Conflict Zone

Chapter 17 - Conflict Zone

"Haa... Haa... so annoying..."

One month has passed since being teleported.

I am exhausted at this point.

It was really hard getting here.

In the beginning, it was great to let the information source guide us to leave the forest, but seeing the town, we were staying be burned in the flames of war on our first day stunned me.

The region seems to have become a stage for a battle royale between three countries called Dikt Kingdom, Brauz Empire, and Malkien Mercenary State, so we could only run away without even letting Father be treated properly.

The source of information ran away when the army that surrounded the town forced their way inside, and what's worse was Father's wound reopened because of incomplete treatment, so it was really the worst.

And when we entered the forest to pass through that battle royale stage where armies are stationed on main roads, monsters would attack us relentlessly.

Thanks to Father's advice as a veteran hunter, we tried our best to avoid it when seeing tracks of strong monsters, but Father's condition was not the best, and I was very clumsy acting on his advice, we might have avoided some but met a stronger one.

It was a deadly battle that I myself almost died.

The opponent at that time was a blue dragon, and according to Father, it was an S-Rank monster.

S-Rank, meaning that it's the highest level of monsters, damnit!

Central Continent is a place where you won't meet such strong monsters, but there are exceptions, like masters of vast forests or monsters that fly around the world like migrating birds.

That blue dragon is a type that is similar to migrating birds.

It should only be flying fly above the clouds, and its physique clearly looks like it wasn't for fighting on the ground but for flying in the sky, but it was on the ground for some reason.

It might have fallen from the sky for some reason.

How unlucky are we to encounter such a thing?

On top of that, when the battle began, it would try flying to the sky.

Well, that Blue Dragon was the only exception we met, but other monsters would attack us in groups, so they would be enough threat.

It was fine if I was by myself, but it was difficult to fight while protecting my injured father and mother, who couldn't fight.

In addition to that, we would regularly meet bandits or soldiers who were under operations while moving forward in the forest.

And as soon as we meet, they would attack without asking questions.

Leaving aside bandits, the soldiers would also attack as if to say, "they're nuisance to our operation! Kill the witnesses!" so after defeating several waves, it seems that some of those who had escaped reported us to their country, so our characteristics became known among the soldiers, and started to attack us actively.

What the hell!

Thanks to that, the number of people I've killed reached three digits, making my SAN value almost buried directly to the ground.

From the first day of being teleported to this place, I have hardened my resolve to kill people, but even if I only killed them in self-defense, it tires me when they would come so often...

I had nightmares every night, and before I became insane, I became used to it just like when I first hunted monsters, or maybe I just lost something else that is as important as my sanity, so I don't know whether it is good or bad, but I gradually got used to it and didn't feel anything much about it anymore.

Also, unlike monsters, they're full of evil intent and try to attack Father and Mother and even try to take them as hostages, making me mentally exhausted.

What's even worse is that sometimes there would even be a Saint-Rank swordsman who is on the same level as me among those guys.

I've seen two just in this single month.

I would've been delighted if I had met them on a journey of training, but it's a nightmare when meeting them in an extreme situation that would endanger my family.

I killed those two relying on the number of styles I've learned, but they also have people around them, and they would naturally try to use the hostage tactic, so both battles were as deadly as the one against the blue dragon.

And to overcome that, my injured father could only force himself to take action, making his injury worse.

I really wish we could find a place where we could calm down and treat him as soon as possible.

Or better say, I wish a doctor could take a look at him.

Well, although all of the things mentioned until now were desperate, it's not like there's no hope.

Thanks to such hard work, we finally got to the point where we were about to leave the battle royale stage of the three countries.

According to the information I got from the soldiers who attacked us, the three countries are in the middle of a battle that almost decides whether they can continue existing, and other countries are also trying to take a bite of the three countries' cake, adding to the chaos, so although it is very dangerous around here, it was a little better in other countries.

Although it is in Conflict Zone, there are few that would actually go on an all-out war that uses all of their existing fighting power.

Instead, intimidation and cold wars are more common, so among the countries that stand on such thin ice, armies that completely block off the main road, and attack towns without declaration... might still exist, but they are very rare.

After reaching that point, Father should be able to rest.

We're about to go through the first pass.

With that hope in mind, I took a nap while hugging my sword.

It's precious time I could afford, thanks to Mother completely taking care of Father.

There are also many things that Mother helped a lot other than fighting.

Without Mother's support, without Father's advice, I might either run out of energy here or died of being unable to bear the karma of killing so many people.

I have nothing but gratitude for both of them.

Despite that, the two started saying things that they didn't want to hold me back.

So I scolded them back, saying they were wrong.

While I was thinking about such things, my consciousness fell into darkness due to fatigue.

◆◆◆

Before I knew it, I was in a white place.

It was completely white in all directions.

A strange place where all I could see was white.

"Hi, nice to meet you, Emily-chan."

There, I saw an existence that was clad in something like a white mosaic, which seemingly blended into the surrounding white.

"I am Hitogami. This world's god. Let's get along."

Hitogami.

The thing that called itself as such smiled at me with a suspicious smile.