Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody

※2015/4/18 Typo corrections made.

This time, from Arisa's perspective again.

"Sorry, sorry. That idiot came riding a griffin, so I took him somewhere that wouldn’t cause trouble."

"Idiot?"

It’s rare for my gentleman Master to say something like that.

—What is it? I have a really bad feeling about this.

Just then, Liza, who was supposed to be out on a rescue mission, came back.

It seems Master called her using long-distance telephone magic.

Unlike me, Master can use long-distance telephone magic without making a sound. It’s kind of a cheat—I'm jealous.

"Master, you called?"

"Yeah, Liza and Arisa, come with me."

"Understood."

"Okay."

The scene in front of me changed like a slow-motion movie to a dense jungle.

Lying down in the space before us was a griffin grooming itself.

"Hikaru! Where are you?"

What?! A girl’s name!!

Th-this is a case!

An incident is happening right now, sis!

"Ah! Brother Ichiro!"

—Another fake name?

At this rate, I won’t be surprised if he forgets his real name.

Hmph! The black-haired woman who took off her wig lightly ran toward Master.

—That’s her!

She’s the broom-wielding woman who barged into the fight when the high-rank demons attacked!

As the broom woman rushed forward to hug Master, I used short-distance teleportation to cut between them.

"Too naive!"

"Whoa, teleportation magic? Isn’t that the purple-haired girl? Then it must be a unique skill?"

Broom woman let out a surprised voice at Arisa-chan’s ironclad defense.

"Both of you calm down."

I growled a threatening "Grrr" and was pulled into Master’s embrace.

I don’t intend to trust the broom woman, but to enjoy this wonderful situation, for now I’ll keep the peace on the surface.

◇

"First, this one is my childhood friend from the same hometown, known as Hikaru. Her real name is Mitsuko Takahai, and she is the real King Ancestor Yamato himself. She apparently was asleep until modern times thanks to magical cold sleep. Usually, she goes by the name Mito."

I want to ask a lot of questions, but I’ll hold back for now.

Because right now, I’m experiencing a miracle.

Being held on Master’s lap and having my head patted!

Ah, I wish time would just stop like this—

"And this is Liza of the lizardman tribe. A spear expert and the leader of our group."

Master introduced Liza, who bowed politely to the broom woman.

Liza’s eyes watch the broom woman and the griffin without letting their guard down, and she hasn’t removed her hand from the spear. As expected of Liza.

"Nice to meet you! But you don’t have to be so wary; we won’t harm Brother Ichiro."

Ignoring Liza’s fierce warning like a breeze through the willows, broom woman flapped her hands cheerfully.

"And this is Arisa. As you can see, she’s a reincarnator, a bit of a handful, but my advisor."

T-T-That part! I wanted him to say “girlfriend” or “future bride”!

"Are there maybe other girls too?"

"There are, but?"

Master answered in an ordinary tone even though broom woman asked with some anxiety.

It seems broom woman—or rather Hikaru—has a status close to ours.

"Master, question!"

"What’s up, all of a sudden?"

"Is this Hikaru your ex-girlfriend? Or your ex-wife?"

I asked thinking the chance was low for a yes, but maybe I shouldn’t have.

My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might burst.

"Of course not. I’ve never dated Hikaru. And certainly, she was never my wife."

"I see~♪"

Yessssssssssssss!

That’s my Master for you!

"Brother Ichiro is mean. I’m going to be his bride soon, so it’s fine! I’m not his little kid anymore! I’m older than Brother Ichiro! Hehe, no more lolita! Long live another world! Now he can’t say he doesn’t like younger girls!"

Whoa, this personality feels strangely familiar.

"I’ve always thought Arisa and Hikaru have similar personalities."

S-to-p!

I thought a little, but I don’t think I’m that bad.

◇

"So, this Ichiro that Hikaru keeps talking about is Master’s new fake name?"

"No, that’s his real name."

"Real name?"

—Ah, right.

Satou can’t be his real name.