"Th-this is... terrible to look at... what happened here..."
A young man was holding his mouth, trying not to puke at the gruesome sight before him.
Another old man walked towards the body of an unconscious girl slowly, and bent down on his knees.
Hovering his right hand over her head, he activated a skill.
"Status Reveal. ... ... ...As I expected... this girl isn't...
... Shifa."
"Uh... wha? A-at your service!"
"...I'll take her in."
"?! Village Elder?! What are you saying! This child is cursed!"
"Don't be stupid, how can a Sword Saint be cursed. It was the surroundings that tried to taint her."
"...! Even so!"
"Didn't you hear what I said? Stand down, I'll take her in my family and raise her properly as a warrior."
"Y-yes... If that is the orders of esteemed elder..."
"Mm... Go clean this mess up with your boys. Send someone to carry her over later."
"Understood!"
----------------------------------------
It has been a year since then.
I was adopted into a distinguished Village Elder's family.
Not to be confused with the Village Chief; Although he did have his qualms with me staying in the Village of Bulwark, he told the Village Elder that as long as I fulfilled the duties of training as a Sword Saint, he would close an eye concerning my background.
That's right. My background.
The villagers all called my family a cursed one.
Apparently, some people had seen our father Len going around shady places in the village with a man who introduced him to several girls who he later fornicated with.
Adultery was one of the gravest sins that a person could commit according to the traditions of our Bulwark ancestors.
He even indulged in drinking, excessively. This resulted in an uncontrollable temper that started to tear apart his own family.
The villagers, and most probably everyone in this world other than me didn't know about the existence of parasites, nor Har'Lus, because they judged the oozing blood coming out of Len was tainted blood just because they appeared green.
That's incredibly stupid.
Our mother was not free from blame too.
Her deteriorating condition was well-known in the village. Following the notoriety of our father's deeds, it was claimed by a wandering priest who came to our village that she too, was cursed with demon children.
...Fucking phoney. If I had the skills to do it, I would have genuinely killed that man when he gave that conclusion to all of the ignorant villagers.
...At that time, I thought it was just lip service as usual... Internally, I was afraid that I might not be able to kill someone at the last moment. Just like when I attempted suicide in my previous world...
My sister Rien was discovered to have killed our mother, Martha Seluvia, as well.
THEY SAID THAT WAS A NATURAL THING TO DO AS A DEMON CHILD. TO HIDE ITS FANGS AND STRIKE WHEN THE CHANCE WAS RIGHT. EVERYTHING FELL IN PLACE, SO THEY DID NOT QUESTION ANYTHING FURTHER AND LABELLED US AS A CURSED FAMILY.
FUCK YOU ALL. YOU SHITHEADS. I HATE THIS VILLAGE.
No matter how I felt inside, I could not show it on the outside. The evidence from some sort of forensics that utilized a number of accurate magic skills like Mana Trace and Spectral Field, held incriminating evidence as it reconstructed parts of the crime scene skillfully.
But since no sound could be heard, except for the movements, the villagers could only make out things on a surface level.
They never went any deeper.
I was never taught how to use Status Check to see my status window, nor use any other magic aside from Repulse Beast LV1.
I didn't even know the level myself, and I had gained that knowledge through the many kids that grew up with me and Rien.
Since I couldn't learn or see magic, I could not deny any claims.
Especially so, since the use of mana that originally didn't belong to me would trigger the Mana Drugworms residing inside of my body.
It would make even the use of a simple spell like Repulse Beast difficult. I had to brace myself for the huge aftereffects it had on my body.
And so I was adopted into the Village Elder's family.
The Village Elder was a relatively old man who had very few strands of white hair left, and many wrinkles on his face. He had a look full of wisdom, but his stern eyes were a more accurate representation of who he actually was.
"Stand up! Again!"
I gritted my teeth, as I rose up groggily and continued swinging a wooden sword for the 378th time.
"Nngh...!"
I fell on my feet after doing the 379th swing.
"Stand up! Again!"
"I...haaah... haaah... I can't...haaah... haaah... any... more... haaah... haaah..."
"Again."
"I can't... feel my muscles anymore... haaah... haaah... if this keeps... haaah... up... haaah... haaah... I think I might... break... my body..."
Drool was leaking out of my mouth, as I desperately tried to catch my breath.
"I don't care what you might or might not think. Again. Or you're going down the basement again. Do you want to experience it again?! AGAIN!"
"...!!! ... Haaah!!!"
The basement was a torture chamber approved by the village and tailored especially for my use. They had made it in the scenario that I was no longer willing to comply to the Village Elder's orders. When I had first rejected the strict regiment implemented onto my daily life, I was brought there without question.
Ever since that time, I had tried my best to fulfil the expectations of the Village Elder in order to avoid it. The mention of the word basement gave me a small shock to my body, which had registered the pain very vividly.
Why was I wasting my time like this?!
I had better things to do!!!
Rien was in danger somewhere without me!
I had to save her before time was up!!!
Har'Lus...
I'll never forget that thing's name.
When I see him, I'll rip him apart...!!!
But ever so slowly, my senses became desensitized, including my sense of pain from the training regiment. Although it was still strenuous on my body, I became able to clear them with a little less effort.
...
Like this, I continued devilish training every single day after being adopted into this person's home.
He never gave me a reason why I had to do it, nor did he show any sign of empathy for my suffering.
He began to feel more and more like Har'Lus, the parasite who stole everyhing from me.
I began to harbor ill intent towards the Village Elder with each passing day of torturous 'training'.
Not even being able to see my own progress since I had no knowledge of the existence of Status Windows, it felt like an endless road I would never stop walking in.
The Village Elder had no relatives, except for a grandson.
His name was Lucas.
I heard that his many children had already ventured out of the village to become knights and adventurers, leaving only one of their offsprings in the care of the Village Elder.
He was a sweet child who had just become 6 years old, 3 months after I had arrived.
They say when kids grow up, they say unintelligible and non-educated things, but he especially caught my interest.
He wasn't very open and vocal about his thoughts, but the occasionally witty stuff he says when he sees me hard at work cracked me up.
He wouldn't flinch at the arduous training I was receiving. Neither would he tell his grandfather to stop.
He would just either pass by nonchalantly, or stop by and observe my training.
I didn't feel all that bothered by his indifferent presence either. His grandfather didn't stop him too.
It was as if he was an uninvolved spectator, observing the scenery.
When I was finally done each day, I would spot him inside of the house somewhere, reading a couple of books.
Sometimes he would cry at a story.
Sometimes he would feel anger at one.
His vast array of colorful emotions reminded me of why I immersed myself into books. It also explained why he was so quiet and had a way with his words.
Since I wasn't restricted to do anything else besides roam the village without supervision and not complete my daily training, I could spend the remainder of my free time with this boy, reading books together quietly.
Thus, we became very acquainted this way through the year.
He would throw in a few literary references when he noticed me, as if he'd just learnt them.
Other times, he would imitate the behaviour of a character which amused me greatly.
Since I'd learnt the language of this world and had read most of these books that he had just finished, I could understand all of them.
It made us feel special, as if we had constructed a secret base for ourselves within this mundane world.
He began to open up to me, and told me about why he started to immerse himself into books.
He just wanted to lose the feeling of isolation birthed from his parents leaving the village for their own selfish interests, he says.
He really is my kindred spirit...
I thought in my mind.
Even if I didn't know when the training would end, or why I was wasting my time away like this and not avenging my family, I genuinely thought...
Maybe this isn't so bad either...
But things never turned out to be how it was supposed to be. This fragile cocoon that I had once again tried to spin for myself, was shattered on a fateful day.