While we were each gathering information on social media, a phone began to ring.
“It’s Hina… Hello?”
Ayaka pressed the call button.
『Heyyy, how’s it going over there?』
She sounded unusually excited, even for Kitaura-san.
She had probably won.
“We’re waiting at a hotel in Kumamoto City right now.”
『Oh, how’s the human town?』
“At first glance, it hasn’t changed that much. Cars and trains are still running. But there are some small differences here and there.”
『Hmm… So it’s not like some crazy ‘Mad Max’ world?』
Hmm…
“We did see a few people who looked the part. And we passed through the entertainment district—it had exactly the sort of atmosphere you’d expect.”
『Ah, that kind of place.』
『That one.』
That one, huh.
“Kitaura-san, Takamiya-san, are you at the race track?”
『Oh, Yuu is there too… The horse racing ended in the morning. We’re on our way home by car now. Sis, these are our friends Yuu and Ayaka.』
『Fufu, nice to meet you. I’m Linda.』
…………What’s this voice that feels like it’s directly vibrating my brain?
“N-n-nice to meet you…”
My heart was pounding.
『Uh, Takanashi-kun? What’s wrong?』
『Yuu?』
I felt strange… Wait.
“Dispel.”
I cast Dispel on myself.
The pounding in my chest immediately subsided, and I returned to normal.
『Oh my? You’re quite the capable magician. Fufu, how cute.』
Her voice was still beautiful, but I was fine now.
“No, um… Could you stop doing that?”
You used charm magic on me, didn’t you?
『Huh? What did she do?』
『I used a little charm… Well, it’s something like a greeting among succubi.』
That’s a terrible greeting.
More importantly, it works even through a phone call…?
『Sis, that’s mean.』
『I’m sorry. Anyway, do you think you’ll be able to find your companions over there?』
“Hard to say. It feels like we might have come up empty-handed. We’ll go to the entertainment district one more time tonight, but if that doesn’t work, we’re thinking of returning to Beppu.”
Ayaka answered.
『Then you’ll come here afterward. Understood. I’ll hurry the preparations for crossing the sea.』
『Thanks, sis.』
『Much appreciated. But what about Minato and Riku?』
Kitaura-san asked.
“I talked with Yuu-kun earlier, and I think those two are probably heading toward Tokyo as well. We should be able to meet up somewhere.”
『That makes sense. They’ll probably try to secure smartphones first too, so eventually they should be able to contact us. It wouldn’t be too late even if we wait until then.』
『Well, it can’t be helped. I thought they’d be somewhere in Kyushu, though.』
There was still a possibility of Kagoshima, Miyazaki, Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Saga, or even Okinawa.
『Regarding that, may I share my thoughts?』
Hmm? Succubus-san?
“What?”
『You were transported from the other world back to this one, and all four of you ended up in Kyushu. Because the four people who had lived in the same town arrived in the same region, you assumed the destinations were connected to your locations in the other world. But is that really true?』
Hmm…
“Well, a prediction is just a prediction.”
『I wouldn’t put too much faith in that theory. I heard there was a man with a spear causing trouble over there, correct? He seems unlikely to be one of your companions, which means he may be another classmate. If so, someone who never lived in your town also appeared in the same area.』
That’s true…
“Wasn’t there anyone else besides us in that town?”
“Yeah. There shouldn’t have been.”
Anyone ahead of us would have been much farther along, while those who had never aimed to defeat the Demon King would have remained far behind.
In fact, no other classmates had appeared during the five years we lived there.
『Let me confirm something. When you were transported, Mayumi and Hina were holding hands, correct? What about you two?』
If I remember correctly…
“Ah, I also reached out and grabbed Ayaka’s hand without really thinking.”
“Yeah. I definitely held his hand.”
『Yuu-san and Ayaka-san arrived together because they were touching, just as Mayumi and Hina did. The fact that both pairs happened to land in Kyushu may have been nothing more than coincidence. That explanation seems more likely to me.』
I see…
It was entirely believable that the careless god had simply thought, “Anywhere in Japan is fine,” and put no more thought into it.
“That’s possible.”
“Yeah, it could be.”
『That being the case, I think it would be better to wait before searching for anyone else. I understand wanting to meet your companions as soon as possible, but you shouldn’t rush.』
That probably was the better choice.
“Understood.”
“We’ll do that.”
『Yuu, Ayaka, let’s just hurry up and regroup. We can search for Minato and Riku afterward.』
Yeah…
That was probably right.
“Yeah. I’m thinking we’ll leave here first thing tomorrow morning, but if we’re walking, it might take a day or two. I’ll contact you along the way.”
『Understood.』
『We’ll be waiting for you.』
Takamiya-san’s words ended the call.
“Were we getting a little impatient?”
“Maybe. But it couldn’t really be helped. You were especially close with them, after all.”
I had known Ayaka and the others for five years, but I’d known Minato and Riku for ten…
“Well, let’s just be glad we got to see what a human town is like.”
Elvis brought the discussion to a close.
“Yeah… So, are we really walking tomorrow?”
“Probably. We can take a train to the station near where the Self-Defense Forces dropped us off, but from there we’ll have to walk unless we can find some transportation.”
Transportation, huh…
“Couldn’t we buy a car?”
“No way. Even I know that.”
Well, 160,000 yen probably wouldn’t be enough.
We might not even be able to buy a motorcycle…
“Ayaka, are you okay with walking?”
“We traveled mostly on foot in the other world. Sure, there were times we rode in carriages, but walking was the norm. It’s not a problem. However, this time we can’t get spotted by the Self-Defense Forces.”
Because they’d take us back.
“Let’s work out our route before nightfall.”
“Yeah. Japan has a lot of roads, so we should be able to manage somehow.”
We stopped searching social media, opened a map app, and began planning our route back.
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