Published: March 21, 2026
The small dot that was the Demon Clan territory grew larger day by day, until finally it drew so close that we could probably land there tomorrow.
For a few days we'll be going back and forth between the ship and the continent to scout the surroundings.
"Crow, what's that notebook?"
While everyone was preparing dinner, I noticed Crow—slowed by aging—Noah, exhausted from steering the ship and maintaining the concealment magic, and Yoru, who had been on lookout duty until just now, gathered around the battered, filthy notebook Crow held with serious faces. I couldn't help but ask. The three of them gave off a tense vibe; it was awkward to speak up, but more than that I was curious about that ragged little notebook.
Even though Crow had always acted alongside us since leaving the Beastmen territory, I'd never seen him carrying anything resembling a notebook. I don't know every item in his small pack, but I couldn't imagine he'd been hiding something like that. So I figured he must have found it somewhere after we reached the former hero's safe house. The fact that the three of them were on edge suggested the notebook was probably written by the former hero. I’d heard Crow and the former hero were childhood friends, and Yoru used to be an enemy.
While we were hunting monsters to gather ship materials, Crow and Yoru had been checking the passages the former hero had cleared, and I'd heard they even communicated with the former hero through a magical tool he had left behind. Maybe they learned about the notebook directly from that.
"This is apparently the memoir of the former hero, Ritter Ganador, recording useful information about the Demon Clan territory..."
"And?"
"The handwriting is unreadable."
Yoru noticed me and told me about the notebook. He made room so I could look and then settled himself on his usual spot on my shoulder.
I leaned in. I had to see what he meant by "unreadable."
"... 'If you can enter the Demon Clan territory, first visit a shop called No.7. If it goes well, you might get good-quality information'?"
"Huh?"
"You can read that?"
When I read the words aloud, the parent and child who'd been scowling at the notebook snapped their heads up. Their surprised expressions were identical; seeing them both together made me realize anew that they truly were parent and child.
"It's not like the handwriting is terrible—so why can't they read it?"
I tilted my head, remembering my own school days when a teacher couldn't read my messy answers and marked them wrong even though I was right. Sometimes letters blend or are scrunched so badly you can't even read your own handwriting, but the words in this notebook were almost painstakingly neat—written straight even without ruling lines. If you knew the characters, there was no reason you shouldn't be able to read it. I knew the three of them could read and write, which made this all the more puzzling.
"...That script is a constructed language Ritter and I invented together when we were children. Only Ritter and I knew its usage and meanings, and since we didn't base it on any existing language, I even forgot how to read it. So I can't read it either. How can you read this?"
Crow looked up at me with a faint but clear expression of bewilderment.
A constructed language. Even in different worlds, people often want to make one at a certain age. "A language just for the two of us" or "words nobody else understands" is irresistibly tempting.
I once made up a language out of boredom in class a few years ago, but I hadn't met Kyousuke then and had no one to share it with, so I threw it away without using it. Even if I'd had friends back then, I'd probably have been too embarrassed to share it.
If I could indeed read the script only known to those two, it must be thanks to the extra skill "language comprehension" that every summoned person received in this world.
I don't fully understand how "language comprehension" works, but I used to be terrible at English. With my original English skills I shouldn't have been able to read or translate the inscription inside the ring Crow gave me, yet I read it effortlessly. From that, "language comprehension" seems to be a skill that lets written language be used without depending on the recipient's prior knowledge—magic that translates on its own, essentially.