The Elf Is a Freeloader

When Yasutaka opened his eyes, it was already bright outside.

Hurriedly, he checked the wall clock for the time. The current time is 07:48 AM. School starts at 8:30 AM. It’s a 30 minute walk from Yasutaka’s house to school, so he has approximately 10 minutes buffer time.

「Oh c.r.a.p…… huh……?」

Standing up, he feels a bit out of place because he’s in the living room and not on his bed in his room.

But right now, he has to hurry and get ready for school.

Thinking so, he turns on the TV. After waking up, his morning routine is to check the time displayed on the screen as an information programme was airing while he prepares to go to school.

However.

「are…… ? Ah, I see. Today is Sat.u.r.day……」

Because the morning information programme is different, he remembers which day of the week it is.

Relieved that there’s no school today, Yasutaka sits down the sofa as he is.  It seems he fell asleep on it last night.

「But still …… why did I sleep here? I’m still wearing the clothes from when i left for work too……」

After school, he went home to change into civilian clothes before heading to the cafe he works at.

「And then I came back from work …… Ah!!」

Yasutaka remembers. Last night’s events.

When he returned home from work, for some reason there was an alien girl collapsed in the living room.

Then after Eru, the alien girl, woke up, this and that happened, and then ーーー

Though his memory is a hazy, he felt like he saw a glimpse of Eden at the end.

「O, oh yeah!! E, Eru!? Where are you!?」

He searched around for the figure of the alien girl in the living room.

But her figure could not be found.

「…… No way …… a dream…… ?」

With no one else in the living room but him, his voice resounded fruitlessly.

「That’s right, isn’t it…… An alien suddenly appearing at my house was just a dream. Ha, hahah. Surely, I was just tired from school and work and, I ended up falling asleep in the living room.」

Not talking to anyone in particular ーー No, it’s as if he’s trying to convince himself he was alone.

To shake off the strange feeling as if there was a hole somewhere on his body, Yasutaka heads to the bath. His body feels unpleasant because it seems that he fell asleep without taking a bath last night.

Walking down the hallway while humming, he opens the bathroom door.

「Eh?」

「Huh?」

In the bathroom ーー Strictly speaking, this is the dressing room ーー there was a soft flesh-coloured object with long pointed ears.

•

A while after a high-pitched scream resounded in the bathroom, a jersey wearing Eru who turned bright red and a similarly coloured Yasutaka returned to the living room.

For some reason, Eru was making sure to hug her own body with both hands.

Yasutaka noticed that. Albeit unintentional, because he saw her naked, Yasutaka did not know what to talk about, so he thought it was a good topic to ask about what he noticed.

He would later regret stirring up the hornet’s nest.

「……T, that, what are you doing?」

「U, um…… These are the clothes Yasutaka-san lent to me…… t, that…… the bottom is fine, but the top……」

With a red face, Eru averted her gaze from Yasutaka.

「……Because there’s neither drawstring nor b.u.t.tons, the front is left open…… And then I thought about what I should do…… L, last night, Yasutaka-san wouldn’t wake up, so I had to keep it together with my hands…… Then morning eventually came…… While I was wondering if I should wear my own clothes, Yasutaka-san woke up……」

It seemed like Eru didn’t know how to zip the jersey’s zipper.

「…… So, you were changing clothes in the dressing room……」

「……yes……」

He who had seen her naked, and she who had been seen, their faces grew even redder as each recalled what had happened again.

「F, for now, I’ll search for other clothes……!!」

Fl.u.s.tered, Yasutaka left the living room.

Seeing off Yasutaka’s back, the still red-faced Eru smiled a little bit.

•

While hanging the laundry on the drying rack in the garden, Yasutaka thought about Eru.

She came out to the garden together with Yasutaka, and is looking around curiously. Occasionally tiptoeing to peek over the wall, she would let out a “Hee” or a “Hoo” in a cute voice.

Right now, looking a bit unbalanced, that girl is wearing Yasutaka’s sweatshirt and jersey pants from junior high.

「I’ll have to do something about Eru’s clothes……」

She can’t continue to wear Yasutaka’s clothes all the time. Well, the baggy look Eru has while wearing slightly oversized men’s wear is certainly cute in some ways.

However.

The problem is inside.

Yasutaka looks at the piece of laundry he was holding and trying to dry, his face turning red again.

The piece of laundry is small, white, and something he doesn’t touch often.

「N, not good!! Pure thoughts, pure thoughts. This is not Eru’s underwear. This is just laundry. Just a piece of laundry. Nothing more!」

The fact that the underwear Eru was wearing yesterday is here means that right now means Eru isn’t wearing anything under her clothes right now.

Before he knew it, he was staring fixatedly at Eru, who was curiously poking the snail crawling on the wall, so he hurriedly averts his gaze.

Of course, his face grew even redder.

「……For the time being, I’ll ask that person for help after hanging the laundry.」

Confirming that his phone was in his pocket, Yasutaka hung the laundry while freeing his mind of obstructive thoughts.

•

As soon as the mail arrived, the person rushed into her room, quickly changed into an off-white dolman cardigan over a long sleeved t-shirt with a black logo that she had just bought a few days prior, damage denim shorts, black and white bordered thigh-high socks, then at the entryway, wore purple sneakers before rushing out of her house.

Her destination isn’t that far. She rushes through a distance that takes 15-20 minutes to walk with her bicycle.

However, she suddenly stopped a little bit before her destination. Taking out a hand mirror from the small bag she carried, checking if her hair or whatnot was untidy.

Getting off the bike, she hurriedly fixed her clothes and combed her bangs with her fingers as they had both become a bit dishevelled.

Adjusting her breathing and creating a calm atmosphere, she slowly walked the rest of the way while pushing her bicycle.

Reaching her destination, she sets her bicycle at the corner of the garage she’d become familiar with. Often coming here since she was little, this wasn’t the first time she parked her bicycle here.

Without permission, she pushed the gate open and heads to the entryway while humming.

On her way.

She could hear people talking in the garden. There were two voices. She knew one of them well. It was her childhood friend who lives in this house.

But the problem was the other one. The voice she heard is clearly that of a young woman.

Moreover, it didn’t seem to be Nihongo. And yet, the voices were clearly having a conversation.

She rushes into the garden. There, a person she knew well and a person she didn’t know were present.

「Geraa diboruke tikku tea imuruuhabel geirarii diruraneen.」

「Eh? As I’ve said yesterday, I’m not a n.o.bleman. The house isn’t big, besides, if I were a n.o.bleman then I would have servants, right?」

「Giru kea ditira baaguran」

「Eh? This is a detached house? That’s why there’s no servants? No, that’s wrong.」

At the spot the sliding door[1] leading from the living room to the garden opens, the two sat next to each other and are chatting happily.

「Ya, Yasutaka!! W, who the heck is that girl!?」

The appearance of the two, who seemed like they were having fun, unintentionally made her raise her voice.

Suddenly called out, the two turn around with a surprised look.

「Yo, Aoi. That was fast.」

「Bouruu shiiruu?」

Yasutaka raised his hand and greeted his close friend while the strange girl next to him curiously tilted her neck.

Possessing a visage that could adequately be called beauty, that person ーー Kimura Aoi’s heart was in discord.

•

Yasutaka and the others move into the living room. With Yasutaka as the intermediary between Eru and Aoi, he will explain for the other party.

「Well then, let’s start with introductions. This is Kimura Aoi, my childhood friend. Eru’s name is quite hard to p.r.o.nounce so I will have to consult with her about it.」

The three people are sitting on the sofa in the living room.

Yasutaka is beside Aoi. And positioned opposite of the two is Eru. Yasutaka points to Aoi, who is beside him, while introducing her to Eru.

「So, Aoi. She is Eru…… the truth is, her name is really long but precisely because it’s long, she’s fine with Eru.」

Yasutaka having introduced Eru to her, Aoi looks at her with an inquisitive gaze.

She has slender physique, skin so white unlikely of a j.a.panese and, pale golden hair with a natural shine different from bleached or dyed hair.

With a small head and long limbs, her proportions are fundamentally different from that of a j.a.panese.

Slightly shorter than Aoi who’s 161 cm tall, her chest and waist were likely the same as her’s.

And, above all, were her pointed ears which stretched upwards. It was just like the elf that appears in the fantasy genre mangas her older brother and another childhood friend love.

( Or rather, it looks like she IS an elf.)

While closely observing Eru, Aoi was unconsciously fiddling with her light brown hair that reaches up to her shoulders.

「So? Who the heck is she? Why is she in this house?」

Feeling the bite in her own words, Aoi asks Yasutaka what she to know most.

「About Eru…… Regarding that, I need Aoi to cooperate with me.」
「W, wait, what do you mean?」

The reason Aoi came to Yasutaka’s house was because of the mail that arrived.

〈There’s something I want to talk about. I need you to come to my house. It’s a pretty serious problem.〉

It was nothing more than a simple mail but the last sentence which included 「Serious question[2]」 unintentionally caused Aoi to be ecstatic.
She inadvetently changed into new clothes and then rushed out on her bicycle within minutes. It would be a lie to say she had no expectations as she pedalled her bicycle.

However, it seems that Yasutaka’s matter was not quite what Aoi had expected.

The discontent and her wariness towards the unfamiliar girl reflected in Aoi’s speech.

「The truth is, Eru is…… an alien.」

「Huh!?」

With an expression as if to say “Is your head okay?”, Aoi turns to Yasutaka.

Finding it hard to look at Aoi’s expression, Yasutaka talked about last night.

Because Aoi knows that Yasutaka is neither the type of person who has poor taste in jokes nor one who would lie, she listens to his story earnestly.

Yet as she listens, her facial expressions gradually turns dumbfounded.

「W. wait a minute!!」

When Yasutaka’s story nearly concludes that Eru is an inhabitant of the planet Elf in the Zaphyra star system, Aoi interrupted him.

「Let me get this straight, Yasutaka. This girl…… Eru-san is an elf from the the sea of large trees, Jimunishiera which is inside the country of Lexus Kingdom, an adventurer affiliated with the adventurer guild town, Prius…… That’s what you said, right?」

「Ah, yeah. Un, that’s definitely what I said. Let me just confirm with her for a bit.」

Yasutaka then talked about something with Eru. Though Aoi can’t understand the words Eru speaks, she could roughly guess what Yasutaka asked her.

「…… And so, there’s no mistake.」

「I see…… As expected. Hey, Yasutaka. When you heard her story, why did you think Eru is an alien?」

「Eh? Isn’t that usually the case in mangas and movies? Aliens having to do an emergency landing on earth because of some sort of reason. Also, because Eru’s ears are pointed, I thought she was definitely an alien?」

「You…… didn’t you ever read my brother or Takashi’s favorite mangas or novels?」

「You’re talking about the fantasy that Takanori-san or Takashi likes, right? I can’t stand fantasy. You know I only read Sci-Fi or sports, right?」

Aoi hit one of her hands on her forehead (facepalm) and sighed while he was talking.

Nevertheless, fixing her posture and raising her index finger, Aoi speaks her mind.

「This is just my guess, but…… I think you might be wrong. Eru-san isn’t an alien that came from the planet Elf. She didn’t come from s.p.a.ce but rather a parallel world…… Elf is a race in that world.」

「P, parallel world……? Elf……?」

And so.

With the entry of a third party, Aoi, the truth has finally become clear.

Footnotes:

Author’s Note:

『Freeloader Elf』 update.
The third person has appeared. A rival heroine?
I"m looking forward to your continued support.

Translator’s Note:

Hi and thanks for reading! I’m still a bit conflicted on how I should translate 異世界 / Isekai, if it should be different dimension, parallel world / universe because Yasutaka is an SF man and he speaks of the s.p.a.ce, universe and whatnot and it might get a bit confusing so, if i change terms, you all will still hopefully know what i mean. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Same as always, please comment any mistakes and/or suggestions. I’ll see you all next chapter.