Author: 両生金魚 (Ryouseikingyou)
Translator: Me, Thomas The Troll
Chapter 1: Falling from the sky comes not the Goddess, but the Monster Lord
I suddenly felt soft light and a solemn atmosphere. Even as I slowly regained consciousness, my still-clouded mind couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity.
"Luka... Brave Luka..."
Within my awakening mind, I heard a voice I recognized. As I fully opened my eyes, the form of a beautiful Goddess with not a single fault to be seen manifested before me.
"Brave Luka... can you hear my voice?"
"Y-Yes! I can hear you, Ilias!"
Having experienced this sensation before, I knew this was no mere dream. The sacred aura of the echoing voice was unmistakably that of Goddess Ilias. In that case, I had to make absolutely certain her mood wouldn't drop. The true nature of the Goddess I had traveled alongside was selfish and unfathomably short-tempered. I made sure to respond to her words while I attempted to somehow calm my chaotic thoughts. For now, the most important thing was to understand my situation.
"And now Luka... You have finally reached the Age of Departure, have you not?"
"Y-Yes!"
"Fufu, I understand you must be nervous facing your Goddess, but there is no need to be so tense."
From the phrase 'Age of Departure,' I could guess the current time period. And what she asked of me was not to save the world but to slay the Monster Lord. This was likely a parallel world. Otherwise, there was no way Ilias would be hale and hearty or prioritizing the Monster Lord's death. Maybe... I was sent to another world by that angel called Raphaela again? Such thoughts rapidly flashed through my head as I responded to Ilias, and soon the conversation came to an end.
"Now go forth, Luka. I shall always watch over you."
"Yes!"
As I answered, the scene before my eyes disappeared, and I truly awoke. I was lying on a bed that did not belong to the Pocket Castle. Looking around, I found myself in a nostalgic yet unfamiliar room and then went downstairs. It was a size smaller than my house, likely never used as an inn. It was an utterly ordinary residence, clean and well-ordered.
As today was the Day of Departure, there had likely been no intention to return anytime soon. Not even a single potato remained in the kitchen; instead, a knapsack full of traveling supplies was propped against a wall.
"The Day of Departure and Day of Baptism, huh... Guess I'll buy some bread for breakfast and go to the temple first."
In a world with a fully powered Ilias, even if you had the option to shirk the baptism, nothing good would come of it. Not to mention that you could gain the special privileges of a hero. Coming to think of it, I feel like I've already set out on a journey twi— Static rushed through my head.
First of all, I was heading to Ilias' Temple in accordance to her commandment to be dutiful in your prayers, but suddenly the tranquility was broken.
"H-Help!"
A yell cut through the quiet village. It was Hans the lumberjack.
"There is a monster nearby!"
"Everyone, hide in your houses! It might enter the village!"
"Uwaaah!"
"M-Mommy!"
The shout made the village descend into panic in an instant. 'Coming to think of it, a commotion like this also happened on the day of my baptism, didn't it?' I thought as I set out in a rush, sword in hand. It was, as of yet, uncustomized, a simple iron sword. I had not a single scrap of armor or a shield on me either, but my physical abilities at least seemed not to have dropped. I opened the door with a bang and saw the chaotic state of the village.
"Ah, everyone, run!"
"Eep! This never happened before!"
As the villagers scrambled to get away, I looked around. No matter how much I strained my eyes looking near the old woman selling vegetables, there was no trace of the slime girl that should be there.
This was a world where humans and monsters did not coexist, after all!
It was to be expected with Ilias around, but sad to see nonetheless. But first of all, I would need to make sure the villagers weren't attacked. Just as I was about to keep moving after stopping for a moment to observe the village, Aunt Bettie took note of me and called out.
"Luka, stop! Just leave this to the soldiers of Ilias Temple!"
Her voice was full of worry. Her still being kind even in this world made me happy and simultaneously made a sense of duty well up inside me; I ought not to worry her.
"It's fine, Auntie! I will do something about this!"
"L-Luka, you... Take care!"
She gave me a proper send-off. Maybe seeing a Luka with a completely different air about him than usual made her understand something. And so, as she watched me from her door, I rushed in the direction of Hans' voice. Running along the road leading into the forest, I quickly found the monster in question.
A slime girl appeared!
"Haha, what a delicious-looking boy~"
What appeared before me was a slime girl, a type of monster that lived near Ilias Village in great numbers. They were weak individually, but—Speaking of which, the soldiers from my former world also always went out in considerable numbers... Anyway, even if they were weak monsters, they remained a threat to a regular person. Still, I didn't want to be too rough with her.
"Uhm... A human village is nearby, so could you please turn back?" I tried to appeal to her with my sword sheathed and hands lowered to show my lack of hostility, but...
"Haha, are you what they call a pacifist? I won't follow that kind of request~ After all, I'm really hungry, you know? Or... will you treat me to some semen?"
"T-That would be a bit difficult; how about some fish?"
"Nooope~ I like fish too, but I really wanna try some semen~"
I'd been thoroughly milked by monsters in my former world, but this was a world with Ilias around. If you were to carelessly feed even a friendly monster, you would likely still end up being carried off in most cases.
"Can't be helped..."
I didn't want to rough her up, so I walked over to a nearby tree with a sigh and gave it a punch. With a sound akin to an explosion, the tree splintered to pieces.
"If you really want to fight, the same thing would probably happen to you," I said with a smile.
"Fueee! Scary!" She screamed and ran away crying.
The slime girl was chased off!
10 experience points obtained!
"Sheesh." I shook off the wood chips from my hand as I watched the slime girl leave.
In a world where humans didn't coexist with monsters, there would likely be even more opportunities for proper fights than before. But currently, all I had was an iron sword, clothes of ordinary fabric, and my own body. Ilias continent had the weakest monsters, so it was still fine for now, but it would be best to acquire new equipment as soon as possible. Just as I was about to turn around to be baptized to help that goal along, I heard another familiar booming noise from the forest.
"By any chance... Ilias!?"
I wondered why she dropped into the woods rather than the mountain, but I put those doubts aside for now and rushed through the forest at a pace that rivaled elves while slipping past the trees. My field of view began to broaden as I went due to the great number of broken trees. And then, within the center of a crater inside a cleared-out corner deep in the forest, there she was.
"Alice—"
I had never seen her before—It was the unmistakable form of my friend. Ever since leaving Iliasville, I had always been together with Alice/Ilias—Two sets of memories!?
My head was in turmoil, but for now, I had to do something about the Alice right before my eyes. There were no external injuries, but she nonetheless seemed to have taken significant damage. Unfortunately, I had no items like Healing Herbs or the items required for medicine job skills. White Magic probably wasn't powerful enough; In that case...
"Sword of Miracles, bestow your sacred blessing!"
Using the mysteries of swordsmanship, I unleashed healing powers from my blade. The light emanating from my sword shone onto her body, healing her internal injuries. Then when I peeked in to see if she was alright, her eyes snapped open.
"Are you okay, Alice?" I subconsciously called out to her just like when we were comrades... with a sword in one hand.
She stared at me, and the moment her eyes fell on my sword, her gaze turned to steel, and she lashed out with her tail. Seeing her strike, I hurriedly jumped back.
"You there, human... Assaulting me while I sleep, surely you are prepared for the consequences!?"
She glared at me, anger and hatred roiling in her eyes. This was bad, really bad!
"N-No! I was healing you!"
"Who in the world holds up their sword while healing someone!?"
"There's a sword skill like that! L-Look, you're healed, aren't you?"
"Do you think I would believe such a ridiculous... Wait, what? I'm healed?" She checked her body, seeming surprised by the lack of pain. Her hostility toward me quickly changed to confusion.
"...You really healed me? Do it again. If you do anything weird, I shall show no mercy."
"A-Alright, Sword of Miracles, bestow your sacred blessing!"
I once more held my sword aloft. The healing power flowed down into Alice, curing the remaining damage.
"I see... It seems you were not lying. But..."
"But?" I tilted my head. Was something about it unsatisfactory?
"This is definitely holy power! Using something like that on me, are you mocking me, you bastard!?"
"Wha-!?"
That was a terrible thing to say after I went out of my way to help her. It was rather obvious, but it seemed Alice and Ilias were on terrible terms here as well. But it was still upsetting, even if I understood why she acted like this.
"It was the most effective skill I could use at the moment! Even though I helped you... Who do you think you are!?"
"Who I am!? I am... I... am..." Her voice gradually grew quieter. She may have been hesitant to suddenly announce herself as the Monster Lord. After a moment, she averted her eyes. "A traveling gourmet."
...
"Argh! Don't look at me like that!" My blank stare caused her to become angry again. Just as I thought I'd give her a break and go along with her ruse, it seemed she had calmed down as well, looking around, trying to understand her situation.
"Well, whatever. By the way, where are we?"
"Near Iliasville."
"So I was blown off to such a place. That woman... what absurd strength. And who would you be?"
The potent healing and the physical abilities needed to dodge a blow from the Monster Lord were probably the things she was wondering about most. In the end, who was I?
"I'm the hero apprentice, Luka. I live in the nearby Iliasville."
"As if someone like you is an apprentice!" She immediately cut in. Well, I suppose it couldn't be helped that she saw it as a total lie. But due to being replaced, I probably actually was still a hero apprentice here.
"...No, your scent is undoubtedly the most exquisite I have ever smelled. You truly haven't been baptized." She licked her lips. Apparently, her being a glutton did not change; if anything, her larger body probably made it even worse.
"Hold on, the baptism! I have to hurry!"
"Wait."
I quickly turned around as I remembered the time, and Alice made a serious effort to coil her tail around me, which I frantically dodged.
"We can talk more later! Today is the day I have to undergo the baptism!"
"Don't accept Ilias' baptism; it's worthless. Not to mention that your semen becoming utterly unpalatable would be a considerable shame."
She looked at me with predatory eyes, making me feel like a predator was sizing me up... actually, that was probably literally what was happening. I couldn't help but shudder at the thought that she must be far more powerful than her small counterpart, even at her best.
"I will have to travel soon, so getting baptized as a hero is the most convenient thing to do. Ah, see you later! Torrent of time, obey my will, Warp!"
"What!? A human using Time Magic!?... Also, didn't he know my name?... Well, unfortunately for him, I do not think he will be able to be baptized."
Despite the various mysteries, Alice let out a pleasant laugh as she imagined what was about to happen. Also, when he came here, it must have been on foot. That unforgettable aroma still lingered in the air. She followed it while thinking of the delectable meal that had escaped her just as she was growing hungry.
TN: So... I figured I may as well do something productive when I'm procrastinating on writing more Two Fakes and settled on translating a story I like. Don't worry, I won't be abandoning it or anything; if anything, I'm hoping that having multiple projects will help me keep a better writing rhythm going.