1.
He had been born a mercenary.
He might have been able to dream other dreams, but those dreams were far too distant from him.
And so, all he could do with them was look at them from afar.
“What is this?”
That was why he lived as a mercenary.
Living as a mercenary, he faced death endlessly on the battlefield.
The only result of facing it again and again was learning facts he had never particularly wanted to know.
He—Sejin—let out a sigh.
Endless work, and himself, crushed beneath it.
He did not know when it would end. Perhaps it would never end at all.
As far as he could see, this work was something that would surely never be over for as long as he lived.
Unless Sejin himself died.
“I’ll ask again. What on earth is this? Why are you entrusting something like this to me?”
Sejin looked at the person before him.
It was not particularly surprising for someone high up to assign him work.
But he could not help wondering why it had to be him, of all people.
Naturally, they did not answer questions like that.
2.
“There is a matter I assume you are basically well aware of. Those beings called otherworlders, or people from another world.”
“Have they caused some kind of problem? No, as far as I remember, I don’t recall anything like that happening.”
People from another world—just as the words implied, those who came from a different world.
There were many opinions about them.
Some said there was no need to treat them as a major problem, while others said that because no one knew what trouble they might cause, they ought to be dealt with before any trouble occurred.
Sejin had seen all those opinions.
And he had answered none of them.
“Because siding with either opinion is inefficient.”
“Yes, just as you think, responding to each and every one of their claims is inefficient. No answer comes of it. That’s why ignoring them was the correct answer. However, we will have to speak separately about the problems they cause.”
“…”
Otherworlders caused trouble.
Incidents like that had occurred from time to time.
Dissatisfaction caused by such incidents had existed for a very long time.
It was a story Sejin knew as well.
“…So? I know about that problem, but is that what matters right now?”
“For now, they are keeping to an acceptable line. But not everyone keeps to that line. And we must act decisively regarding that line.”
“So…”
“I heard that a certain girl suddenly appeared not long ago.”
Sejin looked at the man who had ignored him and continued speaking.
He did not seem to have any intention of listening to Sejin.
“They say she appears to be wearing a nun’s habit. There are no other details coming in, but this is not something we can judge carelessly. Who knows? A woman in a nun’s habit might suddenly change and start committing murder.”
“So you want me to confirm that?”
“You have a better face than expected, so why not use it to lure her in?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Shaking his head at the other man’s words, Sejin sighed.
In the end, the point was simple.
They were assigning work to Sejin.
They wanted him to find a nun who had appeared out of nowhere and confirm what she was.
“At least I’m not being sent to a battlefield, so maybe it’ll be fine.”
“Well, it would be nice if things went the way you think. The world is more dangerous than it looks, after all.”
3.
“…Where is this?”
She opened her eyes in an unfamiliar place.
Lucia looked around, but as expected, it was somewhere she did not know.
It had happened while she was carrying out her duties after finishing her prayers, just as she always did.
“…Transference.”
What had just occurred was a phenomenon known as transference.
Lucia had been transferred.
Not by her own will, but because of simple misfortune.
“Mm…”
There was no one nearby.
It looked like an ordinary village.
She needed to know where this was, but this was a place Lucia did not recognize.
Even the things she could see around her were not things Lucia had ever seen before.
“…Another world.”
It was the kind of place she had only heard about in stories.
A place she had seen in books, heard of in rumors.
The so-called heroes, those summoned from another world.
Those who were occasionally transferred over from another world.
She had ended up in the same position as them.
Of course, unlike them, Lucia had not gained any special abilities, nor had she become a hero.
“Could I become one?”
With that question in mind, Lucia looked around.
Then she met someone who appeared to be a villager.
““̸̨̫̪̰͍̥̳̰͖̓̽̀̓̈́͛̉̉́̅̑̀͂͗̽̊̀̇̇̋̚͜͠”
“…Ah.”
She could not understand the language.
It was a phenomenon commonly said to occur when one experienced another world.
After confirming that, Lucia immediately used magic that allowed them to understand each other’s words.
“Ah, um. Excuse me…”
“Who are you, miss?”
“A passing… nun, I suppose?”
4.
“So this is the place.”
What Sejin saw upon arriving at the place where the otherworlder nun had reportedly been sighted was the sight of the countryside.
A rural village with not many people.
“I’ve come to a real backwater.”
There were not many people.
Most of them were elderly, at that.
They were looking at Sejin with curiosity.
Or else with wariness.
“You don’t seem to be a soldier. A mercenary?”
“Yes. I heard there was a strange person here. Do you know anything about that?”
The villager glared at Sejin.
Since he had expected they would not cooperate with him purely out of goodwill, Sejin let out a sigh.
“Well, from what I hear, she’s supposedly an otherworlder or some such, but that probably isn’t the important part. I heard she was someone wearing a nun’s habit.”
“And what will you do if you find her?”
“Who knows? I’m just someone who came here after taking a job. The one who judges that won’t be me, but the person who gave me the work, wouldn’t you say?”
The villagers did not open their mouths.
Sejin looked at them, then turned his gaze elsewhere.
Toward a woman doing something.
“I heard this village was made up entirely of elderly people, but it seems that wasn’t the case.”
“A-are you going to kill that young lady?”
“I wasn’t ordered to kill her. In any case, if she hasn’t caused trouble, I won’t kill her. What, do you take me for someone who only kills people?”
While the villagers were worrying, Sejin headed toward the woman.
“Let me ask you something.”
“Y-yes?”
“Are you the otherworlder who suddenly appeared here?”
5.
Lucia looked at the man who had come to find her.
He seemed like a man who had been through quite a lot of rough work.
The way he asked his question so calmly could be called frightening, but that did not mean he was openly hostile.
“What business do you have with me?”
“The government is always watching the movements of otherworlders. The reason is that no one knows what they might do. It seems there have actually been similar incidents, but that’s none of my concern. At any rate, once word of you came up, they sent someone like this.”
“…I see.”
“I’m Sejin. I came here because the government assigned me the work. I won’t kill you or anything. So long as you aren’t harboring hostility.”
At Sejin’s introduction, Lucia nodded.
“I’m Lucia. In any case, I don’t have that level of ability.”
“That’s fortunate. Even if I have orders from the government, I’d be dragged off if I caused a disturbance here. So please calm down.”
“How are we supposed to believe that!”
“…I know, but still. So, Lucia? What are you going to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“The fact that the government assigned me this work means they’ve already caught sight of you. Well, I suppose someone must have told them, but if I talk with you here and then leave, this place will remain under government surveillance.”
Sejin looked at the villagers.
They were growing angry at his words.
At the idea that the government would be watching them.
“Well, they may already be doing it, but that’s not something I know. In any case, if I leave and you remain here, they’ll keep checking this village in order to keep you under surveillance. The government is full of people who would do that and more.”
“Are you saying I need to leave this village?”
“That’s your choice, but in my opinion, it would be the most appropriate thing to do. I’m a mercenary, so I’ve seen all sorts of things. People dying, and people making others die.”
There was a great deal contained in Sejin’s calm words.
Lucia looked at him.
“All right. Once I finish what I’m doing here, I’ll do that. Is that okay?”
“Yes, well… if that’s the case.”
She would help with the villagers’ work and then leave with him.
At Lucia’s request, Sejin nodded.
The villagers were still dissatisfied, but knowing that it would not work on Sejin, they remained silent.
Sejin stood beside Lucia and began helping with the work she had been doing.
“…Ah.”
“You said you’d leave after doing this, didn’t you? Then it’s better to finish quickly and go. And things like this are more efficient when done together.”
“You’re a good person, Sejin.”
“That depends on your point of view.”
Sejin shook his head as he looked at the villagers still glaring at him.
Lucia laughed as she watched him.