- Note: this is the LN version, not the WN version
- We thank to our editor, (Send in the Killer Clowns), for what she has done in the prologue part 1 and part 2, her work is really good.
Prologue:
The Beginning of the End
Part 1
With tears and snot covering her face, the
little elf child shouted.
“Don’t die!”
With both of her small hands, similar in size
to Japanese maple leaves1, she repeatedly
pressed against the chest of the fallen young man.
The condition of the young man was extremely severe.
With some internal organs protruding from the gaping laceration in his abdomen,
blood flowed endlessly.
At last, the little elf’s effort paid off; the
pressure that she gave had successfully helped the youth regain his consciousness.
However, with his current condition, not much life remained.
Despite which, the little elf was determined to
preserve the youth’s life even for a little bit by stopping the bleeding with
her hands.
“Please, don’t die…Reid-sama!” said the little
elf.
While still lying down, the youth then tried to
wipe the tears from the little elf’s face with his left hand; but it was
hopeless, his left arm was broken during the fight. So he wiped the tears away
with his able right hand. The tears on her face were instead clumsily replaced
with smears of blood. This blood was not just from the youth alone, but also from
the enemy.
To the side of the youth, remained the corpse
of the demon2 he had just singlehandedly defeated. On his other side, were the children
who had barely escaped from the sacrificial ritual. Most of them were catatonic,
unable to stand. Among them, only the little elf girl had acted and ran towards
the young man to give him first aid.
And, if the sacrificial ritual hadn’t been
stopped, all of those children would’ve eventually died. Not far away from the
direction of the saved children, there were several breathless children that
were too late to be saved from the sacrificial ritual. Near the deceased
children there was a lifeless priest; the Father of the church. Surprisingly
contrary to his profession, the main cause of the incident occurred because of that
priest. Yes, the instigator of the sacrificial ritual was the priest himself.
“Please…don’t…cry… I’m…still…fine,” said the
youth, even though he wasn’t fine at all.
In fact, the youth also knew his own condition; even he was already
prepared to face his own death. That’s why there was no reason to say “I’m
still fine”. However, he still said it.
His comrade who was always by his side was no
longer within sight. His companion was both a girl and a Sage who held the
position of Strategist within the heroes’ party. Her strategies were always
effective.
Even though she was a Sage, she wasn’t
particularly good at magic.
Nevertheless, she was still better at it
compared to ordinary people. Even if she had stayed with him, her abilities
couldn't assist the youth’s fight against the daemon.
As such, he had ordered her to leave from that
place to call for reinforcements that would have the capabilities to assist the
youth.
“I ‘m…still…fine… That’s…why…it’s…ok…”
I squeezed out the
effort to spit out blood—actually, I have a massive Hemoptysis3—but,
I have to comfort this little girl.
It seems I’m about to
die. I bet everything on one possibility, and I
ordered my comrade to leave from this place to call for reinforcements. Undoubtedly,
this time she couldn't make it in time.
When I die, no doubt, I
will definitely leave those children and this little girl in this place, alone.
That’s why, at least, I want to reassure this little girl.
“I…won’t…die…for…sure…”
Those were words that couldn’t be fulfilled by
the youth.
Shortly after the youth said those words, he,
Reid, one of the six heroes, better known as the Shadow Feather4,
died.
- 1モミジ (Momiji) = “maple in general” or “Genus Acer”. However, there are so many variations in the size of maple leaf (at the genus level) which is why we’ve chosen the Acer palmatum that are common in Japan.↩
- 2魔神(Majin) = Malevolent Spirit/Deity.↩
- 3喀血 = Hemoptysis. A condition where you cough up blood from the respiratory system.↩
- 4影羽(Kage Hane) = Shadow Feather by literal translation of the kanji.影 (Kage) = Shadow, whereas羽 (Hane) = Feather.↩
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