Chapter Text
“Are you sure about this, Luke? We may not be able to come back”, Unio asked with a worried voice.
“Unio, I’m not forcing you to come with me. None of you is. I’m going alone if I have to”
“What are you saying, Luke-san? We are together in this”, said QJ.
“I agree with QJ. None of us is satisfied with this outcome. We are not scared”, replied Memmeln.
“I-I’m not scared. I’m going with you wherever you go, Luke! This has always been our dream”, stated Unio proudly.
He is right. Since I was I child, I dreamt of getting rid of the legendary hero title and go somewhere far to experience new adventures and freedom.
This was my and Unio’s dream. But now, Memmeln and QJ has joined us in our journey towards a certain destination.
Justice, Ganger, Chingosman, Admiral and Captain are here to see us off. We don’t know when or if we’ll be back. We are departing for another realm, after all.
The Nine Soldiers have just reunited, but we have to part ways. My friends have other plans now that the world is in peace. And me too, I can’t give up on reuniting with her.
When Natsuko disappeared while I was holding her in my arms, I was devastated. But Unio gave me a good news. Through the fragment of the broken horn that went with her, Unio could track her position. And with Memmeln and QJ help, we found a way to reach the Kingdom of Reality. However, a lot of magic power was required to perform this forbidden ritual and we had to wait a year for the magic to accumulate.
But now, the preparations for the ritual are complete. We just need to gamble and hope that this magic work.
If one day we’ll be back, I want to introduce Natsuko to the others.
…
Upon entering the magic circle, the landscape around us suddenly changed. I can’t hear anymore the voices of my friends that were wishing us good luck just a moment ago.
We are now in the middle of a very crowded piazza. I’ve never seen so much people even during the harvest festival. Once Natsuko told me her Kingdom population were all humans, but I can see half-beastman too. Are we in the wrong place?
I was looking around confused until I heard a familiar name.
“Hirose, hurry up. The event is going to end”
“Yes, coming!”
This place is so crowded and noisy, but I was able to hear this clearly. The conversation of a man and a woman. The man was calling the woman “Hirose”. That’s Natsuko’s surname.
And then, a woman with long black hair passed by me. I only heard her saying “Yes, coming”. The voice was different from Natsuko’s, but I thought it was an impression because it was very noisy here.
“Natsuko!”, I tried to call her hoping she was really Natsuko. No response.
Maybe she was a different person? Or she was Natsuko, but she deliberately ignored me? The thought that Natsuko could actually forget about us really scared me.
I hope she was a different person or that she just didn’t hear me. I need a confirmation and instinctively I began to chase her.
“Natsuko!”, I called her repeatedly.
The woman with long black hair didn’t react at all. It’s so crowded here, I was losing sight of her.
“Hirose Natsuko!”, I called her again.
This time, she turned back.
“Excuse me, are you the one who mistook me for Hirose Natsuko?”, so she was indeed a different person.
Her hair and eyes colour are the same as Natsuko, but her aura is totally different.
“It doesn’t happen often to be mistaken for my sister. We don’t look alike”
“Sister?”, is she related to Natsuko?
“Luke! Have you found Natsuko?”, Unio, Memmeln and QJ have catches up with me. I chased this person without thinking leaving them behind, after all.
“No, she isn’t Natsuko…”, as I was explaining to Unio, I look at Natsuko’s sister and she had a curious expression.
“You know, your cosplay are so perfect. Especially you little pony! So cute! This doesn’t look like a costume. The fur feels so real”, the girl started to pet Unio.
“Don’t touch me! I’m not a pony! I’m a unicorn!”, rebuked Unio and while trying to release from the grip of the girl, he accidentally hurt her with his horn.
“Unio!”, I scolded him.
“I didn’t do it on purpose. I’m sorry”
Then, Memmeln step up and began healing the girl’s wounds with magic. But for some reason, she looked horrified.
“What are you doing? Is this magic? It can’t be. Are you trying to scam me? Have you done the same with my sister?”
I don’t understand why, but it seems we gave a bad impression on her. Why is she so surprised by magic? Why is she talking about scam? Anyway, we can’t afford to be hated by her.
Right now, Natsuko’s sister is the only lead we have to meet her. We have to gain her trust.
“We are not dangerous people. We are Natsuko’s friends. We came from a very far land to reach this Kingdom of Reality. We came her to meet her”, I explained with the most sincere intention.
“Kingdom of Reality? This is Japan, though. What kind of role play you are doing? Anyway, I’ll listen to you. You guys look kind of familiar”
…
Lucky, Natsuko’s sister agree to give us another chance. After informing her friend through a “message” that an urgent matter came up, we moved to a less crowded location.
“I’m Hirose Fuyuka. Hirose Natsuko’s younger sister. I’m a college student”, Natsuko’s sister introduced herself.
“I’m Luke Braveheart. And these are my friends Unio, Memmeln and QJ”
“Luke Braveheart? Where have I heard this name before? The others name too are somewhat familiar”
Hirose Fuyuka looked at us with a perplexed expression. Now that I observe her closely, she does resemble Natsuko. So, Natsuko has a family in this world. I never had one, so I never asked her either. Was her family worried when Natsuko came to our world?
“Now I remember! You are from ‘Tale of Perishing’! How could I forget? My sister has been obsessed with that movie from elementary to high school”
She showed us a picture on her “smartphone”. The picture depicted all the Nine Soldiers and Destiny. She said it was the poster of the movie. So Natsuko isn’t the only one who knows the future?
“So my sister wasn’t delusional when she said she reincarnated”, added Fuyuka.
“What do you mean?”, I asked. Natsuko did mentioned something about being dead and something about reincarnation. Don’t tell me Natsuko is…
“You look confused. I can’t blame you. I‘m quite familiar with isekai, so I know how it works. But first, you have to prove me that you’re not from this world”
Hirose Fuyuka changed attitude. She was very wary earlier, but now she seems willing to believe us.
“How can we prove it to you?”
“Very simple. The magic you showed me earlier is not enough. It could have been a trick. But if you show me something that can’t be scientifically explained, I’ll believe you”
“Scientifically?”, what does that mean?
“I want Unio to transform in this majestic unicorn”, she showed us a picture of Unio’s true form on her “smartphone”.
“That’s all?”, I expected something more challenging.
“Yes. Or you want to tell me you can’t do it?”, she said maliciously. She has the same look of Natsuko that time she and I were discussing on how to make Memmeln confess about her secret cult.
“Sure I can”, interjected Unio. He was about to transform, but Fuyuka stopped him.
“Wait, not here. Let’s go somewhere with no people”
…
After moving again to a deserted location, Unio fulfilled Fuyuka’s request.
“So you really came out from that movie? That’s so… crazy. I thought you would find some excuse, like being unable to use magic because this world has no magic or something like that”
“So it wasn’t my impression. Upon arriving in this world, I feel weaker”, commented Memmeln.
In the meantime, Unio just detransformed.
“I’m so tired from just keeping that form”, he complained.
“How is it possible that this world has no magic? Natsuko had a very powerful summoning magic”, I asked.
“I don’t know what she did. Probably she gained some power by transmigrating between dimensions. But that’s not important right now”
Fuyuka is right. We have gained her trust, I think. Now it’s time to ask about Natsuko whereabouts.
“Hirose Fuyuka. Where can we find Natsuko? And… is she alright?”, the thought that Natsuko may be in critical conditions is worrying me.
“You can’t meet her now. But don’t worry. She is healthy”
“Why can’t we meet her? Are you hard to please?”, Unio said angrily.
“Ehi, don’t treat me like a villain! Onee-chan went to America to promote her new movie just yesterday. She won’t be back soon”
“What’s America?”, I asked.
Hirose Fuyuka took out her “smartphone” again and showed us a sphere object.
“What you call ‘Kingdom of Reality’, we call it planet Earth. This planet has many countries. We are here in Japan. And America is here. Beyond the ocean”, explained Fuyuka in a way we could easily understand.
Kingdom of Reality is really vast. Right now we are in Tokyo, a city of Japan. And judging by the map, Tokyo alone is at least ten times bigger than Last Town. And this America look very far from here.
“Hirose Fuyuka, how can we go to America?”
“Just call me Fuyuka. And you can’t go”
“Why?”, QJ asked before I did.
“Because in this world you can’t move freely between countries. Also, be patient. Natsuko will be back by next month”
“Only a month?”, I thought it would take longer to go from Japan to America.
Hirose Fuyuka looked at us quite exasperated.
“Listen, you guys. We’ll take forever if I have to explain you everything that you don’t know. That’s why, I’m going to teach you about this world from the basis. Don’t question me about every little thing, alright?”
We didn’t have much choice, so willing or not we agreed with her.
“Don’t make that sad faces and don’t look at me suspiciously. I’ll let you know, I can call my sister and tell her you came to meet her right now through my smartphone. But after awaking from the coma, her mind was often in another place. This movie is a important project for her, so I want to avoid her needless distraction. If you want to surprise her, do your best in adapting to this world. You are lucky that I have free time to teach you. But if you prefer to wander on your own and get in trouble with authorities, you’re free to do as you pleased”
She is right. This is an unknown world with unknown rules. From every perspective, to do as Fuyuka says is the safest and fastest way to meet Natsuko.
I already waited a year. One month more isn’t a problem.