"..."
Last night, I had definitely fallen asleep in my own house.
I'd drifted off while looking at the familiar ceiling from the familiar bed I'd used for nearly three years.
And Aiz had definitely gone back to the Loki Familia.
I still vividly remembered seeing her off all the way to Twilight Manor,
and yet,
why had we woken up outside Orario?
"Haaah..."
"Bellf?"
"What the hell is going on..."
And then,
why were there no traces left behind from where I'd tested magic swords around here?
There should have still been marks from when I tested one a week ago...
"Let's head back first."
"Yeah."
If we returned to Orario first, we'd probably be able to figure something out.
We talked as we made our way to the checkpoint.
Since it was still morning, the checkpoint was quiet, and the guards were yawning lazily.
"W-Why is [Sword Princess] here!?"
"I have some business."
As soon as Aiz stepped into the checkpoint, the guards jolted in surprise.
"And the man beside you is? Could he be—"
"..."
They reacted as if they had no idea who I was at all.
"Another dimension... maybe?"
That made me suspect this place was the other dimension mentioned only in old books.
Stories about other dimensions only ever came up in old books.
A world different from the one we originally lived in, where someone was missing or something had changed.
"Something feels off..."
"If it seems like another dimension, then just think of it that way."
In this place, Aiz was an adventurer known as the Level 5 [Sword Princess], but I apparently wasn't all that famous.
"It doesn't seem like Orario..."
"It is Orario. Just not the Orario we lived in."
Still... how were we supposed to get back?
"Ah!? Aiz-chan! Who's that guy!?"
"Ah..."
After wandering around and thinking for a while, a familiar voice reached my ears.
Even here, that flat-chested god Loki showed up and shouted.
"Hmm... so this Aiz-chan and that fellow came from another dimension?"
We went to a nearby cafe and explained the situation to Loki.
"Yes."
"Yeah."
"Haaah... so you aren't lying after all..."
Loki held her head for a moment, then after thinking it over, she said quietly, "You'll be able to go back soon enough. It happened before too. I think... it was a day? Something like that."
"Thanks, Loki."
"If you're grateful, how about spending today with us? I'm sure our kids would welcome you."
"I've got somewhere else I want to go, so I'll pass."
"Where to?"
"I'm curious how strong I am in this place."
I'd heard she hated magic swords and didn't even make them...