The Female Knight Who Came From Another World

“So, Seram, a member of the knightly order, went on an expedition to exterminate monsters that had appeared in a forest in the Twiege region of the Kingdom of Laforia.”

“That’s right. However, there were far more monsters lurking in the forest than we had anticipated, and our unit fell apart, scattering in every direction. I fought monsters throughout the night while trying to retreat from the forest, and before I knew it, I found myself in Jin-dono’s rice paddy.”

“I see. That makes absolutely no sense.”

“I agree.”

I had asked Seram to explain how she had ended up here several times, but I still couldn’t understand it.

However, it seemed Seram was just as confused as I was.

Judging by the serious tone in which she told her story, she didn’t appear to be lying.

“Like I said earlier, there’s no such country as the Kingdom of Laforia here, and there’s no place called the Twiege region either.”

“That’s impossible! I was in the Forest of Twiege!”

“Well, you can say that, but…”

There was no such kingdom, and there was nowhere called Twiege nearby. This wasn’t the world of some anime or manga, and monsters didn’t even exist here in the first place.

How could I get her to understand?

For now, perhaps showing her a map would help. I took the smartphone out of my pocket and decided to show her a map of the world.

“Here, take a look at this.”

“…What is this?”

“It’s a smartphone, an information device that practically everyone in the modern world owns. But never mind that. Just look at the map on the screen.”

“R-Right.”

“This is a map of our world. And Japan, the country where I live, is this small island nation right here.”

As I explained and showed her the screen, Seram narrowed her eyes and studied the map desperately.

“…I-It’s not there. The Kingdom of Laforia isn’t there.”

“That’s right. There isn’t any record of such a kingdom in our history, either.”

“You’re lying. That can’t be possible. I must hurry and reunite with the other knights so we can return to the kingdom…”

When I firmly stated the facts, Seram rose to her feet.

She staggered toward the entrance like a ghost, then began putting on her armor and sword.

Something was clearly wrong with her.

“Where are you going?”

“Back to the kingdom! I must hurry and reunite with my comrades so we can request reinforcements!”

“No, I’m telling you, that kingdom doesn’t exist!”

“Jin-dono, thank you for everything! I swear I shall repay this kindness!”

Despite my attempts to stop her, Seram refused to listen and dashed out of the house.

“Hey, wait—holy crap, she’s fast!”

I tried chasing after Seram to stop her, but she had taken off at an extraordinary speed.

Within moments, her figure had disappeared from sight.

“What the hell was that?”

That speed just now… There was no way an ordinary human could run that fast.

Was she really a human being like me? Her physical abilities were so astonishing that I couldn’t help questioning it.

“Well, whatever. At least I can finally get back to working in the fields.”

Thanks to Seram and her incomprehensible stories, I had barely managed to get any farmwork done.

Part of me wanted to stop her, but I had a livelihood to maintain. I couldn’t afford to keep wasting time on a complete stranger forever.

I decided to leave Seram, who had run off on her own, alone and return to my usual farmwork.

By the time I had finished harvesting the vegetables, taken them to my wholesale buyer, and completed the delivery, it had grown completely dark.

It was currently seven in the evening, and I was driving my kei truck home from the delivery destination.

“Phew, I’m finally done with work.”

Normally, I finished my deliveries and returned home by late afternoon, but because I had spent the entire morning looking after Seram, I had ended up running this late.

As a result, I had inconvenienced the person in charge of receiving my deliveries. It was the worst.

Tomorrow, I needed to finish harvesting quickly and make my deliveries before evening to ensure this didn’t happen again.

After all, trust was essential in this business.

As I drove along the dark road, I mentally organized tomorrow’s schedule, determined not to be late again.

That was when I noticed someone trudging along right in the middle of the pitch-black road.

“Whoa!”

The headlights illuminated the figure, and I immediately slammed on the brakes.

When I looked at the person standing in the headlights, I realized it was Seram, who had run out of my house earlier that day.

Since she had left my house of her own accord, I had already fulfilled my obligation to look after her.

I considered ignoring her and driving past, but when I saw the sorrowful expression on her face, I couldn’t bring myself to abandon her.

“Hey, what are you doing out here?”

“Jin-dono…”

When I climbed out of the kei truck and approached her, Seram looked as though she had only just noticed my presence.

Earlier that day, she had bombarded me with questions at every opportunity, but now she apparently didn’t have the energy for that. She hadn’t even reacted to the kei truck. She seemed thoroughly depressed.

“Did you manage to get back to your kingdom?”

“Can’t you tell just by looking at me? Of course I haven’t returned. It’s nowhere to be found. Even when I found people and asked them, everyone said they had never heard of it.”

Well, that was hardly surprising. I doubted anyone else would know about it either.

After all, no such country existed in this world.

“Maybe you came here from another world, Seram.”

“Another world…?”

“After listening to your story, I can’t help thinking it sounds like something out of fiction.”

“I’m not lying!”

Seram shouted instinctively.

She looked like a desperate child trying to protect the one thing she could still cling to.

“I can tell you’re not lying, Seram. That’s why, if everything you’re saying is true, the only explanation I can think of is that you’ve somehow come here from another world.”

Recently, there had been a popular trend in online novels and manga featuring people from other worlds who somehow ended up in modern-day society.

Considering our current circumstances, I couldn’t help thinking that something similar had happened here.

If that were true, it would explain why she was unfamiliar with everyday things like water heaters, bathtubs, and showers. Seram simply knew far too little about this world.

“Haha, another world… It sounds utterly absurd, but perhaps that really is the case. This place is so different from the world I knew.”

Having run off on her own and wandered around, Seram must have had plenty of time to think things over.

Judging by her expression, my explanation seemed to make some sense to her.

If that were the case, Seram had no one she could rely on here. I couldn’t bring myself to make a young woman like her sleep outdoors.

“Anyway, it’s getting late, so you can stay at my place tonight.”

“…Yes. I’m sorry to trouble you.”

When I suggested returning to my house, Seram nodded absentmindedly, climbed into the cargo bed of my kei truck, and sat down with her knees drawn up to her chest.

I hadn’t expected her to climb into the back instead of taking the passenger seat…

The road ahead was straight and flat. If she preferred sitting in the cargo bed, I supposed I could leave her there.

I climbed into the driver’s seat and started driving.

After about twenty minutes along the dark road, we arrived back at my house.

I got out of the driver’s seat, but Seram didn’t climb down from the cargo bed.

“Hey, we’re home.”

“Ah.”

When I called out to her, Seram, who had been staring blankly into space, responded as though she had only just realized we had arrived and climbed down.

When we entered the house, Seram properly removed her shoes before stepping inside.

Apparently, she had remembered my warning from earlier.

“What do you want to do about dinner?”

“I’m not particularly hungry. I’m sorry, but would you mind if I rested first?”

The shock of realizing that she had suddenly arrived in another world seemed to have robbed her of her appetite.

That was understandable. If our positions were reversed, I might have been so overwhelmed that I’d break down crying and screaming.

Considering the circumstances, Seram was remarkably strong-willed to appear as composed as she did.

For now, it would probably be better to leave her alone so she could sort through her feelings.

I led Seram to an unused bedroom, took a spare futon for guests out of the closet, and laid it out for her.

“Let me know if you need anything.”

“Yes.”

After hearing Seram’s halfhearted reply, I decided to leave the bedroom.

Come to think of it, had she drunk any water since running out of the house? Perhaps I should at least bring her some before she went to sleep.

I poured a glass of water and approached the bedroom, but then I heard what sounded like muffled sobbing coming from inside.

“…………”

She had seemed to be keeping herself together, but apparently, the shock had hit her much harder than she had let on.

I quietly left the glass and a pitcher of water beside the bedroom door, then returned to the living room.