Alicia Edelcia—a rookie adventurer from another world.
Her arrival in this world was purely accidental.
But Rei Ao not only recognized her, he knew exactly which world she came from—indeed, the same world as Sui and Mabel.
At the moment, Alicia was filled with confusion. She hoped to get some information from Rei Ao.
So Rei Ao explained:
"This place isn't your original world. You could call it 'another world.'"
"Another… world?"
Given Alicia's own knowledge and experience, such a concept was hard to grasp.
"Rei Ao-kun, is she really from another world?"
Isshiki Iroha tugged at his sleeve, speaking softly.
After all, aside from wearing what looked like a cosplay outfit, the young girl across from them looked quite human, even speaking their language without trouble. So Iroha couldn't fully grasp the "otherworldly" notion—only the manner in which Alicia appeared suggested she was definitely not ordinary.
Rei Ao raised his hand.
"Eh?"
Alicia gave a startled look as her staff flew out of her hand into Rei Ao's. He cast only a single glance before understanding the gist.
"Alicia-san truly does come from another world.
There was a transfer spell built into this staff, but once some key was triggered, the spell misfired, and you got pulled across worlds to here."
Still, the main reason was that these two worlds had happened to touch each other.
"Then…can I use magic to go home?" Alicia asked anxiously.
"I'm afraid not."
He returned the staff to her.
"This staff's built-in transfer magic can't be controlled for accurate dimensional travel. It certainly can't let you cross worlds at will."
"H-how can that be…"
Hearing this, Alicia's face fell in dismay. But my party's still waiting, she thought.
"Don't worry about your companions for the moment—worry about yourself."
He patted her shoulder, then spoke bluntly:
"You don't know anything about this world, nor do you have any of its currency. You likely can't even get by."
"I…"
Stalwart though she was, Alicia wavered upon seeing the unknown neon cityscape behind him.
Yes. With one glance, she understood that everything here was foreign—she was as lost as a newborn. How could she return home? And how could she survive in the meantime? Alicia felt no confidence.
Seeing the change in her expression, Rei Ao smiled faintly. This was the effect he'd intended.
"Alicia-san, I happen to know someone who might share your language."
"Share my… language?" Alicia looked up, puzzled. "Could you clarify?"
Rei Ao said,
"I have a friend—she's also from another world, likely the same one as yours."
"Huh?"
Both Iroha and Alicia showed shock.
"Rei Ao-kun, you're saying you have a friend from another world?"
After everything that had happened, Iroha felt that Rei Ao was now more of a stranger than ever, like she was meeting him for the first time. Her mind filled with questions: Why is Rei Ao so calm about all this?
"I really do have such a friend." Rei Ao shrugged matter-of-factly.
"If you'd like, Alicia-san, I can introduce you. The two of you can exchange information."
"R-really? Th-thank you so much!"
Alicia bowed in gratitude. If such a person truly existed, she could ask them many things.
"Iroha, if you'd rather not come along, I can drop you home first," Rei Ao suggested, turning to her.
"What're you talking about? Of course I want to come!"
This was a genuine otherworlder—nobody could just turn down seeing that, right?
Iroha was no exception. More importantly, she wanted to learn more about this inscrutable Rei Ao.
"Alright, let's go then."
…
Rei Ao could have simply teleported them home, but for Iroha's sake—so as not to shock her too much—he didn't. Instead, he called a taxi. There were a few hiccups along the way, such as Alicia acting like a grandma visiting a grand estate for the first time.
When the taxi arrived:
"Wah! A steel monster!"
"This is a car, something like a horseless carriage."
"Huh?"
Seeing the bright neon cityscapes:
"Wow, is this some kind of light-based magic? So amazing, so luxurious—could this be a palace?"
Rei Ao: "…"
He couldn't be bothered to explain.
The taxi driver glanced in the rearview mirror, looking awkward.
'Poor child's lost it… man, I gotta keep my own kid away from anime weirdness…'
…
After half an hour, the three of them got out. Rei Ao led them to Yukinoshita's apartment. The otherworldly person from the same world as Alicia must be Mabel.
"Huh? You're… Yukino-senpai?!"
At the door, Iroha was dumbfounded, blurting, "So Yukino-senpai is the otherworlder?! No wonder she's so freakishly cool!" She reflexively assumed Yukino was the one. Hearing this, Yukino gave her a look like she was an idiot, face full of black lines, glancing at Rei Ao as if asking, "What's with this girl?"
Rei Ao laughed.
"Iroha, you're mistaken. Yukino isn't from another world. Yukino, can we come in and talk?"
"Mm."
Yukino, without further questions, obediently let them inside. Through Rei Ao's patient explanation, Yukino understood the situation. She studied Alicia, who was staring curiously at her surroundings.
"So, Alicia-san is from the same world as Mabel?"
Rei Ao: "Yes, please go ask Mabel to come out and talk with her."
"Sure."
Yukino went off to Mabel's room. Not long after, she returned with an exasperated face: "Mabel says she's afraid with you here, so she wants Alicia to go in by herself."
"Huh?" Rei Ao's eyes flickered.
She's afraid—afraid I'll "paint" her? If he didn't have an appointment with Yumiko, he would have loved to go in and thoroughly paint Mabel as punishment. But…
"Fine, then—Alicia-san, you go talk with her by yourself."
"Okay!" Alicia nodded eagerly.
"As for you, Iroha, I'm guessing you've got a lot of questions?"
"Mm!" Iroha nodded emphatically. "About you, Rei Ao-kun—and Yukino-senpai—I've got a million things to ask!"
"Then ask Yukino. I've got something to deal with, so I'll be leaving."
Yumiko was urging him privately, so he decided to leave the trouble to Yukino.
"It's all in your hands, Yukino."
With that, he abruptly vanished from the couch.
"Eek!!!"
Iroha jumped.
"…"
Yukino gave a resigned look, as though thinking she had her work cut out for her.
~~~
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