Chapter 186: The Newcomer

One day, while he was attending a remedial class at school, the floor suddenly began to glow. Before he knew what was happening, he had been transported to this world along with one of the female classmates who had been taking the same remedial class.

There were several strangely dressed men standing before them, staring at them in confusion. One of those men had apparently forced the cursed sword into Xiao Tao’s hands.

"I, I had no idea what was happening! When I held that sword, it somehow changed into a knife, and whenever I threw it away in surprise, it would come back to me. Then, in the end, it even started talking to me, saying things like, ’Do you desire power?’ It was like something straight out of a light novel! I completely panicked, and when I wished that I just wanted to escape, I somehow ended up outside. And things have been awful ever since..."

By the end, Xiao Tao’s voice had become choked with tears. His words eventually turned into sobs.

Qiu Nuoya gently rubbed his back and encouraged him to continue. After a while, Xiao Tao managed to calm himself enough to speak again.

"T-The knife fights on its own, so I’m really grateful for that. But somehow, people keep attacking me because they’re after it. I really want to get rid of it, but I’m also scared to let it go. So I’ve just been wandering around all this time. But lately, I’ve been getting attacked more and more often, so I decided I really had to throw it away. That’s why I came here, and then all of this happened..."

"I see. That explains most of it."

Qiu Nuoya understood the situation now.

But still...

"Could the girl who was brought here with you have been named Shangguan Wan’er?"

"Eh? How do you know that!?"

"Hey, Nuoya, does that mean..." 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

"That’s right. I think he might be the Hero who was summoned through Hero Summoning and then disappeared."

It was a little difficult to believe that the boy trembling like a frightened little animal in front of them was actually the Hero, but given the circumstances, there was probably no doubt about it.

He said that the girl who had been brought here with him was none other than Shangguan Wan’er, the Saintess they had been talking about. At this point, there was no way to deny the truth.

"What is Hero Summoning!? I think those scary looking old men were saying something like that back then too, but there’s no way I’m a Hero!"

Ah, Qiu Nuoya understood his feelings all too well.

He had been suddenly dragged to a strange place, only to be told, "You’re the Hero!" Of course he would be terrified.

Qiu Nuoya also thought that very few people would be able to cheerfully accept it and think, Oh, so I’m a Hero! Then let’s go defeat some evil! Most people would probably react exactly as Xiao Tao had.

"Xiao Tao, you’ve really been through a lot. But how did you manage to endure all of that for three years?"

"Eh?"

Once again, Xiao Tao looked surprised and tilted his head.

"Three years...?"

"Eh? I mean, I was saying that it must have been difficult for you for the past three years since you were summoned to this world."

"I’ve only been in this world for about two weeks, though. At least, I think I have."

"Eh?"

Once again, they exchanged confused glances.

What was going on?

The Saintess had definitely said that they had arrived in this world around the same time Qiu Nuoya had.

Furthermore, it had been three years ago that Viktor had been sent out to slay dragons and the First Prince had taken that troublesome Saintess along with him. If that was the case, then Xiao Tao should undoubtedly have arrived in this world three years ago as well.

Yet Xiao Tao insisted that he had only been here for two weeks.

This was far too great a discrepancy to simply dismiss as a misunderstanding.

"Um, what’s going to happen to me now? Do I have to defeat the Demon King before I can return to my original world, like in those light novels and games? I like playing games, but there’s no way I could defeat a Demon King myself!"

"Ah..."

Qiu Nuoya had no idea what he could say to comfort him.

He did not know how to return to his original world either. Besides, he had apparently already died of a myocardial infarction in his original body, so even if he knew how to return, it was not as though he could simply go back now.

"Hey, Nuoya, is this guy from the same world as you?"

"Yeah, apparently."

"He’s pretty scrawny. Is he really a man?"

"Warren, don’t say things like that!"

Well, Xiao Tao certainly did speak and behave like a child, and he looked rather weak too. Perhaps he could be called the stereotypical herbivore-type man. But if he was the same age as Shangguan Wan’er, then he was only a fourteen year old boy. The fact that a minor had managed to survive alone in an unfamiliar world without anyone to rely on was already something worth praising.

Compared to him, Qiu Nuoya had been fortunate enough to gain a guardian on the very first day after his reincarnation. Although various things had happened since then, he had otherwise enjoyed a comfortable and carefree life in this other world. Compared to that, Xiao Tao’s life had been set to hard mode from the very beginning. Qiu Nuoya was not sure he could have endured such a life himself.

"You look younger than me, but aren’t you scared being in a strange world like this? Don’t you want to go home? Your family must be worried sick about you!"

"Ah... I don’t have any family waiting for me anymore."

After coming to this strange world, Qiu Nuoya had felt lonely at times, but he had never once wanted to go back. Come to think of it, most people would naturally want to return to their original world. He had adapted to this world so thoroughly that the thought had never even occurred to him.