Episode 6: The clotheless runners

A few days had passed, and Taro was sticking to his routine: wake up, do his chores at the church, eat, then go to the guild to grab foraging or collection quests, find the materials, and then spend the rest of the day growing his mana and doing exercise on the same big rock near the forest entrance until the sun sets, go to the guild, complete his quests, go back to the church, rinse and repeat.

Taro: (incredible, I can barely do 10 pushups without mana, but with my beginner level enhancement, I can go all the way up to 30. I wonder if it makes me more resistant as well)

Taro started climbing the usual tree he used to collect materials from. with his mana activated, the rough edges didn't hurt him anymore, and the climb up was a lot smoother

Taro: (I have to show Nagye my progress soon, but hmm, it’s been a while since I last saw her, I wonder if she’s watching me with her shikigami, I don’t see it anywhere though)

Just before Taro was going to jump off the branch, he saw someone walking by, it was Shizuka. Her gaze seemed lost, like walking on autopilot. Her course was going to lead her directly to a nearby pond, which Taro knew was deeper than it would seem. chest deep to be exact, according to his own experience falling in there before

Taro: uhh, Shizuka?, goomornin!

she was too inside her head to notice him and continued walking, unaware of the pond

Taro: Shizuka, water!, uhh, water water! (how do you even say pond in this language?)

Just as she was going to step in, Taro shouted to be careful with the pond, but in his original language, and for the first time, it worked. Shizuka snapped back to reality, noticed Taro on the tree, and then slipped and fell into the water.

She waved her hands frantically as she slipped over and over, Taro noticed she was having a difficult time there, jumped off the branch, landed without any pain to his knees, and when he tried to extend his hand to grab her, he slipped and fell. Shizuka managed to stand up shortly after

Shizuka: haaaaa!, since when is this pond here?, its deeper than I thought

Taro: (that’s what I tried to warn you) I try, “Shizuka Shizuka water water”, from tree

Shizuka: sorry I didn’t notice you, until you said the other thing, what was it? it felt so familiar, it startled me

Taro: water cold, we uhh go rock firzt (uh-oh, her clothes are turning translucent, just like a cliche anime scene!, but I'm no coward… I’m also not a sexual harasser, she’s already uncomfortable enough from me having seen her running naked before, I don’t wanna make it worse)

They went to the rock, which was still warm after absorbing the sun’s warmth throughout the day. The little red glitters on it probably meant it contained the same mineral used for the heating rocks used in dryer rooms

Shizuka took her blouse and her skirt off, put them on the rock to dry, and hid behind it

Shizuka: d-don’t come to my side, that is your side…

Taro: o-ok, I ztay here (oh man I’m shivering already, I guess I gotta put my clothes to dry too, I don’t wanna catch a cold… gahh!, ecchi scenes in real life are more awkward and uncomfortable than I thought.)

Shizuka: As I was saying, what you said startled me, I feel like I've heard that language before, honestly, um…

Taro: (perhaps she’s recovering her memories?)

there was a brief moment of silence

Shizuka: Can I tell you something and you won't laugh?

Taro: (seems to be serious) yez, you zay, I lizen

Shizuka: I had a dream last night, I think I was someone else, and I was in this huge place with shiny towers everywhere, and I was inside a beast, there were a lot of beasts running very fast, they all sounded very angry, and then another beast hit the one I was in, and then I woke up scared because the pain in my neck felt so real

Taro: (so that’s probably why she was so distracted) I zee, scary

Shizuka: there was also this voice inside the beast, I don't remember what it said, but it sounded a lot like what you said earlier, it honestly scared me a little

Taro: (so what she dreamed was probably a memory of her past. hmmm, shiny towers everywhere… beasts running very fast, those have to be cars right?) sorrri, I not want, scare

Shizuka: I'm still a little scared, honestly, not about you!, about me… I know we were both rescued by the church when we appeared in this world, but I just don't remember my past, I don’t feel like a Transported, I feel like I have lived my entire life here, and then I get dreams like those…

Taro: (I wish I knew what to say, I didn’t know she struggled with that) it… it ok

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Taro reminisced on the past. His interactions with Shizuka in the church were not very deep. When she would run around naked, Taro could just bear witness, and when it was time to eat the sacred meal at the table together, he was too shy to speak because he only knew a few words, meanwhile she could hold basic conversations with the staff.

he would sometimes try to communicate with her using his original language, but when she heard it, she would just look at him confused.

The most successful interactions between them were when Shizuka wanted to sneak out of the church and had Taro follow her around for help.

Shizuka: this way, quickly

Taro: ahh, uhh, yez

sister Sunny: where in the goddess’s grace do you think you’re going?

Shizuka: Distract her Taro!, run! I’ll go this way!

sister Sunny: thanks for telling me the plan, you imp!

their plans were rarely successful

Word spread of the talented Transported that learned how to use her mana quickly, and her custody was transferred to the guild so they could train her.

Taro and Shizuka saw each other less after that, but when they crossed paths at the guild office, they would either greet awkwardly, or Shizuka would tease him

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Shizuka: sorry for burdening you with this, I just didn’t know who to talk this with, nobody takes these things seriously at the guild

Taro: it ok, tank you, for zay. I lizen, always. don’t forget

Shizuka: thank you Taro, I feel better now. perhaps I should come visit you if I have another dream of those, what are you doing out here anyway?

Taro: I train, mana enha, and uhh, stre- streng? (close enough pronunciation I guess)

Shizuka: training huh?. now that I remember, I never really saw you using mana before, and now you’re training it, and you also speak so fluid too, compared to before

Taro: yez, I go, be tough (“I will become stronger” is what I wanted to say, I hope it came out intelligible)

Shizuka: you what? heehee, you gotta tell Sidra to teach you more words

Taro: Sidra on other tawn, no teach

Shizuka: oh, she’s not here?, I didn't know that. It's been a while since I last saw her, I miss her now, do you know when she’s coming back?

Taro: no, sorrri (I would have asked, but I don’t know how)

Shizuka: haaa, I want to see her again, we’ll have a lot of things to talk about. Perhaps I should pay her a surprise visit. Do you know where she is?

Taro: yez, other tawn, sa--saus? uhh, yez

Shizuka: Then I'll be counting on you to help me get there, just like the old times, remember? hehehe. …don’t remember the other thing though! it's embarrassing, I just felt so light after recovering in bed for so long, how could I forget to put on clothes? haaaa

Taro: (you forgot more than once)

the sun had set, the cold wind started blowing and whistling. though their clothes were not completely dry yet, they were dry and warm enough to put on

Shizuka: It's so late already, time flies huh?

Taro: very cold, we go guild, cold here

Shizuka, good idea, let's run!

just as Taro was about to put his shirt on, a fully clothed Shizuka jumped from the rock, snatched the shirt out of him and started running

Shizuka: run Taro run! hehehehehe

Taro: ah! wait, Shizuka!

he chased her across town, and when the guild office door opened, Shizuka walked in laughing uncontrollably and Taro panting and shirtless

guild secretary: I was wondering where the champ and the genius were, what happened?

Shizuka, nothing much, just fell into a deep pond and then Taro wanted to run around naked heheheheh

Taro: no true!

guild secretary: good grief, you guys are too old to be playing around like kids, did you bring the things?

Shizuka: What things?

guild secretary: you were supposed to bring me a scroll, and my champ was gonna bring the medicine herbs. the quests, remember?

Shizuka: …I left it at the rock! haaahehehehe!

Shizuka’s contagious laughter, coupled with the fact that the herbs were also forgotten near the rock, made Taro join in the laughter

guild secretary: go look for it!, you goof genius. and I see you empty handed too champ, you can’t fool my eye, go get the things already or I’m not paying anything

Taro and Shizuka went for another run to recover their things and he was surprised at how much easier it was to run that fast and for that long using his mana