Side: Pricia⁠‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‌‌‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‌‍‍‌⁠

My body still wasn't adjusting. For some reason, in this world the mana density differed between the surface and the dungeons, and it changed even the way my body moved.

The feel of the instant I started moving, the distance covered in a single step, how much force to put into it. There was a great deal I needed to confirm and learn physically.

I trained as I went, using my sword to lop off the branches along the path that looked likely to get in the way, but when I looked at the cuts there was a faint waver to them — proof that my senses and my body's movements weren't lining up.

This was a world with no monsters on the surface. There was no real need to be so nervous about it, but grasping the state of one's own body was important.⁠‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‌‌‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‌‍‍‌⁠

After moving around a few times, the feel of it started to come back to me. Still, I was a little worried about whether I'd be thrown off once we entered the dungeon.

"I suppose I'll gather the branches together."

Releasing the magic item's restraint really did make my body feel light. The branches I'd cut off — keeping it within reason — I'd collect over by where the hut was. Right around where Noctia was cutting the grass would do.

As I carried the branches over, Noctia came into view. She was using a machine called a brush cutter, looking like she was having a great time. What was so enjoyable about it? Someone like her could finish the whole thing in an instant with magic.⁠‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‌‌‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‌‍‍‌⁠

"Noctia, are you sure you don't want to try magic?"

Come to think of it, Filia and Sanctina were nowhere to be seen. They'd gone off into the nearby woods saying they were going to gather wild vegetables, and hadn't come back.

"I've already tested the non-combat magic. The rest can wait until I've finished clearing the grass around here, and that'll be plenty. Besides, to be honest, rather than getting used to this environment, what I'd really like to do is build a mana amplification device or something."

The gap in our base levels was nothing new at this point, but it seemed our ways of thinking and our approaches to the problem differed too.⁠‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‌‌‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‌‍‍‌⁠

Well, what she did was hardly my place to comment on. Trading thoughts about it later would be enough. I supposed I'd go and check on how Kakeru was doing.

"Ahh, this part's no good either."

Kakeru was inspecting the hut. Since it was a wooden hut, a number of spots looked to be in poor shape.

"Kakeru, there are a lot of wooden buildings in this country. Is there a reason for it?"⁠‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‌‌‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‌‍‍‌⁠

"Yeah, this country gets a lot of earthquakes. So there aren't many stone buildings. There's something called concrete that's similar but not the same, though."

Earthquakes? Not earthquakes raised by magic, but natural ones? That was a strange thing indeed. In the country where I was born there were no earthquakes from natural phenomena.

Weren't they frightened? Back in my country, if there was an earthquake, everyone would panic, thinking it was an enemy invasion…

Side: Amahashi Kakeru⁠‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‌‌‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‌‍‍‌⁠

Hmm, looked like I'd need to replace the boards here and there. The wood had been treated with preservative, but it was a hut that only got used now and then. It deteriorated faster no matter what.

Today I could only check which spots needed work. To buy materials at the home center¹and make the repairs, I'd need to have my uncle drive me.

There was only the one brush cutter, so for now I figured I'd at least tidy up the inside of the hut. By no stretch of the imagination was it a place where young women could settle in comfortably. First things first — cleaning.

"I'll help."⁠‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‌‌‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‌‍‍‌⁠

"You can take it easy, you know…"

Pricia, for someone of her standing, was bad at sitting still and doing nothing. She'd already started sweeping up with a broom.

If she'd wanted to, she could have lived with every comfort. Well, she was humming and cleaning away happily, so I supposed it was fine.

"As I thought, the things growing here are good because the land itself has strength."⁠‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‌‌‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‌‍‍‌⁠

After I'd been cleaning for a while, Filia and Sanctina came back. They were carrying about three plastic bags of wild vegetables.

"That's quite a haul. There are wild animals around here too — were you all right?"

"Hehe, for an elf, nature itself is home. No trouble at all."

"I thought I'd like to share some with your uncle, Kakeru-san."⁠‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‌‌‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‌‍‍‌⁠

I was grateful for the two of them being so considerate. My uncle would be pleased. This was an area where mountains were nothing unusual, sure, but actually heading in to forage for wild vegetables was hard work. And there were a lot of elderly folks with weak legs in the village, so handing out things like this made everyone happy.

Noctia's grass-cutting had come along quite a bit too.

"It's about lunchtime. Shall we eat?"

I'd brew some tea with the spring water nearby.⁠‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‌‌‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‌‍‍‌⁠

There was some charcoal and firewood in the hut, but that took time, so today I'd boil water with the portable gas stove I'd brought.

The bento was something Sanctina and I had made together that morning.

"Oh my, this is lovely water."

When I poured tea into a stainless-steel outdoor mug and handed it over, Filia took a sip and looked delighted.⁠‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‌‌‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‌‍‍‌⁠

Her sense of taste was apparently extraordinarily delicate. She could drink tap water just fine, but she seemed to prefer water without disinfectant in it, like mineral water.

The wind blowing through, the sound of the trees swaying, and the bear-deterrent radio playing alongside — that was our lunch. Out here it was always like this.

After eating, we decided to release the magic items' restraints, move our bodies, and have everyone check their Skills and magic.

For starters, I tried the most basic of basics — a spell to light a flame — but…⁠‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‌‌‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‌‍‍‌⁠

"How should I put it, using magic puts a huge load on me."

Magic — I couldn't use a great variety of it, but I'd been taught mainly the kinds they said were necessary for the Hero, so I could use it. Unlike in a game, no numbers were visible, so it was a matter of feel, but the mana it consumed here was an order of magnitude different from over there.

"You know that you need mana to use magic, right? But mana isn't just one thing. The world's mana, spirits' mana, living beings' mana. Break it down finer and it subdivides further, but broadly speaking it comes down to those three. Each is a different thing, yet they circulate while maintaining harmony. The kind of magic you use, Kakeru, is the type where you consume your own mana to act on the world's mana, and that's how the magic is born. In this world, the world's mana is incredibly thin. You're shouldering the shortfall yourself, which is why it feels that way."

Noctia broke it down to make it easy to follow, and I — along with Pricia and the others — listened, drawn in.⁠‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‌‌‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‌‍‍‌⁠

Nobody among the human race over there had ever taught me anything like that, though.

"When it comes to magical theory, the demon race is the most advanced."

Sensing my unspoken question, Pricia answered. So that was it. Over there, magic had been taught to me through vague, abstract advice — that it was a matter of feel, of connecting with the gods or with the world.

"To explain a bit more — this spot has fairly dense mana for this world, so your bodies should move more easily here and magic should be easier to use than elsewhere. It's a minuscule difference, but you should be careful, Pricia. In places where the mana is even thinner, getting used to the feel here will give you trouble."⁠‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‌‌‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‌‍‍‌⁠

Still, even one word like "magic" covered a lot.

Well, over here we never used magic anywhere but the dungeons, so it didn't really matter.