The next day, I met up with Fran and the team at Hod's restaurant.
We wanted to talk about some things that will be happening in the future, including my investigation.
First, we met up with Hod and talked with him about his plans. He told us that he will be playing a big part in the upcoming war with the demons, and certainly everyone is excited.
My bet is, since Hod is known for his intelligence from his past achievements, the role must have something to do with strategies.
Everyone knows about this. He was very active as the adventurer's strategist during the time I studied at Xyphon. It was why I somehow walked past him inside the adventurers Office back then, because he was helping out with things despite not being an active adventurer anymore.
Everyone thought the same, and they all agreed that Hod is a pretty decent strategist on our side. Having him actively participating will give us a great benefit.
Afterwards, Hod got busy dealing with his customers, so he left us to talk to ourselves.
I began telling them about my investigation on an incident called 'Seal's Collapse' in an eastern island, slightly away from Naverne's eastern sea coast. I lied, saying that the headmaster of the academy is the one telling me to do this, but they still quickly believed me.
I needed to lie. I can't tell anyone about the fact or even a hint of the existence of another world.
Afterwards, Emily and Fran agreed to volunteer, to keep my house healthy at least once a week. With that schedule, at the very least there won't be too many dead animals piling up by the time I get back.
Because, who knows how long I'll be gone.
Lescia did tell me to come back quickly, since we had only been together for a short amount of time. We needed more time to be together, but I had to leave for an investigation just like that.
I promised her more time together later when I returned, and both of us are looking forward to it.
And the next day, after waiting for Fran and Emily to come to the house and to introduce the things to them, I left the kingdom and flew to Naverne.
During the flight, I realized that it is very far. With my top speed, I can probably reach it in forty five minutes. But that would definitely depletes me from half of my magic energy, and I definitely wouldn't want that.
I took some stops multiple times along the way as I ate the breakfast I made back in the kitchen. The stop can be at a mountain, or maybe at a random village that I came across.
Visiting random villages sure is great. Knowing my people who are not at the capital are doing great does calm my nerves.
It gives me more motivation to continue fighting the demons. I can't let these villages get trampled by the demon army.
And after multiple stops along the way, I arrived at Naverne around one and a half hours later.
Back in the Xyphon academy, I had a friend who was from Naverne. He told me quite a lot of things about it, and seeing it now made me understand his stories.
Naverne… looks peaceful.
It is a really large city that is located by the ocean, but it's nothing compared to the other kingdom's capitals.
The capital city of Naverne is a bit different from the other kingdoms. Where the other kingdoms had their king's castle in the middle, Naverne's capital, Ralouyne, placed their main castle on the southern side above a rather tall mountain.
So their entire capital can be seen and watched from the top of the main castle. It's a really bizarre idea, but I like it.
The city itself is not as huge as other capital cities. The size is at least a quarter of Mazino, almost a third of Xyphon. There are no massive walls surrounding the town, unlike any other capital cities.
Ralouyne… or rather, the whole Naverne kingdom, was not a military-focused kingdom.
Unlike Veldonia with their tall walls, or Mazino and Xyphon with their unique knights/mages system, Naverne is… a culture-focused country.
They do have a form of military, but it definitely is not a large one. Their main function is probably only to keep order or to fight any dungeon breaks, which happens rarely since their territory is quite small.
The location of the capital city is not too far from the ocean, that is on the west. People can probably take a carriage there and arrive in less than two hours to reach the closest beach.
I turned my gaze away from the beautiful scene of the city towards the ocean, and noticed a rather tiny island that is far in the distance.
So, I continued my flight there.
But first, maybe I should ask around.
I arrived at the large fishermen village by the beach, closest to the island. I landed and nearly startled the fishermen near me. They all glared at me since I just came down from the sky, but I ignored them and walked towards a nearby wooden path built above the sea.
The island can be seen from here, but it is hidden by mist. It's quite difficult to see, but is still visible.
That's the island, huh? Looks pretty plain from afar.
"Excuse me. Young lady, are you here to check on the island?"
A voice came behind me, and a tall built fisherman stood rather far behind me. Behind him are a few other fishermen, and they all looked worried.
"Yes. I am kind of late on the investigation, but I do want to see what the island got."
"Sadly, we prohibit anyone from going to the island anymore. The things on that island belonged to us fishermen, and we wouldn't want anyone taking anything from there. Not even the kingdom, or some random lady who came from the skies."
Hearing that, I simply grinned. I opened my shadow wings and began flapping my wings.
"Try and stop me."
I immediately flew towards the island while the fishermen behind me shouted.
Oh, how I have missed the sea.
The last time I saw the ocean was when I was trying to relieve my madness and regain my sanity. But the ocean has made a really good impression on me, especially when I have flight.
Come to think about it, flying above the seas definitely eases my feelings. Maybe these very moments are what mostly helped me regain my sanity, back then. It was an amazing feeling of freedom, the fact that this world is still very big, and I have only been looking at a smaller picture.
I should… visit the beach more often.
The flight to the island doesn't really take long. I landed on the beach and quickly looked around. There are just trees everywhere, here. I moved in deeper to search for things even better.
It didn't even take long, but I finally found the first alien item.
It's… a goddamn smartphone.
It was hidden under a rock next to the tree, and the fishermen couldn't possibly find this. It was also placed inside a plastic bag, an item that shouldn't exist in this world. But I found it using my inhuman senses, and I can sense that this thing...
... is still active.
CLING!
The brightness on the phone shone to my eyes as it got activated. The picture of the wallpaper can be seen and the time, as well as the date is also shown. The battery of the phone is saying 59%, but I can tell someone actually tried to charge this so that it doesn't die.
And somehow… I feel like I know this phone.
I studied the wallpaper again and again, and I realized something was very wrong.
This is… I know who owned this phone.
This is… Ren's.
My former classmate and best friend. He was the one person who always took first place away from me during high school.
I remembered he always had this white haired anime character as his wallpaper, on every platform he owns. His computer, his phone, even his damn room is filled with posters of this guy.
But… why is his phone here?
I kept the pointless thoughts inside my mind and placed the phone in my pocket, then I continued searching the island. I found some stuff that is very familiar, like a destroyed washing machine and a scavenged refrigerator.
Looks like the fishermen really did destroy these things for parts.
I finally arrived on a really large pile filled with... Alien stuff.
There's chairs, tables, a god damn television, even a fan.
There are also books here. I opened it, and I chuckled really quick from seeing the symbols that I recognized. The language too, is my own local language, my first language.
But… how is this possible?
I checked the front side of the book, and my eyes turned wide really quick.
'Book owned by: xX_Rendy69_Xx'
That nickname…
"I-It can't be..."
"Excuse me?"
I quickly stood up in reflex and turned my gaze at the person, but my body suddenly felt really heavy.
My eyes become wider as my entire muscle turns stiff. Everything else just felt like slow motion as I turned incredibly confused.
"E-Excuse me… who are you? A-Are you okay?"
His voice is really familiar to my ears, and I know exactly that this is him.
I lowered my hand as I fell to my knees. Tears welled up in my eyes as insanity began to grow again on me.
"H-Hey! Are you okay!?"
The guy then rushed forward and tried to help me, but I lifted my hand to stop him.
"S-Stop... I'm fine..."
Seeing that I was crying and kneeling on the ground, he didn't believe me.
"Y-You are crying... Why are you sad?"
I turned my gaze slightly to him, and found his really confused expression.
Should I… tell him?
I am in a different body right now. There is no way that he recognized who I am.
But I know him.
He is Ren. My previous Arch-Nemesis who kept on stealing my number one ranking back in high school. My best friend…
And also… the only person from my world.
Should I tell him? Does he have the right to know?
Then again, it doesn't change the fact that he is here right now. In another world, wearing fisherman clothes, all with the proof that says he is here right now.
The first person I met who is from another world… is none other than my best friend.
… Fine.
"God damn it, Ren…"
I mumbled, and turned my tired gaze away.
The blonde haired guy definitely heard the words that came out from my mouth. He then suddenly took a step backwards as he tried to process what I just said.
"D-Did you just... say my name?"
I let out a sigh. I should have worn a mask before coming here, and he probably wouldn't have known about my situation at all.
This is going to be heavy to receive. He will definitely laugh at me.
But, it doesn't matter. I haven't seen anyone familiar in two years, and he probably has been surviving here too. The two of us are now in another world, and the last thing we need is to be secretive with one another.
He will have to know that I'm here.