CH 62

—Inside the carriage arranged by Agranis, a space the size of a 10-seater limousine, the seven men and women summoned just a few moments ago are sitting facing each other. The carriage drawn by three horses is gently making its way along the road, heading towards the Imperial Court.

“—”

There is no conversation between the seven. Seven people born in modern Japan do not, of course, have many opportunities to ride in a carriage. In addition, the carriage did not use rubber tires, and compared to a car, it was overwhelmingly a shaky object that was affected by the ground. However, the seven did not complain.

Rather, they were. The otherworldly transfer, the [Seven Warriors], and the kingdom that is a giant evil, etc., etc. Most of them were not in a position to show interest in other things, as their minds had not been cleared by the numerous fantastical explanations they had received from Agranis in the giant tower.

“…You know, I have a suggestion.”

But then one of the seven, a dark-haired handsome man, broke the silence.

“Why don’t we introduce ourselves to each other again? Whether you believe everything I just said or not… anyway, I’m sure that from now on we’ll be friends who will be working together in this other world for a while. If that is the case, don’t you think it would be better to get to know each other as well as possible as we are from the same country?”

At this suggestion, the others – one of whom seemed uninterested and brazenly asleep – looked at each other. Then, after a few seconds pause.

“Well, I’m good.”

A tired, businessman-like man in his late twenties voiced his agreement. The others nodded their heads in agreement.

“Thank you for accepting my proposal. Then I, the one who started it all, will introduce myself.”

The dark-haired handsome man drew attention to himself with a coughing fit, and then gave a fresh smile.

“Well, first of all, your name, right? My name is Nanjo Lento. All my friends call me [Lent], so I’d like everyone to call me that if possible. I’m a second year student at the Department of Political Science and Economics at XXX University. My club is sports-related, and recently I’ve been into squash.”

Lent starts talking briskly and then goes on to talk about a number of things, such as what his favorite films are and how many times he watches them every year, and how he does volunteer work on his days off.

“…and well, I guess that’s about it. Let’s see, the rest is like that. The status I looked at after Agranis-san told me about it at the place I was at earlier – my occupation was [Sword Warrior].”

And when he added a quick status explanation at the end, the air in the carriage changed at that moment. More than anything else, more than Lent’s own identity, interest was focused on his status… It seems that Lent himself felt this firsthand, and he smiled bitterly and continued his explanation.

“I knew it, that’s what you’re interested in, Okay, I’ll tell you the story. …My level was 50. And as Agranis-san was explaining earlier, it seemed like I learned the [unique skill] specific to [Sword Warrior].”

“…What kind of ability is it?”

The man with glasses who was delighted by the otherworldly transfer at the giant tower earlier asks probingly. Lent, however, answered in a matter-of-fact manner.

“…[Tempest] was the name of the skill. As I recall, the description said, ‘I can create wind at will and use that wind pressure to blow and cut through anything.'”

“…Hm.”

The man in glasses twisted his expression and turned away when he said just that. It was a rude attitude, but no one condemned him for it.

However, the businessman-like man turned his sullen expression towards Lent.

“Hey, Nanjo-kun.”

“Ah, yes? Lent is fine?”

“…Lent-kun, aren’t you being too careless?”

The businessman-like man continues to speak in such a tone, as if he is admonishing a child.

“We’ve only just met, we don’t even know what kind of people we are to each other. I understand that we need to introduce ourselves, but to blabber on about the status… even the most important information about the [Seven Warriors] for us, don’t you think it’s dangerous indeed?”

─ ─ One of the things that was revealed in the giant tower was about the [Seven Warriors] system.

“If Agranis-san’s explanation is correct, I guess we’re each given one of the seven [warrior] professions [sword, spear, bow, staff, gun, hidden, beast] and the corresponding [cheat-grade unique skills].”

The businessman-like man folds his arms and continues with a firm expression on his face.

“We checked our ‘status’ after that explanation, but nobody revealed that information on the spot, right? Lent-kun, I’m sure you didn’t either. Wasn’t that because you knew that it might be dangerous for your information to be leaked to anyone?”

“…Yes, that’s right. You are right. If my status was exposed, I would be in danger of being killed in my sleep. Yeah, that’s what I thought earlier too.”

Lent continues his words with a somewhat confident smile, “But, you know…”

“I wouldn’t say that such a risk is zero, but don’t you think it’s quite small? I was skeptical under these unusual circumstances too, but then I cooled down and reconsidered. Then I realised… ‘We’re from Japan, a country with great security, aren’t we?'”

Lent gives an exaggerated shrug.

“We’re from a country with a low number of crimes per population, you know. If that’s the case, isn’t it probable, isn’t it unlikely that we’d come up with violent thoughts?”

“Well, well, that’s true, you might not get violent thoughts that often…”

“That’s not all. First of all, we don’t have the advantage of harming each other, do we? If that’s the case, don’t you think it would be beneficial to know each other’s abilities in order to be able to cooperate smoothly with each other in the future?”

“…You say that, but…”

“Me, I think. I think that while there’s something to hide, people are going to be wary of each other. Besides, wouldn’t trust grow faster if we were more open and honest?”

What do you think? The businessman-like man interrupted Lent, who prompted a response. The reactions of the others varied from uncomfortably comparing each other’s faces to turning away disinterestedly. But none of them, however, answered no to Lent to his face.

“Well, let’s move on to the next person. There doesn’t seem to be any opposition, so for now, the rule is that we talk about names, what we call each other and our statuses. Let’s go in a clockwise direction, starting with me.”

Lent leads the way, and the self-introductions proceed. Next it was the man with the glasses’ turn.

“…I’m…I’m Kamiyama Shinku. You can call me Sink. I’m a university student.”

“Heh. Sink is so cool. Is that your real name?”

“…I don’t really care what you call the name. Do you have a problem with that?”

“No, not at all?”

It was obvious that Shinku, the man with the glasses who called himself that, was not his real name, but Lent still had a broad, fresh smile on his face. He really didn’t look sarcastic in any way, and just seemed to be saying the question that came to his mind.

“…Tsk. Sunny…”

Sink seemed to understand that, and when he whispered clichédly, he clicked his tongue.

“…I’m done. I’ve introduced myself.”

“No, no, you haven’t yet. I’d like you to tell me what kind of warrior you are and what your unique skills are.”

“…Why do I have to tell you that?”

“As I explained earlier. Because it’s the rules.”

Sink glares at Lent, who is still smiling, but with or without a tone of voice, for a while… but then turns away as if he has lost his patience, and opens his mouth again.

“…It’s a staff. I’m a [staff warrior]. My unique skill was [complete nullification of physical attacks].”

“Wow, that’s really good! So, what’s your level?”

“You don’t have to tell me that… 50, same as you. I’m sure everyone is like that. No point in asking that. Okay, so we’re done now, right?”

“Ah, yeah. Thanks.”

Lent applauded Sink, who clicked her tongue and began to twitch irritably. Crackle, crackle, crackle. The applause for one person in the carriage echoed hollowly, and the self-introductions continued -.

“─ ─ I’m Guy. I’m [Artillery Warrior!] My unique skill is [Unlimited Radiate Unlimited Radiate] or something like that. I didn’t really understand the description when I read it, but anyway, it’s kind of cool.”

Guy, a large man sitting opposite the sink.

“─ ─ I’m… Tetsu. Tetsu Kannagi. Well, I’m a company animal everywhere. I’m a [spear warrior] and my unique skill is [strongest spear]. According to the description text, ‘Only once a day, it attacks with a spear that always pierces through all defences’.”

Tetsu, a salaryman-like man, sits next to Guy.

“─ ─ Otonashi Kaede. [Hidden Warrior]. Unique skill is [Puppet Marionette]. I won’t tell you any more about it.”

Kaede is the man next to Tetsu, who is leaning his back against the backrest in a dull manner.

And finally, leaving out the man who is sleeping all the time without regard to his surroundings.

“──Kisaragi Hibiki.”

In the corner seat next to Kaede, the girl who has been looking out the window for a long time opens her mouth. From her side-tail hair dyed light brown, her miniskirt school uniform, and her profile that left a bit of her youthfulness behind, there was no doubt that Hibiki was the youngest of them all.

“Status huh… it seems I’m some kind of [Bow Warrior]. Nice to meet you.”

Hibiki said that much with some kind of grumpiness… and then shut up.

“Um, Hibiki-chan? You’re wearing a uniform, but are you perhaps a high school girl?”

“… What is it if I am?”

Hibiki responded to Lent’s question in a stiff voice.

“No, nothing. I just thought that if you were summoned here in the middle of school or something, I’m sure your friends would be worried about you.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“So, what’s your unique skill?”

Hibiki takes one cold look at Lent, who asks for this, with her chin resting on the window sill.

“I prefer not to tell anyone.”

“Why not? Also, like I said before, it’s a rule we all agreed on to talk about unique skills.”

“‘A rule we all agreed on’? Is that… um… Nanjou-kun? Right?”

“Call me Lent.”

“Those rules are the rules that Nanjou-kun just decided and imposed on us. There’s no reason for us to follow it.”

“No, no, why? Hibiki-chan didn’t disagree with the rules, did she? If you don’t disagree, it could be taken as approval, don’t you think?”

“That’s irrelevant to me… Also, there’s really no point in saying unique skills. I’m not going to use it anyway.”

“You won’t use it? Why not?”

Hibiki let out a loud sigh of disgust and turned her body away from Lent, trying to cut off the conversation, “I’m going to sleep.”

“Hibiki-chan, why are you so stubbornly reluctant to align yourself with me?”

“—”

“Hey, we’re the only seven Japanese in this other world. Let’s cooperate with each other.”

“…I’m sleeping.”

“Hey, Hibiki-chan. Why do you look so grumpy? Let’s just try to talk to each other for once, okay?”

“—”

To Hibiki, who decided to ignore him, Lent sighed lightly and gave up.

“Alright. I won’t ask any more persistent questions, so just tell me one last thing… why won’t you use your Unique Skill? This skill, you know, I think it’s going to be the most important skill for us, why?”

Hibiki squirms around, perhaps looking for a comfortable sleeping position. Then she opened her mouth, as if it was too much trouble.

“…It’s so boring, cheats. Starting a game like this, it’s really boring…”

“Game? Oh, it sure is like a game, you know, with levels and skills and stuff. Hibiki-chan, do you play games a lot?”

“—”

“Hibiki-chan?”

“…You said the last one. What are you repeating questions?”

“But, Hibiki-chan…”

“I’m fed up with it.”

Hibiki let out an extremely loud sigh, got up, and pointed a finger at Lent.

“Ever since a while ago, it’s been ‘Why?’ ‘ and ‘Why? and ‘Why? It’s really annoying! Also, you can’t just call people by their first names out of the blue!”

“What?”

“That’s really creepy!”

“Eh?”

Hibiki said as if she was going to throw up, and once again turned her back on Lent and the others and got into a sleeping position.

“…Eh? Why? Did I do something?”

Lent asked Guy and Tetsu, with a wry smile, but both of them, however, seemed uninterested and only answered, “I don’t know?”

Hibiki never spoke to anyone in the carriage again.

(TL: I think Hibiki might be next wild card Heroine. Anyway, from next chapter it will be perspective of gustav and original route)