Trash Cannon Fodder

Chapter 1: Damn Reincarnation, I

I jerked awake, my body in agony, and I found myself lying on a cool, hard marble floor.

As I lifted my weary gaze, I found myself face-to-face with a towering statue of a seated man, its form relaxed and contemplative. The intricate craftsmanship and majestic beauty captured my attention. My eyes traced the detailed contours of the stone, drawn to the expression etched upon the statue's face. In the hands of the stone figure rested an ancient tome, weathered by time.

"Where is this...?"

Before I could even ask the question, something struck my stomach, causing me to spit up blood and wheeze.

I looked up warily at the culprit, a man standing with a snobby expression, retracting his feet, and a chuckle on his face. He grabbed me by the hair as he said it in front of my face. "What's wrong, son of a bitch? You've been threatening to beat me to death, but aren't you the one sprawled out on the ground like a dog right now?"

What the hell? I stared directly at the man, who had a prominent scar in the shape of an 'X' across his face. He was very thin, with razor-sharp teeth and foul breath. "Hah? What's up with that expression? Do you want me to kill you right now?" I'm not sure what expression I'm making, but his breath stank.

"Loy, don't act rashly. The marquess has a tracker on him so if gets he killed by you, we will all get discovered." There was also another man leaning on the pillar. He was robust and had a well-built figure. He was wearing armour, and a shield was lying next to him.

I was perplexed by the two men's attire, which resembles the cosplayers I typically see getting ready for Anime Cons. Perhaps they watched too much anime and were unable to distinguish between reality and fantasy, acting as Chuunibyou villains- or was the world becoming so advanced that even criminals would dress up while committing crimes? but I kept quiet about what I was thinking because I was afraid to say it. Nevertheless, I did affirm that they were crazy people who would suddenly beat someone.

And who are these punks, anyway?

The person who beat me, called Loy, smirked, making himself even more repulsive by flashing his yellow jagged teeth. "Leader, we can't kill him, but I can beat him until he's half dead and cry out for his mother."

He released his grip on my hair, got to his feet, and laughed as he booted me in the mouth. I groaned and gripped my bleeding mouth, and quickly felt whether my teeth were still there- I didn't want to lose my front teeth and ended up needing to wear dentures because I'd already lost my wisdom tooth when I was younger.

"You've been acting arrogant since the first time you joined our party, but you didn't expect to be beaten up like this, did ya?" He kept cackling like a madman. "The marquess hired us so that his trash son could join us. Keke, did he realize he was sending his son to the afterlife? Or maybe he secretly wanted to get rid of you."

I believe he was referring to me based on what he was saying. A son of a marquess? What era are we in? I have a feeling they were too engrossed in their fantasy imagination that they would make up rubbish stories. They were insane, and my mouth hurt, so I wasn't sure if it was a smart idea to tell them that they should wake up and stop being delusional.

"It's a good thing the hero left early; now we can get all his stuff. However, we're lucky that we can't touch him because the empire values the hero. I'm sure he has a lot of good stuff. Anyway, I heard the marquess is wealthy and spoils Seth, even though he was the most useless child among his siblings."

I only just realized there were two more people here.

The woman was clothed like those mages in a fantasy game, with a cloak and a belt around her waist. Her hair was pulled back in a high ponytail. There was a staff lying next to her. She rummaged through a sling bag before throwing it up in the air and letting the contents fall. The items inside it clattered over the marble floor. There were lots of items that shouldn't have fit in the sling bag in the first place.