Vol 1 Chapter 23 – On the Subject of an Inexplicable Creature

We were here long before the human race ever appeared in this world. This power that humans call magic has been woven into daily life since time out of mind—so honestly, it’s the humans who can’t use magic that seem strange to us.

This tent, for instance—quite a bit bigger on the inside than the outside, isn’t it? A Hero who came here before called it “Mayoiga”. From the look on your face, you know what a Mayoiga is, do you? Well then. That’s exactly what it is.

When the conflict between the Demon King and humankind began—the specifics escape even us, they do. “Before we knew it, that’s just how things were” is probably closer to the truth.

Role-bearers like myself are much the same—no one knows when it started, they don’t. No one decides it. It simply becomes, before you realize it.

A vague feeling washes over you—ah, so I’m a role-bearer now. Like waking from a dream and knowing without thinking, oh, it was only a dream. You just know. That’s simply how it works.

*Kyokyok’—*Aria-san clicked softly in her throat.

A Mayoiga is a supernatural phenomenon found in Japanese folklore—an inanimate haunting of sorts. In appearance, it’s just an ordinary single-story house, but step inside and room after paper-screened room unfolds endlessly, one after another. The name says it all: “the house where you lose your way.”

“So in this world, magic and the supernatural and everyday life are all tangled together.”

“In Utaki’s world—there’s none of that?”

“Not none, exactly. It’s just not connected to daily life. It stays inside books.”

Elena’s eyes went wide, as though she couldn’t quite believe it. And honestly, if I hadn’t ended up in another world, I’d never have even entertained the possibility that a world like hers might exist.

“Think of it as a study abroad experience, and enjoy it, you should.”

“My life is in danger.”

“Death is just a lifespan, it is. Die in an accident, and that accident was your lifespan.”

Whether it was the Lorelei, the Demon King, or the supposedly vast array of non-human races I’d be encountering—none of it felt like it was going to end quietly. The people of this world didn’t even seem interested in learning how much more peaceful it would be to settle things over a board game.

Monsters.

Not the non-human races—the world itself. This world and its rules are absolutely broken, and yet nobody—

“Now then. Let me bestow the prayer, I shall.”

“Your prayer, Aria-san—what does it…?”

“A prayer that repels death and misfortune as much as it can, it is. Fairly effective, too.”

She was spinning a pendulum—butterfly motif—in lazy circles above my open palm.

“Dance in azure flame, cobalt of clear skies—I, in the name of the Night, command thee unto this place…”

Aria-san murmured under her breath. Those sapphire eyes focused on nothing. Whether she was empty-minded or simply in a state of profound stillness, I couldn’t tell—but she was clearly concentrating. Sweat began to bead on my palm, and heat pooled there, gathering into something almost spherical.

“I bestow this prayer—upon blazing nights, upon mornings of crashing waves, upon the amber that cleaves the earth. The cry of yonder hero—I, bestow it upon thee. The ashen saint and the diminished villager…”

After the lengthy incantation, Aria-san poured me another cup of tea. (Tea in this world is, across the board, blue.)

“The route can’t be avoided, it can’t. From here on out, it’s fierce maiden collisions again—best brace yourself~.”

“I’d like to… request a change of route, if at all possible.”

“Utaki. Now is when you become a hero.”

Elena still wouldn’t meet my eyes. I was getting close to actually crying.

Vol 1 Chapter 24 – Let’s Meet the King and the Princess and the Knight

“Utaki-samaaaaaa! Utaki-sama Utaki-sama Utaki-sama Utaki-sama!!!! You have absolutely no idea how many days I have been counting down until I could see you again, three hundred and sixty-two hours I have spent thinking of you every single moment waiting and waiting and waiting for you, I was so worried I couldn’t sleep at night, truly you ought to abandon this nonsense about being a Hero and simply take up residence in this castle where I could spend twenty-nine hours across four hundred and twenty-five days seeing to your every need, cleaning and cooking and bathing and every form of care I could possibly—”

“Hold on, you didn’t breathe once.”

Odette-hime was as intense as ever.

And—did she just say twenty-nine hours across four hundred and twenty-five days? That’s almost certainly another one of those gaps—places where this world’s common sense quietly, completely diverges from mine in ways I still haven’t noticed yet.

Come to think of it, Elena’s always asking me things like “that’s obvious, isn’t it?” or “surely you know that much?” And those moments keep happening precisely because neither of us even realizes where the gaps are. What am I supposed to do about that? I’ll say it again as many times as it takes: I am not a smart person.

“Utaki. You look well, and that’s what matters.”

“Ashthal-san, I’m sorry, I still haven’t done any prep—”

“Those who can step into the role of Hero the moment it’s thrust upon them are rare indeed. You have your own pace. There’s no need to rush. I told you from the start—I will lend you my strength whenever you need it.”

Honestly, this man is unreasonably cool, and I genuinely don’t understand why.

Maronie-san had mentioned more than once that someone like Ashthal-san was her idea of what a “man” should look like—and that made sense in a world where living and fighting were inseparable. When survival itself demands it, the qualities Ashthal-san embodied would naturally rise to the top of what reads as attractive.

Back in Japan, the scrawny indie band type gets plenty of attention too, and so does the loud athletic type—but that’s because “combat” isn’t an option in everyday life there, so coolness gets defined differently.

“Hey, Utaki! So you’ve sorted the gear and the blessing!”

“Your Majesty.”

“You’re heading out of the royal capital soon, aren’t you? Kinda gonna miss you, honestly.”

I’m counting on you to save the world, the King said—in the same tone you’d use to say, ” Hey, be a pal and handle the bar tab, will you? Was this man genuinely secretly a—what would you call it—business-school bro type? The kind that coasts through a mid-tier private university, never makes it to morning lectures, and definitely has an active social media presence?

“Hmph. So you’re finally going off to die.”

“Titania-san.”

“Elena, I’ll give you a straight warning. Travel with this, and you’re dying for nothing.”

“But my route is ‘his tutor,’ so if it comes to that, I suppose it comes to that.”

Die in an accident, and that accident was your lifespan. Aria-san’s words surfaced in my mind.

Suppose this were a serious military isekai, maybe—but no. My route was apparently Yandere Harem or whatever absurdity that was. Which means by every law of the genre, this is headed straight for slice-of-life comedy. The kind where your clothes get incinerated but your underwear survives perfectly intact. Absolutely.

“Listen, Titania-san—I know it’s a lot to ask, but—”

“What?”

“Having you at the party would make things so much more reassuring. We’d be so glad if you’d come with us—Utaki and I talked it over.”

“My objective isn’t the Demon King. It’s that spineless man right there.”

“Wouldn’t you say there’s no rush on that until after the Demon King’s defeated? If you accidentally slice him up during the process, that’s just an accident.”

“Elena-san?”

“Hmm. Not a bad proposition.”

“Excuse me?!”

“Ooh, you want Titania at the party?”

“Your Majesty, her duties with the Order of Knights—”

“Every one of her subordinates is excellent. I’ll leave it to her judgment.”

“Well… the more chances I have to eliminate him…”

“Wait.”

Why was I already operating on the assumption that I’d die before the journey even started?