บท 5: Victim
It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, IT HURTS, IT HURTS, IT HURTS, IT HURTS, IT HURTS, IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! ITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTS—
"—AAAHHHHHH!!" A blood-curdling scream echoed through the dark woods in the depth of the forest, alerting any living being nearby — sapient or otherwise — of the ghastly entity who released such a haunting screech.
Nobody or nothing who heard it, however, could ever imagine that this horrific noise originated from the mouth of a human.
Arms flew off left and right, legs kicked the air and the ground, and — akin to a maniac — Matthias slammed his own body repeatedly to the ground and blew up lots of dust as he did so.
Indescribable agony and anguish overwhelmed all of his senses in ways he never felt before or could possibly feel in the future, and it wasn't just limited to his pain receptors.
His tongue felt like it was being burned so thoroughly that the flesh split open, each strand of hair within his nostrils seemed as if they were being tugged just lightly enough to not completely tear them off.
His hearing was outright ringing, stopping any other kind of sound from echoing within his eardrums and giving him a splitting headache in return; his sight felt like it was getting squeezed so hard he could only see strange dark and bloody-red patterns on his vision, despite having his eyes fully opened up.
Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain!
Blinding pain that prevented him from seeing anything, loud pain that prevented him from hearing anything, overwhelming pain that prevented him from feeling anything; only pure pain was registered in his mind.
'Get it off me!' Such were Matthias' thoughts as he lashed out against nature and even his own flesh.
'Make it stop crawling on my skin!'
'It's worming through my flesh!'
'It's getting in my bones!'
'Tear my skin off!'
'Tear my throat out!'
'My stomach itches! My heart itches! My chest itches! My arms itch! My legs itch! My hands itch! My feet itch! My head! My lips! My teeth! My cheeks! My neck! Ears! Nose! Tongue! Eyes!'
'Tear them all out of my body! I don't want them!'
'Kill me! I don't want this body! Kill me! KILL ME!! KILL ME!!!'
"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Guttural noises left the bleeding man's mouth, tearing through his throat and tonsils as a scream way beyond anything he may have shouted through his entire life was ruining his vocal cords.
And as these frightening screams went on through the passing minutes, they gradually began to get softer and softer as time went by, with coughs and sobbing mixed in the intervals between the screaming and the inhaling…
…Until there was no sound anymore.
The screams were replaced by raspy breaths, the breathings in between degenerated into coughing fits. Vomit, tears, mucus, and blood left Matthias' orifices through the ordeal, and pooled down on the ground to form a ghastly mixture.
But in between the bruises and scratches on his body, his ruined throat, the blood pouring out of everywhere, and the agony he was feeling within all the layers of his body and soul… He finally managed to bottle it all up once more.
Crawling in a crouching position, shaking and trembling like a leaf, wide eyed and heavily breathing… Matthias was taking his time to adapt and overcome the horrible sensation spread through his entire body.
There was a strange scorching heat left within his body, albeit it felt nothing like excitement or anything of that level. Rather, it was more akin to having swallowed a lit-up piece of coal without even waiting for it to cool down, and it was now stuck within his esophagus with no way to turn it off.
It was… horrible!
It was still pulsating, it was still burning, it was still painful; even after having the time to adjust himself to this feeling, it was still as agonizing as it was before, to the point he would have kept crying if it wasn't for the fact he already shed whole days' worth of tears already.
'Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!' His body shivered as it was being subjected to all these torturous sensations, but whether it was due to some miraculous circumstances or pure hatred for exactly knowing why he was feeling like this, he managed to grit his teeth through it all and take deep breaths.
"Hn—" Just as he was about to get up — groaning in pain as he did so — he felt as if something got stuck in his vocal cords, prompting him to enter in another coughing fit.
*—Cough!* *Cough!* *Cough!*
Once again, his sore throat began flaring up in pain under the stress, and all Matthias could do was endure it and hope for the best as he let out all the coughs that came out of his mouth.
And soon enough, he once again suppressed his coughing fit, this time taking the wise decision to not strain anything unnecessary from his own body.
Clearly, he was not okay.
All this blood on his body and on the ground, all the strain that his insides were feeling at the slightest twitch… He was hurt, deeply, and in ways he couldn't even begin to imagine.
But…
'I can't rest.' Matthias thought. Too much stuff happened in such a short time: he needed time to thoroughly meditate through it all and guess his next moves; he didn't have the time to recover.
Of course, he couldn't just do it here in the crater, with the smell of death and vomit assaulting his nostrils when the pain was already making it difficult to get a proper thought out.
However, that would mean he had to leave the crater somehow—
「—!」
…?
Wait, was that…
「こちらだ!」
…Noise?
As he remained still, Matthias focused on his hearing, which appeared to be almost non-functional due to the ringing in his ears. But just as he thought, he could indeed hear new sounds in the surroundings, akin to voices.
Were people coming over? From how deep the voices sounded, they seemed to belong to men…
They could only come from the local Iliasville, so… A scouting team? Soldiers?
'Fucking hell, they sure took their sweet time.' Matthias thought to himself before he simply let go of all the tension in his body, falling back onto the bloody ground with a soft splat.
With the voices getting louder to symbolize the approaching of the soldiers, Matthias decided to leave his fate to them and hope for the best. After all, he could do nothing on his own, as things were standing now.
'...It stinks like hell.' Such were his last thoughts before he closed his eyes, exhausted after being subjected to so many unfortunate events in a row just to end up sleeping in a pool of his own blood and vomit, with a bruised body and a thoroughly crushed spirit…
…And then—
—Matthias slowly opened his eyes once again, and not anymore he found himself in the crater he was when he first closed them.
His back was placed on top of a solid surface that wasn't truly alike with the ground he previously laid on, while in front of his gaze stood a wooden ceiling surrounded by stone walls. His body was covered by a warm blanket, and his head was lying on top of a soft pillow.
It seemed like he had been carried off to a safer and better place after he fell asleep.
Even then, he could still feel his throat being horribly sore, his ears still ringing out with an everlasting buzzing noise, the echoes of the agony he once felt still lingering across his flesh and bones like needles…
…And the unease brought by the state of loss he was left into.
He was in a safe place, and he was on his way to recover; but he himself wasn't safe, and he definitely was nowhere close to being fine.
And it was all because of Ilias… No, nevermind.
Ilias' fault? Matthias himself was the culprit of his own predicaments.
It was exactly like she said: if he took Luka's situation more carefully, he would have come out of it unscathed and possibly have someone who could help him around.
But out of panic for not being in control over his own situation, he blundered, and in this horrible chain of events that got worse the further it went on, he ended up attracting the attention of the strongest and most fearsome people in the world for all the wrong reasons.
And what did he get out of this? Nothing positive, that's for sure!
He was still in this accursed world, he was given six months' worth of life, an impossible task to accomplish under that same deadline, and among the worst handicaps he could ever have!
How was he supposed to be strong enough to defeat an eldritch creature that was potentially stronger than the current Ilias under six months?! Not only that, he also didn't have anyone who could possibly be willing to support him in this world, he couldn't even talk to anyone because of the language barrier, and he had no personal assets of his own that were worth anything!
Even if he were to take this task seriously, he still needed the proper foundations to do so! He needed money! He needed connections! He needed knowledge! Talent! Luck! Actual capacity to even dream of pulling this off!
And he had almost none of them, being the weak and pathetic human that he was!
Only the knowledge part could be argued that he possessed — being from a place where this world was extolled as a mere visual novel and game — but even then, there was nothing in his mind that could possibly help him out under such conditions.
Even Luka was struggling to accomplish what Ilias truly wanted him to do, despite having powerful allies to help him out and won the genetic lottery by being the descendant of a legendary hero and one of Ilias' own daughters.
And if he could barely do it, how could Matthias?!
But if Matthias did nothing… Who was to say that Ilias wouldn't go back to her word and kill him immediately as soon as she deemed him useless? She was already severely pissed off in his regards because of him messing up her plans, and something about the Soul Return Network breaking apart all of a sudden…
…Speaking of which, if the Soul Return Network broke, did that mean it was impossible for Ilias to rewind time again?
In that case, he couldn't even rely on the smallest smidgen of luck that he might or might not still have with him, that in some way, the time rewind brought by the Soul Return Network could bring him back to a point in time when everything could still be salvageable, whether he could remember everything out of it or not…
At this point, it was either do or die, and even then, the former would eventually end up into the latter: a hopeless journey to avoid an untimely death which would nonetheless lead him to his own demise.
And unfortunately so, he didn't have any other choice either but to go through this insane quest just so he could still live for longer.
Matthias slowly inhaled and exhaled a long breath, although that merely served to irritate his sore throat further and prompted a couple of coughs to escape from his mouth. But, as he calmed down, he began to recount things in his mind and think about his situation more thoroughly.
Complaining wasn't going to get him anywhere, after all.
To begin with, his ultimate goal was to return home and leave this world behind, but — of course — he had to stay alive to do so.
Unfortunately, the one and only Goddess of this world was threatening his life, and the only way to survive was to go alongside her wishes for him to become as strong as possible and accomplish her plans in Luka's stead.
Beyond that, he immensely doubted he could sneak below her nose and escape, considering the power and authority she supposedly carried within herself, and the fact that she could very well be watching him in this very instant without his knowledge…
…Meaning that he had to postpone his return until he was done with Ilias' task.
Thus, the dilemma of how to solve her problem came up once more.
How was he supposed to kill the arguably strongest Monster Lord in history within the span of six months?
Physical exercise? Studying magic? Learning swordsmanship and stuff like that? Contracting with the Four Spirits? Transforming into a monster girl? Gathering allies? There were so many options, and yet none of them could possibly give him the confidence and certainty he wished to have right now.
But upon considering every choice and path he had available, it was a good idea to simply try to further understand how the world truly worked and the possibilities he had at disposal before building up a true plan.
Even though he might know the world's story by heart, alongside many trivias in between, he admittedly didn't know everything.
He didn't know why monsters could use magic while humans couldn't, he didn't know how the Goddesses and the Four Spirits were truly born, he didn't know how the laws of magic worked in this world, he didn't know what else was present in the game as his knowledge only extended up to the part 2 of the game's sequel…
…There were many things that had no chance to be explained in the game or simply weren't mentioned yet, which would have been useful to him now if he knew of them all.
And as much of an insane and manipulative megalomaniac Ilias was — according to his own judgement about her character — there was no way she would give him a chance at all if he truly had no chance to possibly accomplish her mission, especially upon taking in consideration how angry she was with him for ruining all her plans.
There might be something that he wasn't seeing yet, whether around him or within himself, and such knowledge could easily be the key he had to seek out if he wished to open the door back to home, in the end.
But, of course, the aforementioned issues were still there to prevent him from doing anything…
'Language barrier, lack of material resources, and unfamiliarity with the workings of this world's society…' Those were the biggest obstacles on his way to acquire the kind of knowledge he wished to possess, obstacles that he had no way to move around to get what he wanted, and with the language issue being the worst offender of them all.
As long as he learned this world's language, half of his problems would be solved already!
But how was he supposed to do that? Read books that were exclusively written in this world's language? Listen to people?
Even if he were to try learning it through exposure, it would take at the very least months to get the smallest degree of proficiency, months that would obliterate the tiniest amount of time he had already been left with to accomplish Ilias' goals.
The only way to solve that issue in a preferred amount of time…
'...It would be cheating, I guess.' Matthias thought. 'Finding a non-standard way to solve the issue, like through some sort of magic spell, if it even exists, or…'
"..." His frown deepened by several degrees as his thought process was reaching places it shouldn't even approach, ideas that he truly didn't want to deal with at all.
Should he truly risk it all by asking help from Ilias?
There weren't other realistic choices available, however; at least, no choices that were 100% guaranteed to work… But was it worth it? After all he did to stay away from danger, was it worth annoying the Goddess that just spared him from a cruel death? Right when he was already a foot down his own grave?
No, no… Doing such a thing this early was way too risky.
Maybe it would be better to wait some time until she was more relaxed, if he truly had to do this. It would be ideal, as he could at the very least guarantee some form of leeway in the argument.
Until then, however…
'It's time to get my ass moving.' Such ran Matthias' thoughts as he gritted his teeth through the dull pain spread across his body and slowly sat up from the bed he was previously sprawled into.
He couldn't waste time resting around, every second counted.
In a way or another, he had to gather the necessary resources to do what he wanted to do.
Through coughs and stiff movements, Matthias managed to get up on his feet and look around the room, observing his new surroundings.
As far as he could guess, it seemed like he was in some kind of ordinary bedroom, with walls built in stone and a wooden floor below his feet. It was barely decorated though, clearly not being regularly used. Was it a rental unit of some sort?
Matthias' eyes wandered further into the corners of the room, where he found a familiar-looking set of accouterments such as Luka's sword, his umbrella, his satchel, his phone… his shirt? And were those his pants?
As realization set in, his gaze shifted downward, where he found several strips of bandages and cotton wrapped all around his body, practically dressing him up with them alone.
They were surprisingly tight, but not in a truly painful way. Rather, they were just tight enough to straighten-up his body, and while they were forcefully pressing onto his bruises, it was nowhere close to be unbearable like the agonizing moment he had back in the crater.
Was he given medical care after he was brought here?
Perhaps. That should justify his current conditions, yes.
Although… That didn't explain the weird paper tag sticking out of his chest, flapping around in the air while also glued to him like a sticky note of some sort. And as he put his observing gaze upon it, Matthias noticed that the tag had some kanjis written upon it, giving it a resemblance to a japanese talisman.
He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the sight.
As far as he was concerned, this place should be styled after the time between the late Medieval era and the early Renaissance era… of Europe.
So… What was an eastern talisman stuck doing on his body? Did the people here use it to tag him as part of a group? To classify him in some way?
Matthias grasped the flappy end of the paper and pulled it, but instead of coming off his body as expected, it pulled onto his skin with the tenacity of an actual body part of his.
'Fucking hell, did someone superglue it on my skin?!' He thought with great irritation as he roughly grasped on the talisman while coughing, which surprisingly wasn't just showing resistance from his attempt to get it off his body, but also resistance from his attempts of tearing it apart.
It was like the paper was entirely made of tough plastic sewn onto his flesh!
Who did this to him?!
'I swear to god…!' As he relaxed once again, Matthias scrunched his eyebrows in anger. There was not a single positive outlook for him to see through this entire day.
Then, he reached for his stuff, picking up his underwear and…
"..." Matthias blankly stared at the shirt he lifted with both hands, observing a large tear running across the middle from the collar to the bottom hole which thoroughly opened the cloth wide.
Glancing down on the pile of clothes, he saw that his hoodie also received the same treatment.
At the very least, his pants were fine, but… Damn.
The young man had the unnecessary urge to sigh in exasperation at the conditions he was left in, but knowing that stimulating his trachea any more would worsen the situation, he suppressed it down within himself and simply closed his eyes.
'Let it go, Matthias, let it go… You have shit to do.'
His hands let go of his shirt, dropping it back on the ground with the other ruined clothes, and then he focused on the clothes that actually were still in proper condition. Then, once he brought everything he had in his possession back with him, he swung the door of the bedroom wide open as he stepped outside.
Looking around, Matthias already set his eyes on the stained glass windows over the gray stone walls, the many paintings of angels and Ilias hung around, the red carpet below his feet, and the many priests walking across the hallway—
—Was this Ilias Temple?
It was the only building with such a heavy religious theme that should be around the area, set in the middle of Iliasville. Considering what he was seeing with his eyes and the circumstances behind his awakening, this was the only place that could possibly satisfy both conditions.
Some passing people set their gazes upon him as soon as he came out of the bedroom, but Matthias only paid the slightest attention to them before setting forth to find the exit of this temple.
First thing first was getting his winter jacket back — the one he left in Luka's house — and then he would start to gather everything he may need for the future: money, resources, and such stuff.
「失礼いたします.」
「あの! 少しだけお待ちください!」
Voices and clanking noises came from behind his back, but Matthias still didn't bother slowing down in the slightest, whether those voices were trying to talk with him or not.
It was only when a solid hand grasped onto his shoulder that he was brought to a stop, prompting him to turn around to see who was trying to interact with him.
A common soldier, like those who ran after him back when he was still trying to save Luka's virginity from the local invading Slime Girl…
「お邪魔して申し訳ありませんが,少々お聞きしたいことがあります.」As expected, the soldier spoke gibberish, but before he could talk any further, Matthias promptly stopped the man by shrugging off the hand on his shoulder and then pointing at his ear, gesticulating with his free hand left and right as if to indicate that his hearing was gone.
Since he couldn't understand this world's language, he might as well build a new image of himself based on that fact, regardless of whether it was the truth or a lie.
In return, the soldier blinked in surprise, as if taken aback by his acting…
「おっと,耳が聞こえないんですか?... なら, せめても読み書きはできますよね?」
...But he still didn't stop talking.
"..." Matthias blankly stared at the man in disbelief as the soldier continued to talk. Sure, he might not be used to mute communication, but it shouldn't be this hard to understand that he couldn't listen to the soldier's spoken language, was it?
First it was Luka, now this guy… Were all the people in the village this dumb?
「あっ,確かに,聞こえませんね...」The man suddenly developed an awkward expression while whispering words under his breath, as if he was caught in an embarrassing moment, before he then gestured back at Matthias with both his hands as if to ask him to wait in his spot.
And then, he hurriedly walked away, leaving the bandaged man alone.
"..." Meanwhile, the young man silently stared at the retreating form of the soldier before he turned his body around and proceeded to walk into the opposite direction.
'Well, that was weird…' He thought to himself as he observed his surroundings, finding his way through the hallway. 'Anyway, where's the exit of the temple?'
As he followed the carpeted road and stepped at the sides and in between the passing people, Matthias eventually managed to find himself in a particularly large room, filled with soldiers, priests, and pools of clean water for decoration.
This should be the main hall visible at the entrance of the temple, according to the game's map design… But there was still no exit in sight.
In that case, was he on the upper floor? That would explain why there was no door connected to the outside yet.
Although, if he was indeed in that particular place—
'...' Matthias turned his curious gaze across the hall and observed one particular wall built with stone, like all the others… and that was it.
His eyes already narrowed down into a half-lidded gaze as his interest vanished immediately. It seemed like he couldn't see the invisible door to the Reaper's realm that only Luka from the Paradox sequel could see…
Time rewinds from Ilias' Soul Return Network were out of the question, and he couldn't get in contact with either the White Rabbit or the Reaper, both being special beings with access and knowledge over parallel universes…
He already knew that he was in dire straits and that he couldn't take the easy way out through luck or asking for help, but seeing and experiencing it first-hand still managed to cement his despair over the situation even further.
Having no more interest or business in this place, Matthias immediately located the stairs to the ground floor and made his way out of the temple without anyone blocking his way or otherwise impeding him at all.
And as he stepped out of the large gate of the holy temple, a wave of fresh air hit his nostrils once again while a breeze was blowing on his half-naked body.
But he didn't even bother enjoying or even process any of it, he couldn't.
His body was still hurting all over due to the fall from the stairs in the early morning which hadn't healed yet, and that was not to mention the vague hunger currently shaping up in his large bandaged belly, consequences of spending this much energy moving around without eating anything and taking its toll on his body.
There was also the general feeling of loss overwhelming his thought process, the urgent task that Ilias gave him just now, the awkwardness of walking outside with having his upper body covered solely by medical bandages…
…He couldn't physically or psychologically find a way to relax under such circumstances, no way.
With his mind zoning out as his bruises pulsated painfully within the bandages, Matthias climbed down the huge staircase that separated the Ilias Temple set on a hill from the rest of Iliasville.
In the meantime, his thoughts were entirely focused on his current circumstances, barely paying any attention to
He had to learn this world's language…
He had to find a way to gather money…
He had to be strong enough to kill a being that stood above Ilias…
He had to find a way to get out of this world…
He had to find help…
He had to get his hands on a new shirt…
He had to get food and water…
He had to survive and live…
He had to get stronger…
He had to get stronger…
He had to—
「放して!」
Matthias blinked out of his stupor as a feminine scream entered his ears, bringing his attention to the large staircase he was descending from — more precisely, at his left.
There, he saw the somewhat eye-catching quarrel happening between another soldier and a village woman.
The soldier was holding onto the woman's arms, stopping her from climbing the stairs any further, while the woman was — of course — doing the opposite. They were also shouting at each other, although the woman behaved with desperation more than anything else.
For a moment there, the soldier also gazed at his direction, and Matthias made eye contact with him. It was then that the soldier let go of the woman and walked up to him with more urgency, as if not minding if the woman he was previously restraining would keep climbing up despite his last actions.
But as an annoyed expression surfaced on Matthias' face at the thought of interacting with yet another foreigner—
「しまった!」One of his armored feet accidentally stepped far into the wide stair's edge, prompting the man to lose his balance and… fall down the temple's stairs.
*Clang!* *Clang!* *Clang!* The soldier rolled through each step, bringing clamor on his way as metal plates clashed against the cold stone stairs.
Both Matthias and the woman observed in silence and concern as the armored man did his best to fight against gravity and momentum, trying to slow down his fall, only to stumble down another step and build up his acceleration once again.
And yet, neither of them made a move to assist him. They simply watched the man fall further and further down the staircase…
*Clang!* *Clang!*
*Clang!*
*Clang…*
By the time the noise was barely hearable, Matthias already lost most of his worries as he was standing there, staring at the rolling man with morbid curiosity to see how this comical slip would end.
Unfortunately, he couldn't even be afforded the role of spectator as the woman who the falling soldier was trying to apprehend suddenly approached him.
「あなたは勇者だよね!?」
Matthias' attention was brought toward the village woman in question as she tightly grasped his bandaged arm, and began spouting more nonsense from her mouth.
Of course, not even mentioning about the vexation she was bringing to him with all this acting, her hold onto him caused his bruises to flare up in pain once more, prompting him to shrug the woman off as he yelped in pain: "Ow! Let go!"
He lightly pushed the woman away while taking a few steps back himself, taking in consideration the fact that they were both in the middle of a huge staircase.
In the meantime, the villager looked surprised by his actions, but she formed a remorseful expression upon sizing him carefully and mumbled out a few words with an awkward tone.
「すみません...」
Upon seeing that she was currently maintaining distances, Matthias decided to ignore her altogether and resume his descent, but it didn't seem like the woman was done disturbing him as she approached him once again as soon as he turned around.
「勇者様,どうか力をお貸しください!」
She continued blabbering, only for the young man to ignore her. There was no reason to pay heed to her if he could not understand a word she was saying, after all.
「ルカという紫色の髪の男の子がいるんだけど,魔物を退治するため,朝,村の外の森に行ったんだ!」
「彼はまだ帰ってこない!」
「お願い,ルカを連れ戻して!」
"...Hmm?" For a moment, Matthias paused on his steps as a certain familiar word among the white noise coming from the middle-aged woman's mouth entered his ears.
"ルカ"...
…"Ruka"...
…Luka?
'Oh, right.'
Wasn't Luka still under the captivity of the Slime Girl that supposedly arrived in the neighboring territory in the early morning?
He didn't save that brat yet…
…Well, whatever. It wasn't like it mattered now.
Matthias put his next foot down the stair ahead, and resumed his de—
'—Shit!' His heart dropped in sheer horror as the foot he extended forward landed in an awkward manner, causing him to lose balance and prompt him down the staircase in the exact same way the fallen soldier had done…
…Except, unlike that man, he had no armor to protect him.
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