For the time being, they set aside the question of whether he truly was a marebito.
Shuuki was invited inside along with Adriana.
A woman whose features closely resembled Adriana’s waited at the entrance. While her hair was brown, her eyes were a striking emerald green.
"Welcome home, Adriana."
"Mother, I’m home!"
What a kind-looking mother, Shuuki thought with a touch of envy, just as she noticed him.
"Addy, please introduce the person you’ve brought with you."
So her mother calls her Addy, Shuuki mused idly.
"Oh, well, this is Shuuki Tsetse. He’s the one who’s been teaching me all sorts of things."
"I’m Shuuki."
For some reason, Adriana still couldn't pronounce "Tsutsui" correctly, and Shuuki had lately given up on trying to correct her.
"I am Lariana Tierra. It seems my daughter has been in your care."
Her manner was calm, her presence gentle and refined. Shuuki found himself suddenly reminded of his mother back home.
"N-no, not at all. It’s your daughter who has been helping me in so many ways."
"We can’t just stand around here. Please, come in."
"Y-yes."
Adriana’s father and brother scowled behind them, but Lariana ignored them, beckoning Shuuki and leading him further inside.
Though the exterior was a metal dome, the interior looked quite normal.
Of course, Shuuki had no way of knowing what "normal" was in this world; he was merely comparing it to Adriana’s laboratory.
Adriana’s laboratory had, naturally, been built to resemble the interior of this dome-shaped house. In fact, the Tierra Residence could be considered the standard for the region. To be more precise, this house’s interior had served as the model.
"You must be tired. Why don't you take a bath first?"
"A bath...? Yes, I’d love to."
While living at Adriana’s laboratory, they had rarely been able to use the bath to conserve water and fuel, so the offer was a welcome one.
"Well then, Shuuki, see you later!" Adriana said, before breaking away from her father and brother and dashing off to her own room.
"Goodness. She’s as restless as ever."
Lariana watched her daughter leave, then led Shuuki down a side hallway.
"It’s right here. Please, take your time."
The walls were neither metal nor wood, and they certainly weren't stone.
"Synthetic resin... maybe," he muttered.
Back in the Japan of 1963 where Shuuki had lived, plastics were not nearly as ubiquitous as they would later become, so it was no wonder it took him a moment to recognize the material. However, Shuuki was still too ignorant of this world to realize that such materials were an anomaly here.
"Ahhh, that’s the stuff."
Shuuki stretched his limbs in the reasonably large bathtub. During his days in the boarding house, he had frequented the local public baths, so he was quite used to large tubs.
"But it's a strange building."
It reminded him of the "houses of the future" he had seen in children’s magazines, especially with its dome shape. And here, too, there was no soap.
"The level of civilization is so inconsistent..."
Shuuki pondered this, then quickly reconsidered.
"Well, an alternate world wouldn't necessarily follow the same path as Earth..."
In a world with magic, he figured things would naturally develop in an even more distinct direction.
"How should I explain who I am...?"
He worried over the question for a while.
By the time he finished his bath, his clothes had been cleaned. He wasn't sure if it was Cleanup magic or some other method. As if sensing Shuuki had finished his bath, Lariana appeared immediately.
"How was it?"
"Yes, it was a wonderful bath."
"I’m glad to hear that. Dinner will be served shortly, so please, this way."
She guided Shuuki to the dining room—a space roughly the size of twenty tatami mats, with a long rectangular table large enough to seat ten people in the center.
"Please, have a seat."
Shuuki was shown to one of the chairs.
"Y-yes."
He felt completely overwhelmed by Lariana’s easygoing presence.
"You must be hungry. I’ll have dinner ready in just a moment."
Just then, Adriana arrived, having also bathed and changed. Instead of her usual researcher-like attire, she wore a dress with a long skirt that only just revealed the tips of her toes.
"Addy, sit down. Food is almost ready."
"Okay."
Adriana replied, taking the seat next to Shuuki. As she sat, she whispered in a voice only he could hear.
"Shuuki, how do I look?"
Shuuki whispered back.
"...It suits you very well."
Adriana’s cheeks flushed slightly.
"Thanks," she replied softly.
Shortly after, Adriana’s father, Uuvait, and her youngest brother, Donavaagu, arrived and took their seats. Uuvait sat directly across from Shuuki and Adriana, with Donavaagu to his right and Lariana to his left.
"Now then, Shuuki," Uuvait began. "First, let me welcome you."
Uuvait said this without breaking his stern expression, staring straight into Shuuki’s eyes.
"I would like you to provide proof that you are a marebito."
"Father! You still don't believe us?"
Uuvait shook his head.
"Addy, stay quiet."
He turned back to Shuuki. Shuuki let out a sigh and began to speak slowly.
"Well... First of all, I don't recall ever claiming to be a marebito myself."
"What!"
"Wait, Dona."
Uuvait stopped Donavaagu just as he was about to stand up.
"Let's hear him out. Please, continue."
"I am from a country called Japan on Earth. I am a medical student who was living in a boarding house at 64 Azabu Kogaicho, M Ward, Tokyo, the capital."
He said it all in one breath.
"I was heading to a used bookstore on my bicycle to sell the textbooks I’d used through my second year when I was caught in an accident between a Toden tram and a truck at the Kasumicho intersection... and when I came to, your daughter had saved me."
"I see..."
"Your daughter saved me after I was thrown all alone into this world. I can't thank her enough. It’s not exactly a way of paying her back, but I’ve spent my time trying to be of help to her research. In return, she gave me a place to belong in this world where I had none. It is nothing more, and nothing less, than that."
After hearing this, Uuvait looked Shuuki directly in the eye. His gaze was so piercing that Shuuki felt as if his very thoughts were being read.
"...?"
For a split second, Shuuki felt as if his consciousness had flickered out, but it must have been his imagination. Glancing to the side, his eyes met Adriana’s. She was watching him with deep concern.
She gripped his sleeve tightly, repeatedly opening her mouth as if to speak only to close it again, while her brother Donavaagu sat there with a look of intense frustration.