Henceforth Chapter 1

I’ll put up another chapter of my original story here, there’s less than 50% of chances that I’d continue since it was whimsical and I didn’t do any plot planning. I’m working on another story of my own though lmao.

Sorry, but I’m just that much whimsical about writing an original story. Maybe one day I’ll be able to finish a whole series…

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And here I am, in Helra (1)

“Shuu-sama, are you really okay?”

“Yup, I’m completely fine”

Nope, sorry Yuki, I lied, I’m feeling dizzy right now, my head is heavy and my limps feel like they’re going to fall off of my body.

It’s the same grassland, but it’s not the blue sky anymore, it’s deep red with pink clouds. It’s the first dusk I’ve ever seen in this place.

When mostly the whole school was sucked into dimensional rifts, everyone was screaming and crying, but I stood there all prepared, prepared to go see my beloved Yuki.

After that, I couldn’t remember a thing about what came next, but when I came to, I’m already facing Yuki in this mad red sky of dusk in our usual playground, the infinite grassland.

But……

“Ah, as expected of Shuu-sama, you noticed……”

“Yeah, the winds feel very lonely, like a song from the flute of a wanderer”

They’re whispering into my ears an imaginary tune that said they’re sad, and at the same time, it felt like they’re trying to warn me about something extreme about to happen in a near future.

“……I’m very sorry, Shuu-sama……but we don’t have much time left, I can’t explain anything now……”

“Understood. Briefly tell me the main points!”

Yuki started to explain the situation.

※

“Hm, hm, got it. So that’s what happened with all the dimensional rifts”

Long story short, the Rosa did, in fact, perform that crazy spell to try and summon a whole ‘dimension’.
Seems like they’re seeking heroes but are also lazy to carefully perform high-quality spells.

Thus, they went the easy way and tried to summon a whole other world, but it wasn’t as easy as they thought, so coincidentally just my school was caught up into it.

Yuki did plan to summon me alone, but since I also got sucked it she quickly pulled me out of the whirlpool and I ended up here.

Truth be told, I am very tired now, my body’s crying all over, but I endured with sheer willpower and didn’t particularly on my face. I don’t want to be the guy that said he’ll help Yuki then ended up looking pathetic, I know it’s bad but as a young man I have a big pride.

Then about Yuki, she’s one of the three Princesses of the Capital City of Helra, Zedon.

We were running short on time so she didn’t explain why she came into my dreams, but that can wait until later.

An outline of what’s happening right now is that Yuki has almost endless Mana, so she’s being locked up to drain Mana for large-scale spells.

My blood ran wild the moment I heard that, all the fatigue seemed to get blown away for a moment but as expected, I’m still very sluggish right now, I can barely stand.

“I’m sorry, but we won’t be able to meet right away……I should’ve prepared better”

“Nope, this is good enough, I’ll go and get your out of there right away, though I need to confirm my strength in Helra first……”

I patted her head, Yuki slightly blushed and then turned slightly panicked.

“Ah! About that, I have something for Shuu-sama”

“Hm?”

Yuki clasped her hand and prayed.

After a short while, her hands glowed, then she held her hands out towards me, there was a blue gem shining brightly inside her palms.

“If Shuu-sama state your wish and confirm it with your heart, this gem will grant you one special blessing of your choice, and do you still remember how the world of Helra works?”

“Of course, you thoroughly explained it to me, I was really into it since it was exactly the same to games on Earth”

“I’m glad~ Then please use this gem to help you, we’ll meet again soon, I ran out…of…ti—”

Not being able to finish the sentence, Yuki’s image blurred out and the scenery broke.

I lost consciousness again.

※

“Nn……”

My eyelids are still heavy, but my limbs are all good now.

The moment I realized I’m good to fight, I threw my eyes open and jumped off the bed where I was lying on.
Then as a habit, I fell into a quick-draw stance like when I had a katana hanging on my waist all prepared for battle.

“Uwaah !  Akatsuki, calm down a bit there !”

“Heh? Oh, Morisaki, it’s you……where are we?”

For some reasons, one of my classmates was sitting on an opposite bed in a room spacious enough for two people to sleep on separate beds.

“No idea, I just woke up like you, and I already tried, the door is locked from outside”

“Hm, I see”

I adjusted my breathing and observed the room.

It felt like we were inside a farmer’s house, the atmosphere was, err how do I put it, full of ‘nature’.
The walls were built from brick but the substance that connected the bricks are probably not cement.

Our beds were made from raw wood without any fancy glamouring, and there was a candle on the wall, looks like the only light source when it gets dark. There was no light bulb.

That means no electricity, I assumed.

This must be Helra. I need to find Yuki as soon as possible, but we’re stuck inside this room.

I don’t have any weapon with me, but making a fuss with brute force won’t cut it.
I’d just welcome headaches to come find me, and I really don’t want that to happen as it might impede my search for Yuki.

“Then, the best way is to sit back and monitor the situation huh……”

I sat back into the bed and heaved a big sigh, Morisaki looked at me and laughed lightly.

“I never thought I’d see that from you, Akatsuki”

“Hm? See what?”

“I mean, you’re so calm and cool, I never thought I’d see you extremely on guard with a big killing intent like that”

What? Did I really let out that much killing intent? Normally a common student shouldn’t be able to sense my presence though, is this guy actually something?

“Please, don’t look at me like that, my pops has a martial arts dojo, so I’m trained you see……”

Oh.

“I see, sorry. It’s just my habit to be on guard, my old man always attack me out of nowhere with a real katana……”

“Shit, that sounds crazy……”

Morisaki had a wry smile on his face.
I guess that’s just a normal reaction to a story like that, but I’m thankful for being attacked that way, it sharpened my instincts and my reflexes.

I don’t have a best friend, actually I do and I’m looking for her right now, but aside from Yuki, Morisaki is probably the guy I talked to the most, I feel like I see another of me when I look at him.

I feel lucky that I was locked up with him, but that doesn’t mean I’ll lower my guards though, I only completely trust Yuki. Isn’t that ironic? She’s the most suspicious existence in my life, yet I trust her the most.

“But really though, what was those space rifts? I never I’d see them outside of manga”

“Well, the world is full of the unknowns you see……”

I heaved another sigh, partly because I’m a little impatient, partly because I don’t want him to perceive that I knew about this incident all along.

Knock, knock.

Somebody knocked on the door and a deep, low pitched voice resounded.

“Gentlemen, you’ll be having an audience with the royalty, please brace yourselves”

We looked at each other with eyes that asked “What? Royalty?”.
Though I knew Yuki was some kind of princess, I didn’t expect to be able to meet the royalty of Helra already.

No, wait, is this really the royalty of Helra?

The door was opened from the outside and a priest, maybe, emerged.

His clothing was indeed that of a priest, but he was damn bulky.
The presence he gave off wasn’t calm like a friendly priest, I shot a quick glance at Morisaki.

He was also giving me the exact same glance.

We understood not because we’re close friends, but because we’re both well trained in martial arts.

“Please follow me. Not to be rude, but please don’t try anything funny, it’s not going to benefit any of us”

We obediently stood up and followed the man.