Episode 12

Zeke (Hiroto) walked through the village. The discussion from the meeting hall bothered him, and he observed his surroundings.

(It was probably a continuous-cropping problem that kept those specific crops from growing. Or maybe the land just wasn’t suited to farming in the first place.)

He considered the points one by one.

(The well running dry was just a broken well. The livestock died of old age or disease. Those ramshackle houses were bound to collapse. Blaming abnormal weather was pure reach, and even monsters had their own reasons to fight.)

When he thought about it, each claim came close to sophistry. He could imagine how repeated misfortune and human bias had created the “accursed child.”

(Then even if we bring her to the site, she’d only be useful as an eyewitness at best.)

He felt let down, thinking that if there really had been a curse as the villagers claimed, he could have lured the monsters in and wiped them out at once.

Depending on the size of the pack, this looked like a long campaign, so he reviewed the plan he had first considered.

As he walked and thought for a while, a voice called out from behind him.

“Hey, where did you come from?”

He turned around and found a child about the same age as Zeke. —Except the child’s bangs completely covered her eyes, so he could not see her face.

(This kind of character might show up in anime or manga, but seeing one in real life was honestly spooky.)

She was a white-haired girl wearing the same plain clothes as the other villagers. Since possessing Zeke, he had seen plenty of colorful heads, so that part did not bother him.

“How should I know? It’s none of your concern.”

“Don’t say ‘you there.’ I’m Atri. What’s your name?”

“…I have no obligation to tell you.”

“Don’t be mean—tell me.”

Zeke’s barbed words did not faze her at all. Was it childish innocence, or was she intentionally letting it slide? Hiroto could not tell.

“If you want someone to play with, look elsewhere. I have no business with brats.”

“You’re a child too. …Besides, the other kids won’t even talk to me.”

The girl who called herself Atri lowered her head. He could not see her expression, but a sad air hung about her.

(A loner? Being a kid is rough.)

Hiroto worried about the wrong thing. Because survival was his only priority, his thinking grew careless about anything else.

“They say I’m an accursed child, so I’m not supposed to be near anyone. That’s what everyone in the village says.”

(—! So it’s her‼︎ Come to think of it, they were making a fuss about white hair.)

“…Then this will be quick. I have questions for you.”

“…What?”

He did not believe in an accursed child or curses, but there was no doubt she had been on site.
There were plenty of points he wanted to pin down: precise location, number of monsters, what kinds of magic they used.

“You were attacked by monsters the other day, weren’t you? Tell me the details.”

“—Huh? How do you know about that?”

“The villagers were making a fuss. And we’re here to exterminate those monsters. It’s a hassle, though.”

Atri froze in surprise. No villager who knew her would treat her properly.

People from outside the village were her only conversation partners, and she always looked forward to them. It was the first time someone her own age had come, so she had followed him without thinking.

(If he knows, then I guess it’s over.)

Her eyes blurred with tears. She had finally thought she could make a friend. But she was an accursed child after all, she told herself, and started to leave.

“…Hey, wait, you. Where are you going?”

“Going home, obviously. …No one’s there, though.”

“I’m not done talking. Don’t walk off on your own—that’s an order.”

“…It’s okay if I don’t go home? It’s okay if I talk with you?”

They spoke at cross-purposes. Since possessing Zeke, he had rarely managed to communicate the way he wanted, but this was the worst yet.

“Stop spouting nonsense. Take this seriously.”

“—‼︎ Okay, I’ll talk! A lot!”

He had thought she was sad, and now she was delighted. Hiroto struggled to understand a child’s train of thought.

(Is this kid going to be okay? This is how people grow up into real menaces, isn’t it?)

He drew out as much information as possible: the number of monsters, their magic, the surrounding terrain.

“They were so fast I couldn’t count all of them, but I think there were five. And they shot lots of green, wind-like stuff at us. People got hurt by that, but I hid in a wagon, so I was fine. And also, um…”

Once she started, she did not stop. The girl unleashed a machine-gun barrage of words.

“…For now, enough. The wind-like magic—was that Sonic Shot?

“Sonic Shot? What’s that?”

“Idiot. Obviously the name of a spell.”

“…! Wow, you know magic⁉︎”

(This isn’t working. We’re still not having an actual conversation.)

Zeke (Hiroto) shuddered at Atri’s tendency to answer ten for every one he said.

By continuing carefully, bit by bit, he finally saw the big picture.

“Fast movement and disruption, using the terrain and attacking from range with magic. Nasty.”

“They were totally in sync! Especially Emi-chan—she’s little, but her magic was amazing!”

“…Wait. Who is this ‘Emi-chan’?”

“The Breeze Weasel’s name. I gave it to her.”

“…Don’t go slapping names on monsters. It’s confusing.”

He had thought there was a mage named Emi-chan, but she had meant the monster.

“Whatever you want from the monsters, it doesn’t matter. Once they harm people, extermination is a given.”

“…Yeah. They were just trying to live. But because I was there, everyone got hurt.”

She was an accursed child—Atri had heard that from everyone since she was little. The villagers blamed her for this incident too, and she had come to believe it herself.

“An accursed child, huh. Do you really believe in that sort of dubious thing?”

“Lots of things happened because of me! If I go along this time too, something bad will… We’ll get attacked again!”

“Pointless. I don’t care how many monsters show up. I’ll erase them all. That’s all.”

“Why? I’m an accursed child. Everyone will be unhappy.”

“Don’t make me repeat myself. An accursed child? So what. I’m even more special than that.”

(I’m the villain’s boss character. My crimes outclass anything a background ‘accursed child’ could manage! …How empty.)

“…Can I believe you?”

“I’ll give you a front-row seat and show you just how small your existence is.”

It was decided that Atri would accompany them. The soldiers felt uneasy about having one more person to protect, and the villagers thought this might be their chance. As everyone’s motives crossed, Zeke (Hiroto) set out on his first joint battle.