Chapter 4

It’s been a week since that battle. I went down to the deepest part of that dungeon, but there was no “amazing treasure” to be found there. I returned to the surface, and now I’m walking through the Twilight World again.

I wonder why I haven’t been able to find my way back to the Barriered City yet even though I’ve been looking for almost a year, I thought. Suddenly, I felt a disturbing presence.

“Hm? What is this?”

Recently, I felt I had gained something like a sixth sense, and I was now able to detect strange presences around me.

“Is that… a barrier?”

As I proceeded through the forest in that direction, I got the sense that a barrier was over there. Humans are the ones who maintain barriers. There might be a human just up ahead, I thought, and cut the barrier with [Invisible Blade].

I walked in slowly and found a village. I believe this is called… Japanese-style architecture? It wasn’t a Barriered City. There were several buildings made of wood and stone rather than brick. Judging by how advanced their level of civilisation seems to be, there are definitely humans here, I thought, but the truth was beyond my expectations.

“The barrier has been broken!”

“Is it an enemy attack? How many of them?”

“They broke that barrier? Are they Maxwell’s men?”

They started shouting and running around. While they may have looked human, they weren’t. They were demons. By the way, while monsters are also sometimes lumped in with demons, the two are technically different categories. “Monster” is the term for demons that don’t have intelligence.

Based on that definition, this is definitely a demon. It’s especially obvious once you notice the horns on their heads. These are… ogres. They have approximately the same level of intelligence as humans and very high physical strength. I learned at the Academy that they excel in swordsmanship, far more so than humans, I thought.

“You! Who are you?”

I’m surrounded by several ogres. Then, suddenly, I realised something. Up until now, I’ve immediately fought everything that I’ve encountered. Everything was an enemy; as soon as we met, we would immediately begin killing each other. I was planning to escape this fight immediately, but it seems I can talk to these demons… or more accurately, I can tell for a fact that these are demons I can reason with, I thought. I raised my hands above my head quietly and gave them my name.

“I’m a human. My name is Yuria.”

Upon hearing my words, the ogres around me recoil in surprise. “What? A human? That’s impossible! There are no humans all the way out here!”

“But look at him. That right arm… That’s a Duskmark, isn’t it?”

“That’s true…”

“More importantly, call the Chief!”

I had both of my arms above my head, so my sleeves had fallen to reveal both of my arms. Now that I think about it, this symbol on my right arm has been getting longer over time.

It used to only extend from my shoulder to my elbow, but now the intertwining, red and black pattern extends all the way to my wrists. Why did they react so strongly to seeing this? What’s a Duskmark?” I thought.

As I was thinking, an ogre with a very distinct aura approached. His clothes were clean and in good condition, and it was immediately obvious that he was a very high-ranking individual here. More noteworthy than that were his muscles. He had thick muscles that could even be seen through his clothes. Without a doubt, this man is the strongest person in the village, I thought.

“…I see, it’s one of the Duskmarked. Hmm. You said your name was Yuria, yes? Come with me. Let’s have a chat.”

“You’re not going to attack, right? Or eat me, or anything…”

“…Do you think all demons are enemies to humanity? Well, let’s talk about that as well. And, of course, if you’re one of the Duskmarked, we will treat you politely.”

I followed after the man who seemed to be their Chief. While we were walking, I prepared myself to escape at a moment’s notice. Although the ogres were staring at me from all sides, I didn’t sense the intent to fight from them. Could they be used to humans? No, that’s ridiculous… humans living in the Twilight…

Then, suddenly, it hit me. That’s right. I’ve been living in the Twilight like this. It wouldn’t be strange if there are other humans also living in the Twilight. How had I not realised…

“Come and have a seat. We’ll prepare some tea for you, at least.”

“…Thank you.”

I sit down seiza-style on the soft, square cloth they prepared for me.

“I am Edgar, the Chief of this village. Well then, Yuria, why are you here? It seems you did not come here to fight us.”

“Um… I’m not sure if you’ll believe me, but I was cast out into the Twilight World a year ago. Since then, I’ve just been wandering from place to place.”

“Oh my! After being cast out of the Barriered City, you’ve been wandering alone in the Twilight for a year?”

“Yes. However, how do you know about the Barriered City, Mr. Edgar?”

“Hmm. It seems you are not aware of our neutrality in this fight.”

“Huh?! Aren’t all demons hostile to humans?”

“Indeed, about 80 to 90 percent of demons are, but the remaining 10 to 20 percent are not. There are races like us who are friendly to humans. In fact, in the Human-Demon War 150 years ago, a human being saved my life.

“Back then, we ogres intended to stick to our neutrality, but the other races would not allow it and attacked us. Ever since then, we have been friendly to the humans. I believe a few years ago… no, three years ago, a human came here. Just like you, he had a red and black mark on his arm.”

“Do you know what’s happened to my arm?”

“That’s the Duskmark. In other words, it’s the mark of a human who has become adapted to the Twilight.”

“Adapted? Is there something in the Twilight?”

“You didn’t know? The Twilight is poisonous to humans. However, it doesn’t kill immediately. In the Twilight World, humans become slow, their movements dulled. On the other hand, demons are strengthened. However, there are certain exceptional humans who are also strengthened by the Twilight. Those people are the Duskmarked.”

“Is that so…”

I was convinced his story was true. If you think about it, there’s no way a talentless loser like me could become this strong. It wasn’t that I had hidden talents, but rather that my abilities were forcibly awoken by the Twilight. That made sense to me.

“Oh, about that human that visited three years ago. What happened to him?”

“He said he was simply wandering around. There’s nothing to really talk about… However, he did leave some books with us. He asked us to give those books to other humans if they came here.”

“Books?”

“Indeed. You… seem quite accustomed to living in the Twilight.”

“You can tell?”

“I can tell how well you’ve adapted to the Twilight. You are as well-adapted, or perhaps more so, than the human from back then.”

“What is the Twilight, anyway? I heard that it appeared during the Human-Demon War and caused humanity to lose….”

“I don’t know.”

“Huh?”

“The Twilight is a mysterious thing. From where did it come? Why does it exist? Is it a natural occurrence? All of these questions remain unanswered.”

“I see… the outside world is certainly full of mysteries.”

“More importantly, do you wish to go back to the Barriered City you came from?”

“…I forgot about that! Right, do you know how to get there and where we are?”

“Of course. We are at the eastern edge of the continent. If you go a little further east from here, you will find nothing but ocean.”

“The east?! That’s the opposite side from where I need to be!”

“Is that all you’re surprised by? I’m more surprised that there’s a human who could make it here from the Barriered Cities in one year on foot.”

I have a map of the world memorised. Humans now live in the west. Seven Barriered Cities are positioned from north to south in the western part of the continent. No wonder I haven’t made it back yet. I’ve been heading in the wrong direction… and I’ve come all the way to the end of the continent.

“Can I get a map?”

“Would you like to spar with me?”

“Huh?”

“We are a race that lives by the sword. The Twilight Man who came three years ago was also strong.”

“Did you win?”

“No, I lost. I had an overwhelming defeat. For the past three years, I have been learning from my defeat. Would you like to test your strength?”

“If I win, will you give me a map?”

“I’ll give you a map whether you win or lose. I just want to fight you with all my might. When we’re done, I’ll hand you the books and a map. We’ll also prepare clothes and a bag for you. We can provide food as well, if you wish.”

“Thank you so much, for everything you’ve done for me.”

“Well? Will you accept my challenge?”

“Of course! Let’s have a good match!”

I was desperate to see humans again. And it felt good to spar like this; it felt like I was getting a lesson. I also wanted to know how strong I am, compared to everything else in this world. So, I decided to have a match with the Chief of the ogres.