A Love Offered to the Final Guardian: A Suicidal Boy Finds Meaning in Life in Another World - The Village of Mist and Illusion: Laughter and Shadows

I woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling. Amamiya Kanata blinked repeatedly. Hazily reflected in his vision were a wood-grain ceiling and a bundle of dried grass hanging on the wall. There was a faint scent of medicinal herbs. (Where is this...?) Hanna's house. Last night, that silver-haired girl—Lilia—had pulled him inside the barrier, and the old physician had treated his wounds. Those memories slowly surfaced. He stared at the bandage wrapped around his left wrist. Beneath the white cloth lay the countless scars he had carved into himself in the mortal world. But the bandage wrapped over them had never felt cold. He could still feel the lingering warmth of Hanna's palm. (Maybe I don't have to hide it here.) Kanata let out a small breath. He still didn't have an answer. But last night, for the first time, he had thought, "I'll try living, just a little." That feeling still remained in his chest. That was when it happened. BAM!! The door burst open with tremendous force. "[excited]Aniki!! You're awake!!" Kanata jolted upright. The one who had burst in was a boy with bouncing reddish-brown hair. Bedhead sprang out in every direction, and a black smudge of soot marked his right cheek. His large brown eyes shone with almost overwhelming brightness. He stood about 152 centimeters tall, and only his dominant left arm was oddly muscular. "[excited]Hey, hey! You really came from another world, right?! That's incredible!!" The boy practically leaped onto Kanata's bed, closing the distance and staring intently at his face. "...Uh, well—" Kanata was at a loss for words. (What is this sense of personal space?) In the mortal world, not a single person had ever approached him with such innocent familiarity. Kanata had no idea how to react and simply froze. "[excited]I'm Marco! I'm an apprentice at the 'Kaldo's Forge' blacksmith workshop! Nice to meet ya, Aniki!" "...Aniki?" "[excited]That's right! You came from another world, yeah? You gotta tell me all about the outside world! Hey, hey, what's the other world like?! There's gotta be amazing magic there, right?!" Words flew from Marco's mouth in rapid succession. Overwhelmed, Kanata nevertheless gazed into those innocent eyes. (This kid... isn't rejecting me?) "[sad]...I don't think stories about the outside world are very interesting." Kanata looked down slightly. His memories of the mortal world were all gray and heavy. "[serious]That's fine by me!" Marco pulled something from his pocket. It was a simple pendant—a small cloth pouch threaded with a cord. The cloth bore clumsy embroidery, and a faint lumen light dwelled within it. "[excited]This is a protective charm against demon beasts that I made! I'm still just an apprentice, so it's nothing special, but it'll keep you a little safer! I'm giving it to you, Aniki." Marco thrust the charm firmly into Kanata's hand. "...You're giving this to me?" "[gentle]Of course I am! You don't know anything about this village, Aniki, so I've gotta protect you!" Kanata stared at the charm in his hand. The first gift he had ever received that asked for nothing in return. Deep in his chest, a warmth spread, as if seeping gently through him. "...Thank you." The words he finally managed to force out were slightly hoarse. Marco scratched the tip of his nose, looking embarrassed. "[excited]Alright, let's go! I'll show you around the village! First stop, the blacksmith workshop!" Marco grabbed Kanata's hand and burst out of the room with explosive energy. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ When they stepped outside, the morning air bit sharply against their skin. The Village of Mist and Illusion was a small community existing solely within the barrier. Its population was a mere eighty people. Wooden houses lined the slopes, and fields stretched out to the south. The air was clear, and the murmur of a spring could be heard in the distance. "[excited]This is our workshop!" Marco led him to a large shed on the north side of the village. Smoke rose from its roof, and the sound of metal being struck rang out with rhythmic regularity. On the signboard, the handwritten characters for "Kaldo's Forge" danced boldly. When they stepped inside, a stifling wave of heat enveloped Kanata. A stone furnace blazed red, and countless old swords and farming tools hung on the walls. In the back stood a well-built, middle-aged man. It was the master, Kaldo. "[cold]Marco. Skipping work again?" "[surprised]N-no way, Master! I brought Aniki here!" The master glanced at Kanata, then immediately began swinging his hammer again, as if he had lost all interest. Kanata watched his hands at work. (So this is blacksmithing in a magical world.) Every time the red-hot iron was struck, blue lumen light scattered like sparks. The magical essence imbued in the old weapons was being forged anew into a different shape—this was the craft of magic smithing. "[excited]Amazing, right?! Master's the best blacksmith in this village! I'm gonna be just like him someday!" Marco puffed out his chest. He was left-handed, and that arm alone was unusually thick—probably from swinging a hammer every single day. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Their next destination was the village's communal dining hall. When they passed through the curtain marked "Mina's Dining Hall," the rich aroma of stewed dishes enveloped them. Several wooden tables were lined up, and here and there, villagers eating breakfast could be seen. "[excited]Hey, Mina-san! I brought that guy from the other world!" At Marco's voice, a stout woman poked her head out from the kitchen. It was the proprietress, Mina. Forty-two years old, she was the motherly figure of the village who took good care of everyone. "[gentle]Oh my, so you're Kanata-kun. Did you rest well?" "...Yes." "[laughing]Such a quiet boy, aren't you? Well, make yourself at home." The moment Kanata peered into the kitchen, his eyes flew wide open. The cooking pot was moving on its own. A metal ladle spun around as if it were alive, automatically stirring the soup inside the pot. A faint blue magic circle of lumen floated at the bottom of the pot. "[surprised]...What is this?" Kanata let the words slip out involuntarily. "[laughing]What is it? Why, it's a cooking pot. Is this the first time you've seen one?" "...Is everything in this world magic?" Kanata murmured in a daze. At his utterly serious expression, the dining hall fell silent for a moment. "[laughing]Pfft... ahahahaha!!" The first to burst out laughing was a middle-aged man sitting in the corner. "[laughing]This is great! 'Is everything magic?' he says! This guy's hilarious!" "[laughing]People from another world really don't know anything, do they?!" The dining hall was filled with laughter. But there wasn't the slightest trace of malice in that laughter. It was a warm laugh, purely born of amusement. (Am I... being laughed at?) Kanata was bewildered. But no—this was different. It was completely different from the ridicule he had been subjected to in the mortal world. "[laughing]You're a good kid, aren't you? Here, eat some mushroom soup. It'll perk you right up." Mina's smile lines deepened even further as she placed a steaming bowl in front of Kanata. "...Thank you for the meal." When he took a sip, the deep, rich flavor of an unfamiliar mushroom filled his mouth. It was warm. A gentle warmth spread from the core of his body. (So this is what it's like... to eat a meal with someone.) The days of eating convenience store bento alone felt like a distant past. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Even after they left the dining hall, Marco's guided tour continued. "[excited]Over here is the Sylph Spring! Look, the water's glowing, right?!" The spring at the eastern edge of the village—the Sylph Spring—was a clear pool about eight meters in diameter. The water's surface emitted a pale, hazy luminescence. Marco explained that it was because trace amounts of lumen were dissolved in it. "[whispers]...It's beautiful." Kanata was at a loss for words, simply staring at the light. (There was no light like this in the mortal world.) The pale blue radiance, ceaselessly welling up from the bottom of the water, faintly illuminated the surrounding trees. It was as if fragments of stars had dissolved into it. "[excited]Right?! Drinking this water takes away your fatigue. It's the village treasure!" That was when it happened. "[excited]Oh! That's right, Aniki! I'll show you something even more amazing!" Marco's eyes sparkled with mischief. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ He was led to the northern outskirts of the barrier. Ancient trees grew thickly here, a considerable distance from the village houses. The air was cold, with a clammy humidity that clung to the skin. The barrier's transparency was lower here, and the swirling white mist beyond it was faintly visible. "[scared]Marco... isn't this place dangerous?" Even Kanata sensed the danger. The scent of the wind was different. Something is here—his instincts screamed. "[excited]It's fine, I tell ya! Look at this!" Marco pointed behind a large boulder. There, three eggs about thirty centimeters in diameter lay scattered carelessly. Their surfaces were a dull black, and they emitted a faint lumen light, as if pulsating. They were demon beast eggs. "[scared]...Eggs?" "[excited]Yeah! They're eggs of a demon beast called a Grauwolf! The shells are soaked with magical essence, and if you crush 'em up to use as a polishing agent for smithing, they sell for a ton!" "[scared]Wait. What about the parents?" "[laughing]They're out hunting right now! Come on, let's take one back! If you grab it, Aniki, you'll be helping the village, right?!" Kanata hesitated. But Marco's words pierced his heart. (Helping the village.) Last night, Lilia had dismissed him with a cold "Do as you like." He had no power. He didn't know how he was supposed to live in this place. But if these eggs really could be useful... "...Alright. Just one." Kanata approached the boulder and gently reached out for one of the eggs. The surface was rough and faintly warm. A pulsating sensation transmitted through his hand. —That was the moment. GRAAAAAAAH!!! From deep within the forest, a roar that shook him to the very pit of his stomach thundered through the air. "[scared]!!" Five shadows burst out of the mist. Giant wolves over one and a half meters long—a pack of Grauwolves. Multiple eyes glaring with a fierce red light. Drool spilling from their mouths. The fur all over their bodies stood on end, tinged with the red light of lumen. "[scared]D-dammit! I thought they were out hunting!!" "Run!!" Still clutching the egg, Kanata grabbed Marco's hand and broke into a sprint. The footsteps of the Grauwolves closed in from behind. The sound of claws kicking against the earth, their ragged breathing—it all drew nearer and nearer. (Dammit...!) Kanata's heartbeat intensified. His lungs burned with pain. Still, he ran. "[scared]Whoa!!" Marco tripped over a tree root and fell. In that instant, the lead Grauwolf pounced. Sharp claws swung down toward the fallen Marco. (I have to protect him!!) His body moved before he could think. Kanata threw himself over Marco, offering up his back. Shunk!! His clothes tore, and a searing impact raced across his back. The Grauwolf's claws had grazed him. Hot. Blood seeped from his back, soaking his hoodie with a clammy wetness. "[crying]A-Aniki!!" (At this rate, we're both going to be killed.) Kanata clenched his teeth. The pain threatened to make him black out. But he had to protect Marco, no matter what. (Like hell I'm dying in a place like this—) That was when it happened. The air itself tore apart. Shunk, shunk, shunk!! Three arrows of pale blue light came flying, slicing through the mist. The arrows precisely pierced the Grauwolves between the eyes, pinning three of them to the spot. Thud. Thud. The sound of mas

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Episode 2

Name: A Love Offered to the Final Guardian: A Suicidal Boy Finds Meaning in Life in Another World
Author: Novelia

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