Tom rubbed his head as they exited the adventurers guild. If he had known about this dimension travel beforehand he would have definitely brushed up on his Norwegian skills. However, it was what it was, and at least Aiko seemed to have a way to quickly learn the language, which meant they wouldn't be so reliant on his translating skills for long.
The air was crisp and clean, with nary a cloud in the sky. It was the perfect weather for an adventure.
"The quest said the merchant we are supposed to escort is waiting at a nearby inn." Tom pointed down the road, where a sign with the picture of a drinking mug and a bed was proudly displayed.
Following her new adventuring buddy to the inn, Aiko figured she should probably ask a rather important question. "Hey, I know that it was rather dumb of me not to ask this before, but you do know I can get you back home at any time if you need it right? We don't need the portal now."
The arachnoid's eyes widened. "Well, that's a relief." Tom rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "I'm kind of hooked on this adventure right now, you know? But it's good to know that you have an easy escape if we need to leave for whatever reason."
With a smile and a nod, Aiko walked ahead and opened the door to the inn. The instant they opened the door, they were greeted to the sight of a small red clad witch clinging to the back of a brown haired man while he attempted to keep a blue haired girl from drinking another bottle of wine. Soon, a blonde haired female crusader sitting next to them fell as the chair collapsed under the weight of her armor. At the sight of this, the only thing Aiko could say was: "Bruh."
"Hey, Aiko… Those people…" Tom kept a wary eye on the strange party while his remaining eyes searched for the merchant they were supposed to escort. "Don't they look kind of familiar?"
The look on Aiko's face was indiscernible, and when she opened her mouth, the language that spilled forth from her lips was also incomprehensible. "Ōi, Kazutorasshu! Dō shita n da?"
The man turned to eye Aiko with a tired glare. "Don't call me that, I hear it enough from these three."
"Wait?" Tom stopped looking for the merchant for the moment, all eyes focused on the strange party in front of them. "Someone else who understands us?"
The blue haired woman managed to get the bottle from Kazuma, and began to chug. Kazuma looked at the two of them with a tired expression, bags under his eyes. "Of course I understand you. The kitsune there speaks Japanese, and you're speaking English. I don't need any special skills for that."
Aiko beamed at him. "Spoken like a true MMORPG fan. I bet you learned English just so you could play American games online, right Satou?"
"Kazuma Kazuma! Kjenner du disse folkene? Du prater det rare språket igjen, jeg ser det på munnen din at den ikke er i synk med lyden som kommer ut." The red wizard on the back of the now named 'Satou' said at a rapid pace.
"Vi trodde det var noe kjent med dere." Tom replied, tilting his head. To Aiko, he translated roughly. "She's asking if this 'Kazuma' knows us, and she's also commenting that she's aware we are speaking a different language."
Chuckling at the thought, Aiko spoke in a clear voice. "Don't worry, I'll understand you fully soon. As for if we know each other? Only if you've met Kitsu on Discord."
Tom jerked minutely, as if struck. 'Discord? Wait, what the hell?!' While thoughts were running around in the arachnoid's head at a blistering pace, on the outside it looked like his shoulders slumped and he was just staring into nothing.
"Hey hey!" The blue-haired woman suddenly shot out, rambling a bit with a bottle of booze still in her hand. "What's happening with you? Are you okay?" Without waiting for an answer, she lined up her hands and cast one of her Sacred Dispel spells, thinking the guy was inflicted by some random curse.
Tom jerked back to his senses as the divine energy washed over him. To his horror, it also brought down his illusion spell, so where a regular guy stood a second ago, now a full blown arachnoid with a white carapace lined with black stripes. "Whaa?!" He could only look on in surprise as the blue-haired girl's expression went from drunk-curious/concerned to frightened in a second.
"Exorcism! Sacred Exorcism!" The blue-haired girl screamed, a rainbow beam shooting out of her forehead and engulfing the arachnoid fully.
Seeing the murderous aura beginning to leak out from the kitsune, along with the audible growl, Kazuma decided now would be a good time to panic. Grabbing the blue haired girl, he began to shake her. "Hey! Aqua! Cut it out! We can't just go around attacking people here!"
"But he's clearly a servant of the devil king! He was even in disguise and everything!" The now named Aqua shouted, flailing with her booze bottle, having forgone her spells once she was grabbed by her party member.
"Devil king?" Tom asked, puzzled as the exorcism spell hadn't seemed to do anything to him. "And maybe I was using an illusion like that because I don't want people to attack me anywhere I go. Did you think about that?" He huffed, crossing his arms now that the truth was out.
Aqua just pouted, having calmed down marginally after the jumpscare. "It's not my fault you look like you came out of a horror movie." To take her mind off it, she drank deeply from her bottle.
"Kazuma Kazuma! Hva skjer? Hvorfor angriper Aqua den edderkopp-fyren? Kan vi kjøpe noe mat, jeg er sulten!" The red wizard ranted into Kazuma's ear, refusing to let go of his neck.
Making her best attempt to speak with them in their language, Aiko soon found that she would need more practice. "Vi mø finne kjåpmannen vår. Vi skule møte ham her. Kan du hjelpe ås?"
Tom gave her a sidewise glance, before lightly patting her on the shoulder. "Good job on your first try. But you could use some practice."
All the commotion seemed to attract the attention of the inn patrons, which included the merchant they were looking for. He was a middle-aged guy with brown hair, except his fringe which was blond. He had a fine moustache, and extravagant colourful clothes with some animal fur for padding.
"Jeg er kjøpmannen. Er dere de som tok oppdraget å beskytte meg?" The merchant spoke, a glint in his eye as he rubbed his hands together. If greed was a person, then this guy was clearly cut from the same cloth.
Looking back and forth between the merchant and Kazuma, Aiko tilted her head. "You guys related to each other?"
Aqua nodded along, while on Kazuma's back, the red wizard had a thoughtful frown on her face. "Nei. De er ikke like i det hele tatt." She spoke with certainty a few moments later.
Coughing into his fist in an attempt to get the group's attention, the merchant spoke up. "Bra. Dere er alle her. Jeg har penger å tjene, så la oss komme oss av gårde."
"Adventure awaits!" Tom cheered, which caused some weird looks by the non-english speakers, but his enthusiasm was easily understood. It was a group with smiles on their faces that exited the inn, ready to see more of the world.
There was only one question on Aiko's mind. "I wonder if they have coffee?"
~~Translation corner. We likely won't need to do this again, but it was necessary this time to show that yes, there are other languages in this world.~~
"Ōi, Kazutorasshu! Dō shita n da?" = Poorly translated version of "Oi, Kazutrash, what's up?"
Kjenner du disse folkene? Du prater det rare språket igjen, jeg ser det på munnen din at den ikke er i synk med lyden som kommer ut.
Do you know these people? You speak that weird language again, I can see on your mouth that it's not in sync with the sound that comes out.
' Vi trodde det var noe kjent med dere.
We thought there was something familiar about you.
Hva skjer? Hvorfor angriper Aqua den edderkopp-fyren? Kan vi kjøpe noe mat, jeg er sulten!
What's happening? Why is Aqua attacking that spider-guy? Can we buy some food, I'm hungry!
Vi mø finne kjåpmannen vår. Vi skule møte ham her. Kan du hjelpe ås
We moo find —-- our. We glared meet him here. Kan you help hill
Jeg er kjøpmannen. Er dere de som tok oppdraget å beskytte meg?
I'm the merchant. Are you the people who took the mission to protect me?
Nei. De er ikke like i det hele tatt
No. They aren't alike at all.
Bra. Dere er alle her. Jeg har penger å tjene, så la oss komme oss av gårde."
Good. You are all here. I have money to earn, so let's get going.