Philosophers In Another World

Chiharu opened his eyes as he became aware of a bright and shiny sensation striking his face. Up above, he noticed the bright sun shining gloriously and arrogantly in the clear sky. It took him a few more seconds to finally comprehend his situation. Sitting up, he realized that he was resting on top of sand, and right in front of him was the unmistakable presence of the ocean.

“Looks like you’re finally up,” came Sara.

Chiharu turned in her direction and noticed that she was sitting a good distance away from him. Her expression was firm and her arms were wrapped around herself. For a moment, Chiharu thought he saw her lips quiver, but the subtly of the movement made him believe that he was just seeing things.

Actually, Sara’s lips did quiver for a moment. She was just lucky that Chiharu didn’t pick up on it at all. This slight loss of composure was a result of what happened moments before Chiharu woke up. Unbeknownst to Chiharu, Sara, who had woken up first and taken into account their situation, watched over him the entire time as he slept. Her eyes took in every single inch of his sleeping face and her emotions switched to autopilot. Little by little, she inched her face closer to his with her eyes focusing solely on his lips. As she got closer, she could hear his breathing growing louder and feel his hot breath. And just when her lips almost crossed the line of no return, Chiharu stirred and Sara immediately regained back control of her body and dashed the other way to put some distance between them.

“Where are we?” asked Chiharu.

“Don’t ask me,” replied Sara with a frown. “I just woke up to this strange place a little while ago myself.”

“Right, heh heh,” remembered Chiharu sheepishly. “But if we both don’t know where we are, then that means we both really did get sucked in through that black hole.”

“What was that black hole anyway?” wondered Sara with her brows furrowed in frustration.

“Black hole…portal…another world…,” muttered Chiharu to himself. He then remembered what Kanon had told him about how she ended up in the other world. That’s when a thought occurred to him. “Could this be the world where Kanon is from?” he asked aloud.

“What are you talking about?” came Sara, confused by his question.

“Oh, nothing,” quickly replied Chiharu. He didn’t like jumping to conclusions and his upbringing in a world heavily reliant on the scientific method told him that he should do some more investigating instead of basing something on an empty assumption.

“Hey, Haru, do you think there’s a way for us to return home?” asked Sara, her tone softer than before.

“To be honest, I don’t know,” he replied back seriously. ‘But if this world is indeed Kanon’s world, then maybe if we find another portal….’

‘No way to return home…,’ thought Sara to herself. She looked over at Chiharu. ‘Then, does that mean that I’ll be stuck here with Haru? All alone?…’ She didn’t know why, but the thought made her heart flutter and brought a small smile to her face. ‘W-W-Well, I guess I wouldn’t mind it….’ Her face was now a deep shade of red.

“Saki,” called Chiharu.

“W-What?!” immediately exclaimed Sara in a high-pitched voice, her face still red.

“Whoa, are you okay?” quickly asked Chiharu, who was taken aback by her response and expression.

Sara was ready to send a blast in his direction, but refrained from doing so. She cleared her throat. “Anyway, what did you call me for?” she asked.

“Well, if we’re going to be stuck here, I was thinking that we should look for some shelter. We still don’t know much about this world, but we need to do everything we can to survive,” explained Chiharu logically.

“I see,” agreed Sara with a nod. Meanwhile, in her own head: ‘A shelter with Haru?! Does he mean, l-l-l-living alone with him?! In the same place?! Is he really suggesting that?! Wait, but then won’t that also mean…I’ll be sleeping with him? I-I-In the same bed?!’

“Let’s get started,” Chiharu told her.

“I’m not ready yet!!!” yelled out Sara in protest.

“Ready for what?!” exclaimed Chiharu in bewilderment.

Suddenly, a blue fireball shot out from the forest behind them. Sara was prepared to intercept it with her powers, but Chiharu jumped right in front of her and used his own ability to absorb fireball into his body. The amount of energy that it carried was more than anything Chiharu had ever absorbed before, surprising him, but he managed to do it nonetheless.

“Who are ye all?” came a female voice from within the forest. The word choice they used felt a little archaic to the duo’s ears.

“Haven’t you heard of introducing yourself before asking for someone else’s name?” Sara responded back sharply.

The owner of the voice revealed themselves. She was a young woman who looked to be about in her early-twenties. She had well-sculpted almond eyes with bluish-green pupils that shone brightly like living flames. Her hair, a silky and glossy dark brown, was tied in a long braided ponytail that rested over her left shoulder. Around her eyes and on her lips was makeup that was carefully applied to enhance her beauty in a natural way—a far-cry from the excessive styles that Sara was so used to seeing back in her world. But more than her facial appearance, it was her style of dress that confirmed Chiharu’s suspicions. The young woman wore the exact same style of clothes as Kanon: a kimono.

‘Now the only question is if she’s either a friend of Kanon’s or an enemy,’ thought Chiharu. He couldn’t forget the fact that Kanon was chased to his world by people from her own world who were after her life.

“I am Nagata no Kana,” introduced the young woman with her chin lifted up in a show of arrogance. “If ye do not provide welcome words, I shall make haste with your dismissal from this world!”

‘Dismissal from this world? Wait, does she mean to kill us?! Is she the enemy after all?’ worried Chiharu.

“The sacred land of the Kaga Clan hath no space for rapscallions!” declared Kana.

“Oh, you want to fight us?” said Sara, her lips pulling into a smile. Sara knew exactly what Kana meant even if her wording sounded somewhat foreign to her, and a fire was lit up inside of her. She prepared herself by ionizing the air around her.

‘Wait a minute, did she say Kaga Clan?’ realized Chiharu. The battle between Kana and Sara began. But before it could escalate into a real fight, Chiharu yelled out, “Wait a minute! Stop! I know Kanon!”

Sara and Kana came to a stop and turned their attention to Chiharu. The latter was actually interested now to hear the strange-looking boy out. “Thou knowest of Mistress Kaga?” asked Kana with widened eyes.

“I do,” answered Chiharu with a serious glint in his eyes.

Kana looked more intently at Chiharu and came to a surprising realization. “Thou speaketh the truth! The blessing of Kannon is upon you!”

‘The blessing of Kannon?’ wondered Chiharu. That’s when he remembered the blessing that Kanon had placed on him as thanks during their first encounter.

“The only person capable of such a feat is the mistress herself,” continued Kana. She then kneeled down and said, “A thousand apologies. Hath I known ye to be allies of the mistress, I would not have acted rashly. Tis a sinful mistake on mine behalf.”

“It’s understandable,” Chiharu told her honestly.

“How, exactly?” retorted Sara, taken aback by Chiharu’s attitude.

“You must be trying very hard to defend the Kaga Clan,” said Chiharu. “Especially since your mistress is being targeted by very bad people and is now missing.”

“How is Mistress Kaga? Is she faring well?” asked Kana eagerly.

“She’s doing fine,” reassured Chiharu. “She eats six meals a day and spends most of the day slacking off in front of the TV.”

“I do not know of this TV you speak of, but it sounds like she is faring very well,” agreed Kana.

“Wait, are you talking about that girl who’s living with you?” realized Sara.

“She’s originally from this world,” confirmed Chiharu with a nod.

“Originally from this world?” asked Sara, confused by the unbelievable statement.

“She came to our world through a portal,” explained Chiharu.

“A portal. You mean, like that hole we got sucked into? Are you saying that that hole is a portal to a parallel world?”

Chiharu simply answered with a nod. “I know it sounds unbelievable at first, and believe me, I had a hard time believing it, too, when Kanon first told me about it, but now that we experienced it ourselves….”

Sara still couldn’t fathom any of it. “O-Okay, hold on a bit,” she said with a hand to her temple. ‘Parallel world? Is that even possible? I mean, scientists have proposed the possibility of it before as probable solutions to the true nature of our universe. There’s Everett’s many-worlds interpretation that proposed the idea that, at a quantum level, all possible occurrences occur simultaneously in different variations of the same reality, which are perceived as different worlds. Then there’s Tegmark’s mathematical universe hypothesis and Putnam’s Twin-Earth experiment….’

“Now that I have ascertained ye to be familiars, may I please invite ye back to the estate,” said Kana.

They all arrived at the Kaga estate and Chiharu and Sara had their minds blown over how large it was! After walking through the gate, they came to a large piece of land that extended well past the length of five soccer fields lined up back-to-back! The land itself was cultivated land that was used to grow vegetable gardens, millet fields, rice fields, and fruit orchards. Stone pathways, like the one which they were walking on top of right now, created clean paths into those cultivated lands without disturbing them.

There were people working in those fields. They all wore simple short-sleeve shirts and pants made of thick fabric and wide-brimmed hats. There were elderly people, middle-aged people, young adults and teenagers, and even kids! And whenever they saw Kana passing by, they would stop whatever they were doing and greet her with a smile and a bow.

“Everyone knows who you are,” noted Chiharu. “Are you, perhaps, someone important?”

“I am one of Mistress Kaga’s personal attendants,” revealed Kana. “Unlike the servants of the estate, those of us who are chosen to serve as personal attendants are individuals from the Kaga’s five pure-blooded branch families. Otherwise, they are individuals from other high-profile families with deep ties to the Kaga Clan.”

‘That must mean Kotatsu, too,’ noted Chiharu to himself.

As they continued further back to get to the main estate, the land gave way to huge buildings and paved roads. According to Kana, eighty percent of the buildings in the estate were houses for clan members and servants. The rest were made up of libraries, training halls, cafeterias, stables, and leisure areas.

They arrived at the main estate and Kana led them inside. The servants greeted Kana every time they were in her presence and paid her guests no mind. She led them to a room and opened the door. “This room is mine,” she told them. The room was very traditional and reminded Chihara and Sara of the rooms they’ve seen in history museums about Shinnippon. The floor was made of tatami mats and the walls were made of paper. A small table was situated in the center with cushions around it as seats. On the opposite of the room was a large paper sliding door.

Kana walked over to a small cupboard and brought out a tea kettle and tea cups. She set out the cups and then lifted the kettle with one hand while placing her free hand under it. “Summon: Ao,” she chanted. Blue flames appeared from the free hand and acted as a heating source for the kettle. Once smoke emitted out of the spout, she willed the blue flames to disappear and poured out the tea into each cup. “Would ye join me?” she asked the duo. Chiharu and Sara obliged and sat down on the cushions. Kana took a sip of tea and smiled. “May I inquire ye of your names?” she asked the duo.

“Ah, yeah, I’m Atago Chiharu. And this is my friend, Uzuki Saki,” introduced Chiharu.

“My name is not Saki!” snapped Sara. “It’s Uzuki Sara.”

“Right, but you use the characters for ‘bloom’ (saku) and ‘good’ (yoi) in your name,” pointed out Chiharu. “And the first character can be pronounced as ‘Saki’.”

“Ah, I see,” agreed Kana.

“Stop justifying saying my name wrong!” demanded Sara.

“Well, Sir Atago and Lady Uzuki, may I inquire of your world and as to the reason behind your sudden appearance in this one?” asked Kana. Chiharu explained everything that he knew to Kana. Once he was done, Kana took a moment to process it all with an intrigued expression on her face. “So I take it that if ye desire to return to your world, ye must traverse through one of these portals again.”

“That’s what I think so, too,” agreed Chiharu. “Do you know about these portals? If you do, do you know when a next one might open?” He knew that these were unreasonable questions, but he couldn’t stop himself from asking. If there was even a sliver of chance that Kana knows something about these portals, it could be their key to returning home.

Kana solemnly closed her eyes in apology and said, “I do wish to be of assistance, but alas, I do not possess the necessary knowledge to do so.”

‘I guess I should’ve expected this answer,’ thought Chiharu.

“Ah, but to think that there exists a world of Philosophers other than mine own,” mused Kana.

“So you call yourselves Philosophers in this world, too,” remarked Sara.

“I am a Silver-Ranked Occultist,” revealed Kana proudly.

“Silver?” wondered Sara.

“Ah, I think that’s like our world’s Gamma-Level,” explained Chiharu. “So, does your ability deal with those flame things we saw earlier?”

“They are will-o-wisps,” explained Kana. “The will-o-wisps are spirits of mystical flames. They come in many different species, each with their own particular color and related abilities.” To demonstrate, she held out her hand and said, “Summon: Ao.” The blue flame from before appeared on the palm of her hand. “Summon: Aka. Summon: Ki. Summon: Midori.” Three more flames—one red, one yellow, and one green—appeared one by one on her palm. As one flame appeared, the one before it moved to the side and upwards. This continued until the four flames created a circle floating above their master’s palm.

Chiharu had seen some magic before, but this still captivated him so. From the corner of his eye, he also noticed Sara staring at the balls of flames with awestruck eyes.

This was Sara’s first exposure to magic and she was deeply mesmerized by it. She couldn’t think of any possible scientific explanation for this phenomenon at all—or at least, when she thought she did, it just felt awkward and weird; it was as if the phenomenon itself was refusing to be subject to scientific explanations!

“And ye?” asked Kana after making the will-o-wisps disappear, much to Sara’s disappointment.

“I am an Alpha-Level Psion,” Sara told her equally haughtily, standing up.

“Alpha-Level?” asked a confused Kana.

“They’re the cream of the crop,” Chiharu told her. “There are only nine Alpha-Level Philosophers in our world.”

“Ah, then they are like the Diamon-Ranked Philosophers in this world,” said Kana. “There are only nine Diamond-Ranked Philosophers in this world.”

‘Even these numbers are similar,’ noted Chiharu.

Sara, meanwhile, was frowning ever since she heard Chiharu’s previous statement about the Alphas. She couldn’t believe the words that came out of his lips. ‘Calling them the cream of the crop. You really make my skin crawl with comments like that,’ she silently cursed at him.

“May I inquire for a demonstration?” asked Kana.

“Heh?” came Sara, who had just returned back to reality by Kana’s words. “O-Oh, of course!” she said after realizing what was said. She held out her hand and focused on the particles in the air. After confirming the bonds present, she closed her fist and willed for the air molecules to ionize. A small yellow lightning bolt shot forward a few inches before dissipating into the atmosphere.

“Oh, amazing!” praised Kana in awe.

“T-Thanks,” said Sara with a laugh. In truth, despite how she appeared to Kana, Sara was disappointed by that display just now. ‘That was way weaker than I had wanted it to be,’ she thought to herself. Sara had meant to shoot out a more magnificent bolt of lightning that was still within the acceptable limits of their surroundings, but the result she got was something she hadn’t anticipated at all. ‘Could it be that this world is messing with my powers?’ she wondered.

“And you, Sir Atago?” Kana asked Chiharu.

“Oh, I’m just a Gamma-Level Psion,” Chiharu told her with a humble chuckle. “Actually, you saw my ability before.”

Kana remembered back to their initial meeting and recalled seeing Chiharu negating her own magic. “Is your ability related to power negation?” she asked him intriguingly.

“Not exactly,” Chiharu told her, “I can absorb all forms of energy into my own body and use it for myself.”

“Ne’er before have I heard of such an ability!” exclaimed Kana pleasantly.

“With that ability he could’ve become a Beta-Level Psion, but he decided to remain at Gamma-Level instead. There’s seriously something wrong with his brain,” commented Sara harshly with her arms crossed over her chest.

The comment elicited a hearty laugh from Kana. “Lady Uzuki, you speaketh the truth!” agreed the occultist. She sobered up and cleared her throat with a smile still on her face. “Sir Atago and Lady Uzuki, I suggest ye take shelter in this mansion for the duration of your stay. There are vacant rooms next to mine own that ye could occupy,” Kana told her guests.

“Are you sure?” asked Chiharu. He knew that what Kana was suggesting was really the only option he and Sara have considering how they surely wouldn’t survive in this new world so foreign to them without any help. But he was also uneasy about spending a night or nights in a place where he felt like he could lose his life at any moment given everything he knew about the current situation of this world.

“Ye are mine guests, therefore ye are also guests of the Kaga Clan,” Kana told him. “Furthermore, these quarters are reserved for members of the Kaga Clan branch families. It is heavily protected and I myself shall serve as ye guardian in this world.”

Chiharu and Sara exchanged glances before finally accepting her offer.

With her face melting on the counter while sporting a bored expression on her face, Kanon lazily chewed on the sukonbu in her mouth. “Ughhhhhh! Where is Sir Atago!” groaned Kanon.

Kotatsu presented to his mistress a plate of mapo tofu. “Mistress Kaga, you have to stop eating these snacks. They are not good for your health,” he chastised Kanon.

Kanon took a sniff of the mapo tofu and quickly turned her head away with her fingers pinching her nose. “Take it away! Take it away!” she demanded. She had enough of eating beans. Kotatsu took away the plate with a disheartened expression on his face. “Gah, it’s been a week now!” whined Kanon, referring to how long it’s been since Chiharu hadn’t returned home. “All I’ve eaten were beans and more beans! I’ve had enough! Where is Sir Atago so that he can treat me to some delicious ramen?”

Without Chiharu here, Kotatsu took it upon himself to provide for his mistress. For the first three days, his services were appreciated. But starting with the fourth day, Kanon had gotten tired of it. It was because of Kotatsu that Kanon couldn’t go out to eat delicious food as she once did with Chiharu. Instead, she was forced to gorge on Kotatsu’s bean-heavy dishes. It has gotten to the point where she was starting to develop trauma from them—just the day before, she was curled up in a ball in the corner while madly muttering to herself: “Soybeans, bean sprouts, adzuki, tofu, natto, green beans. Soybeans, bean sprouts, adzuki, tofu, natto, green beans. Soybeans, bean sprouts, adzuki, tofu, natto, green beans. Soybeans, bean sprouts, adzuki, tofu, natto, green beans….”

“Mistress Kaga, what do you suppose Sir Atago is doing?” asked Kotatsu.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” replied a deflated Kanon.

“You know, this reminds me of the time you went missing back in our world,” said Kotatsu with a nostalgic smile.

“Were you traumatized by beans, too?” Kanon asked him.

“What?—No!” quickly replied Kotatsu with a shake of his head. “I mean, I was worried about you when you suddenly disappeared through that portal. Before I managed to find one to chase after you, the entire estate was in a state of panic.”

“Really?…” drawled Kanon disinterestedly. She then slammed her fists on the counter and stood up. “That’s it! What if Sir Atago disappeared through one of those portals?”

“Is that possible?” wondered Kotatsu.

“That can be the only explanation for his disappearance!” she insisted.

The doorbell to the apartment rang. Kanon ran to the door and opened it to welcome Chizuru and Yūki. Chizuru presented to Kanon a bag with steam coming out of it. Kanon took the warm bag and could smell the scent of meat coming from within. “For you, Big Sister Kanon,” said Chizuru.

The kind gesture made Kanon tear up and she pulled Chizuru in for an emotional hug. “Oh, Chizuru-chan, thank you! Thank you! You’re a lifesaver! I was about to spend my days wasting away on stupid, evil beans!” she cried.

“Beans are not stupid nor evil!” heavily objected Kotatsu. “Anyway, what is Sir Atago’s sister doing here?”

“Oh, is Big Brother not here?” asked Chizuru.

“We don’t know where he is!” cried Kanon.

“That’s a problem,” said Chizuru glumly.

“Oh, Chizuru-chan!” Kanon cried as she hugged Chizuru tightly in her arms. “If Sir Atago doesn’t come back, you can be my little sister instead!”

“I don’t know if I can do that,” answered Chizuru innocently.

“Of course you can!” Kanon told her.

"Anego, where are you?!” cried out Yoshi, finally snapping from Sara’s unexplained disappearance.

“Tsuyoshi-senpai, are you alright? Would you like some tea?” offered Fuji with a cup of tea in hand.

“Fuji, tea will not be able to repair the hole I have in my heart right now,” answered Yoshi in a half-dead voice.

“Ridiculous,” sighed Yuki from behind his desk. Ando Yuki, the 23rd Precinct’s second-in-command and Yoshi and Fuji’s senior. He was a long-faced young man with curtained honey-brown hair and dark grey eyes that were always pulled into a scowl. Under his eyes were the pale outlines of bags, giving him the appearance of a man in the middle of his transformation into a raccoon. Competent and thorough, though somewhat of a pessimist who always finds something to gripe about, Yuki was respected by his colleagues and very dependable.

“Yuki-senpai, Tsuyoshi-senpai isn’t feeling well,” reported Fuji.

“And that’s why I said it’s ridiculous,” repeated Yuki. “Muscle-Headed Girl,” Yuki called Yoshi by his personal nickname for her, “if you can’t do your work, either go home or go throw yourself into a river to clear your head.”

“Fueh, Yuki-senpai, that was too harsh, don’t you think?” exclaimed Fuji.

“It’s not like I told her to go die,” said Yuki blandly.

“You might as well did,” replied Fuji with a frowning pout.

Yoshi got up from her desk and trudged to the door. “I’m going out on patrol,” she announced to the others before closing the door behind her.

“What’s her problem anyway?” asked Yuki once Yoshi was gone.

“Her roommate is missing,” replied Fuji.

“Roommate?”

“I think her name was Uzuki Sara.”

“Uzuki Sara…. Ah, you mean Lady Atom,” said Yuki with some interest in his voice.

“Is it true that she possesses absolute command over the atom?” asked Fuji with eager eyes.

“Hell if I know,” Yuki replied back. “I only know that she’s an Alpha-Level Psion.”

“Speaking of Alpha-Level, isn’t the Captain one, too?” asked Fuji, referring to Euclid Tsukishiro.

“Mystery Gentleman, Euclid Tsukishiro, one of the Nine Alphas in the world,” confirmed Yuki. “His Matrix Grid ability is god-tier. The only reason why he’s ranked fifth is because he prefers to not stand out. As a result, not many people are aware of the limitless potential of his ability.”

“I see….”

Though most of what Yuki said was filled with his own biased opinion of their leader.

Suddenly, a beeping noise came from Fuji’s computer. She checked it out and, upon seeing what it was, pulled a terrible face that caught Yuki’s attention. “There’s trouble,” she explained.

“Trouble? What kind? And where?” questioned Yuki.

“A bus was overturned on 78th Einstein Avenue,” answered Fuji.

“An overturned bus?”

“Three shops along 65th Fermi Lane was caught in a chain explosion,” Fuji continued in horror.

“Explosion? Wait, 65th Fermi Lane?”

“On 72nd Newton Park, the frame of a building under construction collapsed. And there was a four-way traffic accident on the Democritus Freeway.”

Yuki couldn’t keep up at all with all of the reports. “Just what the hell is happening?!” he demanded.

Fuji forwarded all of the news to Yuki’s computer. Yuki opened them for himself and couldn’t believe what he saw: a city bus overturned on 78th Einstein Avenue; three consecutive shops on 65th Fermi Lane caught in massive explosions; the collapse of a building frame on 72nd Newton Park; a horrific four-way traffic accident on the Democritus Freeway; the destruction of a highway bridge along Highway 6. But it was the sole connection between these crimes that he noticed in the videos that frightened him the most….

The next day, Sara woke up at the crack of dawn. She was up before Chiharu and got herself ready. When she came out of the bath she found a folded robe set out for her. Along with the robe was a note. She opened it. ‘Lady Uzaki, I have laid out these robes for you. I pray they are to your liking. —Nagata no Kana.’

Sara put on the robe but was clueless as to how to wear it properly. Luckily, Kana had also left a small paper of instructions for her. She followed the instructions and managed to succeed, albeit clumsily.

Now clad in her new clothes, she walked out and sat down on a small bench opposite the estate. Over her head was the branch of a nearby maple tree. She basked in the glow of the morning sun. The warmth rested comfortably on her skin and she felt the most relaxed she had ever been ever since coming here to this world.

A precious memory from long ago rose up and she let herself drown in it. It was a memory that she forever held close to her heart. The reason for her current-self started with that memory.

Six years ago, when Sara was only nine years old, her family moved to Neo Tokyo. There, she met a twelve year old boy named Atago Chiharu. He was a bright and cheerful and helpful boy, compared to Sara’s timid and reticent nature. Both of their families were neighbors and Sara and Chiharu went to the same school: Mitsukage Academy. Chiharu quickly showed himself to be a capable senior who Sara could depend on, despite his somewhat annoying busybody nature and his constant mispronounciation of Sara’s name. At that point in time, Sara was only a Delta-Level Psion.

One day, Chiharu took the Level-Up Test and achieved Gamma-Rank. It was that exact day that an important promise between the two of them was made. That same afternoon, Chiharu and Sara were walking to the store when they witnessed a small dog being bullied by a group of older kids. Sara was scared of the older kids and had wanted to get out of there fast. But Chiharu wouldn’t stand for their bullying and outright challenged them. The bullies had no qualms about using their powers and unleashed it all on Chiharu. Chiharu, however, wasn’t scared of their powers at all and used his ability to absorb them. With his newly-absorbed energy, he took them down one-by-one. When Sara saw that, she became mesmerized by Chiharu’s heroism. This version of Chiharu became the standard for the kind of Philosopher she wanted to be!

One of the bullies who was the least wounded of them all decided to launch a sneak attack from behind. Sara instinctively used her own ability to take him out, drawing praise and gratitude from Chiharu. With their enemy defeated, they checked on the dog and brought it back to its owner. On the way back, Chiharu talked about leveling up and encouraged Sara to do it. They then made a promise, one that Sara still held onto to this day despite Chiharu’s obvious obliviousness: both of them would reach Beta-Level and work together for a Philosopher group to protect the peace.

The memory ended and Sara smiled sadly. “Idiot Haru,” she whispered to herself.

“Ah, Lady Uzuki, you art awake,” greeted Kana. “I hope that you slept well.”

“Yeah, I slept great,” confirmed Sara with a smile.

Kana took a seat next to Sara. “Are the homes of your world like this, too?” she asked Sara. It was clear that she was honestly curious, but she kept it casual and polite.

Sara looked around, taking into account every detail of her surroundings. “Well, to begin with, most of our houses are taller and made of brick and stone. Estates like these exist, but their architectural design is quite different. I’m not rich, so I don’t really know what they look like or how they work, but based on what I’ve seen on TV, their landscape is not too different from this estate. The only difference is in the building’s architectural style.”

Kana understood only about half of what came out of Sara’s mouth. But from what she could glean from those few understood words was that the homes of the other world were different in many ways. And then there was one word that Sara said that intrigued her. “What is a ‘TV’?” she asked eagerly.

Sara was a little surprised by the question. It wasn’t one that she really expected, but remembering exactly the type of the world she was in, it made sense for such a question to be asked. “It stands for ‘television’,” she explained.

“Television?”

“It’s a telecommunication device that receives transmitted images and displays on a screen. First, it breaks down the received image into pixels and converts it into electrical signals. These electrical signals are modulated and converted into data streams which are then transmitted to the internet before being recaptured by a receiver. The signal gets reconstructed back into the original image and displayed on a screen.” As Sara explained all of this, unbeknownst to her, Kana was having such a hard time keeping up that her head exploded.

“Pixels…signals…pixels…transmitter…,” muttered Kana to herself as if possessed.

Sara finally realized that she hadn’t gotten through to Kana at all and quickly apologized. “In short, it’s a machine that shows moving pictures!” she explained, breaking it down as simply as she could.

“Oh, so it’s a magical equipment that can conjure up moving images!” understood Kana.

“M-Magical—yeah, okay,” relented Sara. She wanted to protest the concept of magic but decided against it. Considering the world she was in, there was more than sufficient evidence to prove her otherwise.

“Saki! Kana-san!” greeted Chiharu.

“Sir Atago, did you sleep well?” asked Kana politely.

“Like a baby,” replied Chiharu with a smile.

“Like a baby…?” wondered Kana, confused by his choice of words.

“I slept very well,” Chiharu quickly followed up.

“Ah, I see. Well, now that we are all here, shall we partake in breakfast?” suggested Kana.

Chiharu and Sara were pleasantly surprised to find that the same kind of dishes that they had back in their world also existed in this one—albeit with slightly different names. They had porrage (ogayu) with eggs, a bowl of mizo soup, and a side of pickled vegetables (tsukamono). Just as they were finishing up, the door to their room opened and a servant came in.

“Lady Kana, there is a visitor for you,” informed the servant.

“Who is it?” Kana asked the servant.

“The Empyrean Oracle,” answered the servant,

Kana’s face darkened.

“Who is that?” asked Chiharu upon noticing Kana’s changed expression.

“He is someone who can help you get back to your world,” Kana told him, though her expression did not change one bit. “Where is he right now?” Kana asked the servant.

“He is waiting in the guest hall,” answered the servant.

Kana glanced over at Chiharu and Sara and furrowed her brows. ‘If he knows that they’re from another world, what would he say? And how about Mistress Kaga’s disappearance?’ All she could foresee was trouble.

“If he knows a way for us to get back, then let’s go meet him right now,” said a fired-up Sara.

“That’s…,” hesitated Kana.

“This might be our only chance! What are we waiting for?” urged Sara.

“Saki, calm down a bit,” said Chiharu.

“The more time we waste, the longer it’ll take until we find a way back home!” argued back Sara.

“I know that, but you’re causing trouble for our host,” Chiharu told her.

“No, Lady Uzuki is right,” said Kana with a serious expression. “We shall use this opportunity to our utmost advantage.”

“Yeah, let’s do that!” agreed Sara.

“But to do that, ye must do what I say,” Kana told the both of them. “The Empyrean Oracle is a highly respected individual in our world, on par with a god. Therefore, I plead ye to not do anything that will offend him. Please wait for my words before ye act. If we can play our cards right, he will helpeth us for certain.”

Chiharu and Sara exchanged glances and nodded to show their cooperation. This was their chance to go back home. Of course they wouldn’t want to ruin it. Finally, they can go home.