Chapter 1 - The Warrior
I was the warrior.
The one destined to defeat the Great Demon Lord and save the world.
Sounds great? Well, it wasn’t great at all.
It was a tragedy waiting to happen from the start.
I grew up in an orphanage without even knowing who my parents were. On top of it all, I had a hard time because the orphanage director was trash. Then, at merely seven, I was attacked by monsters that forcibly awakened the power of the warrior within me.
I could not remember what happened when I woke up, but when I did, I awoke in what looked like a temple. A benevolent but scary-looking Cardinal appeared in front of me. He told me that I ended up defeating the monsters, but my friends, unfortunately, had already died.
To myself, who was crying in deep sorrow, the Cardinal said this,
“You are a warrior. For your dead friends, become stern and train hard to become strong. So that once the Demon Lord appears, you can defeat him. Can you?”
Of course, I nodded.
After that, it was hell.
I was abused. It could hardly be called training at all. I was whipped nearly every day under the guise of corporal punishment. Every day, I shed countless tons of blood and flesh. That also wasn’t the only pain I had to bear. The Cardinal issued an order. He declared that the more one talked the less powerful one became. Thus, I was exiled to silence. Becoming mute even.
It was a time of misery and suffering. I wanted to abandon everything and run away. However, I couldn’t. After all, the only one who could defeat the Demon Lord was the warrior. I put up with it, even with my patience running thin, to protect this world and its people.
It was when I had lived ten years in that misery that I became 17 years old.
The monsters came rushing in, and the Demon Lord appeared!
For the first time in 10 years, I was able to leave the temple, but there was no time to be happy. There were too many monsters. For nearly a year, I was constantly fighting monsters all by myself. Sometimes I had allies, but no one stayed with me for long.
The two Holy Knights the Cardinal sent to my watch did their best to interfere. I hated them very much, but when they were on the verge of death, I still threw myself in harm’s way to save them.
Because I was the warrior.
After that, the eyes of the Holy Knights changed, and they started helping me bit by bit. Then one day, one of the Holy Knights shouted–
“The power of the warrior is not affected by your speech! My warrior, you can talk! The Cardinal lied because he was afraid you’d find out you’re being used while talking to other people. His purpose is to use you and then kill you to take over the position of Pope!”
The moment I was distracted by the sheer shock of the information, the Demon Lord attacked me. After several days of bloody battle with the Demon Lord, I managed to win, and shortly thereafter, the Cardinal appeared.
I realized what was going to happen as soon as I saw him. I knew that what I heard before the battle was true. I wanted to attack immediately, but I was still heavily injured by the Demon Lord’s sword due to its ability to suppress recovery.
The Cardinal took the moment in which I couldn’t move to kill me but failed because the Holy Knight who told me the truth blocked the attack for me. Sadly, the Holy Knight was killed by the other Holy Knights who accompanied him.
The Cardinal then laughed at me. Telling me that the Holy Knight with the sword in hand was not the only one who was under his command. All the people who taught me in the temple, no, everyone who knew what the Cardinal was doing had already been killed by his orders.
It wasn’t just that.
“Your buggy little friends? I killed them.”
I no longer remember how I felt then.
I simply gathered all my strength and lifted the sword of the Demon Lord, which had fallen next to me, and swung it at the Cardinal. Unfortunately, it only grazed his right eye slightly. I tried to attack again, but I failed. The armor that the Cardinal gave me exploded before I could even attempt another swing.
The armor was never meant to protect me. It was intended to kill me just in case I was still alive.
Realizing that terrible fact was the last memory of my first life.
I was the warrior.
One of the greatest existences in the world, yet I was used until the end of my life. Resigned to dying a lonely and miserable death.
Only…
I met the Master of Gods in the sacred white space, the Main God.
[You were supposed to face a brilliant future as the warrior that defeated the Demon Lord, and yet the Cardinal who has lost himself in all types of evil in the world twisted your fate into unhappiness!]
The Lord deeply mourned and then promised me.
[Yes. You want to get revenge on him with your own hands. I will help you. And all this together with the people you love.]
Immediately after hearing this, I reincarnated.
The first thing I noticed was that my hearing was good, but my eyesight was very weak, perhaps because I was just born. But there was hope that I would finally be happy. But still, the reality was harsh.
“My Lord! Wake up!”
“Use your divine power on the Lord right now! Hurry!”
There was a scream about something urgent before the sound gradually faded away. The hand holding me had also changed. The touch was very cautious just now, but not anymore. It hurt. It was like I was being carelessly carried around like luggage.
Soon, something shut my mouth.
I fell into the water without resistance, it was only after a while that I realized… I was kidnapped as soon as I was born. I was too shocked and angry to the point where I couldn’t even say “Oh my God…!” But instead of being frustrated, I looked for an opportunity.
After a while, the kidnapper took me outside without putting me to sleep. I intuitively realized it was to kill me. I acted immediately. Gathering mana, I hurled it into a wind shape and used it to push the kidnapper hard. Immediately after, they began flying very fast in the opposite direction.
It was hard.
No matter how brave a baby was, its body was limited.
I felt like my body was going to break, but only after flying far did I let myself rest. I thought I wouldn’t be able to land properly because I was so exhausted. Fortunately, a warm and ripe force wrapped around me and safely lowered me to the floor.
I couldn’t see it, but I could tell by the sound.
“Meow~”
It was a cat.
I was embarrassed, but soon realized it was the hand of the Lord.
“Meoww~~~”
The cat cried a sound as long as a sigh and pressed its nose against my forehead as if stamping it. Soon, something hot enveloped my whole body like a membrane.
‘Did he put a seal on me?’
The cat cried after it was done.
“Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow~”
An exact eight times.
Through my blurred vision, I could see the cat moving away little by little. I couldn’t even ask where it was going, but I soon heard a door open nearby. I could hear people talking.
“What was that? I think I heard something.”
Someone must have found me. I could hear footsteps coming my way before a hand touched my face.
“You’re not dead?”
Strangely, the woman who was the owner of the hand was not particularly surprised that a baby suddenly appeared. The way she spoke was irritating though.
“There’s no insignia or anything. Clothes are cheap and baggy too… Well, its face is cute. That’ll be enough.”
She picked me up in her arms and took me inside the warm building. I thought that I survived, but I couldn’t be relieved due to the ominous feeling of falling into a monster’s den.
“Vice-Director. What is that?”
The man’s voice was very curt.
“I found it by the door. I guess a commoner abandoned it to feed fewer mouths. Her face is good though. I think I’ll be able to sell it at a high price later.”
“Let’s see… As the Vice-Director said, it indeed looks good. But isn’t it too young?”
“The staff will take care of that. Well, if it dies we can always just throw it out.”
“Yeah, put it in the orphanage and name it Silver– No.
Diamond.
And we’ll see if
Diamond
will grow pretty enough to sell.”
“Yes.
Diamond.
What a great name. I’ll get going then.”
The woman whispered to me as she walked.
“Don’t die and waste your beauty like this. I want to own a real diamond someday.”
The tone was gentle but incredibly creepy.
Later I found out that they were the director and vice-director of the orphanage. I wanted to get rid of these two disgusting people right away. But there was only so much a baby could do.
‘I’m going to grow up here.’
Although as a product that will be sold someday.
‘Ha… Why is my life like this…’
It was amazing. I was kidnapped and almost killed as soon as I was born, but was simply fortunate enough to survive.
‘Let’s stay here first.’
I don’t know when they’re going to sell me, but at least until then, they’ll provide me with some food and a bed. It will help me grow too.
‘Yes. Let’s do that.’
Just like that. My second life, again, began in an orphanage.