Operation: New World

Kaito hesitated with his answer. Even he wasn"t fully sure how he got here or what this world really was. For all he knew, he could be in a coma living out his wildest inner fantasies. Knowing that giving a direct answer would just make himself look insane, he decided to twist the truth to fit the setting of wherever he ended up.

"My name is Kaito Hatori, I"m a traveling... mercenary." He improvised, attempting to explain his weapons.

"Wait, Hatori?" Franciska exclaimed in shock.

"c.r.a.p, did I say something wrong?" Thought Kaito, panicking inside.

Suddenly, Franciska dropped to one knee, bowing before him.

"I deeply apologize for disregarding your n.o.ble lineage, Kaito of House Hatori." said Franciska, in a startled tone.

A confused Kaito scratched the back of his head, letting out a nervous chuckle to the sudden outburst he caused. Not wanting to seem weird, he decided to go with it. The idea of being a runaway n.o.ble excited him anyways.

"Uh, yeah, thanks for the appreciation, but for now, just call me Kaito." Said the young j.a.panese.

"Why is that? Are you ashamed of your bloodline? Have they perhaps involved themselves in shady deals to improve their wealth?" Asked Franciska, even more intrigued, as she leaned closer and closer to Kaito with the curiosity of a cat.

"Lady Franciska, please mind your manners." Said Vincent.

Suddenly, realizing how close she got to Kaito, Franciska quickly zoomed back to her corner of the couch, retaking a serious look.

"Go on..."

Kaito, bewildered by her eradic shifts in behavior turned to Vincent, who sat down on the couch across the two.

"Please excuse Lady Franciska"s behavior, she is still quite young and sometimes her curiosity gets the better of her. Personally, I believe she act quite mature for a 16 year old." Explained Vincent.

Kaito nearly fell off his couch when hearing that. She was only 16?! 18 was one thing but 16!? He saw what wore and how she acted prior to all this, those were not the actions of a typical 16 year old.

"Though there is something that intrigues me." Continued Vincent, "I"ve served many houses in my lifetime, yet, despite the numerous connections each house I served had, never in my life has House Hatori ever been brought up."

"W-Well, making connections wasn"t that much of a concern to them." Stuttured Kaito.

"How so? Did they not want an heir?" Asked Vincent, "Actually, how IS this "House Hatori" doing now?"

Cold sweat was running down Kaito"s neck. Deep down, he cursed himself for playing along to the n.o.ble lineage gig, as he was now in deep s.h.i.t because of it. However, he"s played MMOs before, he has watched fantasy anime and isekais in the past. So in a world with no knowledge of the wonderful cast of "Flame Emblem", all he needed to do was borrow one of their backstories.

"Sir Roseir, don"t fail me now." He thought.

"They"re dead." Said Kaito, feigning sadness.

Suddenly, Vincent and Franciska"s eyes widened.

"Dead?" Asked Franciska.

"I"ve been a runaway ever since." Explained Kaito.

"I see." Said Vincent, "Looking back, it makes sense for a household owning such powerful magic and magical items to keep themselves secret. One would make less enemies that way. I suppose they were eventually found out and killed by people after these relics?"

"Uh... yeah, something like that." Said Kaito.

"I see" Said Franciska, "In any case, we are very grateful for you saving our lives. If there"s anything you ask of us in return, let us know."

Kaito"s jumped forward, wanting to take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about the world.

"So, who exactly were those people chasing you?" Asked Kaito.

Suddenly, Franciska and Vincent froze, as the inn owners tilted their heads in confusion.

"They were... bandits." Said Franciska, "A common occurence, nothing more, nothing less."

She was obviously lying, Kaito could tell from a mile away.

"Do bandits in this region all wear matching clothes?" Asked Kaito, trying to smoke out the truth.

"They could be part of a band. Man, we really got unlucky out there, didn"t we Vincent?"

"And another thing I"d like to know is what a n.o.ble like yourself is doing in the middle of the woods attacked by said bandits." Said Kaito.

"N-n.o.ble? You have to be mistaking, I"m just a traveling merchant with my father"s... slave!" Franciska improvised.

"I don"t recall slaves having names." Said Kaito.

"Well... er... I..." Franciska stuttered, before turning to Vincent, asking him for help silently.

Suddenly, the awkward silence Kaito"s questions brought up were cut by the sound of one"s stomach rumbling. Everyone looked around, attempting to figure out where it came from. Then, it happened again. Source: everyone in the room.

"Why don"t we get something to eat first?" Asked Franciska, attempting to change the subject.

"That would be lovely." Replied to Kaito, who was equally as hungry.

Franciska then turned to Vincent.

"How much money do we have left?" Asked Franciska.

"About 15 small gold coins." Said Vincent, "The merchants were nice enough to give us a decent cut of money for the Griffin carca.s.s."

"Well, guess we don"t have to worry about the money situation anytime soon." Said Franciska, "Let"s go, Vincent knows a great tavern for some grub."

"Great, I"m starving." Said Kaito, getting up.

After all that questioning, Kaito left the inn with a new ident.i.ty he semi-lied into existence. He was now Kaito of House Hatori, a runaway n.o.ble who"s family knew powerful magic, but were killed by jealous compet.i.tors who were after their magical relics.

While he wasn"t able to get much info on the world he ended up in through questioning of Franciska, he knew that the best way to experience a new world was through physical interaction. Stepping outside the inn, he knew that beyond those wooden doors was a new and unknown world.

The cobblestone streets were packed during the afternoon, as the three walked down the cramped main avenue of the town. For Kaito, it left a tad weird, being able to walk much closer to the middle of the streets, when back home, those areas were restricted to automobiles. However, that small detail was the least of Kaito interests, as every corner, he saw something new which made him giddy like a child.

Franciska had to literally drag him by the wrist because he wouldn"t stop oogling over the vast a.s.sortment of different trinkets, fruits, snacks and other lesser items being sold on roadside carts and stores.

"What"s with this guy?" Thought Franciska, "He"s acting like he was born yesterday."

Something really interesting that Kaito noted while sightseeing was the sheer diversity of everything. One instance, a wagon pa.s.sed by him, being pulled by bright red horses, then, moments later, another wagon comes by, this time being pulled by horses with fins and scales. Then, another wagon, this one being pulled by mountain rams. The wagon drivers were different everytime as well, some were fishlike people with black, pearly eyes and fins and scales, much like their horse counterpart while others were pulled by short, bearded men no taller than 4 foot.

The trip to the tavern was just supposed to be 10 minutes, but because they had to stop every 15 steps because Kaito"s eyes were locked onto something new, it took them 30 minutes before reaching the bar. By then, Franciska and Vincent were both at their limits.

"For G.o.d sakes Kaito, did you really have to stop EVERY time you see someone that isn"t human?!" Exclaimed Franciska.

"I never got to meet anyone that wasn"t human during my childhood. So it everything was a first time to me." Explained Kaito.

"Wh How- I mean..." Franciska uttered out in sheer disbelief, "Do- Do you want something to drink?"

"A fine cold pint of beer sounds nice." Replied Kaito.

"A pint of what now?" Asked Franciska.

Kaito froze. This was another world, so that would mean...

"No beer..." Kaito whispered sadly under his breath.

"What was that?" Asked Franciska.

"Ale please..." Kaito choked out.

"Alrighty then." Said Franciska, calling for a waiter.

As the waiter brought them their drinks, Kaito leaned back, taking a good look at his surroundings. The drink may not be as good as he had hoped, but at least the sheer amount of visual eye-candy made up for it. Looking around, he also noticed that a lot of the customers at said tavern were armed.

"Say, Fran, those guys over there, are they adventurers?" Asked Kaito, wanting confirmation.

"Well of course." Said Franciska, "What else would they be?"

"Ah, uh, nevermind, I was just curious." Replied Kaito.

"Alright, tell me what"s up with you Kaito." Said Franciska, "I already found your whole n.o.bleman on the run story hard to believe, but as soon as we step outside you gawk at everything like you lived on an isolated mountain for your entire life, what"s with that?"

"I heard of some n.o.blemen who get so invested in their work that they close themselves off from the rest of the world to avoid distraction of any kind." Explained Vincent, "Perhaps mister Kaito is one of those types."

Hearing this, Franciska turned back to Kaito.

"Is that true?" She asked.

"Uh... yeah it is." Answered Kaito.

"Thank G.o.d she"s so gullible" Thought Kaito.

As the waitress, a short woman who was barely at table height came to take their order, Kaito took a look at the menu. Sadly, those mimic seeds Franciska gave him don"t seem to autotranslate his vision, because what was written on the menu was completely foreign to him.

"I"ll take... uh... this." Kaito said, pointing at a random item on the menu.

However, as soon as he pointed at the item, both Vincent and the waitress froze. Franciska, confused, took at look at the item Kaito pointed to.

"Grilled Siege Fish!?" She exclaimed.

The exclamation suddenly attracted a ton of people in the tavern. Some ran up to Kaito, urging him not to take the order, while other were betting on one another. Amongts the chatter, Kaito could distinguish what some of the people were saying.

"Looks like we got another rookie who thinks he"s hot s.h.i.t."

"I bet 5 medium silver coins he won"t last 3 bites."

"Don"t do it! Put more value into your life!!"

With the sheer reaction Kaito got from ordering whatever a "Siege Fish" was, it made him both curious and scared for what was to come.

"Hey, Fran." Whispered Kaito, "What"s a Siege Fish?"

"It"s an incredibly dangerous fish caught off the coasts of [Lemira], they are 45 feet long and weight over 3 tons! They have hollow spines protuding from their backs from which they fire rocks they swallow at the sea floor to shoot down large birds and knock over fishing boats. But what makes these fishes even more infamous are their flesh. Apparently, the flavor is so pungent and so strong that it causes most people who taste it to faint, foaming at the mouth. However, every now and then you get some overzealous adventurer who wants to prove his strength by eating the fish, only for them to end up in the hospital moments later."

"Why would this tavern even serve such a thing!?" Exclaimed Kaito.

"It"s they main point of attraction!" Explained Vincent, "But that doesn"t mean you have to order it!"

"Yeah! Cancel it!" Exclaimed Franciska.

That"s what Kaito wanted to initially do. However, he had already attracted a huge crowd, all chanting for him to do it. Now, any normal person would put their lives first. However, Kaito was no ordinary man. No, he falls super easily to peer pressure, hence how his parents convinced him to join the JSDF in the first place. Under the crowd chanting for him, Kaito slammed his fist onto the table, silencing everyone.

"I"ll do it!" His exclaimed, his eyes bloodshot with resolve.

"He"s crazy." Thought Vincent and Franciska in unison.

As the waitress wrote down his order, she quickly zoomed back into the kitchen, not even bothering with the other two"s order. While Kaito waited for what felt like an eternity, he was approached by other adventurers.

"Hey, I commend your courage." Said a young man who looked like a generic jrpg protagonist, "You got this!"

"Who is this guy anyways? He doesn"t look like tough stuff. I saw a beastkin twice his size collapse to the mere smell of the Fortress Fish a few weeks back." Said another.

"Yeah, and what"s with his weird getup anyways? I"ve been to many places yet I"ve never seen anyone wear anything remotely similar to what he"s wearing." Commented another, "I bet he"s just some b.u.mpkin from some remote village who doesn"t know any better."

"Yeah, if there"s anyone who can conquer the flavor of a fortress fish, it"s gotta be that one adventurer who"s been going around." Said another bystander.

"That one adventurer?"

"You haven"t heard, there"s been rumors surfacing that some unknown adventurer managed to singlehandedly slay a Griffin!"

"What? No way! Which drunkard told you that!? That just priceless!" Laughed another adventurer.

"I"m not lying man! Go to the market, you"ll see the Griffin"s head on display."

"That"s probably some kind of parlour trick or scam! I mean seriously, a ballista can"t even kill a Griffin, so what makes you think one man can?"

Through all this chattering, Franciska and Vincent got back to trying to talk Kaito out of this.

"Kaito, if you want to see the world, then this next dish will make you run into a hole and never want to see the light of day again! I beg of you, don"t do this!" Pleaded Franciska.

"I"ll be fine." Replied Kaito, "I mean, I killed a Griffin, how bad can this be?"

Suddenly, the kitchen doors swung open, as a pungent odor caused most of the crowd to scatter. As the waitress brought the dish towards Kaito, people around her scattered like ants. Eventually, the dish made it to Kaito"s table.

Franciska and Vincent were several tables away from Kaito now, as he starred at the slab of greenish meat in front of him. The odor was powerful, as it felt like he was snorting in needles through his nose, as his eyes were watering.

However, he could no longer back down now. He came so far, so why stop? Clenching his fork, he shut hos eyes and went for it. Suddenly, tears gushed out of his face, as it felt like a bomb just went off in his mouth. The flavor was like grilled salmon, if it was buried in a centimeter of wasabi.

However, Kaito"s eaten wasabi before, as well as extra fizzy drinks, super spicy ramen and strong spirits. This, combined with the fact that, from what he saw earlier on the plates of other people, this world"s food was mostly bland due to a lack of spices, meant that it wasn"t nearly as bad as people had built it up to be.

Slowly, the strong part of the flavor was pa.s.sing, as Kaito pounded on his chest, then the table, before chugging down what was left of his ale. The crowd was in awe, shocked at how long this one man was lasting. Eventually, his tanktop stained in sweat, he raised his fork triumphantly, letting out a warcry.

And everyone else in the room cheered for him.

"That son of a b.i.t.c.h actually did it." Said some of the people.

"Who is that guy?" Asked one of the adventurers.

"His name"s Kaito." Replied Franciska.

"Everyone!" Exclaimed said adventurer, "Give it up for Kaito!"

"Kaito! Kaito! Kaito!" Everyone cheered, as the lightheaded Kaito stumbled to the bar counter, asking for another pint to wash down the flavor.

"He"s a really funny guy, isn"t he?" Asked Vincent to Franciska, both watching the whole thing unfold.

"Yeah, a real oddball." Said Franciska.

Meanwhile, while all this was going on, some of the adventurers moved on to another topic.

"You know, that guy reminds me of someone." Said an adventurer.

"Really? Who?" Asked another.

"I heard a random group of adventurers appeared in the [Cinfreid] Region, decimated an entire Ogre settlement and rode off in their iron wagon." Said the adventurer.

"First one man kills a Griffin and now this?" Asked the other one.

"Well, that one seems to be actual rumor. Must be though, because according to the guy who told me, they claimed that the iron wagon they rode off on moved on it"s own."