Returned from Another World, Earth Turned Out to Be Quite the Fantasy Too. Also, Losing Heroines, Stop Looking This Way. - V5 Chapter 07: "Just Having a Blast in the Sauna, Right?"

Chapter 07: “Just Having a Blast in the Sauna, Right?”

“Well, well. So the sisters I sent off ended up getting tamed…? Is that what I’m supposed to say here?”

“Stop saying things that sound so sketchy!”

“Nobody got tamed, okay!?”

Shinonome Abe, having come all the way from Kyoto, was now sitting in the sauna at the Minazuki estate with Natsuki Yura and the others.

Everyone was down to just a towel—classic sauna style.

And yes, to be clear: the girls were not there. They were off enjoying the hot spring.

“I gotta admit, I never expected my sisters to sneak out of Kyoto and come all the way to Mukaijima. But then they end up falling for Yura-kun and Nanamori-kun? Man… life’s full of surprises, huh?”

Shinonome usually gave off the vibe of a delicate, wiry guy—

But now that he was shirtless, he had a surprisingly well-toned physique, with no wasted bulk.

Senju and Seishiro were the same—lean and solid.

Apparently, being a psychic meant keeping your body in top form too.

Natsuki was also decently toned, though his build still fell squarely into the “middle schooler” category.

If he were to square off with high school athletes, he’d still have a bit of catching up to do.

Yusuke had an average build.

Kazuto was on the skinny side.

And Yoshimasa—well, he was five years old, so he was still all tiny limbs and baby fat.

“Yeah, no thanks.”

“Same here.”

“Aww, that’s a shame. I was hoping, if you two hit it off with my sisters, maybe it’d lead to something good between you and… well, not the Abe family, but at least with us personally.”

“Wait, not the Abe family?”

Natsuki raised an eyebrow.

Shinonome just shrugged and nodded casually.

“Yep. Technically, I’m the next head of the Abe family—but I’ve got no plans to actually take over. The old geezers in charge are a pain. They’ve been messing with me since forever. But after I got strong enough, I flattened the whole lot of them. Now they’re too scared to say anything, so I get to do whatever I want.”

“Why is it that every psychic family backstory sounds like a depressing soap opera!?”

“My parents were trash too. Always causing trouble for the Kanna family,” Yoshimasa chimed in.

“Now, now, Yoshimasa. Let’s not talk like that.”

“Okayyy.”

Leaving Seishiro and Yoshimasa to their own little moment,

Natsuki started to think things through.

If he wanted to take down the Abe family…

Well, Shinonome didn’t seem like he’d care.

And that, frankly, was boring.

What kind of isekai hero just lets things slide without delivering a proper “take that!” to the bad guys who came at him first?

“…Um, Abe-san?”

“Shinonome’s fine, Kazuto Miyahara-kun.”

“…So you do know who I am.”

“Yep. Sounds like my sisters haven’t filled you in yet. Wanna hear the details?”

Kazuto found it kind of weird that people in the psychic world knew his name.

Sure, he’d gotten dragged into all kinds of nonsense with Natsuki, but still—he hadn’t expected Kyoto locals to be dropping his name too.

“Oh yeah, I was wondering about that too.”

Apparently, Natsuki felt the same.

Even in today’s hyper-connected world, it felt way too fast for people to already know who they were.

“There really are professional informants out there, y’know. And not just humans. You’ve got youkai, gods, demons—the whole bunch. Some of them make a living by buying and selling intel, so speed and accuracy are everything. Especially when it comes to you, Natsuki Yura-kun.”

“Me again!?”

“Well, yeah. Mizuchi of the Minazuki family was a pretty well-known land god. So when word got out that Mizuchi was dead, every info broker out there started digging.”

“Well, I guess that makes sense. And then somehow the intel even reached Shino-no-no-no-no over here.”

“Yep. And don’t forget, there are idiots who leak stuff to the Institute, plus a bunch of chatty gods and demons. So yeah, it’s already out there—you’re the kid with the power to kill gods.”

Shinonome looked at Natsuki with an evaluating gaze.

Or maybe it was curiosity.

Either way, his eyes were clearly saying, this kid’s something else.

“Kazuto Miyahara-kun’s just a regular kid. Well, maybe not completely regular, but close enough. But you, Natsuki Yura-kun… what are you exactly?”

“I’m a Hero, obviously.”

“Hahaha! Well, if you’re saying it so boldly, then I guess you must be.”

Just a few days ago, Natsuki had been all about hiding the fact that he was a hero.

Now, he didn’t even bother.

If people believed him, fine. If not, whatever.

It was easier than having them get all suspicious and weird about it.

That said, he did at least try to be selective about who he told.

…Not that Senju was thrilled about it.

Off to the side, he let out a deep sigh and stared up at the ceiling like, “He did it again…”

“Wait, what’s with Senju Nanamori-kun’s reaction? Hold up… is he serious?”

“Oh, totally. Super serious. I’m a former hero from another world! And now I’m here using those powers to wipe out the entire Abe clan—nice to meet you!”

“…Okay, yeah, that’s terrifying. Forget the other world stuff—you’re obviously down to kill.”

“I learned this in the other world, you know? Humans suck. They’re not worth saving. They’re not even worth letting live.”

“Wait, I thought other worlds were all about dreams and hope?”

“It’s despair and despair and more despair!!”

“…So it’s not like those isekai light novels, huh.”

Natsuki’s grim take on the other world didn’t just disappoint Shinonome—

Even Senju, Seishiro, and Kazuto were visibly bummed out again.

Yusuke, who’d also had a rough time in another world, nodded along vigorously like, “Yep, yep, totally get it.”

Meanwhile, little Yoshimasa casually added, “Humans are ugly creatures—both good and bad,” with the kind of insight you don’t expect from a five-year-old.

“Honestly, I’m more jealous of people descended from Seimei-san than I am of the whole other world thing.”

“Oh yeah, everyone says that. But I’ve lost all the techniques and powers, y’know? I’m just a descendant in name. If anything, I wish I could’ve done the whole ‘descendant of Seimei goes full power-mode in another world’ thing.” 

“That’s so good. I love that.”

Shinonome’s little fantasy seemed to hit Natsuki right in the heart.

“For what it’s worth, I’d really like to hear more about your adventures. And, well… I was hoping I could just apologize and call it even for this whole mess.”

“If you and your crew don’t stir up trouble again, maybe I’ll consider it. Personally, I think you’re kinda shady… but I don’t hate you.”

“That’s a relief. Alright then—my deepest apologies for all of this! If you want, I’ll do a full kneel-and-bow later, and I’ll make sure my sisters apologize too. So please, let this slide!”

“Sure thing~”

Shinonome gave a sincere apology, and Natsuki decided to let it slide.

Just like Shinonome had been sizing him up,

Natsuki had been quietly doing the same in return…

But he couldn’t get a read on the guy.

For someone human, this was the first time Natsuki had actually been curious.

Then, as Shinonome raised his head and the two of them shook hands—

“Alrighty! Time to crank up the heat!”

Yoshimasa suddenly started flapping a massive bath towel like a pro,

And just like that, the sauna turned into a full-on blast furnace.

〜〜Afterword〜〜

Koume: “Boys really are idiots.”

Everyone: “Right?”

Yup. It was a steamy, giggly, shirtless kind of episode!