into a darkness that had no end in
sight.
I could still remember the look of utter shock on her face. I could only
wonder how betrayed she must have felt when she tearfully refused to
listen to anything…
It would have been much better if I just died to that monster.
Already way past the time for regret, I wandered off on a trail off the
base, feeling so guilty and ashamed that I considered stabbing myself in
the throat with the dagger I had on my person…
“That’s not right… I cannot let her die that easily…”
I have to go get help. Then I must die by that girl’s hands.
With that as my only thought, I began to run, dragging my feet at first,
but eventually, as if driven by something, sprint with all my might.