Chapter 3

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――――My head feels heavy.

――――――My body feels so weak.

「～～～～～～！！ ～～～～！！」

――――Someone is calling me.

「～～～～……Ruka!!」

I opened my eyes slightly, and a blonde woman was leaning over me, her blue eyes filled with tears.

「You're awake!!」

「……M...o...m...」

「Wait here, I'll go get your father!」

The woman, her eyes brimming with joy, rushed out of the room.

I stared at the ceiling in the now empty room. It wasn't the white ceiling of my home. It was a slanted wooden ceiling. This isn't my house. Where am I? My head is fuzzy.

This is my house. The ceiling of the attic in my house.

Right, I suddenly got a fever in the middle of the night... and then...

A loud voice came from the other side of the door, and the room's door opened. The blonde woman and a tall, well-built man with brown hair entered, along with a little girl about kindergarten age.

「Ruka, are you okay? Drink this. Can you hold it?」

The man offered me a wooden cup of water. I tried to sit up, but I couldn't muster the strength. The man—my father—helped me sit up and brought the cup to my lips. I was quite thirsty and drank it all at once.

「It seems you're better now. Just to be safe, you should rest for another day.」

A teenage boy in a robe, who had entered at some point, placed his hand on my forehead and said to my father and mother.

「Thank you. I'm sorry to trouble you like this...」

「It's fine, Hanna. We always appreciate your help.」

The boy told my mother and then turned back to me.

「Kid, your fever is down, but don't overdo it.」

「Thank... you.」

I thanked him, and he smiled a little before leaving the room.

「Ruka, can you eat something?」

「Yeah, I'm okay. ...But I want to sleep a little.」

「Of course, you should. I'll bring you some soup later.」

Mother gently stroked my head.

「Big brother, are you feeling better?」

The little girl, who had been clinging to my father's legs, spoke to me.

「Yeah, I'm okay. Sophie, I'm sorry for worrying you.」

「That's great!」

The little girl smiled and clung to me.

「Alright, big brother is fine now. Let him rest a bit.」

Father picked up my sister and ruffled my hair.

「Be good. Let's go, everyone.」

With that, everyone left the room, and I was alone again.

＊＊＊＊＊

「…………」

After confirming that everyone had left the room, I flopped onto the bed face down and let out the confusion I had been suppressing.

「What the heck is going on!? This is...」

I was supposed to be on my way home, exhausted from overtime work. But instead of my home's futon bed, I was lying in a wooden bed.

The questions didn't end there. My parents are ordinary residents of Chiba Prefecture, not blonde or brown-haired Westerners. They are normal Japanese people. I don't have a sister; I only have a younger brother.

Yet, I recognized the people from earlier as my family.

I looked at my palm. It was small, a child's hand, not the hand of a 30-year-old man. I got out of bed and opened the wooden window, letting the light flood the room.

Outside the window, the scenery resembled an old European town I had seen on a travel show. The sounds of the city came through the open window: the wheels of a cart rolling over cobblestones, the chatter of neighborhood women, and the calls of vendors. I looked out over the scene: a sea of red-brown tiled roofs, and in the distance, the spire of a church.

I looked into the water in the washbasin on the bedside table. The reflection of a brown-haired, curly-haired boy, who looked a lot like the man earlier, stared back at me.

I already knew.

For some reason, I have the memories of a 30-year-old Japanese salaryman, ‘Kawabata Yukiji,’ but I am ‘Ruka Krueger,’ a 6-year-old boy. This is the dungeon city ‘Heilberg,’ where many adventurers, from beginners to veterans, gather. I am in the inn ‘Golden Star Inn,’ located between the Adventurer's Guild and the commercial district.

I am ‘Ruka Krueger,’ and I used to be ‘Kawabata Yukiji.’

「This is a mess...」

I muttered to myself. The reason I can make this judgment is that I have clear memories of ‘Ruka Krueger’ from the time he became aware... and I also feel the memories of ‘Kawabata Yukiji.’

Perhaps I possessed ‘Ruka Krueger’? It might be a form of possession, but I don't feel like ‘Ruka’ and ‘I’ are separate personalities.

‘Ruka’s’ consciousness didn't go to sleep or disappear; it continues to exist. There's no way to prove this, and I can only trust my own senses.

So, looking at the situation from the perspective of a 30-year-old Japanese man, this is clearly not Japan. While my knowledge of this world is at the level of a 6-year-old boy, I can say with certainty that this is not Earth.

This world has something that doesn't exist on Earth.

‘Magic.’

The boy in the robe was probably one of the inn's guests, an adventurer. I've seen him a few times. He must have used a recovery spell on me.

I took a deep breath, raised my index finger, and focused my mind.

「Lantern.」

A small flame, about the size of a lighter, appeared on my fingertip. If I did this on Earth, it would be considered a magic trick. But I didn't use any tricks or gimmicks; I just tried a living magic spell for fire, just like ‘Ruka’ did.

“Why me? I'm just a regular company employee.”

I couldn't help but complain. The last memory of ‘Ruka’ was of his parents looking worried as they counted their ledgers and coins late at night.

...This is the ‘Golden Star Inn.’ Despite its grand name, it's a dreary inn that only has low prices to offer. And my parents are the owners. From the looks of their expressions, the business isn't doing well.

“Why not a consultant or someone from a hotel school? Wasn't there anyone better?”

Unfortunately, I'm just a regular salaryman. I've been in sales since I started working... it sounds good, but I don't have much in the way of serious marketing or business management skills. I've only skimmed through business books.

But I have to do something. I thought about the family from earlier—Father, Mother, and my sister Sophie. At 6 years old, I only understood that my parents were having trouble, but now I can judge that if things continue like this, the inn will stagnate.

The only thing I have is the knowledge and experience of a 30-year-old Japanese man. That's all I have.

But with that, I can probably do something, even if I'm just a 6-year-old boy.

At that moment, a breeze blew in from the open window, rustling my curly hair.