ch21-ch40 · 043-ch37

Chapter 37

For Hexaria, her first experience of another world — "Japan" — was full of surprises.

She walked through the town using concealment magic, going unnoticed by anyone, and thoroughly enjoyed Japan.

One thing that particularly delighted her was smartphones and computers.

As a developer, they seemed to be masterpieces that impressed her.

As for what kind of conversations they had...

'Hmm. This is what you were talking about when you were improving the magical communicator.'

'Yeah. It allows you to access all kinds of information.'

'To think such a thing exists. How convenient.'

'Hmm. My eyes are stinging, but if I adjust the brightness here...'

'How do you know how to use the monitor when I haven't even said anything?'

'The keyboard layout... is different from the magical communicator's! How troublesome!'

'You say it's troublesome, but your fingers are twitching and you look like you're having fun.'

And while Hexaria was wrestling with smartphones and computers, Sai conducted his instructional stream, which he did a few times a week. Perhaps because it was a stream that catered to an unspecified but significant demand, he couldn't just skip it because Hexaria was here.

He could probably take a break, but his mentality was: "If I end up not being able to teach something I was supposed to teach today, and a rookie gets into trouble because of it, that would make me feel terrible."

Incidentally, the stream was titled something like "Sai's Instructional Stream ~ Basics of Body Movement ~" with the subtitle explaining the content.

The title had shed its former cheesiness and become simple.

◇

And so the days passed, and about a month went by.

The season was now February.

Sai's home, a former factory, had the heating cranked up for Hexaria, who felt the cold.

She should have experienced similar cold in the other world, but apparently the "quality of the cold" was different.

And before he knew it, Hexaria had become quite fluent in Japanese.

"Caf... coffee, is it. This world's brew is, quite good."

"I'm amazed that Saria can speak Japanese at a conversational level fluently in just about a month..."

"I have the knowledge you taught me before, after all."

"Right, I initially taught you for language comparison, didn't I?"

"Yes. It was necessary, for analyzing Old... Nohl."

Nohl was a language from the other world.

Like Japanese, it was an SOV language — Subject-Object-Verb — and like Japanese, it commonly used ellipsis.

The language used in the Tuare Kingdom and its surrounding areas was an SVO language, similar to English.

Because of this, researchers including Hexaria had all been confused, but Sai's input led them to first learn Japanese, then use it as a comparative basis to analyze the Nohl language.

Sai's native language was Japanese, but at the time, he was living his daily life in the other world's language.

So his lectures involved recalling his almost-forgotten native language, but Hexaria and the researchers listened attentively.

Sai didn't fully understand the details, but apparently it was very helpful for their verification, and in the end, the analysis progressed faster than expected.

He remembered being very grateful to Hexaria at the time.

"Heh heh. So then, your disciples... Hiyori and Mio, was it? Are they coming soon?"

"Yeah. They said they arrived at the station a little while ago, so they should be here soon."

"The station... so they came by train. The idea of running vehicles on rails. I never would have thought of that back home."

In fact, Hexaria had once been told about the concept of trains.

But the conclusion was that it was impossible in the other world.

Laying railroad tracks in a world full of monsters would be dangerous, after all.

As they were chatting idly, Hiyori and Mio arrived.

They were carrying a large number of paper bags.

"Sensei, sorry to keep you waitin'~"

"Sorry to intrude."

Sai had asked them to do something that only they could do.

"Hehehe, we bought a whole bunch of stuff!"

"I'm really sorry to put you out like this..."

"No. After hearing about it, as a fellow woman, I couldn't just leave it alone."

What Hiyori pulled out of the paper bags was a large quantity of clothing.

That's right. Sai had asked Hiyori and Mio to buy clothes.

Hexaria, the High Elf who would be living in Japan for some time, only had clothes from the other world.

He'd taken her out a few times, but he couldn't rely on concealment magic forever.

They needed a hat that could properly hide her characteristic long elven ears.

He'd consulted Hiyori and Mio about that.

And they'd been really enthusiastic about it.

It was supposed to be just procuring a hat... but then the topic of underwear came up, and that was completely unexpected, so he ended up leaving everything to them.

"We bought so many clothes that'll look good on Hexaria-san~!"

"You're a lifesaver, really."

Sai pressed his hands together in thanks to Hiyori.

"Oh, right. Speaking of looking good — what if she switched to contact lenses instead of glasses?"

Hiyori spoke excitedly.

It was then that Sai realized his mistake. He'd failed to pass on a message.

Hexaria, standing beside Sai, stared at him with half-lidded eyes.

"Hey. You."

"...Sorry. I forgot to mention it."

Hiyori and Mio were overwhelmed by the sudden serious atmosphere.

"What's up, Sensei?"

"Uh, well. When Saria takes off her glasses, be careful."

"What do you mean? Hexaria-san wears glasses, but is there a problem when she takes them off?"

"Saria has a natural charm ability. Without her glasses, you'll be affected by it."

"Is it a kind of Mana Eye?"

Mana Eye was a type of high-class magic where looking at something made the spell take effect.

Sakuraba from the Exorcist Alliance, who they'd fought alongside in the Shinjuku Majin Frontline, could read magical power and its residue through his eye power. You could say he naturally possessed Mana Perception without having trained it.

In other words, this kind of magic itself existed in Japan... on Earth too.

"No, it's not at the level of 'if she enters your field of vision' or 'if you look at her.' You get charmed the moment you hear her voice, even without seeing her."

Saria's charm was considered one of the troublesome gimmicks in the other world.

A High Elf — a being that commanded respect simply by existing — yet until the glasses she currently wore were created, she'd been isolated alone in the mountains because of how dangerous her ability was. That was her charm.

"A mythical-level ability like that!?"

"Hmm, shall we try it?"

For some reason, Hexaria suddenly suggested this.

"Hey, you idiot, stop that."

"What? You're the only one who's ever managed to resist my charm. Perhaps, if you're from Earth, there's a possibility you could resist it too."

There was someone who had nullified — resisted — this charm that was even stronger than a succubus's.

That someone was Sai.

Sai had met Hexaria by chance, and through various twists and turns after their meeting, the glasses that prevented charm were created, leading to the present day.

So Hexaria wanted to try. To see if humans from this world might be able to do it too. Hexaria slightly shifted her glasses and said to Hiyori:

"I see. Hiyori. Embrace, the man there."

"Okie~! Sensei, don't be shy~♪"

Hiyori, now under Hexaria's charm, had heart-shaped eyes and cheerfully tried to hug Sai.

Seeing that, Mio panicked.

"Wha-Hey... Hiyori!?"

Hiyori hugged Sai tightly.

Sai looked a little troubled as he accepted the embrace.

"Sensei, why are you just letting her hug you!?"

"Mmmph~♪ Hehe, Sensei, you're so warm~♪"

Hiyori was happily hugging Sai.

"Hold on. Hexaria, put your glasses back on."

Amidst this, Sai sighed and calmly placed both hands on Hiyori's head.

To dispel the charm.

...The spell to dispel Hexaria's charm could only be cast by Sai. Why?

"Hmm. So it was simply that Sai is special."

"Told you. That's why I said stop."

"...Huh!?"

Hiyori came to her senses as the charm was dispelled.

The moment she realized, she quickly moved away from Sai.

"Wh-Whoa!? Was I just hugging Sensei!?"

"Don't make it sound weird. I was dispelling the charm on you."

"Gulp... So that's what the charm is like..."

Mio was shocked by the effect of Hexaria's charm.

Hiyori, on the other hand, who had been charmed and then released, was shaking her head.

"Ugh... what was that feeling..."

Her mind had been taken over by the charm, and then Sai had washed away... dispelled it.

That was her reaction to it, but the way she said it was rather unfortunate.

(The person being hugged thought, Was my body really that unpleasant...? The middle-aged man's slight dejection was his little secret.)

"Yes. My existence is, close to the gods. When one sees me, they want to follow me, and they feel they must do as I say... That is the logic of it."

The High Elf race was said to be close to the gods.

So they were beings respected by all simply for existing, but among High Elves, Hexaria's power was particularly strong.

"Incidentally, I only slightly shifted my glasses just now, so Mio wasn't affected. But if I completely removed my glasses, you, too, would have accepted everything just now positively."

Mio shuddered.

Having seen Hiyori's change, she understood the terror.

"As expected of another world..."

"Ugh, I still feel weird. Sensei, how can you resist Hexaria-san's charm?"

Hiyori, who had experienced the charm firsthand, looked at Sai with amazement.

Hearing Hiyori's words, Hexaria nodded to herself, "Hmm, hmm."

"Yes. This only deepens my suspicion. The theory that Sai is an oblivious blockhead."

"Pfft!?"

"An oblivious blockhead, huh. That makes sense..."

Mio nodded with strange understanding.

"Heh heh, the people of the elven kingdom used to say it. That the only one who could stay normal while looking at me and talking to me must be an oblivious blockhead."

Of course, that wasn't true. Probably.

There must be a reason why Sai's ability was unaffected by Hexaria's charm.

Hiyori guessed as much, but rather than serious talk, she decided to go along with Hexaria's teasing atmosphere.

"Sensei, are you just dense?"

"That's not it at all!?"

"........"

For some reason, Mio was looking at him with half-lidded eyes and pursed lips.

Oblivious to the reactions around him, Sai thought that while it was good that Hexaria had become fluent in Japanese, he couldn't remember when he'd taught her a word like "oblivious blockhead."

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Thank you for reading.