Chapter 03
I had only succeeded in getting out of breath for no reason. Unlike me, Hamma wasn’t even winded.
“What were you doing, nyaaa?”
“…Warming up.”
I looked back at the orc settlement, sinking into thought.
I didn’t have a proper weapon, and I didn’t have any recovery meals either.
My stats were better than before, sure—but I couldn’t afford to take this lightly. I hadn’t fought a single monster in the eight years I’d played this game.
“Haaa…”
I found a sharp stone shard lying nearby and lashed it to a sturdy tree branch. After making so many of these while chopping firewood, I finished it almost automatically.
Hamma watched closely and let out a small gasp of admiration.
“I wondered how you were going to fight with nothing—so you were planning to make one yourself!”
No. I was originally planning to just beat them to death with my bare hands. I thought there would only be ten of them at most.
But what if I get hurt while beating up orcs?
After finishing the stone axe, I looked down at Hamma. Those bright red eyes were sparkling with expectation.
“Hamma. Um… If I get tired during the fight, can I eat you?”
“……”
Rabbit meat is good for stamina, you know.
Hamma stared at me like I was trash that didn’t even belong in recycling.
I quickly took it back.
“……”
“Hahaha. Juuust kidding.”
Anyway, warmup (?) finished—the time had come to earn my pay.
I told Hamma to wait and marched straight toward the orc settlement.
Bwooooot—!
An archer orc in the watchtower spotted me and blew the battle horn.
Spearmen and foot soldiers who had been wandering nearby turned their glowing eyes on me and charged.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
Monsters I’d only ever fought on a computer screen were now rushing at me for real.
The fire of competition I never knew I had a rose within me—except not really. I was terrified.
I took a deep breath and loosened my wrist around the stone axe. Then I struck with all my strength at the first orc that reached me.
And—
“Gweeeehhhk!”
One swing. Dead.
“Huh? That was… way too easy.”
I glanced down at the stone axe, tilting my head. Was I always this strong?
I didn’t have time to ponder. Another orc came charging with a spear.
Instinctively, I swung again.
Crack!
“Gwaaaahk!”
Crunch!
“Kyeeeehk!”
…And so on.
Within minutes, the fight was over, so easy it almost felt embarrassing. I don’t think it even took ten minutes.
“Hero! You’re amazing! I knew it! I knew you’d do it!”
From afar, Hamma hopped over, cheering wildly.
He babbled on about how he knew I would defeat the orc settlement, but I was honestly a little shaken.
What… the hell? I’m insanely strong!
I didn’t even need healing meals. The orcs hadn’t landed a single hit.
Even my weakest swings sent them flying. At this point, it was starting to get creepy.
Wait… am I actually the strongest one in this world?
If so, why was I this strong, and right at the start of the game?
As I tried to pinpoint the source of my power, a deeper question suddenly surfaced.
What was I, exactly?
I recalled the reflection I’d once seen in a lake—
Short black hair to the shoulders. Sharp black eyes. Small nose. Red lips. Pale skin.
Completely different from any character in Tales World.
Well, of course. The reflection had been me.
I wasn’t a possession-type transmigrator—I was a dimensional traveller.
“Hero! Heeero?”
While I drifted in thought, Hamma waved his tiny hand frantically in front of my face.
I shook my head and headed into the ravaged orc settlement to free the kidnapped rabbit beastfolk.
“Whoa. This place is unreal…”
Inside the bone dome, treasures were scattered everywhere.
I tossed the key I’d taken from a gatekeeper orc to Hamma and walked toward a treasure chest. Might as well farm everything while I was here.
I opened it with zero expectations—thinking it would just be beginner items.
“…Oh. Oh, damn.”
I had found a rare item I never expected.
A smile crept across my lips.
“This is… a Demon Lord’s Castle map fragment.”
To reach the final area of Tales World, you had to get to the Demon Lord’s Castle. This was one of the pieces of the map leading there.
“When I meet Kaizen, I should give it to him.”
I tucked it carefully against my chest and turned around with a pleased grin.
Hamma had already freed all the rabbit beastfolk and was beside me with sparkling eyes.
“Hero, thank you so much! How could I ever repay you…?”
“Repay it with money.”
“……”
Hamma’s eyes instantly went cold.
What? Don’t say things you don’t mean if you’re not paying.
Shrugging, I exited the orc settlement.
Judging by the sun, not much time had passed—but I needed to hurry.
“Everything’s done, right? Then I’m going!”
I waved half-heartedly and turned to leave.
But a tiny hand tugged at my sleeve.
“Umm… H-hero…”
“What?”
“If you don’t mind… that thing in your bundle… just one bite…”
Hamma was staring at the leftover roast meat sticking out of my pack, drooling.
“I actually wandered around for two days looking for you… without eating…”
His stomach growled loudly enough to echo. Watching him twist shyly, face red, I was momentarily stunned.
“What the—so you are a carnivorous rabbit?”
I realised once again how narrow-minded my assumptions were.
“Right. Rabbits can crave meat too.”
I opened my pack and pulled out the roast meat, holding my hand out first.
“Money. Nothing’s free.”
“…Ha! Really… ha! Even for this…!”
His drooping ears shot back up.
Grumbling, he fished coins from his pocket and shoved them at me.
“Here! Take it!”
“Heat it up before eating. It’s cold.”
“So, um… Where are you going now?”
I looked toward the east.
“To the starting village. I have someone to find.”
Time to go find the real hero.
“Ah! Then just keep going straight east!”
He said it while already devouring the meat. Poor guy really had been starving.
His round eyes shimmered slightly—guess it tasted good.
“Okay, I’m really going now.”
“Hero… nyam nyam… Be careful…! Mmmf… come again… someday!”
Correcting him about “hero” was too tiring. I waved and turned around.
“All right. Time to finally go see Kaizen.”
I walked, and walked, and walked. Across plains, around a huge lake, for an entire day without resting.
Until at last, I reached the outskirts of the starting village.
“Oh—so this is what it really looks like.”
I shaded my eyes and looked down at the town from the hill. From up here, I could see everything.
The red and blue roofs, the white smoke drifting from chimneys, people bustling about as morning began, horses munching lazily on fodder.
A faint memory of the starting village flickered, then faded.
“To think I’d actually get to see this with my own eyes…”
Just as I finished admiring the view—
“Heeerooo!”
…?
Why was a voice I really should not be hearing… echoing here?
“That’s weird. I must be hearing things.”
I flicked both ears lightly and started down the hill again.
“Heeeroooo! Huff—huff! Wait—!”
Hamma was sprinting toward me from a distance.
He had been a dot just moments ago, but of course—he was a rabbit.
He skidded to a stop in front of me, panting heavily.
“Hah… haaah…!”
“What is it?”
Rabbits apparently can get winded. His pale face was flushed like a roasted sweet potato.
I handed him a water bottle, and he gulped it down before managing to speak.
“T-the meat! That meat!”
“Meat? Hey—did the meat not fill you?”
How far had he run for food?!
Seeing my bewildered look, Hamma slapped his chest urgently.
“No! That’s not it! That meat you gave me—how did you make it?!”
“…I just roasted it over a fire.”
“Aaagh! That’s not what I mean! Hero, when I ate that roast meat, the brainwashing on me broke!”
