When we arrived in the living room, there were only large pieces of furniture like shelves and tables left behind.
“Since they evacuated, they probably took most of their belongings with them.”
“Wood flooring, huh? I’ll give up on having futons, but is there at least a tatami room?”
“Let’s see…”
We split up and searched each room.
The room beside the living room turned out to be a six-tatami Japanese-style room.
“Ayaka, I found one. Over here.”
“Let me see? Wow, there’s really nothing here.”
It was truly an empty room.
There wasn’t even a table.
“I seriously feel like we became burglars.”
“Yeah…”
We sat down on the tatami.
“Whew… I’m definitely tired.”
“Me too.”
“Here.”
I handed Ayaka a potion.
“Thanks.”
After Ayaka drank hers, I drank one as well.
Then Elvis came over.
“Hm? Is that a potion?”
“Yeah. Want one too?”
“I’m not really tired. More importantly, how far is it to where the car is?”
“Six hours on foot. If we leave tomorrow morning, we’ll arrive by noon.”
I had saved the location where we had left the van.
For people who no longer knew their way around this world, the map app was invaluable.
“Then tomorrow, we’ll return to Beppu and stay one night. Kokura will be the day after.”
“Yeah.”
We would spend the night at a hot-spring inn.
“Ah, I’ll report this to Mayumi and Hina.”
Ayaka began typing on her phone.
“What are we doing for dinner?”
Elvis asked.
“Probably cup noodles. Which one do you want?”
I pulled several kinds of cup noodles from my spatial storage.
“I want miso ramen.”
“I’ll take udon.”
“I’ll have udon too.”
Ayaka was still sending her report, so I prepared one for her as well.
The water and gas were probably shut off, but I could produce hot water with magic, so it wasn’t a problem.
“Yuu-kun, Elvis, they said they’re ready to cross the sea too.”
Once we met up in Kokura, we could leave whenever we wanted.
“Looks like we can proceed according to plan.”
“It’ll be my first time on Honshu, so I’m kind of excited. Fugu, right?”
It was true that Yamaguchi was famous for fugu.
“Yamaguchi is also a demon-controlled town, right? I wonder if they still run restaurants that serve that kind of food.”
“Who knows? Well, let’s find out when we get there.”
We ate our cup noodles, then snacked on dagashi and other cheap sweets.
Since there was nothing else to do, we lay down.
“Even with tatami, this is a little rough.”
“Remember those cheap inns in the other world.”
At first, of course, we didn’t have any money, so we slept in rooms with nothing but straw mats.
“That was painful.”
Naturally, Ayaka and the others had gone through similar experiences.
“Whether in Beppu or Kokura, should we buy futons and stuff? We can store them with spatial magic, and we’ll probably run into situations like this again.”
“That’s true. Maybe we should prepare various other things too. Not having a pillow is surprisingly uncomfortable.”
I could offer her my arm as a pillow…
But even at twenty-six, I couldn’t bring myself to say it…
“What time are we waking up tomorrow?”
Elvis asked.
“Earlier is better. I’d rather relax at a hot spring inn than stay here.”
“Definitely. Let’s leave at 6. We’ll wake up at 5.”
“Got it.”
“Then let’s sleep.”
After deciding tomorrow’s schedule, I closed my eyes.
Then an overwhelming surge of mana washed over me.
“—!”
“Mana!?”
“I felt that one too.”
We sat up and looked at each other.
『U-ugh! S-stop!』
A man’s scream came from outside.
“What was that?”
“It’s bright outside!”
Just as Ayaka said, light now shone through the shoji screens.
“Something happened. The military?”
Elvis opened the shoji.
When he did, we could see the neighboring house.
Flames were coming out of the second-floor window.
“You’ve got to be kidding me…”
A fire, even though nobody was supposed to be here?
No…
Someone was here.
“Someone was there? And that mana…”
“It’s not normal.”
I recognized that mana…
“Damn it! They found us. Ayaka, get ready to fight.”
“Well, I guess it wasn’t going to end peacefully.”
Ayaka pulled a sword from her storage magic, so I took out my staff as well.
“Elvis, shrink down and get into my pocket. I want you ready to escape at any moment.”
It was a fire, and the Self-Defense Forces might come.
“Got it.”
Elvis shrank down, climbed into my pocket, and I stood up.
“Yamane-kun?”
“Probably.”
I nodded, pulled out a potion, and drank it all at once.
Then I passed through the living room and went outside.
Standing in front of the burning house was a thin man.
However, two men were lying unconscious beside him.
“Yamane…?”
When I asked, the man who had been watching the flames turned toward us.
His hair hung past his shoulders, and his eyes were as dull and empty as they had been years ago.
“Your name was… Takanashi, I think. But you… I don’t remember.”
Yamane looked at Ayaka and tilted his head.
“Miyama.”
“Miyama… Ah, right. The girl I couldn’t stand.”
What did he just say?
“Rude.”
“Ignore him. He probably never even registered on the girls’ radar.”
What’s with this guy?
“Did you do that fire?”
The flames were still burning.
Since it was night, it would stand out even from far away.
“Yeah.”
“What about those men lying there?”
“I did. There’s no one else here, is there?”
That’s true, but…
“Why would you do something like that?”
“Ah, I remember now. I hated those strong-willed eyes of yours—the kind that believe you’re always right…”
I couldn’t communicate with this guy at all.
“Yamane, do you remember Sakashita-san?”
I stepped in front of Ayaka and asked Yamane.
“I remember. She was the only classmate I thought might be able to become my companion.”
Companion…
“Why did you kill her?”
“Because she wouldn’t become my companion.”
He didn’t even deny it…
“Did you follow us?”
“Yes. I saw you in the entertainment district… You were hiding your mana, but I immediately knew you were classmates.”
So he really did notice us…
Well, considering he was here now, that much was obvious.
“How did you track us?”
“Hah… Fine, I’ll tell you, idiot. There’s a Skill called Marking. My Job is Agent—an advanced Job derived from the Thief class.”
I didn’t know what that meant, but it sounded impressive.
“I see… Then why did you come after us?”
“This world has gotten better.”
Yamane smiled.
“When I heard we were being sent back from the other world, I despaired. But this shitty world is better now than it ever was before. I want to live here.”
His smile was deeply unsettling.
“Yuu-kun, what’s this guy talking about?”
“What… are you two dating? I didn’t think Takanashi was the type.”
That was rude.
Ten years had passed.
Ten years had passed, and all we had managed was holding hands, but still…
“Are you going to fight?”
“Die for my sake.”
Yamane raised his spear.
“Don’t worry, Takanashi. I’ll kill you quickly.”
So he wasn’t going to kill Ayaka right away?
I couldn’t understand how someone could say that and think it was reassuring.
“We’re two against one.”
“Only two. And neither of you seems accustomed to fighting people.”
Yamane pulled out a spear from nowhere.
“Spear Guy really was Yamane. Looks like my worst-case prediction was right.”
Ayaka drew her sword, stepped in front of me, and took a fighting stance.
“Yamane, die.”
This guy was dangerous.
We had to take him down.
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