...............................
No, I'm sorry. I was just opening my big mouth... are you okay?

　A familiar girl who gently pats me on the back as I cough and utters an apology. It was my first night in the other world and I was a little dazed when the nightmare (baby sponge cake) attacked me. It's amazing, another world, scary, another world... I didn't think I'd be traumatized by Baby Castella.
　After a while, I got my breath back and once again turned my gaze to the girl next to me.

''........I mean, why are you here, Black?''
Coincidences are amazing, aren't they? To bump into each other again in a place like this, it feels like fate!
No, this isn't a place, this is a mansion!
I mean, it's not uncommon to hear a boring story about how you go into town for a change, and then a guy you know opens his mouth to the sky a few miles away, and you "slip through the detection field" and throw a baby sponge cake into his mouth.
That's not going to happen!　It's such an aberration!

　They're totally locking on to us!　You trespass on a duke's house and then storm the house at night, there's no such thing as a coincidence!　It doesn't work. There are too many things to go into to keep up with.

'Well, well, let's just leave the details out of it.
Not in detail. It's quite a case and this is a pretty big one...

　He doesn't seem to have any intention of listening to the cries of our souls, and Black continues to speak with a smiling, innocent smile on his face.

You see, I told you.　If you're in trouble, I can help you~, Kite, you looked like you were struggling with something, what's wrong?
'What?　Oh, no, I've been struggling with... what can I say?

　Hmm, the same as when we met in the evening, but I couldn't keep up with Kuro's pace. I think the smiling and innocent smiles on your face drain the venom out of you and make you feel like you're being swept along.

I've been thinking a little bit about what has happened so far and what will happen in the future, though.
Okay, let's hear it while we're at it.
Why?

　It's not too early to say this, but the coat of the black coat touches the floor of the balcony with a wave, and a black bruise appears as if it boils out of the ground. It's not a bruise, it's a tatami mat.
　And it doesn't stop there, as the black shadow of the coat stretches out, the stand on which moonlight dumplings are placed - is it the three treasures?　Instead, it is cut off and placed on the tatami. What's that coat?　Does everything come out?　That sounds like a hell of a handy thing to do, but...

Come on, sit down, sit down, the moon is beautiful and we can talk about it at leisure!
Uh-huh.

　I sit down on the tatami as prompted by the unpredictable turn of events and the adorable smile on my face. Then Kuro points a finger at Sanbou and lightly shakes it, and a moonlight dumpling appears there.

Why not dumplings and baby sponge cake?
'What?　You know, the one where you eat candy while looking at the moon?
''I don't think there's anything wrong with the interpretation itself, but I think there's a fatal misunderstanding in the fatal part...''

　Yes, what was piled up in front of me was the nightmare baked goods that had just imprinted an indelible trauma on my mind - baby sponge cake. How come I know the tatami mats and even the three treasures, but the most important thing is that the dumplings are baby sponge cake?　What kind of half-assed knowledge is that...

Well, don't let them underestimate you. These baby sponge cakes are made especially for children.　You'll know the difference when you try it!　Look, look, look~
Okay, okay. Okay, okay I'll eat it.

　A little traumatized by the sight of him nipping at me with a baby sponge cake in each hand, I bring the baby sponge cake to my mouth in abandonment.

''Huh?　This is.....

　The baby castella I put in my mouth looked like an ordinary baby castella, but inside it was a sticky dough with a certain elasticity and a sweetness that would be familiar to the Japanese tongue - a sweet bean paste.
　That's right, this baby sponge cake has a dango inside. It is an extraordinary artisanal technique to encapsulate the dumplings inside this tiny piece of cake.

'Then just a regular moon dumpling!　Why are they coating it with baby sponge cake!　What is your obsession with baby sponge cakes!　I'm scared shitless!　I mean, if you're so obsessed with it that much, why did you remember the wrong name?
'You're fine - but talking in one breath like that can be exhausting, can't it?　Look, we've got drinks for you, so it's a proper otherworldly drink.
Yeah, thanks.

　I take the teacup Black offered me, which was staring at my screaming figure with a smile, and drink it to moisten my thirsty throat from the plunge - and spew it out immediately.

'Are you okay?　We have to drink it slowly because it's dangerous to drink it all at once.

'What?　In another world, you drink it when you eat candy, right?
....

　Hey, brave men of the past who would have instilled Black with half-baked otherworldly knowledge, come out in front of me for a shot.





















　It's a good idea to be able to have a look at the moon on the new year, but in this world, the moon in heaven - the end and beginning of the year in Japan - seems to be the best time to see the moon at its largest size.
　However, I don't think it's right to sit on tatami mats and eat baby sponge cakes with a cup of coffee in one hand, regardless of whether it's from another world or not....

''........Hmmm. What can I say, the human race is still wanting to worry about weird things~
Is that what it feels like to be a demon?

　In contrast to the noisy atmosphere of the past, I was looking at the moon with Kuro, who was dressed in a calm atmosphere, as if he knew a long history, and I was spontaneously confiding in him what I had been thinking about until a while ago.
　The fact that I don't know what I want to do, the expectation and anxiety of the changes that came regardless of my intentions after coming to another world. I'm sure I couldn't have answered Kusunoki's question, but with Kuro's help, the conversation spilled out of my mouth naturally. Maybe it's because of the unique atmosphere she has, but Kuro's voice gives me a sense of calm.
　When she's finished listening to me, she spins her words quietly, tilting her teacup.

I don't think that people with goals and dreams are better than those without them. It's not a bad thing not to have it, it's not a bad thing to want it, it's just that it's a shame not to reach for it.
Too good to be true?
Yeah. Kite, a person's life is as short as a moment from my point of view. It's only less than 100 years, in other words, that's all the time we have. But if you are worried about these little things, if you make up your mind about this or that, your life will be over just by worrying about it. Then it's much more beneficial to just cut it off and enjoy it.
...enjoy it...

　I don't know how to enjoy that. I know I want something, but I don't know what exactly I want.

''Well there was a girl I knew a long time ago who said something similar to Kaito-kun. She said she was empty.
Empty?
Yes, it's all the wishes and expectations of those around you that pile up... and before you know it, you're only following the path that someone else shows you. It's not that I don't like it, I just want to live up to their expectations, but sometimes I wonder where my true feelings are.
Well sure, it's a bit like that, isn't it?
'Yes. Is that why?　I love a girl like you, Kite, I love you so much.
"Huh?

　When I turned to Kuro, surprised at the words he gently told me, his golden eyes, as if he could see everything in the world, were looking straight at me. It was not an uncomfortable one, like being stared at, but looked like a gentle, warm gaze of affirmation, like a mother's.

''Well you're just a newborn baby bird that doesn't know anything.
A baby bird?
'Yes, I want wings - but I don't know how to grow them. I want to fly - but I don't know how to fly. I think worrying about it is the same as wishing for it. Inside you, Kite, there is a sparkling wish that you haven't found yourself yet. Right now, it's okay to be empty. It's not a shame or a bad thing that you haven't found it until now.

　It's a gentle voice that resonates in the depths of your heart, like singing a lullaby. It's like it's wrapped up in a way that tells you that it's okay and that you don't have to worry about it.

So let's go on a little treasure hunt.
...Yes?

　Huh?　Strange?　Wasn't that about to become an inspiring storyline now?　Why are you starting to be so outlandish again?　Are you free?　Hey, are we free?

Yeah. I like you, Kite, and I like that.
'Uh, I don't know what you mean by that but why are you holding it from behind me with your hands at your sides?　Why is your coat shaped like a giant wing?　I have a horrible feeling about this, what are you doing?　I mean, that's powerful!
It's okay, it's okay. It's just a little walk in the sky!
I don't see anything okay about that explanation--geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?

　In a natural movement, Black's coat, which was held tightly from behind and turned into giant wings with empty protestations, moves, and immediately afterwards the scenery is blown downward at once.
　You'll be able to close your eyes, but you won't feel the resistance of the strong wind, rather the wind feels like it's gently caressing your cheek.

'Look, Kite. Look at this.
What--?

　A beautiful voice invited me to slowly open my closed eyes, and I couldn't speak any more.
　You can see the big moon in the sky and the light of activity that looks like a star shining on the earth. It's a magnificent and beautiful scene that I can't think of anything else to say.

Kite. It's a big world.
What?
There are so many things I've lived for so many years that even I don't know or understand. There are so many things I don't know, so many things I've never seen, so many things I couldn't possibly know for the rest of my life.
....
You have come to this world, so let's look for it. Here, the 'treasure' that you truly believe is important to you... it doesn't matter if you don't know what you want to do or if you can't find the answer to that question. When you leave here, even if you don't know what you want to do, you can answer 'what you've done' and 'what you've found'... so it's okay to be empty now.

　With those words, Black lets go of the hand that was holding me. It falls!　In a moment, I thought, my body was slowly descending towards the vastness of the earth instead of falling rapidly.
　As I turned my gaze to the stars shimmering on the ground, as if I was descending from a considerable altitude - out of the corner of my eye, a little in front of me, I saw the figure of Black with a gentle smile on his face and his arms outstretched.
　I can't take my eyes off the loving figure, full of compassion, who gazes at me with golden eyes that seem to be gently absorbed by the wind, catching the light of the star shimmering on the ground in the background, and is so beautiful that I can't take my eyes off the goddess.

I want wings - but I don't know how to make them grow. I want to fly - but I don't know how to fly. Yes, you are an innocent, lovely baby bird who doesn't know anything yet...

　I'm sure the distance between us is quite large, but her voice reaches my ears straight away without being lost in the sound of the wind.

In that case, I'm going to teach you!　Things you don't know, sights you've never seen, this world!
Huh?

　Dear Mother and Father - I have been caught up in the summoning of a brave man and come to another world.

This gentle world, I bless your coming!

　But - the other world was peaceful, and I myself hadn't changed, and I hadn't developed the courage to change.

So let's start looking for it here, in this other world!　You couldn't find, yourself!

　But - I had a strange encounter, I was swept up in a mess, and my conventional wisdom was smashed without knowing why.

'Let's start right now, this moment!　Do something different now!

　But - looking back, this encounter with this insane demon race was the biggest moment of change.

''You--the hero's story!

　Yes, a different world - hard and messy, yet gentle and warm - story began.