Branch 11: Hitomi

"He is not Japanese?!"

That crystal clear thought echoes thru the girl's head as she tries to make sense of what happened.  The sun has set and she is back in her room at the Mordeca Trade Company's store.

Honestly she had a lot of fun today.  Didn't know this world had wheelchairs.  In aquecia most amputees end up beggars.  After all, even Umeka couldn't regrow lost limbs.  Unless they were lucky enough to find a job they could do, had an understanding boss, or a supportive family?

A short life of poverty and homelessness awaited them.

The thief again convinced herself that the heroes would fix that, someday.  They just didn't have the time or resources right now.  Much bigger issues needed to be dealt with before they could spare energy for the crippled and poor.

That the merchant had designed and built the chair himself?  Impressive.  Expensive too.  The lightweight alloys he used are difficult to produce.  Claimed he got the initial design from merchants trading with the continent to the west.

She had taken a turn pushing and it was surprisingly easy.  Miltinnia could even push herself by rolling the wheels by hand.  They spent hours enjoying the sights, sounds, food, and even toured Stormgarde.

The academy was unlike any school she had seen before in this world.  It looked more like a college campus in Japan or a fantasy school in an anime.  Brickwork and glass everywhere instead of wood and plaster.  Grass and trees instead of dirt and stone.

Pearlden itself had been a shock.  Such a small community, not even considered a town, to be this well developed?  With public baths and a public library?  Parks and gardens?  Almost every road paved?  Looks more like a Tokyo suburb than an oversized medieval village.

Stormgarde, on the other hand, blew her mind.  Only the Imperial University came anywhere close.  The spy from another world found herself curious about its history, structure, and hoped there would be time to investigate it.

And those uniforms?  The senior high student, for a moment, thought she was back on Earth when she saw a crowd of uniformed second years.  In Aquecia, only the Imperial University were getting uniforms, now, and that was Maki's idea.

Something about, indoctrination?  And they were no where near as 'modern' looking as these.

Actual JK looking uniforms with all the youthful rebellious rule boundary pushing included.  The homesickness that followed was so strong?  She barely avoided clutching her heart and breaking down in tears.

"Wish we were summoned here."

Was her next thought as she sighed.

The merchant's child, Miltinnia, is also very impressive.  Despite losing both legs, she is very energetic and intelligent.  Nearly everyone knew her by name and happily chatted.

She's already considered a shoe in for the first years' representative on the student council.  Yes, Stormgarde even has a student council.  Hitomi found herself really, really, wanting to go here.

The four hadn't even been halfway thru first year before being summoned to this world.  Could she talk the others into coming here?  Umeka had never liked school because she was always bullied about her body, but Kojiro and Maki had always liked studying and classes.

A fantasy, but a happy one.  Then came the biggest surprise of the day.  The Beast.

Walking out the east gate to see a race or play and it was like an icy hand slapped her.  She had faced undead before, but this?  Was like running into an army of them.

The fact that no one else reacted made it clear they were keeping themselves well hidden.

What she witnessed was a very heavily armed and powerful group centered on one man.  He looked to be about her age and fairly average.  Not even close to looking as good as, or being charismatic like, her Kojiro.

Nor the intimidating mountain of a man described in the shades reports.  But Miltinnia immediately identified him as the Lord of Lions Keep.  And that's now supposed to be the Beast.  Right?

What also immediately became clear?  He's not japanese.

Yes the hero remembered that only the spirit had been brought over.  So the body would look different.  But the way he moved.  His posture.  Mannerisms.  Accent.  Those should be familiar to a girl who was very good at reading people.

The man in front of her?  Was absolutely not japanese.

Of course all the isekai stories she knew where written in Japan and used Japanese protagonists.  Plus her home country was just one among many.  So it was logical, as Maki would say, that a real isekai might not just involve Japanese citizens.

But it was still very off putting.

Even more off putting?  The man in front of her?  Who has killed demons and dragons?  Was?

Weak.

Yes he is stronger than anyone else around.  But his aura?  Was weaker than hers.  And she's the weakest of the four heroes.

Now she could tell he's tough.  His aura may be weaker and smaller than hers?  But it felt like solid steel.  So hard that she couldn't see the spirit within nor his mana pool.

He clearly doesn't have the strength of the aquecian heroes but he's accomplished so much?  She considered it, well, admirable for someone so vulnerable to achieve so much.

She could feel that he wouldn't be too hard to kill.  As long as she was careful.  Is this man really, the Beast?  A suspicion begins to form in her mind.  Especially after he let it slip that he was blackmailing Miltinnia.

"Maybe he is not, the Beast."

A fake?  A body double?  His wives might not even know he's not the real Beast.  The heroes had used body doubles before to confuse their enemies.  There could be a much more dangerous villain hiding behind the scenes.

After all, she hadn't been able to watch for long but the presence at the mansion last night seemed far stronger.  And she could not imagine this foreigner keeping a dragon tamed.

A hidden mastermind could also explain her problem with the shadows.  At first she thought it was just the long sea voyage putting her out of sorts.  But now she was certain.  Someone else rules the shadows here.

Ever since landing in Raelera, the shadows have been ignoring her.  Some even felt hostile.  Wherever she'd gone before?  The shadows welcomed her.  Even reached for her.  Their comfort helped her survive that first traumatic month.

It was clear to her.  Here?  The shadows belonged to someone else.  Someone she could just not picture being that boring looking boy.  If he was?  Shouldn't the shadows have recognized her as a superior friend and abandoned him?

Doubt filled the teenager's mind.  If he was forcing poor Militinnia then he certainly deserved death.  She had heard plenty of stories of vulnerable students being taken advantage of back on Earth.

Her disconnect between exploited student girls and exploited non-student girls, like slaves, would be jarring to any observer.

The deeply offended hero managed to cool her rage when it suddenly occurred to her.  What if its consensual?  The boy might act like a hentai ojisan?  He really does.  But his age must be about the same as hers.

Can't be older than fifteen and already has six wives?  Is that some kind of record?  All looked older than him too.  They were even all wearing that same strange looking ring.

She noticed several other women also acting overly familiar with him.  Like they had all given themselves to him before.  Disgusting.  Nothing like how kind and respectful her Kojiro is.

But for a crippled girl?  A rich and famous man could be a lifesaver.  Even if he only keeps her as a mistress.

If he is raping Miltinnia?  If she kills him and he's not the Beast?  If there is someone behind him strong enough to keep a dragon and an undead army?  She would be starting a war.

A second front is the last thing aquecia needs right now.

Maki had drummed it into them over and over to not repeat the Reich's Russian mistake.  She could turn the tourinese king, for a while, but he wouldn't stay turned.  It would be like expecting a cat to not steal your fish.

Hitomi realized she had to figure out whether the one she saw today was the real Beast or not.  And if not?  She still had to find the real Beast.  Could she though?  If he was already behind the scenes?  Then she had to find a way to coax him out.

Or was she completely wrong?  Was the mountain man a lie?  A disguise?  Had she actually met someone who could do what not even her Kojiro could do?  Fool her [Shadow Eyes]?

She again looked at the message she had been trying to write for over an hour.  Finally picking up the magic pen again, and whispering the incantation again, she writes.

"Arrived safely, stop. Target found, stop. Not japanese, stop. Maybe body double, stop. Weaker than expected, stop. Investigating, stop. Amazing school here, stop. Feels like home, stop. Love you all, stop. Hitomi, stop."

As the ink disappeared and she wrote the fake message with regular ink.  The high schooler found herself looking up at the castle, Lions Keep.  End of the week she would hopefully be in her new uniform and attending the welcoming ball.

But tonight she needed to go to Lions Keep for another reason.

She sighed and thought of being in Kojiro's arms again.