Walking in Another World

ra, and I notice my hands are shaking too.

“I know what you’re thinking of doing.
I know why you made that.
You want to sacrifice her instead of Mia, right?”

Yes.
Because I know they won’t stop coming as long as their target is alive.
That’s why I faked my own death too.

But there’s one very clear difference this time.
Mia has to ‘die’ in front of a lot of people.
That’s why we need someone that will be killed instead of her.

“You’ve never killed someone before, have you?”

Sera sounds sure of it, and she’s right.
I’ve killed a lot of monsters, but never a person.
It feels very wrong.
No, I’m scared.
Yes, I think it’s very scary.

“Don’t push yourself too much, Mister Sora.”

“If you can’t do it, I will.”

’

“You can order me to do that kind of dirty work.”

Say Mia, Hikari, and Sera.
I’m sure if I ordered them, they would do it without any complaints.

But in the end, all it would mean was that I would be killing someone indirectly.
And I’m the only one who can carry out this plan anyway.

I look at Mia.
She looks ready to do what it takes.
Then I have to be ready too.

Life is cheap in this world.
That’s just an excuse, but the same situation might fall on me again in the future.
I have to be ready to protect what I care about, and what is dear to me.
That means I can’t hesitate.

I don’t have to get used to it, but if I’m stumped when urgency is needed, people I care about are going to suffer for it, and that I don’t want.

It’s actually selfish.
There are still a lot of emotions and desires lying dormant in my heart.

“It’s all right.
I’ll do it.”

We undo the girl’s restraints and dress her up in Mia’s clothes.
When everything is ready, we wake her.

I use Dark Magic before she can say anything.
Dark Magic isn’t really used to attack directly, but has many spells that work on a spiritual level.

What I use is a hypnotic spell to fool her into thinking she’s Mia.

She resists it, but I infuse a lot of magic energy to force her to comply.

’

“What is your name?”

“Mia.”

“What do you normally do?”

“I use holy magic as a saint, and help around in the church.”

More complicated conversations won’t work, but we just need her to answer simple questions.

“Mister Sora, is everything ready? We can leave any time.”

“Yes, then I’ll leave the rest to the three of you.
Are you going to Idoru where Drekk is, Drett?”

“That is the plan, although I don’t know if our food will last.”

“Then take the girls to the Tenso village.
Hikari, when you get there, tell Elk about the stampede and ask to stay there.
If Drett and the others need to stay there too, ask him to accommodate them.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I have a connection there.
We’ll meet up in Tenso.
Sera, take care of Mia and Hikari.”

I grab the false saint and leave, taking her to an empty place and leaving her there with a hood covering her face.
I don’t forget the blood to complete the forgery, and make it seem like she collapsed when she was trying to run into a house.