Chapter 4 : The Seed of Disaster

Root Village at sunset.

It was the hour when everyone finished their work and stopped by the tavern or headed home.

But for some reason, the village was in a restless uproar.

“What happened?”

I headed toward the place where people had gathered and were murmuring.

That place was none other than Ritark’s—no.

My healing shop.

“Ugh…”

A thick, fishy stench churned my stomach.

The front of the shop, wide open, was in a horrific state.

Messy footprints. Blood soaking the dirt and grass.

It was a scene that could not help but attract onlookers.

“Argh! This isn’t animal blood?”

“They say bandits came through.”

“I heard someone died?”

A bandit attack had happened while I was gone?

If so, then for now, I had avoided my death flag.

But someone died?

I could not just stand around and watch.

I pushed through the crowd and approached the shop.

“Hold on, let me through…!”

The people murmured, but once they saw my face, they opened a path.

Sure enough, the inside was a mess too.

The display cabinet had fallen over, and most of the flasks were broken.

But there was a problem more important than the state of the shop’s interior.

Wer’s eyes went round as he shouted.

“O-over there! There really is a dead person!”

I saw someone slumped against the wall, his head hanging low.

How much blood had he lost?

The wooden plank floor was soaked a deep red.

John Doe!

I quickly ran to him.

The cave bugs I had been holding had long since been thrown aside.

I carefully shook his limp shoulder.

“Hey! Get a hold of yourself.”

“Ugh. Ri… tark…”

John Doe clenched his teeth and wrinkled the bridge of his nose.

I let out a small sigh of relief.

For now… he’s alive.

But what was this guy’s real name?

He called me Ritark.

The tone was blunt, but the way he said it sounded like we were fairly close.

Maybe it was because of the childhood friend setting I had roughly written into the story.

But I had no choice but to refer to him as John Doe or something just as vague.

That was the name assigned if the player did not input one.

It was not like I could ask for an introduction now.

That isn’t the important problem right now either.

For some reason, the sight of him covered in wounds did not feel real.

Maybe that was why my mind kept wandering elsewhere.

My stomach churned.

I wanted to run out of the shop.

But to steady myself, I clenched my fist tight.

First… let’s save him.

I looked around.

There were glass shards scattered everywhere.

But quite a few flasks were still intact.

The pouch of ingredients beneath the bar counter was still there too.

“Medicine Crafting!”

Ding!

“Activating Medicine Crafting skill. Please select—”

The moment the skill activated, I rattled off the words like a rap.

“Vitality Fruits, Delicious Water, empty bottles. Use every quantity I have.”

The materials were wiped out in an instant.

The number of Health Recovery Potions crafted was nine in total.

“Medicine Crafting skill has increased by 1 level!”

In the middle of this absolute mess, it was good news.

The skill definitely had a level attached to it.

If I raised its level, I should be able to make more effective medicine.

For now, I hope the recovery potions I just made are enough to solve this.

I had neither the mind nor the time to go gather more materials.

I poured Health Recovery Potions over John Doe.

“…Whew.”

In an instant, the sliced skin joined together and the bleeding began to stop.

It was a sight that could not have been more unrealistic.

Before long, all the visible wounds had healed.

Yet he was still grimacing.

Is he still feeling pain?

He had been dying in a terrible state until just a moment ago.

Maybe he had not escaped the mental pain yet.

It felt too unpleasant to just leave him there.

“…Good grief. Fine. I’ve already gotten involved anyway.”

I picked up the cave bugs I had tossed aside.

It felt like I was creating more work for myself, but they were materials that needed to be processed eventually anyway.

“Why are you bringing out the bug corpses again!”

Wer recoiled in disgust.

“You hate bugs?”

“Do I look like I would like them?”

“Then keep your eyes shut tight.”

I hated them too, but there was nothing I could do.

Cave bugs had many uses.

First, I removed their thin legs, which looked like they might crumble at any moment, and stored them separately.

Then I put their bodily fluid into an empty flask.

“Blegh…”

That’s why I told you to close your eyes.

Clicking my tongue, I rummaged through the shelf.

What I found was a flat little tube.

The healing shop was stocked with most basic materials.

“Medicine Crafting. Ingredients are 10 milliliters of cave bug fluid and one small container.”

Flash!

What remained where the bright light passed was a round cream jar.

When I opened the lid, a faint light-green ointment glistened inside.

“Appraisal.”

“Paralysis Ointment Lv.2. When applied, it inflicts the status abnormality paralysis on the applied area for 10 minutes.”

It was exactly the effect I had expected.

I spread the ointment over the mostly healed wounds.

Only then did John Doe, who had been groaning while unconscious, finally become quiet.

“Did he get past the worst of it…?”

Now he would not die.

There was, however, a problem.

I searched through his pockets, but the jewel was nowhere to be found.

The bandits had surely taken it.

The disaster may have already awakened.

Once a disaster opened its eyes, it grew stronger and stronger as time passed.

That was why, once the disaster awakened, I had planned to have John Doe fight it as quickly as possible.

But he was badly injured and unconscious.

If I waited until he woke up, there was no telling how large the disaster would grow.

If things were like this…

…Do I have to handle it myself?

I had planned to hand him a medicine that would be the key point for the boss strategy and cheer him on from behind.

My plan had not just gone wrong. It had gone completely sideways.

It’s been years since I even exercised properly because I was always working overtime.

No matter how well I knew this world, no matter how thoroughly I knew the strategy, actually holding a weapon was a separate problem.

But…

If not me, there’s no one who can stop the disaster right now.

The first disaster was one of the easier ones.

And right now, I had just happened to obtain Wer, my shield.

The more time passes, the harder it will be to deal with.

I tightly gripped the handle of the greatsword rolling on the floor.

It was the weapon John Doe always carried on his back.

“I’m borrowing this sword, all right?”

There was no answer.

The bandits’ hideout, deep in the Root Mountain Range.

It was a place one could only reach after climbing the mountain for quite some time and seeing through several fake signs.

“Huh? Someone’s here.”

“Isn’t that the guy who sells medicine in the village? He actually managed to drag that huge sword all the way here!”

“Don’t tell me he’s planning to take us on with that.”

The bandits perched on the trees snickered.

They were making a fuss even though they had no intention of coming down to help.

Well, I did basically drag it here…

No matter how hard I tried, the greatsword would not budge.

Thanks to that, I had taken two Strength-Boosting Sticks on the way here.

But why are they still alive?

It was something I could not bring myself to say out loud.

If I openly picked a fight, I had no idea what would happen.

But originally, these guys should have been dead.

How is the story unfolding?

In the tutorial story, the player got into a conflict with party members who tried to monopolize the dungeon reward.

The Seed of Disaster looked crude, but in the end, it was still a jewel.

On top of that, it contained powerful energy, so it was no surprise if someone’s eyes went wild with greed.

The problem was that one of the party members was actually part of the bandit group and had reported in detail to the boss about what happened in the dungeon.

The boss took the bandit group to the village, killed the owner of the healing shop, and stole the jewel.

The player then followed the bandits’ traces from the murder scene to the Root Mountain Range.

And after slaughtering the bandit group, the player would encounter the boss monster that had taken over their hideout.

This is where I should be facing the disaster.

Since it was an early story sequence, it was something that progressed no matter what.

And yet the bandits were still perfectly fine and kept snickering.

“Look at that bastard, frozen stiff and unable to say a word.”

“Why don’t you put that sword down and get lost? We’ll just take the weapon’s price and let you live.”

It did not look like they planned to hurt me right away.

Should I attack first?

After thinking for a moment, I opened my mouth.

“If you want to live, you should be the ones leaving the jewel you stole behind and walking away.”

I decided to show mercy.

They were bad guys, but they were still human.

There was no reason for me to dirty my hands more than necessary.

“You bastard!”

The bandits rose one by one.

I warned them out of goodwill, but their reaction was pretty terrible.

The man sitting at the very back, fiddling with the jewel, spoke in a gloomy voice and threw his weight around.

Judging by the way he gave orders, he seemed to be the bandit leader.

“Leave only his mouth intact, so he can scream until the very end.”

“Waaah! Get him!”

The bandit group charged.

Wer bounced on my shoulder.

“That was a splendid provocation, Ritark!”

“…Sure.”

It was not what I had intended, though.

I quickly took out a Strength-Boosting Stick and chewed it.

Once the medicine took effect, the greatsword felt like a light stick.

Whoosh!

I swung the sword at the men rushing toward me.

The blade, swung in a large horizontal arc, made them hurriedly retreat.

“Wh-what the hell? How can such a weak-looking guy swing a greatsword so lightly?”

“Did he swallow a bear or something?”

The leader gave another order.

“Don’t back off. He doesn’t know how to use a sword anyway! You can tell from his stance.”

It was a sharp analysis.

I had never had a reason to hold a sword in my life until now.

“Several of you rush in and dig into his range!”

“Yes, boss!”

The bandits charged with shouts.

Their number was seventeen.

I never thought I’d end up fighting seventeen against one in my life.

Whoosh! Whung!

I swung the greatsword wildly.

I was only standing in place and sweeping my arms left and right, but it was enough as a deterrent.

“D-damn it. We can’t get in!”

“You idiots, if you can’t get close, grab bows or something! Shoot!”

The leader ground his teeth as he gave the order.

At that, the hesitating bandits quickly picked up their bows.

Pew! Pfft!

No matter how quickly I swung it, a greatsword was a greatsword. I could not knock away arrows.

But that was fine.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The arrows that rained down bounced away in all directions along with a crimson light.

Wer was stretching out his forelegs and deploying a barrier.

“Graaagh!”

One bandit clutched his arm.

It looked like he had been hit by an arrow that had ricocheted off the barrier.

Several of the men sucked in their breath.

“Boss, this is insane!”

“Isn’t that guy a mage?”

As if.

They were overestimating me far too much.

“What bullshit are you talking about? Why would a mage be selling medicine in a rural village?”

An accurate analysis.

It would have been better if he had used that brain for good deeds.

Or at least used it faster and run away right now.

“Shoot! I said shoot!”

The leader swung his fist through the air.

Between his fingers, faint but unmistakable black smoke was flowing out.

“…What is that?”

The bandit beside the leader muttered.

And at that moment—

Thump!

A heavy heartbeat suddenly rang out.

It was such an ominous presence that even the bandits surrounding me started looking around.

Thump! Thump!

The source of the heartbeat was their leader.

The dull jewel was pulsing in the leader’s hand.

“Wh-what is this?”

What do you think? It’s the disaster.

The jewel, which swelled more and more until it was the size of a fist, cracked.

Crack! Shwaaaak!

The black energy that leaked out from the crack swallowed the nearest human.

The leader’s scream echoed throughout the mountain.

“Graaaaaagh!”

The black energy did not stop, pouring into the leader’s nose, mouth, and ears.

Then the leader’s face shriveled in an instant, as if all vitality had drained from it.

As though he had aged several decades.

Twitch! Twitch!

The leader convulsed with his mouth wide open.

He could not even resist properly.

The black energy disappeared completely into the leader’s body.

“B-boss?”

“Are you all right?”

It would be better if they didn’t go close.

I had already retreated far behind.

So I would not get swept up by the disaster.

“…”

The leader—no, the disaster—slowly flicked his hand.

At the same time, the jewel burst, and black energy poured toward his subordinates.

Thud!

The bandit group collapsed without even making a sound.

They looked as if every bit of life had been sucked out of them, just like their boss.

The energy that had taken dozens of lives in an instant seeped into the ground with a slither.

The plants slowly began turning ash-gray.

It’s no different from a calamity.

The moment a disaster germinated, it used the lives around it as nourishment to create its domain.

Inside it, it could freely unleash the power of another world and even control monsters.

A disaster’s goal was to expand its domain and create a foundation for itself to roam freely.

In other words, to completely consume the world.

“Be careful!”

Wer shouted as he burrowed between my strands of hair.

But as long as I avoided the moment the disaster germinated, I would not suffer a dog’s death without even getting a chance to resist.

That thing poured out all the power it had at once to create its domain.

If someone did not know that fact, they would never dare step into the domain.

After all, they had just witnessed a disaster sweeping away everything around it with a single gesture.

“Ritark, why don’t we retreat for now?”

“Retreat?”

“If it happens one more time, I will no longer be able to squeeze out the strength to protect you. I can recover after time passes, so let us return later.”

One at the cave, one against the bandits’ arrows.

Just as he said, there was only one shield left.

But could there be anything more foolish than retreating here?

The disaster’s germination had been later than I expected, but if I thought about it calmly, this was actually an even better situation.

“What are you talking about, Lord Wer? We need to deal with it right now.”

“Do not act rashly!”

“I’m not saying this recklessly. That thing is alone right now, isn’t it?”

The first disaster had just opened its eyes.

The domain had only just formed.

Naturally, it had not yet dominated a single monster.

The disaster’s main body should also be significantly weakened.

“E-even so… it would be safer to make every possible preparation.”

Wer kept saying frustrating things.

Right now, all I had to do was run in and kill the boss monster.

Was this not a battle I could completely cheese?

“Thanks for worrying about me.”

“You…”

A small sigh reached my ears.

Still, I had no intention of backing down.

Taking care of it now was the safest option.

Step, step.

I entered the domain.

Dry leaves crumbled black beneath each step.

In the game, once you entered a disaster’s domain, eerie background music would begin to play.

After a cutscene where the boss slowly stirred and rose, an entrance message appeared.

[The First Disaster, Akedia.]

It was the start of the boss battle.

[End of Chapter]