Chapter 3

The sky was already dark when Naomi rang a doorbell in another part of the city.

A female voice answered on the speaker. “Yes?”

“Hello, I’m looking for Takashima Kazuya. Fuyutsuki-sensei sent me. Is he home?”

“Oh—yes, sure.” The door opened. A middle-aged woman who looked every bit the housewife was on the other side. She looked very red in the face. “You’re the—er, caretaker?”

The tall redhead nodded and half-bowed. “Kurono Naomi. Nice to meet you, Takashima-san.”

The woman breathed a sigh of relief. She returned the greeting. “I’m glad you’re here. It’s been… well, uncomfortable. Come in.”

Naomi stepped in and took off her shoes. “Has the newcomer caused you any problems?”

Her host shook her head. “Well, no, not really, but our home—it’s too small. I, we, um—we had to let her use our bedroom.”

Naomi followed the woman up the stairs to the living room. Her son was there, sitting by the table, discomfort written on his face. He was tall, somewhat overweight, and wore glasses. “Oh, hello, welcome, thanks for coming.” He bowed awkwardly. “I’ll, um—let Rionne-sama you’re here—”

A door behind him opened, and a slender woman with pale skin and white-golden hair appeared, clad in what could only be described as an exquisite mesh between a silken cocktail dress and a suit of very fine chain mail. Loops of braided hair-thin silver strands pierced her long, pointed ears and girdled her neck and fingers.

Her violet eyes focused at once on Naomi and measured her. “I gather you’re here to assist me.”

The tall redhead took in the voice. It was steady, cool and alert. This elf was not overwhelmed by being in an alien land. “I am. My name is Kurono Naomi. Have your hosts told you about our naming customs?”

A curt nod. “Lady Sayaka tried to explain some of it to me. I understand I should call you ‘Kurono-san’.”

“You’ve done well,” Naomi commended the woman, who just shook her head and waved a hand in dismissal. She recalled what the boy Kazuya had said. “And I should call you Rionne-san.” She tilted her head slightly. “Archsorceress Rionne?”

The elf closed her eyes. Naomi detected a hint of stress in her otherwise composed face. “Correct.”

Naomi also read the change in the boy’s face but commented nothing on either of them. Instead she took down her backpack. “I brought a coat for you. And also a wrap for your staff. It will be best if you don’t draw attention to yourself.”

“I surmised as much.” A polite nod. “Your thoughtfulness is appreciated.”

A shrug, and a small grin. “That’s what I do.”

The boy could not help himself. “You’re leaving—right away?”

“Kazu-kun, a lady needs her space,” his mother pointed out quietly. “Our home is too small for that.”

He looked away in disappointment. “Nobody will ever believe me.”

Naomi gave him a serious look. “And you shouldn’t speak about it either. Rionne-san is very capable, but if word of her reached the wrong ears, bad things could happen to everyone involved. To her, to you and to your mother.”

The elf considered her unlikely hosts for a moment, then reached for her rings—but caught Naomi’s warning look, so she asked her, “How could I best compensate them for sheltering me?”

The tall redhead regarded the downcast Kazuya and thought she understood where his grief came from. She smiled slightly. “I believe nothing would please Kazuya-san more than to keep hearing from you or seeing you from time to time. That’s dangerous, but we can think of something.”

The wizard bowed her head. “I had something more concrete and material in mind. I would offer gold, but the coins or gemstones in my possession could pose a danger to them if I understand you correctly.”

Naomi grinned now. “I know.” She reached for her purse and pulled a pair of ten-thousand-yen banknotes out of her wallet. “This is what we use in place of gold coins here.”

Rionne picked them up, studied them carefully, noting the differences between each bill. “Would this be acceptable?”

Kazuya’s mother Sayaka shook her head. “Please, Rionne-sama, don’t trouble yourself. We don’t need payment—”

“I disagree. You could have revealed me to others or cast me out, and yet you did not. Excuse me for a moment.” She walked up the stairs, then came back bearing her staff — an intricately carved ivory pole crowned by a long blade. Next she laid both banknotes on the table, then pointed her staff at them, closed her eyes, and chanted words in a strange language.

There was a flash, and the two bills turned into a pile large enough to fill a shoebox.

The Takashimas were speechless.

Naomi picked up a few. They were real money, down to their serial numbers, no two of which were equal. Then she laughed. “You’ll do well here.”

“Is this what you do to sustain yourself?” the elf asked later, once they were on the street.

“Among other things. This is my… well, here we’d describe it as a ‘side gig’. But I don’t do it for money.”

Thunder roared in the distance, rain falling gently. Rionne tugged the hood more tightly over her head with one hand. “I should have applied more effort adjusting this. Will our journey be long?”

“About one hour.” Naomi turned around the corner and waited under her umbrella for the traffic light to turn green. Rionne waited one step behind her. “What else did your hosts teach you?”

“The basics of sanitation and hygiene. Lady Sayaka also procured some undergarments for me.” Slight discomfort tinged the elf’s words. “Is it a local custom to wear such tiny underclothes?”

Naomi chuckled as the traffic light turned green and she resumed walking. “Here it’s considered seductive for a woman to show off her beauty.”

Rionne shook her head. “A lady should reserve her charms for those who prove worthy of them.”

“Here.” Naomi pointed at the entryway leading to the metro station, then replied, “Honestly, I agree with both.”

The elf followed her curiously, taking pains not to hit the roof of the hallway with her wrapped staff. Other people about did not spare them so much as a glance. “Your city is so densely populated.”

“This is nothing. Wait until you see Shibuya. Here, take this.” Naomi handed Rionne a pass card, then showed her how to press it against the reader on the checkpoint.

The elf followed suit. Naomi studied her face briefly, but Rionne gave nothing away. “Your Japanese is flawless.”

The wizard’s eyes flashed, and she glanced around. There were a lot of people about. Naomi led her to the far side of the platform, where fewer passengers waited for the train, and once there Rionne muttered, “You are perceptive enough to know better.”

“I’m perceptive enough to figure you’re waiting to get somewhere safe before you tell me your story. You’re worried about people hearing us? You could do something about that.”

Rionne blinked. “You are… not mistaken.”

“Then do your thing. I’ll cover you from view.”

A subtle worry crossed the elf’s features. “I hope the wrapping does not interfere.” She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and moved her staff with slow, delicate precision while whispering the incantation as quietly as possible. Her jewelry glowed for a second.

Then she opened her eyes. “Anyone eavesdropping on us will only hear disjointed syllables.” She breathed in deeply again — and the bitterness Naomi had observed back at the Takashimas’s home reappeared. “As for my story, if you called me ‘archsorceress,’ then you already know most of it.”

Voices on the speakers informed the next train would arrive soon. Naomi looked up and down the rails out of reflex, then reexamined her assumptions and thought how best to deal with her. “I have two theories,” she declared. “Either you’re a figment of someone’s imagination who came to life, or someone is fantastically well informed.”

Rionne did not outwardly react to that, but her pale skin grew even paler. “You don’t deal in subtlety.”

“I’ve been watching you. Someone else would be in total shock, but you’re not. Stranger things have happened to you.”

The elf bowed her head. “Not an inaccurate assumption.”

The train rushed into the station. Naomi boarded it without word, Rionne following; it was packed tight, but seats freed up for them the moment they entered the train car. The tall redhead smiled at her charge. “I wouldn’t call it a coincidence that we found seats right away.”

Rionne shrugged slightly. “I have journeyed for long spells without repose, but I detest standing.”

“I get that.” Naomi stretched slightly. “Tell me about your arrival here.”

The elf stowed her staff carefully on the shelf over the seats before sitting. “I meant to travel somewhere, yet my spell transported me to the residence where you found me instead. Mishaps are not unexpected, but to be sent to a distinct reality was.”

Naomi closed her eyes and nodded slowly. “My sympathies.”

Rionne returned the nod. “Noted and appreciated. And allow me to apologize. I’m rather restrained when it comes to demonstrating my emotions.”

The tall redhead grinned slightly. For a moment she almost said she too had read the manga where Rionne was the main character, but held herself back. The elf sorceress was strong-willed and so far she had handled herself neatly in a strange world, but even she had limits. So she merely said, “I know. No apology needed.” Then she said, “If you didn’t just teleport back, I assume something isn’t working.”

Rionne shook her head. “The stars here are not the same as in my realm. Attempting the feat could lead me to realities far worse. I will probably require a portal to journey back. Or assistance from a local mage.” Then she blinked and straightened up. “Which begets the question: I can feel there is magic here, but raw and untapped. It does not hinder me, but it makes me wonder whether there are any spellcasters here at all.”

Naomi had anticipated that. “There’s no Tapestry here, as you no doubt have figured out. Wizardry is beyond rare here, but I know someone. I can get you help to go back.”

The elf let out a relieved breath. “I’m sincerely grateful for that.” Then her gaze steadied. “But I will delay my departure some. I want to know how and why whoever told my tale came to learn about it.”

The tall redhead did some quick arithmetic in her mind. Then grinned. “That will be easy.” She pulled out her phone and started looking something up.

Rionne was interested. “Everyone here seems to have these crystals.”

“Almost everyone does. I’ll have to teach you about it. I’m sure this is something that you won’t find back in your home realm.” She turned her phone slightly for Rionne’s benefit. “Found it. There’ll be a huge event celebrating—” she almost said ‘manga and anime,’ then changed the words “—storytelling soon. All you have to do is attend it.”