Chapter 3: Hero and Dark Lord
EARTH-BREAKING silence filled the shrine atrium after Aki’s unbelievable proclamation.
W-Was that a bad suggestion? It sounds pretty absurd now that I think about it.
Feeling awkward, Aki nervously lifted her head. “U-Um, Elias—” she tried to break the silence, when Elias interrupted her.
“Let me get this straight. You’re saying you will act as my secretary?”
“Y-Yes. I was thinking I could take over managing your schedule and help with your daily needs…” Aki folded her fingers together and cast her eyes down.
Leo, who had been watching in silence, burst out laughing. “I get it! The Hero’s Secretary, huh?! It’s unheard of but sounds amusing. To be honest, we’d have an easier time if you took over the journey’s records too.”
“The journey’s records?”
“Yup. The Hero’s journey needs to be recorded so it can be passed down as a story to future generations. The Hero Party needs to record what they did and where they went every day like a diary. The person who has to put the records into story format later on would probably have an easier time reading your writing over mine or Elias’ illegible letters.”
“That makes sense.” Aki nodded.
From what Leo said, the Hero’s journey needs to be written like a biography and passed on to future generations. It’s easy enough to record our daily life and it will be a good way to learn about this world. I’m glad there’s something I can do to help! Aki hummed with excitement over her newfound purpose.
Elias puffed out his cheeks at Leo. “Whose writing are you calling illegible? My writing is prettier than your scribbles.”
Leo lifted an eyebrow. “Scribbles, you say? You’re one to talk. Your writing isn’t much different from mine. Besides, as long as I can read it, there’s no need to make it pretty.”
“I won’t show anyone my writing either, so what do I need to make it neat for?”
“Are you stupid? Being a Hero with ugly handwriting will hurt your reputation!”
Elias and Leo pressed their heads together and fired off comebacks for everything the other one said.
…In short, neither Elias nor Leo have nice penmanship. From their quarrel, it sounds like they’re equally bad at it.
Aki took both of their hands in hers as they fought. “In that case, I will take over as the person responsible for writing the journey’s records in place of both Elias and Leo who have ugly handwriting!”
“You didn’t have to emphasize the ugly handwriting part!” Leo grumbled. Elias and Aki burst out laughing.
“Okay, Aki, next we want to introduce you to our other party member, the Priest Johann, and have him give you a more in-depth explanation about our journey. We need to change locations, but are you too tired to do more?”
Aki quickly waved her hand in front of her face. “I’m all right. I’m actually pretty surprised about this, but I really don’t feel tired.”
She couldn’t believe how she didn’t feel any exhaustion. Thinking back, she realized she left for the parallel world as soon as she came home from a long day at work and hadn’t gotten any sleep. Who knew how long she wandered in the black space of the black hole for? Oddly enough, she didn’t feel the least bit tired. Perhaps traveling between parallel worlds affected her internal clock like some form of interdimensional jetlag. She wondered if that was a side effect of the Goddess’ power.
“Heh. How strange. The concept of time might get adjusted for people from both worlds. Well, that’s not something we humans can do anything about though.” Leo shrugged.
“You think so? I am pretty curious about it. Does time flow the same for this world and my world? Or does time act differently altogether? Or is it possible time has stopped in the world I’m absent from?”
“Well, the sheer fact we call them parallel worlds makes the theory of time stopping in the world you’re absent from complete nonsense. If two worlds exist in the same space and time, time should pass consistently regardless of where you are. I’m not sure how to calculate for speed and progress differences though.” Leo’s excitement revealed how much he enjoyed coming up with new theories to explain the unknown.
He grinned at the impressed Aki. “I’ll look into it for you. Mages like me are predisposed to researching and studying.”
“Heh, you are actually good at studying, Leo!”
“What’s with the actually part of that statement?”
Aki giggled at his indignation. His appearance gave off a brusque impression, but his intellectual side shined from his every word. He seemed like the type who would lock himself up in the library all day to study.
Maybe the Mages of this world fall in line with the scholars and researchers of my world… I’ll go straight to Leo if there’s anything I don’t know while I’m here.
Leo plopped his big hand on top of Aki’s head and turned to Elias. “All right, Elias, I’ve got to get to work on the final preparations, so I’m leaving Aki in your care for now.”
“Okay. Take care not to overexert yourself either, Leo.”
“Oh, Leo, do you have to go do something now?”
Leo was taken aback by Aki’s unexpected reaction as she leaned toward him like a child not wanting to be left behind by their friend.
“Yeah, just for a bit. Come on now, even if you don’t give me that lonely look, we’ll meet up again real soon! Don’t worry so much!” Leo teased.
Embarrassed by her actions, Aki’s face turned red. It wasn’t her intention to appear lonely. Learning one of the only people she knew in this new world was suddenly going to leave made her forlorn.
She grudgingly lifted her chin. “I-I wasn’t making a lonely face or anything like that! More than loneliness, I was thinking I needed to thank both of you before we part ways!”
“Thank us?”
Elias and Leo stared at her in wonder. She looked at both of their faces before vigorously bowing her head to them.
“Um, this is coming a bit late, but thank you very much for saving me! I didn’t receive any powers from the Goddess, but I will do my best not to slow you down during our journey together!”
Elias and Leo exchanged looks and both flashed bright smiles at the same time.
“No problem. Don’t worry about getting in our way. We’re still inexperienced ourselves. Right, Elias?”
“That’s right. Let’s put our strengths together and do our best.”
Leo put his arm around Elias’ shoulder. Elias chuckled.
Aki was truly glad they were the first people she met in this world. If Leo hadn’t saved her with his summoning magic after she recklessly jumped through the black hole, she may have fallen to her death without being able to do anything about it. And even if she had somehow landed safely, she would have been stuck wandering around not knowing left from right in this foreign world.
I have to make myself useful to the people who saved my life!
Leo casually waved to a fired-up Aki, and left the atrium. Left alone together, Elias and Aki naturally made eye contact.
I feel nervous being alone with him… Even more so because of how handsome he is.
Aware or unaware of her internal turmoil, Elias smiled gently to calm her nerves.
“Aki, I know this is sudden, but we should get going too. Follow me.” Elias walked over to the door and held it open for her like a gentleman. She ran toward him with her heart racing.
“Okay!”
Wow, it’s so spacious!
They exited into a hallway with a sturdy masonry floor covered by a rouge carpet extending farther than Aki could see. She fell in step next to Elias and walked the hallway for some distance until they eventually turned in to another corridor where a courtyard abuzz with people came into sight. Flowerbeds abloom with pink and white flowers colored the courtyard, and in the center was a gorgeous water fountain made in a geometric design, reflecting the sunlight in dazzling patterns across the cobblestone.
“Amazing! It’s so beautiful!” Aki stopped to take in the beauty.
Elias halted beside her and looked across the courtyard. “Thank you. This is our country’s imperial castle. Isn’t it full of life?”