[Part 1/4]
Everything lay in decay, collapsed, desolate, and in ruins. It was destroyed beyond recognition.
A tall mountain range with a strong spiritual veins. The plateau was supposed to be a peaceful resting place.
The not-so-vast land, however, provided enough bounty to sustain the villagers, who numbered no more than a hundred. Most monsters wouldn't bother to climb the steep and tangled mountains. It was a hidden village nestled in the mountains... a rare safe haven for people.
Of course, while the beasts crawling on the ground could be dealt with, but the flying monsters posed a bit more of a problem, though not something to worry too much about. Really powerful monsters wouldn't stick around here where there isn't much prey, especially with "her" around to handle the smaller ones.
"She" was picked up by the village's elderly couple. The old man found and the old woman nurtured the infant that had been abandoned at the foot of the mountain below the hidden village. Not even of the same blood, nor the same species, but they cherished "her" as if "she" were their own grandchild.
Due to her non-human nature, she gained exceptional strength as a child in the village, and yet she was truly loved. Eventually, she became a defender of the village. With her strength, she protected the village from various Mōryō (evil spirits) and sometimes went down the mountain to gather wild vegetables, fruits, and medicinal herbs for the village.
The unusual girl, around the age of ten, had no doubts about this and instead her heart was filled with overflowing pride. If the elderly couple, who were literally her foster parents, were pleased, if everyone in the village was pleased, if she could protect her place, there was no greater joy for her.
Even if she had wounds every day, even if she never left the elderly couple's hut for anything other than her duties in the village, even if she remained unknown to outsiders... still, she was truly happy.
This is not a tragedy. In this tough world ruled by tragedy, where being ruthless is the key to survival, it wasn't unfair. At least she had food, care, and even snacks. Just having those things made her luckier than many other kids.
...However, the true tragedy is revealed in this very moment.
"Ah, u, a...?"
She didn't know what had happened. The last thing she witnessed was light, heat, and a gust of wind. In just a few seconds, everything turned to dust. The village was destroyed, and the people she knew had become unrecognizable masses of flesh. The elderly couple who raised her were the same. All that remained were crushed fragments of flesh, unrecognizable as their original form.
She didn't know it, but far away in the north, a huge fight caused all the destruction. Two powerful deities took place over the Great Spiritual Vein. This battle, one of the countless stray bullets in the epic that will be passed down in myths for a thousand years, ended it all. But she, like a small unnoticed bird, didn't know anything about these huge events. For her, these stories of deities fighting didn't matter at all.
Because of this, amidst this ignorance, the time left for her is not long...
"Ah, ah... a..."
She groaned. Her small body was thrown away by the explosion. Her wings were mercilessly damaged, her feathers were scattered, and one of her arm was horribly torn off.
From the cross-section, thick, sticky dark red blood continues to flow. She thought it looked like crushing a wild strawberry. The lack of pain from the wound must be because her senses were numb. Although the dull ache was felt throughout her body, as it had been harshly battered.
Oh, am I going to die... she felt that very naturally and accepted it. Her young mind, however, was surprisingly calm. In a way, it was because of her youth.
A young child does not truly know the fear of death. They are ignorant, innocent, and pure. They have no knowledge, experience, or understanding of the countless trivial things that are more important than life itself, and they do not know the meaning or weight of their own resolve. They risk their lives recklessly.
Perhaps it is also because she has lost everything important and has not even witnessed the face of her enemy. If there were a clear enemy, she may have been consumed by revenge. Unfortunately, this is more like a natural disaster. There is no room for hatred. She can only curse her own fate.
"Ugh..."
Driven by pain, sadness, loneliness, and emptiness, she drags her body as if compelled. Luckily, she leans against the base of a tree that managed to avoid collapse.
She believes it was a fruit tree of the same age as herself. She thinks Grandfather mentioned that it was about time for it to bear fruit... Now, there are no fruits, not even leaves. Only bare branches remain, like a bald head.
"Mmm..."
"She" looks down at her surroundings again with her empty gaze, filled with the difficult sensation of her name gouging her chest.
What she saw was the scene of a destroyed village.
"..."
There are no words, not even a groan. It was a village that had been completely destroyed, with nothing left. Under the thick overcast sky, the houses, storerooms, and everything else in the village had been blown away. The livestock sheds were also destroyed, and the carcasses of horses and cows were scattered. The fields that everyone had desperately cultivated were burned, and not a single blade of grass remained.
There was nothing. Absolutely nothing. All the memories had destroyed.
The people who helped her, the people she knew, the people she remembered, everything was lost. Everyone and everything, forgotten. Their existence would eventually be completely forgotten, without even a trace.
Everything, everything, and surely, in the end, she would also...
"..."
Her consciousness was fading. Her body was growing cold. Her vision was blurring. Perhaps due to her origin, it was not so easy to die, but without a doubt, the end was approaching with each passing moment, and she no longer had the will or the means to avoid it.
"It's terrible. Everyone is dead."
That was, at least in terms of the text alone, a nonchalant remark.
"Ah, uhh...?"
How much time had passed? She found herself in a hazy state of consciousness. Amidst the haze, she spotted a figure—a young man clad in a tattered coat and a thick mountain-climbing outfit fashioned from sturdy youkai fur. He resembled a boy, casually exploring the scorched earth that was once a village.
"It was supposed to be well-developed in the shadow of the mountain. Carving through the mountain and coming here, is that a joke? It's not funny... Isuzu, how is it over there?"
"No good. There are no cabins left intact. The survivors, probably..."
The one responding to the young man's voice with politeness and respect, conveying a sense of reverence, was a girl. She was slightly older than her and, even in these times, her neatly dressed appearance seemed more like trying to act grown-up rather than being sophisticated. She hurriedly approached the young man, carrying a heavy burden on her back.
"Is that so... Goken, what about your side? Any discoveries?"
"I checked the fields as well... No luck. Everything has been blown away by the explosion. Not a single soul, not even livestock, remains."
Following the girl who was carrying a load, a giant man with unique hair color appeared. He had a muscular build and carried a greatsword on his back. With a deep and distinctive voice, he called out to the young man.
His voice was filled with respect and straight-forwardness.
"I see... That's right. Even the monsters at the foot of the mountain were turned into minced meat. It's shocking how easily they died from the impact alone."
The young man shrugged his shoulders and chuckled coldly. His words seemed like a confirmation of something he already knew. Then, he gazed into the distance.
"Even from this distance, this place can still be hit by stray bullets. It's really no joke... Is that crazy bastard serious about observing? Is he just here for sightseeing? It's like diving into a typhoon and tsunami."
"The terrain and ecosystem will likely undergo significant changes... It seems that we'll need to update our maps. I'll need a copy of your records later."
The young man sighed, and the girl carrying the load responded heavily. The young man murmured softly, "Ah, it's not like that..." and she heard his reaction. It seemed that there was a significant gap in understanding between the two.
"Ah, ah..."
Now, the girl doesn't know why but she tried to raise her voice. Even though she should have given up on living, there should have been no meaning in calling out, and yet, she was trying to raise her voice. A faint yearning for life. A foolish act born from finding hope in the spider thread reaching from the sky. Resistance to death.
"Let's go. The shockwave has blown away the dam on the mountain path. The monsters will soon climb up here too."
"I've also checked the chief's house, but it doesn't seem like there's anything significant. There's no need to stay here anymore. It's best to withdraw."
The giant man, the girl, and the young man urged each other. The young man, scratching his head as he looked up at the dusty, overcast sky, muttered, "Another business partner wiped out. It's a recession." The girl carrying the load comforted him earnestly, the giant guarding their surroundings. And the three of them left the village together.
In the darkness of despair and hopelessness, the girl desperately called out, "Wait! Please don't go! I'm here! There are survivors here!" But her pleas seemed to vanish into thin air, her voice falling on deaf ears as the figure drifted away. As her vision blurred, she reached out and called out desperately.
But hope was slipping away from her grasp, leaving her empty-handed...
"..."
The hand she had extended fell back down, devoid of the strength to hold on, and she struggled to even open her eyes.
She felt herself sinking into the void, surrounded by darkness and engulfed in desperate despair. It seemed like an inescapable fate, and she could feel consciousness slipping away, melting into nothingness.
"Are you awake? I hope the rescue call will be louder next time. ...Do you want to eat this? I borrowed it from your village."
When she next woke, she saw him illuminated by the fire.
He offered her a small red fruit with an untroubled smile.
It is surely the most precious encounter in her life's memory...
"..."
"She" strokes the towering tree, she recalls the distant, almost mythical memories of ancient times.
It is nostalgic, beautiful, fleeting, and a phantom that will never return... It shapes her existence and remains the reason why she still rests in the present world.
"..."
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