Yeah, Yeah, Another World, Another World
The music that had been playing from the smartphone stopped, and the winged being sitting on the bed opened its closed eyes.
After staring at the now-silent phone for a moment, it lifted its face and turned to look at me.
It shot me a glance that seemed to say, “Um… the music stopped?” So I got up from the sofa, approached the winged being, and picked up the phone that had been left beside the pillow.
There were plenty of questions I wanted to ask, but I couldn’t quite organize my thoughts well enough to know where to start. So for now, I decided to teach the winged being how to operate the smartphone.
“If you press here, the playlist will show up—yes, exactly like that. And to go to the next song, just swipe this way.”
As soon as the winged being learned how to use the phone, it looked like it was about to start listening to music again. So I quickly guided it to an empty room next door and asked it to listen there instead.
Since I figured someone else would probably come by eventually anyway, I was grateful for Okuda ’s foresight in ordering extra bedding—it really paid off today.
I became slightly worried whether someone with wings could even lie comfortably on a bed, so I gently checked with them, only to receive a polite response: “Please don’t worry about me.” Maybe she sleeps facedown?
Returning to my room, I lay back down on the bed.
There were probably a lot of things I needed to think through, but since everything might resolve itself if she was gone by morning, I gave up entirely and decided to just fall asleep.
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I woke up the next morning and started descending the stairs toward the first floor. As I did, I heard voices coming from what used to be the bar area—but now served more as a dining space.
Opening the door and stepping inside, I found no purely human individuals present. Instead, Luciti , Miyah, and the winged girl were all happily eating breakfast together.
After exchanging greetings with everyone, I started heading toward the kitchen to get something to eat myself when Luciti stopped me.
“I’ll bring it to you, so just sit down,” she said. She wanted me to try the new soup she’d made this morning.
“Thank you.”
After thanking her and taking a seat, I caught eye contact with the winged girl sitting across from me.
“I’m very sorry for not properly introducing myself last night. I tend to lose focus when I get too into music.”
Smiling shyly, the winged girl spoke to me.
“My name is Einerza Bueiso. Please treat me kindly from now on.”
“Yes. My name is Junpei Nagano. Likewise, please treat me kindly.”
I reflexively responded with my own introduction, but… was I really going to have to keep treating her kindly from now on?
Luciti returned shortly after, carrying soup and bread from the kitchen. The soup she offered was creamy and corn-like, though I couldn’t tell exactly which vegetables had been used. It was light and comforting—an excellent choice for breakfast. Was there some kind of potato in it?
“This is really delicious. Thank you.”
“Hehe, really? Hehehe.”
Luciti herself seemed satisfied.
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While eating breakfast, I listened to the conversation between the three girls seated at the same table. They appeared to be sharing their hobbies with each other.
Luciti ’s hobby was cooking, Einerza’s was music, and Miyah enjoyed crafting. Naturally, most of the questions revolved around Luciti ’s cooking.
This place felt oddly like the first day after class assignments had been shuffled.
I guess I was the socially awkward loner who hadn’t quite joined the group yet—the typical quiet guy on the edge of fitting in.
I wondered: did angelic races, vampire races, and fairy races really not have any history of hostility toward one another?
Just as I was thinking these thoughts, more members who had just woken up began gathering in the dining area.
After finishing my meal and heading to the kitchen to clean up, Okuda approached me from behind.
“Morning, senpai! Why is yesterday’s angel girl still here?”
“Well, I dunno. Last night, she suddenly came into my room saying she wanted to listen to the music stored on my smartphone.”
“Oh, really? Is she planning to live here too?”
“No idea yet. But she doesn’t seem dangerous or anything, so I figure if she wants to stay, she can do whatever she likes.”
“I see… Got it. Thanks.”
With that, Okuda returned to the table.
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After washing the dishes and returning to the dining area, I saw Okuda showing Einerza something on his tablet.
A video of a Japanese rock band was playing, and occasionally Einerza would point at the screen and ask Okuda questions.
They already seemed quite comfortable with each other.
Meanwhile, Rio and Apra sat huddled at a small two-person table near the wall, clearly avoiding getting anywhere near Einerza. They kept glancing over at her while whispering to each other.
The atmosphere increasingly resembled a classroom.
The rest of the members were going about their usual routines. I could see Luciti ’s new soup being refilled again and again. I hoped the growing teenagers—Inaba siblings and Osato—would keep eating as much as they wanted. Maybe Okuda was also in his growing phase.
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Once I judged that everyone had finished breakfast, I stepped onto the stage and addressed the group.
“Hey everyone, we’ve grown quite a bit in numbers lately. So today, I thought we could make some money by retrieving valuables from Luciti ’s old home on the ninth sublevel. Anyone interested in joining?”
As I called out, someone raised their hand faster than anyone else.
“Yes! I’ll join!”
Einerza was the first to volunteer.
“Eh… Einerza-san…”
I was taken aback by the sudden offer from someone whose background I knew absolutely nothing about. I hesitated, unsure whether I should allow her participation.
“It’s okay. I’m really strong.”
“O-Okay then… Please help us.”
Without thinking, I accepted.
“Rio, can she officially register as an adventurer?”
“Eh? Ah, eh? Just a second, uh, yes?”
Rio looked completely flustered, more so than I’d ever seen before.
“M-Most likely. Yes. If Miss Luciti could do it, she can too. I-I’ll go ahead to the guild right now and fill out all the paperwork. See you later!”
And with that, he rushed out of the brothel entirely.
……
“Is that really okay?”
Still stunned by Rio’s reaction, I heard Luciti ’s voice beside me.
“I have to go to the town hall today, so I won’t be able to join you, but take this key with you. It’s the entrance key. I don’t plan to return to that room anymore, but I’d hate for it to be ransacked while I’m away. Make sure to lock it when you leave.”
I received a shiny golden key from Luciti .
“And also, once you enter the room, move the bookshelf on the far left. There’s a hidden passage behind it that leads deeper inside. There might be more valuables beyond it. I’d love to find a large magical oven, so if you find jewels or anything easily convertible to cash, that would be great.”
“Huh? A secret passage? Won’t there be some super powerful monsters lurking in a place like that?”
“I don’t know. I never explored past the room before. But I haven’t sensed any strong monster presences, so if there are any, they’re probably weaklings.”
Well, if she says it’s safe, then maybe it is.
Considering we defeated the vampire boss, the hidden passage behind it is almost certainly filled with treasure. Magical weapons are also possible.
“Senpai! To be honest, I was going to skip because I’m scared of centipedes, but the possibility of finding treasure has outweighed my fear! I’m coming too!”
“Thanks for being honest. I appreciate your help.”
◇◇◇◇◇
Later, we formed a party of five: Rocco as our anti-centipede specialist, Hayato as scout and trap-disabler, and the others—including myself. However, since Einerza had visible wings sticking out of her back, we realized she’d draw too much attention walking through town like that.
So we prepared a backpack with holes cut into it, allowing her to tuck her wings inside and hide them.
We ended up spending far longer than expected preparing the backpack, so we didn’t actually depart until nearly noon. By then, Rio—who had been waiting impatiently at the adventurer’s guild counter—gave us a mild scolding. Still, we successfully obtained Einerza’s adventurer registration card without issue.
◇◇◇◇◇
Now, we were descending the stairs leading to the fifth sublevel, hoarse from shouting during the annual Centipede Festival.
“Excuse me…”
As we walked down the stairs, Einerza called out.
“Could we stop by the giant spider area on the fifth floor?”
“Well, it won’t be much of a detour. But why?”
“I want to collect the silk sacs from the giant spiders.”
Einerza explained that after watching some videos with Okuda this morning, she wanted to recreate the instruments shown in the footage using her own hands—and for that, she needed the silk sacs from the giant spiders.
On the fifth sublevel, the giant spiders had an organ known as the silk sac in their bellies. When exposed to air, the liquid inside hardened into thin threads.
I had researched these sacs before for making fishing line, but ultimately gave up due to my fear of fighting the spiders.
But this time, I thought it would be a good opportunity for revenge. I decided wholeheartedly to support Einerza.
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“Ahhhhhhhhh!!”
“So big! So huge! So massive!”
True to my fears, the spider—nearly a meter in size—completely drained any desire to fight from me. Its many legs, its ability to cling to walls, and its striped body—all of it triggered intense disgust.
“Rocco! Rocco! Rocco! Rocco!”
“Again, me?!”
As I frantically shouted Rocco’s name—my trusted ally against insect-type enemies—Einerza chimed in with a melodic voice.
“I’ll handle it.”
She strode forward carelessly toward the spider. As soon as it judged her within range, it leaped toward her—but she swatted it away effortlessly with her bare hands, then calmly crushed its head beneath her foot as it writhed on the ground.
“……Ugh…”
“Th-that was amazing…”
We two cowards praised her shakily, shaken by what we’d just witnessed.
“Rocco, can you retrieve it?”
“Huh? Sure thing.”
Rocco sliced open the spider’s belly with his knife, tied off the tube extending from the softball-sized sac with string, and carefully severed the sac to prevent leakage.
“We should hunt about five more.”
With that, Einerza continued down the corridor.
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