Sasaki and Peeps - Volume 6 - Chapter 1.2

<The Neighbor’s POV>

For lunch, students push their desks into little clusters to eat, just like at my last school. They’re assigned groups, rather than circles of friends. The food, too, is prepared in a separate kitchen, then distributed to each classroom and split up among the students, just as before.

Things look different, but the ritual is the same—except for my ritual, which is very different.

Thanks to Futarishizuka’s help, I no longer have to scavenge for leftovers. I don’t need to use the rest of my afternoon break to secretly sneak into the service room to pilfer scraps after lunch. While I’m happy about it, I also feel a strange sense of unease.

Is it really okay for me to fill my stomach so easily? Shouldn’t I at least secure an extra piece of bread for dinner tonight? At this point, I can use Abaddon to get whatever I like. He might not enjoy it, but I’m his Disciple, so he has to obey my orders.

Knowing this makes me nervous. Impatience rises in my stomach as I watch uneaten food being returned to the kitchen. Is this what they call a hunting instinct?

“How do you like our school lunch, Kurosu?”

“Did you get school lunches in Tokyo, too? Or did you have to bring your own?”

“The selection today was kinda meh, though.”

“Aren’t you rich? I bet the food wasn’t really what you’re used to.”

“What do you eat at home?”

Meanwhile, the rest of the class has started to treat me like a rich girl. I suppose they did see me get out of that boxy car this morning. Maybe they’ve already locked on to me as a potential financial supporter.

When lunch ends, the other students all gather around. Just as they have at every break so far, they surround my desk and start peppering me with questions.

“I can’t go without raw dandelions in early spring,” I respond to one of them.

“…Huh?”

“Nothing. It was just a joke.”

I read in an encyclopedia at the library once that dandelions are packed with vitamins and other nutrients. The common dandelion from Europe, which is from the same group as the ones native to Japan, was apparently brought over during the Meiji era to serve as a vegetable. That non-native variety goes by a second name in Japan: the edible dandelion.

For me, they’ve always been a precious source of nutrients. At one point—I think it was during one of the middle years of elementary school—I suffered from a lot of numbness in my arms and legs. At the encyclopedia’s suggestion, I ate some dandelion, and it got better. Ever since then, I’ve been eating it every spring without fail.

It’s only a pity that their petals turn into fluff so quickly. Those don’t taste very good.

“I guess rich girls have a quirky sense of humor, huh?”

“Maybe I’ll try a dandelion next time they’re growing!”

“Dandelions? They use that as garnish in packs of sashimi a lot, right?”

“I thought it was just decoration.”

“I think those are actually edible chrysanthemums.”

I don’t think I said anything funny or interesting. But the other students get excited over it anyway. It’s so strange. It’s not even just the girls, either—it’s the boys, too. And they’re all pretty attractive. They seem like the type with a lot of sway in the classroom.

I’m uncomfortable again. It’s nerve-racking constantly being the center of attention.

Also, since I’m mixed up in this proxy war between angels and demons, I don’t want to get close to people who can’t protect themselves, only to have them wind up as collateral damage. The angels were more than willing to blow up my apartment, after all.

I don’t actually care what happens to my classmates, but if my neighbor got wind of me endangering other people, he’d probably like me a lot less. That’s why I have to avoid doing those kinds of things at all costs.

As I mull this over, I suddenly catch sight of something interesting. There’s a girl in the corner of the room, alone at her desk, reading a book. Compared to the kids surrounding me, she seems quiet, or, if you wanted to be rude, plain. She doesn’t appear to care much about how she looks and seemingly has no interest in fashion, which I can definitely relate to.

Oh. I have an idea, I think.

“There’s that good old scheming face!” declares Abaddon.

Am I really that easy to read?

I ignore the demon’s rude remark. “I’m sorry,” I say to the kids around me, getting up from my seat. “Could I have a moment?”

“Oh, what’s up?”

I go over to the girl reading by herself. I’ve already said—multiple times—that I like to read, so I’m going to use her to put myself in a more favorable position in class.

“Sorry for disturbing you,” I say after approaching her desk and fixing my eyes on the book in her hands. “But do you like books?”

“I, uh… Kurosu?”

The book has a cover on it, so I can’t see what it says on the front. A glance at the pages reveals tightly packed characters. That’s not enough for me to figure out what kind of book it is, though.

“Could I ask what you’re reading?”

“Oh, I, um…” She clearly hesitates at my question.

I wonder if it’s an erotic novel of some sort. If it is, I hope she lies about it. “I was just interested because I like reading, too,” I say.

“Um, I d-don’t think you should talk to me…”

“Why not?”

For now, I’ll put distance between the popular kids and me by focusing my attention on her. Then, after concentrating on reading for a while, I’ll steadily decrease my interaction with her, too, until I finally settle into a nice isolation. It’s the perfect plan. I’ll sink below the surface without causing any waves.

For the rest of the break, I have a friendly conversation with her. In the afternoon, I digest the lecture content just fine. I was worried about where this school would be compared to my old one, but it seems they’re a little behind. Keeping up is another matter, though; being the transfer student means I get called on in class an awful lot. It’s a struggle.

Without Abaddon to give me hints, I would have been in for a series of embarrassments. He’s extraordinarily smart when it comes to practical topics like math and English. I bet I’d easily pass any high school entrance exam with his help.

Class continues, and eventually my first day ends without incident. After school, my classmates ask me if I want to hang out and suggest a karaoke get-together to serve as a welcoming party. Another group invites me to go see some of the school’s clubs. Apparently, joining one is optional here.

I tell them all that I have plans for this evening, then leave the classroom by myself.

On my way to the entrance, I contact the older gentleman who drove me to school this morning at the number he gave me. He picks up after just one ring, and when I ask him to come get me, he tells me politely that he should arrive in about ten minutes.

It’s barely any time, but I find I have nothing to do. After changing out of my indoor shoes, I decide to take a quick look around the school grounds. One of my classmates gave me a brief tour of the inside during a break, but I haven’t really gotten a good look at the outside yet.

To tell the truth, though, it was Abaddon who instructed me to do so. “We’ll need to have a good grasp of the terrain in case anything happens.”

“You’re always on the ball, Abaddon.”

“I’ve gotta do my best to make up for what my partner lacks!” says the demon, puffing out his chest as he floats in the air. We’ve already made sure none of the other students can see him. As we chat, we walk between different buildings on the lot.

Once we make a full circuit around the school, I decide to go back to the parking lot, but before I can, I hear familiar voices from behind the gym.

“Hey, what’s your deal? What was all that during lunch?”

“You were totally pretending to read just to catch the new girl’s attention.”

“Yeah, seriously!”

“She even took the time to talk to you, and you barely spoke to her!”

“You really made it awkward for her.”

I peek around the corner of the building to watch. Several students stand in a half circle around another one. They’re all girls from my class, 1-A. I’m still hazy on their names, but I remember their faces clearly.

“I… I didn’t mean to—”

“Excuse me? Don’t talk back to us. We’re only telling the truth!”

It’s the girl I approached during break, surrounded by the students who kept going out of their way to talk to me. The latter all look pretty scary, while the girl they’re glaring at seems to be about to burst into tears.

Fortunately, none of them appears to notice me. “Let’s find another way back to the parking lot,” I say to Abaddon.

“Oh? You sure you want to leave her there?”

“This is a problem best worked out by those involved and our teachers.”

“Seems to me you’re partially responsible.”

“I’ll mention it to our homeroom teacher tomorrow.”

All schools have a few bullies. You can’t let stuff like that get to you. A surprising number of people in the world start raging over the stupidest things or derive enjoyment from hurting others. My mother was typical of them. I doubt going up and saying something to their faces would resolve anything.

I, too, feel happy when my neighbor is all alone and sad. It makes me want to squeeze him tight.

“You’re kindhearted for a demon,” I say.

“Hey, like I said before, we demons love humans,” he replies. I have no idea how serious he is when he says nonsense like that.

I make a U-turn and head back to the parking lot. The car from this morning is already there. The driver stands next to it with excellent posture. He could have just stayed in the driver’s seat, but he got out to wait for me. When he notices I’ve arrived, he bows respectfully. What am I supposed to do? Students and teachers nearby cast curious glances our way.

“We’ll have to repay her soon with some results from the death game,” comments Abaddon. “Or else we could be in trouble.”

“I’m fully aware of her intentions,” I say. “But I feel like this is going a little too far.” Maybe I should consult with her soon. Tonight, if possible.

In any case, I’d like a less conspicuous type of car, at least.

The evening after our boss gave us our new assignment, we paid a visit to Ms. Futarishizuka’s villa to explain the situation to Peeps.

This time, Miss Hoshizaki came with us. After making her promise to tell no one, I asked my distinguished Java sparrow to use his teleportation magic on her as well. In the blink of an eye, we’d jumped from our hotel near my ruined apartment straight into Ms. Futarishizuka’s luxurious mansion. As expected, Miss Hoshizaki’s eyes were wide with astonishment.

I’d decided this would be safer than trying to keep the secret and arousing her suspicions anyway. With the extremely convenient scapegoat of the angel–demon proxy war now in my hands, we had a good excuse if she ever let slip any mention of otherworldly magic. Also, we’d left all our company phones—hers included—in the hotel.

“Unfortunately, I can’t be of much help,” said Peeps. “The information you’ve provided rings no bells, as it were.”

“I thought so,” I replied. “Sorry for asking something so strange.”

“Don’t be. It’s been hardly a week since the sea dragon appeared. Your concern is justified.”

We were in the villa’s living space, seated on the sofa set, all facing one another. My phone rested in front of Peeps, who was perched on a little tree atop the low table; it was showing an image viewer containing the UFO photographs the section chief had sent us.

The way Peeps tilted his little head while peering at the screen was absolutely adorable. And he was even using his foot to poke and swipe at the display. I could barely suppress the urge to record him and then upload the video so I could brag about him to the whole world.

“In that case, we are well and truly out of clues,” mused Ms. Futarishizuka.

“I think we can leave this one up to the other departments,” I said. “There’s no reason for us to produce results on every case, don’t you agree? Maybe it’s time to let someone else score some points.”

“You know, I rather like this side of you.”

“Hold on a minute,” interrupted Miss Hoshizaki. “This is our job, right? Shouldn’t we be more serious about it?”

It seemed our senior colleague did not like our attitude, though I suppose we newbies did try to slack off whenever we got the chance. Meanwhile, she was gunning for that overtime pay.

“You can do whatever you’d like,” I told her. “No need to concern yourself with us.”

“The on-site team needn’t meddle in tasks like these, dear,” said Ms. Futarishizuka. “Nothing good will come of it.”

“But that doesn’t mean we should cut corners!”

“I was serious about trying to communicate with them,” I reminded her.

“And none of us can think of much else to do,” added Ms. Futarishizuka.

“W-well, sure, maybe not, but…”

As we traded opinions across the table, Peeps was in the middle while Miss Hoshizaki and I sat across from Ms. Futarishizuka. Lady Elsa was present as well, sitting next to her host. Until recently, she’d always sat at the head of the table, but these days she seemed closer to her temporary guardian, proof that they were getting along well under the same roof. While I was happy about that, I was also a little uneasy. Ms. Futarishizuka was making a very big connection to the otherworld through her guest.

“I would like to peruse the list of sightings, if I may,” said Peeps.

“Sure,” I said. “But why?”

“A bird’s-eye view—forgive the turn of phrase—may provide a better insight.”

“Okay, no problem. I’ll load the data onto the laptop.” Peeps was probably trying to be of help after hearing we’d hit a dead end. This had nothing to do with him personally, so I couldn’t have been more grateful.

“Thank you for going to the trouble.”

“No, not at all. Thank you for helping us out like this.”

“I very much doubt a sparrow who only recently discovered computers and the internet will be able to run this type of data analysis,” remarked Ms. Futarishizuka. “In fact, won’t he just end up leaking something again?”

“Assume failure, and you will not know success.”

“Wha…what?! Just because you have some cool-sounding quotes up your little bird sleeves doesn’t mean…”

Given how he liked to keep track of the time difference between the otherworld and modern Japan, this type of data analysis seemed to be like a hobby for him—maybe even his life’s work. Since he appeared to enjoy it, I was more than happy to leave it to him.

As for handing him the data—well, it was probably fine. It seemed like most other organizations already had access to it at this point. At worst, I could formally apologize to our boss and smooth it over. For now, I wanted to prioritize Peeps’s wishes.

“Sasaki, little bird, is there anything I can help with?” asked Lady Elsa.

“If you so desire, then yes. I do believe you could help me.”

“Really? I’d be happy to. Even if it’s only a little bit.”

And now he was even being considerate of Lady Elsa. He really was a huge help.

Just then, the intercom dinged. Everyone turned to look at the front door. It seemed we had a guest.

“Has our new little neighbor come back from school?” Ms. Futarishizuka wondered aloud as she got up from the sofa and went to the door.

She was right—when she returned to the living room, my uniformed neighbor was standing next to her, with Abaddon floating at her side. She was still holding her school bag; she must have come straight here.

“Hello, mister.”

“Good evening. How was your new school?” I asked, and she immediately broke into a smile.

“It was quiet and peaceful. Thanks for asking.”

Given her tendency to endure things in silence, I wasn’t sure if she was telling the truth. Abaddon didn’t make any snide remarks, though, so perhaps it had been a pretty good day for her.

The next one to speak was Miss Hoshizaki, sitting at my side. “Sasaki, what do you mean new school?”

“I thought you were aware of what happened to our apartment complex,” I said.

“I am. But why did she have to transfer schools because of it?”

“As a result of her family circumstances, Ms. Futarishizuka has adopted her. We’ve moved all her necessities out here, and she’ll be staying at a mansion nearby for the time being. With the change of address, she naturally needed to switch schools as well.”

“Oh. I, uh, I see…” Miss Hoshizaki glanced at my neighbor. She had a complicated look on her face. Was she worried about the girl? If so, I appreciated it.

Before our conversation could progress any further, a light, bubbly ringtone went off in Ms. Futarishizuka’s pocket. Evidently, she’d received a call; she took out her phone and began speaking with someone. Judging from her end of the exchange, it was about the progress of a request she’d made at lunchtime.

She was only on the call for ten or twenty seconds. When she was finished, she returned her phone to its place.

“Is everything ready?” I asked.

“It is. And out of respect for our senior colleague’s enthusiasm, I say we get to work right away.”

She’d asked someone to set up some radio equipment, and it appeared they’d finished the job.

I was actually kind of excited about the whole thing, but I decided not to let it show.

We imposed once again on Peeps’s magic and had him warp us from the Karuizawa villa to the hotel near my ruined apartment. We then took advantage of Ms. Futarishizuka’s car to travel from the Metropolitan Expressway to the Chuo Expressway, into the mountains of the Kanto region, and up to a certain pass.

We’d left Lady Elsa at the villa for the time being, and Peeps returned there after sending us to the hotel room. I expected that, right about now, he’d be using the laptop to pore over the eyewitness data on the UFO. My neighbor and Abaddon had gone home as well.

“Tell me again why we needed to come all the way up here,” complained Miss Hoshizaki.

“Places with a high elevation and a good view are best for this sort of thing, apparently,” I said.

The two of us stood at the edge of a precipitous cliff, gazing out at the nighttime cityscape. It was a gorgeous view, and there was no one else in sight.

Meanwhile, Ms. Futarishizuka was in the middle of setting up the radio equipment. “If our target is above the Kármán line, we’ll need to call using VHF or higher,” she explained. “Waves like those can usually only travel along a line of sight from the source, so obviously we need to pick a high place with a clear view. You didn’t even know that?”

“…I don’t think my classes have gotten that far,” said Miss Hoshizaki.

“High school girls these days are just so airheaded.”

“Ms. Futarishizuka,” I cut in, “I’m almost certain that’s not covered in the first-year curriculum.”

“Anyway, why don’t you two give me a hand already? Don’t make me do all the work.”

“Oh, I’d love to, but I have no idea what I’m doing,” replied Miss Hoshizaki. “I’d probably break the equipment. And since you can do the heavy lifting, too, I’m sure Sasaki and I would just get in the way.”

“Honestly, I’m of a similar opinion,” I agreed.

“Ah, the struggles of a poor newbie, cursed with incompetent colleagues…”

The radio I’d been using in the otherworld had a different antenna, size, and shape. It seemed Ms. Futarishizuka had brought in her own equipment. I was a novice, without even an amateur radio certification, so I hesitated to touch it on the off chance I’d mess it up.

Grumbling to herself, she assembled the equipment with practiced motions. Once our makeshift radio station was complete, we decided to place our call right away.

“Hello, CQ. Hello, CQ. This is Juliet, Alpha, one, ##, ##. J, A, one, ##, ##. To anyone inside the unidentified flying object all over the news lately—if you can hear this, please reply on 433.46. I repeat, please reply on 433.46.”

Microphone in hand, Ms. Futarishizuka started throwing out some pretty cool-sounding lines. While I’d introduced wireless equipment to the otherworld, I hadn’t passed on any of the rules of amateur radio; the people there simply used the machines however they liked. I’d left everything, including what frequency band to use, up to the Kepler Trading Company. As a result, I wasn’t very used to hearing genuine exchanges like these.

“What do you mean Juliet?” demanded Miss Hoshizaki. “Are you telling me that’s your radio code name or something?”

“Well, yes. And it wasn’t reallocated to me, either! I have a bona fide original two-digit call sign.”

“I don’t even know what that means.”

“Amateur radio call signs are first-come, first-served,” I explained to her. “Whoever applies to the government first wins. It’s like online domain names. The one she’s using was granted a long time ago.”

I’d recently found this out while reading a book on the subject. Futarishizuka’s call sign was from the very beginning of amateur radio during the fifties and sixties, before such shorter names ran out. If someone in the field heard it, they’d assume the call was coming from someone over eighty years old—only to hear the voice of a young girl. This would have to be a violation of Japanese Radio Law. To anyone else, it would have come off as a prank.

“Could you sell it on the internet for a lot of money?” asked Miss Hoshizaki.

“Nope. You can’t sell them. It’s not allowed.”

“Then what’s the point?”

“I swear. High school girls these days have no sense of romance.”

We waited a while, but the broadcast received no response. That was to be expected, of course. If we’d heard anything, it would’ve most likely been an actual prank.

“Hello, CQ. Hello, CQ. This is Juliet, Alpha, one, ##, ##. J, A, one, ##, ##. To anyone inside the unidentified flying object all over the news lately—if you can hear this, please respond. We are receiving. Over.”

“I thought I read that CQ was used for addressing an unknown number of people,” I remarked.

“Hey, we don’t know what their setup is like. They might have multiple stations.”

“Ah, I see.”

“But really I just did it out of habit.”

“……”

After that, Ms. Futarishizuka tried broadcasting on different frequencies, leaving a few minutes between each. If we reached anyone, their voice would come through the speakers, but we’d heard nothing so far.

Miss Hoshizaki and I didn’t have much to do but watch. Since the elevation here was a lot higher than in the city, I started to feel cold despite my coat.

“Hey, are you seriously going to keep doing the same thing over and over?” asked Miss Hoshizaki.

“Indeed, I am. Why?” answered our coworker.

“It just seems like… I don’t know. Is amateur radio supposed to be this boring?”

“In principle, your smartphone does the exact same thing.”

“Wait, really?”

“It’s just a matter of you speaking personally versus letting a machine do it for you.”

“We’ve been on communication frequency for a while, haven’t we?” I noted. “Are we not going back to calling frequency?”

“Of course not,” she said. “If I kept making these ridiculous calls on a main channel, all we’d get in return is verbal abuse. Besides, if we’re really trying to make contact with an extraterrestrial, they won’t know Earth’s rules. We just have to pray they’re monitoring the whole spectrum.”

“Can a portable home antenna even reach into space?” Miss Hoshizaki asked.

“Oh, it can easily go at least as far as the International Space Station.”

“What? That far?”

“Couldn’t reach the UFO otherwise, now could it?”

“We consulted with the bureau about our output strength,” I added, “and they’re okay with us getting somewhat reckless if needed.”

“We’ve already made a few calls, and I haven’t heard even one of their automatic warning broadcasts,” said Futarishizuka. “I never thought I’d get government permission to broadcast in the kilowatts. Ah, the heat from the linear amplifier feels so good. And since we came all the way here, we may as well stay as long as we can.”

In contrast to the bored Hoshizaki, Futarishizuka seemed to be having a blast. Delighted, she turned back to the radio equipment and started messing with the controls.

Personally, I’d gotten pretty cold and would have preferred to go wait in the car. I assumed Miss Hoshizaki was thinking the same thing. That would be rude, however, so we simply stood by and watched our coworker indulge in one of her hobbies.

After a while, a response came over the speaker. At first it was just static, but that eventually gave way to a series of electronic noises. A stream of high-pitched blip-blips and bloooop-bloooops followed.

“Wh-what’s it beeping like that for?” asked Miss Hoshizaki.

“It’s Morse code,” Ms. Futarishizuka explained.

Everyone turned to the speaker. We had a recorder set up nearby, so there was no rush. We could take our time with the transmission at a later date if necessary. For now, we just listened to the noise that seemed to come from nowhere. Just like English, I didn’t have a clue what it was saying.

Miss Hoshizaki turned to Ms. Futarishizuka. “Should we respond, or…?”

“That would cause interference,” she replied. “We need to wait for them to finish.”

“I heard amateur radio enthusiasts can understand Morse code,” I said. “Do you know what it means?”

“Not a clue. It’s just a bunch of nonsense letters,” she explained.

“Is someone pranking us?”

“I think that’s likely.”

“Can you figure out their, uh, their call sign?” suggested Miss Hoshizaki.

“If I could, this would be a lot easier.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Hmm? Well, I sure didn’t hear one.”

“This whole call sign thing—you have to tell it to others personally?”

“Of course you do. I sent mine before, remember?”

“Ugh. Why does amateur radio have to be so inconvenient?”

“Well, I hear you, dear, but…”

After a few minutes of the three of us discussing this and that, the transmission finally ended. We waited for some time after, but we never received another reply. Ms. Futarishizuka kept on making calls to no avail. Eventually, after a little under an hour, my limbs were starting to go numb.

“Could we maybe go home soon, Futarishizuka?” asked Miss Hoshizaki.

“What? I thought you were fishing for overtime pay.”

“If I stay out any longer, the only thing I’ll catch is a cold.”

“I’m going to have to agree with her, Ms. Futarishizuka,” I said.

“Well, it is rather chilly out, so perhaps we’ll pack it up for now.”

With her agreement, our work for the day came to an end. Miss Hoshizaki and I helped her clean up, unplugging cables and folding antennas—you didn’t need specialized knowledge for that. Hurried along by the cold, we finished our task quickly, then went straight back to the car and left the dark pass behind.

With our fieldwork finished, we made our way home. First, we brought Miss Hoshizaki back to her apartment. She invited us in for some tea, but we declined and moved on to the hotel near my old apartment. After meeting up with Peeps there, we headed back to the living room of Ms. Futarishizuka’s Karuizawa villa.

There, we explained to Peeps what had happened. Ms. Futarishizuka quickly translated the Morse code we’d received on the mountain into text. As she handily, smoothly wrote down each letter in the message, I watched her from the side, thinking she looked pretty cool.

Before we knew it, it was almost midnight. Now that we had the data, Peeps and I decided to go straight to the otherworld. After parting ways with Ms. Futarishizuka, we used Peeps’s teleportation spell to instantly jump from the villa to Allestos, the capital of the Kingdom of Herz.

Our destination was the office of the court minister—the title King Adonis had bestowed upon me on our previous visit. It was a large room, about one hundred square meters, with a desk and several bookshelves inside.

In the past, we’d been away from this world for over two days in Japan time. Compared to that, I doubted much time had gone by. That said, the nation’s leader had just changed, which surely brought with it a whole host of problems. So first, I wanted to get a read on the situation in Herz. I felt sure Mr. Joseph would be all right waiting until I was done.

“Let’s go straight to Count Müller, shall we?”

“I agree. Let us be off.”

With my distinguished sparrow’s approval, we exited the room and headed down a castle passage. During our first visit, we’d been hesitant—it had been anyone’s guess who might pop up around the next corner like some evil spirit wandering the halls. The Lord Starsage had been adamant about never walking around alone, too, like one of those dangerous areas the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued travel advisories for.

But such concerns were in the past; now, in the reign of His Majesty Adonis, we could walk around without much concern. In fact, now that I held the prominent position of court minister, those I passed bowed to me rather than vice versa. I returned the gesture each time as we made our way to our destination: the chancellor’s office. Fortunately, Count Müller was in.

“It’s good to see you again, Count Müller.”

“Ah, thank you for coming. Both of you.”

He encouraged us to come inside, and we took our seats on the sofa set. The low table featured a little perching tree—the count must have placed it there at some point. It was quite extravagant; the one in his old Baytrium residence had struck me as high-class, but this was something else. It even had a few gems embedded here and there.

Peeps showed no constraint as he fluttered off my shoulder and alighted on one of its branches. He was probably used to such treatment. Seeing how the count’s face broke into a smile soothed me in turn.

“To begin with, my lord,” I said, “I’d like to share a video letter from Lady Elsa.”

“And for that, I thank you very much,” he replied. “But there is something I wanted to discuss with you before that.”

“More problems with the Ohgen Empire, sir?”

“No, no. Everything is quiet on that front.”

I had been about to remove the laptop from my bag when he’d straightened up in his seat and interrupted; I was very curious what he wanted to ask me about. The look on his face had sharpened by several degrees compared to when he’d smiled at Peeps. I felt myself straighten up as well.

“I know this is very sudden, but would you take my daughter Elsa as a concubine?”

“…That is a very sudden request, my lord.” I froze for a moment without meaning to—the proposal had come way out of left field. Concubine? I thought. He means that kind of concubine, right?

I wanted to reject it out of hand as if he were joking, but the count wasn’t one to make jokes, so I had to consider the matter earnestly. His gaze told me he was dead serious.

“I had thought Lady Elsa would be wed to King Adonis,” I said.

“His Majesty thought the same at first,” he replied. “But just the other day, it was decided that he would marry the princess of a nearby nation. While the marriage is not yet official, negotiations in the court are already proceeding as though it is.”

“Does that mean the other party came to him with the proposal?”

“That’s correct.”

“Given Herz’s current situation, relations with neighboring countries are more crucial than even domestic affairs. If marriage will erase one of his major concerns, there can be no other choice.”

Count Müller and King Adonis were on very good terms. Others might judge them somewhat differently were Lady Elsa to marry the king, but in my estimation, it wasn’t likely anything would lead to a falling out between the two parties anytime soon. And if that was true, it seemed the natural choice for His Majesty to use marriage as a means to forge alliances with other nations.

Still, this new bride-to-be had me curious.

“Will it be the first princess of the Kingdom of Blase, then?”

“Yes. You’re right on the mark,” said the count, surprised at the sparrow’s casual question. He must not have thought it would be so easy to guess. Sincere admiration colored his features, and he offered the reincarnated sage a deep bow. “Discerning as ever, Lord Starsage.”

“They would have been the Empire’s next target had it succeeded in conquering Herz. I had heard Blase had a princess around his age. However, I doubt we can trust them simply because of the marriage.”

“The king expressed the same concern.”

It struck me again how difficult royalty and nobility had it. A king couldn’t even choose his own marriage partner. And it seemed that such political marriages didn’t even guarantee a bond one could trust.

“Lady Elsa was suited to wed a king, my lord,” I pointed out. “Meanwhile, I’m but a foreigner from who knows where. She is too far above my station. Would you please reconsider? With all due respect, I am certain you will regret it one day, should I agree.”

“Our relationship with you,” replied the count, “is even more precious to us than our relationship with our neighbors.”

He was being very considerate toward me, but I was pretty sure the Lord Starsage was the one he truly thought precious. Without the bird’s help during Herz’s battles with the Empire, they wouldn’t have been able to hold out—a fact they must have been very keenly aware of. If that was the reason he was offering me his daughter, it would put me in an awful position. I’d look like some wicked old man buying his little girl’s hand with favors.

“My own intentions aside, my lord, the Lord Starsage is devoted to this kingdom. While it may be difficult to do so immediately, I can imagine a future where he remains here in Herz without me to work alongside all of you.”

Otherworld magic came in four difficulty levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced, and the crazy stuff beyond that. After reincarnating as a Java sparrow, Peeps’s small body only allowed him to cast up to advanced-level magic. If he pushed himself, his feet could pop off.

I, on the other hand, could use spells all the way up to the “crazy” level. The spell for traveling between this world and modern times was one of those, so if I was to learn it for myself, it would open up the possibility of my acting independently of Peeps.

“I have asked you before to stop calling me by that title.”

“But if we all call you something different, the conversation will stop making sense,” I replied.

I had made virtually no progress on the commuting spell, though, and I suspected learning it would take a very long time. But considering the count’s and his daughter’s futures, I at least wanted to make the suggestion while I had the chance.

Then the count, seeming to have misunderstood, turned apologetic. “As her father, I know she has no exceptional merits,” he said. “And I do apologize for thrusting this upon you—I know you have your position outside the kingdom to consider. But I swear on my house’s name that she will never stray from a just and proper path.”

Now he was getting overly dramatic—and he followed it all up with a deep bow, which didn’t help. I started to panic.

“Please, my lord, there’s no need for that,” I said. “In fact, I feel it is I who am unworthy of Lady Elsa.”

“Then why…?” Confusion appeared on the count’s face.

I got the feeling I wasn’t making myself understood. But shouldn’t the count be able to figure out what was wrong here?

“As you can see,” I began, “I am close to you in age, my lord. I could never do anything that would bring unhappiness to your daughter. Not when I owe you so much. So please, won’t you reconsider? I would like to continue serving the Kingdom of Herz in the future.”

“…Unhappiness?” he repeated. “What are you referring to, exactly?”

“Julius,” came a voice from the perching tree atop the low table, “the world in which this man was raised is quite different from our own.”

We both turned to the bird. “Peeps?” I said.

“Actually, I suppose it would be quicker to explain things to you, Sasaki.”

He shifted, turning his adorable little eyes on me. Some internet research had told me that Java sparrows could basically see anywhere other than directly behind them without moving. But Peeps adjusted his position anyway, probably out of consideration for the two men in the room. His kindness warmed my heart.

“This proposition may be an unlawful act in your world,” he told me. “However, it is quite frequent in this one. There are many instances in which men much older than you marry children even younger than Julius’s daughter.”

Sure, I’d heard about things like that. But what about the participants’ feelings? That was a whole other issue. I, for one, was pretty sure such children were getting married against their will.

As I thought about this, Count Müller stammered, “A-an unlawful act?” He was astonished. The amount of shock on his face was almost comical.

“Indeed. In Sasaki’s world, it is illegal. If a child of your daughter’s age and an adult such as Sasaki were to engage in sexual acts, the latter would be punished regardless of their gender. One’s social status is moot. Many influential people have fallen from power because of such things in the past.”

“I… I had no idea…”

Peeps had just hit the count with some serious culture shock. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so surprised.

The sage continued regardless, turning his focus back to me. “On the other hand, this man sincerely wishes to give you his own daughter in marriage. You may refuse, should you have a reason to. But if you wish to maintain a relationship with him in the future—well, in our world, common sense demands such a reason be significant.”

“…I see,” I said.

“And he would have discussed this with Adonis as well, I believe,” added Peeps, prompting a small nod from the count.

It didn’t look like I could get away with the tried-and-true excuse of being in love with someone else—not in this world. This was all business. In fact, it felt more like we were discussing finances or something.

“Either way, I will abide by your choice,” Peeps said. “This would be your first marriage, after all.”

“I-it would?!” exclaimed the count, his continuing surprise a great contrast to Peeps’s casual tone. Was it just me, or had that little tidbit shocked him even more? His words rang through the chancellor’s office. Now it was getting a little awkward. He had to be indirectly making fun of me, right?

No, it’s fine, I told myself. These days, the rate of people who remain unmarried for life is almost 30 percent, and it’s expected to reach 50 in the near future. My situation isn’t strange at all. It’s this otherworld that’s strange.

A moment later, the count spoke again. His expression was earnestly apologetic. “I… I’m terribly sorry!”

“There’s no need to be,” replied Peeps. “In his world, late marriages are very much a trend of the times.”

Peeps seemed to have a slightly skewed understanding of the matter himself. I guess he couldn’t help it—he hadn’t been in my world for very long.

I had begun to feel ill, but I couldn’t exactly defend myself since it was all true.

For now, the least I could do to be polite was to give him a clear answer. “I am quite fond of Lady Elsa, my lord, but that is exactly why I don’t want to do anything that might ruin her happiness. I am fully aware my answer is disrespectful, sir, but please, I must refuse.” I got up from the sofa and bowed deeply.

Had I been ten or twenty years younger, perhaps I would have considered it. To have a girl as charming as her for my lifelong partner would have assured me a most happy future.

Actually, I won’t be aging very much in the future, will I? I thought, remembering the Starsage’s explanation of my position as an elite human.

“Julius, while it is true this man is being awfully rude, he does value your daughter highly. Indeed, that is precisely the reason for his answer. Please do not misunderstand him. Over there, he has protected her even at the cost of his own social life.”

“Again, I can’t begin to apologize for the burden she has placed on you…”

“Lest you think otherwise, I am not exaggerating. Otherwise, why would he rush to inform you of her good health at every meeting? You may have given up on her virtue, but Sasaki has not had a single opportunity to lay a hand on her—they have not so much as touched fingertips.”

“…!”

Peeps was being quite rude himself, and the count was left speechless. Had he really thought we’d already done something? How ridiculous. And how much of a creep had this bird thought I was? It sounded like he was bragging, even. He had his front ruffles puffed into the air, acting all high and mighty. Just what was all that about?

“In fact, we can bring her with us next time, and you can confirm it with her directly. The proprietor of the mansion she’s staying in is a woman, as is everyone taking care of her. There is no doubt this man values your daughter’s future dearly.”

“Lord Starsage, if I may…,” began the count.

“What is it?”

“Would you have time for a short discussion after this?”

“We could simply discuss it now.” Peeps’s head turned, and he looked at me with his big, round eyes.

I could tell when I was unwanted. “In that case, I’ll go for a little tour of the castle.”

“All right.”

Attractive men and women enjoyed life even more than the unattractive imagined—this was something I’d learned upon entering society. In truth, very few people could resist their sexual urges. When beautiful men and women came together, their marital status was but a trifle.

Still, the realization that Lady Elsa’s father truly thought I’d been having relations with his daughter was like a knife to my heart. I was beside myself with curiosity—what had he thought of me, each time we’d met in the past? Or were such things simply everyday occurrences here in the otherworld?

Obviously unable to simply ask, this bachelor left the chancellor’s office behind.

In the end, we decided to bring Lady Elsa along for our next visit. Things in Herz had changed dramatically during the time she’d spent in modern Japan. The count had suggested we use the opportunity to explain the situation and take her feelings into account in our discussions.

I doubted there was any chance of me being chosen as her partner, and so I happily accepted. I didn’t know what Peeps and the count had talked about. Still, I doubted anything strange would come of it—he was the Starsage, after all, and I trusted him.

Once that was over with, the count got me up to date on events in the otherworld. Domestically, the kingdom was still thriving. At present, the Royal Forces—led personally by King Adonis—were traveling through Herz, purging it of the imperialist nobles. He was commanding the troops in person, so it would likely be a while before we got to see him.

Inside the castle, it was just as boisterous. No small number of court nobles, the collective backbone of the state, had been punished as imperialists. Domestic administration had buckled, and Count Müller had been doing the lion’s share of the work propping it back up.

This state of affairs meant he didn’t have much time to speak with us. He told us to relax and get some rest—and that he’d throw a welcome dinner for us that evening. We politely declined the offer and left the capital that same day.

Next, we headed for the Kepler Trading Company in the Republic of Lunge. Our first port of call was the warehouse where we always transferred our goods. Hopping back and forth between the otherworld and modern Japan with Peeps’s magic, we brought in the diesel fuel used to power the generators. We’d procured the exact amount promised.

Compared to when we brought in all that sugar and such, there was far less work to do. We needed less than half the usual number of interworld jumps.

After looking over all the drums lined up in the storehouse, Peeps and I nodded to each other. Each drum held two hundred liters. While that was far too heavy for a human to move, the otherworld’s magic made it easy to lift them through the air and organize them. The other products, with which we’d made a name for ourselves, were now almost totally absent.

Once we finished bringing in our goods, we went straight to visit Mr. Joseph.

“It’s good to see you again, Mr. Sasaki.”

“Likewise, Mr. Joseph. Thank you for having me.”

The two of us faced one another, sitting on sofas in the reception room of the Kepler Trading Company’s main offices. No sooner had we exchanged greetings than I gave him the inventory of what was in the warehouse. Our previous inventory sheets had been filled to the brim with rows and rows of small letters, but this one contained only a few lines. And while it used to take them an entire day to verify everything, it now took about an hour.

“I’ll have someone confirm the inventory right away,” he said. “Would you mind waiting here? Of course, if you have urgent business elsewhere, you can come again tomorrow, but I don’t think this will take long.”

“I don’t mind at all. And I apologize again for my sudden visit.”

At Mr. Joseph’s command, someone entered the room—one of his subordinates, by the looks of it. I’d seen the man before. The president’s aide, perhaps. After hearing the details, he glanced my way, then left the room without saying anything.

Once we could no longer hear his footsteps, I asked Mr. Joseph, “Would Mr. Marc happen to be around today?”

“Mr. Marc? He left for the Kingdom of Herz just yesterday, actually.”

“Should I take that to mean you already know the state of affairs?”

“We have heard the rumors, yes—including those of your actions. He used the radio to send a message from his company’s Baytrium branch before the day was over. Thanks to you both, we’ve made quite a lot of money.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Mr. Joseph saying “quite a lot of money” made me rather nervous. I was too scared to ask exactly how much. The numbers we’d been seeing recently were already much higher than before.

“As promised, I’d like to deliver your payment, Mr. Sasaki.”

“How much would that be, if I may ask?”

“It’s written here.” He slid a piece of paper across the low table. On it were rows of numbers.

Troublingly, I couldn’t read too much of it, such as the list of items, and what was coming in and going out. I couldn’t very well ask Peeps in front of Mr. Joseph, either, so I wasn’t sure what to do. The numbers, at least, were intelligible. My eyes went all the way to the bottom, to an amount of money that seemed to be the total.

Converting it into Lungian large gold coins, it came out to tens of thousands. An extra digit that hadn’t figured into our previous deals had appeared.

If I diverted it toward developing Herz, it would be enough to build several more fortresses of the same type Mr. French had constructed in my barony. I got the feeling this was far too much for a single person to spend on entertainment.

“……”

More terrifying was that, in Earth terms, this had happened in a single day. While somewhere between a few weeks and a month had passed here, only one day had gone by in modern Japan. And the price of stocking the diesel fuel—my main commodity—was practically a rounding error compared to the profits.

These days, on Earth, around three thousand tons of gold were mined every year. The word ton may sound extreme, but gold weighs a lot. I read on the internet that they once minted a one-ton gold coin, and it was just eighty centimeters across and twelve thick. Even a rough estimate would place my profits at about that level.

If I were to go back home every day with one ton of gold, that would add up to a tenth of what was mined globally. An individual injecting the markets with gold in the same quantities produced by entire nations could only end in disaster.

Peeps had once told me that, compared to Earth, the otherworld had much more gold in circulation. Apparently, this novice merchant was about to be crushed by an overwhelming influx of earnings.

“As noted,” said Mr. Joseph, “taking revenue and expenditures into account, the total amount is very small. This is due to an accounting issue on our end. Like it says in the due date column, you should receive the proper amount starting next time. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, Mr. Sasaki. I hope you understand.”

“…I see.”

Oh my god, I thought. There’s going to be even more.

The reason he’d shown me the paper was to apologize, apparently. He’d been watching me meekly ever since, as if hoping the details he’d provided would serve to explain what had happened.

He quickly added, “If you’d like, we can pay the expected value right away…”

“No, you don’t need to trouble yourself. Though I appreciate the offer.”

Things were getting dangerous. I doubted even Ms. Futarishizuka would be able to handle this much money. Part of me did want to pile up a mountain of ingots in front of her and flash her a smug smile, but if it caused unnecessary discord between us—well, that would be a stupid way to ruin things.

And future payments wouldn’t necessarily be in gold coins, either. While it would depend on the otherworld’s mining output, on Earth, the gold standard had already collapsed. Most economists asserted there was simply nowhere near enough of it to handle the current global economy.

So my executive compensation wouldn’t necessarily always be fully in gold in the future. Even history textbooks discussed how the Edo shogunate had struggled with gold coins large and small flowing out of the country during the Bakumatsu. There must have been regulations about that here, just as there were back then. And naturally, it wasn’t guaranteed that I could bring whatever that non-gold currency was back to Japan.

“We’d very much like to prioritize your needs, Mr. Sasaki.”

“That won’t be necessary, so please don’t worry about it.”

At any rate, I really needed to figure out what to do with the profits. It was probably best to bring a certain amount back to Ms. Futarishizuka as payment, then reinvest some of what was left into helping those in the otherworld. I wanted to return some of the funds I’d gathered to the place from which they came and enrich the people of this world through the market.

I mulled it over. Was there a way to do that?

The answer came from my meager experience as a working member of society. It was something anyone could have come up with.

“In exchange,” I began, “there’s something I’d like to discuss with you, if possible.”

“We can adjust the payment method however you like—whatever will work for you.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Ah. Then what would you like to discuss?”

“I expect that your company will be sending regular shipments of the fuel I’ve brought to the Ohgen Empire. I was thinking of helping you with that. Would you be interested?”

My polite question was met with a twitch of Mr. Joseph’s eyebrow. The suggestion must have caught him by surprise. “Do you mean to say you will bring it to them yourself?” he asked.

“No, not exactly.”

That would probably be the quickest way, but I didn’t want to assist the Ohgen Empire that much. After all, I was loyal to Herz. Endangering my relationship with Count Müller or King Adonis was out of the question, and Peeps wouldn’t think highly of it, either.

“I’ve heard rumors that the road from the Republic to the Empire is fairly dangerous,” I explained.

“Are you thinking of developing a trade route?”

“Nobody knows of our actions yet. But it is possible that one day other nations or organizations may learn of its importance. It would be a mess if one of them halted the fuel’s transportation.”

“That is a reasonable concern.”

Public works projects, like tunnels or bridges—that was my idea. Though I guess in this case, it’s just reckless spending on my part.

“But are you sure?” Mr. Joseph asked. “You wouldn’t stand to gain from it.”

“I’m extremely appreciative of the offer you made at our last meeting, Mr. Joseph. If you’ll have me, I’d like to do what little I can to help. I won’t force you, of course.”

“……”

He seemed to consider my proposal.

I assumed he was suspicious of my remarks just now. He’d never dream I simply wanted to lighten my wallet. Pressing further would make him too suspicious. Maybe I should drop a hint about something to alleviate his doubts.

“And,” I continued, “if possible, I’d like to invest in a route to the Kingdom of Herz as well.”

I’d return the money I made in the Ohgen Empire to Herz. That way, I’d also save face with Count Müller and King Adonis. It would allow me to offload the excess gold problem free.

“If you’ll allow me a piece of advice,” said Mr. Joseph, “I don’t think that has a very high chance of succeeding.”

“If it fails, then I’ll give up on it. Do I have your support?”

I could think of a bunch of reasons why such an endeavor undertaken by an otherworld freshman like myself might flounder. The biggest potential obstacle was monster attacks, which would occur incomparably more often than, say, typhoons or lightning strikes. But there were plenty of other issues, not least of which was possible interference from rival companies.

Mr. Joseph put a hand to his chin and thought about this for a while. Ten or twenty seconds passed—he didn’t usually need this much time. But eventually, he nodded slightly.

“I understand. You have my support.”

“I can’t thank you enough, Mr. Joseph.”

“You’re right—this will benefit us as well. I don’t know how far this vision of yours goes, but as long as Kepler stands to gain, I’d like to help. You have my word regarding a route to Herz as well.”

“I promise I won’t cause any undue trouble for your company. I owe my position to you, after all. In the end, however, I am a foreigner here. If you see a chance to offer advice, I’d greatly appreciate it if you did so.”

“Shall I route this investment through the Marc Trading Company?”

“Yes, I’d appreciate that.”

“All right, then. In that case, I’ll have a rough plan ready for our next meeting.”

“I thank you for taking the trouble and look forward to working with you in the future.”

With both of us in agreement, the day’s transaction came to an end. After that, as always, the company treated me to some first-class hospitality—I’d been growing both more anxious and more anticipatory as the grade of our daily lodgings rose.

The next day, we left the Republic of Lunge with Peeps’s teleportation magic and returned to the Kingdom of Herz, landing in the posh Baytrium inn. We’d been staying here for a long time now—ever since I first visited the otherworld. In local time, we’d had the same maid attached our room for several months—or perhaps over a year. I hadn’t been counting.

In our room’s living space, seated on the sofa, I discussed matters with my pet bird.

“There is something I wish to ask regarding this matter with the Kepler Trading Company.”

“What is it?”

“Like that merchant, I, too, am curious how far your plans extend.”

The deal was already struck, but Peeps wanted to confirm my intentions regarding the earlier exchange with Mr. Joseph. He’d had to pretend to be my familiar for our entire stay in Lunge, so there hadn’t been a chance to relax and discuss it before now. He stared at me from his perching tree on the low table.

“I’m sorry for going ahead without asking,” I said. “Should I have discussed it with you first?”

“No, I don’t object to your decision. I’m just interested to know what you have planned.”

“Well, I haven’t thought that far ahead. But I feel like having way more money than we need will make things worse and worse for us. And I figured the count and the king would be happy if we used it to line Herz’s pockets.”

Humanity didn’t stand at the top of the food chain here, which made efforts like this one somewhat less reliable. It seemed likely this plan would collapse before being finished. Still, the venture wasn’t for profit. My actual goal was to improve the kingdom’s employment rate by creating jobs that would last until the project’s completion. I expected Mr. Joseph had figured that out from our exchange the day before, too. At the very least, I hadn’t made any suggestions that would benefit the Ohgen Empire unequally.

“I’m grateful for your consideration, but are you sure about this?”

“What do you mean?”

“Having such wealth has given you all kinds of ideas, I imagine. If you bring it back to your world, you could potentially affect things on a major scale. And yet you’re squandering it on the people here like an honest fool.”

“Yeah, that’s a reasonable way to look at it.”

“If you think so, then why are you being so considerate toward me?”

While Mr. Joseph had also seemed suspicious of my motives, the distinguished Java sparrow cut straight to the heart of the matter. I felt intensely happy—it was like the two of us really understood each other.

He needn’t be concerned, though. “Embarrassed as I am to admit it, you’re the most important person—well, bird—in my life right now, and I don’t have any goals I’m longing to accomplish. I have no need for that kind of power back home.”

“You know you needn’t attempt to show off to me at this point, right?”

“Haven’t you shown off in front of me once or twice?”

“I suppose I cannot deny it.”

“Enjoying my day-to-day life with you like this is pretty fulfilling to me.”

“…I see.”

What I really wanted was to purchase a single-family home and live there playing around with a big dog. I dreamed of frolicking in a yard with a golden retriever. But I couldn’t bring myself to admit that to Peeps, so I ended up keeping things vague.

“By the way, that was you showing off, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, I realized that right after I said it.”

“I see. Then we’re even.”

“I suppose we are.”

Above all, I was already the most blessed man on Earth. I was an elite human, according to Peeps; I’d be able to live longer than a normal person and see that much more of the world. Compared to that, how much was money really worth? Though I supposed the otherworld’s denizens might not understand, since their world was chock-full of creatures with life spans much longer than a human’s.

I decided to keep this most base, greedy side of myself secret from the Starsage, however.

“Hey, why don’t we do some magic practice? It’s been a while.”

“I will gladly accompany you.”

With our otherworldly pilgrimages finished, we spent the rest of our time absorbed in magic practice. I’d focused solely on the commuting spell last time and had nothing to show for it, so this time I decided to try another spell—an advanced healing spell. The fate of Herz’s former king still weighed heavy on my mind.

This particular spell had a very long incantation, probably the longest I’d ever tried to learn. When our sojourn in the otherworld came to an end, I was still trying to memorize the words I’d typed up and printed out. Unfortunately, I didn’t get it to activate a single time.

When used on the battlefield, it was probably necessary to shorten or even eliminate incantations. This spell seemed very difficult to master in a way that would make it useful.

During our stay in Baytrium, we also paid a visit to Mr. French. Apparently, he was staying at the count’s mansion in town. The former cook lived there now, having inherited it from the count and his family, who had all moved to the capital of Allestos.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to see him. It appeared he was simply too busy after taking on Count Müller’s position. We visited several times, but he was always away. After a member of his household anxiously explained the situation to me, I decided to stop trying to force a meeting. I would make another attempt once things calmed down a little.

And so our short trip to the otherworld came to an end.