A Chance Encounter

I turned around to face the one who called me out. I knew the voice belonged to a girl, which would complicate things, but what was I to do? Run away from her, too?

When I was partway turned toward her, however, I saw out of the corner of my eye what she looked like. If one were to use words like “hot as hell” for describing a girl, then I would have to place this at the opposite end of the spectrum. She was an angelic beauty, no two ways about it.

Her hair was an ethereal blond. She had skin in the tone of a peach. Her green eyes had a shape to them that was much like someone from outside of Japan. Finally, though I didn’t know it back then, ‌her aura had the feel of a pure girl, one who waited endlessly for her better half to show up. Anything else I would have noticed was entirely secondary to what I shared then.

“Well? I’m waiting,” she said, arms crossed and foot tapping. “What business do you have on my property?”

I couldn’t stall any longer.‌ “Well,” I said before I noticed that my voice came out as scratchy. Crud, I needed that water desperately, now.

The girl whose property I was on sighed. “Okay, drink some water to quench your thirst. After that, then you’ll have to answer me. Are we clear?”

I nodded. Frankly, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

#

After drinking enough water to stay perfectly hydrated, I lowered the bucket back into the well and put the cup where it was supposed to go. I had to tell her the truth, as crazy as it was to believe. When I looked at her again, I knew I needed to look her in the eye.

“Are you feeling better now?” she asked. “If so, tell me everything from the beginning… okay, maybe not everything.”

I nodded. “My name’s Nate Banjou. Pleased to meet you.”

“What was that you just said? I didn’t understand a word of it.”

Curses, I was speaking in Japanese. “Let me try that again,” I said in English. “My name’s Nathaniel Banjou. Please call me Nate. Good to meet you.”

“Oh, well, my name’s Rachel Dion’o. It’s good to meet you, too, Nate,” Rachel said. “What was that language you started talking in just now?”

“The language of my birthplace, Japan,” I said. “I’m not from this continent, let’s just say.”

Rachel looked me over before the metaphorical lightbulb went off in her head, or so I could imagine. “Are you a student?”

“Yes, I am,” I said, blinking a few times rapidly. “How did you come to that conclusion?”

Rachel pointed at the general area of my school bag. “Only students have measuring sticks like that.”

I looked at the measuring stick that was sticking out of my school bag. Of course, that was the explanation she had for me. What other explanation could she have come up with?

“So, what sort of studies do you do at school?”

I looked back at Rachel. “Well, my school is more of a general studies sort of school, including history, mathematics, social studies, physical education, and a few electives that are offered by the teachers.” I then slapped my forehead. “I can’t believe it. You wanted to know what I was doing on your property, right?”

Rachel stared at me a bit and nodded. “Right, I still do,” she said. “Thank you for reminding me, Nate.”

“Not a problem.” I inhaled for a few seconds, then exhaled in full. “I was summoned to this land by some cultists that look like they wear black bedsheets and pillowcases. They thought I was a Demon King who would agree with their philosophy, but I’m not, even if my memories are getting screwy.”

“What do you mean by ‘screwy’, in this case?”

“I mean, the lead cultist of the lot of them waved his arms about randomly and said ‘memory presto’ or something like that,” I said. “Ever since then, strange flashes of memories entered my head that contradict the memories I grew up with.”

Rachel nodded before she turned to her door. “Follow me, please.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I’m inviting you into my house.”

“Won’t your parents mind if I enter without their knowledge?” I asked. There were certain rules I had to avoid breaking, and that was one of them.

Rachel stopped a bit before the door. “My parents are dead, I’m afraid. They’ve been dead ever since I was old enough to read and write.”

I walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. “I know what it’s like to lose family, but not my parents.”

Rachel tilted her head to face me. “Thanks, Nate,” she said. “I hope that your time in this land is better than what led up to this.”

“I hope so, too, and you’re welcome.”

#

“Do we have any idea where Demon King Abitor is? We need to find him before the Reborn Goddess gets her hands on him.”

“I’m afraid there’s no sign of him in the immediate vicinity. How come he refuses to lead us in conquering the lands of all the mere mortal humans?”

“It doesn’t matter. What matters is that Queen Amy can reunite with her beloved properly. We need that assured for us.”

“Lord Manuel! I found tracks leading away from our base.”

“You did? Where do they lead?”

“They first head over to the sign at the fork in the road, before heading to the city of Lifheimr. Demon King Abitor is not going to make this easy for us, is he?”

“No, he isn’t. We need to find him before he gets to Lifheimr, immediately. Send word for one of our scouts to track him down. However, the scout is not to engage with our Demon King. Instead, the scout needs to return via teleportation crystal to report where Lord Abitor is.”

“Yes, sir!”

#

When I entered Rachel’s house, I saw a veritable feast at the kitchen table. Come to think of it, I didn’t have anything to eat since before I was summoned to this world. I needed to eat a lot more than normal.

“Are you feeling hungry, by any chance?” Rachel asked.

Before I could turn and tell her anything, my stomach roared in frustration.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Now, Nate, I hope you like steak.”

I blinked. “Actually, yes, I do.”

“How do you like it cooked?”

“I like my steak on the opposite side of rare.”

“Well, what a coincidence. I hate rare steak as well.” Rachel pulled a chair out from the table. “Don’t forget to wash your hands.”

I nodded. “Okay, I’ll do that. Where do I go to wash my hands?”

“In the bathroom, next to the back door. We came in through the front door, and the back door’s on the other side of the house.”

“Thank you.”