“Terrible… Hey, Ed, what’s going on? I don’t recognize this scenery at all, and this isn’t the world I was born in, is it?”
“That’s right… Maybe?”
I could only give a vague answer to Tia’s question about the wilderness that spread around us. I didn’t even understand it myself, so I’d rather ask her about it.
“I don’t really get it, but let’s just walk for now. There’s something like a path, and if we can get to where people are, we might find something.”
“…Yes. We won’t understand anything if we just stand here.”
Although the path was hard to see due to small rocks scattered everywhere, it was still carved into the ground. We decided to follow it, and after about ten minutes, a town of considerable size came into view.
No, that’s not quite right. What we saw was… the remains of a town.
“…”
As we cautiously approached, the devastation of the town became clear. Passing through the broken town gate and entering its interior, Tia touched the remains of a house with a sad look on her face. A part of the wall crumbled, and Tia muttered with a mournful expression.
“Looking at the way it’s broken, could it have been attacked by magical beasts? And…”
“Yeah. It didn’t seem like it was attacked that long ago.”
The irregular and indiscriminate destruction of the buildings suggested it was not human warfare but a powerful existence that destroyed them recklessly. Judging by the wear of the rubble, it couldn’t have been long ago. At most one, two years… even at the longest estimate, it should have been no more than five years.
“Hey, you there! What are you doing?”
Suddenly, a voice called out to us as we were observing the ruined town. Turning around, we saw a person clad in sturdy metal armor clanking towards us.
“This is the town of Morten, governed by Viscount Yusef! Even if it’s in ruins, looting will not be tolerated!”
“No, no, no, that’s not it! We’re travelers, and we just happened to stop here or ended up here…”
We raised our hands to show we meant no harm, but the armored man’s suspicious expression did not change.
“Travelers in this day and age? And what do you mean ‘ended up’? Where did you come from?”
“If you ask where, it’s just over there…”
I pointed in the direction we came from. If we knew what world this was, we might have been able to deceive him, but right now we had almost no information. If nothing worked, we would have had to run away… Well?
“Over there… So, you’ve been living in the collapsed area? I must say, it’s remarkable you’ve survived until now.”
“Huh? Ah, haha. Well, I did have a bit of confidence in my skills.”
I was completely taken aback by the armored man’s sympathetic words, but I managed to smile in response. But “collapsed area”? An apt term, yet another intriguing word.
“If you say you’re from the collapsed area, I won’t say anything. That land had been excluded from the management area of the World Federation since the fall of the Alstead Empire. But this place, although remote, is within the Hirlingia Kingdom. You must follow the kingdom’s laws if you act here. If you disagree, leave the town at once.”
“Alstead… Hirlingia…!? Wait, wait a minute!”
I hurriedly called out to the man, who was about to leave after his warning. I recognized the names of the two countries, but more than that, I couldn’t just part with someone we’d finally found who we could talk to.
“Hm? What is it?”
“Well, is there a place around here where we can eat or rest? We do have money.”
What I pulled out from my bag were a few gold coins. It might have been a bit much to show, but if I’d shown silver or copper coins, there was a high chance we’d be thrown out. I didn’t know which way it would go, but either way, Tia and I could handle it, so it was no problem.
And the man who saw the golden shine in my hand… didn’t respond with a vulgar smile or cloudy eyes, but rather with slightly surprised and rational words.
“A gold coin, huh? I don’t know how valuable that is in the collapsed district, but here it’s quite a fortune. It would be best not to show it off so easily.”
“Is that so? But if that’s the case, with this much, we shouldn’t have to worry about food and drink for a while, right?”
“Yes, that’s true… We have a base in this town, but it’s a base for our knight order, so I’m sorry, but we cannot accept outsiders like you. Go straight through the town and proceed for about two weeks, and you’ll find a safe town. That would be the best place to head for now. However, the number of refugees has been increasing lately, so it might be difficult to enter the town normally. In that case… well, you’ll have to figure something out. Probably there will be merchants for such refugees near the town’s outer wall, so you can resupply there and head towards Kiskil or Sweden… or although a bit far, heading to the Blau Holy State is also fine. They are actively accepting refugees to restore their fallen authority. In any case, you’ll need to travel for a while, so it’s best to prepare enough water and food. If it’s too difficult… ah, we can’t really spare our provisions, so maybe you could turn back, or something.”
“Is that so? Thank you for your valuable information and concern.”
I bowed my head and thanked the armored man with a bitter smile. He then said he had to return to his guard duty, waved his hand, and left the scene. Although his presence is not completely gone, he’s probably watching us from a distance where our conversation can’t be heard.
“He was a kind and good person, wasn’t he?”
“Yeah. He’s an exceptionally talented knight.”
However, we have no intention of being thieves, so there’s nothing to worry about as long as he stays far enough away to not overhear our conversation. His attitude of being kind without overly trusting us actually makes me feel respect and affection.
“So, Ed, did you figure anything out? A lot of different names came up.”
“Yeah, I figured it out. Almost certainly, this is the 51st world. Well, it seems to have changed quite a bit…”
Unless it’s a coincidence that the same country name is used in a different world, this is almost certainly the 51st world. But the 51st world I knew wasn’t this devastated.
So, this must be a world that has taken a different historical path due to some interference. Or perhaps the shaking has had an effect… No, there’s too much I don’t know.
“What on earth happened… For information gathering, we have to leave here and go to the next town.”
“Yeah. This place is… very desolate.”
Following the direction of Tia’s gaze, I saw a dirty doll lying on the ground. We have no way of knowing what happened to its owner, who lies in the rubble. All I can do now is sincerely wish that they are safe.
“…Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
I unconsciously took Tia’s hand, and Tia squeezed it back. Confirming each other’s warmth, we continued to walk through the broken town.
“Terrible… Hey, Ed, what’s going on? I don’t recognize this scenery at all, and this isn’t the world I was born in, is it?”
“That’s right… Maybe?”
I could only give a vague answer to Tia’s question about the wilderness that spread around us. I didn’t even understand it myself, so I’d rather ask her about it.
“I don’t really get it, but let’s just walk for now. There’s something like a path, and if we can get to where people are, we might find something.”
“…Yes. We won’t understand anything if we just stand here.”
Although the path was hard to see due to small rocks scattered everywhere, it was still carved into the ground. We decided to follow it, and after about ten minutes, a town of considerable size came into view.
No, that’s not quite right. What we saw was… the remains of a town.
“…”
As we cautiously approached, the devastation of the town became clear. Passing through the broken town gate and entering its interior, Tia touched the remains of a house with a sad look on her face. A part of the wall crumbled, and Tia muttered with a mournful expression.
“Looking at the way it’s broken, could it have been attacked by magical beasts? And…”
“Yeah. It didn’t seem like it was attacked that long ago.”
The irregular and indiscriminate destruction of the buildings suggested it was not human warfare but a powerful existence that destroyed them recklessly. Judging by the wear of the rubble, it couldn’t have been long ago. At most one, two years… even at the longest estimate, it should have been no more than five years.
“Hey, you there! What are you doing?”
Suddenly, a voice called out to us as we were observing the ruined town. Turning around, we saw a person clad in sturdy metal armor clanking towards us.
“This is the town of Morten, governed by Viscount Yusef! Even if it’s in ruins, looting will not be tolerated!”
“No, no, no, that’s not it! We’re travelers, and we just happened to stop here or ended up here…”
We raised our hands to show we meant no harm, but the armored man’s suspicious expression did not change.
“Travelers in this day and age? And what do you mean ‘ended up’? Where did you come from?”
“If you ask where, it’s just over there…”
I pointed in the direction we came from. If we knew what world this was, we might have been able to deceive him, but right now we had almost no information. If nothing worked, we would have had to run away… Well?
“Over there… So, you’ve been living in the collapsed area? I must say, it’s remarkable you’ve survived until now.”
“Huh? Ah, haha. Well, I did have a bit of confidence in my skills.”
I was completely taken aback by the armored man’s sympathetic words, but I managed to smile in response. But “collapsed area”? An apt term, yet another intriguing word.
“If you say you’re from the collapsed area, I won’t say anything. That land had been excluded from the management area of the World Federation since the fall of the Alstead Empire. But this place, although remote, is within the Hirlingia Kingdom. You must follow the kingdom’s laws if you act here. If you disagree, leave the town at once.”
“Alstead… Hirlingia…!? Wait, wait a minute!”
I hurriedly called out to the man, who was about to leave after his warning. I recognized the names of the two countries, but more than that, I couldn’t just part with someone we’d finally found who we could talk to.
“Hm? What is it?”
“Well, is there a place around here where we can eat or rest? We do have money.”
What I pulled out from my bag were a few gold coins. It might have been a bit much to show, but if I’d shown silver or copper coins, there was a high chance we’d be thrown out. I didn’t know which way it would go, but either way, Tia and I could handle it, so it was no problem.
And the man who saw the golden shine in my hand… didn’t respond with a vulgar smile or cloudy eyes, but rather with slightly surprised and rational words.
“A gold coin, huh? I don’t know how valuable that is in the collapsed district, but here it’s quite a fortune. It would be best not to show it off so easily.”
“Is that so? But if that’s the case, with this much, we shouldn’t have to worry about food and drink for a while, right?”
“Yes, that’s true… We have a base in this town, but it’s a base for our knight order, so I’m sorry, but we cannot accept outsiders like you. Go straight through the town and proceed for about two weeks, and you’ll find a safe town. That would be the best place to head for now. However, the number of refugees has been increasing lately, so it might be difficult to enter the town normally. In that case… well, you’ll have to figure something out. Probably there will be merchants for such refugees near the town’s outer wall, so you can resupply there and head towards Kiskil or Sweden… or although a bit far, heading to the Blau Holy State is also fine. They are actively accepting refugees to restore their fallen authority. In any case, you’ll need to travel for a while, so it’s best to prepare enough water and food. If it’s too difficult… ah, we can’t really spare our provisions, so maybe you could turn back, or something.”
“Is that so? Thank you for your valuable information and concern.”
I bowed my head and thanked the armored man with a bitter smile. He then said he had to return to his guard duty, waved his hand, and left the scene. Although his presence is not completely gone, he’s probably watching us from a distance where our conversation can’t be heard.
“He was a kind and good person, wasn’t he?”
“Yeah. He’s an exceptionally talented knight.”
However, we have no intention of being thieves, so there’s nothing to worry about as long as he stays far enough away to not overhear our conversation. His attitude of being kind without overly trusting us actually makes me feel respect and affection.
“So, Ed, did you figure anything out? A lot of different names came up.”
“Yeah, I figured it out. Almost certainly, this is the 51st world. Well, it seems to have changed quite a bit…”
Unless it’s a coincidence that the same country name is used in a different world, this is almost certainly the 51st world. But the 51st world I knew wasn’t this devastated.
So, this must be a world that has taken a different historical path due to some interference. Or perhaps the shaking has had an effect… No, there’s too much I don’t know.
“What on earth happened… For information gathering, we have to leave here and go to the next town.”
“Yeah. This place is… very desolate.”
Following the direction of Tia’s gaze, I saw a dirty doll lying on the ground. We have no way of knowing what happened to its owner, who lies in the rubble. All I can do now is sincerely wish that they are safe.
“…Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
I unconsciously took Tia’s hand, and Tia squeezed it back. Confirming each other’s warmth, we continued to walk through the broken town.
