Chapter 0: Prologue

"Ugh…"

I opened my eyes, letting out a groan. The light pouring in through the windows burned my eyes.

When my eyes got used to the light, I surveyed my surroundings.

"… Where… Am I?"

I couldn't help asking that to myself, and muttered out loud.

Wherever I placed my eyes, things that cannot be present in the modern day society can be seen. I even thought that I was just hallucinating.

However, no matter how I rubbed my tired eyes, the scenery didn't change. Let's describe what I saw and judge it calmly.

First, the main attraction was the rectangular wooden table growing from the floor. Yes. It was growing from the floor.

Inspecting carefully, the room itself looks like it was made from a single piece of wood molded into a house.

"..."

No matter how I interpret it, this house is clearly a literal "Tree House".

To complement it, flowers growing on the walls gave off a faint glow. I doubt if such types of fauna can be found anywhere in the world.

Above the small wooden shelf beside the window was a small white sphere, floating while giving off bright particles of light.

Vines were swirling around the legs of all 4 wooden chairs around the table giving it an exotic feel.

"… Ouch…"

When I tried getting up, a sudden pang of pain made me flinch.

I touched my head only to notice that it was bandaged with a rough textured cloth. I can't really tell what sort of material the bandage was from as I neither can see it nor remember the material's texture.

Carefully, I got up and sat on the place where I was lying down earlier.

It seems that I was laid down on a bed.

I checked the bed. It was made from wood of course. A thick piece of leather was covering it, acting as cushion. A wide patchwork of colorful cloths and leather was acting as a blanket.

Despite the many shocking revelations that I am seeing, my mind stayed calm.

Based on the current standings, it seems that I am in a place far away from civilization as the technology was poor.

Or rather, I doubt this place is anywhere in earth. If the ancient city of Atlantis was discovered, I can imagine it to be just as astounding.

However as I felt pain, real pain, earlier, this means that this is not a dream.

I checked my body and noticed that I was still wearing my school's uniform, albeit without the coat and the inner shirt.

Instead, a white bandage of the similar texture as to that on my head was wrapped on my chest. There was no particular pain coming from my chest though.

Looking around carefully, my coat and shirt were hanging near the window, being swayed by the cool and fresh morning air.

Without wasting a moment, I stood up and immediately wore the white inner-shirt. As it will probably be a bit hot if I also wore the coat, I stopped.

I also wore my shoes that are lying quietly at the foot of the bed. Above the bed, near the shoes, my reading glasses were placed carefully.

I immediately checked it, wiped the glass clean, and wore it promptly.

At the same moment, the door on my far left swung open gently.

There, a girl carrying a wooden bucket full of water stood while staring at me. Her clear and crystal like blue eyes are looking at me with surprise.

"...… eh?"

After a good 5 seconds of staring, she changed her expression into doubt. Her long, chestnut colored hair swung to the side as she tilted her head.

"! Oops!"

Suddenly, someone seems to nudge her from behind making her almost stumble down.

"What are you doing, blocking the door? Are you al–– Aaaah!!!?"

A small girl, a head shorter that the first one, came barging in. Then when she saw my face, she dropped the bucket in her hands and pointed her shaking hands on me.

"T-the half-dead man is alive!!!" She shouted out loud.

I frowned upon hearing her accusation. However, before the displeasure sinks in, I notice something weird.

The small girl was speaking in a language that I have heard for the first time. But for some reason, I understood her words.

She wasn't speaking in English, Japanese, Chinese, German, French or Spanish. I don't know such language or dialect, not even the accent and pronunciation of words are familiar.

What's going on…?

I can't help but doubt my own eyes and ears.

The blue eyed lady that came in first gently dropped her bucket and dashed to my direction.

Then she held both my shoulders and made me sit down on the bed forcefully but with a gentle touch.

"You should take a proper rest. We did clean and bandaged your injuries but it isn't fully healed yet. The village's doctor will visit at noon so until then you should rest."

She said in a seemingly worried voice, her face switched into a wry smile.

Her voice was like the soft sounds of a wind chime, ringing clearly in my head. Getting influenced by her holy like aura, I reflexively nodded.

"I am Mary. An apprentice Magic Artificer."

She introduced herself fluently while slightly bowing her head. Her movements were as fluid as the flowing water. I have no idea what the job she said was though.

… Also, the language is clearly different… Well, as long as I understand her words then all is well…

As a man with proper courtesy, I too gave my name.

"I'm…"

Wait… My name?

Seeing my weird pause, Mary's face suddenly turned worried.

"You seem to have hit your head somewhere before we found you in the middle of the forest last night. Though the bleeding was quite severe, we managed to mend it in time."

She quickly explains.

Well, if she was telling the truth, then that makes a lot of things to have sense. For why I'm here, why there's bandages all over me and why my memory is fuzzy.

Wait…

My memory isn't fuzzy.

I had been thinking straight since the moment I woke up earlier.

Then why can't I remember my name?

Before I got lost in my train of thoughts, the small girl suddenly popped to the side of my vision.

"I'm Nina. You were quite heavy despite looking so thin. It took me a really serious effort to bring you here."

"Nina, you were just assisting me in carrying right? And don't jump at him like that."

Mary immediately chided her.

I voiced my thoughts but was surprised as the words that came out of my mouth was in the same language as the two.

Still, there's no use in thinking about that now. I ignored it for the moment.

"I'm weighing around 60 kilos so I'm pretty sure I'm just at the average weight though."

… Yup. My mind isn't fuzzy. I can clearly remember my height being 1.78m and that I was 18 years old.

I can even clearly remember my birthday and other important and non-important information about myself.

"… Ki…what?"

Nina asked. Her cute face was full of question marks while her amber colored eyes was staring intently at me.

"I said kilos, as in kilograms."

I repeated for her once again. Did I not say that clearly?

"What's that 'Kilograms' thing?"

Instead of Nina, Mary asked. She too was looking like she couldn't understand what I was saying. What's this? Maybe they use other units?

"… What unit do you use when measuring the weight of objects?"

"… I don't really get your question…"

She looks doubtful about my question.

With this, I found several proofs to my questions.

This led me to only 3 conclusions for the situation. And the leading conclusion is the one that I can't just accept as the truth.

"… Looks like this is a different world after all…"

I muttered with a sigh.