Interlude 3: Juushirou Yanagihara
“Dad, want to go to a hot spring sometime soon?”
“Hmm? A hot spring?”
I am Juushirou Yanagihara. I’m the president of Dragon Corporation, a major mobile phone operator.
We quickly capitalized on the Otherworld boom and significantly increased our subscribers, but I’m starting to think we need our next move.
A request from my daughter Kaede makes my cheeks soften unintentionally, but I compose myself and ask her what she means. This is the daughter who was missing for about five years after being sent to an Otherworld. I want to grant any request she makes, but my wife just got angry with me, saying there are limits.
“That’s right. Shuu-san apparently built a hot spring over there. He wants us to try it out and tell him what we think.”
“What!”
So, that means we can go to that world too. I’ll definitely have to force myself to take a vacation and go.
“Hey, let’s all go together.”
“You’re right. If it’s alright for us to impose, I’d love to… He built a hot spring…?”
I was listening to my daughter’s words casually, but thinking about it carefully, it’s strange. Can hot springs even be built? However, with Shuu-kun and the others, it might be possible. I’ve heard from Kaede that he’s a considerable magic user, but I only know vague things like him being able to produce fire or manipulate wind. Can he even create a hot spring?
“It’s amazing, right? I can use Earth Magic too, but I can’t build things like buildings.”
“O-Oh, I see.”
Come to think of it, my daughter can use it too. She never shows it in her daily life, so I’d completely forgotten. For now, it might be pointless to overthink things concerning Shuu-kun and his group. I decided to just accept it as it is and enjoy the hot spring.
And so, the day of the hot spring trip arrived.
How many years has it been since the entire Yanagihara family went on a trip together? The four of us imposing today are my daughter Kaede, my wife, and my father.
“Hey, it’s been a while.”
“It’s been a while.”
“Nice to meet you. You must be Shuu-kun. I’m Kaede’s mother, Akane. It’s a pleasure.”
“Hello, I’m Mizumoto Shuu.”
Come to think of it, was this the first time Shuu-kun and my wife met? She was recently discharged from the hospital and has finally been able to move around, and she’d been saying she wanted to thank him for a long time. My wife kept expressing her gratitude, but since the conversation wasn’t progressing and Rio-san was also over there, I had her cut the thanks short for later.
We arrived at the apartment building I’m lending to Shuu-kun and his group. I wondered how they would take us, but as expected, they said we’d go from here using that magic of theirs.
“Please keep the method of travel between here and there a secret, okay?”
“Of course.”
I readily agreed to Shuu-kun’s request. Even if I told someone, they likely wouldn’t believe me, so there’s no particular problem. In fact, Shuu-kun himself has already uploaded videos that could only have been filmed in the Otherworld, so it feels a bit late for that anyway.
“Well then, let’s go.”
When I timidly passed through the Dimensional Rift Shuu-kun had created, I found myself in a place that could be called the entrance of a hot spring inn. There was someone who looked like staff at the counter, but there didn’t seem to be any other guests in the lobby.
“It’s been a while.”
“Welcome.”
“Welcome!”
The ones who greeted us were Rio-san, Elvirinos-san, and Phonia-chan, in that order. My, Elvirinos-san’s Japanese Language has gotten really good.
Ivan-kun was there too and gave a slight bow.
“Shuu-kun, did you build this place?”
“Yes, Rio and I built the building together.”
“Haha, that’s incredible…”
I looked around again, but it just looked like a regular, slightly upscale hot spring inn.
“You must be Phonia-chan.”
“Y-Yes.”
My wife, looking restless, immediately started talking to Phonia-chan. She’d heard about her from us and had been saying for a long time that she wanted to meet her. I’m glad her wish came true.
“By the way, Shuu-kun.”
“Yes?”
“Does this place have Wi-Fi too?”
“Yes, it does.”
“Haha, as expected of you.”
Normally, a network environment wouldn’t exist in this world, but when I contact Shuu-kun, I get a reply without much delay. I’d heard he set up the environment, but if it’s even fully equipped in a hot spring inn, I have no choice but to try it out immediately.
“Actually, I brought a translation device. If you have any staff there who don’t understand Japanese Language, would you mind having them try it?”
“Eh, seriously!?”
“Yeah.”
Being able to surprise Shuu-kun like this makes me feel happy, unbecoming of my age.
The translation device is a type worn on one ear, but there are several kinds, like ones that hook over the ear or earpiece types. It works by picking up surrounding sounds, translating them via the internet on a server, and then delivering them as audio to the ear.
We just added Brinks Language as a new language to an existing service, so it didn’t take that much effort.
“Then, I’ll have them try it right away.”
When I briefly explained how to use it, several people who looked like staff, wearing matching traditional Japanese attire, gathered from somewhere. There were various types: some who looked no different from us, some with dark skin and pointed ears, and some with ears on top of their heads.
We’ve gotten used to seeing foreigners wear traditional Japanese clothes in Japan, but this looks like it could start a new trend.
Still, ears on top of their heads, huh…
This presents a challenge. Ear shapes vary, and we might need to consider hardware for the translation device that suits different races.
“…Is it alright not to give one to her?”
Shuu-kun had a bit of an argument with a dark-skinned woman with pointed ears and ended up not giving her a translator, so I got curious and asked. Beastmen aside, I thought an earpiece type wouldn’t be a problem even for races with long ears.
“She can’t speak Brinks Language.”
“Oh?”
Not being able to speak Brinks Language means she’s from a different language group, then. That makes sense; Earth has various languages, so it wouldn’t be strange for an Otherworld to have multiple languages too.
“Ah, but I wonder if she can talk with Kaede-san?”
“Hmm.”
Come to think of it, I heard from my daughter that she could talk with them from the beginning without consciously trying.
“A-Anyway, we shouldn’t just stand here talking, so I’ll guide you to your rooms first.”
After clearing his throat and changing the subject, Shuu-kun said so and started walking ahead.
He’s certainly right.
We came here to enjoy the hot springs, not to work. I’ll discuss the new language thoroughly later, with Kaede joining us.