Chapter 2 Huh? Another World?
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”…Hiroya…”
(Someone is calling me…)
As I slowly wake up, I hear a voice calling my name, Hiroya.
”…Hiroya O’Brien! Are you not here?”
(Huh? ‘O’Brien’?)
Hearing this unfamiliar name makes me fully awake.
When I open my eyes, I see the sleeping face of a young girl.
(Who is she?)
”Hiroya O’Brien! Get up!”
”Yes!”
Since they are calling me Hiroya, it must be me. It seems I was sleeping with my head on the desk. The girl next to me is sleeping in a similar position.
I hear giggles from around the room.
Looking around, it seems I’m in a classroom. However, this classroom is different from the ones I know.
(Western style?)
The designs on the windows and walls are much more elaborate than the plain ones in Japan.
And the blackboard. It’s not in Japanese or English. The letters are unfamiliar. I can see it says ‘Maria Deitrich.’ Is that the teacher’s name?
(Wait, why can I read this…?)
And my classmates are giggling.
They all look young, and their clothes seem Western.
”…You were sleeping… It’s quite bold of you on the first day of school. As expected of the lord’s child.”
A woman who looks like a teacher stands at the podium. She puts her hand on her forehead as if exasperated. She’s a beautiful blonde with glasses, and even that pose looks good on her.
”Since you’re awake, wake up the one next to you, Kazumi Müller.”
(Kazumi Müller? …Kazumi Miura?)
When I looked next to me, there was a girl sleeping in the same position as when I woke up.
Yeah. She has a young face, but she definitely has a resemblance to Chief Miura. The beauty mark near her left eye is just like hers.
”…Ms. Kazumi. Hey, the teacher is angry. Wake up.”
Since everyone is watching, I call the chief by her first name and shake the girl’s shoulder.
”Mm… Obu…? The teacher…?”
The girl opens her eyes.
”Anyway, wake up… It’s a weird situation, but don’t panic, okay?”
I whisper to the girl who seems to be the chief in a small voice.
”Don’t panic? What’s going on── wait, huh?”
Looking around, the chief seems to be fully awake now.
”Where is this? What’s going on?”
”It’s school. Just wake up.”
”Kazumi. Are you awake?”
”Yes! I-I’m sorry!”
The chief stands up and bows her head to the teacher.
”Honestly… The lord’s son and the guardian knight’s daughter… both of you have inherited your father’s boldness.”
The teacher puts her hands on her hips and looks at us with an exasperated face. The giggles in the classroom grow louder.
”You guys are still too close, huh!”
”It’s amazing that both of you fell asleep!”
”You have to listen to the teacher properly!”
Voices come from all around.
”…I’m sorry.”
Anyway, I bowed my head.
”Okay, okay! Quiet down!”
The teacher claps her hands to calm everyone down.
”Anyway! Today was just the ceremony, but classes will start again tomorrow. Everyone, let’s do our best. Class dismissed.”
Saying that, the teacher left the classroom.
”Chief… wait a minute.”
I grab her hand and try to lead her outside the classroom.
”W-wait! It looks like it’s over, so I need to get my stuff…”
The chief picks up the bag hanging next to her desk.
”Hey, Hiroya too!”
”Ah, yeah.”
I also grabbed my bag and pulled the chief’s hand as we left the classroom.
”Whoo-hoo!”
”Be nice as a couple!”
”See you tomorrow!”
Both the chief and I waved to everyone with our faces bright red.
* * *
”Anyway, I really don’t get it… Where are we? Why did I get smaller?”
I was talking with the chief on a bench behind the school building.
”They said it was the opening ceremony, but what grade are we in…?”
Saying that, the chief stared at my face.
”Hehe, you’re cute, little Obu.”
”Please don’t tease me. You’re the one who’s too cute, chief.”
No, she really is cute. She looks about 10 years old, right?
The original chief had a sharp, smart vibe, but her shy smile when she made a mistake and her cute face when we drank together were just amazing…
Now, the chief still has her semi-long black hair and the beauty mark under her left eye, and her lovely eyes from when she was shy or cute are just her default look now.
”Hey! Don’t call me chief!”
And when she scolds me like this, her big, slightly droopy eyes look surprisingly serious. Her expressions change so much, even though she looks young, she’s still the chief.
”This place feels like a different world. At least it’s not Japan.”
”Seems so. The scenery, buildings, and clothes aren’t Japanese.”
Right. The landscape looks peaceful, like a countryside in Europe.
”And our names…”
”Yeah. I’m Hiroya O’Brien, and the chief… I mean, Ms. Kazumi is Kazumi Müller.”
”It’s funny how our last names got twisted like that.”
The young Chief Miura laughed and said,
”…and now we’re kids… this is like the recent trend of ‘isekai reincarnation’…”
When I muttered that, Chief Miura pointed at me and said, “That’s it!”
”I saw ‘Reincarnated as a XX!’”
”…well, we’re both humans, not slimes. We may be younger, though.”
”…but there wasn’t the usual stuff when we reincarnated, right?”
What Chief Miura probably meant was the explanations from the god during reincarnation or getting skills.
”Did you want a cheat skill, Chief Miura?”
”…of course! I came to a totally unknown world. I want something that gives me an advantage… wait!”
Just when I thought he was mumbling while looking down, Chief Miura pointed at me again.
”Stop calling me ‘Chief Miura.’ And no more formal language. We’re the same age here, and it feels weird since we’re both kids.”
”Okay… then how about Ms. Kazumi?”
”More formal language. And you don’t need to add ‘Ms.’”
”Oh, right… then… Kazumi?”
It felt a bit embarrassing.
”Yeah. What is it, Hiroya?”
”Nothing, I was just practicing how to call you.”
”…that’s kind of embarrassing.”
”Me too.”
As we both turned red from embarrassment,
”Hiroya! Where are you?”
”Kazumi! Where are you?”
We heard a woman’s voice calling us.
Soon, 2 women appeared from behind the school building.
”Hiroya! You were here all along!”
”Kazumi, you’re going home with Mom today since it’s just the opening ceremony.”
The woman who called me Hiroya was definitely my mother. She was my mother who passed away when I was in elementary school. When I looked at Kazumi, she nodded while staring at me.
”Is that your mom, Kazumi?”
”And you, Hiroya?”
”Yeah. It’s definitely my mom who passed away.”
* * *
”When I went to pick you up from the classroom, everyone said, ‘They went somewhere together happily…’.”
A woman who looks like Kazumi’s mother is gently stroking Kazumi’s head. The way she looks at Kazumi with kind eyes makes me think she resembles the former manager, just a bit more grown-up, maybe because of her long hair. They really do look alike.
”Hiroya, I heard you and Kazumie are close, but I didn’t know it had developed this much!”
My mom laughs and ruffles my hair.
”You’re only in your third year, and here you are, alone with a girl behind the school after class… You’re quite the player, aren’t you?”
My mom grabs my cheeks with her left hand and shakes my head around. I see. Kazumi and I are in our third year… In my previous life, I was about 8 years old?
I feel a bit strange about Kazumi’s appearance and age. From my experience as an instructor at a swordsmanship dojo, I thought I knew a bit about children’s physiques.
(Seriously… she looks like she’s in the upper grades of elementary school.)
That’s the impression I got when I saw Kazumi.
──About 10 years old.
I’m pretty sure my judgment isn’t wrong. Maybe children grow differently in this world compared to my original one. Or is it that the school age is different?
”N-no, that’s not it!”
While thinking about that, I denied my mom’s teasing.
”Huh? Is that not true?”
Kazumi looks at me with a sad face. Stop teasing me.
”Having the lord’s son as a friend is too much for my Kazumi.”
”No, no, he’s just a mischievous and energetic silly boy!”
My mom laughs heartily. Yeah. She’s just like she was in my previous life. That mischievous energy probably comes from you, Mom.
”Hiroya has always been so nice to me.”
Saying that, Kazumi lifts the edges of her green dress and greets my mom. How cute. So cute.
”Wow, so cute! Thank you for being friends with Hiroya. Hey! Hiroya, don’t you want to say hi?”
”I’m always grateful to Ms. Kazumi.”
I bow slightly to Kazumi’s mother.
”Hiroya, please take care of my daughter.”
Kazumi’s mother looks at me with a gentle smile. Ah, she’s so different from my mom. She seems really kind and has a soft vibe.
”Alright, let’s head home.”
We were led away from school by our mothers, holding hands.
* * *
On the way back, our moms were chatting about various things, but Kazumi and I couldn’t really talk.
I wanted to discuss what was going on, but we couldn’t talk about that in front of our parents.
Eventually, we arrived in front of a pretty big mansion.
”Well then, Mrs. O’Brien, please be careful on your way home.”
It seems like this is Kazumi’s house.
”Thank you. I had a great time. Let’s get to know each other better from now on.”
Saying that, my mom walked ahead. It looked like the two moms really hit it off.
”Ah, Hiroya…”
As Kazumi opened the gate and was about to enter her house, she seemed like she wanted to say something to me.
”Um, can I come over to play later?”
I wanted to talk about various things, so I asked Kazumi.
”Yeah! I’ll be waiting! Is that okay, Mom?”
Kazumi answered with a happy smile.
”Then let’s eat lunch first, okay? Hiroya.”
”Thank you, Auntie!”
”Hiroya! Hurry up!”
My mom called me, so I ran to catch up. I turned back and bowed to Kazumi’s mother. They both waved at me with smiles.
”What’s this? Did you make a date or something?”
When I caught up, my mom teased me.
”N-No! We just promised to hang out at her house after lunch!”
”Hey? Isn’t it a bit early for a room date?”
”I told you, it’s not like that.”
I held my mom’s hand and argued with her as we headed home.
* * *
(Is this really my house…?)
The house we arrived at was a big Western-style mansion, twice the size of Kazumi’s house.
(Oh right, they said ‘Lord’…)
In front of the large gate that matched the mansion’s size, a soldier stood guard.
”Welcome back, ma’am.”
He stood straight, looking slightly up as he greeted us.
”I’m back. What’s with the formal greeting today?”
My mom asked the soldier with a smile.
”Um… your husband is in the garden…”
The soldier answered in a quiet voice.
”Oh, he’s training Koichi, huh?”
(Koichi… who is that?)
”Welcome back, young master Hiroya.”
The soldier kept his stiff posture but turned his gaze to me, smiling and winking. He seemed like a friendly person at heart.
”I’m back.”
I replied with a smile too.
”That guy (the husband) is a bit strict about work… I’ll call him into the mansion soon. Just keep smiling while you stand guard, Mr. Raiden.”
My mom said as she walked through the gate.
”If I stand like this, the villagers passing by will get scared. Look at my face.”
The soldier, called Raiden, pointed to a scar on his cheek.
”But still, Madam is like to have good relations with the neighbors, so she doesn’t want things to be too formal.”
Raiden sighed.
”──Hey! Koichi, let’s wrap up the training and have lunch!”
My mom called out toward the garden as she entered the mansion.
”Come on, young master Hiroya, hurry up.”
”Yeah. Thanks for your hard work, Raiden.”
I ran after my mom into the mansion.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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