Most people probably know what it's like to feel all alone in the world at least once. But I suspect there aren't many who have felt that same loneliness across two different worlds.
I grew up in a perfectly average household—not wealthy, but certainly not poor—and lived a perfectly average childhood.
For better or for worse, my life was unremarkable. I had no special talents, my grades were slightly above average, and my only real hobby was cooking. There was simply nothing noteworthy about me.
I got along well with both my parents, and I had a decent number of friends. Even without anything special, I spent my days feeling sufficiently fulfilled.
But one day, that peaceful existence shattered without warning.
My mother died suddenly in a car accident. Even that morning, she’d been smiling, giving me her usual "Work harder on your studies" lecture as I left for school.
I never dreamed that would be the last conversation I’d ever have with her. The shock was so great that I couldn't even process it at first... but the one who grieved and suffered even more than I did was my father.
They had married after a whirlwind romance and remained head-over-heels for each other even years later. Perhaps that was why he couldn't face a world without her.
In the end, he became unable to function. He spiraled into alcoholism and eventually vanished into thin air, leaving me behind.
It hadn't even been a year since my mother died. In such a short amount of time, the ordinary happiness I had taken for granted was gone.
I couldn't even think straight. Why? How did this happen? Those were the only thoughts in my head.
Both my maternal and paternal grandparents had already passed away, leaving me truly alone in the world.
Since I wasn't old enough to live on my own, I needed a guardian, but I was shuffled from one relative's house to the next. No one wanted me. I was a burden—and honestly, I couldn't blame them. I wouldn't have wanted to take in a moody high school girl either.
By the time I was slated for a state-appointed guardian, I had no fight left in me. I felt like I was worth nothing to no one. I was truly alone.
Then, out of the blue, I was suddenly summoned to another world to serve as the Hero-role. Despite the confusion, I accepted. There was a small part of me that was just happy to be needed by someone, for any reason.
Everyone treated me with kindness, and over the course of that year, my broken spirit began to heal.
When my duty ended and the time came to choose between returning to my original world or staying, my decision was simple. I didn't want to go back to being alone. I chose to migrate.
But fear immediately set in. Without the title of "Hero," was I just going to be a burden here, too? I didn't even have a goal; I just knew what I was running from.
Chris-san—the current Empress of the Arclesia Empire—was the one who reached out to me. Back then, she was a financial officer, and she listened to my worries with incredible patience.
She suggested that I travel around for a while until I found something I truly wanted to do. She told me she’d found her own answers that way after facing her own struggles.
Following her advice, I set out on a journey with a generous amount of funding she provided. She told me not to hesitate to ask for more if I ran out. Her kindness was a literal lifesaver.
I spent years wandering the world, staying in different cities for months at a time. I worked part-time in kitchens and studied magic, but nothing felt right. Even with so many people being kind to me, I felt like a failure because I couldn't find my place. That familiar loneliness began to creep back in.
After nearly eight years of searching, I found my answer in a remote corner of the Hydra Kingdom. That was where I met a fellow migrant and former Hero-role, Shigenobu Okura—or Shige-san, as I called him.
He was sixty years my senior, but since we were compatriots, we bonded instantly. He invited me over, and his wife treated me to a home-cooked meal. When I tasted the pickles made from vegetables grown in his own garden, I started to cry.
It wasn't sadness. It was just that, after all that time feeling like an outsider in another world, I had found the taste of home.
I didn't want to go back to Earth, but I finally understood that Japan would always be the foundation of my soul.
It was like a fog had lifted. I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to be there for others like me. If more otherworlders chose to stay here in the future, I wanted to talk to them. I wanted to give them the same sense of home Shige-san had given me.
After thanking Shige-san and his wife, I returned to the Empire and told Chris-san I’d found my purpose. She was genuinely thrilled for me. She even dipped into her personal funds to help me settle in the Friendly City, Hikari. I’ll never be able to repay her for everything she’s done.
With her help, I opened a small diner called Suiren. It’s a specialty shop that serves only rice-based set meals, which is quite rare in this world. I hoped that one day, the new Hero-roles would find my shop and stop by.
But I’d overlooked one small thing—mostly because I’m a bit of an idiot. The Hero-role only comes to the Friendly City during the Hero Festival, and they’re way too busy with official duties to go wandering down back alleys for a meal. I should have known; I’d been in their shoes once!
"Ugh... Shige-san only visits about once a year, and I'm dying to talk to someone from home," I groaned to myself. I wanted to talk about Japan. I wanted to show off a little as their senior! I wanted to say, "It's on the house today," and serve them my most expensive meal.
Granted, since it’s a diner, the most expensive thing on the menu only costs about thirteen hundred yen.
Life never quite goes as planned. Maybe I could ask Chris-san to mention my shop to the Hero-roles? No, that was out of the question. She’d done more than enough already. Besides, reaching an Empress isn't exactly easy or cheap.
"I just wish some otherworlder would drop by for some sightseeing..."
Muttering to myself, I began preparing to open the shop.
The crushing loneliness I once carried was gone. Now, I simply felt a pleasant anticipation for the day I’d finally meet a junior from my homeland.
"Alright, time to get to work!"
Kaori Mizuhara Twenty-nine years old. She was the Hero-role summoned immediately before Seigi and now runs the diner Suiren in the Friendly City Hikari. Compared to Akane, who is a success in the business world, or Shigenobu, who was the heir to a major corporation, she has the most commoner-like perspective and sensibilities.
She isn't particularly clever. She has a strong desire to act as a senior figure to her compatriots and constantly hopes for another otherworlder to visit her shop.
She possesses a unique aptitude typical of otherworlders, specifically a talent for water magic. Kuro's previous mention of someone who "can exercise Great Magic despite having a low total magic capacity" was a reference to Kaori.
On the romantic front, she is feeling anxious as she approaches thirty. She often laments the total lack of potential partners in her life.
With her running a shop in Hikari and Kaito scheduled to visit the city with Fate after their trip, a massive flag has been planted.
As it turns out, of the three migrants, Kaori will be the first one to meet Kaito.