Somehow, Living Life in Another World is Wrong, as I Expected Ch. 12.1 (Patreon)

Being wrong has been a staple of my life. I was wrong in assuming Orimoto felt the same way I did, in the same way I was wrong for taking her kindness as more than what it was. I was wrong in trying to push Yuigahama away, thinking that she was only being nice because I had saved her dog.

Exceptional wrongs like that occurred more often than not, not helped in the least due to my admittedly rotten mindset. It’s fine, though. I understand better than anyone that mistakes are always bound to happen. The only thing one can do is roll with the punches.

Even if the punches are hard enough to shatter bones.

I say this, because it seems that I am wrong once more, and the blow I took from learning of this may as well put me into a coma.

Mathers.

I trusted him too much. I thought that with his position as Court Mage, he would be above the lure of power. That I could use his resources through the goodwill I had managed to wrestle from helping the white-haired elf.

How much of that was planned by him? Admittedly, my existence wasn’t a secret, nor was my association with figures such as Karsten and Astrea. It was almost inevitable that I would be pulled into some sort of political scheme involving either of them.

But for the resurrection of a Witch?

That was so out of left field, that I would have laughed if it wasn’t for the genuine alarm on both Karsten and Romanée-Conti’s faces.

There are two ways I can interpret Natsuki’s words: that he’s gone absolutely insane, or that he was telling the truth. The former was far more difficult to prove, the latter already was. Even if he had gone insane-

Who am I kidding? I’m just trying to find a way to avoid this in the first place. I don’t want to die, I don’t want Felt to die, I don’t want Karsten to die. What I want is to find a way back home. I want to master the magic I already possess. I want to forget about the damned Witch Factor that had been attached to me this entire time.

I would be a fool to think I’d ever get what I want that easily.

The Witch of Greed. The Witch Factor of Greed. It doesn’t take a genius to draw the parallels between them. Was that it then? I hadn’t told anyone of my Authority, and yet Romanée-Conti had known about it. Was it the same with Mathers?

Did he engineer my involvement when he found out? Or rather, did his Gospel tell him to do so?

I wasn’t sure. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to know.

I needed to know regardless.

All my life, I’ve been beholden to the whims of others. But I didn’t mind. Conformity was the name of the game when it came to Japanese society, and I was aiming to be part of it anyway. Even now in a completely different world, I had let myself be guided around. Sure, in either place, I still had the agency to do what I wanted. That didn’t mean I wasn’t bound by the social, economic and political woes that plagued every society out there.

Mathers, however, stepped over the line. I was willing to overlook a lot of things, but he had seemingly used me, and tried to dispose of me and the others by sending a damn Archbishop. When I thought it was just Granhiert, I thought it was only my reputation that had preceded me, as arrogant as that sounded.

It was just another mistake from me, to think I had warranted that kind of response from blacksmithing alone.

I’m rambling too much.

All I’m saying is, Mathers crossed the line by making things personal. And I can be a vindictive bastard when it comes to shit like that.

“...What do you even need me to do?” Mathers wouldn’t stop without being stopped, if what Natsuki told me was true, especially when it came to a seeming obsession with the Witch of Greed. Yet, I still failed to see what someone like me could do against a Court Mage.

Natsuki lifted his head as fast as he could, a confident smile on his face, “You’ll help us?!”

I clicked my tongue in annoyance, “If Mathers did what you said he did, I have a score to settle.”

I steadfastly ignored Karsten’s shock giving way to a smug little smile. Dammit woman! I’m doing this so that I can punch Mathers for trying to use me and nothing else!

What’s that? Saving the world? Fuck that. I’m no hero, I’m just an asshole that’s looking to make sure that I don’t get fucked over some other time. If you wanted a hero, go and find Astrea-

Dammit. Mathers really had planned things out. Astrea had been sent out to deal with the Great Rabbit and the Black Serpent, and yet, the Rabbit was here according to Natsuki. Certainly, rumors wouldn’t be normally taken seriously enough to send the Sword Saint, but if that source was from the Court Mage? Yeah, I can see why the Council would send him out there.

Assuming that that’s the case, we likely wouldn’t see Astrea until this entire fiasco was over. There goes any plan to wait things out till he gets back.

“Be that as it may,” Karsten coughed politely, bringing the conversation back to a sense of normalcy, “I fail to see what Hikigaya’s role would be against the Great Rabbit when you already have a Great Spirit assisting you.”

Thank you Karsten! And screw you too for implying I was useless. Which I was, but that’s besides the point.

Natsuki grinned and pointed straight at me, “That’s simple! All you gotta do is help Beako here cast Al Shamak again!”

“What.”

Despite all of this, I was still somehow surprised by Natsuki.

…

“Hmph.” The Great Spirit crossed her arms and turned away from me, even as she spoke, “Ordinarily, I would be able to use such a spell without issues, in fact. However, that Archbishop was annoying and I had to use more of my power in order to take care of her. Casting Al Shamak without assistance would strain me too much because of it.”

She gave me a begrudging look of respect, “You are adequate enough for the task, I suppose.”

Coming from her, that was a lot more than I anticipated. But that didn’t change my incredulity, “Hold on, I haven’t even been able to cast Ul Shamak yet, what makes you think I can help you with something even stronger?”

Beatrice sniffed imperiously. It would have been more insulting had it been done by someone taller. As it stands, it looked more like a spoiled ojou-sama from some shitty anime about to go ‘Ohohohoho!’, “Surely you can recognize that Al Shamak is closer to portalling than the other levels? In fact, your prowess in using portals are far more advanced than you have had any right to have, at this level.”

What a backhanded compliment…

"You still haven't explained what you want from me."

"Simply use your portals and follow my lead, I suppose."

"...You suppose?"

"Yes." She nodded, her curls bouncing with the motion.

"That is the single most unhelpful instruction I have ever received. And that's saying something."

Beatrice's eyes narrowed. "Just follow my lead, in fact!"

Ah. I realized the problem now. Beatrice, as a Great Spirit, was too in tune with yin magic. She is a genuine genius that has never really had to learn how to use her abilities, as they came naturally to her. What she’s saying, to basically just do what she does, is literally the only way she knows how to phrase things.

“I will not, in fact, follow your lead, when that’s the best you can tell me.” I shifted my gaze from the fuming Spirit to what could now only be described as her handler, “Natsuki, I need a better explanation than that.”

Much to my amusement, despite the situation, Natsuki nodded in understanding, “Right. Your portals? Beako just needs you to open a big enough one so that when she casts Al Shamak, uhhhh, ‘reality’? - yeah, let’s call it that - reality is thinner there so she doesn’t need to use too much power.”

“That’s what I just said, in fact!” Beatrice started wailing on Natsuki in annoyance, who took it with a laugh.

“Doesn’t that just mean I’m the only one that understands you, Beako?”

…This was likely the first and only time I would see this specific Great Spirit be treated as a toddler, as she was lifted by her armpits in spite of her protests.

At least his explanation was clearer than hers. Yes, I could very much do that, though I’m already running the risk of damaging my gate if I did any more actual fighting. The principle of the portal Beatrice wants would actually be a lot less intensive.

The concept of a portal means that it should have an entrance, and an exit. Theoretically, though, an exit doesn’t need to exist. A hole can be created in reality, but it doesn’t necessarily need to arrive at a point in space-time.

This much I can do.

“And what of our roles?” Karsten piped in once more, eyebrow raised. Right. She wasn’t going to let this go without doing anything herself. Same goes for Felt, Rom and that Garf kid. And I guess Romanée-Conti, too.

Goddammit, was I actually starting to think that the Archbishop was an ally? Fuck, I must be losing it.

“I’m gonna need you guys, Felt and Crusch-san specifically, to check the forest for any stray Rabbits.” Natsuki crossed his arms as a serious look crossed his features, “You two are the fastest people here, so I’d rather you guys handle that. Garf, Petelguese, I need you two to make a trap for the main mass of Rabbits. Old Man Rom, there’s gonna be some injured villagers, I’m gonna trust you to get them to safety.”

See, if he was always like this, I’d think more people would see past his idiocy. As it stands, he’s more likely to make a fool of himself. Better that than making an impression as a doormat though.

“Alright, we don’t have much time. Rem and Ram should be finishing their part by now, so we’ll have to get going. Beako, you ready?”

“Always, in fact.”

“Let’s go!”

A portal opened in front of us, not too dissimilar to those of my own make. As one, we stepped through, only a hint of hesitation in my steps. I hazard a glance towards Felt, who didn’t even bat an eye as she followed. 

Maybe I should have stopped her. Maybe I should have voiced my opposition to her joining. Except, perhaps to a lesser extent, that would have put me in the same category as Mathers. For all that I didn’t want her hurt, for all that she referred to me as ‘Boss’, Felt was still her own person. I couldn’t control her any more than I could Rom. They joined me at the Mathers Manor out of their free will and wants. To deny them this would paint me as a hypocrite of the highest order.

I could incentivize them, I could tell them this was a bad idea, but none of that would matter if they still wanted to join. Perhaps, had Natsuki not told me about Mathers, I would have put my foot down and forced them to stay.

That would be a mistake.

After all, Felt had her own axe to grind against Mathers. It wasn’t just me that was put into danger when the margrave sent Granhiert to my shop. Felt would have her pound of flesh, same as me, same with Rom.

Wait.

Shit, I did forget about something.

What the fuck happened to Granhiert?!

…