Chapter 5: War Fairy

"Where am I...?"

It's black. A black space.

A space that seemed to reject humans—no, all living things—as though their very existence were unwelcome.

And right now, I was there.

"I apologize. I was the one who invited you here."

Then I heard a beautiful voice, like the gentle ringing of a bell.

But... what was it? It certainly was beautiful, yet there was something incredibly cold about that voice.

Not frightening, though. Rather, it was a sound that conveyed nothing but a profound sense of "loneliness."

"Invited... ? Who are you? Where is this place...?"

"Of course you are confused. But first, please come this way."

Strangely enough, I couldn't sense any hostility from the owner of that voice.

Even though the situation made absolutely no sense, somehow I felt that it would be fine to do as I was told.

"Please, sit here."

The owner of the voice was an invisible "existence." I perceived that "existence" through something other than the five senses humans naturally possess.

And then, "it" gestured for me to sit beside it.

Before I knew it, "it" was sitting on a cylindrical chair. And somehow, another one had appeared beside it—a completely black cylindrical chair.

There was no point resisting. I simply sat down as instructed.

"Whoa!?"

The moment I sat down, the surrounding space began filling with all sorts of vividly colored scenes.

"This is a view of a world different from the one you inhabit. Humans call this land of chaos 'Chaos.'"

Chaos. Another world. A genuine otherworld.

"This world originally possessed a low degree of conceptual strength to support its existence. The shell that was supposed to surround and protect the world was fragile and indistinct. As a result, since ancient times, the boundary between this world and others has repeatedly grown blurred, causing it to frequently intermingle with other worlds. After this happened countless times, a chaotic world came into being, where countless cultures and laws, ecosystems and lands with no causal relationship to one another spread out without order."

I understood almost none of what it was saying. I couldn't, but... if a world like that really existed—

"As you have no doubt surmised, this world developed as one far removed from anything resembling peace. Race, religion, language, culture, nations, history, land, food, disease... The reasons changed, the players changed, the eras changed, but conflict has continued without end."

They appeared before me.

War. Bloodshed.

They appeared before me.

Cannons. Clashing swords.

They appeared before me.

Cheers of victory. Retreats in defeat.

Countless tragedies flashed before my eyes, one after another, only to disappear just as quickly.

It was so far removed from the ordinary life I had been immersed in until now, like something out of a drama or movie, that it somehow lacked a sense of reality—

And yet, these were scenes of reality. Things that were actually happening.

"You may think this world is barbaric. Perhaps you will pity it. Even so... even so, humans are living here. In this chaotic world, in a darkness where they cannot even see tomorrow, they continue to live with everything they have. I came to cherish that. Their lives. The things nurtured through those lives."

The scene changed.

A father returning home from the battlefield lifted up his child, seeing them for the very first time.

The scene changed.

Two people with drastically different lengths of ears quietly embraced somewhere far removed from civilization.

The scene changed.

People held a grand festival, drinking together and celebrating.

Ah. I could feel it painfully clearly.

"Its" love for that world. For "Chaos."

Even though there were still so many things I didn't understand, that much was crystal clear.

"I am an existence capable only of watching. So I decided that I would watch over this world. I wanted to keep watching it. Not your orderly world, nor any other world, but this world above all. I wanted to continue watching this one. My kindred, however, did not seem to feel the same way."

"Are you a god?"

"Hehe, a god? ...If only I were such an absolute existence. That would have been wonderful. I am nothing more than a useless being capable only of watching over things."

"Just watching? Couldn't you have intervened?"

"Yes. That, I could never do. Nor should I. That is the kind of existence I am, and I chose to accept that. There is no need to pity me. I truly am happy."

"It" said that it was living within "happiness."

But from my perspective, that happiness seemed terribly twisted.

Still, perhaps that distorted happiness was the greatest selfish wish "it" was capable of reaching out for.

"But... there is no happiness that lasts forever. No matter how far one may have fallen from being human, no matter what kind of hero may exist, the very moment you wish not to lose something, its end is certain to come."

And even that happiness was nothing more than a candle flickering in the wind.

In that case—

"Right now, destruction is closing in on 'Chaos.' The world that will next merge with 'Chaos'—if I were to give it a name, perhaps 'World Eater' would be appropriate. 'World Eater' will swallow 'Chaos,' digest it, and erase its existence. The brilliance of the lives that dwell there. The cultures that have been built up over time. The feelings that have been passed down. It will make all of it as though it never existed. Everything I came to love and wished to continue watching, everything I have watched all this time, will return to nothing."

"What do you want me to do?"

"...Are you certain?"

"You called me here for that, didn't you? After everything you've told me, I'm not so dense that I can't figure out what you're after. Though I have no idea what someone like me could possibly do."

But still.

"There's someone who's suffering right in front of me—well, sort of—and I wanted to help them. I thought I'd regret it later if I didn't. So... I think this choice must be the right one."

I'm an ordinary person. But I believe I know how to live as an ordinary person. How to find happiness.

Make the choice that the me of today can smile about and be proud of.

I don't know what the future holds anyway. So, right now, I want to make the choice I won't regret.

And if I chose to abandon them here, I wouldn't be able to smile.

So the answer was obvious.

"Besides, I saw the scenery of the 'Chaos' you love. And I realized that I don't want to see it disappear either. If there's something I can do for them, then I want to do it."

Showing me those scenes was just plain unfair. After being shown something like that, there was no way I could turn my back on them.

Any ordinary person would have been moved by it and wanted to lend a hand. *1*2

"...Thank you. Unfortunately, I have nothing I can give you in return. I do not even possess a physical body of my own. Therefore, this is the greatest gratitude I can offer you."

"...Heheh. That's kind of embarrassing. ...So? What exactly am I supposed to do?"

"As I mentioned earlier, there is not no way to oppose 'World Eater.' From the beginning, the people of 'Chaos' have repeatedly merged with countless worlds and fought countless battles. They are strong. If they can join hands, there is no existence they cannot overcome."

"...So, before World Eater arrives, I have to stop all these wars and get everyone to join hands? Can someone like me really accomplish something that huge?"

This feels like a pretty high difficulty level, doesn't it?

"Please do not worry about that. You are the person I carefully selected from among the countless people who exist. There is no error in my calculations. ...Of course, you will face hardships. Nevertheless, so long as you possess your innate kindness and your values, untouched by anything in 'Chaos,' I am certain that someone will come to your aid."

"It" paused for a moment before doing something toward me.

Then my body became enveloped in a faint red light.

"And this is a parting gift from me. Primarily, it grants you aptitude for sorcery and magic, knowledge of languages, and physical resistance to unfamiliar environments."

"Whoa... That's amazing..."

I didn't really understand what was happening, but it certainly seemed like I was being given the full VIP treatment.

I could feel some mysterious power flowing into my body.

For some reason, I felt like I could do anything now.

"Of course, what I can do is ultimately nothing more than an exchange of equal value."

"—Ugh!?"

Pain.

A splitting headache.

My vision blurred, and the sounds around me gradually faded away.

"The price is your memories. They may become shackles that hold you back and bind you. ...I apologize. I summoned you having resolved to do anything for the sake of that world."

I couldn't see anything.

I couldn't hear anything.

I couldn't think.

Everything was fading away—.

"My calculations are never wrong. Absolutely never. Yes, that must be so. —If there is anything of concern, it would be the unnatural discrepancy appearing in my most recent calculations. Has an existence outside the scope of my calculations intervened? —No. That is absolutely impossible. Then it is nothing more than an error. ...'Chaos' will certainly be saved."

And so, the boy chosen to save the world descended into the land of chaos.

In time, the connections he would forge would weave together a grand story, stitching it into the fabric of this vast world.

Yes. In this otherworldly land, far from his homeland, countless bonds await him.

Fate.

A hero.

Malice.

And then—.

"Let's see... I'll make good use of you to get myself to first place in the rankings, Protagonist-kun. First, I'll try winning you over by feeding you some nostalgic dishes from your homeland...! My experience as a woman in my previous life wasn't for nothing, you know...!"

An existence beyond the scope of calculation.