Goodbye, Old Life

After a tiring 20 minutes of escorting Amada and Hinabe, we arrived at the capital. The crowd behind us quickly dispersed as the sun had set. The moon lit the street enough to see.

Both girls lay unconsciously over my shoulders. On my left, Amada snored obnoxiously, ringing my left ear. On my right, Hinabe soaked my shirt with drool.

I eventually made my way back to the guild. The front doors were shut. I walked up the stairs towards the entrance and used my legs to kick it open. However, the doors wouldn’t budge. It was locked.

“Oh, great!” I complained out loud.

I headed back down the stairs. I needed to get these people home so I could find a place to stay. I gently lifted my left shoulder, trying to get Amada’s attention. “Hey, Amada, where’s your house?”

Amada remained silent. With no other options, I strolled the capital and scouted the nearby area and found an inn.

…

It had multiple stories, and its warm light through the windows felt welcoming. It looked like it was open. I carefully walked up the small, white staircase.

Bells welcomed me inside as I opened the door. I was faced with a small room. A staircase that led up to the room stared at me from the end of the room. The registration was to my left.

A young teenage boy fidgeted behind the counter and heard the bells ringing. He looked like he was 10 years old. He slowly turned his head towards me, with no enthusiasm, “Welco-”

His face rose in shock. His eyes almost popped out of his sockets. He stared at the bodies over my shoulders, looking worried and confused. I had an idea of what he was thinking.

I didn’t want to make this a big deal. I wanted to tell the guy, “Don’t ask”, but that would raise suspicion. To avoid spending more time here, I quickly reached into my right pocket, with Hinabe still over my shoulder.

I remembered I had some spare change when I was at the Cutesy Twin concert. I had it in case I got hungry afterwards, but maybe I could use it now.

I grasped the little change I had left and slammed it on the counter: 2500 yen. “How much can this get me?” I asked, trying to hide my inner anger.

The young boy carefully picked up the money, examining the bill as if it were a used napkin. After examining, the young boy pointed out, “What is this?”

“What do you mean, it’s money?”

“Sorry, sir, we don’t accept this kind of money. We only accept Gulions.”

I forgot we aren’t back home! Of course, my money wouldn’t work in this fantasy world. I assume Gulions were the currency in this world. Obviously, I didn’t come here with Gulions. And I can’t claim the quests because the guild is closed!

I roughly lifted my left shoulder again, “Amada, do you have any money I could borrow? Hey, Amada.”

She responded to me by snoring louder. This annoying girl! You can’t leave me alone right now! I don’t know what to do right now! These girls had irritated me. It must be nice getting to sleep right now. That should be me sleeping! Ugh.

In a moment of irritation, I lowered both my arms, dropping both of them onto the cold wooden floor.

Amada immediately shouted in pain as she faceplanted, coughing up dust. “Ow! W-What w-was that for?”

Hinabe followed behind, slowly waking up.

“Listen here, Amada. The guild is closed, and I don’t have any money. I need money to stay here for the night.”

“Sorry, but I don’t have any money either.”

I paused for a moment. My blood boiled in anger, and I desperately tried to hold it in. She really is a useless idiot.

I slowly released a sinister grin at Amada before dropping to the ground and wrapping my hands around her neck. “What do you mean, you have no money?! You’re telling me you have been living in this world all this time and don’t have any money?!”

Amada tried pleading with me, struggling to breathe. “T…Takumi, stop! L-Let me go!”

I wasn’t going to kill her, but I had to release my anger at someone. She began to fight back, fidgeting around, trying to knock me off.

The young boy and Hinabe tried to stop our fight, so I refused to lose my grip. As we fought, the door behind the counter opened. A mysterious voice walked out the door, “What is all of this noise!”

The voice sounded raspy and old. As they approached me, I heard the sound of metal stomping on the ground. Looking closer at them, I realized it was an elderly woman. She had short white hair and used a standing walker.

She watched us fighting each other and shouted out, “Stop fighting in my inn!”

As she demanded we stop, I instantly obliged. I immediately removed my hands from Amada. I looked at Amada, who passed out from my attack. She might still be feeling the effects of the warthogs.

After Hinabe obliged, she went back to sleep. However, the young boy and I recovered and stood back on our feet.

The older woman quickly asked the boy, with a serious tone, “Who are these people, Troid?”

The boy stood up, slightly panting. “S-Sorry, Grandma. They just… started attacking each other.”

I decided to speak up and apologize, “Sorry, ma’am. We’re just looking for a place to stay for the night.”

“Mhmm.” The elderly woman squinted her eyes. She looked intimidating. She examined each of us to see if I was telling the truth.

“Don’t mind them.” I clarified, gesturing towards the two sleeping girls on the floor. “They are just tired from the fighting earlier.”

When her eyes locked onto me, her face brightened up. “Oh, Mr. Satori. I didn’t realize it was you.”

I froze for a moment, stumped by her reaction. “Huh?”

She focused her attention on her grandson, “Troid, give this man a room. The best room we have.”

Troid stood confused by the sudden change in his grandma. “But…”

“-But ma’am,” I interjected. “We don’t have any money.”

The older woman simply brushed her hand in the air. “Nonsense! The room is free of charge. It’s the least I can do for a hero like you.”

The boy was extremely lost. I don’t blame him. He probably has heard of Mr. Satori but never seen him. However, his grandma probably saw him back in her younger years.

Still hesitant, Troid followed Grandma’s orders. He ran to the door behind the counter and came back with a key in hand. He handed me the key and returned to his grandma’s side.

After I received the keys to my room, I lifted the girls back on my shoulders and headed upstairs.

“Your room is 306.” The grandma waved me goodbye with a smile, “Please enjoy your stay, Mr. Satori. Stay as long as you like.”

I am never going to get used to this kind of attention and treatment. If I didn’t look like Mr. Satori, I would have looked very suspicious. Thank you, Mr. Satori, for being a hero. And thank you to me for having your looks.

…

After walking up 3 sets of stairs, we arrived at the hallway. The hallway had 6 doors, three on each side. I headed to the far back left door. I reached into my pocket and opened the door.

The door creaked open, and a tidy apartment welcomed me inside. It had one bedroom with other rooms: a kitchen, a living room, and a bathroom. I closed the door behind me and strolled to the bedroom. There was a queen-size bed centered in the room. So, I tossed the girls into the bed.

I found some comforters in the closet and grabbed a pillow off the bed. I headed to the living room and set up my bed on the floor. Part of me wanted the bed to myself, but as a man, I had to give it up.

I lay on the floor, exhausted from my first day in Doppolia. I needed some sleep. However, before I tucked in, I lifted my arm into the air. I stared deeply at it, dozing off, reminiscing about when I punched the warthog.

I remember Amada told me something about me having the same powers as Mr. Satori, but I thought she was lying.

My gaze deepened as I continued to speak to myself. I also thought back to my durable body. “Maybe… I do have similar powers to him. Amada brought me here to stop the Demon Lord from destroying this world. Maybe I could stop him, too!”

“I don’t know exactly what kind of power Mr. Satori had. But…if I do have powers, then I need to figure out how to use them.”

After monologuing to myself for a while, I eventually went to sleep, with a new goal in mind: to figure out these powers I had.

…