Project: Alternative

Chapter 10: An unfamiliar familiar enemy (Eru)

The village we were heading to was called Edgeshear. It would take us three days of traveling just to get there. I, Reine, and her loyal maid named Mea Kagura went on a journey towards that place.

Reine wasn't the type of girl who would want her servants to follow her everywhere she went. The reason why Mea was the one who accompanied her was because she was the head maid of the mansion and knew how to drive a carriage.

Normally, nobles were supposed to have bodyguards. In my world, politicians and other important people have skilled bodyguards in charge of protecting their lives. I even had an experience of becoming a bodyguard of a politician in my world.

I wonder what Botan was doing right now. Was she worried sick because I disappeared without a trace? I sure hope Jun-kun was looking for me. It was part of his job as a Moderator, right?

"Eru. Are you okay?" Reine asked.

"Yeah. Just thinking about things", I answered.

"What is it?"

"I'm worried about my world. I disappeared without any warning. People will try to find me."

"I see. If we can find "the one who commands Reality", I'm sure things will work out."

Could we even find a Moderator in this world? If I was right, then there must be someone who knew that we were transported in this world. There should be someone who is trying to fix things, right? That was why the oracle was given an order that told them to gather us.

But who was that Moderator? Were we supposed to look for a Coder ourselves? If I had GUILD's network, I could probably do it. This world was really lagging behind in technology. There was no Internet nor even electricity.

Magic existed though and it made things a bit different. Mages can use magic to communicate despite long distances and there are mana-powered crystals that act as light sources.

Mea's voice talked from outside as the carriage stopped.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Mea said that we arrived", Reine answered.

We got out of the carriage and I found out that we were in the middle of the village. Mea talked with Reine and then she left with the carriage.

"Mea said that she will find an inn for us to stay while we'll talk with the guest", Reine said.

"I see. So where is the girl who is from my world?"

"We should be able to find her in prison."

"Prison? Why would she be in prison?"

"It's the safest place and she is a suspicious person since she doesn't speak our language."

When we arrived at the village's prison, Reine showed her crest and the guards let us in. We arrived at a cell and saw a black-haired girl in pajamas.

"Why don't you talk with her, Eru?" Reine asked.

The girl looked at Reine and me.

"Hello there. My name is Reika Eru", I introduced myself.

"Are you using magic to talk to me?" the girl asked.

"No. There's no magic this time. I'm speaking in Japanese."

"So you must be the same as me who got sent to this world. My name is Oozora Subaru."

Her mouth was matching the words she was speaking so I knew she wasn't using Soul Talk. Judging from how she got summoned in her pajamas, she was definitely from my world too.

"She's from my world. I can confirm this", I told Reine.

"Then we have to take her with us", she replied.

Reine talked to the guards and they seem to have given permission to let us take her.

"Oozora-san. We're going to have you come with us", I said.

"Will you take me back to my world?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't know about that. We'll figure something out. Don't worry. Reine will take good care of us for the meantime."

Explosions were heard and people were shouting outside.

"What's going on?" I asked.

A guard ran and shouted in a different language.

"The town is under attack by a weird monster. I'll aid in fighting against it", Reine said and ran.

A monster... Could I possibly help? I didn't like sitting around while there was danger.

"Oozora-san. Stay here", I said and ran outside.

When I got there, I saw a white monster. It was around 10 meters tall. The white monster looked like a giant gorilla except that it had sharp fangs and much more muscular arms.

"O wind that encompasses everything. Let your grace bring mercy upon the foolish one who is my enemy! Grand Gust!" Reine chanted and a strong gust of wind blasted from her palms.

The wind hit the giant creature but it wasn't fazed. A few more mages arrived and they shot fire and lightning at it. However, it had little effect.

"What kind of monster is that?" Reine asked.

The other mages shouted at her and judging from their faces, they also had no idea what they were dealing with. However, I knew what we were facing. Jun-kun talked about them before. They were creatures who were neither living nor non living and were born from the inconsistencies of the world. We were dealing with a Dump File.

This was bad. Jun-kun told me about Dump Files and how difficult they were to exterminate. We needed a Moderator to deal with this! They were the ones who should be able to defeat Dump Files.

The mages were shooting magic at it but there wasn't any effect at all. Dump Files were not regular monsters. If they were created from the inconsistencies in the Reality's codes, they would have some tricks on their sleeves.

And to prove my point, a red ball of energy formed in its mouth. It shot a red laser and destroyed everything in its path. Luckily, there were no serious casualties since the mages and other people moved out of the way. However, several houses were burning.

Reine and the other mages continued firing their magic at the Dump File. It looked at Reine and another red ball of energy formed. She was really close and couldn't possibly get out that fast.

I charged towards her and used all of my strength to judo throw her out of the way. She might get hurt but she wouldn't die.

"Eru!!" Reine reached out her hand towards me.

I closed my eyes as the Dump File fired the laser towards me. The sound of crumbling was heard and when I opened my eyes, I saw a girl in front of me.

She had black hair which was tied in twintails and had cyan streaks. Headphones with cat ears were on her head and she was wearing a black jacket. Cyan hologram screens were surrounding her.

"Have no fear. Cyan Nyan is here!" she grinned.