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Chapter 003: We’re finally in the other world! (One)
Once I regained my vision, I saw that I was standing on a grassy field.
I looked down, staring at my new, delicate-looking hands.
Turning to my side, I glimpsed a pretty elf with long blonde hair checking me out.
She was one step short of being gorgeous, and I definitely knew her from somewhere.
“Erm, a-are you Haruka-san?”
“Yes, and you’re Nao?”
“Yep, that’s right.”
Her answer confirmed my suspicions.
She definitely looked different from her previous self, but there was still some of Haruka’s aura left in this new person.
And... Did she get shorter?
Haruka used to be quite a tall girl, almost 170cm, with a well-proportioned body. But the elf standing before me was shorter than that, and her proportions... Let’s just say that she’s gotten a lot slimmer.
“...What?”
Haruka narrowed her eyes at me, as if sensing my judgement.
She sounds a little pissed.
“It’s nothing, you’ve just become beautiful! Guess that’s the standard for Elves!”
I shook my head in a panic, changing the subject.
Haruka had always been pretty, so this change wasn’t too much of a shock, but she certainly looked a little ethereal now.
Well, that’s because she’s no longer human.
“Hmph, you chose to become an Elf too, Nao. Just as I’d suspected.”
Haruka averted her gaze as she spoke.
I thought I spotted a slight blush on her cheeks.
Yep, I guess she never expected her childhood friend to call her ‘beautiful’.
“Oi oi, I know you two are close, but please stop ignoring me!”
A voice sounded from behind me, and I quickly turned around to see... A furry?
There were dog-like ears on his head, and a bushy tail sprouting from his butt.
And his face... Oh, I see. It was Tomoya.
Aside from a predatory look in his eyes, he seemed mostly unchanged.
“Oh, it’s you. What are you? A dog?”
“A wolf, idiot! As a furry lover, becoming a kemono was my only choice!”
Tomoya puffed out his chest with pride, his ears and tail twitching with happiness.
That was just like him.
“Personally, as a guy, I feel that becoming a kemono is kinda pointless. Don’t you think?” I asked.
“Well, gotta agree with you there. But! What if kemono can only marry other kemono? That means I won’t get a chance to marry one. Definitely not!! I can’t let the chance of netting myself a kemono bride just get away like that!!!”
Listening to his rant, I got the sense that Tomoya did place a lot of thought into selecting his race.
Not that I agreed with him at all.
Oh well, I guess I could sympathize a little.
I mean, a kemono bride does sound quite exotic.
“Hmph, so you’re here too, Tomoya,” Haruka nodded in acknowledgement, looking up and down at Tomoya’s new form.
“W-What? Am I in your way?”
“I never said that... Besides, we could do with having a shield.”
“Oi, what did you just call me? A shield!?”
“O ho ho ho, what luck~. You’ll be of such great use to us, as a living shield!”
Tomoya’s eyes widened at Haruka’s whispered threat, but before he could retaliate, she’d already turned away with a grin.
To others, this exchange might sound strange, but I’m sure they were just joking with each other. Yes, that must be it.
“But the power of friendship is amazing. I was able to find you guys even though we were nothing but shades,” Haruka mused.
“Yeah. I kinda felt that I knew you guys!” Tomoya agreed.
“M-Me too. It must have been because we spent so much time together!!” I added hurriedly as they nodded at each other approvingly.
I couldn’t bring myself to tell them that I totally couldn’t tell anyone apart back there!!
“Oh? Well, yes, that must have been it. Anyway... I don’t see anyone around here who looks like our classmates, so I guess we’re lucky to be together now.”
Haruka sounded a little suspicious of me, but she ignored it, choosing instead to take a good look around us.
I walked to stand beside her. She was right, there was nobody in sight, let alone any classmates.
And thanks to my new ‘Hawk’s Eye’ skill, I could see much further than before, but all there was to see were grassy fields, forests, and some wild birds.
“But, what a shocking turn of events. Even now, I still don’t know if we got lucky or not,” I sighed.
“Let’s think of it as a blessing in disguise. We can’t change the fact that we met with an accident, but there’s no point brooding over it now,” Haruka gave a wry grin as she shrugged.
“Well, I count myself lucky! Now, I actually can get myself a kemono bride!”
The always-optimistic Tomoya laughed, though I couldn’t bring myself to do the same, especially when I thought of my parents.
We may still be alive in this other world, but it doesn't change the fact that we're dead in the previous one. I guess I’ll need some time before I can come to terms with this ‘blessing in disguise’, as Haruka calls it.
“Let’s put Tomoya’s daydreams to one side, and actually find out what we wanna do from now on, shall we? It’ll be hard for us to travel together if we all have different goals.”
“Y-Yeah, I guess?”
I was all prepared to tag along to wherever my childhood friends were going, but Haruka the realist was always the voice of reason.
I guess I'd have to start taking this seriously, too.
“Then, first... Repeat after me, ‘Life is precious’!” Haruka suddenly announced, pointing towards us.
“Huh?” Tomoya and I exclaimed at the same time.
Weren’t we gonna talk about our goals?
Ignoring our confusion, Haruka repeated herself.
“Life is precious!”
“L-Life is precious?”
“I won’t try to be a hero!”
“I won’t try to be a hero.”
“Making sound decisions is the only way to go!”
“Making sound decisions is the only way to go!”
“Haruka-sama is always right!”
“Haruka... Wait a minute!”
“Tch!”
Whoa, she almost got us to agree to something dangerous.
But why did she look so annoyed?
Tomoya, being Tomoya, had slapped a hand over his mouth, so I guess that was it.
“Well, let’s start with those goals, alright? Any objections?”
She looked ready to beat down any objections we might have had anyway, so I kept silent.
Well, this had always been the case among us, so I guess things were still just the same.
“I don’t really care. As long as I can get my kemono bride and live happily ever after!”
“Me too. I don’t think I’ll ever want to travel without you guys.”
It was true. The thought of being alone in this strange other world is just too scary.
Haruka nodded in satisfaction, then crossed her arms and puffed out her chest.
“Mm-hm. That’s good! Now, let’s look at each other’s condition. To survive this place, we’ll need to work together and keep each other safe.”
“I see. Erm, how do we summon our status. Do we just say ‘Status’?”
Oh!! There it is. How convenient.
——————————————————————————-
Name: Naofumi
Race: Elf (17 years old)
Condition: Healthy
Skills:
[Help] [Aptitude with Spears] [Magical Disposition/Space-Time]
[Spear Skill Lv.2] [Evasion Lv.1] [Toughness Lv.2]
[Hawk’s Eye Lv.1] [Stealth Lv.1] [Enemy Awareness Lv.1]
[Intuition Lv.2] [Trap Knowledge Lv.1]
[Space-Time Magic Lv.2] [Fire Magic Lv.1]
——————————————————————————-
My name was now written in katakana form, instead of in its usual kanji.
I wondered if it was because of poor computing power.
“I can’t see any stats like HP, MP, STR or DEF. There’s no indication of our level too.”
“You’re right, but it’s good that we can see our condition and skills.”
The other two nodded in agreement, staring straight ahead at nothing in particular.
So my condition right now is ‘Healthy’. I guess it would prove useful, especially in other situations such as when I’m ‘Poisoned’ or ‘Cursed’. It meant that I would know when to get help.
By the way, while Haruka didn’t play video games, Tomoya and I would sometimes get together to do so. Thus, this wasn’t totally new to us, and the experience certainly helps.
“What’s important are the skills. Firstly, ‘Help’. I trust you guys have that?”
“Of course,” I answered.
So Haruka got that too.
In fact, if it had only cost 5 points, I might not have invested in it. But because it had cost 20, it had seemed much more important, and while it had been expensive, I felt it worth investing in.
“What? You guys got that? Was it really important in helping you guys create your character?”
...Yeah?
“Did you not get it!?”