"I'm sorry. I acted without understanding the situation and made a hasty judgment."
Now calmer, and ignoring the group of men and women in a corner who never did anything, the three sat down in another corner and began to talk, starting with the woman in armor's apology to Cassian.
"No, thank you. Without your help, I don't know what would have happened."
"I-I'm sorry too... I almost did something irreversible..."
"..."
Yes, Cassian thought the same thing when he heard "bonding ritual" or "excommunication," as well as feeling a strange resolve in her.
Now it seemed that the 'irreversible' I felt was real. Luckily, the woman in the armor stopped her, which increased his gratitude to her and his caution about how dangerous this little angel could be.
Come to think of it... they're calm!
That was what Cassian noticed. Usually, women always panicked in front of him: they ran away, screamed, or cried outright.
That's why he thought at first that it was the same as always with the little angel. But now it seemed that none of them felt uncomfortable with him and they spoke normally.
Although the little angel kept avoiding his gaze... which he found curious, since she was wearing bandages but it was noticeable when she turned her head slightly to one side when he looked at her.
He didn't think it was strange. Honestly, he was happy that she didn't start screaming or running away.
"Well, it seems like you were doing it with good intentions. It's almost unprecedented for someone to resist that poison."
"Um... excuse me, but you're from Miradros, right?"
"Oh, yes. And you must be from..."
"..."
Cassian watched silently as the little angel and the armor woman began to talk about things he didn't understand.
Rather, now that everything had calmed down and Cassian was starting to think, he remembered something the—now just twins—had interrupted.
It's another world.
Certainly, that was the obvious conclusion he came to. He did not fully understand his situation, but that fact seemed undeniable.
Then... why didn't I...?
Yes, for some reason he didn't feel as excited as he originally thought he would, although now he was really experiencing it and literally fulfilling his long-held dream.
He really believed that when it finally happened, he would jump for joy. In fact, he wouldn't deny that he felt a little happy... but that was about it.
It was, perhaps, on the same level as having gotten—after four hours of continuous gaming—that rabbit MILF last night.
He really didn't understand what the problem was. It wasn't that he had a complaint or anything. Maybe it was all too good to be true and he couldn't take it in... or was there something else?
It was his dream, his desire, and the reason he even sought to be run over by trucks. Still, he didn't feel like it was really like that...
Uhm, I don't really understand what... oh!, it's because I don't understand! Yes, that must be it... I think it's because I don't understand the situation... yes, that's it. First, let's get that sorted out and then... build my harem? Yes, that's it.
In the end, he rationalized it himself and convinced himself that was the problem. No matter how much this was his dream, he thought it was more important to understand his situation first.
It seemed that the little angel was giving the armor woman an explanation of what happened and why there was a corpse in the room.
She seemed shy and had a little trouble speaking clearly. Still, she tried hard to give a coherent explanation.
She gave Cassian the impression of white, because basically everything about her was white: from her single wing, her hair, her skin—which clearly showed her blush, to the point that Cassian found it amusing—as well as her robe and bandage. In fact, remembering her light gray eyes, it really just completed that image.
She was a little short—Cassian would say about 4'11'—and seemed easily intimidated, but remembering earlier, she was very tenacious and stubborn when she set her mind to it.
On the other hand, the woman in armor had short platinum gray hair and light purple eyes. SShe gave the impression of being straightforward.
She even apologized without hesitation for the misunderstanding she had, which gave he a very good impression. And even more so because she didn't avoid looking him in the eye.
"...."
Cassian, from the side, listened as the two of them talked about many things and names he didn't understand.
It seemed like they were talking about their kingdoms, families, factions, gods, prophecies, and so on. Although slowly, as a die-hard otaku, he was beginning to make sense of it.
After all, he was always ready to go to another world, and he managed to piece together what they were talking about... but there was nothing in their conversation that Cassian really wanted to know at that moment.
"I have some questions... Do you know what this place is, and what I'm doing here? Was it some kind of summoning? Who are you? Is that wing real?"
Cassian abruptly interrupted their conversation and asked some of the many questions he had in mind.
"Ah! ... Sorry, where are my manners? Introductions should come first. My name is Valeriane Silvaron, I come from Miradros, in the kingdom of Astrellum. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Huh? Yes, I... my name is Cassian. I'm from Earth... from the Republic of Aeloria, from the city of Stonebridge."
Cassian wondered if they were talking about the same thing. Still, with some hesitation, he gave his name, world, and nation, even his city, since he thought that was what she meant.
"Earth... is that a tribe or something? Are you one of the barbarians from the west?"
"Uh, no. That's the name of my world."
"Wait, Sir Cassian... you don't belong to any of the four worlds? Ah! ... It's just like the prophecy said...?"
"Prophecy? What prophecy? No, more importantly: Ria, what are these four worlds? Is this your world? Did the beasts that invaded mine come from here?"
"Huh? Sir Cassian, hmm... first of all, why are you calling me that?"
"Is there something wrong with me calling you Ria?"
"It's just that... Uhm, it's weird for someone other than my family to call me that... and I don't think I should..."
"Would you prefer another name, like Ane?"
Cassian thought it was because he had chosen the wrong nickname. He didn't think the reason was that Valeriane felt uncomfortable being called so familiarly so soon after introducing herself, and without her initiative to allow it.
What else would be okay? Vale?
He was thinking about this seriously, and the reason for this line of thinking so far from the obvious was that there was someone—his only social contact—who had told him that if he met a girl, especially a pretty one, it was normal for him to speak to her very familiarly after introducing himself, even using affectionate nicknames.
That person had two objectives: one was that he should call her Nora at that moment, and the other... well, she should have known what would happen when she recommended someone as intimidating as Cassian to start talking familiarly—and even using nicknames—to a girl.
For her, it was foolproof. In the rare case that a girl didn't run away from Cassian, that action would be the deciding factor.
"No... Ria is fine... it's just a little weird to be called so familiarly when we've just met, but I guess that's because of your culture, right?"
And Valeriane certainly looked uncomfortable, but something Nora didn't calculate was the circumstances.
And at this moment, Valeriane, understanding that they were not from the same world, was very understanding. After all, she knew that culture varies depending on where you live, and even more so if he was from other world.
Besides, it wasn't so bad for her, and Cassian didn't seem like a bad person. Just a little strange for walking around shirtless and wearing strange pants, but she took that as something cultural too, like the barbarian clan of her world.
He was also big and a bit grim, but he was someone who helped someone in trouble, not to mention that from the little angel's explanation, he noticed that Cassian, if he wanted to, could take her off by force, as she was very strong... he just didn't want to hurt her.
She thought all this and, to her, he was a decent person. At least for now, that was her opinion of Cassian.
"Oh! Yes, it's common in my world. By the way, you can call me Cassy."
This was also part of the "common sense" instilled by Nora, and obviously it wasn't common. But there was no one present to correct him.
"Um, no, 'Sir Cassian' is fine. I also have my customs, and I'm more comfortable that way."
"Oh, I see. That's reasonable."
"I'm Ellys Sephirion!… Um, I'm from Atheris… um, from the kingdom of Celestira."
The little angel, or as Ellys introduced herself, seemed unwilling to be left out of the conversation and burst in, but when she had Cassian and Valeriane's attention, she became embarrassed and introduced herself with difficulty, blushing intensely.
She's really cute.
That was Cassian's thought when he saw her. He really didn't understand how those three demons wanted to harass such a cute creature. That was too unnatural.
"Hm, well, then Lys is okay, right?"
"Yes! Lys is okay... and again, thank you for saving me earlier, Ca-Ca-Cassy."
"You don't have to force yourself if you don't feel comfortable. Do as Ria does."
"No, I'm not forcing myself. (≧ ﹏ ≦) And... hmm 'sanguinem abluere'"
"Huh? What did you throw at me?... Oh, it cleaned the blood. Thank you, it really is unpleasant to have it on me.... But back to the matter at hand, can you explain where we are? I don't understand almost anything."