Chapter 13

The campfire crackled and popped, while the dark night covered the surroundings. Perhaps the weather was bad today, because the twinkle of the stars did not reach the earth.
How many times had he made a campfire since coming to this world? Surprisingly, perhaps not that many. While eating the still-awful simple rations, he sighed inwardly.

Two weeks had passed since they began their special training in the Forest of Death. Trading lives in an unfamiliar place was quite exhausting. There was no soft bedding, and showers were out of the question. Monsters kept appearing without end, and the smell of blood wore down the mind. It would be more accurate to say meals were stuffed down rather than eaten. In short, everything was the worst.

If he had enough supplies and time, he had even thought about building lodging in this land. Manga and anime often had situations where people grew stronger through training in deadly places while completely ignoring food, clothing, and shelter, but Hiroto wanted no part of that. From the perspective of a modern person, it was an unimaginable world.

What Hiroto found precious during this special training was purification magic. This, too, was a convenient magic often seen in manga that cleaned bodily filth. It had not existed in the game, but when he looked into it just in case, it really did exist. In that case, the rest was quick, and he immediately learned it, leading to the present.

Sleeping while covered in blood, sweat, and filth was close to torture. The existence of this magic supported Hiroto’s mind.

(Even so… that might be bad.)

At the end of his gaze was our protagonist, Van. He was staring blankly at the campfire while chewing dried meat.

At the beginning of the special training, he had been energetic, but day by day his eyes had grown cloudy and his vitality had faded. At present, he clearly had no energy. Hiroto had secretly cast purification magic on him every day, but had that not been enough? Or had he grown disgusted because the food was bad?

(Did I overdo it? But if he’s like this, it’s still going to be tough.)

Through this special training, Van was definitely getting stronger. He was fighting well against monsters above his level. In game terms, his leveling was probably progressing smoothly. …Even so, it was still not enough.
It might be true in terms of strength and level as well, but there was a more fundamental issue. Hiroto could not sense the radiance befitting a protagonist from him.

The charisma he had felt when he saw the first main character he met, Glanz. The light that attracted others and radiated unknowingly, something special. …Well, the first one he had actually encountered had been a heroine.

Now, he could feel it not only from Glanz, but also from Ciel, Selen, Luke, and Atri. The strength and resolve of main characters. A presence so great it made one believe the world revolved around them. He could not feel that from Van.

(What is holding the protagonist back…? Normally, I shouldn’t have the leeway to worry about someone else either.)

If Van did not defeat Elzen, everything would be putting the cart before the horse. But that was the world’s concern, and Zeke had a different kind of problem.

In the end, his death flag had not been broken. Zeke was supposed to fight the protagonists on the path leading to the Gate to the Otherworld, the Way of the Void, which was a passing point on the way to the final battle. He would make full use of all his talents and the factor of a spirit, or god, to wage a deadly battle, and in the end, he would burn his life away and die. That had been Zeke’s end.

(I want to believe I won’t end up fighting the protagonist party anymore, but…)

If fighting the protagonist party was not the world’s fixed rule, and Zeke’s death itself was the rule of the world, then he still could not be sure. Hiroto himself also had to become stronger so he would be ready no matter what happened.

Stronger than he was now. Far stronger.

Van forced the portable rations down. They were no longer food. They were nothing more than nutritional supplements.

He did not know how much time had passed. The day they had left the royal capital felt like the distant past. His arms and shoulders were swollen tight, and his legs were heavy as lead. After eating, he slept as though fainting, and then morning came again almost immediately. It was the same thing repeated over and over. How long would this life continue?

He turned his eyes to Zeke, who was sitting across from him. Zeke, on the other side of the campfire, did not show what he was thinking, but there was no fatigue on him at all. He watched the fire with his usual somewhat displeased expression. They were in the same environment, so why were they so different?

“If you are bored, go to sleep already. Do not show me that gloomy face tomorrow.”

Zeke said something like a complaint, but Van felt nothing. Normally, he would have talked back, but right now, Van had neither the leeway nor the energy for that. Even if the person was someone like Zeke, Van was grateful that he was simply there. If Van had been alone, he would probably have fled or gone insane. He was completely exhausted in both mind and body.

(I wonder what everyone is doing right now. …Maybe someone will get worried and come save me.)

There was no way that would happen. Even knowing that, he escaped from reality. The harsh environment wore away at his heart. At least, that was what Van himself thought, but he did not notice that there were other reasons as well. Perhaps he was deliberately averting his eyes from them, or perhaps—

“…Hey, wake up.”

“!?”

He woke up from the cold sensation on his face.

Zeke entered his vision. Apparently, a potion had been poured over him. Before he knew it, the sun had risen, and the presence of monsters was closing in.

“It is time. Fight.”

“…”

A movement ingrained into his body. Without thinking of anything, he drew his sword. The current Van might have been close to a doll that had lost its emotions. A being that only moved as instructed. For the sake of peace of mind, he had abandoned thinking.

Monsters attacked from the sky while flapping enormous wings. Today’s enemies were a flock of giant monstrous birds. They aimed for Van’s life while coordinating with each other, relying on hit-and-away tactics.

“…Rising Heat Flame Blade.”

A pillar of fire swallowed the monsters in the sky. The monstrous birds, which had judged that he had no means of long-range attack, were caught off guard and panicked. He sent flying flaming slashes after them as a follow-up attack. The monsters that ruled the sky lost to a swordsman crawling on the ground and fell.

“…Hey.”

“!? Damn—”

Killing intent behind him. He could not react to the great jaws that had closed in on his neck. It was a monster different from the ones just now. It had aimed for the opening created the moment he defeated his enemy. He could no longer move.

“—Ice Eisen.”

The monster was pierced by a mountain of ice needles manifested from the earth and died. Looking closely, many other monsters had also been pierced through their torsos and scattered their lives.

“What are you doing? Do not stand there in a daze.”

Near Van lay the corpse of the monstrous bird he had defeated earlier. Meanwhile, behind Zeke, an enormous number of corpses were piled up like a mountain. These were different from the monsters Zeke had just annihilated. While Van had been fighting with all his might, Zeke had advanced ahead as if nothing had happened.

(Why? Why are you…)

Something snapped inside Van. His body stopped moving, and his vision turned black. Zeke’s insults no longer entered his head.

His body was heavy. He had no strength. A warning bell pounded loudly in his head. His awareness that he had to wake up and his desire to do nothing anymore fought against each other. In the end, the former won.

“Where is this…”

Orange entered his vision. The gentle, warm campfire told Van the time. …It was already night.
Apparently, Van had collapsed. He could guess that he had lost consciousness in the middle of battle, leading to the present. Even though this was training to become stronger, the person it was meant for had slept until night. Protected by Zeke.

(…Where is he?)

No one was nearby. Only Van, who had been lying down, and the quietly burning campfire. The same ice wall as always rejected the monsters’ advance.

(What am I doing…?)

His emotions were disturbed by his own pathetic state. At this rate, he was completely dead weight. For the sake of Van’s training, Zeke had done this much. No matter how foul his mouth was, he had not abandoned Van after he lost consciousness. His strength as a person, his capacity, and everything else were above Van’s. A dry laugh escaped him.

(What was I misunderstanding? Of course there’s a difference. We were born with different talent.)

Talent.

Zeke had it, and Van did not. No matter how much Van worked, there was an absolute gap that could not be filled. A wall far too high for an ordinary person to do anything about. …That was right. So this could not be helped. There was no meaning in reaching for a star he could never touch. Ordinary people were only allowed to crawl on the ground.

(Let’s just stop. It was impossible for me.)

The efforts of an ordinary person without talent had been meaningless from the start. If it were something only Van could do, that would be one thing, but there was Luke, and there was Ciel too. On top of that, even without the protection of a spirit, a genius like Zeke might have some kind of method. In that case, trying hard was just a waste.

“…? What’s that sound?”

Just as he thought he would explain the reason and ask to stop this training, a sound reached his ears. A small, dull noise could be heard from far away. Were the monsters trying to break the wall? Van’s feet naturally headed toward the sound.

The starlight shining in the dark night poured down on the forest that had become open ground. A scene emerged in the darkness.

In the world separated by the ice wall, death spread everywhere. Countless monster corpses were piled up like mountains. And even now, a black shadow continued to fight. The corpses of the monsters kept increasing.

“…Why? How can you be like that?”

He erased the waves of attacking monsters with a single swing of his sword. He repelled the fist of a monster larger than himself with his own fist. Merciless magic froze everything. He was fighting more than a hundred monsters alone.

“I’ve swung a sword all my life. That was the only thing I could do. So why can you do that much?”

Zeke was a genius. A genius did not need effort. Effort was supposed to be a means for ordinary people to struggle, to chase even a little after geniuses, and to deceive their own hearts… So why was Zeke fighting alone in the middle of the night like this? Had he been fighting the entire time Van was asleep too?

“What were my seventeen years? What was different from your seventeen years?”

Zeke moved freely in every direction with speed Van’s eyes could not follow. After the black shadow passed, only monster corpses remained.

“You’re supposed to be a genius. So why is a genius fighting so desperately…”

It was not only the monsters who were bleeding. Blood poured from Zeke’s whole body. He was breathing hard through his shoulders and gritting his teeth in pain. There was no composure in him. He was fighting alone in solitude at the edge of life and death.

“Please just stop. Because geniuses like you work hard, ordinary people like me suffer. We feel miserable.”

Seeing that Zeke’s feet had stopped, the monsters judged it to be an opening and leapt at him all at once. Among them were vicious monsters that had let the others fight and searched for an opportunity from deeper within.

Zeke was driven into a crisis. But what appeared on his face was a fearless smile. As if everything had been calculated, light flashed with Zeke at its center. An enormous burst of mana blew away the entire area. Even Van, who was inside the ice wall, felt the vibration. After his vision cleared, only Zeke remained standing alone in a world of ice.

“…!”

Van sank to both knees and hung his head. He felt as if the difference between them had been forced upon him against his will. Because Zeke had not intended it, it gouged Van’s chest all the deeper.

“I wanted to be born a genius too! I worked hard too! If I’d known it would end up like this… I never would have become a swordsman!”

Before he met Zeke, he had thought he was the strongest among his peers. After learning about Zeke, or rather the existence of someone above him, he had trained even harder so he would not lose. …And yet the gap had only widened.

“The sword was all I had! I didn’t have natural talent like you. …What should an ordinary person do to compete with a genius!?”

Shedding tears without shame or concern for appearances, he struck the ice wall with all his strength. He no longer felt pain.

“I want to become like you! I want to win! Against you, not anyone else!”

Zeke noticed Van’s presence. Without any particular reaction, he turned his gaze toward him. As if to say he had no interest. …Being insulted as usual would have been many times better.

“What’s different between you and me…? What was wrong with me?”

Van’s anguished cries disappeared into the forest. The stars continued to twinkle quietly, unchanged.