The next time I woke up, I was in a pure white space.

The people of Samarian who were standing in the center of the white space were shouting countless grudges.

And along with hearing the voices of grudges, I was shown the memories of the people of Samarian that were projected in a folded way. We are forced to see people burned to the ground, starving, weeping in the rubble, and trembling with the fear of death.

I can't look away from the sight of it hitting me directly in the head, and I grit my teeth while suffering from a headache.

 

"Ugh......

 

The first thing I was shown was the memory of a man suffering from poison.

The man who inhaled the poison of the evil dragon and continued to suffer from rotting lungs and unable to breathe properly was sacrificed and his soul was removed just when he thought that he could finally see signs of healing and return to his family.

 

"Live more and ...... with your family"

「...... ......!"

 

The next thing I was shown was the memory of a woman who had witnessed the death of her beloved family in front of her.

Having lost something important and lost hope of living, she longed for her family, whom she had not yet seen even now that her soul was trapped by a curse, and she hoped for liberation.

 

"I just want to see you."

"But, Guuuu......uuu

 

Next is the memory of a knight who fought to protect his people from the evil dragon.

Unable to penetrate any attack, he was poisoned head-on by the evil dragon, and although he miraculously survived, his soul was removed by the merciless king and sorcerer.

 

"I'm finally saved, that's what I thought......

「...... Whew."

 

The voices of the skeletons' grudges are layered and hammered into my head.

Memories of those who were attacked by the evil dragon and were severely injured.

The memory of being drained of the soul by a nefarious king and a sorcerer.

A memory in which a daily life that would have been happy turns into hell in an instant.

In the midst of suffering, the scene changes even more.

A pile of rubble stretches across the field of vision, a small hand stained with soot.

The Lord of Vision--the girl cries without a voice.

 

―――Gugyaoooooooo

 

The battle cry of the evil dragon trembling the air.

The girl who had fallen from the impact looked at the end of the voice, and saw an evil dragon that looked stronger and more ferocious than I remembered, glaring at the man standing in front of her, exhaling poisonous breath.

Dressed in the clothes and armor of an adventurer, the man with a long sword and a small sword at his waist in a sheath disproportionate to his appearance was unabashedly confronted by the roar of the evil dragon.

 

―――Are you Hananda?

―――......。

 

To the silent man, the evil dragon wields its large tail sideways.

The tail approaches with tremendous momentum, turning the surrounding buildings into rubble.

The man, on the other hand, drew from his waist the same small knife that I had, and went towards his tail, which would contain some heinous force.

The rising dust and the impact of the tail hitting the man hit the girl stunned.

The girl, who was so shocked that she rolled on the ground, saw a man who had caught the tail of the evil dragon with a fist that held a small knife unharmed.

 

―――Huh!?

―――Strengthening the lineage, sealing.

 

The man muttered, and a sphere like Kazuki's magic bullet emerged softly from the blade of the small sword he had received, ...... pou. The sphere returns to the blade of the small sword, and this time the blade itself takes on a golden light.

Then the man took a small knife with light in his hand and stabbed it into his abdomen.

 

―――Solution.

 

At the same time, he pulled the knife in his left hand out of his stomach, and for some reason, he must have stabbed himself in the abdomen with a small knife, but there was no wound or blood stain.

 

―――!

 

Without warning, the man runs towards the evil dragon.

The speed is unimaginably fast from a slim body, and every time you step on it, the ground is greatly crushed.

The evil dragon opens its large mouth and exhales a deadly poisonous breath at the approaching man.

 

―――Sealed.

 

However, the poison disappeared as if it were sucked away by the hero's mere thrust of the hilt of the long sword he wore at his waist.

The hero strikes the astonished evil dragon in the chest with his left hand holding a small sword.

The huge body of the evil dragon is blown away by a mere fist that has no magical power, and it dances in the air.

 

―――Gugaaa

-- Rot with your own poison, monster.

 

The hero with the small sword draws out his long sword, holds it in both hands, and holds it in the upper row.

 

―――Solution!

 

He shouted so powerfully and swung his sword down, and a vicious purple shockwave ran from the blade of the sword, engulfing one of the evil dragon's wings in the air and cutting through the clouds, and disappearing into the sky.

The girl, who had been lying down and watching the blow of the man who had cut through even the dark cloudy sky, fainted with a feeling akin to fear and longing, and never woke up.

 

"Hey, who's to blame? King? Scary dragons? Or...... Brave man?'

「...... Gu ......"

 

Skeletons--no, they are the ones who are confronting me with the suffering of their life.

Some people still wanted to live, some wanted to see their loved ones, and some of them were resentful of leaving their precious family behind.

 

"'I want to live'"

"'Why'"

"'It's your fault.'"

"'Disappear.'"

"'Die'"

"'Atonement'"

 

The voices of resentment that are showered on the surroundings intensify.

Along with that, the headache intensifies and I can't stand properly. When you kneel and hand on the ground, your hands and feet slowly bury themselves in the white ground.

 

"If you sleep like this...... Will it be liberated...... Hahaha"

 

I don't feel like I can take it anymore.

My head is going to explode and I don't even know if I'm looking forward or down.

I was forced to see the sight of corpses over and over again, and my mind was in tatters as I heard the grudges each time.

It's okay to give up, it's okay to get easier, and that kind of thought grows in my mind.

But-,

 

"--Loud, shut up."

 

That's not a good reason to fall now.

He tells the skeletons to do so, pulling his sunken limbs off the ground and staggering to his feet.

 

―――Huh!?

 

The skeletons are upset by my words.

Is it no wonder that I, who had been dead until a while ago, would be surprised if I suddenly stood up?

It's a dead body, for sure. My head hurts a lot, and my consciousness is blurred.

While putting pressure on my legs that were about to fall, I slowly glared at the surroundings and spat out the best voice I could give myself.

 

"What do you want to do with this? Did you want to be sympathetic? Do you want to tell me to be quietly trapped? It's okay to joke around ......! I'm not telling you to accept death. But hey, I don't think I can harm Eva, who is still alive now!"

 

My head hurts so much that I can't even understand what I'm thinking and saying.

Still, I have to say what I honestly think.

 

"She's ...... Eva ...... I don't know anything about ...... yet! Spend all your time in this world in a narrow confinement, and decide that it's your world! Still, ...... with a smile on my face!"

 

You really don't want it to go away.

You want to live more.

And yet, how can you force yourself to accept an unreasonable story...... Is there such a story?

 

"I wanted her to know the outside world! It's not just a few trees! It's not even a flower that bloomed in a small flower bed! It's not even a pond where not a single fish are swimming! The world I've seen so far has been so small...... Tsu! I want you to know that it's so big outside, so I'm going to break the curse that binds you!!"

 

I know because I'm from the original world.

This world is amazing. Swords, sorcery, monsters, and many unknowns lie around. I was anxious because there were many things I didn't know, but I was very excited to think that amazing things were waiting for me that I would never be able to experience in the original world.

That's why I'm --

 

"In order not to die, to not end up not knowing the outside ......! I'll help her! But I'm going to destroy all the curses that have tormented you......--"

 

Slowly raise your clenched fist upwards and gather your strength.

 

"Shut up and be saved!"

 

I yelled and slammed my fist into the white ground, and the Samaritan people who surrounded me disappeared, and the white space itself shattered like glass as a flame entered from the ground where I had been hit.

My consciousness also wakes up as if I were rising from the surface of the water.

I removed the hand that was holding my head, opened my closed eyes, and thrust my arms out vigorously, as if to shake off the skeletons that had clung to my body.

 

●

 

Immediately after waking up, I crushed the head of the suspicious skeleton and looked down at the skeleton with a clapping of my hands.

 

"The fact that he's carrying a cane and wearing a robe means he's the mastermind, right? Nea"

 

Pointing to the skeleton that is being reconstructed from its skull, he asks Nea, and for some reason she takes a step back, as if frightened.

 

「......」

"Nea?"

"What? Oh yes. The sorcerer who is the cause of the curse...... It is."

 

...... Leaving aside why it was an honorific, I wondered if it was right for me.

It was a distinctly different feeling from the other skeletons, and I thought it might be because it felt more malice than resentment.

As Nea asks about the identity of the robe-clad skeleton, Lucas walks up to Nea with Eva in his arms.

 

"Usato-san! You're safe!"

"Yes, I'm fine, is Lucas okay?"

"Oh, thanks to Nea and them, I won't be hurt or anything."

"I see...... Well, they ......."

 

Could it be that the translucent figures around Nea and the others are like that?

They look more ghostly than skeletons, so it's a little scary.

 

"These are the Samaritan royals that the curse has bound them to."

「...... I see."

 

At Nea's words, he shifts his gaze to the only figure that retains a distinct form—a woman who looks exactly like Eva—and he gives her a cheerful smile that resembles hers.

When I heard about it from Eva, I was expecting that the royals who had been erased by the curse were protecting Eva, so I wasn't too surprised.

 

"Damn it...... How do ......?"

"Oh?"

 

Before I knew it, the sorcerer was standing up, staggering as if he had finished regenerating the head I had shattered.

Nea told me that he had a curse on his soul by executing himself, but he was able to do so for a long time.

It's more of a feeling of dismay than anger .......

As I pressed my forehead, the magician pointed at me with trembling teeth.

 

"Why did you endure it!? It must have been a nightmare that no ordinary person could ever endure!"

「...... Are you referring to the memories shown by the people of Samaria? I don't know why you showed it to me, but I don't know. When I got mad, I shut up. That's it."

"No, no, you can't shut me up like that, what did you do to me......

 

To put it simply, it's true.

At some point, he reverts to his owl form and smiles bitterly at Nea as she jumps on my shoulder.

When he couldn't understand my words, the sorcerer scratched his head and became delirious, looking around at the skeletons around him and screaming.

 

"Then I'll do it again!" Go, the dead! I'm going to break his heart!!"

 

The chains around the skeletons' necks are pulled hard.

However, the skeletons remain weak and motionless. As if ignoring the sorcerer's orders, he lowered his hands lazily and watched the situation.

 

"What's wrong, it doesn't move?"

"Oh, move, why can't you follow my orders!? Don't you want your soul to be freed?!"

 

The chains become even larger, but the skeleton still does not obey the sorcerer's orders.

 

"I guess you all finally figured out that what you're saying is a lie......

"Heh, don't be silly! I don't know if there is such a thing! There's no way these guys can understand the language! As long as they are trapped in the curse, they are just pawns wielding hatred! I don't think they have the will to refuse my orders!'

 

Wrong.

I learned something from their voices and memories.

It's not just hate. Everyone wanted to be free from their suffering, so they were trying to tie themselves to someone. We were in pain, so we asked for help, and we couldn't do anything about this pain on our own, so we kept following orders.

 

"The reason why they are doing this now because they can't speak from the outside is because Usato has drawn them into the same spiritual world as them and made some kind of change in them? When you think about it, it makes sense...... It's not a decent way to do it when you're in danger of having your heart broken. As expected, it's Usato."

「......」

 

I didn't intend to do that at all, so I don't want to be called a jerk.

But it seems that it wasn't a bad thing that I was trapped by the skeletons, even if only temporarily.

 

"There are no more souls to follow you, and I will break the curse here and save Eva and all the imprisoned souls. ...... Nea, I'll decide."

"yes, let's end with this."

 

He clenches his fists and glares sharply at the sorcerer.

The sorcerer stepped back in bewilderment at my gaze, but when he shook his body heavily, he leaped at me with a beastly growl.

 

"If only I could get your body, Aaa

"Usato-san, it's dangerous!!"

"Usato!?"

 

I put my right hand out to the side to reassure Eva and Lucas, who were panicked by the sudden attack of the sorcerer, and grabbed the sorcerer's neck vigorously.

At the same time, a dull ache runs through his head, but he ignores it because it is trivial now, and lifts the sorcerer with one hand.

 

"I'm used to that level of mental attack."

『...... Oh, this monster ......!

"I'm used to being told."

 

In an attempt to escape from his captured right hand, he entangles his arms around him, but his arm strength is weak.

 

"Body, body......!!"

"My body is mine, and if you want it, you can train it in the next life. It's a lot easier than preparing for hundreds of years."

 

Saying this, he grabbed his neck and shook the struggling sorcerer wide, and threw it forward as hard as he could.

He takes out a small sword of a hero from his waist and covers the blade with healing magic and restraint spells.

I gripped the hilt tightly and threw it at the flying sorcerer at the altar.

 

"Gaaa

"If you want a hero so much, I'll give it to you!"

 

The small sword, which flew in a green trajectory and spun around, hit the sorcerer's forehead without any deviation, and with its momentum, it pierced the crystal of the altar behind it as if sewing the sorcerer together.

 

"I'm going to take back what was stolen from me! Sorcerer!"

 

I raise my right fist and take a big step toward the altar.

Seeing me approaching, the sorcerer, who was unable to move, shook his body as if begging.

 

"No, I don't like that...... I don't want to disappear yet...... I don't want it to end."

"It's too late to regret it now! There should have been plenty of chances to regret it! If you are the culprit who created this curse, share your fate with that curse until the very end!!"

"No, no, no, no, no!!"

"Ora!!"

 

My fist struck the hilt of the small sword stuck straight into the sorcerer's forehead, shattering the sorcerer's head with the crystal.

In an instant, light overflows from the shattered crystal and many human souls are released into the hall.

If you look behind you, the chains around the necks of the skeletons all over the room will also shatter into tatters, turning into human souls and disappearing like other souls.

 

"Aaaaa...... ......!?"

 

The shattered body of the sorcerer also turns into a human soul.

When I saw the human soul climbing to the ceiling with a crying scream, I smiled.

 

"Retrain me, if you can be reborn."

"Do you mean to put that on the mark?" You don't have a great sense of style, do you?"

「......」

 

I'm ...... my buddies are cold to me.

It's rather serious to dent it.

Nea, who glared at me with jito eyes, released her tension and breathed a sigh of relief.

 

"Well, I'm going to say Usato's line just now to Amako and the others, so that's the end of the matter."

「...... No, it doesn't seem to be that way yet."

"What?"

 

Saying this, he turned to Ava and Lucas.

They were looking up at a blue-haired woman.

As the souls of the other royals faded one after another, the blue-haired woman -- Eliza smiled partingly and slowly reached for Eva's blue hair and stroked it gently.

 

"Oh......."

 

Then, light flows into Eva from the hand that strokes her head.

Seeing Eva rolling her eyes at what had happened to her, Mistress Eliza giggled and muttered something softly, turning into a human soul and returning to heaven as if she had nothing more to think about.

 

"Father, I...... My body ......."

"What?"

 

Flustered by Eva's words, Mistress Lucas lowered her to a nearby light to illuminate her shadow, and all the shadows that she had lost more than half of before coming here were restored.

Seeing her shadow restored, Ava slumps down on the ground and touches the floor where the shadow has penetrated.

 

"Mother helped me...... He always watches over me...... No, I wasn't unhappy at all. Father and Mother have always been with ......."

"Oh...... Ahh You're not unhappy. I can live like anyone else anymore...... Whew."

 

Ava and Lucas are overwhelmed with joy and weeping.

I was watching them from a little distance, and I collapsed on the floor with relief.

This is finally the case.

Eva and the souls of Samaria's people were saved.

 

"Nea, thank you for saving my life this time, and for protecting Lucas and Eva while I couldn't move."

"Hmmm, you should be more grateful. Can you give me a gift of gratitude for that? Specifically, with blood."

"Hahaha, I understand."

 

This time I was really tired.

Mentally, it may be more than the time of the evil dragon.

 

「...... I'm glad I was able ...... help you."

 

The fact that Eva is smiling with a smile that makes me happy more than anything else.