Volume 1 Chapter 45 Conversation
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
When we got to the front of the house, there was quite a bit of snow piled up around it, but maybe because the weather was nice, Ms. Akari was hanging out the laundry. Karin was playing in the snow nearby.
”Hey? Yuuta, you’re early! Did you get to talk to the Elf?”
”Oh, no. Ms. Akari. It’s not that simple…”
”Mom!”
Tomori stepped forward and called out to Ms. Akari loudly.
”Huh?”
Ms. Akari froze when she saw that.
……
”Mom! Mom! Mooooom!”
Tomori jumped at Ms. Akari without hesitation.
”Ah, ah… Is that you, Tomori? It’s really you!”
”Yeah! It’s the real deal! I heard you and Yuu fell into that hole and died… It’s like a dream! I’m so glad… really glad…”
”Yeah, yeah. It’s Tomori! It’s really Tomori!”
The two hugged and cried loudly. It was an emotional reunion between mother and child.
Puruun and I watched, tearing up ourselves.
Then, Karin, who had been playing nearby, walked over to Ms. Akari, looking worried.
”Mommy. Are you hurt? Are you okay?”
”Ah, Karin. Mama is fine… let’s play with big sister, okay?”
Puruun said that and picked up Karin.
”But Mommy is crying. Are you hurt?”
”No, it’s just that she is so happy to see Big Sister Tomori that she’s crying. So it’s okay.”
Tomori looked at Puruun with a puzzled expression as she comforted Karin.
”Mom. Who is this child?”
”……”
Oh no. Ms. Akari was at a loss for words. I had to say something…
”Um, Tomori…”
”Yuuta, be quiet! This is my responsibility!”
I was cut off by Ms. Akari as she spoke up.
”Mom?”
Tomori looked at Ms. Akari with concern.
”Well… Tomori. No, I won’t make excuses. This child… is my and Yuuta’s baby!”
”!”
In that moment, it seemed like Tomori froze.
I don’t think it was for that long, but the tense silence felt like it was stretching on forever.
Then, after a brief pause, Tomori stood up and shouted.
”What the heck is that!”
”Tomori… I won’t make excuses. I won’t ask for forgiveness. But believe me! Yuuta and I truly loved each other.
We fell for each other as a man and a woman…”
”…Hah, don’t mess with me! You’re a mother, right! What, stealing my boyfriend from me? I can’t believe this…”
”Tomori, first, calm down… okay!”
I couldn’t help but speak up.
”Shut up, you idiot Yuuta! You’re just as guilty! What, getting involved with someone else’s mom… Aren’t you ashamed as a human? Ugh, what is this? Why have I lived until now… Wouldn’t it have been better if I had just been a toy for those bandits? Fine, whatever… I’m going to live on my own from now on!”
With that, Tomori ran off.
I tried to chase after her, but Puruun stopped me.
”I can guess what kind of conversation that was. You can’t handle this. I’ll go after her.”
With that, Puruun went into the woods to chase after Tomori.
Ms. Akari slumped down to the ground, completely drained.
I had no words to say, so I gently hugged her from behind.
”Yuuta… I wonder if we were wrong after all…”
I spoke to Ms. Akari, whose voice seemed like it could vanish at any moment.
”No, I don’t think we were wrong.
Look at Karin. Is her existence a mistake?”
”No, it’s not… absolutely not!”
”I think so too. So, it might take some time, but we need to properly talk to Tomori about everything that happened. Well, whether she’ll forgive us or not is another story…”
”…Yeah, you’re right…”
”And besides, just when the path to return might be opening up, Tomori shows up. If this isn’t a blessing from God, then what is it!”
”Haha, yeah! I feel a bit better now. Since it’s PurPur, they’ll probably drag Tomori back here, so I need to get dinner ready.”
With that, Ms. Akari carried Karin inside the house.
* * *
Just as Ms. Akari predicted, Puruun dragged Tomori back.
But Tomori seemed completely lost, not even looking at us, not saying a word, and refusing to eat──basically in a hunger strike.
But it was my fault. I had to face reality, so I kept trying to talk to the unresponsive Tomori.
”Tomori. Just eat something, okay? You need to put something in your stomach, no matter what you do.”
Ms. Akari also tried to talk to her, but there was no response.
”Ugh.”
Puruun sighed, looking like they were done with it, then suddenly punched Tomori in the face.
”Hey, Puruun, what the heck…”
I rushed over, but Tomori just stayed there, lying on the ground.
”Yuuta. Tell this brat. Stop being a baby. She’s not the only one who’s been hurting.”
”No, if I say that…”
”Idiot! Just declare that you’re translating first!”
”Oh, Puruun’s in battle mode now.”
I did as Puruun said and relayed the message to Tomori.
”Shut up. You pretend to be a good person and help me, but you kept the fact that Mom and Yuuta are together a secret. What a joke.”
”So stop acting like you’re the only victim. You have no idea how much Mama Akari and Yuuta have struggled until now! From the outside, it’s crazy to think that love wouldn’t grow between them; they’ve been working so hard together!”
”…But Mom and Yuuta were together, and I’ve been alone from the start…”
”Well, sure, having each other helped them support one another. But I think Yuuta would have done his best even if he was alone.”
”What do you mean by that?”
”So, what have you done to try? Have you tried to change the situation or learn some words?”
”There’s no way I can do that! I was just trying to survive!”
”PurPur, stop it already!”
Ms. Akari jumped in between Tomori and Puruun.
”I messed up. I never imagined Tomori would end up like this… I thought maybe if I worked hard with Yuuta over here, I could have a little good time… Seriously, I’m a terrible mother.”
Saying that, Ms. Akari started to cry.
”Tomori. I’m not in a position to say much, but… we might be able to go back to our original world soon. If that happens, I want you to come back with me. In the original world, you can live normally. I don’t need your forgiveness. I’ll be gone from your sight, so I hope you can get along with Ms. Akari.”
After that, Tomori went quiet again, but the next morning, she did eat her meals properly.
* * *
”Well then, I have to meet with the military delegation, so I’ll be going now. If anything comes up, call for Sir Mihail at his mansion. Though, looking at the situation, it might take some time, but I think he’ll start talking again eventually. But for now, it might be better if you’re not around too much. The bond between a parent and child is probably stronger than that between lovers?”
Puruun encouraged me.
”Yeah, that’s true. Plus, with all this chaos, I need to talk to Sistemador soon.”
After that, I kept an eye on things for a couple of days, but Tomori didn’t show any signs of acting out or trying to run away. She usually just sat in the corner of the room, but she ate 3 meals a day and occasionally teased Karin, so I figured she was okay, and I decided it was finally time to meet with Sistemador.
The meeting took place in a room at Mihail’s mansion, and Lady Beyond was there with us.
Sistemador started explaining how the gate system worked.
”The gates naturally occur. Humans falling into them and coming here has been known for a long time. I started researching whether I could artificially create these gates out of academic interest, but I found out that generating a gate requires an enormous amount of mana energy. So, instead of making a gate myself, I thought about using the naturally occurring ones.”
”So that became a reality…”
”Yeah. The first success was, if I remember correctly… when a human named Sontsu came through. That was the first time I successfully fixed a gate experimentally, allowing me to travel back and forth and bring him here.”
”That’s when you tried to use the gate for military purposes and fixed one near my house… Was that earthquake back then because of that?”
”During the process of fixing the gate, I had to forcibly gather mana from the space. That caused dimensional vibrations, but they were temporary. Originally, using it for military purposes wasn’t my idea.”
With a sigh and a hint of frustration in his tone, he continued,
”Not long ago, there were suggestions that we should better utilize human abilities and technology, and the military picked up on that. At first, they completely ignored it, but my successful experiment changed the tide, leading to funding from the military, and their plan is to collect, capture, and ultimately control human technology and weapons.”
At his words, I ask.
”So, does that mean it didn’t go well?”
”I’ve succeeded in fixing the gate. It’s possible to travel back and forth to that world.”
”Then! Can we go back to our original world?”
”The answer is both yes and no.”
”What does that even mean? Explain it clearly.”
”The number of people is limited… That’s also the reason we haven’t reached military utilization.”
After a brief pause to gather his thoughts, he continued,
”In your world, the mana in the atmosphere is really low. To materialize a body from a soul after passing through the gate, you need a lot of mana. Right after the gate opens, there’s enough mana around, so a few dozen people could probably come through from here.”
Leaning back slightly as if the weight of his explanation bore down on him, he concluded,
”But if you keep going back and forth, that mana will gradually run out, and eventually, you won’t be able to come through from this side anymore. When that happens, you’ll either have to wait for mana to build up on the other side or fix another gate.”
At this, I asked, with curiosity and a hint of unease,
”Materializing a soul? Does that mean you have to die once? And does that mean the gate I passed through might be closed off now?”
Sistemador explained thoughtfully,
”It’s a bit different from dying. The soul itself doesn’t disappear. It’s better to think that only the physical body is being restructured. Matter that doesn’t depend on the soul can pass through as it is… So, I’m a bit surprised that you managed to materialize correctly in this world without a tag after jumping into the gate. It could happen if it took on a mechanism like teleportation as a natural phenomenon.”
Then, with a slight shrug, he added,
”As for the usage count, well, you won’t know until you actually go to the gate and check with a measuring device. The gate on this side is inside the royal castle, but I can’t get close to it right now.”
I hesitated briefly, then asked,
”Can I ask one last thing? If it’s really closed off, how long do I have to wait for the mana to build up?”
”We still have little data on that, but it might take a few years to send one person… So if you’re in a hurry, it might be faster to look for a new gate. Even so, fixing a gate requires a huge amount of energy and cost.”
I see, I get the gist of it. Basically, I need to go to the gate in the royal castle and check if there are any remaining uses.
On the other hand, it doesn’t seem like there’s much of a problem coming from that side to this side. But either way, if it’s inside the royal castle… I’ll need the princess or the king to let me in.
”Also, just a word of caution. The people who tried to eliminate me might destroy the gate as well. I don’t know what happened to the other researchers… If that happens, returning will be impossible.”
What a mess. I can’t just sit back and relax. It might have already been destroyed. While I’m panicking, Sistemador gives a slight smile.
”Hmph, but I think you’re still okay. The higher-ups will probably secure a gate for emergencies. I’ve been setting it up that way… I planned for it to be that if I’m not around, they can’t use the gate. But for some crazy reason, they started targeting me too.”
Turning to Yuuta, his expression grew serious. He spoke with deliberate clarity, as if weighing his next words carefully. He made his proposal: “Guarantee my safety, no matter which way the royal family or the regime swings. In return, if you can reach the gate, I’ll take responsibility for operating it.”
”…Lady Beyond, he’s saying this, but I shouldn’t be the one responding, right?”
”Isn’t it fine? I’ll talk to my husband for you…”
”Alright then, Sistemador… We have past grudges, but let’s call a temporary truce here. I’ll do my best to reach the gate, so when that time comes, I appreciate your help.”
With that, my goal was set.
To take those who want to return to their original world to the gate inside the royal castle with Sistemador. This relies quite a bit on the princess, but if her victory is assured, the enemy might flee and destroy the gate.
It seems pretty impossible, but we’ve managed to pull through together so far…
Yeah. First, I should consult Puruun.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.