Welcome to Alameria - Part 2

We reach the town in good time and Miyazawa's questioning is quickly replaced with expressions of amazement and wonder as she's immersed into a whole new world. Despite the scary introduction she had earlier she's looking left and right observing everyone as they go about their day to day.

"Osada, Osada look. Those are elves. That person look like an adventurer, Are you an adventurer here? Look, look, Dwarves and animal people. Are there guilds in this world, is that where we're going right now?" I can't help but smile seeing Miyazawa's shy nature suddenly replaced with this energetic wonder girl filled with excitement at the people living in this unknown world, so much so I couldn't help but notice she dropped the honorific from my name.

"No need to visit the guild for now, but we are heading to the Inn so that we can have a proper talk about what happened. Plus I can introduce you to a friend of mine, I'm well known here in Alameria." She seems a little dejected after hearing me but follows me regardless, after several minutes we are standing in front of the widest two story building in the town with a sign carrying the imprint of an open palm with a tree growing out of it. "Well, were here. Welcome to the Life-Spirit Inn. Home to all and a great place to relax and socialize."

I walk inside and head straight for the bar with Miyazawa lagging behind, aside from noticing a few odd looks from the other patrons my main focus is on the tall female blonde elf talking to a customer. I reach the bar and set Kiru down on the counter along with a gold coin I retrieve from my coin pouch, I indicate to Kiru to grab us the usual 2 mugs of Lethyl Leaf brews and walk back to retrieve my enamored companion.

"Looks like you've calmed down a little bit, do you need a place to sit down?" Miyazawa nods and I guide her to a table near the stairs and the bar, looks like the wonder and excitement has worn off and now she's feeling how exhausted she is after our march to get here. "I'll organise a room for us and we'll talk about what's happened, okay." She gives me a nod and I head back to the bar where the elf is talking to Kiru.

"Hello Treia. Looking lovely as ever today, how are you?" I can't say for sure but it looked like she was confused by my formality with her just now. I've known Treia for about half the time I've spent in other world, the Inn used to be run by a burly man by the name of Rogardin until they met and married. Its not hard to see why he was so enamored by Treia, what with her being beautiful and well endowed and thanks to Treia and her miracle brew business at the inn exploded and now the place is well known across half the continent.

"I'm doing well today, thanks for asking." Treia looks down at Kiru who is holing a small mug up and drinking out of it as if it were a barrel. "What happened Kiru, you ditch Takashi for a newer younger wielder. Who is this boy?" I reach for the mug meant for me and Treia snatches it away before I get close. "Sorry boy but this brew isn't meant for the likes of you."

"Not meant for me! Come-on Treia, its me, I've been coming to this place since before you arrived. You know me, its Takashi." Treia continues to give me a I don't know you look and I can't help but feel like I'm being made fun of. 'Why is she treating me like she's never seen me before?'

"I'll give you props for the matching outfit and the fact that you have Kiru with you but unless you found some de-aging potion, you are way too young to be the Takashi I know." 'Wait, young, me? Now that I think about it, when I've approached Miyazawa we've been close to the same height, the bar and even Treia seem taller than they used too. No, it can't be!'

I snatch the room key off the bar counter and charge up the stairs to the room it unlocks, when inside I go for the handheld mirror and stare into the reflection staring back at me with a horrified and youthful appearance.

"NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" I drop the mirror throw off my armor and clothes leaving only my pants on to see that the well built muscular body I once had is gone, my rugged good looks, my well earned scars. All that I see is 'Me'. I worked so hard to build myself into what I was and now all my work and progress has been reset. 'WHY?' I go through all manner of though as to how or why this has happened, then it hits me, 'This morning in the nurse's office, the pull, the fact that I pulled Miyazawa here with me, something Kiru said earlier!'

"Could it have been my interaction with Miyazawa? I've brought people back to Earth with me before, but I've never pulled someone else with me to the other world, could that be what caused this?" Before I knew it I had walked back downstairs muttering in contemplation in front of Miyazawa, Kiru and Treia who seemed to be enjoying each others company and being very welcoming Miyazawa.

"You feel better now after that?" Treia's mocking doesn't improve the situation and my blank look towards her indicates as such, I forgo the drink I'm dying for ushering a come gesture with my hand which Kiru does by running across the bar and jumping onto my now open palm, afterwards I ask Miyazawa to follow me to the room so I can discuss with her the situation we find ourselves in. "You kids have fun, try not to make too much noise."

I ignore Treia's taunt as she goes to another patron and guide Miyazawa to the room and set her on the bed while going to the windowsill, I look out the window to the sky and with careful precision I fling Kiru up onto the roof.

"Okay, we should have plenty of time so questions. First, where are we: We are in or actually on an alternate world separate from Earth, the red skies, local populace and magical properties are the first giveaway." Miyazawa listens intently while I go on. "How we got here requires a little backstory and clarification. Every year around the world, people disappear off the face of the Earth. Some are runaways, others try to go into hiding for reasons and then there's the cases of kidnapping and murder." I can tell I'm unsettling Miyazawa but so far she isn't moving and she is still paying attention.

"While there are plenty of these cases where the person is found or they come back, there are the Johatsu, us, people who disappear without a trace with no way of ever returning, it's an appropriate name for us as we aren't given a choice as to when it happens. You see there are these tears in space or reality across the world or zones as I call them in which if a person fits a certain requirement, hell it could just be random for all I know but these people walk into these zones completely unaware and the next minute they're pulled into this world with no means of finding a way back."

"This happened to me midway through my second year, when I came to understand I tried looking for a way back but before I realised it 8 months had passed and I'd learned to adapt to this world." I hear a light tapping from outside so I outstretch my arm and hold out my hand flat, then Kiru lands onto it after jumping off the roof. After bringing her inside she tells us it'll be a few hours before the next series of gates and Miyazawa goes into a panic.

"A few hours. Eight months we can't stay here, we need to get back, if I'm gone for that long!" Miyazawa goes into a panic so I calmly walk to her and gently grab her by her shoulders and guide her back onto the bed while trying to calm her down.

"Hey, hey. It's okay. Lunch had only just begun so we have plenty of time before anyone begins to wonder where we are. Listen, after my 8 months in this world I heard Kiru's voice call out to me which eventually led to us working together and to me finding a way back home to Earth. When I did get back, the 8 months I thought I had been gone was actually just over 5 days." I go into detail about how the other world has a different flow of time compared to Earth's while trying not to fry her brain with the math. "For every hour we are trapped in this world, only a minute passes back on earth. I've been between here and Earth so many times that I've accumulated about 12 years of time and experience here, a lot of which I spent studying alongside my adventuring."

Through deep breaths Miyazawa manages to calm her nerves and upon hearing me mention the time I've spent here acts as if she'd just made a massive connection. Though she's only seen me for about a week it's doubtful she hasn't noticed all the times I've either walked out of class mid-lesson of skipped classes altogether.

"So you've been doing this all this time and you've told no-one?"

"Of course I've told a friend of mine, though he's been out sick the last couple weeks. However there are others in the school who know about the other world. First there's Kocho Tonomura Sensei. He was like me back in his youth, now he serves as an advisor for anyone who knows about or has experience with this world. Second there is Mai Kanzaki, the school nurse. Though in reality she is the Vile Witch Vestra Kava, to save time I'll just say that she and I fought and after I won I brought her to Earth."

"So when you didn't want to go into the nurse's office on my first day."

"Yeah, the two of us aren't on the best of terms after our fight so we try to make a point of avoiding each other. The last is a fellow student by the name of Mitsuji Sugawara, a real piece of work."

"From the sounds of it you have a history with him." Kiru takes this moment to add her own voice to our conversation.

"That's putting it mildly, that guy somehow managed to find a Legendary Weapon and probably mistreats it in the worst of ways, honestly I don't know how or why it puts up with him."

"Yeah, he's ruthlessly logical and has little interest or care in the safety and welfare of others. All I can say is that the best thing to do if you encounter him, do not engage at all costs." After some more talk about the other world I notice Miyazawa is having trouble keeping her eyes open, after a little convincing she agrees to lie down and get some rest. Within minutes of lying down on the bed she is fast asleep and the feeling isn't lost on me either, so I get into a comfortable position on the desk chair and I relax to the point where I fall asleep too.