The shrine’s door was narrow, and it was difficult for the giant Kanou to pass through, but somehow, he managed to make it to this world. Just to be safe, he turned around to check and saw a door of the same size as the shrine embedded in a tree trunk, though its shape was different.

When he experimentally opened it, he could see the torii gate of the shrine he had just been in.

Kanou slipped the key into his pocket and stepped into the other world.

“I see. But how did you know this was another world? Oh, hold out your hand for a second.”

Mika grabbed Kanou’s plump right hand and called for Dada.

Dada, who had been watching from the trees, flew down with a small, pebble-like translation magic tool.

“Aaaaaah, Angel-tan!”

Kanou let out a strange cry, startling Dada, who flinched and flew back. Mika held Kanou’s hand firmly, telling him to stay still. Then she called Dada again and had him place the magic tool on Kanou’s palm so he could understand their words.

“There, now you can understand us. What’s this about an angel?”

“R-Right now! There’s an angel with wings right here!”

Kanou pointed excitedly and shouted, making Dada retreat a little again. Mika glanced at the birdcage and insect net and nodded in understanding.

“I get it. You saw a birdfolk here and tried to catch them, didn’t you?”

Now it was Mika’s turn to explain things about this world.

She briefly recounted her own experiences so far, explained the humans of this world, and then called Zurah and Gatt to introduce them to Kanou.

“Well, this is Kanou-kun. He’s a human, just like me. This is Zurah, a lizardman—she’s a girl. And this is Gatt, a kobold. Cute, right? Though he’s a boy. And this is Dada, a birdfolk—also a boy.”

“I’m Zurah. Nice to meet you, Mika’s friend. An orc… no, an ogre, perhaps?”

“……”

“Gatt.”

“I’m Dada. Pleased to meet you.”

“The angel-tan talked… and it’s a boy…”

Kanou slumped to his knees, staring at Dada with a complicated expression.

The reason Kanou had been so certain this was another world was because of the birdfolk.

This village was roughly half birdfolk and half fairyfolk, with only one lizardman family. When he first saw the birdfolk, he was so struck by their beauty that he tried to catch one and take it home. In the process of chasing them around, he ended up wrecking many of the village’s houses and trampling their fields.

When he saw a lizardman man trying to help a birdfolk girl, Kanou mistook him for a monster attacking the birdfolk. In a panic, he grabbed a nearby stick and swung it around, managing to drive off the “giant lizard.”

“So, in other words, Kanou-kun attacked the villagers by mistake and destroyed a bunch of houses and fields.”

“I didn’t know…”

“You didn’t know, but now that you do, how do you feel?”

“……I’m sorry.”

Kanou hung his head, shrinking as if he might disappear into himself. Mika patted his back comfortingly, like soothing a child.

“But at least no one died. That’s good. I’ll apologize with you, so let’s go meet the villagers, okay?”

In reality, Mika herself had been called an ogre and had attacked adventurers at the bottom of a dungeon in this world—but she decided to set that aside for now.