ch21-ch40 · 041-ch35

Chapter 35

Earth. Japan, Tokyo. Shinjuku Tower, Adventurer's Guild.

At its entrance stood the High Elf woman — Hexaria.

'Hmph. So you were here, my idiot.'

Muttering that, she walked briskly toward Sai.

And yet, no one seemed to notice her.

It was a high-class presence concealment, even among concealment spells. It wouldn't be detected easily. Without specialized tools, only those who could read the flow of magical power or those skilled in scouting could notice it — in other words, only people like Sai.

However, Hiyori and Mio could tell from Sai's surprised expression.

"What's up, Sensei?"

"Is there something over there...?"

Because of the concealment spell, they couldn't tell Hexaria was standing there.

And then, walking briskly, Hexaria stopped in front of Sai.

'I'd heard about it, but there really are only humans here. No wonder I had such a hard time getting here.'

Perhaps because she'd spoken right in front of them, the presence concealment weakened, and Hiyori and Mio finally noticed.

"When did you get here!?"

"Wh-Who is this person!?"

Hiyori and Mio's shouts echoed through the lobby.

As a result, the concealment spell weakened further, and the surrounding people began to notice as well.

Hiyori and Mio were famous as the high-school-girl adventurers who had made a name for themselves, and Sai was the late-blooming solo adventurer who had suddenly started showing his potential.

Even if they hadn't spoken, the people around were already paying attention.

So they couldn't hide their surprise at the golden-haired woman who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

The murmuring in the lobby grew louder almost immediately.

'Hmph. How noisy.'

The High Elf surveyed the now-bustling lobby.

The next moment, she reached for the bridge of her glasses with an annoyed expression.

Seeing that, Sai panicked.

'Wait, Saria. We'll talk about everything later!'

In a hurry, Sai threw his jacket over Hexaria's head.

'Hey. What do you think you're doing?'

'Talk later! Come on!'

"You two, come with me!"

And so, the four of them slipped out of the Shinjuku Adventurer's Guild.

Those around them could only stare in bewilderment at the sudden commotion.

◇

They traveled from Shinjuku Tower to Sai's home in Hiyori's attendant Yoshida's car.

He'd been waiting near Shinjuku Tower for Hiyori and the others to come out when Sai suddenly called out to him.

When he saw Hexaria, whose face was hidden by Sai's jacket, Yoshida was taken aback.

"Um, and who might this be...?"

"I'd appreciate it if you could pretend not to notice..."

At that moment, what was on everyone's mind was "What's going on?"

None of them fully understood the situation.

◇

After a while, they arrived at Sai's home.

Thanking Yoshida for acting as their taxi, the four of them entered Sai's house.

'Hmph. Your smell is strong here. This is your current dwelling, then.'

Without needing to be told, the High Elf realized it was Sai's house. She took off the jacket that had been covering her head and looked at the renovated former factory that was now Sai's home.

'Hmph. There are some things I've never seen here and there, but it's a house that suits you.'

'Of course. Just because I came back to Earth doesn't mean I've changed as a person.'

"Um, Sensei. Who is this person...?"

"I'll explain, so just give me a moment."

Sai took a deep breath to calm himself.

Right. First, he needed to hear her out.

'Let's settle down first.'

'Indeed. Prepare some tea.'

'Yeah, I'll bring out the usual.'

Because Sai and Hexaria were speaking in the other world's language, Hiyori and Mio remained bewildered.

Sai noticed this and quickly filled them in.

"You two, sit down wherever's comfortable."

A few minutes later.

After preparing tea and some simple snacks, Sai began the conversation.

"First, to explain to Hiyori-san and Mio-san — as you can see, this woman is a High Elf. She's from the other world... another world."

"So elves really do exist!"

"She's very beautiful...!"

Hiyori and Mio stared at Hexaria with sparkling, curious eyes.

Though Hexaria was generally misanthropic, she wasn't going to get angry just because some kids looked at her with shining eyes.

And since Sai had deliberately brought them along, she somehow understood the relationship between Sai and the two girls.

So Hexaria grinned at the two girls.

"Elf, no. High Elf."

"Eh! Japanese!?"

"...Come to think of it, I did teach you Japanese. You remember it pretty well."

"Heh heh, other world language, is, amusing, after all."

"Let me introduce you two first. Um, this is Hexaria. She was my partner in the other world, and we were together the whole time..."

As Sai spoke, Hexaria grinned and dropped a bombshell over his words.

"Me, this guy's wife."

"Whaaaat!? Hold on! You were married!?"

"............!?"

Hiyori let out a ridiculous shriek. Mio looked back and forth between the two.

She'd considered the possibility that a man in his forties might be married, but a High Elf of all things! And he was married to such an incredibly beautiful woman (with curves in all the right places)!

Whether because she'd expected this reaction, Hexaria laughed.

"Heh heh, this man, is mine. Have children too."

The High Elf's bombshell left the two disciples utterly shocked.

"Children... you mean... Sensei, you have kids!?"

"Wahaha, I can't believe this Sensei! Acting like he's a carefree bachelor!"

"How old are your children!?"

"Wait a minute! Listen to me!"

Incidentally, just between us.

Sai had been through the same thing in the other world.

For some reason, his disciples and students in the trade city had reacted with similar shock.

Why did it always turn out like this?

The middle-aged man himself didn't really understand.

◇

Hiyori and Mio were making a commotion. Hexaria kept grinning as she watched them.

Sai was the only one panicking.

It took a little while for the situation to calm down.

"FAKE MARRIAGE!?"

"That's right. We were partners, but not that kind of relationship. And about the children... they were orphans. There were circumstances, and we ended up raising them... but they've been adults for a long time now and are doing well over there."

"...I believed you. Yes, I believed you."

Mio lied flatly, trying to cover up her earlier shock.

Beside her, Hiyori's face was saying, "Ehhh~?"

"So, Saria. I'm happy to see you again, but why are you here?"

"Hehehe. Right. Where to begin..."

After enjoying teasing Sai (?) for the first time in half a year, Hexaria began to explain how she'd come to Japan.

The story went back a few months, to the other world.

The ruins of the western forest where Sai had been teleported.

Hexaria had discovered a black spot on the first floor of the tower buried underground.

'That is a gate that can go anywhere the teleported person has been before.'

'Seriously!?'

It was essentially a physically-created version of Return magic.

Or perhaps a Anywhere Door limited to places you've visited.

'Indeed. The tower itself is from thousands of years ago, from the Age of the Gods. That area is a convergence point of ley lines, after all. Someone used the dense mana gathered there to create a gate as a teleportation device. That black spot is what teleported you here.'

'Do you know who that someone was?'

'Heh heh, who do you think you're asking? That is the castle of the first Hexaria.'

'The first... you mean the first Hexaria-sama!?'

'Indeed. The reason it wasn't found until recently is that the tower has no entrance to begin with. It was probably above ground during the Age of the Gods, but the first Hexaria deliberately buried it underground so only she could enter.'

The first Hexaria.

The High Elf sage, the legendary figure who founded the trade city.

Such a person had been managing that tower?

'Thanks to that, the analysis itself was quick. I was able to analyze your destination and confirm you were alive, so I shared that with your workplace and the children. Then I just tweaked the teleportation device and — poof — came right over.'

'What do you mean "poof"! It must have been hard enough just getting to Shinjuku Tower... to the place we met.'

Right. The teleportation itself might have worked, but from the High Elf's perspective, Japan was the other world. There was no way she could easily reach Shinjuku Tower. He had no idea where she'd teleported to, but getting to Shinjuku Tower must have been extremely difficult.

'Indeed. Even though I could teleport anywhere, that world-crossing — Planeswalk — seems to consume a tremendous amount of magical power. That thing runs permanently on ley lines as a mana line, but this world has thin mana. Because of that, the teleportation coordinates seem to be off. Where did you end up?'

'Me? I ended up in the mountains.'

'I ended up at some seaside.'

He didn't know which seaside, but considering the distance to Shinjuku Tower, it must have been quite far.

'It was probably enough for you, but this world has thin mana. As a result, I was searching for areas with dense mana when I found a familiar magical signature. That's how I arrived there.'

'I see. It was a long way, wasn't it?'

'Hmph. I knew you were there, so the distance didn't bother me. Until I could come, that is.'

The High Elf smiled triumphantly.

But she had teleported to a place called Japan — somewhere Hexaria knew nothing about (aside from some Japanese language knowledge). It must have been extremely difficult.

Yet she could smile here, never showing her hardships on her face.

That was Sai's partner — always confident, no matter where or when.

'For now, you should rest at my place for a while.'

'Indeed. I shall enjoy this world.'

With that, Hexaria laughed cheerfully.

Due to certain circumstances, Hexaria could speak some Japanese — simple phrases, at least — but when it came to specialized terminology, she couldn't manage well.

As a result, Hexaria's explanation of how she came to Japan was given in the other world's language.

This left Hiyori and Mio completely out of the loop.

For a while, they simply watched Sai and Saria chatting about this and that.

"You know, even though they say it's a fake marriage, they seem really close, don't they?"

"Right. He calls her his partner, but I can sense the atmosphere of a long-time couple."

"Do you think it's really a fake marriage?"

"I wonder. I've heard stories that in fiction, humans and elves don't develop romantic relationships because of their different lifespans. Maybe it's something like that?"

"Oh, is that how it is? ...Still, though, Hexaria-san? She's seriously beautiful. Sensei's got game~"

"I wonder how Sensei met Hexaria-san."

"Yeah, I'd like to hear about that too."

As they were whispering among themselves, Hexaria suddenly looked at Hiyori and Mio.

"So then, you. These ones, your students?"

"Sorry for ignoring you two. Let me introduce you. Saria, this is Hiyori — the redhead — and next to her is Mio — the blue hair. As you guessed, they're my disciples."

"Hmm, disciples, are they. I'll be, staying here, for a while. Call me, Hexaria."

"I'm Mio! N-Nice to meet you!"

"I'm Hiyori! Nice to meet you, Hexaria-san!"

Hiyori and Mio greeted her with bright smiles.

Their first impressions of each other didn't seem bad.

"Oh, by the way, I should mention — the Hexa Shield spell I taught you was created by her."

"Wait, really!?"

Hiyori was surprised, and Mio looked at Hexaria with respect.

"Indeed. That, is a spell, I made."

"Saria is known as a sage in the other world. When it comes to magic, she's among the top users over there — she's a developer of magic and magical engineering."

"H-Hexaria-san! How long will you be staying in Japan!? If possible, I'd like to learn a lot about magic from you!"

Mio, always hungry to learn, apparently wanted Hexaria to teach her magic.

Then, Sai suddenly remembered something.

"Speaking of which, Saria. How long do you plan to stay in Japan... actually, do you have a way to go back?"

"If, I conquer, the dungeon, where I reunited, with you, I can return."

To the massive question, Hexaria answered calmly.

"Did I just hear that if you conquer Shinjuku Tower, you can go back...?"

"To return, to the other side, this world's mana, is too scarce. I didn't expect, it to be this scarce. I need to reach, the top of that dungeon, Shinjuku Tower, for a return, to Tuare. Otherwise, it's impossible."

To return to the other world, she needed the top of Shinjuku Tower.

In other words, she absolutely had to reach the thirtieth floor.

And so, Sai gained a new reason to fully conquer Shinjuku Tower.

================

Thank you for reading.