Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, Vol. 3 Page 3

  “Yes, Master. I shall henceforth revise her designation to ‘Mia,’ I affirm.”

  …That was easy.

  Apparently, the name had been only a habit.

  Nana’s expression as she practiced the instrument was relatively focused, though still blank. When Mia and Nana huddled together, their similar faces made them look like a pair of especially close siblings.

  As I admired the two of them, Arisa’s voice rang out behind me.

  “Lulu and I are going to take a stroll around the rocks to walk off our lunch. Won’t you join us, Master?”

  “Yeah, good idea. Liza, would you like to come, too?”

  “Yes. It would be my pleasure.”

  And so, the four of us took a walk around the enormous megalith.

  About halfway up the hill, I saw Pochi and Tama scampering after a rabbit. Maybe we’ll have grilled hare tonight?

  During our stroll, Arisa announced that she wanted to explore the top of the stone slab. Just to make sure it was safe, I decided to climb up first.

  I scaled the side by using footholds like an ordinary person would.

  “You’re rather nimble, aren’t you?” Arisa’s comment reminded me of Zena.

  I had Liza give Arisa a lift so I could pull her up next to me.

  “Wow! What a nice view.”

  Arisa cheered and began investigating the megalith, and I warned her to be careful not to fall before pulling Lulu up.

  Just as I was helping Liza, Arisa called out to me excitedly.

  “Master! Come here! You have to see this!”

  “What’s all the fuss about?”

  “Just get over here!” I shrugged and joined Arisa. Lulu and Liza seemed just as perplexed by the sudden outburst.

  She beckoned emphatically as I approached.

  “What did you want to show me?”

  “Look at that!”

  I followed Arisa’s finger, but all I could see were fallen megaliths. What did she want to show me that for?

  “What should I be seeing, exactly?”

  “Come on, look closer!”

  Aha. Now I understood what Arisa was getting at.

  “A stone torii?”

  “It’s hard to tell because they’ve crumbled now, but I think there used to be three of them here. I wonder if there was a shrine or something?”

  Why, I wonder? There was something familiar about the stone Shinto gateway.

  —What?

  As I gazed at the shrine gate, my vision blurred.

  —Don’t forget, Ichirou. We’ll always be together.

  An image filled my mind like a flashback.

  What is this memory?

  —No matter the world, no matter the era, you’ll always be Ichirou.

  Though the memory was mostly in black and white, the little girl’s hair and eyes were highlighted in rich color.

  Hidden in shadow, her face was impossible to see.

  —I wonder if reincarnation is real?

  When did I ask that question?

  And what was her answer?

  —Of course it is. But it’s no good if you stop at reincarnation.

  …Now I remember. Behind her, I could see the Shinto shrine near my grandfather’s place in the countryside.

  Then was this girl with the strangely colored hair that childhood friend of mine?

  —Humans and gods have very different life spans. They would need divine intervention to be together.

  The girl wearing a shrine maiden outfit was performing a traditional Shinto dance.

  No, the Kagura dance. A dance dedicated to a deity who fell in love with a human.

  —If it’s you…… I’m sure you can……

  The girl, whose face I couldn’t see, reached her small hand toward my cheek—

  “Snap out of it, Master!”

  When I came to, Arisa’s face was right in front of my eyes.

  “Huh? Arisa?”

  “Honestly! How can you doze off in a place like this? You could’ve fallen!”

  I apologized to Arisa and slowly looked around.

  What happened just now?

  I checked the log, but I found no record of a psychic attack or anything similar.

  I tried to compose myself and search my memories, but I was positive the Shinto shrine entrance near where I’d played during my childhood visits to the countryside had just been the normal red.

  And the childhood friend in the flashback had looked totally different from what I remembered. She’d had colorful hair and eyes like an anime character. At the end, she even had rainbow-colored hair.

  Come to think of it, I had made a little doujin game set at that shrine back when I was a student. I didn’t remember having such a strange conversation in real life; those must have been lines from the game.

  Maybe the fatigue from so many days without sleep was starting to catch up with me.

  “You’re spacing out again.”

  “Sorry, sorry. I was just remembering a shrine I played at when I was little.”

  That seemed like an easier explanation than “I was having a flashback to a fan game I made.”

  I shook off the daydream, staring at the remnants of the stone shrine gates.

  Information began popping up around the ruins. I had assumed it was just the remains of some megalithic civilization, but its real identity was much more surprising.

  I decided to explain it to Arisa.

  “It’s a broken Travel Gate.”

  That was a gimmick often found in games to give the players a shortcut through a long journey, but this one had been destroyed a very long time ago.

  “Can you fix it?!”

  “Definitely not.”

  Arisa had asked me that question with enthusiasm, but I shook my head and responded briefly but firmly.

  There was nothing about it in the data I had on hand, and there was no way I could reconstruct something I didn’t understand.

  The idea of shortening our journey video-game-style was definitely appealing, but I wasn’t about to throw myself into some unknown destination.

  Liza’s eyes lit up when she spotted some edible wild plants in the shadows of the megalith, and our stroll turned into collecting them.

  A number of small white flowers were growing near the other plants. According to the AR display, they were known as winterblooms.

  “Lulu, come here for a second.”

  “Yes, what is it?”

  After I picked one of the white flowers, I placed it in Lulu’s hair.

  “Yep, it really goes well with your black hair. It’s cute.”

  “…I-I’m sure that’s not true… It’s an insult to the flower to put it in hair like mine.”

  Lulu didn’t seem to take compliments very well. Her gaze wandered anxiously as she deflected my comment.

  That’s right… I’d forgotten she was considered ugly according to the beauty standards of this world.

  What a waste… From my perspective, she was an unrivaled beauty.

  “Oh, I know! I’m sure it would suit Arisa much better!”

  Lulu tried to remove the blossom from her own hair, but I stopped her and decorated Arisa’s and Liza’s hair the same way.

  Matching the others must have made Lulu feel better; she didn’t try to take out the flower after that. Overall, she seemed happy enough, so she probably hadn’t truly minded my putting it there.

  We had our pick of as many herbs as we wanted. Most likely, not many people knew about this place.

  That said, since we didn’t want to strip the place bare and leave nothing for the next person, I made sure we stopped before we took too much. I did wish I’d brought along my Garage Bag, but I used my overcoat instead to carry the plants back.

  I could use my AR display and “Analyze” skill for details about our haul, so I didn’t have a chance to break out the books I bought in Seiryuu City, Edible Plants on Your Journey and Encyclopedia of Medicinal Herbs.

  In addition to the divers
e edible flora, we found small amounts of various medicinal herbs to help stop bleeding and prevent headaches.

  Following the whistle of the reed pipe, we made our way back to the carriage where Nana and Mia were waiting.

  Judging by the positions of the dots on the map, Pochi and Tama would be back soon, so I asked Lulu to ready some tea.

  Liza and I stored the wild plants in the Garage Bag.

  Under Mia’s guidance, Nana had gained some proficiency at the reed flute herself. This seemed to have awakened Arisa’s competitive spirit, as she was shouting and ripping up one of the weeds underfoot.

  “I’m not about to lose! I’ll show you the powers I learned from playing with neighborhood kids until middle school!”

  Arisa tooted determinedly on her reed pipe.

  She was skilled enough for a child playing around, but she couldn’t even begin to compare to Mia. I plucked a similar piece of grass for myself and gave it a shot.

  > Skill Acquired: “Musicianship”

  > Skill Acquired: “Instrument Crafting”

  > Title Acquired: Instrumentalist of Nature

  It was too late now, but I doubted picking a reed and playing music with it really merited the “Instrument Crafting” skill.

  I played a single bar on the makeshift instrument and stopped.

  A snort of laughter escaped Arisa despite her best efforts. Lulu wore a complex expression but refrained from making a sound. Liza judiciously resisted displaying any visible reaction, and Nana was expressionless as always.

  “…Satou?”

  Mia regarded me incredulously, as if she couldn’t believe her ears.

  …Don’t look at me like that, okay?

  I hadn’t planned on allotting any points into the new skills I’d gotten, but at Mia’s shocked reaction, I decided to put a few into “Musicianship.”

  I just thought it might be useful for chanting spells, since that seemed to require a sense of rhythm. Definitely not because I was mortified at being tone-deaf. Not in the least!

  Bwa-ha-ha, behold the power of a level-10 “Musicianship” skill!

  “Yikes. You sound like a really talented player doing an impression of a really bad one!”

  “Master, I have detected abnormalities in your acoustic effector. Adjustment is required, I advise.”

  Arisa and Nana could be so cruel.

  “Banned.”

  Mia confiscated the reed pipe I’d been using.

  I was only a little off-key, wasn’t I…? Not even the “Musicianship” skill was enough for my ineptitude.

  “M-Master, I…I’m sure you’ll get better with practice! I believe in you, Master!”

  “Thank you, Lulu. You’re very kind.” Lulu was nice enough to comfort me as I sank into despair. What a hero. So as not to worry her, I responded with my best smile.

  “Substitute.”

  Mia prodded my shoulder as she spoke, but I had no idea what she was trying to tell me.

  Arisa interpreted.

  “You’re in luck, Master. Mia is saying that if you want to hear music, she’ll play it in your place.”

  “Mm.”

  Mia confirmed Arisa’s translation with a satisfied look.

  I wish she would use a few more words.

  “Thank you, Mia.”

  While I was at it, I thanked Arisa for her interpreting services, too.

  “Got iiit, sir!”

  While we were playing around with plant-based music, Pochi returned from the other side of the hill.

  She was proudly holding up a rabbit in both hands. For a rabbit, its ears were pretty short. In fact, according to the AR display, it was known as a short-eared rabbit, the same species we’d eaten as a whole roast at the Gatefront Inn.

  Pochi was covered from head to toe with grass and dirt, but she sported a huge grin.

  I accepted her prey and handed it directly to Liza.

  “It’s small, so I’m sure we can bleed it out before we go.”

  Liza pulled out a dagger and expertly slit the rabbit’s throat, then held it up by its hind legs to let the blood drain.

  “Master, since we’ve acquired this precious meat, I should very much like to butcher it before we depart. Is that permissible?”

  “Yeah, sounds good.”

  This was Pochi’s prize, after all, and we weren’t in any particular rush on this journey.

  “Ms. Liza, could you show me how?”

  “You’re very eager to learn, aren’t you, Lulu? Very well. I will explain, so you may take care of it under my watch, if you please.”

  “Yes, Ms. Liza.”

  Thus, Lulu took charge of butchering the rabbit.

  Arisa wobbled over to me unsteadily, probably upset by the stench of blood. I didn’t blame her.

  I caught Pochi as she made to go watch the disassembly of the corpse, and I brushed some of the grass and dirt off her head. The inside of the coach would be covered in earthy debris if she entered it in this state; I instructed her to wash up with water and change her clothes.

  “Your hair’s gotten all dirty, too.”

  “Should I wash it, sir?”

  “Sure. We have hot water, so we might as well.”

  I asked whether Mia could use Water Magic for a spell like Soft Wash from the Everyday Magic set, but I got a curt “no” in response. Too bad.

  Since there was no use griping about what we didn’t have, we just had to wash up using ordinary means. I put what hot water we had into a tub and filled it the rest of the way with cool water. I added too much, though, and the end result was rather tepid.

  I figured Tama would probably come back filthy, too. I refilled the kettle and put it back on the fire.

  Around the time Pochi was done washing up, Liza had finished bleeding out the rabbit and was beginning her rigorous instructions in taking it apart.

  At some point, Nana had also joined the lesson. Mia wasn’t interested, since she didn’t eat meat.

  Arisa didn’t seem to want anything to do with it, either. She’d turned her back to the scene and thoroughly immersed herself in a spell book.

  Pochi looked ready to shake herself off like a real dog, so I stopped her and carefully dried her with a towel instead.

  “Meeeat! I got meeeat!”

  “Tama’s so skilled, sir!”

  Behind me, Tama dashed back with a happy report.

  What did she catch, I wonder? A bird, maybe?

  “Meat?”

  Mia tilted her head.

  “Whoa! What is that?! It’s adorable!”

  At Arisa’s gleeful cry, I turned around curiously.

  Tama’s catch certainly was cute. With its soft-looking fur, it was the endearing sort of animal you might find in a pet store. The unconscious puppylike creature had a dark-blue coat with a tuft of orange hair sticking up on its head.

  “L-let me hold it for a second.”

  “’kay!”

  Arisa took the fainted puppy into her arms.

  According to the AR display, it was a monster called a Rocket Wolf. It was only level 1.

  I searched for other members of its species on the map but didn’t get any hits. Maybe the duke’s army had exterminated its parents or something.

  Arisa’s “Status Check” skill should have told her as much, but I decided to warn her to be careful just in case.

  “I know it’s cute, but it’s still a baby monster, so be careful with it.”

  “Okeydokey.”

  The wolf cub had started waking up as Tama handed it over to Arisa.

  “Ouch!”

  The little wolf violently twisted its body, breaking free of Arisa’s grasp and fleeing.

  Tama rushed around frantically trying to catch it, but the rocket wolf released a shot of gas from its bottom, launching itself right over Tama’s head and about fifteen feet away.

  It could’ve come straight out of a comedy manga.

  “My preeey!”

  Tama dashed after it, but she couldn’t keep
up with the wolf cub’s desperate bid for freedom and soon plodded back dejectedly.

  “It got away.”

  “Tama, I’m sorry. It’s my fault for not holding on to it.”

  “It’s okay.”

  Arisa apologized, but Tama shook her head weakly.

  “Master, I’m sorry. I couldn’t catch the meat…”

  Tama approached me and offered a despondent apology.

  I reached out toward her head to comfort her, but she must have thought I was angry. Her ears flattened fearfully.

  “I wouldn’t get mad at you for losing a single catch,” I reassured her, petting her head gently. “As long as you’re all right, there’s always next time. I just don’t want you to overdo it and hurt yourself. Okay?”

  “’kay.”

  Tama opened her eyes gingerly and peered up at me.

  “Tama’ll get something even bigger next time,” she declared, wiping away the tears welling in the corners of her eyes.

  “I’m sure you will,” I murmured gently, ruffling her hair.

  It was Lulu’s turn to drive the coach in the afternoon, but Liza had mentioned she’d like to learn how, too, so I appointed Lulu as her teacher.

  The others were all singing along to Mia’s reed pipe music. The tune in question was an anime theme song that Arisa had hummed to Mia to teach her. The show must have been obscure, because the lyrics didn’t sound familiar to me.

  I was too old at heart to join in on the innocent chorus of the kids. I leaned back against the rear-loading panel of the coach and watched the sky.

  I thought maybe I’d take a nap, but then I decided I’d better use this chance to peruse Zen’s Shadow Magic spell book.

  Unlike the ones for beginners, this volume jumped right into spell incantations and handwritten notes, probably Zen’s, and it seemed pretty advanced. Still, I’d already read a few introductory manuals and beginners’ spell books cover to cover several times over in my spare time, so I was able to more or less understand the syntax of the magic.

  Besides, the ability to follow a complicated flow of ideas was a key skill for a programmer. I had no problem.

  In fact, this read like a children’s book compared to the incompetent spaghetti code of a self-proclaimed veteran who had joined my company a while back. Putting out his fires had been a Herculean task.