1 Chapter 1 - Accident

Blake PoV

That was quite interesting.

Goblins. Amongst all sentient races, their young mature the earliest in terms of physical development, reaching sexual maturity at the age of three. Unlike other races, their love juices unfortunately just can't stop screaming 'culture' and even have a fertility rate that is ten times of a human. On top of that, they generally lack intelligence, resulting in poor family planning and poverty.

That seemed to be the situation of the hobgoblin earlier. He had goblin sons so it's either he used to be a goblin or he could be a pure hobgoblin who married a goblin. The latter was less likely to be the case unless he was some degenerate weeb who had no other option but to marry another goblin.

Lost in my thoughts, I covered my mouth with my left hand before making a sleepy but inaudible yawn. I noticed some other people repeating what I just did. It was still dawn and I had nothing to do so I just had some fun to pass the time.

Hehe, boi.

I did it a few more times until I reached the intersection. It was still five-thirty in the morning so a traffic jam was not a problem. Because of this, I always told myself that waking up early wasn't a mistake.

That's what I thought until I saw it. I thought my eyes were playing tricks with me but…My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.

There was a crowd surrounding what seemed to be an accident. I was relieved that it was close so I would just need to go to the unblocked part of the road to hail a cab. My disappointment is now measurable and my day is made.

An unconscious boy lay in the middle of the road. He wore the same uniform as me. A white button-down shirt with a hunter-green blazer-type jacket as an outer layer paired with trousers of the same color. He looked to be about 5'9 to 6 in height.

He had a messy, medium-length, yellowish or you could say orangish, no, make that reddish hair covering a portion of two unsatisfyingly fidgeting fox ears. Blood covered his face and a part of his hair was drenched with it. His arms surprisingly showed no signs of damage.

It's strange. No matter how slow the reaction of the victim is, it should be given that at least one of his arms was injured in a reflexive attempt to cover the face, especially for a beastkin. With his ears, it's possible for him to hear it from 200 feet away and just avoid it. It didn't look like he was wearing earphones either.

Other than his head, the only other visible injury was his back. It looked…painful. I think his spine was broken as he landed on his backpack. It looked like he did some kind of twerking statue dance before getting hit. Why was he carrying such a large backpack on the first day of school, anyway?

Well, it's not my problem but it's not every day you see a broken spine and a face covered in blood. It's certainly interesting. After all, I still have a lot of time.

"I t-told you it wasn't m-my fault! I was just driving while listening to my favorite track 'Blend W' and some w-weird boy just appeared in the middle of the… r-road. I even honked several times! And do you know what he did? He just stood there looking into my eyes as if he was staring directly at my soul while murmuring some w-weird…weird…w-w-weird-a-assooea-accent…weird accent chant! It was too late for me to hit the brakes. Plus, it was…dark, get that? What would I do if some witches were to come?!"

The driver's face turned red while ranting to the cops. His veins looked like they were about to burst on top of his glasses. He had a messy neckbeard and uneven yellow teeth. His belly was protruding from his ahegao t-shirt like the under-cleavage of a woman's chest.

He occasionally waved his hand near his fat leg which was leaking with diabetic juice while flies were surrounding it. There were tiny little maggots wriggling in and out of little holes.

On his truck, there was a poster of the new movie 'Parallel Paradis'.

Although he was stammering, I could tell that he was telling the truth with his manner of speaking. He was probably just an innocent citizen who got caught in an unfortunate accident. He even stopped stammering in the middle and only lost it when he tried to say 'weird-ass' to sound like an intimidating thug but switched to 'accent' when he can't do it. Sure, witch-related kidnappings were rampant nowadays but still… He probably just used that as an excuse to add another supporting idea to gain confidence.

"Just calm down, sir. Excuse me, miss, can you tell me what happened here?"

The officer raised his voice when he talked to the driver. He was obviously irritated. His blue uniform was unkempt and stained. It looked like he was stressed from restraining the ongoing protests.

"Actually…I, like, agree with the driver. Before he got hit, the victim did go to, like, the middle of the road and it looked like knew about what was about to happen. Here. I, like, captured a video because he was, like, weird and all. I couldn't, like, bring to stop him because I was, like, so creeped out. I just, like, called an ambulance for him…Like."

A girl who was a witness handed out her phone. She had a slim body type with medium-sized curves. Seeing her uniform, I wasn't surprised that she, too, was a fellow student of the Acallaris Technical Magic and Combat Training Program. But one question. Why does she keep saying 'like'?

The officer paused as if expecting her to do something else.

"Ah, sorry…I was, like--"

"Just do it, kid."

She pressed a button and a 3d holographic footage of what took place projected in the air.

"Fear is an illusion. Death shall not be my end. My failure will no longer be tolerated. May the Monarch of Shadow, Master of Necromancy, Lord of the Dark Arts, Ruler of the Mighty Shadow Army, Tyrant of Tyranny Itself accompany me. I humbly request you to…"

He really was doing a mysterious chant. I didn't exactly recognize it but I had a feeling that this was an ancient chant. After all, we can't rule out the possibility that he truly is connected to the witches.

"Isekai me! TRUCK-SAMA!!!—agh!"

And…I was wrong. But hey, it's still interesting to know that people actually go to such extremes just to fulfill their fantasies.

Well, time to get going then. I spared no more effort on leaving.

"Matte."

I was stopped by the hand that grabbed my foot. It seems that he is still alive. That's a beastman for you. For someone in an accident, his grip was a tad too strong. But I'm just an innocent bystander. Why does he have to grab me out of the blue?

"C-can I help you? An ambulance is already coming so advise you not to move too much."

I guess I'm still not accustomed to talking with strangers but I'll probably get used to it in a few months. I'd say a year at most.

"Comrade, please help me stand dessow. I don't need an ambulance. Just help me stand dess—I mean desu."

"Are you sure?"

"Ohwniggay—Onegaishimasu."

I see…He has a problem worse than the 'like' girl. I heard him say 'please' in Yamadoan and he pronounced 'comrade' in Mishan accent but the rest of it was in Vespuccan. In any case, I wanted to refuse but it was getting late and there were more students on their way now so I just acted like a nice guy and put his arm over my shoulder. He is already standing out now. Just one little mistake will switch the attention of the onlookers to me. I'm bad with crowds.

"Kid, I advise you to just stay put. Black-haired boy, put him down."

"Damare, ningen!"

"How dare you speak to me with that tone of voice, boy?!"

It seems that the officer's aura was more intimidating.

"Tch…Blyat!"

Ah…Perfect timing. I relaxed as soon as I heard the first siren of the approaching ambulance. Just then, the fox-guy made several hand signs.

It was faint but I sensed a hint of magic flowing from his arms. By the time I was able to react, it was too late. Was this the reason why he didn't allow his arm to be injured?

"Gasp…they're here already? Alright then. Ichi no Jutsu: Reverse Card!"

My body suddenly felt weak. My vision had a red taint and I felt a burning sensation on my forehead. My spine felt like it was crushed by a heartbreak. I could only see his blurry figure waving a hand at me while running away. Only that it wasn't him but I saw myself running.

"Adios, comrade. Till we meet again. Whoa! They're already here! NIGERUNDAYO!"

What sorcery is this? Did we switch bodies? How was that possible? I didn't expect the psycho's ridiculous nonsense to do anything. Now, what do I do?

…is what a normal person would have thought.

Psyche Back-up and Transfer?

To be able to do this skill, the memory and personality data of the user are constantly backed up in a mageium-based memory storage called the Mageium Plane which is basically billions of mageium particles. The exchange is then pre-programmed to activate by physical contact, eye contact, or by sound.

He probably can't transfer by eye contact or by sound that's why he kept his arm uninjured. The arms and hands were the main conduits of magic for many people and if it was injured, the flow of magic will be retarded.

I immediately hacked into his parietal lobe to reduce the pain sensation.

I closed my eyes and concentrated. I sensed my body already nearing school. As soon as he stepped in front of the entrance, I went back to my original body. The emergency crew of the ambulance is likely to have taken care of him by now.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but it doesn't work on me. It's illegal to do that so don't do it again. Thanks for bringing me to school."

Naturally, I still suffered the consequences of him running all the way here but at least I didn't have to experience it during the process. All except for my joints. He should've at least done a few stretches.

Wait…I sense a disturbance. Something feels off. I feel like someone is watching me.

The other students were mostly humans, green people, and beastkin. There were a few elves too, mostly showing off their intricately-designed hovercars. I could feel their scornful stares whenever they were out from my line of sight.

'That guy…' I sighed. I did notice him running in an unnatural position. If I recall, he lowered his torso and held his arms straight out behind his back. Hmm…Was it called the ninja run?

Anyhow, there's not much I can do about it. I'll just lay low until they forget about it. There will surely be gossip but I don't really mind. What I'm worried about is my reputation. I'll have to be careful not to become a subject of bullying.

Well, then. Here's my first step.