Responsibility

"I wanted him to taste the feeling that I experienced that day. That feeling feeling when you got something precious stolen from you... that's why I told that woman to use that poison magic."

I remember the statement of that beastman I killed before.

It's not my intention to kill them. But I did not hesitate to kill them using those golems.

I'm well aware that I was so angry at that time that my rational thinking is clouded. However, even if I can redo my choice of action at that time, I would still definitely choose to kill them.

That is just how easily I am affected by my own emotion. Otherwise, I won't even think of tackling someone holding a gun even if that person is holding my friend hostage.

"It was Graize Knights led by Graize Els Victorious who raided the beastmen's village 6 years ago."

I remember the words that was said by that Midora guy.

Graize Els Victorious killed those beastmen's loved ones, that's why they decide to kill the Graize family.

Those beastmen killed my mother, that's why I decide to kill them.

And that is not the end of it.

That Panthos guy was about to kill that boy, that's why I killed him.

Killing is the only thing I can do to protect people that I care about.

Being reincarnated in this world, I thought that I can finally live a good life that I failed to obtain in my previous life.

Being given this unique power of Overtake, I thought that I can finally become strong enough to protect all people that I care about.

But that is not the case.

Be it this world or previous world, I'm just a weakling who is powerless against the cruelty of reality.

I cannot even protect myself unless I rob other people's lives. Because I am not strong enough to defeat my opponents without killing them.

In the end, I am also a part of this never-ending cycle of killing one another just like that Midora guy.

I act based on my emotion alone without sense of justice or morality to back it up.

At that time when I killed Panthos Genuma, I don't even feel any regret in doing so.

That's when I finally realized it.

The fact that I don't deserve the good life that I longed for.

.....

....

...

As I open my eyes, I saw a familiar ceiling. It's the ceiling inside the inn where I usually lodge in.

"Ugh.."

I wanted to move but my muscles are in pain. The area where my body got kicked by that Panthos guy hurts the most.

"Ah. Shion. Thank goodness..."

I hear a familiar voice. When I look at the source of the voice, I see the female goblin kid who is looking at me with relieved look.

I remember her. Her name is Ean.

"How are you feeling?"

"... not bad. I guess."

My body still hurts but I manage to get up on the second try. It seems that I was brought to this bed when I was unconscious.

"Ah. You shouldn't force yourself too much."

"I'm fine. More importantly..."

I look around and Ean is the only other person here.

"... uh... can I ask you how I ended up being here?"

"Well, I actually saw him carrying you on the way to the town."

He is most likely the slave boy. So he carried me all the way from the forest? All by himself?

"I was really shocked, you know? So we helped him carry you back to town. Thank goodness the monsters did not attack us on the way here."

"... I see. Sorry for the trouble."

I bowed apologetically.

"Eh!? No no! It's alright! Please raise your head!"

Then I heard a sound of a door opening.

I raise my head and see a male goblin kid bringing in a teapot.

"Oh. You're finally awake. Thank goodness."

The male goblin kid walks to the table and pour water into the wooden cup. Then he handed the cup over to me.

"Here."

"Thank you."

I drink the water and give the cup to him again after that.

"If I remember correctly, you're..."

"My name is Milua. You saved me from the Sword Wolf before. Remember?"

"Ah... that guy huh... right..."

Honestly I thought that he is the goblin guy whom I met before I save the Milua guy. The faces of this goblin race are just so similar that it's hard for me to differentiate them. I'm always bad at differentiating causcasian males' faces because they seemed too similar to each other in my eyes.

Speaking of males...

"Where is that slave boy?"

Ean is the first one who responded to that question.

"Hm? Ohh.. at first he was also here watching over you. But the receptionist elf lady from the guild came and called him over to the guild."

She is most likely talking about Rimikia since she is the only elf there who works as one of the guild's receptionists.

Wait, calling him over to the guild?

.....

....

...

"I think you should rest instead..."

Ean tells me that while three of us are walking towards the guild.

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

After drinking potion, I decide to go to the guild. I am more worried about the reason why the guild is calling that boy over.

I checked the time. It seems that I have passed out for about 5 hours. It's already afternoon by now.

If the guild realized that their 2nd best adventurer is dead, I might be in for the worst situation...

At any rate, I need to meet with Rimikia soon.

I arrived at the guild and immediately go in together with Ean and Milua.

Inside the guild, I saw two ladies working at the receptionist. One of them is a green-haired lady who is from Dyrad race. And the other is a red-haired lady who is from Lamia race.

The Lamia lady is busy talking to other adventurers so I talk to the Dyrad lady. If I remember correctly, her name is...

"Erkimi-san, good afternoon."

The Dyrad lady who is looking at the quest board before noticing me. Then she smiled at me.

"Oh, Herb Princess. Good afternoon."

"I'm looking for Rimikia. Do you know where she is?"

"Ah. She's inside the guild master's room with that Panthos' slave."

As I thought, she is the one who called him.

"I would like to meet her. May I ask you to call her?"

"... understood. But I cannot guarantee that she will meet you right away."

"I don't mind. Thank you very much."

After hearing my thanks, she walks to the guild master's room which is located behind the receptionist desk.

Then I look behind to see Ean and Milua looking around at the guild.

"You guys don't really need to follow me you know..."

However, Milua immediately speaks.

"Since we're here. We might as well accompany you. If you don't mind..."

Then Ean also talks.

"Besides, the slave boy is the one whom I bumped into the other day right? I am kind of worried about him too."

"... I see."

We wait while standing near the quest board because there is no empty seats here.

While waiting, we talked a bit. Apparently they are in the middle of gathering ingredients for dinner before they met me and that boy.

After few minutes, Erkimi called me and said that I can go inside to meet Rimikia. So I enter the guild master's room while the goblin kids wait outside because Rimikia permit only me to come in.

Erkimi is leading me to the room. This is my first entering the guild master's room.

Come to think of it, I never meet with the guild master. I only know that he is currently in other town from what the adventurers were talking about but never proceed to search more info about him.

I enter the room and see Rimikia and the one-armed slave boy sit on the blue sofas facing each other.

"!?"

The slave boy looks surprised after seeing me and stands up.

"You're... Thank goodness.."

He looks truly relieved after seeing me. His eyes... are black, not pink anymore.

"Shion... please take a seat."

Rimikia asks me to take a seat while Erkimi leaves the room.

I sit next to the slave boy.

"I'll go straight to the point. Shion, are you the one who killed Panthos Genuma?"

"!? As I said, it's not her fau-"

"Yeah, I'm the one who killed Panthos."

I cut the slave boy's sentence. It's the truth. I don't have any intention of hiding it and I will accept the consequences from my own choices of action.

The slave boy is looking at me with confused and worried look. I don't need his help in this situation.

"... I see."

Rimikia stands up and walk towards the guild master's desk.

"So what are you going to do? Punish me? Or banish me from the guild?"

Rimikia answers me once she picks something up from the desk.

"Normally it would be something along that line. Only if there are no other factors involving this incident."

"...?"

Other factors? What is she talking about.

"I heard from him that Panthos bought a bottle filled with pink liquid and used it before you killed him."

"... you meant that bottle called Sweet World? What about it?"

Rimikia then walks towards me.

"I talked about it to the guild master through tele-stone. And his order is for me to give you this."

Rimikia handed over the green blade that used to be the spearhead of Panthos' spear.

"!? This is that Panthos'... a- are you seriously giving me this for free?"

"There is a reason for it. According to him, you can use this spearhead right?"

Ah, she meant the time when I used Overtake to modify the magic form of this spearhead.

"Well, yeah. What about it?"

"The guild master said that... of all things considered, it would be unfair for you to take all the blame for killing Panthos. However, you still need to take on some responsibility in that action."

".... umm.. what does it has to do with giving me this blade?"

"No one else in this guild can use the Emeraldian except you and Panthos. Therefore, we will give you that blade so that you can participate in the quest of subjugating the unknown monster residing in Darlia Lake."

"!? You meant..."

"Yes, the quest that Panthos took. You shall be the one who replace him and you have no right to refuse."

Ugh... right... I should have expected that things won't be that convenient for me.

"Please wait! I am also responsible for not stopping my master! Please let me-"

"I have not done talking yet. Of course we won't ask you to go fight that monster alone right now. We have our own preparations to make while waiting for guild master to come back. Also, we will deploy multiple parties of adventurers to tackle this quest together with you."

"I see."

So it's not as bad as sending me into a suicidal mission' kind of situation.

The guild master will be back in few days. He will give you further instructions once that time comes.

"Understood."

"One last thing..."

When I think that the talk is finally over, Rimikia says that to betray my expectation.

"What will you do with that boy?"

She looks at the slave boy besides me.

"Eh... what do you mean?"

"He is technically one of Panthos' belongings. Guild master asked whether you want to be that boy's new master so that you can get more help in fighting that monster."

"Uh... no. I don't need slave."

"I see. Then, I shall offer him to other adven-"

"Wait a minute."

I cut Rimikia's sentence on reflex.

"Why would you do that? Just let him be free without any master."

I'll be damned if the same thing happened to him again.

But Rimikia looks at me with confused look.

"... you don't know?"

"About what?"

"Now that Panthos is dead. He is now a stray slave."

"Uh... so?"

Rimikia then sighs and speaks again.

"Look at the black collar on his neck. That is the magic that give him the status of a slave."

Well I already noticed it back when I first met him. But I shall let her finish her explanation.

"Once 24 hours have passed and he still does not have a master, the magic collar will activate and cut off his neck."

".... WHAT!? WHY!?"

I was so shocked after hearing how the magic works. Why would you do that to a slave!?

"Even if you ask why... that's just how slavery works."

I take a look at the collar's magic formula. I never take a look at the formula before because it's the kind of magic I don't want to get involve with, but now it's different.

... she's right. There is a timer in that magic formula that will activate magic that cut the boy's neck off once the timer runs out.

I scratched my head after knowing how absurd this world's slavery system is.

"Is there a way to dispel this magic?"

"A magic called "Release Bind" is needed to dispel that magic. But the only people who usually use that magic are usually the slave trader themselves. And as far as I know, no one in this town are able to use that magic."

"... are you for real..."

"Besides, even if you ask the slave trader to use that magic. They will usually charge 100 gold coins."

"100 GOLD COINS!?"

That was damn expensive! No wonder the guild try to give this boy a new master. They don't want him to die but they don't want to pay 100 gold coins for him either. Now their action sounds logical.

"It's fine."

But the boy says that while smiling at me.

"I am just a powerless and stupid kid. You don't need to concern yourself with me more than this."

"!"

Suddenly I feel the same irritation that I felt during the fight with Panthos after hearing that statement.

"I cannot even protect my previous master. Even if I become your slave, I will be just a burden to you."

"..."

My irritation continues to pile up the more I hear his words. Did he even consider why I save him in the first place?

"But don't worry. Even if I becomes other people's slave or dies due to the collar magic, I will never forget the fact that you tried to help me. So even if it's just a moment, I would like to repay you not as a slave but as my own self."

"Yeah. I don't want you as my slave either."

In that instant, I use my Overtake on that so-called slavery collar.

It took me around one second to dispel it. The black collar tattoo disintegrate right after I dispel it.

"!"

"!?"

Both the boy and Rimikia are shocked after seeing the slavery collar disappeared just like that.

"Is that... Release Bind..? But..."

"It's my own version of Release Bind. Pay it no mind."

After I replied to Rimikia, the boy suddenly speaks.

"Why...?"

"Hm?"

"Why would you help me so much...? I never really done anything to deserve this..."

I suddenly remember when he said "Why" with pink-coloured eyes. Maybe that is the question that he wanted to ask back then.

Why... huh...

"Don't get me wrong. I don't just help you for free."

"Huh?"

He looks at with confusion.

"100 gold coins... is it? You will have to pay me that much."

"B- but I have no money..."

"I know. That's why instead of paying it with money. I'll have you pay with your effort."

"Eh?"

I use my right thumb to point at myself.

"Help me in my adventurer's job. That is how you will pay me in exchange of 100 gold coins."

"... B- but I'm just a powerless-"

"So what if you're powerless and stupid? All you had to do is to train and learn. You can do all those while helping me."

"... is it.... really... okay...?"

His voice starts trembling. I don't know why but I won't let this momentum go to waste.

"Of course. I need to get back my deserved 100 gold coins after all the trouble I had to go through. While we're at it. Let's give you a name too."

"Eh? I don't need it-"

"But I need it because it's so inconvenient to not know your name. Let's see..."

A name that is easy for me to remember....

"Mika... no. Miika. Yeah right. Miika. That will be your name from now on. You have no right to complain. After all, you owe me 100 gold coins."

I just picked that from my previous family name. But since Mika sounds too similar, so I add a bit to that name. Hence the name Miika.

I wonder if it sounds a bit too forced though. This guy gives a vibe of a person who is too reserved to accept charity without good reason, that's why I just had to think of an acceptable reason to convince him. But if he gets annoyed with my forceful attitude-

"Miika..."

He puts his right hand on his chest. Then he closes his eyes and says his name again.

"Miika.... my name..."

Why would I help him... I decide to not answer that. Because it's just a trivial reason: self-satisfaction.

I am no longer a person who deserves a good life. That's why I at least want people that I care can get it instead of me.

Even if I was forced to care for him, he is one of few people that I am able to care about in this town. And I dislike him getting treated poorly despite him being a male.

That is enough reason for me to wish that he got the good life he deserved. And once he got that, I can at least have something to be proud of in this second life of mine.

I look at Rimikia. She is still confused after seeing my Overtake.

"You're okay with this right?"

"Huh...? O- oh... y- yeah. If both of you agree with each other."

"You heard her. What will you do?"

The slave boy realises my question and looks at me.

"I decided.... that I will use this life of mine to repay you."

"I see.... then let's introduce ourselves first. My name is Shion, pleased to meet you."

He is a little bit surprised when I offer a handshake using my right hand.

But then he slowly accept my handshake with his right hand.

Our eyes met.

Then he reply to me with awkward tone.

"Pleased... to meet you. My name is.... Miika."

He smiles again. But this time, it is the kind of smile that I wish to see.