Chapter 304 - Foreign Cosplayer

Ivan fell from the sky in what seemed to be slow motion. He must have been several thousand feet above ground earlier and had been free-falling for a while, but he was not worried. In fact, his pair of eyes were wide with excitement as he spread his arms and legs wide, welcoming the wind that blew against him, making his scarlet cape flap behind him as he descended.

Down below, he could see the concrete forest becoming bigger and bigger as he fell. There were tall ones, medium ones, and small ones; there were big ones that spanned several square meters and narrow ones. They varied in color, shapes, and sizes. He wondered what they were. There was nothing like that in Ged. Also…

"Bugs?"

Ivan could see small dots going to and fro in all directions like ants. Also, some long ones moving along elevated passageways. However, as he drew closer, he realized that they were not insects but metal carriages.

Eh?

Seeing as he didn't want to be seen, he shifted his body to change the trajectory. He searched for a place where he could land so he could plan his next actions well. But everywhere seemed so crowded, it was difficult to choose. Alas, he found a less crowded one, at a back alley somewhere, and Ivan landed in the parking lot with a BANG!

The impact of his landing created a ten-meter indentation on the ground, with some of the metal carriages parked there caving in the hole. Several passersby also stopped to take a look at the sudden explosion, but they were surprised to see a huge man wearing silver armor and red cape standing in the middle of the crater.

Thinking that he was an alien, they whipped out some gadgets and started filming and taking photos of him.

Ivan, on the other hand, stared at the people who were trying to see him from the other side of the fence, holding some metal boxes that they pointed towards him. He noted their clothing before turning his gaze to his own attire and he sighed.

For the first time since coming out of the portal, Ivan of Kres had never felt so out of place. He should have grabbed some of the outfits he saw at the house outside the portal. He might be able to mingle well without making these humans look at him strangely.

Then again, even if he wore something else, it was obvious that he would still stand out. These humans were so tiny compared to his two hundred ten centimeters or six feet eight inches frame.  Well, even in Kres, he was considered taller than average.

"Stop pointing at me," he told the onlookers, but his eyes widened again as he cupped his mouth with his hand as he realized that different words came out of his mouth instead of the Kres' language that he knew.

Huh?

"Hello!" he tried saying again, but the words that came out of his mouth sounded like "Moshi-Moshi," and he was dumbfounded.

It wasn't the language of Ritz which he was also fluent either. It seemed that when Alistair modified his brain so he'd be able to read and understand Stribog's message, he had also given him the ability to speak the language of this world. It's why whenever he tried to speak with his language, another came out of his mouth.

"Amazing," he said out loud with a laugh, and laughed harder when the word that came out of his mouth sounded like "Sugoi."

He didn't care however even if he sounded weird. He was so happy that he wouldn't be able to have difficulty now as he could always ask someone about things he didn't know. The knowledge made him jump up and down with joy, making the bystanders exchange looks and sigh.

They began to disperse as they realized that the man couldn't be an alien from outer space as he could speak well in Japanese. They lost interest almost immediately. They had already started walking away when Ivan noticed and tried to catch up to some of them to ask questions.

"Excuse me, dear Sir, where is this place? What is this place called?" Ivan asked with much enthusiasm which upset the old man a bit, although he sighed as played along.

"It's Ikebukuro," the man answered blandly and turned away immediately, not wanting others to see him talking to the weird man as he muttered to himself. "Stupid foreign cosplayer."

Huh?

"Cos… player? Is that what I'm called in this world?"

Ivan's demigod ears, of course, were able to catch his words. But even if he could understand their language and speak it, he still didn't know what that word meant. He watched everyone go away with a helpless expression as he scratched his head.

"These plebeians…"He was a bit upset that these humans his ancestors sacrificed themselves to protect were such a rude, ungrateful bunch. "Is this how you treat a guest royalty?"

With a pout, Ivan placed his arms across his chest as he tapped his foot on the ground. His eyes wandered around, studying the surroundings. True enough, as he read at one sign, he's at a place called Ikebukuro. He wondered how far that was from Tokyo where Stribog must be. He also wondered where he could see the Palace of Cedar.

With a heavy sigh, Ivan realized that his throat was a bit parched. He hadn't eaten and drank anything for a while since the grand show with Ged's royalty when Alistair summoned Aurel to the mortal realm. That was hours ago, and he frowned. Although health-wise, his demigod body could be maintained by divine inheritance alone and didn't need food and drink, he had already gotten used to the mortals' way of living.

"Is there somewhere like a tavern here?" He felt like drinking some ale, he thought just as a flash of color was caught at the periphery of his eyes and he spun in time to see several young people wearing the same type of clothing as he did.

"Oh!"

He felt excited. Finally, he found some fellow warriors, he presumed, and he rushed over to them without second thoughts.

"Hello there, my fellow warriors! Are you out on a quest?" he asked as the group of people wearing clothing that he was sure belonged to a paladin, an archer, a priest, and a mage.

The group of youth smiled at him, their eyes wide in amazement.

"Dude, your clothes are cool," the paladin commented as he looked at Ivan appreciatively.

Ivan shook his head. "No. On the contrary, I feel quite hot," he said as he tried to wipe the perspiration from his temple.

The youth exchanged looks again. "Well, you're really hot and quite good looking so we'll forgive you for being so blunt."

Ivan of course misunderstood. "I see. Forgive me then for not being knowledgeable of this world's social rules."

With this, the group burst out laughing.

"I don't know what you're cosplaying as my friend. I haven't seen a character like you in Ragnarok, but you're welcome to tag along," the archer invited.

"Cosplaying?"Ivan heard the word again and he brightened up. "Oh I'm a foreign cosplayer," he said, remembering what the man called him earlier.

"We know, right?" the youths said in unison as they burst out laughing. "Let's go," they said, and Ivan followed after them.