"You," Hiroki looked at the monster and asked, "...You're not a monster?"
The monster let out an exhausted, long breath.
Hiroki blinked. "Then, those possessions..."
The hero pointed his finger down the river where the lair of the monster was located. When he dove deep down earlier, he had seen numerous items there. It was exactly that sight that made him think it was indeed a monster that should be taken care of quickly to avoid giving more problems to the townspeople.
Yet, the monster let out another breath, eyes meeting Hiroki's as it told its side.
Hiroki's eyes were clear and bright. Under the bright sky and morning light, he faced the monster, listening to its story, his expression calm and neutral.
Afterward, Hiroki uttered, "I understand."
Then Hiroki went back to see the townspeople, carrying a huge purse containing all the stolen and missing possessions of the people from the town and nearby villages. Surprised and delighted, everyone flocked around Hiroki and began expressing their gratitude. Some even invited Hiroki to stop by and eat a warm meal.
But that night, Hiroki didn't appear.
Instead, he went back to the river.
He faced the river creature and spoke, bearing neither friendliness nor hostility in his voice, "I have returned the people's belongings as we have agreed. You have to do what you have vowed as well. From now on, you can not stay in this place."
It was unsafe.
The turtle monkey giant let out another hot breath, its eyes reflecting the river's transparent and clear surface. As if it had always found it difficult to express itself, it started flinging its arms around like a squid, letting out small roars that sounded more like an exhausted sea animal than a raging giant monster. Then in a swift motion, it turned around and dove into the water.
Hiroki stood still as he watched it swim deeper and deeper, cascading no shadow from its traces until no part of its presence could be seen anymore.
Hiroki's eyes were clear and bright under the night sky's moonlight, silent as he remained in his position, recalling an important thing.
The river creature didn't have a shadow from the beginning.
When Hiroki fought it earlier, its movements were too slow and its attacks were too faint. It was only its size that made others think it would attack but other than his lair full of people's belongings, there was nothing strange about it.
In short, it was impossible for it to be the evil monster the majority thought it to be.
In fact, it had wanted to return those possessions that were dropped by random travelers and didn't retrieve for fear of being attacked or eaten alive. A
But because nobody could understand its language, whether out of fear of the unknown or a grudge towards a different appearance to theirs, the people thought of it as an evil creature.
Without being heard and understood, it became a monster.
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Hiroki's eyes abruptly opened at the sudden footsteps near him. His head turned to the origin of the sound, blinking softly as he found an unexpected figure standing by the door entrance.
Her face slightly cast by the moonlight refracted through the window, Asami stood, her face red and seemingly in a daze as she looked at Hiroki.
Hiroki stared back at her from head to toe. "....."
Asami Itou? What... was she doing here?
For a second, Hiroki's mind went blank. If his memory was correct, Asami had been shooting daggers at him during dinner. It was quick to tell she wasn't pleased to see Hiroki at all.
If Hiroki could, he would straightly ask Asami what was wrong. But for some reason, his body felt too weak to move and speak such a long string of words. He had to pick up his health and do something about this issue soon.
Helpless, Hiroki stayed in his seat, and with a quiet voice, he asked, "... Is there anything you need...?"
Asami was the first daughter of Moriko. In Hiroki Itou's deeper memory, Asami and Moriko were the two people who had come to pick him up from the center. That center was full of people who were near the age of Hiroki Itou. Hiroki didn't know why but he felt something was off with the way they moved or spoke. Almost all of them bore the same energy and spirit as that of Hiroki Itou. As such, Hiroki thought it was something he would have to study about so he memorized the place. He would head there later after he passed the beast subject called Math.
Hiroki turned back his attention to Asami, waiting for her to answer his question.
However, Asami didn't speak. Wearing thin sleeping clothes with her hair silky and long under the moonlight, she began to take steps toward Hiroki.
Hiroki felt something was off.
It was then he finally noticed Asami's eyes, and he couldn't help but feel slightly taken aback. Those eyes... They didn't look normal at all.
Light and aimless, she walked ahead, only going forward to where Hiroki, the only other presence in the room aside from her, was.
Hiroki couldn't help but stare at her, slowly trying to confirm his two guesses.
One, Asami was possessed by a ghost.
Two, Asami was in a deep dream illusion or something similar.
"Hmm..." Asami moved slowly, walking ahead and only stopping in front of Hiroki.
Silent, Hiroki glanced up from his seat.
Asami returned the glance, meeting Hiroki's eyes.
Hiroki's fingers twitched. If Asami was indeed possessed or had fallen too deep into a strange realm, Hiroki had to help her. The demon feasting on Asami's energy must be eradicated immediately!
To his surprise, however, before he could do anything, Asami moved, her arms spreading wide like the giant turtle monkey Hiroki had faced before.
Then in a quick movement, Hiroki felt a pair of soft and warm arms wrapping around him, a familiar sweet scent immediately hitting his nostrils at the sudden close proximity that weaken his defenses.
"...so...rry..." a soft, quiet voice came from Asami. Then she purred like a cat, eyes slowly closing as she huffed and sat on Hiroki's lap, seemingly in a deep and painful realm as she scooted closer to Hiroki's body with a frown. Though for some reason, with every touch on Hiroki, the frown on her face would ease up a bit.
Feeling strange but couldn't move from her weight, the weak Hiroki, "...."
Hiroki sighed, eyes looking up at the white ceiling, his conflicted gaze slowly going still.
Now he remembered. He didn't slay that turtle monkey creature. Back then, it was misunderstood by the townspeople. Because they didn't understand its language; it was easier to think of the motivation and intention behind its actions.
Unable to receive an explanation and fully understand them, they ended up filling in the meaning of another creature with their own.
Languages. They had always played an important tool in communication. Even actions weren't enough to convey what one truly meant at all.
One way or another, words would be needed to properly voice out what they mean and didn't mean.
Even the beast Math had letters and words with it - all needed to be understood.
Hiroki's eyes narrowed slightly, feeling his body had turned into a dead snail under Asami's weight.
Slowly as he tried to divert his attention, his mind began to drift further.
In all those five thousand worlds Hiroki had been, language had indeed always been a problem among people and even among beasts. But it was something that the hero Hiroki had always tamed and absorbed.
Using his language mastery in all worlds, he was able to help people solve their problems without worry. In exchange, he was able to level up and gain power from each successful mission.
If he could study more about Earth and learn and understand people's languages, would it help improve his vitality too just like it did when he was a hero? Would he level up and gain enough power to keep a good life in this world?
Right now, Hiroki didn't have magic or any kind of power. What he only had was a weak body he had to nourish first to be able to move faster and easier, and a mental capacity that could hopefully tame beasts with numbers and letters and more to come.
Two tools, both weak and still had to be refined.
God was truly serious when he granted his wish to become ordinary.
Hiroki, as a full-blooded human with no special power from the Fountain Of The Gods, had to start from Level 0.