Warning: Grammar, OOCness. And Dark themes... I think.
Prologue
"Indeed, The Truth."
Nothing could be seen in sight, darkness felt infinite within the space. The crackling sound of the soil and grass that got stepped on was the only thing that could be heard. Towering trees are ubiquitous, making the atmosphere slightly terrific. Owls' noise quite often running through the air, as bugs in motion within the logs and leaves, mysteriously stepping on the small things that generated creaking sounds.
The atmosphere within the forest is noiseless and somewhat peaceful. The moon beautifully glimmers its illuminating light to the whole region of the forest. Nature is always breathtaking.
A sudden movement from the bush and a figure shot out. The silhouette is running through the bushes and trees, dodging the trees on its way rather gracefully, showing such extraordinary agility. It passed through the region that was illuminated by the moon and the silhouette was revealed to the world.
A face covered by a mask, which looks weird but at the same time, vague. It has 2 regions, the left part was pure white and the right part was black-charcoal. 2 arches, like the regions, but a white arch was within the right part while the black arch was within the left part.
The mask looks simple, but the meaning behind its appearance is bigger than one's thought.
Brown hair swayed by the wind, as the long grey scarf swivelled, making what seemed like a trail. The figure wore a complete blue navy jumpsuit, and a belt with a small bag hanging to it.
He ran in complete silence, not even a single bit of his breathing could be heard even though he's running considerably fast. A bloodied razor attached to a knife was in his right hand, which the figure placed in the front, to decimate any possible obstacles or-
"YOU THIEF! I WILL KILL YOU!!"
-Enemies in his way.
"C-Captain, t-that's him! Are you sure you wanted to c-confronted him?"
"What are you whimpering about, you coward? It's nothing more than a single man, how could we, a group with over 10 bodyguards could possibly lo-"
A single tick of silence, and the Captain of the group is dead. His head was severed from the body, and the splattered blood bathed the other bodyguards. Shrieks, screams, whimpers, everything is within.
A slaughter has commenced.
A minute, and silence engulfed the area.
Corpses littered on the ground, and a trudging figure could be seen escaping from the scene.
Scarf drenched and mask covered in blood. He swiped off the blood on the razor of his knife carefully. After it was cleaned, he put the knife into the sheath hanging onto the belt and dumped the tissue he used.
He looks up, and as if the moon itself has acknowledged him, it glimmers more brightly than before.
"...Ah…"
A rasped voice camouflaged within the passing breezes, and the figure disappeared, leaving the corpses for nearby beasts to feast.
"What the… hell is this?"
"Hey! Don't touch it like that!"
"Huh?"
Within a building similar to that of a restaurant, two figures are talking to each other on a wooden banquette. A brown-haired green-eyed guy with a typical healthy male's figure and a silver-haired violet-eyed girl with a slim stature. The guy wears a grey vest over a dark-grey shirt and a pair of simple black trousers, while the female wears a thin black cloth around her chest and short blue pants, complementing them is a light-blue scarf around her neck and a pair of socks that reached her mid-thigh.
Both of them are currently discussing a certain matter…
"It's the Peerless Pearl of The East! You couldn't treat it like it was a simple matter, Kazuma!"
"What kind of ridiculous name now? Chris, do you have a strange habit like this? Are you perhaps… a Chuuni? You know, that kind of person who often exaggerating particular events-"
"N-No! I- Argh! Stop teasing me you douche!"
The male identified as Kazuma chuckled slightly, taking a sip from the mug of alcohol he ordered earlier, the girl before him named Chris just angrily huffed and hit the bench she sat on rather loudly.
He was used to stuff like this Pearl… whatever she named it, so he doesn't really have any interest in it.
"What's the blessing?"
"I-it could control the sea in the east."
This world is rather simple, it was divided into 5 continents. North, South, East, West, and Center.
"Wow, impressive Chris."
"Hmm…"
"Aw, look at you, intently observing the recently acquired pearl…"
"Y-You! A-Argh!"
She was blushing brightly, and he just laughed. Ah, a normal occurrence for both of them. She glared at him, but the effect was drastically decreased by the blush. Rather than looking scary, she looks cute. He thought.
"Y-You damn! You damn teaser!"
"What? I just stated some random things, I don't even use inappropriate words in my sentences! You're the one who had her mind dirty!"
"Your tone! T-the goddamn tone you used!"
Well, he did use the suggesting tone. But so what? The words the sentences consisted of didn't have anything dirty within them. He stared at her blankly, before snickering in amusement.
"What? You're…?"
"I-I'm… P-Please have mercy, Kazuma…"
She meekly pleaded, and he just sighed in leisure.
At first, she was the one who often teased him, and he remembered clearly, she was merciless! Her tongue is like a snake ready to bite him whenever and wherever he is. Even a single mishap like when his hair was in disarray and she would immediately use that sharp tongue of hers to bite him based on it, hard.
He smiled softly, and gestured to her to continue by his head.
"Alright, I apologize for my mean words, dear Chris."
"Thank you…"
Chris sighed in relief, and her gazes directed to the person before her. He has grown into a man, mentally. And she felt relieved, happy, and… safe. A partner of her own, a trustworthy, dependable partner.
Her life has changed because of him, and while she was shocked by such a development, she couldn't say that she hates it.
Rather, she feels comfortable.
In the beginning, she was the one who often completed the missions, but now?
He could even do it all by himself.
But she was worried. This person carries most of her burdens, and even while she insisted on keeping them for herself, he oddly just smiled at her and reassured her that he would be fine.
She has to admit, what a weird guy he is. But she too admits that herself is even weirder.
Well, guess both of them are a couple of weirdos.
"Haah… so, you're done inspecting the stuff?"
"Yep! This pearl is old enough to be considered as your ancestors and other than controlling seas within the East, there's nothing particularly special about it."
Since they met, never in his ideas he had known how she even knew such information. What methods did she use to discover such info?
No, no. The question is, how is she even get such the job in the first place?
"No one even knows how it works…"
"Shush, you should be thankful, if not, this world might perish earlier than expected."
"Ah… let's just drink all night, whaddya say?"
"If you pay!"
"Fine!"
She giggled, and he just chuckled. Both of them enjoy the rest of the night accompanied by drinks and laughter. What free souls they are.
Just a couple of sinners enjoying the night.
"Hahaha~ K-Kazuma~ How do you even m-met them? The group of d-douche a-adventurers…~?"
"You know your tolerance towards alcohol isn't good, and yet you insist on keeping drinking…"
She hiccuped, and giggled, her shoulders shook so much and he just shook his head. This boss of his is really odd huh?
"K-Kazuma~ W-What if you g-get caug-*hiccup*-caught? I-i c-couldn't bear it…"
"I wouldn't."
"It c-certainly would hurt so b-bad… for me and f-for her… *hiccup*"
As if, that stupid woman would probably just shrug her shoulders and move on. As always, Chris is often emotional. He took a shot from the mug and stood up, Chris had passed out from the drinks she consumed so he gotta carry her.
With her within his arms, he left the guildhall and searched for the nearby inn. A brief moment later and he finally found what he was searching for, the inn she often slept in. It was near the guildhall and before he had a house on his own, he always came here and Chris would pay for the room.
He entered the inn and a waitress, Chris's acquaintance greeted them. She knew them very well and knew which room Chris always occupied. He merely smiled as a reply and nodded. Grasping the key she had given him, he took the stairs and arrived before the room.
Before he went to unlock the door, a hand grasped his forearm and he glanced at the owner. A pair of half-lidded eyes are staring at him.
"Yes Chris, what's up?"
"...W-Will y-you be safe…?"
"Certainly."
Once again, she passed out. He chuckled lightly, every time they went out to drink, almost every time she would pass out. It was pretty amusing.
"This girl…"
Who would help a person who doesn't even know you?
Well, such a stereotype has been broken by this girl, and he has to say, he is excessively lucky to have her by his side.
A thief she might be, but she sure as hell is a saint sent by the gods.
He opened the door and placed the girl on the bed, coating her shaking form with a blanket provided by the inn. And from thereon he just stared at her, reminiscing the occurrences they had to go through.
And he admitted, for such a slim looking girl, those occurrences are sure as hell scary. Such an impressive individual.
"You know Chris, introducing me to such a thing is pretty mean of you. But I have to admit, I am extremely thankful for you. Because of it, I had changed, and now I could confidently say that I could survive in this world on my own."
Pausing for a moment, he brings a knife out of the sheath and caresses the handle gently. His eyes looked blank but they still contained compassion and gratefulness within them.
"But you don't have to worry, you showed me such kindness and I promised you that even if the world is against you…"
He smiled softly, grasping the hand of the person whose kindness couldn't be measured.
"I wil- no, I would have your back. We are partners after all."
It's not often he did such an oration, but hearing the words she said earlier surfaced the desire to tell her that he is in fact, indebted to her.
And he could say it was a debt that he genuinely wanted to pay back.
Her hand tightened the grip it had on his hand, and he let it. Even in her sleep she could sense it. He stayed for a few minutes before standing up, glancing at her for the last time today before leaving the room.
His footsteps could still be heard by her from the room. She opened her eyes slightly and smiled.
"...Thank you."
He whiffed the chilly night air, gaze on the ground and eyes glossed over. Thoughts running over and heart on somewhere else. It has been 5 months and he was impressed by himself that he actually could survive in such a strange, and unfortunately cruel world.
What a world, he couldn't imagine that a person could escape from their punishment as long as they're influential enough. It's like the political world in his world, but worse. Nobles, Aristocrats, Oppressors, and Tyrants. Watching it is one thing, but actually experiencing it is another thing.
What a shithole! But he doesn't know how and why but he stumbled and met Chris. It occurred when he was still struggling to even live, and adding the fact that there was a semi-burden with him, he literally called Chris an Angel. He didn't know why she helped them, they were strangers at that time.
Fast forward a month later, and she announced to him that their first mission would commence. He, of course, was ecstatic, what kind of cool job Chris does? From her appearance, it was obvious that it involved adventuring, such an exciting activity. For such a open world like this, what's more exciting than adventuring?
It did commence, but… Not what he expected. Nope. Not at all.
What he expected was exciting journeys, adrenaline takes control, and discovering something new. Not… that. Not screams of agony from bodyguards, blood spluttering endlessly, metallic odour generated by the blood anywhere.
He did not expect them. Not a single bit. Never will he imagine such a scene will actually commence before his very eyes. And it wasn't just 'imagining' no, no, it actually happened.
It felt surreal, but it sure as hell is real.
Shocked? He was, obviously. But that's not it.
The most shocking thing is him. As a human, he contained this 'conscience' that made him feel guilty for the bad things he had done. But as he proceeds to watch as human beings get killed before his very presence, he felt… nothing.
And when he killed for the first time in his life, he felt… the same.
Devoid, empty, nothing. At the very least, people will puke after witnessing such a scene, but not him, no.
He felt absolutely nothing.
As missions upon missions, he still wondered why he felt nothing after killing his own kin. He only followed what Chris ordered him. This girl, he did not expect for her to have such a job. And strangely, he had no disgust towards her, rather than it, enormous respect was what he only had for her.
Such a job no one, not even seasoned adventurers would ever consider doing, and she could do it without any hesitation. With no complaints, no whines, no cries.
A strong person.
He was familiar with this kind of person, this person always hides all the things behind a wall they made. And never, ever they revealed them to others.
An extremely strong person.
But for such a person, there's an obvious aspect he could see from it. And that?
It's the fact that they could break down and end it all. And he never, ever wants that to happen to Chris. He feels like he has a huge debt to her, and not just that.
Who, what, and how a person would help a person they never even knew?
He never expected a single person to be like that, but she proved him wrong. And he does not want such a person to be eradicated by those greedy people. And the solution?
Bear them all. Bear the job for her.
He always keeps a secret to himself. A secret no one knows.
He is, in fact, a person with mitigated emotional reactions. He still felt them, anger, sadness, happiness. But they were all mitigated.
For such an occurrence such as getting transported to such a world is an out-of-the-world thingy.
But he had to admit, for such a world where killing humans is just a normal occurrence, it's a perfect place for him.
A perfect world.
What a psychopath he is. He chuckled.
No, he is not mentally ill. When he tried to recall the reasons why he wasn't really shaken by such a thing, he remembered something.
Ah, yes. In the first place, he never treated them as humans. Only animals. So it feels like he just slaughtered some animals, or abnormalities that existed in this world.
Such fucked up people, how could he even see them as humans?
Why the fuck would he felt guilty for such people in the first place?
It would be an insult, a sin towards those people who suffered in their hands.