In a Different World with a Smartphone Chapter 332: Reunion of Master and Servant, and Gratitude.

"Nei… Was it? I'm surprised you actually came to this world."

"How do you know my name…? Did Endymion tell you that?"

"Ah. From Mel too, for that matter."

The instant Nei heard that, she rushed up to me and grabbed my collar. The gatekeeping knights who saw that raised their lances and pointed them towards Nei, but I waved at them to convey that it's fine.

"You! Why do you know of the [Sovereign]! Has the [Sovereign] awakened!? Where is she!? Tell me!"

"… [Power Raise]."

"Gu, oo!?"

I grabbed Nei's arm, twisted to get rid of her grasp on my coat before throwing her into the castle's moat. Nei sank into the moat while raising a giant splash. Seems like even for a ruler- type, they can't swim due to the weight of their crystalline bodies.

Soon after, Nei jumped out of the moat together with a huge pillar of water caused by her force. Seems like she jumped from the bottom.

"You bastard…!"

"I'm taking care of both Ende and Mel at a certain location. I don't mind bringing Rize there, but the same can't be said for you right now."

"What… Are you…"

"Mel wishes to talk with you. However, she doesn't wish for you to harm others. As long as you take any form of hostile actions against us, that means you're going against her wish; and as such, I cannot bring you to see her."

"Talking like you know it all… Someone like you…!"

As Nei started transforming her body into its combat form, with crystalline armor forming all over her body, Rize stopped her from the side.

"Nei, calm down. If you mistake the moves you should make here, the [Sovereign] will be gone from your sights again. Besides, don't you have something you need to pass onto the [Sovereign] as well?"

"That is… That's right, but…"

"I don't think he's the type who would bring harm to the [Sovereign]. Also, he defeated Gira, you know? Do you really think you can win easily against him?"

"…… I understand. Like Rize said, I need to meet with the [Sovereign] first… I'll listen to Rize

this time."

Nei muttered that, and released her combat form. Seems like Rize managed to persuade her. From what I heard, Rize is the younger sister, but this looks a bit different to my image…

"And so, what should we do?"

"I'll have you guys enter a barrier like the one Ende and Mel are in. Otherwise, I won't be able to bring you along."

"Got it."

While Rize nodded to my words, Nei just looked away as if telling me to do whatever I want. That was accepted pretty easily, huh. It's also likely that she thinks she can break a barrier made by a human anytime she want, and is looking down on mw like that, though.

I deployed a [Prison] injected with divinity around the two of them. Whatever they may say, it'll be terrible if they start rampaging while in Babylon.

Noticing the barrier that had sprung up around them, Nei narrowed her eyes a little, while Rize knocked on the [Prison]'s walls with an interested look.

With the meeting of Nei and Mel, there's the possibility that we can avoid having to fight against the Phrase any more after that. However, with even one wrong step, it could turn into a full-on conflict immediately.

Well, for now Nei is already inside my [Prison], and shouldn't be able to do anything too drastic.

If the other side were ruler-types that had been enhanced with the subordinate god's divinity, they might be able to break it like how Ende did in the past though. (Note: *confused* you mean the evil god's divinity? Also, last time you didn't use divinity when you made the [Prison] you trapped Ende in, remember…)

I took out my smartphone and contacted Ende and Mel. I had given a smartphone to the two of them ahead of time.

Because I'm keeping the two of them under house arrest within a limited space inside Babylon, the least I could do is to provide them with some entertainments like books to read or games to play. Sometimes they also go to Cesca's [Garden] to flirt around, apparently. Right now they're relaxing there too, apparently.

"Un, yeah. Rize and Nei are here. I'm transferring together with them now… Since there's a high chance for you to get punched, you better prepare yourself."

After finishing my talk with Ende, I hung up the call. I think he was crying to me about something at the end, but whatever. I think Mel will probably try to stop Nei if she actually goes for it.

"Alright, we're going."

The two of them nodded. Together with the [Prison] they're in, I used [Teleport] to move to the garden in Babylon.

Under the moonlit sky, the beautiful garden, with its verdant greenery and blooming flowers, greeted us. Mel was standing alone under a tree nearby.

Oh? Ende isn't around. Did he run away?

"[Sovereign]… Mel-sama… Mel-sama! Ouch!"

The instant Nei saw Mel's figure, she dashed out—and hit her head against the walls of the [Prison] brilliantly.

Don't glare at me like that, that wasn't my fault, was it?

Mel came this way while looking worried. Since there's already a separate [Prison] around this garden, I dispelled the one around Rize and Nei.

"Mel-sama…"

"It's been a while. Nei."

Nei's voice was shaking as she dropped to her knees and accepted the hand Mel had presented, probably due to the joy of finally meeting her king after so long.

"Rize too. You look well."

"… Yes."

Oya? Did Rize laugh just now? For someone like her whose default face is expressionless, that sure is rare.

"Touysan. Thank you for bringing Rize and Nei here."

"It's nothing, we've also got our thoughts about this. Please convey your thoughts clearly to them using this opportunity. I'd like the Phrase to stop harming this world any further than this."

"… Now that the [Sovereign] has been found, there's no longer any reason for us to attack you."

"Heh. That would be thankful. If the situation had kept going, I would've been forced to exterminate the entire Phrase population." (Note: holy sh*t some spicy comments there boi)

Nei glared at me when I said that. Still, it should be fine for me to say that much at least, no? How many people do you think died because of your own circumstances…

It's true that we've fought back and killed their brethren too. However, hitting back when you get hit is natural. Most people in the world have no such hobby as getting killed without any resistance.

A hard-boiled detective once said, "Only those who are prepared to be shot have the right to shoot others." (Note: Is it bad that the only thing I can think of is code geass…? Edit: Never managed to find this reference. Am I just bad at google or is this obscure…?)

"… It's already impossible for you guys to drive us to extinction anymore. Most of our soldiers have been consumed by the [Gold] after all…"

"'Gold'? Ah, you mean the variants."

"Variants… A weird name, but fitting. The traitors that are leading them, Leto and Luto, attacked us and absorbed most of our forces into their own. We do not have any methods of opposing them. Those who are absorbed become [Golden]… They turn into those variants, becoming something that can no longer be called our brethren. We are now on the hunted side."

The evil god's cells, like a wicked pathogen, spreads itself to other organisms and forcefully transform them into entirely new beings.

It's like a scenario from one of those zombie movies. And the ones who are infected have no hopes of ever recovering.

For their worst enemies to appear from within their own ranks is something ironic, no doubt.

"You guys did the same thing to other worlds before too. I'd say this is karma, to be honest."

(Note: good lord, Touya is uncharacteristically vicious here.)

Nei didn't say anything in reply. Tch, doesn't this make me look like someone bullying the weak?

If I had someone close to me who died or was hurt badly because of them, I wouldn't end it at this level, but as I am right now I don't have any deep grudge against the Phrase, after all.

To be honest, as long as they would leave this world, that would be fine with me.

"Well, for the moment, talk it out with the four of you."

"… Four?"

Rize tilted her head.

"Isn't there one more in the shadow of that tree over there?"

"Don't expose me, Touya…"

Ende appeared from the spot I pointed out with a regretful expression. I could see your muffler peeking out from the side since a while ago, you know.

When Nei caught Ende in her sights, her eyes started taking on a fiery look.

"Endymion…!"

Nei stood up from her kneeling position while covering her hands with gauntlet-shaped crystal armament. She looks serious.

Well, to Nei Ende is a man who tricked her beloved lord and took her away, after all.

"Wa, wait a moment, Nei! I will not permit you to hit Endymion!"

"But, Mel-sama…! I cannot release my anger otherwise!"

"W-well, calm down. M, Mel is saying that as well, so…"

"You stop talking!"

Mel held Nei back from behind as the latter tried to go for the punch against Ende.

…Stop wasting time, you guys. I took a glance at Rize on the side, and she's the same expressionless Rize as usual, as if she has no interest in any of this.

Honestly, I don't really care if Ende gets hit or not as well, so.

Still, the talk isn't going to proceed at this rate…

"Let her punch you once, Ende. Can we call it at that, and proceed on with the talks afterwards?"

"Wh! Just because it's not you…!"

"I'll heal you up as long as it isn't an instant death, so don't worry about it. Is that fine, Nei?"

"… I have my dissatisfactions, but for the moment I'll settle with that."

"Don't kill him, alright?"

"I understand that much. It's not a nice feeling, but Mel-sama would be saddened if he did die."

I feel bad for Mel who appeared to be flustered while standing between the two, but this is the fastest solution. If you're still stuck carrying uncleared feelings, you won't be able to have a productive discussion, too. The same thing could be said for Ende in a sense as well, but I'll ignore that.

A minute later, a dry sound resounded cleanly within the Babylon garden, and Ende flew up high into the sky.

Ooh, he sure did fly far. (Note: no, seriously, Touya is extra merciless this chapter for some reason… *shudders*)

"And then, what happened?"

"Nothing much, really. For now Mel is still trying to persuade Nei, but Nei hasn't given up on trying to bring Mel back to their world. Seems like it's still going to take a while for them to finish up."

While answering Hilda's question, I struggled to hold back a yawn. Those guys, they spent the entire night talking… What's more, they just kept going in circles on the same topic without progress. It's an endless debate.

The Phrase probably doesn't need sleep… Even if they do, it'd probably be something like a dormant period, or maybe something like how bears hibernate. The first Phrase we've ever encountered was in something like a dormant state, too.

…If I block out natural magic power using [Prison] and suck away all the existing magic power within it, would the three of them go into a similar dormant state as well?

Well, if I ever tried something like that, Ende probably won't forgive me. It's just a hypothesis anyway; let's not go around planting more seeds of trouble.

I drove out unnecessary thoughts from my head, and emptied the cup of red tea in front of me to fight off the drowsiness.

The time now is long past breakfast, and it seems that everyone had already left for various matters. Hilda is the only one left on the terrace together with me.

"The people of Lestia too have suffered due to the Phrase before. My thoughts are a bit complicated regarding all this…"

I understand her mixed feelings regarding this; it's a matter where we're trying to become friends with ones whom we've been fighting to the death against all this time, after all.

It's part of the difficulties of being human when your head understands the benefits, but your heart doesn't follow so easily, eh?

"By the way, what was Hilda doing?"

"Ah, me? I was reading a book I borrowed from Linze-san."

"… A book you borrowed from Linze?"

Remembering the incident with the BL author yesterday, I turned my unease-filled eyes to the title of the book on the table. That… I'm pretty sure that's a romance novel featuring a female protagonist that's currently trending among students within Roadmare. It should be a "normal" love story… I think.

"Is it interesting?"

"I havn't read much of stories like this, so it's fresh and pretty interesting, yes. Most of the novels I've read before are ones like a heroic knight saving a princess from a dragon, or something like that."

Hilda answered while looking a bit embarrassed. Well, she was raised in a knight's family so it can't be helped but… Aren't your child-raising methods just a tiny bit mistaken, Knight Kingdom Lestia?

"It's a bit embarrassing for me to say, but I've always admired those types of stories in the past."

"For the princess that's being saved?"

"No, for the knight who's saving her."

"Ah, that side…"

Yep, definitely mistaken.

"However, I understood the feelings of a princess being saved during my first meeting with Touysama. The dashing figure of Touysama that appeared just when I thought I was about to be killed… I had my eyes taken away by you as you cut down the Phrase one by one."

Ah, right, I first met with Hilda when she was in combat with a group of Phrases.

"After that, I started looking up things regarding Touysama… To a degree that even made my older brother speechless. The subjugation of the black dragon and the suppression of the rebellion in the empire; each time I read about your activities, I would feel my heart beating faster… It didn't take very long for me to start wishing for a second meeting."

Nuu. It's embarrassing being told that head-on… Is this straightforwardness of hers something coming from her nature as a knight, I wonder. Her brother, King Reinhardt, was someone like that as well.

To hide my embarrassment, I spouted some silly lines.

"If the Phrase hasn't appeared in this world, that also means we might not have met each other, huh. That's one thing to thank the Phrase for, at least."

"That's right, isn't it. It is a bit imprudent, though."

Hilda laughed a little while saying that.

"Which is why, now when I read books like this, I can understand how the protagonist girl feels. Things like the loneliness when you can't meet, or the frustration when you can't convey your thoughts properly, or the happiness you feel for even the smallest things the other side does for you; like that, I slowly got hooked on these kinds of books."

I see. It's a bit ticklish that what she said were in relation to me, but I can understand what Hilda's trying to say.

Upon thinking of something that might make the current Hilda happy, I spoke up to her.

"Then, how about we watch a romantic movie or something together?"

"A 'movie'!? Wa, it's been a long time since I've last watched one!"

Hilda clapped her hands together and raised a joyous voice. I did watch movies with everyone once in a while, but since they're all things from another world, depending on the contents there are times when I have to explain the settings to them which takes up quite some time. Due to that, the titles we watched were mostly easy-to-understand action or fantasy types, or simple comedy films. A romantic film would be a first for us.

I opened the movie store application on my smartphone. By the way, I have quite a large amount of electronic money thanks to Kami-sama so I have no problems buying things online with my smartphone… I didn't download any erotic videos, ok?

Which would be nice… Ah, I wonder about this one.

A film about an ordinary man who runs a bookstore falling in love with a Hollywood star. I only caught a bit of it when it was being played on TV some years ago, but I remembered that it was quite interesting.

We moved to the sofa in the living room after pulling the curtains close, and I projected the video from my smartphone into the space before us.

The movie began. It's the Japanese dub version, but for some reason the people here can still normally understand it… Well, I was immediately able to speak the languages over here the moment I came to this world, so it must be something Kami-sama did.

Hilda was engrossed in the film while I was thinking about small things like that. I'd better get back to the film too.

There were love scenes inside as well so it was a bit embarrassing, but overall Hilda was happy with the movie, so I guess that's good.

Just when the movie had ended, a call came in from the professor. Seems like the thing I talked about with her had been completed. A communication system that can connect to the Reverse World… With this, I can acquire information from the other side even while staying here.

That reminds me, Dr. Elka came up with a golem strengthening proposal some time ago.

Right now, it's tough for most golems to go up against the variants. They don't even have the size advantage of Frame Gears, in most cases.

With that in mind, she seemed to have thought of a kind of large powered suit for golems to wear.

Oh, right, I saw something similar in the trailer for a new movie I watched some days ago. It was a blockbuster about American comic heroes coming together to fight evil. If she can actually make something like that, it'd be enough to fight against the variants, I think.

I tabled my random thoughts, and transferred myself to Babylon.

-Pixel

Chapter end