Copyright Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, Vol. 3 Hiro Ainana Translation by Jenny McKeon Cover art by shri This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental. © Hiro Ainana, shri 2014 First published in Japan in 2014 by KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo. English translation rights arranged with KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo through Tuttle-Mori Agency, Inc., Tokyo. English translation © 2017 by Yen Press, LLC Yen Press, LLC supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact the publisher. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights. Yen On 1290 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10104 Visit us at yenpress.com facebook.com/yenpress twitter.com/yenpress yenpress.tumblr.com instagram.com/yenpress First Yen On Edition: September 2017 Yen On is an imprint of Yen Press, LLC. The Yen On name and logo are trademarks of Yen Press, LLC. The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Ainana, Hiro, author. | Shri, illustrator. | McKeon, Jenny, translator. Title: Death march to the parallel world rhapsody / Hiro Ainana ; illustrations by shri ; translation by Jenny McKeon. Other titles: Desu machi kara hajimaru isekai kyosokyoku. English Description: First Yen On edition. | New York, NY : Yen ON, 2017– Identifiers: LCCN 2016050512 | ISBN 9780316504638 (v. 1 : pbk.) | ISBN 9780316507974 (v. 2 : pbk.) | ISBN 9780316556088 (v. 3 : pbk.) Subjects: | GSAFD: Fantasy fiction. Classification: LCC PL867.5.I56 D413 2017 | DDC 895.6/36d—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016050512 ISBNs: 978-0-316-55608-8 (paperback) 978-0-316-55615-6 (ebook) E3-20170818-JV-PC Journey Satou here. In old computer RPGs, I always felt gaining the ability to travel via horse-drawn carriage was an important turning point. It’s not nearly as comfortable as a car, though. The carriage rattled and rumbled along the main road. “Ooh!” “Meeeow!” Each time a small animal like a mouse or a rabbit peered out from the bushes on the side of the road, Pochi and Tama nearly leaped out of the carriage. And each time they did so, Liza was there to hold them back by their belts. The carriage was rolling along no faster than a family bicycle, but it would still be dangerous if they fell and got dragged under the wheels. “Pochi, Tama, you’ll fall out if you lean over the sides, so please keep your backs against the coachman’s box.” “Yes, sir.” “’kaaay.” The two responded in the affirmative and situated themselves on the left and right sides against the back of my seat. I knew they would behave only until something else caught their attention, though. The breeze was a little chilly, but it felt nice with the warmth of the sunlight. Since this was a fantasy world, I had expected some random monster encounters, but in reality the journey was actually quite peaceful. This was probably thanks to the efforts of Zena and her comrades on their patrol. However, when I checked the map, I saw monsters lurking farther away from the road. Understandable—it was probably impossible to eradicate them completely. For about an hour after we left the city, our surroundings resembled more of a random smattering of trees than a full-on forest, but we had left that behind and were now journeying through a very hilly area. In the distance on our left, I could see the mountains leading to the Cradle of Trazayuya, where the Undead King Zen had held Mia captive. The occasional tree or shrub poked its head out from the sea of weeds between the road and the foothills. Before we’d reached this uneven area, we’d encountered other travelers in wagons or on foot, but most of them had gone west at a fork in the road. Down the west highway was Seiryuu County’s mining city, and beyond it, the road crossed two more counties into one that was apparently a very prosperous area for trade. Most merchants would be heading that way. According to my map, there were still a few other carriages on the south highway besides ours, but none that I could actually see. There were counties and baronies to the south, too, but because of the relaxed laws there, merchants tended to keep their distance. The trader who’d filled me in on all this had added that things were safe enough in the Ougoch Duchy, which was famous for the night view of its canals, but any farther than that and one would find cheap prices and a market tightly controlled by local sellers. There were more villages near the west highway, too, so that probably factored into its popularity as well. “Meeeat?” “Sheep, sir!” Following Tama’s and Pochi’s stares, I saw a distant hill where a shepherd was herding a large flock of sheep. The two waved frantically toward the hill, but apparently the other person couldn’t see us, as they gave no response. The shadow of what seemed to be a small sheepdog ran about, skillfully keeping any errant sheep from straying too far. It seemed to be an ordinary dog, not a beastfolk person. I hadn’t seen any dogs or cats in the city, but I guess people did have them in this world after all. While I enjoyed the view, the mostly straight road turned into a wide curve along a hill. The carriage swayed and rattled over a rut. Behind me, I heard small shrieks from Lulu and Mia and curses from Arisa, but I let them pass on the wind, pretending not to hear. Since the road was obviously just dirt, not paved with stone or asphalt, it was natural that carts would leave ruts and furrows along the way. However, because no two carts followed exactly the same path, some areas were so rough they threatened to damage the wheels. The horses proceeded along the road at their own discretion, but in order to avoid these ruts, a coachman had to fine-tune their course. Even with the assistance of my skills, I still didn’t have enough experience to avoid all of them. While I made such excuses to myself, Arisa poked her head in from behind me, propping herself up on Pochi’s head. “Be more careful with your driving!” “Don’t ask so much of me. I’m still a beginner.” I brushed off Arisa’s protests noncommittally. Pochi didn’t look too pleased about being used as a step stool. “Arisa, you’re heavy, ma’am.” “Sorry, sorry. It’s just that you were in the perfect position for me to climb on top of you, so I couldn’t help it.” Apologizing, Arisa removed herself from Pochi’s head, snuggling into my shoulder instead. This might have made my heart pound if she were a beautiful woman, but since the girl was so young, she just seemed like a spoiled child. At that moment, I caught wind of a querulous little gurgle. I was probably the only one who’d heard it, thanks to my “Keen Hearing” skill. This must have come from Lulu. Even the sound of her stomach grumbling was cute. I checked the map for a good place to stop for lunch. “It’s almost lunchtime. There’s a stone slab on the next hill that seems like it could protect us from the wind—let’s stop and eat there.” My proposal was approved with a unanimous cry of joy. After we’d made our way up the weed-covered path, I stopped the carriage in a sunny area near the megalith. “All right, here we are. Everyone, it’s time to take care of the horses and prepare our lunch.” As I spoke, I climbed down from the carriage and fixed the stoppers in place, similar to the parking brake on a car. Because I’d already assigned roles before we arrived, everyone set about their work without needing any further instructions. Pochi and Tama hopped down lightly and pulled out tools from the storage space under the coachman’s box to tend to the horses. The overcoats they normally wore in public must have been inside the carriage, because now they were wearing white shirts and matching poufy shorts. Tama’s shorts were pink, while Pochi’s were yellow. “I’ll take care of your hooves, sir!” “Dig, diiig!” “Be careful not to get stepped on by the horses, you two.” “Yes, sir!” “Rogerrr!” I warned the girls to be careful as they dug the dirt and stones out of the horses’ hooves. The horses snorted indignantly, as if to protest that they would never have been so careless. “Nana and I will look for rocks to build a stove.” “Great, thanks.” Clad in light-brown leather armor, Liza headed over to gather some of the smaller stones near the large slabs. “Master, I will be back, I bravely report.” Nana was the next to speak as she descended from the coachman’s box.