Part 8: Formation
THE clang of a bell rang out across the city. The sound wedged itself into my fuzzy consciousness as I slowly woke up and realized it was morning. The incessant chirping of unfamiliar birds reached my ears. In every world, birds were loud in the morning.
Right now, I still had a tendency to compare every little thing in this world to Earth, but I wondered if someday, even the sound of the birds here would become normal to me. It wasn’t like I held onto any lingering attachment to my old world. Thinking about never being able to return made me a little bit sad, though. If I had someone or something important to me there, would I be desperately wishing to go back? When I imagined how someone would feel being separated from their loved one, I realized I was glad I didn’t have anyone like that.
“…Time to wake up.”
Saying the words out loud cleared my haze of drowsiness. In my currently unstable state, I had to remain alert. I stared up at the ceiling, then sat up using only my abdominal muscles. I never would have been able to move so smoothly in my old body. Back then, I always got out of bed, moaning and groaning, flailing my legs. Compared to that, life in this body was incredibly comfortable.
The night before, I had allowed Totto and his friends to treat me and Ellie to dinner. She had seemed somewhat displeased by the situation, but nevertheless ate and drank her fill of everything in sight, much more than me. Apparently, she was disgusted that Totto had attempted to touch a woman’s body without her consent. It made perfect sense that she couldn’t forgive him so easily, considering her status as a female adventurer herself.
For my part, I had been amazed by the sheer volume of food Ellie had devoured. Where in the world did she even store it? I also remembered the sad look on Totto’s face as he had opened his wallet to pay for all her food.
Speaking of Totto, he had pretty much been apologizing nonstop ever since I’d revived him. Then the alcohol had finally hit him and he opened up to us about all his hardships in life. His friends—Dennis, Dominic, and Roman—interjected repeatedly with jokes, usually at his expense. Naturally, it took a while for him to get everything out around all the interruptions. Even as the intensity of his jealousy made me uneasy, I still found myself feeling sympathetic toward him.
Totto seemed genuinely remorseful about his behavior. But the other three? Judging by their nonchalant expressions, not so much. Maybe they were just the type who believed, “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”
By the time we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways, I was on a first-name basis with them—though they insisted on calling me “Boss Lady.” The men seemed happy enough that we were friends now, so it seemed like this level of easygoing camaraderie was normal between adventurers.
Once our puzzling drinking party ended, Ellie walked me back to my room, where I slept like a log. And that brought us to the next morning.
The Adventurers’ Guild dormitory consisted of a number of small rooms up and down either side of a long hallway. Each room measured about eighty-seven square feet and came with a worn-out bed, a creaky chair, and an old desk that seemed to be holding itself together through sheer force of will. A line of rope across the windows could be used to hang laundry to dry.
I had at least managed to wash my underwear with water the night before, but I’d have to do something about the rest of my clothes soon. Personally, I didn’t mind my new body odor—I even thought I might have been emanating a floral scent—but you could never be too careful because these things were hard to tell on your own. Also, my breasts bounced around pretty much whenever I moved my body, which bothered me. I wondered if there was anything I could do about that.
Anyway, at the top of today’s agenda was the meeting with Albert and the others. I wanted to tell them I’d join their team, but I had no idea where they were, or how to go about looking for them. The lack of cell phones here was ridiculously inconvenient. It was hard to believe that people had gotten through life just fine without them only a few short decades ago. But once humans get used to a luxury, it’s difficult to go back. I racked my brain trying to think back to what I’d done when I was a child, but all I could remember was memorizing people’s landline numbers.
Nothing else came to mind, so I decided that if I waited in the cafeteria long enough, I’d surely run into the group eventually. They were new adventurers too, so their living situation was probably similar to mine.
So I got dressed, stepped out into the hallway, and turned back around to lock the door. The rusted old key was slightly warped, and it took some effort to twist it hard enough to lock the door properly.
✦ ✦ ✦
IN a sunny spot in the canteen, I spied fluffy ears and a tail in a striking pea-green color. I sat down across from Montana after I retrieved my breakfast order of bread and soup. He also had a tray of food in front of him, but instead of eating, he was just sitting there, staring into space. What is he doing?
“Good morning, Montana,” I ventured.
His eyes finally moved, focusing on me at the sound of my voice. He blinked slowly once, twice, and then a third time. “I was asleep,” he said. “Morning.”
The previous day, I’d thought he was a little…different, and my impression didn’t change upon learning that he slept with his eyes open. I chose not to comment. Maybe it was something that was unique to therianthropes, though I didn’t know what the point of sleeping like that would be, given that they had eyelids.
“I wanted to give you all an answer to yesterday’s invitation,” I said. “Do you know if Albert and Corinne are going to eat here, too?”
“I don’t know, but probably, since it’s breakfast time.”
“Then I’ll eat while I wait.”
We made conversation here and there. Montana wasn’t the type to take the initiative, but surprisingly enough, he always responded thoughtfully to my overtures. Around when we finished eating, Corinne and Albert, his hair mussed from sleep, finally showed up.
Corinne noticed us right away and quickly walked over.
“Morning, you two!” she greeted us cheerfully, immediately taking the seat next to me. As for Albert, she had left him behind. He continued plodding sluggishly toward us. The lack of food at Corinne’s spot had me wondering if she’d eaten elsewhere.
“No breakfast for you?”
“I ate before I got here, so I’m fine!” she said. “More importantly, what’s your answer, Haruka?”
“Yeah, Haruka, tell us already!” Albert had finally arrived. He set down his tray, which contained a few foods seemingly chosen at random, took the seat next to Montana, and leaned expectantly forward over the table.
“That’s actually what I wanted to discuss with you all,” I started. “So first, thank you very much for your patience.”
Three pairs of eyes focused intently on me. Honestly, the kids all looked so adorable, I couldn’t help but smile.
“If the offer is still open, I would very much like to join your party,” I said.
It wasn’t like we were setting up a base and writing anything in stone. We were just putting together a small party of people who just so happened to be in the same class. And despite knowing they would accept me, I still found myself waiting nervously for their reply.
“Woohoo! I can’t wait!”
“Yay! It’s going to be so much fun, Haruka!”
“Agreed.”
All the tension drained from my body at such a warm welcome—and at the same time, anticipation for my upcoming life as an adventurer absolutely skyrocketed. I’d soon be taking on all sorts of work with my new companions, just like a character in a fantasy story.
While doing my best to rein in my excitement, I tossed out a suggestion to the group. “I took a look at the job board yesterday. Do you all want to go check it together after breakfast?”
“Heck yeah!” Albert said right away. “Give me a few minutes. I’ll wolf all this down in a jiff.” He started shoving bread into his mouth, followed by several spoonfuls of soup.
“Hurry up, hurry up!” Corinne impatiently pestered him to go faster—and meanwhile, Montana’s tail was swinging energetically from side to side. My companions’ shining eyes told me I wasn’t the only one who was excited, and for some reason, that made me incredibly happy.