Saving the World

“Purge of Men?” It sounded like a very loaded term and, indeed, the Elder’s face darkened at hearing his own words repeated to him.

I could more or less imagine what this meant, but… seriously?

“More than a hundred years ago,” he began, “there was a war against a great evil. A man called Mauro took over the kingdom and committed unspeakable deeds. Naturally, men took arms and fought against him. However, even after he was defeated, the evil was not fully vanquished. It went on, and eradicated nearly every man.”

“…So that’s why there are so many women,” muttered Kai, looking around us. Saga, meanwhile, didn’t seem too impressed by the story. Maybe because she was a girl, or maybe because something else interested her.

“What’s that evil?” she asked. “The Three Warriors?”

The Elder thought for a moment. “We don’t rightfully know, for all history has been lost… perhaps in the larger city they have records that contain more information, but I do not know.”

Kai crossed his arms, thinking. “But you do know of those so-called Three Warriors. …I mean the bad ones, not those from the prophecy. Supposedly us. That’s a bit confusing, huh.”

“Yes,” said the old man gravely. “That is because this entire area—which we call the Harko Forest—is being controlled and isolated by One.”

One—meaning, the first of the Three Warriors. Saga seemed to perk up at the mere mention and I was also interested, but there was something else I wanted to ask first.

“If you’ll allow me to go back a bit,” I opened, “I want to understand something about the so-called Purge… I get it that many men were killed back then, but wouldn’t the male population come back up in a hundred years?”

Apparently it wasn’t so easy. “The Purge was not merely a physical phenomenon. From then on, the birth of new males became rarer… perhaps one in a hundred births. Supposedly the settlements outside have some better odds—I cannot confirm those rumors—but the entirety of Avallux should be affected by this curse.”

“Wait,” said Kai, a hand to his chin. “If you’re the only male in this entire village, doesn’t that mean that…”

The Elder nodded sadly. “It is heading towards extinction.”

Without men, no children would be born. Without children, there would be no future.

Unless…

“Unless some heroes show up, hmm?” I said smugly.

The Elder raised clenched fists. I wasn’t sure what his expression meant, but he looked intense. “The moment I heard of your arrival… I thought the same,” he said. “If you really are the saviors and fulfill your quest—this village is yours.”

“…Hah, just what I expected from you two,” muttered Saga from the side.

Eh, let her be jealous. I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this my entire life.

“We accept,” I said.

“Wait, I didn’t say anything!” Kai complained.

I turned to him. “Are you really going to give up this once-in-a-lifetime chance?”

“I think you are forgetting something, C,” he told me very seriously. “I still don’t know where all of this is heading. We might get to save the world, or whatever… but isn’t our goal actually going home?”

That one actually gave me some pause.

Ostensibly we should be trying to find the witch Mana, our summoner.

However, I fully admit that nearly all thoughts of the previous world evaporated from my mind.

In fact, if my hunch was correct, it was probably only Kai who actually cared about getting back… but I decided to refrain from saying that.

“Sure, whatever. Then I’ll get the village and you can head back home, if you want to.”

“You scumbag.”

“What? They offered.”

“Also,” Kai continued, “not to be too rude or anything, but if the whole world’s like this and we’re the supposed warriors of the prophecy or whatever, don’t you think we’ll be able to get much better offers than a village in the middle of nowhere?”

At this the Elder actually looked uncomfortable, and I thought I could even see his bodyguards stir a bit. …Why did this idiot have to go ahead and say that?

“I know we can’t offer much… but please. Save this world.” The man then took both heavily wrinkled hands and interlocked his fingers, closing his eyes hard as though in prayer. “We will help you. We will give you guidance, we will give you supplies… and we will give you our blessings. So please, at least keep us in your thoughts.”

There was a heavy silence following this earnest plea.

“I accept,” I repeated, looking to the side.

Kai groaned. “Look, all of this is still way beyond me… but I can’t just say no. If there’s really some sorta bullshit prophecy, it means we’re here for a reason.”

“Thank you,” said the Elder. “Thank you so much.”

And Saga, as tactless and as direct as always, went on the attack again.

“So?” she asked. “Where are the Three Warriors? You mentioned One before.”

“My, you are an aggressive one,” said the Elder, a hint of a smile spreading across his heavily-wrinkled face. “Straight and to the point as a sword’s edge.” He looked down to her blade. “Although you come from another world, perhaps you are not out of place here…”

“—Can you answer the question?” she cut him off.

“Sorry for that,” said Kai, side-eyeing her. “She’s not usually like this… I think this situation’s getting to her.”

The Elder continued, “One only very rarely shows himself… mainly to collect what he refers to as ‘tax’. He takes some of our produce. He’s in control of the entire Harko Forest, so it’s impossible to leave without his permission.”

“We don’t need his permission,” insisted Saga. “Where can we find him?”

However, the old man shook his head. “We can barely even go out and hunt without his minions attacking us. I’m afraid to say we have no idea where exactly he resides.”

“Minions… you mean those wolves?” Kai realized.

“Yes. One is a master of beasts and monsters.”

Saga did not sound impressed. “I’ve killed some today. I can kill more. And… I can defeat that stupid One as well.”

“Leaving aside her oddness, I can guarantee her strength,” I added. “With her swordsmanship, my magic and Kai’s arrows, we’ll beat any enemy.”

After all, we were the prophesized warriors.

This was my chance to hit it big, so I wasn’t going to waste it. It was a dream come true.

“Let’s not waste any time.” Saga did not directly reply to my assertion, but did not deny it either. “We set out tomorrow. With or without your help.”

She rose to her legs, taking her sword as well. Her eyes seemed to reflect the flames from the fire pit.

It was warm inside the Elder’s hut—but at that moment I felt a chill. Even my own tenacity in front of this once-in-a-lifetime chance paled in front of Saga’s thirst for battle.

She was so beautiful, but very scary at the same time.

Shortly after this, we were shown where we could sleep. Thus ended our first day in this new world.