Chapter 12 — It’s Not Like We’ve Been Working!
“Hey, don’t you think we’re spoiling ourselves?”
After being shown to their room on the ship, Tomochika was overwhelmed by the special-class cabin—one class higher than first—that had been prepared for them. It was enormous, overflowing with a sort of luxury that no one, no matter how inexperienced they were, could fail to recognize. And although one such room was more than enough for them already, the cabin contained multiple rooms just like it.
For Tomochika, who was every bit the average person, it was luxurious enough to give her pause.
“It’s fine. We have money. If we’re too stingy, we might end up being miserable since we’re used to modern conveniences.”
Yogiri seemed unmoved by the splendor of the room. Enju had no particular emotion on her face, but that was only because Mokomoko wasn’t making a point to alter the robot’s expression, so it was hard to tell what the ghost was thinking. She was now moving through Enju as if possessing her. Controlling her from a distance left Mokomoko vulnerable, but acting through the android in this way made moving around feel more natural for her.
“Yeah, but are you sure we can afford it? I feel like we’ve spent a lot of money already.”
“We’ve made more than we’ve spent. It’s fine.”
“How?! It’s not like we’ve been working!”
“Our investments have been doing really well ever since we left our money with that concierge.”
“Oh, you did mention that. But how do you know how it’s going?”
“Every once in a while, a pigeon comes by to give me a report.”
The primary method of long-distance communication in this world was carrier pigeon. There were a number of ways to send messages across great distances, but the magical pigeons could be reliably used anywhere, so they were fairly popular.
“All right, but even if we’re making money through her, how do we actually get it?” Tomochika asked.
“I can send instructions through the birds too. They can encrypt the messages they carry, so I can use them to withdraw cash from the bank.”
“These pigeons can do everything!” Tomochika wasn’t familiar with the financial structure of this world, but apparently it was being carried on the backs of these carrier pigeons.
“Well, it was all Hanakawa’s money to start with, so I guess we should be grateful to him.”
“I feel like it’s a bit late for that...”
The two finally made their way through the entrance and into the room itself. The first chamber they entered was the living room. Putting down their luggage, they sat down on the sofa.
“If nothing goes wrong, we’ll be there in about a week,” Yogiri said.
“Yeah, if nothing goes wrong.”
“I’m sure if something happens, the boy will deal with it,” Mokomoko interjected, speaking through the android.
“I’m not invincible. And being on a boat makes things difficult.”
“Oh, really?” Tomochika gave Yogiri a skeptical look. After all this time, it was hard to believe him when he said that.
“If there’s some trouble with the boat that makes it suddenly sink, there’s nothing I’ll be able to do about it.”
“Wait, really?! What happened to your killing intent forecast?”
“Environmental danger that doesn’t specifically target me is kind of hard to recognize.” After all, Yogiri had been transported to this world and later been caught up in the collapse of a cliff in the Underworld. It wasn’t like he could avoid any and all danger.
“Then what are we doing taking a relaxing boat cruise?”
“Worst case, we could always use Furemaru to build our own boat,” Mokomoko said. “I don’t believe it is a matter that merits concern.”
“Huh? You mean that thing we got from the robot?” Tomochika asked. “I didn’t know it had a name.”
The mysterious substance they had acquired from the Aggressor was usually disguised as part of her clothing. Its form could be controlled at will, so it could become a weapon, armor, or even wings. It was an incredibly useful tool.
“Indeed. It would be inconvenient for it to remain unnamed, and calling it ‘the thing we got from the robot’ seems disrespectful.”
“So, does that name have a history or something?”
Names ending in “maru” were often given to Japanese swords. Tomochika wondered if the name Mokomoko had chosen held any special significance, since she was from the Heian era.
“It’s short for ‘flexible material.’”
“So, no meaning at all.”
“Let’s just hope nothing goes wrong with the boat,” Yogiri said, standing up and heading for the bedroom.
“It’s only noon. Are you really going to sleep now?”
“There’s nothing else to do. What about you?”
“Hmm. Maybe I’ll go have a look around.”
As luxurious as their cabin was, they’d be bored if they locked themselves inside. Tomochika thought it would be a good idea to get to know the ship they would be spending the next week on.
Before he could leave the room, Mokomoko tossed something to Yogiri.
“What’s this?”
“It is a piece of Furemaru. If something happens, I will contact you. It should be faster than using a cell phone.”
“Got it. Let me know if someone dangerous shows up.”
“If you could break off pieces of that stuff, why did you wait until now to do it?” Tomochika asked.
“Dividing up Furemaru is a rather complex process. I was only able to accomplish it recently.”
Up until then, they could harden the substance and use it as a throwing weapon, but any parts that split off couldn’t be controlled. It seemed the guardian spirit had resolved that issue somehow.
“Wait, is he already asleep?!”
While Tomochika had been speaking to Mokomoko, Yogiri had already begun snoring.
At the end of the deck were a number of lifeboats. They seemed sturdy enough to be reliable if the worst were to happen, but there were surprisingly few.
“I don’t think everyone on board will fit.”
“As I recall, the insufficient number of lifeboats was also a problem on that Earth ship that hit an iceberg.”
“Special-class guests like you have no need to worry. Everyone in your class and first class will fit,” one of the staff noted as they walked by.
People staying in the special cabin were treated as VIPs, so it wasn’t strange that the employees already knew their faces.
“Oh. So the poor are left to die, huh?”
“Yet even the second-class tickets were rather expensive,” Mokomoko commented.
Tomochika and the spirit wandered around the ship. Mokomoko remained in her state of Enju possession since it made conversing much easier. Even if Tomochika was discreet, speaking with someone who no one else could see would seem unnatural to those around her, so they had decided this way would be best.
“There’s plenty to do. A week on this boat won’t be a problem.”
The vessel was equipped with a gym, tennis court, pool, public bath, casino, high-class restaurant, and concert hall. There were plenty of ways for them to spend their time on board.
“So, what do you think?” Mokomoko asked. “Shall we make the journey after all?” They weren’t scheduled to depart until nightfall, so they still had time to cancel the trip if they wanted to.
“Yeah, well... I can’t help but get a bad feeling about this. I don’t think there will be any icebergs, though.” Icebergs only appeared in the far northern oceans, so it was highly unlikely they’d come across one.
“Some suspicious individuals will be on board as well, but if anything happens, the boy will take care of it.”
“My question is, should we be trying so hard to defeat the Sages and get their Philosopher’s Stones? I’ve been wondering about that recently.”
“At the moment, it is the most promising method of returning home, is it not?”
“Yeah, but it’s causing a lot of problems for the people of this world. Do we really need to go that far to help ourselves? I’m not sure.”
If the option was there, of course she absolutely wanted to go home. But the cost to do so was proving to be enormous at this point. As the Sages died, the world’s ability to protect itself from outside threats diminished. It wouldn’t be long before the Sages were unable to protect their citizens from the Aggressors, which would put the entire world on the brink of destruction.
The Sages weren’t good people by any means. They didn’t treat their subjects as humans, and they killed many of them without a second thought. But that was better than the damage that would be caused by the Aggressors. It was a necessary evil. No matter how bad the Sages were, the world needed them.
Yogiri was determined to return home, even if it meant destroying this world, but Tomochika wasn’t. She felt that if the cost was that great, she would rather give up and stay here.
“Remember before, when Hanakawa called us a pair of psychopaths? I feel like it’s wrong for us to just plow ahead, killing everything in our path.” It would take a certain amount of resolve to live in this world, but Tomochika didn’t feel it was worse than abandoning everyone else and being totally unfeeling.
“But returning home in and of itself presents no direct harm to this world. We don’t necessarily need to kill the Sages to acquire Philosopher’s Stones, and we may not need too many of them. On top of that, we might learn something from Kouryu regarding another way back.”
“I can’t imagine it going smoothly.”
“Well, if you’d rather stay in this world, that’s fine too.”
“It is?!”
“I have persisted for the sake of protecting the Dannoura family and ensuring the prosperity of its descendants. That is why I am here to protect you. The location, the place where I perform my job, is entirely irrelevant. That said, I do believe returning home will make it easier for you to prosper.”
“Well, even if I choose to live in this world, it’s something I’ll have to think about.”
“I suspect you would want for little. Many people seem to come here from Japan, so you can generally communicate in Japanese. And depending on the location, you can live with all the modern conveniences of Earth.”
“I know it’s a bit late, but if Japanese culture is so widespread here, that must mean a lot of people are coming from back home, right?”
“I am unsure of why, but that does seem to be the case. Perhaps Japan itself has some special quality.”
“But, like...so what? It’s not like having Japanese people around means I’ll be able to live comfortably here.”
It wasn’t that she had given up entirely on going back home. But Tomochika had begun to think that staying in this world might be a viable option.
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