IEULBERW 01

Chapter 1

The Country That Doesn’t Exist

“Hey, Matsunaga?”

“Oh—sorry, I was spacing out.”

“We’ll be in Takasaki soon.”

Clack, clack… clack, clack…

The local train rattled along the tracks, passing Kuragano Station.
As we drew closer to my hometown, I finally felt myself relax a little.

My parents had died in an accident, so now I lived alone.
Still, I was grateful that our old house was left to me.
I just wished they could’ve lived a little longer.

It was the summer vacation of my second year of high school.
I was returning home from Comiket—the Comic Market.
In the backpack slung over my shoulder were my prized spoils.

“Next stop, Takasaki. Takasaki. This is the last stop, Takasaki,” came the station announcement.

“Well, see you later.”

“Yeah, see you.”

After saying goodbye to my fellow otaku friend Tanaka, I stepped out of Takasaki Station.

“For dinner… I’ll just grab something from the supermarket on the way.”

When I got home, the place was silent.
No dinner waiting, no one to talk to—nothing.
I found myself wishing, just for a moment, that I still had someone—anyone—at home.

But thinking about things that can’t be helped is pointless.

“Summer vacation is… so long.”

My parents had died back when I was in middle school.
Being at school helped keep the loneliness away.
Luckily, I had my parents’ life insurance, so I wasn’t struggling financially.
College wouldn’t be a problem either.

But still—

“I never thought being alone could feel this lonely.”

Even if you have friends, you can’t be with them forever.
When you’re by yourself all the time, you start talking out loud just to hear a voice.

Games didn’t excite me anymore.
Manga wasn’t fun either.

“Whooo!”

A sudden gust of wind swept through the street.
I turned—and froze.

A beautiful woman stood there.
Long silver hair.
Emerald-green eyes.
Her clothes looked like something out of a fantasy movie—an elaborate, old-fashioned outfit from some faraway land.

It was a familiar street, but with her standing there, it suddenly looked like a scene from another world.

Her long, pointed ears caught my eye.

…An elf?

Was she cosplaying?
Was there some kind of event happening in Takasaki today?

But she wasn’t moving. She just stood there blankly, staring.
Then, without warning, she stepped into the road.

There wasn’t even a crosswalk there.
A white car was heading straight toward her.

“Hey! You! Are you trying to die!?”

BEEEEEP!!

The driver slammed on the horn.

Without thinking, I lunged forward, grabbed her hand, and pulled her out of the way.
We both tumbled to the ground.

“Eeek!”

“That was close. You’ll get hit by a car if you’re not careful.”

The woman blinked in confusion, staring at the road.
“A… car? Is that what they call these metal beasts? I suddenly found myself here, but… what is this place?”

She sounded completely serious—like she’d never seen a car before.

“What’s wrong with her…?”

People nearby were starting to stare.
A small crowd of curious onlookers began to gather.

“Anyway… let’s get out of here.”

Her outfit was way too eye-catching, especially near the station.
I took her hand and led her away.

Normally, I’d never bring a strange woman home.
But in that moment, my brain just stopped working.
If I had to say why… I guess I just didn’t want her to die.

“You saved me from that danger, didn’t you? I didn’t thank you properly. Thank you.”

“…Don’t thank me. My body just moved on its own.”

It wasn’t that I meant to save her.
It was purely instinct.

“You’re… a foreigner, right? Where are you from?”

“Foreigner?”

“Well, you speak Japanese, so maybe not… but I mean, from another country. Your homeland.”

“Ah, my homeland. I come from an elf village in the Castral region of the Kingdom of Perde.”

“Europe, maybe…?”
I’d never heard of that place before.
Maybe it was some small European country I didn’t know.

I pulled out my phone to check.

But—nothing came up.
The search results were completely empty.
“Cape Verde” popped up, but that’s in Africa, and… well, she was definitely not African.

“That’s weird… I can’t find anything about it online.”

“Um… may I ask something strange? In this country, is magic… not used? It feels like there’s very little mana in the air.”

Magic?

Maybe she was one of those hardcore foreign otaku who come to Japan chasing their fantasies.
Yeah, that had to be it…