Natsuki Subaru was a human being, born by him and lived for all seventeen full years. His father and mother, his parents, who took care of him tirelessly, spent these seventeen years helping him, teaching and educating him.

Natsuki Subaru went to school like all the children of his era, received an education like the rest, and his lifestyle was attractive and did not differ from others until this happened...

He's that man's child, isn't he? That's why he's so amazing!

Indeed, I think so too.

After hearing these words once, Natsuki Subaru began to hear them much more often. His mind was filled with thoughts that his own achievements, generated by words and deeds, had no significance. After all, he's his father's child.

His father is a wonderful man, a good man, a great man. However...

– I really find it problematic that an old man influenced my world in such a way.

When his eyes opened, he realized that he was a little surprised. However, seconds later, surprise turned to confusion, and then even panic. The teenager became like a beached fish and panicked. His eyes, which intimidated other people, looked around with unprecedented force, as if trying to find hidden bonuses around, as if in some kind of game.

– Huh..? Wasn't I at my room just now?

It was dark all around, but his eyes seemed to have adjusted to the darkness. But this is not surprising, considering that he spends his days sitting in his dark room and playing video games or reading manga. That's why it wasn't a big problem for him to distinguish all the objects around him.

A small unlit lamp, a large bag containing something. And the book next to his hand. Such a dark old cover already seems worn out, but for some reason it doesn't make the book any worse. On the contrary, Natsuki Subaru suddenly had a strong feeling that this book was amazing, even though he hadn't even opened it once. And he himself is lying on a surprisingly soft bedding made of animal tissue.

– Don't tell me it's a cave?… What am I doing here..?

When he looked more closely, he realized that the walls here were completely uneven and completely unusual, as if they were made of some kind of excessively smooth stone. And after touching them, it became clear that they were damn cold, which is what a real stone should be.

– Is it really... another world? This is not how I imagined.

Moreover, something seemed strange to him. His arms and legs are not the same as he remembered them, there is some slight pressure on his chest, and his hair has become too long. None of this causes him any discomfort, but the difference is felt quite easily.

– Wait, what is this...?!

He looked down at his hand. The nails are slightly longer than before, but it was all about the skin. Her color turned out to be a little darker than he remembered, as if he had become a European instead of a Japanese. He swallowed, the tension building, but as he looked at one part of his body, then another, his stress level became more and more.

Legs, arms, the body itself. It's not like that. Natsuki Subaru even touched his chest to understand what this strange feeling was, and then a painful realization appeared on his face. A shock of dark reddish hair easily settled into his hand. They are long and braided, but it does not cause any inconvenience, on the contrary, it is even better.

– And why did I have to become a girl?… I was hoping that the summoning to another world would be much more favorable to me.

He's only wearing a light T-shirt made of thin fabric... even without underwear, which really confused him. However, over time, he managed to overcome his awkwardness and put on something equally light, which was in that big bag next to him. As a result, he additionally wrapped himself in a dark robe, which suited him perfectly. It became clear that these were definitely the things of that girl.

– Oh?! Or did this girl just summon me?! Damn, then why did I end up in her body? Is this her mistake or something?

He had always dreamed of being summoned to another world by a Goddess or some other sweet girl, but he had never imagined that he would become a girl himself. This baffled him and put an unpleasant pressure on his sense of self-awareness.

– Although the other question is... why does she live in a cave at all?

Even if you put aside the main problem for a while, you can't help but notice that he himself is in such a strange place. Taking only a surprisingly tempting book with him, he moved forward along the passage, which was dimly lit by small torches placed at a relatively large distance from each other so that he could find his way.

There were several more passages in the cave, but Subaru was not at a loss. He licked his finger and held it up for emphasis, but waited. Ten seconds passed and nothing happened, he felt disappointed.

– Damn it. I was hoping to feel a gust of wind or something and find a way out.

However, when he had already lowered his hand, the flame of the torch next to him twitched slightly to the side. He immediately realized that this was a sign and followed where, in his opinion, such a small but extremely useful stream of air came from. And then, after a couple of minutes of wandering in the semi-darkness, Natsuki Subaru left the cave and stepped out into the bright light of the afternoon sun.

– Finally!

He felt proud of himself for being able to get out of the cave. Although he had a feeling of slight discomfort from the fact that he was unlikely to be able to remember the way back, and there were personal belongings of this girl. He put his hand to his forehead, feeling like an idiot.

– I'm a fool... hm..?

But the self-deprecation didn't last very long, because he noticed someone next to him. Not far from the entrance, a man was sleeping on a bed of leaves. There were several empty bottles next to him, and there was a strong smell of alcohol in the air.

– Ugh... is he a drunk? Although…

Natsuki Subaru immediately noticed that their clothes were similar, they had the same robes. Are they friends? Colleagues? Allies? Lovers?

– Oh, no, I obviously don't like the last variation...

He looked at the drunken sleeping man once more and moved a little to the side so as not to smell that nasty smell. Subaru knew perfectly well that waking up a drunk wasn't easy, and even if he did, it would be even more difficult when he woke up.

Sometimes it's better to leave things as they are.

And then he noticed something in the sky in the distance that he didn't like. A persistent cloud of dense black smoke was rising in the sky in the distance.

– What is this..? A fire?!

If the fire is out there, it could be a forest fire. In this case, the flame will spread quite quickly. However, no animals could be heard around, not a single bird flew over the forest from above. It felt like this flame in the distance didn't bother anyone.

– Since it's a different world, and I'm in a different body...

He took another look at the drunk man, who was sleeping peacefully on the almost bare ground, and then moved forward. A great thought came to him, which he had already dreamed of many times. Since this is a different world, then of course he must have special abilities.

It was for this reason that Natsuki Subaru decided that he could withstand a fire or a wild beast. Perhaps he even has water magic and will be able to extinguish the flames to prevent the spread of fire. Yes! After all, he is probably a hero, the last hope of this world! And with these thoughts, he went forward like a firefly to a flame.

Stepping on large rocks, wet earth and fallen tree branches, he came to a small slope from which he could safely roll down, as if for fun. However, he didn't want to get his clothes dirty, so he didn't try. But from here there was an excellent view of what was happening, where…

– What the hell..?

He saw where the dense black smoke was coming from. In the distance, a village or some small settlement was engulfed in flames. Faint silhouettes of human beings ran here and there. It's hard to say if they were panicking or moving smoothly, but quickly. However, Natsuki Subaru immediately realized that the village was in danger, and it didn't even matter why. After all, he immediately moved forward, sliding down a small slope and dirtying his clothes and hands in wet mud.

However, this is not a problem, because now the real problem is right in front of him. He ran as fast as he could to the village, hoping to help someone. He must be of some use.

It seemed as if adrenaline had suddenly hit his brain, provoked movements throughout his body and allowed him to move extremely fast. Subaru could even admit that he would never have been able to achieve such speed, even at the school sports festival, where he could prove himself well. That's why we managed to get to the village relatively quickly, but…

– Am I too late..?!

It seemed that just a few minutes ago someone was here, someone was alive, but now they are not. There were only charred bodies lying around, there were no signs of life on them. Subaru's right hand instinctively pressed against his lips when he smelled that scent. The smell of burnt meat hit him sharply in the nose. He wasn't ready for this.

He usually liked fried meat, it always smelled nice and was quite tasty, but this… It turned out to be something nasty, something disgusting, especially when you realize that these are people. And so a viscous, nasty mass came up to his throat, smelling of bitterness and acid, but he managed to swallow it back with unbearable difficulty.

The flames were smoldering all around, but he could tell that the village would definitely burn down to the end. However, should he have given up hope? Natsuki Subaru was not ready for this, but decided to resist his miserable fate and move forward, carefully stepping over the smoldering bodies of men and women. He almost threw up again when he saw the child's corpse, but something was wrong. For some reason, an arrow was stuck in the boy's body, which apparently hit him in the back from a long distance.

– It's not a sign of anything normal at all.

He considered murder immoral, and killing children immoral in the second degree. But what does this mean for the village? Were they attacked? Did they fight? Were they executed? Were they set on fire on purpose? These questions did not give Natsuki Subaru a single drop of peace until he noticed that the door of one of the houses in the distance twitched. It's made of wood, slowly smoldering from the flames, the house itself has been burning for almost half, but it looks like someone is persistently trying to break out of it!

These sudden events gave him strength, and he immediately moved towards the house, trying to open the door, which did not want to give in.

– W-who's here...?

A soft, weak voice could be heard from the other side as he tried to open the door. Hearing this innocent childish babble, Natsuki Subaru was taken aback for a second, but immediately gathered his courage to save at least one innocent soul.

– My name is Subaru! I've come to save you! Be patient a little longer, I'll open this door.

He didn't hear an answer, but he didn't stop banging on the hot wooden door with his surprisingly strong hands, which refused to open over and over again. The temperature around them was rising, and the house itself was slowly getting hotter and hotter because of the flames. The fire had already consumed another part of the building and could soon reach this door. If the child is inside, he probably could have been suffocated by carbon monoxide.

– BUT I WON'T GIVE UP!

And with another hard kick, he kicked the door to hell, seeing a little girl lying on the hallway floor. Her clothes were singed almost to ashes, and her skin itself was dark, but it was easy to see that she had suffered severe burns of the second or even third degree, but that wasn't the only thing that struck Subaru. Her strange hair, or rather something next to it, surprised him much more.

– Wow, that's the beauty of this world.

But he didn't have time to think about her unusual appearance, as the flames inside flared up with renewed vigor from the incoming air flow, and the carbon monoxide hovering around hit his eyes and nose hard, making it difficult to see and breathe normally.

– Damn it.. Ghah! Kha-kha!

This poison got into his lungs, but he resisted and stubbornly picked up the girl in his arms. She's surprisingly light, or he's strong enough himself. In any case, he managed to get her out of the burning building before the ceiling behind him cracked and collapsed, falling with burning wooden planks right on the spot where he himself had been a few seconds ago.

– Wow! lucky, huh..! Damn.

He collapsed to the ground, lowering the girl next to him onto the stone surface of the path. It hurt him to look at her burnt body, so he quickly wrapped her in his cloak. However, she never regained consciousness. Natsuki Subaru really, really hoped he wasn't too late. His fingers involuntarily moved to her neck, where he felt her pulse. Her heartbeat was very fast, but she was still unconscious.

– That's a bad sign... but what can I do..?

He found himself in a bad situation in the middle of an accident. A disaster had occurred that he had never expected. And, probably, this girl has the hardest time here, because, most likely, the people around her were her friends, acquaintances and even family. And they all died. Thinking of something so depressing, he turned his gaze back to her. What caught his attention earlier was…

– I always knew that dog-girls exist.. huh...

Instead of normal human ears, she had small drooping ears that retained the silver-ash color of her hair. And there is even a small tail with hair of the same color. Something so unusual made him forget for a short period of time that he was in the midst of pure horror, where many people had died.

– Hm, you don't look like them, but still decided to save those disgusting demon-things?

And then a gruff voice rang out behind him, and a shadow loomed over. And as soon as his head turned sharply at the sound, he heard for a second as if something was cutting through the air. The last thing Natsuki Subaru saw was the blade of a battle axe glistening with fresh blood, which instantly split his world in two.