I looked at the city walls. They were white, and high. Near the entrance to the city two guards were standing, in their silver armor.

“Are you sure, you know what you are doing?” I asked, when we passed them. I could hear their laughters behind us. How many people know about us now?!

“Of course I know what I’m doing. The first thing we will do, will be digging a big hole, and then we will put spikes in it. Oh, but don’t worry about them. I have made them before.” she said and smiled.

Just how much free time did you have?

As I looked at the road, I noticed that it was wider, and made of sand. We just left the city, and we were greeted by big fields of grass. They were everywhere, dancing happily illuminated by the sun. I felt a little breeze, but it was warm, and felt nice.

When I gazed at the horizon, I noticed big trees, and clear sky. It seemed that in the distance there was a forest.

“Anyway, where are we going?” I asked, and she pointed at those trees.

“There. Most of the goblins live in places like this.”

Seems normal. I looked at her, and she seemed excited. She was playing with the shovel in her hands, spinning it like a fan.

“Be careful, or you will hit yourself.”

“Who do you think I a... “ a loud noise carried through the road, and she kneeled while grabbing her head.

“Told you.”

Is it the right thing to do? Does she really have seven intelligence? Are we going to be killed? Is Santa Claus a big, fat idiot? Are dogs stupid?

Those were the thoughts that filled my mind. We live in a mysterious world, don’t we?

“D-Don’t just stare at me!” Mikori said with anger, and looked at me.

What do you want me to do? Blow on it? Or chant a magical chant, that will make the pain go away?

It took her a few minutes, to finally stand up. She was still grabbing her head with her hands, and on her face there was a trace of dissatisfaction. Finally, she started speaking.

“It’s all because of those goblins…”

Are you stupid!?

“Anyway, we shouldn’t stay in one place for too long. Those green dwarfs are going to taste my power!” she said, and started walking on the front, still playing with her shovel.

I just followed her, praying that what she said about those goblins was true. Praying that they are really just harmless, small monsters, that can’t really hurt you. As I was walking, I noticed that some of the flowers looked different than those in my old world.

Well, it’s not like a NEET like me, knows how flowers look. I’m not a botanist, but I have never seen things like those. Big, red petals, and yellow centers. They looked weird, but cute at the same time.

“Hey, Mikori! What are they called?” I said, and pointed at one of the flowers.

She turned her head towards it, and then towards me.

“Dunno.” she said, and I looked at her with irritation in my eyes.

“Hey! How am I supposed to know everything?! You don’t know either!”

Yeah, now that I think about this why would she know that? Maybe I was deceived by her intelligence?

“Anyway Mikori. You didn’t answer me before, but why are you wearing clothes like this? I can’t imagine you casting any spell, and it’s not like you can do it either. Oh, wait! Don’t tell me, that you were going to surprise me with your skills!” I said, and she looked at me displeased.

“You are rude, you know that? Anyway, I don’t need to answer your every question. A woman with class needs to have her secrets.” she said, still playing with her shovel. She didn’t look like a woman with class at all.

Does she want to hit herself one more time?

“But Mikori, you made me work in another job. And you didn’t even ask me before, if I want to do this. Wouldn’t it be too hard, to answer even one question?” when I said this, she stopped for a moment.

I did the same, and waited for her to do something. I took her some time, but she finally turned around.

“I b-bought them…” she said, and immediately looked elsewhere.

“Hey Mikori! That’s a lie! Mikori, tell me the truth. Aren’t we comrades? Mikori! Mikori!” I shouted her name a few more times.

Oh, it wasn’t bullying. You know what is bullying? Sending me to another world, with a glass of water. Compared to this, I was just having fun. A bullying is when you save a stupid dog, and he dies anyway. I was just playing around, waiting for us to reach the forest.

And that’s what we did.

When we entered it, we were immediately covered by the shadows of high trees. They were everywhere around us, making it hard to see anything. Some wildlife could be heard in it, but it was mostly birds and small insects.

The leaves were rustling in the wind, and I finally felt a little tired. A NEET like me, can’t walk with a shovel, and a basket full of food for too long. Things like this just don’t work for me. I can understand walking for a few minutes, but it took us twenty minutes to get there.

“Hey, Mikori! Aren’t we going to rest now?” I asked, and she looked at me.

“We just entered the forest! Did you think that we were going for a picnic? There is only harder work before us!” she said with a displeased voice.

“But Mikori, aren’t you hungry? I’m hungry Mikori! Mikori?!”

“Stop using my name in every sentence!” she shouted, and after that a loud noise escaped her stomach.

Did I hit the jackpot? Was I right? I was right, I’m sure. Yeah, I was right, so why are you looking at me with so much anger? Why are you pointing your shovel at me Mikori? Aren’t we comrades?

“Mikori stop! It was your stomach that growled, not mine!” I said, and she blushed even more.

“S-Shut up! Shut up!”

She was waving her shovel so vigorously. that she reminded me of some knight.

It took her some time to calm down. When she did, she looked at the basket in my hand. It seemed, that she was persuaded.

“Okay, we will eat, but after that we need to go immediately. We have a lot of work.”

“Of course Mikori.” I said, and once more she looked at me with anger.

It’s not my fault that your name is so easy to pronounce. When I first entered this world, I was scared that people might have weird names. I know, a weird thing to be afraid of.

“Let’s exit the road. I hope we won’t meet any of those green dwarfs.” Mikori said, and started walking towards the trees.

I did the same, and we began to look for a good place to sit, and have a meal. It didn’t take us long, because the ground was dry, and it was easy to move around. After some time, I noticed two stumps, and immediately called my companion.

“I think I have something nice Mikori!” I said, and she slowly approached me.

“It’s a nice place, but stop using my name in every sentence.”

“Okay Mikori.” I responded, and sat on one of the stumps. She did the same, and I unpacked the food that we had in the basket.

Two sandwiches, a few chocolate buns, and some cookies. I didn’t see them before, so this old lady probably put them here in secret. She might be an angel after all.

“Here, eat this.” I said, and handed her a sandwich. I took one myself, and took a glance at it. It seemed that it had cheese, some meat, and tomato in it.

“I hope it doesn’t taste weird” I thought, as I took a bite. It didn’t taste weird. On the contrary, it was delicious. The meat was slightly salty, and tomatoes were juicy.

I looked at the Mikori to see, if she shared my enthusiasm, and it seemed that she did. She was eating it so fast, that it was hard to even see what she was doing. I didn’t know that someone could eat so fast…

“Were you that hungry Mikori? You should have told me. It’s unhealthy to travel with an empty stomach.” I said, and she blushed a little.

I took us some time to eat those sandwiches, but I wasn’t full at all. I mean, they were tasty, but I could still eat more. It was my first meal of the day, and it seemed that it was the case for Mikori too.

I knew that, and that’s why I said my next words.

“Okay, that’s all for now. I will leave the rest for later. We need to hurry, because we have a very important mission.”

As I was putting the food into the basket, this girl looked at me with embarrassment.

Oh, young one. This was my trap. Now, say the words. Say them. There is no need to work today. It can be just a nice picnic. You know that, and I know that.

“I d-don’t think we need to hurry that much.” she said, and I looked at her.

“B-But Mikori! Weren’t we going to dig a big hole?”

“We have a l-lot of time. We should eat for now. Oh! It’s because we need a lot of energy! You understand?! With a lot of energy, we will dig faster. Yeah, that’s why we should stay here, and eat some more.”

Good Mikori. Come to the dark side.

“Well, if that’s what you say.” I responded, and opened the basket one more time “Then there is nothing I can do.”

As I took one of the chocolate buns, I pondered at how smart I was. Seven intelligence? Please, don’t make me laugh. My five is worth more, than your seven.

Yeah, that’s what I thought, but I didn’t predict one thing.

“Hey, hey, hey Mikori! You can’t eat so fast! Mikori! You are not a hamster! Mikori!” my words had no power.

It was as she didn’t understand them. Stuffing her face with cookies, she looked like a wild animal. When she finally came to her senses, the basket was empty.

“S-Sorry.” she then said, and blushed.

“I wanted to eat those cookies too! Are you a monster of some sort?! A blue monster?!” I shouted, but there was no way she would understand me.

“I’m sorry Ryan. I will pay you back for that, but now we need to get to work. If we are going to dig a big hole, then we need to start now.”

Girls are scary. Girls are really scary.

“Come Ryan! I will show you the place.”

I didn’t have a choice, and I just went after her.