Arc 1 Chapter 2 “The City Called Vincilos”
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If you were to look at a picture, Shouya is just your typical, average boy who is in his second-year in high school in his homeland in Japan. But unlike most people, Shouya is limited to himself in sociality, calling himself an "introvert". He rarely goes out in public and he barely makes any friends—or to be more precise, he doesn't have any friends. Even though he would've wanted to make a single friend, he often comes off as timid or shy and may sometimes stutter some words that he would say.

Shouya does not have any kind of special traits like: super strong, super smart, super famous, or even any talents. He is just an ordinary student who lives an ordinary life.

Of course, if you can call it "ordinary".

"This can't be real, how did I get here? How is this even possible?!"

He remembered that he was working on a cosplay for the upcoming convention, then he fell asleep shortly after he had completed his costume. So is it possible that this world is some sort of a dream?

He didn't want to believe it, but that is the truth. Shouya's body has been transformed into an anthropomorphic animal—a figure of a human, but the appearance of an animal. His entire body is covered with pitch-black fur from head-to-toe, but only his mouth, his chest, and his abdomen are covered in a creamy white fur. His head resembles a wolf with a dog-like muzzle, ears, and nose.

Shouya, bewildered by his new appearance, denies the possibility that his new body is actually real.

"This must be a dream. Yeah, it has to be! If this is a dream, then I'm sure I'll be able to wake up! All I have to do is..."

As Shouya tries to wake himself up, he pinches his own arm and cries out "ow ow ow ow ow!", but nothing happens. He tried multiple attempts to wake himself up: slapping his face, splashed water on himself, and even closed his eyes, count to ten, and then reopened them. But nothing happened. He is still stuck in his unfamiliar new body.

"So nothing worked. I guess I really am stuck in this body."

All Shouya can do is sit on the bed and sigh as he has no idea how to get back to his own world and return to his normal human body. If he can't return to his world in his human form, he will not get to see his family again, or even go to meet the boy and tell him the truth. He must find a way to return to his world whatever he can.

"Umm...sir. Are you okay?"

The fox-girl, confused by this situation, breaks the silence as she speaks out.

Shouya was too focused on thinking on how to get out of this world that he has completely forgotten about the fox-girl's presence in the room. She'd probably watched him doing ridiculous things and splashed water on himself that it made some mess on the floor while she was in the room.

She may think that he has lost his sanity and probably needs help. Luckily, Shouya is not that kind of person who would do that.

Shouya, just now noticing the fox-girl's presence, looks at her in embarrassment.

"Oh, I'm so sorry you had to see that!"

"No, no, it's ok."

"But, about the mess…"

"You don't have to worry about that. I can clean it up."

Shouya has offered that he would help with the mess he made, but the fox-girl waved her hand vigorously as she declined his offer. She approaches the water-soaked spot of the floor, takes out a towel from her apron, and gently wipes off the floor with it.

Shouya could not help but to feel guilty for her for cleaning up the mess that she did not do. So he went to the bathroom to find a hand-size towel and helped her with the mess.

"You don't really have to—"

"It's my fault that I made this mess, so let me help you."

Shouya helped the fox-girl clean the wet floor with the dry towel at hand. As much she did not want anyone to help her, she decides to give up and gladly accepts his offer with a soft smile on her face. They both cleaned the floor for a while until it was dry.

After several minutes of cleaning, the floor became dry and sparkly clean. It was thanks to Shouya's act of kindness that assisted the fox-girl's work. If he would have left the room and let the fox-girl do the cleaning all on her own, he could have gotten away with all the chore work, but he would also feel a sense of regret.

Shouya wipes the sweat on his forehead and sighs in relief, feeling that he did the job without any regrets.

"Whew! Glad that worked out."

"Yeah, thank you. But why did you help me?"

"Well, it's because I have a soft side towards your kind."

"'Our kind'? But you're the same as us, aren't you?"

The fox-girl tilted her head to the side in confusion as if she didn't understand what he was talking about. Shouya slapped his own forehead with his palm.

"Oh, right, I forgot."

He had completely forgotten that he had transformed into a demi-beast when he had woken up in this world. This is something that Shouya has to get used to.

"Anyways, what is this place?"

"You don't know? You're in our inn."

"An inn?"

The wooden floors and ceilings, the medieval-style structure, there is no doubt about it, this place is definitely an inn. Shouya has never visited an inn before back in his own world, so this is his first time in person to be in an inn.

"I've gotta say, this room deserves four stars."

"I'm happily glad you liked it, sir."

She places her hand on her chest and bows as she is praised by Shouya's words.

"You don't have to call me 'sir' every time. Oh, now that I think about it, we haven't even introduced ourselves."

When Shouya entered into this world, the fox-girl has been calling him sir ever since he got here. It is true that the fox has not heard his name before, but Shouya has not heard her name before.

They both began to introduce themselves.

"My name is Shouya Kirikage. It's nice to meet you."

The fox-girl introduced herself by raising her skirt and forming a curtsy in a ladylike manner. Then she gave Shouya a blissful smile.

"My name is Alisa Lightburn. It's nice to meet you too, Shouya.

After Both Shouya and Alisa introduced themselves, they talked about each other about their daily lives; their hobbies, their likes, everything they ever talked about. Although, being that Shouya is from a different world from this one, Alisa doesn't understand what Shouya was talking about and she decides to laugh it off as a made up story.

After a short while, they heard a low growling noise. Alisa covered her mouth and let out a small chuckle.

"I guess you are hungry, aren't you?"

"Y-Yeah, I guess so."

Just after Shouya timidly answered Alisa's question, there was another growling noise. This time, it came from Alisa's stomach.

"But I guess it's not just me who is hungry."

"You're probably right."

"Do you guys serve food here?"

"Of course! Here, I'll take you to the cafeteria."

From there, Alisa begins to guide Shouya from the room. They toured across the hall and passed a couple of doors behind them and down the steps. Then they have entered a huge room with multiple empty tables scattered across the room.

Alisa spreads her left arm towards the large room as she presents it to Shouya.

"Here it is! This is the cafeteria. We're about to prepare breakfast in the back, so do you mind waiting here? We're about to make our breakfast special"

"Oh, sure. But what is 'breakfast special'?"

"You'll just have to find out."

Alisa winks her right eye as she heads towards the kitchen to make breakfast for both her and Shouya. While he waits for Alisa, Shouya sits down at the nearest empty table close to him as he looks around the cafeteria around him. Although the tables were set up, not a single person is in the room, the only people here are both Shouya and Alisa.

Was it probably because everyone is still sleeping that it's too early to wake up? I guess that makes sense. Actually, now that I think about it, I don't even know what time it is.

Does this world have the same time system like in his world, or this world has a different time system that is unfamiliar to him? Shouya couldn't tell from his own assumptions, but he assumes that would be the case. He reaches down to his pocket and notices that something was wrong.

"Huh? My phone...it's gone?! I could've sworn I had it with me."

Shouya searched both of his front and back pockets to search for his phone, but it was nowhere to be found. However, he feels a rough lump inside his pocket. To his surprise, it was his wallet that actually traveled with him in this new world. His wallet is his only means of survival. Without it, he can't pay for food, clothes, or a place to stay.

"Oh, my wallet. Glad I still have it with me. Actually, I wonder how the currency system works in this world, too. Is it the same back in my world? Would've wanted to find out."

He takes out his wallet from his pocket and looks inside to see if the contents are intact. However, Shouya gave a surprised "What the?!" as he found that it is not regular money, but rather a bundle of gold coins inside. Not only his money changed shape, but his wallet changed, as well. It was once a modern foldable wallet that he used from his world, now it's a small hand-size brown bag.

Shouya's wallet is used to contain an assortment of coins and a large amount of money—twenty-eight hundred yen—as currency in his world. Somehow in this world, his wallet contains an assortment of thirty-nine gold coins.

The idea of converting his money from his own world into this world's currency is rather strange, but it is also very useful to him. But who would do such a thing? Who would go on their way to transform his money into coins without Shouya's permission?

"Oho! Who do we have here?"

Shouya's ears folded back as the booming, loud voice broke the room's silence. He tries to find out where the source was coming from. Then, he turns around and he sees a tall, muscular-built man in his early-to-mid forties with dreadlocks on his hair in front of him. But unlike both Shouya and Alisa, whose appearance is based on anthropomorphic animals, he appears to look like a regular human. However, he also has wolf-like ears and a tail just like Shouya.

Shouya, astonished by man's large, physique appearance, asks the braided wolf-human.

"W-Who are you?"

"Who, me? The name's Gunther, I'm the owner of this inn."

"Ah, so you're the owner."

Holy crap, you're huge! As if Shouya wanted to say but couldn't get it out as he didn't expect that he would meet the owner himself face-to-face.

Gunther sat on the chair right next to Shouya and started a conversation with him.

"So what does a kid like you doing up early in the morning?"

"Well…"

But before Shouya can say anything, his stomach growls loudly. He was lucky that his stomach reminded him. Otherwise, he would be leaving this place without getting a chance to eat and he would die from hunger.

Gunther made a chuckle as he began to understand why Shouya was in the cafeteria in the first place.

"Well, that answers my question."

"Guess you're also here for the breakfast special, aren't you?"

"That's what Alisa-san just told me before I went to the kitchen to make it."

"Really now? I was wondering where she went. Taking care of your old man, huh, Alisa?"

"How so?"

As Shouya asks him a question on what he was talking about, Gunther stares into space as he takes a trip down memory lane.

"Well, I've been working here as long as I can remember. When I first met her, she was just a little pup back then. She told me that her parents weren't around anymore, so I decided to take her in and hire her. From then on, she brought joy and happiness, and even made friends with everyone around in this place. It brings a tear to my eye."

"So she's like the daughter you never had, huh?"

"And here I thought I was the only person who makes jokes around here."

Gunther made a hearty laugh as he thought Shouya made a joke.

It seems that Shouya has figured out that both Gunther and Alisa are not blood related, but took care of her and adopted her like a stray dog on the street. He couldn't imagine what would happen if no one took her in and left her on the street.

It's a good thing she is lucky to have someone who actually cares for her; Shouya could not imagine if someone didn't find her. He could not help but feel sympathy for her, but...

"I'm back!"

Before both Shouya and Gunther continued the conversation, Alisa's voice rang as she came out from the kitchen.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Oh, good morning, Gunther. I didn't know you were here with him."

"Your friend and I are having a little conversation. I like him, he ain't that bad of a kid after all."

"Kid? I'm actually seventeen years old."

"Well you do look like a kid from where I'm seeing, but I guess my eyes are failing me."

"Well, I'm actually turning eighteen in a couple of months, so I can see why there's a small difference."

"How about I'll give you a drink tonight? It's on the house."

"N-No thanks. I don't drink alcohol."

"You're being responsible, I like that."

Choosing to decline the offer was the right thing to do. What kind of a person would ever ask Shouya—a minor—to accept that kind of offer? Any adult would've known this by now. Is the age limit to drink different in this world?

Shouya had just remembered something and looked at Alisa.

"That reminds me. How did it go on your end, Alisa-san?"

"You'll quite like this."

Alisa claps her hands twice and shows him the big reveal. What came out of the kitchen is a cat-eared man pushing a cart of large variety types of breakfast to choose from; pancakes, eggs, toast, and even bacon. There's no doubt about it, food in this world is indeed similar to the food in his world.

Shouya can do nothing but look at the food with sparkles in his eyes as the food comes closer and stops right beside Shouya's table. The food just looks so mouth watering that he just wants to eat it whole.

The man placed the plate of food on the table and both Alisa and Gunther sat on their chairs next to Shouya.

The three of them placed their hands together and said "Thank you for the meal." before they begin to eat their morning breakfast.

 

                                                          ❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋

 

"Hey, that is a funny story!"

Gunther bawls with laughter and slapped his own knee, as if he heard a hilarious joke.

Some time has passed since the three of them had begun eating their breakfast. Both Alisa and Gunther already finished their food and Shouya had just started drinking his glass of milk. Of course, he nearly spat out because Alisa had told Gunther about the conversation that Shouya and Alisa had back in his room.

Like Alisa, Gunther did not believe what Shouya said and laughed it off. No matter how hard someone tries to tell the same story to someone, no one would ever believe in Shouya's make-believe story.

"Th-That could be true, you know."

"Listen, there's no such thing as 'another world'. It's just mumbo jumbo that elves would've made up."

"Elves...?"

Shouya murmured to himself as he did not expect to hear that elves actually existed in this world.

The Elf race are basically the typical, run-in-the-mill race of demi-humans that appears in every video game, anime, and light novel. They take the form of a regular human, except they have long, pointy ears, and they mostly live in forests as their preferred living habitat. They are also known as the archer class, honing their skills from generation to generation.

Since Shouya has been transported to a fantasy world, he'll hopefully get to see one in person soon.

"Anyways, I guess I should open this place soon."

"I'll help out."

Just as Gunther got up from the table, Alisa does the same and follows behind Gunther.

Now that I think about it, I don't even know where this place is. If I'm in an inn, then I must be in a village. But this place has a high-quality city feel to them, so there's no way I'm in a village. A city, maybe?

Shouya could not figure out where in the world he was. A town? Or maybe a city? He tries to guess based on the inn's structure, but no matter how hard he tries, he does not have a clue where he is.

He drank his last sip of milk before he got up from the table.

"I think I should head out, but I really don't know where the exit is."

"Well would you like to come with us? I was just about to open the doors."

"Yeah, sure."

Shouya agrees and decides to follow both Gunther and Alisa. From there, the three of them walked from the cafeteria and into the main hall.

The hall's structure is very large compared to the second floor narrow and linear hallway, and the place is decorated with medieval-esque antiques hanging on the walls, such as a large clock, some severed animal heads, and even weapons such as shields and twin axes.

This is the first time that Shouya has seen something like this in person. He often sees it as background in every video game. They're sometimes used for secret passages for hidden rewards, intel on the weapon's lore, or serve no purpose to the story. Seeing this first hand makes the world feel alive.

Shouya, Alisa, and Gunther walked up to the nearest door right in front of them, and Gunther picked a key from his pocket, inserted the key and turned it, making a click sound.

"I've been meaning to ask, What city are we in?"

"We're in a city called Vincilos. One of the greatest cities in the world. Why'd you ask?"

"Honestly, I don't know anything about this place. So I was wondering if you guys have any history here."

Alisa was puzzled why Shouya suddenly asked that question. He did bring up a good point. Having no knowledge with this city's history and lore, and having that he'd just transported into another world, it would make sense for Shouya to ask either Alisa or Gunther for information about this city—Vincilos.

While Shouya found out the name of the location, Gunther broke out a laugh.

"You're very lucky to have me around. I've been here for more than twenty years or so. So if you're asking for locations that I know, I'm your man."

"Too bad for a man who's been here so long that his brain is starting to age fast."

"Oh c'mon, don't diss your old man like that."

"Gwah! Okay! I give, I give!"

Gunther playfully pats Alisa's fluffy, orange head with his huge hand. He patted her head so hard that it might explode at any moment. Luckily for her, it was a sign of affection. She is lucky to have someone to love and care for her.

Shouya gave a dry laugh at the situation between the two.

"Anyways, I'm interested to see what the city looks like."

"Well you're in luck, because this place is now open for business."

From there, Gunther pushes the wooden door in front of him. A bright light begins to shine and enters the hall of the inn.

It is truly a rare sight to see; it is so surreal that Shouya could not believe it. From the other side of the door, he can see a lot of people from different races of demi-humans passing by: dog-humans, cat-humans, elves, and even beast-humans that almost look just like Shouya and Alisa. He also saw some unfamiliar races that he has never seen before, such as the lizardmen and bird-people roaming on the streets.

Shouya was astonished when he saw how beautiful this city is around him. He even turns around to see a large number of buildings below him. And at the end of the city is the large, beautiful blue ocean.

This place is, indeed, a sight to remember.

"How do you like it?"

"I can see why you said 'it's one of the best.'"

He can't take his eyes off at the awe-inspiring landscape. The city almost resembles an old landmark that he learned back in his own world. Man-made stone buildings, a shopping district, and he can even see some boats floating on the ocean from the distance. This is something that Shouya has never seen before, and yet, this city is eye-catching.

"This city is really gorgeous. It's like you really...don't want to...leave here."

But as Shouya wanted to look a little more from the view, he collapsed on his knees as if gravity was pulling him in.

"Ah, Shouya! Are you okay?"

"This place...is so hot..."

His body is heavy, his blood is boiling, and his sweat is starting to fall out of his body. The heatwave is so strong that Shouya is unable to stand at this point. Shouya lays on the floor panting as he tries to beg someone to give him something to cool him off.

Alisa tries to fan Shouya with her hand, it is still not enough to cool him off.

"Stand back! This will help you right away!"

"Pwah!"

It was until Shouya's body was hit with a pound of water splashed on top of him. Person who poured it on him is none other than Gunther. He was carrying a large wooden barrel on his shoulder; the water probably came from the barrel that he was holding. But since he used it to cool off Shouya, it is now just a regular, empty barrel.

It was enough to cool him off and he was relieved that his life was saved by the large beast-human. Without his help, Shouya would have died from the heat and he would've really been sent to another world—in other words, Heaven.

Shouya had just been transported into this world and did not know anything about this city, so he has no way of knowing how hot the city really is. What's worse is that when he first entered into this world, his body had transformed into a human-like wolf with fur around his body. The fur around him made Shouya twice as hot. A mixture of heat and fur is not a very good combination.

"You're a lifesaver. I almost died if you haven't saved me."

Shouya, now-drenched in water, thanks Gunther as he carries Shouya on his shoulder and brings him back to his inn.

"You don't have to thank me. I came to help a friend in need."

"A friend? But I just met you."

"That's right. That's because everyone here is my friend, including you."

"So basically, you are befriending me, even though you've just met that me?"

"Exactly!"

"That doesn't make any sense!"

Shouya exclaimed to how nonsense that logic was and Gunther roared out a laughter. Gunther placed Shouya on a chair while Alisa placed two glasses of water on the table in front of him.

"T-Thanks."

With all the heat still inside Shouya, he couldn't help it but take a sip of a glass of water and drink it. Then as Shouya was drinking, he started to notice something from the glass. Alisa slightly tilted her head as he was puzzled by Shouya's reaction.

"Is something wrong?"

"It's nothing. I wonder how the water is still freezing cold without any ice in it?"

When Shouya took a sip of the glass, the water felt like the temperature was cold. However, there wasn't any ice in it. How did they serve a cold glass of water without any ice in it?

"Now that I think about it, how is this inn cold while it is hot outside?"

When Shouya first entered this world, he didn't think about what was cooling him off in the first place. The inn would've been hot at the same time he got into this world. Strangely enough, that did not happen.

Shouya would've thought that there was an air conditioner or something that keeps the inn cool, but that was out of the question. He could not see a single piece of modern technology that is present in this world. What was cooling this place? How did they manage it?

"Oh, haven't you noticed?"

"Noticed what?"

As Shouya questions what Alisa was talking about, she puts her hand in her apron pocket and goes through what she is searching for. Gunther, too, searches for something from his pocket as well. Shouya quiescently tilted his head to the side to find out what they could be searching for.

They took out their hand from their pocket and showed them to Shouya. He sees a couple of diamond-shaped crystals glowing blue and green from the palms of their hands. Shouya's eyes widened in amazement to see the crystals glow beautifully.

"These here are Magi-gems."

"Magi-gems?"

"Mm-hm. They're crystals that you can cast different types of elemental magic. They're very common here in Vincilos. Each Magi-gem has a color that represents their element. Red is fire. Blue is water. Green is wind. Brown is earth. Yellow is light. And purple is darkness. What you're seeing here is the Element of Water and the Element of Wind. Pretty basic."

"Ah— I see..."

So they are basically special magic items.

He was very familiar with these basic items by playing an RPG (Role Playing Game) back in his own world. They are items that helps the main character that is in a tough situation, like, potions if you are running out of HP (Health Points), or elixirs if you are running out of MP (Mana Points).

With the Magi-gems in hand, Alisa went on explaining, "Unlike mages, who use mana to cast a spell, Magi-gems don't need mana. You can just cast a spell any time you want, and anyone can use them. The best part about them is that you can mix them up. That is how we mixed both water and wind Magi-gems to make cool water."

Even though without technology, they find a way to survive by using Magi-gems. And judging by its size, it can fit in a pocket so they can bring it on the go. It is indeed a handy item to have at their disposal.

"So you can use them as many times as you like, right?"

"That's not entirely true."

Gunther, who was listening to the lesson the entire time, spoke up and replied to Shouya. Alisa nodded to agree with Gunther's statements.

"He's right. The downside to these things is how many times you can use it. Magi-gems are limited to how much you've used it up. If they have no color, then that means you can't use them anymore. We even have to replace them every once a week for a new one."

Replacing the Magi-gems with new ones every week can be a hassle because they would have to spend money every week to get new Magi-gems. It is basically like changing batteries for a remote control and replacing it with new ones.

"But can you charge the crystals?"

"You could. However, they can only be recharged if they meet certain conditions."

"'What are the conditions?"

"It depends on what the elements are based on. For example: if you want to recharge the Magi-gem of Fire, you need to heat it up where the temperature is hot, like, hold it on top of a fireplace, or throw it into a volcano and it will recharge it instantly."

"But how on earth are you going to get it back?!"

Ignoring Shouya's exclaim, she continued, "For Magi-gem of Water, you need to cool it where the temperature is cold, like, put it in cold water or in a freezer for a long time. For Magi-gem of Wind, you need to blow it with air. For Magi-gem of Earth, you need it to put it with dirt. For Magi-gem of Light, you need to place it in direct sunlight. And lastly, for Magi-gem of Darkness, you need to put it where the light can't contact it."

Alisa has explained the guide on how Magi-gems actually work. It was a lot of information to take in, but Shouya got it handled quite well. Shouya now knows the layouts of what Magi-gems can and cannot do. It was the simplest piece of information that he had learned.

As Shouya now understands how Magi-gem works in this world, Alisa claps her hands together as she ends her explanation.

"And that concludes what I've said so far. Got any questions?"

With the explanation of how Magi-gems finished, Alisa asks if Shouya wants to know more about the gems. But before he can ask her a question Gunther raises his hand before Shouya does. Why would he ask if he already knew how it works? Is it something that Alisa left out?

"There's something I've been meaning to ask."

"What is it?"

Gunther looks at Shouya with his sapphire blue eyes and he points his finger at him with a puzzled look on his face.

"What are you wearing?"

"—Ah!"

This is something that Shouya hasn't noticed before. Unlike the clothings that both Alisa and Gunther wore, Shouya wears a cyan-blue school uniform with white highlights from his world. He hadn't realized that he is wearing clothes from his world to a world that is different from his until Gunther pointed out just now.

He recalled when he came out of the inn and saw the city for the first time, he saw a lot of people wearing medieval-like clothes that he has never seen before. He remembered seeing people wearing iron-plated armor, some of them wore robes covered from head to toe, and some of them are wearing different kinds of tunics.

Compared to Shouya's modern clothing from his world and this world's medieval-like clothing, this makes him stand out the most.

In response to Gunther's question, Shouya answers him as he already knows what it is.

"It's my school uniform."

"A school uniform? I've never seen a scholar wear clothing like that before."

"I heard that there's a school in the far east that wears a uniform that is similar to the one he is wearing. That could be the case."

Just as Alisa strokes her chin with her fingers, Gunther nods in agreement.

"Yeah, I guess that's true. But why are you wearing such heavy clothing in a hot place like Vincilos? You'll suffocate if you're gonna keep wearing that outside."

"I don't know about it myself, honestly."

Ever since Shouya got into this world, both his appearances and his money has changed drastically. The only thing that did not change was his clothing. Why did Shouya's clothes remain the same? Shouldn't it change into this world's clothing as well?

As Gunther stated, wearing heavy clothing in hot weather is dangerous. If he is not careful enough, he will possibly be dealing with Death himself.

"Why not wrap the jacket around your waist?"

As Gunther offered Shouya a suggestion, Alisa snapped her fingers at Gunther's brilliant and smart idea.

"Why didn't I think of that? Why not do that for the time being? You'll be more comfortable that way."

"I guess that'll work."

Shouya begins to unbutton and take off his jacket, revealing a plain, white T-shirt on him. Then he grabs the sleeves of his jacket, wraps it around his waist, and ties it, making it into a knot. He tightened the sleeves and let go of them, letting them dangle on his waist.

The jacket obscures the view of his tail, but nonetheless, Shouya feels a little relieved to get some of the heat off of him.

"This should do it, I guess."

"Oh, and take these with you on the way."

Gunther reached out his hand to Shouya to show him two colored Magi-gems—green and blue—from his hand.

"A-Are you sure? But what about your business? Don't you need them to keep your place cool?"

"Don't you worry about me. We have more in the back just in case. Besides, you won't know when you need them the most. 'My friends come first before myself' as they say."

"You really think of me as a friend?"

"Of course I do."

That still doesn't make any sense! Shouya wanted to scream at Gunther, but he kept it to himself.

But Shouya was hesitant to believe in what Gunther said is true. Why would he go through on helping Shouya, even if he does not know anything about him? It's like that he does not have a care in the world to know about others.

Shouya sighs and decides to accept Gunther's offer as he grabs the two Magi-gems and puts them in his pocket. Even though what Gunther said is nonsense, at least he gave Shouya something that is useful. But Shouya does not care. All that matters is if he can successfully survive in this world and return to his own world with his own body, he can finally live a peaceful normal life.

Just as after Gunther gave the Magi-gems to Shouya, Alisa clapped her hands together to grab their attention.

"Now then, shall we head off?"

"To where? And what do you mean 'we?'"

"Well, you and me, of course."

"Wait, why?"

"Obviously you need some help to pick out some clothes for you. You wouldn't want to wear that forever, would you?"

Looking at himself and compared to the other people he saw, Alisa does indeed have a point. He may have taken off his jacket, but it is not enough to cool him down. He has to find a new set of clothes that feels comfortable in the hot weather. On top of that, he needs to wear this world's clothes so that he can blend with the people in this world. If he keeps wearing the school uniform in this world, it would make him feel out of place.

"I guess you're right."

Shouya has no choice but to accept Alisa's assistance. Alisa's cheery voice rang around the empty cafeteria.

"Alright, let's head out!"

"You seemed excited about it."

"Well not every day you get to go somewhere with someone by your side. Gunther and I usually go out to do errands and get some supplies for the inn, but we do sometimes take time off from work and enjoy ourselves. Anyways, let's go! See you later, boss man!"

Alisa held Shouya's hand and both of them exited the cafeteria. Gunther waves goodbye as he sees them leaving from his sights. As both of them left, he sighs.

"That girl. What am I going to do with you?"

5