novelzi Chapter 3
Chapter 3
It’s About Time We Talked
Good morning. This is a message to inform you that my time is temporarily stopped.
I woke up, and guess what? At point-blank range, there was literally a breathtakingly handsome man sleeping right in front of me.
“Nyoh!?”
“...Hmm?”
I let out a strange shriek that woke Onii-san up in an instant. I was startled, but I remembered what had happened yesterday right away, so I greeted him good morning. Well, it’s only natural since I’m a working adult. Greetings are essential.
“Ah... Good morning.”
And then the handsome man returned my greeting with a small smile! Even though his expression had barely changed since yesterday! And a handsome one at that! A smile! At point-blank range!
Ahh... What a treat first thing in the morning. Get a move on, time!
As I was spacing out, Onii-san handed me a towel from seemingly nowhere. I had wondered yesterday, but where did he pull it from? As I tilted my head, Onii-san asked me curiously.
“Don’t you want to wash your face?”
“...? There’s no water...”
When I answered, Onii-san’s expression changed as if he realized something. His next words sent a jolt of bewilderment through me.
“...You’ve never used magic before?”
Here it comes, magic. The isekai theory is looking likely...
Well, I knew, okay? I mean, I was suddenly in this surprising situation where my body had become smaller, and I was in some strange rocky mountain, so I thought it was a possibility! But I wasn’t sure. It could still have been a foreign country.
“Picture water in your mind. ... Like this, to bring out water.”
“...I’ll go first. I belong to ‘Ortus,’ and I’m in charge of intelligence gathering, well, mainly information gathering. I’m here on an assignment.”
Ortus? It must be some kind of organization if he’s saying he belongs to it. And he’s in charge of intelligence... that makes a lot of sense. He looks like a ninja or a spy, anyway. But it sounds kind of dangerous... Isekais are scary. But I can’t afford to say such things. I have to gather as much information as possible. I’m going to ask about anything I don’t understand. Well then, let’s get started.
“What ish ‘Ortush’?”
“Hm, you don’t know? It’s quite famous, but I guess it wouldn’t be strange for a child not to know... Well, never mind. ‘Ortus’ is the name of a guild. It’s a special-grade guild that even people in neighboring countries would know, and I’m a member.”
Guild... Sounds like an isekai. No, wait, a special-grade guild? Are there ranks for guilds? I’ve heard the word “guild” in novels and manga, but my knowledge, or rather, the image I have of it, is like a job placement agency for adventurers... is it a gathering of adventurers?
But from the way he’s talking, it sounds like there are multiple ‘guilds’... First of all, I don’t even know what guilds are in this world.
This is bad, I’m getting discouraged right from the start. Just as I was thinking this, Onii-san immediately came to my rescue.
“You don’t know about guilds either? ...Don’t worry about it. But I’m not very good at explaining... Well, just think of it as a workplace. The members of Ortus divide up the requests that come in and carry them out.”
Hmm, hmm. So, this Onii-san is one of the people in the intelligence and information handling department of a company called ‘Ortus,’ right? Yeah, let’s just go with that for now. I nodded my head.
“Ah, that’s right. I haven’t introduced myself yet. My name is Gilnandio.”
“Gilnyan, di, o...shan...”
I messed up so badly. It sounded like a cat’s name.
“I-I’m sho shawry...”
“...Don’t worry about it. You can call me Gil.”
“Gil-shan.”
I hate my mouth for not being able to speak properly! It’s a good thing Gilnandio-san is so kind...!
And he has such a cool name! I made a strange resolution to myself that I would say it without biting my tongue one day, and we decided to continue our conversation.