Chapter 11

The group had a wind magic user among them, so they didn't use horses. The magic user utilized wind magic to push the carriage back to the city. They managed to arrive by night time.

“Woah…”

I stared at the massive city that appeared on the screen, a tall stone wall surrounding it. Unlike on Earth where guard towers were on the ground, the guard towers floated, yes, floated above the walls. Surrounding the city was a line of many torches, too much to count. It made the sight look unreal.

“That’s so cool!” I shouted. Elerina closed her ears.

“Ah, sorry.”

She smiled wryly, turning toward the towers. The camera moved up. The closer we get, the clearer it becomes. It wasn’t just the tower that floated, however, but the patch of ground underneath it as well. She was still inside the carriage, so she couldn’t say anything.

They went past the checkpoint. After receiving thanks from the group, she walked away. The main roads of this town were comparable to a three lane highway on Earth, and it was filled to the brim with people and carriage passing by. Most of them had some kind of weapon with them.

Greatswords, daggers, magic wands, even bows and arrows. I had so many questions, but since Elerina couldn’t answer them anyway, I remained silent. She went to the guild and submitted the proof that she killed her target. The magic system allowed the confirmation of killing monsters through a small part of their body, either flesh, teeth, or even eyes. As long as it came from that monster, it could be used.

Elerina handed over a piece of claw that she recovered, and the guild receptionist provided her with the payment. She took it and made her way to an inn.

“Phew… finally…”

Elerina walked toward the bed and set down. She took the helmet off and let it rest on the bedside table. Since I already took a look at her room when she entered, it looked like a regular inn room, so I asked her for the camera and charged it.

“I didn’t know your world had floating structures, that’s so impressive.”

“But doesn’t your world have tall buildings as well?”

“Yeah, but they’re still on the ground.”

When we went into the city, I tried looking for anything that might explain why they float. There was nothing that I could see from underneath.

“How do they even do that?”

“With these…” Elerina showed me a small box. She had shown it earlier today, but the conversation got derailed.

“A magic regulation device…?”

“Yes. It’s a set of patterns written into this box with magic. As a result, the box could do what it’s commanded to do repeatedly on its own.”

“So those towers…”

“Underneath them are much, much larger magic regulation devices that command the entire tower to float. In principle, it’s similar to wind magic, but the intricacies are very different.”

Ah, so that’s why the towers floated with a patch of ground underneath. That ground must hide its magic regulation device.

“Could you use it to shoot magic?”

“You could, but magic regulation devices repeat their spells endlessly, so unless you need something that shoots magic over and over without stopping, you can’t use it.”

“What is yours for?”

“Shield, primarily, but I added energy reduction and cold air to it.”

“So that's why you can run for so long without getting tired.”

“Yep. I'm born with a lot of stamina, so this basically doubled that.”

“Impressive.”

“Not when compared to your world.”

Maybe it's because I lived on Earth for so long, but the things here no longer surprise me. This made me want to visit her world even more. If we could defeat the demons and create a portal, we could spend our time wherever we want. We could go back and forth depending on our mood. I wonder how much would change if we could get a single gun over there… actually, this world had arrows, didn't it?

“I just remembered something. Does your world use arrows?”

If ranged magic attacks exist, then what's the point of using bows? But if there's a good reason for bows existing, then there's a good chance that a gun would be a good weapon. A gun is just a more dangerous bow, after all.

“It's related to shields. Magic shields protect you from magic, but they're weak to physical attack like a metal arrow.”

That would explain the need for armor.

“On the flip side, regular armor is weak against magic, but they'll reduce the damage from physical attacks.”

That would make a gun situational. Some monsters might take a lot of damage from it, others might not even get a scratch. Still, having one over there should be helpful, although it’s a massive question of how.

Indonesia has very tight gun-laws, and even if I could somehow get them, there's the matter of money and effectiveness. A gun would cost a lot, both in various fees and ammo, and the only way to test them was to bring one to her world. What if it's not effective?

Well, thinking about it is kind of pointless. I wouldn't have the money anyway. It’s better for me to think about other more effective ways of helping her.

“By the way, do you have any more of those cup noodles?”

It had gotten late.

“I do, but do you want to try something else?”

She tilted her head. I went and heated up a ready-to-eat meal I bought at the mall. This one had ‘chicken rendang with rice’ written on it. I opened the top and put it into my microwave. After a few minutes, it was done. Hot and smells delicious. I transferred it over.

“Here’s something from my country.”

Technically, an instant meal wouldn’t hold a candle to a properly-cooked rendang. I hope to bring her proper food one day.

“Thank you very much!”

She did the gesture by placing one hand on either side of the packaging, then used a spoon to eat.

“This part looks delicious.” She scooped up a part of the green liquid.

“Oh, umm… that part is…”

But before I could warn her, she threw it into her mouth.

“Spicyyyyyy!!!”

•••

We relaxed for a bit after eating. I did some of my university tasks, while she maintained her equipment.

“Can I see that?”

Elerina handed over her sword. It felt heavy, about twice as heavy as my tablet. The sword’s blade felt smooth, and the hilt felt firm. Just holding it gave me a feeling of power.

“You’re holding it wrong,” Elerina said, tapping the ring underneath it. “You hold it here.”

It felt unnatural to do so, like I’m holding such a small part of the weapon. Elerina’s probably used to wielding this, but if I’m the one using it, I doubt I’ll be able to deal significant damage.

“Does this have magic?”

“Yes. It had sharpening magic, so you need to be careful when handling it. Not just that, though.”

I returned the sword to its owner. She took it in her hand and stood away from me, pointing the sword away. She held it on its ring. She pulled it up, and swung it down. What’s surprising isn’t the attack itself, but the speed of it.

“... Can I see that again?”

Elerina did the gesture again. The speed of the blade going down is frightening.

“How… How did you make it go so fast?”

Her hand movements didn’t accelerate significantly. But, at some point, the entire blade practically jumped, blurring its movements, going way faster compared to her hand.

“It’s simple, it’s this.” Elerina tapped on the ring. “When I bring it down, a magic spell will be triggered, and when triggered, it’ll rotate the sword with this ring as its center.”

“Ah, so that’s how…”

It’s like a mini wheel that spun on its own, adding its speed to Elerina’s speed. As a result, Elerina’s hand didn’t need to move fast when bringing the weapon down, as the wheel would increase it on its own.

“You make me want to cross over even more.”

Elerina let out a chuckle. “It’s everyday stuff for me.”

She sheathed the weapon and set it aside, the blade disappearing from my sights.

•••

“So… umm…”

It was getting quite late. Elerina was sitting next to me, floating in the air, fidgeting.

“Is something wrong?”

“Umm… I plan… bath.”

I tensed up. “I’ll- I'll look away.”

“Thanks.”

Despite technically being married, actually seeing each other is a bit… sudden… And I'm sure she wanted a bit of privacy. Elerina stood up and moved behind me. I plugged in my headset and turned on its volume, but before I could start a song, I heard the rustling of clothes. Clothes must be small enough that they entered the middle dimension, hence me being able to hear the sound.

I tensed up.

Clear your mind, clear your mind, clear your mind.

Yes, think about something else… about something else…

An image of a shy Elerina- nope, anything but that!

“You… look very red… right now…”

No, don't tease me!

“Are you… not?”

“I… probably am, as well.”

Ah, her voice. It sounded so soft, so adorable… no, I really shouldn't be thinking about that!

Ah yeah, watch anime. Watch fight scenes, anything that could get my mind off her.

I switched away from the music tab, which clearly wasn't helping, and opened a popular video site.

Of course… me and my preferences.

As if to make fun of me, the algorithm showed me some rather… interesting scenes. It just has to pick now of all times.

“Do you also… bath, over there?”

“Ye- yeah, but I usually shower.”

The average Indonesian didn't use baths, not to say those didn't exist. Me and my family didn't have one at home. When we traveled, most hotels didn't have them, either. But, whenever we did go to a place that had them, I always made sure I got a dip at least once.

“What's a shower?”

“It's like… letting water fall over your head, like in a rain.”

“I see… Do you use warm water?”

“Yes, we have a heater. I assume you use something like that magic device?”

“No, actually… We usually use regular fire magic.”

There was silence for a moment.

“La la la…”

Elerina began humming in the background. Her voice sounded beautiful. I took off my headset. The melody became clearer, dancing in my ears.

“La la… hmm? I'm not bothering you, am I?”

“No, if anything, you sound great.”

“Thank you. What are those?”

I couldn't tell what she pointed at, but I was holding my headset. “This?” I brought it up and swung it around.

“Yes.”

“It’s a tool that plays sound. It’s the same one I used at the mall earlier.” I set aside the headset and took my headphones instead. I connected them with my laptop, then without turning back, handed them out to Elerina.

“What do I do with these?”

“See the rubbery black part? Put that into your ears, one piece for each ear.”

“Alright.”

I chose a classical piano video then played it.

“Did you hear anything?”

“Ah, I hear a song… this is a piano, isn't it? It's so wonderful… Can I keep using it?”

“Sure, just don't get it wet if you can.”

“I'm not a child…”

Well, even if she splashed around, the earphones should be able to handle some water. If not, guess I could just complain to the manufacturer. It did have ‘water-resistant’ on the box.

The video came to an end.

“What kind of songs do you want to listen to?” I asked. I expected it to be more piano music, so I had begun typing in the search bar when,

“I want to hear what you usually listen to.”

“Ar- are you sure?”

I usually listen to anime songs but…

“Of course.”

“Well okay then…”

I opened my private playlist. Luckily, the first song that popped up wasn't too anime-y. I think this one was inspired by classical music, so it should be fine. I let Elerina enjoy her bath while I do my work.