Chapter 202: A Peaceful World?
As soon as Hikigaya Hachiman stepped into the courtyard, two jet-black beetles darted out from the grass beside the stone steps.
Their sharp mandibles struck Hachiman's protective barrier, causing a slight crack to appear.
"How many kinds of insects does that old man have?"
The damaged barrier was instantly repaired using Hachiman's spiritual energy.
After dealing with the black beetles, Hachiman moved cautiously through the courtyard.
One or two beetles were not a concern, but the greatest advantage of insects was their sheer numbers!
Fortunately, after the black beetles' ambush failed, Matou Zouken seemed to have given up trying to take Sakura back.
Hachiman didn't encounter a single insect after that and was able to leave the Matou mansion effortlessly.
.
.
.
Several hours later.
When Sakura slowly opened her eyes, she saw a somewhat shabby ceiling and a hanging lamp. She was lying on a large bed that wasn't particularly soft but felt warm.
"You're awake…"
A man's voice came from beside her. Turning her head, she saw Hachiman sitting at the edge of the bed, watching her.
Her body instinctively curled up under the blanket, but then she remembered that he was the one who had saved her, and she relaxed.
"Thank you for saving me…"
Pulling the blanket up to cover the lower half of her face, leaving only her eyes and a bit of her nose visible, Sakura studied Hachiman in the dim light behind him while expressing her gratitude.
"No problem. Since you've ended up here, I naturally had to get you out of that hellhole."
After all, he had spent ten thousand Spirit Coins and crossed a spatial storm that injured him—if he hadn't saved her, he would have truly lost his mind.
"Crossed over?"
Sakura blinked at Hachiman's words.
She remembered. Hachiman had indeed come through a strange black hole to rescue her…
"Could it be that a god heard my call and sent you to save me?"
Despite her precociousness, Sakura was still just an elementary school student.
Given her background in the Tohsaka Magus family, she was even more prone than most to believe in such legends.
"Unfortunately, no."
Hachiman mercilessly shattered the little girl's beautiful illusion.
He had merely happened to receive her cry for help, and out of a sudden burst of generosity, like a lunatic, crossed over from another world to save her.
"Really?"
Sakura looked a little disappointed at Hachiman's answer. But then curiosity returned, and she asked:
"Then why did you come to save me?"
"You said, 'Someone please save me,' right? For some reason, that message passed through the barrier between worlds and reached mine, so I came…"
Shrugging, Hachiman gave a nonchalant explanation for rescuing her.
"Are you joking?"
Sakura's first reaction to Hachiman's reason was disbelief—crossing worlds just to save her seemed absurd.
"I never joke about something like this."
Seeing Sakura still didn't believe him, Hachiman didn't elaborate further and simply continued flipping through the newspaper in his hands.
After gathering and organizing information overnight, he had roughly understood that this world was highly similar to his own, though technology lagged by more than a decade.
Of course, that was only on the surface.
The previous encounter with Matou Zouken had already proven that this world, like his own, possessed mystical powers.
However, due to limited information, he still didn't know the specifics of the mystical side here.
"Really?!"
Seeing Hachiman's serious expression, Sakura couldn't help but believe that he really had come from another world.
"Mm."
Hachiman nodded lightly and then put down the newspaper, starting to consider what to do about Sakura.
The safest approach would naturally be to return her to her original home.
However, Hachiman couldn't be certain how she had fallen into that old man's hands in the first place. He didn't know if returning her home would put her in danger again.
"Do you know where your home is?"
After some thought, Hachiman decided to take Sakura home first. Perhaps her family was anxiously awaiting news of her.
"I don't have a home anymore…"
Hearing Hachiman's question, Sakura's expression turned sad.
"No home?"
Hachiman was slightly taken aback. Could it mean that the old man…
"They've already given up on me. So I don't have a home anymore…"
Before Hachiman could react, Sakura added,
"Given up?"
The more he listened, the more confused Hachiman became. Was she not forcibly taken, but rather her parents had sent her willingly?
"Oh, I forgot—you're from another world…"
Sakura noticed the bewilderment on Hachiman's face and realized he wouldn't understand the situation in this world.
"Well then, I'll just briefly explain the concept of magi to you…"
Though young, as a daughter of the Tohsaka family, Sakura had a rough understanding of the Magus world.
After more than ten minutes of explanation, Hachiman had a basic understanding of the mystical side of this world.
"There's no enemy…?"
Hachiman was somewhat surprised when he heard that this world was peaceful, without supernatural beings threatening humans.
According to Sakura, Magus families here were far more numerous than the psychics in his world, and possibly stronger in terms of power.
Yet in this world teeming with power, humans had no adversaries?!
"Well, I wouldn't say there's no enemy. There are still monsters born from failed Magus experiments…"
"No, those are just humans being reckless. The enemies I mean are naturally hostile toward humans…"
Such as evil spirits, or the demons in Tanjiro Kamado's world.
Humans and them are locked in life-or-death struggles.
"Ah… I see. I didn't know…"
Sakura looked ashamed for her ignorance.
"It's fine. You've already given me enough information."
Hachiman shook his head to comfort her, then began considering what to do next.
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