The bus I was riding on the way to school crashed and my vision went blank and all the passengers were summoned together to another world.
In the glowing throne room, the king and a robed wizard said.
'Welcome. Welcome, my guides.
"This world is under siege by a demon king.
That's why you were summoned.
I want you to defeat the Demon King and save this world with a special skill that is only given to otherworlders.
"When we destroy the Demon King, we will have a chance to return to the world we came from.
I said.
"How big is the enemy? What's the strength on the human side?
How do I get paid? You said you'd give me 400 arsha (silver coins) first, but what's the value of money in this world? How many years can the average family live on Arshas 400? Is there a recurring fee? Does it depend on the outcome? Or is it a fixed salary?
'Isn't it strange that you say you're going to send me to the frontier fort with transition magic now? We don't know anything about this world. We don't know the cultural system or the food situation, and if we were sent to the front lines, we wouldn't be able to adjust to civilian life. If we were to disobey and get thrown out, we would have no choice but to follow their orders. How is that possible?
'No, I'm not talking about 'contracting' to return to the world if you defeat the Demon King or anything like that. I'm not saying that we'll give you weapons and equipment or anything like that. I'm not asking you to trust us or anything like that! How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not talking about the chosen brave or anything like that!
They kicked me out.
I did .......
In the plaza of Wangdu, I held my head in my hands.
Even on my elementary school report card, it said 'Soma Nagi-kun, you should think about adjusting to your surroundings a little more.
Sorry, teacher. It's been five years since I graduated, but I haven't grown up much.
...... No point in worrying about it. Let's check the situation.
This is the Kingdom of League Nadal in the middle of the Sabarasa continent, its royal capital.
The royal capital is where the king is located, and it's the biggest city in the country.
The magnificent white building you see over there is the royal palace where we were just here.
I'm in a plaza just outside the palace, where a wide stone paved street that stretches from east to west meets the square. There are a number of big trees planted, and I am sitting at the base of them.
The intersection of streets is a place where people gather, and there are shops lined up around it.
Perhaps because this is a fantasy world of swords and magic, there are all kinds of people walking around the town. There are elves with long ears, and short dwarves. The one with beast ears is probably the beastman race.
Yeah, that's to be expected.
The question is what to do now.
The king generously gave me a leather bag containing 400 arsha - 400 silver coins.
He must have felt awkward about throwing out the person he called from the other world without a second thought. They didn't take away my weapons (short sword) or my armor (leather armor). The rest of my belongings were the herbs in my backpack, two meals of bread and dried meat.
That's all I have left for now.
I'll take it. The king summoned us for his own reasons, and now we're even. The bus crash wasn't nearly as bad as the one that killed all those people. We didn't save their lives, so there's no need to feel guilty about it.
When I got kicked out of the throne room, the other passengers were giving me stares. They also told me to read the air.
I don't know how many times I've had to rethink things, and I still think I made the right choice.
The king's request was very disturbing to me.
If you ask me, I'm a senior in high school and I've had five black jobs.
First of all, my first possession was 400 arsha. Is that a lot or a little?
It's not much, considering the nature of the work.
Earlier, I went around the market to find out how much it costs for a diner and an inn.
I calculated that 400 arsha is enough for an average person to live for about 20 days.
You might think it's a sufficient amount of money if you can listen to the king and be guaranteed food, clothing and shelter, but I don't know what level of food and shelter will be provided in the first place.
It's a frontier front that we are sent to. We don't know if the rooms and food will be suitable for us. If we are dissatisfied, we'll have to take down 400 arsha and make our own arrangements.
On top of that, being sent to the frontier with transfer magic means that I can't remember how to get there.
Since I'm even moving them with magic, it must be quite a distance to the front line of the frontier.
The fact that this royal capital is usually bustling with activity is proof of that.
If the threat of the demon king is so close, there's no reason for everyone to be carefree with their shopping.
In other words, those of us who have gone to the front line can't come back on our own.
How far is it from the front line to the royal capital? We don't even know if there's a way back to the civilized world. Even if you have cheat skills, there's nothing you can do about the physical "distance". Unless they go completely wild and survive, that is.
That means we've been sent to the front lines, but at the end of the day, we have to play by the rules of our employers.
If you want money, you fight demons.
If you want to eat, you fight the monster.
If you want to be healed, you'll do it.
In other words, if you want to return to your world, you have to keep fighting until you defeat the Demon King.
You don't even know if you can really go back to your world.
I think this is a pretty black job .......
...... No, well, maybe I'm overthinking it.
The biggest problem was that my skills were too weak.
Apparently my skills were given to me automatically when I was summoned to this world, but all of my skills were unlikely to be useful in battle. And the overall level is too low. What is this?
In particular, the unique skill of 'ability rebuilding' was completely unintelligible.
I know swordsmanship and hard hitting. I understand cleaning. I can understand analysis.
The otherworldly conversation translates the words around me in real time.
What do you mean that I can understand the effects of the other skills just by imagining them, but I don't know what kind of skill is 'Ability Rebuilding'? This is a unique skill that's unique to me, right?
Activate your ability to rebuild.
When I activate the skill, a small window appears in front of me.
No one is paying attention to me. Which means that I'm the only one who can see it.
So I set the skill to this window.
Apparently, all I have to do is imagine in my head that I'm going to set it.
Something like an icon is displayed.
For example, let's say you set "Hard Strike Level 1".
Hard Strike Level 1.
A skill that deals powerful damage to low-level monsters.
And then the words, "I'm not going to be able to do anything about it.
That's it.
...... How do you expect me to survive this?
The main reason I didn't want to go to the front is this.
(1) Your skills are useless and useless.
(2) They take a pay cut.
(3) Being used to dodge bullets instead of providing a decent living.
Well, I'd rather find a way to survive in town. The more options, the better.
I've got 400 arsha. For now, we can survive for 20 days.
Until then, we'll find a way to make a living somehow.
Let's just think of our former world as ...... "lucky to get back".
I'm not that attached to it.
Our goal from now on is to survive.
To have 'normal happiness' if possible.
And the ultimate goal is to be able to live without working, so to speak.
I don't think it's any different than it was when I lived in the original ...... world.
I don't know what to do: ......
"You've shown some interesting skills. Why don't we partner up?
I heard a voice.
In my mind.
Who's that... and I'm not going to answer that question.
This is a different world. It's possible that there is someone who has the skill to talk to you inside your head.
Because it's still before noon, the square is full of people.
There are a lot of shops. Shops selling fruit. Shops selling what looks like the famous (self-proclaimed) meat-wrapped bread. Shops selling medicinal herbs and medicinal wounds. And besides the stalls, there are shops selling weapons, armor, and something with a crystal ball the size of a person's fist. The store with the signboard of a collar and key - what is it?
Anyway, there are too many people. I don't know where they are talking to each other.
That means we can't even think about who is talking to us.
I'm going to focus on 'what' they are trying to say.
"...... teaming up? I don't know what that means.
"All we can offer is information. You're "visitors," right?
Visitors?
'I'm talking about people from another world. I know such things have been summoned.
In case you're wondering: ...... Who are you?
'There's no substance. Residual thoughts of the past. A ghost, so to speak.
I'm not afraid of ghosts or ...... ghosts in a world of swords and sorcery at all if they're called ghosts.
Let's listen to the story some more.
"What can this ghost tell me about myself?
"The rules of this world and how you can use your skills.
How does a ghost know how to use his skills?
'I've lived ...... long enough, no, I've lived long enough. Sometimes visitors have skills like yours that turn the rules of the world upside down. 'You're the Chosen One, aren't you?'
That doesn't change what you say about the king.
I won't be asking you to fight the Dark Lord. I'll be gone soon. It's a residual thought that can't affect the world, so I can get a glimpse of other people's skills.''
Ghost said after a short pause.
'Let's 'contract' (contract). I will teach you how to use your skills. I want you to use those skills to help a girl.'
'Contract'?
"This world is all about contracts. See the shop at the end of the square that sells crystal balls.
I did as I was told and looked in that direction.
In the front of the store, two men were exchanging ideas.
One of them is a leather bag - it looks heavy and heavy. He hands over the leather bag - which probably contains gold coins - to the shopkeeper and receives a crystal ball in its place. The customer presses it to his chest.
The crystal ball is sucked into the customer's chest with a swoosh.
The man ran away at a much faster pace than before.
''That's a shop that sells 'skills'.'''
"Skills? You can't buy and sell your skills?
"With your consent, yes. "If he agrees, we can get information about his skills by taking them out of his system. You take them out, you get to see what kind of skills they are. You can sell them for money. See next door.
I see a sign with a collar and key symbol on it?
It's a place to sell slaves.
The...?
!"? You're selling people?
...... I'm glad I escaped the king.
"What?
I felt like I could see a trend of "fight, get thrown out when you can't use it, sell your skills to get money, and finally go into slavery ....... That's the kind of thing you normally do. In this world.
Yeah. I'm sure. I guess that's what happens.'
Ghost began to talk about the rules of the 'contract'.
A 'contract' is an oath that both parties agree to keep their promises.
It could be an exchange of goods or a sale of goods.
I'll give you information so you can do these things, sometimes.
There is a god of contracts in this world, and they are binding on those who have "made a deal" with each other.
They say that if you don't fulfill your promise, you get a headache and can't sleep.
...... means that the king said, "If you defeat the demon king, you will 'make a contract' to return to the original world." ...... Conversely, once you have made a 'contract' but at the end "unless you defeat the demon king, even if you find the means Isn't that what you're saying, "Even if we do, we can't go back to our world"?
I'm scared! I knew it was all black!
The others are ...... Well, they've been unreasonably summoned to begin with, and some of them have questions.
Let's hope they manage to get around the 'contract' .......
I regained my composure and looked at the slaver's shop.
It's a brick walled building with bars latched to the windows. I don't know what's inside.
The girl who wants me to save her is in that shop?
"Yes,
What's she like?
"You are the most beautiful girl in the shop.
What do you mean by that?
'A short girl with brown skin. She is the last survivor of the demon race that was destroyed by humans. She is the last survivor of the demon race that was destroyed by humans.
The voice said.
'I am the residual thought of all the demon race. As a collective, my name is Ashtarte.
It will disappear when we see that child become the rightful Lord's.