“How is she?” Ririna was waiting outside the inn for
to drop Carol off.
“She’s still asleep. You told
she needed rest, so I put her to bed for now.”
After we got back to town, the first thing on my mind was finding a place to lay down the unconscious Carol. I was still renting a room at the inn, so I took her there to let her rest. Ririna accompanied
to the inn, but Sarasa and Flanne went their own ways. Sarasa said she was ho and napping the rest of the day. Flanne needed to unwind, so she went to the Gathering of Flowers. How unexpected… She said she was ready to help if sothing happened and that we knew where to look for her. Now that Carol is safe, everything should be fine, so I told them I would take it from there and thanked them for the help.
“It’s good to let her rest for a bit. She wasn’t in that bad of a shape when I treated her, so she might wake up soon. Getting lost in a normal place is already bad enough as is. I can’t even imagine how draining getting lost in the Forest of Illusions might be.”
“Do you get lost a lot? You’re talking as if you know what it’s like.” I wouldn’t be surprised if alchemists get lost often. It’s a bit inevitable when they’re exploring places for materials, right?
“No… Not recently, at least. I got seriously lost once when I was younger, and I learned my lesson. I had just started learning alchemy, and I thought I was ready to gather ingredients on my own, so I got carried away. Hahaha…” Ririna blushed for a second, but she was happy to tell
about her experiences as an alchemist. “In any case, I’m glad we managed to find your friend. You’re much less tense than before.”
“Am I?” Was I that visibly worried? That’s embarrassing. “Yeah… It’s good we managed to save her.”
“Iroha, you see… Can I ask you sothing? I- it’s important.” Huh? Ririna was being unusually bashful, which made my heart rate skyrocket. S- she has sothing important to tell ? What?
“Uhmm… S- s- sure… What is it?”
“Well… Do you rember our battle in the valley?” How could I forget? Was that her important question, though? Ririna’s face was slightly red, but she forced herself to sound energetic.
“Of course I do. It’s not exactly the type of thing soone can forget, you know?”
“R- right. Ahaha… What did you think of it?”
“What did I think of it? In what way?”
“I an, I think we make a pretty good team. Not just back then, but in general… We work very well together. We’re a good match for each other, don’t you think?”
“Yeah…?” Ririna… What…?
“So… I have a… proposal for you.”
“…”
What? Am I dreaming? Why is she blushing? Could it really be… “I… Uhmm… What’s your… proposal?”
“I want… You know, maybe we should go sowhere better first… Sowhere quieter…”
No… I’m not dreaming. This isn’t about her work or whatever! She’s gonna confess! She’s in love with , isn’t she? Since when? The battle in the valley? That explains a lot… She’s been… really friendly and attentive lately. But… We’re both girls, so does she actually love
in that way? She’s been friendly from the beginning. That’s just how Ririna is, so this might not an what I think it ans. No no no no no! I’m not imagining things! This is different. The way she’s been blushing the whole ti, coupled with how bashful she’s been, can only an one thing! She’s going to confess! That’s why she wants to go sowhere quiet! This is it! Can’t say anything stupid now! “Uhmm… I’d love to go, but I can’t leave while Carol’s sick.”
“Oh! Right… You’re right… What was I thinking? Ahahaha… Maybe it’s not that important now that I’m thinking about it. Co see
when Carol gets better, and we’ll talk then. So yeah…
Bye! I’ll see you later!”
…
NOOOoooOOOOooooOOO! Stupid! I’m so stupid! Why did I say that?! I’m so stupid! *Thud!* I stopped to slam my head against the wall on the way back to my room at the inn. “*Sigh…*” I got scared… I can’t believe it! I hesitated and ran away by using Carol as an excuse. I’m such a coward… Is this the end? Did I just ruin my chances with her? She still wanted to talk, so she might not have given up… It’s weird… She wasn’t even sad at the end. She looked more… relieved? Why? If she was going to confess, why would she feel relieved that she failed? Arrggh! I don’t get it! I don’t get any of this! Did I read it wrong? Why did I get scared? It just seed so complicated for our relationship to ever work out. We’re from two different worlds, for fuck’s sake. How would it even work? Would I start living in this world permanently? Would Ririna co to my world? Would I have to go back and forth for her? It wasn’t ever gonna work, right? “*Sigh…*”
Maybe there’s hope. We’re good friends regardless, so I’m fine if that doesn’t change. Anyway, I wasn’t lying about being worried about Carol, so let’s check how she’s doing. Maybe she’s woken up already. I opened the door to the room and went inside, only to find a small figure sitting on top of the bed with her arms and legs crossed and a displeased expression on her face.
“You’re late!”
“Ca- Carol? Y- you’re awake?” Oh no… This is going to be rough… I wanted to carry her back before she got the chance to ask any questions, but now it’s too late…
“Yes. Yes, I am. Is that a problem?” She was shorter than
and sitting down, so she had to look up at , but her bossy attitude remained unfazed. Why did it have to be Carol? Why couldn’t it be soone easier to approach, like Katja or Narumi? Narumi’s a bit weird at tis still, but it’d be better than Carol.
“No… I- I’m glad you’re awake. I was worried you might have been hurt, so it’s nice to see that you’re doing fine.”
“I’m doing fine? I just woke up with no idea where I am, in this shitty, archaic room. I thought I was sleeping in a pile of trash in soone’s attic.” The room isn’t even that bad… It’s lacking for people from our world, but it’s mostly clean, and the bed is soft. I have no idea why she’s complaining so much. “And as if that wasn’t bad enough, just what is going on outside?” Carol nodded to the window. “Where the hell are we? Is this so kind of cosplay convention? I’ve seen people with animal ears and tails, everyone’s dressed weird, and I’ve even seen an angel! What the hell is this? I was this close to going out there to check. You better be thankful I waited for you.” A cosplay convention? Why would she even think of that?
“Uhmm… Thanks? You know… maybe… this is all just a dream. You’re just dreaming.”
“Don’t—fuck with .”
“Sorry…” I was hoping I could get away by saying that, but she shot
down with a glare, and I imdiately folded… She… sends shivers down my spine… Reminds
of Hecate. Like mother, like daughter, except they’re not related, and they’d both kill
if I said that out loud.
“If you’re really sorry, then tell
what’s going on. Tell
everything you know.”
“That’s… I… don’t…”
“What? Are you gonna make more excuses? Don’t even try to say you don’t know anything. I know you’ve been hiding stuff from us from the very beginning, and now I’ve seen it with my own eyes. You can’t hide anything from
anymore. Where are we? What kind of powers were you using? Just who are you?” Carol stared
down, pressuring
for answers. I still didn’t want to spill everything, but… it might be too late now… She was barely conscious back then, but she saw
during that fight. I can’t lie to her anymore…
“Alright… I’ll tell you… To answer your first question… We’re in a different world right now.”
“I could tell that much. This is the world of monsters, right? I passed through the portal I ended up here, so I was expecting that much.”
“Good to know… How did you find the portal, by the way? Did you co here on purpose, or was it an accident?”
“Seriously? You haven’t figured it out yet? You really are clueless… I followed you, you idiot.”
“Huh? For real?” She followed ? When? How did that happen? Is that a joke? I had no idea.
“You’re so stupid… I saw you going into the forest one day and caught you entering the portal. Did no one tell you portals were dangerous? Why would you even get close to the portal? I was wo- dumbfounded when I saw you jump into it. Why would you even want to co here?” She was ‘wo-’? ‘Wo’ what? What does that an?
“Well… I wanted to get better at fighting, so I ca here to train.” Her reaction so far hasn’t been too poor… But she’s still intimidating.
“That doesn’t even make sense. You wanted to train, so you decided to jump into a at grinder. You got lucky that portal didn’t kill you, but you had no way to know that.”
“Actually, that’s not true… I knew the portals were probably safe… I knew from the very beginning.”
“Are you serious? How would you even know that?”
“Before I joined, on the day Katja first found , I… accidentally fell into a portal. That’s why I knew they were safe.”
“I can’t believe it. Are you saying Katja found you just as you returned to the real world. But that’s not possible… That portal was in a different place… You got lucky with non-lethal portals twice?”
“I think you’re misunderstanding sothing, Carol. It’s not that these two portals are safe—all the portals are safe. That thing about the portals being dangerous has to be a lie. What made you think you couldn’t get close to the portals in the first place?”
“That’s just common knowledge for us. Everyone tasked with fighting monsters knows not to get close to them. It was either Shinji or one of the other girls who taught
that.”
“Maybe they were keeping you in the dark?”
“Mphm. That’s impossible.” Carol scoffed confidently. “Neither Shinji nor one of the others would keep this from . If they say the portals are dangerous, that ans that’s what they believe too.”
“Who told them they were dangerous then? I an… I’m pretty sure that whole thing is a lie. Probably to keep you from finding out about this world.”
“I have no clue. Shinji probably learned about it when he was working sowhere official… Which ans that if this really is a lie, it cos from the top.” I see… Fighting the monster is a top-secret job, that much I was told. Whoever’s coordinating the whole thing must have created that lie to keep this world a secret. Who would it be? The ministry of other worldly affairs? Is that how those things work? “Ughh… This is all so stupid. It’s starting to make my head hurt. Anyway, this is another world, right? You’re sure?”
“I have no doubt. I recognized this world from the beginning.”
“You recognized it? What’s that supposed to an?”
“Uhmm… I know it might sound crazy, but this is the world from a ga that I played.”
“Huh? A ga?” Carol uncrossed her arms and stood up. “That’s ridiculous. Are you saying we’re inside of a ga right now?”
“No no no… I don’t think so, at least… This is the sa world as a ga I played, but it’s not exactly the sa. It’s more like a replica with so differences, and I don’t think we’re in a ga right now. This world is as real as ours.”
“A- are you serious? You’re not just lying to , are you?” Carol grabbed my shoulders aggressively, and I shook my head in a hurry. “Then, the monsters we’ve been fighting—the threat invading our world—we’ve been risking our lives to fight monsters from a ga?”
“Y- yeah… that seems to be the case…” Carol let go and pulled back.
“It doesn’t look like you’re lying. Hmmm… What does this all an, then? I knew the portals had to lead sowhere. I never expected it’d be a whole other world, and especially not one from a ga. Why lie about the portals? Why aren’t we supposed to learn about this world? There’s gotta be more to it…” I’m surprised… She’s just as feisty as always, but she doesn’t seem that mad at . She’s listening and paying attention to what I say… I’m confused… I thought she hated … I was expecting her to be completely unreasonable. Sohow, that contrast is incredibly cute! I can’t help but think she’s a really nice girl now! “Don’t just stand there! Help figure this out! You gotta know sothing, Iroha. Tell
more about the ga. What’s its na?”
“Ahh… You see… My mory of this ga is not that great… It’s been a while… I don’t rember the na or a lot of the details.”
“And you didn’t even try to look it up? Even if you don’t rember the na, you could have just looked it up online or sothing. Did the thought never occur to you? Are you dumb?”
“I thought about that… but when I tried to look it up, I couldn’t find anything! It’s like every trace of the ga’s existence has been wiped off the face of the earth!” I looked for an excuse in a hurry after feeling the sharp sting of her words. I an, it wasn’t even an excuse, it was literally what I did.
“Ok, now I’m getting pissed. Are you serious? Was that also to cover things up? This is starting to get ridiculous…” Hmm… That would an I’m not the only one who knows this world is from a ga. Sohow, I don’t think the explanation is that simple. The way everything just vanished seems almost magical… “We need more info. For now, tell
what you know about this city, the forest, the monsters… Even if you don’t rember things perfectly, I might be able to piece sothing together.” Carol sat back down on the bed, crossing her arms and legs again. I pulled up a chair and told her what I knew.
I told her my story from the beginning, from the day I t Ririna. I explained to her what I knew about the lore of the ga and how things had changed. Fast-travel, for example, is never ntioned in the ga’s narrative, but here, everyone uses it, and it changes everything. This inn exists because it makes sense in the ga, but since most people in this world now just fast-travel back and forth all the ti, it’s virtually worthless and is rented almost for free. Carol listened to
the whole ti without intervening much. Whew…
“Ughh… That’s all good to know, but it doesn’t help us figure out anything. I guess we’ll have to investigate in our world to find out what’s really going on.” That’s true… Even with all the ti I’ve been spending in this world, I really haven’t learned much… “Here’s the deal, Iroha. We need to understand what those portals are, where they’re coming from, and why. Once we figure that out, we’ll… I don’t know… But at least we’ll know what’s going on.”
I can’t lie, I am curious about that. I haven’t given it much thought, since I had other priorities, but if I want to figure out anything, I’ll have to try a little harder to find more information. Maybe there’s soone in this world who knows what’s going on…
“That being said, we’re not gonna figure this out by just talking, so let’s drop it for now. I’ve got a more pressing question for you. I saw the way you were fighting and how fast you’ve been growing. It’s not normal. Who are you? I know you’re hiding so kind of secret, and I’m not gonna let you go until you spill everything!”
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