Prologue 1 (July 20th)

The rainy season was over, and exams were finished, meaning it was finally time for summer vacation—my first summer break as a high schooler. It was a time of hopes, dreams, and infinite possibilities. But in reality...

“It’s just too hot...”

Ever since the start of July, temperatures had been on the rise, and they were hitting new records almost every single day. It was only morning now, and it was still stupidly hot.

“Can’t you just turn the air conditioner on?” R asked as she floated nonchalantly in the air.

“No, Harissa doesn’t like it.”

“But she’s not here right now, is she?”

R was right. Harissa had left to go do some kind of magical experiment. And for some reason, she’d taken the remote control with her. Was that part of her experiment or something?

“They say it’s bad for you if there’s too much of a temperature change when you go into a house. It can send even healthy people into a kind of shock.”

“Well, if you don’t mind, I certainly don’t, but let me remind you that heatstroke is still possible indoors, so it might not be a bad idea to avail yourself of the blessings of modern civilization. Also, make sure you drink plenty of water.”

“Are you my dad or something?”

“I just don’t want you dying over something stupid. And besides, shouldn’t you have said ‘mom’ there?”

“Yeah, well, my dad was the one who took on that role in my family. The stay-at-home type.”

“I see.” R nodded, then seemed to remember something. “Which means that the last big hurdle for the heroines won’t be your mom, but your father, Jigen, right?”

It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting her to say.

“What?”

“You know how it is, right? ‘If your miso soup tastes this bad, I can’t let you marry my son!’”

“That’s what a mother-in-law would say...”

“You never know. A stay-at-home dad might say it, too.”

“Well, mine wouldn’t... He wouldn’t... He wouldn’t, right?”

I started to feel less confident each time I said it. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed frighteningly possible.

“No, my dad would never... No. No way.”

Ugh... Why did I have to imagine something so creepy?

“Oh, isn’t this song...”

“Hm?”

I looked up to see what R was talking about. She was watching a commercial on TV with a bunch of idols at a concert hall.

“This song has been playing a lot lately, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah. MIO, right? She’s going on tour, isn’t she?”

I wasn’t into idols, but I knew MIO. She was a petite, particularly young-looking pop star who’d made her debut two or three years ago. She was incredibly popular now, and it was understandable why. She had a great singing voice. The song playing from the TV was one of hers, and the commercial was a preview for her upcoming tour.

“R, I didn’t know you were into music.”

“Hmm, I’m not really. I’m usually watching variety shows when the music programs air, but I suppose I might be interested one day. If that happens, I look forward to your cooperation.”

“Ugh...”

That’s right. If R ever did get into music, I’d be the one who had to download songs for her. I could already imagine how expensive that would get.

“At least wait until you’re done with your foreign dramas before you switch hobbies, okay?”

“That won’t be for a while.”

“I mean, you are watching 20 different series right now.”

“If you’re willing to stay up with me, we could watch most of them this weekend.”

“I need sleep, you know. Also, there’s the money...”

“I’m sure.”

As we chatted on about nothing of particular importance, something inexplicably fell down from the ceiling onto R’s head without warning.

“Huh?”

R was demi-material, and nobody but me could touch her, so it passed right through her and landed on the ground.

“What’s that? A TV remote?”

Actually, if I wasn’t mistaken, it was our TV remote. The very same one Harissa had walked off with earlier. As little question marks appeared above both our heads, I heard the sound of the front door opening.

“Is that Harissa, you think?”

“Probably.”

As we guessed, Harissa appeared in the living room a few moments later. She was wearing a thin summer shirt and shorts. But she was also holding a big wooden staff, which seemed strangely out of place.

“Sir Rekka, did the TV remote show up here?”

“Oh, yeah. It’s right there.”

I pointed at the remote on the floor, and Harissa smiled brightly. Her cheeks were flush, but it didn’t look like it was just from the summer sun.

“You said you were working on a magic experiment. Was it a success?”

“Yes!” Harissa answered cheerfully as she picked up the remote.

“Glad to hear it. What kind of magic is it?”

“Um, do you remember a magic item called the Red Thread?”

“The Red Thread... Is that the thing that lets you go back to your world?”

Harissa had once given it to me. I’d used it to get back to her world after returning to Earth.

“More precisely, it uses the karmic bond between two people to connect them.”

“Oh, is that how it works?”

“Yes. People are connected by something called karma, and the closer they are, the stronger that connection is. The Red Thread follows that connection and brings one person to the other.”

Huh...

“That’s pretty interesting. You’ve heard of the red thread that connects lovers, right?” R asked.

I nodded.

“Do you know where that story comes from, then?”

I shook my head.

“Basically, there was a terrible monster that lived deep in a dungeon. In order to keep it from coming out and hurting people, the king would sacrifice someone to it every year. A hero appeared to defeat the monster, but the dungeon it lived in was no ordinary dungeon. It was a long, treacherous maze. People who went in never came out. So the princess, who was in love with the hero, gave him a long, red thread and said she’d hold on to one end and wait at the entrance for him. That way, the hero was able to defeat the monster and follow the thread back out of the dungeon.”

“Interesting...”

“What is, Sir Rekka?”

“Oh! N-Nothing!”

Oops. Harissa couldn’t see R, so it must’ve looked like I was talking to myself. I quickly tried to change the subject, but kicked myself a little. I needed to be more careful.

“By the way, the hero and the princess split up after that.”

“!”

Gah! I almost laughed at such an unexpected twist of an ending. I glared at R to remind her not to do stuff like that to me when people were around, but she just ignored me.

“So, anyway... what were we talking about? The Red Thread?”

“Oh, yes. Um, it’s what I used as the inspiration for a new spell.”

Ah, so that was where it came into play.

“You see, the Red Thread connects two people through karma.” Harissa pointed to her chest, then mine. She seemed to be saying there was a connection between us. “I was curious if I could use a variation of that to connect different things, so I took apart the inner workings of the Red Thread and reformed it into a catalyst for a similar but different spell.”

“How would that work?” I asked.

She paused for a breath and declared, “Simple! It just follows the connection between two things!”

Her eyes weren’t quite screaming, “Now tell me how awesome I am,” but she was beaming with confidence and pride. Me, on the other hand... I was baffled.

“...”

“...?”

Harissa seemed confused by my lack of a response.

“Sorry... I don’t really follow.”

“No, I’m sorry. ‘The connection between two things’ is pretty vague, isn’t it?” Harissa stood up and cleared her throat, clearly ready to try explaining it to me again. “I believe I just told that you that people are connected by karma. Objects can sometimes be connected in much the same way.”

“With karma?”

“Yes. For example, I’ve used this staff for years, so there’s a strong connection between me and it. It’s one of my prized possessions, and we have something of a bond.”

“Oh, I see. That kind of thing.”

It was true that when you used something for years, even if it was just a mass-produced consumer good, it often became special to you. In that sense, I could see how you could develop a karmic bond with an object.

“So... what’s with the remote, then? Everybody who lives here uses it.”

From what Harissa had just said, it sounded like there needed to be a bond between a particular person and a particular thing.

“That’s what’s special about the new spell I developed.” She puffed out her chest a little like she’d been waiting for that question. “Sometimes a thing can have a connection with a specific place rather than a specific person.”

“A specific place?”

“Yes. In the case of the remote, it has a special connection to this room.”

“Hmm...” I mulled over what she was saying in my head. “So, let’s say I brought the flag home from school and used this new spell of yours on it. It would go right back to the flagpole at school?”

“Probably, yes. Connections with people are stronger than connections with places, so if there was anyone who was particularly attached to that flag, it would go to them instead.”

“Huh... In other words, you’ve created a spell that transports an object to the person or place it’s most strongly connected to?”

“Exactly!”

“Wow, you’re amazing, Harissa. Making your own spells like that...”

“Heehee!”

Harissa’s smile grew even brighter when I complimented her. She really had done something incredible, but there was one thing I still didn’t understand.

“This is really cool and all, but what will you use it for? And you said you need some kind of... catalyst, right? Does that mean there’s a limit to how much you can use it?”

“Yes. I only have the spare Red Threads I brought to this world with me, so I can only create two more catalysts with them,” she said with a nod.

So this wouldn’t be like her other magic spells. She could only cast it two times... Well, three, if you included the experiment she’d just done. What was she planning on using it for?

“So, um, Sir Rekka... I have a request...”

“A request?”

“Yes... I actually had a very specific reason for making this spell.” She hesitated for a moment and then looked up. “I’d like to go back home.”

“Home? Like... to Aburaamu?”

“Yes.”

“H-How?”

“If I use this magic on the Hero’s Sword, it should take me back to the castle there. It spent several centuries sealed underneath the castle, so it should have a powerful connection to the place.”

“I see...”

“The hero who originally used it has been dead for a long time, I’m sure, so the strongest connection now should be to that basement.”

I’d once used the Red Thread to go to Aburaamu myself, so it wasn’t hard to imagine that her plan would work. The Red Thread was a powerful item, and was probably just as effective modified.

“I came here without saying anything to anybody but the old lady who worked in the kitchen, so I want to see them again and let them know I’m okay.”

“Yeah, I would, too.”

Even if she was fitting in here, Harissa was still from another word. Iris and Rain were from deep space, but they could still go home anytime they wanted. Not Harissa. She was literally from another dimension, and she’d left her whole life behind there. It made perfect sense she’d want to go back.

“All right... I’ll miss you, but okay.”

“Huh?”

“When are you going back? I’d like to get everyone together and have a farewell party or something first.”

“W-Wait! Wait just a durn minute!”

When she saw how sad I looked, Harissa began to flail her arms about.

“H-Harissa?”

“I didn’t mean forever! I’m just going back to pay a visit!” She drew her face right up against mine and emphasized the “visit” part. “I don’t want to leave you! Not ever! Don’t even joke about that, Sir Rekka!”

“Okay, okay! I get it! Just calm down!” I yanked her off me. “Y-You’re just going back for a visit, and then coming back here?”

“That’s what I meant the whole time! If I go back to Aburaamu, I can get all the materials for the catalyst I need. Then I can go between here and there as much as I want!”

She had a good point. And if she could go back and forth freely, then there wasn’t really any difference between being from another world or being from outer space... or something? I was kinda starting to lose faith in my perspective on things.

“I see.” I was relieved to know she wasn’t leaving for good. “Okay, I’ll get the Hero’s Sword out of the storehouse. How long do you think you’ll be gone? If there’s anything you need for the trip, I’ll go buy it with you.”

“Um, about that...”

“Hm? Oh, right. You said you had a favor to ask. What was it?”

My misunderstanding had gotten the conversation a little off track, so she hadn’t yet told me what it was that she wanted.

“Uh... Um...” She started to fidget and mumble. “I-I want you to come back with me...”

“Oh, is that it? Sure.”

It wasn’t like I’d expected her to ask for anything impossible, but this was easier than I thought it’d be.

“A-And maybe I can introduce you to the elder of my village...”

“Introduce me? Sure, I guess.”

“That would be okay?”

“Yeah. It’s not like it’s a big deal, right?”

I didn’t really understand why, but maybe it was some kind of village tradition. I was an outsider, so maybe it was a good idea to introduce me to the village elder, anyway. Still, if that was all she wanted, there was no need to be so nervous about it.

“Hmm... So that’s what this is?”

R was mumbling about something, but I couldn’t ask her what with Harissa around. I just had to ignore her.

▽

After promising Harissa I’d go home with her, I went out for a bit. I didn’t have any real reason, but I figured if there wasn’t any TV in the world Harissa was from, I might go to the bookstore by the station and get some light novels or manga or something. I headed there at a leisurely pace.

“Rekka, Rekka. Don’t forget to get a portable DVD player,” R said.

“Those are way too expensive,” I immediately responded.

“But you’ll be there four or five days, right? What am I supposed to be doing then?”

“I understand, but... Just put up with it, okay? I did just buy you a portable TV, in case you forgot.”

There was no way I had the money for another splurge like that.

“Hmm... When do you get your next allowance?” R asked, upset.

“It’s always at the start of the month, so a little under two weeks, I guess.”

“Can we wait for her to go back until then?”

“Of course not. Harissa’s really looking forward to this.”

“Hmph.” R puffed out a single cheek in a pout.

And actually, looking at her then, I realized her expressions had gotten a lot more... I don’t know... expressive lately. Back when we first met, she was practically emotionless. She was still weird, and still a boob-obsessed pervert, but she was quite different now. Was it because of all the TV shows and movies she’d been watching?

“I was going to get some manga and light novels to read. Can you make do with those?”

“I’m willing to try new things, but I won’t be able to read them at night, right? They didn’t have electricity or anything in that world.”

“Hmm, that’s true.”

R didn’t need to sleep, so the whole reason I’d bought her a portable TV was so she’d have something to do at night. But since I was going to be visiting Harissa’s hometown, I’d be staying in someone else’s house. It would be rude to ask for a light all night so R could read.

“And the TV is one thing, but having you turn all the pages of a book for me is going to get annoying. My hands are small, too.”

“That’s true... I’d even have to hold the pages down for you while you read.”

The TV was convenient because all I had to do was hit a button to turn it on for her to watch it. That wasn’t the case with a book.

“I guess you’ll just have to go without.”

“I guess so. Way to be useless, Rekka.”

“Don’t say that.”

I guess even artificial life forms didn’t want to give up their entertainment. I hated to say it, but this time she would just have to make do. If I started spoiling her, it would have a bad effect on my everyday life. Anyway, we kept chatting as we turned into an alley.

“Is this the right way?” she asked.

“It’s a shortcut,” I said.

“I’ve never been here before.”

“It’s narrow and dusty, so I only come this way when I’m in clothes I don’t care about getting dirty.”

I was dressed pretty casually—an old T-shirt, jeans, and sandals—so I didn’t have any problems walking down the old alleyway with its cracked pavement. It was a shortcut I’d found in elementary school. The rows of buildings and walls made it hard to see where you were going, and the path took so many twists and turns that it was all too easy to get lost if you didn’t know the way. I know I did the first time I was there. I cried and cried until I finally made it out.

“Rekka, Rekka, isn’t the station that way?” R asked, pointing to an intersecting alley as we passed it.

I was impressed that even though she’d never been here before, she hadn’t lost her sense of direction.

“That’s a dead end. You have to take this past the empty lot up ahead.”

Two more turns after that and we’d be right in front of the station.

“Is this really a shortcut?” she asked skeptically.

“Probably,” I said and looked away.

“What?”

“You know how when you’re a kid, you think you’ve found a really cool shortcut to somewhere... but then when you get older, you sometimes realize that it wasn’t much of a shortcut at all?”

“Nope. You lost me.”

That was weirdly depressing... Did that only ever happen to me?

My shoulders slumped as I passed by the empty lot. I actually didn’t know why the lot was empty, but it was plenty big enough for a game of soccer. Since it was summer now, the weeds and grasses had all grown high. If you cut through the lot, you could actually hop the brick wall on the other side and end up right in front of the station, but I felt like I was a little too old to do that. But as we started to walk around it...

“Augh...”

I heard a small moan from somewhere nearby.

“Hm? R, did you hear that?”

“No? But if you did, why not check it out?”

Yeah, she definitely heard it... But it sounded like somebody in pain. I couldn’t just pretend I hadn’t heard it. I went back up the road some and into the empty lot.

“It must have been coming from over here.”

There was a house on the left side of the lot, but it was too far away for the voice to have come from there. The voice was also quiet enough that it couldn’t have come from inside. That meant it had to have been from somewhere in the lot.

The lot was filled with tall weeds, but there was something of a trodden footpath from the entrance to the center of the lot where the kids would come and play. There were also several large pipes toward the back of the lot near the wall. I followed the path to the middle of the lot, but there was no one there.

“I don’t see anyone,” R said.

“Maybe they’re behind the pipes, or hiding in them?”

I decided to give the pipes a look.

“Let’s see...”

I checked each of the pipes in turn, but there was no one there, either. I even looked behind them and still didn’t see anyone. Had I just imagined the voice? I looked up to scan for any possible hiding spots I might have missed... just in time to see a girl appear from the street.

“Hahh...! Hahh...!”

She was clearly panicked, like someone was chasing her. She dashed into the lot and turned to look towards the street. When she whipped around, her long, black hair fluttered, and I saw her earrings glimmer in the sun.

“Hey, excuse me.”

“?!”

Apparently she hadn’t seen me standing over by the pipes, and it was only when I said something that she realized I was there. She looked totally shocked to see me.

“I-Is something wrong?” I asked.

With how she was staring at me, I couldn’t think of much else to say. She frowned without answering, but then her demeanor changed. She seemed resolved to do something, and she walked towards me with broad strides.

“Stay put!”

“Huh?”

Suddenly she grabbed me and dragged me towards the far back of the lot.

“Hey, that’s a dead end. There’s a wall...”

I tried to stop her, but...

“Don’t struggle!”

“Uwah!”

She pulled me hard, and I lost my balance. We both slammed face first into the wall... Or at least that’s what I thought was going to happen.

“Huh?”

The impact I was expecting never came, and when I opened my eyes, we were in a narrow alley.

“...Huh?”

I recognized this street... I turned around to see if I was remembering things right, and sure enough, there was a brick wall right behind us.

“Is this...”

The other side of the brick wall? It sure seemed like it. I could see the sign for the station at the end of the street. It was almost exactly as I remembered it from jumping the wall as a kid. So, did that mean... we’d gone through the wall?

“Hey, are you okay?”

I gasped a little and turned around when I heard the girl speak.

“Did you do that?” I asked.

“Forget about it...”

Yeah, that’s not exactly the kind of thing you can just forget about...

“What’s your name?”

“Me? Rekka Namidare.”

“Rekka... Rekka, huh...?”

She ran her fingers through her hair as if she was thinking about something. I was just about to ask her what was going on, but she suddenly threw her arms around me.

“Huh? Wh-What are you...”

Th-Those breasts!

“My name is Ellicia, and I’m being chased by scary men. You should run away so you don’t get caught up in this.”

“You’re being chased?”

She certainly was acting like it.

“If you’re in trouble, I can help...” I said.

She didn’t seem to expect my offer, because she looked quite surprised for a moment before shaking her head.

“No. Just get away from here,” she repeated. “Got it? You have to get away.”

“W-Wait!”

She started to run before I could stop her.

I quickly went after her, but by the time I made it out to the main street, she was gone.

“...What was that all about?”

I stood there for a second in shock at what had just happened. The way we’d gone through that wall... That definitely wasn’t a normal power. But she’d looked human. Was it magic, then?

“Was she a heroine?”

“So it seems.”

“Can she use magic, too?”

“Who knows?”

As usual, R wouldn’t tell me the important stuff.

But was I supposed to go after this girl? If she could go through walls, it would be hard to catch her. I wanted to try and think up something, but she’d been insistent about getting away from here. I dropped into the bookstore for a moment and pretended to read a book. Sure enough, shortly after, a man in black showed up near the alley entrance. He had a big scar on his face, and even with his jacket on, I could tell he was pretty built. Yup, that definitely looked like a scary man.

He let his gaze wander for a minute, then ran off to the right. I briefly thought about chasing him, but decided against it.

“Aren’t you going to go after him?” R asked.

“Nah.”

I’d lost sight of Ellicia in an instant. The man was probably just guessing where she’d gone. And besides, I was more concerned about where she was than that man. Lucky for me, I had a friend who was great at finding people.

“We can use Satsuki’s Magic of Omniscience to figure out where she is. That’s more certain and probably faster...”

But then something crossed my mind.

“Crap! I never actually finished checking out the empty lot!”

I quickly headed out of the bookstore and back to the empty lot.

I’d gotten so caught up in the chase with Ellicia that I’d forgotten all about the noise I’d heard coming from the empty lot. If someone was lying there hurt, they were probably in a lot of trouble. I’d search the whole lot this time just to be sure, although if it was really just my imagination and I was hearing things after all, maybe that would be for the better.

I went back around the alleyway, and when I arrived at the lot, I came across a girl in a crimson dress with a matching parasol.

“H-Huh?”

“Hmm?” The girl turned toward me. “Do you perchance need something from me?”

There was an elegance about her as she ran a hand through her bronze hair and looked up at me. Her face made her look younger than me, but her mature expression made me think I was dealing with someone older.

“No, just... When did you get here? To this lot, I mean.”

“I only just arrived.”

“I see.”

Then the voice couldn’t have been hers. But then something else crossed my mind. I turned to R.

“No, it doesn’t look like she’s a heroine.”

After just running into one, I guess I assumed I was in for more trouble. It turned out I was wrong though, which meant that the girl in the red dress was probably just a passerby.

“You.”

“Who? Me?”

“Yes. I answered your question. In exchange, will you do me a favor?”

I looked away.

“You see, I’m in a bit of a hurry...”

“Don’t worry. It won’t take long.”

She beckoned for me to come closer. I felt like it would be rude to ignore her, so I reluctantly approached.

“So, what do you want me to do?”

“Let me ride on your shoulders.”

She smiled and pointed at the ground, clearly expecting me to kneel down. Well, if that was all she wanted, I figured... why not? I got on my knees and leaned forward some for her. The hem of her dress was all I could see for a moment, and I could feel the smooth fabric of it rub against my hair as she climbed on.

“You don’t need to grab my legs, thank you.”

Once I felt her tiny body lean up against the back of my head, I braced myself and slowly stood up. She was as light as she looked, so lifting her wasn’t a problem.

“Approach the wall, please.”

“Sure thing.”

I did as she asked.

“I’m sorry, this will get your shirt dirty,” she said as she stood up on my shoulders.

It was an old shirt, so I didn’t really care what happened to it, but I was definitely curious about what she was going to do from here. I thought about asking, but suddenly the weight on my shoulders was gone.

“I couldn’t cross this wall alone, so thank you. I am grateful for your assistance.”

I looked up and saw the girl looking down at me with a smile. I guess the favor was being her stepping stool...

“What are you going to do up there?”

“Nothing of importance, truly. I’m in the middle of a game.”

A game? Was she trying to chase after a cat or something? Well, it sounded innocent enough.

“You, however, seem as though you were looking for something,” she said.

“Yeah.”

“Is it perhaps the person lying in the grass over there?”

“Huh?”

The girl pointed over to a particularly thick patch of overgrown grass. It was too dense and tall for me to see anything, but she must have had a better vantage point up on the wall.

“Thanks, that’s a big help.”

“I’ve done nothing to earn your thanks. If anything, I owe you for helping me. You’re a good person. Perhaps we’ll meet again. Farewell for now,” she said before jumping down onto the other side of the wall.

It was only a brief encounter, but she seemed pretty memorable. Granted, that was true of most girls I was meeting lately.

“Oh, well, I guess...”

I then pressed on and went to investigate the area she’d pointed out. I found a girl who looked like an elementary school student lying on the ground. She was so petite that the grass had completely hidden her. There was a big hat on the ground next to her. I figured it was probably hers.

“Hey, are you okay?”

I lightly slapped her cheek, and she moaned in response. It was a good sign. She was alive, at least. She didn’t look badly hurt, either.

“Are you sick or something?” I asked.

“No, she’s probably just tired. Let her rest and eat something, and she’ll be fine,” R answered.

“Shouldn’t we take her to a hospital to get checked out just in case?”

“Rekka, Rekka, Rekka... You would believe some local doctor before you believed me, a product of future technology?”

“Hmm...”

R was probably right there. It was almost never useful, but she was a multifunctional being from the future.

I was wondering what to do next, when suddenly...

“Help... me...” the girl said weakly. “Rekka...”

Shocked, I stared at her blankly.

“How did she know my name?”

I knew better than anyone that Rekka was a pretty uncommon name. And I’d never met this girl before, either. I’d only stumbled on her by chance, so how did she know my name? It was all so bizarre that it made me wonder...

“She’s a heroine, isn’t she?”

“Yup. This one’s a heroine.” R nodded. “Good things come in threes, don’t they, Rekka?”

Ugh...

“Oh, but in your case, this happens all the time, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess it does...”

I looked up into the summer sun and wondered what I was about to get myself into.