A Journey Unwanted N Chapter 4 - 2: Realization

Chapter 4: Chapter 2: Realization

"So you truly hail from the East?"

Fiona’s voice broke the relative silence of the modest inn room, her tone carrying both curiosity and a hint of skepticism.

Mikoto, who had been absently staring at the wooden ceiling beams above, turned his head slightly in her direction before exhaling through his nose.

"Far East, uh, yes. Tokyo specifically."

"Tokyo? Tokyo, Tokyo." She rolled the word around on her tongue like one might test the taste of an unfamiliar fruit, expression shifting between mild intrigue and sothing resembling disapproval. "You Easterners have quite a strange naming sense," she muttered, shaking her head slightly.

At present, the two of them were seated within the confines of an utterly unremarkable inn room. There was a single window to the left, through which the dull glow of torchlights illuminated the streets below. The wooden floor, worn but well-kept, had a modest rug thrown atop it, doing little to soften the occasional creak of old planks beneath weight. Against the far wall stood a wardrobe of dark oak, its doors slightly ajar, revealing neatly folded spare linens within. And, of course, the centerpiece of the room—two normal-sized beds, placed side by side with simple covers draped atop them.

Mikoto sat on the left bed, arms crossed, while Fiona perched on the right one, one leg crossed over the other as she studied him like a scholar examining a newly discovered species. And in so ways, that was precisely what she was doing.

"Are you sure you hail from the East?" she asked again, narrowing her eyes at him. "Though not impossible, it is passing strange that Easterners should be blessed by a Goddess of this general area. I have more to ask, but I suppose you must have questions of your own, no?"

Oh, he had questions.

Questions like, "What’s the quickest way to the nearest airport?"

Or "Why the hell does no one know what Japan is?"

Or, perhaps most important of all, "Why is my life suddenly a convoluted isekai plot?"

Mikoto had already tried ntioning Japan, Europe, the United States—hell, he even threw in Australia just to see if it rang a bell. And yet, each and every ti, Fiona had dismissed them as "off-nas