Magic Warrior in Another World - Chapter 2

Awakening and Beginnings

When I woke up, I was in a forest where the light was shining.

Nearby, crumbled round stone pillars were lined up in a circle at equal intervals.

A large, thick slab of stone was buried right next to me. All of them were covered with grass and moss, clearly indicating that they had been here for a long time.

Only in this area, the trees had been cut off, and there was an open space.

“Hmm?”

I suddenly let out a muffled voice.

Where am I…? Remember me! 

“The exams are over and tomorrow is summer vacation, right? I remember…”

I had just finished the first semester of my third year of college, and I was excited to be able to log in to [Seven Clover] for the first time in a long while.

[Seven Clover] was an online RPG formerly known as [Seventh Chronicle], and I have been playing it since two years ago, which was the time it was first launched.

I could go on and on about [Seven Clover], but for now, I would like to leave it at that.

I went to a university in Tokyo and lived alone in a conveniently located apartment, a three-minute walk from a supermarket and a convenience store.

I had informed my parents that I would return home by Obon after exams, and was planning to play at [Seven Clover] to relieve the stress of studying in the university library for a while.

I had three older brothers, and I had been involved in their various hobbies for a long time.

As they had planned, I became addicted to them, and there were many things I wanted to do besides playing games.

“I have a stack of offline games and novels that I bought recently, and I haven’t done any baking either…”

I was an indoor type of person, wasn’t I! 

But my older brothers also had many nerdy hobbies, so it was probably inevitable.

My mother, who was worried that I would never develop girly hobbies if left to my own devices, taught me how to make sweets.

Needless to say, I was hooked.

When you learn something you like from someone who seems to enjoy it, it makes you want to do it too.

It didn’t always last long, though.

What did I do when you got home? 

I – Rurikawa Kainagi – Mina.

I came home and immediately decided to play a game–I was asked to help with the harvest, but it was too much trouble, so I ignored it.

I felt like someone was calling me–I sneaked out and went to my favorite place in the forest.

I had a dream– after a nap.

“Mina? Harvest? Nap?”

My memory was strange. Maybe was still half asleep.

In times like this, it was good to move the body and force the mind to wake up.

I opened and close my hands to check my condition.

…It seems to be OK. I followed with raising my arms, no problem. I gently raise my upper body.

It seems that this place was hidden by stone slabs and pillars, and when I stood up, I had a clear view of the surroundings.

I scurried around and saw a girl very close by with her hands on her hips and her pouting.

I was close enough that she could reach me if she stretched out her hands, but she didn’t seem to be able to see me from where she was lying.

“Can you hear me, I’ve been calling for a while now, sis?”

She was a little shorter than me, with orange-red hair tied back.

She looked at me with brown eyes and a smile, but her eyes were not smiling.

I knew that this face was when she was furious. It was not good. If I really pissed her off, I would get in trouble.

“I hear you, Claire!”

The words came out of my mouth immediately.

Her name was Claire.

She was 13 years old, but she was a strong person, so much so that the merchants who came to our village sometimes looked at me as if I were her younger sister.

I was in my third year of college and I should have been around 20 years old. Or rather, what, a merchant? 

Some kind of unfamiliar information was swirling around in my head, and suddenly, it started to hurt bad.

“Wha, sis?”

The headache became so bad, but I managed to support myself with my hands on the stone pillar.

It was kind of hard to put any strength into it.

“You should have told me if you weren’t feeling well.”

Claire’s face changed from angry to worried as she supported my body and looked into my face.

“Let’s just go back to the village. Okay?”

My thoughts were racing around in my head, wondering who she was and where the village was, and thinking that I was lucky to be in such bad shape because I had to follow her here.

Either way, there was no point in staying here, so I nodded to the girl, Claire, and headed for the village.

I couldn’t tell from looking around where I woke up, but with Claire’s support, I was able to walk out of the forest in five minutes.

There, I saw a scene similar to the farming villages often seen in video games.

Large, separated fields lined the road, with wooden houses in between.

It was early summer, the harvest season, and each field was filled with colorful vegetables. Was it my imagination that I sometimes see vegetables of colors I have never seen before?

A river flowing from the forest seemed to cross through the village, and wooden bridges were built at various places. In the distance, I heard cows bellowing. There seemed to be no water mill.

Where am I?

My brain was in chaos, but my headache from earlier had not gotten any better, and I couldn’t even stand up without Claire’s support.

I pretend to be as calm as possible and head for home.

…Oh wait, was this our home?

A woman approached us from a nearby field, seeming to have noticed us coming out of the woods.

She had red hair like Claire’s and a triangular piece of cloth wrapped around her head. She seemed to be wearing a leather apron for working in the field. A few dirt stains were visible on the hem.

“Claire! You found Mina.”

“Yeah, Mom. But she looks kind of sick, like she can’t stand up.”

The woman Claire called “Mom” was staring at me with a raised eyebrow. I wondered if she thought I was sick.

I thought to myself, if Claire and I were sisters, then she would be my mother, too, right?

My headache grows worse and worse, until it feels like it was splitting open.

“Well, I guess you’re not lying, bring Mina to bed, and then you can help me here. Dad’s been called away, and we’re short on hands.”

“Okay.”

My headache was getting worse, and I was starting to feel faint from the fever. I didn’t have time to look at the surrounding scenery.

Claire helped me into the house and put me to bed, and then she left the room to help mother.

She immediately came back once and left a wooden jug and a glass of water for me. She was a very thoughtful girl.

“You even have a fever! Be sure to sleep!”

“…Yeah.”

It must be because of the fever, but Claire’s hands are cold and comfortable. As expected, I had no choice but to sleep if I was feeling this bad.

I gulp down some of the water that Claire brought me and get into bed.

I immediately let go of my consciousness.

It was a strange dream. If I fall asleep in a dream, I wonder if I would wake up?