Chapter 3

With a broad smile on her face, and yet with tears brimming in her eyes, Calsedonia clung to Shinji once again.

Shinji, who had instinctively caught the woman who called herself Chico, collapsed back onto the bed.

Once again, a very soft body had thrown itself into his arms. Shinji was at a loss as to how to handle it.

To be honest, Shinji had never hugged a woman, nor had he ever been hugged by one.

Of course, he had been held by his mother or someone like that when he was a baby or at a similar age, but such memories were long gone from Shinji's mind, so they didn't count.

Incidentally, at that moment, he was so confused about where to place his hands—on her shoulders? Or her waist?—that he awkwardly wiggled them in the air.

Unaware of Shinji's inner struggle, Calsedonia rubbed her head against Shinji's chest, looking delighted.

At the same time, the two softest parts of her body also pressed against Shinji, but he deliberately chose not to notice the sensation.

Calsedonia rubbed her forehead against Shinji's chest repeatedly, and with each rub, a single strand of hair that stuck out from the top of her head wiggled back and forth.

Watching the strand of hair sway back and forth, Shinji recalled a certain memory.

In the past, when Chico was lively, she often rubbed her head against Shinji's hand or cheek, acting affectionate.

Sometimes, she would tilt her head and say, "Pet me, pet me," as if urging Shinji to do so. At such times, Shinji would naturally stroke her small head with his fingertips.

Recalling such memories, Shinji couldn't help but stroke the top of the woman's head with his palm. It was a reflex.

Surprised by the sudden sensation of Shinji's palm on the top of her head, Calsedonia looked up with a startled expression and stared at Shinji.

"Ma, Master..."

"A... I'm s-sorry!! It's just that my pet parakeet used to make similar gestures, so I... I did it without thinking..."

Shinji hastily pulled his hand back and mumbled an apology. Anyone would be annoyed if someone suddenly touched their head in a familiar way. While thinking this, he secretly wished he could touch her soft hair a bit longer.

However, Calsedonia didn't seem angry. On the contrary, she looked even happier and broke into a wider smile.

"Yes!! Yes!! That's right!! Master used to stroke my head like that!! I remember!! Master's hands... back then, they were just fingertips, but they were so warm!!"

With tears of joy streaming down her beautiful face, Calsedonia hugged Shinji tightly.

"Master... my... my Master..."

Calsedonia repeated this like a mantra.

Shinji watched her intently.

Of course, the woman hugging him looked nothing like the parakeet Chico.

Still, Shinji couldn't completely deny her words.

Because her demeanor and certain gestures were too similar to his Chico.

Sometimes, intuition surpasses logic. And now, his intuition was telling him that her words were true.

"Is it really... really... Chico...?"

"Yes!! I am Chico. I was reborn as a human in this world, but I still have memories from when I was Chico... when I was a parakeet. I was raised by Master... and I passed away in Master's care... I am your Chico...!!"

"This world...? Reborn...?"

Words like "another world," "summoning," and "reincarnation," which are often seen in novels, raced through Shinji's mind.

Meanwhile, Calsedonia continued to press her soft body against Shinji. Moreover, they were in a dimly lit basement, and on Shinji's bed. If Shinji's body showed a male reaction, it would be understandable.

What should I do now?

As his reason and instinct clashed, Shinji was deeply troubled when a third voice echoed in the basement, which should have only contained the two of them.

"Now, now, Calsedonia. You should stop. You're making the groom uncomfortable."

It was a calm, yet strong-sounding voice of an elderly man.

Shinji turned his head reflexively toward the source of the voice.

There stood an old man.

He was about the same height as Shinji, who was 168 cm tall, so the old man might be considered tall for his age.

The old man had long, white hair and a full, white beard, giving him a gentle impression. He looked to be around 70 years old. Shinji, who had already accepted that he had been summoned to this world, didn't know the average lifespan here, but the old man was likely quite elderly.

Despite his age, he stood straight, not looking particularly old. In a word, he gave the impression of a "vigorous old man."

Upon closer inspection, an open door was visible behind the old man. It seemed Shinji had been so focused on the woman claiming to be Chico's reincarnation that he hadn't noticed the door.

The old man, with a gentle smile, slowly approached Shinji and Calsedonia.

As he walked, the white, loose-fitting clothes he wore rustled softly.

They were pure white and clearly made of high-quality fabric, indicating that they were expensive. The intricate embroidery, done with gold and silver threads, suggested that the old man held a high position or was very wealthy, or perhaps both.

Looking at the old man's attire, Shinji was reminded of a Christian priest he had seen on TV.

"I was a bit worried and came to check on Calsedonia... ho ho ho, it seems you've successfully summoned the groom."

"Yes, Grandfather. I successfully brought Master to this world."

"Ho ho ho, that's good, that's good. First, let's celebrate. Now, groom."

"Huh... groom... you mean... me...?"

"Of course. There's no one else here besides me and my granddaughter Calsedonia, is there?"

The old man continued to smile gently.

"Shall we move to a more suitable place for a detailed explanation? This isn't a place for a long conversation. Besides..."

The old man's eyes turned to Calsedonia, who was still on top of Shinji.

"Calsedonia, go change quickly. Your current appearance is a bit too much for a young groom to handle."

Upon hearing this, Calsedonia jumped off Shinji, suddenly remembering her attire. She quickly covered her ample chest with her hands.

"H-how could I... appearing so immodestly in front of Master..."

Calsedonia's face turned bright red, and she hurriedly got off Shinji's bed and rushed out through the open door.

As she did, the shape of her well-formed buttocks, visible through the thin fabric, caught Shinji's eye.

The old man, noticing Shinji's gaze, smiled happily.

"Ho ho ho, you're quite a man, aren't you? No, no, it's only natural for a man to react that way. On the contrary, I'm relieved that you reacted to my granddaughter as a man."

The old man's gentle laughter echoed through the basement.

"Let's start with introductions. My name is Giuseppe Chrysoprase. I am the High Priest of the Survive Sect in this country, the Kingdom of Largofili."

"High Priest...?"

Shinji, who had opened his eyes wide in surprise, looked intently at the old man, Giuseppe, who had just sat down in front of him.

They had moved from the basement to a room that looked like a reception room.

The room had a soft, comfortable sofa and an expensive-looking table with intricate carvings. There were tasteful furnishings scattered around, and a beautiful, elegant flower arrangement in an expensive vase, indicating that this was a room for entertaining people of high status.

Shinji had followed Giuseppe silently from the basement, which turned out to be a basement as he had suspected, to this reception room. He didn't remember much of the route, but the distance they had walked suggested that the building they were in was quite large.

Moreover, the hallways they had passed through were all carpeted with long-pile rugs, and there was no sign of dirt, indicating that they were meticulously cleaned.

There were no windows along the way, so he couldn't see the outside, but the bright light coming in from a window in the reception room suggested that it wasn't night. Of course, this was assuming that this world, which seemed to be another world, had nights. Given that it was an unfamiliar world, a world without nights and always daytime wouldn't be surprising.

While Shinji was thinking about such things, a cup of tea, apparently made of pottery, was placed on the table in front of him with a gentle clink.

"Please, be careful, it's hot."

"Y-Yes, thank you..."

The tea was served by a tall man in his mid-twenties named Baldio. He smiled, stepped away from the table, bowed, and left the room.

The clothes he wore were similar in design to Giuseppe's, but with fewer decorations, suggesting that he held a position of some importance but not as high as Giuseppe's.

He was probably in a position similar to Giuseppe's secretary, and had left the room quickly after completing his task, likely to avoid overhearing their conversation.

Shinji took a sip of the tea, which tasted and smelled somewhat like jasmine tea.

This was probably the common tea in this world or country, and given that it was served by a high-ranking person like the High Priest, it was likely made from high-quality tea leaves.

Shinji, having made this assumption, took his time savoring the tea. Giuseppe watched him with amusement.

"Now, I'd like to explain things in more detail to the groom... but where is Calsedonia? She's taking an unusually long time."

Giuseppe stroked his long beard and glanced at the door leading out of the room.

Indeed, as he said, a considerable amount of time had passed since they arrived in the reception room. Shinji reflexively looked at his wristwatch.

This wristwatch was something he had put on out of habit when he woke up, and it had been brought along with him in the summoning.

The items that had been summoned with him were his bed, the acoustic guitar he had been holding, which was a memento from his father, and an old-fashioned Galapagos mobile phone in his pocket. Besides that, he was wearing a roomy T-shirt and jeans.

As Shinji looked at his watch, Giuseppe raised an eyebrow and leaned forward with interest.

"Well, what is that, groom?"

Giuseppe looked at the wristwatch with the curiosity of a child presented with a new toy.

Shinji, smiling, took the watch off his wrist and handed it to him.

"This is called a wristwatch, a tool for telling time. In the world I came from, it's a very common everyday item."

"Ho, so this is a watch? It's quite small and has an unusual shape."

Giuseppe examined the watch with interest. In this world, the closest thing to a watch was a sandglass or a sundial. Of course, there was no such thing as a precise mechanical watch like Shinji's.

Shinji's wristwatch was a quartz chronograph that didn't require battery changes due to its light-chargeable battery. It was a gift from his sister to celebrate his high school acceptance.

He had been wearing it during the accident, and although it had a few minor scratches, it had miraculously survived and was still working.

"Hmm... there are several needle-like things... it seems to tell time, but only the thinnest needle is moving..."

"In the world I come from, a day is divided into twenty-four equal parts, and each part is further divided by sixty, and then further divided..."

Shinji explained the concept of time in his world, and Giuseppe listened with wide eyes.

"Ho... in the world you come from, why do you divide time so finely? Is there a specific reason for doing so?"

"Why...?"

Shinji, asked this, was at a loss for words.

The common knowledge that a day is divided into twenty-four hours, and an hour into sixty minutes, was something he had accepted without question. When asked to explain it, he couldn't provide a reason.

He didn't know when or where the concept of time on Earth was established. But he had always accepted it as common knowledge. However, in this world, such common knowledge didn't apply.

This was undoubtedly another world.

Shinji realized again that he was in a world where his usual common sense didn't apply.