In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 14

by Patora Fuyuhara

“It seems to cover the territories of Palouf and Lihnea in our world... Palnea island.” Yumina muttered to herself as she looked over the map. She wasn’t wrong, it was basically identical, just flipped.

  It was quite a bit away from Allent, though.

  “I’ll fly over there, okay? You guys sit tight while I do that.”

  “Alright. Please take care.”

  I could’ve used [Teleport], but I was still a bit scarred from the last time. I decided not to be lazy, since it’d only take about thirty minutes.

  I headed into a back alley and cast [Invisible], then shot off into the sky with [Fly]. I applied [Accel] for good measure and rocketed away like a missile.

  After a while, I had a good view of the sea below me. Soon enough I saw the coastline of Palnea island, or rather, the Panaches Kingdom.

  I landed in the harbor, which was found in the south-east, and immediately opened up a [Gate] to the back alley near the cafe I’d left behind. Then I got the girls and headed back through the portal.

  “There are a lot of ships here... Some of them look strange.” Lu looked around the harbor with curious eyes.

  There were plenty of docked ships without any sails. Are they steam-powered? Or maybe magic? I looked over to the pier and saw several men and Gollems hauling cargo. Wait...That ship has arms. Is it a Gollem itself? I walked along the harbor and saw several fresh fish for sale. The pungent smell of raw fish hit me right in the nose, but it wasn’t too bad. Seemed like they were keeping the fish cool with ice generated by Gollems.

  As I continued walking, we reached a place filled with the tasty scent of grilled fish. Steel yourself, Touya... No getting distracted... Oh... Is that steamed sea snail...?

  “Touya, look!” Yumina pointed toward a crashed ship on the shoreline. I could see the tattered sail hanging from the snapped mast. It bore Refreese’s emblem, there was no doubt about it.

  We got close enough to see the nameplate engraved on the side of the ship. Sure enough, it said McClane.

  “Well, guess there’s no denying it now.” The ship managed to just barely survive, much like the man it shared a name with.

  I hailed a nearby sailor and asked him about how the ship came to be claimed by the local authorities.

  He said that about four days prior, the ship made landfall after a harsh storm. There were thirty-four survivors aboard, and the rest were apparently dead.

  The officials in the area tried to ask them questions about how they got there, but neither party could speak with one another, so the inquest went nowhere.

  They tried to hand over a map so the crew could point out where they were from, but for some reason, the men tried to flip the map upside down, and they just got stressed about it. The crews were also scared by the sight of the Gollems. Some of the crew buckled under their own stress and started to raise a fuss, so ultimately all the men were subdued and put into prison.

  They found weapons and cannons aboard the ship, so it was suggested that they were part of a pirate band that had been causing trouble in the area. Welp... They’re part of the navy, so the weapons make sense...

  “Kind of ironic that they originally set off to take out the pirates, only to be branded as pirates...” I felt a little sad for them, in all honesty.

  Their fate hadn’t yet been decided, but if they were found guilty of piracy they’d surely be executed. I needed to hurry up and get them out.

  The prison they’d been put in was a small building next to the harbor security dorm.

  It was still midday, but that didn’t mean much to my magic. We headed toward the building. It was made of something that looked like concrete and had a fairly dull design to it.

  There was only a single guard at the entrance, probably because it was the afternoon.

  There were all kinds of people walking up and down the street, and any commotion would attract attention from nearby. That was probably the reason for such short staff. Either way, we were lucky for it.

  “[Invisible].”

  We walked to a quiet area nearby, and I made everyone invisible. We walked right past the guard and made our way into the entryway. There was a staircase ahead that led to a jail area.

  There were three cells in total, with roughly ten men in each. The men looked powerless and miserable like the fight was completely gone from them. Some were even sobbing.

  I used [Silence] in a small radius to prevent the guard upstairs from hearing us. That would prevent even a large commotion from being noticed.

  I then undid my spell. The crewmen, who saw the appearance of sudden invaders, instinctively cowered away from us.

  “Is your captain here?”

  “Y-You can speak our language?!”

  “I can. I also know you guys were hunting pirates outside of Refreese.” The men looked shocked as a scruffy, red-bearded man pushed his way forward and spoke to us.

  “You can call me Simmons. I’m second-in-command. We lost our captain when he fell overboard.”

  “What happened to you exactly? Please tell me all you can.” Simmons looked down with a mournful face as he began to recount what happened.

  “I... I don’t know... On that day we were headed to the pirate hideouts with the others. But all of a sudden, this weird mist set in around us at all sides. It was strange... Way too strange. The weather was fine until it suddenly changed... The mist got deeper and deeper... And swirled around us, and I swear it started glowing a dark gold. The golden mist swallowed us all up, and we lost all sense of direction... Our compass just broke, it didn’t work at all. We couldn’t navigate by the sun or stars, either. Then when the mist vanished, we got caught in a storm. We held on for dear life, and some of us didn’t make it... When the storm ended, we washed ashore right here. We celebrated, cause we thought we were saved... But we weren’t. These strangers didn’t understand us, and we didn’t understand them. They didn’t even know the country we were from. They have all these weird ships, and these strange iron animals I’ve never seen before. Hey, tell me! Where are we? What are those iron animals? Why was the map backwa—”

  “Tempt, o Dark! Implanted Falsehood: [Hypnosis].” I’d heard enough and triggered my spell before Simmons finished.

  A purple mist began to spread through the air, clouding the eyes of all the men in the jail.

  “Listen to me. You were separated from the Refreese fleet and attacked by sea monsters. You got out of it, but your ship was wrecked in a storm and washed up on an uncharted island. The stress of your starvation and extreme conditions caused you to see weird hallucinations. That’s what those weird ships and iron animals were. They were just wild visions. Just dreams.”

  “...Just... Dreams...” The crewmen just stared back with vacant eyes. I hoped that’d be enough.

  Lu asked me if that was morally justifiable treatment, but I thought it was probably better for their long-term mental health to convince them that their trauma wasn’t real. Plus they had met with a storm, so the story was still kinda true.

  In the end, their trip to the Reverse World would just be a bad dream.

  I opened up the cells and then opened up a portal to Drakliff island. Yumina and the others guided the men through.

  They walked slowly and unsteadily, like zombies.

  Once the girls were through the [Gate], I left the prison through the entrance I’d come out of. I walked up to the McClane’s wreck and stashed it in my [Storage], then immediately left for Drakliff island before anyone noticed.

  I was sure that a vanishing shipwreck would definitely attract prying eyes before long.

  I wanted to get those men back to the regular world as soon as possible, it wouldn’t be good for them to keep them in that state.

  All of a sudden, my smartphone started to vibrate. It was an incoming call... And the one calling was none other than God Almighty.

  “Uhh... ‘Sup?”

  “Ah, hello there, Touya. Seems like you found a little bit of trouble, hm?”

  “Yeah, I�
�ll say... Were you watching?”

  “Indeed. There was something I wanted to tell you, you see. It is related to the issue you have been facing recently... Would you mind paying me a little visit?” I wondered what God Almighty wanted from me so bad that I had to go up there and see him. I said I’d visit him when I had a chance, then ended the call.

  Hmm... Did a problem happen in the other world or something? I wonder what the issue is...

  Oh, crap. Can’t spend too much time thinking about it. I got people to relocate.

  I sighed quietly as I walked to the Dimensional Disruptor Mk. II and fired it up.

  ◇　◇　◇

  We brought the McClane crew back to the regular world, and dumped off the shipwreck on a shoreline not far from Refreese, along with the men themselves.

  They woke up a small amount of time later and saw the coastline over the stretch of water. They immediately started swimming toward land and made it without any trouble. There was a small road nearby that led toward a fishing town, so I felt they’d be safe from there.

  They’d stick to the script I gave them via the [Hypnosis] spell, so I was sure it’d be fine.

  “Guess we can take it easy now.”

  “I’m glad they’re safe.” We kept an eye on the men from the shadows to ensure they got to the village safely. The villagers clothed and fed them, then the men recounted their story. It seemed like the whole story with the Reverse World had been rendered as a mere hazy dream.

  I opened up a [Gate] and we all headed back to Brunhild.

  I still had no idea how the McClane sailed to the other side, though...

  There were examples of people being spirited away in this world, much like my own... But I wondered if them going to the Reverse World was really just a random coincidence.

  On the subject of being spirited away, I remembered that I needed to spirit myself away to meet God Almighty. I figured I could probably ask him more about what happened.

  I told Yumina and the others that I was heading out for a while, then headed to the kitchen to pick up some pudding, cake, dorayaki, and other treats as a gift for the old man. Crea wasn’t in, so I was basically sneaking treats from the kitchen without permission... I made a mental note to apologize if she was mad about it later.

  “Alright, I’m off.”

  “Give him my regards, you know?” Karen was in the kitchen eating some cake, so I told her where I was going. I had a feeling I’d be blamed for the cake she’d taken, too...

  I fired up a [Gate] to the Divine Realm, and immediately stepped out to see God Almighty in his regular room, seated on his cushion.

  “Good day, Touya.”

  “Hey, it’s been a while. Here, I brought you some snacks.”

  “Oh, thank you so much.” God Almighty took the little box of desserts and put the pudding and cake into his mini-fridge, and then placed the plate of dorayaki in the middle of the table alongside some fresh tea.

  “So what was it you wanted to tell me?”

  “Well... I do wonder where I should start... I think I should explain to you how I... Or rather, how we gods are placed as patrons of worlds.” God Almighty started to mutter a bit as he stroked his beard.

  “As I am sure you know, the number of worlds that we gods survey is immeasurable. But what we manage when we oversee these worlds are not necessarily the worlds on a micro level. We, for example, cannot interfere with civilizations that may develop there, even if the civilization was headed on a path of death and destruction. In the end, death and destruction is just as natural as life, after all. The worlds that head toward such a fate are typically dealt with by the god of destruction, that is his job you see. It works in tandem with mine. I typically birth new worlds once he eliminates one.” Huh... This god of destruction guy sounds pretty casual, contrary to his scary name...

  “Now, it is not just ruined worlds that the god of destruction watches... There are also deviant worlds. For example, a world in which a wicked god has managed to gestate, and all preventative measures have fallen through...”

  “W-Wait a second... You can’t mean...”

  “Fret not. The world you live in right now is not yet classed as a deviant world. The wicked god has yet to descend and cause chaos there. But... I am afraid to say that it is on the cusp of such a status.” Wait... Does he mean that if the wicked god starts mobilizing, then the whole world could get annihilated by the gods? “And that is not the sole problem... The wicked god birthed from events in your world has been spawning familiars and causing trouble in the space between worlds. Look here, if you could.” God Almighty raised his right hand toward the small table, and suddenly a 3D hologram of the world I lived in was projected atop it.

  He then raised his left hand, and a 3D map of the Reverse World appeared next to it. The two worlds were symmetrically lined up as if there was a mirror between the two maps. I also couldn’t believe it had taken me this time to realize it, but both of the worlds appeared to be completely flat.

  “This was the state of the two worlds in relation to each other about half a year ago. However...”

  The two worlds gradually began to grow closer and closer, until there was a slight overlap on the two maps.

  “This is how the two worlds look in relation to each other right now. The wicked god and its spawn are attempting to fuse these worlds. Or rather... They may have already succeeded to an extent.”

  “What?!” I knew that the Mutated Constructs and the McClane appearing in the Reverse World had to mean something... But I had no idea something as insane as this was even possible. “Why would the wicked god do that?”

  “By merging the two worlds together, they would become a single world. Or rather, a new world entirely, one that was not born from me. That would separate it from my influence entirely. I am sure the servile god who died to the beast originally planned something like this, and they are merely continuing it.”

  “That’s crazy!” I had no idea what the implications of that even were. “Now... These deviant worlds are typically dealt with by the god of destruction after a collective divine consensus. If we were to leave it be, it would be possible for it to generate negative effects and start influencing other worlds, after all. That certainly would not be something we want.” God Almighty’s eyes pierced right through me, causing me to instinctively gulp in fear.

  “And that is why... We have reached a consensus. We will have you handle this situation, Touya.”

  “Excuse me?!”

  Hold up! How’s that the consensus you came to?!

  “Please handle the disturbance between these two worlds as best you can. If you can achieve this, then by my authority as the god of worlds, I will formally recognize you as a fully-fledged God. A High God.”

  “Whaaaat?!” But that’s higher ranked than Karen, Moroha, and the others! Can you even do that?! “In all honesty... I expect these two worlds to remain connected. We do not have a god in place to be patron of this new joined world. It will certainly become a new world, one that would cause me no end of hassle to reclassify. That is why I wish for you to become its patron in my stead, Touya.”

  “What? There’s just no way I can do that! I’d be a fake god at best!”

  “You are no fake, my boy... No pale imitation. It is not a difficult task, either. All you need to do is ensure that the god of destruction has no reason to move in on your world. It will be your territory.”

  Isn’t that exactly what’s happening right now while it’s your territory?! Is this really okay?!

  “It is not as if you would ascend to such a status immediately, anyway. You will be more than permitted to spend time down there in order to continue your training period.”

  “For how long, exactly?”

  “Let me see... Roughly two or three-thousand years should do.”

  That’s extremely goddamn long, what the hell! I’m pretty sure the God Co. Ltd would be guilty of an overly long training term for new employees if it was a real co
mpany! So... Hold on, let me get this straight. I’m the new hire at this place... And I’m spending two or three thousand years in training, and then on the first day of my job, I’ll be promoted to management?! This is a messed up command structure, old man!

  “Did you already decide this?”

  “Not at all. It is quite fine if you say no, of course. You can take the path of working up the ladder from the lowest ranks. But that would leave your world in my hands, and I am quite sure it would become a deviant world before long... If it was determined as potentially harmful to other worlds, then we would have no choice but to annihilate it. It would be quite the waste if you went to all the trouble of dealing with the wicked god only for that to happen.”

  “...I don’t really have an option here, do I...”

  “You will have to forgive me. I had planned on a method that wouldn’t cause as much of a fuss, but it is still rather messy...”

  “No, I get it. Even if I didn’t do anything, the god of destruction would destroy the world and the wicked god alike, right? I’m just glad I might have a chance to fix this mess... Plus I kind of want to give that thing what’s coming to it, since it’s been causing trouble for everyone.” I shrugged and chugged my now-lukewarm tea. This was indeed troubling, but I knew it was inevitable. I didn’t exactly think I was management material, but I had a feeling two or three thousand years of training might help.

  All I had to do was beat the snot outta that wicked god.

  “I am glad you accepted these terms, Touya. I would be rather sad if that world came to ruin, too.” God Almighty sighed and slowly drank his tea. I wondered if he’d developed a little bit of a soft spot for the people of that world after spending some time there.

  “So if that world was judged worthy of destruction... What would happen to me and the others?”

  “You and your dependents, those girls closest to you, would be picked up and evacuated to a safer world. Then everything would be obliterated by the god of destruction, reduced to mere dust.”

  His response was honestly harrowing. Everyone in my country, all the world leaders, everyone I knew... They’d be gone forever. I didn’t even want to consider such an option.