CHAPTER 1
WALKING OUT OF A CONVENIENCE STORE AND INTO A MYSTERIOUS WORLD
1
Subaru Natsuki was an extremely ordinary boy from Earth, the third planet in the solar system, born to a middle-class family in the nation of Japan. That was all you really needed to sum up his seventeen or so years of life, and if there was any need to add more, the extra sentence “He was a third-year public high school student with a tendency to not show up for class” would be sufficient.
When people find themselves at a fork in the road, like deciding whether to go to college or find a job right away, they usually have to make a decision one way or another. That’s something everyone deals with and is a part of what most would call life, but in Subaru’s case (some might call it his specialty) he was a bit better than most at running away from things he didn’t like. To avoid making that exact sort of decision, his school absences steadily increased until one day, it hit him—he had become a bona fide truant. The kind parents weep over.
“And to top it all off, now I’ve been summoned to a totally different world. I guess that seals the deal. I’m a high school dropout now. Agh—”
“Subaru?”
As he nodded to himself and tried to come to grips with the situation, a pair of pale white hands grabbed his face. Looking up, he saw they belonged to a beautiful, silver-haired girl.
Personally speaking, he’d give her perfect marks. Ten out of ten for everything from her long silver hair that gleamed like moonlight to those jewel-like amethyst eyes rimmed by fluttering long eyelashes and a face so impossibly beautiful that artists everywhere might snap their pencils out of pure frustration.
And of all the things she could be doing, this beautiful girl was holding Subaru’s face from so close he could feel her breath as she curiously peered into his eyes.
She smells super nice.
“Subaru?”
“Y-yerp, that’s me. Subaru Natsuki.”
Subaru answered with a stiff smile when she called his name again in that oh so charming voice.
My face and voice were probably shaking. And that smile was probably creepy.
But despite his concerns, the beautiful girl in front of him simply nodded.
“Good. Sorry. You just seemed a little strange.”
“Strange in what way? Was it my eyes or something?”
“No, not that. You still have your usual glare. I was wondering if you hit your head or something.”
“My usual glare?!”
Subaru was just kidding around a little to lighten the mood and was completely taken aback by the unexpected reply. The beautiful girl apologized and stuck out her tongue a bit.
Damn, she’s cute. What’s with her?
She was almost unbelievably friendly, and the fact that she used the word usual made him wonder, but—
“—It is too soon to decide he’s safe, Emilia. Why does something feel off, I wonder?”
“…? But his glare is the same as always, I think.”
“For the moment, the atrociousness of his glare really doesn’t matter. That is not the issue.”
“Atrocious?! Come the hell on! Just because…you two are cute…”
Subaru started to raise his voice at the silver-haired beauty who’d called his name and an adorable little girl wearing an extravagant dress who sported curls like a manga character. But of course, he didn’t feel comfortable talking so brusquely to two beautiful girls he’d never met before.
“Argh, damn it. What in the world is going on…?”
If the situation was what he imagined, the two of them were probably key people. Forget villager number one. The silver-haired beauty has to be one of the main heroines and the adorable little girl is probably a helpful mascot character.
“Ahem.”
Subaru decided to make a good first impression and fixed his appearance.
With a cough, he looked back at them and took a step back.
“…Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Subaru Natsuki!” He struck a pose with one hand pointed toward the ceiling and the other planted at his waist. “The ignorant and unintelligent wanderer, an invincible heaven’s steed from a distant land! I may be inexperienced, but I’m certain we can get along!”
“ ”
Both of them were taken aback by that sonorous introduction. And then the two of them looked at each other in silence for a full ten plus seconds.
“Ummm… We already knew that…?”
“It’s far too late for that sort of introduction now,” the little girl said.
“What?!”
He couldn’t help reacting that way after the introduction he worked so hard to put together was brushed off so casually.
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