What It Means to Be an Otherworlder
“...Ooh.”
More than anything else, the first thought that struck me was how fascinating it was.
It was an autumn morning little different from any other. On the way back after dropping Cecilia off at school, the rustling of fallen leaves filled the air around me while countless people on the street fixed their gazes on a single girl.
“Is that...?”
“Yeah, right...?”
Whispers of that sort quietly filled the surroundings. Even in that atmosphere, she seemed unbothered, simply walking along with light, cheerful steps. Behind her, a black tail swayed as if it were a living thing of its own—a heart-shaped demon tail.
It didn’t take long for the word otherworlder to surface in my mind.
“~♪”
Suddenly a whistling sound reached my ears. Far from avoiding the surrounding stares, she seemed to enjoy them, flashing a bright, smiling glance at the people looking her way. Interestingly, every single person who received that smiling glance was a man, and they all immediately blushed and hurriedly averted their eyes.
“...A succubus, maybe...?”
I muttered to myself as I watched for a moment. But because I’d been a bit dazed, my voice had come out a little louder than intended. I could feel the surrounding gazes shift slightly toward me. On top of that, the girl herself caught me in her field of vision and sent a smiling glance my way.
“Oops.”
I’d messed up. Having attention focused on me in this kind of atmosphere was a bit awkward. It seemed I needed to get home a little faster. Just as I thought about picking up my walking pace—
“Is a succubus that fascinating?”
“Whoa!”
A voice came from right in front of my nose. Before I knew it, the girl had closed the distance and thrust her face right up to mine. Obsidian-like eyes and long eyelashes peered at me from extremely close range. As if to back up my guess that she was a succubus, she smiled brightly without the slightest concern for the intimate distance.
“Most people either lust after me or get jealous when they see me... but Oppa’s the only one who’s different. Mind if I ask what you were thinking?”
It was an attractive smile, sure, but, well... this was a bit troublesome.
“I was just staring because it was interesting.... You were walking around with your tail out, so I wondered if that was really okay.”
“Hmm?”
I answered roughly and carefully pulled my head back, then slowly started backing away.
“I don’t really get it. Is walking around with your tail out that interesting?”
“Don’t people usually hide them?”
Conscious of the surrounding gazes that were gradually focusing more and more, I answered casually again. In particular, I could feel some of the male students looking at me with a vague sense of jealousy.
...This was why I’d just wanted to walk past. What rotten luck.
“You seem to know a fair bit about it.”
Her voice came from right beside me once more. When I turned, the succubus who had approached before I knew it was sniffing at my hand.
“Whoa?!”
“Cat smell.”
I was startled first by the sudden action, then startled a second time by her words. Cat smell?
“Come to think of it, this is the way to school, but Oppa doesn’t seem like a student? You don’t look like you’re here for work either.”
As she tilted her head and muttered that, I was able to recall a certain fact anew. Because of her mature atmosphere and ordinary clothes, I hadn’t thought of it, but considering an otherworlder out and about at this time of day....
“Did you maybe just drop someone off?”
Nine times out of ten, she would be a student. And at the same school as Cecilia, at that.
“I’m Ella.”
Now the surrounding gazes were pouring down without any attempt at concealment. Receiving them as if it were nothing, the succubus Ella simply smiled brightly.
“If not, sorry, but do you happen to know a girl named Cecilia?”
And faced with this sudden coincidence unfolding right before my eyes, I could only nod my head.
“Heh heh. Order whatever you want. I’ve got that much money.”
“...”
So then... how did things end up like this?
A pleasant interior, plush chairs. A private room in a dessert cafe with a cute pastel-pink interior that suited it perfectly. Sitting in one of the chairs at the table, I blankly stared at the menu that had been pushed in front of me.
...Yeah. So how did it really end up like this.
“You’ve got a sulky look on your face.”
“Well, anyone would if they got dragged off all of a sudden....”
Muttering with a sigh mixed in, I looked at the girl in front of me. The succubus, Ella. Her obsidian-like eyes and somewhat revealing outer clothes caught my eye now and then. Yeah, I’d been dragged here by her. Right after meeting for the first time on the street, while I was still stammering, I’d been whisked off to this dessert cafe in an instant. As expected of a succubus, I suppose? Her skill at getting people to move was no joke.
“Don’t be like that. Just a quick chat?”
“With someone you just met for the first time, first thing in the morning...? You’re a student too, right? Don’t you need to go to school?”
“There’s still a little time left, isn’t there? Let’s see, what time is it now....”
Ella turned her head toward the clock, and I turned mine toward it as well to match. The current time indicated by the cute wall clock was....
“8:17 a.m.? Yeah. Still a little left.”
As she’d said, it had just turned seventeen minutes past. ...Well, school started at forty past, so there was time left, sure, but even so, it was only twenty or thirty minutes. What exactly did she plan to do in that time. And something I’d vaguely thought just now—she seemed somewhat accustomed to modern life.
“If you don’t want anything, I’ll just order for you? Let’s see, the bell is... ah, it’s a kiosk.”
“...”
...Correction. Not somewhat accustomed—she seemed extremely accustomed. Ella skillfully operating the touch pad placed on the table. Seeing that, there was nothing I could do but lose my words. Man, impressive.
....
......Why am I even doing this here....
Suddenly, reality hit me hard. Even if it was empty free time with no schedule, I hadn’t planned on wasting it like this. Normally, by now I’d be home searching the internet for something like “types of otherworlders.”
“Do you like cheese?”
“......Yeah.”
“Okay.”
At the very least, I wouldn’t have been sitting in a cafe watching her order a cheese slice cake. It was a truly strange turn of events.
“Don’t slump over like that. It’s just that I was a little curious about something.”
“...What could you be curious about from a complete stranger you just met?”
“Well, even if it’s the first time seeing you, you’re not exactly a stranger, right?”
“? ...Why?”
At her following words, this time I truly didn’t understand and asked back. Not a stranger? Why?
“That girl Cecilia is pretty popular, you know?”
“...”
“Ah, that’s just my opinion. For now, rather than popular, ‘stands out’ would be more accurate.”
At the sudden topic related to Cecilia, I straightened my back. Since it had come to this, I might as well listen, I thought. There was nothing to lose by hearing it out.
“I heard Cecilia receives personal protection, unlike us. Oppa’s that guardian, right?”
“...That’s right.”
“So you’re the acquaintance of an acquaintance. That makes you no different from someone I know, right?”
...Somehow, it felt like I had lost something by listening. It was quite the reckless theory. Haa... I let out a sigh. I was already tired first thing in the morning.
“So what is it you’re curious about?”
I asked directly, tossing it out. Just finish this quickly. That was the only thought I had.
“How do we appear to Oppa as beings.”
“Huh?”
“Foreign substances? Immigrants? Simply alien, or do we seem capable of integration?”
And at the unexpectedly philosophical question that followed, I slightly returned the head I’d tilted back. I could see the succubus wearing a faint smile. With a slightly different atmosphere from before, her obsidian-like eyes shone with curiosity.
“I’ve talked with a lot of people these past few weeks, but I’ve never talked with someone in the position of a guardian yet.”
“Aha...?”
“In this world, what are we as beings? Wanderers? Obstacles? Pets?”
“At least not pets.”
“Yeah. That’s the kind of opinion I want.”
In the conversation that flowed like water, I lightly scratched my cheek. ...What meaning otherworlders hold in this world. Honestly, well, it would be a lie to say I wasn’t interested either.
“...I don’t want to go back......”
Our world and the other world. If I understood both a little more deeply, would I be able to understand you that much more deeply as well? Holding a vague bit of expectation, I opened the floodgates of conversation.
“The way I see it, you guys are lost children. Lost children who unintentionally fell into another place.”
“Lost children, huh.”
“Conceptually, yes. And originally, lost children should be helped.... But coincidentally, in this case, there are just too many of them.”
“Hmm hmm.”
In our world, are otherworlders beings that should be rejected? Or beings that should be protected? ......Really?
“Even if you want to help them all, the reality is that it’s difficult. Sending them back to where they originally were is out of the question in this case.”
“If magical engineering advances, it’s not entirely impossible, though.”
“Cut me some slack on that one.”
I made a bitter smile. Anything related to magic... was still a bit of a distant story.
“Otherworlders are, yeah, for now beings that should be helped. Because lost children need help.”
“An interesting perspective, but then what?”
“Huh?”
“Lost children grow up too, you know.”
At the words that continued so casually, I lost my words. Help them, and then what?
“Are lost children beings that must be protected forever?”
Or something else. She said so with that gaze.
“I want to learn a lot and be of a lot of help.”
What came to mind at the same time was a single line I’d heard a few days ago. Cecilia, who had burned with academic passion, saying she would help me someday, that she would repay the favor. At that time, had she been nothing more than a lost child in need of help?
“Is there no room for us to offer help from our side? For example, the magic I mentioned earlier.”
“That’s—”
Organizing my thoughts one by one, I continued speaking. Similar to before but a little different, vaguely predicting what might happen going forward.