Yeah……. No matter how you look at it, there are guardian dogs at a shrine. One side has something like a horn. It’s a perfect komainu.
“You sure know a lot about the Jinja and the Komainu, don’t you?” Mikoto said. “Who are you really, Floto? Could it be you’re actually a demon?”
“Eh… I don’t think you’re a demon unless your parents are demons… Mikoto, you’ve met my parents, right?” I said.
Her question is very hard to answer. I can’t say that it’s because I was Japanese in my previous life and various things in the Demon Country are very similar to Japan. Besides, I can’t say that I’m a demon or not. I don’t even know the definition of demons very well…if my parents aren’t demons, then maybe I’m not a demon either…
“Well, it’s safe to say that both Mother-in-Law and Floto are demons, then,” Mikoto said.
“Huh!?”
I said it as a joke, but Mikoto replied with a straight face. Could it be that my mother and I are both demons?
“Well, the skin, hair color, and eye color are different, so I’m probably wrong, but…” Mikoto said.
“So you were kidding…?”
Somehow I feel relieved, and I feel sad…
I personally feel very close to the demons. They look, live, and develop like the Japanese. It’s only natural for me, a Japanese from my previous life, to feel a sense of closeness to such demons.
But Mikoto had said before that even though she was a demon, she was just a normal person with a little stronger magical power, but after all, the demons have the characteristic of being of having yellow-tinted skin with black eyes and black hair, don’t they? With my fair skin, blond hair, and blue eyes, I clearly don’t have the characteristics of an Asian. I’m definitely not a demon…
“What are you two whispering about!?” one of the guards snapped.
“Leave here now!” the other added.
Since we weren’t leaving, two people wearing Komainu masks pointed their spears at us and warned us off again.
If you look at me, you might think I’m a local, not a demon, but if it’s Mikoto… Mikoto changed her hair color… In the Kingdom of Del, people who knew Mikoto themselves probably knew it, but if people who didn’t know Mikoto saw her, they might just see her as a local of this region, not a foreigner like them.
“I am Sumeragi Mikoto! Get out of our way!”
“”…………””
The two guardian dogs looked at each other in silence. Because of the mask, I can’t see their expressions, so I can’t read what kind of face they have or what they’re thinking. …… I see. Did the mask have such an amazing effect?
For some reason, it seems like everyone is always looking at my face and guessing what I’m thinking… maybe next time I’ll try to hide my face with a mask? If you hide your expression, you won’t be able to read what you’re thinking just by looking at your face.
“Do you have any proof?” one of the guards asked.
“Haah?!” Mikoto snapped. “Proof? I am your proof, unmistakably so!”
Maybe the suspicion is because Mikoto introduced herself by the name of the princess. If this is really a member of the royal family, it will be a big deal. He may have thought that he might be involved in something important just by hearing her name.
Even so, Mikoto… “I am your proof!” is an incredible thing to say so openly… I don’t want to imitate her, but I think her ideas and courage are a big deal. But the guardian dogs are looking at each other again. Maybe they’re not convinced, or maybe they’re not acknowledging it… Can I give her some advice here…?
“Mikoto… wouldn’t it be better if you at least let your hair go back to normal?” I asked.
“Huh? Oh. That’s right. Then, here,” Mikoto said, quickly removing the spell on her hair.
“”Huh?”” the two guardian dogs raise their voices in surprise.
Mikoto took the spell off so quickly… and now from brown, it becomes black once more. If the characteristic of demons is black eyes and black hair, Mikoto’s figure will look like a demon herself.
“I don’t know if you are Sumeragi.”
“We understand that you are a demon”
Something about these guardian dogs… it’s hard to speak to them because they talk exactly like each other… well, it’s okay, but…
“It’s okay for demons to pass,” one said.
“You, however, cannot,” the other said, pointing his spear at me again.
I don’t seem to be welcomed… I thought it would be easier if I was with Mikoto, but it turns out that’s not the case. Mikoto herself may not have been home in years, to begin with, so I wouldn’t be surprised if her existence was forgotten. Even more so, it would be unavoidable if the people who were supposed to recognize her were stationed so remotely and didn’t know Mikoto personally, to begin with.
“Floto is my wife! She is qualified! Let her pass!” Mikoto yelled.
“””…………”””
This time I’m speechless along with the guardian dogs. Look at that. Look at that. After all, I’m Mikoto’s wife. It’s fine, though. It’s fine!
“… Alright then.”
“… If you think you can pass, then fine by us.”
With that, the guardian dogs opened the way. Is it fine? If you think you can get through it… isn’t there something dangerous about it?
“Well, there’s no point in staying here forever. Let’s go, Floto,” Mikoto said.
“Yes… I mean, the guardian dogs just said something that bothered me… If we can pass through, isn’t there some kind of danger?” I asked as we walked.
Then, Mikoto said something outrageous:
“Ah~… with your strong body and enormous magical power, Floto, there’s no problem. If it’s just a normal human, you wouldn’t be able to withstand the forces and die.”
“Eh!? Why didn’t you say that earlier!?” I yelled.
What was that!? Do you casually bring me to a place where I might die, without explaining I could have?
“That’s why it’s not such a big deal,” Mikoto said. “I can pass, so if it’s you, Floto, you can handle it, it’s all a-okay.”
On what basis are you saying that? In the first place, Mikoto, who can’t even explain the principle of the gate, doesn’t have any persuasive power when she claims that. Does that mean the gate here is only for demons, after all? Of course, if there weren’t that much of a limit, there’s a possibility that the Demon Country would be invaded, instead. Normally, they should have taken measures to prevent the enemy from coming through their gate.
While thinking about such things, Mikoto enters the shrine. When I followed behind, there was a strange whirlpool…
What is this thing….? Is it like dissolving oil or detergent in water and reflecting rainbow colors on the surface? It feels like I’ve made some sort of spiraling, entangled swirl. I can’t explain it well with my words. However, when viewed from above, the bottom seems to be swirling. I don’t know what it is. It’s a swirl that emits a mysterious light.
“Is this what you meant by ‘swallowed by the whirlpool’?” I asked.
“Pu! What the in the hell is that?! Ahaha!” Mikoto roared. “You’re crazy, Floto~! ‘I’m being swallowed by the whirlpool’! Ahaha…!”
You-You…! It must have been Mikoto who said, “swallowed by the whirlpool!” And why am I the one being laughed at? Something isn’t right here!
“Well, it’s fine,” Mikoto said. “Just hold my hand and jump into this. It’s easy, isn’t it?”
“Am I really going to be okay?” I said. “The guardian dogs earlier were saying something that worried me…”
No matter how you look at it, I don’t think you can jump into a place like this and be safe. If I were to call it the fear of jumping into the unknown with my whole body, I think you’d understand.
“Yeah, you’ll be fine,” Mikoto said. “If you hold my hand, I can take you to the Demon Country without permission, and it may be a little painful and distressing, but you can endure that easily, right, Floto?”
“Huh!?” I yelled. “It’s going to be painful? And if I hold your hand, Mikoto… then what happens if you let go?”
I have a very bad feeling about something.
“If you do? If you get separated from me, won’t you be sent somewhere else? I’ve never been in such a situation, so I don’t know. If you’re not with someone who can go to the Demon Country, you’ll end up being lost somewhere.”
What a scary thing to say! Where am I going to end up? I can believe you, even if you say that I’ll end up in the afterlife. This swirling, sparkling whirlpool is…
“In other words, this is like a teleportation gate, and you don’t know where you can once you exit if you’re not with someone who can go there?” I asked.
“Hm~? I don’t know what you’re saying, but that’s probably right,” Mikoto said.
You didn’t know anything after all! I get it now! And it took me to a place I never expected. She’s saying it so casually, but it’s outrageous…
“That’s why it’s okay if you’re with me,” Mikoto said. “Besides, you won’t be able to breathe and it’s painful to be under that much pressure, but it’s okay if you protect yourself with magic.”
“Shouldn’t’ you have told me that first!?” I yelled.
Why don’t you explain anything….? If I jumped in without checking it now, it would have been a big deal!? I don’t know where I’ll end up getting spat out. And I have to protect myself with magic…
“Didn’t I tell you just now?” Mikoto said. “Let’s go then.”
“Hey! Hold! Hold a moment! I haven’t learned defensive magic! Hold a moment!”
Mikoto doesn’t have enough explanations about all the many things she needed to explain! After some struggle, I was finally able to ask Mikoto for a defense spell. Why didn’t you tell me that first…?
“Then let’s go,” Mikoto said. “but… are we really going looking like this? I’m embarrassed to be seen like that…”
Oh……. It’s rare for Mikoto to be shy. And cute. But I won’t give up. I will definitely go together like this.
“Of course,” I said. “If we get separated on the way, it won’t matter how we look on the other side. We’ll definitely go as we are.”
“Well, it’s fine, but…” Mikoto said, blushing and looking to the side.
I’m holding Mikoto in a princess carry right now. The reason is simple. It would be terrible if our hands were separated by any chance even if we were holding tightly. I can’t try my luck because I don’t know where in the world I’ll be sent.
That’s why I’ll carry Mikoto in a princess carry so that she won’t be separated from me. This is fine. I will never let go of Mikoto no matter what. If she’s stuck to me like this, everything is fine.
“Then shall we go?” I asked.
“I can do it anytime,” Mikoto said.
“Well then!”
I prepare myself and jump into the swirling whirlpool circle. Mikoto said, “swallowed by the whirlpool.” I’m probably experiencing it right now. How should I put it…,can I say that I’m being swept away by a water slide that doesn’t get you wet?
I don’t know what is front, back, left, right, up, or down. I feel like I’m falling because I jumped in, but I don’t know if it’s really going down, right or left, front or back. For a while, I felt like I was being swept away by something…
“”Puha!””
Bah! The pool spat us out somewhere. If you look at your feet, you can see the spiral from earlier. Apparently, this is the exit side. The circle is the same, but the surrounding scenery is different. And when I looked around… for some reason, I was surrounded by a large number of people with surprised faces. ……Why is that?
I look around slowly. It looks like we’re in a building somewhere. However, it was not made of stone or brick like the Kingdom of Prussia, but of wood. The shrine just now was also a wooden building, but it was clearly different from the other side, so there’s no doubt that I went to another place.
Above all, I noticed the features of the people before I realized the interior of the building is different. They all have black eyes and black hair, and their skin and facial features make them look like Japanese people. In the same way that to Japanese eyes, white people look almost the same, white people will not be able to tell Japanese people apart.
But from the Japanese perspective, it is possible to some extent to distinguish between Chinese, Koreans, and other people of the same complexion, such as those also from Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia is far away, so even if you can’t distinguish people from all countries, you can probably guess where they’re from.
From my point of view, no matter how you look at it, the people here are Japanese. It’s not China, Mongolia, or Vietnam. They look exactly Japanese. I was surrounded by people like that, looking at me with surprised faces.
“Hey, Floto…” Mikoto said hesitantly.
“What is it?” I said as I continued to carry her in my arms.
Mikoto always doesn’t say the most important things. She probably wanted me to tell her if there were so many people here. And why are they looking at me with such surprised faces?
“It would be embarrassing if everyone saw it, so I want you to put me down…” Mikoto said.
“Huh? Are you embarrassed?” I asked.
It’s rare for Mikoto to say that she’s embarrassed to be seen by everyone. Mikoto, who always stands proudly… be proud… stand up, and…
“Ah~! That’s right! I was still holding you in a princess carry,” I said.
“Hey! Don’t say that in front of everyone! It’s embarrassing!”
At our shouting, everyone jumped. It seems that they neither knew of us nor what was going on. The only thing I can understand is that it’s not very good to hold Mikoto in a princess carry forever.
