00:17
The Wave would arrive in 17 minutes.
The Castle Town probably already knew about it.
Knights and adventurers were making preparations, readying themselves to sortie, while the civilians barricaded themselves in their homes.
As the Hero, once the time came, the hourglass would teleport me to the Wave's point of origin.
That applied to party members as well — Raphtalia would be transported along with me.
"The Wave is coming soon, Raphtalia."
"Yes!"
Raphtalia nodded, looking somewhat excited — perhaps fired up for the fight.
Well, if she had the will to fight, I had nothing to say.
"Naofumi-sama… may I talk to you for a moment?"
"Hmm? Sure, what's up?"
"Well, I was just thinking about how we're about to fight the Wave, and it's made me rather emotional…"
…Was she about to drop some kind of death flag?
I'd protect her so she wouldn't die, but… honestly, I'd been too influenced by anime and manga.
This world wasn't a game or a book. It was reality.
Above all, those shitty Heroes had all been equipped with such incredible gear. I didn't even know if my armor could hold up.
I might end up injured.
If it was just injuries, that would be the best-case scenario. I could lose my life.
If that happened, the people of this country would look at my corpse and think:
—The end of a criminal.
…Enough. I was fighting for no one but myself.
Just to survive for one more month.
"Actually, I… became a slave because of the devastation from the first Wave."
"…I see."
Well, I'd more or less guessed as much.
"I grew up in a demi-human village in the rural area of this country's borderlands, near the coast but a bit inland from the port town. …It wasn't exactly well-off, being this country and all."
Her parents had been kind, and she'd lived peacefully alongside everyone in the village.
But then, hordes of skeleton soldiers had come flooding out from the Calamity Wave.
At first, although the skeleton soldiers were numerous, the adventurers in the area had been able to hold them off.
But then beasts, enormous beetles, and other creatures came pouring out in droves, and the defensive line collapsed.
In the end, a monstrous creature resembling a dog with three black heads appeared, and the people were trampled like helpless flowers.
Raphtalia's village couldn't contain the damage either, and they desperately fled from the monsters.
However, the monsters allowed no escape, slaughtering familiar faces as if it were all a game.
Raphtalia's parents met the same fate — they ran, and the monsters chased them all the way to a sea cliff.
Realizing they couldn't escape, Raphtalia's parents exchanged a glance and smiled at her.
Even in that hopeless situation, they gently stroked the terrified Raphtalia's head.
"Raphtalia… I think you're about to face a terrible situation. You might even die."
"But you know what? Raphtalia — even so, we want you to live… so please, forgive us for our selfishness."
Even young Raphtalia understood that her parents were trying to save her with their lives.
"No! Dad! Mom!"
Shove!
With all their heart, wishing for Raphtalia to live, they pushed her off the cliff and into the sea.
As Raphtalia was pushed and fell toward the ocean, she witnessed the monsters lunging at her parents.
With a splash, Raphtalia hit the water and, by some miracle, washed up on a nearby beach.
When she came to, Raphtalia stood and made her way back toward the cliff, searching for her parents.
It seemed the monsters had already been barely slain by adventurers and knights dispatched by the kingdom.
She walked across the desolate wasteland littered with corpses until she finally reached the cliff where she had parted from her parents.
There — there was an immense amount of blood… and scattered scraps of flesh.
When Raphtalia understood her parents were dead, something inside her snapped.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Sobbing uncontrollably, desperate to escape reality, yet carrying her parents' wish in her heart — she wandered aimlessly.
Before she knew it, she was imprisoned in that circus-tent-like place as a slave.
That place was… in a word, hell.
Every day, someone was purchased and brought back.
Raphtalia was no exception.
At first, whoever had bought her probably intended to make her a servant. A well-fed noble purchased her and tried to teach her various things.
By this point she had already developed a cough, and she would wake in the middle of the night screaming from that nightmare.
Because of that, she was sent back to the tent the very next day.
The next buyer tried the same — tried to teach Raphtalia work, and the next day she was sent back again.
Her buyer before me was the worst, apparently.
On the very night he bought her, he lashed her with a whip until she was a ragged mess, then sold her off the next day.
If there were sadistic perverts in this country, I wouldn't be surprised.
And so, suffering from illness, her mind half-broken by nightmares, after she'd lost count of how many times… she said she was bought by me.
"I'm glad I was able to meet you, Naofumi-sama."
"…Is that so."
"Because you taught me how to survive."
"…Is that so."
I was listening to Raphtalia's story in a half-hearted, businesslike manner.
That was about the extent of it. Because I didn't care.
"And you gave me a chance — a chance to stand against that Wave."
"…Is that so."
"So I'm going to do my best."
"Yeah… do your best."
Even I knew what a terrible response that was.
But at this point in time, it was the only response I could manage.
00:01
Less than one minute remaining.
I braced myself, readying for the teleportation.
00:00
DING!
A thunderous sound echoed across the world.
In the next instant, the scenery shifted in the blink of an eye. We had been teleported.
"The sky…"
The sky was cracked, as if a massive fissure had split it open, and stained a sinister wine-red.
"Where…"
As I was surveying our surroundings, three shadows shot out, with twelve more in pursuit.
Those shitty Heroes.
They'd been teleported just like me, so that much was obvious — but where were they headed?
Looking in the direction they were running, I could see enemies swarming out of the rift in droves.
"It's near Ryuto Village!" Raphtalia said urgently, analyzing where we'd been sent.
"This is a rural area — there are quite a lot of people living here!"
"The evacuation should already be—"
That's when it hit me.
A Calamity Wave could strike anywhere. There was no way an evacuation could account for it.
"Hey, wait! All of you!"
My shouts went unheard. The three Heroes and their parties charged toward the source of the Wave.
Meanwhile, I could see swarms of monsters that had poured out scattering in every direction, heading toward the village like spiders fleeing a broken web.
And what did the Heroes do? They just fired off some kind of luminous flare into the sky.
Probably to alert the knights to this location. Something like that.
"Tch!! Raphtalia! We're heading for the village!"
The people of Ryuto Village had helped me out in all sorts of ways.
If they died to the Wave, I'd never sleep soundly again.
"Yes!"
We took off in the opposite direction from the shitty Heroes.