Isekai Tensei - Kimi to no Saikai made Nagai koto Nagai koto

Chapter 16

TheLong Journey Until I Reunite With You

IDon"t Hate The Current Me

Before I realized it, I was constantly being covered in oil andfire.

「Here ya" go! Fried rice is ready! Gyoza in a second!」(Velt)

「Velt-kun, water please!」 (Customer A)

「Sure thing!」 (Velt)

「Velt~ Is my ramen ready?」 (Customer B)

「It"ll be ready in a sec"!」 (Velt)

「Velt boy, hurry up and bring the order! Lunch break is going toend!」 (Customer C)

「I said it"s coming, "ya oaf!」(Velt)

Give me a break, so noisy. Everyone is saying Velt this and Veltthat, I"m not the bell you ring! Rather, this place is doing too well. In anycase, sensei"s cooking is tasty. However, there are empty dishes moving aboutnear the ceiling, as my levitation magic has advanced considerably. Becauseit"s my own special training, I can"t complain about it At first I wanted to tellsensei to not spoil me, but I"m glad I didn"t. In this world without laborlaws, even children are worked to the bone.

(TN: Many places in j.a.pan have a way for you to call someone toyour table, either with a bell or a b.u.t.ton or something similar.)

「Velt-kun. You don"t have to help any more after this. Childrenwill be coming to help out.」 (???)

However, there"s only one person that spoils me at the shop. Thatwould be her.

「Kami-san, yo.」 (Velt)

「*Mou*, please stop it with Kami-san already.」(??? --> Laraana)

(TN: Kami-san is one way to refer to someone’s wife.)

Coming off of break and putting on an ap.r.o.n, was sensei"s wife 『inthis world.』 Her name is Laraana. Her hair is only down to her shoulders, butone or both of her eyes are often hidden by her bangs. She looks like the plainand docile type, the one that reads a book in the corner of the cla.s.sroom.

But, the other day, I happened to see it. With her bangs out ofthe way, she"s very pretty. Her age is unexpectedly high at twenty eight, butshe appears to only be in her teens. Unfortunately, I realized it. Sensei isthirty two but married at nineteen, and has been married for thirteen years. Inother words, Laraana-san married sensei when she was fifteen. Though it seemsyou can get married at fifteen in this world, the problem wasn"t that. It wasthat the formerly fifty-year-old high school teacher went and married a thirdyear middle school kid. I was. .h.i.t hard when I asked sensei, 「Isn"tit a crime?」

「*Fuu~* Tired~ I feel like I"ve suddenly run out of magic power.」(Velt)

Since mom and dad pa.s.sed away, I"m staying at sensei"s house. AfterI stopped going to school, I"ve been helping out with the shop and learning howto make ramen, so I"m normally busy.

「Velt-kun, is now a good time?」(Laraana)

「Hm? What"s up, Kami-san.」 (Velt)

「Yes, your salary. Thank you for working here as always.」(Laraana)

「O, oh... Wait, what? This, this is quite a lot isn"t it? Did younot pull out my room and board?」 (Velt)

「Hey now! Children shouldn"t be worrying about that. Velt-kunisn"t a freeloader, but my child, so there"s no problem.」(Laraana)

「No, but... Well... thanks.」 (Velt)

「*Fufufu*, that"s good! You"ve done enough for today, so why don"tyou go buy something to give to the princess?」(Laraana)

「The princess who can get whatever in the world she wants?」(Velt)

「It"s the thought that counts!」(Laraana)

Ever since I talked about being a freeloader, Kami-san haswelcomed me normally. Well, they don"t have a child, so I"m something liketheir child now. I"m still conscious of being polite to everyone I meet. Furthermore,I"m still somewhat embarra.s.sed from being regularly spoiled by Kami-san, but Ithink she and sensei really are happy.

「Forna, huh... What should I get?」(Velt)

Later, though this is somewhat unrelated, I discovered something.At first I originally offered to work at the ramen shop to improve myself, but I"mfilled with a sense of fulfillment now to be honest. I never even workedpart-time as Asakura Ryuuma, but I don"t dislike having worked by the sweat ofmy brow now.

If I had happened to work hard at farming, I might have come tolike it just as much. Just maybe, mom and dad would have been overjoyed. As I thoughtof that, I still had my regrets as expected, so I"ve decided not to dwell on itany more. From now on, I don"t want to have regrets like that again.

「Velt, you"re done with work already?」(Forna)

Forna already knows the timing of my shift perfectly as shesuddenly showed herself. Though I thought she was just a noisy brat before,I"ve begun to think differently as of late. Of course, she"s not an object ofromantic interest, but something like noticing the younger sister is a brocon.(TN: Brother complex, look it up if you"re unsure of the meaning.)

「Ah, good timing.」 (Velt)

「That"s right. You"re not causing trouble are you?」(Forna)

「Are you my mother?」 (Velt)

「Of course I"m worried. Ever since that horrible food that yousaid was your resolution.」 (Forna)

「Well, that was, I was still training.」(Velt)

It’s the opposite of nagging and talking about love. She"sworried about how I"m doing, so she came to see me after all.

「Here, let"s go.」 (Velt)

「Wa, wait I said! Where are we going?」(Forna)

「Around the town.」 (Velt)

「What? Around the town, what does that mean?」(Forna)

「Nothing really. Just that I"m taking you on a date.」(Velt)

Well, with money in hand, I could treat her a... wait, wait. Whyis she trembling there in shock and awe.

「Ve,... Velt... Velt invited me on a date!」(Forna)

「If you don"t want to...」 (Velt)

「Eh, no, ah, I don"t mean that I hate it, let"s go! Yes, yes, letus go!」 (Forna)

I see. When she"s not setting the pace, she"s normally cute. It"sjust, I wish she would stop dragging me along and clinging to me. Especiallysince she"s beet red in the face from her embarra.s.sment and skinship.

「Velt... What"s happened to you lately? You were a little maturebefore, but now you"re more honest.」 (Forna)

「You think so? Then, doesn"t that mean I"ve grown up a bit aswell?」 (Velt)

「~~~~...*Ufufu, ufufufufufufufufu.*」(Forna)

「What?」 (Velt)

「♪」 (Forna)

For some reason Forna became really happy. She began to swing myhand back and forth, all while humming a tune. As we walked around the capitalwith our usual banter, though the atmosphere was just alright, worrying seemedto be a pointless endeavor while I walked about with my intimate sister.

「Oh, Velt, are you on a date with your wife since your shift"sdone?」 (Person A)

「Not just today, it"s only the usual~」(Velt)

「Next, get better at making ramen you hear?」(Person B)

Before, I thought that the bustle of the city was irritating tohear, but somehow I feel that it"s alright now. Also, though it"s only theusual banter, when mom and pop died, many people visited their graves andcried. Though everyone pokes at me and jokes around, in actuality they"reworried about me. Having come to understand that, I"ve been smiling a lot morewhenever I run into them now.

「*Mou*, Velt is popular now.」 (Forna)

「Ha? I"m not really popular. They"re just interested in theneighborhood brat.」 (Velt)

「That"s not it, Velt is popular! Don’t forget, I am the mostpopular one, more than Velt!」 (Forna)

「...You, you"re smart but, aren"t you a bit dumb sometimes?」(Velt)

「Saying that with a straight face is rude! *Mou*, now I"m mad, itwon"t do unless you have a present to give me!」(Forna)

「A present? Well, I just happened to get paid, so as long as it"snot too expensive...」 (Velt)

「Velt has present! Wait, you, are you really my Velt? This isn"tsome transformed monster from the forest, and it"s not a dream I"m having isit!?」 (Forna)

「...You don"t want one?」 (Velt)

「I, I want it! Want! Need! I, I"ll, I"ll take it! Umm, whatshould...Maybe...Ah!」 (Forna)

「Something like a wedding ring is denied.」(Velt)

「Eh... Wh, why?」 (Forna)

「...Ha....」 (Velt)

「Wh, what"s with that astonished face! You"re too cheeky for justbeing Velt! But, wait a bit please. Hm, umm, at the accessory shop, ah, butsomething that matches... Umm...」 (Forna)

Are we a comedy duo? What a terrible act. I think it"s a bit funthough. Forna wandered back and forth in front of the booth at wit"s end. Thepeople in the area were laughing quietly and smiling.

「Sheesh, here, it"s not that expensive, so, how about this ribbon?」(Velt)

「A ribbon! Umm, umm, ummmmmmmmmmm...」(Forna)

「Hey, don"t think so hard. If something caught your interest, sayit.」 (Velt)

「Be silent! I"m thinking seriously here, be quiet!」(Forna)

「O, oh.」 (Velt)

It"s weird. Just yesterday I was stuck between being AsakuraRyuuma and Velt Jeeha, with no interest in the world nor reason to live. However,with just a small change in thought, all the small, pointless things began toplenty my heart.

If I think about it, living as Asakura Ryuuma during high schoolmight have felt like this. The days where all I did was fight were empty. Ithought those who enjoyed school and school life were fools, and I wasuninterested.

However, my way of thinking suddenly changed one day. The way Ifelt about school life reversed completely.

「*Mmm*, how troubling. Pink and white... Which one...」(Forna)

That"s right, when I came to think that school life was fun, itfelt just like this. The change in Velt Jeeha"s way of thinking is thanks tosensei, mom and dad, and this precocious brat. And, Asakura Ryuuma"s change wasthanks to...

——Isn"t it fun, Asakura-kun!

「Kamino... Right now, I"m having fun you know? How are youdoing...?」 (Velt)

Someday, I"ll show you the me of today, and thank you for helpingthe me of yesterday.

That feeling, has become even stronger.
Prev List Next