'Shit.'
I'd only meant to tie her feet. I had absolutely no intention of piercing right through her body.
'What the hell is this pressure washer?'
Not just pushing the person away, but actually piercing through skin? When I used the [High-Pressure Cleaner], I didn't feel any recoil at all. What the hell happened...
"Guh... hng...!"
No matter how flustered I got, it couldn't compare to the woman with a neat hole punched through her torso. Luckily, it seemed to have missed her vital organs—she spat up a mouthful of blood, but her eyes were still alive, so she didn't seem to be in mortal danger...
"...Tel... port..."
Her lips moved faintly, blood trickling from them as she mumbled something.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙-Flash!
"...Huh?"
The woman... vanished into thin air.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Guhk!"
Arcna barely managed to squeeze out the mana for a short-range teleport spell, enduring the sharp pain rising from her abdomen as she forced herself to her feet. Then, from her gruesome wound, pain mingled with rising fear.
'That mongrel... what the hell is he!'
She hadn't even sensed the magic activating. By the time she realized, a jet of water had already pierced her body. And she hadn't sensed when her own water magic was dispelled either. Just as she started to feel relief at barely escaping that monstrous man, chills ran down Arcna's spine.
A skill that casually dispelled her water magic. And then, as if showing off to her—a water magic specialist—that insane power and speed water spell. Would a man like that really not notice her activating teleport?
'No way... on purpose?'
It was obvious. That man had let her go deliberately. Then why?
"What... Arcna?"
"Priest! Get a priest over here!"
"!!!!"
Teleport magic was never easy. Especially not for a long-range teleport spanning hundreds of meters, rather than just 10 meters or so.
That's why most mages relied on 'coordinate storage' magic tools when casting teleport. They left the trickiest part—fixing the 'coordinates'—to the tool. That way, even with lacking skill, they could perform long-range teleports.
But there was one problem...
"You said you were going hunting, so why'd you come back injured? And using teleport on top of that..."
The coordinates engraved in the magic tool couldn't be changed easily, which meant the teleport destination was easily exposed.
'...To pinpoint our location?'
As her comrades—who had set up a temporary base in the Red Demon Tribe village after finishing their hunt and were resting—rushed over, Arcna felt fear before finally blacking out from the unbearable pain.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
'Where'd she go?'
She seemed to use some kind of magic earlier... Did she have teleport or something?
"Cough! Cough!"
"Ah!"
In the midst of feeling uneasy about the vanished woman, a frail coughing came from behind. Oh right, there was that injured girl from before!
"Are you okay?"
Pushing thoughts of the disappeared woman aside, I hurried back to where I'd seen the girl moments ago. Thankfully, she was still conscious, looking up at me through half-closed eyes with a grateful expression.
"Cough!... Th-thank you, sir..."
Her voice trembled as she barely forced out the words. Anyone could see her condition was dire. Her body was covered in large and small wounds oozing blood, her bare feet were a mess from wandering the forest—splintered wood embedded in them—and her legs were swollen badly from extreme exhaustion.
"Hang on just a sec. Hospital... no, a doctor...!"
"N-no!"
As I scooped her up urgently to find medical help, the girl grabbed my collar with her frail arm, stopping me.
"Th-there are still lots of humans outside! Cruel ones hunting demons...! They'll hunt mixed-bloods like you too, mister!"
"...Humans? Demons?"
Come to think of it, this girl... had pointy ears...
"...Are you, by chance, a demon?"
"Cough! Y-yes...? Yes. Red Demon Tribe..."
"This is insane."
First that crazy magic-using bitch shows up, and now a demon? I'd felt the terror of death earlier and thought this wasn't a dream, but maybe I was wrong and this was all just a dream?
"Cough! Sniff... ugh...!"
"Damn."
As if to cut my thoughts short, the girl's body began to tremble faintly. And when I touched her, her temperature was dropping too...!
'Shit. This is bad.'
Demon or whatever, her condition looked anything but normal. She could die any second.
She was just some kid I'd met, but I had no intention of watching a frail girl die right in front of me. Especially...
"Th-thank you for helping... but run away...!"
"..."
...seeing her worry about me despite the pain and tear-streaked face made it even more impossible.
'...Isn't there something, anything I can do?'
Maybe one of those ridiculously effective cleaning tools from before could turn this around? Let's see: High-Pressure Cleaner, trash bin, mop, shredder... that's all I had!
Something for treatment, healing... anything...!
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙-Flash!
What? A system window suddenly appeared in front of the girl...
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙-Register target as 'Employee'? First employee hire is free.
"...What?"
Employee? Wait, now that I think about it, the game did have a system like that. No, I need a way to heal her! I don't need this...!
'...Wait a minute.'
...If this is the 'Cleaning Game's' 'employee' function... it might work!
"Register! Register her!"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙-Target consent confirmed... Complete. Registering target 'Rio (★☆☆☆☆)' as employee! -Points will be deducted periodically as employee salary!
I don't need that crap, hurry up!
"[Employee Management]!"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙-Flash!
Rio... probably her name? Recalling game commands, I uttered '[Employee Management]', and a unique system window popped up before my eyes.
⚔ STATUS ⚔👤 Name: Rio🧬 Race: Red Demon Tribe⭐ Rank: ★☆☆☆☆😌 Disposition: Effort, Trust, Patience🎁 Talent: (Locked)📊 Status: Injured
Great! There it is!
The 'Cleaning Game' had an 'employee' system. It unlocked mid-game because the cleaning areas got ridiculously huge for solo work. You could hire various NPCs as 'employees', assign them cleaning zones, and have them clean.
Employees could be equipped with 'cleaning tools', upgraded in rank, or get bonuses based on disposition—a pretty solid system, all things considered... but I didn't use it much.
The NPCs' AI was just too stupid... Anyway, not important.
⚔ STATUS ⚔📊 Status: Injured
There it was, exactly what I wanted. In-game, when you assigned employees to clean and they got hurt in danger zones or their dumb AI made them fall from high places, they'd get the 'Injured' status. Injured employees wouldn't clean until you spent points to heal them.
The key point: you could spend points to heal employees with the 'Injured' status.
'Heal!'
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙-Consume 127p to recover employee's status? Current points: 131p
Luckily, the points I'd earned bit by bit cleaning the corridor earlier were just enough to heal Rio.
'Proceed!'
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙-Consuming 127p to recover employee's status. Points remaining: 4p⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙-Flash!
"...Huh?"
The moment I manipulated the system to heal Rio, something miraculous happened to her. The swelling in her legs subsided, the scrapes all over her body healed with new skin forming, and the splinters in her soles popped out, returning to soft flesh.
"Wh-what...?"
"Phew. Thank goodness."
It worked out... but how?
"D-did you do this, mister...?"
"Mister..."
...Yeah, well. To a kid, I probably look like a mister.
"Yeah. Doesn't hurt anymore, right?"
"Wow...!"
As the pain vanished in an instant, Rio seemed amazed. She hopped out of my arms, jumping around to check her body. It was a nice sight... but first things first.
"Um... Rio?"
"Yes! ...Huh? Did I tell you my name...?"
"N-not important... I have some questions. Will you answer?"
"Yes!"
First... let's get a grasp on the situation.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
In the distant past, there existed the great 'Demon God' and the goddess now called the continent's sole deity, 'Eukrasia'.
The great Demon God created the 'demons', a race that wielded 'demonic energy'. Eukrasia created humans, who wielded blue 'mana'.
The two races served their gods, advancing magic, science, and scholarship to build brilliant civilizations... but a thousand years ago, that glory ended.
The God-Demon War.
No one knows what sparked it. The two gods revealed their divinity in a massive clash, and the fallout spread to war between their followers.
As the long war dragged on and most civilizations lay in ruins... it finally ended with the Demon God's defeat.
The defeated Demon God was sealed at the continent's deepest depths. Eukrasia claimed the title of 'Sole God' and, to commemorate her victory, renamed the continent 'Eukrasia'.
The humans serving the Sole God rebuilt the shattered civilizations into the one 'Holy Empire'. The demons serving the defeated Demon God scattered across the continent.
The victorious humans began hunting the remaining demons, pushing them to the brink of extinction.
And then, 'it' appeared.
Dungeons.
Called 'shards of the Demon God', 'Dungeon Cores' emerged across the continent. Each core selected nearby demons, granting them the title of 'Dungeon Master' and immense power.
As if the sealed Demon God was lending strength to avert his race's doom.
Empowered demons struck back.
As the demons' counterattack gained ground and humans faltered, the Sole God Eukrasia responded in kind, bestowing 'Holy Relics' infused with her power upon humans.
Humans rallied around 'Heroes' chosen by the Holy Relics, and thus, for a thousand years, humans and demons continued their endless strife.
Destroy a dungeon, and a new one births elsewhere. Slay a Hero, and a new one is chosen by an unclaimed relic.
For a millennium, demons and humans harbored mutual enmity, perpetuating the protracted war...
"...So that's the situation on this continent?"
"Yes!"
Listening to Rio's explanation, I made a dumbfounded face.
'This is... that thing...'
An isekai transfer story?