The place Diepser sent me to was another beach.
For a moment, I was speechless at its beauty. Could she be an angel? Had I been warped to heaven? No, that couldn’t be it. I clutched my racing heart and slowly opened my mouth.
“Um, where is this place?”
My mouth was dry, and I could barely get out the words.
“Are you okay? Are you perhaps suffering from amnesia? Can you say your name?”
The merfolk girl stared at me, her gem-like blue eyes blinking.
“Uh, I’m Hiroaki Arisugawa. I don’t have amnesia. It’s just, I came from a different place.”
I didn’t know how to explain. If I said I was warped from another continent, she wouldn’t believe me.
“A different place? Where? Did you fall off a ship? Were you shipwrecked?”
“Well, I was sent here by a Sea Dragon Tribe witch from a continent called Kubaiá…”
As expected, the girl in front of me tilted her head.
“A Sea Dragon Tribe witch…? You don’t mean Diepser?”
“How do you know that name? Yes, that person. We were warpped.”
Could she know her? Or perhaps he was very famous in the sea. The girl sighed and covered her face with one hand. Just then, a merman youth with the same hair color as hers approached. His features were as refined as hers, and he seemed to be around the same age. Perhaps they were siblings. He crawled across the sand and glared at me.
“Aileen, who is this guy? Hey you, what are you looking at?”
“Alex, please stop. It seems this person was sent by Diepser.”
Hearing the name Diepser, the merman youth called Alex looked surprised.
“What? Where did you come from?”
“Kubaiá.”
“Kubaiá? Where is that? This is Spring Harbor. You must have been sent from quite far away. You didn’t make any contracts, did you?”
When I told them I had, they both put their heads in their hands. It seemed I was quite a problematic person. I also relayed the contract details.
“I see, but it appears he had some conscience. By the way, you said ‘we’ earlier. Do you have any other companions?”
“Yes, but I got separated.”
Alex then pointed towards the land.
“For the now, go to Guard Wing. Wait, no, it’s not good to walk around town in that strange outfit. What’s with that cloak? Is it cosplay?”
Alex turned away as if looking at something disgusting. How rude, this is a high-quality item. Wait, did he just say cosplay? When I asked him to repeat, he answered yes.
“You don’t know? Look, over there. Comic Festival, wasn’t it? Where otaku dress up.”
Why did they know about such a thing? My mind was in chaos, and I couldn’t quite follow the conversation. Where am I? Is this truly another continent? Had I been sent to another world again?
“I want to go too! It looks fun.”
“I’d rather not go away from the sea. Besides, you can buy comics at a store, can’t you?”
I could only stare blankly at what was happening before my eyes, unable to comprehend it.
