Amn brats! Put more effort into tilling the fields! No resting!”
A week has passed since then.
By now, I have a general understanding of this world, or rather, my position in it.
This world is just another cliché fantasy world.
If we were to describe it with modern knowledge, it would be a medieval feudalistic caste-loving hellhole.
“Who do you think allows you homeless kids to eat?! That’s right! It’s thanks to this old lady, Miss Grellod!”
“Yes, Miss Grellod!”
The voice of the old woman echoes through the fields.
The children in tattered clothes respond weakly.
Homeless.
This world seems to be a hellish fantasy world where war never ceases.
Well, I haven’t asked the navigator for details, and I don’t have the internet, so I’m not sure.
Anyway, there are plenty of children who don’t have parents or homes.
The village I’m in is called Holga Village.
There’s no kind facility like an orphanage here, so we have to work as serfs for this nasty old hag who owns the land just to survive.
“What are you doing, Takihito?! You’re a reincarnator, yet you only have a trashy G-class gift! Don’t slack off!”
“Got it, Grellod.”
“What did you say? How are you speaking to me?! Call me Granny Grellod!”
“Old hag.”
“Isn’t that just getting worse? Are you looking down on me?!”
Well, like this, I’m also being worked hard by a mean old hag, just like any other homeless life.
If I’m aiming to be a villain, I need to have this kind of unfortunate past.
It’s in places like this that hatred for the world builds up, and eventually, the villain bares their fangs at it…!
“Damn it, if it weren’t for that girl Snow taking a strange interest in this brat…”
“Oh, old hag. My hoe broke. Give me a new one.”
“How does that happen?!”
But this serf life isn’t all bad.
《You have tilled the field. Experience points added to farming skill.》
《Experience points added to strength.》
Buuuun.
Messages and sounds flow into my view, just like the effects you see in games.
“Navigator, show me my status.”
《Status Open》
Name: Takihito Kasuya
Level: ####
Strength: 11
Intelligence: 3
Spirit Power: 10
Vitality: 12
Skills: “Farming,” “Status Screen,” “Game Brain”
Occupation: ???
Gift: G-class Trash Class [Artistic Creation]
Owned Techniques: [Zodiac Hundred Views Exorcism Spell], [Final Battle Technique: Heavenly Rock Door]
Born: Cursed Life (Second Time)
Ongoing Events: Daily Life in Holga Village
“Yes!! My strength went up by 1!!”
The familiar status open from cliché isekai stories.
Doing it for real is a bit moving.
Because all my current abilities and what I can do are visualized!
Thanks to diligently doing the old hag’s fieldwork, my strength status has gone up by 1.
“Even just 1 point boosts my mood… In reality, I couldn’t even tell if working out was effective.”
I can see the results of my efforts as numbers.
This has given my motivation an unexpectedly powerful boost.
“…”
“…”
“Ugh, mom…”
“I want to die…”
The other homeless kids continue tilling the fields with faces that look like they’re about to die.
I’m the only one swinging the newly received hoe with enthusiasm.
Probably, in this world, doing something earns you corresponding experience points for that status.
If I work in the fields, my “strength” increases.
Isn’t that wonderful?
It’s just like a game.
For now, I spend my days like this, thoroughly enjoying my serf life.
I love leveling up through tedious tasks in the early stages of games.
And while I’m living like this, there are various people in this village.
We homeless kids are at the very bottom of the caste, like slaves, then there are ordinary villagers, and then…
“Eh… Miss Grellod…?”
Did she defend me?
Is she actually a good person…?
Sorry, I misunderstood.
When the time comes for me to leave the village, I’ll have to take her off my kill list—
“Old lady, here’s your tip. Just shut up.”
“Hi, hi, hi… Take your time.”
The kids flicked gold coins with their thumbs, and the old lady picked them up.
She hurriedly went somewhere.
Old lady. Looks like she’s staying on the list after all.
No, but it doesn’t matter what I say to an old lady who doesn’t have much time left.
What I should be more concerned about is—
“Hey!! We, the knight apprentices, are going to teach you homeless brats!”
“We learned a new magic in training today, and we want some practice dummies!”
“Don’t worry! We won’t kill you! We’re candidates for the hero, after all!”
“Eek…”
“Um, big brother…”
“It’s okay, it’s okay.”
“I-I’m going to die…”
“I don’t want to… It’s scary.”
The homeless orphans cowered, lowering their faces.
Compared to those kids, who eat three meals a day and receive specialized education, the homeless have to worry about even their daily meals.
An older sister figure among the homeless shields her younger brother from their gaze.
A group of them crouches down, trembling.
It’s the same here.
Mobs and the weak are always being robbed.
“Hehe, look at them.”
“Hey, can’t you hear what we, the candidates for the hero, are saying?”
“I’ve got a good idea: why don’t we turn them all into targets for our magic? I want to try out the offensive magic we learned today!”
“Big sister…”
“…Rude, stay here and be quiet. No matter what happens, don’t move.”
“…No! Big sister, don’t go!”
The sister figure among the homeless, pale-faced, raises her trembling hand—
“Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes! I’ll do it!!”
Not on your life!
This is too good of an opportunity to let someone else take it.
“Eh… You…”
“Back off. Stay with your brother.”
“Eh… Ah, okay.”
Good, good, I’m glad there’s no fighting over this.
I like people who can understand.
“‘…It’s you.’”
The kids look a bit exasperated.
This isn’t the first time they’ve come to lynch me.
They usually come about three times a week, picking some random homeless person to beat up.
I was also beaten up at first, of course.
When I got punched in the face, I thought I might kill them, but not anymore.
Because—
“Damn it!! Today I’m going to make you cry! Get up, homeless!!”
“Yes!”
“Do it, Shogo!!”
“This is the new ‘offensive magic’ we learned today!!”
The air contracts. The kid points a staff that looks like a conductor’s baton at me.
《Player, an offensive magic is coming. One measure.》
“Bolog Shock!!”
Boom!!
A shockwave.
The moment the kid swung the staff.
It felt like my body was smashed with an enormous frying pan.
The world spun, the taste of dirt, pain. I was blown away.
“Yes! How does it feel, homeless trash? Even if you feel gross—”
《You have received a magical attack. Your stamina has increased by 1.》
《Your gift will activate automatically.》
《The curse list for “Gift: Spell Creation” has been updated. “Shock Spell” has been added.》
《This spell cannot be used on its own.》
This is it!
Every time I get beaten up by these kids, something gets added to my gift.
I don’t really get it, but it’s fun to collect these!
Plus, my stats have increased.
“Ha ha!”
Laughter wells up inside me.
I did it.
I’ve gotten closer to being a villain again.
“This guy, he’s laughing again! Don’t mess with me! Stop laughing, you homeless trash with that garbage gift!”
“W-Wait. He just took the full brunt of Shogo’s magic, and he’s standing up normally…”
“Isn’t he supposed to have a garbage gift? Unlike us, he’s been kicked out of the temple, so he hasn’t taken the profession test or undergone hero training…”
“Wait… Is he manipulating magic power?”
“No way. That kind of body enhancement from magic manipulation is a high-level skill that only Snow-sama and Aki can do.”
Yeah.
As expected.
That sensation of heat coursing through my body.
When I do that, my body becomes quite sturdy.
《Specific action cleared. You have acquired the skill “Magic: Enhancement Type.”》
Oh. I did it.
I feel like I’ve gained something good.
Could this magic be related to that hot feeling?
“Cough!”
This fantasy world is fun.
“W-Why is he laughing…?”
“How is he still standing?”
“H-Hey, Shogo. Aren’t you holding back too much?”
The kids seem flustered.
Oh! I heard that!
So I’m holding back!
That means I can attack even harder, which means! I can level up even more!
“Next.”
“W-What?”
“Next. No need to hold back. Give it your all, — apprentice knight.”
Etiquette is important.
I’m the one asking for a favor here.
“Damn it!”
Oh, that 1.5-tier kid with a baseball vibe looks scary now.
Is he okay? That’s not a face a 10-year-old should make.
“Rodom Borga Bolog!!”
“Gah! A three-measure spell!?”
“Crap! Run! We’ll get caught in it!”
“W-We’ll get beaten by the instructor!”
The 1.5-tier kid swings his staff.
The air contracts, crying out.
Magic is amazing!!
A nice hit is coming!
The candidates for heroes are going all out.
And the creepy mob is ready to take it.
How villainous!
Plus, it feels shrouded in mystery!
“Be erased!! You homeless trash!!”
“—Not bad.”
The impact, but I’ve gotten used to it.
Just wrapping my magic around my skin and spreading it—
“…No way.”
“Why is this homeless person still standing…?”
“H-Hey…”
The kids are so stunned they sit down on the ground.
Cough.
“Well then, it’s our turn next…”
“W-Wait, Shogo, shouldn’t we run?”
“Y-Yeah, that guy is definitely not normal… Speaking of which, I heard there’s a homeless person that Snow-sama cares about… Ah, could it be him…”
“Don’t be an idiot! There’s no way I’m running away from some trash homeless person! Come on, bring it on—Gyaah!?”
“Shogo!? Y-You made it here in an instant!?”
I kick off the ground while still wrapped in magic.
If I hit too hard, I might kill him, so I’ll go easy.
But.
“Give me experience points! Strength and whatever!”
“Bros!?”
I let my power go and hit him!
The kid flies away, spinning like a drill.
Yeah, yeah. If you hit back, you’ll get hit too.
It’s the natural order of things.
Besides, if I keep hitting them back like this, they might show me more new magic!
No, maybe something fitting for a villain will happen!
“Who’s next?”
“W-Wait! Get Shogo! You bastard! Don’t think you can do this to us knights and get away with it!”
“Y-You homeless people, if we get serious, we could easily exile you from the village!”
“J-Just stop it! He’s coming after us. He’s insane! Let’s just stop…!”
As the kids throw out excellent parting words, they flee.
Hmm, well, if things get serious, I’ll deal with it when it comes.
“Alright, let’s get back to work in the fields.”
Once again, I hoist the hoe and get to work in the dirt.
“Wow… You scared off the knight kids again.”
“Who is that child…?”
“I-I don’t know; I’ve never seen someone like that before.”
“Um, big sister, did that person help us?”
“…Yeah.”
This is how my life as a farming slave and a punching bag goes.
And my real otherworld life starts at night.
