Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 121: Extra Story: Thor, Rukie, Mabel, and the “Business Books from Another World”
This time as well, Thor and the others seemed to have found some strange papers in the warehouse….
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“Thor-sama. You look troubled.”
“What’s the matter, Thor?”
One afternoon.
We were having a tea party inside the “simple warehouse.”
Mabel and Rukie were enjoying tea and sweets, and during that time, I was looking over some materials—but—
“Actually, I was researching the ‘business books’ from the hero world.”
I placed a sheet of paper on the table.
It was something found in the next room—or rather, the junk storage.
It seemed quite old, and the text and photos had faded.
If you paid attention, you could barely make them out.
And on it was information about ‘business books’ published in the hero world.
“Thor, what kind of thing is a ‘business book’?”
“It seems to be about efficient ways to work and methods for getting promoted.”
“Hmm. That’s interesting.”
“However, what is written here is only a brief introduction. It vaguely explains the contents. Essentially, it looks like text meant to introduce the book.”
“In other words, it’s for advertising purposes.”
Rukie nodded as she peered at the paper in my hands.
Mabel, next to her, tilted her head and asked,
“But Thor-sama, what kind of ‘work’ is there in the hero world?”
“Probably slaying magical beasts.”
“That’s for sure.”
Rukie and I nodded.
Then Mabel said,
“Then what is ‘getting promoted’?”
“Becoming the strongest, I suppose.”
“There’s no other way to think of it.”
“I agree.”
The three of us exchanged glances and nodded.
We didn’t know much about the details of the ‘business books’ from the hero world.
But we know well what the summoned heroes did in that world.
The summoned heroes’ jobs were ‘slaying magical beasts’ and ‘fighting against the Demon Lord’s army.’
And for them, getting promoted meant ‘becoming the strongest.’
In fact, among heroes themselves, there were things like ‘I am the strongest!’ ‘What did you say? Bring it on!’ ‘Let’s see who gets recognized by the royal family!’—that sort of thing.
They competed by strength to decide who was superior.
That way of doing things has been passed down even to the current empire.
For such heroes, ‘getting promoted’ could only mean ‘becoming the strongest.’
“That means everything written here must be related to ‘combat,’ right?”
“I think that’s a safe assumption.”
“Hmm. Then let’s read it over while having tea.”
Rukie said this as she stuffed a baked sweet into her mouth.
“Thor, what kind of things are written in that ‘business book’?”
“Let me see…”
Ad
What’s written here is a photo of the book.
Then just bullet points listing the contents.
The first point written was—
“‘Reading the atmosphere around you is the absolute basic.’”
“So it means not to rely only on sight. Grasp the enemy’s actions by their breathing sounds or the flow of the air caused by movement.”
“It might mean combining wind magic with sword strikes for high-speed attacks.”
“That’s possible.”
That’s what the otherworldly heroes did.
They would cut down magical beasts attacking from behind without even looking back.
They increased their sword speed by adding their own wind magic to the flow of the air.
They literally ‘read the air’ in battle.
“Heroes read books like this to get hints for fighting.”
“To think that this is the absolute basic, that’s surprising.”
“Reading the atmosphere to cut down enemies is standard… How terrifying.”
I shivered involuntarily.
Ad
But it’s only the first line.
For research, I need to look more closely into the hero world’s ‘business books.’
“The next is ‘When someone scolds you harshly to encourage you, it’s not because they hate you. Take things in a positive light.’”
“I get that. Heroes often shouted things like, ‘What’s wrong with me! This isn’t my true power!’”
“There are records of them saying to their comrades, ‘Get up! You can do more than this!’ ‘Awaken your true power, you coward!’”
“So that also referred to the ‘business books’.”
The Demon Lord’s army would immediately use healing magic on injured comrades.
It had always been a mystery why heroes fought while wounded.
Maybe it was so their comrades would ‘scold and encourage’ them.
In doing so, they confirmed their mutual goodwill.
Whether you can trust your party members is very important.
“The next is… ‘Don’t be afraid to break the form.’”
“I get that too. It refers to the ‘form’ related to combat.”
Rukie nodded thoughtfully, making a ‘hmm, hmm’ sound.
“Back then… when the Hero was summoned, both the human side and the Demon Lord’s army had established martial arts forms, didn’t they?”
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“They did. I’ve heard that sword and spear schools like the ‘War King Style’ and the ‘Holy Light Style’ had developed various martial arts forms.”
“Even the ‘Holy Sword’s Light Blade’ used by Princess Liana of the Empire is a remnant of that.”
“But it didn’t work against the Hero… and most of those martial arts styles and forms eventually faded away, didn’t they…”
Rukie and Mabel sighed.
That’s right.
The martial arts of this world didn’t work on the Hero who came from another world.
There were even human swordsmen who resented the Hero and used various styles to oppose him.
But their martial arts forms were defeated, and many dojos were forced to close. Very few have survived to this era.
Quite literally, the Heroes “broke” the martial arts forms.
“At the time, it was a mystery why the Heroes were crushing the spirits of martial artists…”
“They were just following that ‘business book,’ weren’t they?”
“If that was the custom in their world, then I suppose it couldn’t be helped.”
I see. This ‘business book’ contains valuable information.
If I read it, I might be able to understand the way the Heroes think in more detail.
I’d love to have a copy, but unfortunately, there’s no way to obtain one.
Books from the Hero’s world can’t be ordered here, and at the bottom of this page, it says: “This is an advertisement. Our company is in no way affiliated. Please refrain from contacting us.”
Does that mean they can’t respond even if we contact them?
In other words, this book might be… that special.
“…It really might be special. After all, it even includes things like ‘Secret Tactics to Control Your Bosses and Subordinates at Will.’”
“W-What did you say!?”
“Something like that exists!?”
“Yes. It starts with: ‘First, stand directly in front of the person you want to control.’”
“Very well! Mabel, give it a try.”
“Y-Yes, Your Majesty!”
Rukie and Mabel stood up from their seats.
Then, the two of them moved to face each other directly.
“‘Put intensity into your gaze and first look at your boss’s necktie—around the base of their neck.’”
“Around the base of the neck, huh.”
“I-I understand. Yes. I’m looking.”
“‘Then, match your breathing with theirs.’”
“Suuu… Haaah…”
“I-I’ll be more precise, so I’m going to move a bit closer, Your Majesty.”
“Very well. Suuu… Haaah… Suuu…”
“…Suuu… Haaah… Suuu…”
Rukie and Mabel regulated their breathing and stared into each other’s eyes.
They were very close.
It was making me nervous just watching them.
“…T-Thor.”
“…W-What do we do next, Thor-sama?”
“…Next is… um…”
I kept reading the page.
The text was faded and hard to make out.
Stand in front of your boss, regulate your breathing, synchronize with them—and then,
“This is the end of the trial version.”
““E-Ehhhhhhhh!?””
Ad
“‘To read further, purchase the full version and find out for yourself!’… or so it says.”
““…Ughh.””
Rukie and Mabel both stared blankly.
But then Rukie quickly spoke with an excited tone,
“I-I must know more. Can’t we obtain the full version, Thor?”
“Please, Thor-sama!”
“…It’s impossible. There’s no way to place an order in the Hero’s world.”
Moreover, this page had signs of having been torn.
Right below the line, “To place an order, please send the attached postcard!”
The Hero probably already used whatever this ‘postcard’ was.
If I think about it, it’s only natural.
The heroes from the other world had already been using the techniques from the “business books” in this world.
They must have ordered the books and studied diligently.
I don’t think they had mastered the “secret strategies to manipulate your superiors and subordinates as you wish,” though.
Apparently, that technique requires ordering the book, mastering the beginner’s edition, and then buying the next-level book to understand it. The hero system in their world is complicated. Somehow, it’s starting to scare me.
“It might not be the heroes’ power that’s frightening, but their ambition,”
I said to Rukie.
“Even though they were originally insanely strong, they train and study, trying to become stronger and stronger… I think that very desire is the source of the heroes’ power.”
“…That might be true.”
“…The important thing is that it’s not the book itself.”
Rukie and Mabel nodded in agreement.
“I also think Rukie-sama and Mabel’s ambition is incredible.”
Before I realized it, I had said something like that.
“Rukie-sama is making an effort every day to become a magnificent Demon Lord. And Mabel too, even though I still don’t understand much about the Demon Lord’s territory, she’s doing her best to help me. I think the ambition of those two is no less than that of the heroes.”
“…Hey, Thor.”
“Th-Thor-sama, if you say something like that all of a sudden, I’ll get embarrassed.”
Rukie and Mabel turned bright red and averted their gazes.
I understand how they feel—I’m embarrassed too.
“Let’s leave the talk about the ‘business books’ here. By the way, there’s something I want to make with alchemy, is that okay? It’s a bit powerful.”
“Permission granted. Well, if it’s Thor, it should be fine. Hmm?”
“I’ll help too… Oh?”
Rukie and Mabel nodded, then suddenly exchanged looks as if they noticed something.
Then, they stared at me intently and said,
“Thor has naturally made us obey just now…”
“So have I. That means, Thor-sama…”
““Could it be that you read the ‘secret strategies to manipulate your superiors and subordinates as you wish’ from the ‘business books’?””
“…Huh?”
After that, we read through the ‘business book’ advertisements again.
Rukie and Mabel understood that the “secret strategies to manipulate your superiors and subordinates as you wish” were not included.
But in the end—
“Because it’s dangerous, let’s seal this paper.”
“That’s right. That’s best.”
“It’d be terrible if it fell into the hands of bad people…”
The advertisements for the ‘business books’ were sealed as special sealed books in the underground warehouse of the Demon Lord’s territory—
And all we could do was pray that no heroes who had read the ‘business books’ would appear again.
“There really are books in this world that must not be touched.”
That was Rukie’s murmured phrase, the most fitting words to conclude this incident.