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Imminent Choices and Unexpected Reunion – Part 02

“We did. So you’re also Japanese.”

“Yup!”

With no other members of the Four Eastern Stars around, Serika, out on her own, approached Hikaru and took a seat across from him without asking.

Her expensive-looking white robe was worked with vermillion fabric. Hikaru’s Mana Detection skill revealed intricate magical energy imbued within the robe. Gear with such enchantments were incredibly pricey, which suggested that the Four Eastern Stars earned quite a lot.

Her black hair fashioned into pigtails, Serika regarded Hikaru with an assertive gaze, a gaze that held a glimmer of relief for finding a fellow countryman.

“Wait a sec. Did you say ‘also’?! You knew about me?! Why didn’t you reach out earlier?! I announce my name publicly so that if there were fellow Japanese people out there, they would get in touch.”

“I see. I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to initiate contact with someone famous. Plus, it hasn’t been long since I arrived here.”

“Is that so? What’s your name then? Mine’s Serika. I guess you already know that. My full name is Serika Tanoue. Yours is… Hikaru? Your face does kind of look like a ‘Hikaru.'”

What sort of face is a ‘Hikaru’ face?

“So where are you from? Are we around the same age? What do you think?”

Serika bombarded him with all sorts of information, and Hikaru listened with interest. Perhaps she was thirsting for conversation with another Japanese person. She was far more homesick for Japan than him.

As Hikaru disclosed his hometown, Serika’s jaw dropped. “You’re from the next town over.”

Hikaru grew up in a typical Japanese town. Reasonably convenient but lacking any remarkable features. It had train service, although many still relied on cars.

“I lived in…”

The place Serika mentioned was undoubtedly only a train station away from Hikaru’s town.

“…”

“…”

They stared at each other in silence.

“When did you arrive here?”

“How did you end up in this world?”

Hikaru openly recounted how, following his death, his soul was transferred into a body in this world, and he woke up in the satellite town of Pond. He glossed over the specifics, such as Roland’s existence and his involvement in a proxy murder.

Meanwhile, Serika arrived in this world a year before Hikaru. She was walking along the highway after school hours, when a tanker, the driver having fallen asleep on the wheel, careened toward her. She narrowly avoided the collision. Unfortunately, the tanker crashed into a nearby forest park. The tank ruptured, spilling large amounts of gasoline, which ignited and caused a fiery explosion. Serika thought she died, but when she regained consciousness, she found herself in a forest in this world.

Serika laughed. “I remember thinking, ‘Misfortune really has it in for me.'”

“Indeed. Tankers are supposed to be well-maintained to prevent leakage of their cargo. Two unfortunate factors were involved in your case: a mix of drowsy driving and poor maintenance.”

“You sound sure about the poor maintenance part.”

“Well, it did make the news.”

“What?! Seriously?!”

As Serika recounted her experience, a memory resurfaced in Hikaru’s mind.

About a year before Hikaru’s arrival in this world, a huge explosion caused by a tanker truck had rocked the neighboring town. Fortunately, apart from the driver, there were no casualties, so it wasn’t covered much afterwards. The truck was subsequently examined, revealing faulty maintenance.

“I’m pretty sure I’m dead.”

“You were transported here, so I don’t think that’s the case.”

“Ah, right. So I’m classified as a missing person.”

“Most likely. By the way, were you able to bring clothes and belongings with you?”

Serika nodded, producing a glass figurine from her pocket. Transparent and blue, it was shaped like a dog, though the paint denoting its eyes and ears was peeling off.

“This used to be part of a strap. It was attached to my school bag, a sort of lucky charm. It actually resembles my pet dog Ryutarou back home, so I keep it around with me.”

“What about other possessions?”

Serika shook her head. Despite her talkative and animated nature, she appeared reluctant to reveal much. Hikaru discreetly checked her Soul Board.

【Soul Board】Serika Tanoue
Age: 17 | Rank: 104 | 29

【Vitality】
【Natural Recovery】4
【Stamina】4
【Immunity】
【Magic Resistance】5 (MAX)
【Disease Immunity】1
【Toxin Immunity】3

【Magical Power】
【Mana Capacity】19
【Elemental Affinity】
【Fire】5
【Air】5
【Earth】5
【Water】5
【Elemental’s Affection】3
【Magic Principle】0
【Spell Creation】2

【Dexterity】
【Tool Mastery】
【Medical Apparatus】3

Her Soul Board was as extraordinary as he last saw it. Hikaru had not seen anyone else with a three-digit Soul Rank. Upon closer examination, she even had Toxin Immunity. She was transported to a forest, and this world’s forests were inhabited by monsters.

She must have gone through a lot…

She should have been wearing her school uniform and had her school bag with her. She must have endured conditions so harsh that all she was left with was the fragment of a single strap.

“This thing is the only link I have to my world. Meeting you is a huge relief,” Serika said joyfully.

A tinge of guilt crept into Hikaru’s mind. He had been avoiding Serika. If he had known how much this encounter meant to her…

“I should’ve reached out to you earlier,” he said.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. Communication in this world is not easy. Simply finding another Japanese person here is huge. Besides, you died in Japan before coming here, right? I might have had it rough for a while, but so did you.”

“There are two things I’ve learned from our conversation.”

“Huh? Where’d this come from?”

“First, there’s minimal time slippage between this world and that of ours.”

Taking into account Selica’s time spent in this world after her accident and Hikaru’s memories of the tanker incident, their timelines likely matched up. Any discrepancies were probably negligible.

“Second—”

“Wait, you don’t need to spell it out. I get it,” Serika said confidently. “The key is the truck!”

Hikaru blinked in confusion. “…What?”

“Seriously? You look smart, but you can’t grasp something this simple? The common thread between us is the truck accident!”

Should he correct this misunderstanding? Hikaru weighed the decision seriously.

The cause of Hikaru’s death was unrelated to the subsequent transfer of his soul. Serika didn’t die from colliding with a tanker either. She got caught in an explosion, and the force sent her here.

On the flip side, it’s evidence that traveling from Japan to this world is possible. But the circumstances are very difficult to reproduce.

He couldn’t orchestrate a massive gasoline explosion for experimental purposes.

“Um, Serika. Let’s continue the discussion. What I want to talk about is the arrival coordinates.”

“…Coordinates?”

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that you and I lived in neighboring towns and both ended up in Ponsonia. The continent is huge, but we both wound up in the same kingdom, and not too far from the capital.”

Still there were questions. What exactly were these coordinates? Earth rotated on its axis and orbited the sun. Unable to confirm movement of this world’s planet, ascertaining its coordinates seemed impossible.

“Hmm…” Serika crossed her arms, wearing a pensive look. Then, she gave a start. “That’s right!”

“Did something come to mind?”

“I’m supposed to meet Selyse! I’m already late.”

“Oh… okay.”

That’s what she meant, Hikaru thought incredulously.

“Let’s have a chat again sometime,” Serika said as she stood up. “I’m glad just being able to converse in Japanese. I thought I’d never get to use the language ever again.”

“Um… this is just a hypothetical question, but if there was a way for you to go back to Japan, what would you do?” Hikaru asked as she turned to leave. “Let’s say you could never come back here again.”

He was thinking about the spell for crossing worlds.

Serika froze. She didn’t turn to face him. “I don’t want to hear about impossible hypotheticals.”

Her voice was icy, Hikaru noted.