1-4.  「Strange revelation」

「Ha!!」

I kicked the ground and dodge to the side as the creature before me swung its shabby sword down. The blade wasn’t sharp, but it was still a sword that would easily injure a human, presently a Level 1 one like myself.

The creature has a humanoid figure, and it has no hair. Aside from its super ugly face with small eyes and big nose, its featured characteristic would be the copper red skin.

That’s right, it’s a Red Goblin. Though I said it looked humanoid, it’s only because it has 4 limbs and stands on 2 legs. Other than that, its overall posture was that of a middle school kid. Preparing the shitty sword once again, the Red Goblin glared at me, baring its 2 tusks.

「Tsk. This goddamn Level system…so annoying…」

It really is posing difficulties on my body. First of all, I was a person that practiced gymnastics in the past. My body is quite sturdy for a mere high school student. I was used to extreme movements of straining muscles.

That’s exactly the reason why the Level system is impeding me. Because of my Level 1, I can’t move my body as I please, it’s not listening to me. My speed and reflexes are also being held back. That said, it makes fighting a mere Goblin becomes challenging.

The Red Goblin kicked the ground and rushed at me. Readying my self-made up stance, I held tightly onto the sword that Knight-dude gave me before I left. But at that moment

「Take this!!」

「Buoaarrg?!」

Baduuun. A small explosion hit the Red Goblin from the side, sending it flying and hit a tree nearby. It was quite a clean hit from the far flanks, creating a big opening for me to just finish off the monster.

Not letting that opportunity go to waste, I ran with all my might towards where the Red Goblin was trying to stand up. It was coughing blood, and looks like it broke some ribs from slamming into the tree with that great of a blowing force from the side. I never killed any living thing this big before, except for that one time when I had to finish a dog who was suffering an incurable illness to 「set it free」.

Honestly, that incident is still coming back to haunt me in my dreams from time to time. I would see myself facing a silent dog. It didn’t bark or make any sound. It made me wonder to myself 「should I have just let it die naturally?」, 「was that actually a wise choice?」, 「I just did what I had to in order to end its suffering right?」.

But nope, none of that matters right now. It is solely because if I don’t kill in this world, I, or maybe Yui, will be killed instead. It’s survival of the fittest, the unspoken rule of this kind of world when you are not on the side of the strong.

As a weak existence with the number 1 printed on my left chest, I swung the sword with all my might. I did not close my eyes, nor did I try to end the monster in a merciful way. Instead, I used all of the little strength I had, spread my eyes wide open and carved the moment I killed a living being into my mind. Sooner or later, I will definitely have to face hardships where I have to kill more and more. That exactly is the reason why I have to face the truth that I killed. Escapism only drives one’s mind into a dark corner and slowly eats up his soul.

The shiny blade of the double edged sword mowed down in slow motion before my eyes. It drew a white arc, a beautiful one, through mid-air, cutting the empty space. Then finally arrived at the neck of the struggling Red Goblin.

In my eyes, bit by bit, the steel blade sank into its neck and continued the beautiful arc. The feeling of friction due to meat being sliced transported into my hands. Then there was a little bit more resistance, probably because of the bones. After a moment that felt like an hour, my sword bisected the Red Goblin’s neck horizontally. Blood gushed out as the head rolled on the ground, its eyes still half opened.

Oh, so that was what it felt like to kill a living thing huh…

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Should I say…it wasn’t that bad? I didn’t feel like it was the end of the world…

Yes, I know. Killing a single Goblin is something you see so easily done in light novels and games, but to me it felt different when I faced it one-on-one, seeing it breathing and behaving.

Well, in the end, I had a feeling I was exaggerating things a little bit…okay, maybe more than just a little bit but still…

Yeah…it didn’t feel that terrible killing a monster. No, it actually didn’t feel bad at all. This means I succeeded in protecting myself and Yui for now.

「O-Onii-chan……are you okay……?」

「Yup. I managed to slice it off cleanly…」

It wasn’t because of my strength, but it was thanks to the sharpness and quality of the sword, that I could bisected the creature’s head through its spine.

「…um…that’s not what I meant…」

「Hm? Oh, ah…yeah I’m fine…」

「……」

Yui kept staring straight into my eyes for some reasons…

I don’t think I’m making a terrible face right now, but it might be because of my eyes betraying my words. They do say people do change after they kill, but isn’t it just bullshit saying that I immediately change after killing one Goblin?

「…well, if onii-chan said so then it must be alright~」

「Yeah…and thanks for backing me up with that fireball」

「You are welcome~」

Using a tissue she pulled out from a small package, Yui wiped the blood of the Red Goblin on my face with a brilliant smile.

Aaaaaa……this is it! This is my exclusive 「healing potion」. If there was one thing that never changed about Yui, it would be her cute smile. If looks could kill, then her smiles could resurrect. As expected of my little sister.

As I watched Yui wiping the blood stains on me, I recalled feeling surprised when Yui said she had a Skill of the Nature-Magic system.

According to Yui:

「I just got really mad hearing those people dissing onii-chan, but I knew you’d scold me if I did something stupid, so I tried to endure it…but the more I endured it the more I felt like my head was burning…」

…then at the end of that heat burning inside her, a mysterious voice spoke into her head about acquiring some kind of special skill. Yui also said that voice told her the name of the skill as 『Scorching Princess Levara』.

To make it simple, this skill allows her to become someone who can use 『Pyrokinesis』, a person who controls fire with their mind.

We’re still unsure about this, but it didn’t seem to be some kind of joke since Yui can actually control fire. The proof is that she just heated up a sphere of air to make a fireball and supported me. Yui wasn’t used to it, so it took time for her to chant, that’s why I had to hold off with the Goblin on my own while Yui prepared the fireball.

And boy do I have to say that was a clean and beautiful hit. It would’ve been bad if she missed, but since she hit it accurately, it’s all good.

「…don’t try to shoulder everything alright?」

「Huh? What do you mean?」

「I mean exactly what I just said~」

Don’t really get it, but nope, who cares, your smile is too cute! I’m perfectly healed already!

「Ah, that’s right. The Knight-dude said we gain EXP to Level up if we do it normally…」

While mumbling so to myself, I undid 2 buttons of my collar shirt and looked at my left chest.

For some reasons, a 『double-digit』 number was printed on my skin. I had no idea if this is a dream or not…maybe I’m just hallucinating because I overdosed in using Yui’s smile? Am I losing my mind to my cute little sister already? What? I don’t think I’m that siscon, though…well, even though I’ll surely Decompose the bitches that lay their hands on her…

That aside…if the Knight-dude said it takes 20 years to get to level 35…then how come…I’m level 『18』 right now…after killing a single Red Goblin who wore a loin cloth hiding his tiny penis…?

Yui looked at my left chest, and we stared blankly at each other.