WCSVL 02

Chapter – 02

After being summoned, at first they were treated fairly well as friends of the shrine maiden princess.

Asahi, the shrine maiden princess, was living in truly luxurious conditions, just as the king had promised. She had a spacious private room with her own personal maid, was given beautiful dresses and plenty of jewelry, and anything she said she wanted was promptly provided.

There was a stark difference in how Ruri was treated, but she was still given meals every day, and they provided her with a private room and the bare necessities, so she didn’t feel particularly envious. After all, the disparity in treatment between her and Asahi was nothing new.

And predictably, even in this other world, Asahi’s followers were increasing. Perhaps the title of “shrine maiden princess who would bring prosperity to the kingdom” was accelerating the phenomenon.

Ruri had held a faint hope that things might be different in another world, but that hope was quickly dashed, leaving her deflated.

Since that was the case, she decided to quickly learn the customs of this country and become independent, leaving the castle. She spent her days memorizing the written language. Since she could speak the language normally, she had hoped she might be able to read it too, but the world was not so kind.

And to make matters worse, even in another world, Asahi clung to Ruri. Whenever Ruri tried to study, Asahi would almost certainly come to bother her.

“Ruri-chan, you’re studying again~. You don’t need to study even after coming to another world. Let’s play!”

“It’s necessary.”

*(That’s exactly why I’m studying—because we’re in another world. You should study more yourself. And speaking of which, you’ve already been poisoned, haven’t you? For a prince, you’ve got no patience!!)*

Behind Asahi stood the prince—who glared at Ruri with the same hatred as the countless followers from before—and the four classmates who had been summoned alongside them. It seemed the prince had also been infected, and he clearly resented Ruri’s existence, which Asahi kept going to visit.

“Hahaha, the shrine maiden princess and Lady Ruri are quite close, aren’t they?”

“Yeah, we’re childhood best friends!”

*(That’s not what we are.)*

The prince’s gaze grew even sharper, while Asahi remained oblivious. Ruri barely suppressed a sigh.

And then the incident occurred.

Waking up in the morning, Ruri put on the long-sleeved dress and boots she had been wearing when she first arrived. They had provided her with clothes here, but she found the heavily decorated garments too ornate and couldn’t bring herself to wear them. Asahi and the other classmates, however, had happily donned them.

Then, without any warning, the door to her room was suddenly thrown open with force, and soldiers flooded in.

“What’s going on!?”

Ignoring Ruri, who was frozen in shock, the soldiers twisted her arms behind her back and bound them with rope, then dragged her to the room with the king’s throne. Her head was forced down, making her kneel, and her bound hands behind her back ached.

“Ow…”

In the room were the king, the prince, her classmates, and many soldiers—but Asahi was nowhere to be seen. Aside from the soldiers glaring at her as if she were a mortal enemy, the twisted smiles on the faces of the prince and her classmates sent a bad feeling through Ruri’s mind.

“You are nothing but a wretch given food, clothing, and shelter by the shrine maiden princess’s grace, and yet you dare to plot her assassination—know your place!!”

“Huh!? I never did anything like that—ugh.”

Caught completely off guard by the prince’s accusation, Ruri immediately tried to defend herself, but the soldier behind her kicked her.

“There is a witness.”

The one brought forward was the female classmate.

“There’s no mistake. She was jealous of Asahi-san, who was being treated so well, and said she’d kill her. She even asked me if I’d help her.”

*(Ah, I see. So she teamed up with the prince to eliminate the nuisance.)*

Despite the dire situation, Ruri’s mind remained eerily calm.

“The plot to assassinate the shrine maiden princess must be punished with the gravest penalty. I propose banishment to the Forest of Hiding. What say you, Your Majesty?”

“Hmm, very well.”

When the prince mentioned the “Forest of Hiding,” gasps were heard from the soldiers, and Ruri was suddenly overwhelmed with unease.

“…Does Asahi know about this? She wouldn’t believe that I tried to kill her. And even if it were true, she’d plead for my life, wouldn’t she?”

As she spoke through the pain, her classmates twisted their faces in frustration and fell silent. That silence was an affirmation of her words.

The prince answered instead.

“We cannot tell the kind-hearted shrine maiden princess that her friend tried to kill her. We will tell her that you ran away because you hated this castle.”

“If she accepts that, fine…”

She absolutely wouldn’t accept it.

They probably wanted to prevent Asahi from interfering, to ensure Ruri was eliminated for good. But from Ruri’s perspective, it was clear they didn’t understand Asahi at all.

Asahi’s possessiveness was as stubborn and sticky as birdlime. She might very well say that if Ruri ran away, she’d leave too.

*(Again, I’ve been dragged into trouble because of Asahi. Can’t you just manage your followers properly for once!!)*

Asahi always brought trouble, yet she remained oblivious, never trying to understand Ruri’s hardships.

Ruri had more complaints than she could count, but she said nothing further in protest. No matter how much she insisted she was innocent, her opponent was the prince of this country. He could fabricate crimes or have her assassinated at will. Arguing was pointless.

Well, she didn’t know what the Forest of Hiding was like, but it offered more hope than being killed here.

And so, her limbs bound with rope, she was tossed into the back of a wagon. She asked for the bag she’d brought when she came here, but her request was ignored.

She had dozed off occasionally, so she didn’t know how long they traveled, but gradually the wagon’s jolting grew worse.

After a while, the wagon suddenly stopped, and she was roughly unloaded.

“Blame your own stupidity if you want to curse someone.”
“Hey, hurry up.”
“Yeah, we gotta get out fast or we’re in trouble too.”

Leaving behind those ominous words, the soldiers were gone in an instant.

“At least you could have untied the rope before you left.”

Ruri was still bound hand and foot. The tightly cinched ropes wouldn’t come loose with just a little wriggling.

But Ruri remained calm. She shifted the sole of her boot, pulling out a small, palm-sized knife, and cut through the ropes on her limbs.

“Who knew the day would come when this would actually be useful.”

She rubbed her freed wrists as she stood up and looked around. A deep forest surrounded by tall trees. Ruri, still lacking knowledge about this world, had absolutely no idea where she was.

No water, no food—all she had was a single small knife. The situation was hopeless. It wouldn’t be surprising if she died at any moment.

However, she had one goal.

“I will survive this and get my revenge on them. What did I even do? It’s not like I was ever happy about Asahi clinging to me.”

If anything, she would have gladly stepped away. If they wanted the position of “best friend,” she would have wrapped it up with a bow and handed it over.

That said, even with revenge in mind, she didn’t have any plan. First and foremost, she had to survive this forest.

Ruri vaguely recalled the world map she’d confirmed shortly after arriving.

“There should be a large country next to Nadasha…”

She remembered that a much larger country than Nadasha was located to its northeast. According to what she’d heard, it was a country where many “demi-humans” lived, and Nadasha apparently despised that nation.

“If those people despise that country, then maybe it’s actually a decent place.”

However, without knowing her current location, she had no idea which direction to go.

The sun would set soon. For now, she needed water and a place to sleep.

She strained her ears to listen for the sound of a river, but heard only the rustling of leaves. As she stood there wondering what to do, she heard the sound of a small bell ringing from somewhere.

The sound gradually grew fainter. Hoping there might be someone there, she ran toward the sound. How long had she been chasing it desperately? Out of breath, she collapsed to the ground, unable to go any further. The area was wrapped in darkness, and though the large moon provided some visibility, Ruri now regretted her rashness.

But then, she heard the sound of flowing water nearby. Gathering her strength, she headed toward the sound and found a small stream.

“…Is it safe to drink? Ugh, better than dying of thirst, I guess.”

Resigned to getting a stomach ache, she scooped up the water and gulped it down. In her desperation, she didn’t notice that the bell sound had disappeared.

After quenching her thirst, her next task was to secure a place to sleep. She gathered dry fallen leaves from the area and spread them on the ground, creating a makeshift bed.

But in the pitch darkness, unnecessary fears crept in. She had nothing to start a fire with.

“It’d be nice if I could use magic at times like this.”

She recalled the magic the priests had used to convince them of the summoning. The magic that created fire and water—exactly what Ruri needed most right now. She closed her eyes, imagined fire, and groaned with effort.

“…Just kidding.”

There was no way she could do that. They’d said that mastering magic required special training and aptitude—which was precisely why magic-using priests held high rank in the kingdom.

If it were that easy, Earth would be full of wizards by now. She felt embarrassed for even hoping it might work.

When she opened her eyes, a flickering red flame danced before her.

“Huh?”

Before she could process it, the fire quickly shrank. She hurriedly gathered dry leaves and fed them to the flames.

After securing the fire, she let out a sigh of relief, then thought about what had just happened.

“…No, that can’t be.”

There was no way she could use magic. Still, she picked up a twig, imagined fire again, and a small flame—about the size of a candle—lit up at its tip.

“Ahahaha… This really must be a dream. I’ll wake up in bed soon.”

As if escaping reality, Ruri lay down her exhausted body and soon fell into a deep sleep.

—

The next day, though her back and shoulders ached, she woke up refreshed. She was amazed at her own nerve for sleeping so soundly in such a situation. Sitting up, she realized it hadn’t been a dream and felt deeply disappointed.

Five days passed. Ruri had somehow managed to survive.

Not only had she been able to use fire magic, but her grandfather—a former military man and survival enthusiast—had drilled into her, from a young age, all the survival skills needed to stay alive: how to secure food, how to make a shelter, and everything else necessary for survival. And he’d done it with considerable brutality.

The hidden compartment in her boot was also his doing.

“One must never neglect preparations, so that no matter when or where you’re stranded, you can survive!”—that was his catchphrase. Ruri had cursed him in her heart, calling him an otaku geezer and thinking, *There’s no way that’ll ever happen in peaceful Japan.* She now deeply regretted that.

You never know what life will throw at you.

“Dear Grandpa, thanks to you, Ruri is alive and well. I wish I’d equipped myself with survival gear like you said…”

If she ever got back, she vowed to go straight to her grandfather and apologize with a sliding dogeza.

“…Well, that’s if I can get back.”

Honestly, she didn’t feel like she’d ever make it back. But a faint hope—that maybe another country might have a way—was somehow keeping her going.

Then, she heard the bell sound again.

It was the same bell she’d heard countless times since the first day. Whenever she walked toward the sound, she would almost certainly find water, nuts, or other food.

At first, she’d found it creepy, as if someone were watching her, but thanks to it, she hadn’t starved. If she could be greedy, though—she desperately wanted a change of clothes and some heavily seasoned food.

The bell rang again. She looked around, expecting to find food somewhere, but something felt different this time.

For one, it was intense. It was as if it were desperately trying to convey something—fierce, and close. The deafening volume, right by her ear, made her want to shout “Shut up!”—but just then, she heard a rustling in the grass behind her.

She turned around casually, and there it stood: a creature at least three meters tall, something like a mix between a boar, a bear, and a scorpion. Snorting aggressively and clearly enraged, the beast locked its eyes on Ruri and let out a strange cry—”Buhyaaaah!”—as it charged at her.

“Kyaaaaa! What, what!?”

Screaming, she ran at full speed from the charging, never-before-seen beast. And now, the story returns to the beginning.

She tried to weave through trees and put distance between them, but the beast simply bulldozed through every obstacle, charging straight at Ruri.

“I could set a new world record in track right now… *huff huff* Persistent! I’m not delicious!!!”

Desperately fleeing, branches whipped against her body, wounding her and blocking her path, while fatigue accumulated.

She couldn’t go on any longer…

Just as she thought that, she felt a strange sensation—like passing through a thin membrane—and her legs tangled in surprise, sending her tumbling to the ground.

She scrambled to her feet and looked back. There was nothing there. The beast had stopped, tilting its head as if to say “Huh?” and looked around in confusion.

Then, as if its relentless pursuit had been a lie, it ignored Ruri, who was right in front of it, and wandered off in another direction.

“…I’m saved… but what on earth was that?”

She let out a heavy breath and looked around—then her eyes widened in astonishment.

“…A house? Why—there was nothing here just a moment ago…”

A large house had suddenly appeared in the midst of the green forest. No matter how desperate she’d been while fleeing, there was no way she could have missed a house this big.

Curious, she approached the house and saw smoke rising from the chimney.

“Someone’s there…”

The first person she’d found since being abandoned in the forest. Forgetting that she’d almost been attacked by the beast just moments ago, her face relaxed in relief.

“Please let them be good people!”

Her mind was already filled with thoughts of a bath, a change of clothes, and a warm meal. Clasping her hands together, she prayed that the resident would provide such things, and drew closer to the house.

“Hey, girl. Where did you come in from?”

Startled, she flinched. Turning toward the voice, she saw an old woman standing there, a kitchen knife in hand, her entire body dripping with blood—as if she’d been drenched in blood spray.

“Gyaaaa! A demon hag!!”
“Who’re you calling a hag!!”

Now was not the time to point out that was the least of her concerns. Between the exhaustion from being chased by the beast and the shock of such a harrowing sight, Ruri’s vision went dark.