Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody

“—And then, on a night without moonlight, Mamiko-san was all alone—”

In a room at the shepherd’s dormitory, Arisa was holding a one-woman show, her eyes shining brightly.

“The sound of the wind howled, shaking the shutter—”

Though it was called a one-woman show, she wasn’t reciting poetry.

Having heard a ghost story, Arisa had begun telling a spooky tale.

“Nyu~”

Tama peeked out from under a blanket, only her eyes visible.

She was scared, but curious about Arisa’s story.

“Pochi, don’t you want to cover yourself with a blanket?”

“I-I’m fine! Pochi is yū-kari (… ), so it’s no problem!”

Pochi was putting on a brave front, but since she had settled on my lap and was clutching my arm desperately, it was obvious she was bluffing.

Did Pochi mean to say “yūkan” (brave) but got it mixed up as “yū-kari”?

“Footsteps creaked along the empty corridor, and then, there was a knock, a tap on the door. Mamiko-san swallowed nervously and made up her mind to walk toward the door.”

“No, no! We were told by the honorable sage not to open the door!”

“Uui ui~ Is this a trap~?”

Pochi and Tama frantically gave advice to the character in the ghost story.

“Such outside voices don’t reach Mamiko-san,”

Arisa replied with a laugh, then returned to a serious expression and continued the tale.

“When Mamiko-san creaked open the door—”

Pochi and Tama held their breath.

“—there was no one there. She stepped out into the dark hallway and looked left and right, but indeed, there was nothing. It seemed it was just her imagination.”

Pochi and Tama fell right into Arisa’s trap and let out relieved sighs.

“When Mamiko-san closed the door and turned around—gyaaaaaaaah!”

Arisa screamed.

“Nyuuuuuuuuuuuuu”

“Ugyaaaah!”

Tama hid under the blanket, while Pochi, flustered, clung to my stomach. Pochi must have been so scared she even forgot her usual “nano desu” sentence ending.

“Ar-Arisa! Big voices are cheating!”

Pochi protested with a desperate face, and Tama nodded vigorously under the blanket.

It was surprising since Tama usually seemed unfazed.

“Ahaha, sorry, sorry.”

“You’re not apologizing properly! You can’t become a sei-i taishōgun like that!”

Sei-i Taishōgun, huh? Pochi’s words were more mysterious than usual.

She was probably so flustered she didn’t even know what she was saying.

Unlike the two of them, Liza and Lulu didn’t seem scared.

Especially Lulu—she being unfazed was unexpected.

“Lulu, are you good at ghost stories?”

“Not exactly, but since childhood, every summer Arisa would say ‘It’s a summer staple’ and tell scary stories, so I got used to it.”

I see, she had been startled by Arisa countless times from long ago.

I kind of wanted to see cute Lulu scared by ghost stories, but that might be a bit of harassment, so better not say it out loud.

“Ma-master’s hand is on Pochi’s belly! You have to hold on tight!”

Pochi repositioned herself on my lap and used my hands as seat belts.

She was so desperate—it was almost cute enough to want to tease her a little.

The rattling sound from outside made Pochi and Tama tremble.

“The wind’s getting stronger.”

Maybe a sign of an approaching storm; the sound of the window shaking had been loud for a while.

If you listened carefully, you could hear a whooshing sound.

“Did you say something~?”

“No one said anything.”

—Yōsei.

The sound of the wind almost sounded like a human voice.

“Pochi heard it too!”

“Really? I don’t hear anything.”

Pochi pleaded desperately, but Arisa tilted her head and denied it.

“Arisa’s being mean!”

“How rude! I’m not. Let’s open the window and listen.”

Saying that, Arisa opened the shutter.

◇

“—Whoa.”

As soon as the shutter opened, wind and rain blew in.

It seemed it had started raining without anyone noticing.

“Nuwa niwooooi shteeeoooo”

With a voice echoing from the depths, something black splashed against the window frame.

“Ghostssssss!”

“Nyaaah~”

Pochi clung to my stomach, and Tama threw off her blanket and scrambled up my body.