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A Gateway to Home – Part 02

The girl reclined on the bed, remaining motionless for a while.

“Ahh…!”

An odd sound escaped her lips. She couldn’t show this side of her to anyone, certainly not to her attendants who saw to her every need.

Kujastria, the newly crowned queen of the Kingdom of Ponsonia, found herself drained from her daily responsibilities. Who said that she only needed to be a figurehead and that she could just sit around as others did her work for her? Decrees that could only be approved by the ruler arrived daily, each one requiring her to personally write her name. As such, she had to scrutinize each thick set of documents for any odd wording. More often than not, she encountered several errors, reminding her that the seemingly impeccable bureaucrats were also humans, prone to making mistakes.

Kujastria flailed her limbs on the bed, doing so silently.

In recent days, she had been unable to indulge in her hobbies—research into the formula for the spell for crossing worlds, nor her thought experiments. She had obtained preliminary results, and the only thing left to do now was perform actual experiments, but it didn’t look like that would be possible any time soon.

“You seem tired.”

Kujastria abruptly sat up, her gaze falling upon a boy donning a black cloak and a silver mask.

“Silver Face… D-Did you see—”

“I just arrived. The secret passage is as dirty as always. Oh, were you sleeping? Sorry if I woke you up.”

“…”

“…”

“If you have just arrived, then that’s fine.”

Silver Face stroke his chest in relief, and Kujastria believed his words.

Her attention drifted to his back—to the bag he was carrying.

“Silver Face, is that—”

“Yeah. I got you the elemental magic stone. You needed one with a diameter of about twenty centimeters, correct?”

Silver Face opened the bag and took out a red elemental magic stone.

Kujastria gasped. She had not expected him to bring one so quickly. This single stone alone was probably worth several million gilans, or perhaps even exceed ten million. But this did not bring her joy.

“What’s wrong?”

“I must apologize to you, Silver Face. I did request a high-output elemental magic stone, one with a diameter of at least twenty centimeters.”

“Does it have something to do with the attribute?”

“No, the attribute does not matter. What matters is the instantaneous release of high-intensity magical energy, making elemental magic stones ideal. However, bridging worlds require an immense amount of power.”

“I see… Roland didn’t seem to have executed such powerful sorcery, though.”

“Indeed. In his case, he converted an individuals’ soul into mana through a Soul Drainer. Converted to an elemental magic stone, it would be the size of a fist.”

“And that’s why only his soul could travel to a different world.”

“You catch on fast.”

Kujastria marveled at Silver Face’s swift comprehension. It was clear he was familiar with Roland’s research.

“My modified spell allows one to physically cross one world to another, not just their soul. However, it demands a tremendous amount of magical power. Let’s see… a stone twenty centimeters in diameter can open a portal about fifty centimeters to a meter in diamater for one second at most.”

“I see. You apologized because this elemental magic stone can only be used for a limited experimental demonstration.”

“Precisely…”

“In that case, there’s no need to worry.”

“Pardon?”

Silver Face placed the elemental magic stone on a nearby table and set a bag next to it, one that clearly contained something much heavier.

“How long can you bridge worlds with this?”

From the bag emerged a yellow, cylindrical elemental magic stone with a diameter of approximately forty centimeters.

---

Hikaru had been hiding in the room long before he made his presence known to Kujastria.

Although he initially hesitated to approach when she was exhausted, he reconsidered, believing that rushing her might actually lift her spirits. He deemed it best to pretend like he didn’t witness her whining and flailing about.

As expected, Kujastria froze upon seeing the yellow, earth elemental magic stone that Hikaru presented. Hikaru himself had a similar initial reaction.

Pond’s Adventurers’ Guild had received these two elemental magic stones. The sender was Gerhardt Vatex Anchor. Alongside the stones was a note that read, “Thanks for looking after my deputy.”

According to Jillarte’s accompanying letter, following the incident, an unsatisfied Gerhardt shut himself in the Maze of Magic Locks. He took down a gigantic monster that appeared only once every ten days, the kind that had never been seen before—Hikaru didn’t have the details—and acquired a fire elemental magic stone.

He then swiftly completed the door trial and obtained this earth elemental magic stone.

Fascinated about the adventurer who saved Jillarte, Gerhardt located Hikaru’s base of operations through the Adventurers’ Guild and sent the stones. The inclusion of the fire elemental magic stone was a bonus.

Thanks to this, Hikaru easily passed Unken’s graduation exam, which required earning 100,000 gilans in a dungeon.

“You just always exceed expectations,” Unken had praised with a hint of disbelief.

“Silver Face, can I have these two elemental magic stones?” asked Kujastria, snapping back to her senses.

“Of course.”

“I don’t have much money to spare…”

“Don’t worry about it. Consider this repayment for what I owe you. Besides, it’s a small price to pay to fulfill Roland’s dream.”

“I understand… Then, let’s test it at once.”

“Wait, now?”

“Yes. Tomorrow, I have to leave the capital and visit the provinces for thirteen days. It would be best to proceed tonight. At the very least, let us conduct an experiment using this elemental magic stone here.”

Kujastria gestured toward the fire elemental magic stone, capable of connecting worlds for a single second.

“…All right.”

The possibility of returning to his home world—Japan—had been on Hikaru’s mind since hearing Kujastria’s explanation. However, he had not expected it to become reality so quickly—or rather, he had deliberately avoided dwelling on it. Hence, he was a little flustered.

Kujastria retrieved a large sheet of paper marked with magic formulas from the drawer and arranged it on the table alongside catalysts.

Using Mana Detection, Hikaru confirmed the absence of any humans in the vicinity. There was only a royal knight about twenty meters away in the corridor. With all the curtains in the room drawn, an activity within would not be immediately noticeable.

But was this all right? Connecting this room to Japan?

“It’s ready. Please bring the elemental magic stones here.”

Preparations were swiftly completed. With the intricate magic formula in place, the rest would be a breeze.

Geometrical shapes were etched as circuits in concentric circles. Magic catalysts such as elemental stones and Soul Drainers were placed on the outermost circle, alongside vials containing earth, water, fire, and air.

The magic circuit was emitting a faint glow.

“Impressive,” Hikaru said. “It’s not much different from Roland’s magic circuit, but the fundamental approach is completely different.”

A glance at the runes and Hikaru could tell how well thought-out it was. Whereas Roland sought to connect worlds through the strong bond of souls, Kujastria was trying to forcefully breach the boundary by directly channeling magical power into another world.

One could argue that Kujastria’s method was viable precisely because the existence of another world had been proven by Roland.

It was akin to swinging a stick with absolute certainty that a watermelon lay in its path. Were there no other worlds—Hikaru’s world—the magical energy would simply dissipate into thin air.

“Right here,” Hikaru said.

“Yes,” Kujastria replied.

As Hikaru placed the fire elemental magic stone at the center of the paper, the circuit emitted a dazzling light. With one final stroke, the spell would be activated.

Kujastria’s hands, holding an inkwell infused with catalysts, were trembling.

“Are you all right?” Hikaru asked.

“S-Sorry… I have been eagerly anticipating this moment, but now that it’s here, I feel confused.”

Until recently, she was Princess Kujastria, and now, as Queen Kujastria, this spell for crossing worlds offered her solace—a refuge where she could momentarily forget her status.

For Hikaru, the spell for crossing worlds held an entirely different and profound significance.

She, too, was determined to move forward.

Why am I hesitating?

Hikaru extended his hand.

“Even if we fail, we can laugh it off and use it as a lesson for the next attempt. I’m sure that’s what Roland would say.”

Hikaru placed his hand on the quill pen that Kujastria held and dipped it into the inkwell.

“Let’s do it. Let us show him how one can cross worlds using the new method you’ve conceived.”

“Okay,” Kujastria agreed.

Hikaru and Kujastria added the final stroke to the formula.