Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, Vol. 7

“<I am Hayato Masaki, the hero of the Saga Empire.>”

“<Nice to meet you, Sir Hero. I am Satou Pendragon, a hereditary knight.>”

He introduced himself in Japanese, so I responded in kind.

Behind the hero were two of his followers: magic knight Miss Ringrande—the granddaughter of Duke Ougoch known as “the Witch of Heavenly Destruction”—and the busty, blond Meriest Saga, the twenty-first princess of the Saga Empire.

“<Were you summoned from Japan, too?>”

“<As I told Lady Ringrande, my ancestors are Japanese. I speak the language thanks to a comrade who’s a reincarnation.>”

The hero seemed like a good person, so it would probably be safe to tell him that I was Japanese, but I didn’t want to risk drawing unwanted attention from the Saga Empire.

So I gave him the same information I’d told Ringrande before.

The reason I decided to speak Japanese to him now was that it seemed easier than pretending not to understand only to give myself away later.

Since he and Arisa seemed to be acquainted, it was presumably safe to tell him that she was a reincarnation.

When he’d visited Arisa’s old home, they were friendly enough to exchange information about Skill Reset, a special ability exclusive to reincarnations, heroes, and the like. That made me think that he would probably remember her.

“<A reincarnation… Their name isn’t Nanashi, is it?!>”

“<No, I’m afraid not. Her name is Arisa. I believe she told me that you’ve met before.>”

“<Is this true, Satou?! My honey is alive?!>”

The hero brought his face way too close to mine.

My honey, though? Looked like he’d taken quite a liking to Arisa.

This was a more intense reaction than I’d expected. Princess Menea and the rest of our company looked surprised and confused as well.

“Ohhh!”

“Whaaa—?”

“No pushing, sir.”

“Mrrr.”

The door burst open, and the crew of younger kids came tumbling inside.

“Retreeeat?”

The first to flee was Tama, a girl with white hair and the ears and tail of a cat.

As usual, she was quick on her feet.

“Tama, wait! Sir!”

The next speaker was Pochi, sporting a short brown bob, dog ears, and a tail to match.

“<…Beastfolk?>”

The hero seemed surprised at the appearance of the pair.

Miss Ringrande and the others were startled, too. They had probably rarely seen beastfolk outside of the sanctuary in the Saga Empire.

“Slow down for a change, you two!”

This was Arisa, a young girl with violet eyes and hair. She was a reincarnated Japanese person and the de facto leader of the younger group.

She normally wore a blond wig to hide her purple hair, which was considered a bad omen here, but it had come off in all the commotion.

“Violet hair like Lady Yuriko’s…?”

My “Keen Hearing” skill picked up on Princess Menea’s murmured words.

Yuriko?

A Japanese name… And for some reason, I felt like I’d heard it somewhere before.

Whoever this person was, she must be a reincarnation like Arisa.

“Arisa.”

The person lying underneath Arisa gave a single word of protest. It was Mia, an elf girl with her blue-green hair tied in two long pigtails that didn’t quite cover her slightly pointed ears.

“Oops, sorry, Mia,” Arisa apologized, standing up.

“I will assist Mia, I declare.”

“Mm, thanks.”

Suddenly joining in the fray, the beautiful, blond Nana helped Mia to her feet.

Though her giant bosom made her look older, she was actually a homunculus of less than a year old, hence her odd manner of speaking.

“I apologize, master. I should have been watching them more carefully.”

Liza of the orangescale tribe appeared and bowed deeply.

Aside from a reptilian tail and orange scales around her limbs and neck, she was otherwise indistinguishable from an ordinary human.

“We’re sorryyyy.”

“I apologize, sir.”

The would-be escapees Pochi and Tama were secured under each of Liza’s arms like stuffed animals.

However, the hero wasn’t listening to the group’s apologies in the slightest.

“<P-Princess Arisa…is it really you?>”

“Yes. I’m afraid I simply couldn’t control myself in my haste to see you… My late parents would surely scold me for such behavior.”

Arisa’s graceful, ladylike tone was very unusual for her.

“It has been much too long, Sir Hero. How fortunate that we meet again.”

“<Princess Arisa!>”

Relinquishing his hold on me, the hero rushed over to Arisa and knelt down to her eye level.

He seemed very emotional about their reunion, yet he made no move to lay a finger on her.

Come to think of it, Arisa had told me that he shouted weird things like “Yes, Lolita! No touching!” when she first met him.

“Sir Hero, our comrades seem perplexed. Perhaps we ought to speak in the language of the Shiga Kingdom or the Saga Empire?”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

Shigan and Sagan were evidently similar languages, as I was able to understand the latter even without a skill.

But since I had tons of skill points to spare, and it seemed like a skill that might be handy in the future, I decided to select the skill and raise it to level 5 anyway.

I beckoned the hero and his friends to sit on a sofa.

My heart went out to Princess Menea, who looked a little helpless, but she would have to wait a while longer.

“Still, I’m so glad to see that you’re safe. After the Yowork Kingdom was invaded, I was certain—”

“—Hayato.”

Princess Meriest quickly cut off Hayato’s insensitive remark.

“A great deal has happened since then, but now I am enjoying a peaceful life with my traveling companions under Sir Satou’s protection,” Arisa said.

“Are you sure you’re really happy?”

The hero frowned as he looked at her.

He’d probably noticed Satou’s Slave among her titles.

“Yes, very much so.”

“I see…”

Sitting down beside me, Arisa leaned her head on my shoulder to demonstrate her happiness.

“Very well. Satou!”

The hero called me by the wrong name yet again, emphasizing the Japanese pronunciation. (The natives here pronounced it more like “Sa-two.”)

“I’m counting on you to take care of Princess Arisa. However, never forget the spirit of ‘Yes, Lolita! No touching!’ Little girls are meant to be admired but never touched! If you ever lay a hand on Princess Arisa, rest assured that my sword Arondight will not be silent.”

The wild look in the hero’s eyes was a little disconcerting.

“I am a former princess now,” Arisa insisted, but he seemed intent on calling her by the same title.

“But of course. I would never attempt to lay a finger on a child. Also, my name is Satou, pronounced ‘Sa-two,’ not Satou.”

A woman’s not a woman until she reaches at least her twenties, if you ask me.

“You’re scarcely an adult yourself, you know,” Miss Ringrande muttered, but I chose to ignore her.

I had been restored to my fifteen-year-old self when I first came to this world, but on the inside I was still an old geezer pushing thirty years old. I definitely didn’t see anyone of high school age or lower as a romantic interest.

“I prepared tea, sir.”

The maids of the house entered, along with the last member of my party, Lulu. With her black hair and eyes, she was incredibly beautiful.

“Damn, she’s something else…”

“Hayato, don’t be rude.”

The hero caught his breath when he saw Lulu’s beauty, and he was promptly scolded by Princess Meriest.

The natives of this world tended to see Lulu as unsightly, so Meriest must have misinterpreted his comment as an insult.

“N-no, it’s all right…”

Lulu looked uncomfortable, half covering her face with a tray.

“Lulu, Sir Hero was trying to say that you’re beautiful.”

“…Master, th-thank you.”

I was telling the truth, but Lulu seemed to think that I was just trying to comfort her.

“Satou’s right. Even I’ve never seen anyone as beautiful as you before, y’know.”

Flustered by the hero’s words, Lulu bowed quickly and ran out of the room.

I’d have to check in on her later.

“Is she a relative of yours, Satou?”

“No, she’s Arisa’s half sister.”

“Princess Arisa’s? Really?”

“Yes, that’s right. In fact, Sister Lulu’s great-grandfather was a hero of the Saga Empire.”

The hero muttered something along the lines of “If she were five years younger…,” but I pretended not to hear it.

Once our initial introductions were completed, Princess Menea stood up, and all eyes in the room turned to her.

“So we meet at last, my hero. I am Menea Lumork, the princess of a small kingdom east of the Shiga Kingdom. I would like to—”

“The Lumork Kingdom, you say?”

“Oh, that’s right—I’ve heard that pink hair is a unique characteristic of their royal family.”

As the princess attempted to make her plea, she was interrupted by Meriest and Ringrande.

“The Lumork Kingdom, huh…?”

For some reason, the hero’s voice sounded grave as well.

What exactly happened in the Lumork Kingdom?

“…Her country used unsanctioned Summoning Magic to abduct some Japanese people.”

“Is that like the Hero Summoning of the Saga Empire?”

“Please do not make such an insulting comparison. Our heroes are summoned with the blessing of Goddess Parion and endowed with incredible power, while their unblessed summoning drags in ordinary riffraff without any enhancement at all.”

“Is that all th—? I mean, I sincerely apologize for insulting your kingdom in my ignorance.”

I noticed Meriest’s eyebrows arching at my careless words, so I quickly changed my tune.

“I apologize to you, Sir Hero—nay, Sir Hayato Masaki of Nippon.”

While Meriest’s anger was redirected at me, Princess Menea used that opportunity to prostrate herself before Hayato.

It reminded me of the Japanese dogeza style of bowing.

“Y-Your Highness!” Princess Menea’s escort exclaimed in surprise at her actions.

“Our transgressions against the people of Nippon are unforgivable. You should be bowing with me.”

The escort didn’t look convinced, but he took to his knees as well.

“A weaselfolk magic user who had studied Hero Summoning led us to our actions, but that does not change the fact that we summoned eight people from Nippon without any means of sending them home, nor that the majority of them lost their lives.”

Yikes, that was pretty bad. No wonder the hero and his friends got angry.

But why was a weaselfolk person studying Hero Summoning to begin with?

Maybe it was just prejudice because the race had a reputation for being sly and selfish, but I felt like the reason wasn’t anything good.

“However, the previous king, my grandfather, who ordered the summonings, was put to death by my father, the king. The weaselfolk magic user and my aunt who carried out the summonings have also paid for their crimes with their lives.”

Princess Menea kept her head down as she continued.

Still, executing his own parent…? This world was always so violent.

“There is no one left in our kingdom with any desire to summon people from Nippon. So please—”

“Lend you our strength?” Princess Meriest interrupted coldly.

“…Y-yes. I would entreat you to banish an evil dragon for the sake of our people.”

Though she trembled under Meriest’s glare, Princess Menea continued her request.

A dragon? I wouldn’t mind meeting a living one myself.

“An evil dragon?” Ringrande repeated doubtfully. “This is the first I’m hearing of any such thing in the Lumork Kingdom.”

“The black dragon appeared about half a year ago, as I am told. It lived in a forest at the crossroads of the main road connecting the royal capital to the neighboring kingdoms, and it began devouring the people living in the nearby villages and traveling on the road,” Princess Menea explained.

“I’ve heard of dragons killing soldiers who attempt to defeat them or thieves who sneak into their nests to try to steal their scales or eggs, but…”

“I have never once heard of a dragon that harms common people directly, not even in fairy tales.”

Even after hearing the details, the hero’s party didn’t seem convinced.

Come to think of it, the black dragon that attacked Seiryuu City ate only livestock and left without attacking any humans, or so I’d heard.

“Meri, what did the Deception-Piercing Artifact reveal?”

“I can’t believe it, but…she’s telling the truth.”

Princess Meriest was now wearing some kind of monocle-like object.

Judging by their conversation, it was probably a lie-detecting magic tool.

That sounded pretty handy to me.

“Did the Lumork Kingdom dispatch their troops to deal with the dragon?” I asked.

“Yes, of course. An army of the kingdom’s knights and mercenaries from neighboring kingdoms attempted to drive the dragon away, but they were unsuccessful.”

I’d wondered why they would come to the hero instead of using their own armies to deal with their problems, but it sounded like they’d used up their own resources already.

The Lumork Kingdom requested help from others, too, like Duke Ougoch and the Shiga Kingdom, but it was refused on the grounds that its capital had not been damaged.

Still, while I was certainly not thrilled about what her kingdom did, I doubted the villagers who were being attacked had anything to do with it.

If the hero wouldn’t do it, I decided I would use “Skyrunning” to go over there and try talking to the dragon myself.

Hearing a loud smack, I came back to my senses and looked around.

“…A dragon, huh? Not a bad match, if you ask me.” The hero was grinning ferociously, his fist slapped onto his palm.

Apparently he, too, was more concerned about the suffering commoners than the transgressions of the Lumork Kingdom.

“Wait a minute, Hayato. Don’t be so reckless!”

“If it’s a stray lesser dragon from the habitat between the Weaselman Empire and the small kingdoms to the east, that’d be one thing. But if it’s a full-grown dragon from the Black Dragon Mountains, we mustn’t get involved.”

“She’s right, Hayato. They say a dragon’s fangs can pierce anything.”

“Exactly. Dragon fangs are the ultimate blade—they spell destruction even for a demon lord. Remember, your so-called Invincible Shield isn’t a guarantee!”

Miss Ringrande and Princess Meriest advised the hero with troubled expressions.

Phew.

So there were other dragon habitats besides the Valley of Dragons.

As I heard later, a lesser dragon was somewhere between an intermediate demon and a greater demon in strength, while a full-grown dragon was between a greater demon and a demon lord.

“I’m a hero, you know! What kind of hero would just leave people to suffer at the hands of an evil dragon?! Even if I can’t beat a dragon, I should at least be able to chase it off. Otherwise, how am I ever going to beat a demon lord?”

The hero looked at Ringrande and Meriest in turn with fire in his eyes and voice.

The women blushed. It looked to me like they both had feelings for him.

“Besides, I’ve got you guys. Together, we could drive away even a full-grown dragon from the Black Dragon Mountains!” he declared.

For some reason, he directed this part toward Arisa.

As he gazed at her, Arisa’s eyes welled up, and she exclaimed, “Wonderful, Sir Hero!”

It would’ve been a very moving scene were it not for the small vial of eye drops she was holding behind her back.

“All right, Princess Menea. We’ll take on your request. Satou, you’re coming with us.”

The hero smacked my shoulder firmly.

…How do you figure?

“I want to judge for myself whether you’re fit to be Princess Arisa’s guardian,” he declared.

“P-pardon me, Sir Hero. Mas— That is, Sir Satou has business in the old capital…” Arisa quickly cut in. She was probably worried about me.

But if I went with him, not only would I get to see a live dragon, I might even get to ride in the hero’s silver spaceship.

I didn’t know how dimensional submersion worked, but I definitely wanted to experience stuff like entering subspace and watching the scenery change around us.

Would it be a Japanese-style ship, Western-style, or maybe a hard sci-fi aesthetic? My imagination ran wild.

It would be a shame to let this opportunity go to waste. I definitely wanted to participate.

“If it’s no trouble to you, Sir Hero, it would be my pleasure to accompany you and learn from your ways.”

“Now, that’s what I like to hear!”

Quelling Arisa’s protests, I accepted the hero’s proposal.

“Don’t worry, Princess Arisa! He’ll be safe with me.”

The hero thumped his chest proudly.

I didn’t want to worry one of my wards, either, so I whispered “It’ll be fine” in her ear.

“S-Sir Hero! Please let me accompany you, too.”

“Y-Your Highness?!”

Princess Menea’s guardian knight exclaimed in alarm once again. Most likely, it was because he would have to go along with her.

“You too? Sorry, but we’ve only got two empty seats. If Satou’s coming, that just leaves one more spot,” the hero objected coldly.

Surely a princess would never embark on a journey without any guards. However, it appeared Princess Menea was no ordinary princess.

“I’ll come alone, then! I’m sure I will not be in danger if you’re by my side, Sir Hero.”

“Hey—”

“Why, you—”

Princess Menea pressed herself against the hero’s chest.

Clearly, Ringrande and Meriest were not thrilled about this development.

“Cut it out, will you?” The hero casually pulled away from the lovely girl’s embrace.

There was no trace of embarrassment or lust in his demeanor. At first glance, he seemed to be a virtuous man, but in truth it was probably just because he was interested only in little girls. This guy was one devoted lolicon.

“Princess! That simply will not do. Sir Hero, I do not require a seat. Please allow me to accompany Her Highness.”

Evidently judging that he wasn’t going to change Princess Menea’s mind, the escort knight instead made up his mind to come along.

Shortly after, Arisa requested to be brought along as well, but the hero and I both quickly refused.

Not one to waste time, Hayato declared that we would leave the old capital later the very same day.

While the hero went to call his ship, I explained the situation to my party, leaving Arisa and Liza in charge.

“So I’ll contact the people on this list to cancel, shall I?”

“Thanks, Arisa.”

The hero said that we should be back within two or three days, but just to be safe, I had Arisa cancel all my plans in the period leading up to the duke’s grandson’s wedding.

By the time we finished our arrangements, the hero’s ship was waiting outside the house.

“Cat eeears?”

“This lady has dog ears, sir!”

“Tsk-tsk-tsk, not quiiite.” The woman wagged a finger.

“That’s right. Rusus is of the tigerfolk tribe, and I am wolffolk.”

Tama and Pochi were excited to see fellow beastfolk in the form of the tigerfolk Rusus and the wolffolk Fifi, two members of the hero’s party.

Both of them were in their twenties; in their mysterious leatherlike armor, their proportions were as impressive as Nana’s. The pair’s waists were especially attractive.

Would Tama and Pochi grow up into beautiful women like them, too?

“It’s unusual to see beastfolk outside the Saga Empire.”

“These children are human-born, you see.”

Liza looked tense as she responded to Rusus’s observation.

“Hmm. So they were born to humanfolk parents, like an atavision, right?”

“Ooh, Fifi, you’re so smart!” Rusus exclaimed.

Fifi rubbed the back of her head bashfully at the praise.

But that’s called atavism, not atavision.

As I was listening in on this fun conversation, the hero poked his head out from the silver ship.

“Let’s go, Satou! Princess Arisa, I’m borrowing this guy for a while.”

“Of course, Sir Hero. Best of luck to you.”

Arisa put on her brightest smile, and the hero’s face melted in admiration.

Waving to the beastfolk girls, Rusus and Fifi sprinted up the ramp.

“Let’s get going, Hayato. Satou, you too. Get on board.”

Delivering a swift kick to the hero’s behind as he fawned over Arisa, Miss Ringrande then grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the silver ship.

I waved to everyone before I entered.

While I was gone, the vanguard was to be training with Mr. Kajiro. Arisa would study Space Magic, Mia would practice with the instrument she received from a songstress in the city, and Lulu would work on baking sponge cake.

I was looking forward to seeing the results of everyone’s training once I returned.

It looked exactly like the kind of spaceship you’d see in an old science fiction movie.

That was my first impression when I entered the silver ship.

Through the gear-shaped glass windows, which didn’t serve any discernible purpose, I could see lines of light running through magic circuits in geometric patterns, creating a mysterious waveform.

There were countless buttons and toggle switches at the control station on the bridge.

I could feel a faint vibration from the floor, while a low pulsing beat and a high-pitched engine whine sounded from the rear part of the hull.