“… Here.”
The 002nd world. We landed deep inside a forest. At the same time, memories of what I experienced in this world during my first round started bubbling one after another. Since this was one of the earliest worlds I visited, everything left a strong impression on me and I seemed to remember even the minor details rather well.
“Wow! We are in a different world! But is it any different from the world we were in? It just looks like a normal forest.”
“It’s not every day you see a world that at a glance looks different from other worlds, you know? If that were the case, we wouldn’t be able to operate properly.”
“That’s true. But it’s a bit of a shame. …”
Tia’s long ears drooped down as she gave me a bitter smile. However, it was a little too early to take such an attitude.
“Fufufu~. No need to feel disappointed, okay? Soon, you’ll understand the difference.”
“Really? What! I’m looking forward to it!”
Tia’s jade green eyes sparkled with curiosity as I grinned at her. While chatting with Tia, I felt a presence, rustling through the vegetation and approaching our location. Then, what appeared was a petite being, only about as tall as my chest.
This young man with a round face like a dog and covered with fluffy brown body hair was the Hero of this world whom we were to accompany this time.
“…”
“Hmm? What is it with you people?” He asked.
“Excuse me. We’re――”
“KAWAI!!!!”
“Wafuu!?”
“Hey, Tia!?”
Tia ran past me at the speed of the wind as I was about to greet the Hero. She jumped on Yuusha-sama’s body and began to touch and feel all the hairs on his body without saying anything
“Ehhh!? What are you suddenly doing?!!” Hero exclaimed.
“What’s this!? Hey, Ed, what’s this child!? He’s so cute! So fluffy and fuzzy!?” Tia exclaimed.
“Stop it, you idiot! You’re being rude!” I replied to her.
“Eh, come on. It’s Onee-San’s privilege to adore her little one, you know?”
“No, it’s not! Because that person is not a child!” I said.
“Really? But look, doesn’t it feel good here? Here, here, Guriguri~”
“Wafuu!! No, not there! I get all tingly when you stroke me there!”
“I knew it! Fufu~, It feels so fluffy!”
“Wafuu!?”
“A, Mou~ It’s a mess! Never mind that, Just stop your hand! Get off him! Here, stay!”
I separated Tia, who continued to touch and feel the body of the Hero. Then, the Hero, who had been lying on the ground this whole time, got up dazedly, gasping with his tongue out.
“Ughh, that was a terrible experience….” the Hero said.
“I apologize on the behalf of my companion. This is the first time she has met a Chemonian, and she got carried away. … Look Tia, you apologize too!”
“Uuu~, I’m sorry. It was so cute, I just had to …”
I held Tia’s head down and apologized, she also apologized to him with an apologetic voice. Tia just had a tendency to go berserk whenever she came across something cute. It didn’t mean she lacked common sense. … Yes, I wish Reason-san would work on her.
“I, Is that so? Then, it’s all right. I have a big heart! But you can’t do the same to anyone else! If a hairless man gets hit, he will be seriously injured!”
“Haha, I’ll be careful …”
(Hey, Ed? What’s hairless?)
(I’ll explain it all later. Wait for now.)
Tia whispered to me with her head down, and I answered in a whisper as well, raising my head to look at the face of the hero. Thank God, I knew he was a good guy, but he really doesn’t seem to be mad at us. If I’d pissed him off here and he hated us or something, I would have seriously wondered what we were going to do after this. …
“By the way, are you by any chance the hero candidate, Waffer-sama?”
(T/N: Literal translation is “Waffle” and in japanese it is “Waffuru” So I went with Waffer)
“Hmm? That’s right. You’re hairless, but you know your stuff.”
“Oh, I knew it! If you don’t mind, I was wondering if we could join you for a while?”
“Mm. All right! If you just want to come along, you can do as you please!”
“Thank you very much. Then we will accompany you.”
We were easily allowed to accompany him, and I held out my hand, palm up, to Waffer. This was the Chemonian equivalent of a handshake, in which a higher-ranking person would place his or her palm on the hand of a lower-ranking person, thereby clarifying the relationship between the two and establishing friendly relation.
“What are you? You are a hairless man, yet you know what you are doing? Alright. If that’s the case, help me a little along the way! Now, come on!”
It was what we showed by our actions, not our words, that mattered. Waffer was in a good mood and started to lead us when I put his puffy paw on my palm. Three steps behind his wagging tail, we followed him.
(So, Ed. You’re going to explain it to me, right? What is that kid? How did you know about that kid?)
When we finally managed to get alone, Tia suddenly brought her face close to mine and whispered to me. In my First round, I would have been captivated by seeing Tia’s beautiful face so close to mine, but since this was my 2nd round and I was the strongest and invincible, that wouldn’t work anymore… Though It did startle me a bit.
(All right, all right. I’ll explain step by step. First of all, I know a lot about it… However, it’s pretty much the same as that strange dream Tia had. Nothing more.)
(……………………)
Tia clearly looked dissatisfied with my explanation. But I didn’t want to burden her with any more explanations, so I ignored her and continued with my explanation.
(And Waffer is a chemonian. As you can see, it’s more of a human and animal together, or …. well, a bipedal, talking animal.)
(Does that mean he’s a beastmen? I thought that kind of thing only existed in stories.)
(In Tia’s world, yes. Oh, but don’t ever call them beastmen. It’s a derogatory term used by humans to refer to Chemonians as “imperfect beings who couldn’t become people,” so if you say it in the wrong place, you’ll get into serious trouble.)
(Uuu, yeah. … okay, I’ll be careful)
(Okay, okay. … And not that it’s a substitute for having Chemonians, but there are no elves in this world. So don’t introduce yourself like you’re not human, you’re an elf, or you’re over 100 years old, okay? Because they’ll think you’re crazy.)
“WHAT!?” Tia exclaimed
“Hmm? What’s wrong?” Waffer asked.
“Oh, no, it’s nothing. Don’t mind it.” I replied.
“Really? Then, it’s all right.”
""
Suddenly Tia raised her voice, and I hurriedly fooled Waffer, who turned around. When I had succeeded in doing so and we started walking forward again, I patted my chest in relief and glared lightly at Tia.
(Idiot, what are you raising your voice at?)
(Because I can’t believe the elves are gone! I’m here all right!)
(I know, I know, but Tia ain’t from this world, right? Anyway, if anyone asks, you can go to … ah, yes. It has to do with the way you look, and then you introduce yourself as a human female of about 18 years old. Okay?)
(I’m younger than Ed!? I’m the Onee-san here! No, I would never be younger than Ed!)
(Haa…. got it. Then make it 21 years old. When I go back to that <White World> I’ll be back in the body of a 20-year-old, so that makes you older, right?)
(Mou~… got it. Then, I’ll compromise on that.)
Tia nodded reluctantly at my persuasion. I didn’t know why she was so obsessed with being older. I mean, if she was so obsessed about it, she should behave a little more maturely.
“Hey, you two! It’s time to get to town!”
“Ah, yes!”
And then Waffer called out to us, and we broke off our private conversation. The sun was shining and the noise of people was coming from beyond the trees, and Tia’s long ears twitched at the sound of it.
“Fufu, my first time in e…… eh…… town! I’m soooo excited! Come on, Ed! Let’s go, let’s go!” Tia said excitedly.
“Whoa! I can’t help it. If you’re gonna act older, you need to relax a little more,” I told her.
“Wafu-fu! It’s good to have energy!”
Tia suddenly pulled my hand and started running, and I chuckled as we took a short run together and ran through the rest of the forest in one go.
(T/N: My Exam got delayed till june :’ ). I’ll atleast finish 2nd World Arc before I really go on a break. Also for those confused about number of volumes right now the Light Novel only has 1, and it covered about 29 chapters. Each world arc is approx 15-16 chapters so if we go by that, it would probably be 2 worlds in one volume. Just a guess. Happy reading everyone!)