At around 6 A.m. when the sun started to rise, a firm hand shook my shoulder, waking me up from my good night's sleep.

Slowly, I opened my eyes to see Katsu's figure standing next to my bed. As usual, he had all of his gear on, ready to go somewhere.

"Time to get up Amaya. There's something I need to show you." he said.

Pushing the blanket to the aside, I sat up. My thoughts were still fuzzy from the sudden awakening.

"...We're going somewhere?" My arms stretched toward the ceiling, a loud yawn came from my mouth,"...It's so early though..."

"You wanted to know about the investigation. This is about that."

After throwing on my coat and boots, we set out on foot, through the nearby forest. This was a huge pain. Not only did I have to get up super early, but now we had to walk.

Ughh...so boring...

"Why didn't we take the carriage...That would've been sooo much easier."

"Have a look around." Katsu replied.

And so, my eyes looked in every direction, scanning the area. Still, I had no clue what he meant.

"It's just a forest." I muttered.

"Yes. But there are no paths here."

Now that he mentioned it, I took a second look around. Just like he said, there were no pathways. Now it was clear why he couldn't bring the carriage. Without pathways, it would be hard to travel inside of a carriage. We'd constantly have to maneuver around the hundreds of trees.

Katsu's tone grew quiet. Again, he sounded like he was remembering something awful.

"Many years ago, there used to be paths here. However, people lost their reason to come to this part of the forest, and so, the paths became unused. Naturally, nature took over and swallowed those pathways up. Now, there's not even a sign that they existed."

I understood the part where the paths were taken back by nature.

But what caused the people to stop coming out here?

A monster, maybe?

We approached a large hill. Sticking out of the ground was an old wooden sign, covered by vines. Mud was smeared across it; making the written words hard to read.

After wiping it down, this is what it said:

[Welcome to Riseldor]

It sounded like the name of a town.

My knees were exhausted from all this walking. It felt like I was going to fall over from sheer exhaustion. This was a little too much work for my morning.

Even so, I continued to follow behind Katsu's footsteps, till we made it to the top of the hill.

"Ugh." I grunted as I took a knee, ".... All of this walking...it better be worth it." When my breath was caught, I raised back up, standing straight.

All this hiking took a good hour, and now, the sun was out and about, shining bright rays. My wrist slid across my forehead, wiping the sweat off.

Katsu took a seat on the dirt. His lifted his helmet off then set it down by his side. With a green glint in his eyes, he gazed down the other side of the hill.

I wasn't close enough to see what he was looking at. Whatever it was, it had his attention. When my steps brought me to his side, that was when everything came into view.

A village-No-This is what remained of a village.

The ground was charred black as if a fire once scorched the area. Homes were collapsed in rubble; parts of walls were scattered. Only very few houses were still standing, but they were in terrible condition from fire damage.

Everything in sight was in bad shape.

What happened here?

This wasn't a small village either. The size of the area was enough space for at least fifty to eighty villagers to live.

For a village of this size to be destroyed like this....

…Something down-right evil must’ve happened.

"This was once a popular village." said Katsu, "Sometimes, people would come from the capitol to pay a visit. This village was home to some of the nicest people you could ever meet. It was a beautiful, peaceful place, thriving with joy."

Then one day, I guess all of that was taken away.

Katsu continued, "The day this place was destroyed was the day people stopped coming here."

"...So, what happened exactly?" I asked.

The place looked like it was raided by bandits or something.

"One day, a monster showed up and killed almost everyone. That monster was an ogre, but he wasn't just any ogre. His aura caused chaos among the villagers. Some went berserk and killed each other, then others simply gave into fear and killed themselves."

Just by listening, I could just picture the amount of bloodshed that happened here. It must've been horrible.

Katsu stood up; his fist slightly clenched.

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"But it wasn't enough chaos for that monsters. He set fire to any building in his sight. But the fire was something like I'd never seen before, it was black like a shadow. People burned. And those who weren't caught by the fire were ripped apart the by shadow ogre.... He would...he would just lift them into the air...and he'd break them in half...like their lives were nothing..." Katsu's voice started to quiver dramatically. Unlike before, it sounded like he was filled with rage and despair, both at the same time.

For me, this moment was story time of a tragedy. But for Katsu, it was like he was re-living that moment all over again. It was written all over his expression. Underneath, his strong aura, I knew he was holding back tears, even if it wasn't clear. Slightly, just slightly, there was a spec of water in his eye.

"...Despite all of that, there were a few brave villagers that decided to stand up to that beast. They fought with everything they had, they fought knowing it was pointless. In the end, they died too. Friends, family, there was nothing left. Only one little boy survived..."

From the sound of it, that little boy might've been named 'Katsu'.

He placed his helmet back on. His voice went back to normal.

"That's the kind of monster we're dealing with. The Shadow Ogre. Back then, he was only S-rank in power."

If an S-rank monster like that is capable of causing that much destruction, i didn't want to imagine what a silver-rank could do. Or worse, a legendary rank.

"Since then, that ogre has attacked numerous villages across the continent. Since then, he's only gotten stronger, and he’s killed many more. Civilians and adventurers alike. Even S-rankers have fallen to him. This is something I have to do. If nobody else will, then I'll be the one to slay the Shadow Orge. It'll be dangerous, and I don't even know how strong he is as of now. He may very well even be a Silver-rank threat by now. I've been tracking him for years, and now, I believe he plans to attack the capitol soon."

So, before the ogre attacks, we were supposed to find and kill him. That's what this investigation was. It all made sense now.

Still...the thought of facing such a monster almost made me tremble in my boots.

Katsu might've realized the stiffness on my face. He paused and faced my direction.

"If you don't want any part in this, I understand. Because this will be unlike anything you or me have ever dealt with." He extended his hand out to me, "So, Amaya. Are you up for this?"

I didn't come to the capitol for the sole reason of the investigation. I was only here in search of that 'clue' the goddess spoke of. The clue that will help me prevent the destruction of the world.

Before I answered Katsu's question, I pieced together everything in my head.

There was a good chance that the Shadow Ogre is the 'clue' I was searching for. A monster that strong, it has to be connected to the destruction of the world somehow, even if it's not directly. The ogre had an aura that can cause people to go berserk. So, it's possible that could be the beginning of what sends the kingdom into chaos.

My mind was made up. No matter what, this Shadow Ogre needed to be taken care of. And without a doubt, Katsu needed my help.

I took his hand and shook it with a smile.

"Count me in."

"...Are you sure?" Katsu asked, "This is potentially a monster above s-rank level. You understand that. Right?'

I gave a strong nod of confidence, "I do. After all, I'm a hero, remember? I just need to put in the work to get stronger. The we'll take down that monster. Together."

If a hero truly had no limit, then even someone like me could reach higher ranks of power. All i needed to do was put in all the hard work and effort. Then maybe.... just maybe, I'd be able to defeat a monster like The Shadow Ogre.

A chuckle came out from underneath Katsu's steel helmet.

"Easier said than done." He gave one final glance at space that was once a thriving village, "Amaya I respect your courage."

We began our walk back toward the mansion. There was something that I was wondering, but I couldn't be sure unless I heard it from him directly.

"About the story. I have a question."

"Ask away."

My lips let the question out.

"The boy who survived. That boy is you...isn't it?"

It was silent, like Katsu he'd rather not answer. I was about to call it off with a "Never mind" but he spoke up.

"It's true. That boy was me. All of this happened 20 years ago, and still, nothing from that day has left my mind."

Katsu came to a stop. His face looked up at the sky, taking a breath, "...In fact, I think about it so much, my actions feel bound by the past."

Everything about him was starting to make sense. This was the reason he hated monsters. This was the reason he became 'The Swordsman of Vengeance'

If I experienced something on that level, I might've been the same way.

Katsu went on, "Since I'm already telling you all of this, there's one more thing I'd like to share. Not that it's important, but it's something I never really told anyone."

It wasn't a surprise that he has some sort of secret. But it still had me on my toes. What was he about to tell me?

"Remember when you asked if I was the same as you?" Katsu asked.

"Oh, yeah. I remember that." It was back when I came out of the dungeon. Based on things I said, he had gathered that I was from another world. He somehow knew what ‘Christmas’ was, and stated that it didn’t exist here. He also mentioned that pancakes didn’t exist either.

But somehow, Katsu knew what both of those things were. That’s why I jumped to the conclusion that he was transported here, just like me.

Katsu shook his head.

“We’re not the same. Your situation is different.”

“So then...you’re not like me. But, how did you know what Christmas was?”

“Let me finish.” Katsu interjected, “In your case, you were suddenly transported here. The world system grants you the title of a hero.” he paused then held his hand over his heart, “In my case, I was reincarnated. I don’t have such a title. To the system, I’m seen as just another normal person. My power has a limit. A limit that I’ve already reached.”

So in other words, he was the same, but different. We were similar in the way that he both lived on earth once. It’s how we came to this world is what made us different. It’s the fact that I was a [Hero] that made us different.

With everything confirmed, I started to feel closer to Katsu. The experience of earth is something that only we shared. Us and the very few who might be just like us, assuming there were others.

We continued walking though forest. Anyhow, our conversation didn’t stop there. Katsu said he was reincarnated, which means he’s died before. I know it’s not something that should be asked, but curiosity got the best of me.

“If you don’t mind me asking...,How did you die?”

I expected him to be cryptic and not tell me upfront. But he answered almost right away. He was starting to open up to me, more and more.

“My death, huh. The way I died was a pretty messed up.” again, he sounded like he was re-living another moment, “I used to be a soldier. Me and my squad. We were in the middle of a firefight with enemy combatants. Slowly, but surely, the enemy started to get the better of us, till our backs were against the wall.” he took a deep breath in, then swiftly let it out, “I knew we weren’t all going to survive. But if any of us were going to live, someone had to hold them off. So, I volunteered to stay behind.”

It wasn’t noticeable, but I could see his hand shaking, “As my teammates mad either escape, I turned my gun around the corner and fired at the enemy. I held them off at a stalemate, until my ammo run out. That’s when they overran me and pumped my body full of bullets. That was the last thing I remember.”

Gosh. And I thought my luck was bad. Maybe me and Katsu had a lot more in common than we thought.

“Wow...well...that’s harsh...” I spoke.

“Tell me about it. At the age of nine-teen, I was a goner. Would’ve been cool if I lived a bit longer though.”

I pitched out another question.

“Wait. So, how old are you now.”

“In this life, I’m thirty.”

When those words left his mouth, I did my best to hide the shock on my face.

This guy was thirty. But if you were to add his age from his past life, he was mentally 49 years old.

And that was old compared to me.

This day was different. Katsu never really talked much about himself or his life. But today, we were talking a whole bunch.

During the rest of our walk, we conversed bout all kinds of things. Video games, manga, figurines, tv shows, movies, we talked about it all. And even if he was technically 49, our tastes weren’t far off.

We bonded unlike before. It started to actually feel like we were friends, and not just party members.