72 – Meeting of the Heroes
'I wonder if Mom found the text file yet?'
Since I had the perfect opportunity to troll her for once instead of the other way around, I couldn't pass it up.
Rick Roll was a classic, and Mom HATED it.
So it'd be worth it, even if she was definitely going to pull me by the ear when I got back.
And speaking of getting back...
> Connection with Earth-30847 established.
> Logging into remote secure server...
> Success.
> Pinging whitehouse.gov [REDACTED] with 32 bytes of data:
> Reply from [REDACTED]: bytes=32 time=40ms TTL=52
> Reply from [REDACTED]: bytes=32 time=37ms TTL=52
> Reply from [REDACTED]: bytes=32 time=39ms TTL=52
> Reply from [REDACTED]: bytes=32 time=41ms TTL=52
> Ping statistics for [REDACTED]:
> Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
> Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
> Minimum = 37ms, Maximum = 41ms, Average = 39ms
...It seemed like the quantum tunnel worked.
Since I had a solid connection with home... which was apparently designated Earth-30847 by <Parallel System>.
Something interesting to note.
But since I had a solid connection, I could probably get back whenever I wanted now.
It might be a bit iffy since it would probably be one-way... but [Portal Shield] would definitely be able to drop me off along with my allies.
But where would the fun in that be, right?
I was dragged into this place without my consent, so I sure as hell wasn't going home without getting what I want out of this place.
"Um. Aniki?"
Itsuki's concerned voice drew me out of my thoughts and anchored me back to the present.
'Right. We were having a meeting.'
It was dinner time.
I'd spent the afternoon in Melromarc with Mirellia, Melty, and Filo...
Mostly because I didn't want to deal with the hassle that was Libertas for the moment.
But anyway, I spent the afternoon with them as well as with my daughters while waiting for the Three Heroes to get here.
And when they had, I had Mina and Nina go make friends with Melty and Filo while I got to sorting out loose ends.
And to sort out said loose ends...
Mirellia had organized a nice dinner for us all, sitting at the head of the table while me, Itsuki, Ren, and Motoyasu sat on opposite sides.
If we were to map it out... It'd be something like this.
===
Motoyasu Itsuki
Mirellia
Me Ren
===
Motoyasu sat next to Itsuki, while Ren was next to me.
And in the middle of the table, there was an array of dishes served buffet style.
Everyone else had already grabbed food while I was distracted by the prompt from <Parallel System> and trying to ping home.
Seeing that, I grabbed myself some slices of roasted meat along with what looked like potatoes before saying, "Sorry about that. Just had to check on something."
Ren gave me a side-eye and said, "...Nothing important, right?"
"It's personal. You know, family stuff."
"Family stuff?" Ren paused. "Wait. Family stuff as in family stuff from home?"
Motoyasu looked confused. "I thought you died like us, Naofumi?"
"I lied."
Mirellia coughed, choking after taking a sip from her glass of wine. She cleared her throat, amusement clear in her eyes. "...Apologies."
Itsuki gasped and said, "Wait! So if you didn't die, Aniki... then were you actually isekai'd here? Like, in person?!"
"Yep." I nodded. "That's why I'm checking in on things back at home. I don't THINK that we're going to have people from home rushing in and declaring war on this planet... but my mom's pretty resourceful and my dad has connections." I paused. "Also, he might have timetraveled before, so I wouldn't put it past him to somehow find his way here. Actually, I think I heard Mom say she got involved with an interdimensional incident once where she landed in a dystopian world where female brains were put into cybernetic bodies to fight against an invading mechanical threat..."
I'd thought that story was just another of her outlandish boasts to keep me on my toes...
But now that I'd seen all of this-
Wait.
I paused. "...Oh my god."
Mirellia paused in the middle of sipping her wine again. This time, she set her glass down and said, "...Dare I ask, Naofumi?"
"Both my parents have been isekai'd before."
Mom with her being sent to a dystopian future...
And Dad mentioned that he got stuck on a mission with my godmother Claire once to go hunt some monsters in a prehistoric era...
I thought he had been joking.
But...
"A lot of things about my life are suddenly making sense and I'm not sure I like it."
Ren gave me a blank stare. Then he slowly said, "Naofumi. Are you telling me... you come from a family of isekai returnees?"
"...Probably?"
Motoyasu gasped and pointed at me. "YOU'RE AN OVERPOWERED LIGHT NOVEL ISEKAI PROTAGONIST!"
I visibly recoiled and said, "Excuse you me? Says the man from a harem route bad ending in a visual novel?"
Motoyasu coughed. "Ah, well... A-At least I got an ending? Don't most isekai light novels get stuck on infinite hiatus?"
"Bruh."
Ren covered his face and murmured, "This isn't a clown show. It's the whole damned circus..."
Itsuki tilted his head and said, "Light novel?"
Motoyasu gasped. "You don't have light novels in your world?!"
"...Is it like manga?"
Ren sighed and said, "Remember, Motoyasu. Itsuki is from a world where there are literal Espers."
Itsuki rubbed the back of his neck and said, "I'm still surprised that your worlds don't have them..."
I paused. "Wait. Espers? As in... psychic powers? Or are we talking espers with AIM Diffusion Fields?"
Itsuki's eyes lit up and he said, "Do you have the Power Curriculum Program in your world too, Aniki?"
I gave Itsuki a blank stare. Then I said, "Holy crap. You're from A Certain Magical Index."
Itsuki paused. "...Index? Do you mean like Miss Index with Kamijou-kun?"
"..."
Motoyasu's eyes widened and he quickly looked at Itsuki. "DO YOU KNOW MISAKA-CHAN?!"
Itsuki flinched and said, "Um... Miss Railgun?"
Ren groaned. "No. Just no. Are you two..." He waved towards me and Motoyasu. "Are you implying that Itsuki's world is fiction in your worlds?"
Motoyasu nodded. "Yep! I read all of Index and Railgun!"
I rolled my eyes. "This entire world was fiction in our worlds already, remember? I think it's more plausible to say that there's some people who have a talent for looking through the veil and just wrote down what they saw."
Mirellia spoke up and said, "I do not know what you are all discussing exactly... but there are records of past heroes hypothesizing such a thing. Perhaps what great artists and writers have created in your worlds are merely recreations of glimpses of other worlds that truly exist?"
Ren paused. "...That... makes sense."
I suddenly remembered something and said, "Hey, Ren. Quick question."
"Hm? What is it?"
"So like. Do you know who Kirito is?"
Ren blinked. "The Black Swordsman who cleared S.A.O.? Who doesn't?"
"Oh, so it- Wait." I processed exactly how Ren had phrased that. Then my eyes widened. "Kirito isn't fictional in your world?"
"...No? Is he in yours?"
Motoyasu ran a hand through his hair and said, "Are we all just characters in one giant novel?!"
Ren frowned and said, "...Wait. Naofumi. Tell us a bit more about your world then."
Itsuki's eyes lit up. "Right! You never talked about it much since you said you were American. What's your world like?"
"Uh... Hm." I rubbed my chin, thinking about distinctive features. "...Well, I guess bioweapons are a thing? That's the only distinctive thing about my world. But like, a lot of other things are too-"
"Stop." Ren held up his hand. "Back up."
Motoyasu's eyes widened. "Bioweapons? You mean like zombies?! From Umbrella?!"
"Huh?" I looked at Motoyasu and said, "You know about Umbrella? Did they go interdimensional or something?"
Ren stared at me. Really stared at me.
I stared back, confused. "What is it?"
"...Naofumi. Your name. It's not really Naofumi, is it?"
"...Well, I never gave my name. But it's the one I'm using. Why?"
Ren stared at my face a bit closer.
Seeing that, Motoyasu did too.
And so did Itsuki.
I noticed the attention and was slightly unnerved. "Uh... What's the-"
"OH MY GOD." Motoyasu pointed at me. "ARE YOU A KENNEDY!?"
Itsuki gasped. "ARE YOU ADA AND LEON'S LOVE CHILD?!"
Ren's eyes widened. "That makes SO much fucking sense. No wonder you could parry so much shit."
"Wait. What?"
Motoyasu pointed at me and said, "You're from Resident Evil!"
Itsuki blinked. "Resident Evil? Isn't it Biohazard?"
Ren tilted his head. "Biohazard? It's Neighboring Malice, right?"
"...Okay. Hold the fucking phone."