Chapter 6: Surely, a Fateful Encounter (Makoto)

"...? Huh...?"

When I opened my eyes, a brilliant blue sky filled my entire field of vision.

I could feel the softness of grass against my back, along with a peculiar scent.

Apparently, I was lying on the ground.

That's strange. I was supposed to be somewhere much lonelier.

That's right. There, I had heard someone's wish. And I was supposed to have come here to save the world.

"Oh, you're awake. Mornin'. Can you understand me?"

A girl appeared in my view, cutting across the azure sky.

Long black hair and eyes like black gemstones. I should have been accustomed to seeing Japanese people, but I couldn't take my eyes off her. She was beautiful to a frankly absurd degree.

Wait, Japanese? What was a Ja-pa-nese per-son...?

"Ah, yeah. Um, who are you...?"

"Before asking, you should introduce yourself. What's your name?"

True enough. I suppose she had a point.

"Um... Kizuna. Harukawa Kizuna, that's my name. ...Probably."

I traced the sounds that came to mind.

My tongue moved without hesitation, as though it remembered how.

"Hehe. What's with that? 'Probably.' It's your own name, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but... my memories are kind of hazy. I just have a feeling that's how I used to introduce myself."

That's right. I was probably called that. At least, I think I was. But I wasn't confident.

"Hmm. Okay. Then that's your name. That's the right answer. Names are just like that. ...Kizuna. Kizuna, huh? It sounds nice. I like it."

The girl looked straight at me as she accepted my name and complimented it.

Naturally, I blushed. My ears were burning, too.

"Really? ...Thanks. When you say it that directly, it's kind of embarrassing..."

"Why embarrassed? Makes no sense. The one who should be embarrassed is whoever came up with Kizuna's name. Weird."

Huh...? Is that... right?

No, there wasn't really anything to contradict her. So was I the one who was wrong?

It still felt like something was off.

Well, whatever.

"So, what's your name?"

"...Hmm? Rune, I guess. Probably."

And then, what do you know? She said almost the exact same thing I had said a moment ago.

It didn't seem like she was trying to dodge the question. She genuinely didn't sound confident.

I understood perfectly, considering I'd been in the exact same state until just now.

"What kind of answer is that? 'Probably.' It's your own name."

That was why I repeated her words in the same way, partly just to tease her.

"Yeah. I don't remember mine either. Same as Kizuna."

Apparently, jokes didn't really get through to her.

"...I see. Well, then that's your name. Names are just like that, right? ...Rune, huh? That's a cute-sounding name. I like it."

I continued anyway. I was feeling a little petty.

It was the kind of line that made me embarrassed just for saying it.

"I see. The person who named me must be proud."

As expected, it went right over her head.

Well, whatever. Time to move on.

"Um, by the way, why are you here... I mean, why did you come over to me?"

"I was running away and found someone sleeping. So I wanted to tell you it was dangerous... Ah."

Huh? I was planning to start with some simple questions and gradually gather information.

But what did she just say?

Wasn't there something in there that I absolutely couldn't ignore...?

"You were running away...?"

Before I could get any more details.

"BUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

A roar.

A tremendous roar that shook even the air itself.

A gigantic boar unlike anything I'd ever seen was staring straight at us with bloodshot eyes.

"Sorry, I got you involved. Kizuna, can you fight?"

I understood well enough that if I did nothing, I'd be killed without much trouble.

But fight? I don't think I've ever had any experience with that...

Although, if I remember correctly, someone was supposed to have given me something. It was...

"I think I can use magic? Probably."

"That's pretty vague."

"I don't have my memories."

Perhaps it was instinctive, an attempt not to let fear consume me. We exchanged a light joke with wry smiles. Somehow, just that was enough to make me feel a little less tense.

"I'll draw its attention. Use magic on it. Aim for the eyes. If that's impossible, the legs. At the very least, the side. Okay, good luck."

"Ah, wait...!"

Before I could finish speaking, she charged straight at the gigantic boar.

She was holding a huge scythe in one hand, though I had no idea where she'd gotten it from.

At first, I thought she intended to kill it with that thing.

But I was wrong.

The hide covering the boar's body seemed to be far tougher than I had imagined. It didn't even flinch at the scythe's razor-sharp blade.

Or perhaps it was using some sort of magical power to strengthen its defenses.

Still, judging by the fact that the boar wasn't simply ignoring the girl and was instead focusing on defending itself, perhaps it could be killed if she managed to strike the right spot.

So that was what she meant. I needed to create an opening for her.

I focused my awareness deep within my body.

Somehow, I understood what I was supposed to do.

I became aware of the center of my body and imagined a blazing flame burning there.

If I did that, then the heat of an inferno would engulf the enemy—!

After that, what shot from the palm of my hand was nothing more than a tiny fireball.

Still, it traveled toward the boar at a decent speed and, by sheer luck, struck its right foreleg.

The boar lost its balance.

At that moment, Rune's blade flashed.

And before I knew it, the boar had stopped moving.

There wasn't a single drop of blood. Not even a noticeable wound.

All I could understand with certainty was that some completely incomprehensible phenomenon had occurred.

"That helped. Thanks. It would've been tough alone."

"You're welcome... or at least I'd like to say that, but I can't tell which of us actually saved the other this time. If I'd stayed lying there, that boar would've crushed me to death. So we're even."

That was an undeniable fact. No matter how you looked at it, the one who had brought the boar to me had been Rune, who was running away from it. But that had been an accident, and it wasn't something I could blame her for.

More importantly, I should focus on the fact that she'd saved me.

"Really? Maybe. Then be grateful."

"Huh?"

"We're even, but I was grateful. That's unfair. You have to be grateful too, or it won't be even."

As expected, she seemed to have a somewhat unusual way of thinking.

"Fufufu... hahaha. Yeah, you're right. Okay. Thank you, Rune."

"Good. Now we're even."

There were still so many things I was worried about, including my memories, but laughter spilled out from the bottom of my heart.

"But what we just saw was... an ad... ad... advance guard?"

"An advance guard or a scout, something like that?"

"Yeah, that. Kizuna knows a lot. Amazing."

"Nah, it's nothing to... Wait, that's not the point! Something even worse is coming, right?! Can we actually beat it?!"

"No. One hundred percent impossible."

We really didn't have time to leisurely chat like this!

"But it's okay. I have a plan. One-shot comeback. Genius strategy."

"What is it?"

"Ahem. Prepare to be amazed. There's a big city up ahead. We'll ask for help there. Then we'll win. Genius. Praise me."

Isn't that just leaving everything to someone else...?

More importantly, if that's the case, we needed to get to that city as quickly as possible!

"Wow, wow! Amazing! It's amazing, so let's hurry up and get to that city! Which way is it?!"

"Ah, I twisted my ankle. Can't walk. Help me."

"WHOOOOAAAAAA! Why! Do we! Barely! Understand! Each other?!"

"Oh, the city is that way."

The moment I heard that, I scooped Rune up under one arm and started running without giving her any chance to argue.

I felt like the me from before couldn't have done something like this... but somehow, I was certain that I could now.

"Kizuna. Behind us. I can see a pillar of fire. It reaches the heavens. Super huge. It's still far away, but we don't have time to spare. Requesting acceleration. Too slow."

Rune was being carried sideways, her head turned toward the rear as she gave me the report.

"Whose! Fault! Is it! That we're! Going so slow?! ...Wait, it breathes fire?! That thing?!"

"It does. Breathes a ton. That pillar of fire just now was a warning. It's super angry because its companion is dead."

"Ah, so it's already reached where we were earlier! This is a little late to ask, but are we really okay going straight to the city like this?! Won't we put the people there in danger?!"

Was I going to get arrested for leading a monster straight to them or something? Was this really okay?

"It's fine. The city ahead is a major transportation hub. There's a security force too. A boar like that is no big deal."

"I'm trusting you! I'm really trusting you on that!"

And so, my life in another world began.