What, Failure to Transition!? Volume 5 Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – “Warm” Greetings

“Alana! Yoichi! Welcome!”

As soon as they entered the lord’s office, a fierce voice rang out.

The owner of the voice is, of course, William, Lord of Meilgrad and Alana’s father.

“Y-yes, sir! It’s been a long time!”

Yoichi was almost intimidated by the stern appearance and massive frame, but he stood his ground and greeted him.

“Ooh! Yoichi! Has it been half a month since we last saw each other? You could have shown us more of your face, hahaha!”

Saying this, William stood in front of Yoichi and the others in a good mood, but there was no smile behind his eyes… was it just his imagination?

“By the way, Father, what on earth are you summoning me for all of a sudden?”

“Hmm? Ah, that. I heard that new members have recently joined your party. I thought you might like to drop by so that I can say hello to them.”

William’s curious gaze then catches the two new members.

“Ah, is that so? Then let me introduce you. Karin and Misato.”

Karin and Misato, introduced by Alana, step forward and bow their heads slightly.

“My name is Motomiya Karin. Motomiya is my surname, and Karin is my first name.”

“Um, Hoshikawa Misato. Hoshikawa is my last name…”

Karin was a little nervous but answered with dignity, and Misato followed her lead.

“So that means, by chance…”

“Yes. We are from the same hometown.”

Karin replied, and Misato nodded silently in confirmation.

“I see. Hmmm, from the way you’re dressed, I guess Karin is an archer, and Misato is a mage?”

“Yes, but sad to say, I’m still a novice.”

“I too… am still inexperienced…”

“Not really. Both of them are quite good, even though they have only been training for a short time.”

“Oooh, isn’t that promising?”

While they are chatting like this, Yoichi takes a few steps back, keeping his eyes on the four of them.

But as their conversation comes to an end, William turns his attention to Yoichi.

“So, Yoichi.”

“Y-yes?”

William moves his face closer and whispers in his ear.

“Which girl is your favorite?”

“Uuh….”

Yoichi felt a chill in his heart when he heard those words.

However, he was been preparing for this kind of question (which is also the cause of his stomachache), so he was not distraught.

(But how should I answer…)

In front of his father, should he answer that his true love was his daughter, Alana?

Thinking about this, Yoichi looked at the three women.

Would William be satisfied if he answered that Alana was his favorite?　

But what would Karin and Misato think if he answered like that?

Perhaps they would be unhappy, but they would not reveal it.

Since he has known Karin for a long time, she would probably understand that Yoichi was just using it as an excuse, and Misato, who obviously had nowhere else to go, would not leave him just because of that, even without knowing the details of the situation.

To get out of the situation, the answer seems to have already been decided.

(Just to be sure, let’s use [Appraisal+]… on second thought, let’s not.)

It would be possible to use [Appraisal+] to see what answers William was looking for, but as a human being, he felt he shouldn’t do that.

(However, it would also be wrong to lie to get through this situation).

In the end, Yoichi decided to express his honest feelings.

Whatever happens, he is sure that with his [Healthy Body α], he would be able to withstand two or three hits from that man.

“A-all three of them are important to me… whether it’s Alana, Karin or Misato. That’s why there’s no such thing as my favorite because they’re all my favorites!”

With these words, William looked down at Yoichi with a sharp look.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Alana and Misato blushing a little.

Only Karin shrugged her shoulders in dismay, but she also seemed unable to hide the joy on her lips. If y ou a re abl e to rea d th is m essage, yo u a re rea ding fro m an una utho rized agg reg ate si te. Rea d at my Wor dPres s at stab bing wit h a syr inge. ho me. bl og to sup por t me and my t rans lati ons.

As long as the three of them are satisfied with Yoichi’s answer, he doesn’t have to care what this stern old man thinks.

(If he doesn’t like it, I can just knock some sense into him!)

As if to say, “I like them all, so what are you going to do?” Yoichi also gave William a strong-willed look.

Then William lifted the corner of his mouth wide and chuckled.

“Ha ha ha ha!! I see, I see! Looks like Yoichi is more manly than he looks!”

 Laughing boldly as he said this, the lord slapped Yoichi hard on the back.

“But you’re right. You can’t just put ranks on the women you love.”

“Well, haha…ha.”

“Good grief, Father…”

Now that he thought about it, this William also took more than one wife.

“No matter how much she loves you, I can’t let you get away with flirting with other women while laying your hands on my daughter!” he couldn’t say that either, being in a similar situation.

“Each of them has a unique face, a unique personality, and a unique charm. Besides…”

William paused, then moved his face close to Yoichi’s again and lowered the tone of his voice.

――I’m sure they all feel unique down there too. Am I right?”

As he said these words, the lord closed one eye on Yoichi, along with a cheeky grin on his face.

〇●〇●

“So it was just a show of faces after all?”

William, who was aware of Yoichi and Alana’s relationship, called the entire party together when he learned that they had added new women, Karin and Misato, to their roster.

Yoichi expected to be questioned about his relationship with these women, and even to be punched a couple of times, but in the end, they only had a light chat before leaving.

In a society where polygamy is common knowledge, common sense, such as the concept of chastity, may be fundamentally different for them than it is in Japan.

Although he felt let down, Yoichi was relieved that nothing serious had happened.

“Shall we go to the Adventurers’ Guild to report the fulfillment of the request?”

After leaving the lord’s mansion, the four of them followed Alana’s suggestion and went to the Adventurers’ Guild.

It was already dark, but many people were still enjoying drinks and food in the guild’s tavern.

“Welcome. I see that you are reporting the fulfillment of your request… (Hey, hey, hey! What the hell does that mean? You already have Alana, and now you have two new women with you? One of them looks older than the other… but she exudes a mature and sophisticated charm! She seems like a very caring older lady, the kind of person I would want to be friends with, the kind of person who would listen to my complaints and such! The other one is a plain girl with glasses… plain… plain? No, no, no, if you look closely, she’s a neat and dainty beauty! Where on earth did you meet her? I mean, what’s so good about this old man? Tell me! Tell me, please!!) …Yes, we have fully received it. Thank you very much”.

The receptionist who was in charge of Yoichi’s registration as an adventurer carried out the procedure, and as usual, she did not show any expression of emotion but carried out her duties without any wasteful movements.

As a result of the submission, it was decided that Karin and Misato would be promoted to the rank of F.

Most of today’s results were theirs, and if they were evaluated individually, they could even be promoted to another rank. But now that they have joined a party, they would receive fewer points to the evaluation in each request they fulfill, as the acquisition of monster materials and allocation of points would be divided equally among the members of the party.

In RPG terms, it’s like “shared EXP” between party members.

Still, it was quite an achievement, as it was still enough for them to move up one rank despite the distribution.

In case anyone is curious, TOKOROTEN’s party rank, which had once risen to E rank when Yoichi’s rank was recently raised, was back to G rank when Karin and Misato joined.

However, due to the two girls’ rank increase this time, the party rank has returned to F.

However, they have no need for party ranks, at least for now, as there is no rank limit for simply entering the Jana Forest and defeating monsters, not to mention the investigation requests received when Yoichi and Alana first met, where many new adventurers died in the scroll incident.

“Now that’s settled, let’s go home.”

“Please wait.”

As Yoichi turns his back to the receptionist, she appears from behind and stops him.

“The guild master wants to see you.”

Just like that, the four of them are ushered into the guild master’s office.

“Ah, my little Alana! Grandpa has missed you so much, he’s dying of loneliness!”

“‘Guildmaster, we just met the other day, didn’t we?”

“Mou~! Why do you always treat your grandfather like a stranger?”

After the exchange between grandfather and granddaughter, which was the same as before, Alana once again conducted a brief introduction of the new members.

“Ehem. I have already heard from Hortense. Misato, in particular, seems to be quite a good mage. And Karin seems to have a lot to offer as well.”

Celestin, Alana’s grandfather and the guild master of the Meilgrad branch of the Adventurers’ Guild spoke to Karin and Misato in a gentlemanly tone, a far cry from his earlier words. Th is ch ap ter tra nsl ati on is ma de po ssi ble by st ab bing wi th a syr i nge tra nslati ons. Ch eck on ly up-to -dat e tran sl ation s on my Wor dp ress si te.

“I will do my best to meet your expectations.”

“Um, I’m still a novice, but…”

“Umu. Please continue to be good friends with Alana.”

After that, they had a short but peaceful chat, and the meeting was adjourned.

“Well then, grandfather, see you later.”

“I look forward to your continued guidance.”

“Um, me too… I look forward to working with you in the future.”

“Un. Visit Grandpa again, my little Alana!”

“Well, I’ll be going now -”

“No, Yoichi. You stay.”

“Huh?”

Yoichi was about to leave the office, following Alana and the others, when Celestin stopped him.

“Mu, Grandpa, is something wrong with Mister Yoichi?”

“No, I just want to talk to him, man to man. It won’t take long.”

“I see. Well then, Mister Yoichi. We will go back to the inn first, okay?”

“Ah, un. Okay.”

Just like that, the three women left the office after Yoichi’s reply.

“Fufufu, isn’t he a funny old grandpa?”

“Indeed! Indeed!”

“Mu, is that so? It’s a bit tiring to be around him, though.”

As the conversation between the three continued, Yoichi turned his attention to Celestin.

Before he knew it, he was sitting at his desk, continuing with his paperwork.

“So, who is your favorite?”

Celestin asked, his eyes still on the paperwork.

Left alone, Yoichi was a little nervous when he was told that he would have to talk to him man to man, but since it was something he had expected, Yoichi just breathed a little to feel more at ease.

(Maybe it was a good thing that I had talked to William first).

“All three of them are very important to me. I can’t put them in any particular order.”

Since it was the second time, he was used to it.

Yoichi replied without hesitation.

“Hahaha, I see. You’re a man who is loved by many.”

“Well, aha ha ha…”

Yoichi whispered in embarrassment, scratching his head as he looked down.

However, this movement caused his eyes to wander away from the desk for a moment.

When he looked back, there was no guildmaster at the desk. Instead――

“Is that what you want on your epitaph?”

――he heard a cold voice whisper behind him.

〇●〇●

――Even though they have been together for hundreds of years, they are still very much in love.

Not long ago, when he visited the Mage Guild, Yoichi remembered Alana saying something like that when he asked about his grandfather, Celestin.

It should have been obvious to him who he should be more wary of: William, who had taken several wives, or Celestin, who had spent several hundred years with only one companion.

Yoichi regretted the feeling of the blade against his neck.

“Haaaa… damn it.”

Celestin exhaled loudly in disgust, and at the same time, the feeling of the blade disappeared.

“Are you the type of person who is only satisfied when you have several women in your life?”

Celestin returned to his desk and sank into his chair.

“Um… I’m sorry…”

But Celestin just waved his hand in the air as if to say, “Don’t do that”.

“Sigh… I didn’t think I’d live long enough to see this.”

Celestin sighed and started talking to himself.

“I thought it couldn’t get any worse when that little shit descendant of Desmond took my daughter…”

Desmond Sallis.

He was the first lord to settle here, along with Celestin, some 150 years ago, and founded Meilgrad.

The current Lord, William, is the sixth generation since the first.

“And now, I never thought that even my granddaughter would be a human… And I didn’t expect that the other party would be a member of the family of heroes.” If yo u ar e abl e to r ead thi s mess age, you are read ing fr om an una uth ori zed aggr eg ate sit e. Re ad at my Wor dPr ess at sta bbin g wi th a syring e. hom e. bl og to supp ort me and my tran sla tions.

“What? The family of heroes?”

“What? I’m not wrong, though?”

When Celestin suddenly mentions the word “heroes”, Yoichi can’t help but exclaim.

“These heroes… what are they?”

“Huh? You didn’t know?”

“Actually, this is the first time I’ve heard about them.”

“Fumu. About 500 years ago, the Demon Lord appeared, and many things went wrong. And the one who defeated him was called The Hero.”

“Is that a famous story? (I mean, aren’t you summarising everything too quickly?)”

“Well, it’s not really a fairy tale. I was just a child then, but I saw the hero once. He had dark hair and black eyes like you, and I think his name was Todou. No, was it Togou? I thought he was related to you because of the resemblance, but are you sure you are not related?”

The Todou he’s talking about, could he be related to the Todou I knew?

If so, it is possible that he is Japanese.

On the other hand, if he is, I can’t believe that someone has mistaken my name for someone else’s for the second time.

With these thoughts in mind, Yoichi used [Appraisal+] to find out more about the hero “Togo”.

(Let’s see… this is?)

Togo the hero.

Real name “Togo Matsuoka”.

Born in 1962.

He lived his life as an ordinary Japanese but has been missing in Japan since 7th May 1985, when he left his home to go to work after a long holiday.

In the year 121 of the Imperial Calendar, he answered a call to become a hero in the Vertinslo Empire, and five years later, he defeated the Demon Lord.

For his efforts, he was given the rank of Marquis.

“Oh, it seems we are from the same place. And it’s Togo, not Togou.”

“I see. Hmm…? So you’re not a descendant of the hero or something, but someone from another world!”

Celestin’s eyes widened in surprise, but Yoichi was the one who wanted to be surprised.

“Wait, wait, wait. So the concept of another world is recognized in this world?”

Because when Alana was in Japan, she couldn’t perceive the concept of being transferred to another world but instead was taken to another part of her world.

“That’s right. After all, the summoning of heroes has not been done for a few hundred years… wait, come to think of it. Togo the Hero was the one who sealed it, wasn’t he?”

Because Togo the Hero sealed the summoning of heroes, the art of summoning from other worlds was lost, and eventually, the concept of other worlds was forgotten by ordinary people.

“Well, those in the know in the Empire may know about it, but in this kingdom, which was founded long after Togo the Hero’s defeat of the Demon Lord, there may be no one left who knows about it. Even in fairy tales, heroes are now portrayed as messengers of the gods.”

“I see.”

“So, does the Land of Heroes encourage having more than one wife? I believe the hero Togo had more than ten wives.”

“Well, about that, haha…”

Polygamy is not allowed in Japan, and although Togo probably had a good time in the other world, Yoichi thought it would be wrong to tell the truth, so he just smiled vaguely to cover it up.

“But you’re pretty weak for a guy who beat Graff. If you had fought again, wouldn’t you have lost for sure?”

“Huh?”

“Oya? That look of yours sounded like you weren’t convinced.”

“Ah, that’s…”

“‘Okay, I’m going to count to three. Don’t blink, and don’t take your eyes off me while I count.”

“Uhh…”

Yoichi was confused by the sudden change in the flow of the conversation, but Celestin continued without seeming to mind.

“Ready? One, two, three.”

Celestin’s figure seemed to blur for a second, and the next moment, he was out of sight.

“Myna from Graff’s group can move this fast, you know?”

“Fueeeh?”

Suddenly, Yoichi heard a voice behind him and turned around in panic, but no one was there.

“If he closed the distance right at the start, that would be the end of you. By the way, the arena has a function to analyze and record every fight so they could study your move.”

“Uoh?”

The voice came from Celestin, who was back at his desk, continuing to speak despite Yoichi’s surprise. This cha pter trans lati on is mad e pos sibl e by st abbi ng wi th a syr in ge tran sla tions. C heck only up-to -da te tra nslat ions on my Word pr ess s ite.

“Your [Spirit Bound] weapon is also interesting, but it’s not even close to advanced attack magic. Well, it’s still a big deal because it’s rare for someone to be able to draw that much power in a short amount of time.”

“Um, thank you?”

[Spirit Binding] is a skill that allows a person to store their favorite weapons and armor in the spirit world, making them unavailable to anyone but the person who owns them.

Because of this, Yoichi was able to use the excuse that his weapons were [Spirit Binding], when in fact, he was just storing them in his [Infinite Storage+].

The purpose of this is to make his weapons, which can be used by anyone, appear to be weapons that only Yoichi can use.

“Jessica’s shield could also withstand about a hundred of those projectiles, too, by the way.”

“Ugh, seriously?”

“Yes. Her shield is coated with adamantite.”

Would there be anything in the original world that could withstand 100 rounds of that heavy machine gun attack with the thickness of an ordinary shield?　

“Jessica also has the strength to move forward while receiving such projectiles, so her win rate is about 30%. Even Greta and Meryl are no match for her when it comes to defeating her toughness.”

The guild master interrupted and turned his sharp gaze on Yoichi.

“In other words, if Graff had recovered, there would have been a good chance that Myna or Jessica could have come up with a countermeasure to defeat you. At least Myna had the confidence to let Graff win. That’s why she demanded a rematch.”

If they had fought again, he could have lost.

Yoichi felt a shiver ran down his spine when he heard this.

Celestin, seeing this, laughed softly.

“Don’t be so afraid. We have no intention of losing a good adventurer. But if the day comes that you want a rematch, I will let you use the arena again.”

“I see…”

“Then again, I think you still have a few cards left in your hand. Either way, a man Alana has recognized would not lose that easily.”

That is undoubtedly true.

At that time, Yoichi was just looking for the most efficient way to defeat Graff with [Appraisal+], and he won with just one button press and small movements. Of course, if he were to face Myna or Jessica, he would use a different strategy, but the overall result would be the same.

“I just want to make sure. Is it allowed to chant spells before the arena starts?”

“Of course. Chanting spells is like a martial arts stance. Before you enter the arena, you can finish chanting as long as you don’t attack your opponent immediately, or you can use reinforcing spells beforehand.”

(If this is the case, when dealing with Myna, I can use a flashbang timed to go off immediately after the start of the battle to stop her movement.

As she’s lightly armored, the assault rifle rounds will be enough to deal with her.

The same can be said for Jessica and the others. As long as they’re stunned by the same means, I should be able to win by aiming my anti-materiel rifle at the weakly armored areas.

Alternatively, I could throw a grenade between the shield and the body.

This would be impossible under normal circumstances, but [Appraisal+] can tell me when and with what force to throw a grenade).

These words echoed in Yoichi’s mind.

“Fufufu. Judging by the look on your face, you seem to have come up with a good way to defeat them.”

“No… that… well…”

“That’s all well and good, but I’m still worried about your weakness in close combat.”

Celestin only took Yoichi’s back twice in a row, but it seemed that he could already tell something about his strength by his reaction.

“If my sweet granddaughter gets hurt because of your weakness, it would be a disaster. How about it? I’ll train you myself.”

“Eeeeh!?”

“What, you don’t like it?”

“No, it’s just that…”

I should say I was more frightened than displeased, but Yoichi didn’t say it out loud.

If Celestin, who dotes on his granddaughter, were to train Yoichi, against whom he holds a small grudge, he would have no idea how “endearing” he would be to him.

“Hm, if I prove that I’m strong enough, can I be exempted from training?”

“Hm. And how are you going to prove that? By trying to beat me?”

“Um…”

With slurred speech, Yoichi used [Appraisal+] to search for a way to beat Celestin. If y ou a re ab le to re ad t his me ssa g e, you are rea di ng f rom a n unau tho rized aggr egat e sit e. Rea d at my Word Pr ess at sta bbi ng w ith a sy ringe. h ome. b log to sup p ort me and my tra nsla tions.

(No results found.)

(Wait, really? Then how about if all the TOKOROTEN work together…)

(No results found.)

(…… what kind of monster is this old man!?)

“What’s wrong? If you are not convinced, we can go to the arena right now and prove it to you.”

“No, that… wouldn’t be necessary. Please treat me well…”

In the end, Yoichi had no choice but to reply helplessly.

“Good, good. Now then…”

With that, the guild master picked up his notebook and began to leaf through it.

It seemed to be some kind of planner.

“Come here in ten days. I will take goooood care of you. Ha ha!”

“Yes.”

While Alana’s grandfather smiled, Yoichi could only nod in defeat.

He replied quietly, almost in a whisper, like a criminal being told his execution date.