In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 2

by Patora Fuyuhara

  “Aha, I see. Well then, how about it, Touya? Would you like to marry my Sue along with Yumina?”

  “Hey now, let’s not get carried away. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t bully me so much.” Duke Ortlinde might just be joking, but I could see an unmistakably worrying sparkle in Sue’s eyes as she looked at me. I’d prefer not to let anything lead her to a misunderstanding...

  “Well, I’ll refrain from pressing the issue for today, at least. I actually have a favor to ask of you.” What do you mean by “for today”?! Ignoring my narrowed gaze, the duke continued talking.

  “We’ve actually decided to pursue a formal alliance with the Kingdom of Mismede. My intention is for the two kings to sit in conference together to hash out the details.” Ah, Mismede. The southern kingdom populated by beastmen. The country that the fox sisters, Olga and Arma, hail from. So they decided to form an alliance, after all... I was relieved.

  “Ideally, one of the kings would come to visit the other for the negotiations, but as you’d expect it’s a very dangerous task. There’s no guarantee either party would be safe from harm. Monsters could attack them on the road, or opportunists could stand in their way.”

  “...You need Touya’s [Gate], right?”

  “Correct you are. Cutting straight to the point as always, Linze.” The duke gave a little chuckle as he sipped at his tea. Well, it is true that you can move safely through use of the [Gate] spell, but still...

  “I can only travel to places I’ve been to before. Wait, don’t tell me...” I had a bad feeling all of a sudden. Quite a strong one, too.

  “That’s right. I need you to go to Mismede.”

  ...Yep, that makes sense. I get it. I totally get it. It’s an extremely convenient spell. If not for the limitation of only being able to go to places I’ve personally been to before, I could have easily started up a massively successful express delivery service.

  “How long will it take to get to Mismede, anyway?”

  “Hm, about six days by carriage.” Huh, that’s actually shorter than I thought.

  “Well, six days to reach the Great Gau River, at least. From there it’d be another four days to reach the Kingdom of Mismede. Provided it all goes to plan, that is...” Ten days, then. That’s kind of a pain, actually... Give me a house and then send me off on a trip so I can’t even live in it?! I swear, these people...

  “I’m going to forward this quest to the guild, with the stipulation that your party be the ones to take the job. That way, you’ll be rewarded formally for your efforts and your Guild Rank will increase, too. I think you’ll find that agreeable, no?”

  Sly dog... you’ve already worked all this out. Well, to be fair, it’s a simple enough job. And hell, a little trip to another country might be nice. He has a point, too. It’s definitely convenient for us. To be honest, I’m interested in finding out what kind of place Mismede is, as well.

  “Well, it seems fair to me. I’ll take the job! What about you guys?” Everyone else nodded in approval. Seems like it was a no-brainer.

  “You have my thanks. The ambassador from Mismede will be returning home, so she’ll be escorting you around their capital.”

  “Oh, Olga’s returning home? What about her little sister, Arma?”

  “Ah, about that. The ambassador and her younger sister will be joining you on the trip, so you will also receive an armed cavalry escort.” Made sense to me. That was a little calming to hear, honestly. As I understood it, Mismede had more nature to it than Belfast. A dense jungle full of monsters, something like that... I wondered if it was going to be similar in climate to South America or Southeast Asia.

  I hope it’s an interesting place... Mismede, the little-explored kingdom of beastmen... Well, it was our destination, so we’d find out about it soon enough.

  “But... will going there be fine, will it?”

  “Hm? What’s wrong, Yae?”

  “If it’s known that you can use [Gate] over there, Touya-dono... Well, it’s a dangerous spell, is it not? You could go anywhere, any time, without having to tell anyone about it... What if they mark you for assassination as a dangerous person of interest...?” No need to say something so scary, Yae.

  That being said, I’ve been using it pretty much without reserve until now. You might tell me that, but nothing’s really about to change.

  But really, was such a thing possible? Well, even if it was, there was no way I could prevent people getting suspicious of me.

  “No, no. Don’t worry about such a thing. I confirmed it with Charlotte, you can’t use the [Gate] spell to go everywhere. Magical barriers can be erected to restrict travel via that kind of magic. They’ll surely know that as well, and thus all they have to do is take the necessary precautions.” The duke did his best to dispel Yae’s anxieties.

  “Is that right, Touya?”

  “...First I’ve heard of it.” Elze seemed exasperated at my reaction. I mean, when I first learned the [Gate] spell, all I knew about it was from what I’d read in that book! It’s not like I knew that it could transport me to a specific place with only the right details, you know?!

  “Even a small magical barrier should be enough to prevent it. For example, a weak barrier could be erected around the royal capital. With that in place, you’d be able to freely warp out of town, but warping back in would be an impossibility. Actually, Charlotte already erected a barrier around the castle. The only exception being the entry room Yumina selected.” Huh, she already took such a precaution? Well, despite her... unconventional appearance, she still was the court magician after all. Seemed she was less disorderly than I had initially thought.

  Well, if we really wanted we could still easily invade the castle through Yumina’s room. I wondered why they trusted me so much... Oh, it was probably because of Yumina’s Mystic Eyes.

  “...But if Touya entered the barrier, he could still open a [Gate] and allow troops to pour in through it, couldn’t he...? I think it would be better for all of us if they don’t know what Touya is capable of.”

  “Hmph... that’s a fair point. It’s better not to arouse suspicion if it can be avoided. Could you not infuse the [Gate] spell into an object like you did for Charlotte’s spectacles?” Oh, there was a thought. If I just used something like an enchanted mirror to act as a portal to facilitate the meeting, and then smashed it up afterward, they probably wouldn’t get suspicious of me.

  If I presented it as a case of “mirror A is connected to mirror B,” then it might be enough to avoid any worry. I’d have to create the second mirror by enchanting it once I reached Mismede, though.

  If I did something like that, they might not suspect that I could personally teleport myself.

  “Well then, now that that’s settled...”

  “Oh uh, let’s think... How about three days from now?”

  “Very well, then.” Hm, things are about to get even more hectic around here. We’ll have to prepare for the long road ahead.

  “Aww... I want to visit Mismede as well!” Sue enviously nibbled on her finger. Part of me hoped she wouldn’t ask to come with us. I felt bad for feeling that way, but I really didn’t want any more complications.

  “Since I’ll be able to warp back after my trip, I’ll bring you with me next time, Sue.”

  “Seriously?! Yay! You’re as amazing as always, Touya!” Sue leaned over the table, directing a big beaming smile right at me. That smile warmed my heart. I knew I had to be sure to keep my promise.

  We decided to discuss the finer details of the Mismede expedition. Our talk with the duke carried on long into the evening...

  Chapter II: To the Demi-Human Kingdom

  All I could hear was the rattling of our shaking carriage. We were following the road as we rode a chain of three wide wagons, each drawn by two horses.

  The one at the front contained five knights from Belfast, while the one at the back had the same amount of Mismedian soldiers. They were guarding the carriage in the middle, which had my party, Mismede A
mbassador Olga, and her little sister Arma in it.

  Linze and Elze sat up front, while the rest of us were in the midst of a heated battle inside the passenger car.

  “Grr... there, it is!” Yae flipped over one of the many face-down cards. And, sad as it might’ve been, it had a number different to the revealed one.

  “How unfortunate. The correct answer was here and here.” It was Yumina’s turn. Without hesitation, she turned over two of the cards... which were the two of spades and hearts. She took both of them off the table.

  As Yumina, Yae, and Arma played a game of memory match using the cards, Olga and I were facing each other in shogi.

  Doing nothing but letting the carriage shake us was boring, so we had taken out the shogi set. Then, I used [Drawing] to print out some paper and combined it with [Modeling] to synthesize thin wooden boards to create a set of cards.

  It would’ve taken too long to teach them the scoring hands for poker and the like, so instead I just brought up a simple game of memory. However, Yae was quite inept when it came to recalling things, so she had lost every single round.

  “I was defeated again, I was...”

  “Seems like it’s not your game, Yae.” With a wry smile, I moved one of my pieces.

  “And that’s checkmate.”

  “Agh...!” Olga glared at the board. It was hopeless. There was nothing she could do.

  “So I was defeated, too... You are far better at this than me, Touya.” Olga complained, clearly looking sour. Truth be told, as far as shogi players went, I was among the weaker ones. Still, I’d taught her how to play mere moments ago, so of course she lost. Honestly, I was afraid of just how much better than me she’d become after a few more games. Therefore, I took the liberty of ending it and taking the victory with me before that happened.

  “Yae, let’s switch. Try playing against Olga.”

  “Very well. Dolan-dono taught me how to play shogi back at the Silver Moon, so I might have better luck here, I might...” Taught? Looked more like he just forced you to play with him to me...

  “Alright, how about we try something other than memory now?” After switching with Yae, I shuffled my handmade cards, added one joker, and began explaining the rules of another game to Yumina and Arma. It was a game where tactics were the key to victory — the extremely advanced game of old maid.

  “Fgahh...” Kohaku was sleeping peacefully in a corner of the carriage.

  Upon learning the rules, the two quickly grew enthralled with old maid, while Yae and Olga, who were evenly matched in skill, glared at the shogi board with great intensity. That was how we spent our shaky journey to Mismede.

  “And so, the cat beastman in boots became a noble and lived happily ever after.” The end of my campfire story was greeted by roaring applause from everyone listening. I couldn’t help but blush a bit. It started off as a little tale to tell before we slept, but I got caught in the moment and made it into something grand.

  “That was so nice, Touya!” Arma excitedly spoke up as the ears above her head twitched excitedly. I could also see that bushy tail of hers pleasantly sway side-to-side.

  “It was a wonderful tale, Touya. I have to ask, though. Where did you learn it?”

  “Ah, I got it from a bard who once visited the place where I used to live.” I answered Olga’s query with a simple white lie. The Mismedian soldiers gathered around the fire seemed to enjoy it, too. A story of a cat beastman in boots who saved his master and did lots of great deeds. A creature skilled with a blade, and sharp of mind.

  With the discrimination beastmen faced, I’d assumed such feel-good stories where they met prosperity were few and far between. Though, I did hope they excused the extra dramatization I added.

  “Touya knows many other stories.”

  “Really?! Please tell more of them, Touya!” Yumina’s words made Arma’s eyes light up. The little foxgirl excitedly bent toward me. I’m glad the two of them get along so well. Guess it must be easy to talk with someone around your own age.

  “That’s it for today. Wait for more tomorrow.” With a smile, I gently rejected Arma’s request.

  Suddenly, one of the smaller Mismedian soldiers stood up and placed his finger near his mouth, signaling everyone to be quiet. The ears on his head were twitching. They look like... rabbit ears? Guess he’s a bunny beastman.

  “We have several people approaching our position. They’re stealthily closing in... We’re their target, no doubt about it.” His words made the other soldiers silently unsheathe their blades, and sharpen their senses. They were about to do their job, basically. They entered a defensive formation meant to protect Olga and Arma. The Belfast knights also left their carriage and began observing their surroundings.

  “Who are they?” I inquired.

  “Probably just bandits. No threat on their own, but trouble in great numbers.” The one who answered was the captain of the Mismedian military escort group. He was a wolf beastman who specialized in dual-wielding blades.

  «Master, there are definitely people in the vicinity searching for us. I don’t believe they’re friendly, either. As the wolf said, they’re likely bandits.» Kohaku spoke in a voice that only I could hear.

  Bandits, eh? Guess it’s time to investigate.

  I took out my smartphone and ran the map app. It displayed the surrounding area. Alright... a simple search for “bandits” got a bunch of pins to drop on the map. Whoa, there’s quite a lot of them.

  “Eight to the north, five to the east, eight to the south, and seven to the west. There are twenty-eight in total.”

  “You can sense them too?!” The captain turned to me in surprise. We were outnumbered. Not like we couldn’t win, but we probably wouldn’t come out unscathed.

  “...Guess I can try it now.” It was a chance for me to test a specific application of one of my spells. By all accounts, it should work, but...

  “[Enchant]: [Multiple].” I buffed the map app with a Null spell that allowed the continuous abbreviation of chants and simultaneous activation. One by one, I tapped the bandit markers on the screen, setting them as my targets. It was kind of a pain, but I was done in no time, really.

  “[Paralyze].” With that, I unleashed the spell on everyone my app had highlighted. A moment later, I could hear several groans and thuds from the surrounding woods.

  “Ugh!”

  “Ngh!”

  “Gyah!”

  “Hhgh!”

  “Ahgh!” A vivid array of voices rang out, and then came the sounds of collapsing men. Apparently, it worked.

  “Wh-What did you do?”

  “Used a paralysis spell. They should all be immobilized now, I think...”

  “What, all of them?!”

  “If there aren’t more than twenty-eight, then yeah.” Due to the way my [Search] spell worked, my targets were only people I’d personally judge as “bandits.” In other words, if there were normal people who merely looked like bandits to me, they’d be caught by the spell, too. But that was quite unlikely, given where we were. I still decided to use [Paralyze] though, just in case. Didn’t want to hurt any bystanders.

  The soldiers and knights entered the woods and dragged out the collapsed bandits. Twenty-eight of them in total, as I expected. Each had a lizard-shaped tattoo on the back of their hands, which was likely a symbol of their gang. They were all partners in crime, no doubt about it.

  “Amazing! You took out so many in a mere moment...” Olga muttered, clearly dumbfounded.

  “Good thing none of them had any magic-warding talismans on them. Spells like [Paralyze] get blocked by even the slightest amount of magic resistance.” I was glad they weren’t prepared for something like that.

  Even if they were, there were several other problems with this method of mine. For one, I was lucky they weren’t moving much, because it was way harder to lock on to a moving target. Also, the targeting process itself was pretty darn tedious.

  “Well, that worked out. I didn’t expect anything
like that to happen, though,” the guard captain lightly muttered.

  “Honestly, it’s all because of that guy who heard them coming. He was definitely impressive.”

  “Oh, you mean Lain? He’s a rabbit beastman. You won’t find a better pair of ears.” The captain laughed as he dragged a bandit off and looked over at the rabbit-eared boy. He was a small and meek guy with silky red hair. Looked about my age. Ah, so he’s called Lain. Oh, by the way, the wolfish captain’s name was Garm.

  “Paralysis should last about an hour for humans. What do we do with them?”

  “Well, were we in Mismede, we could take the simple approach of killing them before things get messy, but I guess that’s not how things go here.” Garm called over to the captain of the Belfast knights. The one who came over was a blond youth in clattering full plate armor. Dang, that guy’s handsome...

  Lyon Blitz, a knight belonging to the kingdom’s first order. Twenty-one years old. He was the son of Leon Blitz, and I still had trouble believing he and that general were related. Though he definitely was the second son of the general, the earnest and diligent Lyon was completely unlike his eccentric father.

  After listening to Garm’s explanation of the situation, Lyon took a moment to ponder before proposing his solution.

  “For now, let’s tie them all up and send a mounted messenger to the next town to bring some guards over. They should come by morning, so we can just hand the bandits over to them and resume our journey. What say you?” Garm didn’t seem to have any objections, so our course of action was decided. We bound and gagged the bandits. Just to be on the safe side, I also used earth magic to dig some holes and bury them, leaving only their heads exposed. With the paralyzing magic still active, it looked like a small field of limp heads. This looks kinda surreal...

  “We shall take care of the ruffians, while Mismedian soldiers will watch out for any outside threats. I leave the princess to you, Sir Touya.” Lyon whispered those words into my ear.

  It just so happened that, aside from my group and Olga, he was the only one who knew that Yumina was the crown princess of Belfast. No one else seemed to have met Yumina before, so there was no need to worry about her identity being exposed. Even the rest of the Belfast knights had never worked at the castle.