The next day, I was swinging my sword in the back of Illtimina-san's house.

　Ortima-san had arranged for me to take today's 'forest patrol' off alone. Probably they took into consideration the fact that I am a guest and a child.

　So I decided to use that amount of time to practice.

'Phew, phew.'

　Phew! Phew!

　The 'fairy sword' held at the upper level is repeatedly swung off.

　Today, Illtimina-san is in her room, working on coloring the carved wooden 'Red Fang Dragon'.

　That is a craft.

　That's why a certain amount of deforming is allowed, rather than realistic colors, and apparently it sells better. So there was no need for my detailed explanation today.

'Yup!'

　Phew.

　He raised his sword and swung the blade right down.

　There's no point in just repeating the process.

　You have to concentrate on each one and increase the density of your training.

(--Remember the figure of Mr. Kirt.)

　I'm trying my best to chase those perfected swordsmanship techniques.

　The 'Upper Level Swing-off Sword Technique' is my specialty, and it's an important sword technique that is my lifeline.

　--I cut off everything!

　With that resolve, I keep swinging my sword.

　Eventually.

Hmmm...

　After concentrating on 100 bottles, I take a break.

(Yeah ... sounds good.)

　I exhaled heavily and looked at my right hand, sword in hand.

　Huh.

　Shake it lightly to the side.

　Yeah, the inflammation seems to have gone down here and there over the past few days, and I didn't have any pain after moving this much. I feel good to see that I'm back to normal now.

(...Good...)

　With this, it looks like I'll be able to use 'divine energy' and still be okay.

　With a small relief, I laugh.　

　I was covered in sweat, I took off my upper clothes and stripped off my upper body and wiped the sweat off with a towel.

'Alright, let's go for it some more!

　I regained my spirit and held my sword.

　Seigens first.

　From there to the upper level.

　You must make the transition in a flowing way, never stagnant.

(Yeah.)

　Not a bad move.

　And then focus - like that Golden Mark demon hunter, unleash a sword technique that cuts through everything!

　Phew.

　A flash.

　The air is severed firmly.

　Stepping with force on the thumb and base of the forefoot, he immediately brings the sword back.

　That motion should not be done in a random manner either.

　Zanshin.

　Assuming the opponent has dodged you, you must be quick and accurate, and never create an opening.

Phew, phew!

　I swing my sword again, repeatedly, like a machine.

　After a few breaks, eventually, when I'd reached the thousand mark.

That's more energy.

　As I was about to take a break, I was unexpectedly approached by a voice at my back.

(----)

　For a moment, I stiffened.

　The voice sounded so much like the one I knew, Illtimina, that my illusory mind shook.

　I slowly turned around.

''........Miss Forn.

　The one standing there was that person's mother.

　Her face was similar to Solstice's, but her calm and gentle expression was just like Illtimina's.

　She smiled.

''I'm sorry, did I interrupt you?''
Nope.

　I shook my head.

I just wanted to take a break.

　He exhaled and sheathed his bare sword.

　Mr. Forn nodded, 'I see.

'I'm not an expert on swords, but I thought it was very beautiful. You've put a lot of effort into it.
Yes.

　I think I'm doing a good job of that.

(And I've endured that demon princess quilt squeezing every day.)

　I nodded, and Mr. Forn smiled and handed me a bamboo tube of water.

'If you'd like,'
Wow, are you sure?

　Feel free to take the contents.

(Oh, it's so good...)

　The water flowing down his throat seemed to quickly seep into his entire body.

　The last of the water left in the bamboo tube was left to cover the burning body with its head.

　Mr. Forn was a bit surprised by this action, but he immediately laughed in a funny way.

　I hand the bamboo tube back to him.

"Thank you, Mr. Forn.
No.

　When she received the bamboo tube, she narrowed her golden eyes.

　And.

Merle, would you like to talk to me for a moment?

　I was told.

(...with Mr. Forn?)

　I nodded, though I was a little surprised.

　Mr. Forn smiled happily and we decided to go inside the house for once.


　◇ ◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇


　Mr. Forn sat down in a chair in the living room and made a cup of tea.

'Come in,'

　A teacup is placed on the table.

　Then she takes a seat face to face.

　The young girl Solstice is now in the other room, taking a good nap. Iltimina-san is in her room, and Ortima-san is on patrol in the forest, so there are only two people here, me and Forn-san.

　The two of us sip on a cup of tea with little flavor.

　Then Mr. Forn opened his mouth.

Marle, how long do you plan to stay in this village?

　A calm voice.

　There was no hint of otherness in the question. It was never an implied sarcasm like 'get out of here'.

　That's why I answer with relief.

'I haven't made up my mind yet.'

　In case you're wondering, though, it's called "until the demons that haunt the area around the village calm down.

(But first we need to find a way to get back to the world seven years later.)

　Until then, I had no intention of leaving the village.

　Mr. Forn nodded, "I see,

So what do you think of the village?

　I ask.

　I answer honestly.

'I think it's a good village,'
..........

　Her golden eyes stared at me for a moment.　　

'Then--'

　Pause for a moment.

Wouldn't you like to live in the village of Lourdes, Marle?

(...what?)

　The unexpected invitation causes me to stare back at Ms. Forn's beauty.

　Ms. Forn smiles and sips her tea.
　He puts the teacup back on the table.

Irna is so much brighter these days. I'm sure it's because of her encounter with Merle.

　Her gaze looks at me.

'As a mother, I can tell you, she's a very good kid.
..........
'But I have to put up with a lot of that. As a child, I have too much patience.

　A sad smile.

　It's a painful one to watch.

That girl is smiling like a child in front of you.
..........
My husband and I were happy about that.

　I didn't speak back right away.　

　Mr. Forn slowly lowered his eyes.

''But this is a village that has lost many of its young people and is slowly dying out. For the survival of the village, that boy must have a child with a man he doesn't like who is more than a year older than him.

　...........

　I felt a sharp pain in my chest.

(I don't want that........)

　I never wanted to accept that Ms. Illtimina was with another man.
　But.

But the boy will put up with even that.
..........

　Ms. Forn's expression was filled with her mother's melancholy.

(............)

　I said, killing my emotions.

'Maybe some of the young people who left the village will come back?
There is no way.

　She shook her beautiful hair and shook her head.

'They're all dead.

　....What?

Dead?　(All the young people who have left the village...?

　To my surprise, she told me something that shocked me.

　Ms. Ortima goes out to town once a month to gather information about the outside world.

　That's how I found out.

　The young people who had abandoned the village of Ludo, however, were still facing terrible discrimination and persecution in the outside world.

　Their hopes were shattered.

　They struggled to get water and food, and were unable to even survive.

　As a result.

They fell into the wilderness.
..........

　Mr. Forn continued in a hard voice.

　The young people are the 'Demon Blood People'.

　With their superior physical abilities, they attacked the merchant corps and others and survived their hunger for a while, but finally the Arun regular soldiers' strike force moved in.

　He was all captured and executed.

　It didn't matter if they were minors or not.

　They had also committed the crime of murder for their own lives, and the laws of this world weren't as kind as they were in their previous lives.

(...they should have gone back to the village before they fell to that level.)

　I thought as I bit my teeth.

　Forn-san and the others must have felt the same way.

　But perhaps they were too young to have the courage or pride to return to the village they had left behind.

　And this fact was only known to a few villagers.

(In other words, Illtimina-san didn't know either.)

　But.

Maybe the boy has good instincts, and you've guessed it too thinly, but...
..........

　I remembered the look on the girl's face as she told me the story, and I thought, 'It's possible.

　I let out a breath.　

　The tea I held in my hand was now completely lukewarm.

(...not very tasty.)

　Mr. Forn looked at me like that.

　Then he says.

''So I want you to stay here in the village of Ludo for a long time, Marle.
..........

　I look up too and look at Ms. Forn.

　She smiled gently.

'She may not be aware of it yet, but I'm sure she'd like that, too.

　............

　I suddenly remembered that the village chief had said something similar to me when I first met him.

(......but I was.

　I didn't know if I could respond to that feeling.

　This was the world seven years ago.

　And I, as an entity, was a foreigner mixed in with it.

　I was terrified of interfering in history any longer.

(Maybe I would ruin the future as I knew it.)

..........
..........

　When I fell silent, Mr. Forn smiled apologetically at me.

''I'm sorry, I guess I was too hasty.
''................. No.

　No, I wasn't.

Actually, I was very happy.

　But in my mind, I still have that grown-up version of him.

　Catan.

　Just then, I suddenly heard a noise.

''Maal~?　Mother-sama~?

　The door to the other room opened, and there stood the little girl Solstice, rubbing her eyes with her tiny left hand.

　In her right hand, a crumpled stuffed rabbit's ear was grasped.

　Apparently, he had woken her up with a talking voice.

'Sol,'

　Mr. Forn quickly sat up and picked up his lovely daughter with great care.

　The little girl happily put her young hands around her mother's neck and nuzzled her face.

　Pomp.

　My mother's hand slaps my little back as if to soothe me.

(............)

　As I watched smilingly, Forn-san's eyes turned to me.

''Think about what you just said for a moment, please.

　A calm voice.

　Cocoon.

　I nodded, not making a sound, but I nodded.

　Mr. Forn smiled softly and disappeared behind the door of the other room, holding his young daughter in his arms.

''..........''

　I couldn't move for a while.

　A lot of emotions and thoughts were running through my head.

　I reached for my teacup.

　Thud.

　I sipped the lukewarm tea, but it was still not very tasty.


　◇ ◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇.


　I went back to the back of the house and tried to resume my sword training.

''...........''

　But I couldn't start.

　Standing there, sword in hand, I look up at the sky and think vaguely.

(What should I do?)

　In the near future, destruction awaits the village of Ludo.

　The righteous history will have to accept its destruction.

　I looked around.

　I saw the villagers working hard in the fields and tending their livestock to survive.

(Abandoning these people...?)

　And Mr. Ortima and Mr. Forn - his parents, too.

'...........

　I closed my eyes tightly.

　What if ... what if ... what if I defy history?

　If we can successfully save the ruin of the Lud village, what does the future hold?

(I'm probably dead.)

　Illtimina lives a normal life in the village.

　If I don't become an adventurer, I definitely won't visit the Great Forest of Aldoria in the Kingdom of Shumuria.

　And seven years later, I will be summoned and no one will help me.

　I will die there for sure.

The world that has lost the divine dog will be one more thing closer to ruin.

　The Golden Marked Demon Hunter Kirto Amandes might also be killed by the Children of Darkness in the battle in the Kera Desert where I disappeared.

(No, that's not all.)

　If I am determined to die seven years from now, then at that moment, I myself, who am here now, could disappear in a time paradox.

　In other words.

"Once the village is saved, Merle is gone.

　It is.

　What's that?

(If I abandon the village, the people she cares about will be killed, and if I save the village, the world will go to ruin and I will disappear.)

　

Haha.........

　I looked up at the sky and laughed.

　I had to laugh now.

'Merle?'

　It was then that I was suddenly approached.

　When I turned around, the door to the house was open, and Iltimina-san, who was the same age as me, was standing there.

　In her hand, there was a wooden carving of the colored "Red Fang Dragon".

　Apparently, she had come to show me the completed carving first.

　But.

What's going on, Merle?　Are you crying?

　She looked at me in amazement.

　I don't know what to do.

　I almost reach out to cling to her, but then I remember that I shouldn't cling to this person right now.

(She's not like that person.)

　We are the same Illtimina, but we are different beings.

　I am a "Godgu".

　I am a being summoned to this earth to save the world.

　Even if I hurt this child's heart, I should abandon the villagers, the Arcuin's soul inside me is screaming sadly.

''........Marle-kun?''

　That stare hurts.

　I turn over to run away from it.

　And.

"Don't worry, Merle. I'll be here for you. I'll be here for you the whole time, Merle, okay?

　chow (mahjong)

　Illtimina-san hugged my head gently.

(----)

　I stiffened.

　Maybe it was because I believed the lie of 'missing benefactor' and mistakenly thought I was grieving for the person I was remembering.

'Alright,'

　He gently strokes my hair.

　The warmth that comes through is no different than that person.

''Huh.''

　Tears spilled out of my eyes.

　A flop, two or three small drops running down my cheeks and falling to the ground in the meadow.

(I ... I ... I ...)

　I felt like my heart was going to be torn to shreds with that kindness.

　That's when.

"-Oh my God!　There's a demon in the woods!

　I heard a shout.

(Huh?)

　I look up.

　Illtimina-san also released her arm and looked in that direction.

　One villager was shouting to the whole village from the cave, the entrance to the village, as he ran towards us.

'A great number!　It's coming straight at us!

　At the sound of his voice, all of the villagers had stopped working.

''Hey, demons........''
Really?

　He shouts frantically to the astonished people.

'I ain't lying!　I've got Altima and the others stranded, but there's not enough of them to hold them off. Quickly, get to the back of the village!

　His face pales and becomes impatient.

　At his appearance, the villagers understand that the report is true.

　As if in a hurry, the villagers began to move.

''Ma, Marle-kun.''

　The girl looks at me, trembling.

　I bit my lip.

"...Illtimina, move on with the others. I'll join up with Mr. Ortima and the others.
But...

　I grab both of his lost shoulders and stare into his eyes.

'It's okay,'

　I said clearly.

'....yes.

　The girl nodded.

　Then she darted away from me and into the house.
　I'm sure it was to inform Mr. Forn and take his sister Solstice with him.

'......................

　When I saw that, I ran for the entrance to the village.

　Desperately, I ran across the grassland.

　Running.

It's finally here.

　Or so I thought.

　A time to be afraid.

　Time to make a decision.

　I desperately suppressed the feelings that were bubbling up.

　On a sunny day, in the calm afternoon, the tragedy that struck the village of Ludvírdo began abruptly.