Arc 3 - Chapter 9: After the Burning Village (1/2)

"It hurts so much."

"Oh, my dear... It hurts, it hurts so much..."

Yu jumped up screaming. As soon as he woke up, the first thing that came to his mind was the sword stuck in his shoulder, the pain still vivid in his mind.

But there was no longer a sword there, nor did he feel the pain in his body. He could hardly move his shoulder, but the hell etched in Yu's mind did not torment him in the physical world, though it continued to burn his soul.

"Yu! Are you hurt?!"

The girl's eyes filled with tears, and she wasted no time in casting a healing spell on Yu's shoulder, which was wrapped in bandages.

"No, I'm fine."

What happened was frightening. Yu remembered that they had come to the village to find the children of Kigaro's clan, who had just joined their group, and that a sword had been thrust into his shoulder, but after that moment all Yu remembered was pain. He couldn't stay conscious any longer and fainted from the pain.

"Yurine... You're fine..."

Yurine was not injured, she looked perfectly healthy to Yu's eyes, but that did not mean that Yu had succeeded.

It was a failure in every sense of the word. When it came to protecting someone, Yu knew that even he did not have the strength to protect himself, let alone anyone else, but to fail to help his daughter who was still in danger was a shameful, humiliating failure.

As he was blaming himself for what had happened, Yurine suddenly jumped on top of Yu and started kissing his cheek, sobbing as she hugged him as if she wanted to strangle him.

"Yu! I apologize! I promise I'll do whatever you say next time! Yu! I promise, just don't leave me! Yu! Yu!"

She was sobbing and Yu was struggling to breathe. Yurine made one promise after another, causing Yu's eyes to well up.

"If you cry like that..."

Yu was not one for the dramatic. He could be arrogant and sometimes cruel, but lately his emotional side had come out. At least when he saw someone he cared about crying, he couldn't stop his eyes from welling up.

At the Wizarding Academy, when Yurine had asked him to promise, he had burst into tears. It was embarrassing, but since coming to the Second World, he had become a different person than before and could cry in front of others.

At least in front of Yurine.

"I can't stand such things, but..."

He hugged Yurine and stroked her hair while he waited for her to calm down. As a parent, he felt that this was the right thing to do right now, because that's what his older sisters used to do to Yu when he cried when he was little.

"Yu, you're an idiot."

"Why I am suddenly hearing this?"

They were in a tent made of branches and leaves. He could hear the sound of raindrops falling on the roof above them.

But what Yu wanted to know was not why he was here now, but what happened after he fainted.

Yurine continued to hug him without answering him and ending his curiosity. The hug was fine and Yu liked it, but he had to know what happened after he fainted.

They were in a village attacked by demons and Yu knew nothing about what had happened. What had Yurine done after she was injured? Was she really okay?

"Yurine? Really?"

He thought that once she stopped crying and sniffling she would get off him, but she was still hugging him.

Yu shook her a little to get her up, but Yurine had fallen asleep.

"You fell asleep after you covered me in snot?"

Snot was disgusting, but other fathers must have been subjected to it from time to time. At least Yu wanted to think that he wasn't the only father who got covered in snot.

Still, Yu was reluctant to lift her when she was in such an emotional state. He wasn't feeling very rested anyway and even if it didn't hurt anymore his shoulder still ached. With Yurine's head on his chest, he leaned back and waited for her to wake up.

***

Although the waiting was boring, he had not managed to fall asleep, nor did he want to disturb Yurine's sleep by disturbing her. So he stayed in the same position for two hours. As he waited, he occasionally tried to move his shoulder slightly to feel his wound.

There was definitely pain there and it was really difficult to move his shoulder. In fact, it was difficult to move not only his shoulder, but also the fingers of his left hand from the fingers to his neck, and the more he tried, the more it contracted and he felt a strange heaviness in his heart.

This weight was nothing emotional, his heart was heavy enough for him to actually feel it, but it was still beating at its old speed.

"Why is it that when I set out to do something, there's an unforeseen setback? Fucking Murphy's Law is so powerful."

Yu wanted to learn how to fight, and so when he arrived in Andromedia he planned to ask Sivina to teach him how to use a sword. In fact, more than asking, he planned to command it, as she was his employer, and she have to teach him.

He knew that knights and other warriors had been training with swords since they were children, and at his age, Yu could not even match the average of warriors in the Second World with any training he had started.

He was aware of that, and what he wanted was not to be the best in the world. What he wanted was to be strong enough not to be a hindrance to others, not to be dependent on their help.

A few times he had watched Sivina train with Ana. Sivina's style seemed to suit Yu better than the style of other sword-wielders he had seen here and there, because he emphasized speed and agility more than physical strength.

By normal human standards, both in his world and in this world, Yu was not weak, and with a little training he was sure he could become stronger than ordinary people, but the people he would meet on his path would not be ordinary people.

Without mana, a concept beyond potential and ability, even warriors with excellent innate talent would be in a difficult situation. The warriors strengthened their bodies with the help of mana, which made the difference between Yu and their physical strength incredibly high. 

The first example he saw was Rie. By the time they entered the Sigma Tower, Rie had reached a height in a single leap that Yu couldn't even touch with the tip of his finger.

That being the case, Yu was nothing compared to the other warriors, completely nothing except his intelligence. He would be easily crushed if he gravitated towards styles that emphasized physical strength, which is why Sivina's style appealed to him.

Of course, he was not claiming that Sivina's style was simple. Even Sivina used mana to provide the speed and agility that this style required, not to mention skill. Still, against all odds, this style might be the best fit for Yu.

"If this thing hadn't come out of nowhere..."

Yu's plans to learn how to fight would have been hampered by the limp in his left shoulder. Sivina only used the sword with the right, but she was also teaching Ana how to fight without a sword, using a two-handed sword and spear. It was all part of Sivina's style, Yu overheard.

"It would be great if I could reach even a mediocre level. I should at least be able to beat the likes of Shango and Fyano, and be the equal of the average soldier in the armies of this world."

If he did that, at least he wouldn't have to depend on someone else's protection all the time. He wanted not to worry his daughter anymore and he could save his pride from further injury.

"Of course, it's not something that will just happen, I'll probably only be able to enjoy the fruits of my education in this world after I turn back time... Then..." What could he do with the sword before he died? "I can kill Sorrow and Joy, even the Redchapel Killer. After all, even without my influence, Sivina's group will go there, and they will suffer more casualties in my absence. In exchange for using them in this world, I have to offer them a life in the new world and then... I..."

He didn't think there were still tears waiting to flow.

"I can search for a way. It can't be impossible to find a way."

The warmth he felt with Yurine on top of him and hugging him was so good that he was devastated that he had to leave it.

"I can do something with magic crystals."

The magic crystals were quite valuable and could fetch a high profit if sold, but Yu didn't want them to sell. He wanted them for when he had to fight just like Rie.

"The device I made for the cane is too simple, I need to do better. I need to find a way to throw the crystal like a bullet."

Yu's cane was completely arm-powered. When Yu pulled down the lock holding the magic stone, the stone was released, and when the cane was swung, it came out. When he wanted to use it again, he had to put a new magic stone in the cane.

He wanted to find a way to throw the magic stone without arm strength, without the need to throw any object. The first thing that came to mind was a crossbow, but it was too big to carry with him at all times and took a long time to load.

He had thought of making what could be called a tiny crossbow, a wrist concealed weapon from an assassin's game, but since the bow was short, the range would be short and he didn't think it would be as useful as in the game.

"Maybe I could try to make a rifle using the magic stone as an igniter. Anyway, it's too early to think about that. Not that... What the hell happened to our wagon? There was gold in it!"

When he thought of the gold coins, he found it difficult to stay where he was lying, he moved and inadvertently woke Yurine up.

"G-good morning."

"Yu!"

Yurine hugged Yu's neck tightly again. Yu still enjoyed the hug, but he couldn't get the gold out of his mind. Still, she couldn't spoil such an emotional moment by bringing up the gold.

"Yu!"

Yurine was crying again and squeezing Yu with a strength not expected from a little girl. Whatever had happened must have worried her so much that Yurine didn't want to let her go. Yurine rubbed her cheek against his and Yu tried to calm her down by patting her back.

"Stupid Yu! I'll do what you say next time, I promise! Stay by my side!"

"I'm here, I'm not going anywhere."

There was no way he could leave her so soon and let her down. He would stay by her side until he created a world where she smiled.

Yurine hugged Yu for a long time and then pulled back, wiping her tears on the sleeve of her dress. She sniffled every now and then and studied Yu with eyes red from crying.

"Yu, are you okay?"

"I can't say I'm bad while you have worried for me that much, but I'm having some difficulty moving my shoulder and the rest of my left arm."

"Are you in pain?!"

Yurine didn't wait for an answer and began to cast a healing spell on Yu's left shoulder. He was already feeling no pain, but the spell made it easier for him to move his arm.

"It doesn't hurt."

"Are you telling the truth?"

"It doesn't hurt, I had a little trouble moving it, but that's all."

"Yu, don't worry! I'll cure you completely!"

"Thank you."

His shoulder was wrapped in bandages. He started to untie the cloth to look at the wound, but he had only untied half of it when he was shocked to see that it was nothing more than crusted black skin with purple bulging veins showing through the hard structure.

"Disgusting!"

Yu named the thing on his shoulder the first way he could think of, he would call it a curse. The curse extended below his elbow and down his back. His shoulder was the hardest place, but it softened as the curse spread.

When he removed the diapers completely, he saw that the same disgusting curse had infected his chest. The purple veins from the black curse had traveled down the right side of his chest. He couldn't see his back, but it must have traveled too far down his back and when he touched his neck he felt the hardness of the curse and the swollen veins.

"Is it on my face too?!" Yu was touching his face, screaming.

Just imagining his handsome face covered with such blemishes was enough to terrify him. He ran his hand over his face, but he couldn't notice any change.

"No, not on your face."

It was good that at least his face was unharmed. He could hide his arm and neck under the clothes for a few months until the weather warmed up, but not his face.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault."

Yurine bowed her head in regret. Yu could see that she was remorseful and it hurt him to see her suffering because of his weakness. He decided to change the subject, not wanting to upset her any more.

"It's okay. Can I assume things are going well now that we're alive? What happened after I fainted?"

"I killed all the demons."