Chapter 79

“I’m happy to see you again, Takumi-san.”

“Yeah, I’m also glad to talk to Mars-kun.”

However, he’s lost his ‘Demon King’ abilities because he transferred most of his power to me.”

Additionally, when he was on the brink of death and somehow managed to survive, he transformed into this youthful appearance and lost all his memories. Now, only Gazelle, Felix, and I in this country know that he was once the “Demon King.” Maybe one day Mars-kun will regain his memories, but…

Given his sentiments, I feel like I should return to my original world… I myself have lingering attachments to it. Things like unreturned DVDs, or the final volume of a manga series that should be released next week, or the fact that I couldn’t say goodbye to my family. When I think about those things, I feel like I should return. But… even though I have the magical power, I don’t know the way back!

Moreover, it seems like I need a reverse version of the summoning ceremony, a “return ceremony,” to return to my original world… but I don’t know how to perform that ceremony!

In a certain game, the return ceremony had been lost in Ritzheim and was accidentally discovered by the protagonist in an ancient ruin in the neighboring country. When visiting the ruins in search of how to create potions and elixirs, they find a worn-out magic circle written there.

To execute the return ceremony, a special magic circle and a large amount of magical energy are required. The protagonist was able to return to his original world by borrowing a little magical power from everyone around him… but I don’t even know how to obtain that special magic circle.

I’ve never even traveled abroad in my original world, so I don’t think I can go to a neighboring country… even just leaving Ritzheim city is too high of a hurdle!

Gazelle and Felix told me, “We’ll look into the return ceremony as much as we can, but don’t expect too much. Even if you can’t return, we’ll always be with you, so you won’t feel lonely,” and “Since the summoning ceremony is within the Ritzheim royal family, we will investigate as much as we can, but it’s unlikely that we’ll find the result you’re hoping for. Rest assured, we’ll always be by your side,” to encourage me, but…

Ah, I feel bad making those two busy people go out of their way for me. 

“Takumi-san?”

“Ah, sorry, I was spacing out.”

While sitting on a chair in the shop, Mars peeked into my face.

Seems like I got lost in thought.

Regaining my composure, I smiled at Mars.

“Anyway, it seems like your sister is busy today. If needed, we can reschedule,” I whispered to Mars.

Normally, the alchemist’s bespectacled shop clerk would greet me, but today she hasn’t come over yet. She’s busy serving another customer at the counter.

Since I entered the shop, she’s been talking to that customer for more than ten minutes. And from what I can see, the customer is still asking her various questions. At this rate, it will take a while.

“Hmm… Actually, it seems like that person is not here to genuinely buy our products,” Mars said, tilting his head.

“Don’t play dumb! I know everything!”

A shrill voice echoed in the shop.

When I looked, the bespectacled shop clerk at the counter was trying to appease the customer in front of her. But, the customer seemed upset. Mars and I looked in the direction of the voice.

All I could see was her back, but she seemed to be a young girl with brown hair cut to her shoulders. Judging by her strong voice, she might be in her early teens.

“Shall we go see what’s happening, Mars-kun?”

As I stood up from my chair, I headed toward the counter where the bespectacled shop clerk and the customer were. “Sorry to interrupt, but what is going on–“

“I get it!!! I understand it all, you know!”

The girl interrupted me, raising her voice.

“You’re the one, aren’t you?!?!?! The one who’s been messing up this ‘Change the World’ world!”

At those words, I froze.

The brown-haired girl didn’t seem to notice Mars and me, and was accusing the almost-teary-eyed shop clerk.

“Um, I’ve been explaining from the beginning, it’s a misunderstanding… I don’t even know what ‘Change the World’ is…”

“Hmph, playing dumb is pointless!”

Raising her eyebrows into an inverted “V” shape, the puzzled, glasses-wearing shop assistant faced the girl, who snorted confidently through her nose.

The girl in question looked about 150 cm tall. With a slender face and almond-shaped eyes, she appeared quite cute.

Her attire consisted of an unbleached shirt, a vest, and a vermilion knee-length skirt. She held an overcoat in her hands. Although her clothes were made by Ritzheim, her facial features and skin tone clearly indicated she wasn’t from the magical kingdom of Ritzheim.

Upon closer inspection, what I had initially thought to be brown hair and eyes were actually the same black as mine. Due to her naturally light pigmentation, her hair and eyes looked lighter in the sunlight, giving the impression that they were brown.

In other words, she was Japanese, a nationality supposedly nonexistent in this country except for me.

“I’ve already figured it out, you know! That you’ve transferred here from another world, just like me!” The Japanese-looking girl confidently pointed her index finger at the glasses-wearing shop assistant yet again.

…Strangely enough, not at me, but at the shop assistant.

“Hey, you…?”

“Oh? But your skin and facial features look like someone from this country. So, you’re not a ‘transmigrator’, but a possessor, perhaps? Either way, it doesn’t matter.”

Despite my attempt to join the conversation, the girl continued to chatter without listening.

In fact, she still seemed unaware of my presence.

“A ‘transmigrator’? Wh-What do you mean?”

“That’s right! You and I are both from Japan, and we’ve come to this world, haven’t we?”

“I-I’m sorry, but I really have no idea what you’re talking about. Also, I was born and raised in Ritzheim city, you know…?”

“Hmph, still pretending, I see. But can you continue to feign ignorance after seeing this?”

The glasses-wearing shop assistant wasn’t pretending. She truly was a native of Ritzheim city. 

Ignoring her, the girl slowly pulled something out from the purse hanging from her shoulder. It was a small glass bottle.

“Didn’t you make this potion first in the Ritzheim magical kingdom?” The girl thrust the bottle in front of the shop assistant.

The liquid inside swayed gently—something anyone here would recognize.

“‘Potion?'”

“Yes! This potion cannot be made in the Ritzheim magical kingdom. Even its mere existence has been lost in this country. So to obtain this potion formula through legal means, one would have to visit ancient ruins in a neighboring country!”

…I’ve started to understand what this girl is trying to say, and the misunderstanding she’s under.

“But I heard that the Black-winged knights, who should’ve never been to neighboring ruins, have discovered how to make this potion. …That means! Someone with knowledge from the game world tripped here before me and told the Black-winged knights how to make it!” The girl widened her eyes, staring intently at the shop assistant.

Seeing that, Mars pulled at the hem of my clothes. When I crouched down, he whispered to me with a grimace, “Could this person be a drug addict, Takumi-san? The words she’s saying are…”

“I, I don’t think that’s the case,” I replied.

He then said, “I’ll go call someone for now. Takumi-san, could you please take care of my sister? If anything happens, I think you’ll be able to calm that person down.”

“…Understood. I’ll try to calm her down.”

Mars nodded at me and discreetly left the scene, heading towards the door of the shop. As for the girl, she seemed to not notice that Mars had left. In fact, it’s questionable whether she had even been aware of his presence. The girl was becoming increasingly heated, confronting the bespectacled shop clerk.

“That’s why I thought it was suspicious and had it investigated! Who told the Black-winged knights the manufacturing methods for potions and elixirs…?! And when I did, all of these were prototypes made in this perfume shop! I also heard that this shop is currently supplying potions to the Knights!”

“Well, it’s true that I was involved in the production of prototypes… but we’re not the only ones supplying potions to the Knights, you know?”

“So you are indeed the person who first made the potions! That means you must be a person from another world, like me. You used your knowledge of the game to sell it to this country’s Black-winged knights!!!”

“I just did the mixing and alchemy as asked by the members of the Black-winged knights. I didn’t actually develop the potions.”

“Nobody in the knight order knows how to make potions! Because those don’t even exist in this country anymore!”

The bespectacled shop clerk on the verge of tears is being barraged by the girl’s tirade.

“Why is it only you… it’s not fair! I finally get to come to ‘Change the World,’ and potions have already been developed and are even being sold to the public in the capital!?!? Not only that, but now that monster incidents have died down, they’re even thinking about farming monsters just for potion materials!?!?! I mean, it’s good that the country is peaceful, but that’s beside the point!?!?!”

“Th-Thank you…?”

The bespectacled shop clerk muttered her thanks, clearly bewildered.

…Maybe it’s about time I intervene. That girl also seems to be increasingly losing track of what she’s saying.”

“Hey, you there.”

I tapped the girl’s shoulder with a somewhat assertive tone.

The girl turned around in surprise, apparently not having noticed me until now.

“Uh… who are you?”

“I’m a member of the Black-winged knights. My name is Takumi.”

“Y-You’re from the Black-winged knights…!!”

“Can you calm down? Neither of us can have a proper conversation in this state. Let’s talk over there.”

I want to talk privately with this girl, to make it clear that I, not the shop clerk, am the one who has come from another world.

…After all, I don’t want the shop clerk or Mars-kun to know that I’m from another world. While I trust both of them, it’s too absurd of a story.

“Huh…”

However, the girl who looked at me suddenly paled.

She took a step back, then another.

“Wait, hold on!”

As I reached out to grab her by the shoulder, she shrugged off my hand and bolted for the door, practically body-slamming her way out of the store.

Left behind are me and the bewildered bespectacled shop clerk.

“What… what was that about?”

“I can’t really say. She seems to have made some fatal misunderstanding.”

Furthermore, it appeared that she knew about my world’s RPG “Change the World.”

That means she’s not a game character like a “Demon King” or a “Hero” but a real person from another world just like me. And she wasn’t the official protagonist summoned for “Change the World” either.

Adding to that, the clothes she wore. When I came to this world, I was wearing my own clothes. If she was wearing clothes made in Ritzheim, then there must be someone providing her with food, clothing, and shelter.

Also, what she said was bothering me.

“That’s why I thought it was suspicious and had it investigated! Who told the Black-winged knights the manufacturing methods for potions and elixirs…?! And when I did, all of these were prototypes made in this perfume shop! I also heard that this shop is currently supplying potions to the Knights!”

She clearly said she “had it investigated.”

In other words, someone in Ritzheim city has taken that girl under their care and is looking after her. Moreover, they’ve investigated the people involved in making potions and elixirs for her. What on earth is going on?

***