My Pet Is A Holy Maiden

Chapter 1: Dream

Oh, it’s that dream again.

He, Yamagata Tatsumi, was clearly aware that he was within a dream.

Were the dreams wherein you could clearly tell that “this is a dream” called lucid dreams? While thinking such a thing, Tatsumi always viewed the usual dream as if it was unrelated to him.

The location was in a basement somewhere. It wasn’t very large; it was about the size of a school classroom. And, in the dark room, a single woman was on her knees, wholeheartedly offering her prayers.

The surroundings, from the walls, to the floor, and to the ceiling, were made entirely out of stone. That appearance was what lead Tatsumi to guess that the place was a basement.

The only sources of light were some lit candles, whose flame gently swayed.

The woman’s age seemed to be just before 20. To Tatsumi, who was a high school freshman until recently, although a repeater, she appeared to be either of the same age as or a little older than him.

Her long, straight hair went past her waist.

That hair reflected the red light of the candles, sparkling in vermilion gold, but its actual color may be blonde. Or rather, a more whitish color, the so-called platinum-blonde.

The color of her pupils was unknown because her eyes were closed as she concentrated on her prayers.

Her race seemed to be from the West. However, it felt slightly different from the Americans, or the British, whom Tatsumi knew. Well, Tatsumi wasn’t that knowledgeable about them, but there was no doubt that she was exceedingly beautiful.

A sharp nose line and chin. Each part of her body was also very exquisite and developed. It was a pity that her eyes were closed due to her prayers.

Looking closely, her lovely petal-like lips were faintly but constantly moving. She seemed to be reciting some sort of incantation or ritual prayer in a language unknown to Tatsumi.

Holy maiden.

Suddenly, such a phrase surfaced in Tatsumi’s mind.

The reason why he thought of such a word may be because the girl praying in his dream then resembled a priestess rather than a so-called witch.

The holy maiden was praying eagerly, forever and ever, in the dreams that Tatsumi sees.

He awoke.

Tatsumi thought, with a dim mind, while looking at the familiar ceiling.

When did it start? When did he begin to have that dream?

Tatsumi thought for a while, remembering the holy maiden seen in his dream.

Has it already been a year since he began having this dream? In the beginning, it was about once in a month. Still, while constantly having the same dream many times, he noticed an abnormality.

And the intervals between each dream gradually shortened.

Once a month became twice and then it became the thrice, then before long it was once a week, followed by once in three days. And now he had the dream of that holy maiden almost every day.

Had it been about ten days then that he saw her in his dreams every day?

“Ten days ago.” That phrase made him realize something.

“… Ten days ago? That’s…the day I…lost Chiiko…”

Chiiko, that was the name of his last but dearest family member.

It had been about a year and a half since Tatsumi lost his parents and younger sister in a traffic accident.

It was when they all went to a certain hot spring region on the occasion of his passing the exam into his preferred high school. Their car, which was being driven by his dad, was hit by a truck because the truck driver had been dozing off.

Of course, Tatsumi was in the car too. But while he miraculously escaped from death, the rest of his family died almost instantly.

The view of the front of the truck encompassing the windshield. Tatsumi didn’t remember very much after that. This was because he had lost consciousness for a few days after the accident.

The severely injured Tatsumi had bone fractures in several places and was forced into hospitalization for more than two months even after regaining consciousness.

And, in those two months, his life had completely changed.

Tatsumi had lost his parents and younger sister in an accident all at once.

Tatsumi had heard that his neighbors took care of the funeral after being discharged from the hospital. Apparently, the expenses of the funeral would later be paid from the insurance money of his family.

Fortunately, the remaining insurance was enough until he became an adult. A lawyer in charge had explained the details, but because of the situation, he didn’t remember much of it.

That said, Tatsumi, who had just entered high school and was a minor, could not possibly manage the remaining insurance.

The management of the insurance ended up being left to his aunt from his father’s side, who was his only remaining relative.

His aunt was in her mid-30s, unmarried, if he remembered correctly.

Because she lived pretty far away from where Tatsumi and his family lived, she could at most be called an acquaintance. What’s more, even during his family’s funeral, she hadn’t shown up because she was busy.

Furthermore, she clearly declined to take in and look after Tatsumi.

“I can take guardianship of you, but everything else will be noninterference with each other alright? Or do you want to go to some facility or something?”

Being told that directly by his aunt, Tatsumi could do nothing but nod.

His aunt became his guardian only on paper, and Tatsumi’s life living alone began.

As for the expenses and the costs of living plus school, only the necessary sum was transferred to an account every month. Only this, his aunt did well, or was it because that’s how the contract was arranged?

Possibly, his aunt may have put a part of the insurance that should have been transferred to him in her own pockets.

Tatsumi had thought about it, but he didn’t plan on checking it up, nor was he interested.

He could very well accuse his aunt of neglecting her duties.

But then his aunt would become disqualified as his guardian, and he would have to enter some facility or orphanage. If he had to choose, then living alone like that was way better.

Tatsumi disposed of the single house where he lived with his family and moved to an apartment close to his school.

The single house where he lived was too spacious for Tatsumi to live alone in, and the maintenance costs such as taxes would be too great. And above all, living alone in a house filled with memories of his late family was too painful for Tatsumi.

Tatsumi had managed to pass the exam for his school of choice, but it was hard to say that his high school life went well.

Tatsumi had spent the first few months which decided one’s new life on a hospital bed.

Even after being discharged, painful rehabilitation was waiting afterward. By the time he left the hospital after finishing all of the rehabilitation and returned to everyday life, the first semester was already over and the school had already entered summer vacation.

Tatsumi was absent from the first semester of the tenth grade entirely. As a matter of course, from the second semester onward, he was an estranged existence.

Tatsumi turned up at school suddenly in the second semester. His classmates seemed to have been informed of his misfortune beforehand and every single one of them interacted with him as if he was a tumor.

There was no bullying or malicious intent, but it was somehow uncomfortable for him, so Tatsumi was often left alone.

Because he was absent for the entire first semester, his grades could not keep up with his classmates.

Therefore his grades steadily dropped, and he quickly became a bottom-ranker who couldn’t keep up in school.

Still, the reason why Tatsumi had continued to go to high school was that his late family was very happy when he passed the entrance exam.

Tatsumi continued going to high school in order to meet the expectations of his family.

But his grades weren’t doing well, there was no club he was devoted to, and he had nobody he could call a close friend.

Before long, he simply continued going to school out of habit.

Even if it was only out of habit that he was able to look forward to the future, that was because he had Chiiko, his one last family member with him.

Chiiko did not participate in his family vacation in question and stayed at home. Therefore, she didn’t die like the rest.

Chiiko was always there waiting for him when he returned to his apartment.

Tatsumi spent his days with only that thought keeping him going.

However.

Even with his dearest Chiiko, the day of parting came.

It had been more than a decade since the day Tatsumi met Chiiko. As a birthday present for the very young Tatsumi, his parents introduced Tatsumi and Chiiko to each other.

After that, they were almost inseparable.

When Chiiko couldn’t eat by herself, he took care of her meals.

After she had grown bigger, they ate ice cream together during summer. When it was winter, they cuddled up in the kotatsu[1] together.

When it was spring, they went out for walks together, and when it was autumn, they enjoyed various seasonal harvests together.

When Chiiko got sick, Tatsumi held her and rushed into the hospital, and when Tatsumi caught a cold, Chiiko would always stare at him with worried eyes.

Chiiko was his dearest, but a parting approached by way of lifespan.

It is about just ten days ago that Chiiko had finished her natural lifespan.

Chiiko had taken her last breath in Tatsumi’s arms as if she was sleeping. Tatsumi could still vividly recall the sensation of that time.

The dreadfulness as the warm and fluffy sensation of Chiiko’s body as it gradually grew colder.

Tatsumi silently cried throughout the night in his apartment void of anyone else.

He cried and cried, and continued crying. At daybreak, Tatsumi took Chiiko’s body that had gone completely cold to the neighboring riverbank and buried her corpse there.

He made a small grave and, although they were wildflowers, placed some flowers in front of it.

Putting his hands together before the grave, he prayed for her happiness in the next world.

Tatsumi prayed and kept praying for her, for a long time.

He wanted to keep praying forever, but he couldn’t.

High school life greeted its second spring. No, it was the first spring for Tatsumi.

With his poor grades and having missed the entire first semester, it was decided early last year that Tatsumi would have to repeat the school year. So when the new school year began, he never showed went to school even once.

While part of the reason was because he had to repeat the year, he wanted to be with Chiiko who had begun weakening from old age.

Without going to school and rarely even leaving his room, Tatsumi looked after Chiiko.

Now that she had lived up her natural lifespan, he made up his mind. He decided to drop out of school.

Without any close friends, and having now lost Chiiko, he had absolutely no attachment to high school life.

After returning to his apartment, he changed into his long neglected uniform and headed to school.

He went to the staff room directly instead of a classroom and silently handed over the dropping-out notification to his homeroom teacher.

The homeroom teacher seemed to have expected it, and although they made some remarks to stop him, there was no enthusiasm behind them, and thus the curtains easily closed on Tatsumi’s high school life.

It was after that, did he start to have dreams of the holy maiden every night.

Dragging on the sorrow of having lost Chiiko, Tatsumi shut himself in his apartment room.

During the day, he would do nothing but motionlessly stare at Chiiko’s birdcage. Then at night, he would crawl into bed and have the aforementioned dream of the holy maiden.

He repeated this lifestyle for 10 days.

What he completely lacked now was any hope and will to live.

Tatsumi raised his body from the bed and grabbed his cellphone left beside his bed, beginning to display several pictures Chiiko while gazing at them one by one.

“Chiiko…I… What should I do…? Alone…without you, I…”

This was a question he repeated many times throughout the last 10 days.

Tatsumi stared at Chiiko’s innocent face on the screen of his phone.

Round eyes.

A soft body which was wrapped in silverish gray feathers.

But her head was a wonderful snow white.

A white-faced cockatiel. [2]

His beloved, last family member who grew up with him ever since he was a child.

[1]

This nice thing:

[2]

A type of bird:

Chapter 2: Summoning

The next night, Tatsumi had the same dream again.

And upon waking up, Tatsumi stared at the ceiling and recalled the dream once again .

Yes, it was a surreal dream. In fact, it was realistic enough that he could even remember it in detail. And somehow, it was growing more and more realistic as days went by.

In a dim, basement-like room, the holy maiden was dedicated intently in her prayers as always.

But in today’s dream, he saw how desperately she has been praying.

Floating on that snow white virginal skin were beads of sweat. Before long, they began to drip from her face and hit the stone floor below with a dripping sound.

Yes, Tatsumi could remember even those tiny details clearly.

“…Why…. Why do I keep having this dream….” Tatsumi muttered while looking up at the ceiling.

To keep experiencing the same dream so frequently, there must be a reason.

It was a very common pattern, as if someone was calling him, Tatsumi thought —It’s the so-called pre- summoning pattern.

But unlike light novels and comics, something so illogical can’t possibly be true.

To begin with, he had no reason to be summoned. Tatsumi had no advantages anywhere, as he was just a normal 16 year old boy.

Certainly, in many lights novels, a Princess from a different world will call upon a random hero to save her world. It was a common setting. But for it to happen to himself wasn’t something Tatsumi thought was possible.

Rather than that, Tatsumi himself knew that he could not continue grieving like this. He has to face forward and move on with his life.

While telling himself that, Tatsumi sluggishly got out of bed.

Since he’d dropped out of school, he thought it’d be best if he went out and tried to find a part-time job. While thinking about this, he washed his face and changed his clothes.

He thought that he should buy a magazine or something from the convenient store and start his search for a part-time job.

But as he thought of that, at the corner of his eye, he saw the now empty birdcage that Chiiko no longer dwelled in. As he did, the sadness and despair from when he lost her once again started to rise up in him.

The many pleasant times Tatsumi had enjoyed with Chiiko kept on playing in his mind repeatedly.

And then, he realized that Chiiko was gone forever.

Once this happened, it became useless for him to do anything. The sorrow from her loss overwhelmed him again, and it was now impossible for him to do anything.

Since Chiiko had passed away, he no longer had any appetite and did not cook any meals. Instead, all he ate the were instant food that he had stocked up from the convenient store.

So once again, without doing anything else, Tatsumi had spent all of his time holed up in his apartment today.

He stared at the screen of his phone, looking at the photos of his family and of Chiiko that he took. While doing this, he had picked up the guitar that had been leaning against the side of his bed, for some reason, and began to play it subconsciously.

This guitar was an acoustic guitar1 and it was a memento of his late father. When he was younger, his father had played it for Tatsumi, and then gave it to him as a gift.

In his youth, Tatsumi’s father had put together a band and had earnestly aimed at being a professional guitarist. In the end, he abandoned his dreams. ‘I was doing well at it’, had been a phrase his father liked to say.

His father also taught him how to play the guitar, and was able to do it to some extent. But of course, he didn’t have the ability to be a professional.

He began to strum it without any thought.

“…Now that I think about it, Chiiko used to accompany me with her chirps…” Recalling this, a dark mood washed over Tatsumi once again.

In the past, when Chiiko was still alive and healthy, whenever he played the guitar like he was now, Chiiko matched his tune with her chirping, as if to sing along with it.

While reminiscing those lost days, Tatsumi began to play calmly.

Suddenly, at that moment, a bright light began to emit from the surroundings of his bed. But bed only had pillows and the bedsheet on top of it. There was no source of light on it that could emit such a strong light.

Despite this, there was a sudden and mysterious luminescence that was coming from his bed.

The reason for this was unknown. but none the less, Tatsumi had to squint his eyes at the sudden surge of radiance. Rather, he had no choice but to do that at the sudden appearance of this phenomenon.

As Tatsumi did that, the light continued to dance wildly and began to turn silver. But, he felt no heat from the light. Rather than heat, the somewhat dazzling light gave of a soft feeling of holiness.

And when all of his surroundings had turned completely dyed silver, Tatsumi noticed something below him.

It appeared to be composed of geometric patters, with strange writing and symbols surrounding the patterns.

The patterns of light shone even brighter than the dazzling light around him. With Tatsumi’s limited knowledge, he thought that it was strangely similar to magic circles.

But at that moment, the brightness overwhelmed him, and contrary to the radiance around him, Tatsumi’s mind fell into darkness.

Slowly, Tatsumi tried to open his closed eyes.

His surroundings appeared to be very dim. Could it still be early in the morning, perhaps before daybreak? This was the thought that ran through Tasumi’s mind.

He attempted to look out of the window that was on the top end of his bed. But instead of a window, he was greeted by a imposingly solemn stone-made wall. Also, an expensive looking ornate sconce was set in that wall, and had a lit candle atop it.

Wait, what? Since when did I have stone walls and wall sconces in my apartment?

Still groggy from sleep, Tatsumi tried to think.

After the loss of his family, he had moved into a small 2K apartment with Chiiko. Stilll– when Chiiko was with him – despite being otherwise alone, it was satisfactory enough for him. He had been happy enough there.

But in this room, there should not be a stone wall. No, rather it was not just limited to Tatsumi’s room, as there were only a few number of houses in Japan that still had stone walls.

If this place was not his room, then where was it? While thinking that, Tatsumi sat up and checked his surroundings.

Checking around his bed, he discovered that not only were the walls made of stone, but all of the others including the floor and ceiling were as well.

At this this point, he began to wonder where he’d seen such a place before. He had seen something like this recently, hadn’t he?

Moreover, he’d seen it on a fairly regular basis.

Scratching the back of his head, Tatsumi began to look around the room again.

Suddenly something entered his line of sight.

Kneeling on the floor with open eyes, was a young woman who was staring at him.

She had long silvery platinum hair, with eyes as beautiful as rubies, and atop her head was a single lock of hair standing up. It was the so-called ‘ahoge’.2

With a look of complete and utter shock, the young woman looked at Tatsumi. While being stared at so intensely, Tatsumi also subconsciously returned the gaze and stared at her.

And then, he realized.

He knew this woman.

“… The holy maiden… In my dreams?”

Yes. As it was in the dream he had every night, there before him was a girl that looked exactly like the holy maiden who had prayed every night with feverish intent in his dreams.

Taking a moment to reflect on things, he realized that the room he was in right now was similar to the one in the dream. Rather, it looked exactly like the basement room from his dream.

Then, was this girl the same holy maiden he saw in his dream?

As he was looking back at her… his body was suddenly attacked by a strong impact.

Tatsumi, who was sitting, collapsed on the bed face up as he couldn’t withstand the sudden impact.

Huh! What!? He lightly panicked. But then he saw strands platinum blonde hair dancing in front of his face.

A sweet smell filled his nose, and he realized that he had been embraced without warning.

It was at this moment that Tatsumi realized that he was being hugged by the girl who looked like the holy maiden.

The girl had pounced on him suddenly and gave him a hug.

She clung tightly to him with her slender arms for awhile, and then separated only a little and peered at his face.

Her red eyes and Tatsumi’s black eyes— they met at point blank range.

Sparkling tears filled her crimson ruby eyes. And yet, despite this, she smiled happily at Tatsumi.

“Finally… finally I get to meet… I was… I was reunited with with… you today… for oh so many years… I waited… Master.”

“What? Ha!? Now, how… eh? Ma—master? Have we met before?”

“Oh yes… oh… it really is you…your appearance…your voice…. and this smell… no doubt…I never forgot… not even once…”

What he felt then was, the feeling of the girl’s tears dripping on his cheeks from her gem like eyes .

Feeling the tears on his cheek, Tatsumi finally realized the sort of situation he was in and the position they were in and he began to blush.

The two of them were hugging on top of his bed.

Due to her additional weight, they had fallen down and he felt the softness of her body against his own.

But she wasn’t heavy at all. Her height was close to that of Tatsumi’s, but she apparently weighed much less than he did.

And as expected, the thing he noticed the most were the two amazingly soft and huge mounds pushing into his chest. It was of course ‘that’ part that symbolized all women.

Every time she moved, her bosom softly tickled Tatsumi.

Now he began to notice some details that he had not seen in his dreams before, such as her clothing. It appeared to be of a single sheet of very thin cloth, wrapped around her body loosely.

At first it was dark and he didn’t notice, but now that their distance has shrunk a lot, he could faintly see her skin through the transparent clothes.

Involuntarily, Tatsumi was completely drawn into the valleys of her bosom, and his line of sight was soon filled with this new sight. Although he could not see the soft, pink cherries at the top of her breasts, he could tell that the destructive power of her bust was definitely very high. In a scale of 100, it was at least an 85, if not 90.

Why he was thinking of such things was most likely due to the fact that he was a healthy young man, and healthy young men were sad creatures. Of course the fact that he, Tatsumi, was thinking that in his current situation was a form of escaping from reality.

Looking down him, the young woman began to laugh softly. Whether she noticed Tatsumi’s line of sight was of course, another different matter.

“…To be able to meet with you again in this manner…I am very happy… Master!”

“Wait, what!? I’m what? What, where… What? You—your master? Me? Are you talking about me?”

“Yes, are you not my master?” she said while smiling and laughing from the bottom of her heart.

As he asked her before, it seems like this girl had met Tatsumi in the past.

But Tatsumi was nonplussed3. He had no memories of meeting such a girl before.

In the first place, he had close to no previous experience with foreigners. He hadn’t even spoken to many on the street before, once or maybe twice, when they asked for directions or something.

And, not to mention, a ruby-eyed platinum haired beauty such as her? With such distinctive features, it was highly unlikely that he would have forgotten someone like her.

As if reading his mind, she continued to speak.

“Master may not remember me, because I am in a different form from when Master knew me before.”

“What? What does that even mean? You’re different from when I knew you before?”

Involuntarily after seeing Tatsumi’s blank stare, she began to giggle. She released him from her embrace and sat on him instead, as if to correct her posture.

“Sorry for my late introduction. My name is Calcedonia Chrysoprase. I’m a priestess of the Savaiv Church of the Largofiely kingdom.”

She said then, and retaining her seiza-like posture, bowed quietly.

“Huh..? Err.. My name’s Yamagata Tatsumi.”

“Yes, I know.”

The girl who had identified herself as Calcedonia smiled. Looking at her smile, it could be believed that most men in this world or any other worlds would be totally captivated by it. It was such a smile of the finest quality to behold.

But with such a smile directed at him, Tasumi’s confusion grew even deeper.

Of course it was because she knew his name, but even more so because she spoke of some really strange words now.

At this point a thought began to form in Tatsumi’s mind. But before he could voice it, Calcedonia continued to speak.

“Master, you may not know the current me, but I know you…no, I remember you better than anyone else in the world…”

She began to stare at him with a sincere gaze. It was in this gaze that Tatsumi had a sense of Déjà vu.

In the past, he had been looked at by this gaze. And it was from a point blank position like this too

For example, on the palm of his hand, or on his shoulder, or sometimes sitting on his knees.

For some reason, her stare was very similar to that of his beloved family member…

“…Chiiko…”

Involuntarily, the name spilled from his lips. And the moment that she heard it, Calcedonia floated the most beautiful and grand smile that she has ever shown.

Anyone could see the feelings behind that beatific smile were those of great happiness, devoid of the tiniest bit of malice and hesitation.

“Yes! Yes, that’s right!! I’m… I’m Chiiko!!! Master… I’m your pet! Your pet Chiiko!!”

The type of guitar you associate with country music, the type that doesn’t require speakers unlike, say, a bass. ↩

TN note: ‘stupid hair’, see below. ↩

(of a person) surprised and confused so much that they are unsure how to react. ↩

Chapter 3: Reincarnation

While beaming with joy, tears continued to overflow from the girl named Calcedonia who once again leapt to embrace Tatsumi.

Reflexively catching the girl claiming to be Chiiko, Tatsumi once again collapsed on the bed.

And again, a very soft body filled his arms, and he was confused at how to deal with it. Though not proud of it, Tatsumi has never hugged nor been hugged by a girl before.

Of course, there was the time when he was held by his mother as an infant, but Tatsumi has no memory of that so it doesn’t count.

Incidentally, he had no clue where to place his hands. On her shoulders? Or her hips? He was completely lost as his hands moved awkwardly in the air.

Without noticing Tatsumi’s troubles in the slightest, Calcedonia rubbed her head joyfully on Tatsumi’s chest.

At the same time, the two softest parts of her body pressed against Tatsumi’s, but Tatsumi pretended not to notice this.

While Calcedonia continued endlessly rubbing her face on his chest, the ahoge sticking out on top of her head swayed unsteadily in unison.

Seeing this, certain memories rose in his mind.

Back when Chiiko was still well, she had fawned on him by rubbing her forehead against his hands a cheeks.

There were also times when she would tilt her head as if demanding to be petted. During those times, Tatsumi would naturally pet her small head with his fingertip.

Recalling those memories, Tatsumi unconsciously petted the head of the girl hugging him. It was a conditioned reflex.

Probably having been surprised by the touch of Tatsumi’s palm on her head, Calcedonia raised her head taken aback.

“M-master…”

“Ah…. So—sorry! My pet cockatiel did the same kind of thing, so I reflexively…”

Tatsumi quickly withdrew his hand and apologised profusely. Most folks would dislike suddenly being touched on the head like that. While he was thinking about that, the feel of her soft hair lingered on his hand and he secretly wanted to touch it a little more.

But Calcedonia was not angry in the least. In fact, she seemed even happier as her smile broadened.

“Yes… Yes!! That’s right!! Master often petted my head like that!! I remember!! Master’s hand…though it was your fingertip at the time, was very warm!”

With her lovely face filled with tears of great joy, Calcedonia tightly embraced Tatsumi.

“Master… my… my master!”

Calcedonia continued to repeat herself deliriously.

Tatsumi could only stare at all of this.

Of course, since the appearances of the woman embracing him and Chiiko the cockatiel are far too different.

Still, he wasn’t able to deny her story completely.

This was because her atmosphere and small gestures were too similar to his Chiiko.

Sometimes intuition will surpass reason. And it was that very intuition that was telling him that she was not lying to him.

“Are you… are you really… Chiiko?”

“Yes!! I’m really Chiiko. I was reincarnated as a human in this world, but the memories of when I was a cockatiel remained. I was raised by Master… and took my last breath while being watched over by Master… I am really your Chiiko!”

“Th-this world? Reincarnated?”

Words such as ‘other world,’ ‘summoning,’ and ‘reincarnation’ that are often seen in novels popped up one after another in Tatsumi’s mind.

In the meantime, Calcedonia continued pressing her soft body against him. Furthermore, in that dim, basement-like room the two were on Tatsumi’s bed. Tatsumi’s body involuntarily reacting as a man1 was something that couldn’t be helped.

Just what should he do?

While instinct and reason continued to fight with each other violently as he worried in the depths of his mind, a third voice rang out in the room that should have been occupied by just the two of them.

“Now now Calsey, let’s leave it at that for now. I think you may be troubling son-in-law.”

It was the soft gentle voice of an elderly man that had a definite depth at its core.

Reflexively, Tatsumi turned towards the direction the voice came from.

Standing there was an old man.

His height seems to be about the same as Tatsumi. Tatsumi’s height is 168 cm, so the old man might be fairly tall.

An old man with white hair and long white beard that gave a gentle impression. He appears to be around 70 years old. Tatsumi didn’t know what the average life span of this world he was called to, (he no longer doubted he was summoned) but the old man must be considered quite old.

In comparison, the old man’s back was straight and didn’t give much of an impression of being very old. To put it another way, he gave the impression of a very energetic gramps.

Looking closely, a door that was left open could be seen behind the old man. It seems Tatsumi hadn’t noticed it before because he was too focused on the girl who claimed she was the reincarnation of Chiiko.

The old man slowly walked over to Tatsumi and Calcedonia with a gentle smile on his face.

As he did so, the white, loose robe the old man wore quietly fluttered.

From observing it, he could see that they were expensive looking clothes that used high quality, pure white cloth. From how gold and silver threads were used abundantly in various places of the clothes and the delicate, detailed embroidery, the old man might be someone in a high position or very wealthy. Perhaps even both.

Seeing the attire of the old man, Tatsumi got the impression of a Christian priest that he had once seen on television.

“I was a little worried and came to check on Calsey but… Ho ho ho, is it safe to assume that son-in-law’s summoning was a success?”

“Yes, Grandfather. I was able to succeed in safely calling Master over to this world.”

“Ho ho ho, I see, I see. Splendid. Well now, son-in-law.”

“Eh? By…son-in-law, do you mean…me?”

“Why, of course! Other than myself and Calsey, is there anyone else here but you?”

The old man continued his words with the same gentle smile.

“How about we go somewhere else before explaining everything? This isn’t the kind of place to have a long conversation. Also…”

The old man’s eyes were directed at Calcedonia who was even now in a position of riding on top of Tatsumi.

“Hurry up and change Calsey. Your current appearance may be a little too tempting for a young man such as son-in-law after all.”

Being told that by the old man, Calcedonia leaped away from Tatsumi, and having remembered her current appearance, hurriedly embraced her abundant breasts with both arms to hide them.

“H-how inappropriate for me…to have such an improper appearance before Master…”

With her face having dyed bright red in an instant, Calcedonia hurried off Tatsumi’s bed and rushed out through the open door in a straight line.

At that time, her shapely bottom was clearly visible between the gaps of the thin cloth she wore and Tatsumi’s involuntarily stared at it.

Seeing Tatsumi like so, the old man smiled in a good mood.

Noticing the old man watching, Tatsumi turned just as red as Calcedonia had.

“Hohoho, son-in-law seems to be a man alright. No need to worry, that reaction just now is a matter of course for a man. Rather, that makes me relieved you know? Son-in-law reacted as a man to my granddaughter after all.”

The old man’s gentle laugh resounded in the basement room.

“I suppose let’s start with introductions. My name is Giuseppe Chrysoprase. This country…the Saviav Church of the Largofiely Kingdom’s patriarch.”

“Patriarch…?”

Tatsumi began to blink in surprise and stared fixedly at the old man named Giuseppe who was sitting down in front of him.

Tatsumi and Giuseppe were currently in a reception room-like place after having moved from the basement room.

With a soft and comfortable sofa, an expensive-looking table with detailed carvings, an expensive-looking flower vase with beautiful flowers arranged to give a calming impression, and various other high quality furniture decorating the interior of the room, it could be seen at a glance that the room was for the sake of entertaining those of high class.

Tatsumi had quietly followed after Giuseppe from the basement room to this reception room. He hardly remembered the path at all, but judging from how long they walked to reach here, the building they were in right now was most likely considerably large.

What’s more, all the corridors along the way were covered in thick carpeting and not a single bit of trash could be seen. Cleaning seemed to be done quite thoroughly.

There were no windows along the way, so he wasn’t able to get a look outside, but from the bright light shining in from the window in the reception room he was in right now, at the very least it shouldn’t be night. Of course, that’s if the seemingly other world place had a night. After all, it’s an unknown other world. In which case, a world without a night and was eternally daytime would not be strange.

While he was thinking about that, what looked to be a ceramic cup with freshly brewed tea was placed on the table in front of Tatsumi.

“Help yourself. The contents are hot, so please be careful.”

“I…u-uhm…thanks…”

The one who served him the tea was a tall, young man in his mid-twenties, who introduced himself as Baldio. He moved away from the table while smiling, and then bowed once before exiting the room.

The clothes he was wearing had a very similar design to Giuseppe’s. However, the embroidery and ornamentation was scarce compared to Giuseppe’s, so while of considerable status, he probably didn’t compare to Giuseppe.

He was likely in a position similar to Giuseppe’s secretary. It seems he left after finishing his business having decided not to listen in on Giuseppe and Tatsumi’s conversation.

Since they had gone out of the way to offer him tea, Tatsumi decided to drink it. The taste and aroma that filled his mouth somewhat resembled jasmine tea.

It was probably a common tea in this world, or perhaps this country. And yet it was also the tea that a person such as the patriarch who is likely of high status would serve to guests. There was no doubt high grade tea leaves were used.

Tatsumi who had judged that on his own drank the tea while at ease as he savored the taste. And Giuseppe enjoyably watched Tatsumi’s appearance.

“Now then, I’d like to give son-in-law a detailed explanation now but…just what’s taking Calsey? She’s strangely taking a long time.”

Giuseppe glanced at the door leading out of the room while stroking his long beard.

As he said, quite a bit of time had passed since arriving to this reception room. Tatsumi reflexively looked down at his wristwatch.

This wristwatch was something he put on after waking up out of habit. Because of that, it was brought along in the summoning.

The things summoned along with him were his bed, the acoustic guitar that’s his father’s memento which he had in his hands at the time, and and the old style Galapagos cell phone 2 that was in his pants pocket. Anything else was simply the sweatshirt and jeans he was wearing right now.

Seeing Tatsumi looking at the watch on his left hand, Giuseppe raised an eyebrow and leaned forward with great interest.

“Say, son-in-law. Just what is that object?”

Giuseppe looked at the wristwatch with strangely sparkly eyes as if he were a child presented with a new toy.

Tatsumi smiled at Giuseppe’s behavior and removed the watch from his arm before holding it out to him.

“This is called a watch and is a tool to measure time. In my world, it’s a very common tool used in daily life..”

“Oh, this is a clock? It sure has been made small and in an unusual shape.”

Giuseppe stared at the watch with great interest after having received it. This world also had things that classify as clocks, but only hourglasses or sundials at best. Of course, there was no way there was an elaborate mechanical clock such as Tatsumi’s wristwatch.

Tatsumi’s wristwatch was a quartz chronograph3 type that did not need a battery and was a gift from his little sister for passing into high school. 4

It was also on his arm during the time of the traffic accident, but while it had a few small scratches, it miraculously didn’t break and even now still works.

“Hmm, looks like there are multiple needle-like things… From what I can tell, they’re used to measure time, but it looks like only the smallest needle is moving…” 5

“In my world, a day is divided into 24 parts, then those parts are further divided into 60, and even further…”

Tatsumi explained how time was measured in his world and Giuseppe listened with widened eyes.

“Oh…in son-in-law’s world, why do you go so far to attentively denote time? There must be some kind of reason to make it necessary right?”

“Why you ask…”

Tatsumi was troubled in how to answer.

He had normally accepted a day being 24 hours and an hour being 60 minutes as common sense. Even if was asked why so, he was unable to answer.

Tatsumi didn’t know when and where Earth’s concept of time was established. However, he had accepted that as simple common knowledge up until now regardless. But of course, that common sense would not apply to this world.

Without a doubt this was another world.

Tatsumi once again sensed that the common sense he had up until now would not apply in this world.

Chapter 4: Savaiv Church's Holy Maiden

The Kingdom of Largofiely’s royal capital, Levantes.

In the center of the city lies the area where the king and his family lived, and the rest of the city was sprawled around it. The city has a population of about forty thousand people, and is without doubt the city with the largest population in the kingdom of Largofiely.

It was in this city where the towers of the Church of Savaiv stood.

The faith in this world was mostly on a pantheon of four gods, the four great Gods.

Respectively, they were the God of Harvest Savaiv, the God of the Sun, Golaiva, the God of the Evening Moon, Glavavy, and the Ocean God, Dalagarvae. In the Zoisalight continent where the kingdom of Largofiely was situated at, no matter where you go, you would definitely find a church or a cathedral of the four great gods.

It so happens that Harvest God Savaiv was the God with greatest amount of followers.

The main worshipers of this god who grants a good harvest are the farmers. Since the most common profession in this world was farming, it goes to show how large this particular faith was.

In addition, his purview covers childbirth, so he was worshiped as the God of Childbirth too. Other than that, he was also popular as the guardian deity of marriage as well.

In this world, it was common to exchange marriage vows in the churches and cathedrals of Savaiv. This was followed without exception, from the royalty and nobility down to the commoners. Weddings were always performed in the churches of Savaiv and similar places of worship where their priests acted as the marriage witness.

Maybe because of that, among the four major churches, the Savaiv Church was built with the most majesty.

Everyday, a large number of believers would come to pray to the God. For that reason, the gates would be open 24/7. What stood out the most were the fully armed Templars stationed at the sides of the gate on guard duty.

It was in a corridor of this great Savaiv Church that Calcedonia was hastening her way.

Located underneath the temple of Savaiv was the largest concentration of magical power in the entire imperial city and its surroundings. It was a place known as the so-called ‘Holy Land’. This place was used only for special rituals and special acts of worship.

Calcedonia had chosen that basement-room to summon Tatsumi precisely because she needed the great reservoir of magical energy that exists there.

Having left that ceremonial chamber, she headed to her room, which was located in the quarters of the priests who lived in the temple.

Calcedonia burst into her room and quickly changed her clothes, from the special sanctified ritual clothing needed for the summoning ceremony to the normal everyday robes of a priest.

Checking a special large mirror that had been placed in the room, she made sure that her clothing and hair were in order.

This mirror was a quality luxury item made of glass. Only a special group of demi-humans who possessed close affinity with fire could make glass and porcelain goods as the technology was only passed down between them. This made such items extremely expensive to acquire.

Having confirmed that nothing was out of place, Calcedonia then placed the holy crest of Savaiv around her neck and was about to hurry out of her room when she stopped realized something crucial.

She had finally realized that after summoning Tatsumi, and then running off to change, she had no idea where he was now.

But, she knew that he was still with her grandfather, the patriarch of the Savaiv Church. All she needed to do was ask someone and she would already be able to find their whereabouts.

Calcedonia set off in search of someone with a high status to ask the location of her grandfather. Even though there was a lot of people around, considering their status, they shouldn’t know where her grandfather was. But of course, all the seniors would always have a grasp on her grandfather’s location.

And as a matter of fact, she knew all the senior members personally.

Or rather, it was the opposite. There wasn’t anyone in the temple who did not know of her as she was the holder of the title, Holy Maiden. In fact, more than half the inhabitants of the city of Levantes knew her face.

She possesses extraordinary talent and comprehension for magic that far exceeded most people. And she had great accomplishments in that field. Due to her amazing talent in the Holy system of magic, the magic system of healing and purification magics, coupled with her great beauty, Calcedonia had been nominated as the Holy Maiden of that time.1

And thus, when Calcedonia walked through the corridor, everyone, without exception, looked back to take a second glance at her.

Even now as she was walking, she happened upon two junior priests, who moved to the side while lightly bowing their head. When she passed by them, they looked at her with gazes filled with concealed aspiration.

“Ah, it’s Lady Calcedonia. She is as beautiful as ever…”

“I agree… but doesn’t Lady Calcedonia seem unusually… happy?”

“Yeah, I thought so as well? She did seem unusually cheerful today.”

“Did something good happen to her? But…”

“Hmm, What’s wrong?”

“For someone to be able to make that Lady Calcedonia so cheerful….Just who could that person be?”

The junior priests stood puzzled next to each other as their heads tilted to the side.

Calcedonia was giddy enough that the two juniors thought she was practically almost skipping with joy.

Calcedonia was finally able to track down a bishop who was able to to tell her the current location of her grandfather.

According to that high priest, her grandfather was currently in his parlor with a guest.

The fact that her grandfather would be in the parlor with Tatsumi was an easy enough guess for the normal Calcedonia to make, but before hearing it from the bishop, she didn’t think about that. She was so ecstatic that she missed the obvious.

From the moment Calcedonia had her awareness as a human, all she thought of was one boy. She never forgot him even once.

She had the memories from her past life. Why she had it wasn’t something she knew. But, the fact she had them was without a doubt.

In this world, people believed in reincarnation.

Therefore, having been reborn was not considered that strange, even if it’s from a bird to a person. But, to have memories of a past life was extremely rare. At least Calcedonia had never met with anyone with memories of a previous life other than herself.

But she never cared about such a thing. The most important thing was the fact that she remembered him, and that her previous life with him was an extremely joyful one.

Having long regained her memories of her past life, she held a long-cherished wish to be reunited with him.

To that end, she studied the summoning rituals and myths for many years. Of course, not a day had passed that she did not spend enhancing her personal magical ability.

Now having succeeded in summoning him to this world and reuniting, she had to explain to him her reasons for doing it.

Tatsumi was called to this world one-sidedly. In other words, he was pulled away from his own world, without being able to choose to give up his old life.

He might hate her. He might detest her. But for her, reuniting with Tatsumi was the greatest happiness she could even receive.

In her past life, she was but a little bird. Even so, she loved him.

She was the happiest when she was by his side, to the point that she didn’t wish for anything else in her life.

They grew up together, they lived together, and they were always together.

Whenever she thought of him, she was filled with joy.

It was at this time that someone called out to her.

“Oh, if it isn’t Lady Calcedonia. I couldn’t believe that I would get a chance to see you today. Would this not be the blessings of Lord Savaiv, governer of marriage?”

The one who interrupted her was a well clothed youth.

If her memories served her right, he should be the oldest son of an earl house, a person who sent her marriage proposals numerous times.

He walked up to her, kneeling at her feet to gently kiss the back of her hand.

Feeling that this act was a bit rude, Calcedonia involuntarily narrowed her eyebrows into a beautiful frown, but the person in question was not aware of it.

To be honest, Calcedonia had no idea what this person’s name was, even though she faintly remembered him. She received too many marriage proposals for her to remember every single one.

Her grandfather, the patriarch of Savaiv Church, received many proposal letters every day. Among them were also letters from direct royalty.

Still, Giuseppe had refused all of the suitors that came to him asking to marry her. Since her grandfather knew her heart, he respected her feelings.

As the church was an organization to serve the doctrine, it was not part of any country. That’s why, within the temple, even royal status was something of no value.

Therefore officially as people who serve the gods, priests do not have to lower their heads in the presence of the even a king. However that was only an official stance. So before the kings, they customarily showed due respect.

All this time, Giuseppe had been the shield that protected her from the all of the suitors that came from the royalty and aristocracy. Since Calcedonia was also a priest, no one could make her marry forcibly. Not even the royalty and aristocracy.

Repeatedly, Calcedonia ignored the praises from the youth before her.

She wanted to go where Tatsumi was as quickly as possible, and yet this man continued to delay her.

At first, the youth was praising Calcedonia. But somewhere along the way it turned into self-boasting. Honestly, it was something Calcedonia had no interest in at all.

‘I want to go accompany my master rather than listening to this boring speech!!’ was what Calcedonia was screaming on the inside, but on the outside she put on a magnificent false smile and threw in some words appropriate for the conversation.

The idle talk continued to the point when finally even Calcedonia could not stand anymore.

It was at that moment a certain person approached them.

“Calsey.”

He called out to Calcedonia in a fond tone with a nickname. Seeing him, Calcedonia’s face lit up, on the other hand the youth’s face cramped.

“Morga.”

“I-If it isn’t sir Freedom Knight…No, I mean Lord Morganeich”

The newcomer was tall and sleek, with an incredibly virile yet exceedingly handsome face. With red hair and reddish-brown eyes, he cut an impressive figure despite being a fairly young man. He was not wearing the clerical vestments of the priests in the temple, but rather a suit of metal plated armor and a long sword hung from his hip. The armor was engraved with the holy crest of the Savaiv Doctrine on the breastplate, and possessed a number of other holy symbols of protection as well.

A plated armor with the holy crest of Savaiv, this meant he was a templar.

The Templars, an organization of knights who are charged with the duty to protect the temple and it’s priests.

As it was mentioned before, the temples do not belong to any country. Because of that, in a crisis they cannot ask any country for assistance.

That’s why the church needs it’s own security force for protection. And that force is the Templars.

But of course, these were all official stances, and if the temple really did encounter any crisis the local authority would manage the investigation with the temple’s permission.

“What are you doing here? His Holiness Chrysoprase is awaiting you.”

“I understand, Morga.”

After replying to the young man called Morga, Calcedonia once again faced the noble youth.

“I am sorry. Grandfather, I mean His Holiness the Patriarch Chrysoprase has called for me. I apologize for my rude and sudden departure.”

She gracefully bowed towards him. And the noble realized that he could not detain her any longer.

The youth replied,

“No—no, it can’t be helped if you’ve been called by His Holiness Chrysoprase. I mustn’t keep you any longer. If we have the chance, let us meet again.”

With that he bowed in farewell towards Calcedonia. After bidding farewell to Morganeich too the youth finally walked away. And in her mind, Calcedonia stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry2 at him. She then turned towards Morganeich.

“Thank you, Morga. Really, that person just now was too obstinate…”

“No worries, though it is true that his holiness is waiting for you. Should you also not be on your way?”

“Ah! Oh no! I shouldn’t be keeping Master waiting any longer—”

Said Calcedonia in fluster, walking off quickly in a panic.

Watching her back rapidly shrinking off into the distance, Morganeich stared at her with a certain deep feeling in his gaze.

TL note: TheCatWalk : Hole….Not intentional ↩

I had no idea either until I searched this up. Imagine the part in an anime where the girl or boy would stick their tongue out at someone and blow. Now, take the tongue away but keep the sound effect. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnAh8OR4qPk if you want an actual example ↩

Chapter 5: The Reasons Behind The Summoning

“Please forgive me for being late!”

Said Calcedonia apologetically while entering the parlor that Tatsumi and Giuseppe were waiting in. She stopped and lowered her head in apology at the very start of her speech.

“What took you so long? Son-in-law was getting tired of waiting for you.”

Laughing gently, Giuseppe chided his granddaughter.

“Ah! N-No, because Giuseppe-san’s conversation was quite entertaining, and it wasn’t like I was tired of waiting or anything…”

“R-Really? Phew, thank god.”

Placing a hand on her abundant chest, Calcedonia let out a sigh of relief.

Watching the exchange between the two young ones, Giuseppe let out a gentle laugh, and asked his granddaughter to sit next to him.

“Well , now that Calsey’s here, let’s explain everything from the beginning.”

Hearing this, Tatsumi sat at attention.

He no longer doubted that he was now in another world, the big question was as to why he was summoned here.

It wouldn’t have anything to do with him being asked to be a hero and save the world from the Demon King, would it? While thinking that deep in his heart, he waited for Giuseppe’s explanation.

“First of all, welcome to the kingdom of Largofiely, Son-in-law. I and my granddaughter, Calsey, we are glad to have you here from the bottom of our hearts.”

“Ah, well, thank you…..?”

Tatsumi was troubled on how to reply, so he ended up politely thanking them. Finding his embarrassed reply to be amusing, Giuseppe and Calcedonia both lightly laughed together.

“And so… we also apologize, Son-in-law, for abruptly bringing you here to this world. Once again, we are really sorry.”

In turn, Giuseppe and Calcedonia greatly lowered their heads to show their abject apologies.

“Um.. that is, please raise your heads, it’s okay, really!”

“No!… We… I mean I summoned Master on my own without thinking of your circumstances. I’ve taken you away from your life without asking your opinion, Master.”

Calcedonia kept her head lowered, and Tatsumi looked at her with a surprised expression.

From what she was saying, though she was able to summon him here, there was probably no way for him to return to his old world.

That’s why Calcedonia went as far as to state ‘taking you away from your life forcibly’.

“I see. But for now, please raise your heads, and tell me …. Tell me the reason why you brought me here. The reason you summoned me to this world.”

She summoned him to this world. All the while feeling guilty and being aware of the fact that she won’t be able to send him back, she still summoned him. And he wanted to know why.

After Tatsumi said that, the two finally raised their heads.

Then, facing the two, Tatsumi calmly stared at them.

For a short while, silence filled the parlor. But then suddenly, a loud noise rang out from outside the window.

The sound was the ringing of a bell from somewhere in the Church of Savaiv for announcing the time. As he listened carefully, he could here more bells ringing in the distance. Probably, the other temples were also doing the same.

Three times the bell rang, and when it ended, Calcedonia began to speak as if she took the ending of the gong as the trigger.

“The…… reason… for my bringing you here , Master…. The biggest reason… it’s because I wanted to see you again just one more time, Master at any cost.”

Her face blushing the color of cherry blossoms, Calcedonia put both her hands on her cheeks and gave her reason shyly.

“Huh….? That’s it….?”

Subconsciously, Tatsumi face turned blank.

Well, anyone would have shown the same reaction if they learnt that they’d been summon to another world because the summoner ‘Wanted to see him again.’

At the same time, Tatsumi was a bit relieved because the reason wasn’t, ‘Become and hero and slay the demon king!’.

“Yes….And…”

Calcedonia looked at Tatsumi with happy upturned eyes. Her expression then turned into a serious one and she continued.

“I was…. worried…. so extremely worried. I was worried, and couldn’t get rid of my uneasy feelings. That day when I died in your arms, the look on your face, it was as if you were despaired with each and every thing in the world. You’re painful expression, I couldn’t forget no matter what. Master…. I couldn’t help but think that…..Master might take his own life……I was concerned…. and regretful.”

At Calcedonia’s words, Tatsumi’s body became paralyzed with shock.

He was reminded of Chiiko’s dying breaths in his arms. When Chiiko finally died, he felt as if the world around him had collapsed.

As Calcedonia had pointed out, after Chiiko died Tatsumi became all alone. Without any family to care for, he tried multiple times to take his own life.

There were many times when he pressed the Cutter Knife on his wrist. But in the end he wasn’t able to proceed, simply because he didn’t have the guts.

“Worrying about how Master was all alone, I committed myself to studying about summoning rituals since the moment I had awareness of my past life. Fortunately Grandfather found me when I was a child at a Savaiv cathedral and brought me here. The church has a lot of materials on magic so it saved me a lot of trouble.”

“Huh? You were brought here?”

“Yes. For a certain reason, I adopted her at an early age.”

Giuseppe had adopted Calcedonia. Their relationship was supposed to be that of an adoptive father and daughter, but turned into that of a grandfather and granddaughter due to the vast difference in age.

Turning away from her grandfather with a thankful smile, Calcedonia turned to face Tatsumi and further continued.

“At first I was planning to cross over to Master’s world, but no matter where I searched I couldn’t find and documents nor materials on any related arts, rituals or ceremony. But what I found was…”

“……Not something that could help you cross over to another world, but to bring someone here…..?”

In confirmation to Tatsumi’s question, Calcedonia gave a small nod.

She didn’t only search in the archives of the Temple.

In fact, with the help of her grandfather in his capacity as the Patriarch of the Doctrine of Savaiv, she searched any source she could think of including various royal archives. Yet, she was only able to find the information for the ceremony to summon Tatsumi to this world.

“….Still, it was my dearest wish. So at that time I decided to perform the ceremony to bring you here. Because I was going to become the main culprit who would make you give up everything you had, I was prepared to be hated, to be detested by Master. Nevertheless, I still wanted to meet Master once again….”

And that she was worried about her Master, said Calcedonia in a small voice.

“Say, Son-in-law.”

With that, Calcedonia’s explanation had ended. But after it a silent atmosphere remained between them.

In order to break the ice that had settled over the conversation, this time Giuseppe was the one who turned his attention to Tatsumi.

“Might I ask a question of you?”

“Ah, yes, if I am able to answer.”

“You seem to be handling this quite well, lad. I must say that you don’t seem to be too confused or shocked by any of this.”

“Y—yes?”

Said Tatsumi, with a look of confusion. It was then that he felt the gaze from the old man that was filled with a sharpness and dignity, rather than the usual easygoing one.

“It seems to me, that if one is typically brought suddenly to a new whole different world, there would be some distress or disorder, yes? Yet, you, on the other hand, do not seem that way. You are certainly a bit confused by all of this, but you don’t seem to be specially distressed or anything. On the contrary…. It seems that you are strangely calm and composed about this.”

“That is, well…”

His face turning red, Tatsumi’s gaze loitered around a bit. Then it stopped on Calcedonia before continuing to Giuseppe.

“It was… coming to world, to see a beautiful girl…… and then suddenly be embraced by her….. that is to say…that time..”

Tatsumi’s gaze met Calcedonia’s again.

“….She…. Because she reminded me so much of Chiiko… even if the reincarnation thing is hard to believe… Her behavior really matched Chiiko’s style. If it’s really true that she’s Chiiko reborn, rather than harboring any hate against her, I should be thanking her. To be honest, I’m glad to have met her again… even if her appearance has changed…..”

“Ma-Master…!”

That Calcedonia was Chiko reborn, was something that Tatsumi could now almost completely believe. Calcedonia’s presence really felt familiar to that of Chiiko’s. And she knew a few things that only Chiiko should know. Most of all, she really reminded him of Chiiko.

Tatsumi sat motionlessly and stared straight at Calcedonia. And Clacedonia who was being stared at became overcome with emotions as clear teardrops started to fall from her ruby eyes.

Giuseppe watched the two’s gaze with gratitude, and feeling relieved, let out a bellow of cheerful laughter.

“Son-in-law, I think I now understand your thoughts. But, do you not have any lingering feelings towards your original world?”

“Mm-hmm. I really don’t have any regrets about my old world.”

Everything that would have tied him down to his original world– his beloved family and his close friends, most of all his dearest Chiiko– were all gone.

So in response to Giuseppe’s question, Tatsumi nodded his head with resolve.

From outside of the parlor, someone knocked at the door.

In response, Giuseppe inquired, and a youthful young woman’s voice could be heard.

“Your Grace, I apologize for interrupting your conversation with your guest. But is Lady Calcedonia present here?”

“Yes, I’m here but.”

“It will be the time of your sermon soon. The believers are already gathering at the chapel presently.”

“Ah, now that I think about it the bell had just rung three didn’t it? I understand. I’ll come immediately.”

Calcedonia replied to the woman on the other side of the door.

Then Calcedonia stood and and bowed towards Giuseppe and Tatsumi.

“Well then, Grandfather, Master. Because of my duties, I shall take my leave now.”

“Yes, to perform god’s work is also important. I hope you’ll not slack of in that”

“Well then Chiiko…No I guess it isn’t Chiiko now…Err.”

“No, Chiiko is fine, Master. I wish for you to continue calling me by that name.”

Once again, Calcedonia quickly bowed and quietly left the parlor.

While leaving, her cheeks were flushed red which her grandfather noticed, but as always he simply flashed a quick smile but didn’t say anything.

And so Calcedonia left the parlor, followed by the the priestess on their way to the chapel to give the sermon.

Along the way,

“U—um Lady Calcedonia…..? “

“Yes, Wha~at is it?”

With a cheerful expression and a bright smile, Calcedonia turned around with a spin.

“Today, umm…I am sorry for being blunt but…. did something good happen?”

The priestess was mystified.

Typically Calcedonia had a reticent expression, but now her beautiful face had undergone an unusual metamorphosis. Now she was constantly smiling, and answering people in a friendly manner.

She normally treated everyone the same, with a cold smile on her face. Even when she performed her sermons, she always had a severely stern and cold attitude as she preached about God.

And that cold Calcedonia who always resembled an unsheathed blade was also a subject of aspiration for the many believers. But today’s Calcedonia was different.

She was unusually cheerful today. And the way she was walking, it was practically skipping.

Calcedonia and the priestess, while not that close, had a friendship of sorts, where they would have a short chat now and then.

Looking at Calcedonia, even for the priestess it was easy to tell that she was merry and happy. Rather, she was way too giddy.

That was why she had asked that question earlier.

Yet now, the usually cold and stern Calcedonia, as if she was a maiden in love, showing an extremely shy expression answered the priestess. It was something unbelievably unthinkable to people who knew her.

Her eyes had signs of tears of joy but had a hot feverish light in them, and her cheeks were blushed pink. She placed her palms on her cheeks as if to hide them. Yet her gaze had drifted off to a faraway direction.

“Because…… he accepted me. A-And also he…. he said..that I was pretty…”

Calcedonia writhed in in happiness, with a pink aura scattering from her.

Seeing the Calcedonia before her eyes, the priestess was taken aback and thought

—Oh no! If Lady Calcedonia were to speak before the believers in this state, it’s going to turn into a messy situation. Because… the believer’s expectations would be totally shattered to dust.

Chapter 6: The Past

When she saw the boy for the first time, how old was she then?

It was when she reached the age of discretion, maybe? About three to four years old.

One night she dreamt of a day, when a boy who was a little older than herself was gazing at her with black eyes that glittered and sparkled like dark obsidian.

“Come on Chiiko, open up, it’s mealtime.”

Smiling sweetly, the boy held out a small spoon with a white, grain-like thing to her.

——–Eh? What? Am I supposed to eat this sort of thing?

The grain appeared to be soaked with water, turning it into a thick gooey substance. No matter how she looked at it, it didn’t seem tasty at all.

However, the her in the dream happily ate it with utmost joy.

Yet because it was a dream, she didn’t know what it tasted like. But she could clearly feel the sense of satisfaction she felt in the dream after eating.

As she ate the grains, the boy with black eyes smiled happily towards her.

Somehow, she wanted to see the boy’s happy face even more, so she ate until her stomach couldn’t hold anymore.

**

Calcedonia began her sermon atop an altar with great zeal before the assembled masses of believers, .

She spoke about the precepts of the god that were written in various holy scriptures. To pass these on to the faithful was also an important purpose of the priests.

The great majority of the people in this world— the world that Calcedonia brought Tatsumi to, were illiterate. They couldn’t read nor write. Therefore, the teachings must be passed on verbally like this.

Of course, she wasn’t the only one who performed this duty. The pastors the other priests were on a rotating schedule to perform these sermons. But like today, when it was her turn to give the sermon, the chapel in the church would always be filled to capacity.

Their reason for coming was to hear these lectures from the priests. But that was not the only reason people came to the chapel today.

The sermon platform was situated in the deepest part of the Chapel in a way so that all the visitors may have a birds eye view of it. Many had come to catch of glimpse of the <<Holy Maiden>> who was currently giving her sermon on of the platform with a solemn air.

(TL note: They came for the eye candy, and not the message

Editor : I’ve seen enough hentai to know where this is going =,= )

But in the eyes of the people who came to see the <<Holy Maiden>> , a slight trace of confusion could be seen.

Normally the <<Holy Maiden>> was the type who would chant the scriptures with a solemn air in her never changing nonchalant tone. But today her manner and atmosphere had changed.

**

From then on, she had dreamt of that boy from time to time.

After experiencing these dreams for a while, she began to notice that her form in the dreams was extremely small. On top of that, she realized that she was not even human in the first place.

Being placed in the palm of the boy’s hand, she was lifted up to his eye level. And then he presented a seed-like object to her, and she happily pecked it with her beak.

Yes, it seems that in those dreams she had the form of a small bird. She had feathers that were silver-gray in color. And she could feel there was something swaying above her head. When she swayed her head left and right, the thing above her head would also sway.

He presented seeds to me which she nimbly remove the contents of to eat. And then she raise her voice with a delighted “Chirp!”.

“Was it yummy, Chiiko?”

The boy asked with a loud laugh. ‘Chiiko’ appeared to be her name in the dream.

The boy was always together with her.

Whether it was on his hand, shoulder or head, she was always together with the boy in her dreams. As she gradually grew older, so did the boy in the dream.

And finally, for every year of life that she went through in the dream, she had developed a tender feeling towards the boy.

As long as she was at his side, he would fill her heart with a warm fluttering feeling. So she began to be attracted to the boy.

As time went by, and she had reached the age of ten, it was then that I had a sudden realization.

That the dreams of the boy she had been having were not dreams at all, but memories of a past that she was re-experiencing. She was reliving her past life through my dreams.

With that as a trigger, all the memories of her past life immediately resurfaced. Above all, the face of the boy who was her master— he who stared at her, whose life was nearing its natural end, was so intense that it shook her heart immensely.

**

Calcedonia was preaching from the podium as usual, but for some reason others felt she was quite different today. Normally , the <<Holy Maiden>> would recite the god’s scriptures like an unceasingly flowing cold water stream without breaking her dignified appearance. Usually, the believer’s would look at her dignified figure with admiring gazes, but today she was met with confusion.

Normally she just simply recites the scriptures with a light smile and indifferent expression. But today was different. Today, in her somewhat moist eyes, people could see a feverish gaze accompanied by an intoxicated light as she passionately recited the scriptures. And then she sometimes sighed filled with hot desires that were hidden deep within her heart.

In reaction to the <<Holy Maiden>>’s unusual behavior, her colleagues and the believers tilted their heads and stared at her in confusion.

There were some believers who were more fascinated than usual because of the strange charm she had today.

And even within all of those eyes gazing down upon her, Calcedonia’s mind was only filled with the thoughts of literally the boy of her dreams, with whom she was finally reunited with.

**

There were two thoughts that had welled up in her heart. One was about meeting the boy– her master — just one more time, and the other was concern over the despair he had after loosing the Calcedonia in her dream.

Therefore she made a firm decision. She would learn magic at any cost, and then return to his side utilizing that magic.

The world she was in right now had a mystical craft called magic. The young her of that time naively thought that if she could use magic, she might be able to return to his side.

But she didn’t know at that time. The magic to cross worlds certainly did exist, but it was something of a forgone era, treated as nothing more then a legend.

Because she did not know any better, the first thing she did was to consult her parents.

She told her parents about the boy in her dreams.

At first her parents who had loved her accompanied her stories with a smile, but when they noticed no matter how much time passed she did not stop to talking about the boy, they began to feel unpleasant.

Then the girl suddenly said she wanted to learn magic. And the reason was so that she could be with the boy.

Finally her parents, thinking that she had gone insane, made plans to abandon her.

The place where the girl and her family lived was a small deserted village in a remote region of the Largofiely Kingdom.

If words had gotten out about the girl’s strange behavior, not only her but her entire family would have been ostracized in that small village.

So they told her not to tell anyone else about her dreams. However, since she was still a young child who didn’t know any better, she sometimes told people about her dreams, disregarding her parent’s warnings.

Over time, the other villagers became cold and distant, causing her parents to finally decide on abandoning her.

But in the end they couldn’t bear the thought of selling her into slavery, so they gave her to a wandering Priest who happened to be passing through their village.

They offered what little savings they had to the Priest so that he could take to a bigger town, and maybe drop her in an orphanage.

The reason they gave to the small girl was, ‘Because magic could not be learned in such a small village, we asked the priest to take you to a larger town where you can finally study such things.’

And so she left her native village holding the hand of the Priest without anyone sending her off.

During the trip, the Priest didn’t say a word to her. Because the priest heard from her parents that the girl went crazy, he didn’t feel the need to talk with her.

She was only given the minimum of meals and rest, as the priest continued the journey. And finally the city they reached was the Royal Capital of Largofiely Kingdom, the city of Levantes.

The Priest, who was a member of the Church of Savaiv in Levantes, had been called to officiate over the wedding of the son of an important person in a certain city.

In this world, it was a symbol of wealth and status to be able to call upon the services of a Priest of Savaiv from the central church in the capital to officiate over a wedding.

His trip this time was one such situation. It was on his way back that he had been entrusted with this little girl.

The Priest, on his return to Levantes threw her into the servant’s quarters of the church to work as a maid.

Her travel expenses such as food and lodging had been included with the money given to the Priest by her parents. But the cleric barely used any of it, and pocketed the difference.

The Priest was quite pleased with this, and the memory of the girl disappeared from his mind before long.

There were many children like her in the Church. Children who lost their family for some reason, or those who were abandoned by them like her. The Priest didn’t care at all about a little girl like her who had the same circumstances as them.

But as a result, this incident turned out to be a rather good fortune for her.

Because of this, as she worked as a maid for the priests, she coincidentally caught the eyes of the patriarch of the Church, who immediately saw through the rare magical talent that she possessed.

**

“……So that’s what happened……”

Was what Tatsumi said with shock upon hearing Calcedonia’s past.

“She may not look like it, but that girl has been through a lot of suffering and hardships.”

Until Giuseppe adopted Calcedonia, she had lived a harder life than Tatsumi could have imagined.

After Calcedonia had left for her sermon, Tatsumi and Giuseppe continued their conversation in the parlor.

“After she became my adopted daughter, She started working diligently. She studied hard as a Magician. As well as her duties as a priestess. She did some other things too. And finally because of her hard work, her dreams came true.”

She found the ritual for the summoning ceremony in a remote corner the royal archives buried under a large pile. And after many years of study and preparation, she finally succeeded in summoning Tatsumi . As proof of all of her hard work, Tatsumi was now sitting here.

“So you see, Son-in-law, I must express my gratitude one more time.”

“Yes?”

“Son-in-law, you’ve accepted my granddaughter, despite the fact she called you here without any prior consultation. Even if you scolded her, no one would have the right to object, but you didn’t.”

It should be a natural thing for someone, who without any consultation was summoned to another world, to act harshly about it.

But Tatsumi didn’t make any complaints, but rather even felt gratitude towards Calcedonia.

Giuseppe, who was very impressed with Tatsumi for smoothly accepting Calcedonia, thanked him.

“If possible, I’d truly want to have you accept my granddaughter as a wife right here right now, son-in-law.”

“Ho ho ho ho” Giuseppe laughed brightly, but Tatsumi on the other hand, didn’t.

At first, he didn’t get what Giuseppe was saying. But before long, the meaning trickled its way into his mind, and he finally understood what Giuseppe meant.

With that, Tatsumi magnificently spat out the tea he was drinking.

**

From then on, the dream slowly progressed.

Because she was now the adopted daughter of the Savaiv Church’s Patriarch, she could undertake the study of magic as her own magical talents began to bloom. And at the same time, she began to search for the means to traverse worlds.

Of course, she diligently performed the daily duties of a priestess, and sometimes used her healing magic to treat the injured.

While she continued this everyday life, the dreams of that boy— her past life that she was reliving— soon became her greatest pleasure.

Because it was in those dreams that she could be with her beloved master, even though it was impossible for her to meet him again in real life.

Along with her growing up, the boy in the dream also grew up.

Perhaps it was with the assistance of the gods that allowed her to reincarnated in a period so that she would be the same age as the boy.

For this she was grateful, as that was what she judged when she was young. The god Savaiv was the only god that she knew of in that remote agricultural village.

Because both she and the boy in her dreams were the same age, this increased the intimacy that she began to feel, and those feelings began to grow stronger.

Every time she saw the boy in her dreams– her master– her feelings for him grew stronger as the days went by.

However, not all of the dreams were happy ones.

She could recall it clearly, the day her master lost his family.

Master and his family were injured seriously in some far-off distant place. At the time it occurred, she understood it somewhat, but as she began to relive those days in the dreams, she was filled with grief anew.

Her master was the boy in the dream, but she also loved his family very much.

Just like him, his family had loved her, and adored her very much. But that family had died, and left him behind all alone.

By this time she noticed the the amount of days passing without her meeting him was increasing. She finally understood how severe his injuries were.

In his world, healing magic did not exist. Severe injuries had to be treated over a long period of time.

While the boy was away, a neighbor had taken care of her. She knew the person as she had memories of him. When her master went out for walks with her sitting on his shoulder, he greeted the person often.

And so, after a long had passed, her master finally returned home, but he returned with a heart filled with sorrow.

The two of them moved from the larger house to a much smaller place, and it was that point she began to experience the dreams on a daily basis.

That’s why, she hastened her preparations. As she could feel the time of her separation from the boy was nearing.

There wasn’t much time left at that point. She was anxious about his state after having lost her, and hurried her preparations for the summoning ceremony.

The procedures for the ceremony were accelerated. And she only rested the minimum amount of time necessary. And so before long, the preparations were completed at last. At the same time, the time of their separation in the dream came at last.

In the dream, the boy who had lost her was filled with grief. She wanted to encourage that boy. She wanted to be of useful to him, even if it was just a little. She wanted to be by his side. And so, she began the ceremony to summon the boy.

The ceremony would last for several days, and she was unable to eat or sleep during that time.

Even though she had greater stamina than most and her talent in magic was exceptional, there was a chance that the ceremony might not succeed.

Furthermore, for now she could only perform the ritual once. If she failed, it might take her several years before she could make another attempt.

The figure of the boy who had just lost her surfaced in her mind as she performed the ceremony. Why was his figure floating before her so vividly even while she was still awake? She couldn’t understand. Perhaps it had something to do with the ceremony as her connection to him was gradually becoming stronger.

He had lost his willpower, and was in despair, she felt concerned for him. The boy only gazed at the now empty birdcage with vacant eyes. Like this, he continued to spend his days doing nothing.

At this rate, would he not really perish in despair? He might even take his own life out of sorrow.

With a heart tightened by worry, she pressed on with the ceremony.

And then.

And then, her wish finally reached the boy.

She won’t be dreaming about him anymore. Because, the boy who she couldn’t meet with other than in her dreams, had just appeared before her.

Chapter 7: From Now On

A lot of believers went out in groups through the exit of the Savaiv Chruch.

Today, they all gathered to hear the sermons given by the <<Holy Maiden>> of the Church. They want to listen to the lectures given by that sweet voice. Even just a glance of her would be enough.

Normally, after the sermon of the <<Holy Maiden>>, they would leave with a satisfied expression but today it was somehow different.

Certainly, there were people who showed satisfied expressions. There were also those who received a very deep impression from the <<Holy Maiden>>’s lecture, and broke down in tears. People who showed feverish expressions after seeing the <<Holy Maiden>>’s figure were also present.

**

But the most populous were those who tilted their heads in confusion.

“Hey, wasn’t today’s Lady <<Holy Maiden>> a bit….different than usual?”

“Ahh. Usually she’s the type of person who looks overly dignified and austere but today….”

“…..She was strangely…Colourful? I-I mean, you know……sometimes when she let out those sighs, they looked like they had colours…”

“Y-Yeah! That, that! The usual awe-inspiring Lady <<Holy Maiden>> is good too, but today’s was also..”

“A-Aye. Today was also good. Still, for that Lady <<Holy Maiden>> to show that kind of expression…It has to be love related right?”

“Well, even Lady <<Holy Maiden>> is a person with flesh and blood like us. And she’s reached that age too. It wouldn’t be strange for her to have a man to give her feelings to. I don’t know who the hell he is but, damn him.”

“Hey, about Lady <<Holy Maiden>>’s partner, wouldn’t it be that rumored…”

“Ahh! You mean Lord <<Freedom Knight>> ? If it’s him then certainly he matches well with her holiness.”

“A handsome man with a beauty by his side. It could make a picture…”

Just like that while making some random guesses, they left the Savaiv Church.

**

After the lecture, Calcedonia returned to the parlor where her grandfather and Tatsumi were.

She entered the room after knocking, and saw Tatsumi’s face which was now dyed scarlet.

Because as soon as Tatsumi saw her face, “If possible, I really ought to make you that lass’s husband right here right now.” these words Giuseppe said rang up in his mind.

“Is something the matter, Master?”

“E-eh..n-no. It’s nothing, yeah.”

Tatsumi said while awkwardly nodding his head. And seeing Tatsumi act like that, Giuseppe showed an expression similar to that of a kid whose prank was a big success.

“Well then, Calsey’s also back. So how about I do the explaining on son-in-law’s future life hereafter?”

As the discussion became about his future, Tatsumi showed a taken aback expression.

Certainly, he had no lingering affection towards his previous world. He had a sense of nostalgia about his old world after being told he couldn’t go back true, but it wasn’t enough to make him dejected.

So that meant he has no choice but to live in this world.

And for that means, he had to find a way to earn a days bread. In other words, a job.

But did this world have any jobs suitable for someone like Tatsumi who dropped out of school? His expression turned a bit gloomy.

And as if seeing through Tatsumi’s thoughts, Giuseppe started his explanation from there.

“I can guess what son-in-law is thinking. But you can rest assured because from now on we are going to guarantee son-in-law’s living here.”

“Master, from now on you needn’t worry about the cost of living.”

“Eh….?”

“What are you being so surprised about lad? We can at least do that much, since we’re the ones who selfishly summoned you here. We were resolved to do that from the start.”

Ho ho ho! Guiseppe continued with his laughter.

“And, you who just arrived in this world. How are you going to find a job so soon? Though, since we can still have a conversation here like this, it ain’t like there isn’t any job you aren’t suited for.”

As he was told that, Tatsumi finally realized that he was having a normal conversation, not in Japanese, with Calcedonia and Giuseppe.

Surprised, he inquired them about it. It seems like the summoning ritual had a function built in, so that he could properly understand this side’s language. But, it was only limited to hearing and speaking. He couldn’t read nor write lest he studied the language.

By the way, the language they were currently using was called the “Continental Commerce Language”. It was universally used by all of the Zoysalight Continent’s residents. And he could also talk differently using Japanese as well. As for the feeling, it was similar to how one separately uses 2 different languages that they have studied.

“…… If they’re going to do it anyway, why not make it so that I can read and write too…..”

“I-I apologise. I performed the ceremony with the materials and method just as instructed by the various ancient scriptures….Making small adjustments were impossible………”

Calcedonia said while feeling despondent.

“Ah, umm, no. It’s not like I was blaming Chiiko…”

But even as he was consoling Calcedonia, he totally expected to be granted with some amazing ability correction due to the summoning.

“As for me, I’d be happier if you just became Calsey’s husband.”

“Gra-Grandfather!?”

Calcedonia who was sitting next to Giuseppe said that in a somewhat troubled, yet more than that somewhat happy tone. And her beautiful face once again dyed red. She rotated her gaze between Giuseppe and Tatsumi a few times while blushing deeply.

“To tell you the truth, this lass can almost already be counted as a girl too old to be married. This might sound a bit unfair but, this situation is partially your fault, son-in-law.”

According to Giuseppe’s explanation, in this world, specially in the Largofiely Kingdom, anyone who was 16 years old may be considered an adult. And by the time they were 20, they’re expected to already have a household.

Currently, Calcedonia was 19 years old. In the eyes of society, though she still can’t be considered as someone who absolutely can’t be married off to a man at her age, she should start worrying about these matters soon.

“She’s already receive a large number of marriage proposals you see, but of course all of them have been turned down. But among them there were some higher nobles, and even royalties who were in line to inherit the throne.”

Though he was saying some unpleasing things, Giuseppe’s expression when he looked at Calcedonia was soft. It was obvious that he was respecting his granddaughter’s heart rather than taking the chance for some political marriage.

“O-Oh, even royalty proposed to you? Chiiko really is awesome. Well, since you’re such a beauty, I guess it should be an obvious matter.”

A surplus figure and high magic capabilities. Even though adopted, she was still a relative of the Savaiv church’s patriarch. With this much status, it would have been weird if she wasn’t proposed to.

Tatsumi didn’t know what kind of recognition Magician’s held in this world, but he could guess that having high abilities were better than having less.

As Tatsumi looked at Calcedonia while thinking that, for some reason, Calcedonia, who’s face was flushed red had both her palms on her cheeks and was looking at Tatsumi with wide open eyes.

“Ho ho ho, son-in-law, looks like you’re really used to handling women. Just now, you smoothly praised her. Maybe, in your former world, you had some contacts with prostitutes?”

“Pr-Prostitutes!? N-No way… I…What? No, I never even dated a girl before…”

“Ho ho ? Then that would make you a natural.”

At Giuseppe’s half-sarcastic laughter, Tatsumi was vigorously swinging his head left and right.

“Ho ho ho, ‘twas but a joke. Even though I look like this, because of the nature of my job I am confident in my ability to judge people.”

Even though he was one-sidedly summoned to this world, if he was some sort of scoundrel then Giuseppe was planning to throw him out of the church without caring any more about this matter.

“ Then for now, we will be having you become a Junior priest of the Church. Even though you’ll be a junior, as long as you are a priest this Church will provide you with housing and food. But of course, you’ll have to earn your bread as a priest. And if you would like to do something else then we can see to that matter as well. Our church has many priests who run side business and has secondary jobs.”

Though, Tatsumi couldn’t think of any jobs he would like to do in this world.

Then as Giuseppe said, he should first work under the church and while doing that, look around the town for any jobs he can do.

For a Japanese like him, he naturally had a thin sense of religion. So naturally he didn’t think he could be a priest all his life. Eventually he had to do something else, so for now he should check out which sorts of jobs he could take, and among them which suited him the most.

While he was thinking if he should really bother the Church till then, Calcedonia who was flushed red all this time seemed to have finally rebooted.

“I-I object!! As I had mentioned earlier, I will take all responsibility of master!! You might not think given how I look so but I have quite the high income.”

Calcedonia declared full of confidence while throwing out her chest with her abundant assets. But as for Tatsumi, it was too much for him to accept Calcedonia’s request just like that.

“N-No. I mean, please… I really do have no intentions of becoming a freeloading gigolo.”

But ignoring Tatsumi’s protest, she again looked at Giuseppe and dropped another bombshell.

“Grandfather. I, from now on will leave this church and live together with master.”

Calcedonia made a sudden cohabitation declaration.

On the other hand, Tatsumi’s eyes became round and his jaws dropped. Giuseppe though, struck his knees in approval.

“Yes. That will be good too. If you live together then with time you will know of each others’ good points and bad points. First, live together for a while, and then decide on whether you’ll really tie the knot with marriage. Though, have you any ideas on your residence? From the way you speak of it, I guess you’ve already made preparations?”

“ Yes. I know of one among the believers who deals with mansions. So I decided to consult him…”

“W-Wait a minute!!”

Tatsumi hurriedly pulled the plug on the discussion that was rapidly progressing without him.

“H-Hey Mister Giuseppe!! What are you thinking!! Suddenly approving your granddaughter living with a guy you’ve met for the first time? Is that really okay!?”

In the first place, isn’t it the father who should oppose the most when his daughter—in this case it’s Granddaughter but— decides to suddenly move in with a man!

But unlike the bewildered Tatsumi, the other two put on blank faces.

“What are you saying, son-in-law!? Haven’t you noticed that from our first meeting, I’ve been calling you ‘son-in-law’ ? It means that I’ve already acknowledged you as Calsey’s husband. And didn’t I also just suggest that you should marry Calsey?”

“Eh….?..C-Certainly that’s it but…Still, this is the first time we’ve met, isn’t it too rash to acknowledge it without giving it much thought?”

“I’ve been hearing about you for a long time from Calsey. Honestly, it doesn’t feel like our fist meeting at all. And besides……”

Giuseppe playfully yet skillfully raised one of his eye-brows while looking at the panicked Tatsumi.

Ever since he first adopted Calcedonia, he has been hearing stories of him from Calcedonia every single day.

Now that he was talking with Tatsumi like this, he could really feel that Tatsumi was exactly the kind of person Calcedonia had been describing all these years.

And besides, if Tatsumi had any ill intentions from the start, and wanted to make use of his and Calcedonia’s relationship or made her unhappy, then he wouldn’t have brought up the marriage topic in the first place.

He could perceive that Tatsumi was truly an Honest person.

“….Didn’t you and Calsey already live together in your previous world?”

“N-No wait!…T-That was when Chiiko was just a small Cockatiel, and she definitely wasn’t this beautiful and glamorous big sister who’s slightly above my strike zone!!”

Maybe because panic, or impatience, Tatsumi blurted all that out.

And once again, somewhat delighted, somewhat embarrassed, Calcedonia’s face flushed pink after being directly praised by Tatsumi.

Seeing these two, Giuseppe who was the Patriarch of the Chruch of Savaiv, the church of the God of marriage and had experience as being the marriage witness, confirmed that they would make a harmonious married couple in the future. So prayed for the future of the younglings to the god of Savaiv.

Chapter 8: Let’s Learn About Magic

Largofiely Kingdom.

Located in the northernmost part of the continent of Zoysalight, it was one of the largest countries. It possessed the Great Iceberg Mountain range, where the ice spirits gather in large numbers according to the phases of the moon– especially during the time when winter was at its coldest.

In this world, the seasons changed at the whim of the spirits. When the fire spirits were at their most potent, it was summer. When the earth spirits were at their strongest, the time of harvest; it’s autumn. When the time of the water spirits’ ascendance was near, spring comes.

When the days were short, the phases of the moon were affected by the ice spirits that gathered ice on the Great Iceberg Mountains. In addition, they existed during the time of the evening moon and the morning dawn. Although it was the the water spirits who had influence during the fall’s short time of abundant harvest, in the winter night came early and this period tooks up half of the year. Yet it was rare for someone to die of starvation during this time due to the excess of food gathered from bumper crops harvested in the fall.

In addition, due to the large amount of snow that fell every year, there was an abundant supply of water, some of which was used to brew various types of alcohol. In fact, the alcohol from Largofiely was some of the finest in the continent of Zoysalight.

The nation was also known for it’s embracing of strong chivalry and military arts. The soldiers and knights had to go through a severe training regimen because of this.

Giuseppe and Calcedonia were currently teaching Tatsumi about the beliefs of the common folk of the land. However, what Tatsumi was interested in the most was things related to magic. He figured that it was real after being summoned here, and people who could use magic appeared to be in general called “magicians”.

It wasn’t only Calcedonia, but Giuseppe was also a magician.

“There are not that many people that can use magic, and the amount of people with the ability are usually one in one hundred, typically one or two people, that is to say.”

There was a system of magic that each individual magician would have a specialty in. Of this, there were six basic types which were called ‘attributes’.

They were <Light>, <Darkness>, <Earth>, <Water>, <Fire>, and <Wind>. From there they were ranked and broken up into several subsystems , and it was unknown how many sub-systems there were.

“I have affinity with <Holy>, <Flames>, <Sea>, <Tree> and <Thunder>, and Grandfather has <Holy> and <Sea>.”

“Eh ? Five? That’s really amazing. ”

“Yes, this lass Calsey is something of a genius. Most magicians only have affinity for one attribute. I, her grandfather am considered special for having affinity for two. In the past there were only one or two other people that had that many affinities.”

By the way, <Holy> was a advanced form of <Light>, as <Flames> was to <Fire>, <Tree> was to <Earth>, <Sea> was to <Water>, and <Lightning> was to <Wind>.

“Typically, an incantation is needed to cast a spell. In addition, no matter how advanced a magician is, voiceless casting is still impossible. ”

In the case of a criminal magician, they were bound with a gag to prevent casting. Because of this, there were no worries about the possibility of magic being cast. When one recited a spell, it was powered by the reserve of magical energy that resided in the body. Because of this, knowledge of how much internal energy was needed to cast a spell was very important. The proper chant and amount of magical power were the two components needed to cast a spell.

“Th-then? Is there any chance I might have an affinity? ”

Tatsumi asked Calcedonia and Giuseppe without holding in his excitement.

The possibility that Tatsumi might have considerable talent as a magician due to coming from another world was a common theme in fantasy novels. Or he could become very strong due to the the transfer between worlds. If there was such a thing as magic, then he wanted the chance to be able to use it. Tatsumi had asked with great expectations, but the faces of Calcedonia and Giuseppe were unclear about it.

“U-UM …… It’s hard to say this, but, for Master, it’s …. ”

“This is hard for you to say … .. Son-in law can not use any magic, because … … we can not detect any magical energy from your body. ”

It was said that most creatures of this world had some amount of magical energy, even the smallest of insects. Still for magicians to gain any proficiency with magic, more than a little was needed. Because a minimum fixed amount of magical energy was still needed to cast a spell.

But Tatsumi, who was a visitor from another world, did not appear to have any magical power at all. Due to him who has come from a world with no known magic. It’s not unusual for him not to have any.

Certain magicians, like those at the skill level of Calcedonia and Giuseppe, could sense magical power that other possessed.

However, they could not find any on Tatsumi from his arrival ’til now. It was put forth that – without any magical power it was not possible to use magic at all.

This depressed Tatsumi terribly.

“Do not feel so down, Son-in-Law, as a human being on this world, even if you do not have the amount of power to cast even the most rudimentary spells, you still possess some small trace amount. ”

” Th-that’s right, Master! You have just enough magical energy to live in this world. When you first came here I was able to transfer some to you! ”

The two said this to try and comfort Tatsumi. Still the shock of learning that he would not be able to use magic after being so excited about it was considerable.

“…… The chants that we use to call the magic are indispensable to casting it. Therefore what we use is called [Aria Magic].”

In order to raise Tatsumi’s spirits, Calcedonia attempted to change the direction of the conversation regarding magic a little.

“When talking about magic originally, it was only Aria Magic, but since about … ten years ago, someone came forth with the ability to use a new type of magic. In order to have some clarification between the two types, the original was given the label of Aria Magic. ”

” New Magic ……? ”

“A form of magic that calls upon the aid of Spirits, and is called [Spirit Magic] in comparison to the more traditional Aria Magic. A woman who had come from a foreign land began to spread knowledge of it around. ”

” Really? Then perhaps …… this woman has come from another world like I have. Can such a thing be possible? ”

” Well, I’ve only recently become aware of this person. I’ve yet to meet with this young woman at this time. According to rumors, she is a woman of outrageous beauty, yes? If possible, I would like to meet with this person at least once. ”

And then, as usual, Giuseppe began to laugh.” Ho, ho, ho. ”

***

” Well now, we’ve already been talking for a long time. ”

Giuseppe cut the conversation short and turned to look outside through the window, and saw that the sky was beginning to be dyed in a deep dark red.

“I guess I should be bringing up the subject of where the two of you should be living, Son-in-Law, but have you made any decisions yet? ”

” Master, we could look into acquiring a vacant house from a merchant, as there are several candidates. later, I think we should go for a look together. ”

” Is that so? For the time being, I think Son-in-Law should stay here in this temple. This is the head temple of the Doctrine of Savaiv on this continent of Zoysalight. To which a number of pilgrims and traveling priests have come to visit from various regions. There’s plenty of guest rooms. Or, —– ”

Giuseppe arched an eyebrow mischievously.

“—- Would you prefer to stay in Calsey’s room? I have no complaints if Son-in-Law wanted that.”

“Th-That’s fine !? A guest room would be perfectly fine with me! Please, give me a guest room !! ”

His face having become quite flushed, Tatsumi requested a guest room. And then Calcedonia looked at Tatsumi with a look of regret on her face.

” Ho ho ho, it was a joke, boy. The room where Calcedonia is currently lodging is in the dorms where the maiden priestesses live. Even if I requested it, it would be impossible to let Son-in-Law stay there, yes ? ”

Gender was of no importance as the men and women who stay at the temple were mostly unmarried.

As Savaiv is the patron god of marriage, It was expected for the clergy of that church to get married.

Although there were celibate priests in here, the majority of them had families. A priest with a family leaves the temple and moves into a house in the town. That is to say, when a priest moved from out of the temple to a house in the town, it was a sign that they were getting married. There were some inconveniences after marriage, such as having children. But since Savaiv was a god that treasured children, having children wasencouraged.

Because of this, it was not unreasonable or unusual for Tatsumi and Calcedonia to move into a house together. The only complication is that of someone with the title of << Holy Maiden >> living in a house. Though this sort of thing was unknown to Tatsumi at the time.

***

It was now the next day. Tatsumi’s sense of time had led him to believe that it was just a little past noon. Calcedonia, who had finished her duties for the day was walking through the streets of Levantes with Tatsumi.

The two were heading to the area where houses were bought and sold. This led Tatsumi to think of this as this world’s real estate agency. The two had drawn close together and were walking happily through the town.

It was easy to tell by looking at them that Tatsumi was somewhat inattentive. With a blushing face, his gaze wandered around here and there. It was a wonder if he was conscious of anything else. Considering the two soft mounds belonging to Calcedonia that were attached to his right arm, and were not moving anywhere.

Underwear for a woman’s upper body seems to exist in this world, but were unlike the brassiere from Tatsumi’s world. Here it was a length of soft cloth that was wound around the body. Because of this, it did not possess the defensive power of a brassiere. So the sensation of tenderness of the pair of hills that would have been blocked otherwise, were not. This sensation was transmitted to his arm.

Thus, Tatsumi was desperately trying to ignore the sensation that his arm was experiencing.

” Is something the matter, Master? ”

Calcedonia had become aware of Tatsumi’s awkward attitude.

“N-no, that … I’m just not used to walking with a girl holding onto my arm. Especially a beautiful one. ”

Though this was the first time for Tatsumi to walk locked arm in arm with a girl his own age, he couldn’t possibly tell Calcedonia, ‘Because your chest is pressed against my arm’, face to face.

Even so, despite the awkwardness, he could not say that it was not a pleasant sensation, either.

Calcedonia, who was unaware of Tatsumi’s discord brightened her beautiful face and laughed.

“Is that the problem? In the past, Master and I went out together quite often, did we not?”

“N-no, at that time, you were so small Chiiko!! I’d fold my arm and not walk, and you would sit on my shoulder or head. ”

During this exchange, the two walked while enjoying themselves.

Despite the odd looks they were getting from passers by, Tatsumi, who was preoccupied by both the conversation with Calcedonia and the soft contact on his arm, did not notice the attention being given to the two of them. On the street, the eyes of the people followed the couple who enjoyably snuggled together while walking.

There was no one in the city of Levantes who did not know of the girl titled <<Holy Maiden>> of the temple of Savaiv. And most of they were familiar with her face.

However, the fact that she was happily walking arm in arm with a young man around her age did catch their attention. The sight of Calcedonia’s face, which was at the height of happiness caused the townsfolk’s eyes to widen in surprise. This surprise went even further when they saw that she was walking together with a young man around her age.

The young man was unusual in that he had amber-colored skin, black hair and eyes, and was wearing clothing that no one had ever seen before.

On the other hand, the inhabitants of this kingdom tended to have hair colors that averaged from bright red to light brown, and if anything, the blonde hair that Calcedonia possessed was considered unusual as well.

As for skin color, the majority was Caucasian. Tatsumi would have attracted attention even if he was by himself. He was walking arm in arm with the famous <<Holy Maiden>>.

The townsfolk looked on with interest as this rare partnership went along on their way.

Meanwhile, the pair came to stop at their destination, which was the offices of this world’s equivalent of a real estate agent.

“So, it’s here?”

“Yes. This place is the home of the merchant handling houses and lots.”

They had come to a building made entirely of stone.

On the way here most of the buildings that were seen were reddish-brown in color, and the stones were neatly stacked in a manner not unlike the laying of bricks in its construction. It was due to the use of this stone that the city was overflowing with shades of red.

But the building before them was not the reddish-brown they had previously seen, but rather was made from a white quarried stone. He did not know much about the stone, but it gave him the impression that this was a mansion for a wealthy person. If they had taken the time to look around, they would have seen that many of the neighboring mansions were also made from this quarried stone. Tatsumi began to wonder why he was in such a high-class neighborhood.

“It’s an ordinary mansion ….”

Once again, Tatsumi looked up at the mansion before him absentmindedly. Thinking it over again, one would not display houses or mansions in the storefront like other products would be. Therefore in this case an actual store would not be necessary.

While Tatsumi was pondering this, Calcedonia walked up to the door, and with a voice as clear as a bell announced,

“Pardon me this is Calcedonia Chrysoprase of the Temple of Savaiv. Is the owner of the premises in? ”

A few moments later, a middle-aged man vigorously popped out from behind the front door of the mansion.

He had a receding hairline and a noticeable pot-belly. It turned out that this man was shorter than Tatsumi and Calcedonia.

He was also dressed in the sort fine clothing that Tatsumi had seen other people wearing while walking around this neighborhood. He appeared to be a rich man, as expected of this residence.

“Ah! I’ve been waiting your arrival, your holiness! I was waiting for your request to arrive! I’m truly pleased to be of service to you !!”

The master of the residence’s oily face, especially his smile, dripped with grease as he greeted Calcedonia while rubbing his hands together.