Upon leaving without a word, the black unkempt hair of a teenage boy bobbed slightly as he left the confines of his house, or more accurately, his room. One could call it a prison of his own making, and even if he knew that, it was always compulsion that drew him back there, finding no reason to find a way out.
It could be said that he was inherently apathetic towards his own situation, or rather, didnt see how he caused this to be, his finger pointed at others, never realizing three always pointed back at himself.
The boy walked with his head down after purchasing his snacks at the convienience store he frequented, his almost glazed eyes simply scanned the path back to his house out of second nature, like he was on autopilot.
Suddenly, subaru felt someone or something tug on his back, with such force like they were pulling him from incomming traffic. His vision went dark, he gasped, a flash of white and sillhouettes of.. some creatures, before another flash and the light was gone, and his breathing returned.
He wouldve thought he'd simply fell asleep while standing still for a moment, like when the body does a jerk reaction to test if its actually asleep. The sight in front of him didnt seem to want to change, and neither did a seeping dread in his heart, as if it was unsure to keep beating.
The teen rubbed his eyes, and couldnt even decide if he wanted to look around.
"Wha-"
Dumbfounded, the boy rubbed his eyes again, but the view in front of him didn't change. Staring motionlessly, eyes wide and mouth agape, he suddenly realized.
"I've been summoned to another world!" He shouted carelessly, throwing his arms above his head. He stretched so far that even the tracksuit couldnt exactly keep up with his movements, showing his stomach off to the world.
Upon coming to his senses, he felt the eyes of others on him. An all too familiar gaze bore into him, from all around. The boy, Natski Subaru finally took a real look around him, noticing the looks of confused pity upon the faces of the passersby.
Trying not to take notice of how their eyes felt, he noted to himself, 'So their outfits look like what was it.. Medieval Europe? Man, only if I paid any attention to world history. These buildings definitely have that old architectural feel to them though.'
Subaru peered at the brickwork of the road, if one could call it that, and that of the buildings. It was absolutely a time before modern cement, but that didnt tell him much. What did, however was the smell, the pungent odor of everything around him, from the smoke, to the people, all of it snapped him to his senses.
"I've.. I've become an isekai protagonist!" He shouted again, but before he could revel in this revelation a random voice from behind called to him-
"Get the hell out of the way, punk, people have places to be!" A man voiced loudly at Subaru, but he promptly ignored it, not even looking back. Instead speed walking down the road he found himself on and felt the wind of the carriage the man was riding go past him.
As his minds gears finally got back on track, he realized something.
'Wait... Did that guy just speak Japanese? I always thought that was just a trope so the protag can understand the people around them.'
Upon rounding a corner of an intersection, he saw a pair of guards stationed together. Both of which were armored in the same sparse metal plates and leather, eyeing the traffic of carts and people passing by. As subaru appraoched one of the guards made a weird face and leaned towards the other, albeit, not very inconspicuously.
Before Subaru could even get any words from his tongue, the guard interjected with his own thoughts.
"Havent seen you around. Are you from the south? Thats a hell of a trip to E-Rantel." The guard stated with narrowed eyes, not even bothering to hide his suspicion towards Subaru.
Although the suspicion is rather unwelcome,it did however give subaru a chance to watch the guard's lips as he spoke... which revealed that he was definetly not speaking japanese. Through some unknown mechanism the seemingly jumbled lip movements were translated into coherent speech that Subaru could comprehend.
'i can understand this guard, i wonder if they too can understand me..Oh! Now is the perfect time for my trademark introduction!' The teenager thought.
"My name is Subaru Natsuki! Not only am I clueless, I'm also broke beyond compare! Nice ta meet ya!"
With a hand on his hip he raised the other to a thumbs up, with the addition of a closed eye and smile for good measure, Subaru announced proudly.
The guards on instinct put their hands on their weapons, as if registering subaru's actions as a threat before they slowly released their grip and just made strange expressions at him. With an eyebrow raised the second guard spoke plainly,
"Its not usually advised to announce that you have no money, its a surefire way to either get even the clothes you have on taken from you or simply just be ignored to no end. Anyway,, welcome to E-Rantel, good luck finding a place to stay with no cash."
Subarus eyes rounded at such a statement, as true as it was in his world, having no money was a ticket to sleeping on the streets. And with how this place smelled, he was sure he wouldnt even be able to sleep even if he wanted to.
"so uh, do you have any tips on how i could get some maybe?" The teen said as he scratched his head, looking at the ground away from the guards.
The two men looked at each other as if debating on whether to help this rather meek and pathetic boy before them. Maybe it was kindness, perhaps pity, but the first guard spoke up again.
"well many your age try their luck with the adventurers guild as their quests can be lucrative and have a large variety, but even the easiest quests arent easy for a weak mind and body. Or if you cant find any legal work there is always the chance to become an outlaw, but dont cry when my sword is at your neck".
The guard's voice was resolute, assuring Subaru of the fact of the fate of bandits. Not that he had any intention to become one in the first place. Though the tip about the adventurers guild piqued Subarus interest to no end. Though such a firm voice made Subaru uneasy about his usual antics, as even his introduction was met with hands on a blade.
"So maybe would you mind pointing me in the direction of the Adventurers guild?" Surbaru asked, again scratching the back of his head.
The guard in front simply pointed over his shoulder and before Subaru could voice his incredulous words, the main guard Subaru had been talking to simply put his hand back to the hilt of his sword.
"I'd rather not kick the shit out of a bum, now move it, you've distracted us from our duties long enough. Without even the curtesy of paying for the time." The man simply said gruffly. Not wanting to get arrested on his first day in this world, he let it slide. Though the guard who seemed at least willing to talk made his mood spoil with this parting.
As Subaru walked in the direction that the guard pointed him to, without anyone to talk or vent to about such an interaction, only made him fume even more. Maybe if he wasnt so distracted by how he was feeling he would've realized it a little sooner...
Eyes traced the frame of a particularly well built building, the smells of the food stalls nearby, although not as delightful smelling as the street food of his home, were still tantalizing on his empty stomach.
"Ah! My chips! Come to think of it i could've offered this as payment.. but id say i need them even more right now." As he fumbled into the plastic bag, within a sea of people on their own way, he grabbed the corner of the potato chips, ultimately in his rush, he has crushed some in the process.
However, as he eyed the Kanji on the bag, his eyes instictively landed on the sign of the building in front of him which he could only assume to be the Guild with many people in armor going in and out.
"Aaagh! I cant read any of this!" Subaru shouted and faced the sky with his hands over his eyes as if asking the heavens to grant him the ability to read like in the games. As he took his hands off his face, thats when he saw it opening the doors to the building.
Larger than life this form shaped of darkness was. Clad entirely in black plate armor, a red cape hung over his back as if the flamed wings of a phoenix, twin greatswords ran obliquly underneath the cape, their handles pointing toward the sky as if spines of destrustion. Even with such a presence, the thing that caught his attention most was... a hampster?
However funny it was seeing such a person riding a giant hampster, seeing such an appearance made subaru think he was no longer the main character, but hardly a sidenote compared to this seeming behemoth. Not to mention the beauty with raven black hair following the armor clad figure, her eyes sharper than any sword. He swore he could see such eyes pierce him for a moment, before the feeling faded, making it seem like it didnt even happen to begin with.
Subaru froze, he stood still for so long he was sure if it was a few seconds or minutes, when he could no longer see the two that just entered he had his answer. Even if it felt like he could pass out from so much as being looked at by these people, he needed to do something.
Inside the Adventurer's Guild of E-Rantel, what was a usually lively place, seemed to all but be stifled as the thing at the receptionist table conversed about something.
'Ahh, finally all done with the guild, now i just need to find a better place for myself and nabe-' The armored being, Momon thought as he spun around to exit the guild but was suddenly stopped by the person in front of him, sending his mind into overdrive.
Momon feigned his surprised by crossing his arms and standing tall, looking down at this person.
'Well if i want to be a hero, it would do best to get a presence out there... but why does he look so japanese.. and those clothes..'. Momon thought.
Before Ainz- Momon could actually say anything, Nabe took the opportunity to speak, moving her hand to her sword so fast the eye couldnt properly see it,
"An insignificant worm like you dares to block the path of sir.. Momon!" Although her tone was one of confidence, that was until the last part of what she spoke, when she named the armored figure, Momon.
Said being raised a hand in the form of a karate chop, bringing it down onto the unexpecting Nabe's head, to which she brought her hands to the landing zone, holding the top of her head and looking back at Momon with a pout. Before she could say anything about another such incident, the armored giant leaned to Nabe's ear and her tight expression visibly loosened to whatever Momon was saying.
After which Momon turned his attention back to the person standing in front of him and Nabe, a teenage boy, with black hair and sharp dark eyes. Such an enigma, seeing the boy in clothes that looked like what ainz recalled as a 'tracksuit', his suspicion shot up even further. As rare as sports were in his world of barren fog, indoor varieties still existed, and such attire was known to be worn by the wealthy.
'His health and mana are practically nonexistant, similar to the normal everyday peasant, but.. what is this energy inside him?' Momon thought, as he cast life and mana essence at the boy, he figured there was a high possibility of this person using obfuscation magic like false life and mana data.
Unknowingly to Momon, what was running through Subarus head was how similar 'Momon' is to another word, and without thinking, the boy said what his brain was connecting...
"Say Momon, you were almost a flying squirrel!"
Subaru spoke as he slapped his leg as he chuckled, not noticing, not knowing just how close to the truth he was.