Episode 2 - Encountering Yoyo

It would appear that Asakura Souji had somehow become a baby.

Yeah, that was probably the right impression. It had been a few days since he'd become this… age?... and had gotten the embarrassing experience of drinking breast milk. Souji now finally comprehended what it was that had happened to his body.

But wondering why he'd fallen into this sort of situation, once again, he tried to recall everything that had led up to this. After waking up early to prepare his lunch as well as make breakfast for his family, he'd headed off to school.
Then having passed time without incident till noon, as he was climbing the stairs with the idea of eating his lunch on the roof, an unfamiliar girl had ended up in the process of falling from them thanks to a broken fence; and the result of protecting her with his own body... was this.

It's a dream it's a dream he kept telling himself, but time flowed slowly, and he wasn't returning to his own world or anything no matter how long it flowed.
And having to also suffer such indignity as needing another person's help for eating, excreting and everything else, he'd finally accepted the reality of it all.

Yes, Asukara Souji, having died there, had now been reborn here.

It was really just that simple. That meant dealing with this was the only option. He did still have an attachment to his previous life, but having died, it wouldn't change anything if he kept thinking about it.
Then, he'd take this new life he'd gone to the trouble of attaining, and make it a more constructive one. But if there was one thing still on his mind, it was that he wanted to apologize to his family and to Mayuki, and hoped that the girl he'd tried to save had made it out unharmed.

As he thought of stuff like that, he decided he'd just figure it had ended well enough, and stop thinking about it already. Being reborn had been very unexpected, but he was now set on living his new life. But even with that settled, it would seem this world had yet more surprising things in store for him.
Just the other day in fact, the red-haired woman who seemed to be his mother, seeing an insect that looked a bit like a roach appear on the walls of his room, let out a scream that was ear-splittingly loud, and then killed the insect in question.

But it wouldn't be worth mentioning if that's all it was. Souji; no, it seemed he was called something like Soji in this world. Soji certainly had experience with something as simple as killing a roach.
T/N: The Japanese text spelled the original Souji’s name in kanji (想二) and is now spelling this reborn Souji’s name in katakana (ソージ). To try and reflect this, I’m spelling reborn Souji’s name in a different way.

But just how did she kill the thing by straight up burning it?

He couldn't really make out whatever it was she'd said, but the very instant she'd suddenly turned her hand toward the insect, a fireball had materialized out of the palm of that hand, and the merely 3 centimeter long insect had gotten toasted along with the wall.
The shock of that moment made him regard the unreserved woman he'd suddenly met as being something far greater.

It was appearing that this world he was now in was one enveloped in magic and fantasy.

From that moment on, Soji felt an excitement that would not go away. To put it simply, he wanted to quickly use magic himself.
But as for actually using it; with Soji not knowing even the slightest bit about how things worked in this world, there were no means by which he could presently do so.

No matter how many times the now infant Soji held his breath, braced himself, and let out a spirited, forceful yell of "Chaa!," empty results were all he got out of it.
Indeed, it was unlikely he'd be able to do anything without waiting for growth to kick in and let him start walking on his own two legs first. But since he did have the mindset to keep waiting and waiting, he settled in and let these wholly irritating days pass him by.




After turning two years old, he became capable of saying words to some extent.
Soji Alkassa. That's what Soji's name was. He had red hair just like his mother Kaina. Soji did think it looked a lot like cosplay, but that it possibly also looked surprisingly good on him was a thought he kept all to himself.

His face somehow bore a resemblance to what the previous Souji's had looked like. It felt like he had a face with more neutral features now. He'd have honestly preferred having a more handsome, manlier face though.
But still, having his new face be made just like the one he'd had for sixteen whole years; he had to admit that his attachments were strong after all.

Turning three years old, he was strongly wanting to learn something about this world already, and he got some answers after asking Kaina a bunch of things.
Now it goes without saying that asking anything too outlandish, would definitely not have seemed very natural for a small child, so he only gave her questions that wouldn't have been the least bit odd for a child to ask.

The results: The first thing he understood was that Kaina's occupation was as a maid. Apparently his father wasn't here. Asking about his whereabouts made her say "Hmmm, wherever did he go, I wonder?" like she was trying to dodge the question, so he didn't dare inquire any further.

Following that was the large mansion where Kaina worked. That was where both Soji and her lived. Kaina appeared to be something of a head maid, and she seemed to have permission to be quite free in her conduct and remarks.
The other maids had great trust in her too; she was someone they could rely on at work. Because she was raising Soji right now, her workload had been going down; but since she'd apparently been working to the point the maids were saying her usual level of work was too much, it seemed the maids were now relieving her instead.

The person concerned had responded "Is that so?" and, to their approval, had then fully taken them up on their offer and gotten herself some time off; and she certainly seemed to be enjoying it as she went "It's been so long since I could relax like this~, I could get used to it~." She also felt just a bit of concern that she might just get too used to it. This concern of hers would later become a reality to put one at wits' end, but there was no way Soji would have known at the time.

This world was known by the name of Orb, and just as previously mentioned, it had all the signs of a world where magic was common.
According to Kaina, Soji would learn to use magic as well once he got older. He wanted to learn magic right now, whatever it took; but as saying something that unreasonable would only sound suspect, he began to think of other possible ways instead.

On one particular day, Souji was basking in the sun alongside Kaina in the mansion's huge garden, when there came a girl around his age walking closely behind a middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man's face was one that he'd somewhat caught glimpses of in the mansion from time to time. However, the young girl in question was someone he'd never seen before.

With Kaina promptly standing up and bowing her head, he was able to tell that these were some very important people before him. He began to get the idea the man might even be the master of this mansion.
But his guess there was slightly off. This man's identity was the head butler serving in the mansion: one Balmunc Dizarte who was also often referred to as Bal-san. Indeed, he was certainly wearing a tailcoat, if one looked carefully.

And as for the young girl, she was the daughter of the mansion's master and was called Yoyo 八継(Yatsugi) Crowtail.

That left him with one new question. Why was it that kanji like 八継 were being used there? That was due to this world having a country by the name of Hinokuni with culture and customs uncannily similar to those of Japan, and this Hinokuni being the same land that Yoyo's mother had hailed from. Hence her name having kanji within it.
T/N: Hinokuni (日ノ国, or Hi no Kuni if you really want to spell it like that) literally means Land of the Sun. Guess what Japan is known as?

Upon hearing of that, he became driven by an immense desire to go there that was perhaps just natural for a man once born-and-raised Japanese.

Having now heard their introductions, Soji became determined to introduce himself and do so without messing it up in the process. If he were to do anything impolite here, Kaina's reputation as the head maid would be stained as a direct consequence.
Straightening his back like "pling!", he bowed from the hips as he aimed to behave his best.

'Pl- pleased to meet you! I'm- I- I am Soji Alkassa, at your servish!"

Damnit! Botched that right at the end!
　
But since he'd sufficiently lowered his head; feeling like he at least wouldn't be thought of as lacking in manners, he slowly raised his head and looked at Yoyo to be met with...

“............”

It was a stare that could bore holes into a person. He hurriedly began to wonder if he'd somehow carelessly caused offence after all.

Four year old Yoyo was by all means only a year older, but she was already capable of clear speech, and she seemed like an elite who'd be proficient in magic too. Along with her beautiful golden hair, she possessed eyes so pitch-black they seemed to draw you into them.
As he was thinking of how the blonde hair and black eyes were a rather unusual combination, he got this sense of her having an adult's insight despite her age of four.

Seeing this mood from her, a cold sweat ran down his back as he wondered if he'd really messed up that greeting of his, but...

"...... Bal, do I hold possession of this child?"
"Quite so, my mistress."
"Hmm."

Yoyo's eyes scanned Souji all over as if to check for something. Then apparently getting some sort of idea, she drew close to him and swiftly touched his forehead. His body inadvertently stiffened in response as he became thoroughly puzzled.

"Mm, every bit Kaina's child I see. So this child shall now be ... very own, I take it?”

What were those words just now? "So this child shall now be..."? Soji hadn't quite managed to catch that last part, but this girl's attention was clearly and unmistakably focused on him in some way.
Not knowing what was going on, he was looking to Kaina in a way that just screamed he wanted help. And that somehow just made her signal "good job!" with a thumbs-up.

You couldn't understand that!?

Seeing his mother's gesture, Soji tilted his head as he now wondered if he'd done something right. His hand suddenly emitted a warmth right then. Yoyo took hold of his hand upon seeing that.

"We're going. Come along with me."
"... Eh?"

She dragged him by the arm before he could resist and began taking him somewhere with her. Behind them, Balmunc was now following, but Kaina was...

Just say “good job” already!

...still maintaining that gesture even now. So he somewhat got a little angry.

However, if he tried to shake his arm free with all his might now, he'd most definitely end up putting her in a bad mood. She was the daughter of this mansion's owner, so he had to be courteous here no matter what. Her hating him would be the end.
Gathering up the combined 18 years of experience from both of his lives, he began considering just what it would take to have Yoyo like him.

Thinking of that as he kept walking, Yoyo's stride suddenly came to a stop.

“Look there.”
“Huh?”

Doing as told, he turned his head to where the girl was pointing, and a mansion of immense size entered his field of view.

"All of what you see here will become mine before long."

Soji found it difficult to understand what she was even saying. The father of this girl should surely be the present master of this mansion. But the girl continued on.

"Papa and Mama will be leaving for Hinokuni shortly."
“... Will the master not be coming byahc?”

Goddamnit! Tongue-tied again! Just get a grip already!

Though Soji's ears were going red on their own from the embarrassment, Yoyo looked like she simply didn't care at all, and showed a smile that seemed far beyond her meager age of four before replying,

"That is so. It will be me who becomes the master. So I ask..."

Yoyo now looked straight into Souji's eyes.

"Become a butler who serves just me alone, Soji. Lend me... your strength."
T/N: As much as I’m aware that the actual word for a personal butler like this is “steward”, I’m sure most people would have no idea what the hell a steward is, so I’m not translating it as such.

He had to wonder why, at that moment, he felt a sensation like that of current running through his whole body. Seeing the imposing figure cut by this seemingly haughty girl, his heart quivered deeply.
And then noticing the loneliness that lay deep within the girl's eyes, feelings of wanting to bury that loneliness gushed forth within him too. The girl seemed to shake somewhere within her small frame as well.

And so Soji, at that moment, bowed his head with nary a conscious thought and muttered thusly.

"With certainty, Mistress Yoyo."