I looked out at the people gathering in the village square. A hulking woman wielding an impressive-looking axe was speaking with Gowro. She was slightly shorter than the village chief, standing around 250 centimeters tall. She wore her reddish-brown hair short, and had two round ears on top of her head. Red-dyed leather armor covered her skin, suntanned the color of golden wheat. I guessed that she was also one of the bear people.
Gowro bowed his head in my direction and walked over, gesturing for the woman to come with him.
“Thank you for your assistance today, Arc,” Gowro said. “This is my daughter, Rowze. She will be Pittah’s second-in-command in the advance party.”
She bowed her head and offered her hand. “Name’s Rowze, just like Dad said. I’ll make sure that old fart Pittah doesn’t stab himself with his own weapon. I guess you’ll be looking after us for a while, eh, Arc? Thanks.”
“Pleased to meet you, Rowze.”
She had an impressive grip. After we shook, she flashed me a warm, toothy grin.
I had to tilt my head back to look up at her, since she had a full fifty centimeters on me.
I’d thought I was a pretty impressive sight myself, but quite a few people in this village alone struck far more intimidating figures. The bear people were an extreme example—a species any human would be wise to fear.
Hanzo called to me from behind. “I entrust the safety of my people to you, Arc.”
I turned to see the elder wearing a warm, grandfatherly grin. Pittah, the rabbit-eared man I met the previous evening, stood next to him, smiling as well. He wore leather armor with a dark, almost menacing sheen, and two scimitars strapped to his back.
“Kyiiiii…”
I felt Ponta recoil atop my helmet, clearly put off by the sight of Pittah. I reached up and scratched its chin to comfort it. There was just something about Pittah that Ponta really didn’t care for.
Pittah again looked crushed.
The advance party consisted of ten people, including Ariane, Chiyome, and myself. Pittah was in charge, with Rowze as his second. The party also included Goemon, one of the Jinshin clan’s top fighters. The other four members were village soldiers.
The party might have seemed small for such a journey. However, speed was of the essence. There was also a limit on the number of people I could teleport at once. I decided to think of us as something like a special operations team.
“First, we’ll teleport to the base of the mountain, where the shrine is,” I said. “Please circle around me, everyone.”
The members of the advance party hefted their gear and moved toward me. I was now surrounded by large, muscular fighters who looked at least as strong as—if not stronger than—me. After I made sure that the villagers who came to see us off had stepped away, I looked to Hanzo.
“I will wait here for your fortuitous report,” the elder said.
I nodded, then summoned my long-distance teleportation spell.
“Transport Gate!”
Bluish-white light spread underneath our feet, forming a rune on the ground. The world went black, and a moment later, everyone found themselves in completely new surroundings. The mountain people, aside from Chiyome, gasped in surprise as their village disappeared before their very eyes.
I’d teleported us to the torii at the mountain’s base. Looking up, I saw the Lord Crown’s massive outline poking out near the peak.
“Hmm. Well, it certainly smells different here than in the forests near Calcut.” One of Pittah’s long ears—the intact one—stood at attention as he listened intently, nose twitching as he sniffed the air.
Rowze hefted her massive battle axe, muttering to herself as she looked around. “It’s one thing to hear it described to you, but it’s something else to actually teleport like that.”
One of the village soldiers—a young man with pointy ears—stood next to her, looking around in alarm. Rowze smacked him lightly on the back of the head.
He cried out in surprise. “Oww! Whaddya doin’, lady?”
“Don’t call me ‘lady,’ Gin. And quit being so jumpy. Act like a real soldier in an advance party. That cottontail fox over there is calmer than you.”
“Kyii?”
Rowze gave a hearty laugh as, atop my helmet, Ponta scratched its ear with one hind leg.
Standing around 190 centimeters tall, the soldier Rowze called Gin was hardly dainty or childish. Still, the taller, bulkier Rowze seemed to enjoy teasing him in a sisterly fashion.
Judging by Gin’s tail and ears, I figured he came from a dog or wolf species. His ears and tail drooped at Rowze’s rebuke, as though he were a scolded pet.
“Don’t let your guard down. This is unexplored territory. Check your gear one last time, everyone.” Pittah glared in Rowze and Gin’s direction as he gave his orders.
Silently, Chiyome came down from a tree she’d climbed when I wasn’t looking. She made her way toward us.
“Ah, Chiyome. Did you get your bearings?” Pittah asked.
Chiyome pointed into the forest. “It’s directly east of our location. Maybe a three-day trip.”
Pittah nodded. “From here on out, everything we do is for the fate of the village. I want you to give it your all!”
“Hoorah!” Rowze, Gin, and the other party members raised their weapons and gave a hearty cheer.
Pittah took a spot at the head of the party and headed in the direction Chiyome indicated, leading the way into the dense forest.
Ariane and I followed, with Chiyome and Goemon bringing up the rear. I felt as though we were survivalists testing our mettle against the land. Unlike human survivalists, however, this group consisted of species who lived in forests and mountains, and could maintain a nearly unthinkable pace.
In fact, I was probably the party’s slowest member.
We moved at about the same speed I could manage when teleporting along a road. Even more impressively, the mountain people could smell monsters’ presence. Therefore, they could adjust the route and avoid the creatures entirely, leading to a relatively conflict-free first day.
As night fell, we set up camp in the middle of a small clearing surrounded by massive trees. The party members put down their bags and began performing their assigned roles: preparing dinner, standing guard, and setting up tents.
Ariane and I were treated like guests, and weren’t given anything to do. Even when I tried to help, Pittah told me it was unnecessary. I drew the Holy Thunder Sword of Caladbolg and started chopping down wild grass to make the camp a little tidier.
A short time later, someone called to me. “Dinner’s ready, Arc! Just what are you doing over there?”
I turned to find an exasperated Ariane with her hands on her hips. “I, umm, I wanted to clean up the area. I guess I got lost in thought.”
Looking around at the well-manicured clearing, I felt pride well up within me.
“We’re only going to be here for the night, you know. We don’t need it to be pretty.”
Of course I knew that. “Well, I didn’t have anything else to do. Besides, what’s so bad about sprucing up our camp?”
“I get it, but…really, Arc, the way you use your sword is all wrong.”
Ariane’s complaints continued as we returned to the group and sat for dinner, which was a stew of simple preserved food. Everyone, except those standing watch, slurped it down eagerly.
No sooner had I pulled off my helmet than I felt the advance party’s eyes on me. Although they had been told about my condition, it was entirely different to see it with their own eyes. They stared intently at the skull looking back at them.
If I’d been able to blush, I would have. But alas, my skull remained expressionless.
“Get back to eating, rubberneckers. We ain’t got time for that.” Pittah seemed to pick up on my discomfort. The party members went back to eating.
Like the elves, the mountain people had excellent vision, and their other senses were far more acute than humans’. I was touched by the fact that, in spite of all that, they still accepted me, a skeleton, as a member of their party.
I thanked Pittah, and began eating my own stew.
As I chewed the soft meat, I considered what I wanted to do once I helped the mountain people migrate. I could now lift my skeleton curse temporarily, but I had a dark elf’s body. Perhaps it would be better to try to live among elves than humans.
A human soul in the body of an elf… I wondered if this was how bats felt, stuck somewhere between birds and mammals. Except, in my case, the whole notion of a soul also complicated things. Was my soul human? Or, now that my physical body had changed so completely, was my human identity nothing more than a collection of memories from my past life?
This was all getting rather philosophical.
Ariane nudged me with her elbow, a perplexed look on her face. “Hey, what’re you thinking about?”
“Huh?” I realized I’d stopped eating. “Ah… Umm… Nothing important, really. I was just wondering what I want to do with my life after this.”
Under Ariane’s scrutinizing gaze, I lifted my bowl to my mouth.
Ignoring the problem of confirming my species, I decided that finding—and defining—a clear place of my own was a good idea.
I thought of Ariane’s parents, Dillan and Glenys, and figured it would probably be a good idea to get their thoughts too. I took a sip of broth.
“At the very least,” I said, “I’d like to avoid living like a bat. It’s no fun spending your time in a cave and only moving under the cover of darkness.”
I’d meant the comment for myself, but Ariane’s ears perked up as she combed Ponta’s fur. She turned a quizzical gaze in my direction.
I replied with a simple shake of my head, and turned my attention to the star-strewn sky. It looked like a glimmering ocean that could swallow me at any moment. I didn’t know much about constellations, but the fact that I couldn’t spot any of the ones I was familiar with left me with an odd, cold sensation.
Even so, I was happy in that moment. Happy to be living in this strange world, eating a warm meal, bantering with friends. I wasn’t sure whether that positive outlook came from the fact that I was a skeleton incapable of feeling negative emotions to any strong degree, or if it was because I wasn’t facing any real issues, like the ones I had back in my own world.
I watched a light streak across the sky, blinking out an instant later.
I wished that tomorrow would be just as good as today.