Chapter 87: I’ve Never Even Experienced Anything Like This in Another World
“So, what happened, Taketsuru?”
“She says, ‘I’m terribly sorry, but if we’re going to discuss everything, I would like to emphasize a mystical atmosphere, so I would appreciate it if you could accommodate my requests as much as possible.'”
Taketsuru had tried conversing with the evil spirit, which until now had only spoken to him one-sidedly, by directing aggressive thoughts at it. That was the excuse it gave him.
Apparently, it hadn’t anticipated him returning aggressive thoughts without jumping in.
I’d thought the same thing back in Fushijishi Village, but why were mysterious beings like this so poor at improvising?
Well, never mind. We could call this our victory in the battle of ordinary behavior.
“So, are you going to give in and jump?”
“No, hmm. I probably wouldn’t actually die, but if I did something like that, Sumire-neesan would worry.”
“Same for me. Meiko probably wouldn’t give me permission.”
Now that we understood what the other party wanted, whether we would comply was a separate matter.
For that matter, if she was demanding that someone jump from here, did that mean she’d made people jump whenever something happened in the past?
It was difficult to tell whether Taketsuru had unusually strong resistance to mental corruption or whether everyone she’d lured here before had been a little too dreamy for their own good.
“Well, let’s try something first.”
With that thought, I reluctantly raised the fishing rod I’d brought along in case something like this happened.
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“Excellent Fishing Spot”
Location: Somewhere Around Here
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When I looked down at the sea from atop the cliff, the hallucination drew a circular marker on the water’s surface.
I cast my hook toward it.
For bait, I’d chosen a fish sausage from the villa’s supplies.
It probably wasn’t necessary, but I felt it would be better to have some.
“Come on, Kirishiro. Even for you, that’s…”
Taketsuru was shaken when I abruptly began fishing, but it couldn’t be helped.
The moment she left the decision to us, our course of action was practically set.
As far as I knew, it was customary for an ordinary high-school student to earn a mysterious being’s respect by displaying his ordinary mentality and acting differently from everyone else.
Since we didn’t want to jump into the sea from the cliff, it was only reasonable to make her come to us.
If an ordinary cliff dive would be stopped by one’s “childhood friend,” fishing was the only option left.
Why did we need to jump from the cliff in the first place?
Was the goal to make the experience more dramatic and drastic?
If she’d compromised and arranged our encounter on the beach like a normal person, I wouldn’t have resorted to this.
“…A bite.”
The change came immediately.
Maybe the hallucination had really selected a critical spot, maybe she mistook the fish sausage flying into the water for Taketsuru, or maybe she was simply hungry.
I didn’t know the truth, but I got a reaction within seconds of readying the rod, so I yanked it with all my strength.
“Owowowowowow!? What!? What’s this!?”
And I caught a mysterious woman dressed like a heavenly maiden in obviously mystical clothing, her hand still outstretched toward the fish sausage.
I thought she was beautiful, but her face was contorted in pain, so that seemed to be the least of her concerns right now.
“Taketsuru, it’s a big one. Help me.”
“Seriously…?”
I asked Taketsuru for assistance.
The fishing rod was clearly too weak to reel in a human, but she probably wasn’t human, so I decided to see how far we could take it.
“This is the first time in my life I’ve experienced anything like this.”
“What a coincidence. Same here. It would be a difficult experience to have in modern Japan.”
“I’ve never even experienced anything like this in another world.”
The heavenly-maiden-like something we’d caught turned away with an expression that plainly said, “I am displeased.”
We had moved from the top of the cliff down to the beach by a suitable route. Reeling her all the way to the top of the cliff had proven impossible after all.
The clearly nonhuman being then said:
“First, someone I didn’t even summon came along with him. Then you completely ignored everything I said and fished me up with some incomprehensible ritual. Isn’t that outrageous?”
Taketsuru’s face said, “She has a point.”
“Anyone who makes the outrageous demand that we jump from a cliff grants us the right to answer by outrageous means.”
Taketsuru’s face then said, “He also has a point.”
“Urgh, but from our side, first impressions are important. If we don’t create at least some sense of the extraordinary, there won’t be any wonder. Image strategy matters, doesn’t it? Reactions like, ‘I can breathe underwater!?’ or ‘Who are you!?’ are what sustain us.”
“Unfortunately, the man you summoned would probably think nothing more than, ‘Oh, so this is the kind of quest it is this time.'”
Taketsuru’s face said, “That’s true.”
He’d probably dealt with plenty of incomprehensible beings making incomprehensible demands of him without explanation in the other world.
I’m glad you managed to return from that other world to the modern day, Taketsuru.
I won’t make incomprehensible demands of you. Rest easy, my “best friend.”
“Anyway, I understand why you’re sulking, but if you summoned me, I at least want an explanation. The guy beside me acts abnormally, but he’s a professional at solving problems. He should be able to help.”
“I’m an ordinary university student you could find anywhere.”
“????????”
“Kirishiro, can you put that away for now? Asking someone without our shared understanding to accept it is cruel. For the moment, please be aware that you aren’t normal.”
What a thing to say.
Still, perhaps the world where this mysterious woman lived didn’t have the textbooks—light novels—so it couldn’t be helped.
When the world one inhabited changed, so did the concepts of common sense and normality.
I could only remain an ordinary university student you could find anywhere during ordinary university life.
“Very well. This situation is exceedingly unsatisfactory, but a pressing crisis is approaching. I cannot afford to be particular. You who heard my voice must possess great power. Please use that power to protect this sea and town.”
For words uttered by someone from a world without textbooks—light novels—her request followed the textbook perfectly.
In other words, this confirmed that what light novels described really was ordinary, and that light novels were the ideal textbooks for learning what was ordinary in this world.
Can you hear me, Meiko? Your education wasn’t mistaken.
“Even if you suddenly ask me, I need information—what we’re protecting it from, how we’re meant to protect it, who the enemy is. Normally, that sort of thing comes first.”
Taketsuru grimaced at the woman’s sudden request.
He’d been a hero in another world, but he hadn’t lived through some glamorous cheat-harem otherworld adventure.
Since he’d come from a bloody world where heroes did things bordering on terrorism, it was natural he couldn’t agree so readily.
If Taketsuru had been an ordinary high-school student you could find anywhere, this would’ve been dangerous.
I was glad Taketsuru was my “best friend.”
I was thinking that, if Taketsuru wanted, I could extract information from this woman while also handling negotiations over our compensation, when she gave us an enigmatic smile.
“Hee-hee. You say that, but you should already know what I’m talking about. Don’t you understand?”
“Huh?”
“The power of the Sea God that you’ve taken into your body—the one who covets it will attack this town! Whether you like it or not, the sea-serpent monster passed down in this town’s legends will come after you! If you don’t cooperate with me, you’ll be in terrible danger!”
“…Hmm? Kirishiro?”
Taketsuru looked at me in confusion.
I had no choice but to stare at the woman.
Hey, hallucination. Give me the information. Now!
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“Nirakana”
Race: Spirit
Occupation: Sea God’s Shrine Maiden
Age: 215
Rank: Underling
Regarding Her Recent Blunder:
As a low-ranking shrine maiden of the Sea God, her duty was to protect the sacred orb that symbolized the Sea God’s power.
However, very recently, after looking away for just a moment, she realized that the orb had vanished without her noticing.
Without the orb’s power, the sea-serpent monster the Sea God had sealed away would awaken, so she was panicking badly.
At the very least, something had to be done about the sea-serpent monster, or things would become disastrous.
Regarding Her Summons:
Upon discovering that the orb was gone, she guessed that its power had been absorbed by something else.
She called out to the one harboring the Sea God’s power, hoping to have that person conveniently defeat the monster and then conveniently return the orb.
To that end, she wanted to present herself as a supernatural being during their first encounter and gain an advantage in the negotiations.
Regarding Taketsuru Yuu:
He received a Sea God’s blessing in the other world and therefore harbors a Sea God’s power.
He has no particular connection to the Sea God here, but that power allowed him to hear her voice.
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“I understand most of it now. Taketsuru, it appears you were summoned because she mistook you for someone else. Or rather, mistook one Sea God for another.”
“What?”
“What!?”
It was like posting a job opening aimed at one particular person, only for a completely different person who happened to meet the requirements to apply.
How deeply should we involve ourselves in a case of mistaken identity?
From the perspective of an ordinary seaside monster event you could find anywhere, that was difficult to judge.
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Author’s Note: The chapter title finally paid off.