Part 2: Is He a Pervert or a Gentleman?
LIVING a normal life in Japan meant never risking my life in a fight to the death. Of course, that also meant I’d never had the chance to encounter anyone holding a blade longer than a kitchen knife. In school, they never taught us the correct way to deal with someone like that. But logic told me that a show of arrogance was dangerous against an opponent with a lethal weapon in his hands, because a person who points a weapon at another person is likely in a very desperate mental state.
I have to stay calm and collected. I definitely can’t show him I’m panicking. I couldn’t turn my back and just run away either. Actually, maybe I was remembering how you’re supposed to handle an encounter with a bear.
I feigned composure, but I was actually ridiculously terrified. I wanted someone to praise me for the fact that my knees weren’t knocking together in terror. Were swords always that long? I’d definitely die if he stabbed me with that.
But what really scared me about Mr. Handsome, who looked to be in his twenties, was his slightly flushed face. I could tell at a glance that he was agitated. When people got like that, it was hard to have a rational conversation with them. He was probably the caretaker of this lake or something along those lines, so the fact that I’d destroyed the scenery had likely enraged him to the point where he wanted to kill me. And if that was the case, I had no way to save myself. Which was definitely not good.
We’re not wild animals. First, let’s try conversation. Talking is important when it comes to, well, everything. I’m against violence. But can we even communicate with each other, come to think of it?
I…didn’t want to be killed, so I prepared myself to fire more magic, just in case. If I unleashed the same fire magic as earlier, I figured I could buy myself enough time to escape. I spread my arms wide and raised both hands in the air, tossing away the stick too, all in an effort to show that I had no desire to fight. I didn’t want to hurt anyone, but I also couldn’t afford to lose my own life.
So, I tried to think of a spell that would allow me to separate us peacefully. If I followed the same steps as before, I just needed to concentrate on the location I would burn while visualizing the magic—though much smaller and less dangerous this time. Then, all I had to do was say the word “Burn” to activate it.
My eyes fixed firmly on the young man as I focused on completing my task. Then suddenly, his body quivered just the slightest bit. Wondering what he was up to, I observed him closely and quickly realized. A puddle started forming at his feet.
I averted my gaze from his humiliation. It took a lot of courage to look away from an armed person, but I would have needed even more courage to stare directly at a shaking, flushed, fully grown man who’d just lost control of his bladder. Put another way, when I considered things from his perspective, I felt so sorry for him that I simply couldn’t watch.
If someone like him appeared on the streets of Japan, he’d be all over the news for days. I could easily imagine headlines like, “The Darkness Lurking in the Heart of a Handsome Man.” And if this was how people in this world normally greeted others, I was ready to retreat deep into the mountains and become a hermit.
“…I won’t go anywhere,” I said, “so why don’t you change your clothes?”
I had no interest in letting people get angry at me, including this guy. As long as I acted in good faith, I figured he probably wouldn’t take my life at this point. Maybe he’d even forgive me, if I worked for a few years to restore the lake to its original state.
I waited with my hand pressed to my forehead, gaze averted. A moment later, when I heard the sound of footsteps, I realized the man was slowly moving around. If this was his plan to catch me by surprise, it would have made him an actual genius because he had me right where he wanted me. But he shouldn’t have had to resort to throwing his pride away by using that tactic. It would have been a piece of cake for him to kill a lone middle-aged man. I wanted to tell him it really wasn’t that big a deal.
Several minutes passed, during which I heard the sound of water splashing. Perhaps the remains of the hot lakewater I’d boiled had come in handy. You never know what the future holds.
“Thank you for your patience,” he said. His voice sounded clear and refreshed, like he wanted to forget his disgrace. His sword was now sheathed and he was wearing clean clothes, standing a respectable distance away from me. I was most relieved about the fact that we could understand each other.
“Forgive me, beautiful mage,” he said. “My name is Ralf Vogan. I’m a Rank 2 adventurer based out of the city of Oranz.”
A world where the profession of adventurer exists? At the idea, excitement unsuitable for my age bubbled up inside me. I accepted the new information without question. After all, this was a fantasy setting, complete with elves.
But I had no idea how strong Rank 2 adventurers actually were. It would have been a lot easier for me to understand Ralf’s position if he’d told me he was a team leader or a managing director. Maybe in this world, the title spoke for itself. He’d used it to identify himself in our first meeting, after all.
Despite Ralf the young man soiling himself in front of me, he was still the someone I’d been waiting for. The fact that our first interaction had consisted of him pointing a sword at me and glaring was…water under the bridge, so to speak. I needed to play my cards right if I wanted him to guide me to the nearest settlement. Good communication was key.
He had introduced himself to me, so to start, I needed to return the favor. But just as I was about to introduce myself, a thought suddenly struck me.
Who exactly was I?
In terms of my consciousness, I was undoubtedly still Haruka Yamagishi. An unmarried, forty-three-year-old corporate stooge. Born male in the remote countryside of the Kanto region of Japan, I had studied at a university in Tokyo, then found employment there after graduation. Up until recently, I had been spending my days and nights working hard at a big company. In fact, I was beginning to wonder what everyone was thinking right around now, given that I hadn’t shown up for work. If I collected enough absences without notifying anyone, I’d definitely be fired. More importantly, what if I ended up reported as a missing person? That would definitely present a problem if I suddenly returned to my old world.
Or maybe my heart had stopped and I’d died in my sleep. The thought made me sad. All I could do was cross my fingers that someone would quickly notice I was dead and find me. I’d feel awful if my decaying body caused damage to the property I’d been renting for so many years.
My thoughts had gone completely off track.
In any case, the question remained—whose body was this? My soul could have just taken over someone else’s body, but that seemed unlikely. Why? Because I was still wearing the same baggy tracksuit I always wore around the house.
Then, I still was Haruka Yamagishi? While I waffled over a response, Ralf the young man came to my aid.
“I’ve heard that dark elves are pretty unusual, so if there’s some reason you can’t tell me your name, I understand.”
What a truly considerate young man. Why didn’t he show me this kindness from the beginning? If he had treated me like this from the start, I would have trusted him easily and neither of us would have had to experience the rest of that…unpleasantness.
I was happy to just ignore the part I played in all this with the whole “blasting magic at the lake” thing.
Anyway, I couldn’t just be some John Doe to someone I’d be relying on. Operating under the assumption that this was, in fact, somehow my body, I would need a name.
“You may call me Yamagishi,” I decided. “I was merely testing my magic. I apologize for ruining the scenery. Do you own this land? If necessary, I can assist you in restoring it to its original state.”
Ralf’s only reaction to my introduction was a slight twitch of his brow. Maybe he just wasn’t used to hearing a Japanese name. “No, it doesn’t belong to anyone,” he said. “If anything, I guess this land technically falls under the jurisdiction of the Independent Commercial City-State of Pleine?”
I’d never heard of that place before. But the man’s unexpectedly polite demeanor made me think a little better of him. Which only made me wish even more that our encounter hadn’t caused him to disgrace himself. Unfortunately for both of us, though, no matter how affable he was, my first impression of him refused to leave my mind.
I knew nothing at all about this world. But given what I now looked like, it seemed like I really should have been a little less clueless. I already stood out enough and I needed a plausible reason to explain away my ignorance.
So why don’t I tell him I have amnesia? Once I hit upon the idea, it felt like the only way forward.
“I…I seem to have lost my memory,” I started. “I don’t know where I am and I don’t remember what I was doing before I got here. I apologize for the inconvenience, but might you be kind enough to show me the way to the nearest town or city?”
“Amnesia?” he asked, sounding concerned. “Are you hurt anywhere? I’ve heard rumors about things like that happening…and I guess they were true. I’d be glad to help. And if there’s anything you don’t understand, please feel free to ask.”
“Thank you very much. I’m in your debt.”
What an amazing young man. The only reason he’d even unsheathed his sword in the first place was because I’d done something to scare him. I was to blame. It really is better to give people the benefit of the doubt.
I was relieved the situation had calmed down.