Chapter 461: Other among the Others
Otherlanders.
That is the term used for the people who are to said to have come from beyond the lands and stars of Valresta.
Through means and methods that only the gods would know about, otherlanders appear in this world as either themselves, carrying the appearance, wisdom and skills that they have carried with them up until then.
Or, they appear in this world as someone new.
Someone who has yet to live life, or someone who’s life was cut short.
That being said, Otherlanders aren’t their own separate species with their own unique power set…mostly.
It is more accurate to say that otherlanders are more of a subset of each other races on Valresta.
But how does one know when they have met an otherlander?
Simple, they won’t.
Not unless they themselves know what they know.
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Zhen Liu mouth was agape with shock as Elsa Reinhart dropped a giant bomb of surprise and knowledge on him like it was nothing.
A part of him thought that maybe this was a trap, or this lady was actually some interdimensional monster that was fucking with his head.
However, the fact that the kaijin weren’t freaking out or reacting to her presence in a negative way, probably meant that this lady was much nicer than he gave her credit for.
Then again….
“I FUCKING KNEW CHOCOLATE WOULD BE DELICIOUS!”
“Hehehehe, I like the way these gummy bears feel against my teeth.”
“Spicy…candy…good…”
“Cotton candy or rock candy? Hmmm…”
The kaijin could have easily been bribed off with candy.
‘Note to self,’ Zhen Liu thought to himself, ‘bother Logos and Pathos about setting up a candy machine in the library.’
“If you do plan to do that, I wouldn’t mind being a supplier of goodies. I’ve been meaning to set up shop on Stampeding Bison’s frontier regions,” Elsa interjected.
“Okay, how are you doing that?”
“Reading your mind?”
“Yes.”
“Little trick I picked up from my homeland.”
“Ah…so you’re not from Earth?”
“No, I am. Just not your Earth, from the sounds of it.”
“Ah…well, I have a million and one questions to ask.”
Zhen Liu had no idea how to respond to the fact that the multiverse theory might have just been proven out of nowhere during a conversation with an enigmatic, probably psychic, candy maker, but hey, here we are.
So with that mind, Zhen Liu proceeded to do the one thing that made sense: ask a whole lot of fucking questions.
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*Bing-Bong*
The following interaction will be essentially a lore dump, with the format set up in a Q&A manner.
For example,
Q: How did you get here?
A: I got here by boat.
With Q being Zhen Liu asking his questions and Elsa being A, answering him.
We now return to your regularly scheduled chapter.
*Bing-Bong*
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Q: Alright, what the fuck is an otherlander?
A: Otherlander is the term we, the people who came from other worlds, use to identify one another as such. We come in all sorts of flavors and from all walks of life, it would make sense that we should find solidarity with one another given our shared circumstances.
Q: You mentioned I had transmigrated, how did you know?
A: In all my years here in Valresta, I have met all sorts of people, otherlanders and natives alike. I have managed to develop an eye that can pick up the little details that would indicate someone as being an otherlander like me, a prince in hiding as they try to run away, or in your case, whether or not their soul and body fits.
Q: Are you transmigrated?
A: I am not, I do believe the most accurate description of my circumstances is…”Alice in Wonderland”? I’ll leave that open to your interpretation.
Q: Of course…alright, last question, what the fuck do you mean you were waiting for me for a long, long time?
A: Hmm…
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“Well? What’s did you mean by saying that you were waiting for me?,” Zhen Liu asked again.
Elsa for her part just hummed for a bit, thinking how to best approach this question, before shrugging and saying an appropriate answer, that made Zhen. Liu questions everything further.
“Long, long time ago, I assisted a lovely couple that would be essential to your existence. At the time, I did not accept any form of payment from them because I had stated that someone close to them would be covering for their tab later,” Elsa answered while gesturing to Zhen Liu.
Zhen Liu looked a touch shocked at the answer and immediately felt a bit more defensive.
“Did my ass just get sold into slavery?!”
“HAH! Heavens no!,” Elsa laughed, “but I will need something that requires your skills in order to cover their debt.”
“My skills as…”
“The kaijin lord of course.”
As soon as Elsa causally title dropped Zhen Liu’s ass, the enigmatic candy maker proceeded to open part of the counter in order to let Zhen Liu through to the area behind it.
At the same time she opened an underground hatch that lead to a basement beneath the shop.
“Follow me down here, please,” Elsa requested as she began to walk down the stairs herself.
“If it makes you feel any better, you can bring along the kaijin if you like.”
“You heard the lady, anybody wanna tag along?”
Immediately after asking this question, Nepherage and Spring Brawler took the chance to appear at Zhen Liu’s request.
“I shall always accompany you milord.”
“I am game, ring master.”
For ease of traveling and access, Nepherage and Spring Bralwer changed into their accessory modes and attached to themselves to Zhen Liu.
After a quick adjustment on his part, Zhen Liu followed after Elsa.
“Alright then, let’s go.”
“Have fun, maestro~”
“Yeah, yeah…”
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Once Zhen Liu had disappeared beneath the floor boards, the kaijin that decided to stay behind immediately started talking smack.
Or to be more accurate, they started making bets.
“Alright, I’ll start,” Hurricroak croaked, “I bet she needs an ass load of [Chaos] energy to power up some kind of weird machine she has down there in order to get home or reconnect this place to somewhere else entirely.
“Hold…up…”
Before giving his reply, Frosttusk walked over to what appeared to be a hot chocolate machine, pour himself a cup, and then drain it all without even blowing on it.
“Ah, that’s better,” Frosttusk commented as the heat of the beverage caused him to speed up once more.
“The gate thing doesn’t make sense, she seems pretty content with her location here. Especially since she mentioned her desire to expand as opposed to move,” Frosttusk countered, “I think she needs someone dead and that as kaijin, we’re the only one who can make it look like an accident without any means of tracing it back to her or our lord.”
“That is dark and fucking brutal.”
“Yet entirely possible.”
“Our maestro is way too honest to do something like that though.”
“Yeah…”
“Personally, I think you’re both wrong,” Razorstella added while fiddling with a tinfoil wrapped orange chocolate.
“She mentioned she needed our director’s skills as the kaijin lord for something, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Yes.”
“Then that means, she wants our lord to make her kaijin or something along those lines. Maybe she just wants an army of helper zakos?”
“Oooooh.”
The three of them entertained the idea of this mysterious woman wanting a kaijin of her own, but they ultimately thought the task to be rather…impossible.
As far as they knew, only the kaijin lord could create, let alone command the kaijin.
Besides, why would a mysterious lady like her want a kaijin for?
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When Zhen Liu followed Elsa down the steps into her basement, he didn’t know what to expect.
When the smell of melting sugar and chocolate tickled his nose, Zhen Liu realized he was being brought down into the woman’s workshop and thought “oh she needs some new technology for her shop”.
When he saw the trays upon trays of products, failed and successful, he assumed he was being asked to test some products because his constitution made it easy for him to make hits and eat poisons…probably.
He didn’t expect to be brought to a human sized slab covered with a white cloth, only to have said cloth to be removed to reveal a humanoid statue made of various candies, cookies and other forms of sweets.
Zhen Liu briefly thought it would have been uncanny, but Elsa had done a surprisingly good job giving the statue a cherubic face.
“So, how does it look?,” Elsa asked.
“Uh…it looks nice…”
“Will this work?”
“I’m sorry, will what work?”
Elsa looked at Zhen Liu, the mysterious air around her giving away to something else entirely.
Desperation? No…hope?
“I am asking, will this statue work for your kaijin creation.”
“I gu-wait, what?”
At this point, Elsa stopped putting on her airs, and proceeded to bow deeply towards him, a gesture that made him feel weird to be honest.
“Kaijin Lord, I beseech thee. Bring my creation to life so that I may fulfill my greatest wish,” Elsa requested.
“I want a child, an apprentice, someone to call my own. Please?”
