Chapter 7: The Storm(4)

MISTERLP

I was silent.

"So, how are you going to make up for it? There's stuff in this world

you can't make up for, sure. But if you can, you'll want to do that, so you

can puff your chest out with pride, right?"

Make up for it, and puff my chest out with pride...

"Make it up to the person I wronged, you mean?" I asked.

"No. To yourself."

Make up for what I did wrong. So that I can approach myself with

pride. I didn't know why, but for some reason, I found myself easily

accepting this young man's words. Then...

"What are you acting so important for, Hal?" a fox-eyed girl asked.

"Wha, Kaede?! Where's the harm? I'm just showing some compassion

here!"

"Hmm..."

The fox-eared girl looked at him coldly, and the red haired young man

began desperately trying to explain himself. He looked a little cool until

just now, but his panic ruined it.

Sometimes he was cool, and sometimes he was goofy... He was

interesting to watch. And besides...

"You'll want to do that, so you can puff your chest out with pride,

right?"

"To yourself."

I felt like this young man's words had given me direction. I got my

aching body up.

"Ah! Hey, are you sure you should be getting up?" the young man

asked.

"If it hurts, you can stay lying down, you know?" the fox-eared girl

said.

True, my body hurt all over, but... If I just lay here, I wouldn't be able

to puff up my chest with pride for my own sake. So I turned to the redhaired young man, the one the fox-eared girl had called Hal. I turned to

Hal and bowed my head deeply as I said, "I'd like to ask you a favor."

◇ ◇ ◇

Now then, with the dragons put firmly on notice about Naden, it was

time to think about the actual issue of what we were going to do with the

storm.

In deference to the thoroughly beaten dragons, we left the great hall,

which was filled with the sort of atmosphere you'd expect at a wake, and

relocated to a smaller room.

From what Naden said, this was like a waiting room for those who

would be having an audience with Madam Tiamat. In that room, I

addressed my companions.

"Naden and I saw something in that storm."

"Saw something?" Liscia asked.

I nodded. "I got just a glimpse of a black thing through a gap in the

clouds."

"You're sure you didn't imagine it, right?"

"We heard a voice, too, so I'm confident. I only really picked up

fragments of words, like 'you' and 'destroy,' though. You heard it, too,

right, Naden?"

"I did hear it, yes, but I wasn't able to make it out that clearly." Naden

crossed her arms and groaned in thought. "That, and I don't think it was in

our language. Like, I could tell they were saying something, but I had no

idea what it was?"

"Hm? Master could hear it, but Madam Naden couldn't?" Carla asked

in surprise, tilting her head to the side in confusion.

"...May I interject for a moment?" Kaede, who had kept quiet up until

now, raised her hand.

With her perception, Kaede worked as a staff officer for Ludwin, who

was seen as the future commander-in-chief of the National Defense Force.

In our current situation, without Hakuya around, she was a reliable thinker.

"If I recall, you aren't from this world, right, sire?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, that's right."

"In your world, they must have used a different language than what we

speak in this one. In spite of that, you understand our language, and we

understand yours because of a strange power."

That was right. To be more precise, Liscia and the others heard the

Japanese I was speaking as Japanese, but they could apparently understand

it. The reverse was also true. For instance, if I sang in Japanese, Liscia and

the others would understand the lyrics, but if Juna then perfectly imitated

my singing, Liscia and everyone else would have no idea what the lyrics

meant.

Come to think of it... I can read and write in this world's language,

can't I?

Mysteriously, I was able to recognize the writing system used in this

world. I could write and read it.

On the other hand, if I were to show Liscia something in Japanese

writing, she would have no idea how to read it. So that meant the

translation ability only worked on my side. Thanks to that, I was able to do

my paperwork, but... could there be some meaning behind why the

translation worked differently for spoken word and text?

While I was wondering about that, Kaede asked Naden, "Madam

Naden, you and your fellow dragons are able to speak directly to our

conscious minds, right?"

"Yeah. We call it speaking into the heart, or psychic speech, though."

"That's where I've had a thought," Kaede said. "I think His Majesty's

ability could be similar."

That made sense. Telepathy, huh? It wasn't directly working on the

sense of hearing, it was working on the part of the brain that processed

information. Maybe Tomoe's ability to talk with animals and demons

worked similarly.

But why had this topic suddenly come up...? Oh, right.

"It's possible that the reason I could make out what it was saying, and

Naden couldn't, was that one of us had a power like that working for us,

and the other didn't, you mean."

"Yes. I can't help but suspect that."

"Well, does that mean that whoever's in that cloud was using the

language from the world Souma came from?" Liscia asked.

Oh, yeah. That was a possibility, wasn't it?

But Kaede firmly shook her head at the suggestion. "I don't think so."

"How can you be so sure?" Liscia asked.

"It would be faster to put this to the test. Sire, I know this may be a bit

of a bother, but can you teach me how you greet each other in the morning

in the language of the world you came from? Slowly, please."

When she said that to me, I broke it down for her syllable by syllable.

"O-ha-yo-u."

"Ohayou, is it?" Kaede asked. "Ohayou, princess."

Liscia looked surprised and her eyes opened wide. "Weird! They both

sound like 'Ohayou,' but I understand it means 'Good morning' when

Souma says it, and when I hear it from Kaede, it sounds like an unfamiliar

language."

"I-Is that how it is?" I asked.

Kaede nodded. "Yes. I think this is proof that the one in the cloud

wasn't speaking in the language of the world you came from. If they were

using the language of your country, Naden would have heard them

pronounce the words 'you' and 'destroy,' even if she didn't understand

them."

Even if she hadn't heard them as words, she'd have heard them being

pronounced... huh.

Kaede brought a hand to her mouth and spoke as if thinking aloud. "His

Majesty understood the one in the cloud, but Naden didn't. And it's hard

to think it was the language of the world His Majesty came from. That

would lead to the conclusion that the one in the cloud was speaking a

language that isn't the common language of this continent, and isn't the

language of the world His Majesty came from."

What was that? Did that mean the person in the cloud wasn't from this

world, or from my world, but from some other world entirely? If there was

someone like that out there, we'd really have no way of knowing how to

deal with them.

...Wait, huh?

No, that's not it, I thought. They don't need to have come from another

world. We already have them. Here, on this continent, there are already

people using a completely different language.

"Demons..."

When I said that word, everyone gulped.

The mysterious races, different from monsters, said to live deep within

the Demon Lord's Domain. The only known case of dialogue with them

had been a short exchange between Tomoe and a kobold. It was something

that only worked because of Tomoe's special ability, so that was to be

expected.

It wouldn't be strange at all for them to have their own language

system, completely separate from the common language of this continent

and the languages of the world I'd come from. Also, if the demons were

able to speak, my mysterious translation ability might allow me to hear it.

Just like how, in the middle of the storm, I was the only one who'd been

able to make out what was said.

My ability wouldn't let me hear what animals were saying like

Tomoe's did, but maybe it would allow me to talk to demons?

"...Do you think that could be why Madam Tiamat called me the

'key'?" I asked.

"I think that's likely it." Kaede nodded.

Holding her head in her hands, Liscia said, "Suppose for a moment...

that really is a demon in the clouds..."

"Suppose it is?" I asked.

"I don't want you to go, Souma." Liscia said, looking me straight in the

eye. "It's too dangerous. If anything were to happen to you, our country... I

would..."

Aisha was the next to speak up. "That's right! I'll go in His Majesty's

place, and I'll cut that evil thing down!"

I was sure they were both worried for my safety. I knew how weak I

was, so I would normally avoid this kind of danger. But this one time, I

felt like there was no way around it.

"If this could be solved with martial prowess, Madam Tiamat wouldn't

have bothered to call me here. There are plenty of folks out there who are

stronger than me, after all. Since that's not it, Madam Tiamat must think

this incident should be resolved through dialogue."

"But..." Aisha complained.

"I think this is a valuable opportunity. Our country has the good fortune

to be far from the Demon Lord's Domain. If we miss this chance, though,

there's no telling when our next opportunity to hold dialogue with a demon

will come. We should gather what information we can, while we're able to

do it."

"Souma..." Still looking worried, Liscia put a hand on my shoulder.

"Of course, I intend to keep myself as safe as possible," I assured her.

"We have the equipment we brought from the kingdom, too. I'll also have

Aisha come to escort me. I want everyone else to wait on the ground.

Naden, I want you to let Aisha ride on your back, too. Is that going to be

okay?"

I heard that dragons only let their partners ride on their backs, after all.

Naden thought about it for a while. "Hmm, I don't like it, but... Aisha is

my partner's partner, so I guess we can treat her as being like my partner,

too? Just remember that she won't receive my protection, so she better be

tied down tightly, okay?"

Carla crossed her arms and groaned. "'The partner of my partner is my

partner,' is it? It seems I can't accompany you, then. I can't fly in these

winds, either. I did want to do something to help..."

"There's no helping it, given the situation," I said. "Aisha, sorry to

make you do this, but protect me."

"I am already the one who protects you, your kochiji!" Aisha said,

thumping her chest with pride.

Liscia took her hand. "Aisha, look after Souma for me."

"Lady Liscia... Yes! Please, leave it to me!" Aisha put her other hand

on top of Liscia's.

Now then... For now, that was about it, right? Everyone had their roles

assigned... Wait, huh? I looked around at my comrades and noticed

something.

"Huh? Where did Hal go?"

"Huh? Now that you mention it... he's not here." Liscia looked around

restlessly. There were only six people in this room: Liscia, Aisha, Naden,

Carla, Kaede, and me. Where did Hal go off to?

"About that..." Kaede said, seeming to not want to say any more. "He

has some preparations to make, you know? So he's sitting this meeting

out."

"Preparations?" I asked.

"Well, um... Think of it as insurance, in case something happens."

Kaede said in a way that implied some deeper meaning.

Maybe Kaede was getting something ready in case an unexpected

situation were to arise. Kaede had great foresight, so if she was preparing

something to help us, that was reassuring.

"I wouldn't get your hopes up, you know... (Is Hal going to be okay...?

He understood what her proposal meant when he accepted it, right?)"

"Hm? Your voice got quiet at the end there," I said.

"...No, it's nothing, you know." Kaede said, hurriedly shaking her head.

I didn't really get it, but... Well, whatever.

"Anyway, everyone, I'm counting on you," I said.

"So, why exactly are you wearing that thing, Souma?" Liscia asked,

staring at me with distaste, while we were preparing to go into the cloud.

I was dressed up in a roly-poly kigurumi costume. In its hands was a

naginata; over its shoulder a string of prayer beads; over its face a silk

covering from under which peeked two adorable acorn-like eyes. It was

one of the Little Musashibo (Large) dolls that I hadn't worn myself since

the time I drank with Juno and her party. This Little Musashibo was one of

the pieces of equipment I'd brought with us from the kingdom, just in

case.

"I told you I intend to keep myself as safe as possible, didn't I?" I

opened up the head portion wide and turned to face Liscia.