Our Arcadia~ One Case of A Trip To Another World~

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TLN: This is the light novel, not the web novel.

The light novel contains an arc not present within the web novel, so I’m gonna go ahead and translate it. That means I’m taking a temporary pause on translating the web novel. I’m pretty sure that this exists in a separate timeline from the web novel, so treat it as such.

This takes place after the Medusa arc, which makes up chapter 3 of the light novel.

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After running from a slime there was a prairie.

At dusk, a wind blew throughout the prairie for as far as the eye could see, creating ripples along with it.

Within, the perverted masked mantle-wearer wandered about in grief.

Well, after being chased by his old rival as usual, he ended up in this location.

“Anyways, I’m hungry…”

It appeared so. Not long ago, he had ran a distance of 800 kilometers, so his calorie consumption rose ridiculously.

It had been an entire three days since he had last eaten at the little boy’s cabin. (TLN: Reminder that Yuuki thinks Anastasia’s a boy)

Looking around to see if there’s anything edible, there were no trees of any sort.

It would be impossible to collect some fruit.

For the time being…there was grass over the horizon for as far the eye could see, so he fixed his eyes on the only thing other than the grass—a small mountain.

“If I can’t find food over at that mountain…then it’s a complete checkmate for me.”

Yuuki faced the northwest direction as he muttered that, beginning to move forward while pushing through the grass.

—Anyways, I’m hungry.

With insufficient blood sugar levels, he sometimes got lightheaded and dizzy, as if he was anemic.

Thirty minutes after he had began to set out, the scarlet sky gradually start to blend into an indigo-blue color.

When he was about five kilometers from the mountain, he spotted a narrow road. At last, he no longer needed to push his way through grass.

Anyhow, now he only had to think about food.

Rather than saying he was hungry, his stomach was already in pain.

He felt like he could gobble down two bowls of ramen at Ramen Saburo—with double the extra-large pork.

While he was walking unsteadily, he heard a voice call out to him from about ten meters behind.

When he turned around, a muscular man stood there. He looked like an experienced adventurer, wearing leather body armor while also equipping gauntlets and a mantle.

He was in his late-thirties. He had a gentle and friendly smile which went well with his unkempt beard.

“It’s rare to meet someone in this place. I have a small request to ask of…you, you’re dressed terribly, what?”

A request? Yuuki tilted his while asking,

“Well, the circumstances about this getup are kinda complicated…It’s hard being a man that’s popular.”

“No, no matter you look at it, you don’t really seem like a man who’s popular.”

“You don’t seem to get it…I am really not popular. Perhaps it’s better to say that I wish I was popular…but I’m only popular to bad company…”

“So, why are you in a place like this?”

“Actually, I don’t know where I am. Before I realized it, I was in a prairie.”

“Are you a rookie adventurer…who got into trouble during a guild request?”

“Nope, but let’s go with that since having to explain things is a burden.”

Pondering, the middle-aged adventurer stoked his unkempt beard with his right hand while pointing at the mountain with his left.

“If you’re a rookie then you might not know…Alright, I guess I’ll interfere. Do you know why it’s better not to approach that old castle at the mountain?”

“Old castle?”

Looking at the direction the man pointed in, although it was dark and hard to see through, there was definitely a small, worn-out castle.

“So you don’t know after all…Last year…the people in the that old castle disappeared all at the same time—Something fishy is going on over there at the Mountain of the Ancient Demon Tree.”

“…What do you mean?”

“You really don’t know a thing? Recently, over there…due to the supplied magical power of that Demon Realm tree, a lot of adventurers have gone missing.”

“Hmm…first off, is the Demon Realm tree that bad? Next, what is a middle-aged man like you doing here in this place?”

Then, the middle-aged adventurer struck his palm with his fist.

“Oh right, that’s what I called you for. When traveling from Noranouk in the east to Cadahiem in the west, I avoid the route where you have to cross the desert swarming with bandits, and instead take this route as a detour around the north.”

“I’m unfamiliar with the geography here, but…what’s your request?”

“I’d like you to trade your water for my food. A monster attack me a while back. So the leather pouch that held my water got a hole in it…and I only got a spare flask, which is gonna make things difficult for the future.”

Yuuki nodded and spoke,

“I have a favor to ask too.”

“Hmm? What is it? Oh, if it’s about the exchange rate, then naturally I’ll favorable for you. I’m the one making the request after all.”

“No, that’s not it.”

As Yuuki was feeling uneasy, a roar resounded in the prairie.

*Rumble*

Due to the discussion of food, his stomach was stimulated, causing it to rumble with an earth-shattering force.

While rubbing his stomach, Yuuki became apologetic,

“…Sorry about that…I have neither food nor water…even with no water, just a little bit of food would be nice…if you could lend me some…”

“You…come to think of it, you don’t really have anything like luggage…are you insane?”

“Insane?”

“I can tell you that it took me five days to walk here from the nearest human settlement. You having no food or water is kind of…”

“Huh…?”

For a while, Yuuki was at a loss for words.

—If that’s the case, this really bad for me isn’t it?

Cold sweat ran along his back.

And there, a light pain was coursing through his stomach.

Having nothing to digest, it seems that his stomach acid was hurting his gastric wall.

“I beg of you…to lend me…some food…”

They stared at each other and locked eyes.

“…”

“…”

After a brief silence, the adventurer turned his back, faced away from the mountain, and started walking away.

While waving from behind, he left a parting speech to Yuuki,

“Apologies, lad. I have no obligation to do that…I can’t afford to, sorry.”

“Wait! No…please wait! That’s…so cruel!”

For about four minutes, Yuuki blankly stared at the departing adventurer until his back was out of sight.

However, he could not stay still forever at that spot. He once again turned around to the mountain.

“Mountain of the Ancient Demon Tree…was it? There are rumors of many adventurers going missing, but…”

 

He continued to step forward towards the mountain.

“There’s an old castle, so there used to be people living there, right? If so, there must be a water fountain. And if that’s the case…then there’s a high chance that there’s some edible plants there, potentially even some animals. Going by that, if I’m lucky, then there may even be some stocks of preserved food left in the old castle.”

So as he kept walking for an hour, the surrounding scenery changed from a prairie to a tree-filled area, the evening sun completely lowered, and darkness swept in.

“Damn it…I’m already…at my limit…”

His hunger was overwhelming, he could not exert power into his legs.

With that, he laid down while drained of strength, leaning against a tree.

“Man…I want to mom’s tonkatsu” (TLN: Tonkatsu is a popular dish in Japan. It’s basically a deep-fried pork cutlet)

So as his blood sugar levels plummeted, his level of consciousness fell to its limit, and he fainted.

While he was dozing off, half-conscious, two shadows crept up onto Yuuki, who had collapsed.

“Kenji…this attire—this is the person we’re looking for…”

“Yeah, I know, Lydia. He seems to be quite hungry. So—how about we give him a meal here? Let him rest and afterwards we’ll guide him to our Arcadia.

As his consciousness faded, Yuuki departed to the world of dreams while hearing the voices a man and woman.

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