02x09 - The White Mask

[bunniefuu]

We'd better hurry. We'll be late for

our next class. Go then. Hey! Stop!

Mush! Hey, wait! Don't eat it! That's mine!

Is that the kind of girl Rudy likes? It's too depressing. Out.

Sylvie, you turn to stare at Rudeus

every time he goes past. You realize?

Should I not? You can. There's nothing wrong with it, per se.

But it's sad. You feel so strongly for him.

And yet he's forgotten you completely, hasn't he?

Well, I don't know. He may remember.

I still haven't told him my name or anything yet.

You're kidding. Even after spending all that time together?

Of course not. How could I? If it turns

out he really has forgotten me, I don't know what I'll do.

Goodness. You're hopeless. Well, Highness. Any ideas? Let's see here.

Sylphy. Mm. I won't try to rush you into anything with Rudeus,

okay, but I encourage you to tell him how you feel.

Even if you'd rather have Fitz do it.

The more I study the Moana disaster,

the more it seems to me that

teleportation works a lot like summoning.

But whereas summoning calls things to you, teleportation sends them away.

And there are a couple of other major differences,

namely, or most insurmountably. You can't summon people.

Hey, master Fitz, do you know if there

are any summiting experts here on campus?

Oh. Oh, are you asleep?

Well. No, sorry, I heard you.

Oh, yes, we do have one here. I can't believe it took me so

long to think of them. Oh,

well, who do you think? I'd be surprised

if you hadn't at least heard their name a couple of times.

I don't know. Come on, just tell me.

One of the special students. Silent seven star.

I've heard more than just the name.

Apparently they've done a lot for this school.

They improved the dining hall menus, designed

our uniforms, and even invented blackboards.

Everything they've done makes this place feel

a little more like my old world.

Mhm.

Sounds like a plan then. Know where I can find them?

Come in.

We meet again.

But.

Screaming at the..

Side of someone's face isn't very polite.

Oh.

Mhm.

That touch so gentle.. And so.. Familiar. Huh?

Is shanahoe. Libra. Huh? Nervous as a hyena.

Hajduk O'Bannon. Podgorica. Kobakhia. Kazakhi. Quarup. Hulubei.

Up and Jaxa. App. Tonight. App.

Becky. Soberton. Sarkar. Abbotsbury. The turnover is on

the till. Bonanza. Khabib. Albarka. Air.

Autostraddle. Abbottabad. Lamia. Tsavo.

Jaxa. Janet. Esuno. Busani. Tribeca.

Paola. The Mujesar. AXA. Belka. Savo. Uh,

litany has a tiny. Mulatto. Tarkib. Nakazawa.

It's like a crushing my EP. Zyna. Tanard. Jackson. Beck. Irvin. Banoun.

Volvo car. Banksula. Kanji. Vecinos. Ballyhoo.

Look. Ibnu vinobha menuju to Pensacola, Venini.

Ticker Volex a bank shibir a.q vampino.

Let an anvil above O.ny khoshbin by Bhutto.

Second. Do you understand this language?

Third. Which one of these two are you?

I'm neither of them. I don't recognize those names.

I see. But you do speak the language. De but rudeus.

Honey. Tecciztecatl vikala techeiles jica.

I know the CEB. So you're like me then?

In my very last memory of my past life,

I saw a truck about to hit

a high school girl who looked exactly like her.

Yes, my real name is Nana Hoshi.

Nana. Hoshi. Shizuka. I'm Japanese. So where did you come from?

You're obviously Caucasian, American or European,

but you could read those Japanese names.

Are you mixed race? Either way, this is a huge step.

I knew sparing you was the right choice.

I actually suspected something like this the moment

Erstad said he didn't recognize you.

It's nice to meet you. Oh, right.

What's your name? Your real one.

Uh rudeus. I'm just rudeus. Right? Right.

But that's your alias here in this world, right? What's your.

Oh, you must be nervous. Guess I can't

blame you, considering everything you've been through.

But, look, you don't have to worry. I'm on your side, okay?

I can't tell you how relieved I am to know

that I'm not the only one who got sent here.

And I bet if we work together,

we'll be able to make it back home. Yeah.

I can't. What? Why not?

I won't.

I don't want to go back to that world. Never again.

Rudy has silent Ulick Hoobin casaba diboron by Zaheen tea. Bevin.

I have no interest in remaining in this world.

I don't want to put my modern knowledge to use here,

like I'm in some lame fantasy manga or light novel.

We may have come from the same world,

but I was born into this one. I grew up outside Asura. I have

friends and family in this world.

Reincarnation. I suppose you'd call that. I was

more or less teleported. So we're not the same.

I was on my way to school

with friends when a truck came at us.

Before I knew it, I was here. What about you?

Pretty much the same sort of thing.

At least I think it was a traffic accident.

I see. And the next thing you knew, you were a baby.

I got dumped in the middle of the Asura kingdom.

Then Orsta took me under his protection.

Did he ever tell you why? No.

But it doesn't seem like he's the one who summoned me.

I spent two years in Ozora learning

the human language since I obviously didn't know it. Speaking. Reading. Writing.

After that, he took me on a journey around the world.

Horsted has enemies everywhere, so the fights were constant.

Attacking you was nothing special. But you seemed different from the others.

So I asked Orsted to bring you back.

Wait. Maybe you know. What's the deal with the Man-god?

Why exactly are they at w*r?

He said it's a personal grudge, but beyond

that, I don't have any idea.

If it's personal, I wish he wouldn't drag me into it.

Oh, man. Got a side or a stud?

Took me all over the world to gather data for my return.

And to look for the two guys in that note.

After about a year, I enrolled here.

The entire world in one year? Yes. Using a special method.

And that would be.

Do you know about teleportation circles?

Only by name. Although I thought I

read that they no longer existed.

You can still find some intact in ruins

of the human Demon wars. Ruins? Where are they?

Sorry, I'm not allowed to tell you that.

Not allowed? No, but since I just

followed Orsted around, it's not like I remember.

Fair enough. So did you ever stumble on any leads?

No, but I did meet someone who told me in no uncertain terms

that while it may not have been arrested.

I must have been summoned by someone.

How would they know that? Who told you?

I can't say. They asked me not to tell anyone I'd met them.

Uh oh.

Look, we're foreign objects to this world.

If we do anything to significantly alter its history,

we could be erased from existence.

So I only do what I have to,

and I don't share information unless it helps

me personally. What do you mean, erased?

Haven't you read sci fi? It happens all the time.

That's usually portrayed as a side effect of time travel, though. Whatever.

So you're researching magic circles? Yes, I

taught myself using the university's books.

The people of this world are kind of set in their ways.

No one really believes what I want to do is possible,

so I can't expect them to teach me much.

And it doesn't help that they all just assume I have mana.

Oh you don't? Nope. I have zero mana to speak of.

I take it that means you do have some then?

Yes, because you were reincarnated. I guess

everything native to this world has some degree of mana in it.

Even dead bodies.

Oh, and this might not apply to you either, but.

I've been in this world for five years now

and I don't seem to age.

That sounds like a bit of a silver lining.

I suppose it's better than growing old

in a strange land, at least.

Well, that's my story. So do you trust me a little more now?

I do. Okay. Then let's make a deal. I have

no mana to speak of and no way to defend myself.

I don't age, but I'm probably not immortal, right?

I honestly can't stand this world. None

of it feels real to me.

The food is atrocious. Everything is morally dubious and inconvenient.

And I left people behind in our old world.

What about you? Me.

I actually like this world. I don't want to go back.

You didn't leave behind the family or anything.

I have no regrets. I'm home. Huh?

You must have had a good long life then.

Well, we clearly have different goals, there's no denying that.

But we both have something to offer each other. So let's negotiate.

What do I have to offer you?

I just told you, Mona. You helped me with my experiments.

And I'll teach you what you want

to know. Or find someone who can.

So you're basically just looking for a give and take relationship? Yes.

I understand. Let's do it. I'm happy to accept.

Glad to hear it. But just so we're clear.

No backing out or changing your mind later, okay?

A man's word is his bond.

It's kind of nice to hear a saying from home like that.

Shall we get right to it? What do you want to know?

I hear that you're investigating the displacement incident.

I am, but who told you that?

Beck. Husar.

Raja. Kazuko. Boutaba. Yvonne. Verdu. Nana. Hoshi.

Will you continue in the local language? All right.

I don't know the specifics,

of course, but the incident closely coincided

with the moment I arrived in this world. Meaning what?

It was probably a side

effect or a backlash of whatever brought me here.

So honestly. I might have caused it.

Part of me saw that coming. The pieces

fit together too neatly for it to be chance.

I'm mostly just relieved it wasn't my fault.

So it was.

Ha ha ha.

Do you have any idea how much we suffered?

My mom and dad d*ed because of you.

Hey, quit staring and help me.

That's your fits. How many people d*ed? Calm down. No.

She just admitted it was her fault.

Why would you hold me back? You suffered too.

I know you suffered just like the rest of us.

No. I'm sorry. You didn't explain this clearly enough.

She didn't choose to come here. She's a victim, too.

Is that true?

I misunderstood. I'm sorry.

I could have phrased that better. Forgive me.

No. I apologize for jumping to conclusions.

Anyway, I don't know much more about the incident itself,

not who would have brought me here

or what they hoped to gain, or why it led to such a disaster.

What did Orsted have to say about it?

That it had never happened before. That's all.

Okay, I feel like the man. God

told me it was Orsted's fault though.

Then why did you say that you caused it.

Well, I did, in a sense, and I wanted

to get that fact out in the open right away.

Don't need anyone using it against me down the road.

I understand. Anyway, I have a plan

to move forward with my research from here,

and if my work succeeds, I should be able

to explain the mass teleportation logically at least.

But to even get that far, I'll need a lot of mana.

I see. So I must be a godsend then.

A godsend. You may be right. That's about enough for today.

I need to think some things over.

Can I come back in a few days?

Okay. I'm tired from talking so much anyway. I'll see you around.

Rudeus. What do you think about her? Really?

To be honest, some things about her rubbed me the wrong way,

but for the time being, I trust her. Is that so? Well.

All right, I trust you.

You were worried about me, weren't you?

Thank you. Oh, no, I wasn't exactly.

Well. Yes. You're welcome.

Mm.

A.