A week had passed since we took
She spent her days sitting around the house in a daze.
But it seemed the worst of it had passed.
She ate, even if only a little, and if prompted, she'd take a bath. She'd get in and come back out without drowning.
But the tension she'd been holding onto seemed to have snapped. The fighting spirit she'd had before was nowhere to be seen.
She looked like she could be snapped in half with no effort at all.
She had no will to speak of.
If I had to put it into words, she gave off the vibe of someone who'd get tricked by a yakuza and end up as an AV actress in the blink of an eye.
I couldn't just leave her be.
I'd have to make sure she didn't run into Luke or anyone like that.
What I felt from Nanahoshi now was resignation.
That failed experiment had really done a number on her.
She'd seemed so confident, and her theory had seemed rock solid.
That failure must have carried enough weight to render her entire work of several years meaningless.
I'd never experienced a setback that big myself.
The closest would be... like when you lose several years' worth of data on an MMO you've been playing obsessively since you became a shut-in.
The moment you see the login error message and the account suspension email, your heart starts pounding, and you spend the entire day unable to think about anything.
You protest to the admins, declare all-out war, and in the end you just cry yourself to sleep.
After that, you can't summon the motivation to do anything for a month.
That was when I swore I'd never put serious effort into an online game again.
But Nanahoshi's situation was different from an MMO.
She had the goal of returning to her original world.
If she gave up on that, she probably wouldn't be able to go on living.
That's what I thought, so I tried to take care of her in various ways.
But she just sat around all day in a daze.
I couldn't even tell whether she was listening to me or not.
That's what I'd been thinking.
"I thought I'd closed every gap..."
One day, she muttered softly.
I didn't respond—I just listened.
"A magic circle is like a circuit board, as they call it in my world.
You combine multiple pattern circuits to create a single function.
But there was this one spot, no matter what, where the circuit just wouldn't connect.
No matter how I rerouted the wiring, one point and another point just wouldn't link up.
I forced them together, but then another defect appeared somewhere else."
In order to connect circuits that shouldn't have been connectable, the design had ballooned to more than twice its original size.
She'd built one circuit to patch one flaw, which required building another circuit.
In the end, a magic circle with one remaining defect.
At a glance, it looked like there was no wasted space.
But just one spot remained unconnected.
"It's physically impossible. In other words, that means I can't go home either."
A patchwork magic circle held together with duct tape and good intentions.
Nanahoshi must have tried hard.
At first glance, it looked like just a little more effort would make the disconnected circuit link up.
But then some other circuit would stop working.
"I can't do it anymore..."
Nanahoshi said that and collapsed face-first onto the bed.
--- I decided to head to Nanahoshi's lab and retrieve the blueprints.
As I listened to her, something had come to mind.
There was a chance it could solve her problem.
That said, I didn't want to give her false hope.
First, I needed to verify whether it was even possible.
The next day, I called
Three heads are better than one, as the saying goes.
I'd borrow the wisdom of our resident genius.
Naturally,
"I can't believe that Silent ended up in such a state."
She seemed to practically live in Cliff's lab. What about her classes? She'd apparently been allowed to advance, but was she on the verge of dropping out?
Well, that was her business.
"She seemed a bit stronger than that to me."
"Someone who's truly strong doesn't isolate themselves and agonize alone."
"Well, that's true too."
Elinalise shrugged.
It seemed even Elinalise hadn't made contact with Nanahoshi.
Maybe asking her to provide some kind of distraction wouldn't be a bad idea.
"Now then, you two. Take a look at this first."
I showed the blueprints to Zanoba and Cliff.
The moment he saw them, Cliff made a disgusted face.
"Ugly magic circle."
Ugly—that was an interesting way to put it.
"There's such a thing as ugly and beautiful for magic circles?"
"Of course. When you make a magical device, you have to draw it small and neat or it won't fit. If it were me, I'd draw it much more cleanly. For example, if you connect this part here, you can clean up this whole area considerably."
"Oh."
Cliff pointed at the magic circle and spoke with visible pride.
Well, anyone could criticize a finished product.
But if you did it Cliff's way, more problems would probably crop up.
"Ah, but the ideas are incredible. Looping this part like this—that's not something most people would think of... Oh, so this notation is what's making this side more complex..."
Cliff stared at the magic circle, muttering to himself.
"This" and "that side" and "around here."
Nothing but vague pronouns.
Maybe I should have studied more.
Though studying might not have helped me understand either way.
"So, Master—what kind of magic circle is this?"
"It's the summoning magic circle that Silent has been working on. She hit a dead end, so I want to borrow your brains."
When I said that, Zanoba tilted his head.
"But Master, summoning magic isn't our area of expertise."
"It's fine if we can't solve it."
What one person couldn't figure out, several people discussing it together might crack.
And from a different field, different ideas might emerge.
"For starters, look at this part—it seems the magic circle breaks off here. Can you tell?"
I pointed to the section that had been damaged during the experiment.
"...Huh? Oh. It breaks off here, does it? I didn't notice. Is this magic circle incomplete? Let me see, what connects to this point would be... here."
Cliff looked surprised.
For someone who called himself a genius, he didn't seem to notice these kinds of details right away.
That's how it was, I guess.
"Do you have any ideas for connecting this circuit?"
When I asked, Cliff crossed his arms and sank into thought.
He muttered "this side and that side" while scribbling various things on the memo pad he'd brought.
"This is a tough one. If you rewrote it from scratch... no, that won't work."
"What if you used a multi-layered structure?"
Just as Cliff was about to reach a conclusion, Zanoba interjected.
Cliff looked perplexed.
"Multi-layered structure? What do you mean?"
"The dolls I research produce a single effect by overlapping multiple magic circles. That said, I've only just started my research and have never properly drawn a magic circle myself..."
"Wait, dolls—you mean the ones from the other day? Let me see them."
"Master, if I may be permitted?"
For some reason, Zanoba waited for my permission before bringing over the cross-sectioned arm of a doll.
Cliff examined the magic circles visible in the cross-section with keen interest.
Then he declared: "Whoever made this is a genius."
Coming from the egotistical Cliff, that was high praise indeed.
"I've never seen a magic circle like this... Damn... I can't grasp the theory at all. Are two magic circles stacked on top of each other? No, that's not it—it's more layers than that. It only works when all of them are complete... But it was working even though one was broken... How? Dammit, what is this magic circle?"
Cliff gritted his teeth in frustration.
He looked like a prince from a vegetable kingdom who'd just laid eyes on a legendary superhero.
"I don't fully understand it myself either. According to the book, it appears to be a magic circle for controlling the movement of the elbow joint."
The moment Zanoba said that offhandedly, Cliff looked like he was about to cry.
He was probably frustrated that Zanable knew something he didn't.
Elinalise immediately rushed over.
She cradled his head against her chest and petted him.
"There, there. Cliff is a genius. If you researched it, you'd understand it in much more detail."
"I— I know that!"
Cliff turned bright red and perked back up.
As expected of Elinalise. Reliable as always.
But right now we were pretty busy, so I wished she'd do that after we were done.
"Cliff. Do you think we could use the technique in this doll to solve the problem with Silent's magic circle?"
"I don't know. But I think there's a chance."
So no guarantee, then.
But it was a lead.
Up until now, Nanahoshi had only drawn magic circles on a flat plane.
The idea of stacking them or folding them—had it never occurred to her?
Or maybe there was some other reason she hadn't tried.
I hoped this was the blind spot Nanahoshi had been missing.
And I hoped it would reignite her motivation.
--- The next day, I brought Nanahoshi out.
The destination was her lab.
I'd cleaned up the messy room the day before.
In a room that still felt cluttered despite my efforts, Zanoba and Cliff were waiting.
What they were looking at were the research materials Nanahoshi had been studying until now.
Nanahoshi took one look at them and let out a derisive snort.
"What's this... three men gang up on me to gang-rape me or something?"
Gang-rape.
How far into self-destructive territory had she fallen?
Just one failure...
Well, it only takes one big one to ruin a life.
"What did you say?! I am a devout follower of Millis!"
Cliff flew into a rage.
The Millis faith was similar to Christianity in terms of its views on chastity.
Love only one woman for your entire life, and commit no adultery.
It was ascetic by nature.
"Oh, right."
Nanahoshi staggered unsteadily to a chair and sat down.
Then she slumped over it completely.
"Cliff, Zanoba—show her what we discussed yesterday."
I presented Nanahoshi with the ideas the two had come up with overnight.
Nanahoshi listened to the explanations with a bored expression.
The magic circle annotated in red by Cliff.
The overlapping magic circles proposed through Zanoba's research.
The three-dimensional magic circle I'd suggested on a whim.
She stared at all of it with a bored expression.
Without any change in her expression.
She stared intently.
Her eyes were focused.
She wasn't bored at all.
She wasn't expressionless—she'd been concentrating.
"Oh."
Nanahoshi suddenly spoke.
"It might... be possible..."
She murmured that softly.
Then she shot up from her chair like a spring.
"Of course, of course—there was no need to stay fixated on flat planes!
Right, that's it. Even on paper, there's thickness.
If I stack them, I can draw magic circles as large as I want!
Why didn't I think of something so simple?!"
She paced around the room restlessly, three or four laps in circles.
She snatched up paper and pen from the desk.
Then she began furiously sketching out blueprints.
She wrote down equations, scribbled them out, and wrote again.
"Ah— no, that's not it!"
"Hey, that's not right?"
Cliff poked his head in like a curious bear at the zoo.
Before long, he'd picked up a red ink pen and was adding annotations to Nanahoshi's notes.
That was our senior Cliff for you.
He completely failed to read the mood, as usual.
"Oh, right... you're smart, aren't you?"
"Of course. I'm a genius."
"Then what about this? How should I handle it? I've been wondering about this part for a while..."
"Wait— hold on..."
Cliff and Nanahoshi began scribbling together on a single sheet of paper like old friends.
I peered over their shoulders, but all I could see was children's doodles.
"Zanoba, can you follow any of it?"
"That level is completely beyond me."
I'd been left out in the cold.
Still, Cliff was impressive.
He'd only started researching magic circles not that long ago.
Well, whatever.
Nanahoshi was back in high spirits.
...Even if this didn't succeed, we could at least lay some groundwork.
"Zanoba, sorry, but keep an eye on them for me."
"Where is Master going?"
"I'm going to get Elinalise. She probably wouldn't be happy seeing her man getting along so well with another woman."
I said that and turned my back.
As I was leaving the lab, I heard Nanahoshi's cheerful voice.
It might have been the first time I'd ever heard Nanahoshi sound like that.
--- One week.
Nanahoshi completed the magic circle.
A magic circle made by stacking five sheets of paper—like cardboard, almost.
Each one was drawn separately, then glued together.
Under the watchful eyes of Cliff, Zanoba, and the others, I poured my mana into it.
The mana was being sucked away greedily.
The magic circle began to emit light.
A blinding light.
The room was illuminated as brightly as midday.
In the midst of that light, a shape gradually began to emerge.
When the light subsided, an otherworldly object had been summoned into this world.
A plastic bottle.
A simple, unadorned PET bottle with no label and no cap.
"Oh my, this is remarkable!"
"What is this... glass? No, it's something more..."
Zanoba and Cliff couldn't hide their excitement over a 500-milliliter PET bottle—the likes of which they'd never seen before.
Elinalise and
Nanahoshi, too, stared at the summoned object, clenched her fist, and whispered a quiet "yes, yes" under her breath.
At a PET bottle.
Just a mere PET bottle.
But it was a PET bottle.
In that moment, this world and my previous world had been connected.
Not a living thing—an inorganic object with an extremely simple structure.
And yet something that didn't exist in this world had been summoned.
"It's a success."
I called out to Nanahoshi.
She nodded firmly.
She looked genuinely happy.
"Yes, it's a success! Now I can finally move on to the next stage! A multi-layered magic circle—if I can refine this, I should be able to summon anything! If I can clean up the design further, I could just swap out the second and third sheets..."
But then Nanahoshi caught herself.
And with a guilty look, she averted her gaze.
"...Sorry about that. I, um, put you all through a lot of trouble."
"It's give and take, right? Next time I'm in trouble, you'll help me out?"
"...O- Of course."
A sheepish Nanahoshi was something to see.
When I glanced over, Elinalise was staring intently at me.
"You two seem quite close."
"Elinalise, you're always jumping straight to romance."
"Well, it is a man and a woman. Still, it's not very appropriate."
The mother-in-law's eyes were glinting.
I had no intention of cheating.
"That's true—I am newlywed, after all. It would be terrible if my wife misunderstood."
Nanahoshi took a step back to put some distance between us.
Elinalise smiled warmly and threw her arm around Nanahoshi's shoulder.
"Ohohoho, there's no need to be so cautious. Oh, that's right! Let's go to the tavern today! And of course, it's your treat!"
At Elinalise's suggestion, Nanahoshi gave a wry smile.
Usually she would have made a blatantly disgusted face and refused outright.
But today, she probably couldn't say no.
"Fine. But that settles our debts—no more owing each other anything."
"Of course, right, Cliff?"
Called upon, Cliff—who had been squeezing the PET bottle until it crinkled—turned around.
"Huh? Oh, right! Yep, no more debts. But you're quite talented, so next time, I'd appreciate your help with my research!"
Elinalise giggled at those words.
--- We ended up heading to the tavern in broad daylight.
For some reason, Linia and Pursena joined us along the way.
They didn't want to be left out, apparently, and followed us like cats.
Where had they even picked up the scent?
As we trudged along in a group, Ariel approached to ask what was going on.
When I explained the situation, she said, "Then let me assign a chaperone," and sent Sylphiette along.
The chaperone was really just a pretense—an accommodating gesture from Ariel.
By the time we passed through the school gates, Badigadi had somehow ended up trailing at the very back of the group.
Seriously—when did that happen?
We stopped by the Magicians' Guild on the way, and Nanahoshi withdrew some money.
Apparently, she'd deposited a considerable sum with the Magicians' Guild.
They served as her bank.
The tavern was one of Badigadi's regular haunts.
It was daytime, but there were a few patrons about.
Nanahoshi, however, didn't care about any of that.
She slammed a bag full of gold coins on the counter.
"Buy out the place."
"E- Excuse me?"
As the flustered owner stammered, Badigadi said "Wait, wait, wait" and produced a pouch of gold coins from inside his robe. He matched her offer and doubled it.
"Today is a celebration. Every customer who walks through that door today drinks for free!"
He declared it with authority.
The presence was incredible.
As expected of a Demon King—I was both awed and envious.
The Demon King casually commandeered the largest table in the tavern.
Then he declared: "Bring out every dish on this menu!"
That was a line I'd always wanted to say at least once.
It wasn't my money on the line, so I didn't mind, but could this group even finish all the food?
Well, whatever.
Shortly after the first dishes arrived, the Demon King stood up.
Then he spoke: "So—what are we celebrating today?"
"Silent's research was a success."
"I see. Then Silent—stand up. Give the opening speech."
Nanahoshi was made to stand.
She looked somewhat reluctant.
"...Thank you all very much today."
"Good—let's toast!"
"To toast!"
The banquet began in much the same flow as the wedding ceremony from before.
--- It was a fun banquet.
Making noise and drinking when something good happens.
I'd never had a gathering like this in my past life.
Even in this world, I could count the number of times on one hand.
During my adventuring days, I'd gone out drinking now and then as a social obligation.
But there had always been a part of me that held back.
People who got drunk, made noise, and caused a scene were idiots.
Have a little consideration for those around you.
But being in the middle of it myself, I finally understood.
There are times when people need to let loose and be loud.
That's what I realized.
Watching Nanahoshi pet Linia's ears while singing anime songs in Japanese, I thought exactly that.
If you didn't forget everything from time to time, there was no way you could keep going.
Life was nothing but hardship, after all.
You had to create happy occasions by force, even if you had to fake it, or you'd be crushed.
I was sure Elinalise and Badigadi understood this instinctively.
Experience and wisdom, perhaps.
Of course, there were always some who drank too much and dug themselves into a hole.
But alcohol was the chief of a hundred medicines.
Sometimes it even cured ailments of the heart.
Today, Sylphiette and I let ourselves drink freely as well.
We never drank at home.
We simply didn't have that kind of habit.
Not that that was the only reason, but— Today, for the first time, I truly understood what a terrible drunk Sylphiette was.
No—not terrible.
It wasn't terrible.
She was just an affectionate, clingy drunk.
"Hey,
"There, there. Good girl."
"You can eat my ears, you know."
"If you insist."
"Ahaha, that tickles."
Sylphiette had become an incredibly adorable creature over the past little while.
Wonderful.
From now on, I'd get her drunk more proactively.
Ah, but this meant I'd worry about her if she ever drank somewhere I wasn't around.
Should I tell her not to drink outside the house?
Was it okay to impose that kind of restriction on her?
It was. I didn't care.
She was mine. What was wrong with doing as I pleased?
"Rudy, squeeze me tight?"
"Sure, around the waist?"
"Hehe. I'm so happy..."
Sylphiette's laughter had taken on a dreamy, carefree quality.
Ah, but when you get drunk and hold a girl close, you really do feel why this world is overflowing with love songs.
Ban-ba-ban-ba, mera-sa-mera-sa.
All right—I'd take this one home tonight. We lived together anyway.
"Hey, Rudy? You know, um, I got jealous the other day."
"Oh, really? About who? I'll stop going near them. I'll cut ties completely."
"Yeah, about Rougurd. You know, when you were telling me about him the other day?
Rudy, when you talk about Rougurd, your face gets really, like, sparkly."
"No, I genuinely respect that man, so please give me a break."
"No way—look only at me..."
Look only at me—that was slightly different from what she'd said the other day.
Was this Sylphiette's true feeling?
I'd been worried that she was too accommodating toward me, but maybe she was making a genuine effort to be that way.
Well—I'd worry about the complicated stuff later. For now, let me enjoy this adorable creature.
As I sat with Sylphiette on my lap, being all mushy, Nanahoshi approached.
"Oh, get a room, you disgustingly cute couple. Give me a break.
You think I haven't seen Akito in how many years?"
She'd latched onto us. She was drunk.
Was she done with the singing?
If it were a well-known song, I could've joined in for a duet, but it might just highlight the generational gap.
"If you want to be lovey-dovey, go do it somewhere less conspicuous."
"Now, now—this is a drinking party. Open bar rules, please."
"There's something I've wanted to say for a while now. The flirting in my room—flirting, flirting. What is this, marriage? What even is that? Fine, sure, but what the hell? Even when someone's feeling down... I can hear the noises at night, I swear—Aahh!"
Nanahoshi was hoisted up by Badigadi.
"HAHAHAHA! You're coming with me! Today is the day I shall dedicate your strange songs to me!"
"They're not strange! Where I come from, this was a hit song!"
"A fascinating tale! I know not from which world you hail, but let me dedicate it to you! Come now—sing to your heart's content!"
"Wait, I need to talk to Rudeus first—"
"HAHAHAHA! After all the help you received, if all you can do is complain, you'd be better off singing! Sing! Sing!"
"That was just a preamble to the conversation..."
Nanahoshi was flailing about and shouting.
Maybe she'd been trying to thank me.
Well, we were even. No need for thanks.
Still—being carried off by the Demon King. What an honor.
Like some princess from a fairy tale.
But the princess wasn't carried off to a dungeon.
She was carried to a platform that every tavern seemed to have.
After a while, Nanahoshi's singing drifted over to us.
A moment later, the accompaniment began.
I'd been wondering if there was a minstrel in here, but the one holding an instrument was Badigadi.
Could that guy actually play music?
I mean—he asked her to sing for him, and then played accompaniment himself?
He really was an enigma.
Still, it was a nostalgic tune.
What was it again...?
Oh, right—it was the Gud○n Ra theme.
It wasn't from his generation, but he knew it well.
Well, it was famous, so maybe it wasn't that surprising.
But he was terrible at it.
The accompaniment didn't know the melody.
Actually, Nanahoshi was so off-key that it was impossible to follow along anyway.
But they both looked like they were having fun.
Well, today, Nanahoshi was the center of the circle.
Why not? Being terrible at it.
The singing was awful, but you could feel the emotion behind it.
Did she want to go home that badly?
It was a feeling I couldn't understand.
For me, my beloved country was right here.
In any case, it was a good banquet.
When something worth celebrating happened, you held a banquet.
A fine custom.
I'd remember that.
--- The after-party ended once the guest of honor, Nanahoshi, was completely wasted.
Linia and Pursena apparently carried Nanahoshi to her dorm room for a sleepover.
Everyone else drifted off in small groups.
Some of the bigger drinkers were heading to another bar to continue.
Sylphiette and I headed home as well.
Drunk Sylphiette giggled happily while clinging to my arm.
Her footing was unsteady, so I made sure to support her by the waist.
She was leaning on me completely.
I could now understand how a scummy guy at a mixer feels when he's convinced "I'm gonna get laid tonight."
Of course, I had no such intentions.
Not yet, anyway.
Once we got home, that might change.
"...Rudy, is it just me, or is it noisy?"
Suddenly, Sylphiette said something like that.
"Hm?"
I stopped and listened.
I heard the sound of something being banged against, and voices arguing.
Was there a fight somewhere nearby?
The voices were reminiscent of cats fighting.
As I wondered what was going on, we arrived near our house.
And there they were.
A group of people, pounding on the front door of my house.
From a distance, I could only make out silhouettes. But they were definitely there.
Neighborhood brats? Or maybe some petty thieves?
As I pondered with a drunken head, I kept my Demon Eyes active.
Sylphiette slapped her own face and, swaying but managing to stand on her own feet, steadied herself.
"Rudy, I'll cast Detoxification."
"Roger that."
Sylphiette cast Detoxification on me without chanting, flushing the alcohol from my system.
I wasn't completely sober, but it shouldn't be a problem.
We approached them quietly, making sure not to be seen.
I could hear their voices.
"It's all
"...
"Besides, we don't even know if this is the right place!
What are we gonna do? All the inns are closed! We're gonna have to sleep outside in this freezing weather!"
"...I don't want to either. But it was Aisha who said we'd be staying at his place tonight and didn't need an inn. I didn't even want to come to his place in the first place—she's the one who dragged us here."
"Well, we told Ginger-san it would be fine! So how does it make sense for us to be the only ones without rooms? That's stupid!"
"...Aisha always has to show off like that."
The shrill, noisy voices.
Children's voices I half-recognized.
And within that conversation, a name I knew.
Then— "Calm down. This is the right place. I sense a familiar presence."
A calm male voice.
The instant I heard it, a whirlwind of indescribable emotion churned in my chest.
I let out a breath of relief and stepped out before them.
"...Oh."
"Onii-chan!"
My two grown-up sisters stood before me.
They were bundled up in colorful cold-weather gear—like outdoor climbers with different color schemes.
Norn Greyrat and Aisha Greyrat.
Norn was the one with a slightly troubled expression, and Aisha was the one with a determined look, eyes sparkling with joy.
"Onii-chan! I missed you!"
Aisha threw herself at me.
Like a clinging child, she wrapped both arms and both legs around my torso in a tight bear hug.
Then she pressed her cheek against mine.
Her soft, plump cheek pushed against me.
She felt unusually cold—was it because I was still a little drunk?
"Ooh, Onii-chan is warm! You smell like booze!"
"I'm the cold one... Let go for a moment."
I peeled Aisha off and looked at Norn.
She pressed her lips together tightly, tucked her chin, and gave me a nod.
"...You've been drinking?"
"Yeah, a celebration of sorts."
She looked displeased.
She wasn't just embarrassed.
I'd heard she didn't like me. It couldn't be helped.
And behind Norn stood— "Rudeus. Long time no see."
A bald man with scars on his face.
A proud warrior, carrying a trident.
Looking exactly as he had three years ago.
"Yes—long time no see. Rougurd."
What welled up inside me was nostalgia.
The days when the three of us traveled together.
Our meeting. Our parting.
"..."
I didn't know what to say.
As I searched for the right words, Rougurd glanced behind me.
"I heard you got married at the Adventurers' Guild... So it's not
Reflected in Rougurd's eyes was Sylphiette.
She looked surprised but managed a small bow.
"Um, Rudy—shouldn't we let them inside?"
"Yeah, you're right. Come on in."
I unlocked the door and welcomed the three of them.
I hadn't expected them to show up at this particular timing.
It had only been a month or so since the letter arrived.
They were much earlier than I'd anticipated.