Back in the other world, it was almost time for Mitsuha to move forward. Seven days had passed since her brief trip back home, and her wounds had healed so well she had to hide the fact that they didn’t leave a single scar. Some villagers had gladly purchased the wolf fangs and fur. It seemed like they paid her a little too much, but the juveniles’ hides were relatively undamaged, so apparently they felt like they were getting a good deal. The buyers had also said something about refining the materials and selling them to the nearby town. So you do have contact with a town, she thought.
Endowed with her newly-acquired funds, Mitsuha could now tell everyone she wished to go on a journey. She planned to head to the town where the local lord resided, then make her way to the capital from there. From what she’d learned, the local lord’s town wasn’t all that impressive. Though not as rural as this village, it still fit the image pretty well. Nevertheless, it was the most developed town in the area, the starting point for capital-bound carriages, and most importantly, the place where the local lord lived.
After her encounter with the wolves, Mitsuha had befriended villagers other than Colette, which helped her learn much more. All of them had made sure to thank her, and the elders─thinking she couldn’t move because of her wounds─sat around to converse with her. The villagers didn’t know much individually, but once she put it all together, she had an impressive amount of information. In the end, she became more knowledgeable about the nearby town and the local lord’s family than anyone else present.
I’ll start by schmoozing the lord, Mitsuha decided.
According to the villagers, he was a surprisingly good person for a noble. He cherished his subjects, never hesitated to postpone taxes during bad harvests… Basically, the people had hit the jackpot with him. Not only that, but he was a count, meaning he also had a lot of influence in the capital. After all, if you ignored dukes, who had royal blood, the only ones above counts were marquises.
The town’s about eighteen miles away, Mitsuha thought. At least, that’s my guess based on what the villagers told me. But if they walk at some crazy pace like twelve miles an hour, then that eighteen could easily be a hundred! Ugh, all right, enough of that. For now, I’ve gotta focus on wining and dining the count so I can get a carriage to the capital. I really need his support.
What? Wondering how I’ll pay for the carriage and get by in the capital? Sure, the money I got here won’t be enough, but again, that’s where the count comes in.
Additionally, she had yet to take care of her biggest obstacle.
“NO, NO, NO, NO-O-O!” Colette yowled. “DON’T GO!” Mitsuha couldn’t bring herself to blame the girl. The two had saved each other’s lives, and there weren’t many girls around her age in the village. If Colette wasn’t out foraging, she was all over Mitsuha, especially after the latter had sustained some severe injuries.
“Sorry, but I have to,” Mitsuha told her. “I wanted to do this from the start. Besides, my people and I had agreed to meet up in the capital if something went wrong.”
“B-But, but…!” Colette simply would not give in. Not even her parents could calm her down.
“All right, then let’s make a promise. After I get settled in the capital, I’ll come back here and tell you all about it. And if you ever go there, I’ll make sure to see you no matter what.”
Colette whimpered, but was slowly calming down.
“You’re a smart girl. You know you can’t stop me, right? So, please…smile for me? I’ll be thinking about you all the time until I see you again, and I don’t want to remember you like this.”
“Hic…” Colette let out one more sob, then forced her wobbly lips into a smile. Her father, Tobias, marveled at the sight. “This girl’s practically a master seducer!” he whispered.
Okay, now that’s just rude!
The next morning, the villagers saw Mitsuha off as she finally departed for the town. She had a bag filled with necessities: specifically, a gallon of water and four meals, two of which were light. The villagers had decided that, since the journey took a whole day for adults, it would take two days for Mitsuha. They’d stuffed her bag accordingly, without leaving so much as an inch for anything else.
Mitsuha hadn’t brought very much along with her in the first place, yet the villagers had attempted to load her up with blankets and other supplies. Had she brought them, she wouldn’t have been able to stand, let alone walk. Some people even offered to come with her, but she firmly refused. That’d be seriously bad for me.
Anyway, she more or less had to force her way out of the village. She’d been told it was rare for someone to go to town; it was a two-day journey there and back, three if you spent a night there. It was just too far for anyone to go there without having some serious business to attend to. Staying at one of the town’s inns was also a small luxury. The village was mostly self-sustaining, so the people here didn’t earn enough money to pay for a room, food, and wares.
The bottom line was that no one went to town without a very good reason. Anything they couldn’t acquire from within the village could often be bought from the traveling merchants who dropped by every now and again. They even took requests, and would do their best to bring the items along on their next visit.
Mitsuha was well aware of the fact that she could choose not to go to town, and they’d be none the wiser. If some villagers decided to trek out that way in a few weeks or months, she doubted they would walk around asking about her. Even if they did, they wouldn’t learn anything because she’d never have arrived in the first place. It’s not like I’m not planning to go to town, she thought. The schedule’s just going to be pretty different.
Mitsuha now had a full understanding of her cross-world movement─“world-jumping,” as she liked to call it. The “thing” had installed this comprehension directly into her brain. According to the intangible manual, the first area she’d jumped to had been determined at random, but now she could go wherever she wished.
There was one caveat: she could only travel to a place she could picture, which in this case meant somewhere she’d visited before. She could jump between places in one world by using the other world as a stepping stone. For that, she first had to get there using normal methods, but once that was done, she could jump there whenever she desired. So for now, Mitsuha would go straight to town, then return to Earth to make some preparations. After all, getting close to the lord and securing a way to the capital wouldn’t be easy.
Once she’d walked a good distance from the village, Mitsuha jumped home, hopped onto her trusted scooter, Scooty, then jumped back once more. The path between the village and the town was barely used, so witnesses weren’t a problem. Even if she did cross paths with someone, she could just jump back to Earth. The terrain wasn’t very smooth, so she couldn’t travel at full speed, but she arrived at the outskirts of the town after just an hour of driving. She hadn’t met anyone on the way, so everything was going according to plan.
That’s enough for today, Scooty. I’ll walk the rest of the way when I get back. Now it’s time to get busy!
Mitsuha returned home and changed into some casual clothes. She walked to the station and took a train to the nearest city with an American military base. Some Americans were along for the ride as well, most likely servicemen assigned to the base. Looks like I don’t have to wait till I get there for this part, she thought.
“Excuse me.” She directed her words to the most intelligent-looking man there. She simply asked if the train would stop at the city where the military base was located, thanked him when he responded, and walked to the neighboring car. She then exited at the next stop and traveled back to her starting point. With that, Mitsuha gained the ability to speak, write, and understand English.
Why had she chosen this man in particular, you ask? Well, her ability essentially “scanned” the brain of the person she was speaking with in order to copy their language. Normally, one would build up knowledge of a language slowly over time by talking with many different speakers, but since she was looking to get so much from just one person, it made sense to pick the smartest one available.
Once she returned home, Mitsuha got on the internet and began running some searches. The keywords, the results, the sites─all of them were in English, and she consumed page after page as part of her preparations.
Thousands of miles away, there stood the headquarters of a minor mercenary organization. The group had a relatively upstanding reputation. By mercenary standards, that is.
“Captain. You got a visitor,” one of the mercs reported, opening the door to an ordinary-looking office.
“Pretty sure I didn’t have any appointments today,” replied the man in charge.
“It’s an unannounced visit. That okay?”
The captain took a moment to mull it over. They weren’t on any major missions, and the money from small jobs could pile up and help cover the squad’s operating costs. “I’ll be there in a sec… Take ’em to the reception room.”
“Roger that. Heheh, you’re in for a surprise.”
“Whazzat? Is it a hot chick or somethin’?”
“Hmm… You could say that.”
Yeah, right. There’s no way in hell a woman like that’d come here, of all the damn places, he thought in disbelief as he made his way to the reception room. When he opened the door and saw who waited inside, however, his jaw nearly dropped.