#184
Otherworlders from Earth (1)
‘…How are you here?’
Thrown completely off guard by the utterly unexpected encounter, Princess Raili looked up at Heinrich in a daze.
So much had happened in just a single day.
From the clash with Crown Prince Simon, to Banshee Queen Olivia’s interference and obstruction, to somehow succeeding in a dramatic escape regardless, and then facing a life-threatening crisis immediately after.
And yet, the one who had appeared out of nowhere to save her from that desperate situation was none other than the Hero.
It was hardly strange that she would react this way.
“…Ah!”
However, her confusion did not last long…
Rather than dwell on such things, the thought of what she needed to do right now flashed through her mind.
“Ah, thank you for saving us, Saint! But please, this person first…! I beg you!”
Though she had been momentarily taken aback by the unimaginable encounter, meeting the Saint in their current situation was truly an unparalleled stroke of luck.
Putting aside that he was her immediate lifesaver, though he was a Hero who focused more on combat than healing, there was no doubt that he was also a top-class cleric.
With Hesperon’s condition being critical, he could truly be called the best possible person for the task.
“Of course. Please leave him to me.”
Of course, even without her words, the righteous Saint had never intended to turn a blind eye to the injured person before him.
“Hmmm—he is in quite a serious state, but it seems there will be no serious threat to his life, so I do not think you need to worry. He is a remarkably sturdy person.”
“Is that so…? What a relief, truly…”
When Heinrich, having begun treatment using a holy spell, let out a low murmur of admiration, Raili, who had been watching anxiously from beside him, breathed a sigh of relief.
Finally feeling that all crises had passed, she seemed to relax at last, letting her body go limp.
It had truly been an exhausting day in every possible way.
“Thank you once again for your assistance, Saint. Ah, come to think of it, how did you know we were here…”
And now that she had the leisure, her thoughts reached the fact that not all her questions had been answered yet, and she cautiously posed a question.
Wasn’t their current reunion far too dramatic to simply dismiss as coincidence?
But before Heinrich could answer that…
Vrrrmm—
Another change occurred.
Along with a vibrating sound, an immense magical power condensed in the nearby air in an instant.
It was an enormous energy that Raili, as a low-ranking mage, could not even dare to fathom; in an instant, it formed a specific structure, and soon space distorted as a group of people revealed themselves from within.
A barbarian warrior of massive build whose savage and overwhelming presence instantly snatched the attention of everyone nearby.
A lancer with a lengthy spear resting on his shoulder, exuding a deeply gloomy air.
…And even a small girl tucked between those unfamiliar people.
“Saint! Spatial movement magic isn’t that simple! If you go rushing ahead like that…!”
The face she had wanted to see all this time, the welcome face, was right there.
“…Isea?”
“Huh?”
As soon as she opened the eyes she had shut to concentrate, Isea, who had been muttering complaints at Heinrich, halted at the voice calling out to her and slowly turned her head.
Their gazes met, and a brief silence flowed between them.
Though she was in a disheveled state from having gone through a mess, there was no way she could fail to recognize the other person.
“…Raili?”
With nothing but the resolve to rescue the princess abducted by the Immortal King, she had poured all her Karma Points and even volunteered to join the Hero’s party!
She had been making that vow every single day, swearing she would rescue her no matter how many years it took, and yet…
The very person she was vowing to save was right here?
…Why is she here?
To her, who had merely followed Heinrich after he suddenly disappeared while they were visiting the capital of the Rohan Principality and helping its people as usual under the Saint’s guidance, this abrupt reunion was nothing short of staggering.
‘Now that I think about it, the Saint had been a bit different from usual today.’
He had said some rather meaningful things—that something joyful would soon happen to her, that she would come to meet a good connection ahead, and so on.
Had those been foreshadowing?
But the time she stood frozen blankly did not last long.
“Isea Unni—!”
Rustle—
The sight of Raili coming running and burying herself in her arms… no, pulling her into an embrace allowed her to truly feel that this entire situation was reality.
Though that title of ‘Unni’ did feel a bit unrealistic.
More than that, right now…
“You stink, Raili. Get off.”
“Ack! How mean! That’s the first thing you say after two months?”
Well, whatever the circumstances, it was surely a good thing.
Isea let out a short laugh and ended up pulling her into an embrace, patting her.
Deciding to think about the complicated matters later, she resolved to enjoy the joy of the moment fully for now.
It was a bit abrupt, but was this not precisely the moment the goal she had longed for was achieved?
‘…Ah, right. My Points.’
Of course, she couldn’t help but feel—truly, just a little, ever so slightly—that her Karma had been a bit of a waste.
***
Their time for an emotional reunion lasted only a moment.
Isea soon took them all and moved via spatial movement to the capital of the Rohan Principality, Rohan.
She had hurriedly followed after Heinrich when he moved in haste, thinking some major incident had occurred, but the situation had already ended, so there was no longer any reason to spend time here.
“Uwahaha! What an unexpected windfall! These creatures are so cautious that they avoid the strong and only target the weak, you know. That’s why their materials are so rare!”
In the midst of that, the barbarian warrior Halli had instantly dismantled the griffin and gathered its byproducts, but that was always the sort of thing he did, so it was nothing particularly unusual.
Of course, the sight of him extracting its heart on the spot, chewing and swallowing the magic stone, and neatly grilling and eating the stripped monster meat was still something she hadn’t gotten used to.
‘To generate heat by moving mana without using aura or magic… Those green eyes, I’d like to examine them someday… Should I casually mention it once we’re closer? …But it would surely be rude, as it must be related to his past.’
In fact, even aside from his eyes, the very existence of Halli was a source of fascination to Isea, a born mage.
‘Dragonkin’ were a foreign lifeform to her as well, despite having encountered vast magical knowledge thanks to the princess’s help and even occasionally participating in academic exchanges with Magic Towers later on.
To say nothing of the fact that some unknown procedure had been added on top of that.
Had he not been as strong as he was now, mages obsessed with research would never have left him alone.
But after arriving safely in Rohan.
After notifying the imperial family of Princess Raili’s safe return through the Imperial garrison and returning to the lodging with her, Isea learned of a being who drew even more interest than Halli.
“…So, that person is an otherworlder from Earth?”
The injured person Heinrich had taken away, saying he would perform more intensive treatment, was exactly that person.
When she first encountered him, she had been too distracted by Raili to pay much attention, but learning that he was a fellow countryman of hers, it was only natural.
“Yeah, his name was Heron… no, Hesperon. It’s a strange name, right? He said he picked it himself to commemorate a new beginning. Pfft!”
“Hmmm—?”
“I think his real name was Haseu… un? Something like that, I’m not sure. It was a difficult pronunciation.”
Isea gazed steadily at Raili, who was chattering away incessantly, with narrowed eyes.
Though they had spent eight years together, it was the first time she had seen Raili speak about someone so cheerfully.
For this child who subtly built walls against everyone except Isea herself to treat another person so comfortably…
It was a feeling of pride, as if watching a child grow up, yet somehow bittersweet.
“Well… so I thought of my Unni too, and there was nothing much to do there anyway…”
Even so, her words continued to flow.
About everything that had happened since she was trapped in the Immortal King’s castle and met him.
Naturally, since she had spent most of that time training in magic, the conversation inevitably flowed mainly around that topic.
At first, feeling some sort of connection, she had begun teaching him magic, and she was shocked by his talent that reminded her of Isea in the past.
“…His growth was so fast that eventually I ran out of things to teach him, you know? I couldn’t just stop halfway because of my pride, so in the end, I had to desperately squeeze out every bit of knowledge I had.”
Raili spoke passionately about Hesperon’s abilities.
And Isea could quickly understand why she had been speaking so enthusiastically about him.
“…So what I’m saying is? Couldn’t you take a look at him, Unni? To Isea Pristine, the greatest genius mage of the Empire… no, the continent, something like that would be nothing at all! Right?”
“Hmmm?”
Isea looked at the golden-haired beauty smiling bashfully with flattery and slightly tilted her head.
As she had felt the conversation dragging on, it seemed Raili had been aiming to ask this from the beginning.
‘…Right, it’s already been over eight years since I came to this world. I can’t stay by this child’s side forever, so I did need someone else to watch over her in my place…’
From what she heard, he seemed to possess talent not inferior to her own, perhaps even greater.
If her teachings were added on top of that, perhaps he could really grow enough to protect Raili within a few years.
But the problem here was that he, too, was an Earthling.
‘Someday, he too will leave Raili’s side. It might buy some time, though.’
Of course, by then, the situation would be very different from now.
In fact, at the point when Raili returned alone, the struggle for the throne was nearly over.
The wavering faction would tightly solidify and rapidly absorb surrounding forces instead, and Isea’s efforts, which had barely managed to keep them in check, would add strength to that phenomenon.
Probably, there would be no need for several years; the Crown Prince would become a man with nowhere to turn within a year, wouldn’t he?
‘But of all things, the one she became attached to after me is another otherworlder. Yet the distance I keep from people born here remains the same.’
She had thought she had improved a lot while building a faction and leading subordinates, but it seemed the repulsion embedded at the base of that consciousness still remained.
Still, there was quite a bit of time left, so she would have to slowly find a way to deal with that issue going forward.
“Well, fine. It’s true that he rendered a great service as well. Even so, I won’t be able to devote much time due to what I’m doing now.”
However, setting aside such complicated thoughts, Isea readily nodded at Raili’s request.
In fact, giving teachings to the benefactor who had saved Raili was not even a large repayment.
Naturally, she was also planning to take care of various other things for him separately.
And if she were to be a bit more selfish…
The desire to examine that outsider, whom Raili had come to rely on after her, more closely also played a solid part.
Wasn’t the probability of problems arising in a relationship with the opposite sex higher than with the same sex?
There was no guarantee that man would not harbor wicked thoughts toward a pretty child like Raili.
‘Raili is still young. As his teacher, I should give him a light warning so he doesn’t get any foolish ideas.’
The little girl, standing just slightly over 150 centimeters, looked up at the tall beauty well over 170 centimeters and nodded solemnly.
“Great! I knew it, my Unni!”
“Come to think of it, what change of heart made you keep calling me Unni earlier? You said you hated it when I mentioned it before.”
“Hehehe, just because? Thinking about it, it wasn’t such a big deal, so I guess I was making too much of a fuss.”
Raili smiled bashfully and pulled Isea into another embrace, acting spoiled toward her.
Inwardly, she was rejoicing in the satisfaction that things had worked out well.
‘Perfect! This way I can repay the debt to some extent. I’m still far from enough, but I can pay it back gradually from now on! Also, if both Unni and Heron are with a fellow countryman, it will help overcome homesickness in the future too.’
The fact that she had spoken to Isea about Hesperon was also something she had agreed upon with him in advance.
While together at the Immortal King’s castle, they had had many conversations, and among them was Raili’s offer to introduce the Earthling she knew.
Of course, Hesperon, who had intended to make contact with Isea from the beginning, readily accepted and allowed his information to be disclosed.
After all, his personal background consisted entirely of fabricated information anyway.
And so, that tumultuous day concluded with a heartwarming reunion.
And when the next day dawned.
“Well, thank you for saving me. Ah! My name is Hesperon. I really thought I was going to die, but thanks to you, I survived.”
“Not at all. This, too, must all be the Lord’s will. I am called Heinrich.”
“Kwahahah! You look all frail on the outside, Brother, but you’re pretty solid! Ah, just call me Halli!”
At last, Hesperon, who had lost consciousness from his injuries, awoke, and the party was able to formally exchange names with him.
As though a ‘single person’ equivalent to three had been included among them.