Side Story – If You’re Saying We Transferred Worlds, Let Me Wrap My Head Around It First

Once the Stigmata verification was over, we were each shown to a separate room.

Apparently, we were to spend the night here for now.

Originally, they’d only planned to summon one person, so there had only been one room prepared.
But mixing male and female guests in the same room? Yeah, that wasn’t going to fly.
So they hastily arranged more accommodations.

You could say that’s the kind of efficiency you’d expect from a royal castle.

I settled into a very comfortable chair and looked around the guest room.
Soft, blue carpet. Silk curtains.
And—though I’d rather not dwell on the mental image—a bed big enough for three grown men to lie on comfortably.

I’d expected life here to be a step down compared to Earth.
But to my surprise, the room’s furnishings rivaled those of a high-end hotel—if not outclassing them.

And then, in this room, sat a particularly dazzling flower.

…Yeah, I know how cringe that sounds. Even I think so.

“What? Why are you staring?”

It was Yuto.

She was still wearing the dress she’d changed into earlier.
Seated across the table from me, she sipped at her tea.

The maids from earlier had prepared it for us.

I’d had a sip a few minutes ago myself.
It was surprisingly good. Kind of like Earl Grey, but with a faint tartness that gave it a distinct taste.
It really drove home the fact that this was another world.

Right now, it was just me and Yuto in the room.
The maids had left after I told them:

“We’d like to be alone for a bit.”

…For some reason, they’d all turned beet red at that.

Well, I could sort of guess why.

From an outside perspective—including my own—Yuto was now unmistakably a girl.
And honestly, she had a pretty incredible figure.
It’s only natural to see her as the opposite sex.

“So, about what we’re going to do from here…”

Frustrated by my continued silence, Yuto put her teacup down and brought up the real topic.
Yeah, this whole private conversation wasn’t just for show.
We needed to figure out our next steps.

We were otherworlders.
To be blunt, we had no obligation to fight for this world.
They’d explained the crisis the elves were facing, sure—but risking our lives? That was a whole other discussion.

“If I’m being honest, I’d rather not fight.”

Yuto said plainly.
Then she murmured a short incantation and conjured a small flame at her fingertip.

“Looks like I can handle simple spells, but my body barely has any magic power. So basically—not that you were counting on me—I’m not going to be much help in a fight.”

Before coming to my room, she’d apparently been trying magic in her own room several times.
This was the result.

She might have better magical control than even the elves, but the magic power itself was practically nonexistent.
It’s like having a top-tier smartphone loaded with all the apps—but the battery’s always nearly dead.

“As for me… my body feels incredibly light. Can’t even compare it to how I felt on Earth. I think I could pull this off.”

I tried to show off a bit by flexing my arm.

—But the bicep wasn’t much different from back on Earth.

Karen had explained that my muscles themselves hadn’t been strengthened, but rather, the magic within my body had become highly active.
Kind of like being under the effect of a “buff spell” in an RPG.

“One vote for yes, one vote for no. Not exactly a resolution.”

“There’s no way we could have this kind of talk in front of them,” Yuto said with a smile.

Even for us, it was hard to speak frankly in front of the desperate elves.
That’s why we were holed up in here, talking in private like this.

“For now, let’s just keep observing things.”

“Yeah. But, bad guys… I don’t think the elves are them.”

I nodded in agreement with Yuto’s words.

“Yeah… that’s true. And the thing we’d be fighting is a ‘demon dragon’—not a person. That part’s a relief.”

—We won’t be killing humans.

If they’d told us that upfront, we would’ve bolted on the spot.

That’s exactly why I’m hesitating right now.

“Anyway, I’ve had enough for one day. I’m tired. I’m going back to my room to rest.”

With just that, Yuto stumbled toward the door.

—Well, yeah. In a single day, she got flung into another world and turned into a girl...
No way she’s not mentally exhausted after all that.

I watched her go with a look full of sympathy.

After asking one of the maids waiting outside to guide me, I returned to my room and flopped onto the bed.

—Of course, I changed clothes first.

No way I was going to let a borrowed dress get all wrinkled.

Unfortunately, I had no clue how to take it off, so I ended up having to ask the maid for help. Embarrassing.

“Haaah…”

I let out a deep, weary sigh.

…My chest was in the way.

I normally sleep on my stomach.
But now I had these extra parts, and lying face-down just squished them—painfully.

Left with no choice, I rolled over and lay on my back instead.

What I needed to think about now was the future.

Somehow, for some absurd reason, I’d been turned into a girl.

Honestly, I was tempted to march straight up to that damn goddess and scream at her.

I mean, just look at me. What am I supposed to do with my life now?

Can I really follow their orders, march off to this so-called “Demon Dragon,” and make it back alive?

I reached for my right breast and tugged at the fabric of my dress, then glanced down.

Thankfully, the dress the maid had prepared was loose-fitting. That made things easier.

…It’s not like I was trying to do anything pervy.

I just wanted to check the mark—that thing called a Stigma or whatever.

“To think we got thrown into another world just because of this. This is so stupid.”

Muttering to myself, I closed my eyes and let consciousness fade away.

Still in my school uniform, I lay down on the bed and pulled my phone out of my pocket.

Normally I’d worry about wrinkling my clothes, but… it’s not like I’ll ever wear this uniform again. So who cares.

I opened my contacts list.

Names of people I’d met over the years appeared in a long scroll, and I slowly flicked through them.

Classmates from school.

Upperclassmen from club activities.

A student from another school I only met once.

My family.

—And then, Yuto.

“…Hah…”

A dry laugh slipped out of my mouth.

I realized something strange—despite everything, a part of me actually felt relieved to be thrown into this other world.

People say I’m sociable, that I get along well with others—but the truth is, I’d always felt suffocated.

Even my family—though I’d never say it in front of Yuto—honestly, not having to see them again felt like a weight off my chest.

And above all else, the one person I’d truly opened up to, the one I trusted—Yuto—was here with me.

Maybe it sounds ridiculous. But that fact alone… was what saved me.

“‘I’ll protect her,’ huh…”

I thought back to the words I declared before the goddess.

I have no idea what the future holds.

But I do know one thing: I’ll protect my best friend—this girl who was once my equal, now forced into a fragile body.

That, at least, won’t change.

With that resolve in mind, I powered down the phone—its battery nearly drained—and tucked it away into my chest pocket.