What, Failure to Transition!? Volume 5 Chapter 1 (Patreon)

Chapter 1 – TOKOROTEN Start!

Meilgrad is divided into three main districts.

The “Upper District”, where the nobility and the wealthy live, the “Commercial District”, where many shops stand side by side, and the “Lower District”, where the general population resides.

In the Lower District, there is also a semi-lawless area called the “favela”, although its existence is not officially recognized by the city itself.

There is a very small area on the border between the Lower District and the favela. This is called the “Second District”.

The origin of the name “Second District” was unknown, but it was said to be more dangerous than the favelas.

Yoichi walked with Karin and Misato in this Second District, guided by Alana.

The place seemed as dangerous as the rumors said, and the strange looks of the inhabitants made Yoichi’s crotch shrink.

Had he been alone, he would have run away immediately.

In comparison to the favelas, or rather the Lower District in general, their streets were clean, but the atmosphere there was bizarre.

“Mister Yoichi, we’re here,” Alana said as she pointed to a building.

The building was in what could be called the innermost part of the Second District.

It was much larger than the other buildings and was decorated with exquisite and magnificent designs.

Alana did not hesitate to enter the place, which could be described as a nobleman’s mansion, and knocked on the door.

Yoichi stood uneasily, but Misato, standing next to him, held his hand to calm him down.

As for Karin, she looked at Yoichi with a wicked smile on her face.

“It’s me, Alana.”

“Yees~, a minute~~”

A reply came from the back of the room, and after a while, a person who seemed to be the resident appeared.

“Here I am~. Sorry to keep you waiting~”

Yoichi’s eyes were drawn to the figure stumbling in front of him.

“She” had long, light blonde hair in twin tails and was wearing a pink dress with ruffles everywhere.

“Her” eyebrows were twice the size of Yoichi’s and “she” had a deeply chiseled face, large blue eyes and a high nose.

“Her” jaw was split down the middle, and “her” cheeks were covered with a faint beard.

Over two meters tall, with broad shoulders and thick chest muscles.

And arms as thick and powerful as Alana’s thighs.

“Alana~. You’re still as beautiful as the last time I saw you~. Oh, and Karin and Misato came back too~”

The person with the magnificent physique called to Alana in a high-pitched voice – but clearly lower and louder than Yoichi’s, if only compared to “her” natural voice, as one can imagine from “her” appearance.

“She” ran up to her and gave her a light hug.

Alana also ran to “her” and hugged “her” lightly and said, “It’s good to see you again, Kathryn. I’m glad you’re well.”

“Fufufu, you too.”

“Thanks for your help the other day.”

(Wait. That’s Kathryn!?)

While Yoichi was inwardly surprised to see the ‘woman’, who was far too different from the beautiful casino dealer with the same sounding name, the person called Kathryn, who had just finished her exchange with Alana, turned her attention to Karin and Misato.

“Karin, Misato, how’s your equipment?”

“I haven’t used it in battle yet, but it’s very comfortable, and of course the design is beautiful.”

“I like it. I like it very much.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

After exchanging a few more hugs with the other two, Kathryn looked at Yoichi.

“Hey, is that the most important person you were talking about the other day?”

“Yes.”

Kathryn said it teasingly as a joke, but was surprised to get a straight yes from Alana.

Finally, she(?) let tears fall from her eyes and hugged Alana with a smile.

“Finally…! At last, the prince on the white horse who could steal the heart of a princess knight has appeared!”

“Aha…ha…he’s not really a prince on a white horse, but it’s true that he stole my heart. Also, that hurts.”

“Ah, sorry~.”

Kathryn released Alana and wiped away her tears with a smile.

“But gosh, since you’re responding to my teasing of your sweetheart with such a straight face, even I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed in return.”

Kathryn then turned to Yoichi and held out her hand.

“I’m Kathryn. Nice to meet you, Alana’s precious.”

Ah, nice to meet you too. I’m Yoichi.”

Yoichi also reached out his hand and shook it in return.

“But to keep three amazing beauties for yourself, aren’t you a smooth gentleman?”

“Ahahaha…ha…”

The hand, which was about twice as big as Yoichi’s, was sturdy and knobby.

(Oh, what a strong hand, as expected from a craftsman.)

As Yoichi thought about this, Kathryn, who had been staring at Yoichi with a straight face for a while, suddenly relaxed her expression.

“Let’s treat each other well from now on, Yoichi.”

Then, after shaking hands, Kathryn brings her face close to Alana’s ear.

“Isn’t he a nice guy?”

“I don’t deny it, but you just met him, didn’t you?”

“Ufufu, I know what I am talking about. Or should I say ‘we know’? Just look at your smug face, sister.”

Alana is now looking at Kathryn with her eyes half open, a slight smile on her lips.

As for Kathryn, she also looks happy for some reason.

“Muuu, don’t you dare flirt with Mister Yoichi, okay? He’s mine.”

“My, my, are you keeping us in check already? As expected from the Princess Knight of Meilgrad.”

The Second District is full of people like Kathryn – hereafter referred to as “OTOME” in Yoichi’s country.[1]

Because of their appearance and character, the “Otome” are often persecuted by many, especially men.

But in such a situation, Yoichi was able to shake Kathryn’s hand without hesitation and even introduce himself naturally.

“That’s not easy,” Kathryn thought.

Of course, it was possible because of the cultural differences between the two people.

In the world where Yoichi lives, “Otome” may be shunned, but they still have a certain amount of citizenship, and if you turn on the TV and watch a channel, you will see that they are always on the air, no matter what time of day it is.

Above all,

(Blacksmiths, armorers and craftsmen of the same trade being “otome” is a common trope in Japanese fiction).

So it was no problem for Yoichi, who had enough sense of values to nod at Karin’s whisper, to at least introduce himself to Kathryn.

“So, what can I do for you today?”

“Well, I was hoping you could help me find some protective gear for Mister Yoichi over here.”

“Oh dear. Thank you for your patronage as always.”

Alana then asked Yoichi to tell Kathryn what he wanted.

“I see, so you have no qualms about wearing a robe. …and you’re mainly a long-range attacker, so you don’t move much. But this robe, although the fabric is quite nice, doesn’t really do anything, does it?”

Yoichi gave Kathryn his cosplay robe as a reference.

“Let’s get your measurements first.”

And took the measurements she did.

Although Yoichi didn’t want Kathryn to touch too much here and there, he also thought it would be rude to resist at this point, so he meekly agreed to be measured.

“My goodness. Aren’t you the sexy one? You have a better body than I thought.”

“Your skin is so smooth. I wonder how you take care of it?”

“‘No way, it looks so cute when it’s all shrunk up. But I wonder how big you get at night?”

Although he felt as if he had been touched in various unnecessary places, Yoichi decided not to worry about it.

“How much is your budget?”

“Well, not much more than two platinum coins.”

“In that case, I’ll just get the leather ones. If you want to spend more, you can order our metal ones. I’ll make them for you at a reasonable price.”

“But aren’t metal armors unsuitable for exploring the forest?”

“Don’t worry. We have a close relationship with the best alchemist in town.”

I see. So, it has a magic enchantment?”

“Correct. Still, metal armor enchanted with magic like Alana’s is incomparably expensive. And since Sam, who only makes custom-made armor for the user here, is currently unavailable, it is impossible to order a custom-made enchantment at the moment, just the general ones.”

It seems that the name of the alchemist Kathryn is familiar with is Sam Smith. Yoichi made a mental note.

“It’s a very fitting name.”

“Indeed.”

“Must be a tall, burly, bearded old dwarf or something.”

“Yes. And stubborn too.”

Yoichi, Karin and Misato had such a conversation later.

The items prepared for Yoichi were all reasonably priced, high-quality items made from materials processed from monsters.

The first item was a robe.

It has an enchantment to control temperature and humidity, making it possible to stay comfortable without being affected too much by the outside environment.

One piece is worth one platinum gold coin.

“I heard that you mainly cover fire from behind, so you don’t need all those fancy armor, right?”

Up to now, Yoichi had worn military equipment because he dealt with guns and other long-range weapons, so his outfit wasn’t really necessary, but he decided to change it altogether to match the norm in this other world.

With that, Yoichi asked for something like leather elbow and knee pads, which he thought would be necessary for kneeling and prone shooting, where you support yourself on your elbows while lying on your stomach.

Even though it’s “leather”, it’s from a high-ranking monster, which makes it almost as hard as steel.

“With these knee pads, you’ll also need these shin guards. From a coordination point of view”.

So he decided to add shin guards as well.

For his innerwear, that is, clothes under his robe, Yoichi asked for a cut-and-sew turtleneck and chinos.

The shirts he was given are made of cloth woven from the threads of spider and sheep monsters, and are said to provide the same level of protection as chain mail.

He was also given gloves with a magical effect that dampened blows to a certain extent.

This effect was intended to reduce stress when handling blunt weapons such as maces and hammers, but it should also be effective in reducing the recoil of gunfire.

The armor and inner clothing cost about one gold coin each.

(Let’s see, about 1.5 million yen for all of them? Is that expensive? Or cheap?)

By the way, Yoichi found out later that if one wanted the same caliber of equipment in an armory shop in the business district, they would have to pay more than twice as much.

In some shops, it was not uncommon to be charged three platinum coins just for a temperature-controlled robe.

Although he was unsure of the market price, he trusted Kathryn, who was on good terms with Alana, and paid the asking price and received the armor.

At this point, [Appraisal+] should have come into play, but for Yoichi, this skill was perceived as a system to support intelligence and combat, and he had forgotten the original function of “Appraisal”, which, as the word implies, determines the value of things.

However, this does not mean that there is something wrong with it.

Apart from that, there are also a few employees in the establishment, working crisply and efficiently, but without exception, they are also otome, and some of them couldn’t help but cast sideways glances at Yoichi and his figure.

“Well then. Shall we proceed with the fitting? Armor means nothing if it doesn’t fit. And you have to make sure that it fits properly without any loose ends, otherwise it will undermine the safety of the user.”

“Ufufufu. I’ve heard that line before. Well, we’d better go and change as well.”

“See you later, Yoichi.”

Seeing Karin and Misato disappear and entering a fitting room in the shop, Yoichi put on the new protective gear that had been prepared for him.

As he put on the robe, he felt the slightly chilly weather become warmer.

It was not a warmth caused by the clothes, but a feeling like entering an air-conditioned room.

My goodness. Look at you, all manly at once, don’t you think?”

“Hm, it suits you, Mister Yoichi.”

Yoichi checked his appearance in the mirror Kathryn had prepared for him.

(“Mage-ish”? Well, I’m a rearguard, mainly a long-range attacker, so my role is similar).

Yoichi is impressed by his reflection.

Simple inner clothing and little armor. With a cloak on top of that, it is true that he does look like a mage now.

At first, he found the color of the innerwear a little bland. They were also a bit big at first.

But after Kathryn made some adjustments by cutting and sewing on the hem and sleeves, it no longer looked unnatural to Yoichi.

“Sorry to keep you waiting~”

“Um. Sorry to keep you waiting.”

While this was happening, Karin and Misato finished getting dressed and emerged from the back of the shop.

“Oooh!!”

Yoichi’s mouth was full of admiration at the sight of them.

“Uh… how do I look?”

Karin was wearing a cloth chest protector draped over a white inner wear.

Her hands and legs were covered by long gloves that also served as armguards and long boots that went over the knees, leaving only her arms and thighs exposed.

The chest protector, the long gloves and the long boots were all made of charcoal grey fabric with white trim, but what stood out was the dark red miniskirt which gave a slight accent to the overall monochrome outfit.

“Um… do you like it?”

Misato was wearing a blue-grey robe.

The overall coloring was rather plain, but the ivory-colored decorations around the edges and the light blue jewels on her chest gave the impression that it was not so plain at all.

Her robe was wide open at the front from the waist down, revealing long boots that came to just below her knees, over-the-knee stockings and a black miniskirt that draped down her white thighs.

“Yes. They both look good on you.”

“Eh… is that so? But Yoichi’s masculinity has gone up too, hasn’t it?”

“Um, thanks. You look cool too, Yoichi.”

Meanwhile, Alana and Kathryn smiled warmly as they watched the three of them getting embarrassed and praising each other in three different ways.

“All right, now that we’re all equipped, let’s see if we can get some requests started, shall we?”

After waiting for the mood to settle, Alana walked up to them and spoke.

“Okay.”

The three gave the same answer.

As the four were about to leave the armory, Kathryn stood in front of them, spreading her arms slightly.

“Take care of yourselves.”

Apparently wanting a bear hug, Alana gave it as she always did, and Karin and Misato also accepted Kathryn very naturally.

“Kathryn, thank you very much.”

Yoichi also accepted her hug without any particular resistance.

At first, he addressed her in a formal way, but Kathryn didn’t like that, so he stopped.

And with Kathryn’s unique communication skills as an Otome, combined with Yoichi’s nonchalant attitude towards their kind, they soon became comfortable talking to each other.

〇●〇●

Yoichi and the girls are now riding in a carriage to the Jana Forest.

Alana and Yoichi had started a regular party and called it TOKOROTEN, but it had been inactive since its founding for various reasons, and had only become active again with the addition of Karin and Misato.

“How do we get to the Jana Forest? Do you want me to take out a car?”

“ Umu. That would be great—”

“Eeeh? Why don’t we do it the otherworldly way since we’re here?”

“Um, that… I’m in favor of that too. How do you usually travel to the forest in this world?”

“Hmmm… we usually use free riding carriages…”

“Then let’s do that!”

After this exchange, the four TOKOROTEN members were now riding in a carriage provided by the guild.

Unlike the one Alana and Yoichi had ridden in the other day, this time the carriage was a cheap one provided by the Adventurers’ Guild.

Although it was as spacious as the last one, it was not very comfortable to ride in, as it had only a modest vibration-reducing effect.

However, the four of them were able to ride it without feeling dizzy, probably due to the [Health Body α(β)].

It would take a whole day to reach the Jana Forest from Meilgrad on foot, but only a few hours by horse-drawn carriage.

Most adventurers heading for the forest used this cheap means of transport, except for those who had special requests, such as the survey team.

If they leave early in the morning, they may be able to reach the forest before sunset. Afterwards, they could choose to camp in the forest and pick up a return carriage the next day or a few days later to return to Meilgrad.

Yoichi and the others took an early morning carriage ride, but for today they are planning to make a day trip.

Departures are not scheduled, but take place sequentially once the passengers have gathered to a certain number, and each carriage can hold more than a dozen people.

This meant that in addition to the four TOKOROTEN members, there were about ten other people of the same profession sharing this carriage.

(Ugh… their gaze hurts…)

Alana’s popularity in Meilgrad was enormous, almost at the level of an idol.

Therefore, the news that Alana and Yoichi had formed a regular party – not a temporary one, but a “permanent” one – was already a well-known story in the city.

However, the story of Yoichi’s complete “massacre” of the Red Flash Graff, who was regarded as a hero in the making, also became a matter of note.

So even though the whole thing with Yoichi and Alana forming a party was uncomfortable for them, they don’t complain too much about it.

Still…

“What’s with you having two other women in the group? Who do you think you are? Are you a harem protagonist? Are you the second coming of Graff? I’m so jealous!” That was the general consensus among the adventurers on board.

Yoichi had no intention of being put in such a situation.

Thankfully or not, he was also the man who had driven Graff out of the borderlands by literally beating him into a pulp, so they couldn’t mess with him.

Most of all, they feared making Alana, their idol, hate them.

But this was not all bad.

Perhaps because Yoichi had shown them a terrifying ability that was still unknown to them, they also took a step back from Misato and Karin, two mysterious newcomers who now accompanied Alana, and gave them the same treatment as he had.

The adventurers were afraid that if they made a bad move, they would end up in the same situation as Graff, or worse, literally be turned into meat paste in real life, so they were content to just stare at Yoichi.

Yoichi, of course, was not happy to have such stares directed at him.

(…I’ll bring the car next time. Definitely.)

The car he had just bought in Japan and was about to take out for a spin was an SUV designed for driving around town.

Since it was also designed for rough roads, it would not be difficult for Yoichi to cross the rocky desert with it, or so he thought. That’s why he couldn’t help but stare at the landscape outside the window, ignoring the looks of the other adventurers.

(Should I talk to Charlotte about this?)

After all, the city of casinos is surrounded by a rocky desert, so a car that could drive there should be capable of driving through the remote wilderness here.

Yoichi hoped that would be the case.

〇●〇●

Thud.

A goblin’s head rolls off.

Moments later, its headless body also falls with a thump.

“Nice work.”

“I… did that…?”

Alana mutters next, while Misato looks back and forth between Alana and Yoichi, as if she couldn’t realize what had happened.

Misato’s spell had dropped the goblin’s head with the blade of wind she had released.

“Gegigi!?” “Gegugyagugyagugyaaa!!”

“Don’t let your guard down! We’re not done yet!”

Soon after arriving, TOKOROTEN split off from the rest of the party to explore the forest, and shortly after entered into a battle with the goblins, who had appeared in a pack of five.

As of this moment, only one of the goblins has been defeated, while the other four are still alive.

The goblins were confused by the sudden loss of their companion’s head, but they quickly recovered and began to rant, casting hostile glances at Misato, their comrade’s killer.

“Eh… ahh…”

Misato, perhaps puzzled by the fact that she had so easily taken the life of a living creature even though she was dealing with a monster, gave Yoichi and Alana a look that seemed to ask for help.

Meanwhile, the goblins came rushing towards them.

“Leave it to me!!”

Karin, who was holding a compound bow next to Misato, released an arrow. It lodged between the eyebrows of the goblin at the far end.

At the same time, she nocked a second arrow.

“Kuh…!”

But the arrow that followed only grazed another goblin’s temple, making only a small wound.

Her hand seemed to have gone haywire.

It seemed that Karin was also more than a little upset that she had taken a life, even if it was a monster.

“Geegee-gee!”

“Geegiggitya! Giggitya!”

“Giggity!!”

The three surviving goblins were still closing in on the two.

Alana stood in front of Karin and Misato and braced herself, and at the same time, bang, bang, two gunshots rang out.

Two more goblins fell, bleeding from between their eyes.

Immediately after, a battleax thrown by Alana sliced through the remaining goblin, wiping out the enemy pack.

“Karin, Misato, are you okay?”

Y-yeah… I’m fine.”

Karin weakly answered Yoichi’s question. Misato, on the other hand, continued to stare blankly at the goblin corpse.

Then her face turned pale and her breathing became more and more labored.

Karin was smiling, perhaps trying not to worry Yoichi, but her mouth was also trembling slightly, her face also pale and her breathing irregular.

Yoichi could no longer stand by and watch Karin and Misato in silence, so he pulled them both into a tight embrace.

“Au…” “Ahh…”

They were both confused at first, but eventually they calmed down.

Realizing that they were safe now, they wrapped their arms around Yoichi’s body and hugged each other tightly.

“It’s going to be all right. I’m going to hold you like this until you calm down.”

“Ahh… uu… fu… fuh….”

Misato tried to say something, but her voice failed her, so she just buried her face in Yoichi’s chest without saying a word.

“S-sorry… and… thank… you….”

Karin still managed to get the words out, but after that she closed her mouth and clung to Yoichi.

Alana watched the three of them with a calm expression, keeping a wary eye on the surroundings.

(Well, I was the same at first.)

When you kill a goblin or any humanoid monster, most people are shocked in their own way.

Most people recover from it within a few days, but some never recover and even stop adventuring altogether.

In Misato’s case, an enemy appeared and she simply cast a spell that killed it, but to see the head of a humanoid creature fall off in front of her might have been quite a shock.

The action she had taken without thinking too much about it had resulted in something close to if not murder, and her mind had probably not been able to process the consequences.

Karin had dealt with thugs in the casino city the other day, so she had been a little careless, thinking it would be easy, but she hadn’t expected the difference between incapacitating a person and killing them outright – even though they weren’t “human” at all – to be so great.

Yes, she had some “combat experience” at the time, shooting them in the shoulder or leg to stop them from moving, but she had not actually taken a life.

So the sight of her own arrow actually taking the life of a humanoid creature was more shocking than she had expected.

Karin and Misato suffered from mild panic, but fortunately they have [Healthy Body β].

As they were hugged by Yoichi and felt his presence close to them, the disturbance in their minds gradually subsided as they regulated their breathing.

Soon, they were back to normal.

“Thanks… I’m fine now.”

“Um… I’m… fine now too. Sorry…”

As the two tried to separate, Yoichi let go of his arm as well.

“There’s nothing for you to apologize for. So, what are you going to do? Should we call it a day?”

“Umu. There is no need to hunt monsters in a hurry or to try too hard. It’s not like we have a goal or anything. Just do it at your own pace.”

But at Yoichi and Alana’s words, Karin and Misato shook their heads simultaneously.

“I’m fine now, really.”

“Me too. You don’t have to hold us back.”

And so, Yoichi and Alana, judging from the expressions on Karin and Misato’s faces that there was no problem, decided to continue the hunt.

The hunt went smoothly as Yoichi used his [Appraisal+] to efficiently search for monsters.

One by one, the familiar Spear Rabbit, Forest Hound, and Goblins were defeated, as well as Goblins, Orcs, and other humanoid monsters.

Since the main objective this time was to train Karin and Misato, they used the basic tactic of the two of them striking first with arrows and magic, and then Yoichi and Alana killing those they could not defeat.

They had no problem defeating the beast-type monsters, and thanks to their previous experience with goblins, it wasn’t long before the humanoid-type monsters didn’t bother them as much as they had at first.

After a few hours, the two of them were able to hunt and kill any type of monster without hesitation.

On the contrary, with each monster they killed, their spirits were lifted and their breathing became ragged, in a different way than at the beginning.

Translator Notes:

[1]. OTOME (オトメ). I used the term as it is in the novel, because I couldn’t really find anything about it that correlates with the Japanese LGBTQ+ community. If I go by the dictionary, the word Otome (乙女) is synonymous to Shoujo（少女）which means “young maiden/young girl/ girls who are in between 7-18 years of age,” which is clearly, by definition, does not coincide with Kathryn at all, but I will keep the term anyways.↰

Again, I’m not educated with the LGBTQ+ lingo in Japanese community, so I can’t make assumptions to this (Also, assuming gender? Oh no. Burn the author in the stake, not me). The only thing I can say is, Japan being an Extremist Traditionalist Country run by old boomers (read as RULED), of which segregation (by family roots) and with discrimination (for any reason – “the tree who stands the tallest gets hit by the axe” – meaning you will be put down if you stand up for yourself) being a part of their culture, the gay people there is almost as dead as their youth. They’re even denied blood donation and must undergo a 6-month abstinence from sex, while men and women in normal relationships don’t. So let that sink in. Pretty ironic for a country who who has even romanticized homosexuality in their history.

[2]. By the way, I have just gotten the Beginning Novels Edition (volume 2) of the novel, which covers Books 3 and 4 of Osiris Bunko version. They came with extra Illustrations:

Beginning Novels Edition Book 2 Cover Page

Beginning Novels Edition Book 2 Alternate Cover

First Scene with Alana (Volume 2 Prologue)

Misato’s Return (Volume 2 Epilogue)

Yoichi using [Infinite Storage+] to strip Karin (Volume 3 Chapter 5)

Alana Sallis Character Introduction (I think I have mistranslated Sallis as Sarris. It will be corrected in the later chapters.)

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