Chapter 12 –  First Negotiations

“Please… buy my most precious possession(, the stationery that I brought from my old world)!”

The moment I finished saying this, the dining hall that had been noisy until now, fell quiet.
It seems that I was a little impatient with my money raising, and said it in a louder voice than expected.
When I looked at the Prince and the Squad Captain, the two of them were completely frozen for some reason.
Feeling gazes, I looked around the dining room, and found that all of the gazes in the room were focused on our table.
What’s the matter? While I was wondering this, I returned my gaze to the Prince who had finally broke free of his petrification, and opened his mouth a little panicked.

“S-, Sakura. You did certainly say that you were fifteen, but I’m not sure that’s a good idea. No, I’m not making light of your resolution, but I think that sort of thing should be, something you treasure a, little more you see.”

He began speaking about something I couldn’t understand at all.
The Squad Captain beside the Prince nodded anxiously as well.
Having seemingly heard our conversation, I could hear from the other tables,

“Fifteen? Can’t be. However you look at her she’s a child… But I don’t think the Prince would lie and…”

and the like.
This again? I am not a child.
Wondering what everybody was so flustered about, thinking it was odd I looked at the Prince when the innkeeper came running out from the kitchen, before hugging me.
What is this? Or so I was wondering, when I looked up at the innkeeper and found that they were glaring at the Prince like they would an insect.

“You. Just because you’re a prince, you were going to buy the body of such a small child!? Taking advantage of a person’s weakness and doing something so cruel to them, even if you’re a prince I won’t forgive you!”

Eh? What are they talking about?
By ‘small child’, they probably mean me. I look quite small after all. But buying my body? How did that appear?

“No, I didn’t say a thing about that! On the contrary, I tried to stop her!”

The Prince retorted flustered.
Wondering how the topic turned into this, I once more thought back on the conversation up until now.

…

……

………

Ah-…

“Wait, wait a moment! I didn’t say that I would be selling my body! My belongings! I only meant that I wanted to sell my belongings!”

I unconsciously screamed out in panic.
The Prince and the innkeeper turned my way.
If I don’t quickly wrap this up, I think it’ll get perilous.

“Like I said! The ballpoint pen and one of the notebooks I showed you! I want to sell them!”

I exchanged glances with the Prince and the innkeeper while blathering on.

“I have not even the tiniest intention of doing what the innkeeper talked about!”

Screaming, my face was probably bright red from the shame. It’s extremely embarassing. I can feel the heat on my face.

“Really? You’re not lying, right?”

The innkeeper peered in on my face in worry.
Did it seem like I was lying to cover it up?

“It’s not a lie. It’s all right.”

Seemingly assenting to my words for now, the innkeeper returned to the kitchen, still looking a little worried for me.

“Don’t use such misleading words, geez…”

The Prince collapsed into the chair in a slump.
It seems that I had stood up at some point without my knowing, and while hiding my embarassment, I sat down.

“So, umm, I want to sell the ballpoint pen and one of the notebooks I showed you earlier… I’m fine with whatever you’re willing to pay.”

I’ve managed to avoid the trouble born from my choice in words, but that doesn’t mean my original problem has been solved. I resume negotiations.

“I don’t mind buying that, but are you sure? It’s not something you can get here you know?”

Well, even if I have it I’m not going to use it here. If I get back to Japan I’ll be able to easily buy them, so there’s no problem.

“Yes, I am sure. And so, how much can I be expecting for it?”

I straightened my posture on the chair, and asked about the price.

“Let’s see… It’s impossible to create something similar in this world after all, but the money I have on hand is… Once we get back I’ll be able to prepare quite a bit of money but…”

He’s muttering again, isn’t he.

“I’m fine with the price you name, so please tell me.”

It didn’t seem like we would get anywhere if I waited, so I pressed him to give me a price.
After all, the two of them together didn’t even cost me ¥200, right? Just enough to buy the spices is plenty. If I remember correctly, just 5 silver coins is enough to buy me all the spices I need at the moment.
Thinking such things while I waited, the price that the Prince gave me far exceeded my expectations.

“Let’s see, how about 3 gold coins? Unfortunately I don’t have that much on me at the moment. I do think it’s too cheap, but would that be enough?”

The Prince said such words while looking apologetic.
I’m panicked. A ballpoint pen and noteboot that didn’t even cost ¥200 in exchange for ¥300,000? Is this a joke? How much times my allowance is that?

“Ha? No, I mean… isn’t 3 gold coins too much? Yes, it’s too much, isn’t it?”

“It’s something made from technology from another world. I think that even 3 gold coins is too cheap. If I had the funds with me I could pay even more but… And Sakura, you need money right now, don’t you? I don’t think there’s a need for you to say it’s too high, though?”

Between the Prince who said this naturally, and I who knew the original price, I could feel a difference in our sense of value.
Certainly I do need money for my immediate living expenses. However. However, money that the Prince owns, is in other words, tax money from the citizens. Is it really fine just to slap out that much tax money on such a cheap(, to me,) thing? With 3 gold coins, if I don’t spend extravagantly, it would be enough to let me live without doing a thing for half a year. As I thought, it’s not money that I can accept.

“No, as expected, 3 gold coins is too much. Your money was originally the citizen’s tax money. Even without that, you’ve already paid for my inn fees. Just enough money for my shopping is fine. And so, I think you should avoid needlessly spending that tax money.”

Right now I need to really make this clear. If I don’t, I’ll feel guilty later.

“Mu, well you’re right, but… But I think that technology is wonderful. I actually think that even 10 gold coins would be fine, you know.”

Wai-, 10 gold coins, meaning ¥10,000,000? Over 5000 times the original price!?

“But if you have a problem with me using tax money, then I wonder what I should do. If it’s only money that I’ve earned myself, then all I can pay is a single gold coin though.”

When I was panicked about the difference in our sense of value, I heard the Prince say such things.
Is this where I should just give up? Even one gold coin is 500 times the value, but…

“Then let’s make it 1 gold coin. I think that even that much is too expensive, but… even if I say that, you would probably not lower it further, and I did say at the start that we would go with the price you gave after all. But, I really do feel that taking a gold coin is too much, so how about this? I’ll cook everybody’s breakfast and dinner tomorrow. Even if I look like this, I’m actually good at cooking. The cookies from earlier were made by me as well, you know?”

For now, I’ll pay it back with what I can do. At the very least, they said that the cookies were tasty, so my cooking should have enough value as well.

“You did? Then can I expect this much from you in cooking as well? Hmm, lunch is going to be preserved food or army rations anyway, after all. Can I leave it to you then?”

It seems that we’ve reached a deal.

“Yes. I shall do my best. I’d like to go shopping right this minute, so would that be all right?”

I don’t know what time the shops are open until, but I think it might already be 7. If I don’t hurry, they’ll close.

“Yeah, I’ll take the ballpoint pen and notebook later. You need money for the shopping, right? Take this.”

The Prince produced silver coins from that generous pocket of his, and handed it over.

“This is all I have on me at the moment. The rest is in my room. As for the rest, we can trade when you get back.”

The silver coins in my hand numbered more than 20. With this, I’ll have no problems with shopping.

“Thank you very much. Well then, I shall be going.”

I gave my thanks as I left my seat, and then after asking the innkeeper where the shops were, I headed towards the general store.

EDIT: And they give readings for her name this time. Turns out it’s actually a slightly less common reading, Manami. Ahh, of course I don’t mean to say that 愛 being read as ‘mana’ is at all rare, but I mean altogether.

So, because of the middleman I use to buy light novels, I probably won’t see my book for another month or so. But! There’s a sample of the book available here which happens to come with an image. So here you are, guys (: Our favourite (mildly retarded) burikko-turned-heroine, and her merry friends.

If you want higher quality images, please support the industry. Consider it donating to support the industry, and getting a book filled with pretty pictures and meaningless squiggles as a thank you bonus.

Tutorial for honto is on the project page, and the newer Otoburi chapters!

That was the final arc.

The feels, man. The feels.

Lots of people hated it because he was a fat piece of garbage that fapped over his niece, but I think that was the point.

He had been hiding in his room since middle school, and was apparently an idiot even before he became a hikki. Basically he was a massive man-child. If you look at the things he thinks during the Demon Continent arc, you can tell that he’s missing a lot of things adults take for granted as common sense.

He’s a scummy man-child precisely because this is a growing up story. In the early chapters, he gets over his fears and starts moving again. And as time passes, and as he overcomes each crisis, he grows as a person. Which I think makes him quite a wonderful person. It sounds easy to change, but really, very few people actually do better themselves.

He started off as a disgusting deviant (and, well, arguably ends as one) but he definitely betters himself as a person. It takes a while, but as you follow him through the story, you really do notice that he takes these sort of sensibilities to heart.

Well, having said that though, there are still going to be people who scream “This is disgusting! It’s glorifying peedofilia, blah blah blah!” but I simply don’t agree with them. Growing up with Western sensibilities means that you get a knee-jerk reaction to certain things (and this includes me as well), but if you read it carefully, you’ll realise it’s not about that at all.

It’s about a man-child who gets a second chance to grow up properly, and learn the things that he should have learnt the first time. And yeah, he does fail a lot, and often realises incredibly obvious things, even as far as the Begaritto arc, but I personally found it all really believable.

And although I hated him when I first began reading this, I think I really like him now. He’s one of my favourite protagonists because he’s a kind person deep down, and he tries his very best to learn from his mistakes.

I’m definitely going to buy all of the volumes when they come out. I’ll definitely have a job by then, after all!

---

Edit: In the end, who the hell was the Bloody Kant? That guy’s apparently still alive and writing books.

Warning. I am not moderating comments anymore.

Be warned that there may be spoilers below.

Chapter 11 –  The First Dinner

By punctured coin, I assume she means the old Asian/current Japanese style coins. Basically like American coins, but with a hole in the middle.

---

“Innkeeper, thank you for the tea. It was delicious.”

When I reached the dining room, I called out towards the kitchen.

“That’s fine. I’m glad it suited your taste.”

The innkeeper gave a light smile and took the tray from the Squad Chief, before heading back to the kitchen.

“Dinner for three, please.”

The Prince spoke to a nearby employee (the daughter of the innkeeper?), and sat down at an empty table.
The Squad Chief sat down at the table as well, so I also vaguely decided to sit down as well.
Somehow or other I ended up listening to them talk about the bandits from today, and the knight squad, before our food was carried to us.

“Tonight is bread with grilled herb chicken, and a vegetable and sausage stew.”

When I looked at the food, the innkeeper explained them to me.
Since I was hungry, I decided to immediately begin eating.
If you looked around, the other two at the table were already eating.

“Itadakimasu.”

After bringing my hands together in thanks, I tasted the food.
One by one, I took a bit of each of the foods, and chewed them.
After that, I took one of the pieces of bread from the basket in the middle of the table, and tearing off a little, I tried eating it.

“…”

I had forgotten…
The taste of the food was no different from in the knowledge of my old life.
In other words, it was not tasty.
It was by no means bad tasting. For the sake of protecting the honour of this shop, I have to say that it’s tasty for this world.
But to this tongue of mine that has gotten used to the food of Japan, it’s not food that can satisfy me.
MSG doesn’t exist in this world, but the way you use herbs and spices can greatly affect the taste of the cooking.
I know from the knowledge of my old life that the herbs and spices in this world are basically the same as those on earth.
In this world, most of those are used in medicine or talismans, and there’s no concept of using them in cooking.
The bread is also black coloured, and is extremely hard. It seems that there’s no bread that uses the fermentation of yeast. I must quickly reform this situation. If I remember correctly, spices and herbs should be sold in general stores or adventurer-related stores. Let’s have a look at them later.
While I was thinking this, perhaps because they had noticed that I had stopped my hand, the Prince and Squad Captain were looking my way.

“What’s wrong? You’re not going to eat? Does it not suit your tastes?”

“I thought that this place had pretty good cooking though.”

The Prince and Squad Captain asked me in confusion.

“No, it is fine. I was just a little shocked.”

While giving a small lie, I finished off my dinner. Whilst thinking about what I would do from now on.

After finishing dinner, I decided to try asking for a favour from the two who were now chatting while drinking fruit liquor.

“Umm, I’d actually like to go have a look at the general store and the stores that sell tools for adventurers after this.”

The two of them looked my way.

“Well, that’s fine but, did you need something from them?”

Well, if I suddenly wanted to go to a store, I suppose that’s a natural doubt.

“Yes, there are a few things that I want, you see. And so, umm, this is something difficult to ask, but…”

Indeed. Even if I go shopping, at present I have not a single one of the Golshu coins used in this world.

In this world, a single punctured copper coin is the lowest denomination ‘1 Golshu’, 10 punctured copper coins are 1 copper coin, 10 copper coins are 1 silver coin, 100 silver coins are 1 gold should. That’s how I remember it.
Above gold coins are treasure coins used for business dealings, which are worth 100 gold coins.
Comparing living expenses, 1 punctured copper coin corresponds to 10 Yen.
In other words, a punctured copper coin = ¥10, copper coin = ¥100, silver coin = ¥1000, gold coin = ¥10,000.
As for treasure coins, one of them is worth ¥10,000,000.
If I remember correctly, the living expenses of a normal commoner should be 5000 Golshu per month, so about 50 silver coins.

While recalling such a thing, I began negotiating to make money for my shopping funds.
“Umm, I have only just come to this world, so I have not even a single Golshu. It’s obvious, but I need money to purchase the things that I want. So… umm, Prince Sedrim…”

I cut off my sentence there, and looked at the Prince’s face.
What I have to negotiate with are my ballpoint pen, and the new notebook that I bought as a spare.
I’ll need the notebooks I’m currently using and my binder notebook for when I return back to Japan after all, and my permanent marker and mechanical pencil are probably not all that useful. As for my textbooks, they’re meaningless to the people of this world after all, so I’ve judged that amongst my belongings, the ballpoint pen and new notebook have the most value in this negotiation.

“Please… buy my most important thing(, the stationery that I brought from my old world)!”

 

Every time I look at Yomigaeri no Maou and how much more I need to translate, I get more and more depressed.

I was starting to entertain the idea of recruiting a competent MTL-er to “translate” all the filler stuff about them eating breakfast and stuff, but then I remember that some of that stuff had interesting details about the world as well.

Nooot really sure what to do. It’s not like some chapters are pure filler or anything. It’s all spaced out pretty well, so I wouldn’t be able to have somebody guesslate a section without there being something important in it.

Anyone have any bright ideas?

My other idea is just to read through the chapters myself, and for the less important chapters I’d leave dot-point summaries of the important points, translating only the dialogue and skipping all of the descriptive prose.

My third idea is just to ask a less skilled translator to help me, so that if there’s ever a line I’m not happy with, I could glare at them and make them obey my wishes.

All three of these ideas sound ridiculous, and pretty badly flawed. What do. Does anybody have a time turner? Portable hyperbolic time chamber? Anything like that?

EDIT: I suppose my final option is just to get extremely liberal with any of the longer or more annoying to translate chapters. I’d retain the information, though the feel would be a bit different. That would make things a bit easier though, and it wouldn’t affect any of the dialogue or characterisation.

Pretty sure it would read more smoothly in English as well, but the downside is that it would be, iunno. Lazier.

Chapter 10 –  Magecraft

With both the cookies and the tea gone, I, who had eaten but a single cookie, was now preparing more tea, when the Prince called out to me as though he had suddenly recalled something.

“Speaking of which, you said that you remembered your past life, but what kind of person were you, Sakura? And you said that you were fifteen, but that technique you used on the bandit chief was pretty good. Where did you remember it from?”

When the Prince had said that, the Squad Captain froze, and turned this way like a machine whose gears needed oiling.
What’s the matter with him? This person freezes up a lot, don’t they?
While thinking this, I looked at him and found that the Squad Captain was looking at me with movements like a robot in need of a good oiling. He opened his mouth.

“Fif-…teen…?”

You’re going to bring that up too? Everyone is surprised when they hear my age, but do I look that different? Being fifteen means that I’m already a fine lady, yet you all say things like this. How rude. After half a year I’ll be sixteen, and at sixteen I can even get married you know? I’m already a fine adult.
While thinking something like this, the Squad Captain started muttering something.

“Fifteen she says…? To think that this child was… But if she’s fifteen, then she’s already an adult but… But however I you look at her, she’s only seven or eight…”

OIOI. Certainly even I’m aware that I’m underdeveloped and stopped growing at eleven, but I have no recollection of being mistaken for a seven year old. Despite how I seem, when I was in primary school I was quick to develop, and was even said to be developing prematurely, yet to think that now I’m being called underdeveloped, or a primary schooler of the like…
No, no, now’s not the time to be thinking about that. Right now I have to properly convey to them that I’m a fifteen year old.

“Just who’s a child? I am fifteen years old. In a world where there are 24 hours a day, and 365 days a year, I am fifteen. In just half a year, I’ll be sixteen. I’m already a fine adult. Ah, this world has days comprising twelve double-hours, so the flow of time is the same. So, even in Alselia, I’m a fifteen year old.”

Indeed; time and physics in Alselia is basically the same as on earth. The writing system and counting system is different, but all the fundamental things are the same.
Up until now, there’s been almost no place where the knowledge of my previous life has been useful; on the contrary I thought it was a bother, but now, finally, it’s helped me. Rather, it’s playing a huge role, isn’t it? It’s wonderful, my previous life.

“It seems that in my previous life, I was called a person called a “magus”. It seems that I was a “Court Magus” or something, you see. Incidentally, my martial skills were learnt at a dojo I’ve frequented since I was a child. It seems that the cause of death in my previous life was because I was stabbed from behind with a sword, so I felt that physical combat skills were necessary for self protection. I’ve been training for about ten years. In the other world, I couldn’t use magecraft at all, so I put the effort I would have spent in magic into martial arts as well, you see.”

After replying, I took a sip of tea.

“A magus you say? Hmm, but you couldn’t use magic in your world, Sakura? Even if you couldn’t use it in that world, can you not use it in this one?”

The Prince seemed somewhat desperate. Well, even in my knowledge of my past life there were very few people who could use magecraft, let alone somebody talented enough to be called a magus, who would be a precious human resource. If things haven’t changed since then, then it’s not as though I can’t understand wanting to pull over magi to your nation’s side, but…

“I haven’t tested it in Alselia yet. At any rate, the moment I came to this world I was in that kind of situation after all.”

I haven’t had the time to do something like test out magecraft you know. My life was suddenly thrown in danger, after all.

“Then won’t you try it out now? If it’s a simple magecraft, even doing it here isn’t a problem, right?”

Well, I did need to try it somewhere, so there shouldn’t be a problem.

“I understand. Then I will try using the basic ignition spell.”

The ignition spell is… well, speaking simply, it’s basically a lighter or a match I suppose. It’s a spell that lights a fire at the tip of your fingers. It’s the very basic of the basics that you learn when you first begin learning magecraft, so there’s hardly any danger.

“Well then… What I desire is a small flame.”

I concentrated and chanted.

By the way, the chant is for the sake of solidifying the user’s mental image, so honestly speaking, just about anything will do. When I first began, my shishou in magecraft taught me what was easiest to form a mental image, but the person themselves said that if you could imagine it, any chant was fine.
Once you understood that and could construct your chants, then you could be called a elementary class magician, and once you could use elementary class spells without chanting and invoke it using only mental imagery, you were called a magician.
And once you surpassed this level and could construct new spell theories by yourself, you were called a 『magi』.
In other words, those up until the magician level used only spells whose compositions were publicly available, whereas magi could use spells of original compositions.

Magecraft is the act of transforming the energy inside you into power, and by giving it an image, an effect like the image appears. However, no matter how strong your image is, this is something that ignores the laws of the world; in other words, things that aren’t a match for reason will not be able to be invoked as magic.
For example, “creating a sword from nothing” is impossible, but placing a lump of iron before your eyes and “changing this lump of iron into a sword” is possible. And when it comes to spells where the target is something inorganic, as long as the magic itself doesn’t fail, it will succeed. However, magic used on organic targets (such as humans or animals; things that have will), because of their will, the effectiveness will drop remarkably (even when they are unconscious).
In other words, spells like “boiling the opponent’s blood” is has an extremely difficult level of difficulty, and will almost never succeed.
As a result, magical attacks are usually things like bringing forth flames, or attacking with a ball of water or a wind blade. Creating flames is giving the image of flames to the “power” itself, so it isn’t “creating something from nothing”. The ball of water is also “gathering the moisture in the air” so there is also no problem with this.

“It seems that it isn’t invoking.”

My chant did not invoke magic.
It seems that even with the knowledge, I can’t use magecraft.

“I see.”

The Prince said this a little disappointedly.
If I could use magic, I wonder if he intended to win me over to his country. I’m glad it didn’t become something troublesome.
As somebody who tripped into another world just like in a novel, I intend to follow the standard by becoming an adventurer. I have no intention of serving a country, you know? It’s troublesome after all.
But still, it’s a pity that I couldn’t use magecraft. Even though just the elementary spells would have made my trip so much easier… It’s a downer, isn’t it?
Well, even if I think about it, I can’t use what I can’t use. Let’s consider the future instead.

“Prince, you said that you would head to the capital tomorrow, but would it be all right if I stayed with you until the capital?”

First of all, I need to think about tomorrow. They said that it would take a day by horse to reach the royal capital from this village, so it would help quite a lot if I could ride the carriage with them.

“Mn? Ahh, that’s fine. You saved us as well, after all. I want to thank you. I’d be thankful if you came with us.”

Good, that settles my means of transport. But I don’t need his thanks. It seems troublesome after all.

“Thank you very much. But, there is no need for thanks. You have helped me as well, after all.”

I think it would be best to say it clearly now.

“No, as you’d expect as a member of royalty I need to think about my position when it comes to this. Let me thank you. And moreover, you just came to this world didn’t you, Sakura? You don’t have money nor connections, right? I don’t know about your plans from now on, but I think it would be better if you accepted my thanks, though.”

Hmm, certainly I don’t have any money, nor do I have a place to stay. Even if I work as an adventurer, first it’s essential that I guarantee myself shelter and food. If I sold some of my notebooks and stationery I could probably make enough money for my immediate living expenses, but even the place where I sell it could be trouble. If I sell it somewhere bad, then things seem like they could get complicated after all, and I think it would be best to avoid things that are potentially troublesome.

“I understand. I will humbly accept your thanks. I was thinking of registering as an adventurer. As long as I’ve registered, I think I can somehow handle the rest. I’m thinking of living as an adventurer while looking for a means to return to my old world.”

I have the knowledge I need to live in this world, after all.

“An adventurer, huh. You do have knowledge of this world, but returning to your old world? Is there such a method?”

I’ve more or less guessed that the reason I’ve arrived in this world is because I fell into that hole-like thing. I have knowledge of something like that in the knowledge of my old life. That hole-like thing appears to be a mass of power running rampant in this world. It’s extremely rare, but I have the feeling that I saw a record of something like that happening in the past. It seemed to be something from a few hundred years before my past life though.

“At the moment, I do not know of a way to return to my world. According to the knowledge of my past life, that I came to this world was probably a complete coincidence. A portion of the power overflowing in this world ran wild, and temporarily created a link to the world I was in. I have memories of seeing something like that in a book before. According to the book, something like this only happens every few centuries, or even millenia. The same thing will not likely happen, at least while I live. The possibility of returning is probably limited to using a new ritual magecraft. I don’t think that intentionally creating the same phenomenon is impossible. Only, without gathering dozens of magi, it would probably be impossible.”

I told him what I knew at the moment, just to be safe. If things go well, he might even help out when the times comes, after all.

“Hmm, you understand that much from this situation? It seems that you were quite the talented magus in your old life. How about it? Do you have no intention of helping this nation with that knowledge?”

I failed. He’s completely enthusiastic in recruiting me. Even if he’s like that, he’s a Prince huh. From our chat just now, he seems to think that my knowledge is quite something. And in fact, it goes without saying that the past ‘me’ or whatever had ability as a magus, but it seems that his knowledge was abnormally great as well. It seems that he was called ‘lord Sage’ after all.

But I have no intention of serving a country, and I’ve said this many times now, but it’s troublesome. Getting involved with a country will bring forth troubles in full force after all. Let’s clearly decline.

“I’m grateful that you expressly invited me, but I intend on returning to my old world one day. And the sooner, the better. I have no intention of serving a country. And moreover, if I live as an adventurer, I’ll meet various people and various things. I think that perhaps it will be of some use to me in being able to return home.”

“I see. Then I’ll stop with the invitations. If you change your mind, please visit me whenever. I’ll welcome you.”

Saying that, the Prince left his seat. It’s nice that he’s surprisingly understanding, isn’t it? I thought that he would complain a little more, though.

“It’s almost time for dinner. You two, let’s go eat.”

Oh? Is it already that time? The room has gotten quite dark, and if I look outside, the sun seems to have set. The sky is dyed indigo. As for the time, is it a little past 6 perhaps?

“You’re right. I’m hungry as well.”

I stood up from my seat as well. It seems that the Squad Captain did as well. He hardly ever speaks, does he.
I tidied up the things I borrowed from the inkeeper, and placed them on the tray. When I was about to leave the room with them in hand, a hand suddenly appeared from the side.
When I looked in that direction, I found that it was the Squad Captain. He moved his hands to the tray I was carrying. It seems that he’s going to carry the tray for me. He’s unexpectedly gentlemanly isn’t he.

“Thank you very much.”

I thanked him, and opened the door.

 

Chapter 9 –  Tea and Cookies

“Excuse me, I want to steep some tea, but would it be possible to borrow some utensils?”

I entered the dining room and heading to the kitchen, I called out to them.
The other knights and people who seemed to be villagers that were in the dining room all turned their gazes to me. It seems that this dougi that I’m wearing is curious. But I’m not an exhibition you know.

“We don’t have anything good enough to use with VIPs though. Is that okay?”

The person who seemed to be the innkeeper was kind enough to come out.

“That’s fine. Enough for three people, please.”

After replying as such, the innkeeper said “Please wait a moment.” before returning to the kitchen.
After a while, the innkeeper brought out a tray with a pot of hot water and cups.

“Don’t spill it, okay?”

After saying that they handed it over to me, but, somehow I’m getting the feeling that I’m being treated like a child.

“It’s all right.”

Looking up at the innkeeper, I told them as such, when they sort of gave me a “There’s no helping this girl, is there?” look. I get the feeling that I’m being treated like a child even more now.

Whilst feeling dissatisfied at my treatment, I returned to the prince’s room.
Because both my arms were occupied, I called out to them and had them open the door for me.

“It’s Sakura. I’ve brought tea. Could you open the door please?”

After waiting for a little, the door opened from within, and Squad Captain Raias appeared.

“Enter.”

With that one curt word, I entered.
The main table was buried in my belongings, so I placed the tray on the side table by the bed, and began preparing tea.
Is this tea herb tea? Wondering what kind of tea it was, I searched the knowledge of my old life.
While recalling the taste and effects from the knowledge of my previous life, I combined it with the knowledge of how to steep delicious tea that I cultivated in this life, to prepare it.

“I’ll be steeping the tea soon, so please tidy up the things on the table.”

While preparing, I called out to the pair who were still staring at the lunchbox and the wristwatch.
After steeping the tea and turning around, I cleared up some space on the table for the tea.
I placed cups of tea before each of them, and then sat down with tea for myself.

“These cookies are suited for eating with tea. I hope they match your palate.”

Whilst saying that, I opened the cookie bag and left it in the centre of the table, eating one cookie for myself.
Mn, yummy. By the way, these are simple butter cookies.
After confirming that I ate it, Squad Captain Raias and Prince Sedrim reached out for cookies as well.
While watching that, I took a ship of tea.
How delicious. It seems that I brewed it well.
It’s been eight years since I’ve begun cooking for myself in pursuit of delicious things, and it seems that my skills are useful in this world as well.

“This is… quite delicious. The sweetness and fragrance that spreads through the mouth is completely different to the cookies I’ve eaten before. And what’s this scent? This aroma…”

The prince raised his voice in surprise.
When I looked at the two, I found that the prince was reaching his hand out for a cookie, and the Squad Captain was looking somewhat frozen. What could be the matter?

“The fragrance is probably butter. It’s something created from cow’s milk. As for the sweetness, I held back on the sugar, so perhaps it’s the butter’s taste. If you have it with tea, the sweetness is highlighted, you see.”

After I said that, the prince held some of the tea in his mouth while chewing the cookie.
It seems that the Squad Captain had recovered from being frozen, and was moving about again. He’s drinking tea just like the prince.

“I see. Is this herb tea? The taste and fragrance are quite different from what I usually drink but… But still, it goes quite well with the cookies, doesn’t it.”

He reached out yet again for a cookie, whilst saying as such. He’s quite a glutton, isn’t he?

“Isn’t the tea you usually drink top class items? This is cheap herb tea. Both the taste and fragrance can’t be compared to the exquisite things that a member of the royal family drinks.”

I wonder if he’s ignorant of the world. I replied to him, a little shocked.
He just said “I see” before going back for another cookie. If I look carefully, it seems that the Squad Captain is doing the same.
Even though I’ve eaten only one so far, the cookies are all gone. My cookies…

 

Chapter 8 –  The Current Situation – Part 2

The things I had with me when I fell into the hole.
My textbooks and notebooks, and a bag with stationery in it. My lunchbox and the cookies left over from lunch.
The dougi that I’m wearing now, and the bag that it had been left in. My bokuto. The clothing I had been wearing.
That’s all.
According to the knowledge I have of Alselia, everything besides the bokuto and cookies are impossible to obtain here. Even if it’s just a bag, the sewing technology is completely different after all, and even my clothing is the same. As for the bokuto, there shouldn’t be any weapons shaped like that in this world, and as for the cookies they should only have things that are more dried out.
In other words, no matter which of these I bring, they should prove that I am from another world.
Something easy to understand… like my mobile phone, was out of batteries. Well, even if it’s out of batteries I do believe that it would still be enough, but it would be difficult to prove its capabilities. I’ll just keep this as a back-up.
My watch… If I remember correctly, this world shouldn’t have clocks yet. Then I will go with this, and…
As for my lunchbox, ah, thank goodness, maybe I should wash it even if a little. I can probably show this too.
And finally, something easy to understand…
After thinking for a little, I decided to bring the bag with my study materials as well.

“I’ve kept you waiting.”

I returned to the room with Prince Sedrim and and Squad Captain Raias.

“I believe that these will serve as proof. They cannot be obtain in Alselia after all.”

While saying this, I brought out my notebook, stationery, lunchbox and watch, and left them atop the table.
After lining them up, I began explaining them to the two men who were watching them with great interest.
First I will show them the notebook and the stationery. I’ll trymy best to choose one of the newer notebooks, and as for the stationery, would the mechanical pencil, ballpoint pen and permanent marker do? Perhaps I should show the rubber as well.

“This is a notebook used for the sake of recording things, and stationery used to write.”

While holding the notebook and stationery up, I explained to the two.

“This notebook is a bound stack of “paper”, produced from plants using technology from my old world. Using this you record what you believe is necessary so that you do not forget later. Like this…”

I opened the notebook to the last page, and wrote “Second Prince Sedrim Al Sobure” and “Knight Squad Captain Raias Or Olford” so that they could see it.

“Oh? You can write letters even without ink? Moreover, this paper seems so smooth. I didn’t get the feeling that your pen got caught on it either.”

The prince began speaking in an admiring tone.

“Yes. The “mechanical pencil” that I just used has something in it called “lead” in place of ink. Once this lead has run out, it becomes unable to write. As for the paper, I think you’ll understand it better if you touch it later, but because it’s smooth, I do believe that your pen would essentially never get caught. And as for the things that you have written, if you do this…”

Whilst explaining, this time I used the rubber to erase “Second Prince” and “Knight Squad Captain” as a demonstration.

“What I used just now is called a “rubber” and can remove the things I wrote earlier using the “mechanical pencil” from atop the paper. You can think of it as a tool used for removing and amending errors.”

Saying that, I  picked up the notebook, the rubber, and the mechanical pencil to show them.
While gazing at them in admiration, the Prince said,

“How amazing. They did a good job thinking up something like that. Certainly with this you wouldn’t need to needlessly waste high quality paper, and you wouldn’t need to carry around ink with you either. How convenient. But hearing your explanation about the “rubber” just now, does that mean that it only works with the mechanical pencil? Does it mean that the other tools you left on the table are different?”

Prince, you’re sharp aren’t you?
Did he notice from the explanation just now that there are other types of pens too?

“Yes, exactly right. Please think of the “mechanical pencil” and the “rubber” as a set to be used together. There are other types of stationery as well, but the words written using them can not be erased by the “rubber”.”

Whilst explaining, I placed the notebook and mechanical pencil I was holding on the desk, and took the ballpoint pen and permanent marker in their place.

“The ones I am holding right now are the “ballpoint pen” and “permanent marker”. This “ballpoint pen” is a stationery tool used for writing on paper, and you can think of it as a quill and ink in one. There is ink stored inside the handle of the “ballpoint pen”. And, the words written by this “ballpoint pen” can not be erased by the “rubber”.”

Raising the ballpoint pen a little, I explained it to them.
While I’m at it, let’s explain the permanent marker as well.

“And this “permanent marker” can write on almost every surface. However, if the surface is dirty then the “permanent marker” will lose its function, so care is required. It can even write on the surfaces of swords and armour. Also, the things written can last through rain and filth, and in my world it was primarily used to mark your name on your possessions. The words written by the “permanent marker” and the “ballpoint pen” from earlier can not be erased by the “rubber”. I think it would be fine for you to think of the difference as being the ink inside them.”

In fact, when there are differences in construction or metal, the rubber can’t erase it, but explaining that much would be annoying, and to begin with reproducing these in this world is probably impossible, so there’s no problem even if I don’t explain it.
I put down the pens I was holding on the desk, and switched to explaining the lunchbox.

“This is called a “lunch box” and is a tool used for putting food inside and bringing out with you. Primarily, cooking is done in the morning and the food is eaten as lunch.”

Alselia uses baskets and the like in place of the lunchbox, but this lunchbox is made of plastic; in other words, a material that can’t be found in this world.

“This “lunchbox” is made from a material called plastic in my world. It’s light and sturdy, so it is used for things that are carried. I believe this is also something that can’t be found in Alselia.”

Whilst saying that, I opened the lid of the lunchbox and placed it atop the table.
The two men who had heard my explanation gazed at it, seemingly wanting to touch it. But, my explanation comes first. Let us ignore them.
There is also the thermos with tea inside, but this can be substituted with magic, and explaining it would be annoying. So I didn’t take it out. It’s definitely not because I don’t know how to explain it, you know? I’m telling the truth, you know?
Next is the watch.

“This is called a “wristwatch” and is a tool for telling the time. When this short hand makes a full revolution, it has been half a day, and this half-day is divided into 12 portions. The long hand represents an hour per revolution, which is half a koku[tl: 刻, equiv to a Chinese shichen]. With this, no matter where you are, you can accurately know the time.”

Both of their eyes are sparkling. When I warned them not to touch them, they looked at me like dogs waiting for their meal. Even if you look at me like that… It would be troubling if we skipped the explanation and went to “touching time”, you know.
Pulling myself together, finally the last thing are the cookies left over from lunch. I don’t know how different they are from the things in this period, but I’m also feeling a little hungry. I want to eat cookies while drinking tea.

“Finally is the “cookie”. This is a major sweet from my world. There are similar things in this world, so as long as the ingredients are right, it should be possible to create the same thing.”

I held up the cookie bag a little, and looked at the two to signify that this was the end.

“Now then, I think this should be proof that I came from another world. Since it seems that the two of you are interested, it is fine to touch them. However, please don’t treat them too violently, all right? I will go prepare some tea, so until I return, please do as you’d like.”

After leaving those words behind, I headed downstairs to the dining room to grab the tools I needed for tea.

 

Announcement

So, there’s some pretty exciting news today.

In celebration of THE NEW GATE’s upcoming anime adaptation, Yorai-kun has agreed to do a joint-translation of THE NEW GATE’s light novel edition.

I’m not sure how we’re going to divide the translation between us, as I’m actually a little bit particular about consistency, but I think for now we’ve agreed on a volume each.

We’ll probably get started once Yorai-kun finally gets Shield Hero DMCA’ｄ。

喜べよ、我が妹たちよ！

ｒ

lmfaooo

Because I’m a Crafty Sheeprabbit

Random Message

Umm, so a little bit ago I talked about my concerns regarding a certain translation group. I’m still feeling things out and haven’t decided personally how trustworthy these guys are, but we can all be the judge of that ourselves. (:

There’s a discussion here by the unnamedteam themselves, and here is a reddit copy of my post.

Status Report

Um, so I’ve finished the Otoburi arc that I was translating up until yesterday. I honestly wanted to jump right into the next arc (if you look at the chapter names on the TOC, you’ll see why) but I did say that I would be doing some Other World. Also on the agenda is getting through one or two Maou chapters in the background while all this is happening.

I um, might be taking Sunday off (which starts in 6 hours for me) translation-wise because I have a few real-life things I need to take care of (yes, being a NEET isn’t all leeching off the government; there’s a lot of ‘trying not to be a NEET anymore’ involved), so mmn.

Um, so yeah! I might put up a poll later today to see what you guys want me to do after I’m done with Other World and a tiny bit of Maou. I won’t necessarily listen to you, but it plays a big role in my whole happiness-cost decision making.