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By the wall of my room were two wooden tripod-like things that each had a black cuboid on top. Faint green light arose from these cuboid and formed a rectangular shape. The area within that rectangle was pitch-black and seemed to be just large enough for a person to fit through.

Despite being a bit nervous about it, I passed through and saw what seemed to be the inside of a stone building on the other side.

“Ooh…”

The floor and walls were built with ancient-looking blocks of stone. Despite lantern-type LED lights hanging from above, it kinda reminded of me of the Crete dungeon.

Well, considering the materials used, this place looking exactly like the Crete dungeon was perhaps the obvious outcome.

This place was an [Artificial Otherworld]. Otherworlds were subspaces built, through the use of magic power, in the dimensional gaps in our world. It depended on the amount of magic power that flowed to these otherworlds, but such places could ignore the laws of physics such as the law of conservation of mass, making the place within the subspace so much larger than it was in our world.

The most famous artificial otherworld was perhaps the one in UK’s Hamelin incident.

Now, one might ask, if there were artificial otherworlds, surely there were natural ones too. That was precisely what a dungeon was. Unlike dungeons though, no monsters could spawn in artificial otherworlds…apparently. Sadly, the explanation for why was just beyond me.

“How is it, master? I’m not an expert on space magic, so I wasn’t able to make a space that was as wide as the ingredients we used could have given us, but…”

“No, don’t worry, Layla! This is amazing!”

“I’m glad you’re pleased with it.”

A broad smile spread on Layla’s face as she said so. Yes, it was Layla who made this subspace. The tripods from earlier were of course Magic Tools that served as this otherworld’s point of origin. Its so-called dungeon core. It was rather exposed for a dungeon core, but still…

The tripods were made with the wood from a Silver Apple tree. The block cuboid that was placed on it, meanwhile, was made with the Minotaur’s horn. We also needed gems and other things, so I had to shell out about 200 thousand yen. That was an insane amount for a high schooler to spend, but it was all worth it. If anything, it was rather cheap. I mean, based on the floor plan I saw before, this otherworld was about as large as a 4LDK.

“But the interior could still use some improvement.”

“I guess…”

Again, the interior wasn’t so surprising given the materials we used. There might not be any constantly shifting hallways, but it still had the appearance of a worn-down stone labyrinth, complete with a rattling wooden gate.

There were originally fire-lit torches hanging in the walls, but we swapped those for the LED lights. We also laid out old newspapers in a portion of a room and then laid tatami mats on top of the newspapers. But even after all that, the place remained quite dreary.

We also built makeshift facilities like a kitchen, restroom, and bath. Our water source was the melted snow produced by Yukine’s sorcery or whatever she called her magic. As for the fire, Layla had built a magic tool using the Salamander’s Magic Stone and it outputted flames at the same level as portable stove. We didn’t have any electricity, gas, or water line.

I had wondered if water produced by magic was safe to drink, but I figured it was probably fine in most cases. I mean, Uoyama-kun apparently had been using water from his Water Magic to fill up his sea anemone’s tank ever since last year.

“So, this is to be our love nest, my dear husband.”

“Yukine…woah”

Yukine emerged from somewhere further in. She was dressed in her usual white kimono, but this time, it was lowered and showed her shoulders and even her chest. As she held and hid the lower part of her boobs with her hand, her snow-white face burned red.

“I heard…I heard from Layla-sama that you like things like this. I realize there’s still so much time before nightfall to say let’s spend our first night together…but would you not want to?”

“I would love to actually!”

Even though she looked embarrassed, a wide smile had already formed on her cute face when she said so. And as though they were the embodiment of lewdness, her boobs bounced up and down.

So big…so sexy…

“Well then, I’ll be in the other room to make adjustments. Please help me in making sure this otherworld is indeed soundproof.”

“Huh…a-are you sure?”

“Definitely! If there’s something you need, feel free to call out to me.”

Layla then quickly opened the door and went to the room in front of where we were. A few seconds of silence later, as I stole a glance at Yukine’s chest, I recalled layout of the otherworld.

“Ahm. I think we should clean our bodies first. Wait here, I’ll go fetch some water.”

The water here was still cold, but since my body was so hot right now—plus the fact that my body was more resilient than most people’s—cold water shouldn’t be a problem.

Just when I was about to exit to the hallway, Yukine clung to my arm. I felt the softness of her boobs as it pressed against my upper arm and changed in shape.

They’re bigger and softer than Layla’s. No, Layla’s boobs should be just as big and soft. Their boobs are just of different types. Whereas Layla’s are soft and bouncy, Yukine’s are the kind that swallows anything and everything yet returns without issue to its perfectly wonderful shape afterwards.

“Y-Yukine?”

“…this might make you think I’m an indecent, wanton woman, but…”

With her ice-blue eyes, Yukine sent me a watery yet rather flirtatious glance.

“I can’t endure any longer…husband ♡”

What am I, living in a lewd manga world!?

Who could really blame when I wordlessly lifted her up and brought her further into the room?

* * *

“Today as well…the world is shining so brightly…”

Back in my home’s living room, I stood by the window and muttered so as I looked up at the blue sky. Well, the sky was actually about to turn orange soon since it was already 4PM.

After spending about 3 hours of “checking the soundproofing”, my thoughts could be summed up as “fundoshi have so much destructive power, and the sight of snow-white beautiful legs in traditional Japanese socks is unexpectedly great”. It should also go without saying that boobs are nice.

It hit me that I was truly a Japanese person.

I then noticed that I was down here by myself. My parents apparently went shopping. I had told them beforehand that I was going to be checking out the artificial otherworld, so they probably thought leaving a note for me was enough.

And it wasn’t like they could just tell me they were going out while I was in the otherworld. After all, a strong barrier was applied to the Magic Tool that served as the otherworld’s origin point. That barrier made it so that only myself, Layla, and Yukine could enter the otherworld. Incidentally, the barrier was about as tough as the Minotaur’s fur.

Back when I told them I was going to make an otherworld though, they did not look happy. But then again, that was pretty much a given. After all, otherworlds were “not illegal” only in technicality. More specifically, there was simply no laws yet that regulated otherworlds.

And when it comes to abusing otherworlds, there were so many ways. Like, a space magic practitioner could make a river within an otherworld, or grow illegal drugs, even manufacture firearms.

The most infamous otherworld was arguably the one in the UK’s “Hamelin Incident”, so otherworlds having a bad reputation was very understandable.

On the other hand, people were taking interest in otherworlds as new places to farm or as sites where dangerous experiments could be done. When such things could be implemented though, who knows.

…since I’m in a state of sage-like clarity and all, how about I watch some news or something. Now, what could be happening in the world right now, I wonder?

<<Some time before dawn last night, an Awakened One began slashing people in a subway in Germany. It nearly caused a train to be derailed—>>

<<A series of large-scale riots in China! Protesters are surging into temples, looting and setting it in fire as they shout “burn the temples that can’t make us Awakened Ones!”—>>

<<The prime minister of the UK will be traveling to the Vatican to discuss the future of magic in Europe and the church’s involvement with it—>>

<<Canadian police raided a building on suspicions of an Awakened One using magic to conduct human experiments. The suspects remarked they did not care what happens to non-Awakened people—>>

<<Skirmishes between gangs and politicians, both groups having Awakened Ones, are on the rise in India. People are protesting against the caste system—>>

There was more international news than I expected. Even without accounting for monsters, the world was surprisingly so dangerous.

As I stared like an idiot at the screen, some kind of emergency broadcast appeared.

<<News flash! A large-scale bombing incident just occurred in some part of New York! The target of which was reportedly a Japanese family of Awakened Ones!>>

“Eh”

<<According to the latest information we received, a bag filled with explosives was thrown through the window of the family of four’s home…The father and daughter of the family are Awakened Ones, so their injuries are minor. The mother and the son, however, aren’t. They are both in critical condition and had been rushed to a hospital. It is also suspected that they have been doused in gasoline prior to the bomb’s explosion—>>

“Ehh…”

So scary…

Being shown on the screen was a residential area where buildings were close to one another and a bunch of firefighters desperately trying to put out the fire. In the upper left corner of the screen was the text “Brooklyn”, but I still had no idea where that was.

I thought being an Awakened One and going abroad was the ticket to the good life, but it would seem reality wasn’t so simple.

<<According to the claim of responsibility sent to a newspaper, the motive behind this attack was the perpetrator’s dissatisfaction toward the US government’s complete disregard for Americans while also treating foreign Awakened Ones with utmost kindness. They also claim that the protest march that happened in front of the White House the other day—>>

* * *

“Didn’t you catch it in the news?”

“Sorry, I was in a dungeon the whole day yesterday, so nope.”

“They featured it this morning too though.”

“I’m not really a morning person”

It was currently lunch break. While the 3 of us ate our lunch in a corner of the school courtyard, we talked about the incident in America. On a side note, Uoyama-kun was having a few sweet breads, Yukine’s “sweetheart lunchbox” for me, and a multicolored homemade lunchbox that didn’t really suit his face for Kumai-kun.

We normally ate in our corner of the classroom, but the popular people in class was making quite a fuss today.

“But don’t you find it scary? Like, I heard that somewhere in America, men with guns attacked an Awakened One.”

“Ah, I’ve heard about that too. It’s the story that happened in a subway platform with only a few people, right?”

“Yeah, that one”

It was about a Japanese Awakened One who was on the way home. That Awakened One was surrounded by a group of men in an American subway and was then held at gunpoint. Being unfamiliar with guns plus having fighting experience only against monsters, the AwakenedOne promptly raised their hands and surrendered their wallet. However, maybe emboldened by that, the robbers punched their victim as well.

Unfortunately for the robbers, the Awakened One was a close-range fighter and turned the tables on them. When the Awakened One went to punch one of the robbers in face, all the others were knocked down to the ground…and the one punched ended up dying. The Awakened One was undergoing trial to determine whether that much force was still justifiable as self-defense or not. It was said that the Awakened One was likely going to be found innocent, but protests calling such results as discrimination and special treatment of Awakened Ones were apparently already happening.

“I heard Awakened Ones are treated favorably in America, but maybe that’s not really the case, you think?”

“I mean, you remember what Minister Arikawa said way back then? About how other countries will be desperately trying to poach Japanese Awakened Ones away?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“That’s true enough, but the problem is that many of their citizens aren’t on board with that. Like, there’s even protests in China about it. The protests are being suppressed, sure, but still.”

“Hee”

I did not know about that.

“There’s a lot of criticism on social medias about how much governments are offering Japanese Awakened Ones, you know.”

“Why complain though? I mean, there have already been so much damage abroad because of dungeons, right?”

“Yeah, but I think it’s like, the bigger a country is, the more people it has that haven’t been affected by these things. Like, if the urban areas are protected, people won’t really feel there’s danger just around the corner, right?”

“Haa, mm…”

I suppose…I suppose it really was too good to be true.

I had thought about going to the US someday, but I should probably think more on that. Not that I really wanted to go in the first place.

Staying in Japan was definitely much better than having a bomb thrown at me.

“Hmm? You’ve been awfully quiet, Kumai-kun. Anything wrong?”

“Nah, just fantasizing what it would be like if the school got swallowed up by a dungeon.”

“Woah, hey”

I withdrew a little after hearing that. I mean, the image of the Minotaur just flashed in my head.

“Did something awful happen to make you imagine something like that?”

“Is it because of classic lit’s Matsutani? Did that old hag full of make up say something awful to you? Or is it because of Math’s Tanaka?”

“It’s not like that. Look, just humor me, ok?”

“Ok, so things would get really dangerous here. What then?”

“Like, wouldn’t we be so badass?”

“Huh?”

“Ahh, I get you…”

“Huh?”

While Uoyama-kun looked so confused, Kumai-kun who was beside the former was eagerly nodding his head.

I was confident that most men daydreamed about what Kumai-kun had in mind. A variation of the scenario where terrorists, monsters, or whatever danger appear in school and everyone—classmates and teachers alike—panic, but you alone act so gallantly and resolve the situation.

I must have daydreamed being a hero and forming my harem over a hundred times back in junior high.

“And then, I’ll have a group of muscular beauties go all kyaa kyaa on me.”

“Yeah, no, that doesn’t work for me.”

I mean, I don’t think there are even girls that muscular in our school, you know? Man, you’re asking for so much.

“Actually, didn’t you say you’re gonna look for a familiar that fits your standards?”

“Couldn’t find any that do…how I wish I could find a female orc…”

“The lewd mangas I’ve read don’t really portray female orcs to be muscular though.”

“I’m just surprised there are lewd mangas about female orcs.”

What are you talking about, Uoyama-kun? There’s quite a few of them. But most female orcs I’ve seen are the plump sort, so they might not be up to Kumai-kun’s preferences. Well, the ones in the mangas anyway. Who knows what they are like in reality. In the first place, were there even females among the orcs? I don’t really know. I might not be able to tell even if there were.

“Speaking of familiars though, Kyotaro, didn’t you say made a familiar contract with a Yuki-onna?”

“Oh yeah, you did mention that. How did it go?”

“Yeah, a beauty with straight-cut bangs and large boobs appeared for me.”

“You sure like women with big boobs, don’t you?”

Oh shut up. You two are in the minority here, you know. Most men are like me in that we prefer women large boobs.

“If I’m remembering correctly, Yuki-onna take on the form that the person approaching them likes, right? So, what will happen if I go to that dungeon…”

“Who knows…if you do go though, want me to lend you the Magic Tools I used? For a fee, of course.”

“You’re charging? Oh well, I suppose…hmm…”

Despite saying so, I was quite curious about what kind of Yuki-onna would appear for him. Yuki-onna have this image to me of being frail beauties, quite the opposite of Kumai-kun’s ideal type. And so, curious if a Yuki-onna would indeed take the form of muscular woman, I turned to Uoyama-kun who was currently taking a bite of his yakisoba bread.

Teach us, oh mage.

“The short answer is that a muscular Yuki-onna will indeed show up.”

“Really?”

“I guess I’m off to Iwate then.”

“But I think those muscles will only be for show.”

“Wha?”

“Yeah, for show. Well, maybe by human standards, those muscles are as strong as they look. But by monster standards, well, I think they’ll be nothing more than decorative.”

Uoyama-kun answered so as he munched on his food.

“If your tastes were as basic as Kyotaro’s, that might not be a problem. But for you, you might find it difficult to be with a Yuki-onna whose appearance and nature are worlds apart.”

Who has basic tastes, huh? Well, I suppose my tastes do tend to be ordinary, but the way he put it stings.

“I see…the so-called display muscles aren’t so bad, but not ideal either…”

“Well, don’t take it too hard.”

I said so as I patted Kumai-kun’s shoulder.

“I suppose I should go find an Amazoness dungeon.”

“Is there even a dungeon like that?”

“…if you’re fine with it, why don’t you modify the body of a woman?”

“Mm?”

Uoyama-kun tilted his head and I tilted mine at what he said.

“Do you mean like he should ask someone to go to the gym with him?”

“No, that’s not what I meant…hmm. You know what, sure. I mean, if the upright methods can work somehow, it’s all good, right? So yeah, why don’t you just go to the gym?”

“No! If they’re not muscular and a fighter already, then I don’t want them!”

“Yet another weird preference.”

“If I have to scour the adventurer guilds, so be it”

Uoyama-kun and I stared at Kumai-kun with exasperation as he declared so while holding his chopsticks so firmly.

“So, how about you, Uoyama-kun? How is your search for a tentacle familiar?”

“…not great. If possible, I don’t want to make compromises on my first one. Unlike Kumai though, I can’t [make one out of a human], so I only have monsters as my option.”

“Must be rough, being in the minority for this kind of stuff.”

If it was a familiar that fell in line with major fetishes, it was easy enough to get information of them online. However, for muscles and tentacles fetishes, yeah, good luck. Well, tentacles were rather popular, but those were more about the assaulting side rather than the receiving side.

“My muscle warrior…surely, going to all the adventurer guilds will…”

“Octopus, squid, or even vines…or maybe a completely different kind of flesh…”

…wait, what were we talking about again? Ah, about what happens to Awakened Ones who go abroad. I heard rumors every now and then about foreign nations making use of honey trap strategies to lure Awakened Ones away, but I wonder how they’ll do it with these two. Like muscle girls aside, how would they approach the tentacle problem? Not that it would ever happen. The use of honey traps were, after all, just rumors.

More importantly, Yukine’s lovingly prepared lunchbox sure was delicious. Is this what being a winner tastes like? …in my head, I apologized to my friends for getting ahead of them.

But about what Kumai-kun said, about a dungeon appearing in our school, yeah, that surely won’t ever happen. Unlike the abandoned station for the Crete dungeon, there were no spot that was too inconspicuous in our school. Security guards patrolled here during the night, so it would at least be noticed. Not to mention, there about 700 students here during the day.

I would agree there was something romantic about the idea, but I would much rather not be embroiled in such an event. I never ever want to fight a monster like a Minotaur again.

Oh well, time to stop with these fantasies that would never happen.

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Taroppe-sensei(author)’s Q&A corner

Thank you for reading!

Also, please consider leaving some of your thoughts, a review, and bookmark the title over at the narou site (https://ncode.syosetu.com/n7336ie/)

Your support is appreciated and I hope you continue doing so.

Q: This knowledge that mages have, what is it?

A: It is the collection of the techniques and knowledge of real mages of the past, persisting to this day in the atmosphere and genes. It enters the mind through something similar to the Akashic Records. It is in the mind as information but since there is quite a lot, regardless of whether one managed to gain mastery over it, there was a chance—however slight—that their personality might be affected.

Q: Is an Awakened One’s aptitudes hereditary?

A: yes, it is heavily influenced by one’s heredity. Especially by those in the First to second degree of kinship. In fact, if Kyotaro’s parents could get themselves to Awaken, they would surely be powerful Awakened Ones. That might take 5 years though.

Q: Is it reasonable to view Guardian Spirits and their masters to be the same person?

A: Yes. Kyotaro, Kumai, and many others would view Layla as an independent being, if not outright a different individual. However, because mages’ ability to see the flow of magic power is so much better than their regular eyesight, they immediately perceive Guardian Spirits as “the same person, or at least a part of the Spirit’s master”. Of course, their regular vision perceives the form of the Guardian Spirit soon enough, but they would likely be influenced by that impression for a good while.

As for Kyotaro’s parents, since they were not Awakened Ones themselves, they researched as much as they could out of concern for their son, and in doing so, they had heard so many stories that their mindset was now similar that of mages’.

Q: Kyotaro’s main reason for forming a contract with a Yuki-onna is his worry of getting caught up in another dungeon overflow incident, right? So why is he being so carefree now?

A: Kyotaro: “HAHAHA! A school is nothing like an abandoned station, you know. Even if a dungeon appears here, there’s no way it will go unnoticed!”

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TL note: the cuboid was mentioned to be 15 centimeters. It wasn’t mentioned what that 15 centimeters is supposed to be though. It can be its height, width, thickness, area, I don’t know.

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