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Volume 1, Chapter 2: I’ve been picked up.

“…there’s no village in sight…”

Although I tried to aim for a village, all I saw while I walked was trees, trees, and more trees…

While I continued to stare at the unchanging scenery, a day and night had already passed.

I shuddered when the sun set last night. I didn’t expect to sleep out in the open air in my loungewear. Of course, there was no way I could have slept in that situation. I crouched at the root of a large tree for safety, and quietly waited for the sunrise.

I realized for the first time how bright the moon could be in the dark. After all, it was inconceivable for the only light source to be the moon in modern Japan. There would be a streetlight every few meters, and there were also 24 hour convenience stores every block or two. In hubs like Shinjuku and Shibuya, the large billboards would light up at night.

In the silent forest, anxiety began to bloom.

Why was I here?

Would I really be able to go home?

Maybe this was a punishment for not being kind enough in my daily life.

If I was having a long nightmare, I really wanted to wake up soon.

Why, how…

So many thoughts swirled around my head, but none of them had any answers.

I would flinch and put up my guard whenever the wind rustled through the trees. Each time, I would wonder what to do if a beast jumped out of the thicket, or if a ghost came out…each time, I would shake my head and throw those thoughts away.

At last, the sun rose with my spirits and I set out again. My efforts proved fruitless, as I didn’t reach a village on the second day, either.

Despairing, I crouched at the root of a large tree like yesterday, and quietly waited for the sunrise. Exhausted from walking for two days straight, I nodded off to sleep.

“…”

“…ey…lo”

Someone whispered next to my ear.

I pried open my heavy eyelids as I slowly woke up.

“Oh, she’s awake.”

My eyes locked with something in front of me.

“…eek!”

A ghost!? I thought as I let loose a scream. I tried to back away, only succeeding in bumping into the large tree behind me.

“She’s awake!”

“You woke her up.”

“Why are you frightened?”

Though the voices were quiet, they were clear in the silent forest.

I glanced around, but there was no one else around. Does that mean the voices belonged to whatever was in front of me?

“…could you be a fairy of some sort…?”

The floating thing of about 20 centimeters tall could only be explained as the fairies in fairy tales.

“Fairy?”

It tilted its head and echoed my words.

“We’re spirits.”

“…spirits?”

“Yes, spirits.”

“We connect the humans to the Goddess.”

The three spirits floated around in the air, taking turns answering my question.

Okay, wait, calm down.

I get that they are spirits.

But why are they in front of me?

What’s their purpose?

Maybe they are the ones who left me in the middle of this forest…?

“Were you the ones who brought me here?”

“No.”

“It was the Goddess!”

“Goddess? So this goddess brought me here?”

“Yes!”

“What? If you are acquaintances with that troublesome goddess, tell her to put me back where she found me!”

I was dropped in the middle of the forest, left to wander for two days.

How many times did I want to go home?

If I wasn’t dropped into this place, I would have been sleeping peacefully on a warm bed. Instead I was subjected to trembling in anxiety and loneliness in a dark forest.

Bubbling with anger, I drew closer to the spirits.

However, they shook their heads.

“Why? If she could drop me here, she can put me back! I’ll tell her myself, let me meet with the goddess!”

No matter how vehemently I argued, the spirits silently shook their heads with a sad expression.

“I’m sorry. There’s nothing the Goddess can do. You can only cross worlds once…”

One spirit came forward to say. She was slightly bigger than the others and seemed to be the leader of the group.

“…wait, did you just say ‘cross worlds?’ Doesn’t that mean…”

“Yes, this is a different world than the one you were born in.”

“…”

I was speechless.

A different world? What does that mean, why…

“I’m really sorry. I’ll guide you to town, though!”

I accepted her offer, still dumbfounded yet determined to leave the forest.

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Guided by the spirits, I continued to walk through the forest. Even though there was no way of knowing whether they would really lead me to town, I could only follow them. After deliberating over my feelings, I asked the quiet spirits ahead.

“Hey, can I really not go back?”

While I did feel like I was getting quite obstinate, it was a very important question for me. It wasn’t something I could give up on right away.

“…no, you can’t. Inhabitants of different worlds and dimensions are not allowed to interfere with each other. That would result in tipping the balance and end in world destruction…”

“Then how was I brought to this world?”

“…that was the will of the Goddess. This world needs you.”

“Are you telling me I need to become a hero or a priestess? That’s impossible. I don’t have any superpower or an exceptionally high IQ.”

“Not like that. Don’t worry, you just have to happily live a normal life here.”

The spirit said with a happy face. I didn’t know why they were so happy, but I was relieved to know that there was no important role waiting for me.

While there were still many things I couldn’t accept and I couldn’t tell whether the spirit was speaking the truth, I could feel their affection towards me. Slowly but steadily, I opened my heart to them.

We reached a main road at dawn.

“There is a small town down the road this way.”

“…just a bit more until town…”

I looked down at the beaten down road the way the spirits were pointing.

Finally, I thought, and suddenly my vision went blank. Huh? I thought, and I lost consciousness.

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When I woke up, I was not on the hard forest floor, but on a bed in a strange room.

I sat up and saw that I had on a comfortable dress peeking from under the covers.

I looked around the room and found the clothes I wore in the forest clean and neatly folded in a pile on the bedside table. Someone must have washed them.

A bed twice the size of my own. To the right were some cabriole sofas and a white table. Across them was an arch-style window, where warm sunlight filtered into the room. The room was miles more spacious than my apartment. The extravagant interior hinted that this was the house of some rich person.

…click.

I turned towards the door and a plump middle-aged lady came in.

“My, you’ve awoken! How are you feeling?”

She came to the bed and fussed over me. Did this person save me?

“I’m all right. Uhm, were you the one who saved me?”

“The master and his wife took you in. You slept for a whole day, so they were quite concerned. Let me go call them.”

She smiled warmly and put me to bed, then left the room.

After a while, there was a knock on the door. On my reply, the lady from before entered with a couple behind her.

“How do you feel?”

“You never woke up. Oh, we were so worried.”

The couple brought chairs next to the bed and asked after my health.

“Thank you so much for saving me.”

Thinking it rude to stay in bed, I tried to get up. They stopped me, however, so I could only lower my head in bed.

“We were so surprised to see you collapsed on the road.”

“The doctor said that you were exhausted and dehydrated. Thankfully, you didn’t seem to have any big injuries…are you okay now? Are you dizzy?”

“No, I’m fine now. Thank you.”

“That’s a relief. Oh, I forgot to say. I am Gilford Hyde Claude. This is my wife, Anastasia.”

“I am Anastasia Ashley Claude. Could we have your name?”

“I’m Kurokawa Risa…oh, Risa Kurokawa.”

I changed the order so my surname would be last, like the two of them.

“Risa, I see. Nice to meet you.”

Gilford smiled and reached out his hand, which I shook.

I didn’t really believe the spirits when they said this was another world, but I could accept it after seeing Gilford and Anastasia. Their hair and eye colors were hues that were impossible on Earth. Anastasia had wavy, pink hair and amethyst purple eyes. While Gilford’s hair was a normal brown, his eyes were silver grey. They confirmed that their hair and eye colors were natural, and asked me the same question.

I have black hair and black eyes characteristic of a Japanese person. While I am a little proud of my silky, straight, raven-colored hair, I’m not a particularly beautiful person. I have a button nose and my contours are shallow. The only charm points that I might have are my double eyelids, which make my eyes larger than life.

Compare that to the two in front of me, who have Caucasian1 faces that are always popular in Japan. A long, thin nose, a raised forehead and striking contours placed in a proportionally balanced manner. Their fascinating colors seemed to fit in place with their wonderful faces.

When I asked why they were curious of my black hair and eye-color, they answered that it is rare in this world for someone to have the same hair and eye-color. What a surprise! Anastasia kept complimenting my hair and eyes, until I blushed with embarrassment. Personally, I was more envious of Anastasia’s appearance.

I confessed to them that I was from a different world.

“Yes, that is what the sprits told me.”

“I see…The spirits told me that I can’t go back to my own world. Is that true?”

“…Well, with our current technology, it’s impossible to transfer a human to another world. The only one who can do that is probably the creator, the Goddess, but the spirits say that’s impossible…”

“It really is impossible, huh…”

As if to cheer me up, Anastasia gently took my hand.

“Don’t think about it too much, rest up for now. Once you get better, we can think about the future.”

She laid me down and tucked the blanket in over me.

“She’s right. You just woke up, after all. Let’s talk again tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

My body was already tired from exertion, and my eyelids could no longer stay open.

Shortly after I watched the smiling couple leave the room, I drifted off to sleep.