Fifteen minutes after Taketsuru vanished.
Meiko and I had been killing time by playing shiritori when the magic circle—which had disappeared without leaving even a trace behind—suddenly flared back into existence.
And then—
“…Did I… make it back…?”
Taketsuru appeared, one hand braced against the ground as he muttered those words in disbelief.
The clothes he wore were nothing like the casual university outfit he’d had on earlier. Instead, he looked like someone straight out of a fantasy anime cosplay convention—some kind of elaborate otherworldly outfit complete with a glittering sword hanging at his waist.
Honestly, the thing looked like it had terrible defensive capability, but it was probably one of those magically enhanced armors tougher than steel despite exposing half your body.
“Welcome back, Taketsuru.”
“Glad you made it home safe.”
Meiko and I greeted his return to Japan—or perhaps “return to Earth” was more accurate—with the relaxed energy of two people casually sipping tea.
But the moment Taketsuru heard our voices, he snapped his head toward us with reflexes so sharp and immediate they barely resembled the same guy from fifteen minutes ago.
Then, with emotions surging across his face, he shouted—
“K-Kirishiro, you bastaaaaard!! If the whole ‘getting sent to another world’ thing was real, then you should’ve SAID SO!?”
“…Eh?”
“If I had told you, would you have believed me?”
“Hah!? Of course not! There’s no way I’d believe something that ridiculous…!!”
“Exactly.”
“…………Yeah.”
Apparently I was about to receive blame for this somehow, but honestly, I had warned him from the very beginning.
Things like:
“What would you do if you only had three days before getting summoned to another world?”
I’d said stuff like that repeatedly.
Taketsuru was the one who decided I was insane and refused to take me seriously.
Well… to be fair, even I had only been half-convinced by the hallucination information myself.
No—more like twenty percent belief and eighty percent suspicion.
So I couldn’t entirely fault him.
“…Haaah. Anyway, let me confirm something,” Taketsuru said, looking utterly exhausted. “Where exactly are we, what time is it, and how long has it been since I got summoned?”
The weariness in his face was striking.
At a glance he didn’t seem physically older, but judging from the heaviness in his eyes, he must have spent years adventuring in that other world.
The fact that he’d returned here at the same age was probably some kind of post-summoning aftercare service.
Though apparently his original clothes hadn’t been eligible for the return trip.
“You’re at Heidan University’s hidden low-traffic spot. Today is May ●th. And as for how long you’ve been gone… about fifteen minutes.”
I paused before adding:
“You know—that exact time period where you were happily rambling about tomorrow’s date with Niwashita-san.”
“—Ah! Right, Sumire-neesan!”
The instant he learned where and when he was, Taketsuru immediately remembered the older girlfriend he’d only been dating for two days.
Well, considering he probably fought his way back to Earth specifically to see her again, that reaction was understandable.
“Sorry, I’ve got a mountain of stuff I wanna talk about, but right now I need to see Sumire-neesan! You better explain everything to me properly later!”
Taketsuru looked ready to sprint off immediately, but Meiko hurriedly stopped him.
“Wait, wait! You’re planning to run out there dressed like that? Right now you’re basically a cosplay guy illegally carrying weapons!”
“—! R-Right. Possessing a holy sword is illegal in Japan…”
I mean, it wasn’t specifically the holy part that was illegal.
Whether it was a sacred blade, cursed sword, or rusty kitchen knife, openly carrying it around was still going to get you arrested here.
Still, there wasn’t much need to worry.
After all, we had Meiko—the extremely competent Otherworld Returnee Support Specialist.
“For moments exactly like this, I brought a free-size tracksuit,” she declared proudly. “You can change into that for now. We’ll hold onto the weapons here, so go ahead and enjoy yourself.”
“Nekoyanagi-san… I owe you one!”
Using a phrase most ordinary people would never say even once in their lives, Meiko began pulling various supplies from her oversized backpack.
As expected of an “osananajimi.”
These meticulous little acts of support really were essential qualities for childhood-friend-type characters.
Meanwhile, Taketsuru the Fantasy Cosplay Warrior immediately started changing clothes right there in front of us without the slightest embarrassment.
His body—clearly tempered through countless battles—was shamelessly exposed as he transformed into Taketsuru the Tracksuit Guy.
At first glance he still looked mostly the same, but if you looked carefully, his physique had changed dramatically.
His shoulders were much broader now.
His whole frame carried the dense solidity of someone who’d actually fought monsters for years.
Casually holding the holy sword in one hand—a weapon whose material I couldn’t even identify—he handed it over to Meiko with ease before flashing a bright grin.
“Alright then, I’m off. And thanks for the ‘strategy guide,’ too. Seriously, it helped me a ton.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“Later!”
And with that, Taketsuru dashed out from the deserted corner of campus and headed straight toward the girl he loved.
Left behind, I took a sip of my still-warm tea before speaking quietly.
“Hey, Meiko. Thinking about it now… is it really okay for the best friend of an ordinary college student to secretly be someone who returned from another world?”
“It’s totally fine,” Meiko replied casually. “Best-friend characters can carry all kinds of ridiculous backstories without causing problems. You can pile on as many insane legends as you want, and it still doesn’t matter as long as it all happens outside the main story.”
“Is that really how it works?”
“That’s exactly how it works.”
Well… she wasn’t wrong.
Even in all the light novels I’d studied as educational material, the protagonist’s best friend was rarely explored in much detail.
Even if that friend was secretly caught up in world-shaking incidents behind the scenes, it effectively “didn’t happen” unless the narrative actually showed it.
Honestly, saving the world offscreen while being treated as comic relief was practically standard behavior for best-friend characters.
“Well then, guess we should get going too.”
Taketsuru had returned safely, so there was no reason to keep hanging around this deserted spot forever.
Third-period lectures would start soon.
At least, that’s what I thought—
But Meiko shook her head.
“I’d love to leave,” she said, “but I don’t think I can move from here.”
“What’s wrong?”
Her gaze shifted toward the unsheathed sword Taketsuru had handed over.
Ah.
I immediately understood.
Yeah, walking around carrying an obvious murder weapon would definitely make moving around difficult.
…Or so I thought.
But when I looked at the holy sword, another hallucination popped into view.
──────
“Holy Sword Neuralmancer”
Sharpness: Extremely sharp
Preference: Loud people
Backseat Commentary: Excessive
Hardness: Ultra-firm
※ Can’t be wielded by anyone except its owner
※ Won’t move from its location even by leverage or force
──────
“…Wait. Are you physically unable to move because of the holy sword?”
“Maybe it’s some kind of anti-theft function?”
Looking closely, Meiko was trembling slightly.
Apparently she was trying to move with all her strength, but some mysterious force kept her rooted in place.
Hmm.
“Meiko. If nobody except Taketsuru can use it anyway, can’t we just toss it somewhere nearby? Nobody’s gonna steal it.”
“…Now that you mention it, that’s true.”
“!?”
For a brief moment, I felt as though some unseen entity had reacted in absolute shock.
But it was probably just my imagination.
Like the hallucinations—just auditory hallucinations this time.
Ignoring the feelings of inanimate objects, Meiko and I abandoned the ridiculously ornate holy sword in the deserted corner of campus.
Well—
To be more accurate, we dramatically stabbed it into the stone pavement because it looked cooler that way.
The contrast between the dull concrete tiles and the gleaming sacred blade was oddly impressive.
And just like that—
The legendary “Sword That Only the Hero Can Pull” was complete.
“…Isn’t it leaning a little? Looks more like eighty-six degrees than ninety.”
“Well, we can’t move it anymore, so it’s what it is.”
“────”
For a split second, I could’ve sworn I heard something like:
“No, wait, I can still move right now though?? Hello!?”
But again, probably just my imagination.
I considered contacting Taketsuru afterward—
Then realized he probably didn’t have a smartphone on him anymore.
Eh, whatever.
I’d tell him later.
Your holy sword became impossible to transport, so we turned it into a tourist attraction.
And thus, the first mission born from my hallucinations finally came to an end.
Later on—
Before Taketsuru could even return to retrieve it, the holy sword was discovered by somebody else and quickly became a genuine tourist hotspot.
…Well, it’s not like modern Japan really has any use for a holy sword anyway.
Even Taketsuru himself eventually shrugged and said:
“Honestly, that thing never shut up anyway, so whatever.”
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