Eternally Regressing in Another World

Chapter 38: Square 31: The Death Cry of Someone Precious

”Hey, you! You alive!?”

A man’s voice. Right, I’d broken in without permission earlier.

”Um... sorry about that.”

”Why are you apologizing! We need to run, now!!”

Run? My mind still wasn’t clear, and I couldn’t quite process what the man meant. But the hazy scene coming into focus lent that word terrifying weight.

”Huh, ...wait!?”

Through my blurred vision, the whole area was ablaze. The wooden stable, flames climbing all the way to the ceiling, somehow still holding its shape at all felt like a miracle.

”What the hell, ...why is this happening!?”

”Got it now? Let’s move, quick!”

A stranger’s hand reached out toward me. No time to hesitate. I took the man’s hand and managed to stand up somehow.

”I’ll lend you a shoulder, can you walk?”

”Y... yeah, somehow.”

Pushing through the dull, spreading pain in my legs, I barely made it out of the stable alive. From within the raging flames, horse after horse let out cries of agony.

”I’m sorry, everyone...”

The man crouched down, tears streaming, hands pressed against his head. Maybe he’d been the one taking care of those horses.

”But why did this place catch fire?”

”...You ran here for shelter, didn’t you? Take a look at that.”

I followed the direction he pointed. What I saw made me doubt my own eyes.

”No way... the whole city...”

Thick black smoke. Fires had broken out everywhere, staining even the sky black. Among it all, an especially massive column of black smoke rose exactly where he was pointing.

”That’s the castle. Even Parrot Castle, the symbol of this entire kingdom, is engulfed in flames. This country is finished.”

”...No way. Why? Why did this happen!?”

Right, how much time had passed since then? Glancing at my watch, it read just past 19:00. Though for all I knew, an entire day might’ve passed while I was out cold. If that were true, the watch meant nothing anymore.

”My phone... right, I didn’t bring it.”

I’d left the phone back at the inn, along with my bag. Even if I had it on me now, it had already gone through the river once. Not waterproof. Almost certainly broken.

”Damn it, I don’t understand anything! What happened while I was out!?”

”No use panicking about it now. Just do what you can to get out of this country.”

Saying that, the man walked off. The horses’ cries had already gone silent. I started walking too. Even though there was nowhere left for me to go.

The city was in a horrific state. Buildings burned, livestock slaughtered, valuables, food, water, books, magic tools scattered everywhere. Corpses lay around without a second glance, and people who looked anything but good walked around carrying blood soaked weapons. And yet, for some reason, no one turned a blade toward me.

”Our eyes meet, but they just look away? Ha, guess I’m not even worth their attention. Fine by me, honestly.”

Muttering that to myself, something cracked underfoot. Pulling my foot back, I’d stepped on a mirror. Peering into the dirt streaked shard, a horrifically changed figure stared back at me.

”What a state I’m in...”

Blood soaked my suit, my left arm bent at an unnatural angle. Hair matted stiff with blood, entire body caked in mud. The gash on my face had worsened further, starting to fester slightly. Still being able to walk at all meant my nerves must have gone numb from sheer accumulation of injuries.

”Guess even robbers wouldn’t bother stripping someone looking like this.”

Whether that counted as lucky or unlucky, I honestly couldn’t say. All I wanted was to escape this nightmarish scene spreading out before me as fast as possible. That’s when a familiar silhouette caught my eye nearby.

”...Tender?”

I ran, forgetting the pain dragging at my legs entirely. A face I knew, a voice I knew, a person I knew. At the very edge of despair, could anything shine this brightly? Like a baby bird spotting its parent, I sprinted toward Tender with everything I had.

”Hey, wait up! Tender!!”

”Huh?”

Tender seemed to notice me too. His face showed a flash of relief, but it quickly turned bitter. Given the state I was in, that reaction made sense. Tender himself seemed to have gotten off relatively lightly, just some bleeding from his shoulder.

”Were you okay!?”

”Yes, I’m fine. But...”

Tender covered his mouth, staring at my condition.

”Forget about me, more importantly, what about Elizabeth and everyone? What happened to this country!?”

As long as Elizabeth was fine, we could figure something out. That’s what I’d believed. That taking down a few thugs rioting through the city would be simple enough for her. That naive assumption collapsed entirely the moment I saw the look in Tender’s eyes.

”Hey... where’s Elizabeth?”

”........She’s dead.”

Tender said it in a cracked voice. Screams, shouting, laughter echoed from every direction. Amid all that noise that should have drowned out his voice, I still heard him clearly.

”...Why?”

There was no point asking. But it slipped out anyway. Tender’s face filled with regret and despair.

”Come with me.”

Tender kept his face down, grabbed my tie, and pulled me into a nearby ransacked shop. We sat down on a fallen shelf on the floor.

”Do you know about this meeting today?”

”Yeah, the king’s negotiating with another country, right?”

”That’s right. When the king leaves the country, what would you guard against?”

”Guard against... assassination, maybe?”

”Exactly.”

Right then, a man was stabbed to death just outside the shop. There was no safe place left in this country anymore. Tender, watching the situation outside warily, gestured for us to hide behind the counter.

”...This time, we assigned this kingdom’s greatest fighting force as escorts.”

”Elizabeth and Rick?”

”Yes, and one more person. Elizabeth’s father, Luganis Beyonetta.”

”That’s, I think, the strongest knight in this whole country, right?”

”That’s right. Without question, the knight order’s greatest combined strength was all gathered together.”

Tender clenched his fist as he explained, then reached into his coat.

”I was stationed near the north gate as an emergency contact, holding onto this.”

What Tender pulled out was a small stone, small enough to fit entirely in his palm. It gave off a faint glow, almost like a jewel.

”I was waiting with this communication crystal, ready to arrange reinforcements.”

”...Wait, hold on. So the entire escort was just three people? If you could send reinforcements, why not just send a large force from the start?”

At my simple question, Tender shook his head.

”That would attract monsters, and delay arrival at the destination significantly.”

So that’s why it was a small, elite group. Right as I nodded, understanding, Tender’s voice shifted.

”...After waiting a while, I noticed static coming through the crystal.”

”What kind of noise?”

”...Something like the sound of water. Of course, I called out immediately to check if something was wrong. But...”

He stopped talking. When I turned to look at him, he was shaking all over, crying.

”Hey, what’s wrong!? Get a hold of yourself!”

”........I heard it.”

”Heard what?”

At that instant, Tender clutched his head, and let out a scream from somewhere deep in his throat, a sound that made you want to cover your ears.

”AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!! At that moment, I couldn’t do anything!!! Elizabeth’s voice! I heard it clearly!!!! She was crying, begging me to help her! Tender, please, help me!!! Elizabeth was screaming, crying! And yet!!!”

”Hey! Calm down!”

My voice didn’t reach him anymore.

”Why did I!! Why!? Why why why why why why why!? It’s my fault! All of it is my fault! I killed her! I abandoned her! I let her die!! I’m the one who killed Elizabeth!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!”

Tender let out a scream loud enough to nearly burst my eardrums and ran off into the city, sobbing. I’d finally found someone I knew, in the middle of all this. That joy and relief shattered instantly, in a single moment.

”He was always so cheerful, that guy...”

Tender had smiled through everything.

”It was always so fun with him...”

Only knew him for a few days, but he’d been someone I could genuinely laugh with, heart to heart. More than anything, those had been precious moments. And now, all of it, completely destroyed.

”........I want to go home.”

Words I’d been holding down deep inside spilled out of me.

”I want to go home... I want to go home...”

Once those feelings started spilling out, there was no easy way to stop them. People had died. Things had broken. Everything had burned to ash. In such a short span of time, I’d seen too much. And felt too much. Something inside me was starting to break.

”I want to go home! I want to go home! I want to go home! I want to go home! I want to go home! I want to go home! Enough already!! Send me back to my own world! I’ve had enough of this!”

Losing my mind, I didn’t even notice the footsteps approaching from behind.

”Someone help me!!! Just send me back already!!! I hate this world!! I hate it!! I hate it!!!”

”Then just die.”

Turning around, a filthy thug stood behind me, a dagger raised.

”Slim pickings. Only fifty grand? You kidding me?”

Saying that, the thug set the shop on fire and walked off. The dagger lodged in my side burned with unbearable heat.

”I don’t want this... I don’t want to die either. Don’t want to go back either... I don’t want any of this...”

The shop gradually became engulfed in flame. Hot. Everything was hot. The interior slowly consumed by fire. Maybe from blood loss, but even as the flames caught my clothes, I no longer felt the agonizing heat. If anything, I felt my body growing cold instead.

”...I don’t want this. ...Cold. ...I’m already...”

The flames wrapping around my entire body now felt frozen, like crystal. People, shops, the whole city, a silence beautiful enough to hurt. The sound of wind stopped. Color drained from the city. On this day, the Kingdom of Parrot ceased to function entirely.

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