Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, Vol. 4

  Copyright

  Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, Vol. 4

  Hiro Ainana

  Translation by Jenny McKeon

  Cover art by shri

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  © Hiro Ainana, shri 2015

  First published in Japan in 2015 by KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo.

  English translation rights arranged with KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo through

  Tuttle-Mori Agency, Inc., Tokyo.

  English translation © 2018 by Yen Press, LLC

  Yen Press, LLC supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact the publisher. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Ainana, Hiro, author. | Shri, illustrator. | McKeon, Jenny, translator.

  Title: Death march to the parallel world rhapsody / Hiro Ainana ; illustrations by shri ; translation by Jenny McKeon.

  Other titles: Desu machi kara hajimaru isekai kyosokyoku. English

  Description: First Yen On edition. | New York, NY : Yen ON, 2017–

  Identifiers: LCCN 2016050512 | ISBN 9780316504638 (v. 1 : pbk.) |

  ISBN 9780316507974 (v. 2 : pbk.) | ISBN 9780316556088 (v. 3 : pbk.) | ISBN 9780316556095 (v. 4 : pbk.)

  Subjects: | GSAFD: Fantasy fiction.

  Classification: LCC PL867.5.I56 D413 2017 | DDC 895.6/36d—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016050512

  ISBNs: 978-0-316-55609-5 (paperback)

  978-0-316-55616-3 (ebook)

  E3-20180112-JV-PC

  Contents

  Cover

  Insert

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Disturbance at Dawn

  Kid Bandits and a New Village

  Forest of Giants

  The Defense of Muno City

  A New Family Name

  Afterword

  Yen Newsletter

  Disturbance at Dawn

  Satou here. They say necessity is the mother of invention, but you still need to understand the basics of what you’re trying to do in order to turn an idea into reality. I think the father of invention is consistent day-to-day effort.

  After the potion debacle with the witch of the Forest of Illusions and the viceroy’s aide, our new friends saw us off as we departed Sedum City.

  The younger four girls sat in the back of the horse-drawn carriage, waving an emotional good-bye to the people shrinking in the distance as they returned the gesture.

  I left the younger set to their business and checked in on Lulu, our driver, at the coachman stand.

  Since Liza and Nana were riding on horseback, I couldn’t see them from inside the carriage.

  “Master, there will be a good deal of pedestrian traffic heading to and from the gate for a while, so I think we should take it slow.”

  “Sure. Drive safely.”

  Lulu spoke in a soft voice from the front of the carriage, her glossy black hair, light-blue dress, and warm-looking white shawl rippling in the breeze.

  She was considered ugly by the aesthetic standards of this world, but from my point of view, she was more beautiful than any celebrity.

  “Master, Nana and I shall lead the way.”

  I turned toward the voice and met Liza’s dignified gaze.

  “Make sure you give pedestrians the right of way.”

  “Understood.”

  The new leather armor I’d tailored for her in Sedum City and her traveler’s overcoat obscured most of Liza’s orange scales, a characteristic of her Scalefolk tribe. At most, I could catch a glimpse of her tail.

  Her trademark black spear was evil-looking enough to draw attention, so she usually kept it wrapped in cloth. I’d improvised the weapon out of monster parts in the labyrinth beneath Seiryuu City back when I saved her.

  It wasn’t any stronger than an ordinary steel spear, but since Liza seemed to treasure it, I didn’t try to stop her from using it.

  Following a little behind Liza was Nana, a homunculus with a long blond ponytail.

  She was wearing the same leather armor as Liza, but her ample chest was straining against it. Unlike Liza, she wasn’t wearing a helmet, so her beautiful but expressionless features were exposed to the sunlight.

  “Nana, don’t try to let the horse take care of things. Don’t force it.”

  “Master, your instructions have been registered, I report.”

  I gave some directions to Nana, who was still unskilled at horseback riding, and she responded in her usual robotic manner.

  Without instruction from Nana, the horse moved to follow Liza in front of us.

  “Satou.”

  Mia the elf emerged from the back of the carriage, waving a hand at me.

  Her pale blue-green hair was tied into two long pigtails, and her pointed ears peeked out from behind them.

  Since their kind didn’t show themselves to humans very often, she usually hid her hair and ears under a hood to avoid any trouble.

  Her short lime-green dress suited her childish appearance, and due to the chilly weather, she was wearing tights and a cardigan that matched Arisa’s.

  “Licorice.”

  As usual, the reticent Mia spoke to me in a single word.

  She probably meant she wanted some thorn licorice as a snack.

  I took out a jar from the Garage Bag, a magic tool that could hold far more than it appeared. When I opened the lid, a subtle, sweet scent wafted out.

  I stuck a toothpick into a piece of the aloe-like, emerald-green substance inside and handed it to her.

  “Aaah.”

  Mia opened her small mouth demandingly, so I went ahead and fed the thorn licorice to her.

  “Yum.” Mia smiled happily and put a hand to her cheek.

  Given her appearance, it was hard to believe she was actually far older than me.

  “Smells sweeeeet!”

  “Like licorice, sir!”

  Sniffing at the sugary aroma, Tama and Pochi hopped up from the back of the carriage.

  Tama, with her pointy, furry ears and short white hair, rubbed her head against my hand like a real cat. She was a member of a rare race of cat-eared folk.

  Pochi sat up eagerly, giving me puppy-dog eyes to match her dog ears and brown bob cut. Her tail mirrored her excited expression by wagging side to side.

  She was from a race called the dog-eared folk, a rare presence in the Shiga Kingdom like the cat-eared folk.

  Both of them were wearing their usual white shirts and pouf
y shorts. The outfits matched, except Pochi’s shorts were yellow, while Tama’s were pink. Their overcoats were the same color as their pants.

  “Wait just a minute, all right? I’ll give you some, too.”

  “’kaaay!”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Tama sat next to Pochi, and they waited patiently together.

  For elementary school–age girls, they have great judgment and manners.

  I poked more toothpicks into the licorice and held out the jar to them.

  “Aaah?”

  “Aaah, sir.”

  The two of them opened their mouths like baby birds in an imitation of Mia’s behavior, so I popped a piece of licorice into each of their mouths.

  “Deliiish!”

  “It’s so sweet, sir. Pochi’s happy, sir!”

  Tama clamped the licorice between her teeth and stretched it, while Pochi expressed her joy by waving her hands and tail.

  “Do you want some, too, Lulu?”

  “Yes, please.”

  Since Lulu could hear the girls cooing happily, I offered her a piece as well.

  Lulu shyly popped the licorice into her mouth, then smiled gracefully.

  “Excuse me! Aren’t you forgetting someone?”

  Arisa showed up a little late to the party, so I gave her some candy as well. She was hiding her unlucky purple hair under a golden wig, and she was dressed like a princess in her dark-red cardigan and fluffy pink top and bottom.

  “It’s a bit sad to leave Sedum City, no?” Arisa chewed away on the licorice as she spoke. “Perhaps it’s because we left after the festival?”

  The festival had celebrated the triumphant return of the troops after they successfully drove the attacking kobolds out of the silver mines. We wanted to check it out, so we’d stayed about five days longer than planned.

  “Festivals are greeeat!”

  “It was fun to see everyone smiling, sir.”

  “Mm.”

  Between the parade of floats and portable shrines and the chance to taste festival-exclusive cuisine, it had been a very enjoyable couple of days.

  This event had ended the day before, so we were finally resuming our journey to return Mia to her hometown.

  “There are a lot of soldiers, aren’t there?”

  Lulu was right; there were indeed ten or so soldiers walking in formation on the main road.

  This struck me as a little strange, so I opened the map to investigate. According to it, these men were conscripts from the villages of Kuhanou County.

  “Injured.”

  “They must be coming back from the silver mines.”

  Mia’s single word referred to the fact that most of the members of the group were sporting bandages or walking sticks; the wounded soldiers probably had to wait until they could move again before they were able to go home.

  “Hey there, sweetie, wanna marry my son?”

  “Those’re some nice hips. Think you’d like to spend the night with me?”

  “Idiot! If yer gonna compliment something, start with that rack!”

  The men still had some life in them despite their injuries, as a few of them made vulgar comments about Nana as she rode past on horseback.

  Nana only tilted her head, so at least she didn’t seem anxious or uncomfortable.

  “Ugh, those buffoons are infuriating!”

  “Vulgar.”

  Although Nana was the target of the sexual harassment, Arisa and Mia were angrier to hear it from inside our vehicle.

  “Perhaps I’ll make them regret it with a taste of my Impossible Jail spell…”

  “Please don’t. Nana, we’re trading places!”

  Arisa was rolling up her sleeves and making to stand, but I had her sit back down and called out to Nana instead.

  I switched roles with her and rode my horse side by side with Liza’s. Sitting in a carriage is certainly easier, but horseback riding once in a while is nice, too.

  I heard Arisa shouting something like “death to sexual predators!” in the back, but Lulu seemed to be keeping her in check, so I figured I could just let her be.

  Once we passed the intersection of the main road and a path to the silver mines, there was far less pedestrian traffic, so I gave the horse back to Nana and returned to the carriage.

  Mia could hardly stand to watch Nana’s utter lack of skill with horses, so I had them ride together while the elf gave her brusque guidance.

  “Watch the road.”

  “Mia, there was a squirrel in that tree, I report.”

  “Road.”

  “…Understood, I reluctantly report.”

  Nana seemed dispirited by Mia’s scolding, though her face was as expressionless as ever.

  I heard a soft “Achoo!” from Lulu in the coachman stand.

  “You should wear this to protect you from the wind.”

  “Th-thank you.”

  I removed a fur coat from Storage and handed it to Lulu, then took over the reins for her so she could put it on.

  “It’s gotten colder than I expected.”

  “Yes, a chilly wind keeps blowing from the direction of those mountains.”

  The mountains Lulu referred to bordered the Muno Barony.

  “Maybe it’s because there’s nothing to block out the wind here.”

  I looked past Lulu as she slid her arms into the fur coat and surveyed the main road.

  As we neared the mountainous border, the vegetation had changed, and rocks and grasslands replaced the trees.

  I’d heard from a merchant that the Muno Barony was colder than Kuhanou County, but I hadn’t expected it to get this chilly.

  I took a hand warmer out of Storage and infused it with a little magic power.

  This was something I’d devised during our stay in Sedum City, a magic tool that resembled a silver electric pocket heater. I kept it inside a small purse so as not to burn anyone’s skin.

  “Lulu, wear this, too. I don’t want you getting cold.”

  “Thank you very much… Ooh, it’s so warm!”

  Wrapping both hands around the device, Lulu pressed it to her cheeks to stave off the chill.

  The expression on her beautiful face relaxed at the warmth.

  I wish I could take a picture of this.

  If we used that smile in advertisements, I bet shares of this little gizmo would rise 30 percent in value.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to leave the reins with you for so long,” she said.

  “It’s all right. It was worth it, since I got to see your lovely smile.”

  I didn’t mean to sound so flirtatious, but I also wanted to compliment her to ease her inferiority complex.

  “Oh…but I…”

  Lulu’s face flushed bright red.

  “Guilty.”

  Mia poked her head in between Lulu and me on the coachman stand, pouting moodily.

  “Me! Do me next!”

  Then Arisa appeared in short order, flailing her hand wildly in the air.

  “All right, all right. You’re cute, Arisa.”

  “Excuse me, that’s not nearly as sincere as what you said to Lulu! Put more love into it!”

  Arisa harrumphed and pounded my arm lightly, but there wasn’t much power behind it, so I doubted she was all that angry.

  Given the unexpectedly severe temperature, I took some time on our lunch break to mass-produce some earmuffs at Arisa’s suggestion.

  I accented each somewhat retro headband-style ear warmer with a colored ribbon so they wouldn’t all look the same.

  “Comfyyy!”

  “My ears are happy, sir.”

  Tama and Pochi seemed pleased, despite normally favoring lighter clothes, and they kept coming over to show them off to me.

  “You both look very cute,” I told them, and they squirmed bashfully.

  It was nice to have a journey peaceful enough for such a lighthearted exchange. Aside from one sighting of a distant pack of wolves, our trip was completely uneventful, and we reached the
mountains by the time the sun started to set.

  We proceeded along the narrow pass, and after about an hour without encountering any other people or carriages, we arrived at a fortress that also served as a checkpoint.

  The gate of the fort was closed, but I could see a soldier in the fixture above the gate, so I approached.

  “You there, with the carriage! What business do you have at this fort?!”

  “We are humble peddlers, traveling to the Ougoch Duchy by way of the Muno Barony.”

  “…You’re passing through the cursed territory?”

  When I gave a polite response to the soldier, he gave me a dubious look.

  “Don’t you know this is a danger zone full of monsters and outlaws?”

  “Yes, we are well prepared for it.”

  “Fine, then. However, we cannot allow you to pass through the checkpoint at night…”

  According to the soldier, the air in the valley near the border was thick with venomous insects and vampire bats at night, so passage was forbidden for safety reasons. It was especially dangerous for horses, he said.

  He suggested that we spend the night in the nearest village, but I’d seen a suitable spot along the path before, so we decided to spend the night there.

  “Master, I have a request.”

  At the camp, Lulu approached me with a serious expression. She wanted me to teach her how to cook a delicious steak.

  First, in order to find out what her weak points were, I had her try cooking one.

  “Ahh, that won’t work, Lulu. You can’t keep flipping the steak or pushing it down with the spatula.”

  “Really? It smells good, so I thought this might be all right…”

  Lulu looked discouraged, so I patted her head and explained.

  “That delicious smell is the flavor coming out of the steak and burning. So it’s better to only flip it one time so that the good juice won’t come out.”

  I’d read that particular factoid in an article online a long time ago.

  As a matter of fact, my “Cooking” skill had also taught me that it wasn’t good to turn the steak over frequently, but I figured my explanation would be easier for Lulu to accept. Really, I doubted my secondhand summary was too far off.

  Next, I taught her how to cook it step-by-step.

  “If you listen closely, your ears will tell you when the timing is right.”