“Haaah... Haaah...”
On that day, Kudou Riku ran aimlessly through the burning Colony with no idea of what was going on. People were screaming all over and the hot wind from explosions blew against his face. The Colony everyone had built together was falling apart. Violence gave birth to panic, and panic gave birth to more violence. This horrible cycle put everything to waste.
All Kudou Riku could do was run away desperately. Before he knew it, he found himself deep inside the forest. He’d gotten away alive simply because of good luck. That said, he’d kept that luck firmly in his grasp.
The tragic events of the Colony’s fall should’ve been enough to break his spirit. If he’d given up on running away for even an instant, he would definitely be dead. The fact that he’d made it out was because he’d remembered something.
“But are you fine with that?
“Are you fine with being weak?”
He’d clenched his teeth when she’d first asked him this. Walking through the Woodlands without any powers was a terrifying experience. He couldn’t get anywhere without walking, but walking meant potentially encountering monsters. It was like having a pistol with one bullet in it continuously pointed at his head with his finger on the trigger.
This forest was dark even at noon. Everything in sight looked like it could be hiding a monster. If he encountered one, it would be over. With every step he took, his brain conjured flickers of his own corpse lying on the ground. Those who could withstand such fear were those with significant willpower or the optimistic type who lacked imagination. Kudou Riku was neither.
He didn’t know why he was trying so hard. The image of that girl in his mind was the only certain thing to him. Maybe he could get a step closer to what he looked up to. Or perhaps he was spurred by feelings he himself wasn’t aware of. He didn’t know the answer. He didn’t have the time to scrutinize his emotions. He simply walked on desperately.
Just a little more. Just a little farther. He could still keep going. The sun set and the next morning came. The boy was alive. He wasn’t particularly injured either and had gotten quite far away. He hadn’t encountered any monsters.
However, he hadn’t reached any human settlements either. At this rate, he would die in the not-too-distant future. He could feel it. He was so terrified, but there was nothing he could do. Still, he felt satisfied in a way too.
He’d always been oppressed. He’d never had worth. But he’d made it this far without giving up. Even if it was meaningless, he’d changed thanks to that girl’s words. The boy felt like he had the slightest amount of worth now.
Even if he ran out of strength, he could die satisfied. Or maybe he would be able to reach a human settlement before then, leading to a story filled with hope. But that wasn’t to be. His luck was far too poor. The world was far too cruel.
“To think we’d meet out here.”
“Ah... Aaah...”
What he encountered was neither a monster nor a local. It was the group who’d oppressed him.
✦ ✦ ✦
The boy had somehow walked this far, but was now dragged to the ground. There was no way he could resist. What came next was the same as always. No, it was far worse. After experiencing the Colony’s fall, they’d been released from the shackles of those who’d surrounded them. This especially applied to the one warrior from the exploration team.
He oppressed the weak by nature, but hadn’t gone so far off the beaten path that he would try to murder anyone. However, his clothes were now filthy with the blood of others. His eyes had lost all sense of reason and a deep, crimson hunger for violence swirled within them. No matter how much power he possessed, he was so weak.
People like this wasted the efforts of others. The faint hope that had sprouted in the boy’s heart was trampled into pitiful pieces. Heels dug into him. Spit rained down on him. He thought he’d changed, but it was no good. From this point onward, he would surely never harbor hope again.
He was thrown to the ground like a worn rag. Having only been used to drag out their sadistic joy, he’d avoided a fatal wound. That said, if this violence continued for a few more minutes, it was clear he would die. His consciousness was fading. He was emotionally dead already.
That was why he wasn’t sure what happened next. He heard a dog crying. He felt like he heard howling too. Blood splattered, shrieks echoed in the air, and violence ran rampant. He only realized what had happened after it was all over.
The five people who’d hurt him had been torn apart by a beast and were all dead. The one who’d done it was lying on the ground at death’s door. The one he’d looked up to so much was covered in blood and mud, her entrails spilling out.
“A-Aaaaaah...”
It couldn’t have happened. This was one thing that couldn’t be allowed. It just couldn’t. His admiration had crashed to the earth. His hopes were crushed. Everything that he found value in had been trampled into the ground. The boy’s hopeless shriek shook the forest.
✦ ✦ ✦
“After that, my king inspected her corpse.”
Berta told the story while keeping her voice low enough that the rushing exploration team members around them couldn’t hear her.
“She’d suffered her injuries a fair bit earlier. She’d probably taken them during the Colony’s fall and had escaped from the culprit while bearing serious wounds. There was just one thing to identify the culprit. Several of her personal effects had been bisected with strangely smooth cross sections. The same applied to her wound.”
“That means, Kudou...”
“Yes.” Berta nodded. “Even now, I believe my king is out for revenge.”