The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

The clothes they were wearing were just as ragged as mine had been, so for now, I dressed them in what I had lying around the house.

Probably due to the difference in body types between men and women, the clothes looked baggy and oversized in several ways, but in their own way, they still suited them quite well. Though honestly, I wasn’t sure it’d be okay for them to walk around outside like that.

Especially Alice.

“Wow, look at this! Unnie, what is this? There’s a disc or something inside?”

“Claire, I’ll explain it to you, but first, could you come sit here for a second?”

I said that to Claire, who had already grabbed one of my game collections and started opening it. I wasn’t too worried—Claire wasn’t the type to handle other people’s belongings carelessly—but it still made me a little uneasy knowing she was touching something without understanding its purpose.

“Oh, wait. What’s this on the cover—”

Wait, no, not that!

The moment I saw Claire reaching for another package, I launched myself ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ at her and snatched it from her hands. Thankfully, she wasn’t gripping it too tightly, so I managed to take it back easily.

What Claire had picked up was the latest installment of Chronicles of Azerna, the game series I had played in that other world. Naturally, the cover featured several of the main characters—especially the heroines.

Of course, Claire and Alice were both on the cover as well.

Beep.

Whirrrrr—

“Oh, it turned on. It really turned on, right?”

I whipped my head around at the sound of the console booting up. Claire had turned on my game system. Of all things, it had touch-sensitive buttons, so just brushing her fingers across it was enough to activate it.

Was it because I had just paid the electricity bill? Looks like the power was restored to the apartment. But wait, it comes back this fast? I thought it usually took longer?

Anyway, that wasn’t the important part right now. The real emergency was the console turning on.

Even though the game icon wouldn’t show up right away because of the login screen, I remembered clearly—the game disc currently in there was the first installment of the current Chronicles of Azerna world. I’d put it in there planning to go back and look for hidden plot hints after finishing the newest release.

And because of how console systems work, as soon as I logged in, the most recently played game icon would appear by default, along with a giant background illustration of the game’s cover art.

I quickly reached over and shut off the console’s power strip. The screen went black as both the monitor and console shut down simultaneously.

“Let’s all just take a seat for now.”

“Unnie, do you know what kind of world this is? You’re messing with everything like you already know how it all works.”

“She’s right. Now that I think about it, that’s super suspicious. And the whole thing about just coming back from outside...”

Alice glanced at the plastic grocery bag I’d carried in. Her expression made it clear she was enjoying this far too much.

“For now—just take a seat, please.”

“On this bare floor?”

“In this country, people remove their shoes when entering a home and sit directly on the floor as part of daily life.”

And you two are already sitting on the floor. What’s the point of asking when you're literally doing it already? You’re just messing with me, aren’t you?

While I patiently began explaining everything, Claire suddenly raised her hand. It was the kind of posture a student would take when answering a teacher’s question at the academy.

“......Claire.”

When I called on her, Claire lowered her hand and asked,

“If people live on the bare floor, why is there so much dust on it?”

“......That’s because quite a bit of time passed since I disappeared from this world.”

Flick.

This time, Alice raised her hand.

Alice wasn’t usually the type to participate so energetically in class. She studied hard, sure, but answering questions in front of others was not something she would normally volunteer for.

Maybe she caught the habit from Claire... or maybe she just found the situation amusing.

“Alice.”

Suppressing a sigh, I called on her. She pointed at the overhead light, which had just come on, and asked,

“What’s that?”

“......That’s an LED light.”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

It used to be a fluorescent bulb, but I’d gotten the landlord’s permission and replaced it.

“The light comes out really evenly. Doesn’t seem like a mana crystal. Wouldn’t it be great to introduce something like this to the Empire? I wonder if that’s even possible?”

If you brought over an insane number of experts and gave them several decades, it might eventually be doable. But realistically, it’d probably be more efficient for someone in that world to just start researching electricity from the ground up.

“......Claire.”

Claire’s hand shot up again, and with a half-defeated sigh, I called on her once more.

“So, where are we? This isn’t the world we lived in, right? I’ve never heard of a country like this, even on the far eastern edge.”

“She’s right. If technology like this existed, there’s no way it wouldn’t have been imported to our side.”

Alice glanced back and forth between the light fixture and the console and nodded in agreement with Claire.

It had taken a while to circle around, but at last, the topic I wanted to bring up had come out.

Not missing the opportunity, I spoke up right away.

“This is the world I originally lived in.”

“Originally lived in?”

Claire tilted her head in confusion.

“Alice, aren’t you surprised?”

“Well, I kind of had that feeling from the moment we crossed over here. I mean, it would’ve been strange to think someone entangled with a goddess was just born in our world like a normal person.”

Then this conversation should go much more smoothly.

“This world is where I originally lived. Because of that being called the goddess of order, I ended up in your world. And once I won, the goddess... I don’t know if it was out of retaliation or because it was how things were meant to be, but she sent me back to this world...”

The more I talked, the more I felt like I was forgetting something. My explanation slowed down.

“...So then, how did you two end up coming over here?”

And finally, remembering what I’d been missing, I asked.

It hadn’t even been a full day since I arrived here. I had no idea how time worked between the two worlds, but judging by their tattered clothing, they must’ve come here not long after the battle ended.

“Ah, well...”

Claire laughed a little awkwardly.

“After you suddenly disappeared, I was desperate to follow you. That’s when I realized I still had the Relic in my possession.”

Oh?

That meant the Relic still had some power left?

As if she’d read my mind, Alice continued immediately.

“That’s right. Just like how you all used the Relic to tear the world apart, Claire immediately took it out and tried to follow after you. I touched Claire in that moment—and the next thing I knew, I was pulled into this world with her.”

While Alice was talking, Claire stood up and rummaged through her clothes hanging on the wall.

Then she pulled out the still-unfinished Relic—faint light was indeed emanating from it.

“Do you think there’s still enough power to return? I hope so.”

“......”

At my words, Claire and Alice looked at each other suddenly.

And then, at the same time, let out a long sigh.

“What’s wrong?”

“Uh, well...”

Alice averted her gaze slightly as she spoke.

“To be honest... after coming to this world, I had a feeling you’d want to stay here.”

“......”

I looked around at the apartment I was living in.

It wasn’t too small for living alone. It was a temporary rental I’d gotten because of work, but that actually made it somewhat comfortable. The interior was clean, too. Only real downside was that if I left the windows open in the summer, cockroaches would crawl in.

“No matter how I look at it, the room I had in your world was way better.”

But yes, that was the truth.

The room I had in the Empire was way bigger and nicer than this. There were no bugs crawling in, and I had more than enough money to do whatever I wanted.

Sure, I couldn’t play video games, but the film industry over there was just beginning to develop. Maybe that world would progress in technology just like this one had.

If overtechnology came into play, it might even happen faster.

Who knows? Maybe a Star●ars-level production would come out within my lifetime over there.

Alice let out a short laugh at my reply. No, seriously, I wasn’t joking.

“For now, let’s stay here a few days and see how things unfold. I don’t intend to stay in this world permanently either.”

“Yay!”

At my words, Claire shouted joyfully, beaming.

“While we’re here, I want to see how you’ve been living, unnie!”

“Yeah, I’m curious about that too.”

The two of them looked at me with sparkling eyes, full of excitement and curiosity.

“......”

I silently looked back at the two of them.

Then I thought about the countless books, games, figurines, and character goods scattered all around this room—stuff only an otaku would have.

......I’m doomed.