Start in DxD as Motohama: Leveling Up in Another World-Chapter 38: Encounter in another world (I)

In a room in a certain building...

"After so many days of searching, I've finally found you... Motohama Shinji...!"

A woman laughed fearlessly in front of a scattering of Shinji's photos spread across her desk.

"We can't let someone with your exceptional talent slip away, can we?"

Muttering that, the woman stood up and called out to one of her subordinates.

"Kurosawa!"

"You called, Manager?"

"It's a job. Get in touch with this young man."

"Understood."

The woman smirked deeply as she watched her subordinates leave.

"We'll be the ones to snag him...!"

Looking at the woman, the two people invited into the room, André and Ai, seemed utterly baffled. Both had tried to keep Shinji hidden in some way, but they'd failed.

"Manager Miyako... What are you planning to do once you find Shinji-kun?" Ai asked.

"No matter what it takes, I'll bring him into my agency. With Ai and Shinji-kun—who's so popular now—we'll be unstoppable!"

"But... we should consider Shinji-san's feelings too..."

The woman's eyes widened in surprise as she turned to Ai, who'd dared to voice her opinion.

"Nonsense, this is a golden ticket into the entertainment world. No one would turn this down."

Neither Ai nor André could muster a response to the woman's unshakable confidence.

"Fufufu... Motohama Shinji... I can't wait to see you with my own eyes..."

...

The scene shifted, and a certain rumor began buzzing around the Kingdom of Alceria when someone trying to contact Shinji appeared.

"Hey, did you hear about that?"

"Oh, the thing with Lexia-sama?"

"Yeah. Seems like something went down during her last visit, and now she's heading to the Great Devil's Nest."

"That's weird, right? Speaking of the 'Great Devil's Nest,' even adventurers can't get near that place. It's crawling with tough monsters, and there are rumors about elixir materials being there too..."

"There's also talk of someone living in the Great Devil's Nest, and Lexia-sama's going to meet them."

"What!? Someone's living in a place like that!? Wait, why's she even meeting them?"

"No clue if that's the whole story, but... if someone's living there, they've got to be one hell of an oddball."

It was a place Shinji didn't know, yet his existence was already making waves, even though no one had laid eyes on him.

...

"Well, guess I'll head to the other world today."

A little while after the mess with Youta and the others, Shinji decided to visit the other world again. He'd been exploring the forest there, but aside from the Goblin General battle, he hadn't met anyone from that world.

"...Well, I'll run into someone eventually."

Someday, he wanted to leave that forest and do some sightseeing in that world too.

After finishing the meal Mei had prepared, he slipped off to the other world.

He wanted to use this quiet time to get stronger.

The door was still a secret from all the women in the house. Shinji's one rule was that no one could enter the room connected to the bathroom. As for hiding it, there wasn't much point—everyone in his house was supernatural anyway.

...

Right now, he was fighting a monster that would've killed him back in the day. He'd gotten stronger since then, and he believed he could push even further. Training like this was what kept him going in this world.

"Haahhh!"

"Guoooooo!"

That's how he ended up crossing paths with a Blood Ogre on his way, and now he was locked in a full-on fight with it. It was a far cry from the first time he'd faced one.

Charging in with all his might and cracking the ground beneath him, the Blood Ogre swung its beefy arms to block his [Absolute Sword].

"Haaaahh!"

"Gugaaaaaahh!"

But he sliced right through its arm, leapt forward without losing momentum, and took off the Blood Ogre's head. As he landed smoothly, the ogre dissolved into particles of light and vanished.

"Phew... Hmm?"

While he was picking up the loot from the defeated Blood Ogre, his [Presence Detection] skill pinged. And it wasn't just one signal—there were a bunch.

"What's going on?"

Curious about who—or what—was out there, he moved while cloaking himself with [Stealth], eventually reaching the source.

"Gaaaaaaaahh!"

"Guoooohh!"

"Damn it! To think we'd run into a pack of Elite Goblins...!"

"What's up with this forest? Even one of these showing up is bad enough...!"

"Quit yapping and protect Lexia-sama no matter what!"

Four Elite Goblins were clashing with soldiers he'd seen in this forest before. Among them, a middle-aged knight was holding his own against one of the goblins solo, but the other soldiers weren't faring as well. They were barely keeping the rest at bay, and it was clear they'd get wiped out soon. Honestly, he didn't know who these soldiers were—friends or foes—but he couldn't just leave them to die.

With [Stealth] still active, he crept up on one of the Elite Goblins, then swung his [Absolute Sword] and beheaded it in one clean strike.

"Huh!?"

"W-What the hell's happening...?"

Attacking canceled his [Stealth], but he didn't care—he flowed right into the next move, driving his [Absolute Sword] through another Elite Goblin's heart.

"Gaaaaaaa!"

A third Elite Goblin snapped out of its daze and lunged at him, but Shinji just watched its movements calmly. As it swung its massive blade, he dodged by a hair's breadth, slipped under its swinging arm, and took its head off with the [Absolute Sword].

"Unbelievable..."

"What's going on...?"

"Is that the person Lexia-sama mentioned?"

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He glanced at the last one—the middle-aged knight had already pierced it through on his own. Guess he didn't need the help after all.

Shinji stood there, eyeing the soldiers while figuring out his next move.

The soldiers stared back at him warily, until the middle-aged knight spoke up.

"Sorry about that—we're safe thanks to you. Thank you."

"No, don't worry about it. I was just passing by..."

"I see... Could it be, you're really..."

"Hm?"

The knight crossed his arms, deep in thought, while the other soldiers started whispering among themselves.

"S-So he actually exists..."

"That's him?"

"Yeah, he really took down that many Elite Goblins solo..."

"He looks about Lexia-sama's age..."

"Forget that, check out his vibe... Is he a noble or something?"

"Uh?"

As Shinji watched the group, puzzled, a girl stepped out from behind them.

"Ah!"

He remembered her. She was the girl he'd saved from a Goblin General way back. Her clothes had been a mess then, but he was sure it was the same kid.

She stared at him for a few seconds before speaking.

"Y-You know..."

"Y-Yeah!?"

Shinji tilted his head, thrown off by how casually she addressed him.

"—Please marry me."

"...Huh?"

Her outrageous words short-circuited Shinji's brain for a couple of seconds, leaving him with nothing but a dumb sound escaping his mouth.