Tenshi Translations

Volume 1 Chapter 1 Part 1

Chapter 1: A Parallel World Before I Knew It

 

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You can grab the PDF here.

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Everything in my sight was dyed in the color of the sinking sun.

The slowly darkening scenery looked like an old, faded photo, evoking a strange feeling of nostalgia in me.

Like the feeling one has for something previously lost, something that one’s hands can no longer reach, this sense of deep yearning——this sense of nostalgia that is constricting my chest is welling up inside me. For no reason, in contrast to the impatience that was building up, I was seeing everything in slow motion, making me feel like this moment was going to continue for eternity...... Such ridiculous thoughts were running in some corner inside my head.

“...... I love you.”

This was a usual, regular confession scene.

Inside the school building dyed with madder red, the two of us were facing each other.

There was nobody else around. Standing still, our shadows stretched long on the ground.

The voices and sound of the baseball club members’ practice in the schoolyard sounded......kind of far away. Aside from the two of us, everything else felt unreal, like they were part of the backdrop of a play. Rather, it was as if we were the only ones left behind in this never-ending world of twilight. In this strange atmosphere, I was struggling.

“Please go out with me.”

These were straightforward words of courtship.

They were the embodiment of my determination.

If I did not tell her my feelings and locked them up inside my own chest, then we could continue having the relationship that we’ve always had. It was a familiar relationship with a comfortably ambiguous distance. It would be only natural to leave things as they were for fear of losing everything.

However, that would merely be an endless state of stagnation.

Feelings are alive. If you shut them in for too long, they will eventually die.

“......”

The words that were released with all of my resolve dissolved into the silence.

The girl blinked twice, then thrice.

After that, the girl——

“No way.”

answered thus.

.............................. Eh?

“Just now......what did you say?”

“I said, ‘No way.’”

Towards to my question, which had been delivered in a trembling voice, the girl responded in an indifferent tone.

Then, as if to make doubly sure, she continued to speak, as if to drive home the killing blow.

“I have no intention of going out with Shin-chan.”

“............!”

I moaned while feeling like all the blood in my body was flowing in reverse.

The unimaginable refusal. The unimaginable failure.

I had strongly believed that she would accept my confession.

The two of us were childhood friends. As we lived close to each other, our families were well acquainted with each other, and the two of us knew each other well ever since we were small. I had confessed while thinking that I understood her better than anyone else. It’s a policy of mine to not make bets with poor prospects.

“Eh......but......”

I shamelessly pressed on doggedly.

A different me inside some corner of my head whispered to me that this was unsightly. Even now, I could make it in time. The voice warned me that if I laugh it off like “Ahaha, I know right, that was a joke, just a joke,” then the wound would not get exacerbated. At least, if I settle this as a joke——even tomorrow, I can continue being this childhood friend’s classmate, and everything can be resolved without any awkward feelings.

However, my lingering affection pushed my back.

I tumbled down the path towards the more disastrous ending.

“How come......?”

Was it because I was not hot?

Was it because my grades weren’t exemplary?

Was it because my athletic reflexes were dull?

Was it because——

Worthless conjectures spun inside my head in circles.

“That’s because......”

The girl blinked her eyes in surprise.

She looked completely surprised. Almost as if she wanted to ask “By this time, why would you even need to ask this?”. I was so lovestruck that I even thought that expression on her face was lovely.

Then——

“Shin-chan is an otaku.”

——So she said.

 

 

 

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When I opened my eyes, my everyday ended.

And that was without any notification either——in two, three different meanings of the word.

(T/N: The word 断りもなく here can mean ‘nothing notifying him about his dream ending,’ ‘his everyday life being over without any warning’ (ie. cus he got rejected), or simply ‘he got rejected without any warning.’)

“WHAT’S WRONG WITH BEING AN OTAKUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!”

I woke up due to my own shout.

“............”

In about the time it took for me to blink three times, I loosened all the muscles in my body, which had gotten stiff.

It wasn’t like today was the only day with a bad dream, but due to having shouted with all my strength......my head somehow hurts. It felt like a large lump of lead had been embedded inside my brain.

“It was a dream, huh......”

Despite the incident having occurred more than a year ago, the recollection dreams were still as vivid as something that had happened yesterday.

On the other hand......it was as if some fragment of the dream was still entwined around my consciousness, causing my mind to be unable to turn. It felt terribly troublesome to think about anything.

Still in a face up position, I absentmindedly looked straight upwards.

What I saw there was——

“......An unfamiliar, ceiling......?”

On the spur of the moment, I plagiarized a line from episode 2 of that famous anime. Even I think I’m a pretty sinful otaku myself, but let’s put that aside for now.

(T/N: He’s referring to Evangelion, btw. The title of ep 2.)

I wasn’t joking though. The ceiling over my head really was an unfamiliar ceiling that I’d never seen before.

More like, it feels strangely close. Or strangely low.

“......Where......is this?”

What was being reflected in my eyes was not the ceiling that I had seen so much of to almost get tired of.

More like, if this was my room, then what I should be seeing is a ceiling graced by a life-sized poster of Madoka, the heroine from the masterpiece magical girl anime『Rental☆Madoka』, towards whom I hold everlasting love for. But on the ceiling that I’m currently staring at, the bright smile of the magical girl who continued working hard without losing sight of hope despite having been hired by a black employment agency was nowhere to be seen.

In its stead, what was being reflected in my eyes were some engravings of strangely elaborate design.

More like......in the first place, this is not the ceiling of my room.

This ceiling was not flat, but rather a sloping depression similar to a hemisphere. Furthermore, all four corners were supported by four fine pillars that rose from the edge of the bed that I was currently lying on.

This must be a bed with a canopy.

Indeed. This is one of those devices used in anime and manga and games and light novels as a symbol to indicate a『rich』character. A commoner like myself who wasn’t part of such a work should not have the opportunity to even set eyes on such an article.

Such a high-class furniture, added to the fact that I was sleeping in it.

How come? Holding such a question in mind, I raised my body.

When I looked around......I saw a strangely spacious Western-styled room.

As for its size, it was roughly three times the size of my own room——around 20 tatami, then. (T/N: About 348.7 square feet.) However, there was almost no furniture. It was almost a waste of space how the large canopy bed was ostentatiously placed right in the center of the room. The room was dim apparently because of the heavy curtains covering the windows. However, there was a crack that allowed some white light to shine through, which prevented the room from being covered in total darkness.

“......Seriously. Where the heck is this?!”

I muttered to myself in a groan.

In contrast to the lack of furniture, the wallpaper was decorated with very detailed patterns, the curtains were embroidered, and detailed craftsmanship could be seen on the window frame and the pillars jutting out slightly from the walls. On the wall were lamps decorated with an incomparable amount of ornamentation.

Every single article were things that I had only ever seen in anime and manga and games and light novels. Everything gave off the feeling of a traditional Western-styled residence. To speak plainly, this was a『Western mansion』.

That’s why......there must be......

Having stood so still as to almost fade into being a part of the scenery inside the room caused me to be late in noticing that existence.

“——?!”

My gaze accidentally swept too far to the side, so I hastily turned my head back.

That humanoid silhouette standing close to the wall.

“M............”

In the instant of realization, fireworks ran through my brain.

That was......

Black one-piece.

White apron decorated with frills.

A headpiece similarly decorated with frills.

In addition, a collar adorned with a dark red ribbon with a jade green clasp.

Ahhhh, that is......that is!

That moe trope that appears again and again in games and anime and manga and light novels that so many people love! That costume that, despite having a relatively low amount of skin exposure, has managed to cause so many people to go crazy with moe that it has been nicknamed the『Wearable Aphrodisiac』!

That was unmistakably——

“MAID-SAN キタ————!!!!!!”

(T/N: キタ is read ‘kita.’ It means ‘it’s here,’ but watch this to fully understand the feelings packed into these two simple characters.)

“......?!”

Reflexively, I tightly gripped my hands into fists and shouted out loud in excitement, but it seems to have caused the maid-san standing next to the wall to start trembling.

More like......I’m getting the feeling that she had been taking refuge against the wall to put distance between the two of us in the first place. Well, if a sleeping person suddenly shouts out loud, then anyone would draw back.

But really, to think that the day would come when I would have the honor of beholding, with my own two eyes, a 3D, real life maid-san!

“Oou......”

I was so very deeply moved.

Those who would say “But there are maid cafés, aren’t there?” are mere amateurs.

The so-called ‘maids’ at maid cafés are mere cosplayers, mere fakes, and mere pretenders. The true meaning of being a maid-san cannot be found in those places. Those girls are mere imitations——inside, they’re normal high school or university students. In other words, of the three elements necessary to reach the highest mysteries of the maid-san way—heart, technique, and physique—the most important one, ‘heart,’ is missing!

However, the maid-san currently in front of my eyes did indeed possess it.

I can tell. There’s no deceiving my eyes......!

More like, when you compare someone who’s wearing the costume as a cosplay against someone who wears the costume as a part of everyday life, the difference is obvious. This girl’s body was completely accustomed to the maid clothes that she was wearing.

Furthermore, when I took a second look, I realized that she was not a Japanese.

I couldn’t see the exact colors because the room was dim, but I was at least sure that she did not have black hair or black eyes.

Her long hair was in twintails, which meant that it was tied up and hanging down from a pretty high position behind her head on both sides. Her large eyes looked like she was perplexed——or rather, like she was scared, and were blinking furiously. Even with the dim lighting, I could see that she had white skin as smooth as porcelain, and that her facial features were prominent without being showy——she was the very image of ‘neat, trim, and sweetly cute.’ Her neat and trim side was further accentuated by her slight plainness, making her a good example of how even plainness could be inverted into a plus.

(T/N: The actual word used to describe her was 清楚可憐, which is read as ‘seiso karen.’ Seiso means ‘neat, clean, tidy, and trim.’ Karen means ‘touchingly lovely, sweet (the way young girls and flowers blooming are sweet), and cute.’ This four-character word embodies the quintessential Japanese idea of a perfect Japanese lady.)

Her age looks to be similar to my own——in other words, somewhere in her late teens.

And from what I can see, her body, which was concealed under her maid clothes, appeared slender and delicate.

‘She looks like she would snap if she was hugged too hard’ is a description often used for slender women, but——this girl truly looked like if I carelessly approached her the wrong way, she would get hurt, as if she was a delicate piece of glasswork.

She was almost perfect. If I was to give a score as a judge that grades maids, I would be fine with giving her 90 points. By the way, I would give her the remaining 10 points on the spot if she was holding a broom. The broom is a definitive item for any maid-san. It’s on the same level as the club is for all oni. Without it, it is as if the critical final touch is missing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But well, let’s put that aside for now.

The maid girl who was pressed against the wall spoke up in a voice trembling with fear.

“......Re......Retosamu?”

What? What did she say?

“E......Efasu, uoi, era, retosamu?”

Seeing me stare at her in a stupor, the maid girl was repeating her question——I think. Her sentence ended with a rising tone, so I think it was a question. That’s all I understood, though.

It was undoubtedly not Japanese. Based on the pronunciation, it’s not English either. Exactly what language is it? It did not sound like German nor French nor Chinese either.

In any case, I hadn’t the faintest idea what she just said.

“This is problematic......”

I muttered to myself.

I was finally blessed with the opportunity to get closer to a real, living, 3D maid girl, but if it’s like this, then we can’t even make small talk......!

I know, I know.

Some people without dreams might be shouting “Before that, ‘Where am I?’ and other such questions should be your first priority!” at me. However, that is such a boorish and unsophisticated thing to say. This is an encounter where I can become closer to a moe character, a feat only possible in the 3D domain, through the interface called ‘reality.’ When faced with such a situation, which is so rare that it can even be called a miracle, one has to keep in mind the idiom ‘lose a fly to catch a trout.’ Small sacrifice for a great cause.

“Retosamu......”

The maid girl sounded at a loss too.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one feeling bothered about the fact that we can’t understand each other’s words.

“——!”

Abruptly, she looked like she had just realized something and nodded to herself, after which she began to hastily pat her maid clothes all over. For a second, I wondered what she was doing, but......clearly, she was looking for something that was supposed to be in her clothes.

“Sou, tei!”

The maid girl suddenly smiled brightly, then took out some sort of box from one of her pockets.

She timidly made her way towards me, opened the box from the middle like it was a shellfish, then showed me what was inside.

It was a small——silver-colored ring.

“Eh? What’s this?”

From what I can see, the ring was somewhat on the large side, and gave off a ceremonious feeling——there were tiny letters etched onto its surface.

It seemed like a『magical ring』, one of those things that always come up in manga and anime and games.

Again, I wonder what kind of letters were those. It wasn’t the English alphabet, and of course, neither was it kanji nor kana. I’ve also seen the Hebrew alphabet, like aleph and zayin, appear in games and anime of the fantasy genre, but that wasn’t it either.

“Retosamu, regunifu, ruoi, shisu, ete, tsupu.”

So saying, the maid girl held it out to me——then stopped moving, staying in that pose and staring straight at me.

Was she perhaps telling me to put it on.

But from my point of view, it looked like a very questionable item——I couldn’t help but to hesitate. It gave me an uneasy feeling. The moment I put it on, my magical power would be controlled, or something similar happening was a common plot device. Well, I knew that there wasn’t a magical ring like that in real life, though.

At that moment——

“Retosamu.”

The maid girl showed me her own hand.

A ring that looked exactly the same——a ring with the same design, as far as I can determine, was on the ring finger on her left hand. She took off that ring, exchanged it with the one that she had been offering me before, then showed me herself putting it onto the same finger.

What is this.

It was as if it was poison tasting...... She was probably trying to demonstrate to me that it was alright to put on the ring through the exchange.

But like this, now it feels like we’re getting engaged or married, so I feel a little bashful.

I gained another reason to hesitate, out of character though it was.

“......Retosamu?”

An anxious expression appeared on her white face as she called out to me again.

Nuwa......She’s so cute! But her cuteness only makes me feel that much more guilty!

The maid girl looked troubled at the fact that I wasn’t making any move to put on the ring.

“Aah dammit...... Fine.”

I, too, am a man. And furthermore, also an otaku.

When a maid girl that fits my ideals so perfectly is making an appeal with such sad-looking eyes, there was no way I could ever decline. Having had my fill of kyun kyun moe, my heart was urging me to quickly put on that ring.

“Here goes......”

I fearfully put the ring onto my own ring finger. There was no flash of light nor any hair-raising sounds, nor did the ring suddenly change shape and dig into my finger...... It slid on without any resistance and merely settled into place.

“Is this what you wanted?”

When I asked this, the next moment——

“Yes! With this, we can finally understand each other, Danna-sama.”
(Sei, shisu! Moufu, donatosuredonu, uoi, naku, retosamu.)

“Nuwa?!”

I unconsciously shouted in surprise.

It was because I had suddenly become able to understand the maid girl’s words.

Furthermore, it wasn’t because the girl was speaking in Japanese. She herself was still speaking in whatever tongue it is that she’s using, but something like multiplex broadcasting or simultaneous interpretation was occurring, so that inside my head I’m hearing the Japanese meaning of what she’s saying superimposing over her actual words.

(T/N: Multiplex broadcasting means transferring different videos and audio channels simultaneously over the same frequency channel.)

How exactly is this happening?

Actually, never mind. Let’s put that aside for now. More importantly, what did the girl just say?

『Danna-sama』? Who’s that? Me?

(T/N: For those who don’t know, Danna is one way to call ‘Master’ in Japanese. -sama is a suffix added to indicate respect. It is my policy to leave monikers and suffixes untranslated, as different characters use different things and you can tell who is speaking through those differences.)

“Oou......!”

I was so deeply moved that I couldn’t help looking up towards the ceiling and sighing blissfully.

『旦那様』!  だんなさま!  ダンナサマ!  DANNASAMA——! Listen to this sweet sound! When a maid calls her master, the standard is to use『Goshujin-sama』, but being called『Danna-sama』has its own charm and I love it!

(T/N: Yes, he says ‘Danna-sama’ four times. First in kanji, then in hiragana, then in katakana, then finally in English. All four are read the exact same way.)

Ahhh. To think that the day would come when I get to be called『Danna-sama』by a maid girl.

I’m so glad to be alive. More like, if a time machine exists, then I want to go back to the me from a year ago and tell him that “It’s a great thing that you’re alive. As long as you’re alive, the day will come when a maid-san will call you『Danna-sama』!”

......And things like that.

I was thoroughly savoring this happiness, but now that things had progressed to this point, I could no longer ignore the baffling situation in which I had found myself.

Exactly what had happened and how did it happen?

Where was this place, who is this girl, and why am I in such a situation?

“Mumu......”

Due to a dull pain, my brain cells felt very reluctant to begin moving properly, but I mentally rebuked them while trying to trace my memory back.

I believe I had been in Akiba for a job interview.

In the middle of the interview, there had been a small break time. There had been a drink dispensing machine in the interview room, from which I had taken a cup of oolong tea that I had promptly drunk.

As for any memories after that...... my mind was blank.

Hmm? These memories completely don’t match up with my current situation, though.

“............Danna-sama?”

Seeing me freeze up, the maid girl called out to me in a puzzled voice.

I still don’t understand the exact words that she was saying, but even I could tell that the “retosamu” that she had repeated so many times earlier means『Danna-sama』.

“I’m fine. Umm......”

I turned towards the maid girl and spoke to her.

“Sorry, may I ask you something?”

“Of course. Anything you’d like.”

Perhaps due to the fact that we can finally communicate, she nodded with a happy expression that also seemed slightly relieved.

“For starters, who are you? What’s your name?”

“Miusel——My name is Miusel Foalan.”

She answered with a cute bow of her head.

“......Miusel.”

It’s a cute name. It suits her really well.

Mistaking my mutter to myself as me calling her name, she responded with “Yes?”

“Ummm, what is your position here?”

I had been savoring this trance-like happiness for a while, but even I was not a hopeless enough idiot that when I’m suddenly called『Danna-sama』I would go『Oh I see, so I’m a Danna-sama』and be satisfied with that. Without any context, there was no way that I would have a maid girl waiting on me.

“From this day forth, I have been entrusted with taking care of Danna-sama’s everyday life.”

“No, I mean......’Danna-sama’? Who are you referring to?”

“......Eh?”

My question caused her to blink in surprise.

“Ah......Did you perhaps wish to be addressed in some other way?”

Miusel lowered her head, looking very sorry.

“Kanou Shinichi-sama......”

Kanou Shinichi.

Indeed, that is my name.

In other words, the ‘Danna-sama’ that this girl is talking about equals me......!

“I, I am the ‘Danna-sama’......?”

“Yes.”

She tilted her head quizzically, as if to ask, “By this time, why are you asking something like this?”

I don’t get it. What on earth is this situation?!

“Ummm——”

Well alright, let’s put aside the issue of why I’m a Danna-sama for now.

I decided to change the topic of conversation to where this place was instead.

When I traced my memories back, I remember that I was in the middle of job hunting in the sacred land for otakus, Akihabara——and that was where my memory suddenly cuts off. Wherever this place is, if I’m not suffering from memory loss or multiple-personality disorder, then I did not come here by my own will.

“Where......is this place?”

“Inside the Ratatos Forest on the outskirts of Marinos, the capital city of the Holy Eldant Empire.”

So answered Miusel——or not.

“......?”

When I turned towards where the voice had come from, I saw a single lady standing there.

It was a young lady wearing a dark green colored uniform——no, a military uniform.

Well, I say military uniform, but it wasn’t combat gear, and seemed more like what a person would wear normally at a workplace——the JSDF’s so-called『service uniform』. Up above was a jacket, and below was a tight skirt. On her collar were the characteristic rank insignias and medals indicating her occupational category. She also had on a necktie.

However......above anything else, what first drew my eyes was the place with a lot of cloth.

To put it frankly, it was her breasts.

(H......Huge!)

Their overwhelming presence overshadowed her necktie and her medals and her rank insignias.

These two huge, huge mounds......!

Probably F——no, they look to be G. Magnificent. Uniforms are known for being costumes with a high concealing attribute, but in this case, even her uniform could not conceal those ripe, heavily laden white peaches. Despite the efforts at concealment, the sense of volume that could not be concealed struck me down in an instant. To think that such large breasts truly exist! So the photos of idols are not all Photoshopped?! Amazing, Laputa was real after all! (Due to the excessive stimulation, I became a bit incoherent.)

“......Are you alright?”

Towards the me whose gaze was almost strong enough to bore a hole through her breasts——that lady called out to me in a dubious voice.

“Are you listening to me? Kanou Shinichi-kun?”

“Eh? Ah——yes.”

As one could expect, even I would come back to my senses when called by name. I severed my lingering affections and stopped staring——after expending an enormous amount of willpower, I was finally successful in raising my line of vision towards the other person’s face.

Although my eyes had automatically turned towards her breasts, her face also turned out to be quite beautiful.

She appeared to be in her early twenties.

Short hair. Wait, no——guessing by the fact that there were no hair ends around her collar, although a first glance from the front might give the impression that she has short hair, her hair was most likely actually tied up behind her head in a chignon style or something similar.

The presentation of her clothing was very orderly, and she herself seemed to be giving off a faint feeling of having a chink in her guard......a feminine softness could be felt from her facial structure. The fact that she was wearing glasses only served to further mellow her appearance, giving an overall round and gentle impression.

She could be said to be one of those kind, healing-type onee-san characters.

Both her way of speaking and her expressions gave off a relaxed atmosphere.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Despite all that——what she was wearing was a military uniform after all.

By the way, in contrast to Miusel, this lady was properly speaking Japanese, and her looks were clearly East Asian, so most likely, she was a member of the JSDF——more specifically, she probably belonged to the Women’s Army Corps, or WAC for short.

“I understand why you’d feel surprised.”

The lady smiled gently while saying so.

“But before anything else, first calm down. Otherwise, from here onwards——it might be difficult to last.”

(T/N: The last part had no subject. She was saying that he won’t last, but he thought she was saying that her breasts won’t last.)

“Is......Is that so?”

I was so shocked that my expression involuntarily stiffened up.

“I see......Won’t last, huh......I’d heard that it was easy to sag, but......Understood, I’ll calm down. I’ll be calm, you can bet on it. If by calming down, I am able to preserve those treasures of all humanity, then I’ll calm down as much as you need! Leave it to me!”

I gripped both of my hands into fists and spoke with great vigor.

But to think that I can help prevent her breasts from sagging just by calming down, I wonder exactly how does that work? Did I have such a hidden superpower? The name of the superpower would be『The Buster』(T/N: ‘The Buster’ is the provided rubii reading; the kanji itself reads as “The Emergency Savior of Breasts.” It’s ‘Buster’ because ‘bust’ = ‘breasts.’). This superpower enables me to prevent girls’ breasts from sagging when I calm down and concentrate!

“......Errr, Kanou Shinichi-kun?”

A dubious color seemed to be slipping into the WAC’s smile.

“It seems that some sort of misunderstanding might be happening here, but......By “easy to sag”......What are you talking about?”

“Eh? Weren’t we talking about your boobs?”

“............”

The WAC’s smile froze.

As if she had a Stop button that was pressed, she continued looking at me with a smile that remained unwavering to the point of being unnatural——

“First of all, I believe I should introduce myself.”

The lady once again adopted an easy-going smile, forcibly changing the topic of the conversation back to the proper track.

It seems that she was going to act as if the exchange about breasts had never taken place. As expected of a government employee. Her ability to ignore things was first-class indeed.

“My name is Koganuma Minori.”

She placed her white gloved hands onto her abundant breasts.

Just that alone was enough to slightly change the shape of her breasts. Uwah. Looks really soft.

“I’m a Private First Class belonging to the 1st Division of the Ground Self-Defense Force Eastern Army. My mission is to be your escort.”

So said the JSDF lady, or rather, Koganumi Minori-san.

The family name ‘Koganuma’ sounds a bit too stiff, so I’m going to decide here and now to call her ‘Minori-san’ inside my mind............................................................Wait a second.

“ESCORT?!”

A terrifying word was suddenly brought up.

If I was assigned an escort, then there must be a threat to protect me from. In other words, I am in a position where I am being exposed to some sort of threat.

“E-e-e-exactly, what from?!”

I don’t remember having anyone who would come after my life.

I don’t think I do, but——never knowing when you’ve inadvertently earned someone else’s resentment is part of what it means to be human.

Could it be that someone grew to hate me to the point of wanting to kill me after our bidding war over that bishoujo figure on Yahoo Auction?

“That can’t be! ......I admit that I did continuously make some pretty outrageous bids right before the end of the auction closing time, but, but, Kuuko is a such a rare gem that I would even sell my soul to get my hands on her figure and she even has cast-off clothes and the degree of reproduction of her breasts was said to be absolutely perfect and if I didn’t get my hands on her I’d regret it for the rest of my life——”

“I’ll say this again, but calm down! More like, what are you even talking about?”

Minori-san inquired while knitting her eyebrows.

“......Isn’t someone who lost to me in a bidding war for a figure targeting my life?”

“There’s no way the JDSF would be tasked with your protection for something like that!”

“‘Something like that’?! It’s the limited edition Kuuko figure, I’ll have you know! Although it’s true that she’s not the main heroine, and she doesn’t have large breasts like Minori-san does, but she has her own virtues!”

“......Why are my breasts brought up in this conversation?!”

Minori-san replied while grasping her breasts with both hands, as if to cover them up.

Such an action is only serving to emphasize how large her breasts are, but is she not aware of that? This person.

“Anyways. If it’s something related to crime, then it would be the jurisdiction of the police, wouldn’t it.”

“......That’s true. But if that’s the case, then why......?”

In the first place, if one were to talk about what the JSDF fights against, then that’d be foreign troops or calamities or Godzilla.

I can’t really think of any situation that would require the JSDF to protect a single civilian.

“My escort mission is just a precaution, really. If there’s a clear and imminent threat, rather than just a single WAC like me, they’d be sending entire squads of JSDF members decked out in full combat gear to your side, right?”

“I see your point, but......”

The very fact that a JSDF member was suddenly dispatched without providing any explanation was already unnatural.

“We do feel sorry about suddenly bringing you along without providing any explanation. But it was because several things related to highly classified information was involved. That’s why we had to take such high-handed measures. We are truly sorry for that..”

“Classified information?!”

More terrifying words were coming up.

‘Classified information’ is one of those ultra-alarming words that causes people to die left and right like it’s the most natural thing in the word. Furthermore, the fact that the JSDF was involved naturally means that it’s a national secret or something similar. Most likely, it was on a completely different dimension from some mere corporate secret.

No, wait a second. Before any of that, she just said “bringing you along,” didn’t she. In other words, it was the JSDF that had kidnapped me and brought me to this incomprehensible place?

“No way......”

I trembled with fear at the realization of my current position.

“I got infected by a developmental bacteriological weapon and as a result turned into a mutant soldier that had awakened to newfound superpowers, and am therefore being targeted as a living military secret?!”

“......What on earth are you talking about?”

“Or perhaps a spaceship with super-technology fell from space and its control system took the form of a bishoujo and chose me from among all humankind and wishes to form a contract with me?”

“............”

“Or a three thousand-year seal came undone, allowing the resurrection of a demon lord, but the sole tribe capable of resealing it has been long extinct, so the country used all available resources and identified me as the person whose blood that is the closest to what that tribe had?”

“............”

Minori-san remained silent.

Although she was maintaining the warm smile on her face, I feel like her eyes alone are growing colder and colder by the moment, so for now let’s put a lid on my chuunibyou dreams.

“......Are you satisfied?”

“Well, for the time being.”

“Of course, I had intended on fully explaining the situation to you.”

Minori-san spoke while walking over to stand beside the windows.

“But most likely, you wouldn’t be able to understand, no matter how many words I used. Even if you did understand, I don’t think you would believe me. It was so for myself.”

“............?”

The strangely roundabout wording made me knit my eyebrows.

What on earth was this WAC trying to say?

“That’s why, first look with your own eyes. The explanation will come afterwards.”

Minori-san opened the curtains.

At that moment——white light flooded into the room.

Most likely, it was currently morning. It was a cool yet refreshing light.

The sudden increase in the amount of light caused my eyes to squint up. I waited for them to grow accustomed.

And then——

“......Uwah.”

What I saw was an endless scene of greenery.

Trees and shrubs decked with leaves seemed to extend without end, effectively serving as a wall around the estate. I couldn’t grasp an exact number, but there were less than a hundred meters in between. Apparently, this room was on the second floor......our point of view was high up, but the towering trees almost completely blocked our field of vision.

The words previously said by Minori-san,『outskirts of Marinos』and『Ratatos Forest』, resurfaced in my mind.

And also,『Holy Eldant Empire』.

It was a name that I’d never heard of before.

More like, I’d let it slide the first time, but isn’t that clearly a different country altogether?

I was just job hunting in Akiba, but when on earth did I leave the country?!

As expected, it didn’t take much for me to start panicking, but——

“............Eh?”

What I was truly having trouble believing wasn’t that.

“What was that just now......?!”

Abruptly, something crossed by outside the window.

It was something unbelievably huge.

It wasn’t a bird. Birds don’t get that huge. Though it was only for an instant, that something had completely blocked my field of vision——that was how huge it was. In other words, it was at least larger than this window that I’m standing behind.

On top of that, it had bat-like wings.

On top of even that, it also had a ridiculously long tail.

The clincher was the fact that instead of feathers, its entire body was covered with blue scales.

“Dragon......?!”

That flying body composedly flew in an arc, then once again returned to my field of vision.

Above the wall of greenery, that fantastical appearance flew gracefully. No matter how you look at it, that thing had a wingspan of at least ten meters. If I remember correctly......according to paleontologists, the largest species of the pterosaur, the Quetzalcoatlus, is speculated to have had a wingspan of up to twelve meters. In terms of size, what I’m looking at is on the same level as that. Back in middle school, I had seen a replica at a dinosaur exhibition.

“A dragon just......it’s a dragon, isn’t it?!”

“That’s right.”

Minori-san nodded in response to me, who was on the verge of panicking.

“Wha-What on earth is this place?!”

“As I said before, inside the Ratatos Forest on the outskirts of Marinos, the capital city of the Holy Eldant Empire.”

Minori-san repeated herself with a faint smile.

And then——as if to confirm my guess, she added one more line.

“To put it into simpler terms, this is a『parallel world』.”