T/N: Hey hey! Friendly firefly, Hotaru comes with chapter 2 of Takeru's leisure trip to Madeus! Enjoy, everyone! 

I only shut my eyes a little bit.

There was a change in the atmosphere that I could feel on my skin.

That sense of standing somewhere that was nowhere.

The wind caressed my hair, the sound of small birds singing.

The warmth of the sun's rays radiating on my back. The scent of greenery.

“Haaa……”

When I opened my eyes, I unintentionally let out a breath at the world unfolding before me. A magnificent gra.s.sy prairie was stretched out endlessly, dotted with verdant trees and woods that grew in abundance. The sky was blue and clear, the clouds were white and swam through it magnificently.

By the sun's position, I could tell that it's before noon, but is it alright to a.s.sume that it's the sun, I wonder? The sun was supposed to only seem like a radiant dot.

What the heck is that s.h.i.+ning Saturn-like humongous thing?

I wonder if this is that planet called Madeus, that the young man was talking about.

I'm so glad, it's not a world full of sand and stone, where bandits with faces painted white, are going ‘Hyaha—!'

Although the sun appears like Saturn, I could tell that it's the sun, the moon….. I don't see it but, once it's nighttime, it might come out.

It's not like I've been thrown into an unfamiliar place with nothing on me though, there was nothing to panic over. That I was strangely calm and able to survey the vicinity is probably because of the fact that there wasn't much difference from Earth.

The gra.s.s at my feet were long enough to cover my knees. It looks like silver gra.s.s*.

[*T/N: other names are: Zebra gra.s.s and j.a.panese pampas gra.s.s (Miscanthus sinensis), says Wikipedia.]

I was wearing light brown boots. The toes and heels were reinforced, and the appearance was that of leather boots. I have no memory of buying boots like these so, everything I have on me right now must have been prepared by that ⌈Young Man⌋.

Nevertheless,

“This is cool…..”

The metal portion is blackened but, it is engraved with intricate patterns.

Rather than saying it's worn out, it looked more like it was damaged from long years of habitual use. It's incredibly cool. Contrary to it's appearance, it's very light.

As for the pants, are these leather pants?

I'm like a bike rider.  With stretchy material, the elasticity is exceptional. This, as well, is stained with dirt on the knee area but, the fit feels exceptional. My crotch fits perfectly.

I'm also wearing the obligatory robe from fantasy. It's a plain dark brown robe but, it feels good to the touch. Like soft, fine quality silk cotton fabric. The edges are sewn with gold thread and elaborate embroidery. This, as well, is of an exquisite make.

A thick, black, high-necked s.h.i.+rt.

The inner s.h.i.+rt worn underneath it was a loose-fitting*, l.u.s.trous white.

[*T/N: I'm not sure if this is the right translation for this. The word used was てろてろ, it doesn't come up in my dictionary so I just googled images that correspond to it, and most of the photos were baggy pants sooo I just a.s.sumed that's what it meant. CORRECTIONS ARE MORE THAN WELCOME! NO, CORRECT ME PLEASE!]

When I pulled on it, wondering why it's loose-fitting, I realized that this is a defensive armor knit with mythril thread, which has high defensive properties. I don't know why I thought so. I just thought so, that's all I know.

The hair that entered my field of vision was black. My fringe and hair at the back have grown a bit too long. So, my hair is black, is it? Then, what color are my eyes, I wonder? Please don't let it be bright red or be different colors for the left and right, I won't think it's cool, after all.

“A mirror……”

There was a shoulder bag carried in my right hand. It was like a school bag with nothing unusual about it, when I opened it, a pitch black s.p.a.ce was spread out.

I closed it once, and opened it once again.

What's with this dark s.p.a.ce?

So this is the dimensional storage magic, the so-called Item Box, huh.

When I tried timidly thrusting my hand in, information streamed into my brain all at once. Just like when a status window is opened, I could tell that the contents were subdivided into separate categories. Even though I thought there's no way there'd be a mirror since I'm not some fas.h.i.+onable girl, what I felt in my hand was a hand mirror. Why the heck am I carrying this?

I held up the wooden mirror and my own face was reflected.

“Ooooohh….”

It was… not me. A face that was not mine was being reflected.

Not a single trace of me was there.

They were facial features that was a shuffled mixture of races from some country ‘s and another's. In other words, it was a foreign person's face that I couldn't depict.

The hair was jet black, and both pupils were sky blue.

Rather than blue, it was more pale blue. It was my first time seeing eyes that weren't black, so my eyes were transfixed on it while I kept saying, “Hooooh! Hmmmm.”

Young.

I felt like it looked ten years younger than 『me』. But because my hair was grown a bit, I looked lame overall.

I roughly observed my own face, and it looked neither unsightly nor was it of a breakthrough beauty, however, it held the impression that could be said to be a beauty*.

[*T/N: I'm not sure I translated this right, if anyone wants to have a go, the raw say 『一通り自分の顔を観察し、醜いわけでも突き抜けて美形というわけでもない、だけど美形って言っちゃうよ、といった感想を持つ。』]

I was a bit satisfied that it looked d.a.m.nably cooler than the previous me.

I mean, I'm tall. Maybe.

And my arms and legs are long, too. My abdomen, the much-admired six-pack! When I undressed, it was amazing! Am I of the physically beautiful type?! How many centimeters are these inseams*!?

And my son is……………..OH……..Magnum!…….. [T/N: this is embarra.s.sing to translate! (///_///)]

[*T/N: to those who are like me and don't know what inseams are, apparently they're the length from the crotch to the bottom of your leg.]

This was not the right time to be checking on my son* in the middle of a prairie.

[*T/N: this was written in Katakana, literally reading maisan (マイサン)]

This planet, Madeus, was said to be a world of sword and magic, so there should be ferocious monsters everywhere. Although it may be good that I'm dressed as a traveler, I do not seem to be equipped with a proper weapon.

I thrust my hand into my bag for the second time, and confirmed the list within my head.

No weapon of some sort was there,  not even some kind of sword or bow. The iron frying pan looked like it could be used as a weapon, but I'd like to keep it as a last resort. [T/N: this guy does not play PUBG. -_-]

What was there was [heavy winter clothing, several changes of clothes, camping supplies, hand mirror, blanket, cloth, sack x 10, small bag, water pouch, dried meat, brown sugar, branch… ]

Branch?

“Ygg… dra.. si..l's branch? What does it mean by Yggdrasil?”

It is a name I have heard in games and movies. If I remember correctly, its other name should be World Tree… is what they say. I don't know anything about it aside from that it's a large tree that supports some world from somewhere.

When I held it and pulled it out of the bag, it was just a normal branch. It measured the same length from my fingertip to my elbow.

Its dark brown bark glittered depending on the light. It branched out midway, with a green, white-specked leaf attached.

Perhaps, could this be a leaf from the World Tree? is how I got excited but, I dropped my shoulders thinking, ‘No, no, this probably can't be equipped as a weapon.' Though if I had an iron pipe or a spiked bat, at least, I'd be able to defend myself.

However, when I looked around the prairie, it did not seem like any st.u.r.dy tree branches had fallen.

I stepped forward thinking, ‘in that case…'

Let's look for a human settlement. I'm used to travelling but, I have no experience as a backpacker. I might not have the courage to sleep outdoors in an unfamiliar world.

I wonder if it's alright to just go wherever. If only there was a main road, I could have known which way to walk.

“So it's in times like this that the branch comes in handy, huh.”

I firmly stepped on the gra.s.s near my feet, and cleared out enough s.p.a.ce for the branch to fall on.

I propped the branch up on the ground, and released the finger that I kept on it.

Swaying, the branch collapsed.

“The sun is over that way, so…. over this way should be…. south and, that way is north. Alright!”

I headed towards the south, to which the branch pointed to. I don't know if the sun's position and direction is correct but, oh well, this is just a matter of feeling.

The wind was gentle, and the sun's rays warm.

It was a weather similar to a clear day in April.

Although it would be the ideal weather for flower viewing if cherry blossoms were in bloom, I must not forget. This is another world. Already, I confirmed the void that was spread out within my bag, so there's no mistaking, this is another world. I've already confirmed that it hurts when I pulled on my arm hair. A bit of a bald patch has been made. [T/N: How hard did he pull on it!? O_O]

The sun was still in the shape of Saturn.

It is my first time to experience walking while not knowing the destination. Though I would like to reach a human village by nightfall, the feeling of ‘Oh well, I'm sure it'll work out somehow' is much stronger.

Even though I was walking at a quick pace, I did not feel the least bit tired. My breath is not disorderly, neither is there a feeling of exhaustion. My physique felt staggeringly light. The air is pleasant, and the sun rays feel good.

If I feel like it, I might end up skipping∼ Llla∼

【To be continued…】