The Making Of A Broken Character Part 4 ~ Girl Meets Miracle Boy

In the center of the continent stood the Noranouk Kingdom, and to its left was the demon nation Cadahiem.

On the road connecting east and west was a potential trading district, and though it’s a trade route that can yield massive profits, its popularity with merchants was remarkably low.

The reason is that there’s a huge desert that stretches along the path.

First, the relentless sunlight would drain your stamina and willpower.

Furthermore, once the weather gets worse, one would get caught up in a sandstorm and the roads would get buried in sand, making them lose their purpose.

Once that happened, one would have to rely solely on the position of the sun and stars to navigate.

Although there was a trade route created in ancient times, it’s unknown how many hundreds or thousands of years have passed since it was swallowed up.

However, goods imported from the demon country are valuable articles and are highly sought after. Even so, suppliers were naturally small in count and stock was limited. The balance between supply and demand was non-existent, and it became a situation where merchants could get as much profit as they wanted if they exploited this.

As such, adventurers and merchants alike were aiming to earn a fortune, and even today were crossing this desert.

In addition, the merchants had another thing to worry about besides the desert.

Since they were carrying precious goods―its was common for people targeting them to show up.

After all, the desert hosted a band of thieves.

It was said that to the west of the desert lied the foot of a mountain range, and that’s were the band of thieves resided.

 

 

It was midnight.

On one side was the roaring flame of a pyre, along with a thick smoke enveloping.

The thieves’ tents were set alight, the evening’s west winds strengthening the force of the flames even further.

In the thunderous blaze of the burning tents, not a single thief was there―the reason being that all of them were already in position to counterattack.

A ponytail-wearing woman with a shrine maiden outfit.

A girl that carried an enormous battleaxe unbefitting of her Japanese-looking clothes.

Around her, the turban-wearing men who clutched their shamshirs (Middle-Eastern sword) had collapsed.

Before her eyes, the frightened leader of the thieves raised both of his hands to air to indicate surrender.

“Wa, wait a minute. Are you also one of those heroes who came from Earth? Please hold on, I’m in the same boat as you―”

“I know your circumstances…so much that it hurts.”

This was the first time that the leader had heard the assailant’s voice this evening.

Due to her having that amount of power, he understood that she was likely a fellow hero.

Yet, even so…until now―he perhaps had the thought that the girl in front of him was just a demon taking the form of a human.

 

 

Turn back to a few hours ago.

Waking up to the smell of smoke and angry voice, he immediately got out of his tent.

The leader had gathered his 50 subordinates to his tent in about four minutes.

As they were trying to reorganize themselves after the surprise attack, it can be said that they had responded quite quickly.

Although he was involved with ruffians in this group of thieves, he was raised in modern Japan and was aware of the importance of laws as a result of thorough education.

Now appeared a girl who held a battleaxe in one hand.

She had rendered the 50 thieves powerless―in roughly seven seconds.

Her movements were quick, and there was no question about her offense power or her defense ability.

All in all, she was on a completely different level.

―Rakshasa (TLN: Man-eating demigod in Hindu/Buddhist mythology)

When seeing dozens of his companions being instantly blown away, those were the words ruling in his mind.

Moreover, everyone had collapsed with only a strike from the back of her blade. It was an attack with an intense speed―but not one that left fatal wounds.

If this wasn’t the work of a demon, then who else could’ve been able to do this?

He thought that that perhaps she was some kind of shapeshifter monster, but then she also began to speak.

Yes, she had spoken.

Since she understood conversation, the man opened his mouth as he began to form a plan for survival,

“Hey, you can hear me, right? I was transported to this world, and then the Noranouk Kingdom took away all my possessions and kicked me out…I’ve experienced many cruelties…This is all I can do to stay alive. You understand, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I understand it…In a situation where you couldn’t even tell right from left, you were tossed away.”

While seeing that the girl’s eyes had a tinge of sorrow to them, the man decided to keep talking while it still counted,

“Yeah, I had no choice. So then…I somehow became a person with a bounty on his head. As a fellow being that came from the same world…please forgive me.”

He continued on,

“Considering the degree of your abilities, you probably don’t have to earn your income by only bounty hunting…right? Please just overlook me”

“I understand…that you have to live a life of crime…It really…would be nice…if I could…let you slide.”

Ruri sighs deeply, and draws out a sheet of parchment from her pocket.

“You are wanted by the guild on the charges for…five instances of robbery and murder, two instances of rape and murder, seven instances of human trafficking, along with countless minor offenses…”

Ruri nodded her head.

“With this…I won’t have to be worried about having any bad dreams tonight…During these days I’ve been ‘rabbit’ hunting…I haven’t been able to get some sleep…”

“Rabbits…? What are you talking about…?”

It seems that Ruri was not willing to listen to what the man had to say.

As if she tried to make excuses for herself―she muttered while clenching her fist,

“Thanks for being a rogue…actually, that sounds a bit odd.”

“Hey, you…it certainly seems like you’re staring at me with quite the cruel gaze…don’t tell me you…”

Once he took in the words of the girl, he started to sense the situation would turn into quite the horrific one.

That’s what the man understood.

However…he was then dumbfounded.

The spectacle he saw at this moment in time was―

“You―why are you crying?”

“Forgive me.”

Ruri responded to the man’s question with an attack.

There was the sound of the wind being cut through.

The man was directly hit on the with the back of her battleaxe―in an instant he was robbed of his consciousness.

 

 

―From there,

Many nights had passed by for me.

I had handed over many ‘rabbits’ to Higure, and today I’m out to do the same.

I’ve lost about ten kilograms, and the dark circles under my eyes are also intense.

I always have the same dream each day I go ‘rabbit’ hunting.

The heroes I’ve killed, who were once my classmates―and my sister.

It was a dream where their decaying bodies would reanimate, and they would start eating my flesh.

Did they forgive me for what I’ve done…? No, I think that they haven’t forgiven me, and now it’s coming to haunt me.

I’ve already lost my dreams, my hope, and my willpower.

I really…just want to die. But, I’m not allowed to die.

When thinking about it, since I was too weak, my sister had to promptly help me out.

My sister was kind, and chose to her help her younger sister.

I was stronger back then than I am now―not in a physically, but emotionally.

If I was strong enough to protect my sister, then I would have been the one that died, and my sister would have been the one that lived.

I have to be strong. I have to overcome this obstacle. I have to fulfill the promise I made to my sister.

Yes, someday, I have to smile.

In the future, if I find something that I treasure…then I want to be strong like my sister was.

I’ve cast away the naive person that I once was.

So, I no longer ask anyone for help anymore.

Even in this despair, even in this pain, I will overcome it all…without anyone’s help.

 

 

 

The day after the leader was handed over, Ruri walked on the road towards the west desert.

The landscape was still covered in sand, and there was a forest area where the greenery was concealed by it.

Settling down a stump along the highway, she took out a map from her pockets.

“Every time I open this map I just get depressed…”

It was a magic item that targeted those who had their belongings snatched by the Noranouk king―in other words, it was an item to track down Earthlings.

It detects a soul whose title as hero has been revoked, and a flickering, shining waypoint on the map reveals the location of the nearest one.

One time in the past, Ruri had trouble operating the thing. Those on death’s door or those extremely weak appear only as faint waypoints, making it very difficult to find out where they are on the map.

To put it simply, the intensity of the light changes in response to the vitality of the person being tracked.

For example, if the target to be searched for was Ruri or Saori, during the night it would create a light emission that wouldn’t stop at the level of a mere candle.

Ruri was put into thought.

She was thinking how nice it would be if the person to track this time was actually strong…

Then, Ruri turned her attention to the map.

A point lit up on the map. Before her eyes, the lit-up point was rapidly increasing in size, a bewildering sight for the eyes. No, wait a minute―the speck of light quickly turned into an explosion of light in an instant.

It rose into a violent light that whited-out her field of vision.

Falling into a half-panic, Ruri shouted,

“…What’s happening!?”

Then, the map started heating up.

Sensing the danger, Ruri threw the map at an arc into the sky.

With the sound of a *kaboom*, a flame had spread across a five meter radius―the map had exploded.

“…A malfunction…? For a malfunction though…that was quite intense…”

With a bewildered face, Ruri took out a compass held within a glass vessel she had stored in her pocket.

It was a second magic item to search for those whose title as hero has been revoked.

As before, it points out the position of a person in response to their vitality.

Its performance was worse over far distances compared to the map, but for the average hero, the needle will keep pointing towards them, knowing everything but the actual coordinates of those heroes.

Well, if the target to search for was someone like Ruri or Saori, then the compass will make a jolt for a bit and then eventually point the way towards them.

So, Ruri paid attention.

The needle instantly pointed towards northwest, and…while Ruri was grasping the compass tightly with her hand―she noticed something.

‘No wait…something like this…’ is what she thought.

The compass, along with the glass vessel it was in, began to fly towards the direction of its target from the palm of her hand.

She was grasping the glass vessel tightly as to not lose the compass, but the force was getting stronger and stronger.

At a certain point, the force of the rampaging compass exceeded Ruri’s weight.

Ultimately―Ruri’s body began to lift into the air.

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!?”

She was about seven meters up in the air.

“Wa, wait, waitwaitwait a minuteeeeee! What!? What’s going on!?”

While she was shouting, the durability of the glass vessel came to its limit.

It was only the needle of the compass reacting to the target.

The glass vessel broke and the needle of the compass began to fly out in the northwest direction in a straight line.

After a while, there was the distant sound of a *bam*.

It had crashed into some trees that were in the way, and the rampage of the compass finally stopped.

“…Just what is…going on here?”

In any case…Ruri proceeded in the northwest direction as is.

Whether by malfunction or something else…both of the items had pointed towards the northwest direction.

It seems like the path diverged from the road and went through the middle of a forest.

 

 

 

After walking for a while, Ruri’s nostrils were tickled by a certain scent.

It was a smell reminiscent of the battlefield―to be specific, it was the scent of wood being burned in a flame.

Strengthening her weariness, she searched her surroundings for any hint of the target.

About 700 meters ahead, she felt the presence of a demon.

Feeling a cold sweat on her back, Ruri started to break into a sprint.

“Why…why is that monster in the human district…?”

She had remembered this presence―a beast from the Demon Realm that she had encountered and was burdened by many times before.

The presence of an ancient black dragon.

It was…a life-form with low-class intelligence, high-class destruction.

To be specific, just one of these creatures was said to rival the ranks of a lower-level demon noble.

Bitter memories passed through Ruri’s mind.

―Even during those times, my sister had to help me out, didn’t she…

Ruri was immersed in her sentiments for only a moment and then reached for the battleaxe on her back.

―We were able to push through the Demon Realm because we worked as a pair…As a single person…I wonder if…I can kill that monster?

If there really was a hero in the direction she was going in, then it’s very likely that they would cross paths with this black dragon.

And…if a normal hero encountered this thing, there would be no way for them to survive.

―I have to help quickly…

There, Ruri had realized something.

Right now, she was worrying about someone…that she was going to send in to the research facility.

However, Ruri’s does not stop her running.

Even if they would only be thrust into the worst of hell afterwards―it was no lie that she wanted to save this person who was just around the corner.

At that moment, a roar was heard about 200 meters ahead in the distance.

A deep sound coming from a pair of lungs. It shook the entire air, giving anyone goosebumps.

―The roar of a black dragon…it’s preparing something with its breath?! Please…let me make it there in time!

If it’s letting out its breath, then it has a definite intent to attack.

There’s a 100% chance that the black dragon had encountered someone.

Then, once she had broken through the forest, she exited into an open space.

What the sight of what Ruri saw was―the black dragon spitting its fire towards the direction of something human-sized.

―I was too late.

Ruri almost collapsed then and there.

However…she noticed something unusual.

The cause of the burnt field…doesn’t seem to be the breath from the black dragon just now, but from a breath that was spit out a couple hours prior.

That is to say, the black dragon seems to have emitted its flames multiple times already.

At the very least, for the average hero, one blow from a black dragon’s flame means certain death.

It’s difficult to imagine…the black dragon having to spit its flames over and over.

While puzzled, Ruri spotted the hazy human-sized figure in the midst of the flames.

Oddly, no matter how long the flames persisted, there was no sign of him crumbling down at any point. Why, didn’t even budge an inch.

Then the black dragon ran out of breath, its black flame coming to an end.

Once the flame cleared up, there was―

―something breathtaking.

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Author’s Note:

The ‘something’ that’s breathtaking is going “After all this time it’s finally my turn!”

Yesterday’s update reached an absurd amount of 10,000 characters and even today’s reaches 6,000.

So, there’s no hope for an update tomorrow, sorry. (TLN: He posted one the next day anyways, like last time)

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