With a rattling sound, the carriage rushes down the narrow mountain road leading from the pioneer settlements.
"Are you sure it's really okay, young master?"
Ronald-san, who reins the horse, asks me as he sits down next to me.
"Yes, I know it's not ideal to leave the settlement for a few days, but it should be fine for one day. I've asked Diana to take over for me, and she might even manage the settlement better than me," I replied.
"I'm not worried about that, it's Diana's mood that I'm concerned about," said Ronald-san.
"That's probably...not good," I replied, recalling how Diana had been opposed to my leaving to meet the Ihoumono (outsider).
When Ronald-san told me that there was a being (ihoumono) who had been transported to this world five years ago, I asked him if I could accompany him to confirm a certain thing.
Diana, not Ronald-san, was the first to object to my request.
Diana was reluctant to let me leave the settlement for a day just to meet with the Ihoumono, but I gave her an order instead of a request, and she agreed to it, though it was a rare case.
Because of this, Diana was forced to manage the settlement for me, and since she could no longer follow me as a servant, she remained in a bad mood all the way to the time of seeing me off.
I felt a little discouraged at the thought of having to appease Diana's mood as soon as I returned to the settlement, but I quickly regained my resolve.
Yes, this is not the time to be discouraged, since I had come all this way to meet the Ihoumono, and I needed to fulfill my purpose, even if it meant asking Diana for something difficult.
The reason I asked Ronald-san to accompany me was because I had some questions I wanted to ask the people called "Ihomono".
In this world, there are countless numbers of what we call "Ihomonos," but most of them are actually descendants of Ihomonos, not those who lived in a different world from this one.
Therefore, they did not know anything beyond what their parents had told them, and in fact, knowing too much about another world could cause problems in this world.
Especially, the Church, which fears the spread of otherworldly existence and unidentified technology in this world. They are opposing the Kingdom, which on the contrary is aggressive in utilizing the technology and power of other worlds. They are at each other's throats because of their different ways of thinking, and both of them have different reasons to target those who possess technology and unique power.
Therefore, because the Ihomono who have lived in the other world are targeted by various organizations, they hide the fact that they are such Ihomono, and die without telling their descendants about the other world.
However, there are many who, unaware of the confusion and the situation in this world that they have suddenly arrived in, tell people that they are from another world in order to seek help.
If they are kind, they will tell them how they are treated in this world and warn them, but if they are greedy, they will trick them into taking them to a place where a bounty is placed on their custody.
The treatment of the taken-away person depends on the knowledge and ability of the person and himself, and if it is found that the person does not have much knowledge or ability, the person is usually thrown out.
The reason why the Church does not allow the existence of Ihomono is that they bring chaos to this world, and the Church's premise is to protect this world from such beings.
However, it can be said that the existence of Ihomonos without any power or knowledge has no influence on the world, and since the aforementioned premise exists, it is impossible for the Church to deny the existence of such a thing.
I have explained at length, but the point is that it was difficult to meet and talk with a person who had lived in another world, because he or she was hiding his or her true identity, or had already been taken away by someone else.
So, what I want to do when I meet one of these people is ask about their journey from their previous world to this one.
I have never heard of any story that they were brought to this world by someone like I was.
Furthermore, all of the people known as Ihomono are transported, and I have never heard of anyone being reincarnated like me.
When I was first reborn in this world, I thought of myself as an Ihomono, but then I realized that the story of how I came to this world and the story of how they came to this world were very different, except for the fact that we came from a different world.
I had been wondering about this for a long time, but I had almost given up on the idea that there was no way to solve this question.
With such expectations in my mind, I asked Ronald-san the question I had been wondering.
"By the way, how did Ronald-san know that those people were the "Ihomonos"?" I asked.
"Well, it's a man's intuition, you know. I never miss the slightest change in a pretty maiden, so I thought this is not what I expected, and when I looked into it, it turned out to be right," Ronald-san explained.
In other words, he observed the other woman because she was beautiful and noticed her discomfort.
It's a typical Ronald-san reason.
If Diana had been there, I am sure she would have given him a cold stare and even a word of abuse.
"I hate to ask this so late, but were you told not to talk about this with anyone?" I asked.
"Of course, I was told not to tell anyone," Ronald-san replied.
"…So, telling me was a mistake, wasn't it?" I asked.
"What's wrong with that? Are you saying that you're going to do something foolish with this information?" Ronald-san asked.
"No, I don't have any intention to do anything like that..." I replied.
"Then there's no problem, that's why I told you so," Ronald-san said.
"I'm glad you trust me, but since it was their own decision to tell you, wouldn't they be angry with you?" I asked.
"Well...whatever will be will be," Ronald-san said without a worry.
I was worried about whether Ronald-san was treating the situation, but I couldn't ignore the fact that he had told me about it in order to achieve my goal, so I would let him be angry with me.
"But it's surprising, isn't it, that young master is interested in this kind of thing," Ronald-san said.
"Is it so surprising? I don't think it's that surprising," I replied.
I think many people would be interested in hearing about a person who has lived in a different world from this one, and when I reply to Ronald-san with this thought, he smiles at me.
"Well, young master is a grown up man now, it's no wonder you're interested in girls," Ronald-san said.
"Right, right...is that so?" I replied.
Wait, what does he mean by 'interest in girls'? Is there some kind of misunderstanding going on here?
"I've watched you since you were a child and I'm deeply moved by your growth as a man," Ronald-san said.
"Ronald-san? It seems like there's a misunderstanding, I just want to meet and talk with the Ihomono. It's not like I have any interest in visiting brothels or anything like that," I explained.
"I know that, young master. It's difficult to openly admit that you want to have relationships with women. Without that pretense, you wouldn't be able to go there, right?" Ronald-san said.
"You don't understand me at all! I'm not going there for the reasons that teenage boys do!" I protested.
Seriously, he was treating me like a "pervert".
"Oh, wait a minute, do you mean I look like that to people around me before we went?" I asked.
"Well...when a man goes to a brothel, everyone thinks that way, don't they?" Ronald-san chimed in.
"In that case, there's a possibility that Diana also misunderstood me?" I said, my face falling.
"From her sour mood before leaving, I certainly suspected as much," Ronald-san said.
"Ah..."
I was so preoccupied with my desire to talk to the Ihomono that I couldn't think about how I looked to the people around me.
They probably didn't think that a man of my age would go to a brothel and come back just to talk to them, and they probably thought that my reason for wanting to talk to them was just a bitter excuse for someone who couldn't honestly say that he wanted to go to a brothel.
I realize this fact now, and I'm thinking about how I have to clear up the misunderstanding as soon as I get back to the settlement.
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Edited Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Thanks for reading.
