Chapter 5 Fellow Humans

Fellow humans. They'd help me for sure. No doubt about it. Because like I said, to top all that off, guess who else was human here? Easy guess, it was me. I said it.

…Except I had no idea that I wasn't part of the human race. I was just 'dwelling in', and controlling one of their kin.

I didn't know that. All I saw was what was in front of my eyes: since there were two humans who could help me, I just worked my way out of this predicament. I had found fellow humans, after all. And as such, I felt genuinely relieved. Wasn't I the one in dire need of information? It was good news. They'd fill me in about everything I needed to know.

As all those ideas went through my mind, I understood it was pretty clear now: First of all, I was new here. And on second thought, yeah, maybe I was slightly lost, all things considered.

Still, no need to panic. The next question I needed to answer was "What was I doing here?" With these two guys, my question was as if already answered.

"Mmhm!" I heavily hummed, nodding my head, satisfied. "See, everything went all smooth~ Right?" Why would I even be concerned about such trivial matters as 'Who am I?' or even 'What in the world happened to me? Why do I not remember anything in the past? And why the heck does it feel so normal?' when I had my two human allies with me.

I smiled delightfully as I glanced at my humans, who were standing a good distance from me. I was lost, I needed their help, and on top of that, I was a fellow human. I sat back down and crossed my arms upon my chest, grinning happily.

They would definitely guide me. I could only count on them anyway.

Numbness ran all over my entire body as I lifted myself up from the ground.

That body, I thought, it's like it's not yet entirely mine. Weird. Then again, I'm not put off by that, it feels natural in a way, so I must be all right.

Even though my body felt numb all over, I didn't give in. Naturally, as making inquiries to the two human creatures I'd just found was my life motivation, how was I to give in so easily?

Now, what I didn't know though, was that everything was not as I had expected it to be. Ignorant of what was about to happen to me, I tried to stand up. With the help of my feeble, trembling limbs, I pushed myself up from my sitting position.

And you know what they say: Ignorance is bliss. Well, let me tell you that it was true. It couldn't be truer, actually. How did I know that? Well, I was just ignorant. It only took that much. Thus, I was about to get to taste the bitterness of the tough reality.

Before I could even completely get up—or at the very least, react to what would happen—I felt oppressed. My chest tightened with a tinge of pain. A deep frown washed over my face. Two icy cold eyes were shot at me, immobilizing me. Hurriedly, I glanced back at where this ominous pressure was emitted from. Here I saw him. He was presented to me in front of my sight.

That taller human being from seconds ago was fiercely glaring at me, just as if I had killed his son. Those eyes sent shivers down my spine. I broke into a cold sweat. He had set his dominant glaring eyes on me as a tiger would on its prey.

Visit n(O)velb(i)n.com for the best novel reading experience

At that moment, all I could do was shudder in fear.

That human, from his station a distance away, had slid off his hiding place, after which he patiently walked towards me with heavy steps. Now, he dashed through the air with a Swoosh. In the blink of an eye, he landed right before me. He'd literally pierced through the air. Or that's how it felt from my perspective.

He who had previously been discussing with his partner a demi-dozen meters away, appeared right in front of me. What the hell just happened? I was at loss, then. What to do now? Was this ostensibly unfortunate event even part of the script I'd been going on over in my head? A big NO would fit as a response. All written in capital letters, yes.

NO.

Just like that.

Now, even worse. There was also this long, unsheathed metallic object pointing at my chest. As for me, I was just there, half-knelt in front of him. I blinked twice as I blatantly looked at his tall stature. I looked up from below, as he looked down on me.

"H-Hey, fella?" I managed. That's right. Just keep your cool. To smooth things out, I even tried and (awkwardly) laughed a little. That didn't work. I could tell I just looked like a fool. But whatever, such was the way of a master of the Socialization Art, I was convinced. First, we greet each other, then—

Oh, but this was called a sword, eh? I thought. Why on earth is this thing, this sword, pointing at me? Right at my chest, no less. Right at my heart.

"Ow!"

With a Thud, I fell back to a sitting position. I heavily sighed. The man pushed me down. Pressing down on my chest with that pointy thing as I struggle to even maintain my kneeling, half-up position, that sword pushed me to the ground.

The word for this was Enmity. Was I this person's enemy? I wondered about that. Why would he do that? Attacking people, especially me, is wrong. Or is it? Oh yeah, maybe this situation is perfectly normal, after all. I didn't know.

What I knew, however, was that bullied people had to stand up for themselves. I spoke up. "Courting death, huuuh?! Piss off!" I said… though it was only in my head.

I had no experience in fighting whatsoever, but I knew I wasn't in a position to just blurt those words out. I didn't have the upper hand. Still, I said no more bullying. "Why would you do that, human? Look now… Tsk, a red stain. I'm bleeding." The tip of that keen sword painted a red dot on my white tunic.

"Hey, you. You're finally awake," he said. "So you can speak, monster?"

"Ah," I simply expressed with a pause. "Am I at fault to know how to speak here?" Once again, I had no clue about that. Also, a monster?

"D-Don't hurt him, father…!" another voice joined me and the rude middle-aged man. "I-It must be Mortde, right?" That one voice was noisy. Panicked, loud, and noisy. What she then said struck me. "It's Mortde! He's safe. The monster must have been too weak!"

The monster was too weak? Hah, it certainly wasn't weak. My eyes turned to a slit in reflection. I also listened attentively. This conversation brought me the information I so much wanted.

Out of the two, one was a female. She was the one who spoke. Or rather, acted, for now. Hurriedly throwing her slender, white legs ahead of her, she took each step decisively. She was on the stage like me and the swordsman. Grabbing her father's arm with both hands, only then did she speak. "Father, let me talk to him. Please. Okay?"

She grabbed the same sturdy wrist that held the deadly pointing sword. Thankfully, after she pleaded with big gleaming eyes, the father softened up. He didn't stop glaring daggers at me, but anyway. I wasn't done for, then. A slow smile climbed up my face. Ever so faintly, I sighed.

The girl then resumed. "M-Mortde… Are you all right?" The girl was still considerably startled. I extended a hand to her and urged her to catch her breath. She seemed to have been fond of that as she smiled.

"My daughter. Don't let yourself be fooled." Throwing down scornful eyes at me, he harrumphed. "He's your man no longer. Can't you see? You were trained by me; do not disappoint. His mana print underwent a clear change."

"I-I know! But how can he speak then, Father?!"

"That I—" the man sighed.