"Mmm... what's this?"

A high-pitched voice.

"...Pleased to meet you."

"Huh? Where is this~?"

She sat up. Then she turned her face away from me.

"My mansion, or it should be."

"Oh, sorry for intrudin'."

After glancing around a bit, she turned back to me. Her face looked completely drained.

"Aah... my heaad hurts~..."

With those words, she started to collapse again. Her movements seemed to lack any will or strength.

This is bad. In that position, she'll hit her forehead on the floor.

By the time I thought that, my hand had already shot out.

On the back of my hand, the hard, slightly cold sensation of stone... On my palm, the warm feeling of a forehead and what seemed to be hair.

I recall touching a fabric with a similar texture somewhere long ago. Was it a tribute from the humans?

But more than that, the problem was that I couldn't move my hand away.

It seemed she had fallen asleep again; I could feel the rhythmic sound of her breathing against my palm. I found myself not wanting to disturb it.

If it's a bother, I should just move my hand. Why did I even reach out in the first place?

...Why, I wonder? I don't know.

But watching her sleep, I start to think that this is fine for now. I start to think I should let her rest peacefully like this.

As long as I felt that way, I decided to follow that inner voice.

When I came to my senses, the surroundings were beginning to lighten. It seemed dawn was about to break.

"...Nnngh..."

Perhaps a little light had slipped past her eyelids; the rhythm of her breathing broke.

She twisted her body as if to turn over. Her hair rustled against my hand, tickling it.

Come to think of it, I must have tossed my gloves somewhere. To not be wearing gloves in normal times is, I must admit, a bit improper of me, but because of that, I was able to savor this sensation, so I'll consider it a good thing.

"Gah!?"

She suddenly sat up, and her hair slid silkily away from my hand.

"W-What time is it!?"

"Hm? 'What time is it,' you ask?"

I don't understand the meaning of her words.

My "Otherworldly God Summoning" is a convenient thing; if the one summoned is capable of using some form of language, it seems to have an effect that makes their language compatible with ours. However, if it's not a matter that we can both recognize, the meaning apparently doesn't get across.

Long ago, I had a hard time when I summoned someone who didn't even know how to use fire. In particular, I was fed up with the sight of him hating clothes and calmly exposing his skin in public even when it wasn't summer.

He originally had no concept of clothing itself. In the end, I couldn't make him understand, and could only force him to wear clothes through corporal punishment.

Certainly, among the Azure Demon Tribe, there were barbaric men who wore nothing but a loincloth... but they too were unpleasant to me.

...Come to think of it, I haven't seen that person in a while. I don't even remember what became of him. He wasn't particularly strong or wise, so I suppose I wasn't very interested.

"...ey."

"Heeey, Mr. Helmet."

"Hm."

"What time is it? And where was this again?"

Words were thrown at me one after another, and among them were parts I couldn't understand.

"What time? Where? Who are you, mister? And why are you wearing a helmet indoors?"

She fired questions at me in rapid succession, and the number of words I couldn't understand kept increasing. I had no leeway to enjoy her voice, as high and clear as a human-made instrument.

I clapped my hands and spoke.

"Calm down for a moment. Let's talk about this one thing at a time."

"Ah, yes."

She obediently calmed down and stopped talking for a moment.

Her eyes were on my face. I examined hers. As I thought, her appearance is like that of a human or a member of the Scarlet Demon Tribe, but that's not the issue.

If I stared at them casually, I felt I might be enchanted. They were like something hiding magical power...! Clear, glossy black pupils. Round, distinct eyes.

These things made a very strong impression on me. If she were a powerful magic user, I should be careful not to look into her eyes... but I feel something that draws my gaze in.

Perhaps, already...

"...Heeey, you know~, I'm waiting over here."

"Ah, my apologies."

My attention had been drawn to her eyes.

"By the way, what is this 'what time is it'?"

"Huh? What are you talking about? The time, the time."

"Time...? It's before dawn."

She made a puzzled face.

"Well, I guess it's not a time to panic yet~. So, where is this?"

"My mansion, Drottingolm... or it was, but now I'm not so sure. The person I met earlier said something about it being ruins."

"Huh? What's that? Um... this is Tokyo, Japan, right?"

"Tokyo? Japan? What in the world are those?"

We were having a conversation, but it seemed neither of us was understanding the other. Beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.

"Th-This is a joke, right? Or is it a dream?"

"I have no intention of joking, and I believe this is not a dream."

To be a dream, it is far too distinctly pleasant.

"It's a cliché, but... could you pinch my cheek, hard?"

She brought her face closer, showing me her profile. I reached out and pinched her slightly puffy cheek.

"!I-it hurts, it hurts, it hurts! I give, I give, I give!"

Her cheek was soft, and it felt good.

Her voice was pained, and it felt good.