Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 121: Extra Story: Thor, Rukie, Mabel, and the “Business Books from Another World”
Once again, it seemed Thor and the others had 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 Storage.
Mabel and Rukie were enjoying tea and sweets while I looked over some materials.
“Actually, I was researching the ‘business books’ from the Heroes’ 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 I looked closely, I could barely make them out.
It contained information about “business books” published in the Heroes’ 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.”
“What’s written here is only a brief introduction. It gives a vague overview of the contents—in other words, text meant to promote the book.”
“In other words, it’s for advertising purposes.”
Rukie nodded as she peered at the paper in my hands.
Mabel, sitting beside her, tilted her head and asked:
“But Thor-sama, what kind of ‘work’ is there in the Heroes’ world?”
“Probably slaying magical beasts.”
“That must be it.”
Rukie and I nodded.
Then Mabel said,
“Then what’s ‘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 Heroes’ world.
But we knew very well what the summoned Heroes had done 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, the Heroes themselves often said things like, “I’m the strongest!” “What did you say? Bring it on!” and “Let’s see who earns the royal family’s recognition!”
They competed by strength to decide who was superior.
That way of thinking had even been passed down 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 popped a baked confection into her mouth.
“Thor, what kind of things are written in that ‘business book’?”
“Let me see…”
There was a photograph of the book on the page,
followed by bullet points listing its contents.
The first point written was—
“‘Reading the air around you is the absolute basic.’”
“So it means not relying on sight alone. You grasp the enemy’s movements from the sound of their breathing or the flow of air around them.”
“It might mean combining wind magic with sword strikes for high-speed attacks.”
“That’s possible.”
That was exactly 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’s considered the absolute basic…”
“Reading the air and cutting down enemies is standard practice… How terrifying.”
I shivered involuntarily.
But that was only the first line.
For my research, I needed to examine the Heroes’ world’s “business books” more closely.
“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 those sayings came from the ‘business books’ too.”
The Demon Lord’s army would immediately use healing magic on injured comrades.
It had always been a mystery why heroes fought while wounded.
Perhaps they did it so their comrades could “scold and encourage” them.
That was how they confirmed their trust in one another.
Being able to trust your party members was 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?”
“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 Light Blade, Photon 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 was true.
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 had survived into the present 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” contained valuable information.
If I read it, I might be able to understand how the Heroes thought in greater detail.
I would have loved to obtain a copy, but unfortunately, there was no way to do so.
Books from the Heroes’ world couldn’t be ordered here. At the bottom of the page, it also said, “This is an advertisement. Our company isn’t affiliated with the publisher. Please refrain from contacting us.”
Did that mean they wouldn’t respond even if we contacted them?
In other words, the book might have been extraordinarily special.
“…It really might be special. It even includes something called ‘Secret Tactics for Controlling Your Superiors 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 until they stood directly opposite each other.
“‘Fix them with an intense gaze. First, look at your superior’s necktie—near the base of the 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 move a little closer so I can match you more precisely, 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.
Just watching them made me nervous.
“…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.
It said to stand before your superior, regulate your breathing, synchronize with them—and then—
“This is the end of the trial version.”
“E-Ehhhhhhhh!?”
“‘To read further, purchase the full version and find out for yourself!’ …is what it says.”
“…Ugh.”
Rukie and Mabel both stared blankly.
But then Rukie quickly spoke, her voice filled with excitement:
“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 Heroes’ world.”
Moreover, this page had signs of having been torn.
Just below it was the line, “To place an order, please send the attached postcard!”
The Hero who owned the page had probably already used whatever this “postcard” was.
Come to think of it, that was 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, the technique required ordering the book, mastering the beginner’s edition, and then buying an advanced volume. The system in the Heroes’ world was complicated. Somehow, it was beginning to frighten me.
I said to Rukie, “Perhaps what’s truly frightening isn’t the Heroes’ power, but their ambition.”
“Even though they’re already absurdly strong, they train and study so they can become stronger still… I think that desire itself 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 think Rukie-sama’s and Mabel’s ambition is incredible too.”
Before I realized it, I had said something like that.
“Rukie-sama works hard every day to become a magnificent Demon Lord. And Mabel, even though I still know so little about the Demon Lord’s Domain, always does her best to support me. Neither of you is any less ambitious than 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 understood how they felt. I was embarrassed too.
“Let’s end our discussion of the ‘business books’ here. By the way, there’s something I want to make with alchemy. May I? It’ll be rather powerful.”
“Permission granted. Well, since it’s you, 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 just made us agree without even trying…”
“I thought so too. Which means, Thor-sama…”
“Could it be that you read the ‘Secret Tactics for Controlling Your Superiors and Subordinates at Will’ from the ‘business books’?”
“…Huh?”
After that, we read through the ‘business book’ advertisements again.
Rukie and Mabel understood that the “Secret Tactics for Controlling Your Superiors and Subordinates at Will” wasn’t included in the advertisement.
But in the end—
“This paper is dangerous. Let’s seal it away.”
“That’s right. That’s best.”
“It’d be terrible if it fell into the hands of bad people…”
The advertisement for the “business books” was sealed away as a restricted document in the underground warehouse of the Demon Lord’s Domain.
All we could do was pray that no Hero who had read those “business books” would ever appear again.
“There really are books in this world that mustn’t be touched.”
Rukie’s quiet remark was the perfect conclusion to the incident.