Otherworld Transfer And “Otaku” Skills

“Well, to put it bluntly, yes, I do think you are definitely alive. Unfortunately, this situation is not a dream or anything of the sort. It is the continuation of your reality.”

In the underground space where the brook flowed, a campsite had been set up, absurdly out of place.

There was a rocking chair and a freestanding hammock.

The finishing touch was a tent and tarp bearing a brand logo he had definitely seen somewhere before.

“Ah, this black tea is good. What kind of tea leaves are these?”

It was too much trouble to comment on it, so without thinking too deeply, he sat around the fire with the silver-haired, long-eared woman, rocking in the chair as he sipped the black tea.

“Now, now, please stop escaping reality. Ah, it is delicious, isn’t it? Those tea leaves can only be harvested on a hidden floor of Herel’s Tower.”

“Huh, Herel’s Tower, huh.”

What kind of tea leaves were these? The aroma was somewhere between chamomile and Darjeeling. Smelling it made him feel calm.

“Hmm, hmm. As I thought, you did come from beyond. Since Mars reacted, that means you are Japanese, just as the wind judged.”

“Ah, well, yes, I’m pure Japanese.”

“My, to think the day would come when I would drink tea like this with you… I can hardly believe it, truly.”

They sipped from their mugs together and listened to the sound of the fire crackling. It was completely a camp.

“…Um, sorry. Let me return to the subject, but to sum things up simply, uh, Miss Elf. In other words, I’m, well, that. It’s fine to say I’m still alive, right?”

Tooyama somehow kept himself from being swallowed by the comfort and returned to the subject.

“Ah, indeed. Tooyama Naruhito. You are certainly alive. This is not an illusion produced by your brain at the time of near death, nor is it a deception. It is a clear reality, a different world from ‘Japan.’”

“Another world…”

“Well, I understand that it is a shock, but calm dow—”

The silver-haired elf narrowed her rainbow-colored eyes gently and tried to admonish Tooyama while pouring fresh tea.

“Wait, does that mean this is an otherworld transfer?”

Tooyama’s voice was brighter than expected.

At the very least, it was not the voice of someone depressed or panicking. Rather—

“Hm?”

The elf tilted her head and froze. It must have been a different reaction from what she had expected.

“Eh, no way, seriously? Huh? Did I really, truly come here? Eeeeh, no way. Seriously? Is this one of those otherworld transfer things that were popular in the 2020s?”

Tooyama began speaking at an incredible speed.

“W-what is wrong with you? Your reaction is quite different from what the wind expected. You seem somehow happy.”

“Of course this would get me excited!!!”

He stood up with a smack, drained the black tea, and shouted. The campfire swayed as though creeped out.

Tooyama Naruhito was far less shocked than expected.

Rather, the words from someone else saying he was alive, the excitement right after battle, and the phrase “another world”—

Far from being depressed, if anything—

“…Wow. What a wonderful smile. You were quite an amusing human, weren’t you? I think you would get along with him, in the sense that you are both weirdos.”

“Him? No, more importantly!! Miss Elf, Miss Elf, Miss Elf!! In other words! I’m not dead yet! This is another world!! Those people called adventurers, Lazaar the lizard man, and that beastman I killed, and the armored bastard with wings and a tail growing out of him too! That means they’re really living people from another world, right?!”

He was visibly hyped up. A human who would become an explorer to begin with had already had his head boiled by dungeon intoxication for three years.

That man, whose reptilian brain had mutated, was terribly weak to his own desires and pleasures.

He began speaking rapidly all at once. With his narrow eyes thinned into lines, he approached the elf with a full-faced smile.

“Yes, close, close. Please move back a little. The wind has a slight trauma regarding you. Well, I know saying that to the current you will not make much sense.”

The elf’s face visibly clouded. The thoroughly composed expression she had worn until a moment ago was gone, and she simply looked troubled.

“Huh? Trauma? You and I have been slightly talking past each other for a while now. But right now, such trivial things don’t matter!! Hi, hihihihihihi. I see, so I’ve finally done it. Otherworld reincarnation—no, transfer? I need to make that clear. Genre fraud causes trouble.”

“Wow, you’re talking incredibly fast. …Mm, what is it, Mars? Ah, I see. So that is what the database calls an ‘otaku.’ Hmm, well, being resilient is a good thing.”

“Who’re you calling an otaku?! I just couldn’t experience that sort of stuff when I was a kid, so after I got older, I got exposed to fiction and fantasy and ended up developing a complex!”

There was a slight darkness at the edge of his words.

However, Tooyama was thoroughly elated.

“Ah, yes. You are already interesting in all sorts of ways… Mm, wait? What did you just say?”

“Even so, this black tea is delicious. It’s incredibly deep. Huh? What? The part about me not being an otaku?”

He sipped again from the golden black tea the elf had refilled for him.

It was a flavor that made him feel more energetic the more he drank.

“No, before that. Before that. Lazaar-kun the baker and whatnot, and the winged armored bastard? Wait. Wait, wait. The Hoarding Dragon is still fine. I know about that one, you see. But why is Lazaar-kun’s name coming up at this stage?”

The elf’s voice had grown a little lower.

She tilted her head, and although the gesture itself was cute, a mechanical light dwelled in her rainbow-colored eyes.

With a prickling sensation, Tooyama felt the air begin to change against his skin.

“Huh? You know Lazaar? No, he was riding in the same slave wagon as me…”

He stopped mid-sentence.

Looking at the elf’s expression, Tooyama clicked his tongue inwardly.

Damn it, I got too carried away.

If this woman was connected to those adventurers or that armored bastard, that would be very bad.

“…What is your relationship with that armored bastard and those people called adventurers?”

Tooyama switched his thinking. His delighted otaku face vanished as though it had been a lie.

Like snow falling at midnight and dyeing the surroundings white, the expression fell away from Tooyama’s face.

In windless stillness, quietly and unconsciously, he began spreading Kiriyaiba—

“…You know, you really were like this back then too, but your switch flips violently. It is as though there are two personalities inside one human. Well, the current wind is in no position to talk about others.”

Slurp. Contrary to her appearance, the elf rather boldly sipped her black tea as she spoke.

Snap. She snapped her long, slender fingers.

Wind whirled backward around her fingertips, and the white haze was wound up by that wind.

“…Seriously?”

The Kiriyaiba that had dissolved into the air vanished.

Tooyama had not released the relic. The mist gathered at the elf’s fingertips was wrapped in wind and scattered away.

“Kiriyaiba cannot kill the wind, Tooyama Naruhito. At least not with your current light Kiriyaiba.”

The elf smiled broadly. It was a chilling beauty. Cold sweat surfaced on Tooyama’s forehead.

“Do not become so murderous, Tooyama Naruhito. Rest assured. The wind is not particularly on friendly terms with that armored bastard you killed or the adventurers. It is just that I remembered.”

“…Remembered what?”

“The reason the wind won. And the reason the wind lost. Hmm. If so, then it truly does not add up. Lazaar-kun was a slave? And with you here now, that means… I feel that at that time, the wind met you not here, but on the upper floor… Hmm, hmm.”

“…I really don’t understand what you’re talking about. There are too many things only you know, and you have no intention of explaining them. But one thing is clear. You know me. Why?”

“Your face looks as though you want to say, ‘If you do not tell me, I will hurt you.’ Ah, Tooyama Naruhito. How like you. That cold, deranged expression… For the wind, that face is far more familiar.”

The air filled with something unpleasant.

The feeling of being accosted by rough explorers in a back alley of the explorer town, or when a monster species stared at him in Babel’s Great Pit as though sizing him up.

The cold air of conflict.

“…Let me ask one thing.”

Tooyama opened his mouth. From the exchange just now, he had confirmed that he could not dispose of her with Kiriyaiba.

If so, being hostile toward this elf right now was dangerous. One should not fight an opponent when one could not imagine how to kill them. Tooyama’s combat thinking reached that conclusion.

In an attempt to do something about this atmosphere, he made full use of what sense of humor he possessed—

“What is it?”

“That, uh, first-person pronoun of yours… Calling yourself ‘the wind’ is way too unique, isn’t it?”

“…Be quiet.”

The atmosphere grew even heavier. Unfortunately, Tooyama had no sense of humor capable of putting people at ease.

“Oops. Ah, Mars, I simply got excited because I met my old archenemy after so long. You and he are always doing outrageous things too, are you not? Do not be so angry.”

“…………”

No longer knowing what to do, Tooyama maintained a frightening face for now to preserve the mood.

“Oh my, hehe. That is the air of ‘the one with the baker,’ or perhaps, yes, ‘Crow Hunter.’ You have gained a good face, Tooyama Naruhito.”

She showed no sign of intending to answer his question. Still, it seemed the conversation would somehow continue.

“…But this makes even less sense. Hmm. If you and the wind are meeting here… Something is strange. Tell me, this is your first time meeting the wind, correct?”

“Didn’t you yourself just say something about this being both a first meeting and a reunion?”

The elf’s words were somewhat nonsensical. He forcibly held back the words, You’re the strange one here, from spilling out of his throat.

“Well, that is true. Hm? Hmm? Your clothing…? Why are you dressed in such shabby clothes? Where are your exploration clothes, handgun, and hammer?”

“Whoa. Why do you even know about my explorer tools? That’s creepy… They were gone. When I realized it, I was on a wagon dressed like this.”

“…Hmm, hmm. This is bad. The situation is clearly different from the wind’s time. It seems we cannot afford to take our time. Yes, I have decided. Tooyama Naruhito, you will escape from here immediately.”

“Even if you say it with that mood, it wouldn’t be any trouble if I could escape just like that.”

At Tooyama’s words, the elf answered by closing one eye.

She rose from the rocking chair and gave a long stretch.

Her gestures were cute. Just as Tooyama’s eyes were stolen by her again—

“K, ah, as I thought, the wind dislikes you.”

“Huh?”

Her rainbow-colored eyes were looking at Tooyama.

The elf placed a slender finger against her cherry-colored lips.

“O greedy deep mist that appeared in my fate, ‘Greedy Adventurer’ who moved the world forward while possessing the power to preserve it.”

Those words were spoken to Tooyama.

“Live according to your desires. There has not been a day when I forgot the dream of mine that you obstructed. Yet surely, that was for the best.”

It sounded like a grudge, and also like a blessing.

“…What are you—”

“You were trying to return from here, were you not? I am gradually remembering the flow after this. I believe you suddenly appeared in the Guild. However, the Return Seal possessed by the Hoarding Dragon cannot be used by you. You are not a life of this world, after all.”

“This world… I see, because it’s another world. So it’s that thing where only people from that world can use it.”

The preliminary knowledge Tooyama had cultivated by immersing himself in countless otherworld transfer and reincarnation entertainments gave him a flash of insight.

That armored bastard should have said something similar.

“Kuku, you truly are perceptive about this sort of thing. Ah, is that an ‘otaku skill’? The Guild crystal likely would not be able to view it.”

“Who’re you calling an otaku!! Wait, what is this? What did you do?”

It was wind.

Before he knew it, wind had stretched around Tooyama’s body. It was as though he had been surrounded from every direction by electric fans set to high—

“That switch of yours is frightening, I told you. Kuku. Ah, I will let you escape from here. The current you cannot climb this Tower yet. Live in the city. In that city you protect, the adventure city.”

“City…? Guild… I see. So there’s an organization that manages those people the same way the Explorers’ Guild does. Adventurers’ Guild… second rank… So adventurers are people who explore this Tower as a profession.”

His sharp intuition as an otaku brought Tooyama understanding.

“Ah, yes. You do not need explanations anymore. Well, it is that. Sorry, but please keep it secret that you met the wind here. Let us follow the flow as much as possible. Even if something has gone wrong, I would worry if the situation changed too much.”

“Secret? Actually, there’s way too much difference between what you and I know and don’t know.”

“…Yes, let us go in the same direction after all. I shall seal away your memories. Do not worry, there is no harm.”

Tooyama’s eyes widened at the elf as she said something dangerous.

“No, wait, wait, wait. That’s memory cleansing, right? That’s nothing but harmful. I’ve had that done to me by the Explorers’ Guild over and over, and my head’s gotten pretty damn messed up.”

“Eeh… What is that? That is frightening. Your side is frightening. As expected of the civilization that created Mars. …Kuku, well, anyway. Do your best, Greedy Adventurer.”

“No, wait. I still have tons of things I want to ask you.”

“Do not rush. In time, you and the wind will meet again. No, the wind at that time may still be the time of ‘me,’ but that is fine. Such things do not matter. …I am looking forward to it, Greedy Adventurer.”

“This wind, damn it, in front of me…”

Whoosh.

At last, the wind grew stronger. It was no longer on the level of an electric fan or anything like that.

Although the tent and hammock were not swaying at all, a gust was raging only around Tooyama’s body.

“Give my regards to the Guild people, the do-nothing lord, and those unpleasant dragons. Ah, also, you should be careful of anemia. Kuku, a dragon’s kept man and a vampire’s food. You have a hard time ahead of you.”

“Gh, oh.”

The wind caught his legs, and he nearly fell.

“Ah, also, Lazaar-kun. Give him my regards too. Now that I think about it, it is quite regrettable that I can no longer eat his bread.”

“Y-you, why do you even know something like that?!”

“Because I am a fan of your bakery. Well, it is unfortunate that I became unable to eat it midway through… You should be careful of the crows, all right?”

“Huh? Crows?”

“Then, until we meet again, Tooyama Naruhito.”

“You really make no damn sense—”

“I will trouble you, but I am counting on you. Please kill her properly. That foolish wind, according to your desires.”

“Wait, hey, Miss Elf!!”

“Kuku, see you again. No, that is wrong. This is goodbye from this wind. O heavy, deep mist that obstructed my fate. Man loved by a dragon, sinner who abducted a vampire, greedy and troublesome, and yet, splendid—”

The elf chose her words. As though twisting her head to wring out the appropriate words.

Then, suddenly, she raised her face and gave a fearless smile.

“Goodbye, and have a good journey. Damn adventurer.”

The wind blocked Tooyama’s vision.

“Wait, you damn elf!!”

A particularly loud sound of wind whirled, and then his feet floated—

The quest will progress by meeting the Tower-Class Adventurer “Wenfilbarna” while remembering the conversation with “Wenfilbarna Gilbasol Tusk.”

Letters danced in Tooyama’s vision, the long-eared woman waved her hand, and then his sight was swallowed by the wind and vanished.

………

……

…

In the camp where Tooyama was gone, the elf began drinking black tea again alone.

Gulp, gulp. Her throat sounded.

Ah, had her hands not been trembling?

Ah, had her voice not cracked?

Beneath her fluffy clothes, cold sweat was likely dampening the skin of her supple body.

“Phew… Ah, do not worry about it, Mars. I told you, did I not? He is a trauma for me.”

Holding her own shoulders, the elf sank into the rocking chair.

Even though she should have been warmed by the fire, click, click, her teeth would not fit together.

That man had frightened her. Once she was released from that, her relief instead loosened her guard.

“He is a terrifying human. At that time, the wind truly obtained the world. With the power of the ordinary people who once destroyed the world, I should have been able to reach a god—no, even an angel. I intended to destroy everything, return everything, obtain everything, preserve everything, and go back. But, you see, I could not defeat his desires.”

“He will proceed according to his desires. Until he destroys, with his own hands, the ending he does not like.”

“…No. But, yes, I wonder. Perhaps everything will not become the same. The Wind of Oblivion had far too little resistance. Kuku, perhaps the path has already begun to go astray.”

“Well, that is fine. The wind is the wind, and Wenfilbarna is Wenfilbarna. What choice she makes, and what he does with it, is the story of this time’s him and her.”

“…I will sleep a little, Mars. …I am a little tired. When I wake, let us leave soon. It would be bad if the current wind met the ‘me’ from that time.”

“He will have his story, she will have her story, and the winds will have their stories.”

“Now then, let us continue ‘survival.’”

Inside that camp, where the campfire crackled and popped, the silver-haired elf quietly, quietly continued staring at the fire, then quietly closed her eyes.