Chapter 2

My Isekai life started well enough. I got a parade, my own suite of rooms in the castle, and a catgirl maid. I should have seen the signs earlier. Nothing was what it seemed. It all went smooth until one conversation with Truck-kun.

"Isekai have rules," I explained to Truck-kun, "They're simple like that. I get to be the hero. I get to be happy here. And I'm not going home."

Truck-kun ran a hand through his tousled white hair. "Yes, you're the hero, but I shouldn't be here. All I'm saying is..."

I waved my hand dismissively. "You want me to leave. But this is my place. Dammit, I want to be here, not another Isekai. I was born to be the hero of..." I paused, trying to remember.

"This kingdom is Kairotopia, Seo Igita," Truck-kun said. "Haven't you read the books the mage sent? You're supposed to be studying and training."

"There'll be time for that when I go kill the Demon Lord."

"Evil Dragon," Truck-kun clarified.

"Exactly. Why study? This is an Isekai, a whole new world. I've been a business negotiations expert and data nerd for too long. I want to enjoy myself."

"And after that?" Truck-kun asked.

“What?”

“After enjoying yourself, then what? You’ll grow bored here after your adventure vacation, like in the real world. Would your life here matter without adventure?”

That was a dumb question. After?

I stalked to the patio door at the end of our joint dining room between our private bedrooms. I threw the door open to a sky with two suns and purple trees. “This is a fantasy world. With catgirls. With magic. And adventures with catgirls. Another world…” I sputtered, failing to understand why he failed to understand.

“Another world with catgirls?” he offered.

“Exactly!” I said, briefly thinking he had realized how awesome this was. But he was only being sarcastic. “I can be happy here. Look at BOTH suns in the sky. Look at the mountains. And just look at the mess you’ve made of our patio.”

Truck-kun sighed. “That’s my backup plan if I can’t make you see reason.”

I picked up the magic wand the mage gave me. “I get to learn magic here.”

“Why are you procrastinating? Are you afraid it won’t meet your hopes? Maybe this Isekai world will be drudgery and soul-crushing work like your last.”

“You still don’t get it.” I waved the wand in frustration until it launched a speck of fire. “See, magic. I want to be here. I’ll be happy here. Magic, adventure, ...”

“Catgirls and inexplicably grateful maidens?” Truck-kun offered helpfully.

I returned to trying on clothes, wondering what that blonde princess would fancy.

Our catgirl maid, Nyarin, entered. Her ears flattened backward when she saw me in a half state of undress. “A thousand pardons, my lord.” She said, blushing.

Truck-kun had left the room. An odd sound came from whatever he was doing on our patio. “Oh, never mind Nyarin.” I said, waving my hand over my undergarments, “this is more than the younger catgirls wore to my summoning. Quite the parade you planned for me in the town.”

Nyarin smiled, ears returning to a normal forward attentiveness. “It wasn’t planned. The old mage tried that old summoning spell a dozen times. Everyone was overjoyed to have not only one hero but two!”

She walked into the room and I momentarily forgot what I was doing. Her cat features were calico, swirled in white, orange, and black. The fascination in her eyes as she looked over the hero’s suite looked brilliant on her mismatched blue and orange eyes.

There was a loud electric zap from the patio, after which Truck-kun yelled spicy things about his equipment’s parentage and non-existent lower gastrointestinal tracts.

“Oh my, is your friend okay?” Nyarin asked, her ears perking up nervously.

“He’s been tinkering with magic on the patio. He needs to get back to what he was doing before he was summoned.”

Nyarin’s ears twitched as she considered this. “I never thought about what important things heroes did before. Sorry we took you from such noble duties.”

I nodded, wondering how quickly time was flowing at home. Here it had only been one night. I missed the daily missions from my favorite video game. My fingers itched for my trusty smart phone.

I remembered my shrine to Truck-kun and wondered when the daruma would receive its other eye to recognize that I’d found a place that I could be happy.

I reassured myself that after four days of not checking in, my app would automatically notify the other Truck-kun Isekai Fans that I had reached my eternal reward. There was a miniature market investing in the potential windfall of goods a departing Truck-kun Isekai Fan would leave behind.

There were agreements to divide my worldly and digital assets. They would take care of my level 80 mage, my pristine figurine collection, my video game collection, and my comics collection.

“Don’t worry,” I assured Nyarin, “I’ve left my affairs in capable hands.”

“And your friend?”

Another muffled explosion was followed by more cursing from Truck-kun.

“He wants to go back to knocking people into comas for a living,” I said, flipping through tunics.

“What?” Nyarin’s ear flicked in concern.

“Ignore him. I’m here for adventure, danger, and inexplicably grateful young maidens. I’m going to defeat that dragon after a good time around here.” I snapped my fingers. “And you might be able to help, Nyarin.”

“Me?” she said, ears wide and hesitant.

“Do you know where I might meet catgirls like you?” I considered, “Younger? Kinda like you but into adventurers?”

Nyarin’s ear shifted as she thought. “I can show you a few places.”

Nyarin’s ears flattened when an ominous hum came from the patio.

I put my palms forward in a calming gesture. “I’m sure that’s supposed to happen.”

“Oh no,” Truck-kun’s voice wafted in from the patio door, barely audible, “that’s not supposed to happen.”

We were knocked to the ground, like in the shows. Nyarin fell atop me and blushed as we struggled to our feet to check on Truck-kun’s ongoing acts of terrorism. Nyarin untangled herself from my fallen form with only one or two awkward intimate moments. I really should have gotten hit by a truck sooner.

I coughed at acrid smoke even as a wind blew it away. Truck-kun stood in the middle of the patio, hand glowing a greenish blue. The light disappeared and the gust of wind vanished.

Yesterday the patio had been a rather simple stone patio on the second floor. Now crystals floated around an intricate circle in the stone.

The lines of the circle flashed and sparked, like a malfunctioning circuit. Truck-kun had summoned bizarre magical artifacts that sat glowing or boiling or growling in specific points around the circle.

“Did you just use wind magic to clear the smoke?”

“Yes,” Truck-kun said, hands now glowing orange to repair and reshape shattered patio stones. “It’s been decades since my boss and I designed this world. I’m a little rusty on the finer details of the magic she planned. There may be some trial and error and explosions as I figure this all out.”

“Those first two don’t sound so bad. Don’t you think it’s rude to carve into our host’s castle and blow up the town?”

“Are there going to be any more explosions?” Nyarin asked, ears down and cautious.

“No,” I reassured her.

“Most definitely,” Truck-kun said at the same time.

“Oh, good?” Nyarin took two more backward steps with her ears back in terror.

“Can I learn that wind magic you used?” If I had known someone could master magic so quickly, I might have started studying already. That would impress the town ladies.

“That’s what I came to tell you, hero,” Nyarin yelled from the relative safety of our dining room. “The mage is waiting in the chamber of trials. He wishes to know what magical elements you can learn.”

“Oh boy,” I said.

“It’ll be all the elements,” Truck-kun said, bored. “First person in two centuries.”

I glared at Truck-kun. “I’m going to get my cool magic abilities measured by the mage, then pick up a catgirl somewhere. Hopefully we’ll be busy with a series of cliched hijinx before accidentally kissing and then we’ll see where it goes from there. The usual stuff.”

“I hate customer service.” Truck-kun shook his head.

I put on a tunic and pants, then left with Nyarin to discover my destiny.