"How long has it been?"
"It's the morning after. We've been all taking turns watching over the village, but the mayor told me we could switch turns."
I was kinda worried about whether they would come back or not after escaping, but everything seemed to be okay.
"I see... One more thing, why are we naked?"
"Hm...?"
I wanted to think it was safe because we were both covered in sheets, but neither of us were wearing any clothes. I was a little concerned for my chastity, but I trusted in Ann.
---That's okay, right?
"Auntie told me that if you want to nurse someone really special to you, you need to be on the same bed naked."
---Another one of Jenny's traps!?
"Yeah, I think Jenny got that wrong. Let's put some clothes on."
"Okay~"
She obediently got off the bed and started putting on the clothes she'd folded nearby.
Ann was pretty intelligent. I couldn't help but wonder why she was only clueless when it came to relationships between males and females.
My clothes were also neatly folded as well. I put on my now blood-stained white shirt and ragged formal suit. I checked my potion pouch and noticed that one of the vitality potions was empty. I realized then that I felt no pain and that there wasn't a single wound on my body from yesterday.
---I'll just overlook this for now. Yeah, it's better that way...
I quietly put the empty bottle back in the pouch. I was kind of afraid to ask who got me to drink it, and how, while I was out of commission.
As we went out afterwards, Ann was back in her kobold form, and we met the mayor along the way, who proceeded to thank me endlessly.
"You're truly our village's patron. I don't know how we could ever hope to repay you!"
I understood he was grateful, but I'd like to keep a little distance between me and his minotaur face since it honestly still scared me.
I tried to boot up the Comet, but all I was met with were a bunch of warnings and no movement. Fortunately, there was a sort of self-healing function, so it would eventually repair itself. The only downside with that was the minimum wait to base functionality was two weeks, and a full recovery was two months...
I locked it up near the village to prevent any children from getting inside, and left the rifle alongside it. Thankfully, the mayor and the villagers gracefully agreed to help me in safekeeping the Comet while it was there.
I also helped with guarding the village, cursed sword in hand, but Fez eventually came along with city sentinels and mercenaries in tow. With security taken care of as well, Ann and I headed back for the labyrinth.
◇
"Welcome back, Kousaka-san."
As we reached the bottom of the stairs to the ravine we were met by the sight of Karumi-san standing in front of the cabin. Oh, how I missed that shabby thing.
"I made a bit of a mess back there... Is my training score intact?"
"Naturally. You proposed a plan that would generate further profit, and you produced outstanding results. You're a desired person by our company, by all means."
Results were required in the adult world. Even if you said you'd do you best, you wouldn't be appraised by your heartfelt intentions, more so the actual results you produced. That's just how the world worked.
"Allow me to repeat myself from a few days ago: will you retire and go back to the 'safe world' and accept the salary and remuneration you've earned so far? Or will you become a full-time employee and continue living on in this danger-ridden world?"
"Aoi..."
Ann clasped the hem of my shirt with a lonely expression on her face. I stroked her head in response just like always.
"My answer is..."
I recited my answer as Karumi-san stared daggers at the little thing around my waist.
Chapter 5
A week had passed, and I walked to the front of the train station, dressed in my brand new business suit.
It wasn't a custom-tailored luxury suit, it was just one I'd gotten from a store for a reasonable price. It was so new that I still had the tight feeling around me that you felt when you wore new clothes for the first time. I rolled my bag over and arrived at my office near the bus stop. I had a monthly salary of 180,000 yen, with overtime and holiday pay calculated separately. My transportation expenses were even covered, and there was a semi-annual inspection for salary increases, with bonuses awarded for getting certain milestones. There were even 4 days off a month, and 20 additional vacation days per year. No extended leaves, though, but there was annual paid leave.
It was pretty typical to stay late at work during the busy season. My hours would be high, but they would be added up as overtime in the end. Lodging was paid for by the company as well, along with various utilities like water. I had landed some pretty amazing working conditions; fewer and fewer people got deals like this in recent years. There was also a clause in the contract that stated it had to be firmly protected and maintained, though there shouldn't be a problem with upholding that.
On the neck of my suit was a rainbow-lustered silver metal pin with a blue dragon carved into it. It was the company badge that had been provided to me. My family said it looked almost like a toy.
"Good morning."
I knocked on the door of the office building and went inside.
"Good morning. This'll be your first day as a full-time employee, right? Here, this is your exclusive key, Kousaka-san."
I greeted my seniors at the workplace and received a key that shined with the same luster as the company badge.
While I walked towards the back of the office, I couldn't help but mutter out loud.
"By the way... What's the deal with Karumi-san?"
"So you finally ask, huh? Well, since you're a full-timer now, let's just say she's a relative of the Great Dark Lord. She joined the company thanks to her connections, but managed to mess up badly one too many times, so she couldn't actually get a managerial position. Thanks to that, she ended up becoming a regular office lady."
"Ah, so she's his daughter, huh?"
---Maybe she failed at the survival training?
My mind wandered among various possibilities as I inserted my key into the door at the back of the office. The door looked like it was made of plastic or some other kind of synthetic material. Its hinged creaked as I opened the door.
I stepped forward. My feet land on soft ground and I heard the sound of the door as it closed behind me. A pleasant and nostalgic wind, which carried the scent of fresh soil, nature, and pure water reached my nose as I now stood at the bottom of the ravine.
"Aoi!"
I turned back when I heard her voice. The sight of a lovely girl standing in front of the old cabin made me wonder if this was how happiness felt.
"I'm back, Ann. I can answer you now... Would you mind staying with me forever? I don't know much about this world... And it seems like I'm no good without you."
"You're so hopeless! You really don't know anything at all! That's why I worry so much... But yes, I'll stay with you forever."
The sweet girl embraced me as tears rolled down her face. I wanted to believe they were tears of happiness rather than sadness.
"Now we can be together forever, right? I don't mind if I'm not your number one, just let me stay close to you, okay?"
---Excuse me? That was a weird turn.
"Now that you gave me your answer, I'll be your mistress starting today, right? So we can always be together even if you fool around or get a wife, right?"
"Wait a minute, Ann... Where did you come up with that idea!?"
"Auntie taught me a lot about it, why?"
"JENNYYYYYYYYYY!"
"Hm?"
My roar echoed out once again across the bottom of a ravine in another world.
This was my life. I had no complaints.
The difficulty setting was set to the extreme. There were no choices or hints, and no saving or loading. But... it was so unbelievably
fun that I just wanted to keep playing.
I think I'll keep living and playing seriously, having as much fun as I can, until the very end...
Epilogue
Have you ever heard of role playing? Its origins may be lesser known, but it has served as the basis for the RPG genre we know today. To 'play a role' may conjure up an image of actors performing on a stage or on a movie screen, but this isn't a story acted out on a grandiose platform. No, it's much simpler, more basic, yet still expansive and filled with endless possibilities.
Role playing happens a lot in everyday life, whether you notice it or not. From innocent games of make-believe and house as children, to interacting with strangers and eventually your seniors and teachers as we age, a mask is put on---a role is played. We incorporate those masks into ourselves, and sometimes they can even warp our personalities. But we don't have to let the roles we play define us...
"You're heading towards the city in a horse-drawn carriage... It's been two days since you left the village. As you near the dark path that leads into the forest, dirty men jump out of the bushes on the side of the road! They block your path, stopping your cart, and aggressively shout out to you, 'This is Mountain Dogs turf! Hand over all your gold and valuables, or else face the consequences!'"
"When then... I jump out of the carriage wielding my lance, and strike a battle pose and respond with, 'There are no rich passengers on this carriage. This is the only means of transport they have! If you mean to do us harm, then it is you who will face the consequences!'"
"The bandits stare at you with your lance and beautiful armor, then move in to attack. The fight is on! Alright... since it's a fight, let's prepare the paper to write on, and the figures."
"Okay!"
This was one such game that involved role playing on a smaller scale---a make-believe tabletop adventure that I played together with Ann.
The experience was greatly enhanced with the use of a pen, some paper, and dice. All you needed to know how to do was speak and perform basic arithmetic. A game so timeless that all ages could enjoy. It transcended the ages, existing long before the age of electronic smartphones, and will continue forth long past their expiration.
Labyrinth #228 was in a sort of fantasy world, where the literacy rate wasn't that high, and finding people that knew arithmetic beyond counting their fingers was rare. Simply being able to do basic math functions set you above the rest of the populous.
We let Fez handle the task of obtaining pen and paper for us to use. Despite how expensive they were, the quality was still rather poor. We could use charcoal to write and have slabs of wood or stone as the writing surface, but that was incredibly unwieldy. Plus, there was a certain level of romanticism when it came to using pen and paper for this sort of thing... The cultural differences between modern Earth and this fantasy world were pretty huge, so I figured this sort of game would be hard to popularize in Milt Village. Nonetheless, I had no problem playing with Ann, a girl so brilliant she would put adults of this world to shame.
Ann and I were using the free time we had between dinner and bedtime to play. Ever since I came to this world and met Ann, we played card games made with thin pieces of wood, and board games with handmade pieces. Our favorite game of them all though was one called "Labyrinths and Dragon's Feast". She asked me before why I liked this one so much, to which I told her that while card and board games were fun, being able to make your own adventures and characters in "Labyrinths and Dragon's Feast" was way more enjoyable for me.
"With two bandits taken down, they are at a disadvantage and feeling desperate, so one tries to take a hostage. What will you do?"
"I won't let him do that and use 'Galewind' to stop him!"
"You might not make it in time so you'll have to roll for that."
"Okay, so I throw two die and have to get more than a five and... An eight! I got it!"
"You manage to move so fast that no one can see you cutting between the bandit and the woman he was trying to take hostage."
"I look at them with a fearless smile and say... 'It's useless to try and take hostages, you guys never learn. Do you even care for your own lives!?'"
Tabletop Role Playing Games (TRPGs) had the unique feature of being able to play with premade characters, or creating your own. There were a lot of games on PC and such that let you choose basic things like your occupation or gender, but not many that let you customize everything down to personality quirks and individual stats. I wish there were more games that did this. It was really interesting to play with your own custom character and go off on adventures. There were some games that had Yes or No choices for story progression, but they typically were still confining when it came to player flexibility.
In our game here, Ann had created a character named... "Anne". It was pretty easy to determine a person's preference and tastes by the characters they created. And in some cases, the player bases their character off the idealized version of themselves.
"So you defeat the bandits, all the passengers of the carriage lavish you with gratitude."
"Well, I smile at them and say, 'I just happened to be on the same carriage as you all, but maybe this chance meeting was one of fate. One destined to happen.'"
Ann's character was a 19-year old female warrior who was tall and had an extremely nice figure. Anne had a very caring personality and a strong sense of duty---she also had hopes and dreams of her own.
My heart was warmed by Ann's cuteness as she tried to play out her gallant imaginary character. She even came up with cool one-liners, but then would get shy whenever she recited them so--- No, that's not important right now.
"You march straight into the bandit's hideout. There, a man that seems to be the boss is lying in wait and greets you. He mockingly says, 'Yer jus a trav'ler, ain't cha? Watchu doin' protectin' dis sorry lot? Dey can even save der sorry asses.'"
"I say, 'That's right, I'm just a traveler that has nothing to do with them, but the tears of the children you caused with your misdeeds is more than enough reason to fight!' while striking a pose and lunging at the boss bandit with my sword."
I become worried as I look at Ann's sparkling eyes filled with passion and joy.
There were various players that projected their idealized selves as TRPG characters. Anne was a gallant female warrior that wore plate armor and wielded swords and lances. Did she represent Ann's ideals? There were no characters that could do absolutely everything in the world of TRPGs or MMORPGS. Typically there were a variety of roles ranging from tanks and healers to damage dealers, and they all came together in a party to fulfill their various roles and advance towards a similar goal. I had made this "Labyrinth and Dragon's Feast" game so that even a beginner like Ann could enjoy it while keeping those basic rules in mind.
But Ann hadn't chosen a healing profession, or even concentrated on healing skills, despite having such a sweet and gentle personality as Anne. It wasn't like I was one of those people that equated female players as always being healers. But Ann didn't so much as look at the healing system before she dashed straight for shields and swords. I was surprised she chose the role of an attacker without hesitation.
Ever since then, I began observing Ann and her preferences and playstyle of her character from the role of the facilitator of the adventure---the Game Master, if you will.
"The mayor of the village you saved bows his head deeply and thanks you. He says, 'Thank you so much, traveler. These are all the silver coins we collected among all the villagers. Please take them as a token of gratitude,' and he hands you a bag with 48 silver coins inside."
"Umm... let's see... 'That's really nice of you, but won't the village be in trouble if I take this? I'll accept half of it as thanks, but please take the other half and repair the village.' I take 24 coins and give back the rest to the mayor... Aoi, I can make it to next town with three silver coins, right?"
Ann's sense of economics was quite nice. She was neither too modest or greedy. So even in her ideals she was pra
gmatic as well?
"I give Wata five silver coins and say, 'Here, have this. You're always helping me with the recovery potions.'"
Anne might excel in attack and defense as a warrior, but she had no way to recover herself. So I made an NPC companion for her named Wata, a doctor character that specialized in healing, and urged her not to forget about him. His occupation may involve healing people, but there was an expense that you had to keep in mind, as medical ingredients depleted as they were used.
It was surprising to see her interact with Wata, but she wasn't handing all the money for him to manage, she managed her own money and gave some to him from time to time.
Right now I was giving Ann an allowance we called a 'salary', but I took care of her food, clothes and living expenses as well. Basically, I was raising her myself. Would Ann have the independence and capacity to take care of herself even if I wasn't looking after her?
I had come to realize Ann's capacity to live was quite high in the time we had spent together, but... Actually, that wasn't all that strange in hindsight. Considering how Jenny was, it wasn't all that difficult to figure out how Ann had become so independent to the point where she learned how to read, write, and do math.
This wasn't like Earth where there were various welfare services for people. We were in another world that didn't seem to have advanced much past the middle pages. I became all too aware of that fact when Sara got sick and her mortality was very much up in the air. With this in mind, it made sense to me that Jenny tried to raise Ann in such a way that she could fend for herself in the event that Jenny died or became unable to work. The last time I asked, Ann told me that Jenny was her only family left, which was all the more reason to be motivated to learn.
Even if crisis was to befall Anne, Ann was a really good player, and her responses always surprised me.
Strongest Gamer; Let's Play in Another World Volume 1 Page 21