"So the surgery didn't go well, huh?"
I pondered the thought as I stared up at the starry sky. My tone was flat, like someone who had just found out they'd missed the last train.
First, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Luke. In my previous life, I suffered from a severe illness that could only be kept at bay through a major surgery. The odds were slim, but slim was still better than zero.
I still remembered the faces of my father, mother, and younger sibling just before my stretcher was wheeled into the operating room. They gave me all the support they could. My mother tried to smile, but her tears fell before she could even finish. I promised them I'd fight with everything I had to get better. That was the last promise I ever made to them, and it seemed I'd failed to keep it.
Because when I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw wasn't a hospital ceiling or my family's faces. Instead, I was greeted by a woman dressed as a nun.
"Hang in there," she said, her hands clasped in prayer.
Suddenly, a green light flared up and enveloped my body. It felt warm, like a blanket fresh off the clothesline. The intense throbbing pain in my head gradually faded, like a rising tide being pulled back into the sea.
"Will this child be all right, Anna?"
A handsome man with blue hair approached me. He wore a full suit of gleaming armor, just like a knight straight out of a fairy tale.
"He'll be fine. I've already treated his head injury."
Was this some kind of cosplay event? What kind of hospital hired extras who went this far with their costumes?
I tried to sit up.
"Ow!"
Damn it, why did my leg hurt too? Wasn't the surgery supposed to be on my head?
I slowly raised my upper body and looked around. There were no monitors, no white walls, and no smell of antiseptic. All I saw were the ruins of buildings and charred beams still giving off thin wisps of smoke.
Where the hell was I?
"Easy now. Just get some rest," the nun said gently.
"Anna, I'll take care of this child. Head to the front block. Julius found more survivors who need treatment," the knight said.
"Understood, Sir Gilbert. I'll leave this child in your care."
The nun gave a brief nod before hurrying away.
The knight turned to look at me. My bewilderment must have been written all over my face. I put every brain cell I had to work, trying to piece together the clues.
First, this wasn't a dream. The pain in my leg was far too specific and far too real. Dreams had never gone to such lengths to torture me.
Second, that green light. The nun had murmured a prayer I couldn't understand, then the light appeared and my headache vanished. That wasn't some stage lighting effect. It was healing magic.
Third, there was only one possible conclusion: I'd been transported to another world.
But one thing still bothered me. If she could heal my head, why had she left my leg untreated?
"Hey, kid. What's your name?" Gilbert held out his hand, probably intending to help me stand.
"Luke," I answered, taking his hand.
"Ow!"
The pain in my leg nearly sent me crumpling to the ground. Gilbert grabbed my arm to steady me, then helped me walk, letting me lean most of my weight against him.
"You're probably wondering why Anna didn't heal this wound of yours, Luke," he said calmly, glancing in the direction the nun had gone.
I froze. Could he read my mind?
"We're short on healing mages. Every bit of mana Anna has must be used on life-threatening injuries. Your leg hurts, but it won't kill you."
His explanation made sense. Too much sense, actually. It was the same triage system used in emergency rooms back in my world: treat the dying first, and make everyone else wait their turn. The only difference was that here, the limiting resource was mana, not the number of doctors.
Even so, I couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in my gut. This knight seemed able to read my thoughts as easily as reading a notice board.
He helped me toward a building that looked like a church. Long bundles of cloth lay lined up across the courtyard. A woman sat beside a small child, while an elderly person sat with a young man. All of them were crying beside those bundles.
I didn't need to ask what was inside. Their shapes told me everything.
"Luke, remember this sight," Gilbert said, his voice heavy with tightly restrained anger. "This is what demons have done to humanity."
We went inside. Wounded people lay across the floor in rows, like unsold goods at a market. Nuns and priests hurried back and forth without a moment to sit down. The basins of water used to clean wounds were no longer clear. They had turned a deep, bloody red.
"Rest here, Luke. Wait until it's your turn to be treated."
Gilbert lowered me into a corner of the room.
"Thank you, Sir Gilbert," I said sincerely.
"It's the duty of a holy knight to help those who suffer."
He gently patted my head, then turned and headed outside to help others.
A true knight, I thought. Someone who didn't ask whether a person deserved help before reaching out a hand.
I leaned my back against the cold wall and studied the decorations around me. Pointed arches, tall windows, Gothic architecture straight out of the history books I'd read. A six-winged angel statue stood at the altar.
Could that be the form of the goddess they worshipped?
A young priest in his twenties approached me.
"I'll clean your wound to keep it from getting infected. Try to bear the pain, all right?"
He carefully wiped my wound with a clean white cloth.
That hurts like hell! I feel like screaming!
I bit my lip. He then wrapped my leg in cloth bandages.
And that was it. Simple as that.
No antibiotics, no antiseptic solution, not even any ointment. Either they'd run out of medical supplies, or medicine in this world hadn't advanced very far. Maybe both.
---
Three days passed.
"Luke, it's getting colder. Time to head back."
A familiar woman's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. I was still reluctant to leave my comfortable spot on the grass, where I lay staring at the stars.
"Sorry, Sister Anna. Can I stay here a little longer? I'm still trying to clear my head."
"Fine. But if you're not back in thirty minutes, I'm dragging you home myself."
Thirty minutes. I took that as an act of mercy accompanied by a threat.
The sky here was still untouched by air pollution and light pollution. The stars were scattered so densely across it, like grains of sugar spilled over velvet, and a beautiful blue full moon hung among them.
I wasn't lying when I said I was trying to clear my head. I'd already come to terms with the possibility that I might never return to Earth.
At first, I'd misunderstood what had happened. I thought my entire body had been transported to another world. But yesterday, I happened to pass a mirror inside the church, and I froze.
My hair was silvery white, and my eyes were red like crystals. This wasn't my body. Those weren't even colors I could possibly have had on Earth.
I stood motionless in front of that mirror for a long time.
That changed my conclusion. Only my soul had crossed over.
My soul must have entered this unfamiliar body at the exact moment its original owner died from a head injury caused by falling rubble. Meanwhile, my body on Earth had probably stopped breathing on the operating table.
The surgery had failed. That was the end of it.
The bitter truth hit me without warning. Before I even realized what I was doing, tears were streaming down my face.
I would never see my family again, not even to say goodbye.
The sisters misunderstood my crying. They thought I was grieving because the original owner's parents had died beneath the rubble.
But I didn't have a single memory from this body. I didn't even know what his mother's voice sounded like.
It was hard to accept sympathy for a grief that wasn't mine, but I couldn't bring myself to correct them.
So I told them I'd lost my memory because of the head injury. It was a convenient excuse. That way, I could ask whatever I wanted without looking suspicious.
For example, yesterday I'd asked Gilbert, "Are demons actually real, or are they just a metaphor?"
He gave me a cold stare. So cold that it sent a chill down my spine.
I quickly explained that I couldn't remember anything and had never seen a demon with my own eyes. Only then did his expression soften.
He told me that the city I'd lived in had been attacked by one of the Demon King's generals, a demon named Belphegor. Along with the other demon generals, Belphegor had destroyed the defenses of the Kingdom of Noira and swiftly moved to surround its capital. Now, the Human Alliance was trying to push the demon forces back toward the northern territories.
The moment I heard the name Belphegor, I immediately remembered the demonology books I'd read on Earth.
Why did that name exist in this world too? Was this some kind of automatic translation?
I came from Earth, so it should've been impossible for me to understand the language spoken in this world. Yet somehow, every word I heard made perfect sense to me, as if an invisible translator were whispering the meanings directly into my ears.
For now, that was the only supernatural ability I could confirm I possessed.
As for magic, I still had no idea. According to Sister Anna, my mana pool hadn't fully developed yet, and I hadn't undergone the blessing ritual.
She explained that children could only have their magical power and attributes properly assessed once they turned thirteen, when their mana pools were developed enough to hold their full mana capacity.
My current body appeared to be twelve years old, so I'd have to be patient.
Still, Gilbert had told me that my mana capacity was quite large, even though my mana pool wasn't fully developed.
Naturally, that made me happy. Who wouldn't be thrilled to hear they had a talent for something?
The purpose of the blessing ritual was to identify a person's magical attribute. I asked what would happen if someone skipped it.
The answer was simple: they'd only waste mana and time.
Someone with a water attribute who tried to master fire magic would use roughly three times as much mana to cast the same spell. And even then, the result would be a mediocre fire mage, like trying to cook rice in a soup pot.
The closer a person's magic was to their natural attribute, the less mana they needed to use.
On top of that, the blessing ritual was a golden ticket for commoners.
Ordinary people with high magical potential or rare attributes would be sought after by churches, nobles, and wealthy merchants, then trained and recruited. This gave them a chance to escape poverty and climb the social ladder.
So in this world, magical talent wasn't just an ability. It was a form of currency.
Jokingly, I asked Gilbert if he was interested in recruiting me.
His answer came immediately, without a hint of a smile.
"Luke, your magical power is already on par with mine, even though your mana pool hasn't fully developed. I believe your strength could help a lot of people. The Holy Knights need someone like you."
I fell silent.
I'd made a joke, and he'd responded with a serious offer.
For now, I decided to treat it as just one possible option. Nothing more.
Honestly, hearing him talk about the war between demons and humans made me a little nervous. I wanted to keep as many options open as possible for as long as I could, because I hadn't decided which path to take yet.
"Lukeee…"
A soft yet chilling voice reached my ears.
Shit. I'd lost track of time!
I hurried to my feet.
Sister Anna stood there with a smile on her face, but her eyes weren't smiling at all.
Terrifying.
"Sorry, Sister Anna. I completely lost track of time, hahaha."
My laugh came out as dry as bread left out overnight.
I slowly made my way toward the safest shelter I had at the moment: the church.
My right leg had gotten much better. Anna had used her healing magic on me again yesterday. Apparently, once the critical cases had been taken care of, it was time to deal with the *non-life-threatening* injuries too.
This world really did have its priorities straight. It just took a while for my name to reach the top of the list.
"Sister Anna, can you see or sense my magical power? Sir Gilbert said I have a lot of mana, but I don't understand how he knew."
I turned to look at her.
"I can only sense it faintly. Some people are naturally sensitive to mana, like Gilbert," Anna replied without bothering to look at me.
We walked side by side into the church.
I was pretty tired from thinking about so many things today, so I wanted to get some rest as soon as possible.
"Whatever happens, happens," I murmured, trying to ease my worries about the future.