Eternally Regressing in Another World

Woken by the discomfort of the bed, I checked the watch on the pillow. 5:53. Still quite a while before the meeting time.

"Guess that mass of flesh really messed up my sleep."

I let out a long sigh. After that scene, reminded all over again how dangerous the night streets were, I’d found some random inn and rented a room right away.

"Had all this money and still ended up somewhere this rundown."

Saying that, I watched a strange bug crawling along the wall. Better than Shiran’s inn, but still pretty run-down. Discolored walls, mildew smell, damp bed. I felt like just going for a walk until the meeting time.

"...Right, Shiran mentioned a general store around here before."

Not sure if it’d be open this early, but even if not, it’d make for a decent walk. Anything to avoid lying on that damp bed any longer. I put on my wrinkled suit, tied my tie, and headed outside.

"Oh, found it! Bigger than I expected."

About five minutes into the walk, the general store turned out sturdier than I’d imagined. Roughly a size bigger than a convenience store at a glance. Still, by this world’s standards, a fairly large shop. The wooden sign out front read "Open."

"Lucky, actually open this early."

Hopeful, I pushed open the somewhat heavy wooden door. What caught my eye was a huge stock of chemicals and plants. Stuff that looked straight out of a witch’s laboratory. Alongside that, ordinary goods like canned food and bottled water.

"Welcome."

At the back counter, a man relaxed, reading a newspaper. Probably the shop owner.

"Excuse me, do you carry crystal-type tools?"

"Ah, over there in the back."

The man pointed toward a shelf at the rear.

"Thanks."

Heading there as directed, a wide variety of stones lined the shelves. I only wanted explosive crystals, but finding them looked like it’d take some searching.

"What’s this? White smoke crystal? Some kind of smoke bomb?"

Right beside it, tools made from monster horns and fur were on sale.

"Wait, is this piano wire!? ...Made from all kinds of monster materials, iron lizards, thread raccoons, whatever, but functionally it’s the same as regular piano wire."

Piano wire had plenty of uses. But buying too much would just get bulky, better to keep it moderate. In the end, there wasn’t much practical gear available, so I ended up buying three explosive crystals, one white smoke crystal, a small knife, and a somewhat generous amount of piano wire.

"Come again."

Stepping outside, the sky had brightened just slightly.

The quiet breath I exhaled mixed with white mist, dissolving into the wind. I smoked in front of the run-down inn, waiting. Between the row of houses, the morning sun occasionally peeked through. Even before the sun had fully risen, a boy came running toward me.

"Phew, you’re pretty early, mister."

"Yeah, well, let’s go wake Shiran up."

Reaching for the inn’s door, something occurred to me.

"...Right, hold your nose."

"Huh? Why?"

"You’ll see. Holding it now?"

"Y-yeah."

I threw the door open forcefully. The instant I did, an intense stench assaulted my nasal passages.

"Huh? Customers?"

"No, just business with the guy in 203."

The innkeeper said "fine, whatever" and went back to reading a filthy book. We escaped upstairs before the smell soaked into our clothes.

"Wh-what was that guy!?"

"No idea myself! Just an unclean person."

Honestly didn’t want to look at that man’s face directly. Just seeing him made me nauseous. More importantly, need to see Shiran fast. I knocked on Shiran’s door.

"Hey, Shiran? You asleep?"

No answer. But carelessly enough, the lock was open.

"Alright, Flaut, go!"

"Why!!?"

"Well, a guy in his twenties barging into a sleeping girl’s room seems pretty bad, right? A guy her own age should be fine."

Saying that with zero real logic, I tossed Flaut into the room and closed the door. Sounded like Shiran had just been sleeping normally, from inside came Flaut’s flustered voice desperately trying to wake her up.

"Alright, I’ll be waiting in the carriage."

"Wha!? Help me out here, mister!"

Ignoring Flaut’s voice through the door, I hurried down the stairs. ...Do your best to raise your standing with her, Flaut! Not wanting to get in the way of a promising future between the two of them, I quickly retreated to the carriage.

"You’re the worst, mister."

Flaut said that, climbing into the carriage with Shiran, though he looked oddly pleased underneath it. Meanwhile, Shiran rubbed her sleepy eyes, looking ready to doze off any second.

"Sorry about that. Alright, let’s head out."

As I went to snap the reins, Flaut asked the obvious question.

"Wait a sec, where are we even headed?"

"Somewhere safe."

A bit forceful, but with just that, I got the carriage moving.

Where I parked the carriage was an unremarkable stretch of roadside along the water channel. A plaza nearby, a shopping district too. But without stopping at either, I parked right there.

"Tomato mister, what’s wrong?"

Shiran looked at me worriedly, seeing me staring fixedly at one spot. What I was looking at was a single bench. Nothing special to anyone else, but a place carrying real weight for me. The Return to Start bench.

"...Sorry, it’s nothing. Follow me."

"That way’s dangerous, this area’s full of sketchy people."

Flaut had a fair point. I’d already experienced that firsthand, after all.

"It’s fine, trust me."

I held both their hands and carefully led them into the back alley. Right there on the left came into view, an old bar with a distinctly dangerous air. I pushed open the double doors.

"Mister! Absolutely not! We can’t go in here!!"

Flaut looked more panicked than I’d ever seen him. Shiran too, gripping my hand tight, wearing an anxious expression. True, looking at the people around, this place clearly reeked of danger. But no one knew better than me exactly how dangerous this place really was.

"Hey Flaut, ever heard the saying, a lighthouse doesn’t light its own base?"

"...What’s that? Why bring that up now!"

"Right, explanations later, come on, in."

"Wha!? Wait!"

I pushed my way inside forcefully. Getting to the counter quickly before anyone could pick a fight with us, I sat down.

"Bartender, got milk?"

"...You mocking me?"

The bartender glared at me sharply. But I didn’t flinch. I leaned in and spoke quietly to him.

"I’m a back-room customer. Need to calm these kids down a bit. Something for cutting liquor works fine, you’ve got something, right?"

At those words, the bartender’s whole attitude shifted.

"...Understood. Milk, hold on."

"Thanks."

I turned back to Shiran and Flaut. Both of them were staring at me, eyes wide.

"Mister! How’d you do that just now!"

Shiran nodded along in agreement. But I couldn’t exactly explain the details.

"That’s a secret. I’ll tell you when you’re older."

Brushing it off lightly, I patted both their heads. They looked ready to protest, but right then the bartender returned with the milk.

"Here, this good enough?"

Set down firmly on the counter, a wooden mug brimming with clean, fresh milk.

"You two drink that and wait here, I’ll be right back."

Saying that, I stepped away from the seat. Of course, staying inside the shop to avoid suspicion of dine-and-dash. My actual objective lay elsewhere.

"...I need your help."

I didn’t want to ask this. But even so, I’d set aside my own feelings to save the two of them. Onto the table, I placed 1,500,000 yen, carrying everything riding on this moment.