In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 1 Read online

  “The [Gate] spell is supposedly able to take the caster anywhere that they’ve visited at least once... In all likelihood, Touya probably thought about this forest when he was casting it.”

  She was right on the money. At the time, I had been thinking about how it would be nice if we didn’t have to walk all the way to the forest again.

  “Haaah... So basically, you can use all seven elements? That’s a bit freaky...” Elze spoke as though she’d just gotten used to all of my eccentricities at that point. I kind of shared the same sentiment there.

  “I’ve never even heard of anyone who was proficient in every element before. Touya, you’re really amazing!” Linze, in stark contrast to her sister, reacted in sheer admiration. I could only meet her in turn with a wry smile.

  Elze seemed to be done with her harvesting, so as though I were a ferryman escorting some passengers, I brought us all back through the [Gate] to the garden behind the inn.

  “It took me two whole hours to walk there, but now we’re all back in an instant. That’s one handy spell you’ve got there.” On that note, Elze left to report her completed quest to the guild.

  We decided that my crash course in magic would end there for the day, then headed on back inside the inn. It was almost lunchtime, anyway. I wondered what would be on the menu. I sure was hungry...

  ◇　◇　◇

  When we returned to the cafeteria, Micah was there with an unfamiliar woman who seemed to be about the same age as her. She had wavy black hair, and judging from the white apron she was wearing, I deduced that she most likely worked with food.

  The two of them sat with various dishes laid out in front of them. They sampled the foods with a knife and fork, making difficult expressions all the while. Micah raised her head, then noticed us and called out.

  “Oh, hey, perfect timing.”

  “What’s up?” I inquired, as Micah brought the other lady up to us.

  “This girl’s name is Aer, she runs a little cafe in town, Parent.”

  “Ah, we were just there yesterday. It was a really nice place.” I decided to keep quiet about almost flooding the shop. I hadn’t seen Aer anywhere at the time, so my guess was that she was probably in the kitchen. Things would have been a little awkward if she’d seen us back then.

  “We’re trying to come up with new items for her menu, so we figured we’d ask your opinions on the matter. Thought that someone from another country might know of some dishes we don’t have around these parts, see?”

  “I’d be very grateful if you could think of anything.” Aer bowed her head as she spoke. I looked at Linze, and we both nodded.

  “I don’t mind.”

  “...I’ll help however I can.” To be honest, I wasn’t sure we’d be able to help at all, though.

  “What kind of food were you thinking of putting on the menu?”

  “Let’s see... Right, preferably something simple, I guess. A dessert dish of some kind, something that would be a hit with young women...”

  “Hmm... something young women would like, huh... I can’t really think of anything better than crepes or ice cream, to be honest...” Wow, that was a weak suggestion even by my standards. But it wasn’t like I knew much about cooking in the first place.

  “I... scream?” Aer responded, seemingly confused.

  “No, no. Ice cream. You know, the kind you eat?”

  ”Ice... cream?”

  Huh? Why’s everyone making such weird faces? Is it possible that ice cream doesn’t exist in this world?

  “What kind of food is that?”

  “Uhm, it’s like sweet and cold, white... you know, vanilla ice cream?”

  “Not really... I’ve never heard of anything like that before.” It seemed that my suspicions had been confirmed.

  Well, it only made sense. After all, this world didn’t even have refrigerators. Actually, they did have simple refrigerator-like boxes that stored ice made from magic and used them to keep things cool. But those weren’t really refrigerators, more like coolers.

  “Would you happen to know how to make it?”

  “No, I’m afraid I don’t really know that much... If I remember right, milk was one of the ingredients...” I hesitated a bit at Aer’s question. How was I supposed to know how ice cream was made?

  ...No, wait. I may not have known how to make it, but I did have a way to find out!

  “Please wait just a minute. I think I might be able to come up with something. Uhm, Linze. Could you help me out for a minute?”

  “Huh? W-Well, I don’t mind, but...”

  I grabbed Linze and dragged her to my room, then pulled out my smartphone and did a quick search for “how to make ice cream” on the internet. Okay, good. Got it.

  “...Err, what is that object?” Linze seemed quite puzzled when she saw me fiddling with my smartphone.

  “Uhh... it’s a handy little magical item! I’m the only one who can actually use it, though. I’d be really grateful if you didn’t bother paying much attention to it.”

  She seemed somewhat suspicious of me, but didn’t pry any further. Looked like she was quick on the uptake.

  “Okay, can you write down everything I’m about to tell you?”

  “No problem.”

  “Three eggs, two hundred milliliters of fresh cream, sixty to eighty grams of sugar... Does any of this sound unfamiliar to you?” I posed that question to Linze as I listed off the ingredients.

  “Sorry... what are milliliters and grams?” ...Of course this would happen.

  “Milliliters are a thing we use in my country when we’re measuring the amount of something. Grams are a unit of weight. Guess I’ll just have to go with my gut on those from now on... Oh, right. Linze, can you use Ice magic?”

  “Yes, I can. Ice spells are considered Water magic, you see.”

  Then there were no problems. After listing off the ingredients, I had Linze transcribe the instructions on how to make vanilla ice cream.

  Following the instructions, Aer began making the ice cream. It was a far safer bet than having a complete amateur like me try to make it. Though I did still help out with the mixing, which actually took a lot more effort than I’d originally thought.

  For the last step, the mixture was placed in a container and sealed with a lid. Linze cast her magic on it and froze the container in a block of ice. We left it for a while until it seemed about ready, then cracked open the ice block and retrieved the container. It appeared to have come together properly.

  I took a spoon and tried a little bit. The flavor was slightly off, but I figured it could pass for vanilla ice cream.

  I put some on a plate and offered it to Aer. After a single spoonful, her eyes shot wide open. Suddenly, her face broke out into a beaming smile.

  “This is delicious...!” The lady seemed pleased with my offering, which made me happy.

  “What is this thing?! It’s cold, but... it’s amazing?!”

  “This is really good...” Micah and Linze seemed to have taken a liking to it as well. Honestly, I thought it could’ve been a lot better. Though I supposed it would’ve been impossible to recreate the kind of ice cream sold in famous stores on our first try.

  Only one problem remained. Was there anyone working in Aer’s store who could use ice magic? After I asked, she explained that her younger sister could. Okay, no problems on that front, then.

  “I’m sure this one’ll be popular with young women, and hopefully it meets the standards for your shop’s menu.”

  “Of course! Thank you very much! I’ll add vanilla ice cream to the menu right away!”

  Since we didn’t actually use vanilla extract, calling it vanilla ice cream was technically incorrect... But, well, why sweat the small stuff?

  Aer gave a quick goodbye, then rushed back to her shop. It seemed like she wanted to try making it herself.

  When Elze returned from the guild and heard the full story, she almost exploded, complaining that she was the only one who didn’t get to tr
y any. Micah cut in and said we’d make some more, and with that, I was right back on mixing duty. I found myself gazing wistfully into the distance, earnestly wishing I had that little lost piece of civilization known as the hand mixer... My poor arm...

  From what I’d seen so far, this world gave off the odd impression of being a little bit mismatched in places. They had advanced greatly in some areas, but were still stuck in the Middle Ages in others.

  Take, for example, the pillow in my room. It was an incredibly soft, undeniably high-quality pillow. And, from what I’d heard, it was on the cheaper end as far as pillows went. The raw materials used to make it were made by processing the hide of magic beasts that you could find just about anywhere. Made from common materials, it was about as ordinary as a pillow could be. But if that was what passed for ordinary, then I couldn’t even begin to imagine the feel or texture that a high-quality pillow might have had.

  Different worlds have different perceptions of value. I have to try and get used to that fact. This world is my home now, so I’ve got to do my best.

  Chapter II: The More the Merrier! Double the Joy, Half the Sorrow

  There were various quests posted on the guild’s board. Some involved monster hunting, while others involved gathering herbs or even investigating strange places. There were also a few rather simple ones, like babysitting or doing chores.

  Since we’d completed multiple quests already, our rank had increased just the day before. And so, our cards had become purple, which signified that we were no longer mere Beginners.

  Basically, that meant we could accept higher level requests. We were no longer restricted to Black quests, since we could do Purple ones as well.

  Still, we couldn’t let our guards down. We could end up failing the quests, and depending on what the mission was, that could also spell death. We really needed to keep it together.

  “Northern... ruins... hunting quest... mega... slime?” I tried reading one of the Purple quest listings. With Linze’s help, I had finally made it to a point where I could read some simple words. The reward for the quest was... eight silver coins. Well, that didn’t sound too bad at all.

  “Hey, so how about this one...”

  “Absolutely not.” The girls refused in unison.

  Well, okay then. They both had completely disgusted expressions on their faces. Really? Was it that bad? As it turned out, the girls just couldn’t stand being near sticky, slimy creatures.

  “Those things dissolve clothes, y’know? We’re definitely not going anywhere near them!” Elze basically barked at me.

  That’d be... so good...

  “How about this instead? A request to deliver a letter to the capital. Travel expenses covered... The reward is seven silver coins... What do you think?”

  “Seven silver... we can’t split that evenly between us.”

  “Well, we can just spend the leftover amount on something for all three of us,” I replied. That made sense to me.

  I went to confirm the details of the mission that Elze had pointed out. The one who posted the request was named Zanac Zenfield... Hold on, is it the same Zanac? I checked the address, and surely enough it said «FASHION KING ZANAC» on it. Well, there was no mistaking that.

  “How long does it take to get to the capital from here?”

  “Hm... about five days by carriage, I guess?”

  That was quite a long way off... The mission was looking to be my first long journey since I arrived in this world. But hey, I always had the option to make a [Gate] for the return trip, which wasn’t so bad. Plus, if I visited the capital even once, I’d be able to return there any time I wanted thanks to that handy little spell. I had a feeling it would be an asset in the future.

  “Okay, let’s go for this one, then. I happen to know the guy who put out the request.”

  “That so? We’ll take it, then.” Elze ripped the request notice down from the board and took it over to the receptionist. When she came back, she told us that we’d hear the specifics of the request when we went to meet the person who posted it.

  Looks like I’ll be meeting him again after all.

  “Ah, hello again! It’s been a while. How’ve you been?”

  “Quite well, thanks to your help that one time.”

  As soon as we’d entered the store, Zanac spotted me and called out. When I mentioned that we were there in response to his guild request, he led us into a room in the back of the shop.

  “For this job, I would like you to deliver a letter to Viscount Swordrick in the capital. If you mention my name, he should know what it’s about. I would also like you to return with a response from the viscount.”

  “Is this an urgent matter?”

  “Wouldn’t exactly call it urgent, but it’d be problematic if you left it too long.” Zanac said that, then took the letter out of a small tube and placed it on the table. It was sealed with something like wax and bore some strange insignia.

  “Also, here are your travel expenses. I might have included a little bit too much, but you don’t have to return what’s left over. You may use the spare change to go sightseeing around the capital, if you’d like!”

  “Thank you very much.”

  Upon receiving the letter and the money for our travel expenses, we set right out to prepare for the journey. I procured a carriage, Linze went out to buy food for the trip, and Elze returned to the inn to retrieve any items we might need along the way.

  An hour later, our preparations were complete, so we set off for the capital.

  We were riding in a rental carriage, but it was really more like a cart than anything else since it didn’t even have a roof. Still, it was far better than walking all the way.

  I couldn’t control the horses at all, but luckily the twins were experts. They told me that they had been around horses from a young age because one of their relatives owned a farm. As a result, the two girls took turns sitting in the driver’s seat and I just stayed in the cart, allowing myself to be rocked about the whole time. I kind of felt bad about not being able to help out there.

  North, north, north we went. The trip went smoothly along the main road, and we sometimes exchanged pleasantries with other carriages that passed by.

  We left Reflet behind and passed straight through the next town over, a place called Nolan. After that, it wasn’t long before we arrived in the town of Amanesque, making it there just before the sun had begun to set. I figured we should spend a night at the inn there, but... Hold on a second, I totally forgot...

  Can’t I just use [Gate] to travel back to Reflet and spend the night at the Silver Moon? I can just cast it again tomorrow to return here, so it’s no big deal, right? Unfortunately, when I proposed the idea to the girls, they flat-out rejected it. Why...?

  According to them, it would’ve been a waste of a trip.

  “You just don’t get it. The nice things about a journey are visiting unfamiliar stores in unfamiliar towns before spending the night at an unfamiliar inn. That’s what traveling is all about!” Elze was shocked that I’d even suggested the idea.

  Even if we’d had no money, there were the travel expenses that had been given to us. She seemed to firmly believe that we might as well use the money out of courtesy to the one who gave it to us in the first place. Was that how these things worked...?

  Well, with that settled, we went and found an inn before the sun went down completely. We took the opportunity to stay in a slightly more upper-class place than the Silver Moon. The girls took a double room to themselves, while I rented a smaller single room.

  With our lodging sorted out, we tied up our cart and went out to dinner. The man at the inn had told us that they made great noodles around these parts. I wondered if they served ramen anywhere...

  Just as we were looking around for a good place to eat, we noticed a scuffle taking place nearby. A bunch of onlookers had gathered around, so it seemed like there was quite the ruckus.

  “What’s that?” It caught our attention, so w
e decided to go check it out. We pushed our way through the crowd to find the source of the commotion. What we found was a foreign-looking girl surrounded by several men.

  “...That girl... she’s wearing some pretty strange clothes.”

  “...She’s a samurai!” I could only utter that brief explanation to Linze.

  The girl wore a bright pink kimono with a dark blue hakama, white split-toe socks, and a pair of sandals with black geta straps. A pair of daisho blades hung from around her waist. Her long, flowing black hair was tied up into a ponytail and was cut with a straight fringe that leveled just above her eyebrows. Her ponytail was also cut straight across at its end, ending just above her shoulders. The simple little hairpin she wore suited her well.

  I had said she was a samurai, but she really looked a bit more like the main character from Haikara-san, that shoujo manga about Japan in the 1920s. Still, she definitely resembled a samurai on a base level.

  Around ten men surrounded the samurai girl, each with a dangerous look in their eyes. Some of them had already drawn their swords and knives.

  “We’re here to show our thanks for that little incident earlier, girlie!”

  “...Whatever might ye mean? I’ve no recollection of any such thing, I don’t.” What was with that way of talking? She was like a movie character!

  “Quit playin’ dumb! Don’t think you can get off safe after doin’ a number on our buddies like that!”

  “...Aah, you must be the companions of those ruffians I handed over to the town guard earlier today. That incident was entirely their fault, verily. They should not have been going around drunkenly flaunting violence in the middle of the day, indeed.”

  “Shut yer trap! Grab her!” The men charged all at once, as if his words were the signal they were waiting for.

  The samurai girl nimbly dodged every single one of their attacks before grabbing one man by the arm, swiveling around, and throwing him. The man fainted in agony as his back slammed straight into the ground.

  She moved in step with her opponent, broke his posture, and then threw him... Was that... Aikido? Jujitsu, maybe? The girl tossed a second man down, then a third, and then staggered a bit. Her movements had grown somewhat sluggish.