SWITCH TO ME

Chapter 03

I followed them silently when suddenly they entered an old building. When I got inside, the man with white hair suddenly pushed me against the wall while blocking my neck with his arm.

“You're not Axel. Introduce yourself, who you are and where you took Axel?” He said while looking at me intently, but I didn't respond to him right away because I didn't know how to answer his question.

“Who ordered you to do this and what did you do to Axel?” The red-haired woman was curious about me while she was holding a sword, and it seemed like she was planning to use it on me, that's why I swallowed deeply out of nervousness.

“I-I don't know what you mean, and I don't even know which Axel you're talking about. I don't know how I ended up in your world, and I have no idea what kind of creatures you are.” I stammered in response to them, and they exchanged glances at each other.

“Don't fool us because we know you're just imitating Axel.” The white-haired man said to me and pressed his arm even harder on my neck.

“I'm telling you the truth, I don't know who that Axel you're referring to is.” After I said that, he let go of me, and they seem to discuss something else while I caught my breath.

I was about to run to escape from them, but suddenly the blonde-haired man threw a chain at me, causing me to be tied up and unable to move.

“Maybe he's Axel in the world of the living.” The white-haired man said, so I turned to him.

“Then how did he get to our world and how does he see us?” The woman asked him.

“Because of Axel. Perhaps he opened the door to the mortal world.” He replied to her, but that still wasn't enough to solve the mystery going on here and about the Axel they were talking about.

“But it's impossible for Axel to do that. We all know how strict he is about opening a portal from another world.” The woman said while they all stared at me.

I tried to explain to them everything that happened to me before I ended up in their world and how I found the portal they were referring to. They seemed to have an idea of ​​how this all happened, so suddenly the old man came up to me, and he looked at my face carefully.

“A vengeful spirit may have entered Axel's body. He knows how dangerous it is for all of us, so he only thought of heading to the mortal world so that it could not sow terror and so that he could block its ability to take revenge using his body. In the human world, not a single creature like us or even a vengeful spirit can use magic. Because the moment they use their power on a mortal they can die, burn, become ash and vanish like the wind. In other words, they both switched lives. Axel may now be living in the mortal world as you, and you are here in fantasy land as a grim reaper like Axel used to.” He said as he turned to me.

Does this mean that the Axel they refer to me is a grim reaper, and he is currently living in a different world from where I came from? Then maybe he already knows what kind of life I have there, and surely, he can't walk there now. But I can't tell them about the world I came from because I don't want to go back there and become a cripple again.

“Tell me what year you came from, or what was the date in your world when you came here?” He asked me, but I refused to answer him, instead, I pretended that I had a headache and could not remember anything about where I came from.

“What's going on? Are you okay?” He said.

“Possibly, that's because he stayed here a long time. A mortal like him can't stay in the world of immortals, he did not belong here. We need to get him back to his world before everyone finds out about him.” The woman said. 

Therefore, they were even more convinced to return me to the human world. But I won't let them do what they want, and I can't agree to go back to my old life. That's why I tried to run and escape from them at the same time the sword suddenly came out of my hand, so I was able to break the chain that bound me.

“Catch him before anyone else finds out about him.” The old man ordered the two.

The red-haired woman and the blonde-haired man followed and chased me. They tried to throw some kind of magic at me to catch me, but my body moved on its own and I ran even faster, which is not normal for a human being.

What is happening to me? Why does it feel like someone else is controlling my body? I muttered to myself as I managed to jump to the high ground and jump to the other building.

I don't know how I did it, but I can say it was fun and I like where I am today. Therefore, I climbed various tall buildings and ran even faster until they couldn't catch up with me anymore.

I managed to get away from them, but I didn't know where I was going. I don't know this place, and I am still mystified by what happened to me, where instantly I had powers.

Thereafter, I just continued my journey where I reached their town. There I saw different kinds of creatures which also had different costumes. There are witches, demons, magicians, grim reapers, and so on. But while I was walking there, I suddenly stopped when a man blocked in front of me. I slowly looked up at his face and immediately noticed two long fangs in his teeth. If I'm not mistaken, he's a vampire.

“Long time no see, Axel. I just saw you again here in the town of fantasy. You don't seem to be busy right now, so you were able to take the time to shop for your things today, am I right?” He said at the same time he brought his face closer to me, which surprised me. I didn't answer him but left before he realized that I wasn't the person he was referring to. But I suddenly stopped when I heard his voice again and said, “Wait a minute!” Then he came to me and smelled the back of my head.

“Axel, where did you buy your perfume?” He asked and at the same time, I swallowed deeply because I was so nervous.

“W-why did you ask?” I stuttered to him.

“Because your perfume smells strange like a… Human.” After he said that, my eyes widened in shock and I clenched my fists because I had to run away from him immediately before he realized that I was a human being.

“Axel, why are you so quiet? Don't say—” he suddenly stopped speaking when he felt the heat from his stomach, where I realized that the sword I was holding was buried in him.

In my shock, I immediately let go of the sword and walked away from him. I had no idea that it came out of my hand and I didn't realize that I had stabbed him, that's why he suddenly fell to his knees while he was vomiting blood.

“Axel, what did you do to me?” He said, and it was obvious from his face that he was going to die at any moment because of the poison caused by the sword I used on him.

I don't know what to say to him or how to explain everything to him, so I'm also confused as to how I did that to him.

I looked all around me where they were looking at me in shock and there was a trace of judgment in their eyes as if I were a murderer to them.

But I wasn't the one who did this to him, and my hands just moved against my will. So, they thought wrong about me and I could never kill anyone, never.

For a moment, I looked down at my hands, where I was shaking with so much fear and anxiety. However, I also thought that I was in another world, and I was playing Axel's life as a grim reaper, so it was only natural for someone like me to kill a creature like him because that was part of my job.

After that, I suddenly felt dizzy and passed out.