CH 30

When Tatsuro woke up in the morning, he found a drooling goddess sleeping peacefully in front of him.

Tatsuro took a good look at the goddess and stroked her head while using life magic to wake her up.

”…Tatsuro.”

”What?”

”Good morning…”

”Good mooooorning…”

The sleepy Ai greeted him for waking up and hugged Tatsuro, burying her face in his chest. Tatsuro hugged her back and used more life magic to wake her up from her sleep.

And finally.

”Good morning. Tatsuro!”

”Yeah, I think I said that before, but good morning.”

The goddess of Tatsuro also woke up, and the morning of the other world began again.

The two of them first put on their school uniforms, blazers, instead of the potato jerseys they had been wearing lately. Then they put all their personal belongings in their respective “item boxes” and left the room.

”Good morning.

“”Good morning.””

Gillik greeted them over the counter, and they both answered him, returned the key, and left the inn.

Then they went to the dining room.

”Welcome. Oya, you’ve come again. Please take the table over there.”

”I understand.” “Yees”

When they stepped into the crowded cafeteria, the beastman woman who had served them yesterday was serving them again. The two of them looked at the beast ears for a moment and then quickly sat down at their table and opened the menu.

”I wonder what we’ll have today. What do you want today, Tatsuro?”

”I’ll have the same as yesterday. I can’t forget the taste.”

”That’s true, but I think I’ll try this.”

After ordering from the beast woman, the food arrived.

”T-that looks good.”

”That one looks good, too.”

In front of them was a dish called miguil dock, a soft bread with grilled fish in it, and the same stew and bread as yesterday.

As Ai chewed on the miguille dock, the flavor of the fish and the right amount of salt combined with the slight sweetness of the bread created an exquisite taste. Tatsuro also got a bite of the stew and bread as a gift, and left the cafeteria satisfied again.

”The fish was delicious, but I wonder what kind of fish it is.”

”It could be a really gross fish.”

“Don’t say things that will make it taste bad!”

As they made their way to the adventurer’s guild, they talked about the bright streets that were different from yesterday’s and looked at the people of different races walking around.

{However, there are quite a few different types of people here. I think that’s what the other world is all about.}

{I was surprised at first, but I’ve gotten used to it.}

This time, while speaking in telepathy, I looked around again and met some people’s eyes.

{We’re being watched, aren’t we?}

{ Yeah, it’s unusual for usto be dressed like this.}

It was true that no one around them wore modern clothes like Tatsuro and Ai, and the two of them stood out from the crowd.

{I’ll have to go shopping for some clothes when I get some time.}

{Yeah. It’s hard to relax with all this attention.}

The two of them hurried to the Adventurer’s Guild with some unease, wondering if the clothes would fit the kind of people around them.

Eventually, they reached the large white gate they had come to yesterday.

After that, they took the road to the right, just as Zendo had told them, and entered the two-story white building with the Adventurer’s Guild sign on it, which was much larger than the others.

They entered a two-story white building with a sign of the Adventurer’s Guild.

Passing the curious glances of these people, Tatsuro spoke to a simple-looking woman who was working at the reception counter that divided the room in half.

”Excuse me.”

”Yes, yes, how can I help you?　Are you making a request to the guild?”

”No, not at all.

I was asking about Erlen Decard, do you know him?”

”Erlen Dicard… Uhm, I’m sorry,

but can you please ask the regular staff about individual adventurers?

I’m only a part-time employee, so I’m only responsible for receiving and accepting requests.”

Thinking of the irrelevant fact that a woman in another world speaks with the same hand gestures as a woman in Japan, but no different anywhere else, he decided to ask her to call someone who could understand.

”Can you ask the regular staff member to call me back?”

”Yes, that’s fine.

Now, perhaps… yeah, she is here.

Leela-san, can you talk to these kids for a minute?

The aunt called out toward the back of the room, and a beautiful, odd-looking woman with long, platinum-blond hair, called Leela, and long, pointy ears to the side, walked toward Tatsuro and Ai.

”Well, I’ll leave it to her.”

”Thank you very much.”

The woman left her seat, and Leela stood in front of Tatsuro and Ai with a smile on her face.

”It’s nice to meet you. I am Leela Tristra, an employee of our guild.”

”I’m Tatsuro Hasami.”

”I’m Ai Yashiki.”

”Tatsura and Ai. May I ask your business then?”

”Yes, do you know a man named Erlen Decard?”

”Erlend Decard?　Yes, I do.

He’s out of town on a commission right now. What’s the matter?”

”Well, about this…”

After saying that, he handed Leela the last letter that he had sent out beforehand.

Leela took it, saying, “I’ll check it out,” and her expression grew grim as she read the contents.

”It’s going to be a bit complicated, so may I ask you to come to the back room for a moment?”

”Yes.”

”Can I come with you, please?”

Ai, who had been listening quietly until now, read the atmosphere and asked Leela using an unfamiliar honorific.

”Were you there, Ai?”

”Yes.”

”Right, it would be great if you could come with us.”

Then they were taken behind the counter to an empty room.

The room looked like a reception room, with two sets of sofas flanking a desk.

She then made three cups of tea and placed them in front of each of them.

”So, can you tell us more about the situation?”

”Well, it was yesterday…”

Tatsuro gave Leela as much detail as he could about what had happened.

Ai added to Tatsuro’s missing stories and added her own perspective. At that time, Leela told Ai that it was fine for her to stop using honorifics as if she was having a hard time talking, so she quickly returned to her normal tone.

”No way, I didn’t expect Togaru to show up…”

”Is this Togaru really that unusual?”

”It’s not unusual per se. The problem is the location.”

”Location?”

Leela’s expression softened a little as the two of them tilted their heads in unison.

”Yes. Erlen-san had undertaken to survey the forest around the town and the area around the entrance to the Amneri Great Forest, a rather shallow area, but Togaru was not supposed to appear in such a shallow area.”

Originally, this demon dug a hole under a tree called Tarim, which is located in the middle of the Amneri Forest, to make its home, and it has a habit of hunting only in that area.”

”Do they ever live anywhere else but in trees?” (Ai)

”I think so. If they were twisted, they might decide to live somewhere else.” (Tatsuro)

Leela shook her head at Tatsuro’s comment that such a thing was possible since they were not robots.

”No, they don’t.

This demon called Togaru takes into its body an ingredient that is found only in the roots of Tarim, and turns it into a poison that it uses for hunting.

If they don’t take this regularly, the poisonous needles of the Togaru will become non-toxic.

”He said he couldn’t make the poison on his own, so he couldn’t leave the place where Tarim was.”

”That’s how it works.”

At this point, they were finally able to recognize the anomaly that had caused Togaru to appear in the shallow layer. Then, as if remembering, Ai started talking about yesterday.

”I’ll tell you what. Yesterday, when we were on our way here on Grandpa’s wagon, we saw a white crystal, right?”

”Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s the White Water Crystal Deflstal.”

”When they came out, didn’t Grandpa say something like, “How did it get here?””

”That’s right, he did.”

When he turned his attention to Leela, she was listening to him with wide eyes.

”The White Water Crystal Deflstal has appeared in the vicinity of this town?!”

”Yeah, yesterday. Well, there’s a lake and a town split, right?”

”Yes.”

”Two of them attacked us around there, a little further towards the town.”

”………… Two Deflstals that close…?”

Leela muttered, her face turning pale as she considered the impossibility of Tatsuro’s words.