The young teenager fell from the sky, as young teenagers tended to do in this world. It was common knowledge for citizens of Astranta to know that if they spot any human spontaneously appearing from the sky, they should take extreme caution not to approach them and simply report the incident to their nearest government official.

I didn’t consider myself a stupid girl, nor did I think that I lacked any sort of common sense, but unfortunately for me, I hadn’t managed to actually see the young teenager falling.

When I heard the boy, it hadn’t occurred to me that I could be walking right into a dangerous situation. To me, it just sounded like someone was injured and needed my help. As someone who would describe herself as a good person, I moved without thinking, not wanting to ignore the sound and have my conscience plagued forever for abandoning my fellow man.

Consciences are stupid. I should’ve just plagued mine away.

By the time I noticed the quickly closing magical rift in the sky, I had already locked eyes with the boy. My first instinct was to sprint away as fast as I could. He was sprawled out on the floor and judging from the amount of branches stuck in his clothes and hair, he’d fallen from quite high up. For a normal human, it would’ve likely broken their bones or given them a concussion. Something that would stop him from getting up and chasing after me if I ran.

But he wasn’t a normal human. He was an Otherworlder.

Taking a deep breath and ignoring the shaking in my legs, I tried desperately to remember what we were taught to do as kids if we were ever approached by an Otherworlder. It had been a few years since a teacher from the Crown had come to our village to give a seminar on the topic, but it wasn’t too difficult to remember.

Be friendly. Be uninteresting. Be naïve.

Whoever the hell decided that FUN would be the acronym to use in the event of an Otherworlder attack was messed in the head.

“H-hey there,” I said, giving the boy a not-so-stiff and friendly smile. Hopefully. “You alright?”

The boy didn’t move, barely registering my voice as he stared up into the sky, blinking occasionally.

Did he hear me? Was he dead? I knew that Otherworlders were supposed to be similar to humans superficially, but I also knew there were supposed to be some differences. Was it possible that he could be dead and still blinking? Chickens could run around with their heads chopped off and it was totally possible that a similar rule could apply here. As I desperately held onto the little hope I had, the boy’s head swiveled around before he stood up and looked at his own hands.

I still held onto that hope. Maybe Otherworlders could also move and breathe while being dead.

“I’m alive?” the boy said slowly.

Maybe Otherworlders could still ponder their existence while being dead?

As my hope slipped away, his head swiveled to me, locking eyes with me once again.

“Excuse me,” he said. “Are we on Earth?”

Naïve. I had to be naïve.

“Earth?” I asked, trying to keep my voice from stuttering. “I’ve never heard of that country before. Are you a foreigner?”

He stared at me for a few seconds before looking at his hands and grinning madly.

“Oh shit,” he said. “I’ve been isekaied.”

I didn’t understand whatever that word he just said was, so I pretended like I didn’t hear it and kept my smile plastered on my face. I didn’t know if it was convincing at all, but it seems like he wasn’t paying attention to me much. It was a small miracle that I hoped would be followed by a bigger one. Clasping my hands together, I made a silent prayer that the boy would die.

When the boy dropped to his knees, a little hope rose in me, but died instantly when he let out a victorious cheer.

“Hell yeah!” he shouted. “I’ve been isekaied!”

I had no idea what he was talking about, so I kept smiling until he turned back to me.

“Excuse me, miss. Can you understand me?”

Deciding not to point out the fact that I had already talked to him, I nodded. “Yes I can. Is something wrong, sir?”

The boy paused for a moment, thoughts obviously running through his mind while I stayed still, trying my hardest to pretend that the silence he left me in wasn’t the most awkward one I’d ever felt in my life.

“Ah yes,” he said, giving me a smile. I assumed he thought it looked sincere. “Actually, I have to admit that I am in a bit of trouble. I’m a travelling adventurer, but I accidentally misplaced my map and I’ve been lost in these woods for quite a while. Could you possibly guide me to the nearest village?”

“Of course!” I nodded, hopefully not too enthusiastically. “I can show you to my village. We have maps there if you want to buy one to replace the one you lost.”

“Oh. But I don’t have money.”

My eyes widened as I realized my mistake. One of the other rules of interacting with Otherworlders was to make their lives as easy and convenient as possible, but it was harder to remember than the main three rules. Possibly because somebody liked the FUN acronym a little too much to change it. “I can lend you some,” I said, quickly.

“Really?” he asked, looking more surprised than I would have expected. He’d just travelled to another world and this was what surprised him the most? Basic human decency? Okay, maybe a bit more than I would typically offer to a stranger, but still. “You’d do that for me? A stranger you’ve just met?”

“Sure!” I said, hoping he didn’t notice my voice cracking. “Every night before I fell asleep, my mom told me to be good to those in need. I made it my personal motto.”

I have no idea why I lied for no reason. I’d like to think my mom had raised me well, but she hadn’t done anything dramatic like that. I blamed the fear and panic for making me speak before thinking.

“Wow,” the boy said. “She must have been a good mom.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I guess she is.”

“Is?” he asked. “Don’t you mean was?”

For the first time since I saw him, the smile dropped from my face.

“My mom’s not dead,” I said.

The boy stared at me for a few seconds.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Oh.” There was a long pause before he spoke again. “I just thought that was like, your tragic backstory or something. The way you talked about her seemed pretty emotional, y’know.”

I had no idea how to deal with the awkward silence that had spawned between us. So I chose not to deal with it.

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“Should we start heading over to my village?” I asked, plastering a smile on my face again and pointing in the general direction of where it was.

“Uh, sure,” he said, seeming just as eager to ignore his misunderstanding as I was.

I expected him to follow me when I started to walk away, but I prayed he wouldn’t. Unfortunately, I knew from the sound of crunching twigs that followed me, my prayers went unanswered.

“So, what’s your name?” the boy said.

“You know, it’s only polite to give your name first when you’re introducing yourself to someone.”

I froze, unable to believe that I’d just lectured an Otherworlder on manners. I knew I was terrible under pressure, but I couldn’t help but curse my lack of survival instinct. The Otherworlder looked somewhat surprised at my comment, but before he could say anything, I let out a laugh, to try and play it off as a joke.

“Ha!” I said, unable to summon a genuine laugh on command. “Ha ha! I am joking!”

The Otherworlder’s face softened somewhat as he looked away from me, his mouth softening into a smile and a quiet chuckle escaping his lips. I had no idea how, but it seemed like I’d convinced him. I didn’t know why he was blushing slightly, but I decided to ignore it.

“No, you’re right,” the Otherworlder said. “I’m sorry for being so rude.”

“It’s no problem!” I said, speaking quickly so he didn’t have time to take back his apology. Miraculously, speaking quickly didn’t fuck me over again. “So, what’s your name?”

The Otherworlder looked back up at me. Our eyes locked and I was taken aback by how unremarkable he was. He had fair skin, dark brown hair, and light brown eyes, but I had trouble picking out any other ways to describe him. His clothing was strange, I suppose - I’d never seen a hood attached to a shirt before, only cloaks - but nothing else stood out to me. It would be difficult to describe him when I eventually gave my report to the Crown.

He turned his head away from me, and the quick movement shocked me out of my focus. My eyes widened when I saw an angry red glow growing on his cheeks. Had I offended him in some way? I knew that Otherworlders were somewhat similar to humans, but it was possible that I had done something culturally strange for him. I panicked, opening my mouth to make some sort of excuse for my offensive behavior, but thankfully, he spoke before I could fuck things up even more.

“My name is Jam-” He cut himself off, pausing for a long moment. I’m not sure why, so I simply tried my best to smile and wait. He shook his head, making me think I’d done something wrong again, but then he spoke.

“My name is Ryuji,” he said. “Ryuji Nightblade.”

I clapped my hands together. “That’s a wonderful name! Ree-yoo-ji. Am I pronouncing it right?” The name sounded foreign, but the way that he said it with an Astrantan accent, I felt confident that I was repeating it back correctly.

“Y-yeah,” he said, looking back at me.

My eyes widened when I saw the angry red glow on his cheeks was still there. What had I done wrong? I turned away from him and hid my face. I wasn’t confident enough in my fake smile to hide the horror I felt.

“It really is a wonderful name,” I repeated, hoping he would forgive me if I praised him some more. “Ryuji. It sounds beautiful.”

“T-thanks,” he said.

The pause that followed was the most nerve-wracking experience I’d ever had in my life. He’d thanked me, but I had no idea if he was still mad or not and I was too afraid to turn check, in case the movement would trigger the Otherworlder to pulverize me with whatever magic he possessed.

“What’s your name? I’m sure it’s just as beautiful.”

I made a silent prayer of thanks to the Gods.

“Lena.”

“Lena, huh?” he repeated. “That’s a pretty name.”

“Thanks,” I said, giving him a genuine smile, more from relief than gratitude.

“So, Lena. Not that I’m not grateful, but what were you doing wandering around in the forest? I don’t know much about the area, but I can’t help but assume that it might be dangerous for a young girl to be alone in a place like this.”

I don’t know why he would assume such a thing, but I saw no reason to call him out on it, nor did I see a reason to lie to him.

“I was just practicing my magic,” I said.

“Really?!” Ryuji shouted, making me jump in the spot. “You can do magic?!”

I turned around cautiously to see Ryuji’s mouth stretched into a mad grin. I’m not sure how exactly I managed not to break down into tears.

“Yeah,” I said.

“Can I see?”

I knew Otherworlders supposedly didn’t have magic in their original worlds, so I could understand his excitement at the idea of seeing magic for the first time. The only problem was that he was looking at me as if I was some sort of prodigy. In reality, I was just slightly below average at best.

“If you insist,” I said, as I reached out, with my palms facing up. "I’m pretty bad at it though, so don’t laugh if I fail, okay?”

Ryuji nodded violently, staring down at my hands with an intensity that made me sweat. Ignoring the feeling, I closed my eyes, and felt the flow of mana inside of me, begging it to work so I could entertain the Otherworlder for a few seconds.

I wasn’t a sorcerer of any sort, and I’d only picked up the practice to make life a little more convenient for myself, so I didn’t know if I could do anything that would satisfy Ryuji. While I already told him that I was bad at it, I was afraid of what would happen if I failed to entertain him. He didn’t seem like a violent person yet, but I wasn’t willing to risk any chances.

I was a novice magic user, so my mana control wasn’t too great. I typically kept my mana within my body, but the whole reason why I’d been out in the forest in the first place was to practice externalizing my mana in the form of fire without risking my house burning down. Thankfully, I hadn’t been practicing for long enough for my mana to have burned away, so I still had more than enough inside me for another attempt.

“Here I go,” I said, with my eyes still closed.

Summoning my mana to my hands, I imagined a thin needle puncturing the skin of my hands, just enough for mana to escape from my body and into the air. I imagined the mana being combustible, and igniting as soon as it exited my body.

I opened my eyes as my hands grew hot, a small fireball floating lazily above my hands, about the size of a cherry.

“Fireball,” I said, holding it out so Ryuji could see.

“Oh shit,” he said, the fire reflecting in his wide eyes.

I was glad to see it worked so cleanly and to see such a positive reaction from him. His mouth gaped open, and I swore I could see drool threatening to drip from it. He reached out to it as if to grab the floating ball of flame, but I felt my mana quickly evaporating away so I was forced to clasp my palms together, imagining the hole in my hands sealing shut and stopping the flow of mana from escaping.

I let out a slow breath, ignoring the sheen of sweat had suddenly covered my body. It was tiring stuff, manipulating mana, especially for a ball of fire so big. I’d really pushed myself to the limit for that.

“That was so cool,” Ryuji said, whispering as if he were in the presence of something sacred.

I smiled, and for the first time since I’d found him, I found that my smile was at least somewhat genuine. It felt good to be recognized for my efforts.

“Thanks,” I said.

Ryuji’s face broke out into a grin, but for the first time, I realized that he looked just like a normal guy. He looked like he was about the same age as me, and with how unremarkable he looked, I could almost pretend that he was just a normal kid from the neighbouring village or something. The way he was smiling, as if he were just a giddy child who had found a new toy, was admittedly a bit infectious.

“That was seriously the coolest thing I’ve ever seen in my life, Lena,” he said.

“It really wasn’t that great,” I said, holding back a blush. While I was one of the few people in my village who ever bothered with trying to learn magic, I was by far the worst out of all of them. I wasn’t used to being praised for my magic.

“You think I could do that someday?” he asked.

“Yeah, everybody has the latent ability to sense and use mana, it’s just a matter of training it.”

Ryuji nodded. “Mana, huh,” he said, furrowing his brow and staring off into space. His eyes widened before he grinned madly.

"God, I hope this works," he said. "Status."

I was about to ask why he just blurted out a random word like that, but I recovered from my tired daze fast enough to remember who exactly I was talking to. I froze in place, returning to my default response of ignoring something whenever I didn’t understand what was happening. For some reason, Ryuji started to poke at the air and focus on something I couldn’t see. I had no idea what he was doing, but had no desire to find out, so I simply smiled and waited.

“Okay,” he said suddenly. “I think I got it.”

“Hmm?” I had no idea what he was randomly talking about. “Got what?”

Ryuji grinned at me and held out his palms.

“Fireball.”

It was a small miracle that I managed to survive. The intense smell of sulfur and singed hair hit my nose. I felt the fluid in my eyes threatened to boil from the heat and I was blinded by the light of the large gout of endless fire that burst from Ryuji’s hands and into the sky, incinerating a hole in the canopy on the way. Without any sort of conscious thought, my eyes followed the great gout of fire as it escaped into the sky, refusing to fade even as it soared into the heavens and evaporated clouds along the way. I’m not sure it ever truly died out, only disappearing as it grew too far to actually see.

I blinked twice, wondering if I was dead or hallucinating. My skin felt flushed and the scent of burning foliage and wood surrounded me. Looking up into the treetops, I saw a perfect circle carved into the canopy, blackened on the edges but not catching fire in the slightest. It didn’t make much sense. Simply being exposed to that kind of heat should have made the forest burst into flames, but I guess magic was always weird like that.

I looked down at Ryuji, who turned away sheepishly.

“Sorry,” he said. “I guess I’m not used to controlling my mana.”

I stared at him for a few seconds then clapped my hands together.

“Wow. You are very very talented.” My voice came out in chattered staccato notes.

“I have a lot to work on,” Ryuji said, chuckling quietly.

I stared at him some more.

I questioned myself how I could think he was a normal person, even for a second. He was an Otherworlder. I had no idea how I could’ve ignored that.

I turned around, right before my frozen mask fell, my teeth chattering frantically in fear. I wasn’t confident I could look at him without crying right now.

“Let’s go,” I somehow said.

“Okay,” Ryuji replied.