Everything's just boring. Everything, all the time. It's not depression. It's just reaching the age of 14.
So begins Vera's adventure.
—My Backyard is Slightly Bigger than the Entire Universe—
"All I can do now is ask you to help me." The black-haired boy, who called himself Ike, handed Vera a kitchen knife.
He walked back to the cupboard and began slashing at the tentacles frantically.
"Come and help me close this door! If a tentacle starts attacking you, use this kitchen knife to defend yourself!" Ike's glasses were now covered in blue slime. "Hurry! We can't let this evil demon cross into Delphi."
Upon hearing his words, Vera helped Ike close the door. While they were pushing back the tentacles, Vera accidentally stabbed Ike twice in the back. Thankfully, Ike's healing spells were quite potent.
"I shall explain everything to you. I am in fact over a thousand years old, and this door is a gateway to anywhere in the universe. That tentacled monster is an old one from the Large Magellanic Cloud — I went there to get something." Ike was covered in slime from head to foot by this point. He wiped his glasses with Vera's dress as he spoke. "Erm... is there anything else that you'd like to know?"
"Who's Tal?" Vera didn't seem to mind.
"An evil spirit that resided in the man-devouring castle. It has served me as a butler since I subdued it. Strangely, it behaved quite friendly towards you."
Vera's parents always reminded her that people are destined to build families, and that it was futile to entertain dreams of anything beyond the homestead. Her buddy Sachi once told her that if a lively girl like her was to marry someone from a faraway land, the whole village would become unbearably lonely.
(The real reason Sachi said this was that he was something of a weakling, and was sure to be ferociously bullied if he ended up having to play with the boys.)
"The human spirit is still too immature. I need to guide you both through the wonders of your childhood." Ike extended his inviting arms to Vera. "You will sing every step of the way on your long journey to youth."
From the Orion Arm to the Eternal Jahanam, from the Torrents of Time to the depths of the Starry Sea...
"How far is 'beyond'? Any place in this universe is just as boring as my backyard," he said.
"The scale of everything beyond follows the heart," Ike replied. "Thus, my heart is slightly bigger than the entire universe."