ch21-ch40 · 042-ch36

Chapter 36

When dinnertime came, Hiyori and Mio went home.

They'd been told not to speak of today's events to anyone, and those two wouldn't carelessly leak information anyway.

Sai saw them off.

He then turned to look at Hexaria.

She wore a white shirt and black pants, both made in the other world.

Her wavy platinum blonde hair flowed in the wind, revealing her characteristically long elven ears.

'Phew... still... hehe.'

'What? Suddenly laughing like that.'

'Oh, nothing. I just find it amusing — the sight of Hexaria in Japan.'

'Hmph. You disappeared, so I had no choice but to come. Do you have no awareness that you're my property?'

'Hah. Say what you will.'

With that, they both smiled.

Sai and Hexaria.

Their usual banter. The same exchange they'd had for over twenty years.

'Right. You there, come here.'

Hexaria entered Sai's house without hesitation.

If this was Sai's home, then it was also Hexaria's home.

Saying that, she went back to the table they'd been at earlier.

'First, I need to tell the folks back home that you're safe.'

'The folks back home — hey now, you can get in touch with them?'

Back when he'd first been transported to Japan, Sai had tried countless times to contact the other world through magical communication.

But of course, no reply ever came.

Hexaria tried to open her Item Box magic.

'Honestly, this world has such thin mana. I can't even bring out half of what's in my storage.'

What she pulled out while grumbling was a tool that looked like an old laptop computer.

A magical communicator.

You could think of it as a computer that could only send emails.

A masterpiece created by Hexaria.

One of her inventions that was said to have "brought revolution to the world" in the other world.

With practiced movements, Hexaria began typing away.

'Hey now, I tried that too and couldn't get through.'

'Hmph, that was when I wasn't here.'

She typed something into the keyboard.

On the monitor, long strings of text and numbers scrolled by.

'When I came here, I connected the pass-through to the other side. Even if it's a different world, the spirits will follow the mana. I haven't tested it, so it might take some time... no, heh heh. It seems that concern was unnecessary. Look, Sai.'

On the magical communicator Hexaria had booted up, there were several unread messages.

They contained check-ins to confirm messages had reached Hexaria, worries about Sai, and messages of that nature.

'Lending it to the Adventurer's Guild in the trade city was a good move. Look, that name is one of your colleagues, isn't it. And Serin and Shilia have contacted us too. Those dear children.'

Serin and Shilia were Sai's children. They were orphans who, through a twist of fate, had been taken in and raised by Sai and Hexaria.

'Those kids...'

Sai smiled, a little embarrassed.

Seeing that, Hexaria looked satisfied.

'Heh heh. Once I've finished contacting the other side, I'll learn about this world, relearn Japanese, and then conquer that dungeon called Shinjuku Tower... Heh heh! There's a lot to do!'

Hexaria wore the biggest smile.

It was because she was a High Elf, living a long life, that she hated boredom.

When interesting tasks that she wanted to do increased, it made her happy.

If something aligned with her interests and hobbies, she'd do anything.

Develop magic, make inventions.

Even take up blacksmithing.

This was a trait born from having lived alone for so long due to her charm ability.

Perhaps that was why.

Despite hating other people, she valued seeing others happy because of her inventions and achievements.

She valued children who strove sincerely and moved forward.

A living legend loved by people, yet feared.

That was the High Elf known as Hexaria.

'You really never change, no matter where you go, Saria.'

'Hmph. The same goes for you.'

With that, they both smiled.

◇

Sai and Hexaria had been companions for over twenty years.

In the other world, they had lived together.

Recently, Hexaria had been holed up in her research lab working on various studies and not coming home, but Sai too would sometimes be away for months at a time on adventurer requests.

They knew each other inside and out.

They were in a fake marriage due to certain unavoidable circumstances, but conversely, they were close enough to mutually agree on a fake marriage. Their children Serin and Shilia were at the level where they thought "the fake marriage thing is a lie."

But this "fake marriage" relationship seemed to be comfortable for both of them.

So, what kind of conversations did the two have when living together in Japan...?

'I'm using this room.'

'Roger that.'

'You use electricity for light and gas to boil water. Isn't that a waste of mana?'

'In this world, physical science is more developed than magical engineering.'

'Hey you! Something just sprayed water from the toilet!'

'That's a bidet.'

'Growing the other world's plants in this world's environment would be problematic. I see. Then I'll just grow them inside the room. Behold, if I use a light that substitutes for sunlight...'

'...That looks like a scene from growing illegal plants...'

...That was the general gist of things.

A few days after Hexaria arrived at Sai's home.

The first floor of Sai's base had undergone a significant transformation.

Originally a small factory owned by his grandfather, it had been renovated into Sai's home after many long years. Now, an even greater change had occurred.

'I'm surprised you had all this in your Item Box.'

'What are you talking about? I simply stored the equipment I used to use in my vault. That's why the equipment is a generation old, but it should be fine.'

In the center was a large desk, and on the shelves were bottles of mysterious liquids, metal ingots, and other materials.

Sai thought, "Couldn't you just store the materials in your Item Box?" but her reasoning was, "Fool! Having them actually displayed boosts my motivation, of course!"

Yes. This was a workspace for Hexaria, who wanted to do everything — from smithing to alchemy — as a developer.

'Heh heh. As expected, having a workshop is relaxing.'

'I never thought I'd see Hexaria's workshop in Japan...'

'As a commemoration of the workshop's completion. Hey you, let me maintain your light armor.'

Hexaria was in a good mood now that her workshop was complete.

Sai accepted her kind offer and took out the light armor he'd been using for a long time — from his time in the other world up to now — from his Item Box.

'...What is this?'

Seeing the light armor Sai took out, Hexaria's expression turned icy cold.

'Ah, well, I couldn't let it be known it was from the other world, so I patched Japanese armor on top of the magisteel...'

Before he could finish, she hit him on the head with the light armor she was holding.

'Hngh?!'

The sudden impact left Sai confused.

'You absolute fool! You idiot who never learned a shred of aesthetic sense! By tinkering with it so carelessly, you've broken the enchantments!'

'But...'

'There are no buts about it! Honestly, the moment I'm not around, you do things like this...'

Muttering to herself, she began working on maintaining the light armor.

Most of the equipment Sai used was made by Hexaria.

Though she was a High Elf, she was also a smith who could rival a dwarf.

When it came to crafting, she was someone everyone in the other world looked up to.

Her anger now came from the fact that Sai, an adventurer who fought monsters, was using equipment with broken enchantments — in other words, taking on higher risk.

Was this a proper tsundere?

Having known her for so long, Sai understood what she was angry about.

'You always come through for me. Thanks.'

...He responded like a useless husband.

'Exactly. When this is done, you will give me a massage.'

And Hexaria, for her part, had completely dropped her earlier anger.

This was her response to the useless husband.

Truly a tsundere.

'Sure thing.'

Hexaria had her back to Sai, checking the condition of the light armor, but when she heard his reply, her ears twitched.

It was proof that her mood had improved.

She was already starting to seriously adjust Sai's light armor.

She didn't hold onto her anger; she cut it off cleanly and devoted herself to what needed to be done.

That was the woman known as Hexaria.

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Thank you for reading.