Tortus is a world that is among one of nine alternate realities branching off of the world's root. It's a world that is full of fantasy stuff which is currently in the medieval era. It's also a world where Nagumo Hajime and his classmates are summoned to defeat demons and aid humanity to victory. Making humanity in that world to be the ones who rule everything and eradicating demons since they were labeled as a threat and menace to Tortus.
But a few days after being summoned, Nagumo Hajime is betrayed by his classmate and finds himself in the Great Orcus Labyrinth. He fights alone to return to the surface and get his revenge because he was betrayed. He descends into madness and slowly gains a lot of power and strength, making himself the strongest in that world without his classmate realizing it.
During his journey to return to his world, Hajime meets many people, including one who shares the same pain as him. Later, his goal changes from revenge to just finding a home because he slowly becomes a better and kind person. Hajime's madness is also gradually reduced by the people who care about him, including his crush, even if he's changed.
And he then meets Yue, the one who shares the same pain.
Yue was also happy that someone understood what she was going through. They then do their best and leave the Great Orcus Labyrinth, gaining power that may come in handy for them, especially Hajime, who is really suited for it since he's a Synergist. A pretty common Job in existence, with 1 in 10 people possessing it, It focuses on craftsmanship and blacksmithing magic.
But he became powerful just because devouring numerous Demonic Beasts and gained their skills in return for that. Sounds impossible and bullshit, but he's proof that he could do that because of the Divinity Stone known as Ambrosia.
And after an unexpected meeting with his classmate back, he gains a new companion: his old crush, who decided to follow him because of her crush on Hajime. Right now, they settled on a certain city since Yue's friends from the chat group would come and visit her for some reason. Hajime already knows the reason since he's the only one who Yue would tell rather than others.
With her usual expression and appearance, Yue sees a portal that suddenly appears in front of her, which makes Shea, Tio, and Kaori alert and ready for their stance. Since they think it's something dangerous, while Hajime and Yue do nothing because they already know what the portal is, which makes the three girls confused.
But Hajime waves his hand to them.
"There's nothing to be worried about, you know. It's safe. According to Yue, there are people inside the portal who are friendly. Isn't that right, Yue?"
Yue nodded at Hajime.
"He's right. It's safe. I guarantee that to all of you."
Hearing that from Yue, they lowered their stance and weapons, but Kaori was still worried, as it is could be seen on her face. Hajime just scratches his back and sighs, realizing that his old crush is still wary about the portal since she doesn't trust Yue enough because of how bad the relationship between Yue and Kaori went.
"Shirasaki… haven't you heard what I said? It's okay."
"But Hajime-kun, it's still dangerous since, apart from you and Yue-san, we don't know about that. What if Yue-san's friends are lying that they are nice and all? There's no way that she has friends."
Kaori said that casually, making Yue grow a tick mark as she was annoyed at what Kaori said. Hajime felt the urge to avoid it, and although he also wanted to shut them up, he was too scared to tell the two girls who hated each other.
"Kaori, don't tell me you're scared? A girl like that is not needed for Hajime, you better leave him, and he's become mine."
"No way! I-I never said that I was scared. It's just normal to be wary about this since you can't be trusted! Look what you did to the poor and innocent Hajime-kun that he became like this. It must be due to your influence."
"And if you influenced him, he would not be strong like today. I am making him strong, so he can beat his opponent, unlike you. Deal with it, you bitch."
This time it was Kaori who grew a tick mark and became pissed as she heard Yue cursing at her with that word.
"Bitch…?! Yue-san, you dare to use that word? Hajime-kun, look, Yue-san is using a vulgar word to me."
Hajime just sighed tiredly at Kaori.
"I don't care about that. And you two, don't keep bickering with each other. Won't your friends will be annoyed if they see you like this, Yue? So please stop that."
"Ah! You're right. They'll arrive in a few minutes. Don't do something stupid, okay? Kaori."
Kaori gritted her teeth in annoyance and pouted but obeyed what Yue said because Hajime looked at her seriously. That made her have no choice but to obey what Yue said, or she would get hated by her crush just because he was currently in love with Yue rather than her.
Hajime just scratched his back and went to busy himself with things.
'Goddamnit… Shirasaki still clouded my mind. Didn't I love Yue? Why would I care that much about Shirasaki if Yue is the one I love? I'm not the same as my old self, so there's no way I still had a feeling for Shirasaki.'
She was really still lingering in his mind, and he couldn't get rid of that feeling. He felt he was cheating on Yue, but he tried his best to remove Shirasaki Kaori from his mind and not see her as a potential girlfriend or lover.
He's not the same Hajime as before.
------
He blinked as he saw the things going on right now.
"Oh. It's already time for them to meet, huh. Alright, I'll unlock that feature so they can send a picture or video whenever they want in the chat group. It sad to say that I haven't done it before, but people always make a mistake, whether it's human or god, they surely do that without they realize it."
He said he snapped his finger to unlock the feature of uploading pictures and videos in the chat group.
"Good. But well… it is surprising to see that she became that powerful. Wait, should I call her overpowered or god-like? Nah, she's still new and maybe needs to train more to get stronger. There's plenty of powerful people in the vast multiverse."
He sighed and scratched his back, thinking it would be his fault for making her stronger too fast. But it can't be helped since he loves to see someone strong from the start rather than zero to a hero who was slowly getting stronger from scratch. Something like that sometimes pissed him off, especially the protagonist of a chinese martial arts story.
But he then shrugged it off. He will ignore that matter since it's not his fault since she's under her authority, and he can do whatever he wants, including making her stronger quickly.
"Don't care. I'll keep doing that until I'm bored, and since she's still my favorite, I'd like to spoil her a lot. I don't want to see an edgy and depressed person all the time. I was kinda bored of that or people who kept secrecy about their abilities, even from their loved ones. As if they didn't trust them enough and didn't have a good relationship with them."
Indeed. He didn't like that kind of setting somehow. Although he cannot deny that sometimes it's best to keep it secret for the element of surprise. At least they don't have to hide it from the people they care about. They just hide it from the potential enemy and think of anything to counter their opponent's attack.
He then spread both hands and sighed.
"Another thing I should consider is, what kind of ability or power she should get. Oh, I almost forgot that she can summon a Servant, and she didn't summon any. Now, what kind of Servant suits her? Maybe something like a big sister or mother figure? And it's 2019 in her world timeline, so maybe a Servant from Fate/Grand Order who has released in 2019. Mhm… kinda hard to think about."
He rubs his chin as he goes to think about it.
"I really don't like to think too hard about this, but it's needed. What a troublesome."
And with that, he then brainstormed to think of the best Servant that matched Eleonora.
------
Four portals suddenly appeared in front of Yue, although they distanced themselves a few meters from her so that Yue and the portal didn't clash because of how close it was, and the blonde-haired loli could see people who emerged from the portals.
The first one was a small girl, or loli, who was the same height as Yue; she had light purple eyes and matching hair. She also wore a big white hoodie-like dress with purple striped cuffs, a lining, and a purple hood. The outfit had pale, ice blue, and light lilac accents. As well as a zipper section, two big round pockets, a big zipper with an N on it, and strings resembling a plug. Around her neck, she wore a simple white choker. Her lilac shoes have blue and white accents and were also worn with blue and white striped stockings.
Yue and Hajime's friends watch her silently, but Miyu and Kaori are agape. Kaori found that she was cute and thought she was an ordinary little girl based on her appearance, which isn't that ordinary.
She had a very energetic smile as she came out from the portal. She then spotted someone around her height. She was confused for a while and immediately realized it.
"Ah! You're Hajime True Soulmate. Right? Nice to meet you! I'm Pudding Lover, and you can call me Neptune!"
She said that with a loud and energetic tone and smile. Yue flushed in embarrassment and looked away from their gaze as she was called like that. Hajime looked at Yue with deadpan, followed by Kaori and Shea, as both felt jealous.
'So… it's her account name, huh. Did she create it herself? But wait, Yue said she could not change it since it was already there when she joined the chat group. But to think whoever created the chat group would be picked that as her account name….'
Hajime could only sigh mentally.
As they deadpanned at Yue because they heard something ridiculous, the next portal was to show someone. A very beautiful woman with long golden hair, gold eyes, and a slender body. She wears white and black battle cloth, black arm covers, and long blue boots. She also wears her armor over this consisting of a head guard, breastplate, arm guards, hip guards, and knee guards.
Now, Hajime couldn't help but felt… threatened. He could feel the strong aura of that woman with long golden hair. It's not like he's in a dangerous situation, but he could feel that and admire it. There was something pure inside the woman, and Hajime could feel it despite its faintness.
As the golden-haired woman came, she could feel the gazes directed at her and immediately realized Yue and the light purple-haired little girl.
"Ah! You must be Sword Princess. Right, right?! Nice to meet you. I am Pudding Lover, but you can call me Neptune! And this girl is Hajime True Soulmate. Ah, what's your name? I didn't catch it, hehe."
Neptune said that to Yue while starching her back and made Yue grow a tick mark again. As she felt annoyed, but she responded to it.
"My name is Yue… and don't call me that. It's… embarrassing."
She said that with a tint of blush over her cheeks.
"Eeeeeeeeh? Really? Then nice to meet you, Yue! And Sword Princess too!"
Hearing her alias and account name being called, the Sword Princess introduces herself.
"My name is Ais Wallenstein. Nice to meet you too, Neptune-san, Yue-san."
"Yeah, nice to meet you, Ais and Yue! Seriously, I'm still can't believe that we are in another world, but well… although I already in an alternate dimension, this feeling is still unreal, you know! Aren't you felt that too, Ais?"
Ais nods her head at Neptune."
"That's right. I couldn't believe that I could cross to another world. Your machine is wonderful."
"Huhump! Of course, it was Neptune.Jr, who made it! She's talented in a machine and always has a knack for it. She's a mechanic nerd or something like that, after all."
"I understand, yet didn't."
"No problemo! Don't think too hard about that; all we can think about right now is our dimensional trip! Or a world trip? I dunno!"
Neptune said that while laughing, making Yue more annoyed and giving Neptune's head a good bonk with her fist, making Neptune yell in pain. Ais just smiled at their antics before realizing that the other portals had revealed another person. Another girl came out from that.
She has ivory skin and long, black hair tied in long twin tails. Her right eye is red-tinted, while her left eye appears as a golden, inorganic clock face. That girl also wore a black jacket, a purple skirt, and an astonishing smile as she looked elegant.
Hajime didn't know why but also felt threatened. He could feel something dangerous coming from the black-haired girl with that astonishing beauty and smile as if she was trying to be harmless and innocent. He has goosebumps and becomes speechless as he can't say anything; he wants to be on guard but decides not since he doesn't feel any malice coming from her, despite how dangerous she is, according to him.
Even he could see Shea and Tio on guard as they were about to ready their battle stance, but Hajime shook his head and stopped them from doing that. They nodded and understood as they played along with Hajime. Kaori was just confused as she couldn't sense the dangerousness.
"Oh my. Nice to meet you. Is this really another world?"
"Ah! You must be The Nightmare. Yeah, this is another world. I am Neptune; they are Ais and Yue!"
"Fufu, nice to meet you too, everyone. My name is Tokisaki Kurumi. You can call me Kurumi, and are those your friends from this world, Yue-san?"
Kurumi said that as she looked towards the people behind Yue and right towards her.
"Yes. They are… in some sense. But this guy is my soulmate. He is my lover."
"Oh. Is that so? Nice to meet you."
Kurumi said while bowing politely, which made Hajime a bit uneasy with how polite the girl in front of him was.
"N-Nice to meet you too. I'm Hajime, Nagumo Hajime, and Japanese like you."
"So you're Japanese? How come you're in another world?"
Hearing that, Hajime sighed lazily and said it with an annoyed tone.
"Because of some jerk who kidnapped us and forced us to fight the demon in the name of humanity. What a load of bullcrap."
"Hajime-kun! You can't say that. They just want to bring peace to humanity in this world."
"Peace? What peace? As far as I knew, it was only a disguise for them to engage in war and eradicate demons since they have been seen as filth creatures. Sure, a demon is evil and do many evil things, but they shouldn't make us fight for them when we didn't get paid or anything. They even didn't care about me when I went missing."
"But—"
Before Kaori finished what she said, Hajime cut it off.
"If you really love and are on my side, then you should understand that. If not, then you won't be different from that bastard Kouki. Maybe the old me would surely agree with that kind of thinking you have, but now…? I don't think so."
Kaori went silent after hearing her crush say that to her. The atmosphere suddenly became awkward after Hajime ranted about that to Kaori, but then it changed when the last person from the last portals came out and saw the situation. It is Eleonora. She came wearing a white t-shirt with a black long-sleeved jacket, black jeans, and red heels.
As Eleonora came out from the portal, the attention changed to her as they were enthralled by someone so charming as Eleonora. The girls' cheeks became red as they were flushed when seeing the beautiful appearance of Eleonora while Hajime, being the only man, was just silent and realized that his lover Yue was captivated by the beauty of the long bluish-haired girl.
The young girl just smiled at them, and it gave the girls heavy blushes on their faces when seeing her smile. Noticing that, Eleonora smiled awkwardly in her mind that she just caused them to become like that and the possibility of her gaining a new harem member added to her harem.
But Eleonora faked a cough and made them snap back. She then looked at each of them and gave them a friendly smile.
"Hello, sorry to bother you. My name is Eleonora Pendragon, and my account name is Queen of Sweets. Nice to meet you."
Kurumi and Kaori blushed slightly, seeing Eleonora's polite greeting as the young girl bowed slightly in an elegant manner and gentleness. They were amazed by that, and even Hajime became somewhat annoyed by her since she could charm Yue even if she didn't use any charm spell.
To start the conversation, Yue then faked a cough too.
"Ahem. I'm Yue, and the one you know as… Hajime True Soulmate in the chat group. Nice meeting you, Eleonora-san."
"Me too, Yue-san. Ah, so he is Hajime you've talked about in the chat group? Your account name really reflects your love for him."
Yue became embarrassed as her cheeks had a red tint and looked down. Hajime squinted his eyes toward Yue and chuckled as he gave her a head pat. Feeling that, Yue then looked up and saw her beloved smiling at her with his usual smile.
"As I thought. But forgive me for saying such a sensitive thing. Nice to meet you, too, Hajime-san. And I believe three of you are from the chat group? Pudding Lover-san, Sword Princess-san, and The Nightmare-san?"
Eleonora asked as she had already used [Observe] on Neptune, Ais, and Kurumi before that. She already knew which was Yue or Hajime True Soulmate, too, but she asked it purposely to avoid suspicion, even though she thought it was unnecessary since they were her friends in the chat group. It also gives a weird impression if she immediately says their names when they haven't introduced themselves.
"Yes, yes! So you're Queen of Yuri. Nice to meet you. I'm Neptune, and the cutest protagonist in the world!"
Eleonora sweatdropped when Neptune mispronounced her account name, but she felt that the light blue-haired girl was doing this on purpose. So she just let it slide and tried to ignore it while shaking her hand with hers.
"Nice to meet you too, Neptune-san. I believe that you are the cutest protagonist since you're looking like that."
Neptune flushed in embarrassment as she felt her cheeks hot hearing the compliment from Eleonora. It's rare to see someone who agreed and took it seriously, which caught her off guard, and she was stunned by it.
"A-Ah… is that so? Thank you…"
Neptune said while she twirled her fingers shyly and mumbled the last part. She didn't know why but her heart was beating up so loud and excited as it was brimming with happiness. Eleonora then looked at Ais and shook her hand too.
"I am Sword Princess. You can call me Ais; Ais Wallenstein is my name. Nice to meet you, Queen of Sweets."
"Likewise. You can call me Eleonora. I don't feel okay being called by my account name unless it is inside the chat group."
Eleonora said that while scratching her back. Ais nodded in understanding.
"Then I'll call you Eleonora. You are my friend."
"Of course, we are a friend."
Ais' cheeks have a tint of red when hearing the word friend from Eleonora, and she nods happily, knowing that the young bluish-haired girl also considers her a friend. Eleonora then approached Kurumi and spoke to her.
"The Nightmare-san, nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too, Eleonora-san. You can just call me Kurumi since Tokisaki Kurumi is my name."
Eleonora nodded at Kurumi.
"If that's what you want, Kurumi-san. I'm glad that I can meet with all of you. I just know you and others for a month, but I am getting the chance to visit another world. I'm very lucky."
Kurumi chuckled at that.
"Indeed. But that's okay since now we can meet and maybe see too with the uploading picture and video. I believe those features must already be added to the chat group. But it is still unbelievable that we can get to know people from another world or dimension."
"That's right. If Neptune-san didn't invite me to the chat group, then I won't be able to know all of you."
She said it with a grateful smile. Deep in her heart, she was really thankful that Neptune invited her to the chat group and got to know many people from different dimensions or worlds who became her friends. She is also glad she can be friends with Komari, who is the same age as her. There are a lot of positive things she gains before or after joining the chat group this year.
Kurumi was surprised by that, covering her mouth with her hand and giggling.
"Fufu, Neptune-san is really the core of the group. Without her, we can't get to know each other. Isn't that right, Ais-san?"
"It is. And I can explore another world too. I want to see new things together with my friends. Together with all of you."
Yue sighed in relief and flashed a small smile as she crossed her arms.
"Alright, all of this because of what Neptune did, so we can blame her."
"Nepu! How can you say that, Yuwe!"
"My name is Yue, don't call me that. Also, I'm not wrong by saying that."
Both Eleonora and Kurumi went laughing at that. Ais just curled her lips into a small smile while Neptune pouted and was a bit angry at Yue, who said that to her. She is really the one who isn't getting along with Neptune, although she can't deny that Neptune is Yue's friend.
Seeing this, Hajime faked a cough, and the attention gathered to him.
"Hey, Yue, how about we move forward to what you and your friends here want? I believe that you all want a material that may be similar to the one you have, right?"
"Ah! That's right. Some missing materials or ingredients for the dimensional traveling machine! There's nothing left in Planeptune, and when Yuwe said her lover may have that, I want those! Can you give me those, white guy?!"
Hajime got annoyed as a tick mark grew on his forehead when Neptune called him a white guy.
"I'm not white—"
"Please, please! You are Yuwe's lover, right? Give me those for free, okay?"
As his word was cut off, he became more annoyed and decided to hold it since he didn't want to make trouble for Yue. Hajime could feel tremendous power coming from Eleonora and he didn't want to upset them, or it would result in a bad state for him later.
"Hey, Neptune, don't bother Hajime."
"Muh… Okay! If you said so, Yuwe."
"It's okay, Yue. If this is the right material you want, I'll give it to you."
Neptune's eyes sparkled with excitement hearing that.
"Really?!"
"But… with one condition. I want to use the machine to transport me back to my home."
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