Chapter 3

"Ah, you're early."

In the kitchen, my mother was preparing dinner as usual.

"Ah, yeah."

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I met the family I had longed to see. I wiped them away with the sleeve of my uniform, not wanting my mother to notice, when a pleasant smell filled the air.

"It's curry!"

"Today's curry. Didn't I tell you this morning? What's wrong? You seem unusually excited."

"Hehehe, just my usual self!"

"Is that so? Oh, by the way! Your luggage has arrived! You really bought a lot. It's in your room. Make sure to clean up if you make a mess."

"Okay!"

If I kept listening to my mother's voice, I would burst into tears. To calm myself down, I decided to go back to my room and turned away. As I was about to leave the kitchen and head up the stairs, my mother called out to me.

"Welcome back."

"Yep, I'm home."

The feeling of being back was more real than ever before. Running up the stairs and returning to my room, I was greeted by a familiar yet deeply nostalgic scene. Cardboard boxes were on the floor, and the bookshelf was overflowing with comics. The desk was where I only did homework, and a cheap clothes rack held my gym clothes, sweatpants, hoodies, and T-shirts. Suppressing the overwhelming emotions, I jumped onto the bed. The bed was a folding one I bought from a home center, with a mattress and down comforter I bought without much thought. The bed's springs creaked as they supported my body, and the mattress's cushioning and the softness of the down comforter enveloped me. The comforter must have been aired out by my mother during the day, as it smelled of the sun.

"Man, this bed is amazing. What is this incredible comfort? In the other world, even kings slept on just wooden boards. There was nothing as soft as this!"

Life in the other world was nothing but "hard." The bedding was the worst, and hygiene was far from ideal. When I heard "fantasy world," I, like many others, imagined a world similar to medieval Europe, where the benefits of magic and spirits allowed for a life not much different from modern Japan. But when I was actually summoned to the other world, I realized that it was just a fantasy. It was the worst possible world, combining the lifestyle of medieval Europe with the danger of monsters, the privileged class of nobles who did as they pleased, and the rough adventurers.

"I want to sleep, but I'm looking forward to the curry, so I'll hold off. So, let's open the long-awaited mail order."

I got out of bed and eagerly peeled off the tape to open the cardboard box. Inside were the sneakers I had always wanted, sweat jogger pants, and T-shirts and hoodies.

"In the other world, there were no sneakers or sweatpants, so the feel and smell of these are just the best!"

In the other world, where I spent my days with swords and magic, the clothes were made from the hides of unknown monsters or processed from the threads they spat out. The shoes were mostly made of iron plates and the hides of unknown monsters. Some people even wore leather sandals. As a hero, I was given decent clothing, but for someone who had lived in modern Japan, the clothes in the other world were the worst to wear.

"I'll wear the sneakers and clothes tomorrow. Even the school uniform feels good, but I'll change into something more comfortable."

Even the school uniform, which I had worn without much thought before, now felt incredibly comfortable. When I changed into my room clothes, the sense of freedom was incredible.

"Man, sweatpants are the best, right?"

Thinking back, the only soft things in the other world seemed to be the spilled internal organs of monsters.

"Alright, let's calm down. I was summoned as a hero to the other world and forced to fight the demon king, but I managed to defeat him and return to Japan. That's good. But why did I return just before I was summoned? It's great, but I don't understand at all."

My body and age were the same as they were then. My mind, too, felt much healthier than it had in the other world.

"Did everything go back to the way it was? Wait, what about the magic power I had?"

Curious, I tried to release my magic as I had in the other world—and it worked without any problem.

"Wait, wait, wait, I still have magic! This feels like a hero returning from the other world and going on a rampage on Earth, doesn't it?"

I tried to light a flame on my finger, and it worked easily. It even felt smoother than in the other world.

"I thought about going to school tomorrow, but I'll take a break and try out some things."

I missed school, but my curiosity about how much magic I could use in this world won out.

"Kazuki! Dinner's ready!"

"Coming!"

Called by my mother, my thoughts shifted from magic to curry. For Kazuki, who hadn't eaten or drunk anything for six years in the other world, this was the first meal in six years. And it was my mother's curry. My mouth was watering. With a light step, Kazuki left the room and enjoyed his mother's special curry.

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However, he had no idea that by releasing his magic, he had revealed his presence to hidden fantastical beings. In fact, he didn't even know that such fantastical elements existed in this world.

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