Chapter 134
Translator: Kell Editor: Weasalopes
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Selica’s Past
『Oh… Nice place you got here . 』
Selica sat on a chair and looked around, studying the room, not with malice, but only out of pure curiosity . At first Lavia and Paula stared at her, blinking incessantly, although they eventually concluded that she was not an enemy . The fact that Selica was alone and not with the other members of the Four Stars of the East also added to their peace of mind .
As always, Selica tied her long, black hair to both sides in pigtails . With her luxuriant hair, they looked more puffy than pointy . She wore the usual wizard’s robe, but this time it was deep green in color and of fine quality . She looked more like a lady from a reputable family, rather than an adventurer .
「So why did you come here?」
『No reason, really . 』
「You came here for no reason at all?」
『Do I really need one? I’m meeting with the only other Japanese here . By the way, you’re quite fluent in this world’s language . How’d you learn it?』
「Before I answer your question, are you going to keep speaking in Japanese?」
『Yup . Their language’s accent is quite hard to master for me…』
Now that she mentioned it, she seems to always exclaim the end of her sentences . So that was simply because she wasn’t completely familiar with this world’s language yet .
『Also, I need to speak in Japanese sometimes or I’ll forget about it . 』
Hikaru let out a soft sigh . 「I’m sorry, but we’ll be speaking in my country’s language . 」he told Lavia and Paula . 「I’ll tell you what we talked about later . 」
「Okay . Paula, let’s go over there . 」Lavia said . They moved over to the sofa in the wide living room .
『Sorry for the trouble . 』
『Then don’t drop by without prior notice . You surprised us . 』
『How would I do that? There’s no phones or internet here . 』
『You can write a letter . 』
『Right… Everyone here writes letters…』
Selica smiled, a smile with a hint of loneliness—far different from the Selica brimming with confidence when she was in the company of her party members . The reason why Hikaru decided to humor her was because of sympathy . She wished to speak in Japanese, probably feeling nostalgic .
『How’d you even know where I live?』
『The Adventurers Guild referred us to a real estate agent . We’re rank B, you know?』
『Yeah, I know that…』
Does being rank B really get you that much privilege? It’s like an unwritten special right, in a sense . It might be a good idea to rank up .
『When did you get here?』Selica asked .
『I’ll tell you if you tell me first . 』
『Okay, sure . I think it’ll be almost a year since I arrived here . I got hit by a truck . 』
『………』
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『What? Wait, don’t tell me that’s what happened to you too . 』
『That’s exactly what happened to me . That just means we share the same cause of death . 』
Hikaru was starting to get a headache . Do trucks in Japan have some sort of spell that summons people to a different world?
『What do you mean by that? I got hit by a truck on my home from school, collapsed, and then all of a sudden I was here . To my surprise, I was unscathed and I was in the middle of a meadow in a Ponsonian town called Pongee Elka . 』
『In your uniform?』
『Yup! I happened to have two boxes of Calorie Mate in my bag so I managed to survive for two days . I would’ve been in big trouble if I didn’t have those…』
『Why’d you have those in your bag?』
『They’re important for us ladies, okay?』
Was she on a Calorie Mate diet or something?
『What about you?』
『I met a resident of this world in the afterlife . Only my soul was summoned here . 』
『What? Does that mean summoning spells exist? Then can we go back to Japan?!』
『Apparently it could only send one’s soul to the afterlife . I do have some info on the art of crossing worlds . But it seems the research got stalled . 』
『…I see . 』
Selica was excited at the possibility of returning to Japan, but her enthusiasm quickly faded .
『Do you want to go back to Japan?』Hikaru asked .
『Of course! Is what I’d like to say, but it’s quite hard . I have some lingering attachment over there . I love my Mom and Dad, and I had a cheeky little sister . And… I had a close friend . We met only recently, right after I entered high school, but we got along really well . I just feel sad that I’ll never see them again . 』
『………』
It was evident from the various relics that there were others like them—people transported from another world . Did they die with nostalgia in their hearts?
There could’ve been at least one person who returned to Japan, but it was hard to believe they’d come back here again . There would be some information if they did .
Maybe there’s information like that buried somewhere… But Hikaru knew the odds of that were low . After all, Roland, who studied crossing worlds, had no knowledge about it .
『But still!』Selica clapped her hands once . 『I’m not lonely anymore since I got Selyse and the others . Close friends I made since I got here!』
There’s that exclaiming right at the end . She sounded like the Selica of the Four Stars now .
『How did you end up in their party?』
『Once I found out I had the aptitude for magic, I practiced like crazy . 』
『Ah, it looked like you’re able to use all elements . 』
『Yup . Wait, how’d you know that? Do you have an Appraisal skill or something?』
『Nope . Wait, do Appraisal skills exist?』
『Never heard of it . 』
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『Of course…』
If there was one, it’d be more popular . Then again, my ability to see other people’s Soul Boards is similar to an Appraisal skill .
『So… I don’t know how to use magic . How do you train for it?』
『I use Spirit Magic . By pouring mana to a Spirit, I can use its powers . 』
『You can’t actually see Spirits, right? I know that much . 』
『Yup . It’s more like I can see the element . No, not “see”, but more like “sense” . For example, there’s plenty of Air Spirits in this room . 』
『Wow…』
Hikaru couldn’t really tell even though she already explained it to him . This sucks . He could just put a point on his Soul Board so he’d understand right away . But I can’t really waste points .
『So I shot magic into my own palms . 』
『…Excuse me?』
『You know how this world has Soul Ranks, right? I realized those were like levels! Then I found out the higher levelled I got, my aptitude for magic also increased . Why don’t the people of this world increase their rank?』
『Ah…』
Hikaru told her about his speculation . Ranks weren’t really quantified and this world didn’t have the concept of “levels” . Selica sensing her magic aptitude increasing was her own subjective feeling . People couldn’t really give concrete proof .
Seriously though, firing magic at your own palms? Is that why her Magic Resistance is maxed out?
【Soul Board】Selica Tanoue
Age: 17 Rank: 104
29
【Vitality】
. . 【Natural Recovery】4
. . 【Stamina】4
. . 【Immunity】
… . 【Magic Resistance】5 (MAX)
… . 【Disease Immunity】1
… . 【Toxic Immunity】3
【Magical Power】
. . 【Mana】19
. . 【Spiritual Affinity】
… . 【Fire】5
… . 【Air】5
… . 【Earth】5
… . 【Water】5
……【Spirit’s Affection】3
……【Magic Principle】0
… . 【Magic Creation】2
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【Dexterity】
. . 【Tool Mastery】
… . 【Pottery】3
He checked her Soul Board .
『I got a question . Did you kill tons of monsters to raise your rank?』
『Of course! To get rid of evil!』
Again . That sounded just like the Four Stars Selica .
『Though if you only use one kind of magic, the other spirits start sulking… So I used everything . I got better at magic and my rank went up . It was fun!』
『………』
Come on . A three-digit rank is going overboard . Hmm, maybe getting better at all the elements and unlocking Spirit’s Affection makes it easier for the other stats to go up . She said she arrived here a year ago . Wait, getting this strong after only a year is incredible, now that I really think about it .
Selica was nodding to herself as she thought about the past .
『Selica . Are you perhaps a gamer?』Hikaru asked .
『Yeah! And a hardcore one! I played shooter games with my friend from the US and Germany! Wait, why are you addressing me as just Selica?! You’re younger than me, aren’t you?!』
『Don’t worry about it . 』
『I worry about it! Such arrogance!』
『Being arrogant is sorta my specialty . 』
『That’s a weird specialty to have . My friend said having an arrogant junior will only bring trouble . 』
『You want to go back to Japan so you can play games?』
『Well, just a little bit . But it’s much more fun to shoot things up here . Then again, killing monsters left and right made me stand out in a bad way and that’s when I met the girls . Ever since I joined them though, I didn’t have to hover between life and death . 』
Selica wore a distant look on her face . What kind of hardships did she face when she got here?
『I’m glad that I came to this world though . 』
『Because you met Selyse and the others?』
『There’s that, but also because this world’s fair . 』
『Fair?』
Fair? How? There were plenty of unreasonable things in this world . For someone like Hikaru who grew up in a democratic country, a noble system was hard to believe at first—in other words, having inherent privileges .
Of course those born in a wealthy family back on Earth had good fortune . But they didn’t have the same level of privilege as the nobles here . You couldn’t plot to kill someone that easily . And there were no wars .
Indeed . Count Morgstad taking the life of Roland’s parents was nothing short of unreasonable .
Selica probably had to struggle to survive as soon as she arrived here . She might not have seen the ugly side of people .
『Frequently using magic will make you better at it . Killing monsters gives you power . Magic and souls… things that aren’t found in Japan . In this world, they’re being balanced . 』
『Balanced…』
Fair didn’t quite fit, but balanced made sense .
『You can’t use magic, right? You might awaken to your gifts if I fire my spells at you . 』
『I’ll pass . Thank you . 』
『Now you sound polite all of a sudden… That reminds me, your friend can use powerful magic! How?!』Selica said, pointing at Lavia sitting on the sofa .
Lavia gave a start . Hikaru nodded at her, indicating that everything was fine, and made Selica drop her finger .
『No comment . 』he replied .
『Not that again . You promised to tell me if I told you my story . 』
『You’re asking about Lavia, not me . 』
『Oh, her name is Lavia? Is she your girlfriend?』Selica asked, grinning .
『No, she’s not . 』
『Really? You live together, right? Come on now . Don’t be shy . Tell me the truth . 』
『She’s my life partner . 』
『Ugh! Too much for me! What the heck?! You’re younger than me, aren’t you?!』
『Your story of eating monster meat after running out of calorie mate is worse . 』
『How’d you know that?!』
『Aha, I knew it . You had this distant look in your face a moment ago . 』
『You tricked me! It’s your turn to speak! Let’s start with your most embarrassing experience . 』
『Finding out that the only other Japanese person here was a hopeless ex-high school student was quite embarrassing…』
『Don’t say it with a straight face!』
Lavia and Paula happened to just listen to their conversation in a language they couldn’t understand .
「Hikaru-sama seems different . He looks like he’s having fun . 」
「Yeah…」
Lavia felt happy, yet a little sad as she watched Hikaru having fun talking with Selica, even though he seemingly didn’t want to .
「I guess talking to a fellow countryman would be great…」
「Lavisan?」
「It’s nothing . 」
Lavia shook her head slightly . Right now, she had Hikaru . She was happy . Wishing for more would be asking too much .
「I’m happy as long as Hikaru’s happy . 」
「So deep!」