Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody

In this story, the dialogue enclosed in 『』 represents lines in a language that Satou cannot understand, indicated as “●●●●”. To avoid making reading stressful, these lines are presented in normal text. Please understand these as words incomprehensible to Satou.

“Oh, artificial structures.”

Beyond the hill, I saw something like a stone tower.

Having left the Warrior’s Fortress a day and a half ago, it seemed I could reach a human settlement sooner than expected.

“—Hmm?”

As I walked quickly, countless white dots appeared at the edge of my radar.

White dots represent neutral units—meaning humans in this case—neither enemies nor allies.

These white dots kept increasing as I moved forward.

“Is this some kind of parade or festival?”

An enormous crowd was streaming out from the city.

At first, I thought it might be a marathon, but their pace was too slow for that.

Also, something else caught my attention.

I noticed there wasn’t just a single column of black smoke rising as a landmark pointing this way.

I wondered if there was a fire; maybe a wildfire or some kind of serious disaster.

When I reached the top of the hill, I saw what looked like a fortress city protected by outer walls, and a crowd flowing out from it.

“Are they evacuating?”

Could it be a war?

The game I had been making was a combination of an SLG and an MMO-RPG.

If this were a vivid dream with strong SLG elements, war could definitely be one of the possible scenarios.

At this time, I was still trying to convince myself that this “game world I was watching” was a dream.

Though the wandering life for several days felt too real for a dream, someone—or something—seemed to have helped me by providing food, water, and warm clothes at just the right time, making it impossible for me to say for sure it wasn’t reality.

“If it looks dangerous, I’ll turn back.”

Putting self-preservation first, I headed toward a vantage point where I could observe more clearly.

From here, it was too far to see well.

“Looks like they really are fleeing the city…”

I reached the nearest hill from what seemed like a highway.

From here, I could clearly see the people evacuating.

Their clothes looked like generic mob fashion from a fantasy game.

People pushing large carts, pulling two-wheeled wagons, parents holding children’s hands, elderly people sitting by the roadside—there was no sign of a military or parade.

About four to six people dressed like soldiers on horseback seemed to be patrolling and watching over the crowd.

“—Ah.”

Our eyes met.

Several people on horseback pointed at me, turned their horses, and started riding toward me.

Maybe I should run, but in such an open place with no local knowledge, there was no way to outrun mounted soldiers, so I decided to quietly wait where I was.

To my surprise, all four mounted soldiers were women.

‘Hey, you there! Who are you!!’

As they came closer, the lead red-haired female soldier shouted something in an unknown language.

I couldn’t understand it at all.

The redhead aimed a weapon that looked like a crossbow at me, ready and alert.

I put my bags down and raised both hands to show I had no intention to fight.

‘Who are you! Give your name!’

What language was this?

I only spoke Japanese and English, but thanks to some poor student-budget traveling abroad, I could usually tell the language if it was major.

Yet, even I had no idea what language she was speaking.

Glancing briefly at my log, I noticed I had acquired the “Shiga Language” skill, so this unknown tongue was probably Shiga language.

Since I hadn’t allocated skill points, the “Shiga Language” skill remained grayed out.

I wished I could speak the language right after acquiring the skill.

‘Are you listening! Give your name!’

“Sorry, I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

‘What language is this? Trying to confuse us with an unknown tongue?’

‘Lirio, why are you making this complicated? A single punch should make him confess.’

Thinking I was playing dumb, the small crossbow-wielding girl shouted angrily, while a large woman cracked her knuckles intimidatingly as she approached.