Chapter 4: KAINA VILLAGE

「… a ceiling I don’t recognise」 ⚑ The second promise. Jin opened his eyes, noticing that he was lying on a bed. He was wearing his underwear, however, his outer garments were placed atop a table next to him. He slowly sat up and examined his body. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong. If there was, it was that he was extremely hungry. 「……?」 Sensing someone’s gaze, he turned to where he could feel the gaze from and saw someone peeking from the doorway, hiding away when their eyes met. After that, he heard the sound of footsteps patapat, which faded away. 「Was that one of the people living here?」 After muttering that to himself, he examined the room. There were simple wood and clay walls, a plain table, and the bed he was on. It was a very ordinary rural house if he were to guess what it was. 「Oh my, have you come to?」 An elderly woman entered the room. She was a countryside missus. Hidden behind the hem of her skirt, a small child gazed at him. That gaze from before seems to have been this child. 「You collapsed at the entrance of the forest. This child here found you.」 Saying that, she gently pushed out the child hiding behind her skirt. It was a girl with dark blonde hair and reddish brown eyes. 8 years old, or perhaps 9 years old? 「I’m Jin. Nidoh… Jin Nidoh is my name. Thank you very much for helping me. Um, could you tell me where this place is?」 「Jin, is it? This place is Kaina Village. A small village in the backcountry」 Even though he was told that, Jin couldn’t guess where this place was. At that moment, Jin’s stomach magnificently roared. 「Oh dear, you must be hungry… just wait a little bit」 Having said that, the missus left the room. Only Jin and the little girl remained. Jin then said to the little girl, 「So you were the one who found me, thank you. Could you tell me your name?」 Having said that with a tender voice, the shy little girl, 「… Hanna」 That was what she answered. 「Hanna-chan, is it? Nice to meet you. u」 When he said that, he held out his hand and Hanna timidly held out her hand, tightly grasping Jin’s hand. 「It’s done, sorry for the wait. 」 The missus returned with a pot placed on a tray. 「You must be hungry. Eat as much as you want. 」 Saying that she poured in some gruel-like substance. It gave off a pleasant smell, and Jin frantically ate it. How many days had it been since he had something to eat? 「It won’t suddenly disappear, so you don’t need to hurry so much. h」 The missus was amazed by Jin’s vigour in consuming the gruel. 「Thank you for the meal. 」 ⚑ 「What was that?」 「Ah, 『gochisousama』 is something like my way of parting with the meal. It’s a word of thanks to the people who produced the ingredients and meal, I guess. By the way, before you eat, you say 『itadakimasu』… although I had forgotten to say that.」 「Hmmm, is that so? It’s the first time I've heard of that. You, Jin, you must have come from a considerable far away. 」 「Yeah… probably」 「Probably? What do you mean by that?」 Jin then gave an obscure explanation. That he had come from another world was kept hidden; he simply said that a malfunctioned 《Warp Gate》 sent him here. However. 「《Warp Gate》? What is that? 」 She didn’t comprehend. 「Umm. A 《Warp Gate》 is a magic tool that allows you to transfer between 2 places instantly, you see…」 「Magic Tool? You couldn’t mean to say an 《Artifact》 could you?」 「《Artifact》 ?」 「What, you don’t know about it? An 《Artifact》 is a magic tool created before the 《Great Magic War》」 「Great Magic War?」 Another word, he didn’t know, appeared. 「Really, I wonder where you even came from… The Great Magic War happened 300 years ago, it was a war between humans and demons.」 He did not know that information. 「Could you tell me about it in more detail?」 「I’m astonished. Oh well, I’ll leave it be. Until 300 years ago, demons from another continent suddenly attacked. And because of that, until then, the skirmishes destroyed countries. With this, the large country… what was it called again… ah, that’s right, Dinaru Kingdom, the Dinaru Kingdom was the only country to remain that opposed the demons.」 「Haa… I see」 300 years ago, that is to say, when the 《Automata》 was trying to find Jin, searching for him in other worlds. No wonder he didn’t know about it. 「Struggling to survive, it is said that the population of the continent decreased to just one third. At that time, magicians took an active role in the battle; however, the demons struggled to the end with 《Ether Stampede》, and more than half the people with magic power were said to have died」 「So that was what happened, huh?」 The war had caused the population to decrease, and the fires of war had burned down civilisation and culture. And the culture of those who were magicians = nobles sharply decreased. So this world hasn’t changed from 1000 years ago; rather, if things didn’t go well, he would have been 1000 years too late. 「I understand, thank you for the explanation. So missus, I haven’t heard your name yet, have I?」 「Oh, that’s right. I’m Martha, nice to meet you. u」 「Martha-san, is it? Nice to meet you. u」 He had heard various other things from Martha. This Kaina Village belongs to the Cline Kingdom, and the number of households here is 29. And right now it was Spring. In this world, 357 days is 1 year, 51 weeks is 1 year, and 1 week is 7 days; this is the same as 1000 years ago, giving Jin a little relief. Although there was the possibility that the malfunctioned 《Warp Gate》 had sent him to a different world, there was a high probability that this was Adrianna Balbora Ceci’s world. （Oh well） Jin thought. Anyhow, his life was picked up. His stomach was bulging, and he had become quite attached, so Jin got out of bed and put on his outer garments. In his pocket was a knife and rubies. Taking out 1 ruby, 「Um, as thanks for helping me, please have this. 」 「What is it? This is…!」 Martha was surprised upon seeing the ruby. 「This is a gem, right? I couldn’t accept such a thing!」 「But, this is all I have to give you as gratitude. e」 「I didn’t help you because I wanted your gratitude. Listen, please take it back. 」 Martha scowled at him, so Jin retracted the ruby. 「But, how can I…? 」 「Then, how about staying at this house for a while and becoming a person that the girl can talk to? After losing her parents, she has been lonely. That girl. 」 As an adult, Martha had asked him, and Jin thought about it, and he was persuaded by what he heard. 「I understand, though that much is not enough, please let me help you too.」 「Fufu, if that’s the case, I can agree. Well then, you may use this room for a while.」 To repay the kindness for helping him when he was starving to death, Jin decided to stay in this village for a while.