He wandered alone in a foreign world with a foreign tongue with neither the skill nor knowledge to bridge that gap.
Stricken with such a fate, the boy should have had no choice but to greet death, but his luck was good.
And just when he was about to die a dog’s death on the wayside, a group of church members on a pilgrimage picked him up.
But although they saved his life, they could not understand him.
There were many people among that group that were of the boy’s age, and the representative sister was someone who thought out of the box and did not think ill of him. Still, they could not understand each other.
One saving grace was that the Falandia tongue was grammatically similar to Japanese.
Just by memorizing the words, the boy gradually became able to communicate with them.
But that was as far as his luck went.
Since the language was similar to Japanese, it also meant that a little difference was enough to change the meaning of the words.
There were words with the same pronunciation and yet had different meanings.
As such, there were things that couldn’t be expressed just by lining up the words.
He couldn’t express the subtle nuances, and the people he talked to had to make do without those.
There were some parts different too. For one, unlike in Japanese, in Falandia they considered frankness a virtue.
That was another reason why they failed to understand each other.
At first, these issues were just minor things, but they all contributed toward that tragedy. As of this time, no one yet knew, but that couldn’t be helped. There was no way anyone could have realized it.
And even if they could understand each other, perhaps they still wouldn’t have been able to avoid that tragedy.
After all, there are many who speak the same tongue and yet still fail to understand each other.
It’s not going well. Ever since that day, nothing has gone well.
The dishes came one after another, and the young man painstakingly washed them.
After going to so many interviews, the job he finally landed was at a restaurant.
Moreover, it was only because the new store at the department store was more popular than expected and they had to hire new staff urgently.
Still, he was happy to at least have a job (part time).
“You’re slow! Work faster!”
“Yes!”
“Don’t move so much! You’re big, so you’ll get in the way!”
“S-Sorry!”
The kitchen was starting to get lively as it was almost lunchtime.
Yells were starting to bellow here and there too. In a sense, it was the very picture of hell.
When the young man thought of how there would be more customers from here on out, he couldn’t help but sigh.
“Takamine-kun, when you’re done with that, switch with Mitsuda-san and take out the trash.
When you’re done with that, go to the dining area! We don’t have enough hands to handle the customers!”
“Understood!”
He was employed as part of the kitchen staff, but he didn’t even bother to complain anymore.
He was completely fooled by the magic words ‘we don’t have enough hands’. Part-time employees had low standing.
“Sigh…”
If it were someone else, they would have had to take a rest after making two trips to take out the trash.
But this young man never hated moving his body, and he wasn’t big just for show.
He was confident that he was stronger than others, but his stats were just terrible.
All the part-time jobs that relied on strength prioritized those with better stats.
Even he understood the reason behind it. If he were the owner, he too would much rather hire someone with better abilities if the wages were the same.
All the more so in an industry where one’s body was the capital.
But… What was he to do? What was a person who has had the one thing he was proud of stolen do?
The only thing he prided himself in was his stamina, strength, and his robust body. Now that he didn’t even have those, he was at a loss.
It would have been better if that day never came. It would have been better if they just never came.
If so, then he would have surely—
“—Damn it!”
Dark and selfish thoughts whirled within him. He knew that nothing would change even if he gave voice to them, but still he couldn’t help it.
He had finally reunited with his childhood friend, but even the happiness from that vanished in just a few days.
As he shook his head to try and change his feelings, he changed his uniform to that of the wait staff.
It was a lot easier to just focus on the job at hand.
Of course, he knew that he was merely running away, but even then, it was still much better.
“…Hah?”
While he was thinking that, an unbelievable scene suddenly appeared before him.
He pinched his cheeks just like they did in the mangas, and he felt a great pain seize him. It wasn’t a dream.
“Say, ahh,” said the boy.
“Ahh,” said the girl.
There sat a couple.
The boy scooped up one of the store’s featured products, a magnificent cream parfait, and brought it to the girl before him. The girl opened her mouth with a serious face as she welcomed the cream parfait.
If it were just that, then this young man would have internally remarked ‘go explode, riajuu!’, and that would be the end of it.
After all, although it hasn’t been long since he started working here, he has seen three such couples already.
The problem lay in the strange combination of the couple.
On one end of the table was a girl who wore a large beret, covering most of her hair, but her blue hair still stuck out, making it clear that she was a Garestonian.
On the other end of the table was a typical Japanese boy with black hair and a common face.
The boy wore an amused face as he guided the spoon toward the girl’s mouth.
From how long this young man had known that boy, he knew immediately that the boy was amusing himself.
“…What are you doing, Shinichi?” The young man asked.
“Huh?” The boy replied.
This was his second time reuniting with his childhood friend in an unexpected fashion.
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