Sasaki and Peeps - Volume 2 - Chapter 4

<The Otherworld and Psychic Powers>

After returning to our apartment, Peeps and I decided to head for the otherworld right away. We hadn’t been able to do so the previous night because we were at the hotel with Futarishizuka, and while the time difference may have changed since our last trip, we could be sure that about a month had passed. Partly because of that, I was nervous during our journey.

As always, we arrived in the cheap inn room in town we had reserved for this purpose. After that, I relied on Peeps’s teleportation spell to get to Count Müller’s castle. If we wanted information in this world, there was nobody more reliable. We urgently needed to learn how things were going here after the incident with the Empire.

The guard standing watch at the castle’s entrance was a familiar face I’d already encountered several times on my way in and out. When he saw us approach, he gave a reverent bow and said, “Ah, Sir Sasaki—w-welcome back!”

“Huh? We’ve…met before, haven’t we?”

Last time we spoke, I remembered him being a little friendlier. He’d say things like, “Hey! Welcome back!” or “Just stay put for a second,” and announce us to Count Müller.

“Sir, I, er, deeply apologize for any rudeness I may have displayed in the past!”

“Wait, what are you talking—?”

“You are a noble, Sir Sasaki!”

Oh, right. Now that he mentioned it, something like that had happened, huh? If I was remembering correctly, I’d received the rank of knight. Everything that had happened back in modern Japan had been so shocking I’d forgotten all about matters in this world. That said, knights were the lowest rank of nobility according to the count. If a guard was having to humble himself to this degree… Well, social status in the Kingdom of Herz was certainly nothing to shake a stick at. No matter what I said to the guard after that, he retained an air of profound respect.

Eventually, we ended up in the reception room in Count Müller’s residence.

“Thank you for coming, Sir Sasaki. Lord Starsage, I am honored by your presence.”

“I’m sorry for barging in all of a sudden. You must be busy.”

“My apologies for not contacting you in advance, Julius.”

“Please, no apologies necessary. I have plenty to discuss with you both as well.”

“In that case, why don’t we get right down to business?”

The only ones in the room were Peeps, the count, and me—two men and one bird. Count Müller and I sat on the sofas as we spoke. The table between us was set up with tea and several sweets brought in by a maid just a moment ago.

She’d also placed a wonderful perching tree next to the tea set, along with more finely cut pieces of candy that now sat in a shallow dish in front of it. There was also a small teacup about as deep as the bird’s beak was long—these would make it easier for Peeps to peck away at everything. The whole set must have been custom ordered. Every part of it spoke to the depth of respect the person in front of us had for the Lord Starsage. I glanced at the bird on my shoulder, and he fluttered down to the tree on the table.

The corners of Count Müller’s mouth turned up in a slight smile. The sight of them both brought a smile to my heart, as well. I began to wonder if it might even be better to leave Peeps in his hands for a while during our stay here.

“Sir Sasaki, would you mind terribly if I shared my news first?”

“Please do, my lord.”

“I apologize for the rush, but there is something I very much need to inform you both of.”

Hearing Count Müller say this with such an air of formality was kind of scary. Despite myself, I tensed up in preparation. “What would that be, my lord?”

“The invasion by the Ohgen Empire into the Kingdom of Herz has set unprecedented events into motion within our nation. These events concern certain privileged classes—the royalty and nobility, specifically, and I want to make sure you’re aware of them, Sir Sasaki.”

“I would be more than happy to listen. We had been hoping to ask about current events, ourselves.”

Peeps and I both turned to focus on what Count Müller had to say.

And what we heard struck me as very uncharacteristic of the Kingdom of Herz. The source of this disturbance had been none other than the king—the very one I’d previously been bestowed an audience with. He had made a shocking proclamation addressed to all Herzian nobility.

In his words: Our nation will implement various measures to regain our past prosperity, and so on. One particular part of this speech, according to Count Müller, caused a stir throughout the kingdom’s nobility, from the highest to the lowest in rank.

As for what part was so provocative… Well, to summarize, it’s quite simple.

The current king had several children, and he intended to have each play an equal part in the politics of the nation. After five years, he would unconditionally cede the throne of the kingdom to whoever achieved the most remarkable feats.

It seemed His Majesty was truly concerned about the direction this country was taking.

Left desperate in the face of invasion, then blessed with a windfall recovery, he had found himself ready to welcome revolutionary reform. I didn’t know how it was for nobles, but once a nation was defeated and occupied by another, the death of its royal family was a foregone conclusion. Such things had happened repeatedly in my own world.

“I see, my lord. So that’s what’s been happening…”

“His Majesty had a lot to think about, no doubt.”

“Come to think of it, how was the war’s outcome explained publicly? As you know, the enemy’s combat strength up and vanished. I figured Herz might have some difficulties explaining it.”

“Both nations are reporting that they were caught up in a battle between two great war criminals. Traces of great magic, or magic even higher than that, have been confirmed at the site. The Ohgen Empire probably doesn’t think the Kingdom of Herz is responsible, either.”

Count Müller’s eyes darted briefly to Peeps. The sparrow wasn’t fooling him.

I naturally recalled the purple-skinned woman he’d engaged in aerial combat for such a long time. She had a frightening nickname—the Blood Witch, if I remembered correctly. According to Count Müller’s words at the time, she was one of the seven great war criminals.

I wasn’t sure what kind of people these “great war criminals” were, but based on what I was hearing now, they sounded similar to Peeps: remarkably talented and, from the perspective of the rest of us ordinary people, more akin to a natural disaster than anything else.

“I feel bad for involving you in all this trouble, Sir Sasaki. You received your title by the will of the second prince’s mother, and everyone believes this latest development is going to lead to a struggle between the first and second princes.”

“It isn’t something you need to apologize for, Count Müller.”

“No, I am responsible for involving you both.”

Noble affairs here in Herz would probably be absolute chaos for the time being. And with Count Müller being closely allied with the second prince, I doubted he’d be able to remain uninvolved. His promotion to count, still recent news, wouldn’t make anything easier for him, either. From what I’d heard in the past, the first prince had appeared recently and shown great talent—and was now rumored to be next in line for the throne—but before that, the second prince was far and away the favorite. There was little doubt the forces assembled around the second prince were still significant.

“Count Müller, I personally hold Prince Adonis’s love for his country in high esteem as well.”

“If the prince heard me say this, he would probably be angry, but there is really no need for you to be concerned with us. I think I have a good understanding of your position, Sir Sasaki. That was why I wanted to tell you about this as soon as I could.”

“Thank you, my lord. Still, to think that things had turned out that way…”

After saving Prince Adonis’s life on the battlefield, Count Müller had ascended to the rank of count and become very close friends with the second prince. He was his confidant now, and that seemed to place him right in the middle of the vortex—the struggle for power that had begun swirling in the court and was just now picking up even more speed.

I’d seen it many times before: a newly appointed section chief being overloaded with work from other departments. That work would inevitably trickle down to his subordinates. It made me think about what a company was really supposed to be—what the term management really meant. In that sense, my position wasn’t altogether safe.

“I also wanted to discuss something with you, Sir Sasaki.”

“What is it, my lord?”

“You should leave the country as soon as you can and head for the Republic of Lunge.”

“Count Müller, I don’t think—”

“I am confident you will be wildly successful there.”

I’ve never had a single section chief say something like that to me, I thought. In fact, I’d only ever heard the opposite. As a result, Count Müller’s proposition stirred my heart. I got butterflies in my stomach, despite my age.

“Lunge is famous as a country where goods flow and business transactions are made,” he continued. “And I have a few connections there myself. I can set things up to send you to them. What do you say to using this opportunity to travel the continent, experience the cultures in other cities, and broaden your knowledge?”

“……”

How could I simply agree after all that? I wanted to keep playing this game of being a corporate drone under a really good boss.

Naturally, my mind shifted to the bag resting on the floor next to my sofa. Then my eyes drifted over to Peeps, who was perched on the tree set up on the low table in front of me. I would ask the great Lord Starsage for his opinion.

The answer came right away. The sparrow gave a slight nod. What an adorably cool and sophisticated bird.

“I understand your proposal, Count Müller, but we would still prefer to stay in this town for a while longer to do business. If it’s all right, would you look through the products we’ve brought? I stocked some extra transceivers, too.”

“B-but, Sir Sasaki, that’s—”

“Can we interest you in this purchase?” I asked the count, staring straight at his attractive face.

Then his expression broke into a bashful smile, and he nodded. Normally, Count Müller was able to exude an air of authority without much change in his features, so whenever he showed real human emotion like that, it was always clear and bright.

“…I’m sorry. You don’t know how much I appreciate your thoughtfulness.”

I was beginning to understand why Peeps had so much concern for this man.

After we’d confirmed the state of affairs in the otherworld, and the count had confirmed our products, our business was settled for the moment. No problems came up during the exchange, as the items I’d brought this time were all ones I’d sold before. Since I’d had to deal with Futarishizuka, I hadn’t had time to pick out anything new.

The final purchase amount was more modest than on previous occasions, too, at a few hundred gold pieces.

And with that, our business talk wrapped up for the time being. The next topic to come up was Mr. Marc, vice manager of the Hermann Trading Company.

“While I’m thinking of it,” said the count, “I had something to ask you about, Sir Sasaki.”

“What would that be, my lord?”

“Have you seen Mr. Marc of the Hermann Trading Company recently?”

“No, it’s been some time since I’ve seen him.”

“…I see.”

“Has something happened?”

“I have several things to discuss with him, so I figured I would wait until the next time he visited the estate. However, I haven’t seen him since the week before last. He pays the estate a visit every week, so I’m a little concerned.”

I hadn’t met up with the vice manager since our previous short stay in this world, so I doubted I could be much help to Count Müller. “I’m sorry, I haven’t seen him since last month.”

“No, don’t worry about it. I’ll send a messenger to his store—as soon as tomorrow, perhaps.”

This was only conjecture, but I imagined the man was very busy with what Count Müller had explained earlier. Mr. Marc had not only heard about the count rescuing the second prince but also had information from me, too, so I figured he was making every possible effort to profit from it.

After a little less than an hour of talking about this and that, there suddenly came a knock at the door. It was a knight—and one, it appeared, who personally guarded the count on a regular basis. I’d seen several knights on guard duty in the estate in the past. Of them, it seemed one of them was always waiting just outside the reception room.

No sooner had the man been admitted into the room than he began speaking, almost in a shout. “Count Müller, we’ve received an urgent message from the Hermann Trading Company!”

“An urgent message, you say?”

“Shall I convey it to you now, my lord?” the knight asked, glancing in my direction.

It must have been pretty vital information. Count Müller, however, nodded without hesitation. At this point, he saw us as participants in the trading company. As an outsider starved for information, I was extremely grateful.

“Yes, please do. Here will be fine.”

“Mr. Marc, the vice manager of the company, has been arrested for the crime of disrespecting the nobility.”

Another piece of sensational news—apparently, the man had offended a noble somehow. From the knight’s tense expression, I’d guessed it wasn’t good news beforehand. But I never imagined that a friend of mine had been placed under arrest.

However, disrespecting nobility seemed very uncharacteristic for the vice manager. I hadn’t known him for that long, but I couldn’t even imagine him defying someone of the upper classes. He was always such a humble, unassuming person.

“Is that true?” asked Count Müller, his eyes wide in surprise as well. He seemed to be thinking, No, that’s impossible—just the same as I was.

“Shall I send a messenger to the store, my lord?” said the knight.

“Yes, please do.”

“Understood, my lord.”

I had a feeling more trouble awaited us.

The messenger from the Hermann Trading Company told us the details in Count Müller’s reception room. It seemed there had been some internal trouble at the company. The issue was more involved than I’d thought.

Apparently, the manager was the one behind the vice manager’s fall.

The manager was striving to set up a new storefront in the capital in order to move their main functions there. In contrast, the vice manager had been working in the store here—right in Count Müller’s lap. It was inevitable that the two would come to a disagreement on something. However, this was a little abrupt even then, wasn’t it?

When I asked a question along those lines, the messenger replied that the vice manager’s actions had been the cause.

Having obtained early insider information that the war, driven by the Ohgen Empire’s invasion of Herz, would be ending, he had profited handsomely, involving his clients and customers as well. According to the messenger, the amount he had made easily exceeded the Hermann Trading Company’s usual yearly sales.

There was little doubt that the manager, wary of his subordinate’s success, had struck first out of fear he’d be overthrown. When I asked how they could be so sure of it, the man serving as messenger said he’d been at the scene of the crime.

He explained the incident in detail, but essentially, the offended noble had faked an accident. He had claimed to have been hit by a carriage, and the vice manager had been arrested. This truly was another world—the position of the victim and suspect were totally reversed from what I was used to in Japan.

We pressed for further information and were told the noble who had accused the vice manager of the crime had a long-standing grudge against Count Müller. Considering the manager’s wish to move company headquarters to the capital, this must have seemed the easiest option to ruin the vice manager.

The manager’s ideas and those of a noble burning with opposition toward Count Müller must have intersected and led to the plot. And so the vice manager had been dumped into prison on bogus charges.

Once we’d seen the messenger out of the reception room, the count bowed to me. “Sir Sasaki, I feel I must apologize yet again. This trouble, too, is my responsibility.”

“No, don’t apologize. None of this is your fault, Count Müller.”

The king’s proclamation about the conditions to inherit the throne almost certainly had something to do with all this, too. The noble accident-faker in question was apparently part of the first prince’s faction. That was motive enough to attack Count Müller, who was friends with the second prince, even disregarding the Hermann Trading Company’s internal affairs.

Herzian noble society was quite the hornet’s nest.

“I’d like to pay a visit to the noble in question as soon as possible.”

“In that case, I believe I’ll go and see Mr. Marc, my lord.”

“That will ease my mind. Thank you.”

I couldn’t exactly enjoy my easygoing life in another world in this situation. In any case, I would be too anxious to eat until I made sure the vice manager was safe. I also trusted Peeps would understand.

“Sir Sasaki, I want you to hold on to this.”

The count held something out to me from across the low table.

It was a sheathed dagger.

Beautifully ornamented, it must have had more worth as a work of art than as a weapon.

“My lord?”

“If you show someone this dagger and give them my name, your commands will be regarded as my own. I want you to use this power to vouch for Mr. Marc. Since he isn’t a noble, he will be treated very badly in prison. Many who have been accused of disrespecting the nobility end up dying before their sentence is passed.”

“I understand, my lord.”

Wow. This is a huge responsibility, I thought. If I had been alone, I doubted the count would have trusted me with such an important task. Peeps definitely played a role in his decision. That meant I needed to give this my all, so as not to harm Peeps’s reputation.

No, that’s not right. The vice manager’s mental and physical health were more important than anything else. He was a good person, and I’d rescue him by fair means or foul.

We took a carriage to get to the prison where the vice manager was being held. Count Müller had arranged for it, along with everything else, ensuring that we arrived safely at our destination without losing our way. Peeps may have been knowledgeable, but he probably didn’t know where the prison was in every single provincial city.

Once there, the dagger loaned to me by the count had its chance to shine. I showed it to a man who appeared to oversee the prison, and I received the red carpet treatment as I was guided in.

That said, while the facility itself was located in the town Count Müller governed, the vice manager had been arrested for offending a noble of at least the count’s rank. Because of that, it didn’t look like we’d be able to do whatever we wanted with the accused.

In the prison, we saw a knight keeping watch, apparently under Count Dietrich’s name. This was the result of Herz’s aristocratic system. It would appear that the authority and jurisdiction to make legal judgments—as it was called in my world—weren’t necessarily tied to the lord of the land.

If I used the magic Peeps had taught me, I could have driven off the guard and broken the vice manager out. That, however, would cause a huge problem for Count Müller, so it had to be a last resort.

The prison overseer under Count Müller and the knight on guard left here by Count Dietrich accompanied me through the prison. After a short walk, we came to the end of one of the facility’s underground passages.

Through the bars, we could see the vice manager. His hands were bound in chains and his feet in shackles.

“M-Mr. Sasaki, what are you doing here?”

“I apologize for how long it took me to get to you.”

The underground prison was dark with few light sources, so I used an illumination spell to brighten Mr. Marc’s cell. When I did, I saw large bruises on his cheeks. Probably the result of scuffles with knights or military policemen at the time of his arrest.

I hastily used my healing magic. When I cast it, the knight with us readied himself for a fight, but when he saw that my goal was to heal the man’s wounds, he put down the hand reaching for his sword. The vice manager’s bruises healed without a trace within a few seconds.

“Thank you so much for doing this for me—I’m hardly worthy of it.”

“I heard what happened from the company. Count Müller is making preparations on his own end regarding this incident. It won’t be long before he proves your innocence, Mr. Marc.”

“Wait, but…but that would be so much trouble for you and the count, and…”

Mr. Marc’s gaze drifted to the knight standing next to me. When I saw that, I suddenly remembered that I’d heard Count Dietrich’s name before. He’d allied himself with Count Müller’s butler Sebastian in the past; he was the top of the faction trying to bring down House Müller. He had previously shown up only in name, however. Apparently, he and Count Müller had a long history of discord.

“You don’t have to worry; just wait for him. He’s sure to get you out of here.”

“Mr. Sasaki…”

Count Müller said he’d do it, so everything should be fine. If, even then, things didn’t work out—and I didn’t want to think about this—I’d blow up the prison and flee somewhere with Mr. Marc. We could head for the Republic of Lunge, though that wasn’t part of the count’s plan. And I was sure Peeps would help if it was to save Mr. Marc.

“Also,” I said to the knight, “I had something to talk about with you.”

“…What is it?”

“I have a message I’d like you to convey to Count Dietrich.”

“Speak.”

“It appears as though he has allied himself with the manager of the Hermann Trading Company, but when it comes to business talent, none can rival Mr. Marc. I would humbly advise him to think wisely, with a view to the long run, about which side he should really take.”

“Doesn’t the dagger at your hip mark you as a member of House Müller?”

“I would also suggest, sir, that he look into how much of a profit Mr. Marc made after the recent dispute with the Ohgen Empire. I think that will make it clear whom he should be sheltering.”

“That’s pure nonsense.”

“Perhaps. But shouldn’t Count Dietrich be the one to decide that?”

“Ugh…”

Right now, I wanted to focus on keeping Mr. Marc safe. And no matter how the cookie crumbled, I was confident Mr. Marc would ally himself with Count Müller anyway. For that reason, I decided the correct move would be to buy some time, even if it meant pretending I was cheating on a certain noble. Otherwise, I doubted the prison would alter their treatment of the vice manager.

“…Fine. I’ll tell him for you.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“But I wonder what would happen if others were to find out that a foreign merchant turned noble, who happens to be in the second prince’s favor, has been fawning on those of us supporting the first prince. Between your facial features and skin tone, you’re the talk of the court. You are this Sasaki person, yes?”

The knight watched me and spoke with a smirk. It seemed like he was trying to assert his dominance. Considering Mr. Marc’s position, I couldn’t let him pin me down like that. Even if I had to act a bit arrogant, I decided my best move was to be assertive myself.

“To me, this man here is more important than the second prince.”

“What?! Are you mad?!”

“S-Sir Sasaki…”

“So I’d very much like you to convey my message to Count Dietrich.”

“You would offend nobility! Your lord, who you should revere!”

“If you’re dissatisfied, you can go ahead and inform Prince Adonis himself.”

“Wha—?”

“In fact, I can go and tell him right now—personally.”

It would have been simple if I had discussed all this in advance, but even if Prince Adonis was to hear of it, I could easily explain the situation to him. I was confident I could count on Count Müller’s understanding as well—though this was all a product of the Lord Starsage’s influence, of course.

“Don’t…don’t think I’m going to bail you out if you regret this!”

“I wouldn’t expect you to. But I do promise not to bring any sort of harm to Count Dietrich.”

“Ugh…!”

Even the knight looked shocked at that.

Whatever happens, it looks like I managed to buy us some time.

After our discussion in the prison regarding the Hermann Trading Company’s vice manager, we next set off straight for the Republic of Lunge. To get us there, Peeps kindly provided his teleportation magic. It would have taken way too long to get there on foot, so while I felt bad for asking for the bird’s help, I had little choice.

His spell brought us there instantly—and we were met with the lively city streets we’d once visited to procure supplies for Count Müller. This place was so bustling and crowded, it surpassed not only our home base of Baytrium, but Herz’s capital Allestos.

“I simply doubt there will be anything here that will help that man.”

“I think it’s worth a shot, Peeps.”

“Really?”

“That said, it will take some work to reach our goal…”

As I chatted with my beloved pet bird, I gazed out at the people going back and forth on the main road. Mr. Marc’s social position was on the line this time, so I wanted to do everything I possibly could. Thankfully, I had over a hundred thousand gold coins on hand—more than enough to go for the only opportunity I could think of. I knew the finances belonged to both me and Peeps, but I really wanted this chance.

“I know I’m dragging you around, but will you let me give this a try?”

“Well, the man has been a great help to us many times in the past…”

Peeps had no objections—he was probably remembering the stupendous meat dishes we’d tasted in Mr. French’s restaurant. He was indeed a very human sparrow—which only served to make him all the more adorable.

“Thanks so much, Peeps. That makes me really happy.”

“But if you’re doing this, you need to make sure you win.”

“Of course! Mr. Marc’s future is riding on it, after all.”

“His loss would be very painful for us.”

If Count Müller heard that, I thought, he’d probably be jealous. He might even get competitive, seeking the same praise from Peeps.

I walked through town for a while with the ever-popular bird on my shoulder. Eventually, we reached the Kepler Trading Company, where we’d come looking for a business deal in the past. Once there, we asked for Mr. Joseph, who was in charge of foodstuffs—the one we had dealt with last year, too.

It was surprisingly easy to secure a meeting with him. Before we could even get a word in, we were shown to the reception room. A familiar face was already sitting there on the sofa waiting for us.

“It’s been so long, Mr. Sasaki.”

“Yes, it has, Mr. Joseph.”

He encouraged us to sit, so I settled onto the sofa across from him. Peeps stayed put on my shoulder, pretending to be a familiar and watching Mr. Joseph through his cute, round eyes.

“I really appreciate you making time for us. You must be busy.”

“Not at all—I’ve actually been curious about you as well.”

“…You have?”

Mr. Joseph smiled as he spoke. His casual attitude was no different from last time. “I’ve been in charge of this store for a long time, and it’s very rare that someone is able to fool me so thoroughly. It made me very interested in who you are. To think you weren’t from the Ohgen Empire at all—but from the Kingdom of Herz!”

His eyes, however, stared at me so fixedly it was like he had forgotten to blink.

It had been over a month since the Herz–Ohgen disturbance. They’d probably gotten plenty of news about it here in the Republic of Lunge as well. Naturally, they’d been looking into the merchant they had made such an investment in.

“You said previously that you were in charge of foodstuffs…”

“To be more accurate, I am also in charge of foodstuffs.”

“…I see.”

Apparently, this man was much more important than I’d initially assumed. It seemed like his position was closer to store manager. If that was the case, maybe my buy-and-run tactic had been a little shortsighted. Still, considering the personal interest he now had in me, I felt like my decision had worked out in our favor.

“Thanks to you,” I said, “we should be able to maintain peaceful relations with the Ohgen Empire for the time being. From our perspective, the reprieve seems like the perfect chance to do even more lucrative business with you. That is my reason for coming today.”

“May I ask the specifics?”

“I’ll be up front with you. We’re thinking of opening a trading company in this city. We came here to discuss whether Kepler would be willing to invest in it and provide support. After all, this is a different country, and it has its own rules and customs.”

“You don’t actually believe we’d consider something like that, do you?”

Though the Kingdom of Herz had repelled the Ohgen Empire, it was only a temporary reprieve. In truth, Peeps’s magic had handled everything; naturally, other nations wouldn’t be changing their opinion. Herz was still experiencing terrible deterioration, making any investment a big risk. Even so, in this case, I intended to keep pushing. Thankfully, we had with us a whole array of rule-breaking items to trade.

“Consider this a request from me personally, not from the Kingdom of Herz.”

“…Oh?” Mr. Joseph’s expression shifted slightly.

Poor Herz, I thought. He’s less averse to personal business with me.

“I believe that you will, in fact, accept this proposition, Mr. Joseph.”

“Then by all means, please, show me the basis for your confidence.”

“The goods we deal in are of a rather unusual variety…”

Before coming here, we borrowed several of the items Count Müller had purchased from us from the estate. Specifically, calculators and other mechanical goods the likes of which would be difficult for this world to develop and manufacture. I showed these to Mr. Joseph.

“…What are these?”

“Allow me to explain.”

I had two broad reasons for coming to the Republic of Lunge.

The first was that I figured it would be hard to do very much in the Kingdom of Herz in the future due to the discord between Mr. Marc and the manager of the Hermann Trading Company. I didn’t know how any of that would shake out, but it wasn’t hard to envision roadblocks in our future.

The second was that asking for an investment within Herz seemed like a lot of trouble. It was way too scary to think about borrowing money within the kingdom. The nobles and rich people who supported them were already on edge because of the feud over the royal inheritance.

And so I gave Mr. Joseph a rundown of the products we’d brought with us. We started with the calculator, then moved on to the transceiver and the motion sensor camera that ran on dry-cell batteries.

This time, we’d also brought with us a Breathalyzer that had been sleeping in a closet in my apartment, along with a toy camera and a battery-less film-developing device. I’d always figured I’d use them at some point; never thought it would be like this, though.

As I explained, Mr. Joseph’s expression turned serious. That smile from before disappeared without a trace.

“We plan to deal in products such as these at the company we’d like to establish,” I said.

“Mr. Sasaki, before we talk about that, can I ask a question?”

“What is it?”

“Why us? Sure, the Republic of Lunge is fairly well off, and we’re proud of it. But if you were merely looking at scale, surely there were many other contenders?”

He stared at me, his expression dead serious. It didn’t seem to be a good time to joke around with him.

“It goes without saying that the Kepler Trading Company’s capital strength is significant. But you also have excellent financial muscle, and we’ve already made a successful business transaction in the past. For these reasons, we would like to explore the possibility of forming a long-term relationship. To be perfectly frank, I wouldn’t balk at approaching other trading companies as well to accomplish my objective.”

I decided to casually drop some flattery in my answer. It was a common tactic used when dealing with start-up companies that were doing well but still had an inferiority complex toward bigger corporations. I didn’t know exactly how large the Kepler Trading Company’s operations were, but if other large trading companies did exist, I doubted that would pose an issue.

“Well, I’m honored to hear that.”

“First, I would like you to understand that I have already done business in these goods with the Hermann Trading Company in the Kingdom of Herz. However, I would personally prefer to limit my wholesale to a single client and develop something like a brand awareness.”

“……”

“That said, I would also like to stay on good terms with the employees at the Hermann Trading Company. Unfortunately, it seems there are hardheaded people everywhere you go, and it’s become more difficult to keep things friendly and profitable.”

“…I see. So that’s what’s going on.”

And most importantly, Peeps had introduced me to this place. He was staying perched on my shoulder again this time, watching closely, not moving very much. Throughout the conversation just now, he hadn’t seemed to react at all. I assumed that meant he was fine with all my propositions thus far.

“What do you think?”

“I understand what you’re saying, Mr. Sasaki.”

“I appreciate it.”

“However, this deal would present a significant risk to us as well. I know it’s rude of me, but you are from the Kingdom of Herz. Considering the situation with the Ohgen Empire, we can’t be sure of what lies ahead.”

“I think it’s natural for you to be concerned about that.”

“Though we made a deal in the past, it was a one-time affair. On that point, Mr. Sasaki, would you be able to prove to me that you are a man worthy of our trust? I’m hesitant precisely because the goods you deal in are so attractive.”

From his point of view, that was a perfectly reasonable reaction.

Any observer would have seen a merchant from a defeated nation who had come crying and begging. Both Ohgen’s defeat on the battlefield and Herz’s extended lease on life were, to the public, merely the result of getting wrapped up in a fight between dangerous war criminals; it was a temporary windfall—and nothing more.

Everyone probably believed the two countries would clash in the near future. Or maybe another nation would attack Herz instead. The kingdom had mobilized a significant number of troops during the war effort; it wouldn’t be strange at all if war profiteers picked this time to swoop in and reap the benefits. That was precisely why the king of Herz had issued so many new measures. Even I, an outsider, had no trouble imagining the worst.

“In that case, I have a proposal for you,” I offered.

“I’d very much like to hear it.”

“The next time I come here, I will sell my products to the Kepler Trading Company in bulk. However, we’ll divide the payment for those goods, setting some of it aside for after our company is established, which you can keep as collateral.”

“I see…”

Unfortunately, we didn’t have anything to offer them other than our goods. If he said no to this, we’d end up leaving quietly and visiting other trading companies. And come to think of it, if a merchant from one country made profits somewhere else, how would taxes work? I’d have to check with Peeps later.

“Will we be able to discuss the numbers on each individual product you plan to sell, then?”

“Yes, of course.”

“In that case, then yes, we would be happy to cooperate with you.”

“Thank you very much.”

Mr. Joseph broke out in a smile. It seemed he would approach this with an open mind. It would have been a pain to visit other trading companies at this hour, so I was glad we got Kepler to accept. Having to explain all that again from the start would have been really annoying.

I also wanted to keep my presence here as quiet as possible. If I went around asking other companies, rumors about me would spread in the blink of an eye. That would be about as troublesome as having someone run away with the goods I had left as collateral.

“I’d like to ask a little more about your circumstances,” said Mr. Joseph. “Do you plan to serve as representative of this new trading company?”

“No, there’s someone else who’s better suited for it.”

“I see. I’d like to meet them soon, if possible.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“In that case, let’s begin the negotiations for management rights based on the amount of investment, as well as profitability.”

“I appreciate it. Let’s get right down to the details…”

If this conversation went smoothly, I could potentially secure a place for Mr. Marc as a merchant, should he be left with no alternatives. Considering Mr. Joseph’s reaction, it didn’t seem impossible for him to carry over his personal relationships, either.

After that, we fell deep into conversation for about half a day. We were able to discuss most of the practical details of setting up a trading company.

“Oh, but first,” I began, “as for the name of this new company, I’d like to call it the Marc Trading Company.”

“Is that the name of the person who will be its representative?”

“Yes, it is.”

“I understand. I’m looking forward to the day I get to meet him.”

Finally, after communicating our desired name for the business, Peeps and I left the reception room behind us.

Our negotiations with the Kepler Trading Company had gone smoothly. After leaving, we took a stroll around Newsonia, the Lunge Republic’s capital city, looking at all the trading companies along the road, as well as at the ubiquitous open-air shops.

The reason for doing this was to hunt around for otherworldly valuables we could use in our dealings with Futarishizuka in the modern world. I was determined to find something as cheap as possible to buy that would fetch the highest price possible.

“The Kepler Trading Company was in a pretty clean and neat area, but downtown is kind of chaotic, huh? Everything’s all jumbled together—honestly, I can’t tell what’s what here.”

“Personally, I feel a certain charm from the sheer variety of shops all standing side by side.”

“Yeah, I think I can understand that.”

It reminded me of other places I knew that had little shops all mashed together, like Akihabara’s electric town or Shinjuku’s golden town. If I called this a fantasy version of those, it would be all the more fascinating for a modern person who grew up with a passion for certain media.

“Just walking around looking at everything is surprisingly satisfying.”

“Oh? You understand its charm, then?”

“I don’t know if I have the same impression of it as you, Peeps, but… Hmm. For a person from our world, it’s the kind of place you grew up knowing in your heart, always wishing to visit but were never able to.”

“What an odd perspective.”

“You might understand once you get more used to our world.”

“Hmm. That does certainly whet my curiosity.”

If he turned his passion for the internet away from electronic dictionaries and academic sites and toward manga and anime, the day might come when he felt the same. But no, maybe that was hoping for too much.

“Oh, would you mind discussing what we plan to stock?”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“I can’t help but think gold would be good.”

“Any grounds for that?”

“In our world, gold always goes up in price whenever there’s a war or an economic crisis—any big problems that come up. Since it’s not feasible to synthesize gold, there’s only ever a fixed amount of it.”

“So even in a society as advanced as yours, humans still seek value in gold?”

“Maybe it’s because nothing can replace it…”

My world had seen many new items and mechanisms crop up, such as bonds and Bitcoin, meant to preserve value. However, gold was always king whenever something happened. Platinum and palladium were relatively expensive, but gold had a far better conversion rate.

“Wouldn’t more valuable metals like orichalc or mythril work?”

“Peeps, we don’t have stuff like that.”

“You don’t? I see it mentioned on the internet every once in a while.”

“I think you were looking at fiction.”

“Hrm. So that was it…”

These subtle differences in perspective really marked him as a bona fide otherworlder. It was possible he’d gotten some mistaken information, too. Maybe it was best to broaden the range of our topics when we chatted to compare and reconcile information. It was a little scary to think some minor misunderstanding might lead to a fatal mistake.

“So you’re not sure about gold?”

“No, in that case, let’s start off with gold. This is just based on what I’ve seen on the internet, but the amount of gold flowing in your world is, as far as I can tell, far less than in this world. In that sense, it would be a good decision.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I’d already been considering it as a candidate, in fact.”

I remembered seeing an article on the internet that the total amount of gold in the modern world, including what was saved in storehouses, was about two hundred thousand tons. It seemed as though this number might fluctuate based on advancements in mining technology, but for now, the article said that was basically everything.

The possibility of gold losing its value in the future due to humans learning to synthesize it like pearls or diamonds, or as the result of some revolutionary new mining technology, wasn’t zero. However, at the present moment, it was still an extremely reliable investment.

“If we bring it into your world as coinage, we might end up being tracked in the future, so we should melt it down into ingots. Oh, and we’ll need to raise the purity as well. The internet said most gold circulating in your world has very high purity.”

“Then why don’t we head back to Count Müller’s town for now?”

“Mm.”

If this worked, there was no real need to stock up. We could use the gold coins we had on hand. I felt some hesitation toward melting down currency, but seeing as how Peeps didn’t seem to care one bit, I supposed a little couldn’t hurt.

The only other thing I supposed we would need was a box to hold the ingots.

Once we’d finished sightseeing in the Republic of Lunge, we returned to our home base—the town governed by Count Müller. From there, Peeps and I parted ways, each of us with our own job to do. After telling me he’d make the gold coins into ingots, he’d taken the box with the money in it and used teleportation magic, disappearing from sight. I, on the other hand, was off to procure a large wooden box to hold our stock going forward.

It didn’t matter what world it was—we couldn’t exactly carry gold with us where everyone else could see it. At the same time, after bringing the gold to Futarishizuka and exchanging it for money, we’d need the container for carrying stocked goods back in the otherworld. Hence the need to prepare a wooden box for transport.

The size of a small truck bed would be about perfect. That wasn’t the kind of thing I’d be able to get all by myself in modern Japan. It would draw way too much attention. As a result, I would have to purchase one in this world. Peeps had already confirmed it wouldn’t be a problem to take it along when we teleported.

I found what I was after and finished my task before Peeps, so I returned to the high-class inn to await the bird’s return. The inn had been generous enough to store what I’d bought in the warehouse behind the building.

Soon enough, the maid assigned to our room paid a visit.

“You have a guest, sir. What shall I do with her?”

“Who is it?”

“It is the young lady of the Müller family.”

I could only think of one person who fit that description—the girl with the memorable piled hairstyle. Her name was Elsa, if I recalled correctly. But why had she gone to the trouble to visit our room at the inn?

“Shall I show her in, sir?”

“Is Count Müller with her?”

“No, the lady is by herself.”

I might have understood somewhat if her daddy was here with her. But it was strange for her to visit alone.

“She desires a meeting with you, sir. Should I show her in?”

“Yes, please. Thank you.”

There was no way I could refuse. She was Count Müller’s treasured daughter. She was extremely important if I was going to build a harmonious relationship with him. I’d rue the day I slipped up, refused, and invited her wrath.

“Understood, sir.” With a reverent bow, the maid left the room.

After a few moments, the innkeeper led Count Müller’s daughter into the living area of our room. She really was here alone; her father was nowhere to be seen. The only people with her were the knights assigned as her bodyguards, and she’d told them to wait outside in the hallway.

Naturally, the knights had balked at that. I’d have done the same if I’d been entrusted with the safety of the count’s beloved daughter. But after the pile-hair princess personally and politely told them to leave, we were left alone in the room.

“Is it true the Hermann Trading Company’s vice manager was thrown in prison?”

“Yes, it is, madam.”

She looked taken aback. Apparently, she’d run all the way here because she’d been worried about Mr. Marc. When I gave her the plain truth, she clearly became frustrated. Here was a girl who wore her heart on her sleeve.

“Th-then are you—?”

“Yes, madam. Both your father and I are planning a rescue.”

“…Really?”

“Naturally, madam. This town can’t be without him.”

“……”

Though I didn’t know for sure, I imagined her visit had something to do with how Mr. Marc had sheltered her upon the news of Count Müller’s death. She couldn’t let things stand as they were and had come to spur us into action.

As if reflecting her resolve, her hair was piled higher than ever. You could even see some accents here and there that implied pretty high attack power.

“I have already had words with a retainer employed by the mastermind—Count Dietrich, madam,” I explained. “At the very least, he’ll be treated properly as long as he is in prison. Your father is on his way to negotiate with the man himself as we speak.”

“…Will Marc be able to come back safely?”

“Please, rest easy, madam. I promise we will take back both Mr. Marc and the Hermann Trading Company, so don’t worry about a thing. I beg you to have faith in us. Everything will go back to the way it was.”

“But Count Dietrich outranks my father.”

“That doesn’t mean our hands are tied.”

“But…”

The pile-hair princess stared at the low table, her eyes uneasy.

Wait, I thought. Could it be? Could she have some kind of romantic interest in Mr. Marc? There was a big age gap, but he was handsome, with a kind of sophisticated charm; plus, she was about the age when girls started developing an interest in older members of the opposite sex. An image of her declaring her love for him and the vice manager panicking crossed my mind.

“…What’s the matter? You’re staring at me.”

“Nothing, madam—only that you have proved to me once again how kind a person you are.”

“Are…are you making fun of me?!”

“No, not at all. It was touching. Really.”

“…Hmph,” huffed the pile-hair princess, looking away.

At just that moment, a magic circle appeared in the room.

I’d seen that glow many times in the past. This was bad—but I had no way to stop it. Peeps had returned. My guest’s attention was pulled toward the newly appeared magic circle.

In the blink of an eye, an adorable Java sparrow had materialized in the middle of it.

“I’m sorry for taking so long. I’ve—”

He had appeared right on the low table between the sofas, over which the pile-hair princess and I had been talking. In fact, since I’d seated her in the place of honor farthest into the room, Peeps ended up staring right into her face.

And then there was the stack of gold ingots right next to him.

“Huh…?”

The uneasiness in her eyes was replaced with shock.

And in response, our great Lord Starsage began to tweet and chirp as loudly as he could.

“Tweet! Tweeeet! Tweeeet! Tweeeet!”

“……”

This was some awful timing on the bird’s part. What was running through that wise old brain of his as he tweeted away? I feel like I’ve been seeing these pretend chirping scenes a lot more often, Peeps.

“He, um, just talked, right?”

“Tweet! Tweet! Tweet!”

“You can’t fool me! You definitely spoke!”

“Tweet! Tweet! Twit, tweeeet!”

It was the Lord Starsage versus the pile-hair princess.

If Count Müller had been here to see this, he would have gone blue in the face. Peeps was so cute when he got desperate. I guessed about half of those chirps were blaming me for letting her into the room; he kept glancing my way, after all.

Yes, I really should have reserved a separate room for meetings—and I had, in fact. But I never expected Peeps to come back while the inn’s employees were still setting it up.

At this point, there was no way I could pretend Peeps hadn’t spoken. But depending on how we explained it, we could probably keep damage to a minimum. Thankfully, magic in this world was astoundingly versatile.

Familiars who could speak seemed to be exceptional here, but Lady Elsa was a noble without much knowledge of magic. Considering her dad had introduced me as a magician-cum-merchant, it shouldn’t be impossible to convince her.

“Lady Elsa, may I have a moment?”

“Wh-what?”

“My familiar is somewhat special, you see. He’s able to speak and use high-level magic. That makes him quite rare—and thus a ripe target for others. I would like to ask you to please never speak of what you just witnessed to anyone.”

“…Are you being honest?”

“I am, madam.”

I was by no means lying to her. He was the greatest sage in the land.

“But just now, he showed up out of nowhere, didn’t he?”

“He is equipped with such a spell, madam.”

“……”

My different skin color and facial construction was handy in situations like this. Even she could tell that I was from a foreign country. She also understood that we were on friendly terms with her dad. As a daddy’s girl, she was sure to hesitate before pressing any further.

“If the public learns of this, madam, we will need to leave this town. You can ask Count Müller as well, if you wish. He is aware of our circumstances. If you wish to know more about our situation, please feel free to ask.”

She seemed taken aback. I felt bad for phrasing it like a threat, but I really couldn’t have her blabbing about my lovely sparrow’s secret. If, somehow, the public did learn about the Starsage being alive, things would get very problematic. The slow life he desired would forever remain a dream.

“A-all right, fine. I won’t tell anyone!”

“Thank you very much, madam.”

Lady Elsa gave a small nod; she must have understood my feelings on the matter. I was relived the pile-hair princess had such a straightforward personality.

In response, Peeps took a step toward her and introduced himself.

“I go by Sta—Peeps. Please call me Peeps.”

“That’s a really cute name. My name’s Elsa.”

The sparrow stood there, his tiny body atop the low table. At a glance, he was totally birdlike, so no one would suspect he could talk. Even I’d been flabbergasted when he first introduced himself to me. It was ridiculously cute how his mouth popped open and shut when he used his voice.

Still gazing at the bird, the pile-hair princess continued. “I’m really sorry for hurting you last time.”

“I am fine. There is nothing to worry about.”

She was referring to the time at Mr. French’s restaurant when we ate together. Her fingertip, which she’d been using to pet Peeps, had accidentally hit him in his big, cute eyeball. At the time, the shock had made him cry out in his real voice.

Would the day ever come when he could call himself Piercarlo in front of others? I wondered casually, seeing the bird come so dangerously close to slipping up.

Peeps and I had been treated to an unexpected visit from Count Müller’s daughter at our base of operations in the high-class inn. But after explaining to her that we were busy with our own work, she obediently headed out. Despite her formidable manner, she was considerate about such things.

With that, we were able to get to work right away. As for the nature of our task—we were devising a way to transport gold from this world back to my own.

“That should just about do it.”

“Yes, I think so.”

We’d borrowed the inn’s courtyard to prepare our cargo. Since we’d requested that they keep people away, nobody was here except Peeps and me. As guests who stayed in these pricey rooms for multiple days in a row, we were apparently considered VIPs; when we asked an employee about it, he immediately provided us a workspace.

In one corner of the courtyard sat the large wooden box I’d procured.

Just in case, we’d lined the inside of the box with some dried grass I’d also purchased, then placed the gold ingots provided by Peeps into the middle, hiding them from sight. At a glance, it looked like feed for livestock.

The idea of bringing dried plant material over from this world was, to my way of thinking, pretty scary in a number of respects. We still had some pretty terrifying diseases in my world, like swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease. Because of that, once the transfer of the ingots was finished, we’d want to burn all the grass as soon as possible.

When I’d purchased it, I was told it had already been smoked to kill any insects so that it could be used as bedding. But there was no harm in being extra careful. If the worst was to happen, we wouldn’t be able to stop an invasion of otherworld insects in Japan.

“Shall we head to that world, then?”

“Oh, hold on just a second. I haven’t nailed it shut yet.”

“You are being quite strict about this, aren’t you?”

“We really have to cover all our bases here.”

It might have been unlikely that the box would tip over, spilling out the contents midtransport. However, I still wanted to limit the possibility of someone inadvertently seeing our goods as much as possible. That was why I’d gotten enough nails, plus a hammer, while out buying the wooden box.

As I was working, I suddenly heard someone call my name.

“Sir Sasaki, I’m terribly sorry for interrupting you.”

“Oh, yes, what is it?”

It was the maid who had announced Lady Elsa’s visit earlier. She was standing in the covered passageway facing the courtyard. In this world’s time, she’d been with us for several months now, more or less. We’d had nothing to do with each other aside from short work-related conversations, but she was starting to become familiar to me.

“You have a guest, sir. What shall I do?”

“Who is it?”

“A Mr. French.”

Whoops, it’s the chef. He’d probably heard about Mr. Marc’s imprisonment just like the pile-hair princess had and come to visit us about it. In which case, I would have to explain the situation. He and Mr. Marc were probably both involved in management of the restaurant. Normally, I should have been the one to contact him.

“Would you mind bringing us to him?”

“Of course not, sir.” The maid nodded with an air of reverence.

We followed her, leaving the courtyard behind us.

As I’d expected, Mr. French’s business with us had to do with Mr. Marc. Apparently, he’d heard from some of his regulars that the man had been thrown in prison, and unable to sit still, he came to me.

I gave him the same rundown we gave the pile-hair princess.

Several times, he asked if there was anything he could do. Unfortunately, there was nothing in particular he could help with. In fact, he might cause more problems if he tried to accomplish anything recklessly. After promising him we would rescue Mr. Marc, we sent him back to the restaurant. I did feel a little bad about it, but this was one thing I couldn’t do much about.

Still, the meeting showed me that he and Mr. Marc were on good terms. I felt assured that leaving the restaurant in their hands was a good decision. Thinking of it that way, things weren’t all bad. I decided to try to be positive about our current situation.

After parting ways with Mr. French, we returned to the inn’s courtyard, and I hastily finished putting the nails in the wooden box’s lid. Then, as originally planned, we used Peeps’s teleportation magic to switch worlds.

The destination for our shipment was one of many wharfs dotting Tokyo’s coastline. We brought the cargo into a very large warehouse, which was packed in among lots of other very large warehouses.

We had contacted Futarishizuka as soon as we arrived, and she had immediately responded that she would receive the goods this very day. She seemed to have a lot more free time than I had thought—quitting her previous job had probably helped.

Peeps and I transported the cargo together, using Peeps’s magic. Because Futarishizuka had prepared a destination away from prying eyes, we were able to carry it inside much more easily than initially anticipated.

Since I’d introduced the teleportation magic as a Magical Field, I didn’t have any hesitation using it in front of Futarishizuka. In fact, if she’d gotten a rental truck or something, the chances of the section chief noticing it would drastically increase.

“The souvenirs from the fairy world are in there?”

“Souvenirs? No, these are just extra things I had lying around.”

“And yet you’ve brought so much of it,” she said, looking at the wooden box we’d brought into a corner of the warehouse.

Nobody else was around, and the warehouse was quiet. Our voices traveled well. It certainly seemed like the perfect location for illicit dealings. I started to feel like I was a character in a yakuza movie, trading recreational drugs or prohibited weapons. The sunlight shining through the high windows was the only source of light in the dark interior.

“Most of it is packaging.”

“Packaging?”

“I didn’t want others seeing it on the way here.”

“Ah, I see.”

It was possible that, depending on the circumstances, I might have been questioned by the police. Their white motorcycle headlights gleamed all throughout the Tokyo metro area. I figured I’d be fine even if they confronted me since I had my own police badge, but just in case, I’d been extra careful about setting all this up. I was most frightened of my own boss—ironic, but I couldn’t bring myself to laugh.

“Go ahead and remove the lid.”

“All right.”

As we looked on, Futarishizuka went over to the box. She grabbed the lid, which I’d nailed down, with both hands—then tore it right off. Despite her young body, she possessed physical abilities beyond the understanding of humans. Even an adult like me would have had a difficult time handling the lid, but she easily plucked it away.

The craaaack it made reverberated around the inside of the warehouse.

And then, a moment later, we saw the figure of a person reflected in our eyes. Someone was curled up inside the wooden box, surrounded by all the dried grass.

“Oh! Even I hadn’t expected you to bring something…perishable like this,” said Futarishizuka, gazing at the person.

My eyes met those of the girl lying down in the bed of grass, hugging her legs to her body. I keenly felt Peeps give a start on my shoulder.

“…Lady Elsa, what on earth are you doing in there?”

“I…I was just curious about what you were doing! So…”

Oh. Oh no.

I never expected the pile-hair princess to stow away in the wooden box. I thought for sure she’d gone home to her estate without a second thought. Her piles of hair were tangled in the dried grass, a total mess.

Naturally, our attention shifted to Futarishizuka, who was staring at the unforeseen stowaway. What did she think of the girl covered in plant matter? Would she believe that this was a cute messenger girl who came from the faraway land of the fairies?

No. That would be far too convenient for us.

“Excuse me,” I said to Futarishizuka, “but is it all right if she and I had a word in private?”

“Oh, but I’d very much like to hear what she has to say.”

“It is going to be a pretty complicated discussion.”

“I’ve never heard of a human living in the fairy world before.”

It seemed humans didn’t live in the fairy world. Another piece of trivia regarding magical girls, in the bag. Personally, I hadn’t the slightest intention of pretending the products we wanted to sell to Futarishizuka were from the fairy world—in the first place, we had absolutely no idea what kind of goods they’d even have in a world inhabited by fairies.

“This girl is the daughter of a friend of mine…”

“Why has the daughter of a friend of yours sneaked into your cargo? The wooden box was shut nice and tightly with nails. Don’t tell me you have one of those perverted fetishes where you find pleasure in locking young children up in enclosed spaces.”

“She probably slipped inside when we weren’t paying attention during the loading.”

In fact, I bet it had happened while we were talking to Mr. French. We’d finished loading the box up by then, but we’d only hammered in the nails afterward. It was highly probable she’d sneaked in while we were distracted.

“My, look at those outlandish clothes. If this is your idea of role-playing, it is sophisticated, indeed. Those metal accessories she wears—could they be genuine articles? Their colors have an oddly beautiful sheen to them.”

“……”

The way she was threatening me, it was clear she wasn’t backing off anytime soon. I hated the way she was smirking at me like that.

At this point, it seemed like it would be very difficult to deceive her. I had no way to guess how much she had figured out or what she was thinking. If my intuition was wrong, and I judged poorly, it would come back to bite me in the butt—especially up against a wily old girl like her.

Seems like I’ll need to change up my strategy, I thought, throwing a glance toward my shoulder.

Peeps nodded to me.

Given how Mr. Marc’s life was on the line, we could not afford to botch this up. I had to go for a bit of a power play here. Normally, I was a good little yes-man, a devoted corporate drone—but I could, at least, tell when I’d need to take risks.

I’d bring Futarishizuka to the otherworld with me and make her an accomplice.

If she betrayed me now, the drawbacks would be massive; however, significant gains were possible, too, considering the deals we could make in the future. Since she had no way of crossing between worlds, we also had the option of casually abandoning her on the other side and going about our business, if it came to that.

And who knows? She might actually prefer living there.

I’d considered doing so already if she ever tried to blackmail us over our business dealings. It would be a huge hassle if the section chief was to find out about these valuables of unknown origin. In that case, it was better to let her in on our profits.

“Lady Elsa, would you mind explaining yourself?”

“…All right… Fine.”

I shifted my gaze from Futarishizuka’s smirk to the downcast eyes of the pile-hair princess. She had left the box and now stood right in front of us. Under the stares of everyone present, she sighed in resignation and began to mumble out her explanation.

It wasn’t all that complicated.

If her words were to be believed, she actually did plan on returning home at first. But then she changed her mind, thinking that maybe there was something she could help us with, after all. And so she’d slipped past the watchful eyes of her bodyguards and headed back to where we were, only to find us in the courtyard.

Naturally, the big wooden box we’d put in the yard had drawn her interest. After seeing us stuffing gold ingots into it, she’d grown suspicious that Peeps and I might be involved in Mr. Marc’s imprisonment.

Come to think of it, considering our conversation immediately prior, anyone might have found our actions suspicious—it would seem as though we were preparing to fly the coop, only saying we intended to help.

In short, the pile-hair princess had thought we’d gotten all that money from selling out Mr. Marc to Count Dietrich—and that now we were trying to flee from Count Müller.

In that case, though, she’d been inside the box the entire time Futarishizuka and I had been negotiating since we’d returned to Japan. That was no short length of time. Her eyes were drooping slightly, and they were red—she’d probably been crying, unbeknownst to anyone.

She was so scared of us finding her that she couldn’t call out for help; she had just quietly stayed hidden. I was sure she’d been sobbing in there, all alone. And finally, she’d brilliantly exposed what we were doing. Belatedly, I felt like I understood her fiery admiration for her dad.

“I suppose I can’t blame you for looking at it that way, madam.”

“…Was I wrong?”

“You were, madam.”

“But then where is this?” she asked, looking across the dimly lit warehouse.

All around us were dozens of huge metal containers. Each one of them was designed to be exactly the same, and given their awesome size, it looked kind of spooky. It was probably overwhelming the pile-hair princess, too.

“This is something we need to do to save him.”

“Wha—? How is that?!”

“The gold we packed in this wooden box is the money we’d saved doing business in your father’s town, madam. We were going to use it to make a deal with this girl here, then use our profits to buy back Mr. Marc’s former position.”

“…Is that true?”

Without any real evidence, it was only natural she’d still be suspicious.

Which meant I just had to deal with her faithfully and honestly. “Unfortunately, now that you’ve appeared, madam, we risk the deal falling through. If you think anything of Mr. Marc at all, I hope you’ll remain quiet and do as I say. Otherwise, you may come to regret it very much in the near future.”

“Ugh…”

When I spoke a little more forcefully, her expression changed. Hesitation spread across her lovely face. It looked like my lecture had worked. Innocent kids like her were easy prey for no-good, deceiving adults. If only Futarishizuka had been this straightforward—it would have been a lot easier to deal with her, too.

“Please don’t worry, Lady Elsa. I am an ally of your father’s—of Count Müller’s. No matter what happens, I will never do anything to betray his trust. Mr. Marc is an important friend of his, too, and I am not about to abandon him.”

“Sasaki, can I truly…believe what you’re saying?”

“I’d like to be friends with Count Müller and his family for a very long time.”

“…I see,” answered Lady Elsa.

I’d answered Elsa with complete sincerity—given it my all. I’d put my whole heart into it. Apparently, my zeal had affected her. Though she still looked reluctant, she seemed to understand and accept what I’d said. I figured we’d at least escape any situations where attack magic would start flying.

Unfortunately, she only had a moment to pull herself together—because then Futarishizuka did something unexpected.

She kicked off the ground and leaped forward, reaching a hand out for the pile-hair princess.

This was bad.

“You’ve given yourself away, girl.”

Instantly, Peeps fired a spell. Completely smooth, with no incantation.

“Ugh…!”

Invisible objects slipped through the air and severed all four of Futarishizuka’s limbs from her body.

Blood spurted out, dying the surroundings red with its spatter. A few of the drops struck Lady Elsa, causing her face to convulse in terror.

Without anything to support her, Futarishizuka fell to the warehouse floor with a thump. The sight of it reminded me of that day at the bowling alley. No, this was even more gruesome. Peeps’s attack had been particularly vicious, perhaps because I’d warned him about Futarishizuka’s physical abilities.

“You were going to lay a hand on her. What for?”

“Urgh… What was that? I didn’t see anything…”

Peeps spoke with composure. Seriously, what a dignified sparrow.

The fluffiness around his belly seemed 30 percent plumper than before. As he looked down at Futarishizuka on the floor of the warehouse, his gaze was like that of a soaring eagle that had just spotted its prey. Wait, no, that wasn’t right. Look at those cute round eyes. What a lovely little sparrow.

“S-Sasaki! What was this girl trying to—?”

“I’d like to ask the same question.”

At Lady Elsa’s prompting, I addressed the girl in the kimono.

She definitely just tried to use energy drain on Lady Elsa. Oh, Futarishizuka, you just had to cross the line, didn’t you?

“What exactly were you attempting, Ms. Futarishizuka?”

“There was an insect on her shoulder. Where is that little thing? Don’t you worry, child, I’ll take care of—”

“I wouldn’t mind finishing you off right now.”

When Peeps said that, her shoulders jerked.

“Ugh…”

Her arms and legs were already starting to heal—I could hear the flesh hissing. However, it seemed like regeneration would take some time, and she wouldn’t be able to fully recover instantaneously. She’d need some more time before she could start moving around to her satisfaction.

“I am now going to place a curse on you.”

“A curse? What does that mean…?”

“Upon receiving this curse, you will become obedient to us. It is very inhumane. What was it you called it in this world—human rights? It rejects them utterly. It will be lethal and humiliating. Now prepare yourself to receive it.”

“O-oh, well, that does sound scary. Could you possibly show a teensy bit of mercy?”

Seeing Futarishizuka so visibly ruffled was a new experience.

Still, I’d never heard of curses before, either, so I was just as frantic as she was. Wondering how cruel it would be, I turned toward the bird on my shoulder in spite of myself. Futarishizuka had been the one to betray us, but I was still hesitant about anything too intense happening right before my eyes.

Incidentally, Peeps had probably learned the term human rights from using the internet in my apartment. He was putting new terms to immediate practical use—how adaptive! It made me want to teach him all sorts of words.

“Peeps, hang on—”

His cute little beak was muttering some kind of incantation.

In response to the chant, a magic circle formed on the warehouse floor beneath Futarishizuka. It seemed strangely bright in the darkness, casting the girl in a fantastical, glittering, bloodred light.

“W-wait!” she cried in protest as Peeps stared at her. “That was just a little joke; I—”

But he paid her no mind.

A few moments later, the light shone even brighter, illuminating the whole inside of the warehouse. It was so bright I reflexively looked away.

“Ugh…”

No flames raged, and no gusts blew. We only heard Futarishizuka softly groaning from the other side of the light. Compared to the grand magic I’d witnessed on the Herz–Ohgen battlefield, this seemed rather plain.

Eventually, when the light dissipated, we saw her limp on the floor, her arms and legs regrown.

“…What did you do to me?”

“Take a look at the back of your right hand.”

“……”

Futarishizuka did as she was told and looked down at her hand. From where I was, I could see some sort of emblem—like she’d just been tattooed.

“What is this?”

“That crest will rapidly eat away at your body in response to any hostility or malice you may harbor toward us. Right now, it is only on the back of your hand. However, it will eventually proliferate over your entire body—quickly—at which point you will meet your end as a misshapen lump of flesh.”

“What—?”

“No matter how excellent a regenerative ability you have obtained, it will not save you from the bodily collapse brought on by this curse. If you dread an eternal life with nothing but your thoughts to keep you company, then do your best not to harbor any negative emotions toward us.”

Another really brutal spell, I thought. But that also made it seem like the perfect restraint against Futarishizuka, since we could never tell what she was thinking. Peeps’s overflowing practicality and decisiveness made him seem so dependable.

“Urgh…!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Futarishizuka moved—dashing toward us.

In an instant, she had her small fist up, clenched, right before my nose. However, Peeps used a barrier spell to block it, so it never reached its target. Interrupted by something invisible, her hand stopped a few dozen centimeters in front of us.

Not having to chant seemed really useful. I wanted to be able to pull that off one day, too.

The pattern emblazoned on the back of her tightly clenched fist began to change before our eyes. It writhed like a living creature, increasing in complexity. The sight of the tattoo’s organic movements made me feel a little sick.

Overall, it seemed to have grown a little larger. While before it had been limited to the back of her hand, now it was like a bracelet, wrapping around her wrist as well.

The design itself was actually pretty cool—at a glance, you’d think it was a trendy tattoo. It might bar entry to public bathhouses, but I doubted it would garner any criticism.

“…It seems you were telling the truth.”

“And you seem to have a very decisive personality,” responded Peeps in admiration. Apparently, what she’d done had rated highly with the sparrow.

“If you had been lying, I would have strangled you.”

“If you had killed me, the crest that appeared on the back of your hand would have spread to your entire body, transforming you into a lump of flesh. If you desire a long life, then you should cooperate with us for the time being.”

“I see…”

“By the way,” I cut in, “why did you try to go for the girl?”

“I told you already. There was a bug on her shoul—”

“You do know that the crest will grow if you don’t answer truthfully, right?”

“Urgh…”

At Peeps’s words, Futarishizuka reluctantly began to explain.

If she was to be believed, she’d been searching for my weakness. At first, she’d looked for family members or lovers—anyone close to me. Unfortunately, this lonesome middle-aged man flying solo through life had left zero openings for her to exploit. No matter how hard she searched, she couldn’t find any candidates. Apparently, the camera she’d put in my apartment was part of this endeavor.

Her goal had been to force this magical middle-aged man under her control. And just now, when she had seen Lady Elsa, who we clearly seemed close with, she resolved to use her. To borrow Peeps’s words, she certainly wasted no time making decisions.

In reality, if Peeps hadn’t been with me, she would have succeeded. She had only lost because she wasn’t able to predict how ridiculously strong the Starsage was. Who would imagine this adorable little Java sparrow had lived so long, leading tens, if not hundreds of thousands of citizens as a political leader—and had sent even more to their graves as a great magician? Even I sometimes had a hard time remembering.

“Sasaki, I—I think I want an explanation…”

“Ah yes, madam.”

The pile-hair princess, still with us, was frightened. She’d been looking at us aghast after seeing Peeps use his magic followed by Futarishizuka’s counterattack. She must also have realized that she was the trigger for all this.

But ultimately, we’d gotten a step ahead of Futarishizuka, so I wanted to thank her. Even so, asking her to go back to the otherworld posthaste seemed the best option.

“Peeps, can I ask you to do something?”

“Yes. I was thinking the same thing.”

It made me happy to feel like we really understood each other.

We exchanged brief nods, then turned back to face the pile-hair princess.

“Lady Elsa, we will be sending you back home now.”

“Wait one moment, Sasaki!”

“What is it?”

“I…I still have all kinds of things I need to ask you!”

“In that case, we will visit you again upon our return.”

“…I want to know now,” she muttered, staring at us. Her expression was serious. “I didn’t think there were any buildings this big in town—or anywhere nearby.”

Given that this warehouse was meant for storing cargo coming in from ships, it was extremely expansive. In terms of floor space, it probably rivaled Count Müller’s estate. The ceiling was incredibly high as well, enough to leave a deep impression on someone unaccustomed to it.

“Where are we, exactly?”

“……”

Now, then. How to go about answering that little question?

Peeps’s offensive spell had also served to put the pile-hair princess on her guard. She must have had a lot of doubts concerning her visit to this world, as well. It was very possible that her back-and-forth with Futarishizuka had only expanded those doubts.

Our relationship with her would greatly affect our relationship with the count. If you wish to kill the general, first shoot his horse—so the saying went. Though, in this case, the horse we were supposed to be shooting had just bucked against us.

It happened all the time—your relationship with someone going south because you ended up on bad terms with their family.

Which was why I decided to be earnest in the matter.

“What can we do to convince you?”

“……”

Now that Futarishizuka was no longer a threat, we turned to face Lady Elsa.

When we did, she questioned us openly. “Where are we? Who are all of you? I want an explanation.”

“Well…”

The one thing I couldn’t afford to reveal was the existence of the Starsage. It was also his wish to remain unknown, so I would do my best to guard his identity, even when it came to Count Müller’s daughter. One always had to be careful when handling others’ personal information.

Then what about the existence of modern Japan in relation to the otherworld? Even if I were to explain that to her, nobody from the otherworld without a means of crossing over would be able to confirm it. Even if we were to put Japanese goods right in front of them as hard evidence, they’d never be able to interfere.

It wasn’t really that different from my claim that I’d come to the Kingdom of Herz from another continent. I would have liked to have kept it a secret, but even if I admitted it, this fact was of no importance when compared with the existence of the Starsage.

“All right, Lady Elsa. Allow me to show you my homeland—where I was born.”

“…Really?”

“Really.”

A few minutes walking around the inner city would be more than enough to convince her of how different this place was from the world she lived in. Getting questioned by police would be an annoyance, but with the badge in my pocket and a police station business card, I could easily deal with that.

If there was any problem, it would be Section Chief Akutsu discovering her existence. Given the strength of his governmental authority, if I tried to claim she was a relative, it would be easy for him to investigate and disprove in the blink of an eye. That meant if I needed an excuse, I’d have to search for it somewhere beyond his influence.

As for Lady Elsa, I’d just be an acquaintance of Futarishizuka’s. Considering what had happened, she was unlikely to protest. Still, I was pretty sure her impression of me was in the gutter at the moment; in consideration of those feelings, I intended to bring her into the loop about the otherworld. Personally, I hoped to establish friendly relations with her going forward.

“First, a few things about this world…”

As Futarishizuka looked on, I explained the situation to Lady Elsa. I told her that this was a different world from hers—that no matter how far she walked from her world, no matter how many oceans she crossed, she’d never be able to get here. I explained that I was a visitor from this place to their world, and that once I’d arrived, I’d met Count Müller and started a business.

Explaining all this without revealing the Starsage’s presence was taxing, to say the least. I felt bad for him, but with Futarishizuka watching, I had to lie and say that the spell to cross between the two worlds came from my powers as a magical middle-aged man.

“Is that all true? It’s so unbelievable.”

“I knew you’d say that, madam.”

“Then—”

“Why don’t we do a little sightseeing after this?”

“Sightseeing?”

“I believe you’ll understand once you see it for yourself.”

“……”

From the architectural styles to how the people lived their lives, our culture and civilization were completely different from theirs. Getting her to grasp what I was saying seemed an easy task. In fact, the bigger problem would be what to do when we were finished.

“Ah,” said Futarishizuka. “You know, I do have something to ask you.”

“And what would that be?”

Now that I’d wrapped up my explanation to the pile-hair princess, Futarishizuka piped up. Was she going to complain again? I hoped she wouldn’t rile up my Peeps too much.

“How is it that you are able to communicate with this girl?”

“What?”

Even after receiving a painful present from Peeps, the way she talked, it was like nothing had happened. It made me keenly aware that her long life wasn’t just for show. Still, I had no idea what she was asking.

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Well, it certainly doesn’t seem to me as though you and the girl are having a conversation.”

Her expression was honest, with her head tipped to the side—I doubted she was lying. That was the attitude of someone who was legitimately confused. Which meant that I, in turn, found her words incomprehensible.

Fortunately, the answer came quickly—from the bird perched on my shoulder.

“She does not comprehend the language of our world.”

“Peeps?”

“You receive the benefits of my magic because we are connected by a path. It is for that reason that you have no trouble conversing across worlds. She, however, is another story. She can’t understand the language the girl is using.”

“But she understands what I’m saying to Lady Elsa, doesn’t she?”

Otherwise, even Futarishizuka would never have made a break for the girl. She’d attacked because she kept hearing my words of concern.

“Your words are uttered in your native tongue, but through my magic, those from the otherworld understand you as well. However, this child speaks in the language of my world. Naturally, those here cannot understand her.”

“Oh. So that’s how it works.”

In other words, Futarishizuka heard the voice of this magical middle-aged man in Japanese and the voice of the pile-hair princess in the otherworld’s language. I didn’t blame her for being dubious—Lady Elsa and I had basically been speaking different languages to each other.

Well, wasn’t that a wonderful miscalculation? That meant if Lady Elsa was to accidentally say something about the otherworld to Futarishizuka, we’d still be safe. I could keep everything about my position and relationships in the otherworld a secret.

That said, she probably knew quite a bit just from what I’d mentioned previously.

“Hmm,” mused Futarishizuka. “I suppose I understand.”

“As long as you understand what Peeps and I are saying, to continue from before, we’d like to show her around the city for a while. I was hoping you would accept these goods and deal with them as necessary.”

“In that case, perhaps I will come along.”

“…Why?”

“What do you mean, why? That sparrow on your shoulder has my life in its hands. Ah, what a terrifying bird. I suppose I must serve my master loyally and honestly. You may use me as you will, whether that be as a pack mule or anything else.”

“What will we do about the goods we brought?”

“I can make a few calls. That shouldn’t pose a problem, should it?”

“…I suppose I don’t mind.”

It was like the lethal curse wasn’t even a big deal to her. I didn’t know what she really thought about it, but the aloof, unconcerned way with which she spoke was just the same as it always had been. Her psychic power was impressive, but the strength of her mental fortitude frankly alarmed me.

Plus, she looked like a little girl. The gap was mind-boggling.

“If that is settled, then what are you waiting for? Introduce the girl to me.”

“Understood.”

And so Peeps and I headed into the city with the two of them in tow.

After departing from the warehouse on the shore, we headed to Shiodome. Out of all the places we could get to via taxi, I had chosen the sights that would contrast most with those I’d seen in the otherworld. I expected the Shiodome Sio-Site area would really resonate with Lady Elsa.

Ever since its reconstruction in the mid-Heisei era, the Sio-Site had featured tall buildings packed into every street corner. It had been some time since their construction, but every single one was quite the sight to behold. Not a bad choice, in my opinion, if you wanted to give someone a basic impression of Tokyo. Plus, unlike Roppongi, Shibuya, or Shinjuku, there were, conveniently, fewer people around. Looking back, I could remember being overwhelmed by this place when I’d first arrived in the city.

And just as I’d planned, the cityscape had easily captured Lady Elsa’s heart.

“Your explanation was correct, Sasaki. I am certain there is nowhere like this anywhere in the Kingdom of Herz, nor in any nearby nations. And the people roaming the streets look like you: a slightly deeper skin tone and less defined facial features.”

“Do you understand now, madam?”

“…This truly is your homeland, isn’t it?”

Thankfully, since it was a weekday, most of the people quickly crisscrossing the streets were wearing suits. Still, I did spot a few people in more casual clothing, who looked like they were here to sightsee, same as us.

This area was filled with high-class condominiums geared toward the overseas employees of foreign companies. You could see a lot of pale-skinned families in the nearby supermarket, too. And now that more and more people were visiting from overseas on vacation, Lady Elsa’s blond hair and blue eyes didn’t seem to stand out at all.

Of course, we’d already found her some clothing more suitable for this world. We had her change up her hairstyle to something simpler as well. Finally, we had her raise the hood on her sweatshirt, making her extremely inconspicuous.

Incidentally, I’d given her a brief rundown of our relationship with Futarishizuka before setting off. I’d said she was my business partner at the moment. Lady Elsa probably wouldn’t have any chances to meet her after this, so our explanation wasn’t that important.

“These auto-mobiles surprised me, but the buildings along the street are even more shocking.”

“Does it make you more inclined to believe me?”

We found a pedestrian walkway connecting one cluster of buildings to another and looked out across the city. Through the clear enclosure, you could see the flow of traffic on the road below us. Up above, you could see quite a few high-rise buildings, too.

How long had it been since I’d visited this area anyway?

“I… Yes, I believe you, okay? I mean, after all this, I’d have to…”

“I’m grateful that you understand, madam.”

For our outing, I’d placed Peeps in his carrying cage. We’d gone to grab it from the apartment using his teleportation magic.

“But then, why did you visit our world, Sasaki?”

“…What do you mean?”

“What would someone from such a prosperous nation want from a world like ours?”

“Ah. Well…”

I hesitated at the pile-hair princess’s insight. It didn’t feel right to say I’d gone there to do business as a side gig. Her and our respective…motives, if you want to call them that, were of two entirely different orders of magnitude.

A corporate drone, tired of serving his organization, had paired up with a Java sparrow—their goal being to seek out delicious food and a tranquil life. This girl, though, was worried about the fate of her home nation. I was sure she was considering what would happen if we were to invade them.

“I suppose you could say it’s to ensure our worlds have a positive relationship.”

“Hmm. Really?”

“Yes, really, madam.” I hadn’t lied, per se. But I didn’t want to stay on this topic. “By the way, would you mind if we asked a question as well?”

“What is it?”

“Only you know about what I’ve told you. And we won’t tell anyone other than you, Lady Elsa. If anyone in your world, aside from us, was to learn of it, assume that it will mark the end of our relationship with Count Müller and his family.”

“What about that black-haired girl?” asked the pile-hair princess, looking over at Futarishizuka.

She was right—she had been around for that conversation. “She lacks the means to travel between worlds. And we won’t ever be taking her there, either. Hence, should what we talked about cross the barrier between worlds, we will determine that it was something done at your behest.”

“Mgh… Yes, I understand.” The pile-hair princess nodded with an audible gulp.

I felt bad about phrasing it like a threat. But being so firm with my request would ensure her silence for the time being. And even if she did spill the beans, it would probably only be to Count Müller. And we’d told him about the Starsage and everything, so we wouldn’t have any issues there.

“Ah, hello? I would like to join this conversation as well…”

Futarishizuka, unable to comprehend Lady Elsa’s words, was requesting a translation. Elsa and I were walking side by side, while Futarishizuka always trailed a few steps behind.

“She was just talking about how wonderful the kimono you’re wearing is.”

“Hrm?! Is that true?”

“Yes. She says the color is splendid.”

“Oh well. That does make a lady happy.”

I just flattered her randomly, and now she’s squealing with joy like a little girl.

The pile-hair princess shot me a suspicious glance but didn’t say anything in particular about it. I’d already explained to her that while she and Futarishizuka couldn’t understand each other, my words were intelligible to them both. She seemed to realize what I was getting at.

Exactly the social acumen you’d expect from a young noble like her.

“In that case, does the child wish for me to pick out a kimono for her as well?”

“Oh, no, we can’t exactly do that…”

Futarishizuka was getting ahead of herself, rattling off suggestions that would do more harm than good.

It was right about then that it happened.

We had just turned a bend when we ran across a group of people making a lot of noise in front of the Yurikamome waterfront line’s Shiodome Station, across the corner from a convenience store. A few of them were holding up big industrial cameras and directional microphones. It looked like they were in the middle of a photo shoot.

Past the cameras was a woman dressed in gorgeous clothing.

“The Tokyo Waterfront New Transit Waterfront Line—more commonly known as the Yurikamome. Did you all know each station on this particular line uses a different voice actress for its announcements? Today I’m here with our group members in front of Shiodome Station…”

We stopped walking and tried to listen in. It seemed like they were recording some kind of program. Apparently, a member of a newly formed idol group was in charge of the announcements at the Yurikamome Station in Shiodome, and this group was on the scene reporting about it.

“Sasaki, it looks awfully lively over there.”

“It does, doesn’t it?”

The best option would be to take a detour.

Unfortunately, something happened just as I had decided that. One of the people in the group making all the noise seemed to notice us and started gesturing. The woman on camera responded to this and started walking our way.

“My, what adorable guests! Where are you all off to today?”

We had no chance to escape. A moment later, the cameras were on us. Talk about awful timing. Shibuya or Ikebukuro would have been one thing, but I hadn’t expected to run into a film crew like this in the Shiodome area.

“Sasaki, what is this person saying?”

“Is this one of those live-streaming events?”

Ignoring the pile-hair princess’s question, I asked the most important thing first. My response would vary greatly based on the answer. If they were just recording, then I could have the bureau use its authority to confiscate the data without question. That was what I had assumed when I asked the question.

However, my shallow hopes were quickly crushed.

“That’s right! We’re live on the air!” came the overly energetic response.

I felt my stomach drop.

Immediately, I took a step forward, putting myself in a position to hide Lady Elsa’s face. At the same time, I exchanged a look with Futarishizuka, willing her to do something to handle the situation. As for the one in the cage—well, he was probably fine. Peeps had been studying on the internet; he could mind his manners without issue.

“I’m sorry, but could I ask you to point the camera elsewhere?” I told the woman plainly.

The crucial thing here was to not make the situation any worse. This person was an idol, apparently, and such people always had some number of zealous fans attached to them. I didn’t want to imagine what might happen if we somehow earned their ire. If they whipped up an internet frenzy, things would not be easy. Scandals involving government employees already stood out.

But if I could deal with the situation calmly, we would be all right.

The name of the idol group they mentioned was one I hadn’t heard of. They probably weren’t in the major leagues, as it were. There was a low probability this was being broadcast on cable. If this was an internet stream, they wouldn’t have that many viewers watching in real time.

Later on, if the bureau went behind the scenes and took control of the upload site, the information wouldn’t spread very far. I was glad Futarishizuka was here. If I requested a takedown using a rank-A psychic’s presence as the reason, it should be possible to gain approval.

I was seriously glad I had approved her request to come along with us on this little outing.

“Please, ma’am?”

“O-oh, yes! I’m very sorry for suddenly stopping you!”

She seemed to be experienced at this as well; she immediately averted the camera to the side. She’d turned its lens toward the ticket booths and the train platform. Probably a conscious choice, given that their other option was an unattractive convenience store. The woman doing the reporting then quickly placed herself back in front of the camera.

Naturally, our attention was drawn in that direction.

And then, as everyone was watching, an accident happened.

A mother and her child were just about to come down the staircase.

“Mama! TV! There’s TV people here!” shouted the young boy as soon as he saw the big cameras. Then he took off running. And of course, he slipped impressively and took a dive—and from pretty high up. He was headed toward the base of the stairs with considerable momentum.

He lost his balance, and his body tipped forward and down. There were over ten stairs between him and the ground. Depending on where he landed, it could be a disaster.

“Ack…!”

The first person to move was the pile-hair princess.

Taking a step forward, she raised her voice in a shout.

“Levitation!”

Hearing her treble voice, I could definitely imagine it lifting something into the air.

And then the boy’s body literally started to float.

I remembered this spell—I had learned it from Peeps not long after I’d first visited the otherworld—it temporarily made the target float. It wasn’t difficult to learn, and many people could use it without an incantation.

Its effective duration was extremely short, however. Apparently, it was used as a part of daily life, such as when moving furniture or for construction work. If the target was able to use magic, it could also be easily blocked.

And it was exactly this spell that gently caught the falling boy. His small body floated through the air, drifting, until he landed at the bottom of the stairs. It had taken only a few seconds. The entire event happened very quickly. However, the camera lens had been pointed straight at it the entire time.

“That could have been dangerous,” said the pile-hair princess, exhaling, as though she’d just finished up a good day’s work.

The filming crew, on the other hand, was frozen in shock. Somehow, we’d landed in even more trouble.

“My, you’re in for it now, aren’t you?” came Futarishizuka’s mean-spirited voice from behind me.

She was right, though. This was it. At this point, I could only throw up my hands. Lady Elsa’s magic had been livestreamed to the entire world. She may not have personally been in the shot, but you could definitely hear her spirited shout of “Levitation!” and see the boy float safely to the ground.

Oh, but wait—she was speaking the otherworld’s language, so maybe everything’s fine… Was everything fine?

“What’s the matter with you? Why do you look so surprised?”

“Well, Lady Elsa, that was…”

“Spit it out! Do you have some complaint about my magic?”

“……”

The pile-hair princess spoke coolly, as though she’d only done what anyone else would have.

This time, however, her utterly straightforward personality had put us in a tough spot. Her pure heart, immediately willing to jump in to save someone, had done massive damage to our social lives.

No, that was wrong. This was all my fault. I couldn’t blame her for anything. I’d never told her what “magic” meant in this society. For her, and others from her world, magic was a normal, omnipresent phenomenon.

There were so many other things I had needed to tell her that I’d forgotten that simple fact. Or perhaps I, too, had been infected by the otherworld’s magical culture. All I’d had to tell her was to please not use magic in this world.

More than that, I hadn’t even expected her to be able to use magic. She’d told me herself that she had no talent for it, so it had slipped my mind. She might not have had talent for it, but that didn’t necessarily mean she couldn’t use it.

At the same time, considering her disposition, I knew she probably would have used magic even if I had warned her. She had saved the boy without even thinking. It was probably like a conditioned reflex.

And right now wasn’t the time to ponder all this. Whatever the case, I had to cover up the evidence.

She wasn’t a psychic, but without knowing the context, it might as well have been the same thing. Intending to carry out my responsibilities as a member of the bureau, I very hastily slipped around behind the man holding the camera, who was currently engrossed with the confused boy standing at the bottom of the stairs.

“Ms. Futarishizuka!”

“You’re a rough taskmaster…”

I’d learned during training how to respond to a situation like this. According to the manual, I was to “preemptively gain total control over the situation.” The bureau would take care of the rest.

Just the other day, after the incident in Iruma, I had witnessed just how good they were at wiping their employees’ asses. I imagined this must be what it felt like to use one of the latest bidet toilets. This was why employees on-site could make decisions with confidence.

“I cannot abide you taking videos without permission,” said Futarishizuka, her hand touching the cameraman’s back.

A moment later, the man’s body collapsed, drained of its energy. It had happened so quickly he didn’t even have time to cry out. I doubted there was a power as handy as her energy drain for reliably disabling living creatures.

As he fell, so, too, did the camera on his shoulder. It struck the paved concrete, smashing against it. The plastic cover came off, sending little fragments scattering in all directions.

Just to make absolutely sure, Futarishizuka stomped the camera underfoot. With her superhuman strength, she crushed the whole thing in one go.

“Hey!” the woman reporter cried out, almost screaming. The situation had shocked her, and her eyes kept darting between the fallen cameraman and the young girl who had crushed their footage. Her expression made it clear she had no idea why any of this was happening.

Futarishizuka wasted no time in making her next move. She dashed, closing the distance in an instant. And then, just like she’d done with the cameraman, she touched every single one of the film crew members present, starting with the girl dressed in idol clothing. As they were touched, they each fell unconscious.

I, on the other hand, pulled my phone from my pocket. Not the bureau-provided one but my personal one. They were always monitoring the location of the former, so I made a point to carry it as little as possible whenever I was doing anything with Peeps.

According to what I’d learned in training, if I dialed a specific extension from the center of the city, they’d have people here within twenty or thirty minutes. I’d tell them I encountered a stray psychic.

“Wait, Sasaki! What’s the meaning of this?!”

“Lady Elsa, listen carefully,” I said, keeping my voice down lest it be picked up by microphones on any surveillance cameras in the area.

“Wh-what…?”

“Magic doesn’t exist in this world.”

“What are you saying?! You use it, too, don’t you?!”

“My magic is something I learned when I came to your world. To make a long story short, what you just did is as incredible as a sparrow speaking where you come from.”

“…Wait, really?”

“She’s doing this to deal with the situation.”

“……”

Since we were near a train station, there were probably plenty of surveillance cameras in the vicinity. Someone from the bureau was sure to check them. Actually, there was a very good chance they’d all be confiscated. It wouldn’t be easy to make it so Lady Elsa was never here.

I needed to avoid anything that might cause unwarranted suspicion from the section chief, while also sending Lady Elsa back to her world without making her unhappy. The mission in front of me was, it seemed, my most difficult one yet—it was like the kind of quest in a video game where you could only choose one objective to complete.

“High-ranking telekinetic psychics are extremely dangerous, you know,” said Futarishizuka.

“I’m fully aware of that.”

The full party wipe we’d experienced in the bowling alley due to the hurricane psychic was still fresh in my memory. In other words, a psychic with similar potential had been caught on camera.

The scary thing about psychic powers in this world was that even though you couldn’t increase your options, you could increase your level of proficiency over time, strengthen your power, and broaden the situations in which you could put it to good use.

“The bureau is sure to keep that girl under close watch.”

“Please help me so that doesn’t happen.”

“Getting needy now that you’ve put that curse on me, huh?”

“You’re in the same boat as us. In exchange, I’ll guarantee your safety.”

“Really? Well, in that case, I suppose I shall cooperate.”

At this point, we had no choice. For the time being, we’d need Futarishizuka’s help to succeed.

My life was already so turbulent I could scarcely imagine what things would be like in half a year.

Our tour of the city had transformed into a psychic mess.

Strictly speaking, the culprit was a magician from the otherworld, but we decided to pass it off publicly as the work of a psychic. If we hadn’t done so, the bureau might end up digging into Peeps’s and my secret.

As for the idol and film crew Futarishizuka had knocked out, bureau employees came running to the scene to retrieve them. Watching them show up in black vans and collect the unconscious was more than enough to make my hair stand on end.

They quickly found the streaming site with the recording and stopped the broadcast. Two or three thousand people had been watching the stream in real time. That was a lot of people, but not actually that much for this kind of program. After returning to the bureau, I heard from the department in charge that they’d probably have a relatively easy time with it.

Afterward, I headed to the bureau’s conference room, where we had a meeting with Section Chief Akutsu.

“I didn’t think I’d be seeing you again so soon like this,” he said.

“You may not believe it,” drawled Futarishizuka, “but I am simply overflowing with the desire to do good work. I thought I’d start right away.”

The chief’s attention was on Futarishizuka, likely because he feared her psychic power. He pretended to be calm and collected on the outside, but I could easily guess what was on his mind from how frequently he glanced at her. She and I stood side by side, with a table separating us from the chief, and even from my vantage point, it was plain as day.

The pile-hair princess stood to my other side. Lady Elsa had been clear to see in the recording. Futarishizuka and I were the only ones on-site. While Lady Elsa’s Levitation chant had been in a foreign language to them, it was only natural the bureau would want to ask her about why the boy had suddenly floated into the air.

For that, I got Futarishizuka to help me introduce her as a psychic from a foreign country. I’d initially considered the plan of sending her back to the otherworld and pretending like I didn’t know anything, but with the crucial moment recorded, carelessly trying to hide her could ruin my position within the bureau. Depending on how things shook out, the section chief might have started paying special attention to—or even tailing—me.

After thinking it through and talking it over with everyone, we ended up introducing her to the boss.

I’d had Peeps go back alone to Futarishizuka’s hotel. I couldn’t exactly come into the office with a sparrow carrier, and with his teleportation spell, he could get in and out of the room without needing a key.

“We at the bureau would much rather have less work to do, actually,” said the section chief, his eyes moving from Futarishizuka to Lady Elsa.

The girl, whose hair was a strikingly beautiful blond, also had very fair skin and blue eyes. Though we’d had her change into modern clothes from what she’d been wearing before, she certainly didn’t look Japanese. The section chief’s eyes said it all: Who on earth was she, and where did we find her?

“This psychic is an acquaintance of Futarishizuka’s.”

“Is this a result of your hard work, Sasaki?”

The work he was referring to was recruitment, which was my assigned job for the time being—scouting new psychics.

“No, she was there by coincidence, and we had struck up a conversation.”

“I was under the impression that other countries handle their psychics much the same way we do.”

He seemed to be criticizing Elsa’s use of her power in public. We’d involved the SDF in that little incident in Iruma only the day before—the bureau was probably under heavy fire right now. Someone from another organization had likely been made to take the fall already.

“Surely there was another way to handle this.”

“She is a very kindhearted girl, Chief. And the stairs in that station are particularly high. If she hadn’t used her power, the boy would have been injured—of that I have no doubt. He could have even been paralyzed, depending on how he landed.”

I doubted I could get the chief’s understanding with that alone. He clearly considered maintaining the secrecy around psychic powers more important than the future of some boy he didn’t know. But I also needed to back up the girl sitting beside me.

“If she is a friend of Futarishizuka’s, does that mean she’s an irregular psychic?”

“No. I don’t know the details, either, but she said the girl is from another country. Apparently, they got in contact again when Ms. Futarishizuka defected to us. That’s about all I know. I’ll leave any further investigation in your hands, Chief.”

“…I see,” he said, eyes flitting between the two girls.

Explaining it like this would probably keep him from pressing us with stinging questions. On top of that, making the girl out to be the friend of a rank-A psychic would be enough even to temper his persistence. I could tell he was hesitating over his next words.

I’d shared what I’d be saying with the girls beforehand. We couldn’t afford for Lady Elsa to end up in the bureau’s custody. That would make our relationship with Count Müller a lot worse. That, more than anything else, I wanted to avoid.

“If it’s not too much trouble, I’d like to speak with you for a moment,” said the section chief, looking at the pile-hair princess.

“……”

But she didn’t answer him. Obviously not—she didn’t speak any of this world’s languages. The only reason I could talk with her normally, even in the otherworld, was because I was connected to Peeps via a magical path. Because Lady Elsa had no such connection, she wasn’t able to understand what anyone in this world was saying. Having a conversation was totally out of the question.

“Have I said something to displease you?” the chief tried again.

“Sasaki, what is this person saying?”

Lady Elsa’s brief question probably echoed in the chief’s ears as a string of mysterious sounds. And that went both ways. Naturally, they both turned their gazes toward me.

“What did she just say? What language is that?”

“Sasaki, is he trying to talk to me?”

I didn’t want to speak to Lady Elsa here. My words would be understood by all, whether they spoke Japanese or the otherworld’s language. If the chief found out about that, I was sure he would have some questions for me. But I’d explained all that to Lady Elsa already.

“Oh, that’s right. I shouldn’t be talking,” she said.

Ah, there we go. I was glad she remembered.

The chief was also quick to follow up. “Sasaki?”

“I hear she speaks a minority language as her mother tongue.”

“…Ah, I see.”

We’d discussed that answer ahead of time, too. It was the only excuse I could think of.

“She’s friends with Futarishizuka, right? Could we have her interpret?”

“I’m sorry,” I interrupted, “but could you ask that of her directly, Chief? I’m just accompanying Ms. Futarishizuka. I’m in no position to make requests. She’s only here to begin with because of her goodwill.”

“……” Chief Akutsu and Futarishizuka looked at each other.

In terms of social status, the chief had the clear upper hand—but Futarishizuka had a biological advantage. That, along with her long-standing participation in a certain illegal organization, made her a threat the chief couldn’t ignore.

No matter how high a position or rank he held, he’d always be vulnerable to assassination at her hands.

“What’s this? You have a job for a part-time psychic like me?”

“…I think I’ve grasped the situation regarding this new psychic.”

“Is that so?”

Futarishizuka’s expression was making it clear she wanted to be hired as a regular employee. And since this was the chief we were talking about, he was probably reading all kinds of things into her attitude—especially considering her very recent defection. According to my colleagues at the bureau, he was a graduate from a certain very high-ranking educational institution. His credentials were top class. I knew for certain his mind worked a whole hell of a lot faster than mine.

“Regarding your friend, I understand. I won’t pry into it any further.”

“I apologize for all the trouble recently,” replied Futarishizuka.

Partly thanks to Futarishizuka’s former employers, we were able to avoid any further questioning regarding Lady Elsa. I wasn’t certain how far the chief’s authority reached; still, matters extending to other nations must have been beyond him. After all, he had no way of knowing which countries, or what sort of organizations, were sponsoring her.

Also, I’m pretty sure Futarishizuka just took a dig at me.

“Moving right along,” continued Mr. Akutsu in a more composed tone, “I have a commission for the bureau part-timer, as it happens.”

“Please, ask whatever you like,” she replied, as if she was above it all. “I will surely carry it out with flying colors.”

“I understand that in your previous organization, there is a rank-B psychic with a telekinetic power able to be applied over a wide area. Along with you, he interfered with our operation only a week ago.”

“Hmm, and what about him?”

“I want you to eliminate him.”

The chief had given Futarishizuka a job request—her mission was to assassinate her former colleague. A bloodcurdling proposition, indeed.

“May I assume this is a test, and upon passing you will officially hire me?”

“You are free to assume that.”

“Really, now?”

“Personally, I’m in favor of hiring you.”

“Hmm.”

This sort of thing was probably unavoidable. Considering who she was, they’d need a very good reason to admit Futarishizuka into the bureau. I’d guessed this would happen, but hearing it with my own ears still set me on edge.

“You’ll do it, then?”

“I shall. It’s natural the bureau would ask such a thing.”

“For our part, I’ll assign Sasaki to you as support.”

“Huh…?” I said out of reflex. This was Futarishizuka’s problem—they weren’t trying to drag me in now, were they?

“His capabilities as a psychic may leave something to be desired, but he has all the proper authority as a member of the bureau. If you should need anything from us during the course of your mission, please go through him.”

“My, how reassuring.”

“Hold on a minute, Chief.”

“You scouted her. She’s your responsibility, isn’t she?”

“But…”

“Just as Hoshizaki has taken responsibility for you. Or hasn’t she?”

“……”

Miss Hoshizaki treated me more like her portable water supply. I was like a human-shaped flask to her. Well, maybe she had displayed some concern for my well-being. She hadn’t abandoned me, at any rate.

When I thought about it that way, it was hard for me to refuse.

“I’m not setting a deadline, but please get it done as soon as possible.”

“Yes, I understand fully. I will return in no time with his head in hand.”

Futarishizuka had agreed—without even a hint of hesitation.

Having survived our meeting with the section chief, we exited the bureau and headed for Futarishizuka’s hotel room.

Once there, I had intended to rejoin Peeps and send Lady Elsa back to her world. We’d been able to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes for now, but we didn’t know what would happen next time. I felt bad, but we needed to send her home with a priority stamp on her head.

Unfortunately for us, the pile-hair princess had other plans.

“Sasaki, I’d like to learn more of this world.”

“Why on earth is that, Madam?”

We were in the familiar living space of the hotel room. Lady Elsa’s declaration had come as she rose from the sofa cushion right beside me. Opposite us across the low table sat Futarishizuka. And on the table itself there was a little tree—I had no idea where it came from—upon which Peeps was perched.

“My father has shown me the goods you’ve brought in the past.”

“Ah.” I could imagine what she’d say next.

“Those items were created in this world, weren’t they?”

It was just as I’d guessed.

“Even if that was true, Lady Elsa, what is it you intend to do?”

“I’d want to learn all about this world! And then I’d bring the knowledge back to our world and share it with everyone else. If I did that, I’d be of some use to my father. I wouldn’t have to marry into another house just to contribute to my family!”

As the local lord’s daughter, she was extremely conscious of the world around her—it wasn’t odd at all for this idea to occur to her. Unfortunately, this was a request I couldn’t approve. If the section chief learned of Peeps or the existence of the otherworld, everything would become a lot more complicated.

I’d probably be buried in unfair work requests and demands. No matter how high-ranking my boss was, there were plenty of people even higher. I had zero faith I’d be able to skillfully work around all of them. The only future I could see in that direction was retirement in the otherworld.

The kind of magic over there, where you could perfectly cure someone’s wounds with a wave of your staff, was too much for those living in the modern world.

“I’m terribly sorry, but I cannot allow that.”

“B-but why not?! I promise I’ll keep this world and everything about you a secret!”

“I have been very careful not to tell anyone around me that I am able to travel between your world and this one, madam. If you were to cause a stir in my vicinity, it would render all that hard work meaningless.”

“Oh, come now. It can’t be that difficult to shelter one young girl.”

“I beg to differ—it will be very difficult.”

“Well, I’m not convinced.”

“As you already know, Lady Elsa, this world is more advanced than yours in many respects. One of those respects is how we manage our people. Each one of us has an identification number issued by our government, allowing for absolute supervision.”

“Is that even possible? Babies are born all the time. Wouldn’t keeping track of every last one of them be too difficult? I can’t even imagine how much money it must cost.”

“When someone has a baby, they report it. The same thing happens when someone dies. It’s each person’s responsibility, and failing to comply is a crime. Leaving and entering this country is strictly controlled, and illegal immigration is treated very severely.”

“…Then they…really do keep track of everyone?”

“If something happened, and a member of the military police was to question us, they would notice that you look foreign and realize you don’t have one of our identification numbers. Without an explanation, we would be taken into custody and thrown in prison—that much is certain.”

“……”

“To make matters worse, the man we just spoke with works for the government, and his job is to oversee people. In your world’s terms, consider a head minister—then count down a few links in the chain of command. That’s who he is. You can think of him as equivalent to a count—part of the nobility.”

“He…he was that important?!”

“Yes, and he already has his eyes on you.”

“What…?”

“It is paramount that we send you back home right away, in order to ensure your safety, Lady Elsa. If you stayed in this world, and something was to happen to you, I wouldn’t be able to face Count Müller.”

“……”

Bringing up Count Müller put even her at a loss for words. She was still a daddy’s girl. Considering her father’s character, I could totally see why she’d love him so much. Plus, he was tall and handsome, slim but muscular—not to mention a noble deeply trusted by his people. It was fundamentally unreasonable to expect anyone not to be fond of him.

That said, she only remained silent for a moment. Then she really let me have it.

“E-even so, here’s what I think! If this world was to attack us right now, we would be unilaterally wiped out. Knowing that, for the sake of my world, I must boldly set foot in this one!”

“There is no such possibility, madam.”

“How can you be so sure? You’ve visited already.”

“…You’re right.”

She spoke with an uncharacteristically serious expression. But she was right, and I couldn’t exactly argue. From her stubborn objections, I could sense how sharply she felt the danger.

“Lady Elsa, I don’t believe your world is as weak as you think.”

“How can you say that?”

“This world doesn’t have magic. We don’t have giant monsters like dragons, either. We may be winning in terms of civilization, but if we were to clash, bringing all our respective forces to bear at once, our world might be the one to lose unilaterally.”

“I agree on that point.”

Oh, and it looked like Peeps would grace us with his viewpoint as well. I was curious what the Lord Starsage had to say.

“The types of weapons that exist in this world mostly utilize heat or impact,” he began. “If you were able to defend yourselves with barriers in advance, they would have a hard time overrunning you. In addition, they require much time and money to use their weapons, which would work in our favor.”

This knowledge seemed to be the result of his internet study sessions. How far had he taken his investigation, exactly?

“Were you to employ monsters against whom physical impacts and heat were ineffective, such as wraiths, you would overwhelm them easily. And if our people came together and coordinated with powerful elementals, it would even be possible to bring this entire world under our control and use it as we see fit.”

“I-is that right?”

“Indeed, it is. Our world is rich in versatility.”

Perhaps the citizens of earth should be concerned.

From Peeps’s explanation, I saw that my own world’s situation was considerably more precarious than I had thought. Now it was my mind spinning. All of the pile-hair princess’s concerns had become mine.

I doubted Peeps would do anything like that. At this point, I fully trusted him. Still, I couldn’t entirely deny the possibility that, ultimately, such a future might come to pass. A variety of delusions paraded through my mind before fading into the distance.

“Oh-ho? Is that fear I see on your face, Sasaki?”

“Well, this is my homeland, after all.”

I may have been destined to die alone, but I still had a friend or two who would come if I invited them out for a drink. I had quite a few acquaintances from work, too, who had treated me well. The prospect of seeing all of them wiped out, no chance to resist, weighed heavy on my heart.

“Your expression is giving me the creeps,” said Elsa.

“You jest, madam.”

“Especially considering all you’ve done is lecture me since I got here.”

“I sincerely apologize for that, but—”

“You know, you’re the only person aside from my father who has ever lectured me so much.”

Lady Elsa spoke cheerfully. That dubious sparkle in her eyes—I’d pretend I didn’t notice that. The way she smirked made me very uneasy. I’d always wondered if the little lady had a sadistic streak to her.

“Worry not. I would never do such a thing.”

“Come on, Peeps. I trust you.”

“…So you do.”

Just then, I heard a vibrating noise from somewhere—it sounded like a phone. I looked around for the source, and eventually my gaze settled on Futarishizuka. It seemed the phone she had tucked in her kimono was receiving a call. She took out the device, checked the screen, and answered it in front of us.

Everyone watched and waited, mouths shut.

The call only consisted of a few words. After nodding a few times, Futarishizuka ended the conversation. A moment later, after returning it to her pocket, she said, “The merchandise you brought has been checked.”

It seemed our goods had been appraised.

Since we had brought her gold ingots of unknown origin, Futarishizuka had requested earlier that she have someone confirm the authenticity and purity in advance of cutting a deal. She’d wanted to conduct tests using X-rays and ultrasound.

Apparently, the call was to inform her that it was finished. It looked like gold from the otherworld would pass as gold in this one, too.

“As for the price,” she said, “I am fine with what we discussed earlier.”

“Thank you very much. I’d like to leave it in your hands.”

“How would you prefer the payment?”

“Actually, I wanted to discuss that with you.”

“…Go ahead.”

“If possible, could I receive a portion of the payment in specific items? I won’t ask you to get anything difficult. I just don’t want to make a huge, conspicuous shopping trip.”

“Hmm…”

“Is that all right?”

“Will I receive pay for this labor, hmm?”

“Yes, of course.”

“In that case, I suppose I can be somewhat flexible.”

“That will be a big help. Thank you so much.”

Continuing to make big purchases under my own name was sure to get me tracked. I could easily imagine the section chief, or someone along those lines, questioning me about it. I hoped Futarishizuka would be able to provide assistance on that front. This, along with purchasing the valuables, would prove an invaluable source of support.

As things stood now, it seemed we might regain custody of Mr. Marc very soon, indeed.