Chapter 1: The Story that Crossed Time
Chapter 1: The Story that Crossed Time
As we flipped a page on the calendar, it was that time of year to change out our wardrobes with the season.
“It’s been so long since I wore my blazer. It feels pretty good.”
“Yeah.”
“Even though it’s still hot...” Iris whined as she fanned her face with a hand.
Despite it being October now, the sun was still beaming down like it was summer. Simply standing in it was enough to make sweat build on my forehead.
“Phew, it’s hot. I’d rather lose the jacket if it’s gonna be like this...”
Several of the other boys in my class were already abandoning their blazers and hanging them on the backs of their chairs during class.
“If Rekka strips, I’ll strip too!”
“No, Iris. It sounds weird when you put it that way.”
Several of the boys in the class were now sending me death glares.
“Honestly, what detestable heat. This season was a little cooler a hundred years ago.”
Rosalind came over from her seat further away and made a similar complaint. She had visited Japan over a hundred years ago, so she wasn’t exaggerating just now. She was being quite literal. Global warming was scary. Well, as scary as it was, there were more pressing matters that I was afraid of right now...
“It’s midterm season again, huh? I hate tests even more than the heat.”
“Right?” echoed Iris.
“Indeed,” agreed Rosalind.
“You three... need to study more.” Satsuki sighed in exasperation at the three of us who hated studying.
“That’s easier said than done.”
“Right?”
“Indeed.”
“You’re all so in sync...”
Satsuki looked a little sad.
“We should have another study group like the one we did for summer vacation homework. We can invite Tsumiki too,” I suggested.
“Yes, let’s do that,” Satsuki agreed.
“Want to go to the library again? Or should the four of us gather at someone’s house?”
“Hey... Don’t leave me out.”
Rosalind raised a complaint this time, interrupting me and Satsuki. Come to think of it, we’d never invited Rosalind to a study group before. Not that we did them very often or anything.
“You wanna come too, Rosalind?”
“Yes,” she answered immediately.
I didn’t think she was that motivated about the tests... She always seemed so bored during class.
“Then let’s have one at Rekka’s house after school today,” suggested Satsuki.
“Huh? We’re starting today?” I asked, startled.
“The sooner the better. We only have two weeks until midterms.”
Well, when she put it that way, it was hard to object. I knew I had to study, but having to study now was a real buzzkill... Was this simply the destiny of an underachiever?
“Yay! Then let’s meet up at Rekka’s house in the afternoon!” cheered Iris.
“Indeed, I shall look forward to it,” said Rosalind.
“Since we’ll be intruding on you, I’ll help Harissa with dinner for tonight,” offered Satsuki. “Let’s drop by the shopping street on our way home from school.”
In contrast to me, Satsuki was super excited. Even Iris and Rosalind looked happy about it... And I thought they were on my side.
“How peaceful it is around here...”
R didn’t seem too interested in all the good cheer, and she let out a big yawn before settling into a mid-air nap.
Well, in spite of climate change and midterms, peaceful was good. We hadn’t had any world-shattering incidents over the past two weeks, which might be a new milestone. Yes, peaceful was very, very good.
“Huh? What’s wrong, Rekka?”
“Nothing... I was just thinking I’m getting totally jaded...”
Thinking back on it now, too much had happened over the past half a year. Was there any other high school student born in Japan who could thoroughly appreciate these peaceful days more than I did? Okay, maybe that was being a bit dramatic.
Anyway... most of my problems stem from me sticking my neck into things, so maybe I’m really just reaping what I sow.
“Okay, then it’s settled. Rekka’s house after school. Make sure you let Harissa know too, Rekka.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I replied to Satsuki from where I lay sprawled across my desk.
I wasn’t involved in any stories right now anyway. It would be as good a chance as any to try and catch up on my studies and act like a real student for once. Though I’d probably fall asleep midway.
“We’ll have to ask Tsumiki if she’ll come along too later... Huh?”
Suddenly, the cellphone in my pocket started to ring. I checked the caller ID before answering.
“What’s up, Hibiki?”
“You got a minute, Rekka?”
“Yeah, but class is starting soon, so make it quick.”
“Class is about to start here too. I’ll get straight to business,” Hibiki said without much preamble. “I want to borrow your power, Rekka.”
“...”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
Well, that sure was an abrupt end to the peace... is what I was really thinking. But that’s how it always is, right? Here we go again.
“What happened now?”
I inquired as to her reason for wanting to borrow my power.
“You see... Actually, this came from Chelsea. One of her friends seems to be in a bit of trouble.”
If it was Chelsea-related, then maybe it was something about magic? Or maybe something about treasure hunting? I was hoping it was one or the other, because I didn’t really want to have to deal with the Margaret clan anymore. The current head of that clan, Nartessia, was generally a calm person, but extremely scary when angry...
“I see. What kind of trouble?”
“She’d got a friend named Sherlyn Doteyes. Apparently, she’s under some kind of curse.”
▽
After school that day, I was waiting at my house for Hibiki to show up with Chelsea’s aforementioned friend, but...
“You’re still gonna insist on this study session thing, huh?”
“We’re students. Studying is what we’re supposed to do,” said Satsuki with a sigh from across the table. “And you have no room to complain, mister! You completely bombed the first semester. At this rate, with all of your unexcused absences, you really are going to be held back a grade.”
“Urk!”
Okay, touché. I couldn’t really argue there. I guess I’ll give it an earnest go while I wait for Hibiki to get here...
But just as I got my notes organized and seriously cracked open a textbook, Iris threw down her pencil and declared she was tired of studying.
“Hey, what’s Harissa up to? I’m getting hungry.”
“I’m also a bit peckish,” Rosalind agreed with a sleepy yawn.
“Shall I make something?” offered Tsumiki.
“Definitely not!”
“Certainly not!”
“Absolutely not!”
“Huh?! Why not?!”
Iris, Rosalind, and I all shot down Tsumiki immediately, but that only made her get defensive. She shouted right back at us, fists clenched and everything. I wished she would just take a hint already.
“Oh my gosh, you guys! We only just started!” Satsuki scolded, seeing as how we’d quickly derailed the whole studying thing again.
But Iris didn’t pay her the slightest bit of attention.
“So, Rekka, where’s Harissa?”
“She should be out grocery shopping for dinner, but now that you mention it... she’s kind of late.”
Normally, she’d be back by now. But just as I was starting to get a little worried, I heard the doorbell and Harissa’s voice.
“Sir Rekka!”
“Sounds like her now.”
I stood up and headed for the front door. If she rang the doorbell, that had to mean she had both arms full with shopping bags. I was planning on helping her carry them to the kitchen, but when I opened the door...
“Sir Rekka! Erm, I found someone collapsed just over there... What should we do?”
Harissa looked up at me anxiously, the prone body of a samurai slumped over her back.
▽
“That’s a samurai, right?” I asked, unsure.
“It certainly looks like one,” Satsuki replied.
“It totally does. No matter how you look at it, that’s gotta be a samurai,” Tsumiki agreed.
We continued muttering to ourselves as we looked down in awe at the new face Harissa had brought home, someone who was now asleep on the living room sofa.
The battle haori over his shoulders and the trademark hat on his head tied under his chin with string. The beautiful katana hanging from his waist. The tabi socks on his feet, and the zori sandals we left at the door... Yeah, by all appearances, this was most definitely a samurai.
That said, in modern Japan, the only places you ever saw samurai were in period dramas and at theme parks like Edo Wonderland. They shouldn’t be lying on the side of the road in a random podunk town like ours.
“What’s a samurai?” asked Iris, unfamiliar with the term.
“My, this brings back memories,” said Rosalind with a somewhat nostalgic look on her face. “I remember seeing one once a long time ago.”
I know we just went over how we were supposed to be studying and all, but this definitely took priority now. Figuring out where the samurai even came from in the first place would have to wait too.
“Sir Rekka, I’ve brought some water.”
“Thanks, Harissa.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll go make something light to eat.”
“I’ll help,” offered Satsuki.
The two of them then went into the kitchen together. Tsumiki tried to follow them, but Rosalind stopped her.
“Let’s start with the water first, okay?”
A samurai collapsed on the street, huh? Now that I think about it, Rachelle the fallen angel’s story had started in a pretty similar fashion. Granted, in her case, she was after some incomprehensible “love energy” and not actual food... Whatever. I might not know anything else about him, but this samurai guy definitely looked human. Surely regular food and water would be okay. And with that thought, I kneeled down next to the sofa and helped him sit up some so he could drink a little something.
“Hm?”
How come this guy’s back was so soft to the touch? Aren’t samurai normally, like, super beefy and rugged from all their training? Huh, well, this guy did look pretty young, so I guess he wasn’t quite there yet. Anyway, I lifted the cup to his lips and carefully tilted it.
“...Mm, mgh.”
He swallowed the water and groaned a bit. His eyelids then fluttered for a moment before slowly opening.
“Oh, you awake now?”
“...”
He just stared at me in a silent daze, so I leaned in a little to see if he was all right, but...
“...Insolent fellow!”
A punch was all I saw coming.
“Gwah!”
M-My nose...! I pressed a hand against my stinging face as the samurai jumped to his feet on the sofa and reached for his katana.
“Where is this?! Why am I here?!”
“First, please calm down.”
Tears welled in my eyes from the pain, but I stood up and reached a hand out to try and reassure him. My vision was just blurred enough that I misjudged the distance, however, and I put my hand right on his chest instead of his shoulder. Wait... His chest under that battle haori was even softer than his back.
“Wh-Wh-Wha—!”
And now he was freaking out even more for some reason. Don’t tell me...
“H-How dare you?!”
“Uwah! W-Wait a minute!”
Yeah, there was no mistaking that reaction.
“You’re a girl?!”
I realized my mistake and tried to apologize immediately, but the samurai girl refused to hear me out. She simply drew her katana and held it aloft, glaring down at me with clear killing intent.
“I’ll cut you down where you stand!”
“Gyaaaaah!”
She really was about to cut me down, but when she went to swing her sword...
Grrrumble!
It seemed her hunger had overpowered her rage, and she swooned back onto the sofa.
“H-Hey, are you all right?”
“I’ll... cut you...”
She was still trying to put up a fight, but it wasn’t particularly convincing with her eyes spinning in circles like that.
“Hold it, Rekka! Did you touch that girl’s chest just now?!” Iris demanded to know.
“No, it was an accident!” I tried to explain.
The battle haori she was wearing concealed her chest (despite how big it felt when I accidentally touched it), and she had a pretty boyish face, so I’d honestly thought she was a guy...
“Disgusting,” muttered Tsumiki.
Oof... That single word felt like a knife to the heart. And the dirty look Rosalind was giving me only made it hurt more.
But in the midst of my suffering, innocent Harissa poked her head out from the kitchen.
“Sir Rekka! I’ve made some udon for now... What’s wrong?”
She blinked repeatedly in confusion upon seeing the swooning samurai with her katana drawn.
“Oh, uh... Nothing.”
It was too bothersome to explain, so I confiscated the katana for now and retrieved the freshly cooked udon from Harissa.
“...Mwuh?”
The smell of food wafted over to the swooning samurai. The next thing I knew, her nose was twitching, and she was completely awake again.
“Smells good...”
Her eyes were totally locked on to the steaming bowl of udon. She really must have been hungry.
“Here you go. It’s hot, so be careful.”
She accepted the chopsticks Harissa offered her without thinking twice, and then began wolfing down the udon at a genuinely impressive pace.
“She sure is a busy one, what with that fainting and waking up over and over routine and all,” Rosalind muttered in exasperation as she observed all this.
Once the bowl was completely emptied, the samurai clapped her hands together in thanks and bowed her head to us—or to Harissa, to be exact.
“Thank you kindly for the meal. I finally feel like myself again. I do not know where I am or who you are, but allow me to express my gratitude.”
“You’re in Sir Rekka’s house. If you’d like to thank someone, you should be thanking him.”
“Muh?”
Hearing that, the samurai looked at me and grimaced.
“...So, you are the master of this house? I am in your debt.”
The look on her face told me she was still mad about me touching her chest earlier.
“Yeah, that’s me. I’m Rekka Namidare. Erm, do you mind if I ask your name?”
“I am Chirika Shinomiya.” The samurai girl—Chirika—introduced herself in a clear voice before looking around at everyone else in the room. “Now, where is this place? There seem to be a great many foreigners here. There are also many objects I have never seen before... Is that glass? Not even the glass in the castle is so clear.”
“W-Wait, hold up a second.” I tried to get Chirika to pump the breaks. “Sorry, but would you mind answering some questions for me first? I’d like to hear about your situation, Chirika.”
“I’m afraid not. My priorities lie elsewhere. I must hurry back to the Gold Yaksha and save Princess Izuko forthwith.”
“Princess Izuko...?”
“You peon... You know not of Princess Izuko? The very same who is famous for being the fairest maiden in all the land?”
Chirika looked quite surprised by this development, but I’d never heard of anyone by that name. I asked Tsumiki about it just in case it was a celebrity or something I didn’t know, but even she shook her head.
A princess in distress? Check. A samurai come to save her? Check. But one who talked in such a strangely old-fashioned way...?
“No...”
That all added up to one thing in my head. It was a ridiculous conclusion to come to, I admit, but this wouldn’t be the first time something like it had happened. I couldn’t rule it out.
“Hey, Satsuki, could I check with you about something?”
“Sure.”
And by “check with her about something,” I really meant I needed her to check with Magic of Omniscience for me. Specifically, I didn’t yet know if Chirika was a heroine or not. There was a possibility she was just a cosplayer with a really overactive imagination. So I leaned over and whispered my concerns to Satsuki, who then got up and discretely left the room so she could use her magic.
“You there, answer me this: is this really the Land of the Rising Sun?” Chirika then demanded.
“The Land of the Rising Sun?” I asked, head cocked to the side.
“She means Japan,” Tsumiki whispered in my ear.
“Aah, right, yeah, you don’t have to worry. We’re in Japan.”
She was probably worried she’d ended up in a different country upon seeing Iris and Rosalind, who were decidedly non-Japanese. Then again, it wasn’t that rare to see foreigners in Japan these days. If she was reacting oddly to that, then that had to mean Chirika was...
“Rekka,” Satsuki called out to me as she reentered the room.
“...How did it go?” I asked tentatively.
“I think it’s exactly as you suspected,” Satsuki answered with a slightly troubled expression. “Chirika seems to have timeslipped here from the past.”
▽
According to Satsuki, Chirika had come to the present from the Sengoku period over 500 years ago.
“You’re saying... this is a future world?”
And Chirika was understandably astonished when we told her this. To be fair, though, I think anyone would be. Hearing you’d travelled into the future was probably about as shocking as it got. It was easily on par with getting abducted by aliens or transported to another world. And having been through both of those things, I certainly wasn’t expecting her to take me at my word right away.
“H-Hmm, I’ll admit that I found your manner of dress to be inexplicable. But this is the clothing of the future, you say...? S-Still, I cannot believe you so easily. I demand some kind of proof.”
Despite Chirika’s shock, she still managed to point the end of her katana at my face and question me. That was dangerous.
“Proof, huh?”
I picked up the remote control that was lying around and hit the power button. One beep later, the TV was playing the ending scene of some soap opera rerun.
“Bwuh?! Th-There’s a person in the box! How mysterious!”
“Wah! Wait! Don’t attack it!”
I quickly pacified Chirika—who was poised to cut the TV in half—and showed her the back of it, explaining that there weren’t actually people inside.
“I see... Yokai sorcery, is it?”
“No, that’s not what I meant at all.”
After showing her my cellphone and the refrigerator too, she finally accepted that we weren’t using some kind of sorcery about 30 minutes later.
“Hmm... Very well.”
Chirika finally nodded, crossing her arms and closing her eyes as though she’d come to a conclusion on something.
“So, do you believe me now? That this is the future?”
“For the most part. You see, something comes to mind now...”
There, Chirika began to tell us the story of her fight with a monster called the Gold Yaksha.
“...Then, just as the Gold Yaksha leaped at me, a bolt of lightning struck the cedar at the peak of the mountain and enveloped the entire area in a mysterious light. Be it the work of the Disappearing Mountain or that demon’s sorcery, I know not, but I believe that was how I came to be banished here.”
Honestly, it was all rather vague for something that had just “come to mind,” but she seemed convinced by it.
“Chirika, there’s actually one more thing I need to tell you about. It’s about me.”
“Hm?”
I gave Chirika a brief explanation of the Namidare bloodline.
“The future sure has some curious karma at work indeed...”
“You’re telling me...”
“Does this make me one of your so-called ‘heroines,’ then?”
“That’s right,” I said, looking over to R for confirmation.
“What, you couldn’t tell? How many more hints do you want her to drop?”
Okay, that was uncalled for, but I guess she was right. There was no mistaking that Chirika was a heroine at this point, which meant that she was here for a reason—her story.
“Hmm, thinking about this rationally, shouldn’t Chirika’s story be to get her back home?”
Putting together everything Chirika had told us so far, I took a stab in the dark...
“No, that’s wrong.”
And was immediately shot down by the heroine herself.
“If you truly are the heir of a line of heroes capable of overturning tragedy, then surely it must be Princess Izuko you are meant to save.”
Princess Izuko? As in the princess she mentioned earlier?
“Come to think of it, you said you were trying to rescue her, right? What happened?”
“It all started three days ago...”
In this case, Chirika’s “three days ago” was actually hundreds of years in the past. In other words, she meant three days before she travelled through time.
“A monster called the Gold Yaksha appeared in the castle of the lord I serve.”
“You mentioned him before too, but who is this Gold Yaksha guy?”
“I do not know.”
She delivered that line so deadpan that everyone in the room nearly hit the floor.
“Wh-What do you mean?”
“A monster is a monster. His true identity is of no importance to me.”
Rather than being that she didn’t know, it seemed more like she didn’t care.
“...”
And after what she said, Rosalind was now frowning.
“The real problem was that he somehow managed to slip past the castle’s defenses. He made his way inside... where he kidnapped the princess and demanded a ransom in exchange for her return.”
“A ransom?”
“Gold, to be exact. He dared to ask for the entire castle’s worth.”
“A yaksha is basically a kind of demon, right? What would a demon want with gold?”
That part didn’t quite make sense to me, so I turned to Rosalind... who was arguably a kind of demon herself.
“Demon or not, many supernatural beings desire wealth. In fact, do you not have a tale in this land about a boy who slew some demons and plundered their horde?”
“Huh, yeah, you’re right.”
Now that she mentioned it, that was basically the story of Momotaro. I guess it didn’t really matter whether or not demons could even use gold; it was still a status symbol. But all this talk seemed to trigger something in Chirika, and she clicked her tongue angrily.
“How dare a mere yokai lay a hand on the princess! And to demand all the gold in the castle on top of that... That despicable, greedy monster!”
“...Ha!”
Rosalind suddenly scoffed at Chirika’s abusive rant about the Gold Yaksha. Naturally, the samurai took offense to the vampire’s attitude and glared at her sharply.
“What’s so funny?”
“Oh, nothing. I was just thinking that if your precious princess is really so important to you, you could have just paid the gold and been done with the whole affair. And if you aren’t willing to pay for her life, then I guess she wasn’t worth all that much to you to begin with.”
Rosalind’s cold assessment made Chirika’s face twitch a little.
“That is an entirely separate matter.”
“But your castle garrison was collectively unable to prevent this Gold Yaksha’s intrusion, were they not? So instead of some futile attempt at a rescue mission, wouldn’t your princess have stood a better chance if you had simply paid the ransom?”
Rosalind was being especially harsh with Chirika. Her attitude earlier really must have gotten under her skin.
“You... I don’t care if you are a child; I will brook no further contempt from you!”
“Who are you calling a child?!”
Chirika was moments away from drawing her katana again, and the flames of fury in Rosalind’s eyes were reaching ever higher.
“H-Hold it right there! Both of you, calm down!” I hurriedly interrupted the tense atmosphere between them. “I understand Chirika’s situation now, so now we need to focus on finding a way to save that princess! So please, let’s not fight for no reason, okay? You need to stop picking fights too, Rosalind.”
“Hmph!”
Rosalind crossed her arms in displeasure and turned away. Chirika glared at her for another moment before heaving a deep sigh to calm herself and removing her hand from the handle of her sword.
“I owe you for the meal you provided me, so I shall oblige for now.”
“Th-Thanks...”
I didn’t quite understand her logic, but I was willing to take it for now. I was just happy things had calmed down. Or, at least, I thought they had.
“But I will not stand for being belittled so. My efforts were not in vain,” Chirika suddenly declared. “Rekka, place that apple on the chair and kindly stand before it.”
She was pointing to an apple Harissa had brought into the living room and was just about to start peeling.
“Huh?”
“Make it quick.”
At Chirika’s behest, I placed the apple on the chair and stood in front of it, just like she wanted. Once I was in place, she drew her katana and took a strange stance.
“H-Hey now...”
“Don’t worry. I shall not cut you.”
I would have been freaking out a little more if she weren’t outside of arm’s reach right now. There was even a table between us.
“Wait, what are you going to do to Rekka?” Iris asked Chirika worriedly.
Chirika didn’t take her eyes off me as she replied, “Don’t make me repeat myself... I shall not cut him!”
And there, she swung her sword.
“Uwah!”
I couldn’t help screaming, but the blade never reached me. Although... I did hear what sounded like something falling right behind me.
“Hm?”
I turned around to see the apple cleanly sliced in two, each half lying on either side of the chair.
“Whaaaaat?!”
“The apple suddenly split in half... No, it was cut?”
“What was that just now?”
Everyone else was just as surprised as I was. I picked up the apple halves to inspect them. And sure enough, the fruit had clearly been cut in two. I had a perfect cross-section.
“Did you cut it, Chirika?” I asked.
“That’s right,” she confirmed, slipping her katana back into its scabbard.
Her overflowing confidence certainly made it seem like she had, but how was that possible? I was standing right in front of it, and her sword slash only caught air.
“Magic?”
“Nope, that wasn’t magic. I couldn’t sense any mana,” said Satsuki.
Well, if it wasn’t magic, I was out of ideas. I honestly had no idea how she’d done it.
“Hmph, that’s a strange technique you have,” Rosalind muttered with a snort.
“Technique?” I asked.
“That’s right,” Chirika replied. “It’s one of the secret techniques passed down in my sword school. It’s called the Silkworm Slash, and it uses a blade made of chi to cut through physical objects at its user’s discretion. Once mastered, it’s capable of cutting a silkworm without disturbing its cocoon.”
“Huh, that’s impressive.”
Now that she mentioned it, there wasn’t a single mark on the chair or anything else. She hadn’t swung her sword haphazardly, but carefully to hit a specified target. Not just anyone—and not just any samurai, either—knew secret techniques, though. Chirika looked like she was about my age or maybe even a bit younger, so for her to be at this level must have meant she’d been through a considerable amount of training.
“I see. So shields and armor would be pointless against this,” said Rosalind.
“Well? Do you comprehend the extent of my abilities now?” Chirika asked, proudly sticking her chest out as she turned to Rosalind.
But Rosalind simply gave a shrug of her shoulders and said, “The subtlety of your skill is what I would expect from a Japanese swordsman. But as far as combat abilities are concerned, the people of the West have long surpassed human limits through training. I wouldn’t be so arrogant at your level.”
“Grrrrr!”
Despite having just met, it seemed the two of them already had it out for each other for some reason. I was starting to worry about where this was going, but luckily, the doorbell rang.
▽
Temporarily putting aside my fears about the sparks flying between Rosalind and Chirika, I went to go get the door. It was Hibiki, Chelsea, and an unfamiliar face.
“Oh, it’s you guys... Right, we need to work on something too.”
“What is that supposed to mean? Don’t tell me you forgot we were coming.”
“Um, well, no. It’s not that I forgot. It’s just that a lot has happened this afternoon, and it kinda slipped my mind.”
“...Should I ask?” Hibiki heaved a partially exasperated, partially resigned sigh.
“My, you really never change, do you, Rekka? Well, I guess that’s what makes you so reliable.” Chelsea laughed a bit, and then turned to introduce the girl behind her. “This is Sherlyn. I’m sure Hibiki mentioned it over the phone, but we came today to ask for your help. Sherlyn, this is Rekka. He’s the jack-of-all-trades problem solver I told you about before.”
“Nice to meet you, Rekka. I’m Sherlyn Doteyes, and the pleasure’s all mine,” Sherlyn said, offering her hand.
“Oh, my, what do we have here? Another heroine with that older sister feel, I see,” remarked R.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Sherlyn,” I said, trying to ignore R as I accepted Sherlyn’s handshake.
She smiled, and I have to admit it caught me a little off guard. It was charming for sure, but there was also a fierce, leopard-like beauty to it. Some kind of elegant, feline power. That was just kind of the whole vibe she gave off, I guess. She seemed like the type who could slip her way out of anything... But above all else, what really caught my attention about her was the overly ornate crown on her head.
“Oh? You curious about this?” Sherlyn noticed my line of sight and flicked the crown on her head. “Does it suit me?”
“Uh, yeah, it does.”
“Ahaha. You don’t have to force yourself to compliment me,” Sherlyn said with a good-natured laugh. “This little puppy is actually my biggest headache right now.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s discuss the details inside, Rekka.”
At Hibiki’s urging, I let the three of them into the house.
“More foreigners....” Chirika commented when she spotted Chelsea and Sherlyn.
Having recovered somewhat from the shock of her strange situation, she seemed to be settling into her own groove. But when Hibiki saw her...
“A samurai? Hey, Rekka, don’t tell me...”
“Then don’t ask.”
“...I know it’s really too late for me to be questioning this now, but how do you always manage to get dragged into such ridiculous stuff?”
“I honestly couldn’t tell you.”
Hibiki and I both sighed in unison. Since we shared similar bloodlines, we both understood how the other felt.
Meanwhile, Sherlyn was exploding in a fit of excitement upon seeing Chirika.
“Oh my gosh! You’re a ninja, right?! Amazing! I’ve never seen the real thing before!”
“A ninja? No. I’m a samurai.”
“Samurai? Either way, it’s a first for me! Will you take a selfie with me?”
“What is this... ‘selfie’?”
Wow, that was a heck of a generational gap and a cultural gap.
“Never mind that. What did they come here for?” Chirika pointed to Sherlyn and asked.
“Well, Sherlyn’s actually in a bit of a bind right now, so she came to me for help,” I explained.
“What?” For some reason, Chirika sounded rather unhappy about this. “Boy... Weren’t you going to save my story? We must rescue Princess Izuko without delay. You do not have time to waste on anyone else.”
“H-Hey now, wait just a minute...” I scrambled for the words to respond to Chirika’s flash of anger. “Your story is important to me, but so is Sherlyn’s. I fully intend on saving you both, but I can’t prioritize one over the other. So... could you please hold on for a little longer?”
Chirika still seemed somewhat displeased, but she nodded grudgingly. She probably only accepted my request because she didn’t have anyone else to rely on. But it wasn’t like she was being selfish. I knew she was only snapping at me and demanding my help like that because she was desperate to save Princess Izuko. Yet as much as I wanted to help her, I had to help Sherlyn too.
“Sorry about that. Now, could you tell me what happened? I think Hibiki mentioned some kind of curse.”
“That’s right. Miss Samurai over there is waiting, so I’ll keep it short,” Sherlyn said, then flicked the crown on her head like she had earlier. “Plain and simple, this crown is cursed. According to the rumors, anyone wearing it will die in ten days.”
“In ten days?!”
“Uh-huh. And it took some time to track you down and get here, so I have three left, to be exact. And with every second that passes, it squeezes a little tighter around my head.”
Sherlyn had been speaking lightheartedly, but when I looked closer, I could see her forehead was pale and covered in a light sheen of sweat. She seemed to have been in pain for a while now.
“Where did you even find something like that...? If you’re a friend of Chelsea’s, are you a treasure hunter too?”
“Nah, not me. I don’t have any interest in the treasure itself,” she said, shaking her head.
But then she looked up and snapped her fingers. A great, billowing puff of smoke appeared at her feet and filled the room in the blink of an eye.
“Uwah! Harissa, open a window!”
“I-I’m on it!”
Harissa was the closest to the window and managed to get it open. The smoke quickly cleared after that, although it left everyone’s eyes watery.
“Blech, maybe that was too much smoke...”
That included Sherlyn too, apparently. This was her doing though, wasn’t it? Maybe she actually had a screw loose somewhere... Or so I had to wonder, but then my vision completely cleared.
“Huh? Sherlyn, your outfit...”
“Yup, I wanted to surprise you a little, but I kinda botched that one,” she said with a laugh.
She was now wearing a silk hat on her head and a cape neatly draped over her shoulders. The crown was peeking out from beneath her hat, but the getup still distinctly reminded me of...
“A magician?”
I could almost see the rabbit and playing cards in her hands.
“Nope. I’m not an illusionist either, although I can do some magic.”
“Then what are you?” I grumbled, wanting to know the answer already.
“Sorry, sorry. I’m actually a phantom thief.”
“Phantom thief? You mean like a burglar?”
“That title sounds so unrefined, so I don’t care much for it... but you’re not wrong.”
I wasn’t expecting a burglar—I’m sorry, a phantom thief. But I’d saved the likes of space pirates, mad scientists, and vampires before, so I wasn’t opposed to helping her as long as she explained herself.
“Wait, does this mean you obtained that crown by...”
“I most gracefully snatched it out of the exhibition at the museum.”
“...”
I was rather rudely about to remind her that people tend to reap what they sow, but I bit my tongue. Meanwhile, Chelsea tapped Sherlyn on the forehead.
“Oh, come on. Enough with the pretense. He’s going to save you, so tone it down a notch and just explain already,” she said with a tired sigh before turning to me. “Don’t mind her, Rekka. Sherlyn does steal things, but she’s known as a gentleman burglar where she’s from. In other words, she shares what she steals with the poverty stricken.”
“Really?”
I looked to Sherlyn, whose response was a shrug and a wry smile. It was almost like she was a little embarrassed about it... I have to say, I didn’t get her at all.
“She’s also originally from a family that can use magic, so we have that in common and kept in touch even after I left the Margaret clan.”
“I see... Wait, ‘originally from’?” I asked.
This time Sherlyn tapped Chelsea on the forehead.
“Now, now, Chelsea. You shouldn’t go revealing a woman’s past like that. That’s got nothing to do with this,” she said, pointing to the crown on her head.
All in all, between what I’d seen of her and what Chelsea had said, it didn’t seem like Sherlyn was a bad person. I decided I’d help her if I could, and pushed the conversation forward.
“All right, I get how Sherlyn obtained the crown. But how did you know about this curse, Hibiki?”
“Well, Chelsea asked Nartessia to investigate this for us... and that’s where we ran into trouble.”
Don’t tell me she demanded something in return for her research... Ugh, just thinking about it made me nervous. She really scares me.
“What’s the trouble?” I asked fearfully.
“As it turns out... That crown is apparently a relic from Atlantis.”
“A relic from Atlantis, huh?” I thought for a few seconds... then cocked my head to the side. “What’s Atlantis?”
Several people in the room dead fell over.
“Seriously? Atlantis is pretty famous, you know,” Tsumiki said, leaning on the table as she stood up and looked at me with dubious eyes.
“W-Well, it’s not exactly something we learned in school, so maybe that’s normal... Maybe...” Satsuki muttered, somewhat backing me up as she also stood up from where she’d fallen.
S-Seriously though? Had I just said something that stupid?
“Atlantis is the legendary continent that’s said to have sunk into the ocean,” Hibiki cleared her throat and explained. “But again, as a legend, no one actually believed that it was real. That is, until Nartessia deciphered the curse on the crown and found it brought death upon anyone who wore it... anyone who isn’t Atlantian, anyway.”
Ah, okay. So with that kind of curse on it, that would imply that Atlantis was real and that people from it did actually exist.
“And Nartessia was unable to remove that curse?”
“More like... she refused to,” Hibiki said dejectedly.
“‘The curse itself is ancient and the spell overly complex, so breaking it would take more time and effort than I have interest for the project...’ is what she said,” Chelsea muttered in a resigned voice.
“Hey, wait a minute. If Nartessia can do something about it, why don’t we just get her to do that? If you need some collateral, I can go get something from Aburaamu, the spirit world, or even the demon world that might interest her,” I suggested enthusiastically, but Hibiki and Chelsea shook their heads.
“The problem is time. Sherlyn only had ten days from the start, and Nartessia said it would take longer than that to break the curse under the present circumstances.”
Yeah, I guess breaking it would be pointless if it was too late by then...
“But if we can’t break the curse, then how exactly do we save Sherlyn?”
“Mind you, Nartessia only said it would take too long under the present circumstances,” she repeated with emphasis.
“So then, what’s the plan?”
“According to Nartessia, in order to cast a curse with a formula this complex, an appropriate site would’ve been prepared. In other words, a ritual hall. If we can find clues about the nature of the curse there, then we can significantly shorten the time and the work that will have to go into breaking it.”
“Ah, okay.”
That meant there was still hope. Except that was when Tsumiki interrupted with a conflicted expression.
“But that crown is a relic from Atlantis, right? Even if it really did exist, wouldn’t it be at the bottom of the ocean by now? How would we even know where to look?”
That was true, but we had friends who could help us with both of those problems.
“Satsuki, please figure out the exact location of Atlantis for me.”
“All right.”
That was easily the kind of thing the Magic of Omniscience could find, so that was one problem down. As for the other...
“I’m going to head out for a bit.”
“Where are you going, Sir Rekka?”
“Just over there,” I said as I pointed out the front door.
I wasn’t going far, really. Just across the street to visit my neighbors from an ocean planet.
▽
And so, a total of thirteen of us—me, Satsuki, Iris, Harissa, Tsumiki, Hibiki, Chelsea, Shirley, Rain, Corona, Rachelle, Chirika, and Sherlyn—made our way out to the middle of the Pacific Ocean in search of the lost land of Atlantis.
For the record, Rosalind went home when she heard this was going to be a submarine trip. She’d suffered through that once on Berano, and had no interest in doing it again. Apparently being stuck at the bottom of the ocean had traumatized her that badly. But in exchange, she’d sent Corona to come along and help us out. Apparently, we were free to order her around. Rachelle, on the other hand, had simply tagged along uninvited. She just so happened to show up at the house before we left.
“Mwahaha! The army of young ladies has increased yet again! This smells like the start of more carnage!” she’d mumbled before imposing.
Anyway, I’d gone across the street to recruit Shirley, who was now serving as the helmsman of our deep sea operation. Rain was a mermaid, so having her around while we were in the water was always reassuring. I’d wanted to invite Fam along too, but she’d gone out to play with her friends for the day. As such, Shirley’s assistant, Garnet, had stayed behind to mind the house until Fam returned. The rest of our crew was made up of everyone else who’d been hanging out at my house.
“We’re ready to dive now,” Shirley announced from the captain’s chair.
“All right, let’s do this,” I replied.
Her submarine made from cutting-edge space technology descended into the ocean with terrific speed. In no time at all, the water on the other side of the windows was pitch black. It was actually pretty scary, but Shirley had reassured me that her submarine could stand up to any and all conditions on Earth, so I put my faith in her and her machinery. Moreover, it seemed like I was the only one worried...
“We haven’t been to the bottom of the sea since we went to Ryugu Palace on Berano!”
“It’s a lot darker here than it was there, though.”
“On Berano, we light up the turtlebus routes for the tourists.”
Everyone else was excitedly reminiscing about our time on Berano. As for Corona and Rachelle, who hadn’t been with us back with then...
“This is my first time seeing the bottom of the sea.”
“Heh heh heh, I wonder how much love energy I’ll get to soak up here!”
They were both looking forward to our deep sea expedition, although the dumb angel was drooling over something that didn’t really have anything at all to do with the ocean.
“...”
But while everyone else was in high spirits, Chirika was sitting cross-legged on the floor... away from the group and with a sour look on her face. I figured there was no helping the bad mood part, but I knew it wasn’t good for her to be isolated like that. Making up my mind, I left the cockpit and walked over to her.
“What do you want?” she asked flatly without even bothering to open her eyes as I sat down next to her.
“Nothing, I was just wondering what you were up to.”
“I’m not up to anything... Though if it weren’t for you dragging me along on this misadventure of yours, I’d be out searching for a way to save Princess Izuko right now.”
Ouch... Cold, but okay. It was true that I’d asked her to come along with us instead of searching for a way to return to the past, and I’d apparently earned her ire by postponing her story for Sherlyn’s. That being said, as long as she was a heroine, that meant I was the only hope she had. I knew why she was upset, but I still couldn’t just leave her by herself, which was why I’d brought her along... But now it seemed I’d completely lost her trust, leaving us at a diplomatic stalemate.
“Do, uh... Do you want something to drink? How about some juice?”
“No.”
Ugh... We were barely gonna get through a conversation like this, much less resolve her story. I was feeling discouraged, but forced myself to buck up and try talking to her again...
“...”
And the only answer I got was silence. Hmm, was there something I could bring up that would get her to talk? Anything would do, really, but it wasn’t like I knew her all that well... All I really knew was that she was a samurai of impressive skill and that she wanted to save—ah, that’s it!
“Can you tell me about Princess Izuko?”
“...!”
There, Chirika finally reacted. Hearing the princess’s name, she opened her eyes and turned to look at me.
“Why do you want to know about Princess Izuko?”
“Well, your happy ending depends on the safety of Princess Izuko, right? So I’d like to know anything I can that might help me save her.”
I was going to save her; that’s what I needed to remind Chirika of in order to get her to open up to me.
“Princess Izuko saved my life,” she said.
“She saved your life?”
“That’s right. I was not born to a family of warriors. I’m a mere commoner from a small village deep in the mountains. My parents were nothing to speak of, but I lost them at a young age when bandits raided our village.” Chirika recounted her past, speaking slowly and steadily with a far-off look in her eyes as she recalled those dark days. “Then, the local lord stepped in and subjugated the bandit threat. Princess Izuko spotted me at the time and picked me up.”
“So that’s what you meant when you said she saved you?”
“Yes... Thanks to the princess, I was able to remain by her side as a playmate. And when I grew older, I began learning the way of the blade so that I might protect her and return the favor. It was my absolute honor to be promoted to her personal bodyguard.”
“I see.”
So all that training she’d put in to learn things like the Silkworm Slash was ultimately for the princess. And that was no modest feat... Princess Izuko must have been really important to Chirika for her to dedicate herself like that. No, to say she was dedicated was an understatement. Princess Izuko meant everything to her. That must be why it was so hard to accept me putting off helping her to go on this ocean adventure for Sherlyn.
“Thanks, Chirika. That gives me a much better idea of your relationship with the princess.”
“Good.”
“So, next is... Let’s see... To save the princess, we’ll need a way for you to return to the past, but we’ll also need to defeat the Gold Yaksha, right? Can you tell me more about him?”
“I told you everything earlier. He’s a filthy fiend that kidnapped the princess to hold her ransom.”
“So you don’t know anything else about him?
“Anything else? Let me think... This is merely conjecture on my part, but I suspect that he may have once been human.”
“Really? How can you tell?”
“As a student of a fighting style that teaches the ways of chi, I am sensitive to the presences of others. And his... There was a faint hint of something human mixed in. There’s also his face. His visage is terrifying, but possesses features that are still somewhat human.”
So the Gold Yaksha used to be human, huh? I knew Ai, who’d turned from a cat to a yokai... But I didn’t realize that humans could do that too. I’d have to ask Satsuki about that later.
“So, if he used to be human, then there must be some reason he turned into a yokai, right?”
What was in the Gold Yaksha’s past that had driven him to become the Gold Yaksha? I rubbed my chin in deep thought, but Chirika snickered.
“Man needs but little incentive to stray from the path of humanity. He was most likely so consumed by greed for wealth that it transformed him into a monster... Disgusting.”
“...”
With a name like “the Gold Yaksha” and a reputation for kidnapping people for ransom, yeah, it seemed fair to assume it was something along those lines... But nevertheless, I felt like she was jumping to conclusions a little too soon. Well, that could all be researched later.
“Okay, so how strong is this Gold Yaksha guy? You said he infiltrated the castle alone when he kidnapped the princess, right?”
“...”
Reminded of her failure to protect the princess, Chirika’s indignation and fury flared up. She fought through it and continued talking to me, though the expression on her face said it all.
“Firstly, he moves with the agility of a monkey despite his large build. He climbed the outer walls of the castle in the middle of the night and snuck directly into the princess’s bedchamber.”
“Okay, okay... So that means the Gold Yaksha kidnapped the princess without fighting anyone, right?”
“No. I chased him to the Hidden Mountain where I faced him in combat so that I might fell him and retrieve the princess.”
“Okay, okay... Huh?”
“His skin was as tough as steel, and—”
“No, hang on a minute.”
Something about what Chirika had just said caught my attention, so I had to interrupt her and rewind a bit.
“What?” she asked.
“I was just wondering,” I said. “Based on your story, it sounds like you chased the Gold Yaksha and fought him alone...”
“That would be correct. What of it?” she asked with absolute confidence.
“Okay, okay, okay... Hang on. The princess got kidnapped, right? Isn’t that the kind of thing the lord usually sends the whole army out for?”
That’s what I’d been assuming had happened this entire time, but it seemed I’d had the wrong idea. But who just goes chasing after a monster all on their lonesome? I know I could never do that.
“Why did you go and fight the Gold Yaksha alone?”
I tried to nicely suggest she’d been a little reckless, but...
“Protecting the princess is my duty,” was all she had to say.
I could tell by the tone of her voice that she didn’t think anything of putting her life on the line for her job. Gosh, what was I supposed to do with her? I thought her dedication to the princess was impressive before, but now I was starting to think it was more of a danger.
“...What?” Chirika asked, fidgeting uncomfortably under my fixed gaze.
“Hey, Rekka.”
But just then, Hibiki walked over.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Shirley’s saying we arrived at our destination. Get over here.”
“All right.”
“...”
After my brief exchange with Hibiki, Chirika rose to her feet and retreated further away to sit silently on her own again. While I was worried about her, our immediate situation had to come first, and so I followed Hibiki to the cockpit.
“Heya, Shirley. Hibiki says we’ve reached Atlantis?”
“We’ve reached the coordinates Satsuki gave me, yes.”
I tried looking out the submarine window, but everything was still pitch black.
“Let’s increase our visibility,” Shirley said.
She then pressed a button on the console, and all of the lights directly under the front of the submarine came on at once, illuminating our surroundings. Then...
“Oooh!”
Yeah, then we could all see it. The massive sunken ruins of a city sat before us on the ocean floor. Despite its current state, it was easy enough to imagine how grand the city must have been in its heyday. Buildings that looked like houses stood in organized rows, and the roads between them neatly navigated the whole affair.
“Wow... This is amazing,” said Chelsea in awe.
“According to the Akashic Record, Atlantis sank here some 1,500 years ago. It’s one thing to learn about it, and another thing altogether to see it here in person...” remarked Satsuki.
“Yeah. I’ve explored lots of ruins as a treasure hunter, but there’s really something special about places like this.”
Chelsea and Satsuki were both staring out the window in amazement. And rightfully so. Surely this would be considered one of the greatest discoveries of all time, but unfortunately I had no interest in that right now.
“Shirley, based on what Satsuki was able to learn, the ritual hall where the curse was cast on the crown is inside a temple. Could you search the area for anything that looks like one?”
“Certainly. That shouldn’t be too hard to find,” Shirley reassured me as she commanded the submarine’s controls to begin the search.
Satsuki had been able to get us coordinates for the temple specifically, so we shouldn’t be too far off from it...
“There. I believe that’s it.”
In a few short moments, Shirley shone one of the sub’s spotlights on a magnificent-looking building. I certainly would’ve believed it was a temple.
“Satsuki, can you tell me if that’s it?”
“Give me a minute.” Satsuki took a moment to confer with her magic and make sure we were in the right place. “Yup, this is the temple.”
“So now it’s a matter of getting inside. Can you take us in, Shirley?”
I looked to our helmsman for an answer, but she looked somewhat conflicted.
“According to the data I’m getting from the ultrasonic scans, the temple is supported by pillars that are too narrow for the submarine to pass through.”
“Then can you figure out where the ritual hall is?”
“I’m not sure. I know next to nothing of magic, so I can’t even say for sure I’d recognize one if I saw it,” Shirley said with a defeated shrug.
“Want me to look it up?” offered Satsuki.
“No,” I replied. “We don’t want you running out of mana too soon. There’s still too much we don’t know right now.”
We’d made that mistake before. Satsuki’s Magic of Omniscience was a very powerful tool, but it needed to be used wisely. We’d be in a real bind if we needed it down the line and didn’t have it.
“For now, Shirley, search everything you can with the submarine. Anywhere we can’t get with the sub, we’ll just have to go out and explore ourselves.”
“Are you sure? Deep sea diving requires specialized training.”
“Crap... Really?”
That was a problem.
“Hibiki, can you do it?”
“If we were just talking regular diving, sure. But I haven’t had any deep sea training before either,” she said with a shake of her head.
If Hibiki couldn’t do it, I was hoping treasure-hunting Chelsea might have some clever devices meant to help search underwater ruins... But she shook her head too. It was starting to seem like we were running out of options. I started scratching my head when I felt someone tap me on the shoulder.
“Rekka.”
“What’s up, Rain?”
“I heard everything. Just leave this to me.”
Rain placed a hand against her chest proudly and nodded with an elegant smile full of confidence.
▽
For a mermaid like Rain, diving—even at depths like this—was child’s play. She accepted a waterproof mic and flashlight from Shirley, transformed her feet and legs into fins and a tail, and then disembarked from the submarine.
“Can you hear me, Rain?”
“Yes, Shirley.”
Shirley used a mic in the cockpit console to radio Rain, who was still just outside the sub. She wanted to check and make sure everything was working before Rain actually entered the temple.
“All right, it seems the mics are working. Now, how about your flashlight? Can you turn it on?”
“Yes, it seems to be fine.”
Rain turned her flashlight on and off to demonstrate. Really, she had the flashlight and the headset, but no other gear to speak of. Unlike us regular humans who would need oxygen tanks and rebreathers and whatnot, Rain was born ready to be in the water. Anything like that would only weigh her down.
“So, that girl is a yokai too...” murmured a skeptical Chirika.
“I thought she was quite striking... But a mermaid, huh? How elegant,” remarked Sherlyn, her eyes sparkling.
Their reactions were polar opposites of each other.
“So, uh, Sherlyn’s not surprised to see a mermaid, huh?” I whispered to Chelsea, who was standing next to me.
“She’s from a magically inclined family like mine, so she’s pretty worldly when it comes to the unusual. Not to mention she’s open-minded to begin with.”
“I see.”
Come to think of it, when she found out Chirika was a genuine samurai from the past, she was more excited than surprised, too.
“All right, Rain. Could you check underground first? We’ll be waiting just outside for you.”
“Understood.”
Following my request to a T, Rain headed straight for the underground level of the temple. We could follow her into the temple with the submarine, but that was about it. We parked in the wide open room before the inner sanctum.
“This feels almost like the front courtyard of the temple,” Hibiki murmured as she looked out the window.
“Yeah?” I said, looking out the window too. “Check out all those broken statues and things.”
They were all crumbled to pieces, making it impossible to tell what they really were originally. Since we were in a temple, I figured maybe statues of gods?
“This is Rain reporting. I’ve made it underground, but there’s... a jail? It looks like the underground layer is some kind of dungeon.”
“A dungeon? In a temple?”
That strange combination gave me a bad feeling.
“If there’s a dungeon, doesn’t that mean the king of this land lived here?” Corona asked rather suddenly—and rather strangely, I thought.
“The king? What makes you think that?”
“Oh? Do you do things differently? In my castle, I always threw rebels in the dungeon.”
Corona and I both looked at each other in puzzlement, but fortunately Satsuki was able to step forward with some answers.
“Atlantis probably didn’t have separation of church and state. The king likely also had judicial power—that is, the right to judge crimes.”
“But this is a temple, isn’t it? Why would a king live in a temple?”
“Hmm... In ancient times, there was the Yamataikoku, where religion held the greatest power. Maybe Atlantis was the same way?”
In other words, the king was also the priest and the presiding judge?
“Whatever it was, this place really is incredible.”
“We’re going to revise world history when we get back...” Satsuki said with an exasperated sigh.
I had plenty more to ask her, but just then...
“KYAAAAAH!”
The blaring sound of Rain screaming came in over the console.
“What’s wrong?!” Shirley asked immediately.
“Gh-Gho—”
But Rain cut out before she could finish answering.
“Shirley!” I called out.
“We’re charging in!” she immediately responded.
Shirley then flattened the control stick, throttling the submarine into the inner part of the temple. It was as big as it appeared to be from the outside, but all of the pillars holding it up made it impossible for us to do anything other than squeeze ahead. We went as far as we could, but it didn’t take long for us to be completely stuck.
“Where’s the entrance to the underground that Rain used?” I asked.
“There’s a staircase to the right, but...” Shirley replied hesitantly. “It’s no good. The submarine won’t fit.”
“And we can’t force our way through?”
“The building would collapse. The sub is sturdy enough to plow through without a problem, but Rain...”
“Damn... Hey, Rain! Rain!”
I kept calling for her, but there was no response. What could have possibly happened this deep in the ocean? It must have been really out of the ordinary to make an ocean-dwelling mermaid like her scream down here...
“I don’t care—we have to go save her! Shirley, how many diving suits do you have?”
“I brought one for everybody, but it would be reckless to all go at once.”
“Then it’ll be me and...”
I was suddenly reminded of the conversation we’d had earlier about how deep sea diving requires specialized training. I couldn’t ask any of the girls to go out with...
Knock, knock!
My train of thought was suddenly interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on the sub window. Wait... Someone... knocking on the window? I turned to look.
Knock, knock!
On the other side of the thick glass, Rain was waving to us all. She didn’t have her headset on, but she didn’t appear to be hurt, either.
“What? Did you drop your mic or something?”
Don’t scare me like that...
I sighed with relief to see her safe, but... Why had she dropped her mic? And what was that scream about?
“My apologies. That would be because I scared her...” an unfamiliar voice said.
“Huh?”
It certainly wasn’t the voice of anyone we’d brought with us. I turned to see who it was...
“My name is Nyanyan Atlantia. I have been waiting for you for a very, very long time.”
...and saw a half-transparent girl sticking just her upper body through the wall of the submarine, bowing her head with a piteous look on her face.