Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf!, Volume 1, page 1
Table of Contents
Cover
Color Illustrations
Chapter of Elf Prologue
Episode 1: Hello, Ms. Elf
Episode 2: Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf
Episode 3: Magi Drake
Chapter of Magic Stone Prologue
Episode 1: It’s Gyoza, Ms. Elf
Episode 2: The Magic Stone’s Light
Episode 3: A Restful Weekend
Episode 4: Battle with the Band of Thieves
Interlude: Shopping with Ms. Elf
Afterword
About J-Novel Club
Copyright
Chapter of Elf: Prologue
It was just a morning like any other. Sparrows were chirping outside the window as usual, and the morning sun filled my room through the curtains. With the recent arrival of spring, and this having been the first sunny day we had in a long time, it was the perfect day to go for a walk. Breathing in the fresh morning air would be just the thing I needed to wake up and clear my mind.
Or so I thought...
“Calm down, take a deep breath. I didn’t do anything wrong. Not a thing.”
I realized I was spouting nonsense in my state of confusion. I sounded like someone who had just committed a crime, but that definitely wasn’t the case.
“Wait a minute. What’s going to happen now? I brought someone into my room without their permission... Not to mention, their national origin is...”
I wondered to myself out loud as I looked over at my bed. Maybe this could be considered a crime in certain circumstances, but I needed to take a deep breath and focus on the main issue here.
There was an unfamiliar sight on my bed, which was a bit bigger than necessary for one person. The lump under my blanket slowly moved up and down, softly breathing in its comfortable sleep. I wondered if the faint, sweet smell was coming from those exhalations. The long, silky, silver-white hair glimmered radiantly in the sunlight, drawing me in with its luster. They seemed young in age. Their pale, pink lips, shapely nose, and long eyelashes almost made the person seem doll-like in appearance. I found myself mesmerized, but now wasn’t the time for absent-minded gawking.
My gaze shifted slightly over to the woman’s ears. Those, I thought, were my main source of concern. Judging by her elongated, slightly drooping ears, she definitely wasn’t human. Though, the world was a big place of course, so maybe it wasn’t impossible for someone like this to exist out there. But what would probably be going through most peoples’ minds if ever they saw her fairy-like appearance, was this:
There was an elf in Japan.
Elves only exist in fantasy stories. I couldn’t imagine what sort of panic there’d be if people found out they actually existed, and that there was one sleeping in my bed right now.
As those thoughts went through my head, the eyebrows of the elf girl in question twitched. Her eyes slowly opened, revealing their amethyst shimmer to Japan. Seeing their elegant, misty color felt like I was witnessing the moment a flower bloomed. People sometimes described eyes that seemed to draw you in, but I never thought I’d actually experience it.
I forgot about everything including the current situation for a while, entranced by the girl’s eyes. As they began finding focus, my brain started functioning like normal again.
What in the world happened last night?
Just like the girl who was slowly opening her eyes, my thoughts accelerated toward the past. My heart beat louder with nervousness and inexplicable anticipation.
Yes...that time, I...
Chapter of Elf, Episode 1: Hello, Ms. Elf
People tend to have at least one strange side to them. There are people who can sense ghosts and spirits, and people who can easily draw beautiful works of art. There are beautiful people with terrible singing voices, and skinny people who are voracious eaters. There are people who aren’t so good-looking but have no problem finding dates, and so on.
I, too, actually have one of these strange quirks myself. This was related to the fact that I was an average, twenty-five-year-old salaryman, but, above all else, including the advancement of my career, my primary focus was on getting off work on time.
I undid my tie as soon as I got back to my room and began putting on my comfy pajama top. The way I hummed as I made my bed might very well be a strange sight to behold. It might not be as weird if I wasn’t single, but, unfortunately, I never had a girlfriend before. This was my routine, or more like the thing I lived for. After all, I’d been dreaming of living in a fantasy world ever since I was a child. I loved stories about fighting and defeating monsters with swords, shield, and magic the most. I remembered borrowing those books from the library and reading them over and over until they were all worn out.
Maybe it was because of my obsession, but I dreamt about this sort of thing practically every night. I would fight in a world of swords and magic, participate in intercontinental wars, and step foot into enormous labyrinths. Those dreams began when I was a child, and even as an adult I still looked forward to seeing them at night.
The one unfortunate thing was that they could also get too real. It’d have been nice if they’d go easier on me every once in a while, but I’d actually been beaten by monsters time and time again, and it wasn’t uncommon for me to jump awake from them in the middle of the night. I was always extraordinarily weak, and I couldn’t remember how many times I’d gotten dissolved by slime-looking things. I’d been robbed by natives, who I couldn’t even understand, countless times too.
But, no matter how terrifying those foes may have been, they were just dreams. There was never any pain since they were just dreams, so I could get away with such recklessness as charging straight toward a towering dragon. Then afterward, I’d be awakened by the morning sunlight and stretch my limbs, thinking about the fun dream I just had. There was simply no way to experience such things in modern Japan.
So, as usual, I prepared my bed for the night. I put a water bottle next to my pillow, along with a bento that would still taste good cold. This wasn’t some sort of ritual, but doing as such made it so that later... Actually, it’d be quicker to just do it than explain.
I looked at my watch, which told me it was 7 p.m. If things went as they usually did, I’d wake up at 7 a.m. I slept longer than most people my age, but I worked hard and lived alone, so no one could really say anything about it. It was nice to only have to take care of yourself. Though, I wasn’t sure if I should think about it as a grown-up’s privilege or lament my trivial life. Of course I thought of myself as the former, but most people would see me as the latter.
But that was fine. Life was to be enjoyed, and I had no intention of letting go of my life of sleeping.
“Well, good night.”
And so, I dove into my cozy blanket. A veteran sleeper by now, I let out a snore and stepped into that other world as usual.
＋ ＋ ＋ ＋ ＋ ＋ ＋ ＋ ＋ ＋
Chirp chirp, chirp chirp.
As soon as I lazily opened my eyes, I saw a little bird right in front of my face. The blue color of its small, round body gradually grew darker toward the end of his wings. This extremely curious little guy was named Nuzzle, and he wasn’t really afraid of humans. He was named after some nearby ruins called Nazul-Nazul. In the spring, he came out in search for food, but he seemed to spend most of his time in the ruins.
“Ahhh... I slept really well. Though, on the other side, I just fell asleep right now.”
And yet, I felt well-rested even when I woke up in Japan too. Well, I guess that made sense, considering I was in a dream on this side.
I offered breadcrumbs from my chest pocket as usual. The bird chirped with gratitude, then picked it up in his beak and flew off.
I brushed off the remaining crumbs and stood up as I suppressed a yawn. Then, the sun, rising into the clear, blue skies and gently sloping meadow, filled my view. There was a river flowing nearby, so it seemed I wouldn’t have trouble finding drinking water.
“Hm, guess it’s picking up where I left off last night. Ah, that’s right, I was sleeping under a tree...”
Night dew had collected on the cloak I used as a makeshift bed, and the droplets fell off in beads as I wiped them off. I had picked an area with some trees growing in it because I was being cautious of the rain, but judging by how the sky looked now, it seemed there was no need for worry.
I took a look at my surroundings: There was a leather shoulder bag and something glinting in the sunlight next to it.
“There it is. A water bottle’s good enough, but I gotta have my tea during meals.”
There was a plastic bottle that seemed out of place in the fantasy world, and a bento was wrapped in cloth next to it. I had prepared it before going to sleep, and, strangely, it filled my stomach when I ate it in my dreams. Or maybe it was weirder that I could even get hungry in my dreams...
“Food is hard to come by and tastes bad in my dreams, so this really helps.”
A while back, I would fish to keep myself from starving, but I switched to this method once I began working full time. The reasoning was that I didn’t want to waste time trying to secure food when I could be enjoying my dream.
Now, I put it all into my bag and began walking toward the river. I needed to refill my water bottle, and my face could use a morning rinse.
I felt the chill of early spring as I splashed some water on my face. Rubbing my face with the cold water was very effective at waking me up from my dozy state. My face in
“I’ve gotten a bit older compared to before, but I age much slower in the dream world. Now, judging by how that bird was here, this must be near the Nazul-Nazul Ruins.”
If I just walked down along this river, it’d lead me to the underground city. But the question was whether I’d keep heading that way or find some place else. I stroked my silver bracelet as I thought about it, then a bluish-white screen appeared before me. These were distributed to every country, and were able to inform the wearer of their current status. It showed that I was level 72, indicating I was far too overpowered for this area.
“Man, my level has gotten pretty high from keeping at it all these years.”
I was hopelessly weak to begin with, but I’d grown so much from all the hard work I’d put in. But I’d been playing for nearly twenty years, so it was hard to say whether my pace had been fast or slow. Though, there wasn’t some nemesis like a demon lord for me to defeat, so I’d just been taking it easy. If there were some grand enemy like that to get excited about, I probably would have been trying much harder instead of raising my fishing skill all this time.
“To be honest, I was only raising my level so I could go check out other areas... Hm?”
Just then, I felt someone’s eyes on me. I noticed it thanks to the Intuition skill I leveled up to avoid combat, but it seemed whoever was looking at me wasn’t looking for a fight.
A young girl with long ears appeared from behind a tree and approached me.
“Oh, good morning, Kazuhiho. I see you’re out here camping primitively as usual. If you ask me, you seem far more elf-like than I do.”
“Ah, yes. Good morning, Marie. I’m lucky the weather is nice again today. Sometimes I wake up during heavy rain, and that can be pretty mentally draining.”
Marie tilted her head as if she had no idea what I was talking about.
Her species was that of the elves, and her real name was Mariabelle. I called her by her nickname Marie, and although she seemed to be about my age, she was over a hundred years old, which was partially why she was called a half-fairy. Her hair, glimmering in the sunlight, was pure white like the fluff of a dandelion. It went straight down to her waist, making her easily recognizable even from afar.
Then there was me, who, for some reason, went by “Kazuhiho.” I only had my young self to blame for getting one letter wrong. It was based off of my real name, Kazuhiro Kitase...but I had spelled it wrong when I was doing the initial setup.
“No use crying over spilt milk... Oh, just talking to myself. Anyway, it’s not often I see you all the way out here, Marie. Would you like to go check out some nearby ruins with me?”
“My, that’s quite a place you just invited me to. I don’t quite understand human sensibilities yet, but do women usually like it when someone invites them to ruins?”
“I guess that would depend on the person. But, if you do decide to join me, I’ll treat you to some bento.”
Her long ears twitched in response.
I saw a sparkle in her purple eyes, and despite it being plain as day that she was tempted, she fidgeted with the staff she was holding behind her back.
“W-Well... If you really insist, I suppose I could take you up on your offer. Though I am pretty busy with some other business, just so you know.”
With that, she glanced at the bag I had placed beside me. It was quite small, so the shape of the bento box was visibly bulging out of it. She seemed to have a keen sense of taste. Ever since I shared some of my bento a while back, she came to expect it more and more. But, being difficult as she was, she never directly asked if she could have some.
It was also very rare for me to run into her. Ever since she moved from the elven forest to the Sorcerer’s Guild, she’d been spending her days studying magic. Since I had this rare opportunity to spend time with her again, I wanted to go have some fun with her.
“Let’s go then. There aren’t many strong enemies around, so it’s perfect for taking a walk.”
“I think your idea of a ‘walk’ is a little odd. Most people would call this ‘exploring ruins,’ not some afternoon stroll.” Her brow furrowed adorably as she corrected my not-so-common sense.
I’d known her since grade school now that I thought about it, so she may be my best friend in this world. Though she did act like she was my big sister or something, being much older than me and all.
We began walking side by side, when my gaze was drawn to the object she was holding.
“Oh, is that your staff? I wanna see!”
“Hmhm, go ahead. The shaft is made from holly—and look, it even has unicorn hair here.”
“Wow, Marie, I’m always so impressed that you can even use magic. Let me take a good look at it while we walk.”
Marie smiled happily in response.
Her ability to control spirits was a specialty of the elves, and, as her gray robe indicated, she was also a mage. It seemed she had just obtained her staff recently, as it was in pristine condition. I had no idea how this thing was able to unleash magic, since all I’d learned was to swing my sword around.
It was cute listening to her go on about the valuable materials her staff was made of, but she had actually killed me when we first met. She was quite an outrageous elf, but she seemed to have finally calmed down in recent years. I voiced this observation out loud, and she gave me a slightly annoyed expression.
“You have it all wrong. That was your own fault, you know. I was horrified when you came back to life and talked to me again with a smile on your face. I thought you were a ghost or something.”
“Well, in any case, it wasn’t murder. And I don’t know if I was really smiling, but I do feel happy when I see you, since you’re so pretty and all.”
Marie ran her hand through her hair with a cool expression, as if she heard that all the time. She kept glancing back at me as if to say, “Go on...”
I thought it was cute when girls made that sort of expression. I might be in the body of a child, but I was a full grown adult in reality. So being able to escort an adorable girl like this was far from unpleasant. In fact, I kind of enjoyed it when she acted cheeky like this...though she would hate it if I told her that.
I gazed at her in the morning light as we walked along the river. The color of her smooth hair was far too lustrous to describe as a mere “white.” Maybe the closest comparison would be silk. Her eyes were purple like amethyst, so saying they were like gems would be an apt comparison. Maybe it was because of the long life she’d lived, but even though we were similar in height, I couldn’t hold a candle to her in terms of intellect.
“Oh, is that it? Over by those mossy rocks.”
Her slender finger pointed at the ruins in question. The cave-like hole before us that was surrounded by moss-covered rocks was the entrance of the Nazul-Nazul Ruins. It had quite a long history, and rumors have said it was once an underground city that was destroyed 1,000 years ago. But how was such a well-developed magical civilization destroyed? That was a mystery still yet to be solved.
“Well then, let’s go seek ancient mysteries, shall we?”
“Yeah, you’re definitely an odd one. What do you hope to find in some ruins nobody has stepped foot in in ages?”
We stepped up to the cave, and I pulled her up by her slim hand. I didn’t realize how light she was and overcompensated the pull. She was propelled into my chest and I found her big, round eyes right in front of mine.
“Hmph, can’t you do something about those sleepy-looking eyes of yours?”
“I was born with these eyes. There’s nothing I can do about them.”
She giggled and waved her holly staff. A light spirit emerged from the staff and began floating around us. Then it flew over to the cave and banished the darkness within.
