~edge lord Vranyir’s point of view~

When I reincarnated from another world, I died from being hit by a truck. I’ll never forget the dead eyes on the driver’s face, that truck’s grill wide as if smiling at me. As a young, average, japanese teenager I read light novels like everyone else. The pictures on the cover helped my imagination.

“It’s like an anime! But, I can imagine all the character in my head, exactly how I want them! This is so fun… I want to make anime one day…”

I sighed. My life became anime, all right! As an edge lord now, I spent a few hours this morning getting ready putting on all the belts. At first, it took me until evening. I remember the first day, putting on the hundred belts and doing my makeup and hair to look perfect for the part. It’s hard. At first, I hated it. At first, I questioned the edge lord title. Well, I still question it, silently, complaining about this and that in my mind as I maintain perfect hygiene and looks to keep my lands under my rule. Why would I, a reincarnator that gained abilities most kids my age dream of, commit myself to becoming an edge lord?

This world of Vainris, this world, is a strange one. People here usually only have titles, like my court wizard is named Court Wizard. He does most of the evil stuff so I don’t have to. As strong as I was with magic, there were stronger in this world, vampire lords. It’s a violent world. Everyone lives in fear of the vampire lords, who abduct people with abandon, burn villages, wipe out the countryside or sometimes terrorize the townsfolk for fun.

Naturally, I tried to fight a vampire lord when I heard about this. I stormed his castle, cutting through the increasingly tough demon guards. I thought I had it. I thought I could win. I wanted to be a hero. Even if I can’t ever watch anime again, even if I couldn’t become the man I wanted to be, I could save the people of this world with this power! When I heard the term ‘edge lord’, I had no idea I would be one, one day. I thought it was a joke.

The vampire lord Dracula, the real one, spared me that day. I lied there, panting in her throne room, unable to overcome the shadow demons she summoned. They absorbed all my magic like it was nothing! My japanese sword I conveniently acquired from a dwarf’s shop couldn’t cut through them at all! Even using all the secret techniques I found in that scroll, it was useless. I cried. That’s when Dracula talked to me for the first time after sipping blood out of a wine glass.

“Another reincarnator, huh? I wonder why they all seem to be japanese? There’s so many of them, we put them to work. One of them said he wanted to be an ‘edge lord’ and terrorize the countryside, doing whatever he wanted and being oblivious to people’s pain. In his honor, we created the position. They keep the humans in line so they don’t ever rise up against us. How about it, kid? Either you die now, or you rule as an edge lord. I have many belts for you to wear!”

Dracula laughed. And it was the most maniacal laugh I heard, like from an anime, but this time I actually felt afraid. Even though it’s a beautiful girl Dracula like from an anime, it wasn’t cute or sexy at all when she could actually kill me. This wasn’t an anime. I caved immediately, bowing to her, crying, as I cursed my position in life. Even in another world and with all this power, I’m still useless! I can’t change a single thing!

And life went on. I snapped out of my reverie, covered myself in the belts unconsciously slipping on my black trenchcoat and black fingerless gloves. I buckled on my prized japanese sword. It reminded me of home.

“I wish I could go home,” I said. I’m known as Vranyir here. It was a name picked by Court Wizard. I left a lot of work to him, but the one of my jobs I had to do was hold court and resolve grievances. They need a figurehead, and I’m that figurehead. I walked to my throne room, making sure I had the devil may care look on my face right.

“No, I don’t care that the vampire lords took your daughter, shall I take your life, too? Mwhah hah ha ha,” I rehearsed under my breath.

My head seized up. A strong headache came on, and it wouldn’t stop. I fell to the ground, writhing in pain as images of wheels flashed in my head. I thought of that truck and his driver that killed me and sent me to this world. Why just the wheels, though! I writhed on the ground holding my head as a squeaky voice spoke to me.

“Court Wizard has died, and it was the Truck that killed you that killed him! Seek out the Truck who killed you, exact your revenge! He’s in Drum Tree Town! Go!”

The pain receded, and I felt myself gasping for air but luckily alive.

“Did I just have a seizure? Better use healing magic… I hope healing magic works on seizures… just when I thought my life couldn’t get any worse!” I cursed and tried to stand but the headache came back. The squeaky voice started up again.

“It’s not a seizure! You’re not insane either! Just go to Drum Tree Town or I’ll give you another headache!”

“What the-!” I screamed out as the headache left again. “You can’t be serious. What is that, some sort of telepathy? Then again, it is an excuse to skip work…”

I looked to the throne room door. If Court Wizard really is dead like the voice said, then I would have to respond to that as an edge lord anyways. Wipe out the town.

“Ugh…”

I held my head. I wanted to give up on life this instant!

~everyone’s favorite Truck-san’s point of view~

I drove around in circles leisurely outside of town. I don’t need gas, for some reason! I can move as free as I want to, no one can stop me! Villager Girl A sat in my cabin, enjoying the ride with a smile on her face. She put her feet on my dashboard.

“Put those down!” I upbraided her.

“Ah, sorry,” She put the feet down. “Is that a bad thing for you, Truck-san?”

“I don’t know why, but it feels disrespectful to Driver-san. Don’t take anything from in there, either, everything belongs to Driver-san!”

“Yes, right, Driver-san…” She pouted. I don’t understand why she’s making that face.

Mechanic was busy fixing the town. We were lugging lumber back using my newly restored trailer that Mechanic fixed. There were plenty of trees on the ground from my rampage through the forest, so all I had to do was load them into my trailer myself. I felt like Driver-san. Some truckers have to unload their cargo to get back on the road quickly. Of the many routes I did, Driver-san did it as much as he could. He was diligent like that. Since big trucks like me are rare in japan, usually they favor the smaller types for the tiny urban roads, he didn’t have to unload me much and relied on the forklifts. But, it’s strange. Why do I remember him unloading me so much? It’s almost as if I was smaller at one point? Surely, there must have been plenty of shipments where he left it to the forklifts like usual!

I shook my steering wheel to get it out of my Truck self as I drove Villager Girl A and the payload back. There was no delivery time for this shipment, but that didn’t matter! Mechanic needs this extra wood! Though, his power is mysterious. I thought it would work with metal only, but it seems like he can modify anything. Of course, I didn’t expect the wood golems.

I drove back into town, watching them work. They communicated to each other and obeyed Mechanic’s simple instructions. When I told Mechanic I could talk to inanimate objects, he got the idea immediately. He’s smart. I can’t possibly see the leap from a scrap of wood to scrap of wood in human shape. If I didn’t see that fire giant, I couldn’t have thought of turning into Humanoid Form. Mechanic said it’s a ‘mecha’. That doesn’t make any sense at all, but then again, I’m a Truck.

I pulled up to the center of town and gave a toot of my horn to alert Mechanic. He came out with a pack of wood golems flanking him. They went into my trailer and hauled out a log of wood, holding it close to Mechanic.

“Toolbox… open!”

He shouted something incomprehensible. I wonder why you would say it like that? Does he have secret abilities as well? Humans are so strange. Maybe I should try shouting out my abilities like he does, next time.

Mechanic cut the wood somehow, bisecting it neatly and it flushed into a small portal by his side. The wood looked like it swirled down a sewer drain.

Ah, driving in the rain is the best! The cool drops making rhythmic noises on my hood, the cool jazz Driver-san would play in the cabin. I remember hydroplaning a few times, but that’s part of the fun. Driver-san always knew exactly what to do when hydroplaning. Car drivers I saw skidding over the water would turn in the opposite direction of where they skid. I could see them let off of the accelerator. Driver-san would only let off the accelerator. Trucks must be different? I don’t know.

“Villager Girl A, don’t you have to get home?”

“You’re right, Truck-san. Don’t go anywhere, okay? I live in the common house, over there, the long one.”

I don’t know why she told me that. She opened the cabin and slipped out of the seat. As she ran, she turned and waved at me with a smile on her face.

“I’m done, Truck-san. Thanks for gathering wood for me, this should definitely be enough for today. I’m going to get back to fixing the town, I promised to build a few buildings too so don’t mind me. Please keep up the search.”

“Have fun, Mechanic. I’ll see you later.”

I drove off, taking a lap around town. Compared to a few days ago, it’s looking much better. Mechanic works fast. While he slept, I drove under the stars, making sure to give the town a wide berth. Mechanic said people were grateful that I saved them, but that the noise from my engine was a little much. I obeyed, not wanting to be a nuisance. The open road in front of me and with no gas stations I needed to stop at, I explored the countryside.

My destination was clear, but the road there wasn’t. I needed to save Driver-san from the new world he reincarnated into due to my prayer. So first, I’d need to be able to get to at least one other world! I’d need world traveling powers. I asked Villager Girl A about it, she shook her head. Mechanic said something interesting though.

“Vainris is a medieval world, not because they lack technology, but because of the political situation. On Earth, humans got to space with technology. Someday, we’ll go to another world. With my ability and your ability to talk to things, you should have no problem finding the metals I’ll need and I should have no problem advancing Vainris’s technology even beyond Earth’s! So, go talk to… rocks, I guess, and bring back any metals you find. After that, we build an army, and take over the world!”

“Wait, why do we have to build an army and take over the world to save Driver-san?” I said. Mechanic says a lot of confusing things.

“It’s the politics, Truck-san!”

He rambled on about vampire lords or something. I grew tired of his talk, and in the end I decided to let him handle it. I don’t know what he’s doing, or why he’s doing it, but he seems committed to helping me find Driver-san. World domination is a little much, isn’t it? During my night travels I went over his words, and the only resolution in my mind was that there was nothing else I could do but trust Mechanic. I had no other option. This world doesn’t have paved roads, but that doesn’t matter to me. I’ll believe in Mechanic.

As far as finding metals went, I tried to talk to pebbles that got caught in my grill and got nothing from them. When I complained to Mechanic, he said:

“You told me that the firmament world is consciousness that piles together, so the bigger it gets, the smarter it gets, right? That’s how the wood golems work! So, how about you talk to the trees?”

“The trees are annoying,” I revved my engine.

“Uh… How about a mountain? Is there a mountain anywhere nearby? Do rivers count? You could try a river!” Mechanic said.

And so-

There was a mountain reflected in my windshield. I never talked to a mountain before, and river’s never stop talking so the decision was clear. I gunned it, unsure of how close I needed to get. As I pulled up to the base, I called out to the mountain.

“Mountain! Tell me about the metals!”

Nothing.

Maybe mountains don’t talk? Impossible! I transformed into mechaform and climbed the mountain, searching for the peak. I called out at different altitudes, sure that if there’s a consciousness here, it must be at it’s peak. Or is it sleeping? Maybe I should wait?

I reached the peak later that day. I mounted it, staring out over Vainris. I could make out the town in the distance, and a castle beyond that. The rest was trees, and a path through them I had rammed through myself. Beautiful, like a highway!

I shouted out to the mountain standing at it’s peak.

“Mountain! Speak to me!” I roared.

I finally heard a rumbling in my mind.

“Keep it down. You’ve been crawling all over me, making clamor and disrupting the peace! Out with it, what do you want, Truck God?”

“Mountain-san, how do you know I’m a Truck God?!”

“It’s Mountain God to you. Don’t expect every mountain to talk to you, okay? You’re famous in the divine world. I didn’t expect you would make a ruckus in my backyard!”

“But, don’t mountains have a consciousness all their own?”

“It’s a big rock, Truck God.”

“Oh,” I said. I stand corrected. “Well, I’m after the metals. Can you tell me where the metals are?”

“And disturb my peace with drilling and mining? As a mountain, I value quiet, Truck God. Sentient species never fail to disturb my rest once they hear of my treasures! What guarantee can you give me that my mountain will remain silent when you extract the metal ore from me?”

I rubbed my head. I had no idea what to do. It’s the same problem with the town. I could drive far away from them during the night to keep things quiet for the humans living there, but for the metals it seems like there’s an involved process. I don’t understand, so-

“I’ll find a way, Mountain God. I’ll be back, just you wait!”

I have to ask Mechanic. He seems good at this stuff.

“Hmph! Next time, use this!”

Peebles soared into the air and formed a diamond. It floated there, and I picked it out of the air and stored it in the cabin in my chest.

“That is a communication medium of the gods. Just call out through it to who you wish to speak to. Do not disturb me unless you have substantive business. Through it, you can talk to me or any of the lesser mineral gods. However, if you want my treasures, you’ll have to get past me!”

“Thanks, Mountain God! I’ll be back.”

I descended the mountain trying to make as little noise as possible. When I reached ground, I walked a bit like a human to avoid disturbing Mountain God with my engine noise. I drove back to town under the stars, the road I rammed through the trees guiding my way.

~Mechanic’s point of view~

“Truck-san, I’ll line edit it in. What do you mean you don’t want this in the story?! Don’t worry, it fits! ...but you weren’t there!”

Toolbox - Hyperlink!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE6SoMYQDIE

I, Am Just Feeling Alive~

Looking out over my wood golems with a gimlet eye and strong chin, I stood with my foot resting up on a tree stump I made into a tree stump styled stool. Life is amazing, since I’ve died. My wood golems patched the houses. Built an orphanage. I’m going to take over the world. World Domination. Yes. I gestured for Sebas-chan, my favorite wood golem, to bring me some tea from the appreciative villagers. I have been treated as a God for the past couple days. I am a hero. I swung out my arms and closed my eyes, feeling the sunlight warm my eyelids as I stared into it.

“Sire, your tea,” Sebas-chan said. He didn’t. He can’t speak. Yet. But, I smelled the tea, so with a placid smile I turned to wood golem and opened my eyes and-

I caught in my sight an emo kid strapped with a hundred belts. We locked eyes. I stood there, smile still on my face as I calmly took the tea from Sebas-chan. I sipped, appreciatively, as the emo kid stared at me. He must be one of those edge lords Alyavrane and the townspeople talked about. I didn’t sweat it. I didn’t sweat it at all! I sipped my tea, keeping my cool, as he launched a question at me.

“Uh- um, are you japanese too?”

“Yep,” I said. I stared at my wood golems, avoiding his gaze. Masterpieces. I will create more. If I survive this.

“Wow. I didn’t expect another reincarnator. Are you new?”

“Yeeep.”

“These wood golems are amazing! How did you do it? What ability do you have?”

He’s really happy for some reason, staring at me with starry eyes. I avoided his gaze and sipped my tea.

“I am amazing,” I said.

“What? But- aren’t you from japan? Don’t you have an ability granted by a god or something?”

“I am amazing,” I repeated. Serenely. Like a leaf falling to the ground in the fall season, the air carries it, and it twirls. As that leaf, I soar upon the wind. Let it carry me where it will.

“Uh…” The belted wonder with spiky hair was flummoxed. Yes. I don’t know what to do either. Tears streamed down inside my heart. I’m not a combat NPC. PvP was something I was never good at. Please, spare me!

“Have you seen a truck?” The emo kid said.

“... only in my heart,” I said.

“Er, okay. It’s just, you look like you’re working so hard to fix this town, I’m sorry, but I might have to destroy it. It’s part of the job of an edge lord. If you don’t know, this world is ruled by vampire lords. No one can beat them. I tried and… I lost. I can never beat Dracula,” he sighed.

Dracula? There’s a Dracula here?! No, maybe it’s the Dracula! My hands shook a little, lowering my tea on a waiting plate held politely by Sebas-chan.

Before I knew it, I said it. I didn’t think at all. It tumbled out of my mouth, as if coming out from the inside of my infinite toolbox.

“Truck-san can,” I said confidently. My gimlet eye returned as a dazzle of light shined on my cheek.

He paused. The emo kid paused.

“Truck-san? Who’s… Truck-san?”

I sweat. Don’t worry me, I got this. Genius flowed within my body, there is a perfect answer to this. I closed my eyes and let out a “hmph”. I turned to him with a flourish. Vast energies built within my soul released themselves, and as if in a trance I spoke with one hand gestured out to him.

“Seems I’ll have to let you meet him, little lamb. Truck-san is the hope of this world. Vainris will belong to him before long, and I, am his loyal servant, am humbled by his impossible genius and conviction of will. Truck-san is a Truck God, maybe the Truck God. for all I know. I believe in him. Truck-san seeks his driver, who he abandoned against his will in another world!”

My voice raised an octave. I can’t believe I’m saying this in the middle of town. Please kill me.

“Will you join us? Rebel against your masters, throw off those belts, and align yourself with the side of justice! The side of Truck-san! Together, let us see the wonders we will build!”

People are watching. Tears started to stream down my face. Wait, what?! The emo kid is crying too!

“I… amazing! Such conviction! Where did I go so wrong? I wanted to be a hero! Yes! Yes, jumpsuit kid! I will join Truck-san and you! Let’s kill Dracula, together!”

He hugged me crying. My eyes went big. How the hell did that work? I returned the hug, patting him on the back twice. I am a genius. My eye’s glint returned.