Volume 22 Chapter 5 - Parallel World Teleportation Magic Device

Part 1

Flying fortress, basement level 15.

Descending the stairs, one immediately comes into a wide entrance hall.

There, that magic circle is set up.

Teleportation magic circle.

However, its form bears no resemblance to the ones in my memory.

Furthermore, it is wonderfully enormous.

It's around 50 meters in diameter, and 1 meter tall.

It is composed of 1-meter-square lithographs, each 10cm tall.

They are stacked 10 high, and those stacks are repeated in 50 rows and columns.

In addition, above it spans a gigantic arch.

The interior of the arch is carved with closely-packed designs, so it is also probably part of the magic circle.

An extremely three-dimensional magic circle.

No, maybe it should be called a magic device.

"Wow… this'll make Cliff feel bitter."

Zanoba let out a voice of admiration.

The magic device is not only large, but also delicately and precisely carved.

At the very least, me and Zanoba aren't able to make anything like it.

It's probably too difficult even for Roxy, who has been researching magic circles recently.

Maybe Cliff… but even Cliff doesn't have this much experience drawing magic circles.

"It's magnificent craftsmanship."

Perugius threw out his chest as if it were his own achievement.

However, I can understand that feeling.

For one's disciple to have created such a device, it's only natural for the one who taught her teleportation magic to feel proud.

Although I'm sure Perugius himself was involved in its construction.

"How is it, Orsted?"

"For it to be something of this magnitude… I'm astonished."

Even Orsted was admiring the magic device.

Using 25000 lithographs, a three-dimensional magic circle.

Even Orsted has never seen anything like it.

Even the Mad Dragon King's automata had at most 50 parts, and the parts themselves were much smaller in size.

Nanahoshi probably combined magic circles with absolutely no thought given to how large it grows.

"Right? Look at that arch."

"Is that also a part of it? It doesn't seem to be attached, though."

"No, it's something else. That's a device for confirming whether it succeeded. You are aware that teleportation leaves traces of mana behind, right?"

"Yeah."

"That changes depending on the type of the teleportation magic circle. By measuring it, we can determine whether the parallel-world teleportation was a success or not."

"… Is such a thing possible?"

"Fufufu, I never thought the day would come when I could teach something to you, who holds such extensive knowledge."

"…… No, that's not true, I've learned a lot of things from you… a lot of things."

"Hn. How pretentious. Even though you acted as if you knew everything from the moment we met."

Perugius and Orsted were having a friendly conversation.

To the Perugius who was proud at having outwitted Orsted, Orsted's voice held hints of nostalgia.

It was also slightly bitter.

"Rudeus."

Nanahoshi turned around, and came over to me.

"To start with, let's send over something simple. After that, by analyzing the teleportation magic circle's characteristic mana remnants, the monitoring magic circle will adjust the magic circle for parallel-world teleportation. After that succeeds, we'll send over a living thing, and finally myself. Is that good?"

"It's good, but please excuse me from another teleportation disaster."

"Don't worry. There's no need to worry about that."

Nanahoshi repeatedly said not to worry.

That actually makes me worry more.

For the record, she did give me a detailed report earlier, but it has way too much information, and I haven't finished scanning it yet.

However, Nanahoshi has performed numerous experiments to ensure that she doesn't cause a teleportation incident.

Me and Sylphy helped with that as well.

"Are you confident?"

"I am."

Then, I'll believe in you.

You seem to be confident enough.

"Well then, shall we begin?"

"Yes. Then, starting with an apple…"

Nanahoshi probably prepared one ahead of time.

From the basket that was left in the corner of the room, she produced an apple.

Holding the apple, she climbed onto the magic device, trotted to its center, and placed it there.

"Perugius-sama, if you will."

"Uh huh."

Perugius moved to the opposite end of the magic circle.

No, not just Perugius.

His servants moved one by one into evenly-spaced intervals around the magic circle.

Only Sylvaril moved instead to the base of the arch.

"Rudeus goes over here."

At Nanahoshi's instruction, I stood opposite to Perugius.

Right there were two hand-shaped marks that all but said "Place hands here."

"At my signal, insert mana into there. As much as you possibly can."

"Roger that."

As told, I put my hands down.

It's kind of exciting.

I turn my head and look over to Sylphy.

She was staring blankly at the magic circle while whispering with Zanoba.

They also took the bait, so they must be interested.

Eris wasn't taking part in the conversation.

She was in her usual pose, looking up at the arch with a seemingly proud expression.

She probably simply likes big things.

The Orsted who's sluggishly standing behind her is…

"Perugius-sama! Please begin!"

"Yeah."

Whoops, I need to concentrate.

Even though I said concentrate, I just need to pour in mana.

In any case, just concentrate.

"… We're starting."

Perugius and his servants simultaneously touched the magic circle.

In the next instant, the edge of the magic circle faintly gave off light.

However, it was only near the edge.

The tiny magic circles around the edge are strongly shining, but the center remains dark.

A failure?

"Rudeus."

"Yes."

As told, I send mana through both hands.

The next instant. My right hand felt as if it was sticking to the magic circle.

I could tell that my mana was being sucked out with frightening vigor.

For some reason it's only my right hand; mana is being sucked from my left hand as well, but it's weak compared to the right hand.

Should it be strong in the left hand, too?

The moment I thought that, the amount being sucked from my left hand explosively increased.

In exchange, the amount being drawn from my right hand diminished.

Right, left, right, left.

The strength at which mana was being drawn out alternated.

Feeling it carefully, the strength at the fingertips and palm differed slightly.

However, rather than mechanical, I could feel as if it were being manually controlled.

The one who is controlling it… is Perugius, huh?

I can't see his face, but it seems like his job wasn't just starting up the magic circle.

And then, the ones assisting him are his servants.

It's not automatic once started, but needs to be managed; it's correct to call it a magic device.

The radiance of the magic circle increased.

While changing color from blue, to green, to white, the room was filled with an overwhelming brightness.

It's already too bright to see anything.

Is this the intensity of the magic circle?

I've never seen a magic circle this bright.

No.

I've seen it once before.

That was, during the teleportation incident…

Patsu——

A sound rang out, and the light disappeared.

No, it didn't disappear completely.

The arch.

Only the arch's light continued to faintly illuminate the surroundings.

And then, directly beneath the arch.

The very center of the magic circle.

The place where the apple was.

Where the apple used to be.

In that place, something bluish-white was remaining.

A bluish-white, particulate something.

The particles lightly floated into the surroundings and slowly disappeared.

"The experiment was a success."

"…"

Nobody answered Sylvaril's words.

Without waiting for a response, she filled something in on a nearby piece of paper.

"From here, we will analyze the mana traces and increase the certainty of parallel-world teleportation. However, the data for that analysis is already gathered, so it will not take much time."

While listening to Nanahoshi's explanation, I removed my hands from the magic circle.

"Rudeus, are you okay?"

When she asked me, I thought back to the mana from earlier.

Only one time. With just one or two activations, the mana drain was that much.

If I were to do that repeatedly, it would certainly suck me dry.

"I'm okay, but doing that repeatedly would be impossible."

"I see… Thank you for your work. I pretty much intend to go at a pace of once every 1 or 2 days. Go rest for today."

Nanahoshi said that and bowed her head, then ran over in Perugius's direction.

While discussing this and that with the research team, she was jotting down notes.

She'll probably consolidate the reports for this experiment and make use of them for the next one.

The parallel-world teleportation system itself is complete.

All that's left is to put the finishing touches on that arch, and while analyzing the mana traces and observations, change the teleported objects to be progressively more Nanahoshi-like.

That will take around one more month.

It's troubling to take that much time while Gisu is moving in the background… but there's no helping it.

This is the result of failing to make Perugius a comrade.

Part 2

Since the experiment started, two weeks have passed.

While I went back and forth between my house and the flying fortress, the experiments continued.

The experiments use up quite a bit of mana.

It's questionable if that much mana can be recovered in a single day.

For the sake of the experiment, I decided that even if someone attacked with this timing, I would try to use as little mana as possible.

Once I decided that, I immediately became bored.

No, it's not like I had nothing to do.

Talking with Zanoba about doll sales, talking with Roxy about improving the Magic Armor, using the lithographs to exchange information with my collaborators, talking with Orsted about our future plans without results, and such.

There aren't many free days.

However, compared to this past year and a half where I continuously traveled, it's pretty easy.

There are times when the mercenary corps branches or the doll sales offices contact me through the communication lithograph to make a decision, but in Sharia, there are many people that I can consult with, and I don't need to think of everything from the ground up.

Furthermore, travel doesn't take much time, so I can spend time with the children before going to bed.

I talk about the day's happenings to Zenith, who can read minds, talk about Cliff with Elinalise when she visits, help teach Lara to talk, watch over Lucy's studies, be made to cry by Arus.

Days with few worries.

I wonder if this is what it feels like to be an office worker who works every day of the year taking an extended vacation for the first time in a while.

I can somehow understand why Orsted hasn't left Sharia recently.

There are times when I wonder if this is okay, but humans need times to rest, and maybe I was in need of some relaxation.

If there was late night fun in bed it would be awesome, but the abstinent Rudeus needs to have patience until he accomplishes his goal.

Part 3

Now then, after various things, a month has passed.

The experiments finished in the blink of an eye.

The experiments went very well.

As the experiments progressed, the objects sent to the parallel world changed from fruits to animals.

The animals used were larger and larger, and each time the magic circle was adjusted, over and over again.

Eventually a horse around three times larger than Nanahoshi was sent to the parallel world.

The results of the arch's measurements:

The horse was transferred to [a land between 10 meters and 30 meters above sea level in the parallel world].

That is the limit of our ability to measure from here.

There's no way to tell from the mana remains whether it flew to Japan or America.

When adapting the same world teleportation circle patterns to parallel world teleportation, all that can be determined is [whether it went to land or sea] and [the general altitude of the land].

However, by specifying dry land 10~30 meters above sea level, the chances of dying instantly upon teleportation is greatly lowered.

Although we say parallel world, there's no guarantee that it's the same parallel world that we know.

Of course, since we summoned things like PET bottles from there, the probability is high.

But there is no definitive proof.

It's possible that it's actually a different world that is very similar to the one we know.

Even if it is our old world, with vague constraints like land 10~30 meters above sea level, there's a high chance of being sent to a distant foreign country.

And then, there's the road home.

Although there's a good chance of making it to Japan if she teleports with a large amount of food and water, warm clothing, and something that can be exchanged for money… it'll be a rough trip.

However, even then she's going.

She's already resolved herself for whatever may happen.

All that's left is to send Nanahoshi herself.

Taking my mana levels into consideration, the main event will take place in three days.

Part 4

Two days after the experiments concluded.

Nanahoshi came to my house.

"Before I go, I want to use the bath at your house."

Is what she said, but that's probably just an excuse.

"In that case, how about we have a farewell party?"

"No, there's no need for that."

While saying that, Nanahoshi entered the bathroom.

Right now, she's probably all alone in the bathroom.

I don't know what her true motives are.

Maybe she wants to renew her spirits before the event, or maybe she just wants to say goodbye.

Maybe she wants to spend a night with me to make memories of this world, in which case I should go barge into the bathroom… No, there's no way. It's just a delusion brought about by the abstinent Rudeus's overflowing sexual desire. If I actually did that, Sylphy would probably get mad.

Yesterday, it seems like she went around saying farewell to everyone she knows here in Sharia, so she's probably here for that.

For her last night in this world, she decided to come say farewell to my family.

In that case, what I can do is secretly ask Aisha and Lilia to prepare a more extravagant dinner than usual.

Mostly potatoes.

Norn seems to be coming home today, too, so while it may be meager, at least we can send her off warmly.

"Hey, wait!"

"I don't wanna~!"

While I was thinking that and helping Sylphy look after Sieg, Lucy came running into the living room.

Completely naked.

Like that, she jumped up into my lap.

"Papa, save me!"

What kind of event is this?

Being asked for help by a completely nude woman.

Since when has Lucy been such a devilish woman!?

Anyone who refuses isn't a man.

Leave it to me, whether it's a Dragon God or a Demon King, I'll send them flying!

"Rudeus!"

The one who appeared was a red-haired Demon God.

She's also topless.

That's no good, the abstinent Rudeus is weak to that. It hits my weak spot.

"Rudeus, catch Lucy for me. She hates baths. Even though earlier she said that she needs to take a bath since she was sweating during sword practice."

I caught Lucy.

Sorry, Lucy.

However, you need to take a bath after exercising.

"I don't wanna! Red-mama's violent!"

"Violent? Eris… Hitting me is one thing, but you shouldn't hit children."

"How rude, I don't hit her! I'm just a little… bad at washing hair."

So that's it. When I look at Lucy, she puffed out her cheeks and grumbled, "Yeah, when Red-mama washes my hair, stuff gets in my eyes and it hurts."

I see, so that's the reason.

I'm sorry, Eris.

Even you wouldn't hit children.

"Then, Lucy, why don't we help you learn to wash your own hair?"

"… Papa is… Okay."

Lucy began to say something, but held her tongue partway, and was taken back to the bathroom by Eris.

"I think she wanted to be washed by Rudy."

"…Yeah, you may be right."

But Nanahoshi is in the bathroom right now.

There's no way I can get in.

Ah.

Come to think of it, I didn't tell Nanahoshi, did I? That someone else may come in…

No, I think she already knew.

The custom of entering my house’s bath with several people has been here since the house was first built.

After all this time, she probably won't complain about someone barging in.

After a little while, Roxy and Norn came home, and went into the bath with Lara.

Switching out with them, Nanahoshi, Eris, and Lucy came back while releasing steam.

Maybe because it was such a long bath, they were all red.

"Guess what, Papa? Nanahoshi-neechan taught me how to wash my hair!"

"Is that so? Thank you, Nanahoshi."

"You're welcome."

It seems Nanahoshi was taking care of Lucy.

She may have been talking with Eris in the bath, since there wasn't any dangerous atmosphere.

As expected, baths are great.

Naked socializing is the way to peace.

Part 5

After me and Sylphy had a bath with Arus, it became dinnertime.

The menu is meat and vegetables and rice.

And then potatoes.

Potato chips and french fries.

Junk food.

Nanahoshi made herself inconspicuous at the edge of the dining table, but she helped herself to plenty of potatoes.

Even though when she makes it back home, she can have them as much as she wants.

Honestly, what a gluttonous potato woman.

"This food is pretty good."

She didn't eat only potatoes, but had rice as well.

"You can get rice in the flying fortress, right?"

"But I like the rice here more… I think."

"Is that so?"

This rice is a product of Sharia, Aisha rice.

How about we make the brand name ‘beautiful maid’?

The under-20-year-old virgin maid('s gathered brawny men bulging with muscles) made it in a rice paddy that they made while dripping with sweat, my favorite masterpiece.

It was made to suit the tongues of the Japanese.

"This is the last time you’ll eat this food… make sure to chew it properly when eating."

"Why did you suddenly take a motherly tone?"

After saying that, Nanahoshi continued to eat in silence for a while.

"…"

At some point, her gaze shifted from me to my family.

Lucy is happily talking about recent events, and Norn is listening to her enthusiastically.

Roxy is talking about this and that concerning magic circles with Sylphy.

Eris was feeding Lara, while Aisha did the same for Arus.

Lilia and Zenith are watching over that.

It's a lively scene that I wouldn't have been able to imagine long ago.

Nanahoshi was watching that scene attentively.

As expected, she misses her own home.

While I was thinking that, the meal ended.

After dinner, Nanahoshi kept the children company for a while.

Maybe thanks to the naked socializing, Lucy became attached to Nanahoshi, and when Arus is held by Nanahoshi, he buries his face in her chest with a broad smile.

Lara is the same as always, though…

"Nanahoshi, why don't you spend the night?"

In the end, because of Sylphy's words, Nanahoshi ended up staying over.

It seems like a natural course of events.

However, the guest bedroom was made into a nursery a long time ago.

Since there is no place for guests to stay, Sylphy ended up lending Nanahoshi her room.

Part 6

That night, I talked with Nanahoshi.

In the house where everyone had fallen asleep.

In the living room, two people facing each other, illuminated by the moon shining through the window and the light of the fireplace, talked while slowly drinking alcohol.

It was just useless talk.

Stuff like Perugius's hobbies and how much Sylvaril admires Perugius.

Like how Orsted and Perugius have poor relations, but seem to recognize each other.

It was truly useless idle chatter.

"Rudeus, you're already a splendid adult."

While we were talking, Nanahoshi suddenly said that.

"Is that the case?"

"When I first met you, you were a small child like an elementary school student, and the next time you were like a middle school student. To be honest, there were times when I thought you were younger than me… However, recently you've been very adult-like. You got married, and had kids."

"It's not like getting married and having kids makes you an adult, though."

I honestly don't really understand this adulthood and childhood stuff.

There's no mistake that in my previous life, I was just a big child, though.

"That's true. However, recently you've seemed much more of an adult than me."

"Is that the case?"

"Yeah, you've been thinking about various things such as your children and family… In comparison, I haven't been… I haven't changed at all."

"That's not true."

Nanahoshi has changed a lot from how she used to be.

She used to not let anyone approach her.

The invincible Silent Seven Star-sama.

"If it was the you from long ago, you wouldn't have played with my children or anything like that."

"Is that really so… However, that was because of the time when you saved me. Until then, I had never thought to get involved with the people of this world."

"In the previous world, would you have taken care of children?"

"… Probably… No, I might have been a bit cruel, because of entrance exams. My tests were coming up, too."

Entrance exams and tests.

It's got a nostalgic ring.

"I wonder how many years have passed over there."

"Don't say unpleasant things."

"Oh, sorry."

Since she came here, roughly 15 years have passed.

If 15 years passed over there, she would be like Urashima Tarou.

It may be possible that as soon as she teleports, Nanahoshi ages 15 years, too.

"However, I somehow get the feeling that not that much time has passed."

"Why?"

With a drunk face, I told her my thoughts.

"Me and Nanahoshi were run over by a truck on the same day, right? However, I came here around 10 years before you. So the flow of time is probably different between here and there. That's why, you don't need to worry."

"Huh, is that s——"

Nanahoshi suddenly put on a thoughtful face.

"…………… Wait a minute. What do you mean, we were run over by a truck on the same day?"

Ah.

"Does that mean that you were there?"

"Ummm, that is."

"Wait a minute, huh, wait…"

Nanahoshi put her finger on her forehead and shut her eyes as if trying to remember something.

She suddenly raised her face.

"The fatass from back then."

Ah, Aaaaah… What have I done…

It's because of the alcohol. Even though I was so careful.

Or rather, that's rude. What do you mean by fatass? Although I was certainly obese…

"Uwah, I see, so it's that person, Rudeus is that person…! Eeeh, you became this cool, Heeeeh…!"

Nanahoshi put her hand to her mouth and opened her eyes wide.

Not good, she's become excited.

I thought she'd be disgusted, but she somehow seems happy.

"Um, Nanahoshi=san… If possible, that is, I'd be thankful if you could keep it a secret from everybody."

"Why?"

"… If they find out, they may abandon me."

"I don't think they chose you because of your face, though…"

"Even so, there are things I'd like to keep a secret."

"… I guess so."

Nanahoshi dropped herself back onto the sofa.

So she understands. I thought she'd be obstinate and not cooperate with me, though.

"Since Rudeus is different from me; you're [reincarnated]."

"Yeah."

That's right, reincarnation.

I can't go back to how I was.

It's not like I intend to completely abandon everything from back then, but I don't intend to proactively go looking, either.

In addition, I think my past life is something to be ashamed of.

I do think that I am the way I am now only because of how hopeless I was back then, but shameful things are still shameful.

"I understand. I'll keep it to myself."

"… Please."

Then, I thought back to my previous life.

"Oh, that's right, I was forgetting something."

"What?"

"Since you already know my identity… well, not really, but I want you to deliver this to my home from my previous life."

Saying that, I laid an envelope out on the table.

In this slightly thick envelope, my feelings for my siblings from my previous life are enclosed.

It's been twenty-odd years since I came here.

A lot of things happened in that time.

Because of those things, I think I can proudly say I'm different from how I was back then.

I'll only say that I'm different, though; I absolutely won't say I've become admirable or anything…

Anyhow, an apology for that time, reminiscences, and my current circumstances are all crammed into there.

If, by chance, Nanahoshi is sent to Japan and not a single day has passed, they may wonder what the hell I'm saying…

But, that's fine.

It's like self-satisfaction.

"I understand."

As if it were important, Nanahoshi put it into her bag.

"I'll make sure it gets delivered."

"I'm counting on you."

The destination isn't necessarily Japan.

There's no guarantee that she can make it back to Japan after she teleports.

But even so, she nodded.

"Also, take this."

I handed over one more letter.

Compared to the last one, it's very thin.

"If several years have passed over there, and you have nobody to rely on, no home, and nowhere to go… This letter asks my siblings to, even if just for a little while, take care of you."

"…!"

The hands that Nanahoshi received the letter with were trembling.

"That's…"

"Well, I was a parasite over there, so they may not listen, but… Just in case."

"You were a parasite?"

"Yeah, I was a jobless good-for-nothing."

When she gets there and meets my siblings, it'll get known anyway.

"That's a little hard to believe…"

Nanahoshi said that and looked long and hard at my face.

I wonder if her saying that is proof that I've done my best.

If so, it makes me happy.

"However, if it comes to that, I'll use this thankfully."

As if it were important, Nanahoshi clutched it to her chest and bowed her head.

"Truly, for all you've done for me, thank you very much."

Nanahoshi returns tomorrow.

The experiments were perfect.

That magic circle is impeccable.

However, even so there is a tinge of anxiety in my heart.

The magic circle made with careful preparations and numerous experiments.

Nanahoshi is confident, and nobody thinks that it will fail.

However, there is a point to be concerned about.

There's only one remaining.

At the present, I don't intend to say that and make her anxious.

In the first place, Nanahoshi should already be aware of that.

However, she doesn't say it.

It may be she's already made arrangements for that.

"… Tomorrow, we're getting you home."

Therefore, that is all I said.

"Yes."

Nanahoshi nodded.

I get the feeling that some things can be accomplished as long as you have a strong will.