Volume 03 - Prologue
I open my eyes, the room is dark. Strange. I woke up in the middle of the night. Especially since it's not because of [Dormurnal].
I guess sometimes you just wake up without any reason. I'm still drowsy, so I rub my eyes and sit up. I'm in a bed. After sleeping outdoors the last few days, I'm so glad that I can sleep in a bed.
Did I wake up because it's too comfortable? Sleeping on furs on the ground instead of a mattress doesn't feel that bad anymore, but a bed still beats it by a mile. Seems like my body is already accustomed to a harsher environment, maybe it's just that.
…
Something is missing.
My weapon? No, my spear is here. Same goes for my knife.
What else could it be? I somehow get the feeling that it’s kinda important, but I can’t put my finger on it.
I take a look around, there is clearly something missing.
Ah, I remember. Why am I sleeping alone? Shouldn't Kyou-san be here? We sleep together.
Bad choice of words. Usually Kyou-san and I sleep right next to each other. And we never go beyond that!
And where is Rine? She should be a few meters away on the other bed. Since she has the habit of killing everything within her reach while being asleep, if I recall correctly, it’s called aimbot in First-Person-Shooters. Don’t play them much.
But because of that, let’s call it ‘habit’, she's banned from sleeping near us. But now she's also missing.
Strange...
I stand up and open a window. I look down to a lively village that seems to be inspired by a fantasy movie. But too bad it's real. I, a Japanese highschool student, was actually transferred to a western fantasy world as a hero.
Momokawa Kyou-san is my former classmate and class president. Everyone in class was transported, including the two teachers. All of us are so-called heros, which means, that we're more or less characters in a bad MMORPG, with status, inventory and other stuff.
Katarine von Stolzherz, nicknamed Rine, is the crown-princess of the Feuerberg kingdom, which summoned us into this realm. Due to abnormal circumstances she's a hero now as well, despite being of this world and not pulled from a different one. As far as I know, people belonging to this world can’t be heroes, which makes it so strange.
Both Kyou-san and Rine, are real beauties, so why do they accompany me? Because my life sucks! I want to return home, back to my PC, my consoles, and my games! And there are other reasons as well!
But I'm still stuck with these two.
And why is that so bad? Being stranded in another world with two beautiful girls? Wouldn’t other guys kill me for that kind of situation? Simple. The princess is a killing machine with several screws missing from her head and the former class-president has a horrible personality. This is quite legit, after all, it comes from me, and I consider myself as an a-hole.
So as girls go, both of them are “no-go”s.
But I have to stick with them. If anyone can switch with me, please do so. Gamers preferred.
… Thought so.
“Phew.”
But seriously, where are they?
There’s no way around it. I stand up, put on my boots, my backpack and grab my spear. No time for armor. It might be urgent.
I open the door and hear a rustling sound. As if someone is crawling up to me on rocky ground, but the floor of this corridor is wooden. Talk about strange.
Then the sound stops, even though whatever did it has to be right next to me. I hear breathing. On my ear. I look around, but there is no one.
Ghosts? I’ve never met one in this world before, but it seems possible. This world is full of crap.
Hm... something seems to be downstairs. I think there is a rhythmic sound there, like someone is constantly hitting something.
Using everything I can do to sharpen my senses, I descend the stairs. Behind that door!
I open it abruptly and... I see Kyou-san's back—she’s standing in front of a kitchen countertop, chopping vegetables. Kyou-san's black hair reaches right under her shoulders, and even though it doesn't have the shine it used to have back in Japan, it’s still well-kept.
A bit left of her is Rine, whose blonde hair is kept back by a hairband, and in her orange-yellow emberlike eyes is a questioning look. Well, I rapidly opened the door just now. So she must be wondering why.
She was just setting up the table. Then she smiles: “Good morning, Kenta.” If you only knew that smile and her delightful voice, you’d want to go out with her. But I know better.
“Morning, Ken.” Kyou-san doesn't even look at me, and just resumes with her chopping. “Either sit down or leave, but don't stand in the way.”
Something isn’t right. This seems to be too... normal?
Yes, it's normal. So why am I so agitated?
I sit down in a chair and watch the girls work. Rine finishes first and begins to help Kyou-san with her cooking.
Our breakfast is Japanese styled. Grilled fish, rice, sausages, egg rolls, miso and some vegetables. I take my chopsticks. “Ittadakimasu!”
The three of us are eating together. Sometimes Rine will say something, laughing like an idiot. Kyou-san humors her, while I just enjoy the meal.
It's peaceful.
“Gochisou sama deshita!” I’m about to lay down my chopsticks.
“Wait. There is more.” Kyou-san stands up. Is she going to get it from a cupboard or something like that?
“Ah, me too.” Even Rine is standing up.
Something is strange. All my alarm bells are ringing.
Then Kyou-san sits down on my left knee, looking up at me with her calm dark eyes. Rine sits down on my right knee, directing her strong, ember eyes at me.
Both of them place a hand on my chest and shift their weight onto it.
““There is still us.””
Their eyes, their voices... These are 'do me'-signals. It's as clear as bells.
Death knells!
“Please, Ken. I’ve waited for so long.”
“Not fair, Kyou.”
Their scents are alluring, their voices are yearning. They stroke my chest sensually.
And my body is shivering.
“No!”
The moment I try to throw them off, I was pushed down instead. Both of them hang over me, like hungry hyenas. I'm about to get reverse-raped!
“Mhh… Ken!”
“Kenta~~♡”
This has to be a bad dream, I just need to wake up and-
―○●○―
“*Gasp*!” Bursting up from the ground, I get a bit dizzy and try to catch my breath. My body is dripping wet with sweat. It's night-time, and we're still at the mountains, inside our cave. It really was a bad dream.
From the corner of my eye, I can see a glimmer, and following my instincts, I throw myself back down. Just at that moment a slender blade pierces the air where I was sitting just a moment a go. The arm of a girl is holding that blade—it's Rine. “...missed...” With a horrible sleeping position, she thrusts at everything that moves around her with her blade. Like me.
I roll myself to the side, evading the blade just again.
“Ugh!” A very unfeminine grunt comes from another girl. I just rolled on Kyou-san, who was sleeping next to me.
Rine is already performing a third attack. I take Kyou-san in my arms and roll again, several times, to escape Rine’s range.
After rolling over three times, I brace myself on my arms and feet, while looking at the sleeping Rine. She stays where she is. I can feel relief relaxing my body.
That was close, but neither me nor Kyou-san is dead.
Speaking of Kyou-san, she's looking up at me with wide eyes. Her face is right between my hands, and while I'm on my feet, my legs are spread and encircle her. It might be seen, as if I'm about to mount her.
My head is in close range of hers, a distance which could be easily used for a kiss.
At first Kyou-san looks at me with a half-sleepy, but annoyed expression, plus many emotions I can’t even tell. Then it subsides and she smiles. It's a sweet smile, a smile I last saw when we were still back in Japan. She raises her arms slowly, as if to embrace me. Then she clutches my back and pulls up her knee.
“...” What just happened? Somehow, sounds, thoughts and visuals are delayed. Ah, it's that moment, when you receive so much pain that your body needs more time to process it. “... … hiiiii...” I make a sound. Something in between whistling and wailing.
Kyou-san lets go of me and slides me to the side. Then she stands up and says something, but I can't understand what.
Because every sense is overloaded by immense pain. It's like my sense of feeling couldn't handle it anymore and outsourced it to other senses. Yes, in that state, you can see pain, hear pain, taste pain and smell pain.
My body feels numb and I remain in the exact position where Kyou-san left me. I continue making that pathetic sound.
Slowly my hands wander to between my legs, a feeble effort of protecting the damaged parts.
Yes, you guessed right: Kyou-san’s knee struck my balls!
“...hiiiiii...” Instead of listening to her outrage, I could do nothing but endure that unendurable pain. Tears well up and are shed without holding back. Only a man can understand this sort of anguish.
What did I do to deserve that!?
I rescued her from being fillet!
Thousands of complaints flash through my mind, but being unable to make sounds other than whimpering makes it impossible to verbalize them.
But bit by bit my senses returned. I can see Kyou-san, her arms akimbo, looking down at me. “Come on, Ken. Stop crying like a drowning kitten. Show some balls.”
You just crushed them!