“I didn’t stand a chance in that world. Even just swinging a wooden sword led to me getting swung around. But danger was always close at hand, so I ended up causing a lot of trouble to those around me. When I made the wrong choice in a panic, I got tricked and ended up like this. Hilarious, right?”
Shinichi laughed in self-deprecation, but Takeshi was used to him being like that, so he did his best to hold back the emotions that threatened to boil over.
That’s why he ended up putting on a sour look as he said, “As if I could laugh at that.” Then he nonchalantly said.
“…I’d considered the possibility of another otherworld fairly early, but as you’d expect… Our current technology only allows safe voyage between Earth and Garesto. We haven’t been able to detect other worlds either… It was impossible even for me.”
His expertise in “engineering” encompassed an incredibly broad range of applications. He was widely recognized as a genius in that field. There was no denying his talent. Be that as it may, specialized technologies, such as interdimensional navigation or interdimensional leaps, which were necessary to travel to other worlds, were just too complicated so he failed to advance them beyond what was currently known.
“This is all the fault of those lazy scientists and engineers! For decades they’ve had the technology, and yet they never tried to expand upon them and just sat on their laurels instead! Do your job properly damn it!”
Takeshi lashed out as he expressed his frustrations, but Shinichi knew what it was that bothered him and so deliberately kept quiet, but then he noticed something and exclaimed.
“Hmm… Oh, right. There weren’t any reasons for them to develop the technology.”
“Exactly. They found Earth and were able to establish a friendly relationship. So since they haven’t found any other worlds, and they also didn’t have the resources to spare, they haven’t bothered to develop the technology any further.”
“Earth has more resources to spare, but there’s no way Garesto would have shared the technology with us. That’s why we’re still fumbling around.”
Should relations between Earth and Garesto deteriorate, Garesto has the option to close the gates.
But if Earth could just open gates of their own, then such a response would become meaningless.
So even if there were Earthlings eager to explore other worlds, there was no way for them to execute. The crucial technology, which was interdimensional travel, was still heavily restricted, and research on Earth was also still in its infancy.
“Exactly. You’re as quick on the uptake as usual, aren’t you? But why would the same divine beast appear in a fantasy world and a Sci-fi world?”
Other species appearing in the same world might have made sense.
The beasts of the land, the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky…
Similar environments resulting in similar creatures shouldn’t be all that surprising.
In fact, Earthlings and Garestonians were both humans, only with minor differences, such as in hair color.
There were also animals on both worlds that weren’t far off in terms of genetic lineage.
However, the amaryllis and the tenkorius were too unique.
The knowledge to speak the human tongue, the nature to serve another species, and the ability to give themselves the body of another species.
Even if the environments were similar, it was far too abnormal for such unique creatures to appear in both worlds.
“Who knows? At least, I don’t. I feel like there’s something fishy behind that world honestly. Even the language is similar, though their words sometimes have the exact opposite meaning. It makes my classes really hard, you know.”
“What are you talking so arrogantly for when the alphabet is the most you could learn of English? But yeah, it’s true that Garesto’s origins haven’t been made clear. It’s not that they haven’t publicized it, they officially don’t know… It’s suspicious.”
“To be more precise, it’s doubtful if the history they know is even true. They said they’ve been around for 2,000 years, but as far as we know, only the past 200 to 300 years is certain. Any further than that is hard to determine.”
“Yes. There aren’t any paper documents pertaining to earlier periods, so that 2,000 is really sketchy.”
Paper was useful for determining the age a document was written in because it was possible to learn certain details based off of its state, degree of deterioration, and type of ink used.
The more items there were from the same era, the more information that could be found about the author, the easier it became to assess the accuracy of the old documents.
But in Garesto’s case, they never used paper to begin with, so all information they had surrounding their history were already digitized.
For those with the ability to illegitimately obtain or manipulate information, such information was hardly trustworthy.
“Furthermore, the further away the territories are, the less data there is to compare with other territories, and the exchanges with other territories only began in recent years too. With how little data there is available in the first place, it makes it even harder to paint a clear picture.”
“As for the nobility, did you know, Shinichi? Even among the top ten noble families that represent the pinnacle of Garesto’s aristocratic society, only three families have maintained their status since the inception of the system.
The other seven families faced various circumstances. Some had their bloodline discontinued. Others failed in managing their finances and fell into ruin. And a few voluntarily stepped down from their positions, taking responsibility for territorial decline, among other reasons.
These vacancies were filled through a selection process involving the remaining ten noble families and representatives from the military, based on the achievements, abilities, and scale of the family’s head, among other factors.”
“Oh? And what are those three families?”
“The current general of Garesto and the family of two of your harem members.”
“Hey.”
“That being said… The Doneju Family family struggles with managing their territory because of their focus on the martial spirit, while the Padyuel Family might excel in both military and civilian matters, but their position is currently dicey due to the lack of a leader and their history of having been brought to the brink of destruction. Who knows what will happen?”
Takeshi was all smiles as he spoke as though none of that had anything to do with him.
But it was precisely that sort of expression that gave away what he was really thinking, which went along the lines of how much more interesting things would be if Shinichi became involved.
Especially, if he went down the route of marrying both princesses.
In contrast, Shinichi wore an obviously displeased expression, as he didn’t want for things to go as Takeshi hoped.
Regardless, however, should the girls find themselves in trouble and ask for his help, then he of course wouldn’t hesitate to offer them his hand.
They both knew that, so Shinichi just kept quiet, while Takeshi grinned.
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