She gave a little scream and her eyes rounded into perfect circles as she looked at me with a lost-in-thought face.

　Her blue-green eyes reflected the light of the hallway; sharp, acute teeth stuck out from the edge of her mouth and her pointy ears stood out in her fluffy, chestnut-colored short-cut hair. In addition, a tail was peeking out from the back of her skirt. A cat?

　……Anyway, she has an incredibly foolish look on her face.

“So handsome! “

　It talked.

“You mean me? “

“That's right! “

　She's somewhat cute.

“I'm Eko Leafret!　And you are? “

　Eko Leafret. Oho, so you are the infamous…

“Second.”

“Second! “

　Just as Eko called my name, she approached me with a huge smile.

　And then, she noticed Silvia that was behind me.

“Ah!　And you are? “

“Silvia Virginia. My best regards.”

“Silvia!　Best regards! “

　They shook hands with a smile. Although, a moment after having her hand shook so energetically, Silvia seemed to be somewhat troubled.

　Somehow, just looking at this girl makes me feel a bit happy.

　Such a cheris.h.i.+ng manner, no, to say that such a harmless girl is a “useless demihuman”, isn't she just being bullied? ……It's inexcusable. Sorry to b.u.t.t in.

“Hey Eko, would you happen to have some sort of problem? “

　While it might be none of my business, I happened to hear about it.

“Eh?　I don't think so? “

　Seems like there's nothing wrong. Huh?

“Is that so?　Come tell me if you happen to have some sort of trouble. I'll do something about it.”

“Really!?　Thank you! “

　Ahh, so cute. I want her…… I mean, I want her to become our companion.

　Still, there's one thing that bothers me.

“By the way. What's with that large package? “

　Next to Eko was a cart. It was loaded with an amount of baggage as tall as her. About 1 meter and 40, I think.

“This?　As you can see, everyone asked me for something.”

　Ahh…… I see, I see.

　She's their errand girl.

　Looking at it closely, the contents of the package was all books. Surely those are all books being delivered from the F cla.s.s. Did you put them in the cart and carry them all alone to the library? ……Admirable.

“Are you alright? “

“I'm fine. Since I'm pretty strong, I'm fine.”

　Eko proudly stuck her flat chest out with a “Fu fu”.

“Is that so? But, since I'm here anyways, let me help you.”

“Really!? “

“Yeah. This me will personally help you. It's a rare occurrence so, you should feel honored.”

　After I said so in a haughty att.i.tude, Eko's happy face suddenly turned sad for some reason.

“Second, thank you!　……But I will do this by myself.”

“Huh?　Why? “

“Because this is the only thing I can do to help. That's why I'll do my best to help everyone. And if everyone sees that I'm more and more helpful, I'm sure they will be kinder to me.”

————————–

“…………”

　Suddenly, my heart hurt.

　I was reminded of something.

　What is it?

　From the depths of my heart, a voice that said “please stop” kept echoing.

　Please stop, Eko. That is――

“See ya! “

　After waving her hand, Eko continued to move that package with a lot of effort.

　That honest and frantic manner, that figure of a hard-working fool…… and that fruitless effort. Seeing again that gear that no matter how much effort it puts in, it never interlocks with the others, made me remember the root of this “pain”.

　Pointless.

　No matter what I did in the game, nothing ever changed.

　There in the game, I worked harder than anyone, I even became the world's number one.

　But deep down I knew the reality of it.

　That it was useless, it was a waste to bet my life on that.

“……Yes, useless……”

　I already tasted the depths of that despair, and was made aware that I hated it.

　Was all the effort I put into it wasted?

　Was I an idiot, a piece of trash, a joke of a human being?

　I kept asking myself those questions until the very day of my death.

　I ran away. I ran away to the game, because I couldn't accomplish anything in the real world. I ran away from society because it was a bother. I ran away from others. I ran away from the daily life. I hated it, so I ran away. Like an angry child throwing a tantrum because he doesn't get what he wanted. Believing everything was against me, I began to despise everything in return; a vicious cycle of self-deceit and justification. And at the very end, I irresponsibly threw everything away and ran away from life itself.

　Then, I came to this world.

　Truly a miracle. You could call it G.o.d's blessing. That helpless me was miraculously saved.

　……However, would Eko also get her miracle?　There's no guarantee in that.

　Eventually, Eko too will taste a despair similar to mine.

　No, she might already be tasting it.

　I can see how painful her feelings are.

　That's exactly why. Because I already noticed it with my eyes, I want to extend my hand to her and save her. Those are my true feelings……

“Second-dono? “

　Silvia's anxious voice returned me back from my sea of thoughts.

　Eko already carried the luggage and was no longer there.

“…………Sorry. Shall we go back?”

　I left the school along with Silvia.

　Eko Leafret―― Somewhere there's that girl who is similar to the past me.

Thank you for reading.

＜Status Details＞

Named after shogi pieces (The word in bold is the one being used in this translation). From easier to acquire to harder.

Swordsmans.h.i.+p

Archery

They use the “Form” or “step” system of martial arts. From lower to higher.

From lower to higher, then it changes to the “Dan” system of martial arts, which means Grade.