“Even though I'm in a different world, I still look great.”

After a week in a different world, Yu was still recovering and trying to get back to normal.

He put a smug smile on his face, as he used to do, trying to comfort himself with compliments. He was even aware that he was trying to deceive himself.

“Neko, give my appearance a score between ten and ten.”

Neko was not happy that Yu had put a smile on her face. She was still mourning her mother and expected Yu to be unhappy too.

Of course Yu understood her and didn't expect her to forget what had happened. He too had been melancholy after the death of her older sisters and had not recovered.

But Yu was alone and Neko had someone with her. As that ‘someone’ Yu wanted to stand by her side and make her feel better.

“I can only give you ten points.” Neko spoke again in an emotionless voice as she watched Yu trying on clothes in front of the mirror with her sweet but emotionless face.

“I can't rate myself lower than ten either.” As he said this, he looked at his reflection in the mirror. The moment he locked eyes with his reflection, the fake smile on his face disappeared.

He thought of Rie, whom he had locked eyes with before she died. When he looked into her own violet eyes in the mirror, he saw Rie's red eyes, red with surprise and fear.

“Because of me...” He was a good actor, he could convince those around him that everything was fine with a smile on his elegant lips, even if he was bleeding inside. “It's not working...”

But he no longer had the strength to do that, he couldn't even fool himself.

“Don't I look like a butler when I wear this black and white suit? And you look like a noble little lady.”

“Stop saying weird things.” Neko rejected another of Yu's attempts to mingle. “But it's not bad that you know your place, someone like you could be my butler.”

“Wow, you're so arrogant.” Neko puffed out her chest with pride. It was the first time in the past week Yu had seen her feel anything other than grief. “And a little hurtful.”

During his time here, Yu called his world the First World and this world the Second World.

There was racism in the Second World, just like in the First World. Although Rolderhelm was different from the rest of the world in terms of social problems such as racism, discrimination based on skin color was widespread in the world and this discrimination increased as you moved towards the western and northern countries.

Another form of racism was not based on skin color, but really on race. In this world, elves considered humans, humans considered half-humans and dwarves inferior.

Neko must also have faced racism because she had the appearance of a half-human. Even in Rolderhelm, where there are plenty of half-human, Yu could see that Neko was being watched when they entered a place.

“Half-human racism, I guess that cliché has to be in all fantasy universes.” He hadn't seen any fantasy stories he'd seen or read that were the opposite. “Neko is a very sweet kid, and by ostracizing her, they're turning her into the tough person she is now.”

It was not only because of her half-human appearance that Neko attracted people's gaze. Rolderhelm was a land of many different races and you could see many different species on the streets.

The most striking thing about Neko was her white hair. Because of her white hair, people saw her as a witch and shunned her.

“What clothes are you going to wear?”

Ever since they arrived here, Neko had been wearing the loli cat girl t-shirt Yu had given her. At first she refused to wear it because it was belonged to Yu, but now she didn't want to take it off.

“I'm not denying that she's cute that way, but she can't wear the same outfit all the time.”

On their second day at the inn, they went shopping and bought new clothes for themselves. Yu picked up two of the clothes he had bought for Neko.

“Which one do you want to wear? The purple one or the red one? I'll wear the red one, and if you wear the red one, we'll be a team, what do you think?”

“I want the purple one.

In Yu's world, before the industrial revolution, the color purple was hard to get, even for kings, and there was no industrial revolution in this world.

But in the Second World, the color purple was easier to obtain than in the First World. It was still expensive, but you didn't have to be a king to get it.

Yu had bought a purple dress for Neko. It had shoulder straps and an extravagant, frilly skirt. It was a bit expensive and he only wanted her to wear it for special occasions, but if Neko wanted it now, he wasn't going to refuse, it had been hard to convince her to come anyway.

“You've been so sweet, Neko,” Yu smiled slightly.

“Normally.”

He thought her white hair and the purple dress were a beautiful combination.

“Now it's my turn.” Yu picked up his matching jacket and boots, and when he put on a pair of trousers, he would look like the nobility of this world.

He was happy to look good and to get people's praise. So he spent a lot of money on clothes and bought the best he could afford.

“I am always look perfect on all the ways.”

During his time in Rolderhelm, he was able to learn new things about the country.

Rolderhelm was a principality consisting of four islands and named after the capital Rolderhelm, located on the central island.

But the Principality of Rolderhelm was a parliamentary monarchy. At least Yu thought he could call it that. The country had a princess, who held the top position, and a prime minister, who was one position below her. And the princess and the prime minister were married. In fact, for the first time ever, the husband of the princess was appointed prime minister.

The country's economy was very strong, and despite its small size, Rolderhelm was the richest of the neighboring countries.

Although Rolderhelm was expensive compared to other countries, its citizens had a high purchasing power. In Rolderhelm, there was a minimum wage standard and one was paid at least three gold pieces and twenty-five silver pieces for each job. In neighboring countries it was difficult to earn even twenty silver.

“We spent ten gold coins on clothes and stuff, eight gold coins for the rent here, that's eighteen. If we allocate the rent for the next two months, thirty-four gold coins are gone. We have sixteen gold coins left, I think it will last us for a while.”

Breakfast and dinner were included and they didn't have to pay a bill, but they paid for lunch. In fact, it would be more accurate to call it a midnight meal because of their disturbed sleep patterns, because they were still sleeping during the day because they hadn't yet settled down to sleep.

If they had to travel, the travel costs would be a headache, but they would have to grit their teeth.

“Stupid human, I don't understand what you're saying, but I won't accept poverty. Find money for my comfort.”

“That's easy for you to say,” Yu threw himself on the chair.

If he had to, he could earn money by singing. He could play an instrument and had a beautiful voice. He also knew some small magic tricks, but he was not sure that the tricks he had learned in the First World could surprise people in this magical world.

But even if he could do that, there was also the question of what Neko would think. Neko believed that she would be reunited with her mother and expected Yu to serve that purpose.

Not only did she expect that, but she honored the unspoken agreement she and Yu had made. She regularly used healing magic every morning and evening to prevent the Blessings he received hurting him.

Neko also helped Yu with his epileptic seizures. Despite the medication, Yu had a seizure, but it was over before it started because Neko recognized it immediately. Her healing magic was literally a miracle for Yu.

“The same feeling again,” Yu put his hand to his heart. He felt bad, the hole in his chest was hurting him, tearing something out of his heart. “I want to believe, but why can't I believe? I think I want to know more than I want to believe... It might be possible, but still... I don't know.”

Turning back time might have been possible in the Second World, but the difficulty of the mission frightened Yu and damaged his frail faith. Yu found it hard to believe that they could turn back time, or even find a way.

“I realize my request is selfish, I apologize.”

Yu had taken care of small children before, but Neko was different. For the first time a child was completely under his responsibility, he felt like a kind of father.

But he had no previous experience as a father, so he didn't know what to do.

Yu had made it a taboo to ask for help from strangers and never did it, but for the first time, for Neko, he broke his taboo and asked Lucia, who he thought would be experienced because of her age, even if he still didn't like asking it.

Lucia told Yu that there are festivals in Rolderhelm at the beginning of each season and that could improve the relationship between father and daughter there and invited him and Neko to the festival.

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Yu had wanted advice on parenting, but Lucia seemed to have misunderstood. Nevertheless, he accepted, thinking that Lucia's offer would be effective in quenching his thirst for knowledge about this world.

But he still felt bad for dragging Neko, whose mother had just died, to a festival. He had the desire to give it up.

“Stupid human, selfish asshole.”

“You only said that to insult me.”

“Yes.”

It was difficult to get close to Neko. Neko was an extremely difficult challenge for Yu, who normally found it difficult to be friends with anyone because he considered himself superior to everyone else.

“Neko, there's something I want to tell you.”

They had spent a week with Neko and Yu thought they would spend more time together because he didn't want to leave her behind. So instead of waiting any longer, he was going to talk about his origins now.

When Lucia asked him about his hometown, he was always evasive and avoided telling the truth. The reason was that he didn't want to reveal his origins to everyone.

But with Neko it was different, he didn't want to keep it a secret from her as they would most probably be together in the future. If one day in the future they got along well and Neko found out Yu's identity from someone else, she might feel cheated and Yu didn't want that to happen so he would tell her right away.

Yu didn't think Neko would believe him right away, but as time passed and the bond of trust between them strengthened, Yu's words would become more and more convincing.

“Have you ever heard about other worlds?”

He wanted to tell her, but he didn't know how to get to the point. Before his confession, he wanted to probe Neko and see what her level of knowledge was. If she knew nothing, he would first try to explain the concept of different worlds.

“Why do you ask such a question now?” Neko couldn't understand Yu's purpose.

“Just answer me.”

“Heaven, Hell, Demon Realm, Underworld. Is that what you're talking about?”

“I'm surprised that Hell, the Demon Realm and the Underworld are separate, but that's not what I'm talking about.”

The fact that there were concepts similar to parallel worlds and that Neko knew about them would make it easier to explain.

“If you are thinking of some ignorant plan to bring my mother's soul back from heaven and put it in a new body, I will not accept it. Contrary to what you ignorant life forms know, when people die their souls do not go to heaven, they are reborn in a different body, without memories, without pieces of the past. Even if you use magic beyond your imagination and find my mother's reborn soul, I will not accept it, I will not accept this faulty world, because I want my mother never to have died, I want her in the same soul, in the same body, with the same feelings, the same emotions, and the only way to do that is to put an end to this faulty world, to go back in time and change destiny.”

“This thing is... heavy.” Yu avoided topics related to religion. If he saw a discussion about religion, he stayed out, he didn't express an opinion because he knew that individuals could not easily reject what had been imposed on them from childhood. So arguing with them was a waste of time, like arguing with a wall.

Of course, at the same time, Yu's other reason for not engaging in debates was that he didn't want his ideas to be questioned.

For Yu, the more boring an idea about reality was, the more true it was. The idea of magic was fun and the absence of magic was boring, so magic was not real.

Lightsabers couldn't be real because they were fun. Everything in Star Wars was fun, a world without the Force, without hyperspace engines, without attractive female aliens was boring, so nothing in Star Wars was real and could not be real unless humans made it real in a virtual world.

He had similar views about the existence of a being called God. The idea of a god creating a paradise where the good could do whatever they wanted and have fun was fun. That's why Yu believed that this idea could not be true in a reality based on boredom. Yu thought that even if there was a god, he would have abandoned this boring reality by creating a fun world for himself.

Yu was sure that his logic was correct and based on his logic he knew that people disappeared after death. He didn't want to believe it, he wanted to believe that there was a fifty percent chance that the god who existed and worked for fun had left a chance for an afterlife before leaving the boring world, but knowing and believing were different things.

But the chance of an afterlife Yu wanted was not the way Neko described it. He wanted there to be a heaven and he wanted to go there and devote his eternity to having fun. What Neko told him bothered Yu and weighed heavily on his heart.

“Reincarnation, becoming a me that is not me, I don't want to accept that.”

It was no different from dying and disappearing. It was the memories that made a person who they were, and when the memories were taken away, that person was a different person. Even if they had the same body, the same soul, the old one had died and a different one had taken its place.

“I didn't expect to hear something like that out of the blue. No, what I said has nothing to do with your mother.”

He pushed Neko’s words to the back of his mind, among the other thoughts that would occupy him during his sleepless nights.

“What? Then I'm not interested.”

“You're so hard, Neko. Why don't you just listen? I believe that since we are partners, we should open up our past to each other.” He cleared his throat before speaking again. “What would you think if I told you that there is another world like this one?”

Instead of giving an answer, Neko just looked at Yu's face.

“It's a different place that you can't go with walking, swimming or flying to. You can think of it as paradise, but it's not paradise, it's a completely different universe. If I told you I came from a place like this, would you believe me?”

“No.”

“You refused too quickly!”

He was shaken by Neko's quick denial and could do nothing but give her a crooked smile, but he was determined to tell her even if she didn't believe him. This stage at the beginning of their journey was essential for building mutual trust.

Or make Neko think he was a liar and lose what little trust he had.

“I come from a different world, a different universe. I wasn't born here, I didn't grow up here. I was born and raised in a different universe where there is no magic, where only humans rule. I don't belong to this world.”

After Yu's confession, they both sat for a while without saying a word, watching each other. He couldn't tell if Neko believed him or not.

“Last week I opened the door to my house and there was this city. When I got out and started to walk through the streets of the city, the road I was on collapsed and I met you. You remember your mother said I had no core, don't you? Because I come from a world without magic, that's my story.”

He didn't give Neko the example of the soul, lest she think that her mother had given her Blessing completely in vain.

“Are you trying to trick me?” said Neko. She stood up from the bed and fixed him with her stern gaze. “I will not release you from your duty by saying this man is crazy!”

He lowered the finger he was pointing at Yu. Yu could understand the reason for the harsh reaction, what he said was not something a person heard every day and would easily believe.

“I'm not crazy and I remember our mission. I just wanted you to know where I came from, that's all. I didn't expect you to believe me right away. For now, it's enough for me to tell you.”

And after a while, Neko would realize that Yu was honest.

“I have a present for you.”

After putting on his own clothes, he took out a wafer from her own world from inside her bag, one of the handles of which was broken.

The food in his hand was a delicacy unprecedented in the Second World. He carefully opened the package and handed Neko a chocolate-covered wafer with nuts inside.

“Eat with savor, it's a taste you only get once in this world.”

Neko approached the wafer skeptically. After picking it up, she looked at it, sniffed it and finally hesitantly took a bite. As soon as she tasted the wafer, her eyes lit up and she devoured the whole thing.

Then he looked away, scratched his cheek and asked, “Is there anymore else?”

“Are you a glutton? You finished it so fast.”

Needless to say, Neko's coy demeanor sweetened her, Yu replied with satisfaction.

“No, like I said, it's a flavor you can only taste once. There was only one of it.”

“Why didn't you say so, stupid human! If I'd known, I wouldn't have eaten it all.”

“I told you!” Yu smiled slightly again, the tenderness of a parent caring for a child settling in his eyes.

“I must have no one, I get attached a little too easily.”

Seeing the look in his eyes, Neko blushed and headed for the door, trying to hide her face.

“Let's go down now.”

He accepted Lucia Leafera's invitation not only because he wanted to learn something new about the world. He thought that if he got on well with Lucia, he could use her as an intermediary to make new contacts.

He could have gone alone, not taking Neko there, but he didn't want to leave Neko. Not because he was afraid of something happening to him, but because he was afraid of something happening to Neko.

“Before I forget, it's going to be crowded where we're going. Hold my hand so you don't get lost.”

“No,” Neko refused without thinking.

“If we lose each other in the crowd it will be a problem, you could be kidnapped as you are a valuable being. At least let me take you by the arm or you grab a piece of my clothing.”

“I-it is true that I am a valuable being, so even an ignorant person like you can understand that. I'll hold your clothes so you don't get lost, like I'm holding a leash.” Neko was at first embarrassed like a tsundere, then overcome like a narcissist.

“If you learn a little politeness, you'll make a nice tsundere loli, you just have to say onii-chan.”

“Don't use words I don't understand, stupid human.”

“So you claim to be a superior being, but your understanding is not developed, huh?” Yu thought he could corner Neko.

“Dogs can bark, does the fact that you can't understand their barking make you equal to dogs?”

“There seems to be some racism here.”

When they reached the ground floor, they saw two female elves sitting at a table. One elf was the innkeeper Lucia Leafera, the other he did not recognize.

“On second thought, I should be cautious. Even if I am not of this world, I can recognize the value of a being with the name of a sword fairy, and I should not trust even Lucia with Neko.”

“Here they are, Lucie. This young man here is Yu Valarfin, and this is his friend Neko.” Lucia introduced Yu and Neko to the elf next to her. “This is my sister Lucie.”

“Nice to meet you,” Yu said, holding out his hand.

“Nice to meet you too, Mr. Valarfin,” Lucie shook hands with Yu.

Lucie's face was a little different from her sister's, but they looked similar. She had blonde hair and green eyes, but Lucie was shorter than her sister and her breasts were a little smaller than hers.

“Your eyes... The color is beautiful. A very rare color.” Lucie stared at Yu's purple eyes as if mesmerized.

He was used to receiving compliments, but this was the first time he had received one when he least expected it. After recovering from his surprise, he replied to an embarrassed Lucie.

“Not as beautiful as you.”

He said it with a heartwarming smile, but he didn't mean it. He could see that Lucie was beautiful enough to steal a man's heart, even more than that, but Yu thought his own looks were much better than hers.

“Ah, ha... Thank you.”

Lucie was happy and a sweet smile formed on her thin lips, unlike her sister's. It was the first time Yu had met such a shy girl.

“She must have come here reading romance books, it was like a romantic conversation in a clichéd story.”

“Hmph...” Neko grunted to be noticed, then changed the subject. “Elven families with two children are rare.”

“Yes, we are a rare family.” Lucia puffed up her chest, proud of her family.

“Why?” Yu wondered. He could think of a few reasons, but when he asked, it was too late, Lucia answered immediately.

“Elves are not very keen on mating.”

“Sister! What are you saying in front of people?”

Lucie's face flushed red with embarrassment and she shook. She looked at Yu and when their eyes met, this time she blushed up to her ears.

“Doesn't everyone know such simple things?” Lucia put a hand on her sister's shoulder. She was enjoying her sister's shyness.

“There's a child here!”

All three of them fixed their eyes on Neko at the same time, and she remained expressionless.

“How much do you know that you shouldn't know?” Yu spoke without a pause between words. A child shouldn't know such things.

“Anyway!” Lucie nodded and extended her hand with a smile to shake Neko's hand. “Nice to meet you too.”

Neko did not reach out her hand, avoiding contact.

“She's a little shy, I'm sorry.”

Lucie took Neko's rudeness with a smile. As an adult, she could take it in stride.

“You both look very good, the clothes fit you well.” Lucia looked at Yu and Neko before leaving the inn.

“Well, I have an innate beauty. Everything I wear looks great on me.” Yu felt good to be praised, he liked to hear such words. It made her forget her problems. “You're very good, too.”

“Thank you.” Lucia turned around and showed off her green dress, the same color as her sister's. When she turned around, her breasts jiggled and she met her sister Lucie's jealous gaze.

“Let's get out, Lucie~” Lucia took her sister's arm and they walked out, leaving the inn in the care of a working cat-eared man. Yu and Neko followed behind them.