Mina came running up. “Theodore! Theodore! Can you hear me!”

“Yeah,” I said. “What’s going on?”

“We should hurry,” she said as she ran up my leg and quickly got up to my shoulder. “Let’s go!”

“Hold on,” I said. “What is happening?”

“They are refugees, traveling west to the land of Seiryu Teikoku, it is the closest country from here.”

Seiryu Teikoku? I never heard of it. “Why do we need to hurry?” I asked.

“Because, two groups of refugees are introducing themselves to each other right now,” she said.

Oh. Got it. I grabbed my bags and began walking. Two different groups means that no one from either group would be aware of everyone else. This was my perfect chance to blend in. Shame, I was hoping running into people would end this whole adventure but it seemed unlikely if they were refugees.

“What did they look like?” I asked.

“Skin colour similar to yours but their clothes are much worse and they have horses drawing their wagons. The armed ones have swords and bows.”

Swords and bows? Like something from middle ages Europe? I looked down at my clothes. Frick. No way was what I was wearing was going to blend into that crowd. But what choice did I have? If I wasn’t on Earth I needed to make some sort of connection. I wasn’t good enough to simply hunt for my own life.

Not to mention, if I wasn’t crazy and I was on another planet, however I got here could possibly be a way home. It was worth trying at the very least. And to do that, I needed friends, resources and information. I took a deep breath. Okay. Let’s do this.

“You figure anything else out?” I asked.

“Yeah, So two nations to the west are in military conflict but citizens from surrounding nations as well as the nations at conflict are traveling east. I estimate that the original group was about three hundred strong and the new group has about two hundred among their numbers.”

“Can you sneak back around? I need you to find information about which nation has the fewest people and what their name is,” I said.

“Sure thing, captain,” she said before running off again.

At least I wasn’t alone. Currently my plan was simple, if someone demanded to know where I was from, I needed to say something but it would be terrible if I kept meeting people from that location.

Everyone seemed to be busy with one thing or another, so they didn’t take notice of another face amongst their numbers. My clothes were a jarring difference but no one seemed to care for now at least. I’ll take the simple wins I can get. The smell among the campsites was strong, they clearly weren’t overly concerned with washing their clothes.

A scent caught off guard, it was pleasant or somewhat pleasant. It is hard to describe any particular aroma mixed with sweat and shit as good but my growling stomach recognized it as food if nothing else. I hadn’t any other things to push me forward, so food was as good as any other.

Wandering, I found myself coming up to a woman. She was serving soup into a pot.

“Hey there, young man, you look hungry,” she said.

My eyes widened. She spoke english? I wasn’t really sure what I was prepared to do if she didn’t. Maybe this was magic? Or another hint that I had lost my mind. Not that their-

“You waiting for something?” she asked again.

“Sorry, but I don’t have anything in which to pay,” I said.

“I don’t remember asking for anything,” she said. “You look of skin and bones. So much so I was almost tempted to think you look like a girl. Eat. You will have trouble on the walk otherwise.”

I bowed. “Thank you,” I said.

“I’m Aoi. I presume you are from the other refugees we met up with?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yes, I met up with you just today. My name is Theodore.”

I suppose it wasn’t a full lie. I did meet up with them today. I still felt bad about the deception but I could hardly afford to make an enemy so fast. I sat down with my bowl of soup. It certainly smelled good but the looks were another thing altogether. The… meat? The tougher piece of material within it was purple.

Nothing good would come of being squeamish now, so I took a sip of the soup. It was good! Sweet even. Like really sweet. It made me think that she used brown sugar in it. I carefully took a bite of the purple chunk and it pulled apart in the way I expected with meat. It was bland at best but that was good enough for me. I was thankful that it wasn’t terrible.

With the growing cold, the warm sweet soup in my belly was a welcomed change. Mina crawled up my leg. Oh darn. Maybe I should have saved some for her. Sorry, I thought.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

“Pay it no mind, I am still happy from the banana,” she said.

The banana? Wait, was she referencing the banana I gave that other field mouse? That-

“Other field mouse?” Mina said, looking at me. “I was heading home after I finished a big case and a pigeon stole my rations. I thought I was going to starve before you gave me that banana. I am truly thankful.”

I see, but that was-

“Who are you,” a strong baritone voice said. “I haven’t seen you before. Where are you from?”

Mina! Help. What is the nation I should say?

“Hikarigawa has the fewest of the two groups. I counted about ten in total,” she said. “All of which were from the other group.”

“Hikarigawa,” I said nervously.

“Hmm, I see,” he said. “Name is Yuto, I am in charge of this entire trip. A well fed boy from the other group is going to be keeping watch tonight. I trust you can manage that?”

“I…” paused. “I am not much of a fighter but I suppose as long as… as long as that isn’t an issue. I don’t mind.”

“Yuto,” Aoi said. “I was going to ask the boy to help me clean up.”

“Cleaning up is women's work,” Yuto said before gesturing me to follow him. I did so immediately.

I recognized his type. My father’s friends were like this. Sexism and this ancient sense of gender roles at its finest. I knew nothing good would come from me not immediately complying. I only resisted mentioning my lack of being a fighter because no good would come from him relying on me as a warrior.

Mina, I thought. Are all the names of people around here Japanese names?

“I don’t understand?” she asked. “What is Japanese?”

Uh. How to explain. My name is Theodore Chapman. Notice how in Chapman we have both “ch” and “pm” next to each other. Japanese generally don't do that. In general they alternate between vowels and consonants. All the names you have said so far do that. Do all of the names you have heard do that?

“Yes, Captain. They do,” she said. “Is that bad?”

No, I thought. Just interesting.

“Here we are,” Yuto said, as he pointed to a group of five people. Three boys and two girls.

Strange. I thought he wasn’t going to put girls on duty. Maybe he-

“Hina, and Hana, what do you think you are doing?” Yuto shouted. “The boys aren’t here to play. They are here to work. Go help Aoi with the dishes.”

Okay. There it was.

“How about you go suck a rock,” one girl said.

“Hana!” Presumably Hina had shouted. “That is rude.”

“So is his bullshit, we are just as capable as any boy,” Hana said in retort.

“I-”

Someone shouted Yuto’s name. It didn’t seem like an emergency but he seemed to be distracted by the call to care as much anymore.

“Aki, if the girls are any trouble, send them away,” Yuto said before leaving.

I sat down by the fire. The warmth was welcome. Looking around, two of the boys seemed to be preparing to sleep while the third seemed to be Aki, who was rubbing a cloth against a knife.

“Let me guess, two hour shifts?” I asked.

Aki just nodded.

“I’d rather go first if it is all the same,” I said.

“Wake me in two hours then,” he said as he put his knife away.

Hina and Hana both sat next to me. Oh crap. Well… yeah still the better plan. I was way too tired. If I went to bed, I was going to be worthless before morning. If I was going to get a shift in, it was best for me to get the first shift in.

“Your shirt is so soft, is this like expensive cloth?” Hana asked me.

“Uhm, I don’t think so. I am not really much of an expert on such things,” I said.

“Do you mind if I ask where you got it?” Hina asked.

Crap, questions. I might have already made a mistake, come to think of it. Saying this wasn’t expensive is probably only going to give off the impression that I am rich. I had to be a bit more elusive with my answers but I didn’t want to directly lie. Lies get tangled.

“My mother got it for me, so I don’t know the details,” I said.

“Got? As in paid for it?” Hana asked, her eyebrow raised.

Dang it! Was clothing not normally bought in this world? Well, nothing I could do about it now. If I did this badly. I would just have to use it to learn for later.

“Yes,” I said.

“So where are you from?” Hana asked.

“Hana!” Hina shouted again. “I do apologize, my sister isn’t too good at minding her manners.”

I shrugged. I wasn’t sure what to say. I guess I already told Yuto about being from Hikarigawa. No backing out now. “I am from Hikarigawa.”

Their eyes grew wide. I noticed now that they were making the same expression that they looked a lot alike. I’d almost guess twins. They both had what seemed to be brown hair but the fire’s orange glow made it hard to see the exact shade. They both had it cut to shoulder length. Classic tomboy look through and through.

“Really?” Hana said as she closed the distance a bit. “Hikarigawa. Why would someone from there be traveling this far east?”

“It is, well, a private manner. I would appreciate you not to press for an answer,” I said.

“Wanna get married?” Hana asked.

“What?” I shouted as I stumbled backwards.

She used the moment to climb on top of me and looked me in the eyes. “Am I not pretty enough by Hikarigawa standards?”

“What?!” I shouted again.

Hina pushed Hana in the side and she tumbled a bit in the nearby grass. “Sorry about my sister,” she paused and looked at Hana. “She is way too forward.”

Hana stood up. “What? He is cute,” she said looking at her sister. “Plus Hikarigawa citizenship is a sweet prize given the current climate.”

Ah. She wanted to be able to live in Hikarigawa. That made me a worthless marriage partner to her anyhow. Given that I was lying about that. Not that part mattered. How could she propose to some random person she just met!

“I can’t accept,” I said. “I could never marry someone I just met.”

“Is it because you're a noble?” Hana asked.

“What?” I shouted even louder this time. Why would she think that?

Hina punched Hana in the face. “Don’t be so crass! Are you trying to scare him off!”

“Captain,” Mina said. “I’m reading their minds. They think your expensive clothes and being from Hikarigawa means you are fleeing some sort of political persecution.”

Ah. I see. Come to think of it. That wasn’t an unreasonable theory. I wasn’t a fighter or anything. Even the most generous estimate wouldn’t give me the kind of impression you’d expect from a commoner. My soft skin and frame definitely made more sense if you thought of me as a noble. I didn’t want rumors like this spreading. I had to be direct.

“I am no noble, and I am no one worth marrying. I am barely seventeen years old. I have never even had a girlfriend. I thank you for the compliment of your words but please, forget about me in that light for now.”

“So polite!” Hina said with a bit of a squeak to her voice.

Frick. I had a feeling I wasn’t giving off the impression I wanted to. It is only my first night here. I can’t expect myself to be perfect so fast. Why’d it have to be me, I wondered. My brothers could have easily hunted and probably wouldn’t have needed to make contact with a group like I did. They had much more masculine builds and rough hands. They would have had an easier time blending in if they needed too.

It felt like, only me, little old Theodore was the worst at whatever was going on. I sighed. Figures I thought.