CH 96

『I'm Not Serious Yet』

Translated by Mlzkzr

Edited by Mlzkzr

“Where …… am I?”

Before I knew it, I was in a strange city.

Both the architectural style and the clothing of the people around me.

Everything is like nothing I’d ever seen before, it was a foreign townscape.

“I am Hermes, I love Orthia, and in the future, I dream of having all my maids renamed Orthia and die surrounded by Orthia. ……Yup”

My memory is in order.

Apparently, there’s no need for me to follow up the “Where am I?” with “Who am I?”.

Then……why am I here, though.

I try to trace my memory.

If I remember correctly, I was taking a nap in my easy chair as usual, and——.

『――me. Nephew-chan, can you hear me? 』

“Muh? This voice is Kaori’s.”

I replied, looking around restlessly at the strange voice, as I couldn’t grasp its direction and distance at all.

Then a passerby turned their eyes on me curiously.

After all, no one but me can hear it, I guess?

『I’m glad, I connected with you properly using the power of the Demon King. 』

“Connected? And even using the power of the Demon King……. what happened?”

『Nephew-chan, you’ve knocked your head』

“……Haa?”

What is this loli hag demon king saying all of a sudden?

『Like I said, you’ve hit your head. When you were sleeping in the garden, you rolled over and fell and hit your head.』

“……Ah”

Somehow, I could imagine such a scene.

An easy chair is quite comfortable and relaxing, but that is only on the level of a “chair”.

When it comes to “sleeping” on it, it’s relatively narrow, and I can easily imagine that if I toss and turn around a little, I’ll end up on the ground.

『Nephew-chan who hit his head had his powers go out of control and his soul was flung into another dimension. 』

“Another dimension, you said……does that mean I’ve crossed the dimensional barrier?”

『Yes, that’s right. 』

“Is that possible?”

『With Nephew-chan’s power, it’s possible. Or rather, father made it easier.』

“What the hell are my ancestors!?”

No, that’s fine, but the problem is what’s happening now.

The gazes of the passers-byes are getting tougher and harder, so I immediately run into a back alley and ask Kaori.

“How do I get back?”

『It’s fine, I’ll be the one doing it. It will take a day or so, but I will return nephew-chan properly.』

“Can I help you?”

『I mean, that’s impossible. Nephew-chan, try putting all your strength into your body.』

“Muh?”

I try closing or opening my hand.

Now that she mentioned it ―― I had no power.

Whether it’s wielding a sword or using magic, it feels like I can’t do all of it.

“……Oh”

『That’s the reason. Just wait one day. 』

Kaori said so and cut off the communication.

Communication across dimensions must be tough, even for a demon king.

More than that.

“My power, is gone”

I was kind of happy.

I don’t have power, so I won’t get rolled up on anything.

Even if I get caught up in something, I will have to rely on anyone.

“……I’m on vacation!”

I unexpectedly obtained a one-day vacation.

I’ve lost my strength, and it was declared that it would take a day even for the Demon King to take me out of this situation.

I decided to enjoy this one day of vacation that I would certainly not be depended on.

If that’s the case ―― then I came out from the back alley.

Unlike before, when I didn’t have much time to spare, I looked around.

I can see a building that looks like a royal palace at a distance that is covered by a faint mist.

“Let’s avoid that.”

It looks like the royal capital of some country, but a royal palace is a mountain of trouble.

Let’s stay out of it.

I started walking towards the other side.

As expected of the royal capital, the royal palace―― what I mean is, even if I move away from the heart of the city, it is still totally prosperous and bustling.

I went into all kinds of stores.

Clothing stores and accessories shops.

I didn’t want to go through something like a weapons shop because I knew I would get into trouble there.

It wasn’t that different from the world I live in.

There are some minor differences, but in clothing stores, men’s clothing is often more practical, while women’s clothing is almost exclusively about cuteness.

Rather than being in another dimension, it feels like I’m in another country.

That said, I was indeed in a bit of a bind.

I lack money.

As expected, I couldn’t use the silver coins from my original world, and I thought that if it was going to be like this, I could have redeemed them if I had always had a lump of gold on hand.

I guess I will have fewer options to pass the time if I don’t have money. ……I thought so.

“Oh? A bookstore, huh”

I found a store that was extremely deserted, with no one in it.

As far as my eye can see through the window, the interior is a run-of-the-mill store, and the merchandise is a large number of books lined up on shelves.

If it’s a book…… then I can browse it.

I went into the store.

“Welcome.”

The female clerk let out an absent-minded voice.

There are no customers in the shop, and from the stagnant atmosphere, one can tell that it is usually like this.

It’s no wonder that the store clerk is demotivated.

Even when I went to the shelf and pulled out one of the books, I glanced at her and she didn’t react in any particular way.

If so, thank you, let me read it as it is.

“Let’s see, what is it…… 『Kujibiki Tokushou: Musou Hāremu ken (Grand Prize: Unrivaled Harem Ticket) – Doujin Edition? 』 What the hell is this?” (TN: This is a real web novel. This is the link – https://www.novelupdates.com/series/kujibiki-tokushou-musou-haremu-ken/)

Even when I read the title, it didn’t make sense to me.

For the time being, I open it and read what’s inside――.

“This is…… Orthia! Isn’t this the Great Sage Orthia!!”

I was taken by surprise in a big way.

The book contains pictures and text, which are divided into small panels to create a story.

In other words…… it’s a manga.

And the content of the manga is about the person who caused the prostitutes in my world to compete with each other to be given that name.

The story of Orthia, a rare beauty and great sage, synonymous with beauty, was depicted. (TN: https://kujibiki-tokushou-musou-haremu-ken.fandom.com/wiki/Althea)

Orthia is being spoiled by a certain man while saying “I’m just Orthia”.

Pamper, pamper―― and then, s*x.

The whole story is an erotic manga where Orthia flirts with her man.

After reading through the thick text in one go, I thought, “Hafuuh……” and my feelings soared.

“I never thought I’d come across such a wonderful book here ――wait, why are you here!?”

I wonder if it was because I was immersed in ecstasy, or was it because I had lost my ability.

The female waitress came up to me, completely unnoticed, and stared at me right in the face.

“Did you, read this grimoire(magic book)?”

“Haa? Grimoire? What are you talking about? This is just a manga, right”

“So you were able to read it. That’s great!”

“…… Wait, please explain it to me in an easy-to-understand manner.”

My ability has left me behind, but my experience remains.

My intuition was screaming “this is bad, this is bad” with all its might.

“As I said, it’s amazing that you’re able to read a grimoire! It would take a normal person at least a year to read a grimoire.”

“A year!? This manga?”

“Yes. Once you read through it, you will be able to use magic, so it can’t be helped that it would take that long.”

“Err…… uwah, seriously. I’m remembering some kind of magic.”

I knew it immediately because I had left all my strength behind and was in a fresh slate.

I can use only one magic right now.

It’s just normal magic, a rather rudimentary fire magic that’s effective on injuries and such.

“Really!?”

“Ah, it’s a magic like this.”

“Waah……”

When I used it lightly and created a flame in the palm of my hand and showed it to her, the store clerk began to show an impressed expression.

“Maybe you can read other grimoires?”

“If the grimoires you were talking about were mangas, then I can read it easily, though ――”

After saying that much, my experience and intuition, which I could not leave behind, sounded a loud warning.

In times like this, it’s a given ――

“Kyaaaaah!”

“A nobleman’s carriage ran out of control and a man jumped!!|

“Oh no, his ribs are broken and were sticking out in his lungs!”

“Does anyone of you know any court magicians!?”

The outside of the store suddenly became noisy.

The content of what I heard sounded as if it were aimed at me.

The female clerk, who had gone outside the store to check on the commotion, turned around and gave me an expectant look.

Then she pulls another manga off the bookshelf and stares at me while holding it.

“Oh, man, he won’t hold up like this!”

“Someone help!”

The outside is increasingly becoming noisy.

“Um…… this grimoire, has healing magic on it.”

“Muh! Why is this happening ―― wait, 『I haven’t taken it seriously yet』, what kind of irony is this!”

I flipped through the manga, healed the injured with the magic I learned, and was thanked by the townspeople.