After some time, he finally spoke. “It’s true,” he mumbled as if his thoughts were spilling out. “Your hair really is completely black.”
“You weren’t referring to my hair when you said they’d accept me?”
“There are stranger things than your— Never mind. Don’t worry about it. The Kingdom of Twilight accepts all.”
Is there anything else strange about me besides my hair and eye color? Wondering if there was something on my face, I touched my left cheek, but nothing felt off. I looked down and everything looked the same. My left hand and left leg had nothing wrong with them.
I’d rather you just finish your thought since you already started it... Before I could complain, he urged me to walk towards the settlement.
“It’s this way. Let’s hurry. They say it isn’t good to be out in the sun for too long.”
“It hasn’t even risen though.”
“That’s just the kind of place this is.”
It felt like we weren’t quite on the same page, but I followed him regardless, and we headed for the other side of the rocky mountain.
We kept walking along the hard terrain of the red wasteland. I’d only noticed this now, but I was wearing shoes. I even changed out of my pajamas, so maybe someone dressed me... Or I did it myself and just don’t remember. The mystery of waking up in an unfamiliar location was still a mystery.
The scenery didn’t change as we walked, so I stared at my shoes that I had no recollection of putting on. I suddenly looked up and my eyes met those of the hero, who’d been walking ahead of me. He looked at me with concern.
“You walk in an interesting way.”
“Oh, yes. I’ll make sure to look up as I walk.”
“That’s not what I...” The hero suddenly trailed off and turned back around.
He implied that I was strange earlier too. Is there something weird about me? Should I just tell him to clearly say whatever is on his mind?
Before I could say anything, the hero spoke, still facing forward. “I had an old friend that was similar to you.”
“Excuse me...?”
“He had jet-black hair. I couldn’t tell at first because of the lighting and the way he was facing, but it was a pure, deep black, and it surprised me. He had an air similar to you as well. Ah, he was a really good guy.”
From the way he spoke, this friend had probably passed. Though the hero spoke cheerfully, I couldn’t tell what kind of face he was currently making. The way he reminisces on his black-haired friend kind of reminds me of...
“He was a really fun guy. I thought we’d never see each other again, but we actually reunited recently.”
What the heck? He’s not dead? You were totally giving off the vibe of someone grieving their passed friend. We hadn’t spoken for very long, but I could tell that this man was a bit of an airhead. The fact that he claims he’s a hero is also proof. Maybe he’s also just a self-proclaimed king.
“Oh, so he’s alive?”
“Who is?”
“Your friend that I remind you of.”
“We were recently reunited. The answer should be obvious.”
The hero was definitely an airhead, and it still felt like we weren’t on the same page. Maybe I was teleported somewhere super far—somewhere where people’s ideas of how to conduct small talk are different.
We made our way around the rocky mountain to the settlement in the mountain’s shadow. Since the sun hadn’t risen, the shade was on the western side of the mountain.
The ground hidden by the mountain was black, and people were gathered there, as if to avoid the red, dimly lit wasteland.
“This is the settlement...?”
There were definitely people, but the sight before me was completely different from what I would imagine when hearing the word “settlement.”
First, there were no structures. There were just people sprinkled across the area, sitting on the ground. There were a few man-made vaselike objects, but there weren’t many. It looked like a group of students were just gathered in the school courtyard, and I was speechless.
It appeared that I’d come to a ridiculous kingdom. The king turned around to face me and smiled as he held out his right hand to shake mine.
“Welcome to the Kingdom of Twilight. This is the area where the most people are gathered, so we call it a settlement. These people don’t like the sunlight, so they usually spend their time here.”
I had come up with a convenient explanation: these people all had homes elsewhere, and they gathered here in the morning to do radio calisthenics together, and they just called that gathering spot a settlement. But the hero’s words made such an explanation impossible.
My brain wasn’t processing the situation fast enough, and I’d forgotten that he wanted to shake hands. I just stared at his hand as he held it out.
The hero suddenly gasped and pulled his hand away. “Oh, my apologies... Once again, welcome.” This time, he extended his left hand. It’s not that I don’t want to shake your right hand specifically, you know?
I didn’t have it in me to point that out amid my confusion, so I just shook his hand, the current situation still feeling unreal.
“Thank you,” I responded.
I looked up at the hero’s face, which was only half lit. His gentle and regal expression befitting of the crown he wore was still there, but I felt something unstable behind it all.
Okay, then. Though they call it a settlement, all I can do here is sit on the ground and rest. I need to hurry up and ask about the way to Valschein so I can escape this strange kingdom.
I let go of his hand and was just about to ask about the geography here when someone called out to us. It was one of the residents gathered in the shade.
“That spot is dangerous! Come over here, quickly!”
I looked over, wondering what could be the problem, and saw a middle-aged man with cat ears screaming. Huh? A middle-aged man with cat ears? A middle-aged catboy? What’s going on?
“You too, King! You’re in danger!”
No matter how many times I looked, I saw a middle-aged man with cat ears. There was a human, a middle-aged man with cat ears sprouting from the top of his head. Including his pair of human ears, he had a total of four.
He keeps yelling about how it’s dangerous over here, but I think his presence is the most dangerous thing right now.
“Why are you just standing there?! Hurry up and come over here!”
Yup, he’s definitely a middle-aged catboy.
It probably wasn’t fair to dismiss his cat ears just because he was a middle-aged man. Everyone had their own sense of fashion. As long as it wasn’t harming others, people should be free to dress however they pleased.
Still, I feel like a middle-aged catboy makes everything unpleasant for everyone else. Oh, I guess that’s the same logic people use when they unreasonably ask someone to change from a skirt into pants. I guess even if it’s a little hard to accept, the middle-aged catboy should be allowed to exist.
I was determined to accept the middle-aged catboy in the name of diversity, and I decided to first try complimenting him.
“Those ears are lovely.”
“Hurry up and— Hee hee, do you really think so, meow?”
Okay, even if I can accept the cat ears, the “meow” is criminal. He should definitely be arrested. Are the law enforcement agencies of Twilight functioning?
The cat-eared man did a “cute” gesture, curling his hand like a cat’s paw, out of embarrassment and effectively committed another crime before returning to the stern look he originally had.
“Forget my ears. Get over here!”
“Okay...”
He’d been urging us over to the shaded area. If he’s concerned because the UV rays in this area are strong enough to insta-kill you, then I’d be worried too. The man didn’t seem that concerned though, so it didn’t really feel like I was in danger. Still, if I didn’t get in the shade, I wouldn’t be able to have a proper conversation with the cat-eared man. I don’t actually want to have a proper conversation with him, though... I guess I have no choice. I stepped into the shade known as the settlement.
“Is this all right?” I asked.
“Oh, thank goodness. Does anything feel...?” The man inspected me from top to bottom and fell silent in the middle of his sentence. What is it? Did I get really badly sunburned or something? I looked at my left hand and saw nothing wrong.
“Is there something on my face?” I asked.
“Oh, no. I’m sorry for staring...meow.”
“You don’t have to force yourself to act like a cat.”
“I don’t think I’ve seen you around before. How long have you been here fur, meow?” The cat-eared man, who showed a glimpse of his regular self, ignored my comment.
It seemed like there was no point in trying to get through to him. There’s a weirdo here—please do something about it. That’s the king’s job, isn’t it? I turned to look at the hero, who had just stepped into the shaded area. He spoke, but he didn’t touch on the older man’s manner of speech.
“She’s just arrived in Twilight. I happened to be there when she arrived.”
“You were out walking in the sunlight again?” the cat-eared man asked with concern. “If anything were to happen to you, we would all be terribly saddened. Please look out for yourself more. I beg of you to stay in the shade of the mountain.”
Mr. Cat Ears can totally speak normally...