It was a sight that made me doubt my own eyes.

My house was situated next to an area of the city where love hotels were congregated. To be honest, I was enticed by the condo’s cheap rent and entered into a lease agreement. It had a great vibe and was pretty fashionable――but the location isn’t good. A side effect of living in a place like this and always walking through the love hotel district is that you lose that sense of avoidance. Even more, since I’m a single guy, I wouldn’t feel guilty even if I ran into someone from the company.

That’s how I felt anyway…

…That day, after I finished work and ate my supper, I borrowed the help of some booze and started home in high spirits at around midnight. I decided to take a shortcut, and ended up choosing a route that goes right through the thick of the love hotel district. I don’t come this way unless I’m returning home after eating out, but it does get me home a few minutes faster.

What if I run into someone from the company… This is what I think about every time I take this route. Though, the reason I can think about such situations is because I really don’t believe something of the sort would ever really happen. That’s why, watching a particular couple intimately linking arms and chatting away, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

“Department Chief Hisaki and Kamoda…?”

Even if I ran into someone from the company, I wouldn’t feel guilty… That’s what I had told myself, but what I ended up doing was hiding. I could only smile wryly at how pathetic it was of me to jump like a startled rabbit and take such an action.

…There was no doubt that the two I was observing walking along the other side of the street was my boss, Hisaki, who had recently left her forties behind to start her fifties, and my co-worker Kamoda. As I’m twenty-eight this year, Kamoda should be the same age if he hadn’t played around in college and been held back a year. In that case, their age difference should be like that of a parent and child.

Incidentally, the place they had just left was one that bids you goodbye with the words “I’m glad you had a pleasurable time.” I checked it again just to be sure, but there was no mistaking it.

If…if I hadn’t known the event that happened at the company today, I might have been able to store away the scene before me deep inside myself. Putting aside age and standing, I’m not the kind of guy that likes to quibble over who one chooses to love.

However, putting together the event at the company today and the scene playing out before me, I started to feel a murky, haziness rise up inside me. There was nothing to be done. I only felt frustrated at not having been able to recognize the plotting.

…Today at work, HR made the announcement that Kamoda, whose business performance was lacking, was being promoted to manager. The one responsible for his raise was the Department Chief, Hisaki. There were a lot of people in the company besides me that were confused as to why Kamoda had been selected. Of course, I don’t want to believe this is the reason. It’s just, trying to tell myself they’re unrelated is…impossible.

Carrying these inexpressible emotions, I entered into a narrow alleyway I never take. There was a high chance that if I stayed on the main road without entering the alley, I would be discovered by Hisaki and Kamoda. As I said before, I wouldn’t feel any kind of guilt at being seen myself. Only, I had the feeling that avoiding contact here would be in my best interest.

…If I ran into them head on what would happen? Would Hisaki try and placate me? What would Kamoda do? He has a rather

bad personality. Worst case, he might come and try to crush me. …No, the opposite is also possible. What would I do if he got on his hands and knees and began begging me to forget what I saw? Would I even be able to accept that…?

…Thinking along these lines, I figured any of those patterns was going to turn out to be a huge hassle. That’s why I decided on hiding. It would be best to play this card I just came to hold at the most appropriate time. And, I’m sure that time isn’t now.

The back alley was so dark, it made simply walking difficult. The back alleyways of the love hotel district were not well kept. What’s worse, this alley was so full of trash, crates and wares that it became nearly impossible to find decent footing to proceed.

My home would be just on the other side of this alley. But, as I jumped in here from the well-lit street, my eyes weren’t adjusted to the darkness yet. Even so, I didn’t have the nerve to just wait for my eyes to get used to the dark, so I continued to carefully make my way forward. Eventually I completely forgot what it was that had driven me to make my way carefully through here in the first place. Maybe it was the booze, but I maintained my careful pace through the alley.

Then, it happened.

Not even a few steps in front of me, the pavement surface of the alleyway started to emit a pure white light out of nowhere. It wasn’t like some specific object had started to emit light, but more like the ground itself had suddenly become a powerful light source. After walking through the alley, my eyes had finally started to grow accustomed to the dark, but with the advent of this light I was utterly blinded.

“Uwaa!!”

My own voice sounded pathetic and uncool. The volume of light led me to believe I had somehow detonated a bomb. I had never really considered wanting to choose my place of death up until now, but if possible I would have liked to avoid dying in a back alley of the love hotel district, surrounded by garbage.

I panicked, and twisted my body around, trying to avoid whatever was happening as quickly as possible. However it backfired, and I lost my footing to the boxes and wares around me. In the end, I slipped and fell forward in such a way that I appeared to be diving for first base.

“…What the!”

I heard the sound of an unfamiliar man’s voice. It also felt like I had slammed headfirst into some kind of unknown object. Blinded as I was, and unable to understand what was happening around me, I had the sensation of floating, and at the same time sinking.

Just like that… while releasing an uncharacteristic scream, my consciousness snapped and I fell into darkness…

I felt a sharp, prodding pain against my cheek.

“…Hey, how long are yer gonna sleep?”

I was able to recognize both the pain in my cheek, and the fact that the speaker’s voice was that of a male. The voice sounded scratchy and a little hoarse. And, if I’m not mistaken…the owner of this voice wasn’t young.

“…I see yer up now, eh? Yer should stand up and hear what meself has ter say.”

Guided by the voice I gradually opened my eyes. My eyes fully open, I still couldn’t see anything, which I tried to attribute to the fact that I wasn’t adjusted to the dark yet, or to the fact that my vision was just blurry. But, even after waiting for a few moments, I still couldn’t see anything. It seems the ambient lighting or blurriness of my vision weren’t the issue.

All around me, darkness ruled. Though, I only thought so because my eyes were open; if I closed them the darkness would be the same. …Putting it another way, it was pitch-black whether my eyes were open or closed. Up and down seem to exist, and I could also feel the ground. It appeared I was lying down, as though in bed.

Putting my hand to the ground in the pitch black darkness, I pushed myself up until I was sitting cross-legged. It was so dark, I began to feel as though my body were floating in space. I had no way to perceive just how vast this space I was in was.

“…Well, that’s fine I s’pose.”

The voice came from my left. Guided by the sound, I turned my gaze to the left.

There was an old man there whom I had never seen before, with a magnificent beard of white. He had deep wrinkles etched over his face, and if I were to guess his age I would have to say it was well past seventy. His hair protruded out in tufts, but its color was pure white.

But what was bizarre, was that the old man was sitting down, one leg bent with the knee up, in the middle of complete darkness. No matter how hard I looked, I could only see him as floating in space. I started to feel dizzy.

After the old man confirmed I was looking his way, he spoke softly.

“Do ya understan’ what’s happenin’?”

“…No?”

I looked around, but the darkness was the same. By the way, the old man and myself seemed to be illuminated by some unseen source of light. I definitely felt I was sitting on the ground. Only, neither myself nor the old man were giving off a shadow. Focusing on that point, there was no doubt this spacial place was special. If so… then my next step should be to see if I were really awake.

“That’s fine. It’s okay if ya don’ force yerself ter understand what’s going on, so just listen to what meself’s got ter say. …First off, this isn’t the world yer from. It’s not some other world either. If meself had ter say, it’d be like the gap between worlds.”

“The gap between worlds…”

I was just told something nonsensical. The words I was hearing and the sensations felt by my body were real. If this was some kind of dream, where all five senses were functioning properly, it would be astounding on so many levels.

But I immediately decided on listening to what this old man has to say, rather than worrying about how to grasp where I was. If this were a dream, maybe that decision wouldn’t be that big a deal. But if not… I figured gathering information here would have a big impact on whatever comes next.

The old man continued to talk while facing me.

“Meself is a disciple of God Clancy. I was just in the process of transferin’ from yer world to the world of Florence. Who woulda’ thought yerself would crash headfirst into meself’s ass, and the both of us would fall into the gap between worlds.”

For a moment, I put my current situation on hold and nearly blew it. Sure I felt like I had crashed into something headfirst, but to think it was this old geezer’s ass…! No matter what, dying from head butting an old coot’s ass in some love hotel’s back alley was the one kind of death I want to be spared. But, with things as they are, I would love it if I could return safely to my own world…

“I see… It did feel like I slammed headlong into something, but it was just your ass then.

“Don’t make fun of meself. …If meself had sensed killing intent, it woulda’ been avoided, but I didn’t as it was so sudden.”

Hearing the words killing intent brought about a sudden sense of unease. Trying to relieve myself of it, I brought the conversation back on track with a rather simple question.

“So…what needs to be done to get out of here? It’d be fine I guess if I could be back when I wake up.”

At that, the old man broke into a wide grin.

“It’s not impossible to leave this gap, but there’s something that needs doin’ first.”

His smile was definitely not a warm, kind one. Starting to feel apprehensive, I tried asking the old man before me.

“Could you give it to me straight, without acting all high and mighty?”

“There’s just one thing yerself needs ter promise meself. …Don’t tell anyone that we met in this space.”

I was relieved at such a comparatively laid-back request… so I responded as though it were no big deal.

“Something like that?”

“Something like that, yep. But I tend ter be a little on the distrustful side. If possible, meself would appreciate it if we could promise with magic.”

Never thinking to hear the word “magic”, I repeated it in my question to him.

“Magic? By magic you mean, that? Chanting spells, summoning fire and making explosions…”

At my words, the old man let out an unintentional snort.

“Yep, yep. That magic all right. …But there will be no fire or explosions, just a limitationso you won’t be able ter talk about meself or this space.”

It’s not like I was disagreeable to the terms, it’s just, to be honest, being on the receiving end of some strange technique didn’t make me particularly happy. The conversation proceeded in a way that continued to blur the line between dreams and reality, and seeing as I was still hesitant, the old man spoke again.

“While limitation magic is simply a limitation, it is a kinda contract. Contracts are there to provide benefits to both parties, so in return for accepting the limitation yerself can obtain some skill in return.”

“A skill?”

“Yep. This is a chance for yerself to get some skill that would be inconceivable in yer own world. …Maybe a skill to run faster than anybody else. Or a skill where yerself would have more mana than anybody else. Skills for more knowledge than anybody else, or for X-ray vision…”

“X, x-ray vision!? A keyword like that is what man dreams about…!”

…Wait, hang on a second.

Being able to see all those hot women’s naked bodies, seeing and nothing more, it would be like living-death.

…The choice I have now is whether to accept the limitation or not. If I don’t accept the limitation magic, there is the risk the old man won’t let me out of this space. In a dream that risk doesn’t really mean anything, but in the off-chance this isn’t a dream… Instead, if I opt to accept the limitation magic, there is a high chance the old man will help me leave this space. If this is a dream, then accepting the limitation won’t be a problem. But if this isn’t a dream, I am stuck with the limitation, but gain one skill and the condition that I am to be released from this space.

Thinking about it like that, the only option I should choose is that of accepting the limitation.

If I accept the limitation, and considering that this isn’t a dream, I should really make sure to choose a good skill.

…The moment I thought that, for some reason the faces of Hisaki and Kamoda floated up in my mind. To be honest I would rather forget what I’d seen, but on the other hand had I not seen it, I would be stuck wondering about the truth behind how Kamoda managed to get promoted to manager. …How I should act was a problem for later. The real problem is whether I am able to obtain the information for taking the best course of action. Considering things in that light, the tiny thought that popped into my mind began to grow and take shape.

“Alright, I’ve decided. I will accept the limitation. In return, I want the ability to understand in detail the status of people and things.”

At those words, the old man looked at me and grinned widely.

“…Heh, yer tellin’ me yer understand the value of that?”

Even for the old man, the skill I’m thinking about is that valuable?

“There are things that you can’t do anything about even if you have information, but there are also things that you can’t do if you don’t have the information.”

I spoke in a tone of self-mockery, regarding the skill I had decided on.

“…Alrighty then. In exchange for that ability, yer will be charged with the limitation then.”

With that, the old man raised his right hand, and began drawing characters in the air with his pointer finger. The characters shown with their own unnatural irradiance, as he proceeded to create some kind of incomprehensible diagram.

“…A magic…circle?”

“That’s right. To commence the limitation and transfer us from this space.”

I no longer had any idea about whether this was a dream or not, as things were growing even further out of control, but watching the old man draw that magic circle, I was honestly impressed.

“So gramps…You’re really a God or something?”

“No, no. Meself is nothin’ more than a disciple of God Clancy. Meself makes mistakes, like when yer headbutted meself. ”

Grinning widely, the old man showed a row of strangely white teeth.

Little by little the light from the magic circle grew to envelop me, and I could feel myself starting to float. …Just like how I felt before coming to this space. To tell the truth, it wasn’t a particularly pleasant feeling. Looking at me enveloped in the magic circle’s light, the old man grinned widely yet again. Looking at that unrefined smile, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

…But, it was only now that that sense of unease hit home.

“Ah, by the way. There’s one thing meself forgot to mention. …Meself is in the middle of transferring from yer world, to the world of Florence. So, yer can get out of this space, but it’s not yer world, but Florence where yer will be going.”

Hearing that, I took a few seconds to process it before freezing as realizing struck.

“…Wha? You can’t mean…!!”

A powerful light rose from the ground, encompassing my entire field of view. But before my vision failed me, I could see the old man, that undignified grin on his face.

“Give it up. I did say yer would be leaving this space, but never did I say yer would be goin’ back ter yer own world. Well, yer might be able to find some way to go back to yer own world in Florence though.”

“Dammit all! You fuckin’ tricked me!!”

That this were a dream and I would wake…that desire revived for an instant.

If things continued, not only would I not be returning home, I would also find myself in another world entirely. I moved my hand to try and catch the old man, but met only air, before my consciousness started to slip away.

In defiance, I screamed again. I don’t know if my words reached the old man or not. Right after, my consciousness left me and for the second time today I was unable to resist sliding into darkness…