"Die, insect!!" Sora hit the giant caterpillar that tried to shoot sticky silk thread at him with all his strength.
The giant caterpillar fell to the ground and let out a squeaking sound. Sora hit the giant caterpillar again, finished it off and also broke his wooden stick. Another giant caterpillar creeping behind him. Sora immediately turned around and stabbed that giant caterpillar in the head with what left of his stick. He stabs that long, big, green squishy insect until it stops moving.
"That makes five of them," Sora pant. He kicks both of his victims to make sure they are truly dead. "I never expected to encounter a bunch of human sized insects as soon as approaching the meadow."
Sora picks another wooden stick from the ground.
"I wonder, why so many sticks around here?" asked Sora to himself. He starts to walk again. Deeper into the plains. "Now that I mention it, since when I became this strong. Sure, until now I'm only fighting insects. But, can I, practically a shut in who barely doing any exercises, really beat those monsters only with sticks? Not to mention I arrived in this… world, only wearing a t-shirt and a pair of shorts. I should have been ravaged by the elements a few steps ago."
Sora sighs deeply. "It doesn't make any sense. Many questions remain, only a few have been answered. The rest, I don't even know where to find the answer."
He keeps talking to himself for a long time as he walks through the grassy plains. Not long, he found a straw hat and a pair of straw sandals. Without any hesitation, Sora picks those items and wears them. He needed all the protection he could get through this journey. When he put the hat on, he figured out why there he found so many sticks around and also found the hat and the sandals. Those belong to a forager who gets eaten by giant caterpillars he encountered before. According to the memory that is implanted in his brain when he enters this world, giant caterpillars mostly eat leaves but they also have an appetite for living flesh.
"I need to find a safe place or open road. Soon." That realization made him shudder. Fear of grim fate for being a prey, forcing Sora to pick up the pace. Fortunately, wearing the sandals that he found, enabled him to walk much faster than before.
Sora's journey has been peaceful for the time being. He walks with determination, as if he knows where to go, even though he knows nothing of the place where he arrived just a few moments ago. Beside all the memories that implanted to his brain, not much he knows about this world. The world his memory calls "Blue Continent". That name had been stuck in Sora's mind all this time. Throughout his journey, he has been saying it over and over again. As if that name contains great importance. As if he will get the answer he seeks through that name. But, nothing came of it. Nothing clear. Only more questions needed to answer. Maybe, those questions are the things that keep Sora on his journey. Journey to seek the answers, where is he and why is he here and all other questions. This want-to-know attitude is a leftover habit Sora developed during his college years. Without knowing, this habit will take his journey further into this world.
Sora's feet have been taking him far through the grassy plains. On the horizon, he now can see a windmill and something that looks like a wheat field. The sign of civilization put a smile to his face. Soon, he feels much happier. In not so far distance, he can see a road.
"At last," Sora sighed with a heart full of relief. He looks to the sun, trying to determine the time. "Not midday yet. I hope I can find any town or shelter before dark."
As he approached the road, he saw someone in the distance. When he moves closer and closer, the person he sees is a woman. With black long hair and slender body. Her gestures suggest she is both in fear and confused. However, the most distinguishing part of that woman is, she only wears a bikini. A blue bikini with white frill.
"What the heck am I seeing!?" Sora disbelieving his vision. "Am I seeing a mirage?" He rubbed both his eyes but the woman was still there.
Sora walked reluctantly to the suspicious woman. In his mind, he knows it is not wise to approach a woman who stands in the middle of the wilds alone. Especially the one with an attractive appearance and half naked, or in full nude. He could get trapped and dance in the middle of the fields for all eternity. Or something worse will happen. Despite all the doubt, Sora keeps walking closer to her. Something of that woman piqued his curiosity.
As Sora got closer, he tightened the grip on his wooden stick. When he finally can see the woman's appearance clearly, he calls her. To attract her attention and to make sure this is not a malicious trap.
"Miss!" called Sora. But, the girl does not respond to his calling. Instead, the girl turns around and looks like she is covering her face with both of her hands.
"Miss! Excuse me!" called Sora again. Still, no response from the intended individual.
Concern of the situation, Sora moves closer to her faster while keeping calling her to get some sort of reaction. In one part of Sora's mind, he readying himself to run the sharp end of his stick through the girl's heart. Who can blame him. Without any response to his calling, Sora must feel a great deal of danger. Even now, his suspicion grows almost larger than his curiosity.
When Sora reaches the girl, she is still covering her face but now in a crouching position. He cannot identify her because he can only see her back. Nevertheless, Sora slightly put his guard down. He determines this girl is actually a human, not some malicious creature.
"Are you ok, Miss?" Sora tapped the girl's shoulder.
When that happened, the girl yelped. The surprise reaction has thrown her to the ground. Still seated on the ground, she turns around and sees the man who starlets her. She sees the image of a person who stands in front of her with disbelief. Not just because he dressed oddly but also, she doesn't believe that she actually meets someone on that field.
"Get away from me!" she yells with a trembling voice.
"Whoa, Miss! Calm down!" Sora is actually surprised that the girl is terrified of him.
In panic, the girl hurriedly stands up and picks up a rather long wooden stick. "I said get away from me! Don't come any closer".
The girl grabs her stick with both of her hands and brandishes it to Sora. She clearly tries to intimidate him but, her odd stance and trembling make her not threatening at all.
"Stay away! Don't get closer! I swear… if… if…," she tries to threaten Sora with a shaken voice. "If you dare come closer, I'll beat you to the death with this… this…"
"Stick?" Sora added that word sarcastically.
"Y-yeah... With the stick." The girl was clearly confused. She wonders why the man standing in front of her acts so calm.
This is actually fun for Sora. Never in his entire life has someone actually been scared of him. It makes him want to tease the trembling girl even more. But, something creeps out behind the girl, and it turns Sora calm visage to stern.
"Miss..." Sora steps forward, trying to warn the girl for incoming danger.
Sora's move, starlets the girl. She frantically jumps back. "I said stay away! S-stay away!" She brandished the stick even closer to Sora. Even this is not threatening at all. She indeed brandished that stick but, her eyes closed and she even looked away from the target.
As much as fun this is for Sora, the distressed damsel's reaction just puts her closer to danger.
"Move away, woman!" Sora grabs the girl's shoulder and pushes her away.
At the same time a giant caterpillar jumps from tall grasses. Sora smack the overgrown insect to the ground. He continuously smacks the giant caterpillar until it turns into nothing but a pile of green mucus. The girl, seated on the ground doesn't move a muscle. She paralyzed from the fear. She does not believe she will see any creature like that in her life nor seeing a man saving her from it. But, she also in fear because Sora murder the giant caterpillar a tad too passionately. Actually, Sora did that because he was annoyed and had to encounter one of those giant insects again.
After believing his victim will not come alive again, Sora turns to the girl who is still paralyzed from fear.
"Are you alright?" Sora tries to help her to get up, but she moves away again. Sora sighs, "Look, I won't hurt you or do anything terrible. I want to help you. I know you are scared and confused, me as well. I barely know anything about this place, too. So, in my opinion, it's better we help each other rather than by ourselves and become the prey of this hideous creature."
He threw the mucus covered stick away and extended his hand to the girl. "That thing has an appetite for human flesh, you know. And that's not because you only wear a frilly bikini.
The mentioning of her lackluster attire, put a little bit of anger in the girl's heart. It makes her have slight bravery. She takes Sora's hand and stands up.
"Again, are you ok, miss?" asked Sora.
"Stop calling me that. I have a name, you know," said the girl with an annoyed tone. "I'm Nakano Amamiya. Now, introduce yourself."
"Yamamoto Sora," said Sora plainly.
"So, Yamamoto, what-"
"Before we continue this conversation, we better go the road," Sora cuts Amamiya's words and points at the road. "It's not safe here."
Amamiya reluctantly follows Sora to the road. After a few steps, they finally reach the road.
"From here we go that way," Sora points to the east, where on the horizon a windmill can be seen. "With luck we may find a town before nightfall."
Again, Amamiya follows Sora. Now, Sora's journey continues, with his newly found lady companion. For quite a long time, both of them keep walking awkwardly silent. Until, Amamiya's curiosity forces her to open conversation with the man who up until now acts as her guide.
"So...," Amamiya started the conversation rather awkwardly. "…. You know much of this place?"
"Not as much as I want," answered Sora.
"Do you know this place's name?" Amamiya continued her question.
"Blue continent."
"Naturally," Amamiya put a very sceptical tone on that word.
"If you assume I'm from around here, you're wrong," said Sora plainly. "My knowledge of this world is not much more than yours. Most likely, you and I come from same place, and you probably already know that"
Before Amamiya asks again, Sora continues to speak.
"You're questioning me, because you want to make sure I won't do no harm to you. Rest assured, I won't. We are strangers in this strange place, and we need to help each other."
"So, just to confirm. You aren't a brigand of any kind?" ask Amamiya despite Sora's explanation.
"Which brigand only wears t-shirts and a pair of shorts, in addition to sandals and a hat made of straw?" Sora asks back sarcastically.
"Good point," Amamiya finally understood and erased all her suspicion of him.
"We need to stick together if we want to survive," said Sora. "Besides, men of the road, or women of the road, need to stick together."
"So, in a nutshell, you help me because you want to get some help?" Amamiya tried questioning Sora again. This time she tries from a different angle.
"But of course," Sora answers confidently. "It's the only sensible thing to do. With us together, the survival chance increases greatly."
"You trust me, then?"
"You are hopeless enough to be trusted."
Those remarks actually make Amamiya angry.
"If you feel like walking a separate way, I won't hold you. However, judging the way you try to fend me off before, you will become easy prey. Be it by beasts or bandits. The latter actually can be worse."
Amamiya's angry counter argument shattered before it had even been said. Sora's right, being together is better than alone. However, this made Amamiya frustrated. All the mortals that can be her traveling companion in this strange land, it has to be a smart mouthed jerk with an even smarter brain. At least it was what Amamiya thought of Sora.
Amamiya has nothing else to vent her frustration, except to punch Sora's shoulder. Which Sora counters with a single prideful smile.
Along the road both of them keep talking to each other, or more like enquiring each other. Amamiya is still a bit suspicious of Sora, despite her companion explanation. Meanwhile, Sora is kind enough not to reveal his assumption of Amamiya as some kind malicious temperess. Despite all of those paranoia thinking, they tell each other stories of themselves, although hiding a few details.
Sora tells of his failure in college and two years live as a shut-in while attending prep school. From that story Amamiya tactlessly draws a conclusion by calling her companion "shut-in ronin", much to Sora's disdain. But, he doesn't mind. It's because Amamiya faithfully listens to his story. Sora forgot how long he hasn't talked to anyone outside official and school business, moreover sharing stories, moreover with an attractive lady.
Amamiya's story is more colorful than Sora's. She tells her life as the daughter of a politician. Her mother is a secretary in the Health Department and the father is a MP, a rising star in the political world. Amamiya practically lives a princess life. But, her parents are mostly absent from Amamiya's daily life due to their work. Those circumstances make Amamiya spend more time with her friends, but this start pushes her to the dark side of hedonism.
Ignoring the somber part of Amamiya's story, Sora playfully calls her "princess", because that is what she is in his mind. His lady companion does not like that at all. She punched Sora repeatedly.
"Why do you hate it?" asks Sora while blocking Amamiya's punches. "Every girl dreams of being called princess".
Amamiya stops punching and sighs. She tells her part of the story where she attended all-girl school. Her good look, reliable attitude and energetic and tomboyish upbringing, makes her get a lot of attention from her peers. All of them call her "princess". But, that's not the bad part. The attention she got, 98% is romantic based attention, which she doesn't expect and doesn't like.
"So, basically the attention you wish is from prince charming riding a white stallion," conclude Sora.
Amamiya prepares to punch Sora again, but she stops. Because Sora hit the nail on the head. That is what she wanted all her life. She can only cover her face shamefully.
"Relax, everybody has their own smirch," Sora tries to cheer her up.
"Then, what is yours?" asked Amamiya.
"That's something I would rather not tell."
Amamiya launches a punch to Sora's face which he effortlessly dodges.