I hated the name "Sora".

　Every time they called my name, I felt like they were telling me that I was empty.

　No, I was actually told that at the time.

　It was when I lost to my younger brother, Laguna, at dojo practice.

　I could have put up with it if it had come from him, but it was other classmates besides Laguna who had said it to me.


It's not the sky, it's the sky, isn't it? It's empty.

''An empty weakling is a legitimate son, I feel sorry for Laguna too. By all accounts, Laguna is better than you.


　I was seven years old.

　The gap between me and Laguna, Ayaka, and the rest of my peers was becoming apparent, and the eyes of the people around me - especially my father - were beginning to turn cold.

　He taunted my mother, "Why did you give me this name?

　It was nothing more than taking it out on her, but she couldn't help herself.



　My mother took my wretched son in her arms and took him out into the courtyard.

　My mother was a very sickly person.

　She had always been physically weak, but after she had given birth to a child, the weakness became especially pronounced, and she spent the middle of the year in bed.

　Her own room, the mansion, and the courtyard. That was my mother's whole world.



　I don't know if that's why my mother loved to look at the sky.

　She loved to see clear skies.

　She loved a cloudy sky.

　I loved the morning sky, and I loved the sunset sky.

　I loved rainy skies - even though I laughed a little bit that I hated rainy days because I wouldn't be able to walk in the garden. Still, I could tell from the look on my mother's face as she looked up at the rain clouds that she loved it more.


　Wherever and whenever you look up, it's there. She shows me many different faces.

　My loved ones who are far away from me are also looking up at the same sky. We are connected under the same sky. If I think of it that way, I don't feel lonely.

　My mother told me that because she loved to look at the sky, the first thing she thought of when she had her child was the name of the sky.

　I hope he will be as big as the sky. I hope you will be as big as this sky.


And also, "Sora".


　She smiled mischievously at her son, who was still crying even after hearing her mother's story.


The word 'empty' doesn't have a bad meaning. If you are nothing, you can be anything. From now on, pack as much as you can inside of you and become the person you want to be. Whatever it is, I will bless the path you have chosen," she said.



◆ ◆ ◆



Hahaha, that's what I call a running mate.


　The nest of the Lord of the Flies. I grumbled with a half-smile as I slithered on the ground like a caterpillar.

　It's a terrible thing to remember the last time I talked to my mother in this situation, when all chance of survival was gone.

　I have to tell my mother, who told me that you can be anything you want to be, that I'm bug bait. Oh, how unbecoming.



　I look down at my body, moving only my face.

　His right arm, which had been torn open by Miroslav's magic, had been bitten off by the maggots in the wound.

　I'm sure that the maggots have been devouring the torn off parts without a drop of blood.

　Both of his toes were already gone, and his left arm was missing from his wrist.

　I could feel the maggots, which had entered my body through the wounds, biting into the bones of my limbs with a rattling sound.

　Normally, she would be in agony from the intense pain, rolling over in a heap. It's not surprising that I would go mad or even die of shock.



　But I still kept my sanity.

　There was no pain. On the contrary, every time the body is eaten, a sensation similar to pleasure runs up and down my spine.

　Perhaps it is the ability of this bug.

　Just as a mosquito injects pain-suppressing liquid when it sucks blood, the maggots release something that blocks the sensation of pain when they eat flesh and blood.

　As a result, they are alive in a situation where they could be dead. We are being forced to experience the fear of being eaten alive.

　Before I knew it, I noticed that maggots the size of a pea grain were gathering around my face.


''Ku, don't come!　Don't come here!


　The only free-moving head is swung around to check the approaching bugs.

　Then the maggots quickly moved away - and soon they came inching closer again.

　Either they are waiting for us to weaken, or they are playing with their weakened raw food.

　Either way, I was sure that these worms instinctively knew that the food was better when it was alive.

　Otherwise, they would have been devoured to the bone long ago.

　There were enough maggots in the cave to ensure that. Less than ten percent of the total number of maggots were now flying around.



　If all the larvae here hatched and became the Lord of the Flies, not only the city of Issaquah, but the entire Canary Kingdom would be destroyed.

　Then the swarm of the Lord of the Flies would swell in number even more and attack the neighboring Ad Astera Empire, where they would be annihilated by the imperial swordsmen and their one-handed wielders of illusion.

　The fact that the human named Mitsurugi Sora was used as bait by the Lord of the Flies would melt into the soil without anyone knowing. The people's cheers of praise for the swordsman, his father and the wielders of the Itto-ryu style of illusion echoed above the soil.

　When I think of this, fear and anger, frustration and despair well up in me like a gush of water.



　Physical wounds are fatal. You just don't feel the pain, but the lost flesh and blood has definitely reached a lethal level.

　Even if help were to come to this place now, the chances of survival were zero.

　In the unlikely event that there was a priest among the rescue members who could use the magic of 'complete healing'. Or if there is an adventurer who has the elixir, he may be able to save his life.

　But only life can be saved. The lost limbs will never return. I hear that the Pope of the Holy Kingdom in the south can use the miracle of Restoration, but such a miracle is no more than a miracle for a single adventurer - or even a person who is not an adventurer.

　You will never be able to hold a sword again. I'll never be able to walk on my own feet again.

　This body that was empty, is determined to die empty.............................


'Ahhhhhhhhhh!


　In desperation, he shouted like a madman.


'Move off, get off me!　Don't eat any more!　I don't want to die here!　I don't want to die!


　He moves his head wildly, screams in anger, and tries to get rid of the bugs that are still chewing on his body.

　But the paralysis caused by the Lord of the Flies is so powerful that no matter how much time passes, he cannot move his head.

　I must have been ranting and raving for about three minutes.

　I put my face to the ground with all my strength.

　He groaned as he felt the cold earth on his cheek.


''d*mn it.......why is this happening to me........''


　If only I had given up on adventurers as soon as I was expelled from the guild. If I had followed Lars and the others' advice, I wouldn't have had to go through this.

　But that would mean throwing away my five years as an adventurer down the drain.

　No, was it a mistake to become an adventurer five years ago in the first place?

　If I had chosen a different path instead of choosing an adventurer when I was banished from the island - if I had followed Ayaka's advice and let go of the sword, I'm sure I wouldn't have wasted five years of my life.



　But........but that would have made that vow a lie.

　My mother, who collapsed while practicing in the dojo, had already passed away when I ran home, out of breath.

　He made a vow to himself to hold on to that scar.

　He vowed to become as big as the sky, as his mother had hoped. That was the vow I made.

　It was synonymous with becoming the heir to a worthy swordsman's family.

　It's not just a matter of how much time you have left, it's also a matter of how much time you have left.

　--It was a vow to become a person like my father, whom my mother loved.



　It was to fulfill this vow that I chose to become an adventurer after being exiled from the island.

　I was supposed to be a nobody, and I could become a nobody.

　So I became an adventurer. For five years I worked hard.

　I tried to be just like my father. And then, one day, I would be proud to visit my mother's grave.



　And this is how he ended up? To be eaten by maggots.

　What do you mean? You're joking! You're not trying to do that, and for that...


'I didn't live to see this day for that!


　It was when he exploded with words of helpless regret.

　Suddenly, the movements of the pollies around them changed.

　They rushed in with a creepy, creepy sound and one after another jumped at his face.


''Guh!　d*mn it, stop it, don't come here!


　He tries desperately to get rid of it by shaking his face.

　But the maggots never gave up and stuck to her face one after another.

　However, the polyps did not give up and kept on clinging to her face, one after another.

　It was clear that the polyps were invading my ears and my nose.

　The momentum is greater than ever before.



　It must have decided that we couldn't survive any longer.

　This is the most delicious time. Let's devour it to our heart's content - I could certainly feel that kind of intent from the maggots.

　At last, it almost entered my mouth and desperately pulled my lips together. The eyes are almost eaten, and I close my eyelids tightly.

　But it ate through my lips. "Bitten off my eyelids.


"...and...　----,--!


　I raised my voice unvoiced.

　Did she want to scream in anger, ask for help, or ask for forgiveness?

　He continued to scream without knowing whether he was screaming for help or forgiveness.

　I knew there was no way anyone would listen to me, but I just kept screaming.



　--And then I heard a voice. There was a response that should not have been there, but it was there.