Shiroyuki

3: A Day at a Fantasy Village (2)

While roasting each other, James summoned them back to the living room. Wiping their tears of laughter, they made their way there only to see a series of antique objects laid across the table.

James looked at them. "You two look stunning," he complimented before asking them to sit down. They did, and he continued, "So these are my grandfather's possessions," before handing them an old book. "I can't read it, so I thought maybe you could give it a try".

Shiroe accepted the book and opened it up. He swiftly scanned the book before closing it back, faster than Yuki could register any information in her head.

"This is a diary," Shiroe said, "or rather, documentation of your grandfather's adventures. Wait—" he scanned the book again. "Oh," he muttered, "Sorry. It's his friend's diary."

James raised his eyebrows. "I thought it was some important book. I should've expected it to be a diary. But what do you mean his friend's?".

Yuki snatched the book from Shiroe and opened it up. She read the first line and gave up. "It's just lines and dots," she said, dissatisfied as she handed the book back to Shiroe.

He looked at James and continued. "Your grandfather was an adventurer, right? Or at least, someone who likes travelling. This book belonged to his best friend, who was an Outlander."

James bent forward, clasping his hands. "Can you elaborate on that? I never heard him mention someone like that."

Shiroe nodded and read the book written in Morse. He explained that James' grandfather's friend was from Earth, where the two were from. He then read the contents out loud.

"Day 1. I crashed and landed in the forest. Cause of crash: Lighting strike. I don't know where I am, but I managed to salvage my plane before it exploded."

Shiroe skipped several parts. "Day 5. I met natives. Rather, they met me. They spoke a mysterious language I never heard of, but for some reason, I could perfectly understand. I explained my situation, and they brought me back to their village. I was given shelter, food and information. They were friendly."

Shiroe continued reading through the whole thing while Yuki and James listened intently. He closed the book at the end and sighed. "It's just a logbook."

"Is there anything about earth?" Yuki asked to which he shook his head.

During their talk, Mary came and asked the three about what they wanted for lunch. The pair just stated that anything was fine. Before Mary left for the kitchen, Yuki got up and whispered something. Mary nodded and Yuki followed her to the kitchen, leaving Shiroe and James in the living room.

"Hey, Shiroe," James called out, "Can you teach me how to read that?"

"Read what?" Shiroe asked, "This?" raising the book.

"Yes. I want to thoroughly read that as you skipped a lot of parts. Can you teach me?"

"Of course. Hand me a pen and a piece of paper."
-----
After some time, Mary called the two for lunch. Shiroe wrapped up the last bits of Morse, making sure James could easily translate them if he happened to find any.

Upon finishing, they went to the kitchen, where there were numerous dishes served. Half of them were dishes Shiroe had never seen before back on Earth, further reinforcing the fact that they were in a different world. Half of them were similar to Earth's cuisines, perhaps those brought by the previous outlanders.

Shiroe sat at the table with Yuki sitting next to him. Across them were Mary and James on their own chairs.

"Please, enjoy to your heart's content," Mary uttered, "It is a rare occasion for us to have guests from beyond the village". James just nodded, inviting them to taste Mary's cooking.