Prophecy

Upon hearing this key term, “prophecy”, I couldn’t help but perk up and break into a wide smile.

“A prophecy?” I asked. “About us?”

“Huh?” said Kai.

The two amazons referred to as Rayna and Samua widened their eyes at Diane’s assertion. “That can’t be,” said one of them, then looked right at me. “No, but look… those two are actually men.”

I had the feeling I could hear Saga mutter something about us not really being “men”, but her voice was drowned by a gasp from the other woman.

“We sure are,” I said in what I hoped was a confident matter despite probably looking exhausted and sweaty. “What about it? What’s so special about this?”

The women briefly exchanged glances. “Night falls. We’ll discuss everything back at the village.”

It was definitely getting darker and darker even as we spoke. Prompted by the women who started dashing further ahead, our small party made its way forward.

The more we approached, the less wild nature we could see, places where trees were clearly chopped and the ground processed. We passed over what seemed like a pen with what looked like goats and small fields of produce.

Finally, we could see actual houses. Houses made of wood, but still. These weren’t as primitive as I imagined from these kinds of people. Most were on the ground, but I noticed some structures built on trees around as well.

Furthermore, there were women everywhere.

Only women, as far as I could tell.

Apparently, thinking of them as amazons was an apt analogy. No matter where I looked there were women carrying weapons, working on leather or meat or sewing clothes or engaged in other tasks I couldn’t understand.

And all of them looked at us as we passed.

Saga was also met with a few stares which she fully ignored, but most of the focus was on us boys. I could hear many excited mutters from all around us.

“Looking kinda creepy there, C,” Kai whispered in my ear.

Diane had been taken from us and carried away a few moments prior, presumably to get some actual medical attention, so now this guy was free to harass me.

“Creepy? Me?” I asked.

“You’re smiling like a creep, yes.”

Hmm. I suppose it might have appeared obscene from the side. After all, I was surrounded by hot chicks. Not to mention my realization about what all of this meant.

I was summoned here as a prophesized warrior in a village full of women.

The conclusion was simple. Imminent harem!

Kai shook his head disapprovingly, but I didn’t care. I was tired and hungry and stuck in a strange, dangerous world, so hell if I wasn’t going to enjoy whatever I could.

“Over here, warriors,” said one of the women leading us through this village and pointed to a certain building that was clearly larger than the rest. If I had to guess, we were being taken to their leaders.

Or rather leader, singular. And there was another surprise for me there.

We were ushered into the wooden structure by several buff, tall women with weapons glaring at us; they were probably bodyguards of some sort. They led us into a spacious room with a burning firepit and a small table, next to which sat an old man.

He had wrinkled skin, no hair at all, and a grave expression as shadows flickered over his features. Dark eyes surveyed us newcomers and widened.

“So it’s true,” he said in a voice that was slow and weathered with age. “You are the three warriors…”

“Just checking,” said Saga, “but you’re not mistaking us with those guys with numbers for names, are you?”

The old man suddenly gave a short yelp and his bodyguards were alarmed, but he raised a hand again and shook them.

“Do not speak of them here,” he said, slightly coughing. “Even now we suffer from the horrible One… no, there is no mistake that the prophecy is something else entirely.” He looked straight into my eyes, causing me a small chill. “Will you be our saviors?”

“Saviors, huh?” said Kai. For all his earlier misgivings about our misadventure thus far, this actually got him smirking.

“Where can we find them, then?” asked Saga, who was seemingly laser-focused on that.

As the elder’s eyes turned to her, they seemed colder than before. “You sure seem to grow excited at the prospect of battle, foreign girl. What is your name?”

“Saga.”

“Saga of the three warriors… I will be honest, but I expected you to be three men.”

“Elder,” barked one of the women nearby. “We are told she is a powerful swordswoman, in fact.” Oh? Had they found out that piece of information from Diane, perhaps?

Even now Saga had the blade placed on the ground in front of her, one hand near it as if to be ready to draw at any moment.

We really needed to find her a sheathe or something.

I also noticed that the sword was surprisingly clean for all that it had gone through.

“Eh, just ignore her, Elder, sir,” said Kai. This made Saga glance at him, but she said nothing. “We’re all tired after this frankly horrible day and we need to stay the night anyway, right? There’s no rush, Saga.” Once more remaining silent, Saga just looked at the ground. She probably knew he was right.

“Elder,” I said, trying to sound polite. “Can you tell us more about the prophecy, please?”

He nodded. “I will tell you. Will you dine with me? You must be hungry by now.”

I was famished. Kai nodded in enthusiastic agreement and even Saga gave a quick nod.

“Very well.” He nodded to the attendants/bodyguards and some left as he continued talking. “The prophecy is actually simple… it says that three warriors from another world will appear here to save the world from evil. There is not much else.”

“What about Mana, then?” I asked.

“Mana?” the Elder asked back, his bare brows furrowing.

“Err, that’s supposedly the witch that summoned us here,” Kai explained, but there was no spark of recognition in the Elder’s expression.

“I am not aware of any such individual,” he said, frowning. “I have heard rumors that most magic users are located in the capital.”

“Hmm… is magic something rare, then?” I asked, trying not to get my hopes up.

The Elder replied, “Very. I have never seen a single spell my entire life.”

This widened my smile. I knew I was special. If I had to guess, this somehow related to my in-game skills carrying over to this world, or something.

“So none of you can use magic, huh,” mumbled Kai. He gave me an indignant look—he probably reached the same conclusions.

Our conversation was put on temporary hold since some food-carrying attendants arrived next. Not like it was a really good one, anyway… just a broth with a little meat. It was honestly a bit disgusting, but hungry as I was, I couldn’t really complain.

We concluded our meal and continued talking on slightly fuller stomachs.

“I have another question,” I volunteered at that point. “Why are there so many women here? Are you in fact the only man in the village, or…?”

“Indeed,” answered the Elder, who looked ready for this to be asked. “You are correct. I have been the only man in this tribe for the last twenty years or so.”

This related to another thing I’d noticed this far. Not only were there only men—there were no children around, either. It was possible that Diane was the youngest I’d seen thus far.

“Are only women born here?” asked Kai, following that line of thought.

“Not just here. It should be the entirety of Avallux. More than a hundred years ago, we were struck by what we call the Purge of Men.”