Bonus Short Stories
Drinking at Mary's
"In you go!" Mary urged. Lucy and I did as she asked.
S-So this is a woman's room...? I've never been in one before. It smells kinda good.
"H-Hmmm...it's a nice place," Lucy said.
She was right. The antique furniture along with the classy curtains and carpets all came together brilliantly to create a very feminine room.
"What's through here?" I asked, moving toward a door. "N-Nooo!" Mary called, stopping me.
"Makoto..." Lucy said despairingly, "you can't just go snooping around a girl's place."
Oh, I guess not.
"Come on, drink up, both of you! I'll get some snacks together." Mary pushed a bottle of wine and some glasses toward us before going to the kitchen. It looked like she was getting some cheese and ham together.
I've already had a fair bit, though...
We'd been at a bar, and the cocktails there had been pretty strong. Instead of taking some wine, I used magic to pour water into my glass.
"Makotooo, why're you going for water?" Lucy wheedled, leaning against me. Is she already drunk?
While that was happening, Mary came back with the snacks. We
chatted for a while, picking at the food. It didn't feel much different from when we drank around the guild. Although, the sense of security from being in a home did make things go quicker.
"Argh, I'm so hot," Lucy complained, removing her outer clothing, which was already fairly revealing. The motion twisted her underwear slightly to the side.
"Lucy..." Mary asked, "was that on purpose, or do you just not realize?"
"Was what on purpose?"
Mary, she never realizes, I answered in my mind. Why is she so defenseless...?
"I'm hot too," Mary added. "Wha?!" She's undressing too?!
There was now a scantily clad woman on either side of me.
This is bad... It's gotta be. The situation was no good, and I needed to knock myself out.
I took a glass of strong booze and downed the whole thing. It burned in my throat as it went back, but I swallowed past it.
"Whoa..."
My eyes started swimming instantly and I felt myself drifting off.
◇
"An unfamiliar ceiling..."
My head was pounding. Where am I?
I looked around and saw Mary rolling and muttering in her sleep, along with Lucy snoring cutely.
Suddenly, I was wide awake.
Right, I got drunk at Mary's... Okay, up I get.
I could wash up in the river. Leaving her house, I headed for the water, though I had to walk through town to get there.
"H-Hey! Makoto just came out of Mary's house!" I heard someone say.
"What?!" answered another guy.
Ah, damn it. Some adventurers I knew had spotted me. I needed to think up some excuse.
"Makotooo, why're you leaving without me," Lucy called, rubbing her eyes as she wandered out of Mary's house. The problem, though...was her outfit...
"L-Look at how she's dressed..." said one of the adventurers. "She definitely had a night of fun..."
"So the three of them..."
What were they all talking about?!
After that, a strange rumor started to make its way around the guild, and explaining it away took quite a bit of effort.
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Sasa's Otherworld Cooking
I—Aya Sasaki—woke up. Bizarrely, I wasn't in a cold cave, but in a warm bed.
Right, this is an inn in the adventurer's town...
"Morning, Sasa," I heard out of nowhere.
"Gah! M-Morning, T-Takatsuki," I managed to stutter out. I realized he was standing nearby, wearing a smile.
O-Oh yeah, I was able to see Takatsuki again yesterday, and he brought me to a human town.
"Nina's getting breakfast ready, so you just need to wait a bit." That was all he said before leaving.
No! He saw me waking up?!
I hadn't needed to worry about that kind of thing in Labyrinthos, but now, I needed to get used to living around humans again, and fast.
◇
I asked Takatsuki and Lucy about their plans. Takatsuki said he'd be venturing into the dungeon every day to increase the strength of
what he called his "elemental magic."
All so he could help me with my revenge...
On top of that, the monsters in the dungeon had been agitated recently, making it extremely dangerous. Even so, he was going.
"Because it's for you," he'd told me.
You can't just say that kind of thing! He's gotten way better at dealing with women since coming here. And he's helping me with
something so dangerous, right after we reconnected... I feel so bad. Is there anything I can do?
"My esteemed Tackie, what will you take for provisions? If need be, I can ask Lady Nina to deliver some," Fujiwara added.
"It's fine, I'll just bring a potion or two."
"Are potions...not, essentially, zero calories?"
"Well, they fill you up at least," Takatsuki answered.
So he wasn't bothered about what he ate in this world either... Well, I guess he'd eaten pretty much nothing but McD*nald's during junior high.
I've got it! I'll make him lunch! I decided.
◇
"Hmm, the spices are all different..."
I'd decided to cook with ingredients from this world. The meat, fish, and even vegetables might not be foods I'd seen before, but I could predict how they'd taste. The recipes all called for baking, boiling, or
frying. No, the problem was the seasoning. There was salt, which was universal, but...
The sugar...or rather, the sweet stuff, is odd. The actual spices are all nothing like we'd used in Japan.
I'd never seen any of these seasonings before, and I wasn't entirely sure how to use them as I cooked. The flavors didn't end up tasting anything like I'd expected, so I was fretting about how difficult it was.
"What seems to be the problem, Lady Sasaki?" Fujiwara asked. "Oh, Fujiwara. Well, you see..."
"Oho, lunch for our esteemed Tackie to take adventuring! The
seasoning must be a concern for you! Just leave that with me!" he said, before vanishing off somewhere.
◇
"Whaaa?!"
Lined up in front of me were containers of sugar, soy sauce, miso, mirin, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and even mayonnaise.
"F-Fujiwara, how did you..." He chuckled.
"The Fujiwara Trading Company sells them. After all, reproducing Japanese flavors is necessary when you find yourself in another world!"
"R-Right..."
"Now! Use them as you wish! He shall be most pleased."
"Y-Yeah. I'll do my best. Thanks, Fujiwara."
I made sweet fried eggs, hamburg steak, potato salad, and onigiri.
I-It doesn't feel like it's from this world at all... There's no difference now. Otherworld cooking is difficult.
"Sasa! That lunch was delicious!"
Well, that doesn't matter... Takatsuki was happy with it.
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Class 1-A's Mini-Reunion
The party thrown to celebrate the blight dragons' defeat was over, and the area had been cleared away. That said, there were still plenty of people drinking. I assumed they'd continue until the morning. With quite a few folks making a racket, it felt like pretty much the same atmosphere as the guild back in Macallan.
Just as I was thinking we should go, I heard a yell from Sakurai. "Takatsuki!"
"Hm?"
"You're leaving already?" he asked. "Fancy stopping off before the night's over?"
An after-party? "Hmmm...well today was pretty tiring, so I kinda want to sleep."
"I see..." Sakurai answered, slumping. The look on his face made me feel pretty awkward...
"Come now, my esteemed Tackie, it is an opportunity for us classmates to gather once more." Even Fujiyan was for it.
"Oh, hey, Saki!" "Aya!"
Sasa and Yokoyama are coming too...
"I'm going to go to bed now," Lucy declared before leaving.
Well, if everyone else's going, I guess I can join them...
◇
"Cheers!" we all chorused.
There were five of us here: Sakurai, Yokoyama, Sasa, Fujiyan, and me. Nina had offered to keep watch and was waiting outside.
Suddenly, I realized something: Everyone here is from Japan. Nina and Lucy probably had begged off to arrange it like that. Soon, I heard the girls start gossiping.
"Hey, Aya? How far have you and Takatsuki gone?" Yokoyama asked. "Wha?! W-Well... What about you and Sakurai?" Sasa answered. "Us? We're already engaged."
"You are?! Congratulations!"
Oh? Sakurai's engaged?
"Takatsuki, Fujiwara, the two of you usually stay in Roses, right?" asked the guy in question.
Fujiyan answered for us both. "We do indeed, in a town called Macallan."
"What do you usually do there?"
"Hmm," I murmured, thinking. "Hunt goblins, I guess?" "G-Goblins?"
"Yeah, they're nasty monsters that attack travelers. But they're also weak enough that I can take them out, no problem."
"Wow..." Sakurai nodded several times in admiration. Still, his reaction...
"You've never seen one before?" I asked.
"I-I have!" he stammered. "From a distance though...barely." So he'd never fought one.
"Takatsuki," Yokoyama interjected, "Ryousuke's the hero, so he shouldn't need to fight the small-fry monsters. That's what his subordinate knights and I are for."
I nodded in understanding, but Sakurai didn't look particularly happy.
He probably didn't appreciate that things were made easier for him by his "subordinates." As good a person as ever.
"Sakurai, you're like the ultimate weapon, so they've got to keep you safe," I commented.
"Making the knights and Saki fight, just so I stay safe... It feels pathetic."
"You're nothing like that," I countered. "You were the only one that could beat those blight dragons, and that's what heroes are for." Even now, the memory of his single attack splitting those drakes apart was overwhelming. Man, heroes are cool...
"Takatsuki, you were awesome when you took down the harpy queen," Sasa said, patting me on the shoulder. Had I looked jealous?
"Regardless, it is wonderful for us 1-A students to be gathered in one place!" Fujiyan exclaimed brightly.
He was right. I'd been left behind at the water temple, and Sasa had been reincarnated into a monster. Sakurai had gained his hero skill, but that had set him against foes like the blight dragons.
We'd all done well to make it here.
And so, we spent much of the night making merry with our classmates.
A Discussion between a Wicked Deity and Her Believer
It was the night after we'd all finished shopping at the bazaar.
"Say, Makoto? Why didn't you make a move when those two were all over you like that?" Noah asked me seriously.
All over me...? Does she mean Lucy and Sasa?
"Would it have been better?" I asked in return. I turned to look in her direction but kept practicing my water magic.
"Well, I know you want to lose your virginity whenever you can, right?"
"Hey, quit reading my mind or I'll quit being your believer."
"H-Hang on!" she protested, waving her hands around. "I'm a non- mind-reading goddess!"
What's that supposed to mean? A "non-mind-reading goddess" indeed.
"They only acted like that because of that weird scent," I told her, my expression composed. "I don't want to lose it like that—it's not fair to them."
"But you were so tense, right?" she returned with a grin. "Guh..."
I was! I thought it was fortune! Agh, I can't deal with it!
"You're so calm when fighting monsters, but you go to pieces around pretty girls."
"Shut it! Besides, I can't cope with that forcefulness! I want things to be more romantic when I'm with a girl!" I insisted, as pathetic as it sounded.
Noah seemed even more pleased, though.
"I'll teach my cowardly Makoto a surefire way to get any girl!"
"W-What?"
"Okay! Come over here!" She beckoned to me.
It wasn't like I had much choice, so I walked over to her, stopping close enough that her skirt was just on the verge of brushing against me.
"So now!" she declared, snapping her fingers.
What? I thought, as suddenly, a big wall appeared behind me. "Here I go."
"Wait, hold on, what ar—"
Before I could finish my question, her hand shot past the side of my face, smacking the wall with a thud.
"Don't get so close," she whispered, in a manly voice for some reason.
Yup, she's cute.
"I call it the kabedon!" she said smugly, puffing up her chest.
T-That was...
"Noah?"
"Whaaat?" she asked with a giggle. "Do you have a better opinion of your goddess?"
I should tell her. "The 'kabedon' was already popular before I came here, you know?" If anything, that technique was starting to die out.
There was silence.
I can't believe this useless goddess, shamelessly ripping off our moves and then naming them... As if I wouldn't know better.
"D-Don't call me that!"
Considering how bad her planning seemed to be, could we really overturn the world like this...? Guess I'd have to pull my weight as her believer.