Chapter 1: A Place Like Heaven (part 1)

<< Previous Table of Contents Next>>

………………………………………………………………….
If the text is written in bold and italics, it is the heroine who is speaking. Also special thanks to Shokūtsu-san for helping me proofread my work. It was tremendous help! I was so happy \(^v^)/.
……………………………………………………………………

“Margaret, while you’re here, Don’t overdo it, all your injuries are not fully healed yet.”

I was in a large, well-kept vegetable garden. There where she called out to me, I was holding a basket and harvesting vegetables for two people, slowly. I nodded with a smile at the sound of her voice, it was gentle and filled with care.

Here comes a big Afghan hound-like dog, Buddy and his owner Adelaide. A strange woman who protected me, an unidentified suspicious person who had fallen with serious injuries, then she provided medical treatment and took care of me, giving me food and shelter… I was not dead… I didn’t die, but I did come into an incredibly different world.

That day, when I lost consciousness lying on the ground while looking at the sky, but then when I woke up I had severe pain throughout my body. The two people who I saw when I woke up seemed to be foreigners. A romantic gray old man in a white lab coat and an elegant looking old lady. Granma?

I was about to call on the woman, who had tied her lovely gray hair in a loose bun, and she was dressed in a neat and classic blue dress as if it came from a movie or a story. Her worried gaze towards me reminded me of my beloved grandmother. For a moment I woke up but fainted soon after.

I felt faint, I was weak and was unconscious for three days. The woman, Adelaide, devoted herself to carrying my meals, feeding me and cleaning my body. Adelaide is a dowager Countess who is the hostess of this large mansion.

Twice a week, there would be helper come in for work around the house, but basically she does everything without servants, she worked tirelessly, it must have been difficult on her body. Nevertheless, she was a true goddess who took care of me without ill will.

–When I woke up again, what I saw was a moulded ceiling. There was no ceiling light, but instead there was a neat glass shaded wall light. I feel like I was sleeping on a bed in a fairytale-like world or a movie set, the walls were covered with floral wallpaper, the light was filtering through a narrow wood framed window with the light curtains swaying in the wind. A bandage is around my hand, my arm felt tender, so does my head and my legs. I feel uncomfortable, but I don’t feel pain.I wore a beige negligee with little floral stripes, and I thought it has a romantic feel. I touched my cheek, I felt it, and I can hear the sounds of birds chirping outside… Apparently I went to heaven, although I don’t think so. I tried to sit up, my body felt achy, I was surrounded by two or three pillows and I feel more and more that I’m not in Japan. I feel like this isn’t reality as I stared at the greenery outside the window, suddenly there was a light knock on the chocolate-coloured wooden door then it slowly opened.

What came in was an elderly woman, who did she see before closing her eyes? I’m surprised that she reminded me of my grandmother’s expression. But they can’t be any more different, this woman was overwhelmingly beautiful and elegant, but for some reason the atmosphere was very similar.

She placed the tray on the bedside table and talked to me while sitting on the nearby chair.

“Oh, you woke up, I’m glad… just as Daniel said. Do you feel any pain?”

It was the soft voice I heard in my dreams. Not surprising, after all this person was nursing me. I wanted to say thank you and ask for an explanation

“___”

… I can’t say anything.

“Now let me introduce myself. I’m Adelaide Dustin, you can call me Adelaide. How about you? What’s your name?”

“___”

No matter how many times I try to say my name, while she clasped my hands gently, the only thing that comes out of my mouth is silent air. Suddenly I dropped my head to my hands, I find it difficult to breathe.

“You, maybe your voice…?”

While grasping my neck, I noticed that I gasping for a long time until I was blue in the face. When I noticed, a gentle hand with a warm cup of tea, I received the cup with a trembling hand and managed to take a sip, I was shaking so much there were ripples in the tea.

I cried for the first time then, I didn’t have a voice, no sound came out, and tears overflowed from my eyes and I could not stop.

Then I suddenly understood. This is a different world, I can’t go back. In the original world, I died in that accident. I don’t know why but I knew it was true.

Even the sobbing doesn’t make a sound. When I came here I lost my voice instead of my life.

In my head I know, but my emotions didn’t catch up, and I couldn’t even understand.

“You’ll see a doctor in the afternoon, so let’s have a talk with him, okay? He’s a dependable person.”

“___”

I wanted to answer but no sound came out. It was a long time before my tears stopped, she just silently hugged me and patted my back. And with just that you saved me.

That moment, I think that was my turning point.

That’s when I finally stopped crying, and she, herself was sullenly crying. Suddenly I felt ashamed and I smiled, Adelaide was clearly relieved and the brewed tea by now was completely cold.

This time my mind has calmed down when I finished a freshly brewed tea while it was still hot, and I felt that my mind cleared up.

I finally settled down, and was told to rest until the doctor came, and lay down in bed. Adelaide left the door ajar, so it would be obvious when something happens. A little later, there was a clicking sound, it sounded like a claw tapping lightly. I placed a wet towel over my swollen eyelids after crying. There was a large silver-gray dog that I’ve seen under the sky.

I didn’t have any chance to have dogs or cats, but I love animals. The dog approached me with his bushy tail and he started to shake it happily, the corners of my mouth rose. He doesn’t feel scary at all, even if he looks like he had a large body.

It felt like the dog laid down, I stretched my arms while lying back down while I gently stroked his head. He happily stuck out his head and gave out a gentle whimper… what a cute one. Afghan Hounds are probably the dog breed I can compare him to. The deep brown-coffee coloured eyes are staring at me.

–You found me.

I tried to move my mouth to let out my voice, but only the air passes through my throat. But now the difference is that I laughed a little instead of spilling tears. I know I can’t talk but I can’t help but want to talk. The habit of being solitary that was developed by living alone will not be easy to let go of.

I was worried that he would leave me as I stroked my hands over the dog’s large body, so I got up and did a full-fledged stroke. Suddenly a small palm-sized child with transparent wings; peeked out of the dog’s silver-gray hairs. The eyes that met mine held excitement and just stared at me. Eh, little children started to appear one after the other while flapping their wings, this is not the time to get confused.

This might be… Wow, are these fairies after all? Am I in a fantasy world? Even though I was a little confused, I gently stroked them with my fingertips, I squinted my eyes and I felt enchanted.

When I was still playing with the small children, they were coming one after the other, suddenly there was a knock on the door.

“Excuse me. How are you…”

After that Adelaide, the romantic looking grandfather in a lab coat, whom is familiar to me, and another tall young man… What is this? This oniisan looks like an actor from some foreign movie. All three are wearing a surprised look on their faces. While I was thinking, the little children who were playing with me fluttered their wings and flew out between the gaps of the windows… Oh, I was sorry to see them go, they were so cute.

“Hello, how are you doing? Better, yeah? Your complexion has improved.” He introduced himself, this gentle grandpa is a doctor, Dr. Daniel Reynolds. And the handsome blond man, who is seen for the first time is Mark DeRiley, the doctor’s apprentice and assistant.

We are in a village called Meesely, he is the only doctor in the village’s clinic and they said that they had treated me. “I heard from Ady about your voice, but I would like to check up on you first.”

After confirming that I had understood the words, the bandage in my hands was unwrapped neatly and then the consultation began. Dr. Daniel’s gaze is serious, even from just checking my hand and he gave brief instructions his assistant Mark. I get the impression that he is a good doctor.

Next, he checked my arms and my head. I pulled away from my blanket and sat on the bed to see my leg injuries. Up to that point, I was fine but as soon as I tried to stand up, there was this severe pain shooting up my left foot. I let out a soundless scream, the fell back into the bed again, tears streaming from the pain, and then the doctor put his hand on my bandaged leg. When he did that, the pain had started to subside. It was like the pain took flight, it was like magic. Dr. Daniel told me, while I’m just staring at my hands and feet. “You can’t overdo it, even the healing magic is not omnipotent. ”

–Eh? Magic? MAGIC? – Again, this world is different from where I lived.

And even more surprising than that is, they said that [I] would be the [Spirit Orison] who had been summoned by the spirits of this world to crossover. A spirit rarely appears somewhere in the continent, and so is an [Orison]. It is neither contraindicated nor confidential, and there are actually records of it in the past.

There are two characteristics of those who are said to be the [Spirit Orison]. First, they are unable to cast magic. And the other is the ability to interact with spirits and fairies. This is the first time I’ve heard of this, this really is a fantasy.

I heard that mana is very abundant, but there are also a lot of living things, both humans and animals, and lacking in magic is the same as dying. Wow, so now I’m a zombie.

I was seriously injured when they found in the backyard… I still can’t believe it until now. I had scars but they weren’t particularly terrible, also there wasn’t any pain except for my left foot. But surely, from my last situation when I was in the backyard, I remembered I was ready to die, or so it would have been. Magic is amazing since I recovered so much in just the past few days.

Dr. Daniel, who tried to treat me noticed that I didn’t have any magic. In that situation that I appeared, I had on unfamiliar clothes and different features. The speculation was confirmed when the small children with wings showed up. Actually it was only me that could see them clearly, and everybody sees them as shiny little golden orbs. The small orbs of lights like fireflies are called [Fairy Egg] in this country; because they are usually hidden deep in the forest and when people come they would go into hiding, it is rarely seen. And then, now they came to me… that’s what happened.

Dr. Daniel took out a book from his bag, saying it shouldn’t be a problem to be informed of this. “This is a book about [Spirit Orison]. I’ve borrowed it especially from the Royal Capital City.”

I shouldn’t have the same language as before – can I read the written text here? What did he say?

If it was a Royal Capital City, this country in probably a monarchy. When I flipped over the book, there were strange characters written on the cover. But I can read it, why? I was then given a pen and a piece of paper, strange, I could write the strange character that I wouldn’t even know. Oh no, I don’t have strength at my fingertips, I was ashamed my writing were similar that as of a child who just started to learn letters. But nonetheless, I was relieved that I could communicate through writing.

“I’ll be going home now, I’ll visit you everyday for a while. You should read this book slowly with Ady.” Today I was only asked for my name. However, looking at the paper on which my name was written. “Hhmm, this is… I can read the other words on the paper. Mark?”

“I can’t do it.”

Well, I was abandoned without even a glance. This assistant, Mark was stingy with the responses, he was polite enough, and when he handled the bandages and treatment he was very meticulous, but somehow very cold… There is thing about his handsome face that is contributing to that, but then again it would be more unreasonable to trust somebody so suddenly just turned up, so this person seems to be on guard.

His attitude is quite understandable. On the contrary, Adelaide who cares; is so far rarer. Earlier, she was very kind and understanding of my injuries and my voice.

My voice… I don’t know what’s wrong with my voice. However, there was no abnormality, if there was it would have been immediately noticed by the doctor.

“[Spirit Orison] will have to sacrifice something – yes, according to the book, Orisons usually lose their memories. It might have been better than you only lost your voice.” The doctor said while reading the book he brought. Adelaide had an unsatisfactory look on her face, but his explanation only made me more confused.

–There was another thing I had lost. That is my eyes. Although I was a very ordinary Japanese, I had a pair of dark brown eyes, now one of them became light brown, but the colour is much closer to gold. After having cried a while ago, I had my hair combed, and that’s when I looked at the hand mirror I was given, I was so surprised that I would’ve shouted. At this point I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to it.

Unfortunately, my poor eyesight remained, and there are some inconveniences as there are no glasses or contact lenses. That doesn’t mean its a hindrance to my daily life. At close range I can still see my face, and since I was dry-eyed, I usually wear my glasses when commuting to work and I don’t use any contact lenses at all on the sales floor. Overall everything is blurry, but unless you’re watching TV or driving a car, I’ll probably be fine.

In the end, I couldn’t even read my name, even though it was written in the same way, so I asked them to give me a name to use in this world.

“Yes… how about Margaret?”

Adelaide has been worried for a while, looking at my ear and said that the name meant ‘pearl’

I came empty handed to this world, all I had were my worn-out clothes, one shoe, a broken wristwatch and the pearl earrings, it was teardrop-shaped, like the one in that famous painting but smaller than that, it was more of a small-sized poppy pearl with clever clasps so that it doesn’t fall off even if it gets slightly caught.

Basically, accessories at work are banned, but I always wore these pearl earrings that were passed down from my grandmother to my mother and now to me, I kept it with me as a talisman. I had hidden it with my hair pretty well, it wasn’t like a diamond that would be flashy and easy to spot. Everybody had overlooked the pearls, which was a nice characteristic.

Adelaide gave me a name that I could associate from my previous world. “Oh, it’s a good name.” She smiled and nodded at Dr. Daniel, who also smiled. I stroked Buddy again.

As promised, the doctor came to my house everyday from that day. When he used the healing magic it always felt warm. The scars that were left are barely visible after a few days, that you could hardly notice. My arm was still broken, my hand movements were still slow, but the pain very minimal.

My left foot, which was the most severely injured, has not yet healed, but still it seems like it was a miracle. When Mark arrived for a house call on behalf of the doctor, he informed me of what the doctor said, “It may not be cured.” After all even if magic is great it is not omnipotent. Yeah, why can’t I use it? I really don’t have the need for the use of magic.

In the early days, I was given check-ups and consultations in the guest bedroom. But after I was able to move, I was asked to go to the kitchen or veranda, or wherever they were. The veranda on the first floor that connects to the living room near the backyard is my favourite place. It has a large wooden deck with a roof, it has a table, bench chest and a rocking chair. Every time my feet hurt or if they are not in good shape, which is often the case, I often feel better when I go outside and get some fresh air.

Adelaide’s field, then the forest just after. The blue above the green spread across, unobstructed by the tall buildings… slowing rocking the chair, all I was seeing was nature and it made my mind and body feel light.

-I especially like the rainy days. Here, the rain on Meesely is gentle. When it fell, raindrops are fine that it felt you were stroking a soft curtain. Breathing it in, the air was slightly moist, like a mixture of the forests greens and the rainy blues, it fills up my chest and I feel refreshed to my fingertips, it was wonderful.

I was completely covered up for the current season, the day was still chilly, I’m worried about catching a cold. With that kind of appearance that I had, I was still laughing at the doctor and Mark who saw me at the veranda, even if they had puzzled faces, but of course I didn’t want to stop.

Between the treatments, try to talk to each other in response to the doctor or Adelaide who listens to me a little bit while taking care of my condition. I came here alone, and I had nothing. I thought it would be best if I could be honest and not hide any from these three people, I didn’t want to deceive them.

The first thing I knew was about the spirit. In fact, spirits are very important beings in this world. The spirits plays an important role in stabilizing this world by existing, and the [Spirit Orison] seems to be an intermediary. It was said that peace and prosperity will flourish if the spirits are treated kindly, but at the same time, if you anger them or treated poorly, they would bring calamity and nation-wide disasters. For these reasons that it is said that the [Orisons] are also treated with care.

When I found out, I panicked. I was just an ordinary sales clerk, an Arasa. I didn’t want the responsibility that would have a national impact. The doctor patted my head like a child; and said with a solemn face. “Margaret don’t worry. The point in the [Spirit] and the [Orison] can live in peace. Just think of these things as a guideline, even in the country.”

“Look, the previous [Orison] that was summoned lived out their whole lives peacefully.” Adelaide had said as I opened the book.

Since I was working in the customer service industry, I could easily meet and talk with strangers. But I still don’t want to do anything with copious amounts of great people, and I’m sorry that they want to celebrate me like a shrine maiden. But first, I just want to know more about this new world.

“It’s okay Margaret, I will take your wishes into account. Since we have a [Spirit Orison] in person I still a duty to report it to the Royal Palace.” The doctor also brought with him a liaison but they left.

Actually, before opening the clinic here, he worked as an exclusive doctor at the Royal Palace, and he said that he had many acquaintances over there. After all, he was not just a veteran doctor. The old doctor smiled, the corner of his eyes wrinkled, he was familiar with Adelaide living in the countryside in the old days, and he decided to retire here in the little village of Meesely.

The Royal Palace thinks of the [Orison’s] feeling into consideration and puts the wishes to priority before anything else. It would be different though if the country is in difficult circumstances like war or something, the king of this era seems kind and just, and I am grateful for that. They told me if I wished for it, they can take me in the palace or the temple.

“You can stay here until your wounds heal, and after that I hope to give priority to your wishes.” Adelaide spoke gently, like my grandmother, I felt like I wanted to stay here forever.

So, for now, I’ve been thinking, so what should I do… I asked Adelaide-sama. Please let me stay here. If I’m not a bother to you, please let me work here as a maid. I don’t need time to think.

I had come to love Adelaide, she reminded me so much of my beloved grandmother.

This is in the countryside. And Adelaide’s house is outdated, but it’s good for me. I Don’t really know where the Capital City is and how I could live there. But it was quite natural for me to get accustomed living in here after waking up. It seems that whatever kind of life I had from the other world that I suddenly abandoned has come to a halt, I need a sense of normalcy.

I can do the cleaning without using any household appliances its because it was how I did it with my grandmother previously. This is my life now; if my injuries are fully healed I can help in the fields. If I could get hired, at least I can make a living, I would be saved, and I would be able to pay back the cost of my treatment.

After a month has passed I found out that Adelaide was really alone. There were no visitors aside from Daniel and Mark, who only came by for the house call. I didn’t see any relatives or family members visit during my stay.

I heard that her husband died a long time ago, but she has a son living in the Capital City. With them living apart, I know there is no phone existing in this world. I also know that; they are not exchanging letters… and lastly I know that Adelaide is quietly looking at the family photos displayed by the fireplace in the living room. She lives alone in this spacious mansion and would only talk to Buddy.

It’s what I would like to do, offer Adelaide extra care. So I told her that too. I want to stay together because I love it here. But I don’t want to bother you. In fact, if it’s too much trouble with having one more mouth to feed.

It was Dr. Daniel who supported my offer. After all he was worried about Adelaide living alone.

“I always encourage you to hire a maid or a live-in maid at least, but you always refused me. Well, I don’t care about living with strangers at this age, but this mansion is far from the village, and I don’t immediately notice if something is wrong.”

It was Buddy who found me lying in the backyard, it was he who ran to the clinic and brought the doctor and Mark to where I was. At that time, he remembered that he had his heart stopped at the time and thought that something happened to Adelaide-sama.

“Ady has great leniency with Margaret, and I think you’ll be fine. I would be grateful if you did that.”

With the doctor’s help, Adelaide closed her eyes in defeat and accepted my offer. I love you, I want to stay here with you. Please!

“I’m sorry, I can’t hire you as a maid. You’re more of a companion who lives with me.”

I nodded at her request, as she gently stroked my hair with her slender fingers – If what comes from this hand is not kindness, then you don’t need to know true kindness forever.

“In addition, if you decide you want to go to the capital, you can go anytime. The young people are all in the Capital City; when the time comes you can live there rather than staying here…”

I was going to leave if that is what Adelaide wanted, then I looked at her she was smiling with tears in her eyes. “That’s not until I die.”

Yes. We laughed together, then I said, But that is still a ways away.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

ORISON – an archaic term for the word prayer. The verbal act of asking or requesting. They used the term “The Inviter of Spirits” or “Spirit Inviter”. I thought it sounded more elegant than caller or requester, so here we are.

MANA – they used “magic power”, but it sounded weird. besides mana is described as among Melanesian and Polynesian peoples, a supernatural force or power that may be ascribed to persons, spirits, or inanimate objects. Mana may be either good or evil, beneficial or dangerous. So I thought it was befitting.

MARGARET – it did really meant pearl, Margaret is derived from the French Marguerite, which in turn came from Margarita, the Latin form of the Greek Margarites. Margarites was based on the Old Persian word margārīta, meaning “pearl”.

POPPY PEARLS are irregularly shaped pearls, they are not perfectly spherical.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Don’t forget to support the author, I got the copy of this book from Book Walker. They have a lot of English and Japanese titles.

<< Previous Table of Contents Next>>