Episode -1 C

  ? ? ? ? ?

  The truck Rogi and Dad were riding in had, before they knew it, arrived at their destination. It was a shabby village located in an abandoned city.

  At the entrance, a large wooden signboard hung between two tall stone pillars,

  and on that wooden sign, the words ‘Dotori Village’ were written in big letters.

  Rogi’s heart pounded... and she was afraid again..

  “Dotori...? Is this the place where I’m going to live...?”

  An unknown fear made her deeply worried. She wanted to cry, but she held it in. Thinking of Mom, she couldn’t cry.

  The truck slowly entered the village, and at the destination, many people had come out to welcome them.

  It was as if everyone in the village had come out.

  “Eh? Dad, over there...”

  To calm the startled Rogi, Dad explained what was happening.

  Father: Rogi, isn’t it surprising?

  Rogi: Uh... why is everyone out here?

  Father: Yeah. When Dad was a kid, this kind of thing was a normal part of life.

  Father: So... um.. back then, you see, neighbors nearby lived by helping each other like this.

  Father: Like everyone was one family.

  Rogi: Wow... that’s amazing..

  Father: Right? Isn’t it amazing?

  Rogi: Yeah... but I still don’t get it.

  Father: It’s something you couldn’t see where we used to live, right?

  Rogi: Yeah.

  Father: Hahaha, this is what it means for people to truly live together.

  Rogi: Mm... I see...

  Rogi’s mind became even more complicated. The villagers’ excessive kindness felt unfamiliar—and frightening.

  The little girl, Rogi, didn’t know how to react.

  When the truck came to a complete stop and the engine shut off, Dad hurriedly got out of the truck.

  Then, greeting villagers he had never met before, he continued various warm conversations.

  Rogi felt as if her thoughts had gone numb.

  ‘Should I get out, or not...?’

  Letting out a deep sigh, Rogi decided to slowly get out of the truck.

  She opened the door and stepped down. Looking around, she saw countless village adults moving busily back and forth in a flurry.

  Rogi looked for Dad, but finding her father already mixed into the crowd was not easy.

  Standing still felt strange, and walking around was scary too—this was her first time here, and she didn’t know the way.

  She wondered if she should just get back into the truck.

  But then, something even more astonishing unfolded before Rogi’s eyes.

  The villagers were voluntarily gathering around the truck, orderly unloading the luggage, sharing the load,

  and carefully carrying it into the house where Rogi would live.

  Rogi thought, ‘What is even happening?’ Some adults met eyes with young Rogi, but paid her no special attention.

  [It was the adults’ consideration, knowing a child would be startled.]

  Rogi spotted Dad. Dad also met Rogi’s eyes, smiled briefly, and then was busy again without pause.

  Flustered, Rogi kept looking at Dad with desperate eyes. But Dad had no room to pay attention to her right now. Because

  the villagers had specially made time to help the newcomers with the hardships of moving in—

  and having even a moment of leisure would not have been polite.

  But Rogi, who couldn’t possibly know that, felt hurt and afraid, and even a sense of being left out. Should she climb back into the truck? In the end,

  she slowly moved toward a wall that looked warm under the sunlight. Then she leaned against it and thought to herself.

  “Sigh... Mom... what do I do...?”

  Thinking of Mom made her feel like tears might fall. As she tried desperately to suppress the sadness.. at that moment!

  From far away, somewhere, a girl around Rogi’s age appeared.

  Beside her was a smaller child who appeared to be a younger sibling.

  The two were quickly approaching Rogi. But Rogi didn’t notice them.

  The girl who looked Rogi’s age walked up to Rogi without hesitation, took Rogi’s hand, and greeted her cheerfully.

  Pai: Hi, Rogi, right? Nice to meet you. I’m Pai. And this is Eti.

  Eti: Hi, Rogi-unni! I’m Eti.

  Rogi: Huh? How do you know my name...? Hehe

  [She gave an awkward smile.]

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  Holding Rogi’s hand, Pai walked over to Rogi’s dad. Then she greeted him loudly.

  [Right now, the village is chaotic and noisy.]

  Pai: Mister, hello!

  Father: Oh! Hi. Yes, I’m Rogi’s dad.

  Father: Today, I moved here with Rogi. Nice to meet you. Who are you kids?

  Rogi’s dad and the village kids exchanged their first greetings. Even in this moment, Rogi had a lot of thoughts.

  Father: Nice to meet you~ From now on, please be close with our Rogi.

  Pai: Yes, mister!

  After talking briefly with Rogi’s dad, Pai said she would go to the study room with Rogi.

  Dad replied as he lifted another piece of luggage.

  Father: Then I’m counting on you.

  With that, Pai didn’t let go of Rogi’s hand and began walking toward the study room.

  As if being led along by Pai, Rogi followed and greeted Dad.

  “Dad, I’ll be back~”

  But Dad was already busy out of his mind.

  Rogi, Pai, and Eti walked toward the study room. Asking each other this and that, they started a more serious conversation.

  At the same time, in a narrow alley, a big boy around their age was walking over.

  The boy’s name was Leo. He was Pai’s friend.

  Leo: Hi, Rogi~ I’m Leo.

  Rogi: Huh?... You know my name too... this place is weird~

  Leo: Haha... but where’s Dabi?

  Rogi: Huh? Dabi? What? Who is that?

  When Leo asked about Dabi’s whereabouts, Pai’s expression darkened.

  Pai: That idiot, he probably couldn’t come because he’s watching comics, so we came instead. As expected, he didn’t show up—of course.

  Eti: She called him an idiot lol

  Leo: I see. But ah... I’m so hungry. Did you guys eat?

  Pai: No, we’re going to eat at the study room too.

  Eti: Yeah!

  Rogi: Huh? You eat at the study room?

  Pai: Yeah! If you go to the study room, Teacher makes something delicious for you~

  Leo: Seriously, it’s the best in the whole world~

  Pai: lol yeah.

  Eti: I want to eat at the study room every day.

  Leo: Right!

  Rogi was flustered.

  “What is this place...?”

  ? ? ? ? ?

  A cold wind slowly slipped in through the warehouse’s open door. It was an unpleasant chill.

  Being discovered was already unpleasant, and with the cold wind added, his mood grew even worse.

  The giant insect strode toward the Red Rooster and spoke.

  “Now, as promised, you’ve been caught by me, right? Now you should come back quietly~!”

  The insect was curt, as if used to this kind of thing. It even seemed a little bored of the situation.

  “Mond! Let me go this time, please. I want to go to the Tarin Forest this time.”

  Mond, not surprised and not flustered.

  “Ah~ don’t do that. It’s a promise~ Let’s just go back.”

  Mond firmly refused his request. But the Red Rooster could not possibly go back like this.

  This time, he truly wanted to go to the Tarin Forest.

  Eat: Please, I’m begging you. Say you didn’t see me, okay? I’ll never forget this favor. Please!

  Mond hesitated for a moment, but decided to stay cold. And he made up his mind to persuade him calmly with words.

  Mond: Even if I let you go, you still won’t be able to reach the Tarin Forest~ You know that, right? Around the Tarin Forest, our forces are packed in.

  You’ll get caught before you even go one step. Just wait for the next chance, Lord Eat~!

  Eat begged again and again, but it was useless.

  Before long, even Eat began to feel hurt by the repeated refusals, and their conversation gradually became emotional.

  Eat: If it’s like this, I have no choice. I’ll take you down and go my way.

  [Mond found it ridiculous, but this time too, he answered calmly.]

  Mond: You need to leave the glory of the past behind. Lord Eat... you’ve lost everything.

  Mond: The power you once had—power that made even our Barak tremble—has completely disappeared.

  Mond: Queen Sage deliberately kept you as a captive and made you a target of mockery and humiliation, but...

  [Mond couldn’t bring himself to finish his words as he looked at the miserable Eat.]

  Mond: I understand. You must need hope to live... Let’s go back for now.

  Mond: When we get back, let’s think of a way to go to the Tarin Forest together. Right now, there’s no way. I mean it.

  Their conversation continued again, but they couldn’t close the gap between their positions.

  At the present time, from far away, something enormous is walking toward the bright light leaking out from the warehouse.

  The two, whose emotions had already been rubbed raw, began throwing harsh words at each other.

  Eat: I can still catch someone like you easily! Back off! You might get badly hurt if you keep this up!

  Mond: Pfft~ Who are you going to catch in that state! I’m scary when I get angry too, you know?

  Eat: I’ll show you what the food chain is! How dare an insect act up!

  Mond: Then try it? You’re saying you’ll go to the Tarin Forest looking like that? Don’t make me laugh~

  As their heated argument continued, behind Mond’s back, one leg of a gigantic insect came into view.

  An insect three times bigger than Mond—Melon—had arrived.

  Mond: Stop! That’s enough, let’s go. I’m tired of pointless talk.

  Mond: And have you ever seen me go anywhere alone? I may be a low rank, but I’m still an officer!

  Eat: [Trembling]...Me... Melon...

  [Melon is a combat-type Barak insect. It is bigger than Mond, who is officer-class, but it is not the biggest type of insect.

  Barak usually use their yellow antennae freely like an animal’s ears, sometimes as weapons. Their body color differs by role, but

  Barak classified as ground combat types like Melon are in purple or blue tones,

  and their eyes and claws may also share the same color as their antennae.

  Between the head and torso, there is thick fur. It looks quite warm. Barak shells are light, but tough and sturdy.

  Simple bullets or blunt weapons cannot damage them.]

  Mond, looking at Eat as if he has given up. With a wistful and tender feeling, he speaks warmly once again.

  Mond: There is definitely hope. Let’s wait for the right time. Your plan to go to the Tarin Forest—I will help with that too.

  Mond: For now, come back with me, and let’s prepare again from there. Okay?

  Eat, with his desperate heart, the time he suffered through, and the hope that was fading away, lost his grip on himself.

  Even Mond’s warm words only added more pain to Eat, who had fallen into despair.

  Eat: He takes out the secret weapon he had intended to use as a last resort in front of the Tarin Forest.

  A long, round red canister-like thing—it appeared to be a missile.

  Countless secret weapons spilled from behind Eat’s back and clattered onto the floor.

  Mond: Huh? What are all those? Where did you even get so many? No! How could that small body have been hiding that many things?

  Eat: Let me go... I have to go to the Tarin Forest...

  Mond: Calm down! And what is that, anyway~?

  Eat: This is an insecticide bomb that Emperor Rolan of Gordic made to wipe out Barak... Back off!

  [Rolan made it as a hobby, so the effect is unknown.]

  Mond: Are you threatening us with insecticide right now? There’s no way that’ll work on us~

  Eat: This is your last warning!

  In the end, Mond couldn’t hold back either and spat out harsh words.

  At those words, Eat lost his reason, and immediately pressed the activation button along with the command to use the weapons.

  “Rollroll!”

  At the activation command, the weapons that had been strewn across the ground rose into the air,

  and waited in standby mode for the user’s orders.

  Eat: Gwaaah~ I can’t hold it in anymore! Go!

  The weapons all flew toward the Barak at once. Eat believed that the weapon labeled as this insecticide bomb that Rolan had made

  would spray gas or liquid containing insecticidal ingredients. But—

  the unknown weapon that betrayed Eat’s expectations unleashed an enormous explosion and blasted out intense heat.

  Eat: W-what is that!?

  The massive explosion left Eat extremely flustered, but he couldn’t miss that moment.

  Using that brief opening, Eat succeeded in forcing his way through the Barak, passing through the door, and escaping.

  Even as he ran, even as he squeezed through the Barak, every moment he passed through the door and came outside, the explosions did not stop.

  Leaping with all his strength, Eat was pushed by the force of the explosion surging from the warehouse and ended up landing farther away than expected,

  coming down lightly.

  In Eat’s ears, the ringing from the powerful explosions would not stop. On top of that, dizziness set in.

  Even as he was losing consciousness, he left one last line.

  “Guh... Rolan! This is a bomb...” [Falling]

  Eat lost consciousness right there. Even so, behind him, in the warehouse, the massive explosions still did not stop.

  “If you write ‘insecticide,’ does that make it all right... damn it...” [Thud]

  ? ? ? ? ?

  Eti shouted.

  Eti: “Sister, this is the study room! Hurry, let’s go in and eat~”

  Leo: “Yeah, I’m so hungry~~”

  Hearing the children’s voices, Teacher hurriedly opened the door, came out, waved her hand, and greeted them warmly.

  Teacher: “Kids, why are you only coming now! Hurry, come on, I made something delicious. Hurry!”

  Rogi: “Ah... um...”

  Pai: “Hello~ Teacher~~”

  Leo: “I’m hungry, please give me food~”

  Eti: “Kyaaaahaha~” [Eti looks excited]

  Rogi missed the timing to greet her. Looking at Rogi, Teacher spoke to her.

  Teacher: “Hmm... okay, hello kids~ But who are you?”

  (Looking at Rogi)

  Strangely, for Rogi, having a Teacher who didn’t know her was so joyful and so welcome.