Chapter 8: A Gift

Kouki Arakawa’s Point of View

“Personnel wishing to use the gate should proceed whilst remaining in line.”

I heard the announcement as I stood in line for the gate that would take me back to the Hakone base. Today marked three days since the conclusion of the war between races, and I received an email from Mom when I woke up telling me to go back to the Hakone base. I didn’t mind going back. I hadn’t seen Alice and Shingo in so long. But...

“I can’t even see the entrance to the gate...” I mumbled to myself.

“Kon...” Kon replied unhappily from her position on my shoulder.

I was just wondering how long we’d be waiting before we could pass through the gate when I heard the sound of a motorcycle with its throttle fully open. The noise made me turn around.

“Hey, isn’t that Cote?” I said.

That’s good timing. He should be able to take me back to Earth with his priority pass, since he’s using the goods route. He can just carry me as one of his goods.

I wave my hand at him until he noticed, and he came closer with his motorcycle.

“Kouki, you headed back to Earth, too?” he asked.

“Yes. But I don’t know when I’ll get through the gate. Are you allowed to carry me on your motorcycle? I don’t suppose you’d mind carrying me as goods?”

Cote rubbed his jaw with his hand as he thought about it and then replied, “I don’t mind. But have you ever ridden on the back of a motorcycle before? It might be a little dangerous...”

“Don’t worry about that. I know how to ride one.”

Don’t worry, Cote! I can ride behind you no problem. In my past life I died in a motorcycle accident, so riding tandem is nothing compared to that.

“All right, then. Sit behind me.”

I thanked Cote and climbed onto the motorcycle. We started moving slowly.

“Don’t you have work to do, Cote?” I asked. “I thought my dad’s unit was providing security today.”

“I’m acting as their contact in the Hakone base. I’ll be transporting any equipment they need if there’s an emergency.”

That makes sense. I thought that type of job was always given to Clare or Elise, but I guess everyone takes their turn.

“I was thinking it would be nice to give Victoria some sort of present from Earth,” Cote added.

“Victoria? You mean the Victoria?”

“Right. We’re dating.”

“...Oh, okay.”

Cote sounded happy, but I wondered whether she’d really consented to that. I don’t think he’d force her to spend time with him. Though it’s hard to imagine Cote getting a girlfriend without using any tricks when he has the face of a killer.

“Let me guess, you’re another one who thinks that I’m pressuring her into spending time with me?” he asked.

“Th-That’s not what I was thinking! I know you’re a good person. I believe in you.”

“I don’t mind. Even the commander was asking me, ‘You did get her consent, didn’t you?’ so I’m used to it already.”

Wow, even a moron like Macho Man was worried. Well, Cote is so kind that he even takes care of little kittens. I’m sure that’s what drew Victoria to him. But what about the present...? She’s a demon lord who already has pretty much everything she could want, so Cote could have a hard time picking something. I want to help him out, but... I suppose there is one thing.

“Cote, to thank you for letting me ride on your motorcycle, I’ll share some information with you.”

“Hm? What’s that?”

“A while ago, Victoria was asking about the brand of perfume that one of Noa’s female officers was wearing. Cosmetics on Earth should be much higher quality than what she’s used to. I’m sure they’d make her happy.”

“That’s not a bad idea. I’ll try giving her some perfume next time I see her.”

I was still talking about presents with Cote when we passed through the gate and emerged in the Hakone base. To me it felt as though I’d been away from Earth for several months, and it was strange to think that only a few days had passed since I parted with Alice and my friends. I thanked Cote as I climbed off the motorcycle and moved over to the sidewalk.

Cote called after me, “Kouki! I forgot to tell you. The orichalcum sword is finished. It’s in the armory on Noa Island, so go pick it up whenever you have time.”

I forgot about that. I guess I can look at it later. Right now, I just want to see Alice.

I thanked Cote with a smile and began walking quickly toward Alice’s room.

**

I stood outside the room allocated to Alice and briefly made sure that I looked okay before pressing the intercom. I heard movement from inside the room, then the door opened and there was Alice’s face looking out at me.

“Alice, long time no—”

“Konn!”

Before I could even say hello, Kon leapt up from my shoulder and dived into Alice’s chest.

That damn lizard! I should be able to dive into Alice’s chest, too!

“Wah!” she cried, startled. “Kon learned to fly!”

“Kon! Konkon.”

“Ahaha, that’s great. They taught you?”

“Konn. Konkon. Konkonn.”

“Oh? There are more of your kind in the other world?”

I watched as Alice spoke with Kon as if speaking to a small child. This is so nice. I feel like I can forget about the terrible things I’ve seen in the war. Though I hope I get a chance to talk to her, too... Wait... Kon isn’t using text. How can she be talking to Alice?!

“W-Wait a minute,” I burst out. “Alice, how can you understand what Kon is saying?”

“Kon?!” Even Kon herself sounded surprised.

Is there some new sort of translation device? I wondered, but Alice replied with something even more surprising than that.

“Hm? Well I just understand Kon’s gestures. And Kon has such a wide range of facial expressions... Are you saying that you can’t understand Kon?”

How would I? I don’t care how many facial expressions she has, she looks no different from a lizard. If Alice can understand Kon, she’s clearly the weird one here, not me.

I looked at Kon and saw that she was looking back at me with her head tilted in curiosity. Alice must have noticed that both Kon and I felt as though this was a little strange.

“Let’s go inside,” Alice said, sounding flustered. “I want to hear more about this other world.”

She beckoned us into the room, and I entered with a wry smile. We sat in the feminine-looking room drinking tea as I talked about the several months I’d spent in the other world.

I did my best not to mention the war or the ghouls, and Alice listened with sparkling in her eyes as I told her about life in the Ursna Empire and how cool the orders of knights in the Merkava Kingdom were. I’d been talking for about three hours, when I suddenly realized that something was bothering Alice.

“Alice, what is it?”

“It’s just...”

“What?”

“I want to go to the other world, too!” she burst out. “I want to ride on Lirin, the white dragon you mentioned.”

I wasn’t the one who rode on Lirin. That was Kon! You can’t just go up to the queen of the dragon race and say, “Let me on your back!”

I tried to think of a way to make Alice give up on this idea, but then Kon produced some text floating above the table.

“Lirin will let you ride her if I ask her. She’s a very kind dragon.”

“Really?!”

Oh, right... Kon is of a “god-race,” so she ranks above a queen.

“Kon, I hate to say this, but... won’t that bother Lirin?” I asked hesitantly.

“Don’t worry about that. Dragons have more free time than they know what to do with. And there’s something I need to ask Lirin about.”

Well, that’s fine, I suppose. We’ve been back for three hours, so three days have passed on Noa Island. Now should be a good time. If we go through from Earth now, we can get there by hanging onto the manufacturing plant that they’re transporting... It just depends whether it’s a convenient time for Alice.

“If it’s a good time for you, I think we could go there and ask Lirin right now,” I said.

“Really?! I’m ready to leave right now! I was about to go for a walk outside the base when you arrived.”

“Oh. That explains why you’re wearing camouflage gear.”

I thought it was just her loungewear, so I hadn’t asked.

I made sure not to let my misunderstanding about Alice’s interests show on my face as I took her by the hand and opened the room door.

**

When we passed through the gate and returned to Noa Island, the people who’d been standing in line were mostly gone. I looked over at Kon and saw that she’d created a green sphere with magic and was holding it with both paws.

“What are you doing?” I asked her.

“I’m calling Lirin,” Kon replied.

Kon threw the sphere into the air. At first it looked unstable as it gently floated upward, but once it reached a height of about ten meters, it suddenly accelerated and disappeared into the sky.

I really should tell Mom before we go on a sightseeing trip with Lirin, or she might be mad when she finds out. I didn’t want it to be like the time I’d set out to get the orichalcum, so I sent her an email.

“So why did Joachim marry a cat sith?” Alice asked me. “I thought they were persecuted where he’s from.”

“I asked him about that same thing,” I replied.

“Tell me!”

I shared the story that his wife Miinya had told me. “When Joachim was still young and in training, he met Miinya after injuring himself in a forest. He was hungry, wounded, and close to death. Fortunately for him, Miinya happened to pass by.”

“It’s a good thing she wanted to save him. They don’t like humans much, do they?”

“No. But she didn’t want to just leave him there to die. She was carrying a magic remedy, so she poured it into his mouth, and she was about to leave him there... but then a monster appeared in front of her.”

I was putting a lot of feeling into telling the story, and Alice and Kon were holding each other as they listened.

They were acting just like this back in Alice’s room. I guess these two liked hearing stories.

“Miinya was too scared to move, but then she heard a sound from behind her and turned to see that, despite his injuries, the remedy had healed Joachim enough for him stand and draw his sword.”

“And then?! What happened to them?”

“Joachim stepped in front of Miinya and fought the monster to protect her. After a difficult battle, he somehow defeated it. And that was how they met.”

“Wow, Joachim is amazing.”

Well, this is a story I heard from his wife, so it’s probably exaggerated. The next part is all about how he singlehandedly defeated a swarm of monsters attacking a cat sith village. It’s like a heroic fairy tale about overcoming danger and finally getting married after many twists and turns. And when you consider that she shared the story with me in exchange for dried fish, it’s not very believable.

I wasn’t sure how to tell Alice the truth of the matter, so I decided to stay quiet about the dried fish. Then a magic circle appeared in the sky.

“It’s so pretty...” Alice said. “Is this magic?”

“Yes.” Kon’s tail waved proudly back and forth as she produced the text. “I can’t use it myself yet, but this is transportation magic used by the dragon race.”

It was a long time since I’d seen magic. I forgot how impressive it was to see a massive magic circle appear in midair.

As I gazed at the circle, a white dragon slowly emerged and flew overhead before landing in front of us.

“Kon, Kouki, it has been a while. I’m sorry it took me so long to get here.”

“Konn, konkonkonn. Konkon?”

“No, not at all. Would the three of you like to ride on my back as I fly around this area?”

I understood nothing Kon said, but she must have asked Lirin to let us ride her.

Lirin lowered her beautiful wings to the ground and said, “Please, climb onto my back.”

“Thank you for letting us ride you, Lirin,” I said to her. “I’ll climb on right now, if you’re sure it’s okay.”

“Lirin, thank you for agreeing to this. I know it was selfish of me to ask,” Alice said.

“Kon!”

Although Alice and I said thank you before climbing on her back, Kon haughtily climbed on and made herself at home for some reason.

I really need teach her about restraint and modesty...

Alice must have had the same thought. She poked Kon’s cheek and told her off for behaving so arrogantly.

“I’m about to take off,” Lirin warned us before flapping her wings.

Noa Island rapidly grew small in the corner of my eye while I gazed at Alice, who was sitting beside me. I’d never seen her look so happy.

“Aren’t you glad, Alice? You’re on the back of a dragon, just like you dreamed.”

“Yeah! It’s amazing. We’re flying so high and so fast.”

Seeing Alice so excited made me grin, too.

“Did you finish talking to Lirin, Kon?” I asked. “You said you had something to ask her.”

“Yes, I did. Though I didn’t learn what I want to know.”

Kon looked lonely as she walked toward me with her text floating in the air. It was enough to make Alice stop humming to herself and look at Kon with concern.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “If something is bothering you, you can talk to me about it.”

“You can always talk to me, too,” Alice added.

“Marvelus gave me a box that I can’t open. Mother said it’s an item from a house in this world, but there’s some magic on it, and no one can open it.”

I was still reading the text when Kon took a box from a magic circle that was about the same size as her and showed it to us. It looked just like a treasure chest from a typical fantasy world. When I looked at it more closely, I noticed there were ornate engravings all over its surface.

If these things are like the magic circles that appear when using magic, then it’s going to take some fairly complex magic to activate it all.

I studied the engravings by tracing my finger over them. Alice became interested and reached out to touch the box in the same way. As soon as her finger contacted the box, there was a flash of blue light and the lid opened.

“Kon?! Kyuu... kyuun.”

“What happened? Are you all right?!” Alice asked Kon, who suddenly burst into tears.

Large tears ran down Kon’s face as she clutched the box to her chest, her body shaking. I felt something wasn’t right, so I tried to take the box away from Kon, but then I heard the faint sound of music.

“Kouki, do you hear that?”

“I hear it. It sounds like a music box.”

The faint sound of music was coming from the box that Kon was holding. Does this music have some sort of meaning to Kon?

I petted her head and asked her in a gentle voice. “Have you heard this music before?”

“It’s a lullaby passed down by the dragon race. And the magic from the box is similar to my own. This must be my mother’s magic.”

This music box must have been created by Kon’s mother. She passed away before Kon was born, so this must be the first time Kon has ever felt her mother’s kindness.

“I’m happy for you,” I told Kon, who was still holding the music box. “Make sure you treasure it.”

She was still crying as she replied with a loud and happy sounding “Kon!”