Chapter 16: The Last, The Lost, The Least

Another week passed, a week spent training against knightly squires. I was now level 14 while the rest were level 13, I got an extra level thanks to killing a few prisoners and that dying peasant. Hopefully I won’t get too far ahead and end up triggering the EXP drain. Well I would just have to manage the EXP I get, try not to kill too many prisoners if I can help it. Maybe ask Ivan to do it, he seemed to be the one with the most grit. Well he did mention that he butchered animals from time to time, so I guess he would be more desensitized to killing.

Well that was something to think about in the future, considering the Rifts could potentially appear four days from now. The mages gave a window of about a week for the Rifts to arrive, so it could appear at any moment after four days. Then it was a matter of where it is and us getting to it. Apparently the furthest location from the capital will take a month of travel, which happens to be at the extreme south eastern village near Alvuan. It’s located right in the middle of the Alvian forest, a dense forest filled with latent magic. This meant that many rare herbs and silks could be obtained in the forest. Making the increased risk worth it due to the potential profits.

This also meant that stronger monsters also lived in that forest. The village employs a mercenary company as guards and is apparently one of the most well fortified villages. The only reason it hasn’t grown into a full fledged town was that the forest itself seemed to fight their expansion. With trees growing at an alarming rate as if the forest itself was alive and trying to fight the invaders.

They say there is a chance for the Rift not to appear but I have a very strong suspicion that they just couldn’t find the damn thing. Like what if it appears on top of a mountain? What are you going to do? Check every mountain? If you had planes, drones and satellites then you might be able to see where it is, provided the weather allowed for a clear view.

I don’t want to find out a Rift didn’t show up and a month later a horde of demons start pouring over some random mountain. That would be a nightmare, we would then have to repel the attack. After that we would have to search the whole damn thing while being under constant attack, which I can tell you isn’t exactly a holiday in case you weren’t aware…

“Yo Earth to Sergeant Onaga?” I hear Jacob say, tearing me from my thoughts.

“Huh, yeah?” I ask looking up.

“So where do you want to go? This may be our last chance to relax in this life, so we better make it good.” Jacob said.

Today was our last rest day from training before the Rifts arrived and once again the king gave us a sack of coins to enjoy ourselves.

“Actually Katsuro I wanted to ask if you wanted to go somewhere just you and me.” Charlotte said a bit shyly.

“Erm… just us two?” I ask, as I feel my cheeks go slightly hot.

The room went silent for a moment and an awkward silence started to settle on us.

“Oh sure, rub it in our single faces.” Jacob said breaking the silence with a smirk.

“Very well then it is settled. Jacob, the others and myself will be going out together. The two of you are not invited.” Ivan said as he stood up from the sofa.

“Wait what?” I ask, at the sudden declaration.

“Yeah we’ll figure something out on the road, maybe we can visit a cafe?” Jacob said as he got up as well. He took out about three quarters of the coins in the pouch and placed them in his own personal pouch.

“You two enjoy yourselves.” Jacob said cheerily as he moved towards the door, in a moment everyone was gone from the room except the two of us.

“Well that was sudden.” Charlotte said.

“So erm what do you want to do?” I ask scratching the back of my head.

“Actually, a first date isn’t exactly what I have in mind. It’s more of a request than an invitation actually.” Charlotte said tentatively.

“A request?” I ask curiously my previous embarrassment now replaced with curiosity.

“Yes actually I was wondering if we could visit the slums.” Charlotte said as she looked at the sack of coins that Jacob left behind.

“Erm why?” I ask, feeling even more lost now.

“My father once told me, if you wish to understand a nation you must first look to the poor. It is the heritage to the house of Holstein to give alms to the poor. In my nation when a person steals due to desperation and hunger he is not arrested for it, they are helped instead of punished.” Charlotte said.

“Really? A person steals and he just walks free?” I ask.

I mean the person in question is desperate. So the choice between crime and starvation is often an easy one for the common man. Better to live in prison than to starve to death on the streets I suppose.

“My people do not view such an act as a crime, we view it as a failure of society at large. It is customary for the nobles of Prussia to apologise when such an act occurs. It is rare, a person who looks homeless is often taken in by the authorities and given aid so that they can get back on their feet. So homelessness is a rare sight in my nation. Yearly cases of homelessness are in the single digits more often than not.” Charlotte said.

“Well that sounds like paradise considering what my old world was like.” I say as I tried to imagine where the powerful use their authority to protect rather than abuse.

Try as I might my mind always drifted to all the times my nation viewed these people as unproductive and useless. These people also view themselves in such a way, so they don’t even beg for money from pedestrians.

Most of them just live quietly out of sight trying to scrape by and hopefully not freeze to death in the Japanese winter. They generally stay in remote locations or go to internet cafes to stay a night if they can afford it. Living primarily off cheap food such as instant ramen or canned goods.

Some even find a remote place to end it, they even do it in such a way that hopefully no one would have to clean up afterwards, often going into the woods or jumping off a cliff into the forest below.

My country is one of the better ones, many places in other parts of the world are much worse in terms of poverty. Viewing the homeless as thugs, criminals and drug addicts. Considering that I guess Japan wasn't that bad. Maybe Charlotte’s world got it right, it is a failure of society…

“Almost every country in my world has a homeless problem, even the richest of nations have people scrabbling in the dirt to survive. Most people just adopted an out of sight, out of mind mentality or worse just viewed that they deserved it.” I say.

“Deserved it? Why would they think that?” Charlotte asked, surprised.

“Well some would think they were people who didn’t work hard in school so they couldn’t find a proper job. Or that they were drug addicts spending whatever money they have on their addiction. Many reasons, depending on the country, mine is more of the, you didn’t do well in school type deal.” I reply, at that moment I realised how numb to this I was.

“Maybe we just became so used to it that we just let it be. Always looking up trying to figure out how we are going to climb, never bothering to look down…” I say with a sigh.

“Hmm, well my nation realised that most of these people just had a string of bad luck. I mean no one wants to live like that, all we need to do is give them the tools. After all if you applied for a job you needed an address to apply. You couldn’t exactly write the bench at Bleichröder Park. They would need a place to shower, clean clothes, be in good health. How else were they going to find work and recover?” Charlotte asked.

“I don’t know, maybe it was easier to just look the other way…” I reply softly.

“Yes I thought that might have been the case… I get the same feeling here too. I was thinking of visiting the slums, maybe helping a little, understand what their lives are like. I came to this world to save it. Initially I thought I was just supposed to save this world the Rifts, I had no idea people could treat other people like this. I’m starting to feel I was chosen for more than just sealing the Rifts…” Charlotte said softly.

“What makes you say that?” I ask, curious about how the rest were chosen.

“Wanting to save a world is something any decent noble of Prussia would agree to. There are many who serve in the Reichswehr as officers. Why not choose them? Why me?” Charlotte asked as she shifted her gaze down as if lost in thought.

“Reichswehr?” I ask.

“The Defenders of the Realm, our army is small, mostly sent to the unstable regions on the other side of the planet to keep the peace.” Charlotte explained.

“You see, the Life God could have chosen anyone of them. If I were to choose I wouldn’t have picked me, I would have picked my cousin. He’s braver than me, stronger than me, a little like you…” Charlotte said as she looked back at me.

“What’s so special about me?” Charlotte asked as if lost.

“I’m sure the Life God must have her reasons.” I say, a bit unsure of how to reply.

“Yes, a being such as a god must have their reasons. There is only one thing I can think of…” Charlotte muttered.

“Which is?” I asked.

“My mother was a commoner, she used to be a high school teacher. In the past she would teach from morning till the evening, then she would go for dinner and then she would volunteer as a teacher for one of the schools made for the poor. Those schools were funded by the government but they usually lacked the necessary teachers for a small enough class. It’s quite hard to teach when you have a class of fifty kids you know. So they mostly got by with volunteers for night classes. It was seen as a civil duty for many teachers so they operated quite well all things considered.” Charlotte said with a small smile as if she was remembering a happy memory.

“That's very noble of her.” I reply.

“Yes, my father thought so too when he met her. My mother was Catholic you see and she revered Saint John Baptist De La Salle.” Charlotte said as she reached into her dress and pulled out a small rosary.

“I’m not familiar with him… I’m not familiar with most things Christian if I’m honest. I know Saint Peter decides if you get into heaven and Michael’s an angel… I think…” I say trying to recall what little I knew about Christiantiy.

“Yes you are correct.” Charlotte said with a giggle.

“Well I suppose you don’t have that many Christians in Japan.” Charlotte said with a smile.

“Yeah most of us are Shinto Buddhists. We do like to get married in churches though… not sure why.” I think to myself as I realise this odd fact.

“Well Saint John Baptist De La Salle is the patron Saint of teachers. He believed in caring for the last, the lost and the least. He was a French noble that spent most of his fortune building schools for the poor. My mother idolized him and I suppose I do too. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t fond of the message.” Charlotte said as she gently held the rosary.

“I think that’s why I am here, Jacob is virtuous, Ivan is determined, you are a good soldier and leader. Jacob stands proud with his ideals, Ivan gives us the strength to follow our duty through to the end and you can lead us to victory in our battles. So why am I here? I feel I am here to save this world by healing it. To save the people as much as the world. Not just to win a war for the rich and powerful…” Charlotte said.

“If that’s true you may have the hardest job of all of us.” I say.

“You think so?” Charlotte asked.

“Definitely, no one knows humanity’s failings better than me. I know what humans can be like at their worst. Just monsters wearing human skin.” I say as I look away, my face turning to a scowl.

“Then maybe that’s why you’re here, to tell me the things I need to hear. I’m not stupid, I know I’m naive, just some girl who likes to sing and read.” Charlotte said.

“Well then good thing the Dark God sent me. Maybe I’m the Hero that this world deserves but you are what it needs.” I say.

“I know this may be our last weekend in this life but I want to do something worthwhile with it. It won’t be fun... if you want to do something else...” Charlotte said hesitantly.

“Nothing worth doing has ever been easy. Believe me I know…” I say as I reach over and take her hand. Charlotte squeezed my hand back and she looked at me shyly, her face going slightly pink.

“So you’ll come with me?” Charlotte asked softly.

“Where do we start?” I ask with a smile.

Thank you…

Our first stop was a bakery in the middle class district, Charlotte bought all the bread we could fit into my backpack. A few days ago, I got some fabric from the blacksmiths to make a field pack that had enough room to put a week's worth of provisions and equipment for your average soldier. I had this feeling this bag would come in handy when the Rift’s showed up.

So with my backpack full of bread we made our way to the slums in the southernmost corner of the city right next to the wall. The slums were there because the sun rose from the south east and set in the south west. Which told me this world was supposedly in the northern hemisphere, if we ignored the fact that this patch of land is completely isolated from the rest of the planet. If there even was a planet and we weren’t standing on a flat earther’s wet dream.

Their close proximity to the wall and the angle of the sunlight meant most of the day was spent in the shadow of the wall for the denizens of the slum. Making it a cold and inhospitable place to live with so little hours of sunlight every day.

We smelled the place before we saw it and honestly it smelled like shit. Like literal shit, as in it smelled like faeces. We got our first whiff of that foul odour as we walked past the poor district which already looked like crap. With it’s crappy stone buildings that seemed to be sagging and old rotted wood doors. This would qualify as a slum back home so if this was the poor district I think I’m not going to like what I find in the actual slum.

Well it wasn’t long before we could see for ourselves. The first thing I saw was the wall that cast its shadow over this collection of wooden huts. At the top of the wall I could see soldiers standing watch and looking down at the slums. Among them were a pair of what looked to be ballistas that were pointed downwards at the slums. So the place is so bad that the guards don’t even want to enter it?

As we approached we spotted a pair of guards standing at the border of the slums holding cheap looking spears. When we got closer one of the guards approached.

“Life Hero sama, what might you be doing here?” one of the guards asked surprised.

These guards weren’t wearing the shiny plate armour of those knights back at the palace. They wear crude iron helms and cheap looking leather armour. In their hands they carried worn and old spears.

“We wish to enter the slums.” Charlotte said calmly.

“Are you certain Life Hero sama. This place is no place for one as august as yourself. This cesspool behind me is filled with filth, rogues and degenerates.” the guard said.

“I wish to enter the slum, please make way.” Charlotte said curtly, obviously not very pleased with that comment.

“But you would be the danger…” the guard began.

“Oh just shut up and get out of the way. What do you think I’m here for? You think I can’t handle some diseased and starving slum dwellers?” I reply coldly, cutting him off.

The guards froze at those words and looked at each other for a moment before bowing and moving aside.

“Thank you.” Charlotte said as she walked past them.

I followed behind her and looked at the surroundings, this place is a dump in the literal sense of the word. It looked like a drainage ditch for the city, where the rest of the citizens threw the worst of the people living here.

“Sorry if that was a bit crass.” I say to Charlotte as my gaze wanders across the surroundings.

“No sometimes I wish I could talk like that, may not be the most lady-like but it does get the point across more effectively.” Charlotte said as she scanned the surroundings.

“Well you just keep being your prim and proper stuff. Leave all the cursing and shouting to me. It’s not like my reputation can get any worse. The bringer of ruin is already quite low on the ladder, being rude doesn’t seem like it would make much of a difference.” I say with a smirk and I watch as Charlotte lets out a small smile as well.

Soon we arrived at this stretch of street that was out of sight of the main road and we paused. I looked around and saw us getting stares from all over, but no chill on the back of my neck. In fact many of them were looking at us in fear.

“So how are we going to do this exactly?” I asked as I looked around the place.

“Well I was thinking we should start with someone who needs help, once people see we are here to help then they might approach us.” Charlotte muttered in reply.

Then I noticed a pair turn the corner, it was a young boy that was helping a woman who was wobbling forward trying not to fall on the wet mud that served as a road. The woman coughed heavily and the boy struggled to support her as she teetered on her shaky feet. They both looked deathly thin and they were clearly starving. The woman’s legs then gave out and she fell to her knees into the filthy mud. The boy cried as he tried to pull the woman to her feet.

Get up…

Please Mama…

I hear the boy cry as the mother devolves into another coughing fit. This time she hacks out a mouth full of black blood as it dribbles from her lips.

“I think we found our first lucky pair…” I say to Charlotte.

“It seems so, let’s go.” Charlotte said as we approached the pair.

As we got closer I saw the boy look up, his eyes widened in fear. The woman looked up and her dull eyes cleared for a moment as she caught sight of us. She tried to stand again but she fell again, she let out a hacking cough and blood sprayed out splashing onto Charlotte’s white cloak.

The woman caught sight of the stain and she let out a rasping gasp of horror.

“I’m sorry my lady… please it is my fault leave my boy…” the woman rasped out, eyes wide in terror, black blood dribbling from her lips.

“Shh it’s ok, I’m here to help.” Charlotte said gently as she knelt down and placed a hand on the woman’s head.

[Isha’s Embrace] she intoned as the woman was bathed in a green glow. I watched as the woman’s pale sickly parlour immediately improved. The woman let out another hacking cough this time throwing her head down in time so that the black blood sprayed out onto the ground. She took in a rasping gasp of air and she looked up with her eyes wide in shock.

“Why…” the woman asked, stunned.

“I wanted to help…” Charlotte said gently.

“Thank you my lady…” the woman said as she pressed her head into the filthy mud.

“Please raise your head.” Charlotte said gently as she placed a gentle arm on her shoulder.

“Can you stand?” Charlotte asked.

“Yes I think so.” the woman said as she got back to her feet. Although still a little wobbly, it seems her unsteadiness is not only due to her illness.

“When was the last time you ate?” Charlotte asked the pair.

“Four days ago.” the boy said timidly.

“Please do not trouble yourself my lady, your magic is… a miracle on it’s own…” the woman said breathlessly.

“The Priestesses of Life can not hold a candle to your power. I haven’t breathed this well… since…” the woman said as she went silent as if lost in contemplation.

“Have you been healed by the Priestesses before?” I ask.

“Yes my lord, we must provide an offering to the gods but we may only receive healing if we are lucky. We must know the words of the scripture and recite them as well as we can to have a hope of being blessed with their healing. The last time I was healed it didn’t remove the sickness it just alleviated some of the symptoms.” the woman said.

“That’s because they didn’t cleanse you, they just used a healing spell. You need to be cleansed of the illness and healed for the damage the sickness does to your body.” I explain.

“I confess I am not knowledgeable of magic, someone like me has no use of such knowledge. Our level caps are two low to even contemplate casting magic. I reached my level cap of six at twenty summers. It is my fate to languish like this…” the woman said bitterly.

“My spell has both a healing and cleanse component, it is also much stronger than the average healing spell. You should be fully recovered now.” Charlotte said kindly.

“Thank you, my lady are you perhaps an Arch Priestess? I have never seen such magic.” the woman said reverently.

“No my name is Charlotte, I am the Life Hero.” Charlotte said.

At those words the woman’s eyes widened and she tried to kneel again. Charlotte reached out and grabbed her arm.

“Please there is no need to.” Charlotte said, stopping her.

The woman looked up stunned for a moment, then she hesitantly stood back up.

“Here you must be hungry.” I say as I reach in the bag and take out two loaves of bread.

I handed a loaf of bread to each of them who just looked wide eyed at the bread.

“My lord… this… the healing is a miracle on it’s own…” the woman stammered.

“If you accepted a miracle then what’s two more loaves of bread?” I say cutting her off.

The boy shakily reached out and took the bread. His mouth watering as he smelt the fragrance of the freshly baked loaf of bread. I pushed the other loaf at the woman who still looked stunned at the bread.

“Take it, we have more than enough bread at the castle trust me.” I say and the woman took the loaf with shaking hands as she hugged it close to her chest as if it was a precious treasure.

“Thank you… thank you…” the woman wept as she held the bread, her body shaking with sobs.

“Are you a hero too?” the boy asked me.

“I am the Dark Hero, the name’s Katsuro.” I said, curious at how this pair would react.

At first the boy's eyes widened in fear, then they returned to normal and he tilted his head as if confused.

“But the stories say you are evil…” the boy said.

“Do the stories also say that each Dark Hero is different from the last?” I ask with a smirk.

“Yes?” the boy asked.

“Well then how do you know they are evil every time, if the Dark Heroes are different every time?” I ask.

“Ohhh…” the boy said as if receiving a great revelation and smiled as he nodded.

“Are you truly the Dark Hero?” the woman asked.

“Yeah why?” I ask, curious at what she is going to say.

I won’t lie, I’m curious about what everyone else thought of me. The nobles hating me made perfect sense, afterall the Dark Heroes destroyed the nation. However, a nation is not it’s people, a nation can fall but the people endure. It’s just the rulers who don’t get to keep their heads afterwards.

“No it’s just the stories of church paint you as some monster. But… you aren’t a monster…” the woman looked at me, her eyes clouded with confusion.

“Anyone can call anyone else whatever they want. That doesn’t make it true. I could call you an outworld demon but we both know that isn’t true.” I say with a shrug.

“I see…” the woman said with a nod. Her eyes flickered for a moment before she bowed.

“Thank you... Heroes, I can work the rest of my life and I will never be able to repay this debt.” the woman said softly her head lowered.

“Live well and take care of your boy. I’ll consider that payment.” Charlotte said as she patted the boy on the head.

Erm…

I hear a childlike voice say from behind me. I turn to see a small group of young children looking up at us hopefully. They were all as thin as the mother and son behind me, barely more than skin and bones.

“Could we… have some bread too…” one of the girls said as she peered up at me hesitantly.

“I’ll take my leave now Heroes, thank you again from the bottom of my heart.” the woman said with a bow as I turned my head to see her bow and she took the boy’s hand and left.

I gave some bread to the kids who all took it with grateful bows, their eyes shining as if they were gazing at heroes. Then again I suppose we are technically, at least in name even though we haven't actually done anything yet. Slowly more and more people approached us asking for help.

Me and Charlotte spent the next few hours healing and giving bread to the people in the slums. Many tears were shed as they hugged the bread, many held our hands as if we were saviours when all we did was treat them like human beings.

We went to houses, healed the sick, gave out bread, doubled back for more bread, gave out some more bread… overall it was a tiring day but honestly quite fulfilling. I’m starting to understand why people volunteer for charity and I can see why Charlotte’s mother volunteered at the school.

On our way back we laughed and chatted. We were covered in mud from the filthy road and we stunk like hell. However, I don’t remember the last time I had such an enjoyable time. We drew stares in the palace as we tracked the fetid mud all over the palace but we couldn’t care less.

By the time we arrived the mud had dried and most of it had fallen off somewhere in the palace. They’ll clean it up I’m sure. At the door of the room I could hear the rest inside talking. When we opened the door the rest froze when they got a look at us.

“Jesus, where the hell did the two of you go?” Jacob asked slightly slack jawed.

“We went to the slums.” I reply with a smirk.

“Why?” I hear Jacob ask as he looks at us with a bewildered expression.

“Decided to do some charity work.” I reply.

“Well... not my idea of a first date but knowing Charlotte I’m guessing you two had a good time?” Jacob asked slightly bemused.

“You could say that.” I reply.

“Well before you come in and track… whatever the hell it is you’re covered in. You two should go take a bath, you two reek.” Jacob said with a grimace.

“Yes, I think that would be best.” Charlotte said as she peered down at her muddied clothes.

“Good thing there’s two sets of baths but… I guess if the two of you would like to share…” Jacob said with a grin.

At those words I felt my face grow hot. Then I sensed Charlotte move as she shed her muddy robe and threw it right at Jacob. Who caught in the midst of his laughter didn’t even notice the muddied, shit covered cloth was flying right at his face. He found out soon enough though when it slapped him in the face. He yelled in shock as the robe draped over his head, with the muddied exterior on the inside.

“Nice throw.” I say with a laugh as I turn over to look at the red faced Charlotte. Who sensed my gaze, turned and blushed even redder.

With a laugh I take off my coat and drape it over Charlotte’s exposed shoulders. Charlotte blushed red and held the coat closer to her body and looked up at me shyly.

“UGHHH, I think some of it went into my mouth…” Jacob said with a gag.

Hearing the group in the room begin to laugh, Charlotte began to giggle as well. Seeing this I began to laugh as well.

“Come on, let's get cleaned up.” I say as I gestured to Jacob to give me Charlotte’s robe.

Jacob handed it to me looking a little annoyed. I took it and draped it over my shoulder not caring for the filth on the robe. I mean from my experience things that are supposed to be on the outside smell much better than things that are supposed to on the inside.

I offered my free hand to Charlotte who shyly took it and we walked over to the baths. I took my time enjoying the hot water, separately from Charlotte of course. The best thing about the bath was that there was this strange magic contraption that cleaned out clothes instantly. You just had to soak it in this weird blue glowing water and your clothes came out clean and dry. After scrubbing myself clean I exited the bath only in my tank top, cargo pants, boots. My armor and coat held in my hand.

As I exited the bath I saw the door of the female bath open and I saw Charlotte wearing only her mage robes. Her cloak held under her arm, her hair still wet from the bath.

“Hey.” Charlotte said with a shy smile.

“Hey.” I reply with a smile of my own.

“Thank you for today, it means alot for… accompanying me.” Charlotte said.

“It was fun, the place could use a bit of a spring cleaning but not the worst I’ve seen.” I reply with a shrug.

Charlotte let out a small laugh at my comment. She walked up to me and took my hand.

“You’re a good man Katsuro.” Charlotte said as she squeezed my hand.

I freeze at those words, am I? A day of good deeds does not wash out two years of murder. It’s not that easy to get into heaven...

“Am I?” I asked, feeling unsure of that statement.

“I killed a lot of people Charlotte. Many who were deserving, many who were not. I’m a war criminal…” I say softly.

“I know, but… it’s not too late to do some good. I wanted to do some good today, both for those people in slums… and for you.” Charlotte said.

“Thanks, it was fun… but I don’t think I can believe that I’m a good man. Not yet anyway.” I say softly.

“Ok, but promise you’ll try. For me?” Charlotte asked.

“Yeah… sure I’ll try.” I say with a small laugh.

“Alright, in the meantime I’ll believe for you.” Charlotte said as she squeezed my hand again.

Little light, little light…

You who shine so bright...

Why can’t I see

All the colours that you see...

Please can I be

Colourful and free….

I hear Styx say in my head with a laugh. His cold voice rang in my mind, his cold laughter echoing off the walls of my consciousness.

“Shut up.” I reply mentally.

Through the ruins, Through the pain

Voices never heard again...

High above the rotting bones

Flesh and metal, Beaks and crows…

Reap and sow

Weep and sow...

The Dark God, the first of eight

The Dark God, the end of fates

Hope, Dreams, Pleasure

Rage, Secrets, Horror…