I thought it might have been a mistake to drive today, but it seemed to be working out. Seeing her calm down over time, I began thinking of how it gave me a good opportunity to describe the things going on around us. She’d gotten much more used to the car by the time we arrived at the restaurant, but she still let out a yelp when an electronic beep sounded upon closing the door.
We arrived at a Japanese-style restaurant, though it was unfortunately a franchise chain. I wanted to take her to a fancy place since it was her first visit, but sadly, I didn’t make that kind of money.
The only reason I owned a condo was because my strange hobby was sleeping, so I prioritized my living conditions above all else. As such, I owned a high quality bed and air conditioning system.
Anyway, we ducked under the shop curtain and slid the door open, and a waitress came to greet us right away. As expected, she wore Japanese attire, and Marie looked around with great interest at everything, including the clean-looking interior.
“Put your shoes in this shoe cupboard. We can put ours next to each other.”
“Oh, okay... But won’t they get stolen? They’re very comfortable, you know. I’m worried about just leaving them here... Oh, that wooden board is the key...? I’m not too sure about this...”
It seemed she liked the sneakers I’d given her. She wasn’t a woman who was easily shaken, but it made me smile seeing her worriedly ask me over and over if our shoes wouldn’t get stolen. I couldn’t bring myself to apologize and tell her they were actually pretty cheap...
Speaking of, well, speaking, I realized I’d been talking to Marie in Elvish this whole time. Worried about the waitress’s reaction, I turned to face her again; sure enough, she was frozen in place without knowing what to do. But it was completely different from what I was expecting. The woman was standing with a dreamy expression, lost in Marie’s wondrous beauty. Not surprising, since she probably thought Marie was a fairy or something. I mean, Marie even had purple eyes.
“Umm, two please. This is my adorable niece visiting from out of the country. I’m hoping you could show her some Japanese hospitality.”
“Y-Yes, of course!”
Her expression brightened as she replied energetically. She was quite pumped up. This really went to show how good beautiful people had it.
The waitress guided us to our table, which was a nice seat right next to the window. We had a view of the cherry blossoms, just as I’d hoped, and Marie seemed to forget to sit down, enamored in the picturesque scenery. This may have been a chain restaurant, but it completely transformed during spring. There was a sense of presence to each cherry blossom tree, as if they hoarded all the sunlight for themselves, and the entire view was filled with a vivid pink. The trees had bloomed nicely again this year.
I took a seat as I, too, admired the scenery. It might have been because it was past lunchtime already, but it was quite the luxury to have this view all to ourselves. I thanked my company for letting me take the day off and took the menu in my hand.
“I’ll order for us, Marie. Let’s see... Tempura, sashimi... Ah, can’t forget the steamed egg custard. And one dish that you recommend, please. Oh, and one fork.”
“Thank you. Please enjoy your stay!”
The waitress smiled brightly at us. Marie was unable to understand her, but bowed in response with widened eyes. Then, Marie finally sat down in the seat opposite mine. She observed the sturdy wooden table and the sunken kotatsu seat, then looked right at me.
“What was that lady saying to me just now?”
“She said, ‘Please enjoy your stay.’ She seemed to be very distracted by your cuteness.”
“There you go, saying those things with that sleepy look on your face... But I’m surprised how no one seems to have their guard up, the workers and townspeople included. It seems like they’re not concerned at all...”
She directed her gaze out the window to the cherry blossoms again. I wondered how those colorful, pink cherry blossoms appeared in an elf’s eyes. Judging by the captivated look she had on, we might not have been so different after all.
“That’s because there are no monsters in this world. I also think it’s so calm here because it’s one of the friendliest island countries in the world. Since you’re here now, you may as well enjoy this world to the fullest, Marie.”
Marie stopped herself short of replying and seemed as if she was debating whether she should accept my gesture of kindness. But it was such a nice day today, and we were in the middle of the most beautiful season of the year... I smiled at her to show her it was okay, and she finally nodded back.
“Then, I will take you up on your kind offer. I do consider you one of the few humans I can trust.”
“But you know, there really aren’t as many bad people out there as you may think. Maybe you’re a little too cautious, Marie.”
She gave me a look that screamed at my perceived naiveté. But when it was coming from a cute girl like her, even being looked down on was somewhat nice. Now, I wasn’t some sort of pervert; it was more like... If I’m getting scolded, I’d rather it be by a cute girl.
Marie seemed to be curious about the kanji on the menu and began asking me questions while staring at the characters.
“Now then, would you mind explaining something for me? Where exactly is this, and why am I in Japan? I don’t understand any of the languages here, and I don’t remember anything after being attacked by the arkdragon. And why is it that you seem to be grown up all of a sudden?”
I figured it was about time for me to fill her in. Though, I didn’t really understand much of what was going on, either. I prefaced by saying that some of it was just conjecture, then began explaining:
“Let’s start with this country: Japan. I’m almost positive you wouldn’t find it on any maps from your world. It’s a small island country, but it has a dramatic history that’s pretty cool when you really get into it.”
She listened to my words with an expression that made it hard to tell if she was interested or not. The problem now was explaining the rest of her questions. I wasn’t confident that I could clearly explain much of what was going on to her satisfaction.
“You know how you dream when you go to sleep? Have you ever dreamt about a place you’ve never visited before?”
“...Yes, but what of it?”
“From my perspective, whenever we hung out together, it all took place inside my dreams. But this time, I woke up with you. I thought it was just a dream all this time, but this morning, I realized both worlds are real.”
Her round eyes met mine. The reason her fingers were still fidgeting with the menu must have been due to her active mind. A person’s brain and fingertips were somehow connected, after all.
“Whenever I die or fall asleep in your world, I always wake up in this one. That might be why you ended up coming here with me this time. I always ventured alone, but that was the first time I died together with someone.”
“You mean... I died?”