Every once in a blue moon, I have this one dream. It’s always in some classroom in Japan at a school I’ve never been to. Everyone is in different uniforms. There are students in jackets, blazers, sailor uniforms… Even though their clothing clashes, nothing seems out of place for some reason. When I enter the classroom, they all stop talking and look at me. It’s warm inside—no trace of clamor or conflict. Nobody is armed with weapons. Other than dipping into their studies, everyone is free to spend their time however they choose. When I greet them, they welcome me with friendly smiles, chatting about nothing in particular. I’m friends with everyone in the class, but one of them is my best friend. We’re very close. There are no secrets between us. Seeing my friend laugh or smile is all it takes for me to feel happy. And if I’m happy, then my friend is, too. It’s because I know about my friend’s tragic past and my friend understands my deepest regrets that we can share this bond. I talk with my best friend about nothing in particular as we wait for class to start. It’s a ridiculous dream, of course, and I could never tell anyone about it. But it’s a dream I have once in a while. He ended up having to spend the night under a bridge in town upon being summoned to another world. “Why do I have to put up with this?!” Mitsuki couldn’t contain it any longer, screeching at the morning sun and a chorus of little birds. He’d been summoned into this world the day before, whisked away from home right when he decided to try out his middle school uniform for nostalgia’s sake. And when he was led to some audience, the guy who seemed to be the king had shooed him away, claiming, “Yeah… We have no need for you.” Two sentences was more than enough to sum up this absurd series of events. It had all happened so fast. With nowhere else to go, he ended up spending the night weeping softly under a bridge. “I can’t believe that king… He could have at least spared me some change. Ngh… I’m starving…” Mitsuki sniveled next to the gently babbling stream. “I guess life ain’t easy in fantasy worlds, either…” Reality was sinking deep into his bones after a night of homelessness. Back in the real world, he’d been living as a shut-in, moping about his dumb luck after missing all his high school entrance exams because of a serious fever, which forced him to take an involuntary gap year. He was obviously lacking the initiative and imagination to solve his present predicament on his own. Mitsuki’s stomach growled, but he didn’t have any way of feeding himself. …Am I going to starve to death in the middle of town? His hunger fueled thoughts of the worst-case scenario, sending shivers down his spine. “I refuse. If this is how it’s gonna be, I’ll just have to steal…!” As desperation clouded his thoughts, Mitsuki rooted around his head for a new way to live. “Petty theft, huh…? If I get caught, the police will contact my parents… Wait, I’m an idiot. I wish they could pick me up.” “—ey, you. over there.” “This is a totally different world. If the laws and practices aren’t the same as in Japan, it might be dangerous to commit a crime…” “—talking to you. Hey! Helloooo?” “But do I have any other option…? Dammit! I hate it here! Why do bad things have to happen to—?” “Excuse me! Can you hear me?!” “Oh, uh, yeah! Nothing to see here, officer!!” Mitsuki sputtered out of nerves, practically jumping out of his skin. He turned around, finding himself face-to-face with a stunning young woman. He was certainly awake now. “What? What’s there to see?” She fixed her gaze on Mitsuki, suspiciously eyeing him for overreacting. There was something mature about her, but she had to be around Mitsuki’s age, if not a little older. Her light-chestnut hair was the color of milk with a drop of coffee; it was swept up in a ponytail with a big black ribbon. “I don’t know what you’ve been plotting, but I’ll let you off if you don’t act on it. Our Lord is generous. Obviously, it follows that I act with an open hand as a priestess!” As she’d just said, she was certainly in clerical garb, hauling a hefty book of scriptures in her left hand. Overall, her indigo robes gave off an imposing vibe, but for some reason, the slit on her skirt crept all the way up her right thigh. “So am I correct in assuming you’re the pesky lazybones who’s been sleeping under this bridge?” “Lazybones? Ouch… But yeah, I guess so…” “Thought so. We’ve received reports from the good citizens of the Commons, the third rank in the social hierarchy. They begged us to do something about the sketchy individual who won’t stop weeping under the bridge, not even drunk or anything.” Mitsuki couldn’t stop himself from looking up to the heavens. Just when he’d thought a gorgeous girl had finally approached him in this fantasy world… “This alternate universe sucks… What the hell? What did I do to deserve this?” “What’s wrong? You’ve already cried through the night. Why do you look like you’re about to burst into tears again? Someone has a lot of salt and water to spare. Did something awful happen to you?” “Yeah. I’m broke.” Mitsuki didn’t see a point in trying to hide it. There were many other reasons for his distress, of course, but his monetary troubles were the first to pop into his mind. “Uh-huh. Homeless and penniless. I bet you got swindled out of your life savings as soon as you reached the city because your head was in the clouds. Why don’t you run back home to mommy? Or sleep on a friend’s couch?” “I’d love to go home—if I had one. Plus, I don’t know anyone.” “I see. No friends, either, huh?” She nodded to herself, jumping to conclusions. Her facial features were deceptively mature for all the animated expressions she pulled. Either intentionally or accidentally, her remarks always seemed to cut right to the core. “Homeless and penniless and with nowhere to go… I know! Why don’t you come stay with me?” “What? Why?” His knee-jerk reaction was to remain guarded. “Can’t you tell from my clothes?” She pointedly whisked the hem of her priestess robes. The bold slit in her skirt exposed her right leg and her laced boots. Mitsuki also caught a glimpse of a leather garter wrapped around her thigh, which was a near-fatal experience for the young boy. “I am a priestess of the Faust, the First Estate. My name is Menou. Shouldn’t those of the cloth offer a helping hand to people in need?” The girl named Menou proudly tossed back her ponytail. However, this had little meaning to Mitsuki, who knew nothing about this world. “…Is that how it works?” “Uh-huh. Do you have any forms of identification? Though we’re allies of the Commons, we can’t be seen lending a hand to criminals. We won’t be able to take you in if you can’t prove who you are and where you’re from.” “Um… I’m from another world?” Mitsuki was so exhausted, he couldn’t even muster the energy to hide it anymore. He knew she’d doubt his sanity. Her eyes widened in surprise. “Oh. So you’re a lost one.” “A what?” Mitsuki was half-relieved and half-shocked that she accepted his statement so readily. “A general term for people who stumble into this world. From some land called ‘Japan’ on ‘Earth’ or something… Hmm… Now that you mention it, you’re dressed funny.” She scrutinized his jacket uniform, nodding to herself. “No wonder you have nowhere to go. But worry no more. Taking care of lost lambs is part of our duty, too!” “For real?! Money, please!” “Excuse you? Keep dreaming, lazybones.” She grinned at him, though Mitsuki could tell from her voice that she wouldn’t budge an inch. Mitsuki ducked his head, bowing. “I’m sorry! I took it too far.” “As long as you’ve learned your lesson. Let’s get you to church. Fear not! We have plenty of connections. You’ll be able to work by tomorrow! There won’t be anything like terrible manual labor!” “What? …They don’t take people in for free?” “‘He who does not work, neither shall he eat.’ Ever heard of it? It’s a nugget of wisdom from an ancient proverb.” “Ugh…” Mitsuki trudged after her, looking absolutely defeated. His guard had been lowered. Though they’d just met, he felt like he could talk to her. “Hmm… I wonder what you’d be suited for. I recommend construction. It’s a wonderful workplace that’s always in high demand.” “I dunno. Seems like a bad place to start a job hunt… Isn’t anyone hiring adventurers or something?” “Hmm? I guess every generation comes with foolhardy folks itching to venture into the Wild Frontier. I can’t say I recommend it. There’s a reason we gave up on settling there, you know. You die if you can’t fend for yourself. If anything, I’d say that’s a terrible place to start.” It seemed adventurers were a thing here. Fitting for a fantasy world. Mitsuki was impressed as Menou continued her explanation. “You can certainly make a fortune if it goes well, but most adventurers are criminals with no place in society. It’s much safer in the city, so you should just keep your head down and work in construction. Ah, and since we’ll be finding you a job, you’ll need to donate twenty percent of your earnings. Phew! We might just make it through another month!” “…Is this a church or a staffing agency? You take a huge cut of the profits.” “Oh, hush. Unlike the Noblesse, we don’t ask the common people to fork over taxes. We barely scrape by with donations and contributions. Especially the smaller places!” Mitsuki wasn’t happy about the terms she offered, but he understood all too well the plight of not having enough money. “Got it… Guess it’s tough all around.” “As long as you understand… It’s hard enough just to get by.” It seemed Menou had her own share of struggles. Mitsuki had a flash of inspiration. “Wait. Can’t I capitalize on my otherworldly intelligence?! Like teaching people this crazy new thing called mayonnaise!” “I think that might be difficult. Mayonnaise is delicious.” Menou offered him a pitying smile as she dashed his hopes. “Lost lambs have been coming to this world for a long time. I think we’ve learned just about all there is to know. Unless you have something more specialized to offer?” “No dice…” At the end of the day, Mitsuki was basically a shut-in, held back from starting high school, but otherwise an ordinary boy. He couldn’t bear the idea of getting stranded here, after he’d felt so pathetic under that bridge last night. He started to beg. “I’m so sorry for being useless! Please don’t leave me here…!” “Don’t worry about it.” Menou stopped in her tracks, pivoting on her heel to smile at him. “Priestesses are pure, proper…and powerful! We’d never abandon a person in need.” Her response was more reassuring than he’d hoped. As she puffed up her chest, her smile was more honest and blinding than anything he’d ever seen. His heart suddenly skipped a beat. Mitsuki scratched his cheek to cover his embarrassment. “C-cool. Come to think of it, why was I summoned here in the first place?” “Don’t ask me. I haven’t the slightest idea what the Noblesse are thinking.” “Is there a demon lord or something? As far as I know, that’s a staple for these kinds of stories.” “Well, the Wild Frontier is vast, but I’ve never heard of such a thing. With the current world order, there are no major wars. Thanks and praise be to our great and generous Lord.” I don’t know the details of this so-called “world order,” but I guess there aren’t any big battles breaking out right now. “Could the king be plotting something? Maybe weaponizing people from other worlds for an expansionist war?” “I think you’re overthinking things… Well, I’ll make a note to mention it to my superiors later. I’ll leave matters about the boss men of the Noblesse to the boss men of the Faust. I’ve got my own honorable mission: helping the dregs of society like you.” “Gotcha. I guess that means you’re at the bottom of the Faust, if you’re in charge of the likes of me.” “Can it. I could leave you right here, right now, lazybones.” “O Great Lady Menou! I know you’re benevolent at heart. Please have mercy on my soul!” “Much better. I see you’ve learned your place.” Menou nodded in satisfaction once Mitsuki did a one-eighty. “I’ve just remembered something. If you’re a lost one, you should have a special skill. Let’s try to think of a job for you that makes use of it. To be honest, even though I recommended construction…” She appraised his physique, furrowing her brow. “You’re so scrawny and pale… It wouldn’t reflect well on me if you end up passing out on the job.” “Shut up!” I might not be very confident about doing physical labor, but you don’t have to spell it out. A young man, even one like Mitsuki, could be very sensitive when girls called him weak. “There, there. You’re a strapping young lad. So do you know which skill you have?” “A skill, huh…?” They’d mentioned special abilities at the castle where Mitsuki was summoned, but remembering the events left him in a bad place. “I don’t have any. They said…I have the power of Null.” “What?” Menou froze. “No… That can’t be right.” She was immobile for only an instant, but there was something different in her voice when she began moving again. It seemed Mitsuki hadn’t lived up to her expectations, but he couldn’t hide the truth. “That’s what they told me.” “Okay… But did they have proof?” “Yeah, they looked into it with a crystal ball. And apparently it came up as null.” “A crystal ball that gauges skills…? If it can display…the pure… Are they hiding an ancient…?” Menou looked down, muttering something to herself. “What?” “Hmm? Nothing. Strange that they’d give you the boot when they were the ones that summoned you. Are you sure you didn’t do anything to offend them?” “They chased me out before I could say anything. Maybe they only needed the girl they summoned with me?” Menou’s eyes glittered. “Another person, huh?” “Yeah. Supercute, with huge boobs. I only caught a glimpse of her, though.” “And what’s her skill?” “Beats me.” Mitsuki had been kicked out in a matter of seconds. It happened so quickly that he suspected they were trying to hide the girl from him, so he didn’t know anything about her. “But I’d be willing to bet it’s something crazy powerful.” “Oh? And why is that?” “That’s just how these things go.” Mitsuki sounded jealous of the girl who got to stay. To kill time during his year off, he’d devoured web novels that often featured this kind of plot, so he was convinced this was the case. “Yeah? But I still think you have some special skill, too.” “…Cut it out. I already told you I don’t.” He couldn’t stop himself from snapping at Menou for offering words of consolation. He had just been betrayed by his summoners. It was hard for him to even consider trying to meet her expectations. As Mitsuki sulked, Menou stared into the distance. “In fact, you simply must. Otherwise, this month’s church activities might…,” she mumbled in a way that sounded ominous. Menou came to a stop. They’d reached their destination. “Here we are. I manage this church.” “Hmm? H-huh… Really?” “Really.” Plastering a fake smile on her face, Menou placed her hand on the front gate, which opened with a rusty squeal. Nothing good could have come out of this church. The gate was dilapidated, the garden overrun with a jungle of weeds, and he even noticed a hinge missing from the door when they stepped inside. “Uh… Do people really live here…? Because you could’ve fooled me… I mean, it looks like someone tried to tidy up an ancient ruin.” “Well, you know what they say. Beggars can’t be choosers.” “Man, everything about this world seems to get worse by the minute.” As Mitsuki had already suspected it through their earlier conversations, he wasn’t shocked when Menou seemed to be just as broke. The inside of the church was in such terrible shape, it made her cheerful attitude almost depressing. “Come on. There are plenty of rooms. You’re welcome to stay for a while.” “Is it safe…? I don’t want to wake up in the morning buried alive under rubble.” “Oh, it’s perfectly safe.” Mitsuki nervously eyed the cracks in the walls, presumably from years of wear. Menou was sporting a suspiciously bright smile. “As long as its residents have faith, the holy church will never collapse. I mean, look at chapter two, verse five: ‘Rejoice, for the wall that surrounds a pious flock of sheep shall never crumble.’ See? There’s no way it’ll break down!” “Um, that sounds like perfect foreshadowing. This spells bad news. You should request some construction workers to come here before you hire them out yourself. I think I was safer spending the night under the bridge.” “I already told you I have no money!” Menou threw a mini-tantrum. The sorry state of the church seemed to be a sore subject for her. She pointed at him and started raging. “Listen to you, crying all ‘woe is me’ after skipping meals for a day! Well, that’s nothing! Try living off a few grains of salt for a week! Then you’ll really know the true meaning of hunger! Fix up the church? If I had the money, I’d prioritize feeding the people who have to live on nothing but salt!” Judging by the tears in her eyes, she was obviously referring to herself. “Okay! Okay! I’m sorry! I was wrong. Let’s calm down! Okay?” Menou sniffled. “If you’re sorry, then test out your abilities… Don’t worry. A lost soul should be able to intuitively use Guiding Force.” “Okay…but I can’t…and what is that, anyway?” “Shut up and try!” She was still in tantrum mode. “If you’re a lost one, all it takes is focus! Use your superstrong powers to do stuff to that statue over there or something. It’s doomed to go to the pawnshop anyway!” “Wait. What? Pawnshop? Aren’t you a holy woman?” That seemed totally inappropriate for a priestess, but Mitsuki could understand how being broke did all kinds of things to the brain. He didn’t want to press the subject for fear of making her feel worse. Mitsuki hadn’t even heard of Guiding Force before, but he did as he was told and focused. To his surprise, he found some power inside him that came to him so naturally, he didn’t know why he hadn’t noticed it before. Guiding Force: Connect— Confused by the mysterious sensation, Mitsuki tried to draw it out from within him. Huh. It’s actually intuitive. He focused on the statue, and a faint phosphorescence radiated from his body and enveloped the figure. Suddenly, irresistible desire bubbled up from his soul. S?T?i? K???Pure Concept [Null]— The power that surged out of his body followed a bizarre course. It emerged from Mitsuki’s consciousness, connecting to the world’s energy at the edge of all thought and idea. Finally, a piece of the world fell into place within him. Invoke [Elimination] For just an instant, he felt an indescribable discomfort and disgust. Then he gasped, returning to his senses. The statue was gone. “It’s…not there anymore. What’s going on? W-wait! You’re not going to use that power on me, right?! Um! We come in peace!” Menou exclaimed, sounding completely alien. “Of course not!” Suppressing a laugh, Mitsuki checked his own ability more closely. He understood instinctively that the object that disappeared had been literally made into nothing. “Man, that’s crazy. I bet I could do serious damage as an adventurer or something, huh?” Menou mentioned that profession was dangerous but rewarding work. Mitsuki had more potential to contribute to this run-down church as an adventurer than as a construction worker. “True. An ability like yours certainly could be quite destructive.” “Right?” Menou slipped behind him. Maybe she was still afraid of his newfound skill. For the first time since he’d arrived, Mitsuki was starting to feel hopeful. With this, he could surely teach the king a lesson. In fact, if they met again, Mitsuki could use it to ‘eliminate’ him entirely. “And Guiding Force can temporarily make your whole body stronger. If you learn how to control it, you’ll be able to do even more.” “Ooh, cool!” He was hyped. Standing behind him, Menou used the energy to enhance her own strength—a technique known as Guiding Enhancement where the user drew power out of their soul and willed it to fill their flesh. With her body bathed in the phosphorescent glow—Guiding Light—which signaled the activation of Guiding Enhancement, Menou slipped her hand into the slit of her skirt. The leather belt around her right thigh concealed a single dagger. “An adventurer, huh?! This is finally starting to feel like a proper fantasy. I’ll Nullify anything that gets in my way!” “Heh. I’m sure.” Menou smiled and nodded as Mitsuki, trembling with excitement, pumped his fists. His future was starting to look bright. I just have to Nullify anything that tries to stop me—or gets in my way or doesn’t go right. That was the ability he had acquired from S?T?i? K???Pure Concept. “Ha-ha. Yeah, that’s right. I can make anything into nothing. Now I’m getting pumped!” “Well, that’s all thanks to my advice. You ought to be grateful.” “Yeah, that’s true!” When all was said and done, he owed it all to Menou. If she hadn’t told him about it, he might have died in a ditch somewhere before he noticed this ability. Menou was an ally. There was no need to use his powers against her. With gratitude and hope for the future, Mitsuki turned to face her with a smile. “Okay, Menou. Introduce me to your connections so I can be an adv—”
Chapter 1
19 min read