《Daycare in Another World》 Prologue Hana sat in the back of the classroom, writing in parent-teacher communication notebooks while Hikaru was being attacked by six children. Normally, she supervised the five-year-olds, who spent most of their time in kindergarten, before coming to daycare in the early afternoon, but it was still important to fill the notebooks out. It was nearing 7 P.M., so they were expecting parents to pick up the remaining children soon. With the unusually heavy rain and winds this March, more than one parent called in saying they would arrive later. There were only a few more notebooks left, and only a few more notes that Hana was jotting down. Most of the pages contained things like the children¡¯s temperature, health, or the activities they did recently. In the last notebook she wrote that Yui had finished all of her broccoli that day, despite her general unwillingness to eat anything green¡ª ¡®Good Job!¡¯¡ª and placed the notebook back into the bin with the rest. She lifted her arms in a stretch, standing up from the small, plastic, child-sized table. There were a dozen children left, between the ages of three to six, gathered into the classroom nearest to the entrance. The rest of the teachers and kitchen staff had already packed up and gone home some time ago, eager to escape the worsening storm. Only she and Hikaru, a supervisor for the three-year-olds, were left. He was currently lying on the ground, face down, as several children were clambering over him and poking him in the back with plastic toy swords. He was taking the beating in good humour. ¡°Already finished, Ms. Kano?¡± When he raised his head to speak to her, Taiga objected. ¡°Mr. Tobita, you¡¯re a dead dragon!¡± ¡°Really? Then why are you still poking me?¡± ¡°We have to make sure,¡± Itaru said. ¡°Or you might attack the village again!¡± Hikaru grimaced. ¡°You know, Ms. Kano is also a dragon.¡± Hana felt twelve eyes hone in on her. ¡°Are you really dragon, Ms. Kano?¡± Itaru weighed the foam sword in his hand, conflicted. ¡°No she¡¯s not!¡± Tsugumi shouted at him. She gave Hikaru another poke in the back with a bright red foam sword. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because dragons are liars! Ms. Kano is actually the princess!¡± This line of reasoning made perfect sense to them, so they collectively nodded and continued attacking Hikaru. ¡°Take that, evil dragon!¡± ¡°Hiyaa!¡± Hikaru went limp, and with a muffled voice he proclaimed, ¡°Congratulations! You¡¯ve defeated the evil dragon! He is no more!¡± ¡°That¡¯s not true,¡± Taiga gave him a pat on the back. ¡°The dragon always comes back.¡± ¡°Yeah! He¡¯s always on the show!¡± ¡°He¡¯s the bad guy, so he has to come back.¡± The children joined in a chorus of agreement. So it¡¯s a TV show, huh? Hana wasn¡¯t exactly up to date with the latest shows on children¡¯s television. Every time she learned about one, another would take its place in a matter of weeks. Still, it was fun listening to kids talk about their favourite shows. Their eyes always lit up when they spoke. ¡°Really? Which show is it?¡± Hikaru asked, taking the opportunity to sit up while they were distracted. ¡°Super Knight Hiro!¡± Tsugumi said proudly. ¡°I watch it on the weekend!¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Me too!¡± Hana was drawn away from the commotion by a tug on her apron. She looked down to see a little girl with a plaid hairband in her bobbed hair. She was holding a picture book in her hands, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. She was four, if Hana remembered correctly, and while she wasn¡¯t in her class, the girl was often picked up later in the evening. ¡°What is it, Aiko?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Do you want to read together?¡± She nodded, and they found a spot in the corner to read. As they sat down, another younger boy, Souta, came shuffling up to them and sat on the other side of Hana. ¡°Do you want to listen too, Souta?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Everything was fine until they had reached a certain page. It was the scene where the evil witch was poisoning apples. She was an old hag with gnarled hands, long and sharp fingernails, and a wrinkled, menacing face. She stood over a large cauldron, hysterically wide-eyed and laughing. It was horrifically detailed, something straight out of a horror manga. How did this get put in a children¡¯s book?! Aiko froze up next to her and Souta ducked behind her. ¡°Scary¡­¡± Hana heard a sniff from the boy. Is this kind of book okay? This is a six-year-old classroom. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Souta.¡± She quickly flipped through the remainder of the picture book. ¡°The story gets better, but you don¡¯t have to listen anymore if you¡¯re scared.¡± The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The rest of it is normally illustrated¡­ ¡°Ms. Kano.¡± ¡°Hmm? What is it, Satsuki?¡± The girl was Souta¡¯s older sister, a six-year-old who was going to be entering first grade next month. ¡°I can read Souta a different book.¡± Hana glanced down at Aiko, who still seemed scared stiff. ¡°Why don¡¯t we all pick a different book together? What do you think, Aiko?¡± ¡°...¡± She didn¡¯t say anything, but managed a tiny nod. They went to the book shelf in search of another book. Hana kept Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs off to the side, she¡¯d have to talk to the other daycare teachers about it tomorrow. Hana wasn¡¯t sure how the book made it into the classroom to begin with. ¡°Let¡¯s read this one. It isn¡¯t scary,¡± Satsuki said, holding it up for her to see. Little Bear¡¯s Pancakes. ¡°But,¡± she added in a quiet tone, whispering in her ear. ¡°It¡¯s a little boring. I think they would like it.¡± What a good older sister. After reading the book¡ª Satsuki was right, nothing much happened in it¡ª Hana was pulled away by Momoka, who insisted that she watch her draw. Then Reina asked her how to write the kanji for her last name, and several other children joined in. A few of them were from her own class. The five-year-olds, mostly Kazuo, were badgering Satsuki and Ritsu about their upcoming debut into first grade. ¡°Have you bought a backpack yet? Have you seen your school yet? Do you have friends already? What about the entrance ceremony?¡± The six-year-olds, both mild-mannered in nature, answered calmly. ¡°My mom got me a backpack,¡± Satsuki replied. ¡°Ritsu?¡± ¡°Me too. Haruto is going to the same school as us too.¡± Kazuo didn¡¯t seem very interested in hearing the answers as much as he was asking questions, because he turned to her next. ¡°Ms. Kano, what about your entrance ceremony? Was it good?¡± ¡°Which one?¡± He started, coming to the realization there would be more than one entrance ceremony for a student. Bright-eyed, he asked, ¡°Which one was the best?¡± ¡°Definitely my first grade ceremony!¡± I don¡¯t actually remember much about it, though. ¡°Really? Was it fun? Was it cool? Did you make friends?¡± ¡°It was a very fun day, and the weather was nice! I made lots of friends!¡± ¡°Really? How many?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Three, I think?¡± He considered that for a bit. ¡°That¡¯s not a lot of friends. Three is a few, right?¡± Ouch. He didn¡¯t stay on the topic any longer though. ¡°Hey, Ritsu, did you see Super Knight Hiro last Saturday?¡± The torrential rain had evolved into flashes of lightning followed by the rumbling of thunder. Hana expected the parents would be delayed even further, and quietly lamented how useless the flimsy plastic umbrella she brought would be against the elements. She hadn¡¯t brought a poncho, so she thoroughly anticipated she¡¯d be soaked to the bone by the time she made it to the train station. The thunder spooked some of the children, and Hikaru did his best to distract them with an extremely loud puppet show. It was complete with full voice acting and narration, along with very dramatic flair in the movements of the hand puppets. Hana was preoccupied with explaining some basic math to Ritsu, who was feigning disinterest in Hikaru¡¯s play. Hana herself wasn¡¯t entirely focused on the performance, but she was sure he was reenacting Cinderella. She heard snippets of an evil stepmother and a ball. Hikaru was a good storyteller, but less so a narrator that stayed on script. The odds were fifty-fifty on whether or not he actually finished reading a story from beginning to end, or would abandon the book midway for something more¡­ spontaneous. The other teachers protested, but he insisted it was important to foster creativity. Besides, it was certainly more interesting. I wonder if he¡¯ll start improvising this time? The following words confirmed that he did, in fact, have no intention on faithfully retelling Cinderella. ¡°And then, Cinderella ran after the evil dragon with her sword to save the prince!¡± This exclamation had elicited an uproar of delight from his audience. Since when was there a dragon in that story?! In any case, the children loved it, and all things considered, it did make for a more engaging plot. The lights flickered momentarily, and Hikaru used this to his advantage. In his deep, obviously-the-villain voice, he went, ¡°Hahaha! All according to plan. Soon the whole world will be plunged into darkness!¡± ¡°Hey! That¡¯s what the dragon in Super Knight Hiro always says!¡± ¡°How did you do that, Mr. Tobita?¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t do it, the storm did it.¡± ¡°Are you sure? Because I, the great dragon Erasth¡ª¡± Of course the lights went out completely at that moment. A few students shrieked. ¡°Mr. Tobita, that¡¯s not funny! We can¡¯t see!¡± ¡°Turn the lights back on!¡± It wasn¡¯t completely dark, a little light made it through the windows. Lightning struck close by, illuminating the classroom for a moment, flashing long shadows and eliciting more shrieks and screams. ¡°It¡¯s okay everyone. Calm down, okay? I¡¯ll get the lights back up.¡± Hikaru put the puppets down. ¡°Ms. Kano, do you have your phone on you?¡± She checked her pockets. ¡°No, sorry.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯m going to check the power box. I¡¯ll bring back some flashlights if I need to.¡± ¡°Be careful, watch your step.¡± The children huddled around as another flash of lightning lit up the classroom, and she heard Souta begin to sniff again. Luckily, most of them were taking the situation in stride. ¡°The evil dragon is taking over!¡± ¡°Mr. Tobita broke the lights.¡± ¡°Where¡¯d I put my sword?¡± ¡°Mine¡¯s over here.¡± Hana comforted a few of the more timid students, but even she was concerned when she noticed the lightning getting closer and closer. ¡°It¡¯s okay, everyone. I¡¯m sure Mr. Tobita will fix the lights soon.¡± Does this area have a lightning rod? The last time she checked, before the lights went out, it was approaching eight, but not a single parent had arrived. While the daycare technically closed at eight, at least two supervisors had to stay until the last student was picked up. She and Hikaru were usually the ones put to the task, seeing as they were the youngest teachers, without any children of their own to take care of. ¡°Ms. Kano, I want to go home,¡± Aiko said, barely audible amidst the chatter of the other students and the downpour outside. ¡°I know. Your mom will be here soon, so just wait a little bit longer, okay?¡± ¡°... I don¡¯t like the dark.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. You¡¯re being very brave right now.¡± Hikaru¡¯s taking a long time¡­ I wonder if something is wrong? The basement was already dark and maze-like. It gave her the creeps to be down there at night, despite the yellow walls covered in happy paintings of cartoon animals. She had lost her way down there more than a few times, even during the day. The next rumble of thunder was beyond loud, like standing right next to a revving motorcycle. It sent the children screaming, hiding underneath the tables. The braver ones held out their foam swords, ready to fight some unseen monster. Aiko clung to her arm, trembling. At this point, Hana was sufficiently spooked as well. What¡­ What happens when lightning hits a building? She didn¡¯t get a chance to think of what disaster might happen before lightning struck again and her vision went white. 1.01 Not a Fever Dream Hana woke up eating dirt. With a groan, she turned her head, one cheek pressed into the ground. She had a dull headache, the kind that she would get sometimes when she had a cold, and what felt like the beginnings of a fever. Her body ached all over, and although she was sure she could move, she didn¡¯t. Her vision was blurred, there was dirt and moss on her face, and the rich scent of earth after rainfall washed over her. She was surrounded by trees, daytime light filtering through the green canopy. She wasn¡¯t sure where she was, or how she had gotten here, and with the pain in her head and the rest of her body, she didn¡¯t care to find out. She closed her eyes. I¡¯ll get up in five minutes. It was just a strange dream or something of the sort. She¡¯d wake up, find herself back in bed and running late for work, or maybe she¡¯d call in sick for the day, and that would be the end of that. It¡¯s just a fever dream. ¡°Ms. Kano! Ms. Kano!¡± ¡°Wake up!¡± ¡ª! There was one hand smacking her face, and many others shaking her, their voices willing her to move. It was a shock to her system, nearly as effective as being splashed with cold water. She scrambled to an upright position. ¡°I told you she wasn¡¯t dead!¡± a familiar, shrill voice huffed. Hana wiped the dirt off the corner of her mouth. ¡°Momoka?¡± Her own voice came out dry and scratchy. Her vision wasn¡¯t entirely clear yet, but it made out a pair of red bows affixed to pigtails. There were other small figures surrounding her, looking down at her in concern. ¡°Huh?¡± It¡¯s just a dream. ¡°Where are we, Ms. Kano?¡± ¡°Is this a field trip?¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t bring our hats!¡± As her eyesight came into focus, she saw that most of the children were covered in dirt, like they had been rolling around in it, but otherwise, they seemed unharmed. She stumbled to her feet, trying to get her bearings. She was wearing the clothes she last remembered wearing¡ª a blue apron over a cardigan, plain blouse, and dark high-waisted skirt. She brushed off clumps of dirt that clung to her sleeves and apron. Looking around, the children were also dressed in the same clothes as they were in that evening, their blue smocks over their daytime clothes. Everything seems so real. Is this what a lucid dream is like? She had never had one before, but she hadn¡¯t imagined it would be this realistic. Hana pinched herself, hard, and the pain registered clearly. She counted and all her fingers were there. She might as well have been awake, and whatever was going on might as well be real. ¡°Are you okay, Ms. Kano? You were sleeping for a long time.¡± ¡°... Like Inception¡­¡± she mumbled to herself, thinking about how odd it was that she would wake up only to be in another dream. Maybe the next time she woke up she¡¯d be home again, passed out on the couch with reruns playing on the TV. ¡°Ms. Kano, where are we?¡± ¡°Hmm? Don¡¯t know¡­¡± She didn¡¯t remember making it home that night though. There had been no rush to the nearest station in the rain, no getting soaked since she had forgotten her umbrella, no trip home in a packed train cart with the office workers who just got off work. There had been a storm, the lights went out, lightning¡­ ¡­ And then what? Had she slipped and hit her head on the way home? It¡¯d explain the gap in her memory. Perhaps she was actually in a coma, and hopefully in a hospital room. Maybe I¡¯m already dead? ¡°Ms. Kano!¡± She quickly extinguished that thought. If she had died, and ended up here, along with the children¡­ ¡ª No! Everything¡¯s fine. Just treat everything like it¡¯s real. Don¡¯t do anything rash, don¡¯t make any trouble. Lucid dream or not, she wouldn¡¯t dare find out what would happen if she did something outrageously stupid, not with her students around. ¡°Ms. Kano, what should we do?¡± A tug on her sleeve and a very anxious child on the other end. ¡°That¡¯s a good question! How about¡­ How about we all line up with a partner!¡± Defaulting to the standard practice of daycare teachers was the only thing she could think of. The children shuffled in line, and it gave her a chance to take a quick look around. Nothing but trees and undergrowth around the small clearing, no paths in sight. ¡°Done!¡± ¡°Good job! Just one second, please.¡± If it was everyone from that evening, there should be twelve children. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twe¡ª Not twelve. That wasn¡¯t right. She must still be a bit dizzy. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten¡­ eleven? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten¡­ eleven. Eleven. Oh no. No, no, no. Who was it? Who was missing? A child unaccounted for was quite literally the worst thing that could happen for a teacher of younger children. She went through the pairs in her head, trying to ignore the lump forming in her throat. There¡¯s Aiko and Momoka, Tsugumi and Taiga, Satsuki and Souta, Itaru and Kazuo, Jun and Ritsu¡­ And Reina. That leaves¡­ ¡°Where¡¯s Yui?¡± The children looked around and at each other, clueless. Satsuki put her hand up. ¡°I got up first, but I didn¡¯t see Yui.¡± ¡°Ms. Kano! Maybe she went home already?¡± Kazuo chimed in, unhelpfully, but with good intentions. ¡°Maybe she¡¯s sick, or she¡¯s late, or¡ª¡± Panic. Panic. Panic. Should I look for her? Did she run off? Or did something else happen? If none of the other kids saw her, then she might not be here. Unless she woke up first and then¡­ I can¡¯t just leave her behind, she¡¯s probably terrified. I¡¯m terrified. I need to look for her, but what do I do about the other children? I can¡¯t just leave them here, there might be wild animals around here. What if¡­ What if something¡¯s already happened to her? ¡°Please be a dream, please be a dream¡­¡± She reached for the pocket of her apron, hoping for her phone, but there was nothing there except a handkerchief. She didn¡¯t even know if there would even be a signal in a place like this, but the item still would have been a comfort. ¡°Ms. Kano, where¡¯s Mr. Tobita? Did he not come?¡± Reina asked. He was nowhere in sight, and while the thought of him being missing was also worrying, she didn¡¯t have the capacity for that at the moment. The situation was already bad enough. No education program had ever prepared her for being lost in the woods with a dozen children. There were only two things she could think of doing immediately: look for Yui (and maybe Hikaru), or try to find her way out of here. Neither was likely to be successful. Wait¡­ She remembered the right thing to do, technically, was to stay put when lost. Of course, that would only apply if people knew they were missing. The parents would definitely notice. Last she remembered it was nearly time for them to be picked up. But judging from the sky above, it was daytime. At least a night had passed. Were they being searched for? Why hadn¡¯t they been found yet? They certainly weren¡¯t anywhere close to the daycare, that much she knew. There weren¡¯t any woods in the area, it was a primarily residential neighbourhood in the city. It was sound to think that if they were going to be rescued, it would take a while to happen. She¡¯d have to make due with the children on her own, at least for the time being. Her mind flashed to a future in which they¡¯d be living in the forest in some rickety wooden shelter or a damp cave, foraging for food. That wasn¡¯t happening. Put lightly, they were screwed. She didn¡¯t know how to start a fire or make a shelter, didn¡¯t know how to hunt or which plants were safe to eat. She never learned, never had the need to learn growing up in the city, so staying and living here wasn¡¯t an option. We have to get out of here. How? If they walked enough in one direction, they would eventually make it to some sort of path or more recognizable location. But how long would that take? Hours? Days? Weeks? Maybe even longer, seeing as kids this young didn¡¯t have the best endurance. And as far as she knew, they were in the complete wilderness. There could be wild animals like wolves or bears. How were they going to get food? Or water? There was rustling in a clump of undergrowth. Hana nearly screamed, the sound bringing her out of her spiralling panic. She leapt in front of the children. A small, pink nose poked out of the leaves, followed by a pair of antlers. ¡°It¡¯s a bunny!¡± Momoka squealed, pointing at the fluffy brown creature. ¡°No, it¡¯s a deer!¡± ¡°Rabbit-deer!¡± It was a rabbit, bar the white antlers sprouting from between its ears. The creature stood still, watching them with large, round eyes, its nose twitching. It scurried away along the edge of the clearing and back into the wilderness. ¡°Ms. Kano, do rabbits have horns?¡± Kazuo said, putting up his index fingers to his forehead, imitating the look of the creature. ¡°No, they don¡¯t.¡± Not normally. ¡°Are you sure? Because that rabbit definitely had horns!¡± A spirit, maybe? That doesn¡¯t make any sense either! It could have been a yokai of some sort, there were plenty of weird creatures that appeared in the otherworld. She was adamant on avoiding the possibility that they had all somehow died, however, so the best thing to do was just accept that rabbits had antlers now. ¡°It was definitely special. I¡¯ve never seen an animal like that before!¡± The tone of her voice was leagues more calm than her mind was. While all the children were pleasantly surprised, all she could think about now was what other strange hybrids, dangerous hybrids, could be around. Something had to hunt the rabbit-deer, right? Perhaps it was fox-bears, or spider-falcons, or¡ª Barks split through the air, and this time Hana screamed. She wasn¡¯t the only one. A pair of dogs pelted past them in such a blur that they were only identifiable by sound. They were headed in the direction of the rabbit-deer-thing. Still barking. Hunting dogs? It was hard to tell, but they looked like a western breed, the kind with floppy ears. If there were dogs, there might be people around, and that thought was a relief. She would be able to ask for directions, find a way to contact someone. ¡°Is everybody okay?¡± ¡°Mhm!¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Despite their responses, they were clearly shaken by the incident. Souta was clinging onto his older sister with tears in his eyes, Momoka had grabbed hold of Aiko, and the younger boys were all hiding behind Ritsu. She was thinking of something that might assuage their fears, but as though on cue, the sound of footsteps came from the same way the dogs had. They were solid, and heavy thumps, with the occasional crunching of twigs underfoot. The gait didn¡¯t sound like an animal¡¯s, but at this point, Hana wouldn''t be surprised if a bear on its hindquarters showed up. Luckily, it was a woman that emerged from the trees. She was about thirty, very tall and solidly built, with European-looking features¡ª angular features and a tall nose. Her wavy, reddish hair was tied back into a braid, though stray wisps poked out here and there. She had a dark green vest, and a brown tunic shirt underneath, trousers and boots. Across her waist were a variety of buckles, pouches, rope, and¡­ Was that a dagger? And a bow? The only thing that came to mind was: A cosplay? She looks like Robin Hood. The woman stared down at them with a frown, brows furrowed, eyes sweeping across the children before they fixed onto Hana. ????????? 1.02 Strange New Town ????????? Hana stared at the woman, and the woman stared back. Despite her intimidating appearance and weaponry, the woman didn¡¯t seem hostile. She did look between Hana and the children suspiciously, or maybe she was confused, it was hard to tell. Either way, to her, they must have looked incredibly out of place. The woman repeated the same question, slower this time, as though that might help. ????????? ¡°Hello?¡± Hana tried in English. She wasn¡¯t proficient in it, but years of in-school instruction had to count for something, right? It didn¡¯t work. ???? Hana racked her brain, but it didn¡¯t sound like any language she recognized. It was definitely not English. The children didn¡¯t think that though, and despite their initial surprise, a few of the braver ones waved and said ¡°hello¡± in English. Hana hushed them. She shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t understand.¡± ????? She shook her head again. ¡°... I¡¯m sorry.¡± The woman tilted her head to the side, making a small ¡°hmm¡±. She thought for a moment, one hand scratching the back of her head, freeing more red wisps of hair from her long braid. What should I say? The woman reached for the whistle around her neck and blew into it, but it didn¡¯t make any sound. Then she pointed to the children and then Hana. Her head was tilted, questioning. ¡°I¡¯m their teacher.¡± ??????? ¡°Uhh¡­¡± Hana had never been good at charades. The last time she played was at an after-work party, and she wasn¡¯t even able to sign out the word ¡®dog¡¯. She was better at guessing, but that was poor consolation, and the mediocre skill wasn¡¯t going to be of any help in this situation. ???? I¡­ I want to cry. Maybe she should have taken up Hikaru¡¯s offer to learn a new language at the nearby international language school. What had he been learning, French? Every time he talked about it, he always mentioned a different language, so she wasn¡¯t sure if he was actually being serious or not. She doubted the woman was speaking French, but still¡­ By the sound of it, it wasn¡¯t an east Asian language, though any sort of leg up would have been better than nothing. She hadn¡¯t felt this helpless since that time a non-English speaking tourist had asked her for directions on the train. And even then, she had the help of her phone to brokenly translate. ?????? ¡°I¡­ I¡­¡± The woman pointed to herself. ?Maude.? ¡°Mau¡­ de?¡± The word sounded foreign to her tongue, and she knew the sound that came out wasn¡¯t perfectly articulated. Is that her name? Hana quickly did the same. ¡°Hana.¡± ?Hana,? the woman, Maude, repeated, without the same difficulty Hana had, not that it was a particularly difficult name. She said nothing else, but continued to observe them silently until the dogs returned. The pair trotted into the clearing rabbit-less and without any barking, though they did give their owner a friendly woof in greeting before sitting by her feet, tails wagging. They looked to be the same breed, just different colours, one a pale gold and the other a warm brown. Maude gave each of them an absentminded scratch on the head, in between their floppy ears. The arrival of the animals immediately sparked the interest of the children, though they didn¡¯t have the courage to approach them. Jun was still frightened and huddled behind Ritsu. ¡°Ms. Kano, who is she?¡± Momoka asked, tugging at her apron. ¡°Why is she dressed like that?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but I¡¯ll try and talk to her.¡± ¡°But you don¡¯t know what she¡¯s saying, do you?¡± Nope. Not a clue. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll still try!¡± ?Hana.? Maude made a gesture waving her over, and pointed to the direction she had come from. ???.? Does she want us to follow her? Hana knew very well that this was the exact opposite of what they taught children, but if it was between staying in the forest and following a stranger¡­ She doesn¡¯t seem like a bad person, but¡­ Hana glanced back at the children, lined up like she asked them to, talking amongst themselves. Even in this bizarre scenario, they were very well-behaved. She made up her mind. It was questionable at best, but they had a higher rate of survival if they followed Maude than not. Her first priority was making sure that they were safe, that is, out of this forest. She could figure out anything else later. ¡°Alright, everyone, let¡¯s go! Satsuki, follow Ms. Maude!¡± ¡°The lady? Where are we going?¡± Satsuki eyed Maude suspiciously. Hana was relieved that the girl had the good sense not to follow strangers, but this was an emergency. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°Out of this forest! She¡¯s going to show us the way!¡± Hopefully. She brought up the rear, ushering the children along. Maude led the way through the trees, walking slowly and checking over her shoulder every now and then to see if they were keeping up. Horrifyingly, Hana realized that their already slow pace was hindered even further by the fact that they were all wearing indoor slippers. She heard a few complaints and shouts when they crossed a muddy patch of trail. There were a few slips, but luckily no one face planted. ¡°I saw a squirrel!¡± ¡°Where? Where?¡± ¡°Is that a bird? It looks weird.¡± ¡°Are there more rabbit-deers?¡± The mind of a child was truly a marvel. They treated it like a field trip, excitedly pointing at this and that. Whereas between helping the children up the uneven ground and imagining the multitude of disasters that could happen next, Hana was optimistically weary. ¡°Ms. Kano, is that lady your friend?¡± Taiga asked. He had picked up a stick along the way, brandishing it like a sword. His walking buddy, Tsugumi, was searching for a suitable sword of her own. If this was a regular outing, she¡¯d have asked them not to pick up anything, but this situation wasn¡¯t regular in the slightest, and anything that kept them in a good mood was welcome in her book. ¡°Yes, she¡¯s a new friend!¡± ¡°Oh. My mom said not to trust new friends right away.¡± So did mine. The golden dog stopped following Maude, circling back and weaving amongst the students, feathery tail swishing. It allowed itself to be petted by the students happily. ¡°Doggy!¡± ¡°Be gentle, okay? Don¡¯t upset the dog.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t!¡± Taiga gave the dog a pat on the head. ¡°He''s my friend!¡± So the rule doesn¡¯t apply to animals. It wasn¡¯t long before they reached a narrow, well-trodden path, and in another fifteen minutes, a wider dirt road. There was a parallel line of groves on both ends of the path, a cart or wagon of some sort must have passed by recently. Horse-drawn, by the looks of the imprints in the dirt. It didn¡¯t help Hana identify where they could possibly be, and there were no road markers anywhere. ¡°Ms. Hana!¡± Satsuki called from the front of the line. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Souta said he¡¯s tired.¡± ¡°Alright, how about I give him a piggyback ride?¡± At three years old, he was the youngest of the students, not even in kindergarten yet, so it only made sense he was tired already. Souta shuffled towards her, and she let him clamber onto her back. ¡°I want a piggyback ride too!¡± ¡°I only have one back, Kazuo.¡± She didn¡¯t mention that he was far taller, and proportionately heavier. He wasn¡¯t bothered by this, but in true fashion, he said, ¡°Imagine if someone had two backs.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure how that¡¯d work. Where would the second back go?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ They would have one head facing forwards and one head facing backwards!¡± Hana was going to pretend that whatever he described wouldn¡¯t be considered nightmare material. Rolling green fields spread out on the right, empty meadows and trees on the left. The sound of flowing water hinted at a river. Lazy white puffs hung low in the sky, rounded like cotton balls. She was reminded of her grandparents¡¯ home in the countryside, which she visited during the summer. Rice paddies were scant here, but storybook red barns dotted the fields, and the children excitedly crowded around the fence when they saw a small herd of cows grazing by the fence. A few farmers worked in the distance on wide fields of crops and there was no machinery in sight, so wherever they were must have been quite rural. The walk would have been almost enjoyable, if Hana didn¡¯t pay attention to all the jumbled and confused questions in her head. Or the fact that her arms were starting to go numb. Souta had drifted off to sleep a few minutes ago, and he was now dead weight. Hana could see what appeared to be their destination. A clump of buildings in the distance. Dusty brown stone, with dark tiled rooftops, only a couple of stories high. A town. Immediately ahead was a thin walkway surrounded by trees that led to a stream. The water appeared shallow and slow-moving, thick green reeds lined both banks. The weathered grey stone bridge that crossed it wasn¡¯t very long, about six meters in length, and even though it had few small cracks here and there, it seemed sturdy. On the other side, an old weeping willow stood guard over the path that led to a dark and narrow cobblestone alleyway. It was wide enough for two adults to walk uncomfortably side by side. This looks so sketchy¡­ It was suspect, and definitely not Japanese at all. It was like one of those fake European medieval town sets that movies were filmed in. The thought that none of this was real gave Hana a strange sort of comfort. Like they¡¯d walk into a film crew soon, who might be able to help them. What broke the illusion was the smell. It wasn¡¯t strong but it was ever-present and hard to ignore. Hana recognized it as the smell of animal waste, and there might have been some sewage and trash thrown into the mix. More than one complaint from the children was made about the smell. What sounded like church bells chimed. They were loud, so the location of their source must not have been too far away. It rang on for what must have been a whole minute, and Souta was startled awake. Jun and Aiko covered their ears. Maude turned the corner to a somewhat wider street, where on either side there were signs hanging above doorways in some foreign language that Hana couldn¡¯t even begin to guess how to read. It was a street of small shops, a few of them had displays¡ª assortments of items, bolts of cloth and spools of ribbons in one, bundles of dried herbs and sacks of dried goods in another. About half of them looked completely vacant, boarded up doors and vacant display windows. None of the shops looked open, the whole street was quiet, eerily abandoned. The end of this street intersected an even wider one. A few of the buildings here were taller, three stories at the most, and noticeably more well taken care of. Some of the windows had wooden box planters with bright flowers, or vine-like plants spilling out from them. Nothing looked modernized, and there weren¡¯t any electricity lines or telephone booths, no street lights or cars. There were people in the streets, dressed in clothes that made them look right out of a medieval fantasy¡ª colourful dresses, skirts, and tunics with leather belts. Most of them stared as Maude led them down the street, whispering to each other. Somehow, they had ended up in an old-timey, foreign country. In the middle of nowhere no less, given the lack of modernity. The last thing that any of them remembered was being at the daycare. If it had been an abduction of some kind they wouldn¡¯t have just been dropped off in the middle of the forest. Things weren¡¯t adding up. How am I supposed to get help? Would there even be any help available? How would she communicate with them? Their language was entirely different from anything Hana had encountered up until now. Maybe¡­ No, she didn¡¯t want to think that. This was definitely Earth, and not some other world. She couldn¡¯t be conjuring up fantasies right now. This whole situation is already so weird. ¡°A horse!¡± ¡°Horsie!¡± A wagon passed by, and the man in a broad sun hat driving the cart called out to Maude with a wave, probably a greeting, to which she responded in kind. The back of the cart had a few wooden containers filled with vegetables. It very quickly outpaced them and disappeared into the distance, rickety wheels rattling against the cobblestone streets. Maude stopped in front of a cute looking shop on the corner of a street. It was a building that had a store on the ground floor, and residence on the upper floor. The storefront entrance was painted green, and although Hana couldn¡¯t read the words above the entrance, she could guess the function of the building from the sign above. It hung on metal hinges, and burned into the wood sign was a picture of loaves of bread in a woven basket. A¡­ Bakery? 1.03 Magic?! Maude stepped into the bakery, the bell fixed to the top of the door tinkling as she opened it. The dogs waited by the door obediently. Satsuki, who had been leading the group after her, stopped in front of the door, unsure as to what to do. The building didn¡¯t seem big enough to handle a dozen extra guests, so Hana asked them to line up outside to wait. She let down Souta, her arms burning from carrying him the whole time. The smell of bread, rich, warm and inviting wafted out, and the view of fresh loaves of bread, rolls, and sweet pastries through the windows were impossible to ignore. More than one child mentioned being a bit hungry, and that got Hana thinking. How much time has passed since we got here? The walk into this strange town might have been less than an hour, but what about the time from the daycare to waking up in the forest? A whole night might have elapsed, and it looked to be about midday now. Her thoughts would have spiralled further, if not for Maude stepping out of the shop with company. A young woman and man, both around Hana¡¯s age. The woman was only a little taller than Hana, with long light brown hair tied in a half-up style with a strip of cloth. She wore an apron dusted with flour over a green skirt that matched the colour of the storefront. She made a surprised sound when she got a gander at the line up of dirty, strangely dressed them. The man trailed behind, lanky, with dark hair. Hana must have been hallucinating, because she could have sworn that his hair had a purple undertone to it. He wore a blue robe over his tunic shirt that almost looked like a haori coat. A basket with two large, dark loaves was tucked under his arm. He was looking at them in equal surprise and fascination. A wizard? The sentiment was repeated in hushed tones by her students. ?????? The woman asked Maude, who shook her head. She had a softer, pleasant sounding voice, in contrast to Maude¡¯s deeper and more intimidating one. The woman approached Hana. ??????? That sounded like a different language that the one Maude was speaking, but not one that Hana knew. She shook her head apologetically. The woman¡¯s eyes lit up with an idea. She turned to the man. ?????? He tried. Another different language. ?????? ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I don¡¯t understand at all.¡± Hana felt like she had been asked the same question multiple times at this point, but all she could do was shake her head. I¡¯m so screwed. If she could get her hands on some paper and a pen she could communicate by drawing, but all she had on her was a stupid handkerchief. The man¡¯s eyebrows furrowed, eyes swimming back and forth searching for a plan. He tapped a finger against his chin in thought. ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Argh!¡± Hana¡¯s hands flew to her temples. The man¡¯s voice was inside her head, and more shockingly, she understood it. But that wasn¡¯t right, she could still hear him talking in that other language she didn¡¯t understand. ¡°Can you understand me now?¡± ¡°Huh¡­ Huh? Huh?! How are you¡ª?¡± Whatever was going on, she didn¡¯t like the feeling she got from it. It was uncomfortable every time he spoke, like someone was tickling the inside of her brain. Even when he wasn¡¯t talking, there was a sort of static hum in the background, the same kind of pins and needles feeling when a part of her body fell asleep. ¡°It¡¯s a spell.¡± ¡°A spell¡­ Like magic?!¡± He did not share her incredulous sentiment, but he seemed amused. ¡°Yeah.¡± WHAT?! This was bad. So, so bad. Beyond bad. It meant that wherever she was right now was not Earth, much less Japan. ¡°But¡­ But¡ª¡± ¡°Your name is Hana?¡± She nodded, still uncomfortable at the humming in her brain and still reeling from the fact that magic existed. Desperate, Hana asked, ¡°I guess you don¡¯t have telephones? Or the Internet?¡± ¡°Tele-whats? What kind of net?¡± ¡°Nevermind¡­¡± ¡°Maude said she found you in the forest,¡± the man continued with a nod at Maude. ¡°What were you doing there?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, really. We just woke up there.¡± ¡°Where are you from?¡± ¡°Japan.¡± The word stumped the man. ¡°¡­ Earth?¡± ¡°Is that a country? I¡¯ve never heard of it.¡± Maude asked him something. She couldn¡¯t understand what, but she did understand him explaining what she had just told him, and both Maude and the other woman¡¯s faces looked confused. They began pelting questions at him. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ???????? ¡°No, I never learned anything like that.¡± ???????????? ¡°How would I do that?¡± ?????? ¡°Magic has its limits, Vurrie,¡± he sighed. The woman, Vurrie, by the looks of it, had many more questions, which he continued to answer in the same curt manner. Their situation must have been incredibly peculiar if even the wizard didn¡¯t know what was going on. The man turned back to her. ¡°You didn¡¯t anger a mage or anything, did you?¡± ¡°No!¡± ¡°Were you part of some experiment?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Are you a mage?¡± ¡°Not at all! Magic doesn¡¯t exist on Earth.¡± ¡°Exiled?¡± He tried. Hana shook her head. ¡°I really don¡¯t know how we got here.¡± ¡°That settles it. Another world it is! Explains those weird clothes!¡± Unlike her, he was taking this ¡®another world existing¡¯ business remarkably well. Maybe he knew something that the rest of them didn¡¯t. Hana was glad to see that Vurrie was equally as confounded as she was. ¡°Is there any way to go back?¡± ¡°To¡­ What did you call it? Earth? I¡¯m not sure.¡± Hana hung her head, muttering to herself. The urge to curl up into a ball and give up on everything increased with every passing moment. ¡°What am I going to do¡­¡± ¡°Do you have anywhere to go?¡± He looked at her mournful expression. ¡°I¡­ I guess not.¡± The humming in her brain stopped. She wasn¡¯t sure whether or not to be grateful for it¡ª it was a welcome distraction that was currently preventing a total mental collapse. He had a quick conversation with Vurrie and Maude. More with Vurrie¡ª Maude hardly spoke a word, but was listening intently. The hum returned. ¡°Vurrie says there¡¯s a place where you and your children can stay for the time being.¡± ¡°My children?¡± Hana looked behind her, her students still lined up neatly and watching with wide-eyed interest. ¡°No! They¡¯re not¡ª I¡¯m a daycare teacher.¡± ¡°¡­ Daycare?¡± ¡°Their teacher! When their parents are at work or they¡¯re not in school.¡± She didn¡¯t think explaining in full would do much for the purpose of the conversation. ¡°I do take care of them¡­ And if we¡¯re staying here we will need a place to stay.¡± ¡°Perfect! Vurrie, let¡¯s go.¡± Vurrie nodded, slipped back into the shop. While they waited, the gears in Hana¡¯s mind began to turn to the alarming again. ¡°Umm¡­ Excuse me!¡± The humming returned. ¡°What is it?¡± Hana began rapidly stumbling over her words, about the disappearance of Yui. That was to say, she didn¡¯t even know if she was here, but the chances of her being here and being missing weren¡¯t zero. Given the oddity of their coming to this world, she explained how it might not have been out of the question if she had appeared somewhere not too far away or wandered off. He seemed alarmed, asked her for a description of the girl, which she gave readily, and explained the predicament to Maude. The woman frowned, clicked her tongue, to which the dogs responded, untangling themselves from the children to chase after her as she raced off. ¡°She said she¡¯d take a look. The dogs should be able to pick up something.¡± ¡°Thank you, Mr¡­¡± ¡°Aloys. Just Aloys is fine.¡± Vurrie returned, without her apron, carrying a set of keys on an iron loop. She locked up the bakery, and gestured for them to follow along. Hana took the lead this time, looking back constantly to make sure all five pairs plus one were accounted for. ¡°Ms. Kano, where are we going?¡± ¡°A place to rest!¡± None of the kids complained at this. All of the walking back and forth to places and circumstances unknown was draining on her, much less the children. She desperately hoped that they couldn¡¯t see that she was equally as lost as they were. ¡°Ms. Kano, how do you know what he¡¯s saying?¡± ¡°She said there was magic,¡± Ritsu said. ¡°Ms. Kano, is that man a wizard?¡± ¡°No, maybe Ms. Kano is the one that knows magic!¡± Their theories quickly devolved. The next time Hana tuned in she was part witch, part dragon, and her mother was a queen. Then Momoka mentioned Pri Princess Dream!¡ª that one Hana recognized as an anime¡ª and now she was a magical girl. Aloys played translator as they went along. Vurrie explained how the place was an inn that her uncle had meant to open, but never got the chance to. In any case, the building was currently out of use, and they were free to stay there for the time being. Hana thanked her profusely, and when Vurrie heard the interpretation, she smiled. Aloys added his own thoughts. ¡°Diris doesn¡¯t get a lot of visitors, and there¡¯s already an inn on the main street, so Vurrie hasn¡¯t done anything with it. She keeps saying that she¡¯ll do something with it, but she¡¯s always putting it off.¡± This remark earned a good-natured retort from Vurrie. Aloys chose not to translate what she had said. Hana had a million questions, none of which she could seem to articulate at the moment. Instead, she put one foot in front of the other. The next street over was the main street, as Aloys pointed out, and she could feel the stares of other street goers. They were going in a different direction from where they had come from, and in between glancing back to count pairs, Hana tried picking up landmarks. A tall building on the corner with a flag hanging off a pole that jutted from the wall, a green copper statue of a dragon clutching an egg that was nearly the same size as itself. She knew it would escape her mind, but it gave her something to focus on. A large building with a bell tower loomed over the main street square, it was lined on either side by a row of trees. There was a long and wide staircase that led up to the whitewashed building. Aloys labelled it as the temple as they passed. Hana wondered what sort of religion was practiced here. She hadn¡¯t grown up practising any religion, nor had she ever thought of joining one herself, but judging by the prominence of the building and its prime location in the middle of the town, it must have had a significant presence here. They then turned away from the bigger street into a more residential one. The buildings were uniformly the same dusty brown brick, though a few had shutters and trim in colourful but peeling paint. The houses were cute, adorned with an abundance of planter boxes with greenery and flowers, ivy crawling up the sides of walls. Hana thought the town would have made a wonderfully quaint tourist destination. At the end of the lane there was a semi-private residence which bordered a copse of trees that probably extended into the forest further down. It had a low brick wall without a front gate and a wide front yard littered with construction materials. It didn¡¯t give the impression of being an inn¡ª it had a more homely feel to it, in part due to its less than prime location. Hana couldn¡¯t be too sure, but they seemed to be at the edge of the town. The would-be inn was quite wide in comparison to the homes in the surrounding neighbourhood, with two stories and an attic space, topped with the same dark roof as the other buildings in Diris. The first floor was made of solid grey brick, the second was whitewashed with a dark wood trim. There were no signs of the place being occupied, unlike the other homes nearby. No flowers, no colourfully painted trim. Vurrie unlocked the tall front door with one of her keys, inviting them inside with a smile. Hana stepped in, but didn¡¯t get a chance to look at the interior. Instead, a heavy grey-white haze washed over them. 1.04 And Magic Devices Too It was dust. The first thing Hana noticed was the dust. Really the only thing that could be noticed, as the disturbance of their entry kicked up a whole cloud of it, so much that it sent Hana coughing and reeling. Blinking the dust from her watering eyes, she motioned for the children to wait at the threshold. Vurrie shouted something apologetically, throwing open the windows immediately and rushing to the back, the movement creating another grey cloud. ¡°She hasn¡¯t been in here for at least two years,¡± Aloys said, clearing his throat. Vurrie returned from somewhere in the back with an old broom that was equally as dusty as the room. She said something, but Aloys just gestured for her and Hana to step outside. ¡°It¡¯d be easier if I just¡ª¡± He backed up to the doorway and made some quick motions with his hand. Hana didn¡¯t get a very good look from behind him. A small whirlwind formed inside the building, barely higher than the knees, catching dust and debris as it circled the room before guiding it all out the backdoor Vurrie had opened. A thin layer of dust remained, mostly on the counter tops. The air seemed breathable. The display of magic left Hana speechless, but Vurrie made a quip. ¡°I¡¯m not cleaning your house.¡± She made what must have been an offer. ¡°Make it four damis and you¡¯ve got a deal.¡± Now that there was no dust in the way, Hana could get a proper look at the place. In the middle of the wide room there was a long bar counter with stools and a serving window behind it to a kitchen. Wooden chairs and an assortment of different sized tables were precariously stacked on top of each other on the far right wall by the stairs. There was a stone fireplace by the left wall, the same colour as the exposed stone wall. Hana helped Aloys unstack some chairs and square tables, and Vurrie found a rag to wipe down a good portion of the remainder of dust. ¡°Come in everyone. Don¡¯t take off your shoes.¡± A cardinal sin, normally, but there was no way she was having them shuffle around here without any shoes. Sure the top layer of dust was removed, but she didn¡¯t doubt it was still dirty, and there might be a loose nail or something lying around on the dark wood floor. The children filed in, looking around in curiosity. They filled up the seats in no time at all, eager to get off their feet after the amount of walking and standing they¡¯d endured thus far. ¡°There are rooms upstairs,¡± Aloys relayed. ¡°They might also need some cleaning.¡± ¡°I can do that.¡± She was starting to get antsy again. She needed to do something productive, but she also needed to watch the children. ¡°But¡­¡± She looked at the children, watching her curiously. ¡°It¡¯s alright. I can talk to them.¡± Aloys tapped his head. ¡°The spell works for children too.¡± Hana gave the children an official introduction to Aloys¡ª he was a wizard!¡ª and watched them swarm Aloys with questions. Though he seemed to be answering them all with great enthusiasm, the spell must have only worked with one person at a time. She couldn¡¯t understand what responses he was giving them anymore, but the children¡¯s ¡®wow¡¯s¡¯ and ¡®ooh¡¯s¡¯, and asking him to do spells and whatnot were well received by him. He began impressing the room with little light shows, making little light stick figures dance around. Convinced that he wasn¡¯t going to do anything out of pocket, and thoroughly impressed by the magic, Hana headed upstairs with Vurrie, rolling up her sleeves. Despite the dust giving the impression that the place was old, the wooden stairs were sturdy. The second floor was a simple hall with seven doors, marginally less dusty than the ground floor. Four doors on the right, two on the left where space had to be made for the stairs, a final door and set of stairs at the very end of the hall. They swept the hallway down first. The dust was still so thick that it rolled up like a sheet when pushed by the broom. Hana swept it all into a corner, making a lumpy life-sized dust bunny. Vurrie opened the closest door on the right first. The interior was unsurprisingly dirty, but at least the beds and furniture had been covered by large white cloth. There were two beds, each suited to sleep one adult, on either end of the room. A small shelf hung above each headboard. There was a small desk and chair in between them. It was a bare bones room, nothing in it indicating luxury, but it was practical. A quick sweep of the floor, wiping down window sills and other surfaces, removing the white cloths covering the beds. Even with another set of hands, it took about fifteen minutes to clear one room, and Hana wasn¡¯t entirely satisfied with the cleanliness. She doubted she would ever be, considering she didn¡¯t have a bottle of cleaning solution and a microfiber cloth. The rooms were all about the same, save for the one at the end of the hall. It was larger, and entirely empty. Situated at the end of the building, it had wonderful access to light from the windows on three of its walls. It might have been used as a cheap room where guests brought their own bedroll, or just a free space to gather around. They left that one as is¡ª there was no need for it at the moment. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. They were interrupted part way through cleaning the fifth room. Another long bell had signified the passing of an hour. ?Hana! Hannaaa!? Hana put down the broom, and excused herself with a nod. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Well, I was talking to some of the kids,¡± Aloys began. ¡°And some of them need to¡ª¡± She was met with a mixed chorus singing variations on ¡®I need to pee!¡¯. Ah. Honestly, she was surprised that they had held on for so long without any of them needing to go. ¡°Are there washrooms here?¡± She hadn¡¯t seen any upstairs. It turned out ¡®washroom¡¯ was one of those words that didn¡¯t quite exist, but it didn¡¯t take him long at all to understand. ¡°Oh. The privy. It¡¯s outside.¡± Past the bar counter and kitchen, through the backdoor, was a little space with an awning overlooking the backyard. The remains of construction work, broken planks and tile, splintered beams and broken brick lay in a large pile against one side, piled higher than the low wall. The hazardous heap looked like it might topple at any moment, and Hana gave it a wide berth as she crossed the yard. There were two large wooden sheds in the backyard, of about the same size. There was a small gap between the two of them. Aloys pointed out the one on the left being the outhouse. Inside the outhouse were three stalls. It was too much to hope for a modern, or even vintage toilet, however. Each one looked like a box with a hole at the center and nothing else. The toilets had the appearance of being clean, but Hana didn¡¯t trust it, not after all the cleaning that had to be done upstairs. ¡°So, toilet paper¡­¡± ¡°You use paper for the toilet? To wipe?¡± Oh. I¡¯m in hell. Actually, the underworld might have toilet paper. This was certifiably, undeniably worse. ¡°What do you use?¡± Hana was afraid to ask. Please don¡¯t say ¡®nothing¡¯. Or ¡®hands¡¯. Or ¡®a stick¡¯. Or¡ª ¡°Rags or leaves, mostly. There¡¯s some mullein outside. Just need to rinse it off first.¡± Aloys strolled out and picked some leaves from a plant growing by the wall. The leaves were low to the ground, growing in a spiral-like clump like a succulent. He handed them to her, and the first thing she noticed was how soft it was. There were worse replacements for toilet paper, she supposed. Only a few steps away from the outhouse there was what looked like a water pump, like the old ones that required hand power. Underneath the bits of moss and dirt, it was clear that the pump itself wasn¡¯t actually very old. He approached the water pump, inspecting it quickly from all angles. He brushed away some moss on the curved handle. Hana wasn¡¯t sure what he was looking for, but he appeared satisfied and was nodding to himself. ¡°A very reliable model.¡± Aloys fished around in the sleeves of his robe, and pulled out a white spherical stone the size of a large marble. He placed it inside a divot right above the spout, and it clicked into place. Pulling down the handle far down enough locked it into place as well. Water gargled, coming out from the spout in short bursts, but soon clear water flowed from the spout in a steady stream. The shallow stone basin underneath it had small holes arranged in a floral pattern to drain excess water away. ¡°It¡¯s clean,¡± Aloys reassured her. To prove his point he cupped a handful of water and drank it. ¡°That stone¡­¡± ¡°A marvusel. Stores mana. There¡¯s a filter inside that purifies the water, all it needs is the energy. For this one, it¡¯ll eject the stone when there¡¯s no more mana left. Now, older models will either do nothing, or use a mana sensor to determine the remaining mana left in the stone. That comes with its upsides and downsides too, you see¡­¡± There was more, but it seemed to be veering into the overly technical, and Hana stopped trying to understand when the translation spell left half of the words he said unchanged. She was more than happy to just consider it a magical device, which didn¡¯t seem so far-fetched if she accepted that magic itself existed. Hana squatted down and ran her fingers underneath the stream. It was cold. She cupped some of it in her palms. It smelled fresh, like spring water. The filter contraption on the pump¡­ Hana was impressed that it managed to clean the water this well. There wasn¡¯t much of a way to see if it held up to modern water treatment other than giving it a shot. She rinsed off the leaves, gave the toilet seats a good wipe-down, and headed back inside to collect the children that needed to go. It turned out to be all of them. Luckily, they didn¡¯t need any help for this part, and although they were off put by the leaves as well, she was able to convince them they were clean and safe to use. She stood by the entrance of the outhouse, handing out the mullein leaves like campaign promoters handing out little packets of tissue paper on the streets. ¡°What¡¯s in the other building?¡± ¡°Bathtubs, probably.¡± Aloys was overseeing the rinsing of hands¡ª there was no soap¡ª and was jumping at the chance to explain the device inside the water pump to any of the kids who stopped to listen for a second. Once the conversation got too technical, they excused themselves and ran off in search of their friends. Hana surveyed the gaggle of muddy children in front of her. ¡°Would it be okay if we used them?¡± ¡°Vurrie said you can use the place however you need. Don¡¯t see why not.¡± When the last of the children finished up with the toilets, Hana gave them very clear instructions to wait by the back wall, safely away from the leaning tower of wreckage. There were two rooms in the little bathhouse, each identical. A faucet was fixed to the wall, with a rounded wooden tub, almost shaped like the modern bathtub, sitting underneath. There was a small table for towels, clothes, and other belongings. One end of the tub had an extended ledge with a depression for soap. At least, she hoped it was for soap. If that didn¡¯t exist here, she would give up. Let¡¯s see what we¡¯re working with¡­ Hana peered inside the tub and instantly regretted it. 1.05 Clean Up Time Aloys placed one of those magic orbs, a marvusel, into the empty slot by the base of the tub faucet. He made sure it was secured properly, and turned on the tap. Like the pump outside, water started coming out of the faucet in short spurts, but soon a steady stream was produced. The water was cold and clean like the pump from outside. That clear water very soon highlighted the grime of the wooden tub. Hana fussed about cleaning the bathtub so much that Aloys had to stop and make comment. She had to take a minute after seeing that in the tub. ¡°You¡¯re a very clean person.¡± A bold thing to say when she herself was still covered in dirt from her impromptu arrival. An even bolder thing to say after she discovered a dead rat inside the tub. It wasn¡¯t some small field mouse either, it was about the size of a volleyball¡ª large, round, matted and dusty, and dead. Aloys wasn¡¯t keen on touching it either, so he did some spell to whisk it outside discreetly. Truth be told, she had never seen a rat before and was perfectly content with that bit of ignorance, and she wasn¡¯t keen on seeing one again. ¡°I¡¯m normal. This place is just too dirty. How does the tub drain?¡± There was a plug at the bottom that connected to some sort of drainage system. Like with everything new here, Hana didn¡¯t need to know the particulars, only that it worked. The water that drained out of the tub was murky brown. ¡°What do you use to clean on Earth?¡± ¡°There¡¯s cleaning wipes, disinfectant sprays, cleaning solutions, detergent, bleach, sanitizer, body wash, shampoo, conditioner¡­¡± Some of these words had gone right over his head, the translation spell finding no corollary in the language he spoke, but he never prompted her for an explanation and let her rant on. He even left at one point, returning with a bundle of bar soap¡ª there were two bars inside¡ª while Hana was talking about pressure washers. She almost cried at the sight of it, unwrapping it immediately. It was a plain white bar soap, not scented with anything in particular, but it smelled clean and that was all that mattered. She would use one for cleaning, the other could be used for bathing. ¡°Earth keeps itself very clean,¡± Aloys said in amusement. ¡°Definitely not.¡± Disease, disease, disease, was all she could think about. Weren¡¯t rats one of the main carriers of disease, or at the very least, hosts to things that did? Bacteria were the bane of humanity for centuries before the advent of antibiotics. There was no modern medicine she could rely on here. She spent fifteen minutes scrubbing every last inch of the tub, the first ten it was so dirty that there were no suds, and she changed the water five times. This world might just manage to turn her into a mysophobe. ¡°You could eat out of that tub.¡± ¡°Absolutely not,¡± Hana sighed, resigning herself to a less than satisfactory clean, wringing out her soapy rag. The tub was technically squeaky clean, but she still didn¡¯t trust it. ¡°But it¡¯ll do.¡± Bar soap and cold water was not going to be popular with the children, but it would get them clean, and that was all that mattered. This isn¡¯t going to be fun. But the things that needed to be done in life rarely equated to having fun, so Hana forced herself to get over it. The children were along the wall outside, sitting under the shade of a tree, looking for bugs within the bushes and grass where the patch of mullein leaves were. Momoka was especially excited to hear that they would be able to wash up, she was particular about cleanliness, and wasn¡¯t looking too happy to begin with. A cleaning line was formed. Hana had to clean their clothes while they were bathing and have them ready when they were finished. She attacked smudges of dirt, and patches of dried mud. The smocks were easy to wash, as they were made to be, but getting stains out almost everything else proved much more difficult even with soap. Intermittently, she was interrupted by a call for help in the bathroom¡ª how to use the faucet, or a complaint that the water was cold, or that they had accidentally dropped the soap, or that they were done but their clothes weren¡¯t cleaned yet. Once they were cleaned and changed, they were sent back inside the inn before they could run around and get dirty again. She was glad for Aloys, who had offered to dry the clothes as she washed them. There were no spells to conveniently clean clothes, he explained when she asked, but drying them was simpler. He passed a hand over the clothes, and the water rose up from the cloth and into an amorphous, liquid blob underneath his palm. He cast aside the water into the bushes, where it scattered like a broken water balloon. Every now and then he made a comment about how fascinating Earth clothing was¡ª t-shirts, jeans, plain old long-sleeved shirts, it was all delightfully intriguing to him. He held up a purple shirt and asked her how it was dyed, to which she had no idea. Getting everybody, herself excluded, clean took the better part of three hours, which she only knew because of the bells that seemed to chime far too often.
¡°Satsuki.¡± She turned around at the sound of her name. Satsuki was expecting this conversation to happen sooner rather than later, and now was as good a time as any. Souta was preoccupied with looking for bugs with Jun. So long as he didn¡¯t wander off too far, and he rarely did, she could keep an eye on him while she talked with Ritsu. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking.¡± Yes, he did that a lot. Maybe too much, Satsuki thought, but it wasn¡¯t her place to tell him not to. He¡¯d just think about it even more. He was always stuck inside his own head, to his detriment most times, though he seemed oblivious to it. They had been in the same daycare class since they were four, and though they didn¡¯t talk much, they weren¡¯t strangers either. She got along with him about as well as anyone else in their class did, which is to say, not much. They tolerated each other, but beyond having to share an activities table or art supplies, their interactions were limited. ¡°About what?¡± ¡°This situation.¡± She waited for Ritsu to continue. ¡°Ms. Kano obviously doesn¡¯t know what she¡¯s doing.¡± ¡°She¡¯s been acting nervous,¡± Satsuki agreed. There was an edge in their teacher¡¯s voice that was unlike her usual self. Satsuki would have been more worried if their teacher was acting like nothing strange had happened at all. ¡°We don¡¯t know how we got here, so we don¡¯t know how to go back. I think it¡¯s safe to say that we¡¯re stuck here.¡± That would be the logical conclusion. But Satsuki wasn¡¯t entirely sure what could be considered logical anymore, since magic existed. Which was difficult to believe, her mother told her magic was just visual tricks and not to be fooled by it, but they had all seen proof of it earlier. And if Mr. Aloys could talk to them from inside their heads, who was to say that there wouldn¡¯t be a way back eventually? ¡°There¡¯s no way home for now,¡± she corrected. ¡°And how long is ¡®for now¡¯? We need to have a plan.¡± ¡°For what?¡± Surely not to find a way home, as he seemed to dismiss. ¡°Living here. Surviving here.¡± Ritsu went off in great detail about how they needed money for food, rent, clothing, utilities, etc., and Satsuki was beginning to regret starting this conversation. He had been overthinking. He said something about taxes, she wasn¡¯t sure what those were, and she had to cut him off there. ¡°What do you want us to do?¡± ¡°For starters, we should work on managing the others.¡± He went off on a spiel about how they had to keep the others in line, make sure that their behaviour was acceptable, that it would lessen the burden on their only caregiver, et cetera. Satsuki didn¡¯t mind. They were the eldest of the kids, so having more responsibility was a given. It was only right that they help out more since they were capable of it. Making this whole situation work was a team effort. How well Ritsu would be at corralling the boys, she wasn¡¯t sure, though he seemed confident he would have it under control. ¡°I was going to do that anyway. Do you think you can handle the boys?¡± ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I be able to?¡± She looked over his shoulder to watch Itaru and Kazuo jumping off the wall and tackling each other in the process. A good amount of yelling and roughhousing was involved. Ritsu was taller than them, as was Satsuki, but she didn¡¯t think that he could hold up in a fight against the two of them, especially if Taiga decided he wanted in too. ¡°Hmm.¡± Ritsu glanced behind himself and rolled his eyes, not particularly worried. ¡°Then we make it official. I¡¯ll handle them, you handle the girls.¡± ¡°If you need help you can ask.¡± He rolled his eyes again. Splitting up the work and having each other for back up was a good idea, not that she thought he would ever ask for any. What was the word again? Pride? At any rate, it was better to start it now and improve as they needed to. ¡°So we work together. The Alliance.¡± She had heard the word once on TV and asked her mother what it meant. The definition she was given seemed to apply well here. ¡°We are not calling it ¡®The Alliance¡¯,¡± he scoffed, crossing his arms. ¡°How lame is that?¡± ¡°Do you have a better name?¡± She asked this knowing full well that neither of them were the creative type. She was right. He didn¡¯t.
A lot had happened today. Taiga had climbed up onto the wall that surrounded the backyard, kicking his legs out idly. He still had his stick sword, and it rested on his lap. He wasn¡¯t sure what was going on. He knew it was some sort of surprise field trip, which he was definitely a fan of, but there was something different about this one. Ms. Kano seemed kind of panicked, but she seemed to know what she was doing. Mr. Aloys was cool, and since Taiga had always suspected that magic was real, it was nice to see that his suspicions were proven right. He was wondering when they¡¯d be able to go out and look for dragons, which had to exist if magic did too. He hadn¡¯t gotten the chance to ask Mr. Aloys, he seemed to know a lot, but he was sure he would get the chance to later. They were waiting in line to take a bath. Some of the girls insisted on going first, Momoka mostly, and it only seemed right to let them if they cared that much. He didn¡¯t think he was all that dirty. He was getting hungry though. It was the one downside of this surprise field trip. If he had known in advance, he would have told his mom, and she would have packed him an extra bento and a pair of shoes he could actually run in. I¡¯m bored¡­ After kindergarten and daycare, he would usually watch TV while his mom made dinner. Aside from the anime on the weekends, he liked the real-life programs that explored animals and the wilderness. They once showed a komodo dragon, which was really a lizard. A huge venomous lizard, sure, but that was just a cool lizard that looked like it didn¡¯t have teeth. It didn¡¯t hold up to a fire-breathing, flying, giant, scaly dragon. Earlier they had seen a rabbit-deer and the dogs that followed Ms. Mott¡ª was it Mr. Mott? He hadn¡¯t been paying that much attention. He wondered what other types of animals there were here. Fox-bears or spider-falcons? Or kaiju? Dinosaurs? His mind kept going back to dragons. ¡°Taiga!¡± Ms. Kano called him over, and he realized he was the last one waiting outside. Mr. Aloys was still there, and since he wasn¡¯t doing anything right now, he could answer his question! ¡°Mr. Aloys.¡± Taiga tugged on the man¡¯s wide sleeve, and a white stone came tumbling out of it. ¡°Oops.¡± With quick reflexes, Aloys snatched it up before it hit the ground. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Do dragon¡¯s exist?¡± The wizard smiled. ¡°They sure do.¡± 1.06 The First Night Just as everyone was finished washing up, Vurrie¡ª who Hana thought had disappeared after helping her clean¡ª returned with two picnic baskets in tow. Covered in checkered cloth were small rolls, an assortment of cheeses, fruit, and slices of ham. Dinner. Aloys found pitchers, wooden cups and bowls from rummaging around underneath the bar counter. Hana rinsed them off outside, and filled the pitchers with water. She helped Vurrie hand out the food to the hungry children waiting patiently at their tables. It was getting dark, and instead of the candles, Aloys switched on the iron wrought lantern that hung from the ceiling. It might have been fuelled by gas or maybe there was a marvusel in there. It cast a bright, incandescent glow around the inn, giving the space a soft, cozy atmosphere. Back at the daycare, when the students for late-pick up would stay for dinner, the supervising teachers would sit amongst them to chat. The children found their own spots to eat, and didn¡¯t seem all that interested in conversation with an adult at the moment, so she took up a table . The moment she sat down, a wave of exhaustion came over Hana, and she realized that she had been standing the whole time. Her stomach growled in protest, despite her feeling queasy, and she helped herself to a roll. She was too hungry to care whether or not the food was nutritional or warm, and the children were of the same sentiment. Food was food. She would have eaten most anything, except the cheese¡ª she was terribly lactose intolerant and didn¡¯t want to be confined to the outhouse for the rest of the evening. Hana took the opportunity to thank both Aloys and Vurrie again. She really didn¡¯t know what she would have done without them. Vurrie was bashful, and Aloys modestly told her to think nothing of it. He said something about the will of Selav, reassured that she made her gratitude more than well known, and insisted they never bring up the topic again. He had her explain the particularities of her job, and she was more than happy to. There were morning lessons where they learned katakana and hiragana, practiced reading and writing, they did arts and crafts, music, took walks, there was nap time and recess, meal and snack times. There were some seasonal activities and the occasional field trip, but that was about it. There was some polite nodding, they asked if she was affiliated with a temple of sorts, perhaps that was what third-party childcare was associated with here. The more she talked, the more mundane and monotonous her life seemed. ¡°What do you do?¡± Embarrassed and more than ready to stop talking about herself, Hana turned to Aloys. ¡°You''re a mage, right?¡± ¡°I am. I work as an artificer. Devices that run using an external source of mana.¡± There were many different career paths in the field of magic, and though Aloys was particularly good at casting spells and the like, his interests lay more on the inventing side. Vurrie said something jokingly that he chose not to translate again. ¡°I¡¯m just taking a break, that¡¯s all.¡± Aloys said he was in the midst of a rut concerning his design work. Every time he would spend hours staring at a blank sheet of paper without a single idea in mind. He was spending most of his time fixing old devices around the town rather than trying to come up with anything new. Vurrie said she ran the bakery on the corner of Estau Street, having recently taken over the family business after her grandmother. The job wasn¡¯t a choice she would have made for herself, but it paid and she had the skills for it. Despite the language and cultural barriers, it was easy to relate to them. They were similar in age to Hana, only a year or two younger, and their thoughts of being stuck in life, not quite knowing what to do next or what their ambitions were for the future was likewise felt. She thought she would have had life figured out by twenty-four, but there was really no difference from when she had started working at twenty-two till now. She hadn¡¯t done anything of note in two years, hadn¡¯t really developed any new hobbies or skills, and wondered how ¡®proper¡¯ adults found the time for it all. In some ways, this transmigration of sorts might just be the kind of reset she needed. There was nothing wrong with thinking on the bright side for once. There were upsides to being here now. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. They wrapped up dinner, and the children stacked their bowls and cups on the bar counter. Vurrie excused herself, she had to be up early to fire the oven in the morning, and they saw her off at the door. Hana announced that it was about time for bed. There had been a lull in the children¡¯s conversations around the room, and when she looked around, a few of them were already droopy-eyed and quiet. ¡°What about pyjamas?¡± ¡°Why can¡¯t we go home?¡± ¡°What about brushing our teeth?¡± She was met with an avalanche of valid questions that she had no decent answer for. Hana redirected them somewhat successfully by ushering them upstairs, and they were curious enough to comply. They picked out their own roommates, neatly sorting themselves out as though they already knew who they wanted to partner with. They were all tired after the day they had and there was very little need to convince them to quiet down. She went through the rooms with a lantern in hand, saying goodnight and offering hugs. The occasional bedtime story was requested, and Hana complied. It worked out well for the first few rooms, but partway through, most of the children were already asleep when she went to check on them. ¡°Ms. Kano, I want to go home.¡± Momoka sat on the edge of the bed, kicking her feet. Her roommate Tsugumi was already knocked out on the other bed. She looked small and anxious in the dark, and it impressed upon Hana that no matter what she felt, she needed to be there for the children. ¡°I know.¡± Hana crouched down to meet her at eye level. ¡°Me too.¡± ¡°When can I go home?¡± ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know yet.¡± She decided on the more honest approach. It would save everyone a lot of grief in the long run. ¡°I¡¯ll ask around and try to figure out how we got here.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll try really hard?¡± ¡°I will.¡± She wasn¡¯t fully satisfied with the answer, Hana wouldn¡¯t have if she had been told this herself, but Momoka reluctantly nodded. They pinky promised. ¡°Can I have a hug?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Hana tucked her in, and at her request, left the door open a little. She continued going down the hallway, little mental attendance going through her head. The last room was Taiga and Jun¡¯s. She looked in and they were both asleep. Taiga had been pelting questions at Aloys about dragons before Hana had to play bad cop and get him to wash up. Dragons, as it turned out, were very much real. She didn¡¯t understand Aloys¡¯ end of the conversation, but it didn¡¯t seem like there would be dragons flying around at night or going around razing villages any time soon. Perhaps they were rare, or better yet, a part of history. Even so, she had never seen him more excited in his life, he was a very enthusiastic and active boy. Even in sleep he was kicking off his blanket and rolling around. Jun, on the other hand, slept curled up in the corner by the wall, stock still. She had wanted to speak to him earlier, not that she knew what to even say¡ª it would be best if she could articulate her thoughts better before attempting to. He was a good kid, and Hana would never have said otherwise. He was quiet, had good manners, and liked to learn, perhaps he was a bit clumsier than the average child, but that was hardly an irredeemable flaw. It was certainly no reason to hit him. She thought her eyes were playing tricks on her earlier. And when she saw the bruises she had been too stunned to speak, too confused and busy and cowardly and sick to her stomach. Angry purple marks mixed with fading green and yellow ones, cigarette burns, cuts scabbed over or scarring. She had hardly looked long enough to take proper inventory of his wounds, but she could notice all that from a single, stomach-dropping glance. He was so young and so small and so hurt. He was barely more than a baby, really, he barely came up to her elbow. The thought that Jun very well could have lived his whole life up until now knowing nothing but pain and abuse and fear hurt him more than it ever would her. It weighed heavy and piercing on her heart. The more she thought about it now, the further enraged she got. Even her faltering earlier today made her feel disgustingly complicit. His teachers had never said anything. Did they even notice? How would they, when all the damage had been deliberately done in places that would normally be covered up by clothing? Would they even have done anything? Of course they would, her coworkers were good people, but would anything have come from it? Cases like these were so often swept under the rug or passed over for lack of resources, even if corporal punishment had recently been outlawed. She didn¡¯t know the circumstances of his home life. Sickeningly, she didn¡¯t even know if intervention on the daycare¡¯s part would have improved his situation. What she did know was that here, he would be safe. That was what she really wanted to tell Jun. It was bringing up any mentions of his trauma that she hesitated on, but there would be no harm in reassuring him that she would do whatever she could to keep him¡ª all of them¡ª safe. Still, Hana couldn¡¯t give up on the idea of going home just yet. It was in the best interest of most of the children. They were effectively losing their parents, their support system, the peaceful lives that they had always known. Nothing she could do here would ever be enough to replace that, and she knew it. She also knew that if she did discover a way back to Earth, she knew that she could never send Jun back to that.