Welcome To Alameria - Part 4

After our dramatic exit from the life-spirit Inn I lead Miyazawa down the street towards the South-East gate, Holding my arm out towards her hands I wait as Kiru jumps from her hands and scales my arm before sitting comfortably on my shoulder. We keep a gentle pace with Miyazawa reawakening her wonder and amazement seeing everything and everyone in the town again.

"She has good potential, but she can't wield me. Be careful around her." Kiru uses Miyazawa's distracted state as a moment to whisper that into my ear, I can't respond without Miyazawa taking notice so I opt for a simple head nod to Kiru which she gets. Passing a few more buildings I spot the bakery and lead us inside and buy a number of unique breads, after we leave I'm surprised by the sight of Rogardin.

"HEY RO!" The Tall burly man with more hair on his face than his head looks to me with a confused look at first but quickly realises it's me and walks up to us before throwing his fist at me, I return a punch of my own and collide it with his own before he throws his arms wide embracing me like a bear.

"Well look at you. I almost didn't recognise ya. What happened, ya shave of the beard and lose 10 years in the process, hahaha." I hit my fist against his shoulder and go over the details of what happened and how I believe I regressed in age, I introduce him to Miyazawa's and explain her presence in Other World and how I'm going to get her home back asap. "Hahaha, well don't let me hold you up. I've got to get back and take over for Treia anyway, poor things probably exhausted by now."

"She seemed to have plenty of energy to me, what with the tantrum she threw after asking me to embarrass her." I go over how Teria didn't believe who I was and how I told everyone about the day she once strolled around naked in front of us.

"HA, Your only saving grace from that day was the fact that I was there with you. If I hadn't been there with you when it happened I would have had no choice but to kill you on principle." He's making a joke of it but deep down I know that he'd actually go through with it and try to kill me if I ever laid hands on Treia. I know how protective of his wife he is and honestly, I admire him for it. But still, I hate the man for having such a beautiful woman by his side.

"Well, you take care and We'll catch up properly the next time I'm here." We say our goodbyes and we go our separate ways, then Rogardin call out one last time.

"Hey, almost forgot. The guild's looking for you, they're holding onto 3 private requests for you!" Thinking about it it's likely that they are people pulled here from Earth and after hearing about me hope that I can lead them back home.

"I'll have to take care of it when I get back. Tell them I might be a while." With an affirmative nod from Rogardin we give each other a wave goodbye and continue on our way.

"He was really nice, you two look like really good friends." I can't help but smile at Miyazawa and her attitude, I'm glad she's getting comfortable about where she is and being around me for that matter. 'Comfortable', I look Miyazawa up and down noting she's still wearing the Muzukashii school uniform, when Miyazawa turns I look at her face to see her blushing and covering herself. "Is something wrong, why are you staring at me?"

"Well, before we go we should get you some new clothes." Miyazawa's embarrassed and shy outlook shifts to one of greater curiosity and within minutes we arrive at one of the local tailors. Going through the tailor's selection of clothing and armor, Miyazawa went from unsure to excited about the clothing selection and after what felt like an hour appeared from behind the changing room curtain wearing a cute but functional outfit that fit well into the world instead of her school uniform which we were able to sell for more than what her new outfit cost.

"Thank you for this Osada-kun. I've never experienced a day like this before." I give her a big smile in return, the whole change my age regression here caught me off guard but now that I've gotten used to it and have been putting my focus on acquainting Miyazawa to the Other World I can't help but relax.

"Yeah, it almost feels like a makeshift date, eh." My comment causes Miyazawa's face to go completely red prompting her to turn away from me and start muttering to herself, 'I might have gone too far with that one.' Watching Miyazawa I can't help but notice the steam billowing from her head.

"Takashi! You can't just drop a bomb onto an innocent girl like that!" The chewing out by Kiru in my ear didn't help but I couldn't stop smiling, then it hit me. 'Was I always like this?' Thinking back to when I was first pulled into the Other World I didn't have this kind of experience, I was so focused on survival and figuring out a way back home I didn't have time or opportunities to really enjoy myself at this age.

"By the way Miyazawa, feel free to call me Takashi." Miyazawa snaps out of her overheated moment and looks at me curiously.

"Are, are you sure about that. I mean, I don't..."

"Its fine, everyone in this world call me by my first name and honestly, I wont mind if you use it too." Miyazawa fumbles saying my name at first, her face reddening again but eventually she gets it.

"Ta, Takashi... kun."

"You can drop the honorific if you want, I won't mind."

"Oh, okay, Takashi." She gives me such a sweet smile after saying my name that my heart starts pounding inside my chest. "If its okay with you I would... I won't mind if you use my first name either." 'Why is my heart beating faster?' I think back to Miyazawa's first day at school trying to remember her first name. then I remember what she wrote on the board.

"Its a pleasure to meet you Hikaru-san." I say her first name as gentlemanly as I can and though her reaction is slight there's a moment of hesitation, but the sight of it isn't lost on me. "Hikaru." She give me another big smile and I can tell that the two of us had just become close friends, though I do have a couple of friends already I feel like this moment means a great deal more for Hikaru as she happily offers her hand in a handshake which i take and we share securing our friendship.

After the big moment we shared I'd forgotten we were still in the tailor's shop and I looked to see them staring at us with sparkles in their eyes having just witnessed our tender moment. We say our thanks to the tailor and leave with all due haste, admittedly we've wasted a fair amount of time, before long we reach the walls and I spot one of the nearby wells and head over to fill up on some water for the trip.

"Why is there so much open space between the walls and the buildings here?" My chance to respond to Hikaru's question is interrupted by one of the town's gate guards who informs her about leaving space between the walls and the buildings would allow for more growth for Alameria. Admittedly the town was half the size back when I first set down roots here.

With food and water collected for the trip, we were finally ready for the trip that could take up to ten hours according to Kiru. Standing at the threshold of the town Hikaru takes a deep breath as I wait for her to be ready as I wait on the other side of it, Hikaru takes her first true step into the Other World and we are on our way to getting her back home.