Chapter 1: Makoto Takatsuki Returns to Macallan
We’d returned to the city of water, Macallan.
“So this is where you live! It’s so pretty!” Sasa cheered, looking around curiously.
“I’ll give you the tour later,” I told her. “Let’s head to the guild for now.”
“Wow! So many canals! This is great,” she cried out, running off.
“Ayaaa, you’ll hit someone if you take off like that,” Lucy warned, and within seconds, it seemed like that was about to happen. Just before it did, though, Sasa dodged to the side and avoided it. And again. And again. And then again. She had pretty impressive reflexes.
“She’s like a kid,” Lucy commented.
“Well, she spent all that time in Labyrinthos,” I replied.
She was really going all-out with her excitement. Lucy and I watched her with smiles on our faces.
“Wha?!”
She must have noticed our grins.
“I got a bit carried away.” She giggled and scratched her head as she walked back to us. Cute. She’d calmed down now, though, so we headed for the guild.
◇ Aya Sasaki’s Perspective ◇
“Makoto?!” The shout came from a blonde bombshell who immediately grabbed onto Takatsuki.
Whaaaaat?!
“Are you okay?” asked the woman. “You didn’t get hurt, did you?”
“I’m fine, Mary,” he answered.
Wh-Who’s this? His girlfriend? There’s someone other than Lu?
“Lu...” I started, “who’s that?”
“That’s Mary, a receptionist for the guild. She’s always putting the moves on Makoto,” she told me with a pout.
“R-Right, I see.”
Hmmm... Takatsuki’s pretty popular here...
“Oh? And who’s this cutie?” the receptionist asked, glancing over toward me.
“I’m Aya Sasaki! Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Mary Gold—nice to meet you too. Are you going to be registering as an adventurer here?” She moved away from Takatsuki and switched to a businesslike persona, the very image of composed beauty.
“Mary, Sasa already registered in Labyrinth Town. She’s in our party, so we came to report that.”
“You did? Then I’ll make a note of it. Could you show me your adventurer card?”
“Here,” I said, handing over the card that Fujiwara had made for me.
“Aya Sasaki. Oh my, you’re from the same world as Makoto. No achievements yet as an adventurer, so that makes you stone rank. There seems to be nothing else that’s an issu—wait, what?”
Her eyes widened.
Crap! Did she figure out that I’m a lamia? I was worried, but apparently for nothing. She was just staring at the stats on my card.
Makoto caught sight of what was going on and sidled up to Mary with a smile, cool as a cucumber.
“Sasa’s got some crazy stats, doesn’t she?”
“They’re easily higher than those of gold rank adventurers,” Mary answered with a whisper. “If she didn’t already have a party, there’d be at least twenty of them trying to recruit her.” She and Takatsuki were standing a bit too close to each other, murmuring into each other’s ears.
“More im-por-tant-ly!” she enunciated, grabbing onto his shoulder and pulling him in. “You did bring a girl back from Labyrinthos, you liar!”
“It just happened...”
“And I was so worried! You’re not getting any sleep tonight! You’re coming here, got it?!” she demanded, gripping him in a headlock. His face was smooshed right into her chest... Hmph, what a womanizer!
“Lucy! You’re back!” I heard from across the room.
“Emily! It’s been too long!” she called back.
I turned around and saw a girl with brown hair and loose clothes running over to Lu.
“You should’ve told me you were back,” the girl protested. “I was worried!”
“We only just got here, so I was planning to get in touch. You’re not out today?”
“I’m helping at the church right now. There have been so many injuries from monsters lately...” said the girl. “But anyway, if you’ve got the time, tell me about Labyrinthos!”
“Sure, I’ll fill you in on what I got up to!”
“I bet you just caused hassle for Makoto, right?”
“I didn’t!” argued Lu. “Just wait ’til you hear about my new Meteo Rain spell!”
The pair of them got more and more excited. Once I’d been introduced, I learned that Emily was some kind of cleric and also that she’d had adventuring experience with Lu and Takatsuki.
Lu ended up racing off with her somewhere.
Once Takatsuki had finished registering us with the guild, he came over to me and said, “Okay then, Sasa, I’ll show you ’round town.”
“S-Sure!”
I’m alone with Takatsuki! On our first proper date in Macallan!
I grabbed onto his arm in excitement as he started describing different locations around town.
“This is the main road—it’s the busiest bit of Macallan.”
“They have great desserts this way, so let’s drop by later.”
“The next street over’s where all the food and drink places are. It’s pretty quiet now but gets busy at night.”
“Maybe we should drop by Fujiyan’s place later.”
“Down there... Well, let’s just say they’re nighttime shops.”
Those were Takatsuki’s comments as he showed me around. There were a lot of fancy-looking brick buildings. Macallan was crisscrossed with canals, and boats were floating atop the water, so it was really atmospheric.
“Can we ride those?” I asked, pointing at one of the boats.
“If we pay, sure. It’s quicker to use my magic, though.”
Oh, right, he’s got some kind of spell for moving over the water.
“What’s that big building, then?” I asked, pointing at a stone-built structure.
“Oh, that’s the hot spring. There’s a source for it nearby.”
“Oh!” I exclaimed. “This town’s so pretty, and it even has a hot spring! This is great.”
“Hot spring inns are apparently one of Macallan’s main industries. Not that I’ve ever gone though.”
He added something about not indulging himself, followed by a sarcastic laugh. Takatsuki was as easygoing as ever. And he seemed completely the same, but...
Is he a bit sad, maybe?
It was like that time he’d preordered the sequel to an RPG he really liked...but the sequel had ended up being a cheap racing game instead. Though, he’d actually enjoyed the game a fair amount once he gave it a chance.
Did something happen? He’d been my friend since junior high, and I owed him my life. Also, he was the person I had the strongest feelings for, so if he had worries, I wanted to hear them.
I mustered my courage and asked, “Hey, should we check out those hot springs, seeing as we’re here?”
Takatsuki gave a hum and then smiled lightly. “Sure, if you want to.”
“It says there’s a mixed bath!” After all, he’d already seen me naked, so that was fine, right?
“Wha?” Despite that, he now looked like a chihuahua that’d had the rug pulled from underneath it.
◇ Makoto Takatsuki’s Perspective ◇
Uh? What? How’d this happen?
“Ah, this is so nice,” Sasa said, soaking next to me. Her expression soon evened out.
There also wasn’t a stitch of cloth on her body.
Actually, that wasn’t entirely true—she had a towel wrapped around her. Just nothing on her lower half.
It was a sight I’d seen a fair few times lately. However! That didn’t mean I was used to it...
Calm down. Come on, Calm Mind, help me out here!
I glanced around the area again. Though the sign had said there was a mixed bath, this was sort of a family thing. We’d reserved a small open-air bath. It’d cost a pretty penny, but the funds from defeating the minotaur and the harpy queen meant I now had a little slack in my budget.
Plus, I wanted to grant Sasa’s requests to the best of my ability.
“It’s so refreeeshing.”
“Ah, yeah... You’re right.”
Sasa stretched with a sigh, and the movement made it look like her towel was going to come undone... That was fine, but I had to keep calm so that my thoughts weren’t obvious.
“Towns with hot springs are the best. I like Macallan.”
“Oh, I’m glad to hear it. I don’t remember you being so into them, though?”
“There weren’t any baths in Labyrinthos, so I had to use the lake. You could get attacked at any time in the water, so you couldn’t relax.”
“I can see how.”
We kept chatting idly for a while.
“Oh yeah, are you using your Transformation skill right now?”
“Yeah! My skin used to be more bluish, but it looks more human now, right?” she asked, showing me her upper arm. It was soft-looking. There was a dangerous amount of skin on display from her underarm down, which gave me a shock.
I looked away and at the same time, made a request. “Teach me that skill at some point? I’ll teach you Dodge or Flee.”
“Sure, what are you going to use it for, though?”
“I mean, isn’t it cool?” It’s like the stuff in assassin and ninja games, right?
“Still game-obsessed, even here.”
“Rude,” I retorted to her laugh. Not that I could deny it.
“Oh yeah, what level are you?” she asked.
“21,” I responded. “You’re over level 30, right?”
“Hm, I thought you would’ve power-leveled as much as possible. That number seems a bit low.”
She still remembers my preferred playstyle.
“I did at first, but my stats were too low to begin with. Even after leveling, they didn’t rise very much.”
“And so you’re feeling down in the dumps?” she asked.
“Huh? Nah, that doesn’t bother me anymore. I’m having fun raising my water magic mastery. Plus, mastering elemental magic is a secondary goal.”
“That ‘mastering’ always was a phrase you liked,” she mused nostalgically.
Was it?
“Sasa, you should get your level up,” I advised. “Especially since you’ve got good base stats, you’ll gain a lot from it. Also, that skill of yours gives three times the benefit.”
I was as jealous as anything.
“I’ve never been great at that, though,” she admitted.
Well, that’s why she liked action games.
“Hey, Takatsuki?”
“What’s up?”
“If you’re worried about something, let me know, all right?”
“Uh...what?”
“You just look like there’s something bothering you.”
“Oh...okay.” Guess there was no getting something past an old friend. I’d have to explain the wicked deity thing at some point.
“Thanks,” I told her.
“You’re welcome,” she answered with a smile.
Spending time with her like this was great; she was easy to get along with and it made me feel a lot more comfortable.
When we got out of the springs, we headed back to the guild.
As the party began, Lucas called out to all the adventurers, “All riiight! Let’s welcome back Makoto and Lucy with a toast!” He was greeted with a massive cheer, as always.
“Makoto! Out with it!” Jean demanded, leaning over me drunkenly.
“Jean was worried about you the whole time,” Emily added with a smirk.
Jean groaned. “C-Come on, Emily, what are you on about?!”
“It was nothing big,” I deflected, tired of the same conversation over and over.
“Makoto... That’s a bit too modest,” Lucy retorted.
This is what things had been like ever since we’d gotten back to Macallan.
I glanced over at Sasa, hoping that she was enjoying herself, and saw her gulping down a drink like it was water. She had an iron liver! I guess a monster’s body wasn’t just for show...
“Hey, Makoto, what’d the two of you get up to today?” Lucy asked with ruddy cheeks, leaning her head on my shoulder.
“Well, he showed me around the town. We dropped in to see Fujiwara, then we had lunch. Oh, and then we went to the hot springs together,” Sasa answered.
A few voices yelled in unison.
“Uh, A-Aya...what do you mean, ‘together’?” Lucy asked.
“Well, we shared this thing called a family bath. Didn’t we, Takatsuki?”
“Yeah, we did.”
I mean, that was normal for this world, right? There were other pairs of men and women in the bath, after all.
“M-Makoto...you...” Jean managed, looking at me in shock for some reason.
“All afternoon? How bold,” Emily commented, her gaze cold.
Lucy was rigid in her seat. What was going on?
“Awww, and I was going to be Makoto’s first,” Mary said drunkenly, walking over to us.
“Mary?” I asked. “Where’d that come from?!”
“Ah well, I’ll be second then,” she insisted, winding her arms around mine. “Let’s go together next time.”
“I have no idea where this is going...” I muttered. Something I said had gotten misconstrued, I guess.
“Heyyy, Makoto’s a man now! A toast!”
Lucas?! What’s that supposed to mean?!
“Damn it!”
“Go explode!”
“You two-timer!”
“What’s his party, a harem?!”
It was my first time back at the guild in ages, and I was getting this kind of well-meaning abuse?
But Mary soon gave me the reason: a family bath. Men and women who used them were always in that kind of relationship. It was popular with couples. Considering our experience back at the bazaar, there seemed to be a fair few establishments like that in this world.
Makoto, whatever world you go to, there’s one thing young men and women do, Noah said in my mind, and her comment was not entirely welcome. I guessed she was probably right though.
Regardless, we ended up spending the whole night drinking.
◇ Lucy’s Perspective ◇
“Hey, how’re things between you and Jean?” I asked.
“What do you mean?” my friend, Emily, answered over lunch. “Well, we’re going out... Anyway, you’re the one that advised me to tell him how I felt.”
“W-Well, yeah.”
Things seemed like they were going well between her and her boyfriend. I’d been a member of their party before, but, in retrospect, leaving had been the right choice. Third-wheeling was never fun...
“What about you, then?” she asked.
I stared at her silently. I couldn’t say that I wasn’t expecting the question though.
“That Aya girl seemed pretty chummy with him yesterday, so are things okay?”
“W-Well Makoto said nothing happened...” I said, trailing off.
“They went to the springs together though.”
“Urk...”
Makoto had said he’d show her around, so I’d held off. Was it normal to go to the hot springs with someone though?
“They know each other from their old world too—is that an issue for you?”
I groaned. Our party had been just Makoto and me until now, but we now had a third member.
“They might end up getting closer,” Emily prompted.
I started to imagine what our next expedition might turn out like...
The two of them would chatter the whole time about things from their old world. We’d get back, then Makoto would say, “We’re going to go take a dip in the hot springs.”
“Lu, you wait at the guild,” Aya would add.
All I’d be able to offer would be vague protestations, and I’d end up waiting for them on my own at the guild. They’d turn up, arm in arm, with damp hair and...
“N-No!”
There’s no way I could bear that!
“Hurry up and tell him, then,” Emily said bluntly.
Ugh, acting all high and mighty just ’cause you’ve got a boyfriend.
“Emily...how do I do that?” I asked with my head down.
“Well, when I did it...” Emily began her story, explaining how she’d told Jean.
◇ Makoto Takatsuki’s Perspective ◇
“Eh? You want to come goblin hunting?” I asked Lucy.
I hadn’t expected that.
Goblin hunting was part of my routine while we were in Macallan. I’d even ended up with the...somewhat crappy...nickname of Goblin Cleaner because of it.
Lucy didn’t mind much either way. Usually, she was the kind to blast them all away with one huge spell, rather than build her earnings slowly. We had a fair bit of monetary leeway because of our earnings in Labyrinthos, so what had changed?
“Well, the basics are important, right?” Lucy added.
A good point.
“All right then!” I declared. “You come along too, Sasa.” It’d been a while since I’d hunted goblins, and a party of three was perfect! It would be safe, after all.
“Goblins?” Sasa asked. “I’ll pass. Nina’s been teaching me martial arts, so I’ll go do that.”
“Aww...”
“Don’t make that face. I’ve seen enough goblins for a lifetime in Labyrinthos.”
It’d be our first trip out as a trio... But fine, then. I’ll just go with Lucy.
For some reason, out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glance of Lucy giving a quick fist bump.
We headed along the river through the Great Forest using my water magic. Lucy was holding on tight. I guess it’d been a while since we were like this.
“Hey, can I ask you something?” Lucy said.
“What’s up?”
“The Walk on Water spell you’re using... It doesn’t require physical contact, does it?”
“Yeah, I can use it at range. Touch just makes transferring the effect more mana-efficient.”
And because I had so little mana, maintaining that extra efficiency had become a habit of mine. Honestly, I was maybe a bit too miserly.
“So you don’t just let me cling on to you because you like it?”
“Nah. To be honest, you just need to put your hand on my shoulder rather than hold on like that.”
Lucy’s chest was pressed against my back right now, and the softness and warmth were obvious.
“No way!” she protested. “I might fall off when you hit a bend.”
“Guess so.”
I couldn’t help it—racing around the turns felt great. While our conversation continued, we arrived at our destination.
The trees stood tall, cloaked in thick mist and making everything gloomy. There was a chill to the air, even in the middle of the day, and it hung heavily across the landscape.
Currently, we were on the border between Roses and Springrogue. If we went further into the woods, we’d find ourselves at Springrogue’s big dungeon, the Forest of Fiends.
My Scout skill was picking up lots of monsters. I’d come here every day since arriving in Macallan, but because of our trip to Labyrinthos, it had been a long time since I’d been here.
“Yup, this is the place. I’m back.”
“You know...I’ve thought this for a while, but you really love goblin hunting, don’t you, Makoto?”
“I like it well enough.” After all, it was the quest I was most confident completing in this world.
And so, we spent a while picking the goblins off.
“Have you gotten better with your spell control?” I asked after a while. Lucy’s Stone Shot had been right on the mark today.
Her face brightened into a smile. “Right?! It’s thanks to the bracelet from the Grandsage. Apparently, it raises your magic mastery.”
“Hm, mind if I borrow it later?”
“The manual says it doesn’t do anything once you’re above level 50 mastery.”
It came with a manual?! Even her aftercare was perfect...
Anyway, the bracelet wouldn’t be of any help to me. After all, my water magic mastery was above level 100.
“Hey, Makoto,” Lucy asked, tapping me on the shoulder and looking up through her lashes. “Do you have plans later?”
She would’ve normally been way more energetic about that.
“Not really. Apart from eating at the guild tonight.” And after that, I’d offer my prayers to Noah, the same as ever.
“Well, there’s somewhere I want to go for a bit,” she said.
“Sure, I’ll tag along.”
Lucy’s increase in mastery meant that we’d be fine with the monsters. As long as we didn’t go deeper into the forest, that is.
Lucy and I were atop the stream using Walk on Water, and she was clinging tightly to me. I activated my magic, and we set off.
“All right, Lucy, which way?” I asked.
“Um, take a right.”
“Isn’t that the direction of the Wayward Woods?”
It wasn’t as dangerous as the Forest of Fiends, but it was still famous—the whole area was actually a dungeon. It was a place best avoided if you didn’t have the Mapping skill. The recommended adventurer level for taking it on was iron rank.
We did meet those conditions, but I hadn’t thought we’d be entering a dungeon today.
“It’ll be fine. The Wayward Woods is a playground for elf kids,” she said with a smile. “I went there loads when I was young, so I know all the safe routes.”
Well, that should be fine then.
“Okay, but you’re in charge of navigating.”
“Leave it to me!” she exclaimed as we headed into the Wayward Woods.
Once about thirty minutes had passed, I just had to comment. “Lucy, are we lost?”
“W-We’re not! It’s just been a while. Ummm, it should be this way...”
“I’ll keep Mapping going so we can get home,” I decided after a pause.
It’d probably be fine, and I looked around the Wayward Woods since I’d never been here before.
The trees seemed about the same age as those in the Great Forest, and just as big. The mist here was just as thick as in the Forest of Fiends. There weren’t that many monsters, but instead, there was more vegetation, which made it difficult to walk.
The biggest thing, though, was that the environment looked the same in every direction.
So this is what the Wayward Woods is like... I thought to myself. Today could be a bit of scouting, and the real adventure could come later.
However, the way everything looked the same... This was definitely a strange dungeon. It’d been naturally formed from a piece of the Great Forest, and there were rumors of treasure inside.
I wanted to full clear this dungeon at some point, but my adventure here was probably far off.
“Which way now?” I asked.
“Um... Ummm, uhhh...”
“The next time we get lost, we’re heading back,” I warned her. I’m glad I used Mapping to make sure we have a route home.
Even with the unease in my mind, we carried on...and eventually arrived safely at our destination.
“Huh, so this is where you wanted to go?” I asked in wonder as I peered at the place where she’d guided me.
“What do you think? Pretty, right? It’s a secret place for elves.”
It was a field absolutely covered in blooming flowers; a meadow of otherworldly blooms, the likes of which I’d never seen in Japan.
It was pretty and wondrous enough to be worth her pride. I stepped forward, careful not to trample anything, and tried to take it all in. There was a sweet smell in the air.
“Hey, sit down here,” she said after a moment.
“Got it.”
Flower field or not, there was a rock just large enough for the two of us to sit on, and so I did. She followed and sat by my side.
For a while, she didn’t say anything.
“Lucy?” I prompted.
Actually, what had she wanted to come here for?
“Makoto, how have you been?” she asked eventually.
“I don’t exactly know what to tell you...” I mean, we’d seen each other every day, hadn’t we?
“Is the goddess well?”
“Yeah, she is,” I said after a pause. That was well-timed. Maybe she’d realized that I was worried about Noah.
“Has anything happened?”
“No... Things are fine.”
“If there’s anything bothering you, tell me about it,” Lucy prompted. “We’re comrades, right?” Her big eyes peered into my face.
Did she want to talk to me about this?
She’d been my first friend and ally from this world, and I didn’t really want to hide things from her. But I couldn’t get stuff straight about this, even in my own head. I needed just a bit more time... Actually, now that I thought about it, I’d known Lucy for quite a long time.
Back when I’d been training at the temple I’d gone a little silly, saying that I’d solo everything. And I’d actually done just that for a few months in Macallan.
But...I don’t want to think about how things would’ve turned out if Lucy wasn’t there for the griffin or in Labyrinthos.
If I had to go solo now, would I be able to? I’d gotten stronger since a year ago, but I didn’t want to be alone anymore.
Lucy kicked her legs against the rock and frowned. She looked as pretty as ever. I needed to thank her, both for everything that’d happened and for sticking with me into the future.
“Hey, Lucy?” I said. At the same time, she’d turned and called my name.
We just looked at each other in silence. I wanted to thank her, but just staring at each other like this was kinda embarrassing.
She suddenly shifted closer, enough that I could feel her breath.
“S-Say... Makoto?” Her misty eyes stared right at me.
“Lucy?” What was with this atmosphere? It almost felt like she was about to ask me out...
Was that what this was? As the thought passed through my mind, my heart started to race with nerves.
“Um... I—”
Just as she was about to speak, I felt someone’s gaze on us.
“Wait, Lucy, someone’s watching.”
“What?!”
We were surrounded. I’d taken too long to notice.
Sliding off the rock, I drew my dagger.
This is bad.
There was no water nearby, and Lucy was clinging onto my sleeve.
Elementals, elementals, I called in my mind. It was the first time I’d been here, though, so I had no relationship with these elementals, and their response to me wasn’t great. I only had maybe a third of the mana I could usually borrow.
Lucy and I waited nervously for someone to approach.
No one did, though.
“They’re not attacking?”
“Hm...maybe...” Lucy began, an odd look on her face. As she spoke, some branches began to rustle, and then several figures dropped down.
They were in the trees?!
“Oh, my, you noticed us,” said one of them.
“Big sis Lucy, is this your boyfriend?”
“Wow, you’re Rosalie’s daughter all right, bringing a non-elf back home.”
“Hey, hey! Lucy’s guy, introduce yourself!”
The gathered people were chatting cheerfully, and they all had the same long ears as Lucy. So they were elves.
I looked over at Lucy.
“What?! No way!” she exclaimed. “What are you all doing here?!”
“Friends of yours?” I asked.
“Th-They’re neighbors from back home...” Lucy admitted with a reluctant look on her face.
“We were all having a picnic,” one of them explained.
“Then you came along with a guy.”
“So we all hid and watched.”
Wow, I hadn’t even noticed. Though I suppose that’s about right since they all grew up in the trees. Maybe they had Stealth as well?
“H-H-How long were you watching?!” Lucy demanded.
“From the start,” they chorused.
“No!!!”
Ah, she ran off.
The elves chased after her, laughing.
“Hey, what kind of relationship do the two of you have?” asked a beautiful elf, smiling. She must have been one of Lucy’s friends.
I answered in a straightforward manner. “Well, we went to Labyrinthos the other day.”
“That’s not what I meant!” the elf girl exclaimed. “Have you kissed?”
Oh, so she was talking romance...
“Uh, not yet.”
“My, my. For a member of the Walker clan, she’s pretty slow with things.”
I let out a stuttering sigh.
Most of Lucy’s family must be pretty assertive as far as romance went. So was this elf like her, even if she looked pretty different?
“I married into the family, so I’m Lucy’s sister-in-law. You can ask me whatever you like about her, back to when she was getting her diapers changed. By the way, she has a mole on her thigh that—”
“Florna! Don’t tell him that!” Lucy insisted, dragging the elf away.
They were all pretty friendly, nothing like the closed-off image I’d had in my mind.
I also ended up getting a huge pile of fruits from an older elf, though hauling them back to Macallan was a real pain.
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