Suddenly, his face brightened. “But then there was someone who rescued me from my life as a hero.”
“……”
“The fifth hero saved me.”
“The fifth…?”
“That’s right.”
His face lit up and his voice filled with joy when he spoke of this person. I could tell they were very important to him. And as I listened to him, I realized something. This was the first time I was having a conversation as Setsuna Sugimoto since coming to this world. Very few people ever came to my room, and not one of them ever tried to interact with me.
There were maids who took care of me, but they only spoke the absolute bare minimum.
Because in this world, I wasn’t a person. I was a thing.
I knew I had to listen to Kyle’s story, but I couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down my face. He saw me as a person, asked my name, and talked to me. He listened and responded to me. He gave me all the things that were so natural to receive when I was surrounded by my family—the things I had lost since coming to this world.
That was why I felt so happy for this time with Kyle. I realized I had been starving for human contact.
“Stop it. I won’t comfort a man who’s crying,” he said in a somewhat teasing tone, consoling me despite his claims to the contrary. The contrast between his harsh words and gentle touch made me laugh for the first time since I’d come to this world.
He was the first friend I’d made here. Even though we’d just met. I wondered if he would let me call him that, though?
After a while, I regained my composure, and Kyle told me about the 5th hero. The 5th hero had also come from Japan, and his name was Shigeto Hanai. “Meeting him changed my whole life,” Kyle said with a smile. From what he told me, I gathered he had been a very honest and steady individual.
“So this is the important part. You know that bracelet on your right arm? It’s made of something called bluesilver—a rare metal in this world that is harder than diamonds. Bluesilver isn’t necessary to make magical tools, but it’s what you use when you make something you don’t want broken. A magical tool is an item infused with special magic and powers. That bracelet is one of them, and it transmits your location and vital responses and will continue doing so until you die.”
“So that means they’ll know where I am and if I’m alive or dead no matter where I go, right?”
“That’s right. You can’t escape if you keep wearing that. If you try to take it off, it’ll inflict physical pain, right up until the moment kills you.” Kyle heaved a deep sigh. “In other words, the bracelet can only be removed after you die. And everyone summoned here has one of those put on them. It’s called the Hero’s Testament.”
He stared at my bracelet with irritation, then continued. “Even cutting off your hand won’t work. The bracelet will just appear on your other wrist. I had one of those put on me, too. I spent day after day in anxiety, defeating monsters and following the king’s orders. That was the only way I could survive.”
Since I had never experienced a life-and-death battle with a monster, I had no idea what to say to comfort him, so all I could do was look at his pained expression in silence.
“They let me eat and dress as I pleased, but…” He looked at me, sadness filling his eyes. “I’d gotten to a point where I just couldn’t bear living like that anymore. That’s when I met the fifth hero.”
“Did Hanai not have the Hero’s Testament?”
“He did, because he was a hero, too. But back then, they didn’t function as reliably as they do now. He had a tough fight with a monster and was on the verge of death. The bracelet mistakenly diagnosed him as dying, and by the time the old man realized what happened, the Hero’s Testament had vanished.”
“He was so injured it thought he was dead?”
“Yep. It’s a miracle he even survived.”
“No kidding.”
“He told me once the Hero’s Testament disappeared, he decided to start his life over. He never had any hesitations about killing monsters, but he had a rough time not being able to live the way he’d wanted.”
Kyle paused for a moment and closed his eyes as if swallowing something down. I had a feeling both he and Hanai had gone through a lot of the same things and suffered greatly. I quietly waited for him to continue.
He opened his eyes and chuckled lightly, telling me not to worry about it, then changed the subject.
“The old man’s in this kingdom’s history books, you know that?”
“He is?”
“That’s right. As a hero who fought bravely five thousand years ago.”
I was about to nod when I suddenly realized something. “But that’s impossible, isn’t it? If Hanai was a hero from five thousand years ago, how could he have met you? That’s ridiculous,” I said.
A mischievous smile spread across Kyle’s face. “Guess how old I am, Setsuna.”
“Hmm. You look about twenty-five, but after hearing your story about Hanai, I’m guessing I’m wrong?”
“So then take that into account and guess.”
“Hmm… I can’t use magic, but if Hanai could, maybe you’re about eighty?”
“Wrong. Was that a serious answer? I gave you a hint.”
“Yes it was. That you’re eighty years old.”
Kyle suddenly laughed, then told me his real age. “I’ve lived here for more than two thousand five hundred years.”
“……” I was stunned by the outrageous number. I thought he would tell me he was joking. I waited for him to, but he didn’t. My eyes widened when I realized he was telling the truth. He explained life spans in this world to me. The average life span in this kingdom was generally from two hundred to two hundred and fifty years old. Nobles or royals, who could use magic, generally lived to be about three hundred and fifty. Sorcerers lived even longer than that.
There were races that did not have magical abilities, and they had different life spans from humans. All that was to say, I realized that the life spans of the people here in this world were very long. I understood that, but if nobles lived to be three hundred and fifty, how had Kyle lived to be over two thousand five hundred years old? It just seemed impossible.