Chapter 8

Due to various circumstances, I'm a bit late.

There's a naked girl there, right?

And there's a pair of panties here, right?

What am I thinking?

Calm down, myself.

What's in front of me?

A naked girl, covered in wounds, is lying there with her arms tied. She's probably around 15 years old. I'd say her appearance is neither particularly attractive nor unattractive, but her hair is unkempt and she's very dirty, so she leans more towards unattractive. She's extremely underweight, and of course, she has no breasts.

I'm not getting excited at all.

To be honest, I prefer curvy women over slender ones. I like young girls, but this is just too much for me.

So, it's not that.

What am I thinking in this situation?

I'm not that kind of person. I want to believe that. This is just me avoiding reality because of an unexpected event. Don't run away. I'm a capable person. I can do this.

Unfortunately, it might be like those erotic doujinshi where the girl is already pregnant... but that's not the case.

Right, in situations like this, the first thing to do is to talk to her. Calm her down, make her feel safe, and then take her back to the village. She's probably from a nearby village. I can give her some clothes from the gacha and heal her wounds with a heal spell.

I can do this. It's a matter of mindset. I can definitely do this.

It's okay now, nameless girl!

"...Kill me."

Well, that's impossible!

Just as I was starting to think positively while maintaining eye contact, she says this.

"Ah... The goblins are all dead, and I can take you back to the village, you know?"

Maybe she's giving up because there are still goblins around, so I try to give her some hope.

"I have nowhere to go..."

"There was a village nearby..."

I mention the nearby village, but there's no reaction. Maybe it's a different village.

"Ah... Why were you captured by the goblins?"

"I was a leftover... so I was abandoned."

Wow... That's heavier than I thought.

But if she's a leftover, it means she was probably a mouth to feed. Her malnourished state is obvious. If that's the case, it's understandable. So, she was probably sold by her parents at this age, but no one bought her, so she was abandoned and then captured by the goblins. No wonder she has such a dead look in her eyes.

"Do you want to see your parents?"

"...They were killed, so they're not around."

If she doesn't have parents, maybe she was entrusted to relatives who then sold her.

"My hometown..."

"The village... was burned down."

Right, this place is full of bandits. So, bandits attacked the village, killed or captured the villagers, and set it on fire. She was probably captured and sold, but no one bought her, so she was abandoned.

"Well, there's no point in staying here, so let's move."

"...My feet were cut."

I look at her feet, thinking that a heal spell or potion should be able to fix it. Then I immediately see where she was cut.

It's her tendons.

Both of her foot tendons are cut. The wounds are old, indicating that they were cut a long time ago. The cuts look like they were made with a sharp blade, not the kind of stone tools or rusty knives the goblins had.

So, she was captured and had her foot tendons cut to prevent her from escaping. If they captured her as a laborer, they wouldn't have cut her tendons. This means she was captured for a different purpose.

(It's impossible not to feel sympathy in this situation.)

Thinking that healing her wounds might make her more positive, I take out a heal spell from my bag and use it. A bluish-white light envelops her body, and all her wounds heal instantly. Then I cut the vine-like ropes binding her arms with a mithril knife and give her a slightly tattered cloak to cover herself.

The girl looks surprised for a moment at the sight of her wounds healing, but her expression quickly returns to its original state.

The reason is simple. The tendon wounds are still there, and she hasn't recovered enough to walk.

So, I try the heal spell again, but the cut tendons don't heal. I try a high-level potion, but the result is the same. I speculate that either the healing power is insufficient or too much time has passed.

I search for other ways to heal her. The heal spell and high-level potion I used are rare items... meaning they come from gold. So, the only card that can change the situation is the platinum card "High Heal."

It's a precious card. Should I use it?

I'm conflicted. It's the best healing method I have at the moment. If I use it now, I don't know when I'll get another one. Plus, I don't know if it will work. I'm not a hero or a good person.

Right, this is unavoidable. Just as I'm about to give up—

"It's fine now..."

She whispers this, still holding the cloak I gave her, not even trying to cover herself or move.

The girl has already given up.

In this world, if her feet don't heal, she can't survive. Even if they do heal, it will be difficult for her to survive without any family to rely on.

Most importantly, it's uncertain whether she will have the will to live. Still, I think I should do what I can. I should do what I can.

I might be stubborn, but I convince myself that this is a good opportunity to test the healing magic card. I take out the "High Heal" card from my bag.

I have a little hesitation, but I won't regret it.

I use the High Heal card and specify the target. The card turns into particles of light, and the girl is enveloped in a white light, even stronger than the heal spell.

This should work, I exhale. As the light gradually fades, I look at the girl's ankles.

The scars are still clearly visible.

I look up at the ceiling. It's a thatched roof. I wonder if it can even keep out the rain.

Is there anything else?

I rummage through my bag without much hope. If I had a platinum or higher rare item with healing properties, I would remember it. Since I don't, there's no other option. Even knowing this, my hand continues to search through the bag.

Then, I open my eyes wide at something I take out casually.

It looks like some kind of fruit. An item I left unidentified due to a lack of identification cards.

I immediately take out a few more unidentified fruit-like items from my bag and then the identification cards. I have four cards, and there are seven unidentified items.

I take a deep breath. There's no point in hesitating. I take the identification cards and, leaving it to fate, start the identification process.

Well, I kind of expected this.

Source of Magic

Strength Fruit

Talent Fruit

Wisdom Fruit

These are the results of the identification.

They are status-up items. Normally, I would be happy, but what I need right now is not this.

It seems I have no other options.

Looking at the girl, she's no longer looking at me. She doesn't even seem to have any interest.

I sigh, not knowing how many times today.

It seems the only thing I can do is kill her.

This is a harsh world. I knew I would have to kill someone someday. I realize my resolve is not strong enough. But who would have predicted that the person would be an innocent, pitiful girl?

Should I take on the burden?

Should I carry a burden while being pursued by the country?

Don't be ridiculous. It's impossible.

There's no reason to save her. All I have is sympathy. She's far from being a beautiful girl, with a thin chest and ribs showing from malnutrition. I don't even feel aroused.

There's no need to agonize. The nameless girl in front of me probably wants this too.

Or should I ignore her wishes and leave her in a nearby village with some money?

That would just end up with her being robbed. Even if I give money to someone to help her, it will be the same once I leave.

The answer was probably decided from the beginning.

What's the point of putting myself in danger out of temporary sympathy?

Make a decision. Staying here won't change anything. There's no time for that.

"Can I ask your name one last time?"

I scold myself and decide to kill her. This is the best I can do. At least I can remember that a girl like this existed.

The girl doesn't answer.

That's a clear refusal. Her dead eyes seem to be saying, "Kill me quickly."

I take a deep breath.

"At least I'll make it painless."

I say this and take out two cards from my magic bag. One is "Sleep," and the other is "Ice Arrow." I considered a fire spell for cremation, but I'll avoid fire in the forest.

I use the Sleep card, and a white mist envelops the girl. In just a few seconds, the mist disappears, and the girl is lying there with her eyes closed, snoring. It's quite effective.

I note that this is a useful card. I'll write it down in my notebook later.

Next, I take the Ice Arrow and look at the snoring girl. All I have to do is activate the Ice Arrow.

"I thought I had decided..."

I mutter to the ceiling. With the cards in my hand, I can't move.

(I'm scared, I guess.)

I feel pathetic, still hesitating.

I keep telling myself, "Making her comfortable is the best I can do," and finally, I try to activate the card.

"...Huh?"

I say it unconsciously. The card didn't activate. I try again, focusing on my mental state.

But the result is the same. There's only one answer.

She is not a valid target for the card.

Just like when I tried to use a card for practice and it didn't activate, I can't target the girl with Ice Arrow.

I thought any living being would be a valid target, but it seems there are different conditions. If she's not a valid target for the card, there's only one thing I can do.

Ah, this means I have to kill her with my hands.

This world is truly a hellhole.

By the time I finish burying her, it's already dark. It took some time to find a place, and digging with a shovel is tiring. Plus, I'm very exhausted.

I use the Water card to wash my hands and quench my thirst, then enter the shadows. With no energy to do anything, I take out some clothes from my bag, use them as a makeshift bed, and lie down.

It's a crude bed, but it's better than nothing. I close my eyes, trying not to think about anything. The physical fatigue probably helped, and I soon lose consciousness.

I must have fallen asleep, and when I wake up, it's already dawn.

I'm surprisingly calm. I killed someone for the first time yesterday, but a good night's sleep has changed my mood. I mock myself for this.

But I quickly change my thoughts. "If I can't be like this, I won't survive in this world." Killing someone and facing death has made me realize the meaning of living here.

Survival of the fittest. It's very evident here. As a result, I will probably have to kill many people. But that's the way of this world. The concept of "good and evil" from my peaceful life in Japan has no meaning here.

To survive, I need power. And I have that power.

I'll push back the injustice and confront it. Give me that power today, my skills!

I'm pumped up, but I have to keep accepting and opening the gacha items one by one.

I try to look cool, but it's not working. As I keep spinning the gacha, I get a hit right away.

It's platinum. Getting platinum in just ten spins is a good start. I immediately check the contents by touching the gacha ball with my fingertips.

It's a card. I see a new design I've never seen before. A new card. And when I read the text on the design, I'm speechless.

"Regeneration"

The new card I got says that.

If I could have healed her feet with this card, what would have happened?

If I had gotten this card earlier, could she have been saved?

If she had been saved, what would have happened?

Ah... This world is truly unforgiving.