He transformed into a warrior’s outfit with his armor having a conspicuous pigmented coating.
Seeing how he’s released his combat stance, I guess I’ll go with a safe greeting for the time being.
“Yo, good evening.”
“Kidnapping us…what kind of organization do you belong to? A state agency? The imperial special forces? EFSB? NCIA? MI6? Or maybe you’re one of the Anti-12-Global-Sorcerers?”
Kidnapping, huh…?
State agency and imperial special forces are both terms close to the ones used in the Japan I know of. That Anti-12-something is about the “12 Monkeys”? No, I guess it’s got to be something else.
“No, I don’t belong to any of those. But, I do have interest in the situation in your world. MI6 was Britain’s secret service, wasn’t it? I guess the NCIA should be some US-based information agency. Maybe the topography is different or some such on a different Earth.”
At this rate, it’s likely a terrible parallel-Japan after a nuclear fallout or something like that.
“…So you don’t plan to tell us the truth. Going by the climate…are we in Papua New Guinea?”
Okay, so it’s going to play out like this after all, huh? I guess it’ll be pointless even if I try to be polite. Oh well, I’ll at least give them a rough explanation.
“You’re lucky that someone like me, who can speak Japanese, is here, you know? I’ll tell you the plain truth, so listen closely. This here is a “different world” and not Japan. Because the plane you people were riding suddenly appeared in the sky, I moved to rescue you. If not for my deeply-trusted friends over here, you’d probably died then and there.”
“Eh?”
“The place’s name is Sea of Trees. You’re currently deep inside it. Since the terrain over here is complicated, you’ll find it tough to get a grasp if you don’t overlook the area from above, but Benrack Village is to the left. Pelneet is also to the left. To the right you’ll find Fortress City Hekatrail and nearby, Quiche’s village,” I rattled down, believing they wouldn’t be able to understand anyway.
Going by my first impression, the girl with the nice black, straight hair got to be a rich lady. She seems to be quick on the uptake, too. Although I call her a girl, she might be a female high-school student.
“…When I spotted your passenger plane loitering in the sky, fighter jets that seemed to aim at your plane were around as well, but does that mean you were chased by them?”
“Just when I tried to give the order to drive them away as I received a report about pursuers, we were basked in an intense light.”
I see. The pilots, who should have worn HMDs, must have also been startled by the flash of light.
“Those fighter jets crashed into monsters and went up in flames. The airframe of what seems to be a business jet was saved by my friend Eva. It’s the black-haired girl over there who’s currently helping your people with setting up a camp around the lake. And my partner Rollodeen, whom you can see there, carried the top part of the airplane. The rear part, where you had been, has already turned into small fragments.”
“Huh? Does that mean you can fly?”
“That’s the logical conclusion. Back then, I entered the plane through the open ramp and rescued the girl sleeping next to the ongoing-battle between Demi-Goddess Golgonshura and the semi-transparent warrior. Afterwards, I jumped out of the plane and rescued you who was on the verge of dying. That’s why I’m no kidnapper. Do you understand?”
“…Umm…yep.”
“Nngh～ Huh? This place…” The glasses girl woke up and immediately raised her voice into a scream.
“Good evening.”
“A-Ah, good evening,” she faithfully bowed her head.
“Thanks. I introduced myself to you already, but I’ll do it once more. My name is Shuuya Kagari. I guess you’d call me Kagari Shuuya in Japan. By the way, I know I’m repeating myself, but this isn’t your world――” While looking at Rollodeen at that moment, “I think you’ll understand if you take a look at my partner.”
“N, nya.” Having listened to our conversation, Rollodeen reacted by twitching her long ears. And then she turned her head in my direction and rushed over, “Nn, nyaa～”
Her running over with her burly limbs moving naturally caused a stir in the vicinity. I think the tentacles around her neck gave it the deciding punch in addition to her flexibility of a black panther, her beauty of a black horse, and her majesty of a black lion.
“Nn, nyaaaa～” She moved next to me while making the tips of two tentacles rotate.
“Hiii.”
“Matabeee!”
The two girls got startled. The long-haired girl adopted a combat stance while calling the name of her warrior. Matabe immediately reverted into being semi-transparent, and rotated the cross spear in his hand sideways.
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He took several steps forward in order to protect the girl. While tilting his body, he readied the spearhead so that it’d be easy to stab from below. His employer raised the hand with the bracelet.
“Nya?”
“Rollo, they’re surprised after seeing you.”
“Nn.”
With a low purr, she directed her eyes at the warrior. The four or five sharp claws, which extended from her front paws, scratched a rotten root on the ground. Smashed wood chips flew up into the air.
Looking at the two female high-school students, I said, “You two, we haven’t attacked you so far, have we? Can’t you understand at least this much from the course of events so far?”
“…”
The two are going to stay silent, huh? I suppose Rollo’s appearance as a divine beast must look threatening to them.
“Rollo, you can go take a look at the bonfire on the other side.”
“Nyaa～”
“Rollo-chan, come here. I’ll take out some meat from my item box,” Eva called.
I think Rollodeen is going to nap on Eva’s lap after treating herself to some meat. Or maybe Eva is going to sleep while using Rollodeen’s fluffy head as a pillow.
After imagining the appearance of my partner of Eva in such situations, I looked at the two I rescued.
“Now then, was I able to clear the misunderstanding?”
“…”
“U-Umm, I remember how I was saved by you, Shuuya-san. Ah, my name is Hina. You’re the one who saved my life, so thank you very much.”
The glasses girl is Hina-san, huh?
“Hina-san, I’m glad that I was able to rescue you. I’m also pleased to make your acquaintance. The same applies to the distrustful young lady over there. And, you’re free to have that Matabe go on a rampage, but if he makes a move on my friends or partner――”
I extended a <Chain> toward the wary warrior. He reacted as quickly as I’d expected, repelling the approaching chain’s tip to the right side with his spear. The chain headed towards an outer trajectory while winding like a flying snake. Forcing the deflected chain to the side, I manipulated it to approach the warrior from the back as if to encircle him. And then I had the chain coil itself around him alongside the root of a tree.
He was extremely strong in dealing with attacks from the front, but he appeared to have difficulty in dealing with chained weapons from the side. It’s inevitable based on his nature as guardian, but it allowed me to exploit this trait as a weak point.
“…As you can see, I won’t show any mercy. So choose your actions wisely after making up your own resolve.”
“Eh? Something like this is…a claw and fangs servant. To handle Guardian Matabe so easily…”
“Then――”
I didn’t have the slightest intent to keep him restrained, so I canceled <Chain>. Turning around, I headed to join the crude meat party prepared by Rollodeen.
◇◆◇◆
“Sana-sama…”
“Hina, do you believe his words?”
“Yes. The reality is what it is…looking at our current situation. The silver coffin, which you recovered by paying a lot of money, is lying over there as well…”
“……You’re right. No matter how I think about it, this place is…,” Sana sighed, “I’ll store Guardian-sama away now.”
Sana dismissed Matabe who had been on his toes. Just as the pipe fox design on her wrist released a faint glow alongside a whirr, the nails of all her fingers started to blink. Her nail design was unique to the Twelve Families.
Matabe turned into mist which then got sucked into Sana’s nail. Hina watched that spectacle with a pang of jealousy.
“Okay. It is an environment reminiscent of an unexplored, secluded region. The wreck of our plane, the people who saved us…the huge divine beast…all of that shows that we are definitely not in eastern Japan.”
“Maybe the Ogasawara Islands erupted and a new continent…”
“Somewhere in the Pacific? No, that is highly unlikely,” retorted Hina with a sharp look pinned through her glasses on Sana while holding the frame.
Her forehead was small. But, she was a lovely girl with bobbed hair that suited her.
After looking at each other and smiling, Sana and Hina looked up into the night sky.
“There are two moons. Moreover, for one to be remains of a moon…haha!”
The interwoven moonlight originating from the moon remains and the small moon was pretty. But, the night sky of planet Sela, which consisted of stars and two moons, caused Sana to feel fear instead.
Reality slowly sank in on her. A world, which she couldn’t regard as fiction, had destroyed the world known to Sana.
“Sana-sama, are you alright…?”
Hina guessed Sana’s fear from her expression. Because they had been sticking together for many, many years, Hina could sense even the slightest changes in her friend.
“….You sure are strong, Hina. This is a different world just as he described just now, isn’t it? The Twelve Families don’t exist here. No military drills either… Ah, maybe no wars either? Maybe no assassin family McFadden?”
Sana continued to speak, trying to find some hope, but Hina added, “You’re right. Father and mother neither…”
The instant Sana heard that quiet whisper accompanied by a gloomy expression, she blurted out, “Ah…,” looking as if she had suddenly realized what she lost.
The Twelve Families. The parents only existed as simple instructors to give the children a harsh training regimen, but Sana had a gentle family member in her older brother.
“I-I’m sorry, Hina…”
“I will be fine. You are with me, Sana-sama.”
“If I imagine a situation with no one I know under these circumstances, I would also… That’s why I feel really happy to have you by my side, Hina.”
‘It’s set in stone that I’d be at a total loss if Hina wasn’t here…’ Those were Sana’s true feelings as she talked with her friend.
“Thank you very much.”
“At this point, the Twelve Families don’t matter anymore. The fetter of considering the good of the family lineage is gone as well. Be my friend just like in the past.”
“Yes. Ah…oki.”
“Hehe!”
Sana and Hina gazed at the bonfire, where everyone had assembled, while cuddling close together. Watching Shuuya explain the situation to all the people, who should be strangers to him, without leaving out anyone…the two thought that he didn’t seem to be a bad man.
And then, several hours later, “Ah, a black kitty.”
Yep, Rollodeen had appeared in front of the two. In her black cat form while holding a grilled fish in her muzzle.
At that moment, Shuuya, who had grown a beard, turned up while scratching his chin. Maybe having been influenced by Kaldo, he felt like trying to focus on dandyism for the first time in a long while.
◇◆◇◆
“Yo, young ladies, did you calm down a bit?”
“N, nyaa～”
“Rollo seems to be worried about you as well since you haven’t eaten anything. For a change, she’s holding food in her mouth.”
Having said that, a cat is a cat. She dropped the grilled fish on the ground. Then she picked it up with her mouth again, but since she didn’t carry it over to the girls, it was kind of unclear what she wanted to do with the fish.
“T-Thanks. But, my stomach――”
At that moment, her stomach growled loudly.
“Haha, your stomach is honest, isn’t it?”
“Both of you, it’s fine to come over here. Come on――”
I extended a hand towards them. Hina and the other girl nodded at my gesture.
“I’m late with my introductions. My name is Sana. Nice to meet you, Mr. Lifesaver.”
“Thanks.”
I grabbed Hina and Sana’s girly hands. Pulling their slender arms, I gentlemanly led them to the bonfire where Eva was treating everyone to some food.
◇◇◇◇
————— End of Part 1 —————