As my vision cleared, the white gave way to black.
“Hmm? Is it… night?”
The surroundings weren’t black so much as simply dark. Still, there was an old-fashioned electric lamp attached to a utility pole, with moths and other insects swarming around it.
“Huh? Where are we?”
Ayaka looked around the dimly lit area, her eyes darting about.
“Think we made it back?”
This was clearly a different world from where we’d been just moments ago. Well, I suppose it had gone from evening to night, so that made sense.
“Y-yeah… it feels like Japan.”
We were standing on a road. However, there were only a few old-looking detached houses scattered about, and I could see fields. And in the distance, there were lush, dense mountains and forests—something you didn’t see much of in the other world.
“Japan, right?”
“Yes. Would you call this… nostalgic?”
“Y-yeah, I suppose.”
The reason we couldn’t quite accept it was partly because it was too dark to see much, and partly because it had happened so suddenly that we couldn’t process the reality of it.
“Hey, assuming this is Japan… where exactly is this?”
“Probably not Tokyo…”
We had been attending school in Tokyo. That’s where we’d been transferred to the other world from.
“If they’re going to send us back, they could’ve at least returned us to that classroom.”
“Well, we moved from our initial transfer location, so the transfer point probably links to this world. The proof is that we’re the only ones here.”
Because we had moved from where we first arrived, we had been sent back to a different place.
“You’re right, there’s no one here. I can’t hear any voices either.”
All I could hear was the sound of owls hooting.
“If that’s the case, I think those guys should be somewhere not too far away.”
Of course, I meant the four friends who had been in the same town.
“Well, yeah… but if we’re back in Japan, we’ll see them soon enough.”
Would we, though…
“Hey, what do we do now? Should we go to the police?”
“Yeah… wait, what do we tell them?”
*We went to another world?*
“I wonder if they’d believe us if we told them the truth…”
“But it depends on what the others say, right? In the end, we’ll have no choice but to tell the truth, won’t we?”
That’s true. If everyone gave different accounts, we’d just contradict each other. In the end, we’d have no choice but to be honest, even if they didn’t believe us.
“So we end up as fodder for the tabloid shows, huh?”
“How awful…”
“Missing youths discovered after ten years. And in cosplay, claiming they went to another world.”
*Claiming* isn’t quite right…
“Ah… I guess it can’t be helped. Well, whatever happens, happens. Anyway, let’s contact the police.”
“Let’s do that… what time is it now?”
There were about five houses visible around us, but none of the lights were on. They were completely dark. Seemed like everyone was asleep.
“Not sure. But we don’t even know where we’re, so we have no choice but to wake someone up. It’ll be a nuisance, but let’s ask to use their phone.”
“Let’s do that.”
We headed to the nearest house and rang the doorbell.
“We’re in cosplay, so we must look incredibly suspicious.”
“We’re a guy and a girl, so it should be fine. We just got lost on our way back from a cosplay event.”
Would they really think that?
“They’re not coming out.”
I tried ringing again, but there wasn’t a single sound.
“Actually, it seems like no one’s home. I don’t sense any presence.”
Ayaka had first become a swordswoman, then advanced to a magic swordswoman class called Rune Knight. She also had a skill called Presence Detection.
“Maybe they’re out?”
“Maybe? It doesn’t feel like a ruin or anything.”
It just felt like an ordinary rural village.
“No one’s here, huh…”
“Maybe everyone in this settlement went on a trip or something?”
Hmm…
“Maybe… what do we do?”
“Sleep outdoors?”
“Do you have camping gear?”
We could use spatial magic—a magic that stores things in a different dimension. It was convenient since we didn’t need backpacks or bags.
“No, I didn’t bring any.”
“Me neither. It was April, right? That might be a bit rough?”
Even though it was late April, the weather was still cycling between cold and warm spells…
“The nights and early mornings are still a bit chilly, aren’t they? Should we try somewhere else?”
“At night?”
The surroundings were nothing but mountains, forests, and fields.
“We’re in Japan, so if we follow the road, we should reach a town. Once we get there, we can borrow someone’s smartphone.”
Well, yeah…
Even at night, there should be someone around. A convenience store would work.
“Bears might show up, though…”
We’re in the mountains.
“So what? Ah, no, wait—we’re in Japan, aren’t we?”
Ayaka and I had traveled and defeated countless monsters, so we were strong. A bear wouldn’t be a problem anymore. But we couldn’t swing swords around in Japan, and it would be better to avoid using magic.
“Come to think of it, did our skills carry over?”
“Seems like it. What were they thinking, choosing that as their wish? Money was the obvious choice.”
Yeah, money was definitely what I’d be thinking about for the future.
“Well, whatever. Hey, do you think we could borrow a shed or something?”
As I said that, I reached for the front door and found it unlocked. The door opened.
“Ah, it’s not locked? That’s the countryside for you. My grandparents’ house in Shikoku was like that too.”
So Ayaka had family in Shikoku. That was the first time I’d heard about it.
“What do we do?”
“Let’s go in. We can apologize later.”
Ayaka said with a nonchalant expression, sliding the door open and stepping inside.
“You’ve really been influenced by the other world, huh?”
I never would’ve just walked into someone’s house like this in the old days.
“Well, after ten years in a world that dangerous… excuse me!”
Ayaka called out. But there was no response.
“Guess they’re really not home.”
“Seems like it… I need to use the bathroom.”
Ayaka took off her shoes and went inside.
“That’s basically breaking and entering.”
“Emergency shelter. It’s fine, it’s fine.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I sat down in the entryway since Ayaka had gone further in.
“Hmm… Ayaka, should we borrow a charger while we’re at it?”
We were high schoolers, so of course we had smartphones. Though the batteries had died long ago…
“Nice idea!”
I heard Ayaka’s voice from the bathroom, so I took off my shoes and went inside too. And since I figured we were already in too deep, I turned on the lights and made my way to the back, arriving at a living room with a kotatsu.
“Charger… charger… not here.”
It was a two-story house, so maybe upstairs?
“Oh, a kotatsu! How nostalgic.”
Ayaka finished in the bathroom and came into the living room too.
“No charger. Might be upstairs.”
“Upstairs, huh… that does feel a bit much.”
I felt like we had already gone this far, but I understood her hesitation.
“What do we do?”
“Was there a landline?”
“No, didn’t see one.”
“Well, smartphones are the norm these days, I guess.”
We didn’t have a landline at our place either.
“Sadly, ten years have passed, though.”
When was “these days” exactly? For all I knew, next-generation phones might already exist.
“Ah, and we might not even be able to use our smartphones. They probably got cancelled.”
Probably. I couldn’t imagine anyone paying the fees for ten years straight.
“Can’t be helped. Let’s stay here tonight and head into town tomorrow.”
“Yeah…”
We turned on the kotatsu, sat down, and put our feet in. It was a warmth I hadn’t felt in so long.
“The residents will call the police when they get back.”
“That works out fine.”
Well, we were planning to contact the police anyway.
“But man, we really are back…”
“Yeah… sigh… what do we do now…”
Seriously.
“At least we can see our parents.”
“That’s the one thing to be grateful for. My little brother who was in elementary school is probably at his coming-of-age ceremony by now.”
Ten years, huh…
“Hey, I’m hungry…”
“Me too. It was right before dinner, and we’d been moving around. Oh, I want to take a bath.”
A bath, huh… That might be pushing it? No, but…
“Should we just go all out?”
“Sounds good to me.”
We got up and went to the adjoining kitchen. Then we opened the refrigerator.
“Hmm? There’s only ham. And seasonings.”
Not much edible stuff here.
“They must be on a trip.”
“No bread either… well, this’ll have to do.”
Ayaka took the ham and closed the fridge. As she did, a piece of paper on the refrigerator caught her eye.
“Neighborhood association… hey, it says Beppu City here.”
“Beppu? The hot springs? Oita Prefecture!?”
That’s Kyushu.
“Another faraway place…”
“Even more tabloid show fodder. Missing Tokyo youths discovered in Oita Prefecture. Elopement?”
Elopement, huh…
“Nah, the others will be found all over the place too.”
“The media will probably latch onto this. More importantly, I don’t think they’ll let us go home easily.”
Seriously, what was going to happen to us now?
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