After finishing her shift, Marina (under the pseudonym ‘Mariabelle’) calls over the mysterious person named Issei Kaido, who suddenly appeared in front of the Castle gates, to her and Lune’s abode. The young man clad in leisurely shorts and a shirt, with weird inscriptions on it and a mysterious rectangular device in his pockets claims he hails from another world, one in which the ‘rules of nature differ from this one’. Marina took interest in him, making sure he and Lune meet as soon as possible to hopefully get Lune back on the right state of mind.

“Well, that’s all for your first day at the job, Mariabelle!” The Prince praised her, “It was quite eventful, what with that ruffian showing up, but you handled the situation pretty well. Just please be sure not to engage in conversation with these types of people. It’s unsafe.”

“Right… I’ll be sure to heed those words very carefully.” Marina said as she started walking back home.

Ugh, this day was soooo tiring! Marina thought, Can’t wait to go back home and take a nice long bath, but before I can do that…

She made sure to walk a way’s away from the castle, and after making sure nobody followed her, she called out the mysterious young man’s name.

“Issei! Oi, Issei! Y’there?”

“Yo!” The young man suddenly appeared from a nearby tree crown, “Issei Kaido reporting for duty! Just as you requested, Maid-san!”

“Maid what now? Come on, I have a name! It’s Mariabelle, be sure to remember that!”

“Ehh, I prefer Maid-san.”

Marina was quite confused with Issei’s comment. To insist on exclusively using a self-imposed nickname for a person you’ve just met, isn’t that kind of rude? Marina thought, but she decided it’s probably unwise to correct him on the matter, so she let it go for now. Even still, the young man felt like he offended her by doing this, so as if to prove he’s not doing it out of any ill will, he reluctantly gave out his reason for calling her that.

“I-It’s just… We’ve just met. Where I’m from, referring to someone by their first name is just something that happens between really close acquaintances, like friends, family and lovers. And even then, we add honorifics at the end.”

Now there’s a word I haven’t heard before, Marina thought.

“Honorifics? What are those?”

“Well, how do I explain it. It’s the –san I added at the end of your nickname, I guess? Depending on your relationship with someone, you’d add either –san, -dono, -senpai, -kouhai or other similar terms to help establish your standing in relation to theirs.”

“That sounds kinda cool, actually? So, what would you call me if not for the nickname?”

Issei put his hand up to his chin as he struck a thinking pose, then quickly pointed his finger at her, “Pandora-chan!”

Marina was bewildered, to say the least. Up until now, she thought he was just some roleplaying weirdo who read too many fiction books, but after hearing this many concrete details about stuff she’s never heard of, she’d have been a fool to not realize he’s speaking the truth by now.

“Whoaa! And what does that mean?”

Issei quickly decided to dodge the question by posing one of his own, “Never mind that. I was meaning to ask you this, but you told me you wanted me to meet someone, would it be alright to know who?”

“Ah, he’s this really cool guy who’s been feeling a bit under the weather recently because of some… events that transpired. He’s been holed up in his room for a while now, doing nothing but tinkering away at his desk, and I can’t seem to make him get out.”

“Ah! That’s a classic case of ‘shut-in NEET syndrome’! Trust me, I would know.”

“Shut-in… what now?”

“NEET. It stands for ‘Not in Education, Employment or Training’. It basically means he’s seen what the world has to offer, and isn’t really happy with how it’s treated him anymore. Sound familiar?”

Marina couldn’t believe it, but this complete stranger and weirdo absolutely hit the nail on the head in terms of Lune. Even still, she didn’t really like him being referred to as such, something about it felt demeaning in a way.

“Well yes, I do suppose Lune has been acting like that. But then how did you cure your ‘NEET syndrome’?”

“Me? Well, my parents forced me to attend the school trip with the others. I was planning on going back home to continue my sweet cushy life of being holed up in my room, but then I saw that mysterious something on top of the Pyramid and was sent here.”

“…And that cured your condition how exactly?”

“Well, I can’t go back home now, can’t I?”

Marina understood where this guy was coming from. Being homesick is something that all three of them shared in common (Lune especially). So if this is the case, then that means Lune would have to be ripped apart from his home here? But even now the inn he’s staying at isn’t his ‘true home’, so where could Marina send him off to that’d suffice? Well, his true home, obviously, but they don’t have the funds for that. In fact, that’s why she’s even working here at the Grys Castle. So where?

“Okay, we’re here!” Marina creaked open the front door, “Hm? Lune’s usually quite vocal, could he be asleep at this hour?”

Just then, the absolute silence in the house was completely shattered as they heard a loud boom, followed by a strong scream of rage being suppressed in a way that made it barely audible.

***

“Lune?! Is everything okay?”

“Why why why?! Why won’t you work dammit! Stupid piece of junk…! Eh, Marina? Who’s that guy?”

“Yo, Kaido Issei, pleased to meet your acquaintance!”

“Uh, Lune Grimheart, likewise… Marina, mind filling in the blanks here?”

“Well, even I’m not sure if his story is true or not, but I still thought I should at least introduce you to him. You seem like you’d get excited over this.”

Upon hearing these words, all sorts of possibilities and ideas began festering in Lune’s head. He was unsure as to how to conduct himself, unsure if he should even react to whatever Marina had to say. Is it something good? Something bad? He held his breath as he decided to stand up from his seat and face the two head on, recalling what his father taught him in proper etiquette.

“Lay it on me.”

“Okay!” Issei went to shake his hand, “Congrats, you’re the first person to touch someone from another world!”

At these words, Lune’s previous suppressed rage had all but dissipated, and was instead turned into a feeling quite similar to childish wonder. For a millisecond, his eyes flashed green, but he of course didn’t know this.

“Another world!? Huh?! But wait, does that mean other worlds actually exist? And you can travel between them!? How’d you do that, you’ve gotta teach me! Thank you Prylos for sending this person my way!!!”

While Lune was busy giving his regards to the God of Medi(t)ation, Marina was all too dissatisfied with her equivalent lack of praise.

“Ahem, if you’re gonna thank someone for letting this guy into our home, shouldn’t it be me then?”

“Oh, you’re right!” Lune struck his forehead with an audible smack, “Thank you Prylos for sending Marina to me, who in turn sent this guy here!”

After witnessing this exchange, you’d have to be a stone-faced god to not crack up with a gentle smile. That being said, our dear Issei was no such god.

“Phahahah! What is this, some sort of play? Heh, Prylos, what a weird name…”

“Oi, that’s our God’s name you’re making fun of! Take that back!”

“Eh?! Oh right, you guys don’t believe in Buddha or Christ or any of that stuff here! Doy, I’m such an idiot. Apologies for the insincerity!” Issei said while prostrating himself in a dogeza.

“What are you-ehh, never mind. You just said you’re from another world, so I guess you not knowing about the Gods of this world is a given.”

“Right, so could I bother you by asking how religion works here, exactly? Got any traditions or important cultural things I should be wary of?”

“Well,” Lune started explaining, “Basically, we’ve got 4 Gods. These Gods are:

Fighting God Auros, Knowledge God Selzion, Water God Allucius and The aforementioned Meditation God Prylos.

They all have their followers, but I don’t think anyone idolizes them to the point of it being a religion.”

“So they’re more like Guardian Deities then?”

“Yeah, that’s a good way to look at it.” Lune then grabbed a map from which he’d explain the situation a bit more clearly, ”Each one of them governs a specific part of the map. Prylos takes care of Entropa, Auros governs of Sulfury, Allucius nurtures Cardina, and Selzion teaches in Simpleton.”

After Lune finished explaining, he turned to see Issei in a somewhat trance-like state. He was staring into the pyramid-like symbol found smack dab in the middle of Abyssus Solis.

“Found something interesting?” Lune inquired.

“Hmm? Oh no, I’m just admiring how vast this world is. By the way, where are we right now?”

“Sigh, right now we’re in Cardina, I’m afraid. If you don’t even know that, then you’re probably just as hopeless as us.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, none of us know any Cardinic, we’re just barely scraping because the Gryses are polyglots.”

While Lune was weakly explaining the situation to Issei, Marina suddenly popped her head out of the bathroom (wearing nothing but a towel, of course).

“Now that you mention it, if you’re from another world, then how come you understand us?”

“You’re speaking English, no? I mean, I know I’m Japanese, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only language I know!” Issei then gently closed the door that divided the hallway and living room, “And by the way, Maid-san, don’t just walk around naked! Teenagers at the apex of puberty are present!”

While it couldn’t be seen, it could be accurately guessed that Marina was smirking on the other side of the door, “Pfft! Like you two would do anything! In fact, I’m gonna take off my robes right now, and I guarantee neither one of you’s gonna open the doo-!”

*slam*

Before she could even properly finish her sentence, Lune had already slammed open the door, revealing…!

“…Liar.”

“Heh, did I get your hopes up?”

“Nah, I knew you didn’t have the guts to do it. That’s the only reason I opened the door, dummy.”

Marina was a bit mad that her teasing was actually predicted and diffused by Lune without him even breaking a sweat. Then again, these two have spent a lot of time together by now, so it’s no surprise that he already knew how to parry her attacks. Issei on the other hand nearly had a heart attack from the implied expectations.

“…Never mind that.” Marina continued their previous topic, “Issei, what is this English you speak of? Is it another language from your homeworld?”

“Well, what we’re speaking right now is English.”

“Really? We call it Entropic. It’s mainly spoken in Entropa, hence the name, but it sort of serves as a universal language, since most everyone can at least get by with it wherever they are. Then again, it depends on how lucky you are with your encounters…”

After realizing that they share a language, albeit under a different name, they start to wonder what else is similar between them. Just then, Lune gets an idea and takes the Firestarter Pistol he’s been fixing for the last few days from his desk and shows it to Issei.

“Y’know what this is, then?”

“Whoa whoa! Don’t go pointing a gun at me all of a sudden, that’s dangerous! Have you no sense of gun-safety!?”

Instead of the usual retort he was expecting, Issei was met with nothing but silence. Looking around the room, he saw Marina stand there, utterly flabbergasted at him and Lune, beginning to tear up after hearing his words.

“I-Is everything alright? Hey, what’s going on?”

“You… you know what this is?”

“It’s a gun, right? Looks like a handmade pistol, though. It’s really shoddy, it’d break if you fired it off even once. And I really don’t know what that wick near the handle is supposed to be-”

“CAN YOU HELP ME PERFECT IT?!” Lune immediately grabbed him by the shoulders.

“E-Eh?! Sure! I used to play Call of Duty a lot, so I know the schematics of a lot of guns. That being said, this looks like it uses musket balls. Quite archaic, I think Assassin’s Creed would be way more fitting to use as a reference.”

While Lune was dancing around happily, still holding Issei by the hands, from the corner of the room stood a young girl clad in nothing but a towel. She wept, for this was the first time in a long time she saw the person she held dearest in this world crack a most genuine smile. The countless horrible months of looking like he’s hit rock bottom had finally felt like they’d cleared up, and he has now found a proper way to express himself, as well as a person who could genuinely understand him and his hobbies, and this was immediately personified the moment he opened his eyes.

“Huh? Weren’t your eyes brown just now?”

Lune didn’t quite understand the meaning behind Issei’s words, but after quickly taking a glance at his reflection from the metal barrel of his pistol, he understood everything.

“My eyes, I see... I converted from being a Brown Iro… to a Blue Iro.”