In Another World With My Smartphone_Volume 6

by Patora Fuyuhara

  Chapter I: Frame Gear

  “Mmmh...?” I sleepily opened my eyes, only to be greeted by the blurry image of a girl’s face. The early sun shone into the room and illuminated her form. The girl was fast asleep, breathing to a gentle rhythm.

  “...Yumina...?” Seeing my fiancee’s face caused a sense of calm to wash over me. I closed my eyes.

  She reached out both of her hands, contorting herself a little as she pulled me into a soft embrace. I didn’t put up any sort of fight, instead returning the hug. I smiled. Mmmh... She smells like home... All my troubles are gonna melt away... I squeezed her a little tighter, and she made an adorable little sound. Ah, this is so nice... I wouldn’t mind staying this way forever...... Wait a second.

  What is Yumina doing here, exactly?! I know for a fact I went to bed alone last night! I-I mean I go to sleep alone every night! E-Everyone has separate rooms, I don’t do that kind of stuff with them! I’m not a weirdo, I’m not a lech! Cold sweat began to bead all over my body, forcibly ejecting me from the peaceful slumber I’d just been wrapped in.

  “Aaaaaagh!” I leaped out of bed and fell violently to the ground. Even though I’d thwacked the back of my head pretty hard, I didn’t really feel the pain due to my panicked state.

  “Hmm... Eh? Ah... Touya. G-Good morning...” Yumina sleepily rubbed her eyes as she sat up in the bed. Those silky pajamas really look good on you, Yumina... Then again, you look good in anythin— CONCENTRATE, TOUYA! FOCUS!

  “Wh-Why are you here, Yumina?!”

  “...Is it not normal for a married couple to share a bed? Touya, you’ve been rather busy with affairs related to the duchy lately, so you haven’t paid much attention to me at all. This was the very least I could do to get some of your company, no?” She spoke with a smile on her face, punctuating her sentence with a little giggle.

  W-We only recently went on a date with everyone, didn’t we?! You’re gonna give me a heart attack if you keep up these antics... P-Plus, we aren’t even married yet!

  A twelve yea— Wait, no... she’s thirteen already. A thirteen-year-old girl can’t be sharing a bed with a boy my age... If this was my old world, I’d have been branded a social pariah without trial regardless of whether I touched you or not!

  “Well, that aside, shall we go to Belfast? We did arrange it. I’ll get ready, see you soon!” Yumina hopped off the bed and walked over to me. Before I could process what happened, she had leaned over and given me a peck on the cheek.

  Uwaah! Taking advantage of my daze, Yumina merrily sauntered out of the room. She was fast...

  ...Let me just make one thing clear, though. I didn’t lay a hand on her!

  We hadn’t been to Belfast in quite a while. The only real change was that the knights on guard duty in the castle kneeled when greeting us this time around. I didn’t really feel comfortable with it, but I didn’t speak up because it was likely they’d already gone and decided that was how they had to behave with me.

  I’d been the grand duke of Brunhild for months at this point, but I still wasn’t accustomed to the way people treated me as a result.

  We went further into the castle and finally met with Queen Yuel. She was sitting on a couch and seemed fairly relaxed. The bump on her belly was huge! She had to be in her eighth month of pregnancy.

  “Ah, Yumina, Touya... welcome.”

  “How are you, Mother? You don’t feel ill at all, do you?” Yumina carefully approached her mother before gently touching her stomach. A baby was going to come out of there in one or two months... It felt pretty weird to think about. Still, that was the miracle of life.

  “Where’s the king?” I looked around, but I couldn’t see hide nor hair of him. I’d told him well in advance that we’d be visiting, so it seemed a little strange.

  “Hmph... If you’re looking for him, you’ll find him on the baseball field.”

  “Huh?”

  “They took down part of the castle wall in the western district, then leveled the grounds out and built a full field.” Queen Yuel explained, a bemused smile on her face. So they made a baseball field... Damn, I wish I could motivate people that well. I had a feeling that the project was less out of concern for the people’s entertainment, and more because the king just wanted to play around, though.

  I was interested in checking it out, so I left Yumina behind and moved through a [Gate]. Sure enough, there was a wonderful baseball pitch occupying some land that didn’t have much of interest on it before.

  “Wow, it’s like the real deal...” His Majesty and several of his teammates were all huddled around the mound, chattering. What’re they going on about?

  “Oho, Touya my boy! You’re right on time, get over here!”

  “What’s going on here?” The king noticed me right away and ushered me over. I wondered what he wanted.

  “If the ball enters the home run zone after a bounce, is it still a home run?”

  “Huh?” What’re you asking, exactly...? Why this all of a sudden? It’s not like I know... I only really played baseball in elementary school anyways. I took my smartphone out and searched for whatever he meant.

  “Uh... let’s see here... Baseball rules... a bounce... a home run... Ah, got it. It’s a, uh, ground rule double.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Y’know, it’s a two-base hit.”

  “Oh? Got it, let’s carry on then!” What? You just understood that? Even I barely understood! Regardless, the game continued.

  I sat on a bench with His Majesty the King and watched the team play.

  “They’re pretty darned enthusiastic, huh...”

  “Well, we’ve got a friendly match with the Refreese Imperium coming up next week. They’re pretty tense and determined.”

  Wow, they’re doing that kind of thing already. I didn’t expect international games to begin so soon... Welp, this is already well and truly out of my control, I just hope it stays a public entertainment, and not some weird way of determining war outcomes or whatever.

  “Queen Yuel looks healthy, I’m pleased.”

  “Aye. The child’s growing well, and fast! I just hope she gives birth safely and healthily. I initially thought it’d be fine if the child was a girl, since I’d just bring you into my household as Yumina’s fiance, but... I think I’d quite like a son now. Someone to play catch with, you know?” It was definitely a good bonding experience for a father to play catch with his son. I was fairly sure it was the kind of thing most fathers wished they’d get a chance to do. Along with other stuff, like drinking booze with their son and celebrating.

  ...Come to think of it, I never got a chance to drink with him, did I...? What a horrible son I am... I’m sorry, Dad.

  “The team’s a little worried, I’ll admit... they don’t think their defense is up to scratch. The other team has a lot of power going for them.”

  “You need a finesse pitcher to throw them off their game. Throwing curveballs would be your best bet.”

  “Curveballs?” The king’s eyes glimmered with devious sparks. Crap... Why’d I run my mouth?

  It was too late, the damage was done. He was asking me about curveballs. I broke, and I explained that a ball could be curved without magical interference.

  The people of this world had already established an unspoken rule of never using magic in a contest of physical prowess. They used magic-detecting items to sense for spells and enchantments during sports matches. It was basically an anti-cheating measure. Nobody had considered you could throw a curveball without actually using magic.

  I explained the curveball, the fastball, the forkball, and the change-up. His Majesty the King and the pitcher
s looked at me with great skepticism, so I ended up looking up an instructional film on the internet. After they saw it in action, they believed it could be done.

  Naturally, they asked me to teach them, but I completely lacked the skill level for such a maneuver. I just taught them the basics about how to put a little spin on the ball, but nothing too complex. Then, I told them a white lie about how they’d master it if they practiced it over and over.

  ...But even though I used such a half-assed teaching method, they still figured out how to do it! That gave them an unfair advantage over Refreese, so I figured I’d have to go and teach the Imperium players how to do it as well. What a bother.

  When Yumina and I returned from Belfast, we were greeted by Kougyoku. The bird swooped down and perched on my shoulder.

  “My liege, an update has come in from one of my scouts.”

  “Oh? Did they find something?”

  “I am unsure whether or not that is the case. They have found a four-sided, triangular structure. It’s made of strange material, black as pitch.” Four-sided triangular structure...? Does she mean a pyramid? The black material she mentioned definitely rings a bell... The cylinder in the Elfrau Kingdom was the same kind, wasn’t it? That means this could actually be good news!

  “Where is the ruin?”

  “It’s on a lone island far to the southwest of us. It’s due west of the Sandora Kingdom.” That was pretty far, but it wasn’t a distance we couldn’t traverse. I wondered whether we should go there with the Babylon, or if I should just use the [Fly] spell instead...

  I summoned the usual party. When it came to discussing Babylon, only Leen and my fiancees were privy to the details. I didn’t plan to let anyone outside of my duchy know about it. I had no intentions of people murmuring about me suspiciously before the Phrase came knocking at our door.

  I pulled up the map app and confirmed the position. Leen looked over the map, mumbling something as she checked the island’s location.

  “It’s a rather small island... It may even be smaller than Brunhild.”

  “Does anyone live there?”

  “I’ve no clue. We have no diplomatic relations with anyone in that area, at least. I’ve never heard of such an island before, to be frank.” If it was on such a remote island, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to find it just by randomly exploring. I was instantly filled with a newfound appreciation for my little bird friends.

  “This’ll be the fourth Babylon, then! If I’m lucky, it’ll be the hangar or the storehouse.”

  “Hmph, well, I’d prefer it to be the library, since that falls in much more with my interests.”

  “I am actually rather curious about the tower, I am.”

  “I-I think it’ll end up being the research laboratory...”

  “Psh, if you guys all think that, then I’ll hedge my bet on it being the rampart.” Apparently we were betting, all of a sudden. I personally thought we should confirm whether or not it actually was a Babylon ruin before getting too excited, though.

  With that, we set off. I desperately hoped it would be the hangar or the warehouse...

  ◇　◇　◇

  The location definitely fit the “deserted island” image pretty well. That much was obvious from my viewing platform up on Babylon.

  I tried using my search magic to look for people, but it was barren. The whole place was devoid of life. We moved down to a wide, sandy beach. I had a good view of it from the air. The summoned bird that had found the island took notice of me, then swooped down. Whoa, you’re a big bird. It was large, with wispy emerald feathers, and resembled a crane.

  “The ruins are in the forest, not too far from here.” Kougyoku, perched on my shoulder, spoke up. I looked ahead and saw nothing but a dense cluster of trees. I wasn’t too worried, though, as the island wasn’t especially large.

  “Touya-dono, are there really no people here, are there not?”

  “Well, judging from my search... There definitely aren’t any humans here.” Yae led the advance, cutting a path through branches and vines that blocked our path. A lack of human activity could’ve allowed for monster or magical beast activity to thrive. With that thought in the back of our minds, we advanced cautiously. Yae suddenly held up a hand, causing us all to freeze in our tracks.

  “...There is something strange nearby, there is.” Yae readied her sword as she spoke. As if following her lead, everyone readied their weapons and gazed around the area with trained, suspicious eyes.

  ...Paula, you don’t have to fight.

  I stared at the animated stuffed bear, who was inexplicably shadow-boxing the air. Just as my attention was held by her, I felt a presence coming from ahead of us in the underbrush.

  A monstrous demonic beast, similar to a rhino, slowly stomped out from the shadows. Well, I said it was like a rhino, but it actually had three horns. In that case, I suppose calling it a triceratops would be more appropriate. It had a single horn in the middle of its nose, and two smaller horns rising from its forehead. It had four big, fat legs, and a tough hide that resembled an armadillo’s. Its eyes shone red as blood, its chest rose and fell in an unsteady rhythm—there were no two ways about it. This thing was hostile.

  With a sudden grunt, it bowed its horns and charged toward us with incredible speed.

  Before I could fire my Brunhild, Yumina reacted fast and fired her Colt M1860 Army off at the beast.

  The bullet she fired burst the rhino-thing’s right eye. An incredible shot, given that she didn’t have time to aim. The beast staggered and its charge slowed. Sensing her chance, Linze cast a spell.

  “Entwine thus, Ice! Frozen Curse: [Icebind]!” The rhino-beast’s legs were frozen to the ground, and its advance was halted completely. Lu jumped out toward it and administered a few slashes to its knee. The beast began to strain, attempting to shatter the ice through sheer strength alone.

  Following Lu’s motion, Elze jumped out and gave the monster a vicious right hook, dazing it. Yae, on the other hand, used her Touka to put an end to it all, cleaving through the monsters neck in one swift motion. Its head slid from its body, decapitated.

  “W-Whoa...” They killed it in seconds! What’s with this teamwork?!

  “It was no challenge at all, it was not.”

  “It was probably around Green rank... I guess.”

  “Hmm, I wonder about that. I think the Phrase weaponry definitely gave us an edge here. If it was just a regular blade, then he’d have been a much bigger deal. Probably a Blue rank.”

  “You’re right, it has pretty tough skin.”

  “I’d suggest harvesting it, or saving the corpse for later.” Everyone was idly poking at its corpse with their weapons. I didn’t even get a chance to touch it...

  “It kind of looks like an armored rhino, but... I’ve never seen this kind of magic beast before. Is it a new species, perhaps?” As Leen mused such things, I grabbed the dead body and tossed it in [Storage]. I decided to investigate it a little more thoroughly later on.

  After that, we continued on. We faced off against a two-headed snake, a six-legged wolf, and a long-limbed monkey. The girls mercilessly slew each beast without me getting an opportunity to lift a finger, and each beast we encountered made Leen comment on how unusual each particular specimen was.

  They seemed similar to known species, but little details were just a tad different. I wondered if it was a result of the island’s environment influencing their evolution, somewhat like the Galapagos Islands back in my world.

  The island was completely isolated from the outside world, so it would make sense to assume the creatures living on it would develop different needs to those living in more populated areas. That made me a little worried, because it would’ve probably meant the magical beasts we’d killed so far were endangered species. But, apparently, the conservation of species like that wasn’t considered a major priority in this world. I couldn’t blame them. Beasts like those threatened human lives often, so it was an “us versus them
” scenario.

  The common animals such as lizards, native birds, and rodents generally kept their distance from us. I assumed it was due to Kohaku and the other Heavenly Beasts being with us. Their effects didn’t extend to magic beasts, however.

  As we continued, we were attacked several times by yet more beasts. Elze and the others took care of them without a hitch. Don’t get me wrong, I was happy they could take care of themselves and me, but... I felt kind of left out.

  “Oh.” Eventually we came to a clearing in the jungle growth. Right there, as if it was waiting for us, was an obsidian pyramid.

  It looked to be about eight meters high, and every side of it was around ten meters long. It was covered in vines and ivy, as if it hadn’t been touched in a great many years. The actual structure was completely unharmed, though.

  “Yup, got no idea where the entrance is on this thing...” I walked around it, but I couldn’t make it out too much due to the dense plants covering the structure. This is annoying, I’ll just take care of it...

  “Come forth, Fire! Whirling Spiral: [Fire Storm]!” A vortex of flame hugged itself around the pyramid. I took control of it, taking care not to burn any trees in the surrounding area. The vines were reduced to ashes with little resistance. All that remained now was the large, black pyramid.

  I looked at it closely, and noticed a thin, seam-like groove running along its surface. I reached my hand out to run a finger along it.

  “YYYOWCH!!!” IT’S HOT, AH CRAP! WHY DIDN’T I WAIT?! I quickly looked at my hand. Thankfully, it wasn’t burned. I’m a total idiot...

  I poured cold water down the pyramid from the top, and steam began to rapidly rise from the structure.

  Huh, wait a sec... Was it seriously that hot? I’m lucky I wasn’t burned... But wait, I didn’t get a single mark on my skin? My hand isn’t even a little bit red...

  I figured it was probably related to the fact that I technically had an infant god’s body.

  Welp, whatever. This time I’ll be thankful for it, I guess.

  I thought maybe the rapid difference in temperature would cause cracks or fissures across the surface, but nothing happened. I put my hand on the now-cooled surface of the pyramid, and felt along the groove. It was at about shoulder’s height. I felt along the groove until I reached a part that was wider than the other sides. It was just wide enough to fit my hand inside.