“How should I put it, it really feels like another world.”
This was Claire’s first reaction after realizing that their story was literally a ‘story’ in this world.
Should I show them or not? I seriously pondered and clashed those thoughts multiple times, but the conclusion I reached was, ‘In the end, it’s gonna get out anyway.’
I can’t just kick these two out. I have a bit of savings, but who knows how long we’ll be here? In that situation, sending these two to a hotel or motel is impractical in many ways.
Above all, I can’t irresponsibly leave those two in such a place when they haven’t even fully adapted to this world yet.
“……”
“Alice.”
“……”
“Alice!”
“Uh, yes!?”
“Please don’t stare so much at my lower half. It’s ruining your image of me.”
“Well, I didn’t want to! But with this kind of figure, what could I do!? It’s how I look! How can I not be curious about how this side was made!?”
Alice shot back in surprise when I mentioned that. It’s not often that 2D creations like this come out, so I couldn’t blame her for instantly zeroing in on it.
I could see why she would be curious. If I had a figure made of myself, especially if it’s wearing a skirt, I would also want to know what’s underneath.
However, that doesn’t mean I want Alice to be peeking under her own skirt!
The Alice I knew from Chronicles of Aetherna was an overbearing tsundere girl, definitely not one to peek into someone else’s skirt. If I had to nitpick, it’s not someone else’s skirt, it’s her own!
“More importantly, haven’t you already seen Ian? If anything, it’s my image that’s likely to shatter.”
Alice said as she slammed the figure down onto the table. The figure was facing my direction, so it felt like the little version of Alice was looking up at me, blaming me, which was a strange feeling.
“Sis, don’t I have a figure?”
I pressed my temples with my hands to ease the throbbing headache.
No, wait, maybe it’s better than mumbling about denying my own life in shock? I feel like I’d be floored if I said that my life has been just a story from a novel or a comic.
…But then I thought about it again; they already know that I rewound time. Their actions have been undermined, so it’s understandable that they wouldn’t be shocked by something like this.
Thinking back, I really did a reckless thing.
“So, what you’re saying is that we are part of a ‘video game’ story rather than a movie or novel? You mean it’s a game, but how does that work? Do we set roles?”
Alice asked, looking curious.
Was Alice always this curious?
“Why, why are you asking this? Is it weird that I want to hear the story I’m in?”
“No, that’s not it….”
Ah-ha.
As I pondered for a moment, I could start to understand why Alice seemed so excited.
This is completely a different country. No, a different world.
I hadn’t explained to them how the political system here works yet, but that doesn’t matter for now. For these two, this world was totally unrelated to them.
Since there’s no Fanggriffon royal family, there’s no need to worry about anyone looking.
It’s a similar feeling to the strange sense of liberation one feels when traveling abroad.
Of course, how long we’d be here is an issue…
“To play this ‘game’ from start to finish, you need at least twenty hours. You can start and stop, but since you two don’t know the language of this world, starting right now is…”
“Hmm, is that so?”
“More importantly, how long do you two plan to stay here?”
Alice was speaking in a tone that seemed more like ‘Well, if it’s long, we’d better put it off for now?’ and I genuinely asked her.
“Huh? We can’t go back right now, so it’s undetermined, right?”
“…If there were a way to go back right now, how long do you think you’d stay?”
When I turned that question back to Claire, she replied,
“…But I wouldn’t just go back right away, would I? I’m curious about what kind of world you live in. Right?”
“I guess I’d owe you a bit.”
Alice said that while looking directly at me.
“…Understood.”
I held back a deep sigh and said that.
*
I really have no idea how long these two will stay. It could very well end up being a year or more.
In that case, it’d be better to save money for now.
With that thought in mind, I took out the cup noodles I had bought.
I thought I’d eat for a few days, so I bought a variety to avoid overlaps, but the problem is that these two had never seen cup noodles before.
We’ve got a long way to go.
If I had just returned to my childhood, I could have just gone to school. But thinking about having to teach these two everything from scratch already made my head throb.
“Spicy…!”
“……”
On top of that, all the ramen I picked were painfully spicy. Spicy, spicier, and extremely spicy. In fact, the ‘spicy’ ones would be considered standard by Korean standards, but it seems exceptionally spicy for someone who doesn’t normally eat hot food.
Well, I once saw an overseas reaction video where someone said even the mildest Korean cup noodles were spicy.
“Alice, there’s water here.”
I handed the glass of water to Alice, who was grit her teeth in torment. Unlike Claire, who shouted that it was spicy and gulped down her water, Alice drank the entire glass in one go.
To be honest, I deeply regretted choosing only this kind of flavor for the ramen.
…After all, I hadn’t eaten spicy food in a long time, either.
*
It’s a studio apartment without a bed.
To be honest, I debated a lot about whether to buy this place or not, but considering the possibility of moving, I thought it was easier just to rent somewhere decent without the hassle.
…Still, I should have bought one more blanket or two.
I have the habit of rolling around before sleeping, so I made sure to get a bigger one, but since I hadn’t thought about anyone else coming over to sleep, I didn’t have an extra blanket.
I could get out the summer blanket, but it might be too cold if I cover it.
Though it ended up being a ‘by chance’ situation, my sisters did come to visit my place. I didn’t want to catch a cold.
Thanks to that, the three of us ended up lying down on a single blanket.
We managed to keep a distance without touching one another, but if even one person rolled over, someone would definitely end up outside the blanket.
“……”
After a while of silence,
“……Sis, are you asleep?”
Claire was the first to speak up.
“Not yet.”
“Me neither.”
Alice said softly in response to mine.
“……”
Another silence.
“Bringing this up in the current situation seems a bit off, but…”
Once again, it was Claire who spoke up.
“To be honest, this situation is a bit enjoyable.”
“……”
Neither Alice nor I replied for a moment.
To be honest… I still don’t know if we can go back to the world we were in, but yeah, putting that aside, I think I could agree with Claire.
And—
“When we wake up tomorrow, let’s all go buy clothes together.”
I said with my eyes closed.
“And blankets. We need shoes and underwear too… we have a lot to prepare. Since we’re going to be living here for a while.”
“I guess I’ll be in your care for a while.”
Alice said in a voice mixed with laughter.
“No need to worry too much. You two are my guests, so I have to ensure you’re well taken care of.”
—And, yeah.
If we can’t go back, I’ll be very disappointed. Alice and Claire would feel the same.
The reason we ousted the Goddess was that we wanted to enjoy our lives together in that world.
But even so, frankly, even if we stay in this world, I don’t think it’s the worst ending.
At least I was not ‘alone.’
“There’s no need to wake up early, but still, it’d be better to maintain a regular routine, considering the potential of going back.”
I told the two of them.
“Let’s call it a night for now. Tomorrow, I’ll give you more explanations about this world when we go outside.”
“Okay.”
“Understood.”
Claire and Alice responded in turn.
Since none of us could move much, I couldn’t tell who fell asleep first.
But at least I know that I fell asleep a while after lying in the middle.
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