Chapter 277: A New Force?
“It seems like it will take a little longer before we can open a Dimensional Rift.”
Having escaped without incident, we found ourselves standing atop the Castle Wall. Since we had completed our task, we couldn’t just return immediately. Crossing worlds wasn’t something that could be done consecutively without a break.
“What are we going to do to pass the time?”
“Even if we go out into the city, all we’ll get is screams and people running away,” Ivan replied.
As Ivan pointed out, we had a bit of time before Rio’s Magic Power would recover. Was there anything else we could do in this world? As I looked around at the others to see if anyone had something in mind, El was tilting her head in confusion.
“What’s wrong, El?”
“Well, about those Majin Tribe members? I couldn’t understand a word they were saying… Even Ivan, who was talking to them, seemed lost.”
“Is that so?”
I exchanged glances with Ivan, who claimed he wasn’t consciously switching his speech patterns.
“I’m not doing it on purpose either.”
“Me neither.”
“Could it be a blessing from the gods or something?”
I nodded lightly at El’s words, only to be met with a pout as she muttered “That’s unfair.” However, there was nothing I could do about it, so I suggested she just accept it.
“Then how about this?”
I spoke to the Majin Tribe, trying to engage them directly, but they just tilted their heads in confusion.
“What? Is that… the language of the Majin Tribe? I can’t understand a thing.”
“Ah, I see… Then how about this?”
This time, Rio addressed El. Since she was aware of the language, she recognized that the latter part of Rio’s sentence was in Japanese.
“I understood up to ‘I see,’ but I don’t get the rest. It seems like the language structure is different from before…”
“That was Japanese.”
“The fact that you don’t understand means that when we go to Kaede-san’s world, we won’t be able to communicate.”
“Wha… what?!”
El froze, her expression one of shock.
“I was looking forward to experiencing a new culture…”
She crumpled to her knees, placing her hands on the ground in despair.
“Did you really have that kind of hobby?”
“…After living this long, there’s hardly anything new to experience anywhere.”
“Is that how it is?”
Phonia, not fully grasping the situation, patted El’s slumped shoulders. She nodded with a smug expression, but whether she was being sympathetic or not was unclear. Still, she was cute, so it was fine.
“Well, if that’s the case, let’s head into the city. Standing around here is just boring.”
At my suggestion, El lifted her head.
“We could just cry and run away, you know.”
“You mentioned that earlier, but what does it mean? Aren’t the Majin Tribe supposed to have high Status?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
I had no idea why they would be fleeing from the Subterraneans, nor did I particularly care to find out. If they were going to run away, that would actually work in our favor.
“Then let’s get going.”
With that, we all descended from the Castle Wall and made our way into the city.
The moment we stepped onto the Main Street, just like last time, we were met with loud screams, and everyone around us vanished in an instant.
“—Huh?”
El looked around in bewilderment, but this was reality, so there was no helping it. She probably hadn’t expected it to be this extreme.
“Since we can’t communicate anyway, it doesn’t matter if the Majin Tribe is here or not, right?”
“There’s no way that’s true! There’s an atmosphere and all sorts of things!”
As I offered what I hoped would be comforting words, Ivan shot back with a retort. I suppose he had a point. However, I had no intention of acting as a translator for El.
“Since no one is around, let’s check out some shops.”
The restaurants were in disarray, with overturned tables and remnants of meals scattered about, likely from customers fleeing in a panic.
“The food here wasn’t very good anyway,” Phonia grumbled as she glanced at the mess.
“Also, it seems that things that are poisonous to us can be eaten by the Majin Tribe without issue.”
“That’s true. So let’s focus on things other than food.”
We browsed through the abandoned general stores and clothing shops, but nothing particularly interesting caught our eye. Perhaps due to their large size, the Majin Tribe seemed to have clumsy craftsmanship. We even entered a weapon shop, but it only had oversized items on display.
“I wish there were some Magic Tools around…”
“There’s nothing interesting here.”
It appeared that not only their cuisine but their entire culture had not developed much beyond basic necessities.
“Hmm. There’s not much point in staying here any longer. Should we head back?”
“Yeah, we should—”
Just as I was starting to feel bored while wandering the Main Street, I sensed something approaching from an alleyway. Without slowing down, I dashed into the Main Street, glancing back to see what was coming. It was unmistakably a member of the Majin Tribe.
“Damn it, if they keep running—”
The Majin Tribe member, who had been facing away, caught sight of us and froze for a moment. It seemed they quickly decided what to do next and charged straight at us.
“I can’t believe they anticipated us!”
“But having fewer of them increases our chances! You guys, get out of the way!”
As two Majin Tribe members gathered their Magic Power, those who had been pursuing them finally revealed themselves.
“Don’t run away!”
Emerging in a group of about ten were small, humanoid figures—normal-sized humans. They lined up in a row on the Main Street, kneeling on one knee, pointing their large firearms at the Majin Tribe.