Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, Vol. 2

by Hiro Ainana

  After that, though, I got taken in by his flattery and let him talk me into buying a large quantity of an antidote-making material called Dragon Stone. I would have to keep this waste a secret from Arisa and the others.

  I’d have to be more careful of the honeyed words of gnomes from now on…

  Incidentally, the fact that the other Transmutation Tablets had been bad was apparently the old shopkeeper’s way of testing his customers; he generally made them go through several exchanges so that they could learn better “Analysis” and “Negotiation” skills, he explained.

  Thus, between shopping, attending a lecture from a veteran coachman with Lulu, and other errands, the busy days flew by until the day of our departure finally arrived.

  “Master, the loading is complete.”

  “All dooone!”

  “It’s perfect, sir!”

  “Great, go ahead and board the carriage, then.”

  The beastfolk girls came back from checking on the state of the cargo to give me their report.

  Pochi and Tama clambered into the coach seats, helped along by Liza, who pushed them up by their behinds.

  “It’s high, sir!”

  “Nice viewww!”

  Pochi and Tama rollicked about on the seats.

  It’s fine to stand on your tiptoes and look around, but don’t fall, please.

  “If you are quite satisfied, please climb inside the carriage. I cannot get up.”

  “’kay!”

  “Yes, ma’am!”

  Liza chided the two, then hopped aboard with a light jump.

  She then proceeded to look around from the coachman’s seat in the same way she’d scolded the two girls for doing, but I pretended not to see it.

  Lulu and Nana arrived with a freshly made box lunch from the proprietor of the Gatefront Inn, so they passed their things to Liza and got on board.

  Half the carriage was full of luggage, so it seemed a little cramped.

  Once we departed, we planned to relocate the items into my Garage Bag and Arisa’s Item Box. The reason we didn’t do this from the beginning was to keep the fact that we had those items and skills a secret from those around us.

  There were at least ten people in the city who could use “Item Box,” but judging by the usefulness of the skill, most of those were probably nobles and wealthy merchants, not to mention that it was probably in high demand in the military.

  I didn’t want someone to spot us using it and try to forcibly requisition Arisa or anything like that.

  As for my kids, I could explain the Garage Bag to them after we departed.

  “Satou.”

  Mia had returned with Nadi and the store manager.

  “I’m terribly sorry that I wasn’t able to find you a rental house in the end.”

  “No, don’t be. It’s thanks to you that we were able to get this horse-drawn carriage, after all.”

  Nadi had apparently come to apologize that she hadn’t gotten us the rental house I’d asked for before.

  To be honest, I’d forgotten that I asked about it in the first place.

  “This is a parting gift from the store manager and me.”

  Nadi gave me a parcel of tea leaves and a simple hand-drawn map.

  The map was something I’d asked Nadi for before; it showed the connected territories from Seiryuu County to the old capital and the names of major towns and cities in each.

  Since I had my built-in map and my Search Entire Map spell, I had no fear of getting lost as long as I knew the connections of the territories.

  “Take care of Mia.”

  “I will; don’t worry.”

  The store manager grasped my hands and looked at me intensely.

  That was a longer statement than usual from him. I guess he was probably worried about entrusting a child from his village to someone of a different race.

  However, a gross shriek from Arisa behind us completely ruined the moment. I’d have to scold her later.

  “Mr. Satou, please do stay with us again if you come back to Seiryuu City.”

  “Sure, I’ll be counting on you when that time comes.”

  “Be careful on your way. We seldom have monsters or bandits thanks to the hard work of the count’s army, but I hear there are lots of thieves in the other territories.”

  “Thank you for your concern. I’ll be careful.”

  I bid farewell to Martha and her mother, then started to steer the carriage away.

  Then a young voice interrupted me.

  “Wait!”

  “Yuniii?”

  “It’s Yuni, sir!”

  I told Lulu to stop the carriage, and I waited for Yuni to arrive.

  “This is for Pochi and Tama.”

  Once she ran up to us as fast as her little legs would carry her, Yuni gave me two necklaces made with string and a few small nuts. It was a very cute and childlike parting gift.

  “Yuni, thaaanks!”

  “Thank you, ma’am. We’ll eat them with love, ma’am!”

  Uh, no, I don’t think you’re supposed to eat them.

  At Pochi’s words, Yuni’s expression became confused, crying and smiling at once.

  “They’re necklaces made with stonebloom nuts, so you’ll hurt your tummy if you eat them!”

  “Too baaad.”

  “Then we’ll wear them with love, ma’am!”

  “Yay!”

  Martha whispered into my ear to explain that stonebloom nuts were given as a lucky talisman to children who were adopted from the orphanage.

  The three of them tightly embraced one another, reluctant to part. After what seemed like a suitable amount of time, Liza and Martha called out to them, so they said their good-byes.

  “I’m gonna learn my letters so I can write to you!”

  “Tama, toooo!”

  “I will, too, ma’am!”

  Wow, exchanging letters? How nostalgic. I know, I’ll give Yuni those study cards as a present so she can learn to write more easily.

  I had learned most of the cards’ contents by now, so I could probably just make a new set for my kids. I had all the necessary skills for making them anyway.

  “Yuni, you can have these cards.”

  “Really?! Are you sure?”

  I handed the study cards to the surprised and grateful Yuni.

  “Sure. We have two sets, so you should take one.”

  “Thank you very much! Now I can learn them super fast, maybe even in one day!”

  “It’s a raaace!”

  “I’ll learn so many that I can write a picture book, ma’am!”

  I feel bad for separating the three, but we should probably get going.

  Waving to everyone as they gathered to see us off, I instructed Lulu, our current coachman, to get us started on our journey.

  I took one last look down Center Street, where I could see the castle on the other side.

  I had told Zena that we would be leaving this morning, but it looked like she wouldn’t be coming. As far as I could tell from the map, she was still in the castle barracks.

  More than four hours had already passed since dawn, so there was probably no point in waiting any longer.

  After we passed through the gates of Seiryuu City, Arisa asked me a question.

  “How far are we planning to travel today? I can’t imagine we’ll reach another city or major town leaving at this time of day, so will we be staying in a village near the highway?”

  “We won’t be going to any villages. According to Nadi, discrimination against demi-humans is even worse in those places, so we’ll just camp out wherever we can find a good spot.”

  As I answered Arisa, I expanded the range of the radar in the corner of my vision so that I could keep a cautious eye out.

  Apparently, its max range went all the way up to one thousand feet.

  “Campiiing?”

  “We’ll make a bonfire in an open field somewhere, then set up cots around it and sleep.”

  “Like in the labyr
inth, sir?”

  “That’s right.”

  I nodded at Pochi and Tama, whose eyes started sparkling at my description.

  “Yaaay!”

  “Sir!”

  For some reason, they were jumping up and down with excitement. The movement surprised the horses so much that they stopped moving.

  As Liza scolded them, I asked the pair why they were so excited about camping.

  “Being together is happyyy!”

  “We get to sleep next to you, sir! We’re happy, sir!”

  Both of them wore huge grins, so I patted their heads.

  “Should we continue moving?”

  “Yeah…”

  I started to nod in response to Lulu’s question but stopped when I saw a dot of blue light appear on my radar.

  Blue meant someone I’d previously marked on the map. In other words, someone I knew.

  “Wait a minute.”

  I was going to open the map to see who it was, but there was no need.

  “Satoooooou!”

  Looking back toward the main gate where someone was calling my name, I saw Zena riding toward us on a white horse.

  Behind me, I heard Arisa mutter, “A counterattack from the local mistress?” but I ignored the comment.

  So as not to block the road for other travelers and carriages, I had Lulu bring us to the side of the road.

  “Satou!”

  Brushing her windswept hair out of her face, Zena brought up her horse next to our carriage. She was wearing a blue dress that seemed ill suited to riding a horse. She was even wearing makeup, like she had for our date.

  “I’m so glad I caught you in time!”

  “Yes, I’m happy to see you again before I leave, too.”

  I didn’t think she was going to try to betray her family and run away to follow me like an eloping couple or anything, but her dress and makeup made it hard to say for sure.

  “…I’ve been thinking very hard about this.”

  Overpowered by Zena’s intense seriousness, I simply waited for her to continue.

  “I cannot abandon my family and run away to my true love’s side, like Princess Liltiena.”

  That seemed natural, since she was raised in a society with such an emphasis on the importance of family.

  Arisa looked a bit dissatisfied, but it didn’t seem like she was going to say anything foolish, so I focused on listening to Zena.

  “And so, I cannot ask you to take me with you, Satou.”

  “Come, toooo!”

  “You should come with us, ma’am!”

  Pochi and Tama brushed off the serious mood, inviting Zena to come along.

  “Thank you. But I cannot come with you right now.”

  Zena thanked the pair, then turned her gaze back to me.

  …Was it just me, or had she emphasized the “right now” part of that sentence?

  “In the spring, my brother will become an adult and take over as the head of our family. After that, I have his permission to do as I wish. So, when spring arrives…”

  Zena paused for a moment, then continued as if shaking off a thought.

  Her gaze was still locked on me.

  “…I, too, will go to Labyrinth City!”

  …Phew, I thought she was going to propose there for a second.

  She seemed to have gotten embarrassed partway through, because her gaze shifted over to Arisa.

  “Arisa, we’ll see who wins then!”

  “Hee-hee! Do you really think you’ll stand a chance with such a late start? Don’t come crying to me if you arrive in Labyrinth City only to see my and my master’s children!”

  …You know that’s not going to happen for a lot of reasons, right?

  Arisa was getting carried away, cackling like an evil villain. I wished she would stop before the younger three started imitating her.

  I promised Zena that I would send her a letter once we arrived in a big city.

  Embarrassingly enough, I ended up having to make another pinkie promise with her. I hadn’t done this so many times since I was a child.

  After we made the promise, Zena stared dreamily at our linked fingers for a moment before we said our farewells.

  “Well, Zena, I look forward to the day that we meet again in the Labyrinth City Celivera.”

  “Yes, Satou! Please wait for me until then!”

  I was glad that this hadn’t turned into an unhappy parting.

  Zena waved at me with a smile like the sun, and I waved back at her.

  Now, that was a bright smile that suited this sunny day.

  Trying not to notice the trickle of tears streaming down her cheeks, I kept on waving until she was out of sight.

  “Don’t make that face. We’ll be together from now on.”

  Arisa reached over the back of the coachman’s seat and patted my head a few times.

  “Tummy aaache?”

  “Are you in pain, sir?”

  “Satou?”

  Brushing Arisa aside, the younger girls looked up at me with concern, so I smiled at them. “I’m fine.”

  “Master, according to my behavior library, it is good to cry into a woman’s chest when lonely.”

  Gently, Nana started to hug me to her chest.

  The soft sensation and gentle fragrance certainly did heal the slight loneliness I felt.

  “E-excuse you! That’s unfair! Lulu, don’t just watch; make them stop!”

  “Sorry, Arisa, I can’t. I have to watch the road while I’m driving.”

  Arisa was outraged, so I pulled myself away from Nana’s healing space.

  Liza handed me a container of fruit-flavored water, so I drank it down, washing away the sadness of saying farewell to a friend along with it.

  Rattling and rumbling along, the carriage continued down the road.

  Putting Tama in my lap and letting Pochi ride on my shoulders, I faced forward.

  Now, time to enjoy this journey through a parallel world!

  Afterword

  Hello, this is Hiro Ainana.

  Thank you for picking up this second volume of Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody!

  I hope to continue to bring you an interesting story in the third and fourth volumes and beyond!

  So if you’re still uncertain as to whether to buy them, I would be very happy if you would proceed to the cash register with them.

  Now, this work has been published online, but to ensure that even those who have read it before would still enjoy the book version, I made very significant revisions to the original story.

  First, let’s talk about the highlights of this volume.

  Those of you who read the online version probably noticed the big tree on the cover, right?

  The giant tree hidden by the sunlight filtering through the leaves is actually the main setting of this adventure. I’d imagine that those of you who read the web version might have said, “Huh? Was there a scene like this?” or “Are they skipping right to the elf forest arc?!” It probably surprised some of you.

  But don’t worry—I wouldn’t do anything ridiculous like that!

  I thought it would be boring to have two books in a row set underground, so I came up with a new setting instead. As a result of this idea, Satou’s last action scene became something completely different.

  There was a character or two who got treated differently from the web version in the first volume, but the fate of even more of the characters in Volume 2 changed. Of course, the main character’s treatment remains the same. If you’re wondering what other fates were waiting for them, please take a look at the original story.

  In Volume 2, the purple-haired little girl who takes center stage on the front cover, Arisa, takes a very active role.

  Yes, she’s really very active indeed…

  On the other hand, although the modest, black-haired Lulu appears on the cover, too, her role was a lot smaller; she still has more appearances and moments with Satou in this volume than in the web version, though. If I l
eft it the way it was in the original version, she would basically be nothing but air until after the group left Seiryuu City.

  But those two aren’t the only characters who played a part in Volume 2.

  Of course, the beastfolk trio of Pochi, Tama, and Liza held their own alongside the new members, and while they’re not as prominent as in the first volume, Zena and her friends from the army, like Lilio, appear as well. The ever-cheerful Martha and Yuni made sure to show up, too.

  And to you, the thirty-thousand nationwide fans of Nadi: Thank you for waiting! Zena stole all her parts in the first book, but I finally got to bring her out in Volume 2.

  Oh, and the store manager was there, too, of course.

  Unlike the end of the previous volume, the end of this one seems a lot more like the conclusion of a story, but don’t worry, the story will still continue.

  I’m planning to change things up in Volume 3 from Volumes 1 and 2 and go with more of a heartwarming craftsmanship and travel diary–type story.

  Of course, since this is the world of Death March—where you can get dragged into a riot or a labyrinth while going on a date in the city—I’m not sure if that sort of story is actually going to happen…

  But if I try to go in some weird direction, my talented editor will be sure to stop me, so it should be fine.

  Well, I’m running out of things to say now, so I’d like to move on to the special thanks.

  I can’t thank my editor Mr. H enough for constantly providing me with excellent direction. Whenever I turn in passages that I’m worried might be hard to understand, he always sends them back with comments on how to improve, so I have to stay on my toes.

  Even though I kept asking for deadline extensions despite being a mere rookie, he was always kind enough to adjust my schedule. I’m sure I caused all kinds of other inconveniences, too, but I hope I can still depend on your guidance and encouragement in the future, Mr. H.

  And of course, I’m always grateful to my illustrator, shri, for bringing the world of Death March so beautifully to life!

  This volume’s cover in particular is way too wonderful. I was only able to get through the proofreading process, my least favorite part, by setting this illustration as my wallpaper. I think that smile of Arisa’s will help encourage me as I work on the plot of Volume 3, too.