A Man from Another World

"My name is Reichhardt. You may call me Duke Reichhardt."

He looked like a young man… no, more our age, closer to a boy than a man? Hair more yellow than blond, paired with black eyes.

He was a handsome guy, with features that looked both foreign and somehow Japanese.

I couldn't quite place his nationality, but he spoke fluent Japanese.

And he seemed to know an awful lot about our situation.

"… Naoto. Get information out of him."

Kazami-san issued a perfectly reasonable command.

I had no choice but to obey. If only all her commands were this useful, I wouldn't mind obeying her on a regular basis.

"Um, hello. I'm Naoto Akai. This is Kanan Kazami-san… Uh, sorry, but where exactly is this place?"

"… Hahaha. You're in luck, you know. The one who happened to be here was a noble such as myself. Had it been some impoverished commoner Master, an otherworld Master with no idea which way was up would have made for excellent prey, easy pickings for a one-sided attack. But I, as a noble, could never stoop to such cowardly behavior. Very well. I shall explain things to you."

Reichhardt seemed willing to answer me magnanimously.

"First, as for where this world is, that's a difficult question to answer. After all, 'worlds' don't normally have proper names attached to them. But it's not uncommon for people to be transferred here from other worlds, so we do have a name for it, for occasions such as these. 'Garumon World.' That's what you should call this world."

So he explained. If it had a name, he could've just said so from the start… He had such a roundabout way of speaking.

"… So, this world is a different world from the one we were in… is that what you're saying?"

Otherworld transfer… A phenomenon I'd seen plenty of times in anime and light novels was actually happening for real?

"Beats me. I don't know anything about the world you came from. It's just that, in this world, creatures from other worlds occasionally get transferred here as a natural phenomenon. I don't know the details. You'd be better off asking a magician about it."

His roundabout speech grated on me a bit, but I caught the gist.

"It's not the world we came from…"

I was struck speechless. His words… didn't sound like a lie.

Sure, the sky was blue and the grass and trees were green. The grass had a familiar shape, but something was off about it. It was softer than normal grass, springy like rubber, smooth to the touch… almost artificial. And yet it was clearly a regular living plant.

I'd never seen grass like this before in my life.

"Wh… What did you say!? Then how do we get back to the original world!?"

Kazami-san demanded.

"…? Don't know. Don't care. Try asking a magician."

Reichhardt's answer was thoroughly curt.

… True to his nature, it seemed, he wasn't particularly kind. He'd grown a bit displeased.

But his curt attitude struck me as strange.

Normally, if a beautiful girl on Kazami-san's level spoke to him, any normal guy would be thrilled.

Setting aside the possibility he was gay, his face had clearly slackened at Kazami-san's beauty; he'd looked about ready to start drooling.

And yet his attitude was practically Why is some woman addressing me? What on earth was going on?

Still… with no other leads for gathering information, putting him in a bad mood didn't seem like the wise move.

"He's not actually obligated to explain anything to us. It'd be a problem if you spoiled his mood."

"Huh? Someone like you has no business ordering me around!"

Kazami-san pushed back as usual, probably because I hadn't framed it as a command.

That's when Reichhardt cut in.

"What's this? Your slave's training is pitiful. To allow such impudent remarks…"

"… Slave…?"

I'd had a vague sense of it, but now he'd come right out and said it.

"Ah, you wouldn't know, being from another world… Honestly, this is getting tedious… Whatever, fine. This is the most important thing in this world. Here, women are Girls Monsters. Garumon for short. Men are called Masters. In other words, men are the masters who keep Garumon as their slaves. That's how it works. And whoever uses their Garumon to battle their way up to becoming the strongest Master, the Master of Masters, becomes king of this world. That's the system of this world."

"…!?"

Slaves… Garumon…

Masters…

What the hell was this. It was like some game… some tasteless 18+ one, at that.

"Monsters…? What's that supposed to mean? That's stupid. I'm a human being!"

Kazami-san protested.

No, you're a monster on the inside, I retorted internally…

"Ho… I'd heard rumors, but apparently the otherworld really is a strange place where Garumon are treated as equals to Masters? I see. So this is what an otherworld Garumon, fresh from another world, looks like. Fascinating."

Reichhardt smiled like he was looking at something exotic.

"A Garumon who doesn't think of herself as a Garumon. I rather like her. I'd love to add her to my collection."

So saying, Reichhardt licked his lips.

"Indeed… for a Garumon this magnificent, even I would not be averse to mounting her personally. What an honor, no? To bear the child of a noble such as myself, that's the height of bliss for any Garumon. Now, weep tears of joy from the bottom of your heart."

Reichhardt delivered his deranged speech in a tone that suggested he genuinely meant every word.

… Mounting her… impregnating her…?

"Wh… wh… d-don't screw with me! I'd rather die than do that!"

Kazami-san rejected him with all her might, naturally.

"… Tch. So for the moment, you're still that man's slave. Once you become my Garumon, I'll make you regret those words like nothing else… In which case, I'll just have to wrap this up quickly."

Then Reichhardt turned to face me.

"Now then, Master Naoto. Surely you understand after this much explanation. I formally challenge you to a Garumon Battle. Let us settle this with our Garumon on the line."

"Garumon Battle? E-er, um… what's that?"

You haven't explained that part yet.

"… Tch! Even the explaining is a pain… Well, I suppose this too is noblesse oblige. It can't be helped."

Phew…

He let out a sigh that seemed to mock me.

Hmm. He had given us some pretty thorough explanations up until now, so I supposed I should be grateful… but he was still a jerk.

"A Garumon belongs to the Master who first acquires her.

"But a good Garumon is naturally of high value to other Masters as well. They want her. So what do you do in that case?

"There's the option of just killing her current Master and taking her, but that lacks elegance.

"Your ranking won't go up, and there's the risk of damaging the Garumon. Far too much wasted potential.

"A refined and excellent Master such as myself settles such matters with a Garumon Battle.

"The winner of a Garumon Battle is unconditionally entitled to the spoils, such as taking the opponent's Garumon.

"… Well, that should be enough explanation.

"You'll learn the rest by experiencing it for yourself. Though for you, this experience may be both your first and your last.

"… System!"

And then he shouted something… Wait, did he just say system?

A semi-transparent, blue-green panel like a glass plate suddenly materialized in front of him.

What the heck is that?

He started tapping at it.

"Hoh… an initial value of 5000! Truly magnificent! And right on the cusp of being promoted to F-Class, what exquisite timing…! I sense the hand of fate at work…! Kanan Kazami… a Garumon worthy of being possessed by me!"

He was clearly excited about something he was looking at, but I couldn't see what was displayed.

Then, as he kept tapping at the panel…

Tap, tap, tap…

"Hm…?"

A faint sense of unease came over me, like an incoming notification on a phone.

My phone wasn't on me, but I felt the same kind of nagging at the back of my head.

Maybe… I should try the chant too?

"… System!"

I gave it a shot. The instant I did, a blue-green panel of my own appeared right in front of me.

I hadn't been able to make it out from a distance, but up close it was unmistakable. The display was something I'd seen countless times before.

… This was a status screen, the kind you'd see in a computer RPG!

And right there, plainly displayed in Japanese, was a message.

Duke Reichhardt has challenged you to a Garumon Battle.

Rules: 1v1 Even Match (Average LV difference within ±3)

Stake demanded: Acquisition of Kanan Kazami, LV1

Stake offered: Acquisition of Beastkin Adelia, LV3

Accept?

Yes / No

What the hell was this…! I had no idea what it meant.

No, I got the meaning more than well enough. I was a gamer too, you know. I'd seen screens like this until I was sick of them.

In all kinds of games.

… But the meaning of a game's message window appearing in real life, that I didn't get.

Some kind of holographic display? A holographic window, obviously out of place in this low-tech, sword-and-sorcery world, was floating in midair.

… Although in another sense, it suited the situation perfectly!

I'd played tons of RPGs like this!

Was this world a game world?

In any case, since I'd been presented with a choice, I needed to think and respond quickly.

In real life you can't just leave a prompt sitting open while you run to the bathroom.

In a game, you sometimes pick a stupid option for kicks, but in reality, you can't do that.

So in all likelihood, No was a meaningless option.

Reichhardt had said he was challenging us to take our Garumon.

… If you could just refuse with no consequences, there'd be no point in offering.

I might end up forced into the option he'd called inelegant.

Killing me to take her by force.

And once I picked the wrong option, would there even be a cancel button?

There was no guarantee of that.

If I picked something stupid and ended up losing Kazami-san here…

I hated Kazami-san. With a passion.

I wouldn't have cared if Kazami-san just disappeared somewhere. That's how much I hated her.

Even so, in a foreign land like this where I had no idea which way was up, the reassurance of having even one familiar face nearby, however much I disliked her, was irreplaceable.

… I couldn't afford to lose her.

Which meant… No wasn't an option I could pick.

But then, when I happened to brush against the name Beastkin Adelia, the screen reacted instantly.

What appeared was something like a status screen.

That was all the info shown. Below it was her appearance. A reddish-brown bobcut of curly hair, cat ears, big eyes… an adorable beast-girl.

"Whoa…"

Well now… I let out a gasp of admiration despite myself.

… What's with this girl…

I-Isn't she stupidly cute?

She wasn't a step below Kazami-san. Just a stunningly beautiful girl. Slightly slanted, distinctly cat-like eyes, and yet exceptional looks even by human standards.

The cat ears on top of her head only made her cuter. What kind of cuteness is this…!

For a girl this cute to exist…

…Value: 5500. I had no idea whether that value was high or low. But probably high.

Come to think of it, that guy did say something about a value of 5000…

On a whim, I tapped Kazami-san's name next. Sure enough, her status screen popped up, and hers showed way more detail than Adelia's panel.

It was 100% a game status screen. Nothing else.

The first thing that caught my eye was…

"Value 5000…"

So Adelia's value was higher than Kazami-san's.

"Wh-what is this…! There's no way some other woman has a higher value than mine…!"

Kazami-san peeked at the screen and got worked up over the wrong thing.

"That's what you're getting mad about…?"

You could've been pissed at the whole situation, what with this nonsensical game screen popping up status windows in the middle of reality.

I tried tapping other things to see if anything reacted. Only the names responded.

Apparently this was my own info. As for him…

Hoh. So this guy had another Garumon named Suzanne. And her info…

Whoa, she's beautiful too…! What a stunner. Soft golden hair, ethereal looks. A rare beauty, a match for Adelia herself.

"That's enough! You… how much longer do you intend to keep me waiting!"

… Reichhardt yelled at me.

… Whatever. None of this was directly relevant right now anyway.

Having more or less satisfied my curiosity, I went ahead and tapped Yes.