Chapter 242: The Other World
Before I knew it, I found myself in a dimly lit place. Looking up, I couldn’t see the hole we fell through; all I could see was the rough, rocky ceiling. It seemed like we were in a corridor, as there appeared to be paths leading both forward and backward.
“Ow, that hurt… What was that…?”
I heard Ivan’s voice coming from behind me.
“That was a surprise…”
Phonia sounded lively as well.
“Wafu?”
When I turned to look at Nil, I noticed Rio was still lying on the ground, not moving an inch.
“Rio!?”
I rushed over and gently lifted her up, casting a quick appraisal spell. Her MP was barely in double digits.
“Are you okay, big sister…?”
Phonia looked up at me with concern, and I smiled as I patted her head.
“Yeah, she seems fine. It looks like she just overused her Dimensional Magic.”
Her status was listed as ‘Normal,’ so I didn’t think there was any cause for alarm. She must have fainted from the sudden depletion of her MP.
“But what just happened?”
“It looked like a woman appeared out of nowhere.”
“She mentioned something about it being boring if we just went back, right?”
“That sounds familiar…”
As I talked with Ivan, fragments of memory began to resurface. The goddess had said something about it being interesting, and there were three of them, interfering with Dimensional Magic in a way that was beyond ordinary comprehension.
“Could that woman we saw earlier be the goddess the deity mentioned…?”
“Seriously? She said something about sending us over there, but is this ‘over there’?”
Ivan looked around, but it was clear he had no idea where we were, letting out a heavy sigh.
“Hmm…”
While we were talking, a small voice escaped from Rio. It seemed she was regaining consciousness, which was a relief.
“Good morning.”
“Mm, Shuu… good morning…”
She opened her eyes slightly, glancing around in confusion, tilting her head as if the scenery was unfamiliar.
“How do you feel?”
“Ah, well, I’m a bit sluggish, but I’m okay.”
Slowly, she stood up. Though she wobbled a bit, she managed to stand firmly on her two feet. After confirming that everyone was present, she turned around and spoke again.
“Where is this place?”
“I have no idea.”
“…Right. I felt like something interrupted us, and we definitely haven’t returned to our intended world.”
“Something did interrupt us… I think that was the goddess the deity mentioned.”
“The goddess who resides in the Temple?”
Phonia tilted her head in confusion as well.
Now that I think about it, the goddess was worshipped in temples across various regions. The Marriage Ceremony with Rio was held in a temple too, but could she be the same goddess who interrupted us? If I recall correctly, the goddess worshipped in the temple was one of three sisters. Was it just a coincidence, or was there more to it…?
“For now, let’s move. There might be a way out over there.”
Despite being in a dim cave-like area, I noticed light seeping from ahead.
“Sounds good. Let’s check it out.”
And so, we began to move.
It turned out to be a simple hole in a cliff, and we managed to exit without any issues. There were sparse trees making the terrain a bit tricky, but a path devoid of underbrush, resembling a beast trail, continued ahead.
“Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve seen plants…”
“Now that you mention it, we didn’t see any in the world with the Majin Tribe.”
As I reminisced about the world we had just left, we reached the top of a hill. Below us lay a familiar cityscape.
“‘Huh?’”
Rio and I froze in unison at the sight before us.
“Oh, this city looks like—”
“—the one over there—”
I could hear Ivan and Phonia talking, but their words didn’t register.
What filled my vision was the city of this world. Tall buildings lined the streets, which stretched endlessly in a grid pattern. I could see people walking, riding bicycles, and cars bustling about. Road signs and traffic lights were everywhere, and there were even elevated highways and buildings adorned with LED signs scattered throughout. Looking up, I spotted an airplane flying by, leaving behind slender clouds.
“W-What…?”
“Are we… back in Japan…?”
Yes, it looked just like the city I had lived in before being summoned.
“Rio. If this is Japan, do you recognize where we are?”
Rio shook her head, indicating she didn’t recognize it either. Since we attended the same high school, her knowledge of the area was likely similar to mine. But it wasn’t certain that this was the Japan we originally came from…
“Ah…”
At that moment, I remembered something important. What did the deity say when I was first summoned? That my soul was a copy, and the original me was living happily in Japan…
I instinctively looked at my hands and touched my body. Thank goodness. I was still alive.
The deity had mentioned that if our souls merged, I would cease to exist, but when would that happen? Would it be when I met myself? Or when I touched myself? …Or was it only if the deity forcibly merged us? I couldn’t recall, but either way, there was no guarantee that I would be safe if I encountered my original self.
“Did we manage to come back…? Mom! Dad!”
Overwhelmed by the familiar scenery, Rio shouted and dashed down the hill.
“Hey, wait!”
“Big sister!?”
Ivan and Phonia called out to her, but it seemed she couldn’t hear them as she grew smaller in the distance.
As for me, the thought of merging souls and potentially disappearing paralyzed me, leaving me unable to move from that spot.