Tenshi Translations

Volume 1 Chapter 1 Part 3

Chapter 1: A Parallel World Before I Knew It

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can grab the PDF here.

~~~~~~~~~~​~~~~~~~~~~​~~~~~~~~~~

A few hours later.

I was moaning while holding my smartphone in one hand.

“U—n......”

Though some might ask why a home security guard like myself would have something like a smartphone, it was something that I’ve had since before my hikikomori days. After all, it is one of my beliefs that as otakus, one of our duties is to be the first in line to buy products like these and be the guinea pigs.

Well, let’s leave that aside for now.

Currently displayed on the liquid crystal screen is a list written by me. Both as a means for me to gain a better grasp on my situation and also as a way for me to sort out my feelings, I had written down everything that has happened to me today into a brief list——in other words, I was thinking of starting a diary.

Frankly speaking, I was a bit leery of using an electronic device in a world that did not seem like it has electricity. However, according to Minori-san, the battery from the LAV is more than sufficient to supply electrical current of that level, so for now I’m using my smartphone as a notebook.

My current location is the room that had been assigned as my office.

This mansion has a uselessly large number of rooms, but the main ones that I will use are my office, which is situated in the central part of the 2nd floor, and its adjacent room, which is my bedroom. There are also other bedrooms and guest rooms, so it became that Minori-san, who is in charge of protecting me, will be staying in one of those rooms.

And thus......

“Danna-sama.”

Following a few knocks on the door, I hear a cute voice like the ringing of a bell.

It is Miusel——that maid girl’s voice.

“Umm......I’ve brought you......some tea.”

“Ah. Thanks.”

So saying, I stand up, with my smartphone still in my hand, and walk towards the entrance to the room and open the door. At that moment——

“Eh......”

“......?”

In the hallway is a service cart with a set of tea utensils on it, and Miusel standing frozen next to it.

“What?”

“Ah......Excuse me. Thank you very much.”

“......? You-You’re welcome.”

I didn’t understand what I was being thanked for, but for now I moved back to make way for Miusel and the cart to enter the room.

“Come on in.”

“Eh? Ah, ummm, p......pardon the intrusion.”

Bowing timidly, Miusel pushes the cart into the room. For some reason, she seems very bewildered, and is sneaking glances at me while casting her eyes down in a manner that is making me really uncomfortable.

(......Ah. So that’s why.)

At that moment, I finally understood.

Thinking about it, I’m her『Goshujin-sama』, so there’s no need for me to go to the trouble of opening the door for her and greeting her like a guest. That’s also why she is not carrying the tea set on a tray, but on a cart. From her point of view, the door that she was supposed to open by herself was arbitrarily opened by my hand instead, so she is bewildered and at a loss as to how to react.

“Is it fine if I place it here?”

“Ah, yes.”

She indicates the top of the office desk, and I nod.

For a while after that, I just zoned out for a bit, and gazed at her readying the tea, but——

“Ah......ummm......is something the matter?”

After finishing with all the preparations, she looks over at me in a frightened manner.

“The matter with what?”

“No, I mean......You’ve been staring at me the entire time, so......”

Miusel spoke with a perplexed expression on her face.

“Oh, no! It was just so strange, I——”

Not counting the instance from this afternoon——if I also don’t count the instances inside games, this is the first time in my life having a maid-san go to the trouble of brewing and pouring tea for me. As it is my first experience, everything about this scene is astonishing to me. That’s why I’m feeling a bit nervous.

“Strange, you said......?”

Is it my imagination?

I kind of feel like Miusel’s face had turned into a deeply terrified expression.

It wouldn’t do if she misunderstood me somehow, so I quickly rephrase my words.

“Because I’ve never had the experience of having a maid-san pour tea for me, I couldn’t help staring.”

“Ah. So that’s why.”

Miusel shows me a relieved smile.

Uwah. This girl is seriously cute......!

As she normally shows a hesitant and timid expression, these smiles of her become all the more conspicuous. Conscious of my quickly beating heart, I formally give her my greetings again.

“So, umm. Miusel Foalan-san, is it?”

“Yes. I’m Miusel Foalan......!”

The maid girl——Miusel——smiles delightedly.

How do I put this? She looks so innocent. Or rather, she looks extremely, extremely moe.

“Well then——once more, formally.”

While speaking, I straighten my back and lower my head a little.

“My name is Kanou Shinichi. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.”

“Y-Yes, from my side too, that’s, I have the honor of taking care of your everyday life......Ummm, I do think that there are many places where I’m still inadequate, but please, yoroshiku onegaishimasu......!”

Speaking in almost a shout, Miusel-san deeply bow towards me.

How do I put this, she looks extremely nervous.

It even feels like she’s slightly scared of me.

I am indeed overjoyed at the chance to get close to such a cute maid-san, but if she continues to be this nervous whenever she interacts with me, it’s very tiring for me. Well, judging from what Minori-san’s side said, I’m being treated as a state guest——as a super important person by this Holy Eldant Empire, so it’s not like I don’t understand this reaction.

“......Huh?”

With a start, I realize something and blink a few times.

It didn’t come to my attention in the afternoon as she had been acting normally and the hair hanging from both sides of her head had been covering them, but——

“Miusel. Those ears......”

“......Ah.”

In a fluster, Miusel press down both sides of her head as her facial expression stiffened.

And then——

“I......I’m terribly sorry......!”

Her voice almost sounds like a shriek.

“——Eh?”

I haven’t the faintest idea what she’s apologizing about.

In response to an expression which can only be called tragic, all I could squeeze out is an incoherent reply.

“I had no intention, at all, umm, of deceiving Danna-sama, I mean, I was hiding them, but, that’s......”

“No wait, calm down. I don’t know what’s made you so terrified, but perhaps, could it be that Miusel is an elf, or some other different race?”

Indeed. When she had taken that deep bow earlier, her ears had become visible.

They are sticking out a little and are pointed at the tips.

“........................Yes, I am.”

Miusel——finally nods despondently.

“I......am a cross between an elf and a human.”

“As I thought!”

Half-elf!

This too, is a standard moe character type from the fantasy genre. Possessing the beauty of an elf combined with the friendliness of a human, they are such high-spec characters that they can almost be called OP.

But seriously, she is a half-elf on top of being a maid-san?

How many traits does this girl have. Is she supposed to moe me to death?

“However....never, ever did I ever intend to deceive Danna-sama......”

“That’s absolutely perfect!”

I clench my fists tightly and yell loudly.

“......What?!”

Looking shocked, Miusel stands frozen in her place.

In contrast, I draw closer towards her and continue speaking.

“Maid-san plus half-elf! Magnificent! I, at this moment, truly believe that it is no exaggeration to say that I have been born for the sole purpose of meeting you!”

“............Eh? Eh?”

“Miusel, Miusel, once more, please allow me to see those ears of yours one more time!”

“Eh? Ah——Un-Understood.”

Giving in to my fierce look, Miusel holds back some of her hair and bares her ears.

They are indeed the elf ears described in fantasy works.

“Uwah~......They’re real elf ears......!”

I am feeling so moved.

But it seems like Miusel cannot understand my joy at all.

“Da......Danna-sama.”

With her cheeks bright red, Miusel struggles to speak up.

“Ah, I’m sorry. And thank you.”

I speak while drawing my body back.

Thinking about it, it’s only obvious that as a girl, having a guy close enough to feel his breath and having a part of her body stared at so ardently would naturally cause her to feel embarrassed.

“Incredible. Thank you for allowing me to pay my respects to something so absolutely wonderful.”

As I continue to thank her profusely, Miusel’s expression grow increasingly confused.

“You......You will not scold me?”

“Eh? Why should I?”

“That’s......I mean, for being a half-elf......and for hiding it......”

“What about it?”

“............”

Miusel’s expression is frozen, as if she is even more puzzled than before.

Seeing that——a lightbulb went off inside my head.

“I don’t know anything about this side, but could it be that half-elves are not well thought of by humans, by elves, or perhaps even by both sides?”

This is a common setting in fantasy works.

“......Yes.”

Miusel nods imperceptibly.

Using the milder expression of ‘not well thought of’ was my way of being tactful. Most likely, the reality is that they are being discriminated against. So severely so that just the fact of being a child of mixed race is reason enough to be persecuted against.

I’ve finally discovered the reason why Miusel had been so strangely timid the entire time.

She must originally have a personal history rife with discrimination and persecution.

“Ummm. Miusel-san?”

“......Eh? Ah.”

For a moment, Miusel had a loose expression on her face and looked out of it, but she quickly responds in a fluster.

“Danna-sama, please call me Miusel without adding the suffix!”

“Eh? But......By the way, how old are you, Miusel-san? You’re not older than me, are you?”

According to fantasy, elves are a long-lived species.

In that case......Even though Miusel looks like she’s in her teens, there’s the possibility that she’s actually older than me.

“My age? It’s......sixteen......I’m sixteen years old.”

Miusel-san looks startled and replied hesitantly.

“Oh. You’re younger than me. In that case, then I’ll take you up on your offer and call you Miusel from now on.”

“Thank you.”

Miusel-san——or rather, Miusel, nods in affirmation.

“With that settled, I will now say this clearly.”

“Ye-Yes?”

“I am not bothered at all by the fact that you’re a half-elf. Rather, for me, ‘What am I getting rewarded for?’ is what I feel about it.”

“......Hah? ......I see......”

“As such, it is something that I’m extremely happy about, so I will never get angry at you or be disappointed with you for being a half-elf. Understood?”

“............”

For the briefest of moments, she stared at me blankly in puzzlement, but then——

“Thank you so very much!”

She gives me another deep bow.

In so doing, her pointed ears become visible again.

“But seriously......it appears that there are a lot of things that I’m going to have to confirm before I do anything else.”

I mutter while crossing my arms.

If I’m to go by SF staples, then there might be silicon-based lifeforms, octopus-like aliens, or other lifeforms that share even fewer common features with humans. I’ve known from the start that it’s only natural for these other lifeforms to have a different value system or common sense, but I do need to be aware that this would be so even with human-looking parties. Due to this place having so many similarities to Middle Age Europe and the fantasy worlds that I know, it seems like it would be very easy for misunderstandings to occur.

“I’ve only come to this side recently, and I’ve finally heard my full circumstances a few hours ago. Miusel, what have you heard about me?”

“That Danna-sama is a very, very important guest of the Empire, that you will be staying here for a while, and that Blük-san and myself will be responsible for taking care of everything in Danna-sama’s everyday life.”

“Blük-san?”

I blinked in response to this name that I’d never heard of before.

“I will make the introductions later. He’s currently out patrolling and cleaning the premises......”

Apparently, there is another servant who has been exclusively assigned to me.

In which case, it means that there will be a total of four people living inside this mansion. There will be me as the Danna-sama, Minori-san as my escort, Miusel the maid, and Blük-san (I still don’t know what kind of person he is, so I’m temporarily affixing a -san to his name).

I feel like this place is way too big for four people to live in, but according to Minori-san, this mansion is already among the smallest in comparison to the mansions of the Eldant Empire’s nobility. You heard that right. Nobility. As a state guest, I am apparently being likened to a noble in the kind of treatment that I’m being given.

“Do you know what I’ve come to do?”

“For the sake of friendship between the Empire and Japan, as well as mutual prosperity and development between the two countries, you have come to do commerce.”

(T/N: The italicized words are words that are supposed to have a kanji, but Miusel is saying them in hiragana, which implies that she’s just memorized the syllables but doesn’t actually understand the words. As the author explains in the following lines.)

All the important parts were in monotone.

In all probability, she does not actually understand what she’s saying, but is just parroting what she had been taught.

“Ah—......’commerce’? Oh, commerce, right.”

I nodded while smiling wryly.

“Danna-sama, you are someone who has come here from a foreign country far away, is that true?”

“Yes, that’s true.”

Well, a foreign country is not really incorrect.

“It’s a foreign world too, you see.”

“Foreign——world, is it?”

Miusel tilts her head quizzically.

That gesture is so pure and innocent, just like a little bird that somehow, I just, there’s a moe moe feeling overflowing from deep within my chest and it’s taking everything I have to keep it down.

“It’s not a foreign country?”

“It is a foreign country, but it’s in a foreign world.”

“............?”

Miusel’s expression tells me that she is seriously having trouble understanding.

Ahh. That’s right.

I came to a realization. Minori-san and Matoba-san had said it——that this country’s entertainment industry is almost nonexistent.

Magic aside, if I use the Middle Ages as a standard, then the printing press probably doesn’t exist, so books are most likely considered an extremely expensive luxury good. Nobles are one thing, but for the average citizen, books are completely beyond their reach.

Therefore——the only way for the masses to enjoy『listening to stories』is through『oral tradition』. In other words, the only ways that the stories can be passed on is through unreliable and limited methods such as from parents to children, or from minstrel or court storyteller masters to their disciples.

Actually, I wonder what the literacy rate is in this country?

In any case......in an environment like this, there’s a possibility that the very concept of『parallel worlds』might not exist. Although it’s very familiar to an otaku like me as a staple in stories, it’s entirely unknown territory for her. It is the same way how people in the Middle Ages also could not comprehend the idea of『space』, that there was something beyond the sky that they see.

“I’m terribly sorry.”

Miusel looked quite discouraged——actually, she looked more scared than anything else.

“I’m a stupid person who is lacking in education, so......”

“No, it’s only natural that you don’t understand. I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m the one who’s in the wrong, so please don’t apologize!”

Miusel shakes her head in a fluster.

The pointed ears visible in the gaps between her hair, in combination with her quivering figure——it’s like she’s a cat or a dog, and her ears are even moving up and down......omg this girl is just way too cute!!

“It would be great if I could draw something like a conceptual diagram to explain it to you, but——”

I fiddle a bit with my smartphone in search of an appropriate image......then I realized it.

『Connection to the network cannot be established.』

It took me this long to notice, but......this is only natural.

This is a parallel world——there aren’t any network carrier base stations on this side. However, somehow it seems that Aokigahara Sea of Trees is technically connected, so there’s the possibility of getting a signal by being extremely close to that hyper dimensional passageway.

“Ahh, dammit. No internet access for the near future?!”

The information sites that I check regularly, the bulletin boards, and even my many accounts on the net......I won’t be able to access any of that. As I had thought. I need to get a relay antenna set up ASAP as a countermeasure, or else I’m going to choke to death, information-wise.

While I’m thinking such things——

“......?”

Tilting her head in puzzlement, Miusel is peering at the thing in my hand.

“Danna-sama......That’s......?”

“Eh? Aah, this——Well, it’s my, or you could say it’s my country’s, magical tool.”

With a wry smile, I show her the screen with the memo app that I had been fiddling with.

“Those are——words, are they?”

“Yep. In my country’s language.”

“............”

Miusel is staring intently at the smartphone with her eyes wide open.

For some reason, that expression seems so very earnest——

“What?”

“Ah, nothing, I’m sorry.”

Miusel bowed her head in a fluster.

“So Danna-sama is able to use such complicated-looking words......!”

“Eh? Aaahh~, ah, oh right.”

What she is looking at are Japanese characters.

In other words, a combination of kanji and kana. As a Japanese, it’s been with me ever since I was born, so I’m not really aware of it, but there are very few cultures on Earth that handle such a large variety of characters. There are only 26 letters in the English alphabet, but in the case of Japanese, there are about 50 sounds. Kana alone is already twice that number, but if you include kanji, then I wonder how many folds that makes.

With a start, I got curious, so I bring up the dictionary on my smartphone. According to the JIS classification system, there are already almost 3,000 characters in Level 1 alone. If you include everything up to Level 4, then there are more than 10,000. The only people capable of using such an enormous number of characters are only those in kanji cultures...... And when you combine kanji with other types of characters, everything becomes even more complicated, as all Japanese and Koreans can attest to.

That’s why......in the eyes of foreigners, it’s all incomprehensible.

“Speaking of which, are there a lot of characters on this side?”

“Ah......I’m very sorry.”

Miusel cast down her eyes while replying.

“I......can’t read or write, so......”

“......Ah.”

Speaking of which, one of Japan’s distinctive characteristics is having an abnormally high literacy rate. I’ve read somewhere on the internet about how foreigners were surprised at seeing even homeless old men reading newspapers.

I see, from the perspective of someone who can’t read nor write, being fluent in kanji and kana together might seem like being a great sage. For us, it might be similar to someone being fluent in 5 different languages, maybe?

“......Oh, by the way, is there paper here?”

I return to my office desk and open the drawers.

Inside——although a bit stiff, there are indeed several sheets of paper. The paper making technology here must not be very developed, as these are quite crude in comparison to the paper that I’m so used to seeing. However, it’s not like I can’t write on these.

Just like the smartphone, I’d also brought a ballpen over to this world, so I take it out and begin to write a list onto a sheet of paper.

A I U E O. Ka Ki Ku Ke Ko. Sa Shi Su Se So. Ta Chi Tsu Te To——

Basically, the 50 sounds from hiragana.

I meticulously write them all out onto the paper, then hand it to Miusel.

“Here you go.”

“......Eh?”

“If I said ‘as a token of our acquaintance’......would this be too cheap?”

“Eh, you’re......giving this......to me......?!”

Miusel’s eyes grow as round as saucers.

“This is a table showing the most fundamental and basic characters of my country, called『hiragana』. As for how to read them, I’ll teach you another time.”

After saying this much......with a start, I turn the paper over, and write『Miusel』on the back.

“This is how it looks when your name is written in our language. You can compare it with the table later on if you like.”

“......Danna-sama......!”

As if it was the first time in her life receiving a certificate of commendation, her voice is thick with emotion and her hands are stiff and clumsy as she reaches out to accept the hiragana table.

For a split second, I think “what an over-reaction,” but......I change my way of thinking immediately.

Because printing technology is still undeveloped, all books in this world are basically hand-written manuscripts. Therefore, as mentioned before, they are extremely high-class luxury goods that only nobles and a portion of rich people can get their hands on. When you add the fact that it’s a table of the characters from『a parallel world』to the equation, then its rarity drives its value even higher.

Though it is only a single sheet of paper, from Miusel’s point of view, she has just『received something incredible』.

“............”

For a while, she just stared at the table in a daze——Eventually, her face grew increasingly loose before ultimately widening into a delighted smile.

Rather than the worth of what she had received, it feels like what she is happy about is the fact of having received something. As if hugging a piece of treasure, she is using both hands to press the table against her chest——Then she speaks up in an almost inaudible voice.

“Tha......Thank you so very much.”

Perhaps due to being so excited, her cheeks are dyed rose-colored, and a bashful smile has stolen onto her face.

Uwah......what the heck, this girl is seriously moe. To be blunt, I had never imagined that there would be a 3D girl who would make me feel moe so clearly. To the degree of making my chest squeeze up, this girl is somehow really, really cute......!

And this is how I received plenty of moe from Miusel.

“——Ah.”

Miusel suddenly turned back towards me, looking as if she’d just noticed something.

“It seems like Blük-san has returned.”

“Is that so?”

It seems that her large ears are not just for show. I didn’t hear anything at all, but she had obviously heard the noises generated by that person coming back.

“I will bring Blük-san here.”

“Ah. Un, thanks.”

At my nod, Miusel begin running in a fluster——

“——Ah.”

She tripped.

“Hyau?!”

She had fallen over in a scene that can only be described by the word ‘splat.’ However, before I can ask “Are you OK?”, she quickly gets back up in a fluster, bobs a quick bow towards me, then runs off again, still in a fluster.

Uumu. So she’s also a dojikko-san. Furthermore, she’s not the calculating type, but the natural type.

(T/N: Dojikko means a clumsy character. Like how maid and twintails and ojou-sama are all character types, dojikko is one too. Thus, I’m leaving it untranslated.)

She’s the maid-san who will be taking care of me......If that’s true, then we’ll at least be seeing each other around during my stay at this mansion. Furthermore, my position is as her『Danna-sama』, so unlike my classmates and my childhood friend, Miusel probably won’t make fun of me or scorn me for being an otaku. Neither would she readily shoot down something like a confession packed with every bit of my resolve with a simple『No way』.

But I’m starting to tear up from remembering that incident, so let’s move on.

Anyhow, because Miusel is here, I think I’ll be able to enjoy this bizarre position at least a little.

“Ufufufufufu.”

Even I think that’s a disgusting laugh, but I’m so happy that I can’t help it.

At that moment——

“Danna-sama.”

I hear a few knocks on my door.

“I have brought Blük-san here.”

“Ah, come on in.”

I tried to make my voice sound as sociable and good-humored as possible.

Speaking of which, I wonder whether Blük-san is also an elf. In the first place, is Holy Eldant Empire a country of elves?

No, wait. This is a parallel world. The common sense from our world might not necessarily apply here.

Therefore, there’s the possibility that Blük-san is actually a bishoujo! Even though Blük-san is a pretty masculine-sounding name, there’s no reason why it can’t be a girl’s name, and if it’s actually a last name then it can totally work——I’m having such thoughts while walking towards the door.

“Excuse me.”

Along with those words, the door is opened.

The person standing there is——

“I’m Blük Darwen, your manservant. I mainly take care of the gardening, but please feel free to leave all the physical labor to me.”

The one giving a self-introduction in a bass voice that sounds like scraping against gravel is a large figure of a person——a person?

I’m assaulted by a feeling like all the blood in my body is curdling up.

It is the same feeling from whenever I got up close to something like a tiger or an wolf while at the zoo. I had thought myself so accustomed after seeing it so many times in videos and images that I wouldn’t be scared. However, now that I’m face to face with the real thing, that realistic largeness, and the intensity of the impression of『a carnivore』emanating from every part of his body is very nearly overwhelming me.

The figure standing next to Miusel is towering over two meters in height.

What he is wearing is a slightly dirtied tunic frayed all over, and a pair of trousers in a similar state.

If that is all, then I wouldn’t be frozen in place.

Problem is——although he is humanoid, he can’t really be called『human』. His face, his neck, his hands, the stomach visible from below the hem of his tunic, the feet visible from below the cuff of his trousers, and generally every part of his bare skin——every place is covered densely by dark blue scales. His head is protruding forward in a manner eerily similar to how a snake raises its head.

Standing right in front of my eyes, at a distance almost close enough for our breaths to overlap, is a living creature conventionally known as a lizardman.

I don’t really know about『gigantic kaiju』like Godzilla and Gamera, but this 2 meter tall body is more than large enough to slam home the intensity of the phrase『I’ll catch you and eat you』.

Speaking bluntly, he is freaking scary. At this moment, I am in a state where I really want to run away with all I have, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. However, even if I really intend to do so, that lizardman is standing in the only entrance to the room.

“Danna-sama?”

Miusel tilts her head in puzzlement.

For her, this lizardman is apparently not surprising nor scary.

“......I’d forgotten.”

This place is a parallel world.

In the first place, my common sense does not apply——it is a world where it wouldn’t be strange for anything to happen.

That’s why it isn’t strange for a lizardman to be a gardener. It’s not strange, but still.

“Yoroshiku onegaishimasu, Danna-sama.”

So saying, the lizardman——Blük bends over and peers into my face.

The red, two-pronged tongue that keep flickering in and out of my vision adds to the vividness of the image, making him seem that much scarier.

He’s scary, but——

“Yo......Yoroshiku.”

For some unknown reason, I was able to maintain a smile on my face and respond appropriately.