Published: August 10, 2026
That night, we stayed at a house belonging to a resident of Takane Village, and were scheduled to depart the next day for a village near the other fortress.
In addition, there would be no carriage on the road to our next destination. It was a journey for just the three of us. We had planned to leave early in the morning, so we should have already been resting.
However, because Hosoyama refused to leave the severely injured behind, Waki and I ended up setting up camp near the single-story building where healing magic was still being cast. Healers were few in number, and they were always the first to be targeted, so protection was essential.
"It's my fault to begin with, so I'm sorry. If you'd like, please take this."
With an apologetic look, Lark offered us a basket piled high with dried fruit. Peaches and apricots, perhaps.
"What's this?"
"It's a gift from the families of the soldiers in that single-story building. They asked us to please take it with us. Fruit grows well around here, so we dry it like this and make preserved food out of it, or alcohol. We also trade those with other villages. But right now, we can't even properly entertain you, so I'm sorry we can only offer something like this."
"It's war, so it can't be helped, right? Besides, we didn't come here to be entertained!"
"I'm relieved to hear you say that. It's only a small amount, but it also has the effect of restoring vitality and magical power, so if you could please pass some on to Lord Hosoyama as well..."
"Ah. Understood."
The sound of fire cracking and popping filled the air.
I wondered if dried fruit would still taste good if roasted over a fire. Or rather, if it restores vital energy and magical power, then maybe these peaches and apricots are different from the ones we know. This world has many things in common with ours, but just as many differences, so finding them is interesting.
I thought Lark would just leave after bringing us the fruit, but instead he sat down beside us and joined us around the fire.
He stared blankly at the flames.
"...Lord Hosoyama is a very strong woman. I never imagined there would be a woman who would talk back to Lord Kanzou so directly. And she's still so young."
"Nah, Hosoyama is just stubborn. No matter what that old guy said to her, the moment she heard there was a seriously injured person, she'd have jumped right in no matter what. There's no way she'd stop just because we said something."
"That's true. Contrary to how she looks, she has a very headstrong, bull-headed side. And her taste in food doesn't match ours at all."
"Right? Totally."
At Lark's words, Waki and I laughed as we remembered what happened in the Forest of Death. Eating fruit that might be poisonous, or throwing herself in front of demonic beasts that even we combat types couldn't handle—if that wasn't recklessly headlong, then what was?
And what was with every single thing she cooked being spicy? I wasn't exactly skilled in the kitchen either, and I felt bad saying this after being fed by her, but if she didn't have a wide enough range of spicy dishes, we would have all banded together and driven her out of cooking duty.
"I-I see. She is a bold person, then. ...If you don't mind, may I ask about your relationship with the three of you?"
"Hm? Do you know we're the other world people who were summoned to this world?"
"Yes, I believe twenty-eight people were summoned in the Kingdom of Reytis."
"Yep. In our original world, we were all classmates at the same school... ah, like a school? A temple school? Anyway, we studied together. In other words, all twenty-eight of us are the same age."
"W-What!?"
Lark's eyes widened, and Waki burst out laughing.
I wanted to ask just who among us looked older and who looked younger, but that might be petty of me.
Waki continued.
"So, our world, or rather our country, had been peaceful forever. There hadn't been any wars, so technology advanced, and even without magic people didn't die so easily. There was lots of entertainment too. We could just follow the rails society laid out for us. Every day just kept turning in the same cycle, and all we did was get older. Honestly, it was kind of boring. But even then, there were things like club activities, friendships, family stuff... It was hard, but that's what made it fun too. Looking back, we were happy. But I only realized it was happiness after coming here and learning how precious peace really is."