Kazuma's turn
As my new guest entered the door, she handed me her cloak. 'Iris' turned out to be a grad school aged woman a bit shorter than me with long braided blonde hair and big, clear, blue eyes. Glancing further down, I noticed she was wearing a white thigh length tunic with a brown leather belt cinched around her waist, and some sort of blue tights tucked into knee high brown leather boots.
NICE boots.
I went through a cosplay phase, or more accurately I followed a lot of Insta accounts of cosplayers who were willing to work what they had to buff their follower numbers. Those boots probably cost more than my apartment's rent. Not many cosplayers would be willing to drop that much on one part of a costume, especially since with the shape and all the hand tooling on the leather these looked more like cavalry boots than something you'd wear on the street normally.
I draped the cloak over a stack of boxes I hadn't unpacked yet, and turned back to Iris. Surprisingly for an apparent westerner, she balanced on one foot and started pulling her boots off at the door without being asked.
Correction to my previous description. My new, smokin' hot guest.
Like I said, in bare feet she stood a few centimeters or so shorter than me, about average for a girl. But the sleeveless tunic showed off the kind of muscle definition a fitness model would've been proud of in her arms. Unlike most of them though, she still had plenty of curves for her tightly cinched belt and snug top and tights to show off, a real 'medium is premium' kind of build that I could definitely appreciate.
Wriggling her toes on freeing them, she gave me another smile and tilted her head further inside.
"OH! Right! Please come in, sit anywhere. I'm still unpacking but I think I have tea around here somewhere…"
"Thank you, I'd love a drink. You are not an easy man to find, Kazuma Sato. I spent most of today chasing you from one end of this city to the other." She gazed out the window I hadn't closed the curtains on yet, at the lights of the little town I called home. "No wonder you have those magic carriages to take you everywhere, you'd take all day otherwise."
"This place is nothing, look up pictures of Tokyo sometime." I had to give her credit, whatever her deal was she was definitely leaning into her role playing.
Luckily, I'd made a trip to the convenience store so I had some barley tea in the fridge and some plastic cups and plates until I bought actual dishes. Gods, yet another thing to deal with.
"Here you go," I set a cup in front of Iris, who had perched herself in my computer chair at the desk, and took mine with me as I sat on my folded up futon across from her.
"So, before we go any further I should probably show you some proof of what I am," Iris began after a sip from her cup, frowning curiously at it. "Not what I expected when you said tea, but quite nice," she commented offhandedly. "Right, proof. That portrait across from me, is it valuable?"
The 'portrait' was a Metal Gear wall scroll I'd gotten as a freebie with the game preorder. "I think I gave an extra 800 yen for the preorder bundle it came with, but why…?"
Before I could even think of finishing the sentence she snapped out a word I'd never heard before. With a shriek like ripping canvas a ripple of something crossed the room in the blink of an eye.
The bottom half of the scroll fluttered to the floor.
I stared for a long moment, then slowly turned to Iris.
She stared back, a small penknife in one outstretched hand pointed at my ex-decoration. She hadn't moved a millimeter from the chair, her drink still in her other hand barely had a ripple on the surface. The paint on the wall behind the scroll wasn't even marked.
My mouth opened and closed like a dying fish, words flatly refusing to come to me even more than usual interacting with a pretty girl. She inclined her head in a little bow and put away her knife. "Apologies for damaging your home. I needed to make my point as clearly as possible. You realized I'm no charlatan now, I hope?"
"Oh…oh yeah…" I answered weakly.
"Good! Then we can move on to my offer," she smiled brightly, taking another sip of tea before leaning back in the chair. "Based on the, call it a prophecy I suppose, I received on my coronation day you were supposed to be instrumental in permanently ending a war that had sputtered off and on for generations. Instead, more than a decade has passed with no end in sight. Though you don't appear to be nearly thirty, unless your people age much differently."
"I turned twenty just today," I admitted. "You said you were thirteen in those dreams, so I guess time moves differently here than…your home." I finished lamely, trying not to let on I'd forgotten where that was in all the 'excitement'.
"Belzerg, and perhaps you have it right." Iris nodded. "No matter. Unfortunately, my time spent trying to track you down has used up too much of the mana keeping me in this world to bring you back with me, but perhaps that is for the best. Instead, with the time I do have I ought to tell you what you would be expected to do, and of course your reward for doing so."
I'll admit it proudly, I'm not hero material. I've fantasized about it as much as anyone else who survived puberty, but at heart I've always believed that adventure is a pretty word for when you're in deep shit and far from help. NOT something you go out looking for. Jumping head first into a war that had been going on longer than the average lifetime had all the hallmarks of an incredibly painful, messy, probably bloody nightmare that I'd regret going anywhere near.
I almost told her if I wanted to commit suicide I'd take a leap off the balcony to save trouble, before showing her the door.
But.
She'd been talking while I'd been spinning in circles inside my own head, I tuned back in as she finished talking about levels and skills like she lived in a Dragon Quest knockoff.
"Finally, you can hardly be expected to fight alone, so I should mention the companions you would work alongside." She cleared her throat and if anything looked a little embarrassed as she raised several fingers. "The Crusader I had initially chosen has recently gotten herself pregnant, again, so I shall be taking the role temporarily until we find a suitable replacement. My class is Swordmaster so I assure you I'm well capable of the role. Next," she lowered another finger, "We have the Archwizard of the party as well as our foremost expert in demonology, Komekko of the Crimson Demon Clan. And finally, our Erisite Archpriestess and mistress of clerical magic Lady Sylphina of House Dustiness."
"Wait, wait," I held up a hand. "But, you're the queen? Ah, your majesty?" I hastily added on, realizing belatedly I should probably have been using a bit of respect with the sexy murder machine in front of me.
"Iris is fine, or Alice actually. I'll be traveling under that name and one of my minor titles. Lady Alice if you absolutely must," she smiled charmingly. "And I have two very capable stewards who are more than able to keep things running while I'm out. Have no fear."
She rose to her feet. "My time grows short, so I shall take my leave for now. It will take up to a week on my side to recharge the transfer ritual and send me back across, so about two days on this side apparently. Do take that time to think over my offer." She made for the door, pulling on her boots and grabbing her cloak as I scrambled to my feet, then turned with another bright, lively smile on her way out the door. "See you soon!"
The door closed with a clack of the latch behind her, and the patter of hurried footsteps faded down the hall.
Huh. That was not remotely how I was expecting this night to go. The best I was hoping for was some ramen and my inaugural beer at the local pub, followed by a night exploring an old favorite game. Not an engraved invitation to another world.
While pondering just what to make of all this, there was a solid thumping and a demanding voice at my door like something out of a cop show.
"Kazuma Sato! I would speak with you at once!" A very different female voice demanded. My neighbors were definitely going to be complaining about me already, I just knew it.
Seresdina's Turn
For my, let's not worry about the number, birthday I received a blessing from my goddess Regina, glory to her name, warning of a doom yet to come.
I was, and am, a general in the service of the King of All Demons, trusted with the infiltration and subversion of the nations opposing us. In this vision I had carried out my duty faithfully and well, in spite of the worrying losses among my colleagues in the two years prior.
Then came the order to investigate the reports of a new rising star among the adventurers based out of Axel of all places. On arriving, I established myself as a cleric by healing the injured of the city free of charge, and in turn making them indebted to me. Thus laying the groundwork for a force of future pawns if needed. This too proceeded according to plan, with the useful side benefit of humiliating the previous top Archpriestess of the town in the process.
I had little trouble learning the name, habits, and residence of the so-called 'rising star' one Kazuma Sato, Adventurer class. Leader of a party of misfits and walking character flaws that put even me aback. I nearly abandoned the mission then and there and wrote the whole exercise off as a mistake. It wouldn't be the first time the earnest desire for a champion had created one out of nothing, nor would it be the last.
Still, I consider myself a professional and we have standards, so I arranged a private meeting with him away from his party to sound him out personally. A mere weak kneed pretender to glory was no more a threat to me than the roaches in the alleyway we met in.
Until HE showed up. Vanir, Duke of Hell and a long dead colleague, had not only not died, but turned traitor. Worse yet, he wasn't the only former colleague in the town.
No matter, my business was concluded and Kazuma Sato had proven to be no particular threat. Merely a lucky fool who managed to be at the right place and time.
A lucky fool, who apparently had an axe to grind with me about his useless cleric getting shown up as she deserved and his comrades expressing their newfound loyalty to me.
It started with minor provocations, the occasional humiliating incident. My goddess' domains are manipulation, and vengeance. I had no compunction about using both to bring him down after he took one step too far over the line.
The incidents the Adventurer staged were not merely petty revenge, they were tests, exploring the limits of my abilities. And when I finally took his will for my own out of sheer frustration with dealing with him, the jaws of his trap snapped shut.
I awoke in a cold sweat, memories of decades of servitude to the cult of the useless cleric I'd humiliated fresh in my mind.
I wanted to scoff at myself once I thought it over in the cold light of day. All but one of the generals I'd seen fall, and in a few cases even mourned, were still very much with us. Vanir hadn't been heard from in years, but he supplied the castle barrier so he was clearly alive and well, or as alive as it was possible for him to be. Beldia had died in action years ago, but nowhere near Axel. The others had if not covered themselves with glory at least managed not to get killed by the equivalent of tripping on their way out of the bath.
Still.
Not long afterwards, word reached my ears of a new, very secret, and scarcely sane project underway in Belzerg. Otherworlders had been arriving in this world for all of living memory. A few of them even ended up in our service, willingly or not. But to seek out and summon one in particular? I sought out further details, and after expending more in the way of coin and contacts than was perhaps wise my blood ran cold at what they sought.
Kazuma Sato, Hero of Belzerg. Herald of my fall.
And so I too began collecting information. Precise details of Belzerg's project were scanty, but in my fellow generals and subordinates were some of the foremost mystical scholars of the age. It occupied far more of my time than I'd ever have willingly given, and my other duties no doubt suffered for it, but as Belzerg's project raced to completion so did our own.
And so here I stood. In the birth world of so many would be thorns in our side. Outside a truly massive collection of dwellings contained in a building that for all its stark lack of decoration would have commanded respect for sheer size if nothing else at home.
At my summons, I heard a chillingly familiar grumble on the other side of the door. The eye that looked through the gap in the door was the same green as those that haunted my nightmares, though the face was a little older, the hair a little longer, some stubble on his chin now.
Gathering my will around me like the cloak I wore, I drew breath to begin my prepared speech…
"Gods above, is there a convention in town I don't know about? If you're looking for the other Ringwraith she just left thataway."
Kazuma's turn
My new guest didn't think I was funny.
She flipped back her hood with a jerk, revealing short black hair, jet black eyes, and a slightly older face than Iris. Her most prominent features being one mole below her left eye and the furious expression she was giving me.
"Jest all you want, Sato. I have an offer you'd very much like to accept. May I enter?"
"Depends. The last person in a cloak I let in here destroyed my artwork and claimed she was a queen. What's your deal?"
"I am Seresdina, priestess of the dark goddess Regina, General in the host of the King of All Demons, and speaking in his name-" the possible nut at my door replied grandly "-and I carry both a message from his majesty and a gift of his esteem."
"That's not an incentive for me to open this door, no matter how hot you are. I'm assuming you waited until Iris left before coming here, and that's not filling me with trust either," I observed.
Seresdina smirked a thin little smile. "Very well, here." Her cloak rippled as she removed something from inside it. A small ornamental brooch, with a spike on the back like a safety pin. She held it out in one hand at the gap in the door. "Take it, and poke my hand enough to draw blood." I considered it for a moment, then told her to wait a moment and relocked the door. After rooting in my desk for a box knife, I opened it again to find her waiting with a wider smirk on her lips. "You always were a cautious one," she said with a tiny hint of approval, and held out her hand again. Shrugging, I did as she asked, a matching cut appeared on my own hand causing me to drop the knife with a curse. She spoke a quick word I didn't catch, and both our wounds vanished just as quickly.
"Since you've already met Iris, you must know that had I wished it I could have blasted you out of your socks when you answered the door just as easily. Now then, shall we be civilized about this, or not?"
Put that way, I opened the door and let her in.
Seresdina breezed through the door, handing me her cloak on the way. She was definitely older than Iris, probably in her 30s. She wore a long sleeved dress in white with gray trim belted at her waist. A red panel with a double row of buttons down the front nicely highlighted a bit more plush figure, not surprising for a priestess rather than a warrior princess.
I half expected her to kick off her boots as well, but she strode on into the kitchen nook before turning to face me. With a frown, I followed her.
"My offer is simple," Seresdina began. She removed a bag half the size of my head from a satchel at her waist, pouring it partway out on the kitchen counter with a clatter of silver coins.
I'm not up on exchange rates, but there were at least 30 coins scattered on the counter and they looked about twice the size of a 500 yen coin. Quite a bit of cash, in short.
"You have my full attention," I replied, any irritation long forgotten.
"Outstanding. There's this much, every month, for you. Delivered by the succubus of your choice. If, and only if, you reject Queen Iris' offer and remain here. The only thing we ask of you in return, is that you live a long, healthy, happy, long life here in Japan."
"You mentioned long twice."
"Because it's that important," Seresdina replied hastily. "I've no doubt Queen Iris gave you an impassioned plea for aid, but I doubt she mentioned what happens to you after you accept. Tell me, what would you guess the survival rate is like for new adventurers?"
I actually hadn't thought of that, so I shrugged. "She came in person, so it's got to be quite a while to be worth the trouble for her."
"Six weeks." Seresdina replied. At my look of blatant disbelief she smiled grimly. "Oh yes, those figures are from the Kingdom's own archives, feel free to ask her majesty. Within six weeks of arriving in Belzerg, the majority of otherworlders have either died, been crippled beyond healing magic's abilities, and/or chosen a different profession. Some do go on to become wealthy and famous throughout the land, of course. But," she gave a dark little chuckle "-let's just say my colleagues and I do everything in our power to make sure the odds are against that, hm?"
I think it was the sheer lack of care or concern in her expression that sold me on her telling the truth. Seresdina didn't try to intimidate me, or threaten me into taking her bribe. She just laid out the numbers and let them speak for themselves. I'd kind of assumed that I'd be taking my life in my hands by accepting Iris' offer, but I hadn't thought I'd be throwing it away.
She must have read that in my expression because she continued softly, almost kindly. "You have a comfortable, safe, wealthy, and even pleasurable life ahead of you here. Don't give it up for people you've never met in a place you've never heard of. Be smart about this."
She brushed past me on the way to the door, taking her cloak up as she passed. "The talisman in the bag will anchor you from any attempt to transport you from this world. Simply wear it, and no one else will be able to touch you or bring you across to Belzerg."
"One thing." I said to her back as she shrugged into her cloak. "Could I get the next month's payment in advance? And also, I'd like you to deliver it."
She stiffened, looking slowly back over her shoulder at me with a gaze that could've melted stone. "Be very careful about your next words, boy."
"No, no! I'm not asking for…succubus things." I waved frantically to dispel the thought. "I'd just prefer the next deal to be with someone I've met at least. Though since you mention it, do you have a list of which ones are available?" I asked hopefully.
She gave me a flat, slightly disgusted look, which was at least an improvement on imminent murder. "No, but I shall bring one with me next time. Is this time three days hence acceptable?"
"Totally, thank you." I bowed in appreciation, and she returned a nod of her own and left me with more money than I'd ever seen at once and questions to answer.