Rose brought me to a brick house that wasn’t too far from the castle.
By that time, the sky had already turned dark.
I entered the building at Rose’s request; it was pristine inside. Further into the house were hospital beds and things that I could have only imagined were medical supplies. I surveyed the room as I quietly marveled at how clean it was, and how much it resembled an infirmary.
“This is where you’ll live from now on,” Rose said.
“Huh?”
“Hey, guys! Say hi to the new kid! Come here!” Rose shouted.
At that moment, I heard footsteps run toward me from the back of the house. The first person who entered the room was a burly man. He stood up straight before Rose.
Um, what? This guy’s terrifying!
“Welcome home, Sister Rose!”
“Yo, Alec. Any messages while I was gone?”
“No messages as usual!”
“Oh, good.”
Men filled the room behind Alec. I grimaced as I looked at their faces.
Is this yet another world?
“I’m gonna be lookin’ after Usato from now on. So play nice with him, got it?”
“Yes, ma’am!” they shouted.
“Great!” she said.
Nothing about this is “great”!
Seeing as I was being uncharacteristically feisty, I looked at the five sinister-looking men who stood before me and genuinely worried about the future. At this point, I didn’t know if I would make it home alive. In fact, I feared that the house was a bandit’s hideout for a second and glanced at Rose out of fear.
“Hm? What’s up, Usato? Oh, right. Ya don’t know their names. Fellas, introductions.”
Yup, I’m pretty sure that this lady has no idea what I’m thinking. I genuinely doubt that she’s scared of these men. Oh, wait—she’s the team captain, so she’s just like them in a way. Now the scary-looking men are surrounding me. What are they doing? W-Wait, I’ll get down on all fours and apologize, just please let me live!
The tallest man of the bunch stepped forward. “The name’s Tong. I specialize in sterilization. At your service, new kid,” he said, his voice incredibly deep. He wore a twisted grin as sweat dripped down his face.
Sterilization? Yeah right! Only if it’s with a flamethrower, I bet!
After that, the other men introduced themselves one by one.
“I’m Mill. At your service, new kid.”
“I’m Alec. At your service, new kid.”
“I’m Gomul. At your service, new kid.”
“I’m Gurd. At your service, new kid.”
I started crying. “I-I’m s-sorry . . .”
Crying isn’t cool when you’re a second-year in high school, but in my defense I think just about anyone would cry in a situation like this. I was surrounded by scary-looking guys who’d cut off all escape routes and were coming at me with introductions from every direction. What was I—a sacrifice? Was I a sacrifice to them?!
Anybody who wouldn’t cry in this situation is nuts!
“Hey, knock it off! Quit scaring the new guy!” Rose shouted.
Tong let out a yelp of pain and was gone. Rose had kicked him across the room. Putting a hand to her head in frustration, she yelled at the other four men through clenched teeth.
Honestly, you scare me the most!
“As long as yer nice to him, I don’t care. Do I make myself clear?
“We were only tryna welcome him, Sister Rose!” said the stout man named Mill. I was downright in a state of shock.
This is what they call a warm welcome?!
Their warped view of hospitality sent shivers down my spine and I couldn’t hide it.
Rose punted Mill across the room too, then shifted her piercing gaze back to me.
“Oh, brother. Usato, these guys aren’t healers but they’re still my subordinates. Their main duty is to secure injured soldiers on the front lines. There are two others who can use healing magic, but unfortunately, they’re working somewhere else at the moment. That’s why I’m gonna teach you healing magic myself.”
“Huh?”
“That’s not a proper response.”
“Y-Yes, ma’am!”
“Good. We’ll start your training tomorrow. You can stay in . . . Tong’s room. It’s not being used, is it, Tong?”
Did my freedom just fly out the window?
“I’m the only one in my room.”
“Okay, good. Give him the lowdown. It’s late so get your asses to bed.”
“Yes, ma’am!” they shouted.
“Yes, ma’am . . .” I said.
“Follow me. I’ll show you to your room,” said Tong.
So, I did exactly that. The room was surprisingly . . . normal. It was clean, organized, and relatively minimalistic. I sat down on a bed, marveling at how different it was from my room back on Earth. I was surprised, to say the least. I figured there would at least be some chains and flamethrowers lying around.
“Hey, new kid,” Tong said suddenly.
I found myself shaking because I wasn’t expecting him to speak. “Yes, sir?” I answered, still trembling. He was incredibly tall, which made him rather intimidating.
“Don’t call me sir. No need to be formal ’round me.”
“Okay.”
Mustering the confidence to answer him was mentally draining.
Just then, Tong threw me some plain-looking clothes.
“Use these clothes when yer training. Ya got three outfits right there, so switch out the pants and shirts when you can. The bathroom’s just down the hallway. Any other questions and you’ll have to ask sister.”
“Th-Thanks.”
I’d been wearing my stuffy school uniform this whole time, so I was happy to have some regular clothes. I changed into my new clothes and put the old ones away where Tong had told me to put them.
Tong was already lying in bed, facing away from me.
What the hell. He’s not a brute. He’s just shy, isn’t he? Damn tsundere.
“Training kills so you’ll wanna sleep early. ’Specially yer healing training. Tomorrow’s gonna be hell.”
“H-Hell?”
“You can heal yer own wounds with that magic . . . if you catch my drift.”
Oh. Does that mean I’ll have to keep training even if I get injured?
I felt all the blood drain from my face. Because I could heal my own wounds, I doubted that Rose would let me rest. Even so, she was the head honcho. Before learning healing magic from her, I wanted to practice a little. I wasn’t there on my own volition, but if she was going to teach me healing magic anyway, being her apprentice didn’t sound like a bad idea.
“Can you teach me what ‘healing magic’ is all about?”
This was my chance. I was in another world where I could learn a technique that would give me extraordinary power. I didn’t know what the future would bring, but at the very least I wanted to enjoy the fantastical life I’d always dreamed of. Plus, if I completed this training, I could support Kazuki and Inukami.
“What? Tch. For Pete’s sake, listen up,” Tong barked. “Here’s the lowdown. If I’m being nice, I’d say healers are mages who are good at healing. But if I’m being blunt, I’d say they’re mages who don’t got no skills.”
“No . . . skills?”
“Yeah. They’re walking targets on the battlefield since offensive magic ain’t their thing. They were treated like trash in this country until a few years ago, but even now other countries still treat ’em like they’re useless.”
It made sense. I could see how healers would be targeted on the battlefield and treated like trash. Even I killed healers first in all my games.
“Hell, I used to think healers were small fries . . . until everything changed,” he went on.
“What changed?”
“I said too much. Goodnight.”
“Hey, no fair! Don’t leave me hanging!”
“Shut yer trap and go to sleep, dumbass!” yelled Tong. He slumped back into bed.
You don’t have to yell at me like that, you know.
Feeling shaken, I cried a little in bed as I prepared myself for my first day of training.