Sasaki and Peeps - Volume 7 - Chapter 2

<Household, Part One>

We finished our excursion in the otherworld—which had turned into a special training camp for horseback riding—and arrived back in Japan, in Ms. Futarishizuka’s Karuizawa villa.

We moved into the living room and spotted the villa’s owner with Type Twelve in the adjacent dining room. The former was eating breakfast at the table, while the latter sat across from her staring. It was pretty creepy.

“We’re back, Ms. Futarishizuka,” I announced.

She reacted to our appearance immediately. “Oh, good. You’re finally here.” I quickly noticed how upset she looked.

“So, um, about her…,” I ventured. “Did something happen while we were out?”

“Could you maybe say something to her?” She pointedly glanced at Type Twelve.

The alien was just sitting at the dining room table, staring straight ahead, without moving a muscle. It was as if her power had been turned off. Her eerily beautiful facial features combined with an artificialness innate to mechanical life-forms to make her look like a life-sized doll.

Frankly, I was terrified.

“Sorry,” I said. “I can’t really tell what’s going on.”

“She barged in at sunup, and she’s been like this ever since.”

“Oh. I see.”

Apparently, she’d stormed into the villa first thing in the morning, unable to restrain herself. Different family members would be playing their roles at different times. My colleagues and I would be using our work hours, while my neighbor would join in after she got home from school.

And the seventh family rule stated that we had to respect all participants’ privacy outside of designated family time.

That rule was mainly aimed at Type Twelve since she was likely to be overcome by loneliness and charge into Miss Hoshizaki’s home otherwise. Unlike Ms. Futarishizuka and I, our senior had an actual family. We couldn’t let the alien bother them.

The scene in front of me told me we’d had the right idea.

“Family rules do forbid going to Miss Hoshizaki’s condo,” I said.

“Yes, so I’d appreciate it if you went over there and grabbed her, and soon,” said Ms. Futarishizuka.

“Won’t our visitor take care of it as soon as she contacts us?”

“There has been no contact from Hoshizaki yet,” stated Type Twelve.

We’d all decided to wait for Miss Hoshizaki to contact us before bringing her to the villa. Type Twelve could transport her, or we could leave it to Peeps—but any violations of privacy were strictly against the rules.

That said, the mechanical life-form was also in charge of protecting Miss Hoshizaki’s home. She’d explained last night that she had several terminals—separate from the point of contact we interfaced with—stationed near Miss Hoshizaki and her sister. If that was true, I didn’t think she needed to be so anxious.

“Just to confirm,” I said. “You’re still guarding Miss Hoshizaki and her house, right? If so, don’t you have eyes on her? Even if they’re not your eyes specifically.”

“Sasaki, your viewpoint is correct. However, according to family rules, participants’ privacy must be respected. I am currently permitted to ensure the safety of Hoshizaki and her younger sister, but I am not permitted to talk with her.”

“So you just want to talk to her, then?”

“Yes,” she replied instantly. I could feel her enthusiasm.

“She probably can’t stand seeing our esteemed senior having a nice time with her real little sister,” said Ms. Futarishizuka. “She’s having to watch a nice family scene that she could be living if only we were up in that pretend house—she must be drooling at the thought.”

“Futarishizuka, your viewpoint is also correct. I cannot stand it.”

Wow, I thought. Mechanical life-forms really don’t lie, huh? Ms. Futarishizuka was being very blunt, but Type Twelve just agreed with her. She really loves you, Miss Hoshizaki. Perhaps a little too much.

For similar reasons, the alien wasn’t allowed to go see my neighbor, either. She was probably beside herself with impatience. Otherwise, the other mansion was only a short walk away. Of course, my neighbor was probably on her way to school at this hour.

“Wait,” said Ms. Futarishizuka. “Then why have you come into my home without so much as a second thought?”

“This building has been designated as our meetup location.”

“Meetup location, eh? Can we change that?”

I recalled that before leaving the previous day, we’d promised to meet back here. Our pretend house was in the UFO, and we couldn’t get there without Type Twelve’s help, so we needed to meet up somewhere beforehand.

“If possible, I would prefer to make Hoshizaki’s dwelling our meetup location,” said Type Twelve.

“Ms. Futarishizuka, do you think you can put up with this for a little longer?” I asked.

“Haah, it’s like my privacy means nothing to you people…”

Despite her attitude, she was still sitting at the table eating, so I figured she’d known what she was getting into. With her finances, she could simply buy another house in the area if she wanted to. For now, there shouldn’t be any problem with the current arrangement.

I kept that to myself, however. If I said it to her outright, she’d get mad at me. I guessed that her real priority was keeping those she valued close at hand, even if that meant going to them.

A few moments after our conversation ended, Lady Elsa spoke up.

“Hey, Sasaki, Futarishizuka seems worried about something. If she is, can you ask her if there’s anything I can do? I’ll be staying here again, so I want to help as much as I can.”

“What is it, dear?” asked Ms. Futarishizuka, her gaze darting between Lady Elsa and her own food. “If you’re hungry, I left you some breakfast.”

It’s true that older folk always like to keep young people well fed. Ms. Futarishizuka was no different, reminding me of her real age.

“She noticed how troubled you looked and offered her assistance,” I explained. “She said that if you’re worried about anything, she’d like to help out however she can.”

“Oh, my houseguest is such a good girl! I just want to dote on her.”

I understood the feeling. Lady Elsa’s considerate words were like a balm for the soul.

“Umm, Sasaki…,” the girl said, looking at me.

“Futarishizuka is overjoyed at your kind offer. But she says that there’s no problem and that you don’t need to worry. It hasn’t been very long since we met the girl sitting over there, so Futarishizuka is just worried about how to act around her.”

“Oh, I see. So that’s what it was.”

The purehearted Lady Elsa took my words at face value.

Type Twelve, watching our exchange, piped up as well. “Sasaki, Futarishizuka, I did not give that human a role in our family.”

“Then should we make her a friend who lives next door?” I asked.

“Indeed. We don’t need any more children in the family,” mused Ms. Futarishizuka.

“Understood. I will adopt your viewpoint.”

There was a world of difference between Lady Elsa and Type Twelve, who was watching eagle-eyed for any chance to continue playing house.

In the meantime, Miss Hoshizaki contacted us. Her text message came to my personal phone, letting us know that she was ready and that we could come get her.

All right, then, I thought. I was about to ask the sparrow on my shoulder to bring her over, but Type Twelve beat me to the punch. She explained very rapidly that she already had a terminal headed toward Miss Hoshizaki’s place and that help was unnecessary.

Just as she’d said, our senior coworker arrived a few minutes later.

“Oh, you’re already here?” she asked, seeing us.

“Yes, we just arrived,” I replied.

Miss Hoshizaki wasn’t wearing her suit today, nor had she put on any makeup. To top it all off, she was in her school uniform for some reason.

“Will you be okay without your makeup and suit?” I asked.

“I figured I’d drop the outfit if we’re gonna be out and about. The pictures of me on the internet are all gone, but people might still remember. Best to lie low for now, right?”

I’d checked for the leaked photo of her myself but it truly seemed to be gone—almost like it had never existed in the first place. Comments speculating on what had happened had been deleted, too. Even areas of the internet that usually raised a fuss were keeping their mouths shut; probably thanks to Mr. Akutsu’s assistance. At this rate, the whole thing would quickly vanish from public consciousness. Lately, even the craziest news stories faded away as soon as they were out of the mass media spotlight.

“But won’t someone wearing a school uniform in the middle of the day stand out?”

“Wh-who cares? It’s a uniform. Students are supposed to wear it.”

“I see.”

She’d really been pushing the “I’m a high school girl” shtick lately. Was she anxious about wasting her youth? High school was said to be a very special time in a girl’s life, so I could kind of understand. But if that was the case, shouldn’t she be focusing on school events rather than all this?

She turned toward Ms. Futarishizuka, hoping to change the topic. “Anyway, it looks like the villa’s owner is still in the middle of her breakfast.”

“A nice, relaxed breakfast once in a while does these old bones a lot of good,” said the woman in question.

“We shall travel immediately. It appears Futarishizuka prefers to eat, so I would like to leave her here.”

“Hey! You can’t treat your elders like that!” she cried, frantically shoveling rice into her mouth.

After waiting for her to finish eating, we all departed from Karuizawa. I felt bad leaving them, but I asked Peeps and Lady Elsa to mind the place in our absence.

<The Neighbor’s POV>

An alien has come to Earth.

The government and mass media haven’t said anything definitive about it, but the way the TV broadcasts were all hijacked rattled the people of this country quite a bit. For days now, the word aliens has been trending on the internet.

I look up; the UFO is still hanging in the sky.

Due to the present situation, aliens are the only thing anyone is talking about in class, too. Before morning homeroom, the arriving students are all laughing and carrying on about the thing in the sky. Until a few days ago, this was the kind of thing a certain type of sci-fi nerd might joke about, but now everyone is taking it seriously.

I hear several classmates standing around me chatting merrily.

“I knew they were real! Aliens are real!”

“Umm, I think that’s a stretch.”

“But remember when the TV programs all changed? I don’t think they were faking it.”

“The people on the news were super confused.”

“And you can still see it in the sky, just hovering there.”

It’s been a while since I transferred to this school, but my standing in class hasn’t changed. Everyone still treats me like a rich girl. The students gathered around my seat right now are the ones at the top of the school’s hierarchy. There’s no reason for them to come over to me, but they do as soon as I arrive.

“Hey, what do you think, Kurosu?” asks one of the boys. He’s regarded as one of the better-looking students in our grade. The others around us stop talking and turn to me when they hear the question.

But it’s not like I can tell them what I know—that yeah, the UFO is real, aliens are real, and I’ve already hung out with one.

“I wonder how they’d react if you told them the truth,” jokes Abaddon. He’s floating right above us.

I ignore him and answer flatly. “All this talk of aliens sounds fishy to me. Humans all over the world have dug into layers of earth from thousands of years ago, and we haven’t found any trace of aliens. In my opinion, the chances of one visiting Earth during our lifetime are astronomically low.”

The other day, my neighbor said it’s his job to hide supernatural phenomena like this from the public, and I want to help him as much as I can. I can’t do much in my position, though, which makes me a little sad.

“You’re always so calm about these things, Kurosu.”

“The way you keep a level head is, like, so cool.”

“When you put it like that, it makes a lot of sense.”

“Yeah, I guess aliens being real is a little crazy.”

“I bet someone was just playing a prank on the TV stations.”

Some people in my class believe in aliens, and others don’t. Since the TV broadcast debacle is the only thing Robot Girl has done so far that affected them, few people are certain about what’s going on. I think it’s the same among the general populace. Nevertheless, it’s a great topic of conversation that will probably drag on for a while longer.

“You don’t seem happy. Are you worried about the others?”

“……”

The demon bobbing in the air above me continues to banter. I’m a little irritated because he hit the nail right on the head. He’s talking about my neighbor and the ones with him. Apparently, they’re taking Robot Girl shopping today at a department store to get necessities for our pretend family—and Futarishizuka and Makeup will be with them.

I would have liked to skip school and go, too. But they said I should focus on my education, so here I am.

“I’m sorry. I need to run to the bathroom.”

The idea of joining in a lengthy conversation about rumors despite knowing the truth stresses me out, so I give them the traditional excuse and flee the classroom.

I’ve got a little time before the bell rings for morning homeroom. Some students are still in the hallway, and I walk by quickly, avoiding their gazes.

I reach the bathrooms closest to my classroom, then pass right by, instead taking the stairs to another floor. I keep walking until I reach the area where all the special classrooms are, like the science lab and the music room. Despite the hustle and bustle in the morning, there are no students all the way back here. I can hear the commotion from the other floors, but it’s nice and muted.

“Oh? I thought you were going to the bathroom.”

I look around to make sure we’re really alone, then reply, “Looking at a certain demon’s evil face made the pee go right back into me.” I stop and lean against the wall.

“This is what I mean, you know. Doesn’t saying stuff like that embarrass you?”

“Is there a point in getting embarrassed around you?”

“If you get used to behaving this way, you’ll start slipping when it counts.”

“Well, if you want to see me embarrassed that badly, I’ll think about it.”

“Oh, I see. You’re getting better at this whole banter thing.”

“Well, I get a lot of practice thanks to you.”

Guess I’ll chat with the demon until the bell, I think.

But a moment later, I hear quiet voices coming from somewhere.

“Ah, ah… This… This is amazing…”

“How is it? You like it, don’t you? You like it right here, where you’re sensitive. How does that feel?”

“It’s so good. Y-yes, right there, it’s so good. Thrust…thrust harder…!”

Judging from their voices, it’s an adult man and a female student. And considering their suggestive tone, I’m fairly certain they’re doing something that is not supposed to happen at school. I can think of nothing more out of place in a facility for the education of children. And they’re at it before the first bell has even rung.

“Those voices sound familiar,” Abaddon points out.

“They do,” I agree, recognizing them.

I’m pretty sure the man is my homeroom teacher—the one in charge of class 1-A. And the girl must be the one who’s always getting bullied. She’d been reading alone at her desk when I approached her and struck up a conversation on my first day, an action that led to the other girls giving her a harsh dressing-down behind the gymnasium.

“B-but you’re… You’re not wearing a c-condom, a-and…!”

“It’s okay. I won’t come inside. So come on, there’s no need to hold back.”

“Ah, ahh, I, if you do that to me, I’ll…”

Now that I’m paying attention, it’s so quiet back here that I can even make out what they’re saying. Considering the situation, you’d think these two would want to be pretty careful. But it sounds like the teacher is thoroughly enjoying himself, and based on what he’s saying, I can tell they’ve done it here many times in the past. I really doubt this is a recent development, at least.

“I heard from the transfer student that the girls in your class are still bullying you.”

“I…I don’t mind. I h-have you, after all…”

“Yeah, you do. You have me. And I’ll be on your side no matter what, Miyata.”

“That…that makes me so happy… I love you so much…!”

I see. So that’s how it is, I think. Should have expected as much from our oh-so-talented teacher. He acts cool and kind, but he’s been enjoying himself behind closed doors.

I sure wasted my time trying to help her out. If I’d known this was going on, I would have just left her alone.

“W-wait, if you go that hard, I’ll start to moan…”

“It’s okay. A little won’t hurt.”

“B-but…”

“No student ever comes up here this early in the morning. And even if they did, they’d have to be a gloomy introvert. Nobody would believe them even if they blabbed.”

Now I’m mad. I won’t deny that I’m a gloomy introvert, but having it pointed out like this is infuriating. I feel like calling up the police and reporting the guy this very instant.

“Oh, boy. Even your teacher thinks you’re a gloomy introvert.”

“We’re leaving, Abaddon,” I mutter to the mean-spirited demon as I push away from the wall. I head back to class, purposely making my footsteps loud.

A few moments later, I hear something clatter to the floor in the science lab. They must have noticed my presence. The voices stop dead as well; I bet they’re holding their breath, trying to listen for the “gloomy introvert.”

“Now that was mean.”

“……”

I almost object to Abaddon’s remark without thinking, but I swallow it just in time and head down the hall.

It would be one thing if she was being violated against her will, but she seemed into it. I don’t want to let my sense of justice take over, report them, and then have them both hate me. If she’s fine with it, I might as well leave them alone. No point in kicking the hornet’s nest.

Once we’ve made it down the stairs, Abaddon asks, “Are you sure you should just leave them? Isn’t what they’re doing a crime these days?”

“You sure know a lot about modern society for a crusty old demon.”

“Hey, like I said before, I’m a really good student.” Abaddon puffed out his chest a little.

I’ll have to be careful around that teacher going forward. Since he’s refusing to do anything about the bullying problem, it’s clear he’s the sort who thinks with his lower half. I bet he’s the same kind of person as my late mother’s boyfriend—the kind who will try his luck with anyone if he sees a chance and the girl checks enough of his boxes.

If only he could share a tiny bit of that sex drive with my neighbor.

The moment Type Twelve had been waiting for was finally here—it was time to begin our pretend family life, and our first event was an outing to buy all the daily necessities we’d need at the house. Everyone climbed into the alien’s terminal, and we headed for a certain Tokyo department store.

We soon arrived at an establishment with a long history located in a ritzy district in the heart of the capital. People called it one of the best in Japan, and it looked luxurious enough to have earned that moniker. With its traditional Japanese layout and retro-modern style, it had apparently been designated an Important Cultural Property by the government. It was worlds away from the hypermarket by my old apartment.

“Hey, Sasaki,” said Miss Hoshizaki nervously as we gazed at the front entrance. “Are we really shopping here?”

“Ms. Futarishizuka chose the store,” I told her. “Is there a problem?”

“It just looks so expensive. Are you sure you can afford it?”

My senior coworker’s concerns were reasonable. Up until now, I’d never come to a place like this without a very good reason. I usually got my sundries and daily necessities at a discount store, and even when it came to clothes, I relied on major retailers. I bought all my suits cheap right off the rack.

One of the few exceptions was the time I spent thirty thousand yen on a hundred grams of chateaubriand for Peeps.

“This is a family shopping trip, dear,” said Ms. Futarishizuka. “Where else would we go but a department store?”

“Is that how it works?” I asked.

“We should have just ordered everything off the internet,” said Miss Hoshizaki. “Then we could have looked around for the cheapest option. And we wouldn’t have to travel all the way to the store and carry everything back home. Though I guess we were in a hurry this time.”

Hers was a very modern objection—one that utterly denied the whole raison d’être of a department store. I guess young people are just like that, I thought. In fact, I’m probably the same.

Ms. Futarishizuka groaned. “Ugh, you simply don’t understand! None of you do!”

“Then please, explain it to us so we can.”

“Here we can have fun shopping for anything from button-downs for Dad and accessories for Mom to toys for the children. Then we can visit the restaurants on the upper level for lunch. After that, we can enjoy the amusement park on the roof. Finally, before we leave, we can head down to the basement level to buy our food for dinner and bring it home. That’s how shopping is supposed to go!”

“Grandmother, your viewpoint is correct. You have made an unusually good suggestion.”

Type Twelve had just offered Ms. Futarishizuka rare praise. Apparently, she was more than happy with the idea.

I didn’t have much experience with department stores either, but it seemed that those built before the ’90s were basically as good as amusement parks. Info on these grand feats of humanity was probably among the mountains of data the mechanical life-form had gathered.

Based on her response here and the Japanese-style house she’d prepared on the UFO, her sensibilities seemed a bit old-fashioned.

“And with the Marunouchi business district so close,” said Ms. Futarishizuka, “we won’t have to worry about any third parties trying anything.”

“Oh, I see.” That must be her real reason, I thought.

As I relaxed a bit, knowing we wouldn’t have to worry about any missiles targeting us, I was forced to consider how dangerous our guest was. Even if a few missiles did come flying, it occurred to me that Type Twelve could probably deal with them before they even hit. She said the previous day that she’d already repositioned all her terminals around the planet.

“Mother, your youngest daughter would like to enter this store and begin shopping at once.”

“Well, I guess if Sasaki doesn’t mind, then I’m fine with it…” Urged on by Type Twelve, Miss Hoshizaki headed inside.

Ms. Futarishizuka and I followed. There were four of us on this shopping trip—the father, mother, their youngest daughter, and her grandmother. Peeps and Lady Elsa had stayed behind at the Karuizawa villa.

“The front of the store was one thing,” murmured Miss Hoshizaki, “but the inside is just as intimidating…”

“Where shall we head first?” asked Ms. Futarishizuka.

“Let’s start with the lighter, smaller things,” I suggested. “We won’t need bedding, but just getting kitchen and bathroom supplies will take a while. If we aren’t efficient about it, we won’t have enough time.”

“In that case, the youngest daughter would like to suggest purchasing dinnerware. They should all have a uniform design and come in different sizes. Seeing them on the table will make meals feel very authentic. I will not compromise on this.”

“Those will be heavy,” Ms. Futarishizuka pointed out. “Let’s leave them for later. I’ll be the one carrying everything, after all.”

“If we make you carry everything in here, won’t someone call the police on us?” asked Miss Hoshizaki.

“An outsider may well see it as child abuse,” I agreed.

“It will be of no consequence,” said Type Twelve. “We can simply maintain a fixed distance between us and Grandmother as we walk.”

“I still think someone will stop her and ask about it,” Miss Hoshizaki insisted.

“She’ll probably get cautioned,” I added.

“Is this really worth all the grave discussion?” said Ms. Futarishizuka. “We can just split the burden among ourselves.”

The four of us proceeded through the store as we discussed our plans. Quite a few people were staring at us.

Now that I thought about it, everyone with me looked like children. Two of them were older, but an outside observer would have no way of knowing that. The police badge tucked away in my pocket had never felt so reassuring.

Shopping at the department store progressed exactly how Ms. Futarishizuka had described.

Aside from minimal furniture, the Japanese house was empty. Keeping its interior appearance in mind, we went around each of the floors and looked for daily necessities and sundries. On the way, we stopped by a women’s clothing store and purchased several new outfits for Type Twelve, who hadn’t changed since we met her. She was over the moon about them, since Miss Hoshizaki picked them out.

For lunch, we went to an upper level of the store where there were restaurants. A fierce push from the youngest daughter landed us at a place serving Western food, where she ordered the kid’s lunch set without even checking the menu. Apparently, she’d really wanted to have one.

Once we were done eating, we continued shopping into the afternoon. We went through each floor until everyone had both hands full of shopping bags. At that point, we suddenly realized it was time for a snack.

Because we’d been walking for so long, my feet were starting to throb. Two of our party were not subject to human limitations and were probably fine, but Miss Hoshizaki and I were struggling to keep going. So, in search of somewhere we could take a little rest, we visited the department store’s roof.

Under the blue sky above we found an expansive park. There were benches and tables and even a café. Apparently, they set up a beer garden here in the summer.

We found some chairs and a table and took a break. On the table, we set out the assortment of drinks and snacks we’d bought at the café. The temperature outdoors was low, but the lack of wind meant we could still relax as long as we had warm drinks.

“I don’t think I’ve ever gone on a shopping trip like this before in my life,” remarked Miss Hoshizaki.

“Don’t you go shopping with your sister on holidays?” I asked.

“Well, yeah, but never to buy this much stuff at once.”

As we spoke, we gazed at a pile of bags adorned with an illustration of the department store sitting next to our table.

A moment later, Type Twelve chimed in. “The youngest daughter would like to wear the clothing Mother picked out for her as soon as possible.”

“I thought emotions were taboo for mechanical life-forms,” said Miss Hoshizaki. “Or are you still allowed to appreciate pretty things?”

“For us, aesthetic beauty is condensed into functional beauty. However, that is an entirely separate issue.”

“You really don’t have any control over what you’re feeling, eh?” said Ms. Futarishizuka.

“In order to fix this bug, it is necessary to fully understand it.”

“I suppose that’s as good an excuse as any.”

As I listened to their conversation, I was reminded of something that had been bothering me. How long had Type Twelve been using her point of contact on the earth’s surface? And more concretely, how did she handle clothes that got dirty during her interactions with humans? Had she really been wearing the same exact black dress every single day since we’d met her?

“Could I ask a question about the facilities on your spaceship?” I asked.

“Father, please continue with your question.”

“Is there a washing machine?”

There was no washing machine in the house Type Twelve had prepared, though there had been a refrigerator and a television. Some of the lights had been removed, too—we’d purchased replacements while shopping. My guess was that the seller had decided to take out anything valuable, including nicer home appliances. I’d heard that a lot of people replaced LED lights with incandescent bulbs when they moved. The original owners might have had to leave shortly after buying new ones. In fact, the appliances left behind appeared pretty old.

“There is not. I shall procure one from the surface at a later time,” said Type Twelve, clearly implying she’d be stealing it.

“Oh boy…,” murmured Ms. Futarishizuka in exasperation. “We can wash dirty clothes at my place, so stop snatching things from other people. If you make more work for our boss, we’re the ones who’ll get scolded. Or just tell me the model number and I’ll buy a brand-new one.”

“Understood. I will adopt Grandmother’s viewpoint.”

I figured we could leave the acquisition of any larger appliances in Ms. Futarishizuka’s hands in the future. Considering our new house was in outer space, we obviously couldn’t ask a store to deliver anything. Our circumstances felt oddly real—not a day after moving in, the parents were already relying on the grandmother’s help.

“If she’s going to handle the washing machine,” said Miss Hoshizaki, “then what else should we get here?”

“Bulkier consumables like toilet paper and tissues are still on the list,” I told her. “After that, we can go down to the basement for food and get something for dinner. Then we’ll be done. I’d prefer to drop our things off at the terminal before we head down, though. Type Twelve?”

“I will call it here.”

“No, don’t,” I said. “Won’t it cause a big scene?”

“With that optical camouflage, maybe nobody will even notice,” remarked Ms. Futarishizuka.

“There’s a lot of space up here,” added Miss Hoshizaki. “It can just come down from the sky. Sounds better than trying to land it in the parking lot, right?”

I understood what they were implying. If Type Twelve set the terminal down quietly somewhere away from prying eyes and we just threw all our stuff in, maybe nobody would see us. I was beginning to think it would actually be riskier to try and find somewhere with enough open space down on the ground—not to mention, it would require a lot more effort.

“You know,” said Miss Hoshizaki, “I’m surprised a department store in Tokyo has this much space on the roof.”

“Yes, they used to build whole amusement parks in spaces like these,” said Ms. Futarishizuka.

“You mentioned amusement parks this morning. Was there actually one up here?”

“There was, I swear! I went myself!”

“You sound like a child.”

“This one was removed quite some time ago, but there are other department stores that still have rides on the roof. They’re smaller than proper amusement parks, but they’re more than enough to keep the little kids happy.”

“Have you ever been to one, Sasaki?”

“Not to a rooftop amusement park, no,” I said. “But a lot of shopping centers out in the suburbs have big arcades, right? It doesn’t seem all that different to me.”

“There was a period of time when a bunch of department stores had big fires,” explained Ms. Futarishizuka. “A lot of people died, and the government revised the fire laws. Rooftop spaces were made into evacuation areas. Most of the amusement parks were forced to downsize or relocate entirely.”

“They used to have a lot of those superhero shows on roofs, too,” I added. “You don’t see as many of those anymore, either.”

“Indeed.”

“I, for one, would prefer a zoo,” said Miss Hoshizaki. “Doesn’t that sound nice? One where you can pet small animals, like rabbits or Call ducks. It would be good for kids and couples, and it wouldn’t take up as much space as park equipment.”

“Oh, but there was one of those here, too,” said Ms. Futarishizuka.

“Wait, really?”

“They used to have an elephant up here.”

“What? Why the heck would they have an elephant on the roof?”

“Don’t ask me.”

A modern person with modern sensibilities would likely find this aspect of postwar culture, well, insane. But personally, I kind of appreciated the way they didn’t worry about the details and just did things.

Type Twelve, ever liable to chime in, must have liked something about our conversation.

“Father, Mother, your youngest daughter wants to go to an amusement park.”

I’d expected this kind of reaction. So had Ms. Futarishizuka and Miss Hoshizaki, judging by their expressions as they turned to face the mechanical life-form.

As soon as everyone’s attention was on her, Type Twelve began to rapidly extol the virtues of going to amusement parks as a family.

“It is correct for a harmonious family to go and play at an amusement park together on days off from work and school. It is required for the purposes of deepening bonds between family members who are usually busy, and a perfect opportunity for children to enjoy time with their parents, and for parents to appreciate how much their children have grown.”

“Grown?” repeated Ms. Futarishizuka. “We’ve only known you a few days.”

“I have heard that in many cases, the grandmother will stay home because she is not in good enough health.”

“Uh, wait, that was a lie. I was lying.”

“Where in your remark was there room to fit a lie?”

“Well, you know what they say. A person can grow a lot in three days.”

“For one, I am not a human, and for another, it has not yet been three days.”

“You’re always so fixated on the details…”

Ms. Futarishizuka kept dishing out one-liners only to have them boomerang right back into her face. The granddaughter and grandmother were exchanging barbs every chance they got.

At last, the mother sighed and decided to intervene. “Why don’t we just go? It’s only an amusement park.”

“Hoshizaki, you are indeed suitable to be my mother. Your youngest daughter is moved.”

“Thinking back, I haven’t ever been to one, either.”

This was yet another uncharacteristic remark for a girl her age. I couldn’t help but speak out.

“Wait, really?”

“I mean, I can’t remember stuff from when I was really little. But I don’t recall going to one after starting elementary school. I guess I’m kind of curious. I’d like to go at least once just to see what it’s like.”

“I see.”

Miss Hoshizaki spoke with a tinge of embarrassment. She had a complicated family situation, so maybe she was raised in an environment that didn’t allow for fun trips on weekends and holidays. And she was already a working member of society, too, a step ahead of other kids her age. If we let this chance slip by, she might reach adulthood without ever having gone to an amusement park.

With that in mind, I was even more willing to give it a shot. “Why don’t we go to one, then?” I suggested.

“What? Are you serious?” asked Ms. Futarishizuka.

“Yes, I am.”

An amusement park would afford us more strategic options as well. I hadn’t forgotten that our primary focus was to send Type Twelve back to her home planet in peace.

“Father, that is a marvelous idea,” said the alien. “The family vote is three to one. It has been decided. We shall go to an amusement park.”

“Oh, but we haven’t taken votes from the eldest daughter, the eldest son, and the pet,” noted Ms. Futarishizuka.

“It is very likely that the eldest daughter will prioritize Father’s viewpoint. And the eldest son tends to agree with the eldest daughter’s viewpoint. Lacking their votes, your defeat is certain. However, I would not mind at all if you were to stay home with the pet.”

“Grr…”

And so, we decided to take a trip to an amusement park sometime in the coming days. We discussed which of several famous parks in Japan would be best. Even I recognized most of the names that came up. Type Twelve was quite well-informed on the topic.

After a lively conversation at the table, we could see the bottoms of our drink cups.

“Amusement parks are all well and good, but mayhap we should finish shopping,” said Ms. Futarishizuka, glancing at her smartphone.

I checked my watch; it had been a little less than an hour since we sat down at the table. My neighbor would be returning from school shortly. Considering we still had to prepare dinner, haste was probably warranted.

“Yes, I think that would be for the best,” I agreed.

“Back to a previous topic, then,” said Ms. Futarishizuka, looking at Type Twelve. “Might I ask you to take care of these bags, dear? While you’re summoning the terminal and doing whatever else you need to, the rest of us can take a bathroom break.” Then she made eye contact with me—a clear signal to help her out.

“Right,” I said. “I need to go as well.”

“Um, yeah, I should probably use this chance, too,” said Miss Hoshizaki.

The grandmother rose from her seat, followed by the father. And when the mother agreed, Type Twelve happily accepted the arrangement.

“Understood. I will finish loading the bags into the terminal before you return.”

“I apologize for leaving all the work to you, Granddaughter,” said Ms. Futarishizuka.

“Grandmother, I do not sense any variation in your heart rate associated with your words of apology.”

“That’s because we’re so close, dear.”

The kimono-clad girl was the first to head out, and I soon joined her.

The two of us and Miss Hoshizaki headed for an indoor area facing the rooftop park, and, after passing the restrooms, we entered an employee stairwell. On the other side of the heavy-looking metal door was an enclosed space covered in exposed, reinforced concrete, with steps leading downward.

Once we were a ways inside, Ms. Futarishizuka stopped and turned to us.

“I have an idea,” she said. “Why don’t we make a game out of this amusement park trip?”

“I agree,” I said. “In fact, I was thinking the same thing,” It seemed both of us were dirty schemers.

Miss Hoshizaki, on the other hand, was as pure as the driven snow. “Huh? Wait, what are you talking about? A game?”

“Isn’t it obvious? A game to send that girlie back to her home planet.”

“Ms. Futarishizuka, you should probably keep it down,” I told her.

“I don’t see any surveillance cameras in here. I’m sure it’s fine.”

She was right; there were no cameras visible in the stairwell. The heavy metal door leading back into the building was closed, and we could barely make out the sounds of the outside world. The voices of the other patrons we’d been hearing all day had died out completely. I guess we can talk at a normal volume.

“You didn’t plan to keep playing family like this forever, did you, dear?”

“W-well, umm…,” stammered Miss Hoshizaki.

“You have a real sister waiting for you at home. At this rate, she’ll go on to high school, become an adult, get married, leave the house, and eventually have children of her own, and you’ll still be dealing with this alien girl. Do you really want to throw away your whole life to look after her?”

That was all perfectly possible if we kept going along with her whims. I didn’t know how long mechanical life-forms lived, but I seriously doubted their lifespans were shorter than a human’s. In fact, I wondered if she even perceived time in the same way we did.

But our senior coworker was sincere and kindhearted, and she spoke out on Type Twelve’s behalf. “Isn’t there any other way? She’ll be dismantled if she goes back, won’t she? I thought we were going to help her fix her bug, like she said.”

“We can’t let a life-form as dangerous as her stay on Earth,” countered Ms. Futarishizuka. “I’m sure even today’s high school girls are smart enough to see that. Some country or group will try to monopolize her, spelling doom for the rest of us.”

“What if she helps everyone, then? What if we get all of humanity to cooperate.”

“That’s not how humans work, which is why we’re practically always at war. Do a quick internet search for a list of major conflicts. You won’t find a single peaceful decade anywhere in the last several centuries.”

“Then maybe we could use our time as a pretend family to convince her to—”

“And even if she fixes her bug, what happens to Earth then? Remember everything she said about mechanical life-forms lording over biological creatures like us? Frankly, it’s not hard to imagine a future where we’re deemed a problem for this sector’s development and they wipe us off the map.”

“W-well, that’s…”

“Would you be able to take responsibility if that happened? Responsibility for the end of your species?”

“……”

“That’s why the best thing for mankind is to pretend we didn’t see anything and send her back home with her bugs intact. And it’ll be better for the mechanical life-forms, too.”

Miss Hoshizaki had been completely outdebated. It was rare that Ms. Futarishizuka was so aggressive. Normally, she preferred to work by herself behind the scenes instead of using her words. That wouldn’t fly here, so she was trying to win over the key players instead. She needed Miss Hoshizaki’s help to get anywhere with the UFO.

I felt bad for Type Twelve, but we had to prioritize our own lives.

“I may be dumb, but even I know you’re right,” said Miss Hoshizaki.

“Is that so?” replied Futarishizuka. “I’m glad to hear it, dear.”

“But your phrasing was a little off.”

“It was? In what way?”

“Well, you were implying that I’m personally responsible for the rest of humanity.”

“Oh?”

Back when I was in school, I might have agreed with Miss Hoshizaki’s position. But now that I’d learned the importance of prioritizing my own interests, I hesitated. That kind of reckless sympathy tended to come back to haunt you later.

At the same time, I respected our senior for how logically she’d responded despite being so thoroughly thrashed in the argument. If the same thing had happened to me at her age, I doubt I’d have been as calm.

“I’m not trying to lecture you for acting overly important,” she continued. “But there’s no need to make yourself or the person you’re talking about into some huge deal. Anyone would get offended.”

“I see,” replied Ms. Futarishizuka. “I’ll be careful of that from now on.”

I found it hard to believe how well she’d taken that admonishment. Normally, she’d hit back with a joke, even if she ultimately agreed. Was she just being considerate?

“In any case,” I said, “regarding the game itself, what did you have in mind?”

“Oh, you can just leave that to your mother, dear.”

“I’m against hurting her,” stated Miss Hoshizaki.

“We’ll be doing nothing of the sort,” Ms. Futarishizuka assured her. “I don’t want to have a falling out with her, either. In cases like this, it’s best to convince the target to leave on their own. Amusement parks aren’t all fun and games, you know.”

Her expression as she explained was the picture of a mean-spirited mother-in-law. She’s probably pretty good at these kinds of ruses.

“Then it’s settled,” she said. “I dub this Operation Convince the Malfunctioning Mechanical Life-Form to Please Go back to Her Own Planet.”

“That’s a little long, isn’t it?” I replied.

“I don’t see a way to shorten it.”

“Whatever,” said Miss Hoshizaki. “It doesn’t matter what we call it.”

Our stairwell meeting only lasted a few minutes. Now that we had a plan, we headed back to the rooftop park.

Type Twelve had finished loading our bags into the terminal and had plopped down in a chair by the table we’d been sitting at, awaiting our return. It looked like she’d finished quickly and with no untoward incidents.

After that, we went straight to the grocery area located in the department store’s basement, where we procured paper products and ingredients for dinner.

This was to be our momentous first meal as a family. Miss Hoshizaki would be in charge of cooking dinner. She had been selected as our main chef at the youngest daughter’s request. Type Twelve would be her helper. According to her, it was good for a mother and daughter to spend time together in the kitchen.

As a result, they were the ones picking out ingredients.

After we’d decided on chore assignments the previous day, Miss Hoshizaki had put together a recipe ahead of time; now she was quickly tossing products into our cart. And since we were approaching our roles in this pretend family as bureau work, our senior coworker brought her usual earnestness to the table.

Our food shopping venture went smoothly and lasted a little under an hour. The only hiccup came when Miss Hoshizaki thought one of the side dishes was five hundred yen for the whole package, when it was actually priced per hundred grams, and she wound up dumbstruck at the register. These department store basements sure carry some expensive stuff.

Miss Hoshizaki, not one to bend under pressure, made sure to have them cancel the sale.

We finished paying and left the department store before sunset.

Once we were done shopping, we boarded Type Twelve’s terminal and headed back to Ms. Futarishizuka’s villa in Karuizawa. There, we met up with Peeps and Lady Elsa, then picked up my neighbor and Abaddon, who were finished with school and had returned home.

After that, we moved to the UFO waiting up in space, and then to the Japanese house we’d visited the day before.

Its appearance, however, had changed somewhat.

For whatever reason, a huge sky now hung overhead. I assumed it was a projection, but it was incredibly realistic. It was set to the local time in Japan, too. It felt like we were watching the actual sunset.

In addition, other houses were being projected onto the empty spaces on all four sides. When you touched one, your hand would pass right through it. But from afar, it appeared like we had real neighbors living right next door.

Soil had been placed around the house, making it feel even more real. And there’s the brand-new prefab shed to make up for Ms. Futarishizuka’s lost room.

Put together, it felt like one of those “experience” attractions at amusement parks.

“Is it just me,” said Ms. Futarishizuka, “or does our little stage look completely different today?”

“I embellished the surroundings so it would be more like a home,” explained Type Twelve.

“The setting sun is fantastic,” said Miss Hoshizaki. “You’d never guess such a pretty sky was fake.”

“The projected image is linked to the time in Japan.”

Wind blew, tickling my cheeks.

And it wasn’t the mechanical, intermittent stream of air you might get from an electric fan, either. The breeze was very natural, as though it were truly the product of a difference in air pressure. It felt so right that I almost accepted it without a second thought.

“There’s wind blowing,” I said. “Did you set that up, too?”

“Father, your viewpoint is correct.”

“I never thought adding wind would make a place feel so much like the real outdoors.” I was kind of impressed. Even Peeps gazed with interest at the scenery from my shoulder.

“Huh,” said Abaddon, “I can even hear a crow calling from somewhere.”

“Isn’t that one perched on the roof?” asked my neighbor.

“Oh, hey, you’re right.”

There was indeed a jet-black crow on the roof. I wondered for a moment if it was a point of contact manufactured on the ship, just like Type Twelve.

“I brought several creatures here from the surface,” explained the mechanical life-form, quickly disproving my theory.

“Make sure you put it back where it came from when we’re done,” said Ms. Futarishizuka. “I feel bad for it.”

While we were sleeping, Type Twelve had evidently been working to improve the house’s environment. Everything around us spoke to her enthusiasm for our pretend family. I felt a pang of guilt for trying to reject her.

Suddenly curious, I glanced at Miss Hoshizaki. She, too, looked vaguely guilty as she gazed at the scene in front of us. Our private conversation on the department store roof must have been getting to her.

“Mother, your youngest daughter would like to prepare dinner soon.”

“Um, yeah. Right. Let’s go.”

Urged on by Type Twelve, we headed for the front door.

Crossing the still unfamiliar sliding door threshold, we made our return.

Miss Hoshizaki and Type Twelve carried their bags of food into the kitchen together. The rest of us all pitched in to deal with the daily necessities and other sundries we’d bought that day, opening packages and wrappers, and moving about the house to put things in their proper spots.

In the meantime, we were informed that dinner preparations had been completed. We could hear Miss Hoshizaki’s shout clearly through the walls and hallways. Combined with the structure’s old-fashioned look, the call to dinner really painted a classic picture of a single-family home.

We took our evening meal in the living room, seated on floor cushions around the wooden table like one big family.

Our main dish was curry rice, with a fresh vegetable salad and pork miso soup on the side. We were told dessert would come afterward.

The table held enough food for several people, and we all sat wherever we liked. Starting with Type Twelve and moving clockwise were Miss Hoshizaki, Lady Elsa, Ms. Futarishizuka, Abaddon, my neighbor, and myself.

In accordance with the family rules, we waited for everyone to be seated before giving our thanks for the meal. How many years had it been since I’d said such a thing out loud?

The menu was nothing to write home about. It was a totally normal curry made with store-bought roux. The ingredients were all standard fare. But after walking around all day and then doing chores as soon as we got home, it really hit the spot.

One person, however, frowned upon bringing her spoon to her lips.

“As the mother-in-law, may I bully my son’s wife a little?”

“What is it?” asked Miss Hoshizaki.

“This curry roux is all lumpy.”

Ms. Futarishizuka dug into her rice with a spoon and came out with a yellow clump, which she held out. It looked like a piece of roux that hadn’t fully melted, about as big as a chopped carrot. It seemed as though she’d already eaten some of it, and her brow knotted at the saltiness filling her mouth.

“I, uh, I’m sorry. It’s been a long time since I cooked anything…”

“If it’s just a simple mistake, then I’ll excuse it.”

“I knew you were suited to the role of mother-in-law, Futarishizuka,” said Type Twelve.

“Hey, come on. It’s a valid complaint. That clump was really salty.”

“Sasaki, the father, ate it without complaining.”

“I don’t think I’d want to eat a piece of roux that big, either,” I pointed out.

Miss Hoshizaki stayed late at the bureau every day. Her sister, doubtless, did most of the chores. In fact, who knew how many opportunities she’d even had to hold a knife in the kitchen.

“I’m truly sorry,” insisted Miss Hoshizaki. “We can trade if you want.”

“I simply assumed my daughter-in-law had joined forces with her daughter and was rebelling against me.”

“I’m not that petty!”

Aided by Miss Hoshizaki and Ms. Futarishizuka’s banter, the dinner table came to life. Even Lady Elsa, who had linguistic difficulties, was talking about something or other to Peeps, so she wasn’t left out.

We enjoyed our meal, trading small talk all the while, and eventually the curry rice was safely tucked away in our bellies.

“By the way,” said Ms. Futarishizuka, “I had a question for the demon over there.”

“What’s up?”

“I obliterated an angel’s Disciple during that mess the other day. Hear anything about it?”

The mess she was referring to had resulted from some third-party kidnapping Miss Hoshizaki. As we were trying to chase them down, we stumbled into another angel-demon proxy battle. We’d defeated a pair of them inside an isolated space—an angel and his Disciple.

My mind went back to what we’d discussed at the time, and our agreement to let Ms. Futarishizuka take credit for the kills.

“You sure you want to talk about that here?”

Abaddon’s eyes flicked between Ms. Futarishizuka, Miss Hoshizaki, and me. We hadn’t told our senior colleague much about the angels and demons.

“I don’t see why not,” said Ms. Futarishizuka. “She’s already been inside a few isolated spaces. There’s no use keeping things a secret from her at this point. We might wind up in one while playing family, and I think she deserves an explanation.”

“That’s a good point,” I said.

With how important Miss Hoshizaki had become in the grand scheme of things, I didn’t want to leave her out of the loop. In fact, I wanted to put the rewards from the proxy war on the table as a trump card in case we had to compete with Mr. Akutsu over her allegiance.

I was fairly certain Ms. Futarishizuka was thinking along the same lines when she broached the subject. As always, she was quick-witted. She was decisive and able to adapt, too—truly worthy of respect.

“If you’re in agreement, we won’t object. Right?” said Abaddon, shooting a glance at my neighbor.

“Yes. It’s okay with me,” she answered immediately.

“If you’ve already heard about it,” said Ms. Futarishizuka, “that will make matters quicker.”

“We have,” he said jovially. “From the demon who was there with you.”

Something about his answer struck me as odd, though, and I simply had to ask. “You’re referring to the demon our companions defeated, right?”

“That’s the one.”

“The blue magic girlie sent that demon flying,” said Ms. Futarishizuka. “I thought he’d vanished for good. You’re saying he lived? But his Disciple was shot and died on the spot. We saw her corpse.”

We’d seen the demon in question and his Disciple die on the scene. I doubted they’d had time to contact any other demons.

“When an angel or a demon is slain in this world, their Division is obliterated, but the rest of them remains elsewhere. That’s where we get information and learn the results of battles. So it doesn’t really matter if they live or die on the battlefield.”

“So you never miss a thing, despite the game spanning the globe. You’re always on top of the latest developments.”

“That’s right!”

I mentally added that to our bank of knowledge on the proxy war.

“Any other questions?” asked Abaddon.

I stayed silent. The others simply watched the demon, keeping out of the conversation.

After looking over everyone in the now quiet living room, Abaddon drew himself up. “Anyway, what would you like as your reward for slaying a Disciple?”

The neighbor’s partner was always smiling, and now that smile deepened even further.

But Ms. Futarishizuka’s response was something of a curveball.

“About that,” she said. “I know I brought up the subject, but would you mind putting it on hold for a bit? I need time to think it over—there’s so much to consider.”

“Sure, no problem. But if something crazy happens and an angel kills my Disciple or me, you may not be able to cash in on the reward. Is that okay with you?”

“Yes, that’s acceptable.”

“Okay. Then just tell me once you’ve decided.”

“I do apologize for making you wait.”

“I can’t undo any wishes, so I appreciate you taking the time to really think about it. I’d hate to sour our relationship.”

“That’s good to hear.”

I thought of the subordination curse she’d received from the Starsage. I’d been assuming she’d want to get rid of it. Peeps, who was sitting on the table, seemed to be on alert, as well.

“Do you mean to relieve yourself of my curse in secret, girl?”

“Come on,” she complained. “There’s no reason to glare at me like that.”

“What else would you desire at this juncture?”

“To be honest, I do want the curse removed. But if I planned to do it in secret, why would I bring this up in front of you? I’d just go somewhere else, rip it off, and be on my merry way.”

“……”

Peeps and Ms. Futarishizuka stared each other down. The peaceful mood we’d been enjoying had shifted to something more dangerous.

The first one to speak up was Type Twelve. “The youngest daughter would like to say something to the grandmother and the pet. Should a problem arise between you, you must resolve it through discussion according to the family rules. If you break this rule, then you will both be punished.”

“What? We’re not fighting,” Ms. Futarishizuka insisted. “You’re jumping to conclusions.”

“I apologize for ruining the peaceful household mood.”

Both of them backed down at the alien’s warning. Still, Peeps and I would have to be cautious of Ms. Futarishizuka’s actions for a while.

She was certainly the type of person to get rid of the curse somewhere we couldn’t see, then get a fake tattooed on the back of her hand. And she’d do it all with a straight face, too. Maybe it would be best to tell my neighbor and Abaddon about all of this, then have them contact me when she decided to get her reward.

There was a lot to worry about. While I’d seen it coming, it still hit me hard. Considering our relationship with Futarishizuka, however, it was a bridge we were always going to have to cross.

“Hey, Sasaki?” said Miss Hoshizaki after taking in the grandmother’s and pet’s reactions. “What’s this reward all about?” She looked at me with an expression that said you’d better explain what’s going on.

“I don’t mind telling you,” I replied, “but first, Type Twelve, could you promise not to share what you’re hearing with anyone outside the family? We could be in danger if any of this got out.”

“If Mother desires information and my agreement will help, the youngest daughter is willing to keep this promise with Father.”

“You heard her,” said Miss Hoshizaki.

“Understood. Allow me to explain, then.”

After securing Type Twelve’s agreement, I outlined the angel-demon proxy war. I explained the existence of angels and demons first, then how they intermittently had fights with each other. Those fights had grown in scope, and now they outsourced the fighting to humans, making them Disciples. Finally, I went into detail about the isolated spaces—of which Miss Hoshizaki had firsthand experience—as well as the rewards angels and demons offered their Disciples. Essentially, I told her all I knew about how the death game worked.

She listened until the end, at which point she audibly gulped. “I, uh, wow. There’s a lot of crazy stuff happening in the world, huh…?”

“It’s still new to the rest of us, too.”

Personally, I found psychics and magical girls just as crazy. Especially the latter, which I had no understanding of whatsoever. Maybe information was scarce because there were so few of them in the world. Only seven, according to what we’d heard. I wonder where the pink one is right now, and what she’s doing.

“The existence of extraterrestrials was already a shock, and now its angels and demons?” murmured Miss Hoshizaki. “I feel like nothing can surprise me now. You’re not hiding anything else from me, are you?”

“At the moment, I feel like I’ve exhausted every topic.”

“I hope you’re telling the truth.”

I wasn’t. Everything about the otherworld had to remain secret.

“So is that sparrow pigging out on the beef related to the angels and demons?” she asked.

While we were eating our curry rice, Peeps had been given a flat dish with only the curry on it. He was deftly scooping out the beef, then slicing it up thinly with magic and devouring one piece after the next.

Oh, look. He’s got a little sauce on his beak. Could he be any more adorable?

“You would be correct to see me as something similar,” he replied.

“Hmm. Really?”

Miss Hoshizaki didn’t look satisfied, but she stopped asking questions. Maybe she realized they wouldn’t get her anywhere.

And with that, our conversation about the proxy war came to an end. Afterward, we all watched some TV and had dessert. The yogurt salad featuring expensive fruits from the department store’s basement was exquisite regardless of the chef’s abilities. We were even getting a digital broadcast from the surface, which Type Twelve explained was going through one of her terminals, just like the Wi-Fi.

By the time the show we were watching ended, quite a bit of time had passed. In terms of bureau work hours, we were due a considerable amount of overtime pay. Considering my middle-school neighbor was accompanying us, I figured it was about time we wrapped up.

Almost as if she’d read my mind, Ms. Futarishizuka spoke. “I believe work hours are about over,” she said, watching the commercials that had started playing after the show.

“Grandmother, your choice of words makes my heart feel extremely lonely.”

“Then what am I supposed to say?”

“That the night marks the beginning of personal time.”

“You sure answered quickly. Did you think of that in advance?”

“Precisely because we are not a true family, we must treasure the familial atmosphere.”

Type Twelve’s desperation must have come across, because our ever-friendly senior offered her a few words of consolation.

“I don’t want you barging into my house or anything, but if you’d like to send me a text message, that’s fine. I might not be able to reply right away, but I could keep you company a little.”

“Mother, your youngest daughter is very happy. I will send you a message.”

“But don’t send a whole bunch at once, all right? I won’t be able to keep up.”

“I fully understand. I will send a minimal number of messages summarizing the important points.”

We had a group chat set up for the family. But we had each other’s account information, too, so we could send individual messages. I had joined the group using my personal phone.

“In that case, Peeps and I should get going.”

“Wait. Do you intend to set forth from here?” asked the bird.

“Can we? I want to make sure it’s possible, in case we need to later.”

“I believe it will be fine. But yes, let us confirm.”

“I’m more concerned about the return trip, actually.”

“I believe I have been flexible with our destination on the other side. I can do the same in the opposite direction. Even if this flying ship were to move, as long as we have an alternate destination, we shall not go astray.”

“Oh, good. That’s a relief.”

So we wouldn’t suddenly be flung into outer space. That had been my number-one concern.

Once we were done speaking, Type Twelve addressed the others.

“In that case, I will send the rest of you back down to the surface.”

“Oh, one moment,” said Ms. Futarishizuka. “Could you save me for last?”

“I do not mind, but I would like to know the reason.”

“I have a request for you. As a family member.”

“Grandmother, from you, that remark concerns me.”

“Come now. Just hear me out. If you don’t agree, then you’re free to refuse.”

“…Understood. I will listen, but I will not promise more.”

Ms. Futarishizuka and Type Twelve went back and forth about this and that. I decided that as long as Miss Hoshizaki was here, they wouldn’t get into any big fights, so Peeps and I left the house first. After asking Lady Elsa to join us, we changed into our shoes at the front door and went out into the yard.

As I’d predicted, even from inside a UFO, the Starsage’s magic brought us safely to the otherworld.

After leaving the UFO, we paid a visit to Allestos. Our destination was the private castle room assigned to me as a court minister. From there, we walked to Count Müller’s office. Several nobles passing by hastily bowed and greeted me on sight. I responded in kind, bowing as we moved through the halls.

Thankfully, the man we were looking for was present.

“Thank you for coming, both of you,” said the count. “And welcome home, Elsa.”

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

“Father, I experienced so many things during my visit. There’s so much I want to talk about. Would you stay with me until bedtime tonight? The most wonderful and strange things happen in their world.”

“I notice you have bags under your eyes, Julius. You haven’t been sleeping well, have you?”

“Oh, you’re right! Father, the little bird is right. They’re small, but I can see them!”

We sat down on the sofas and greeted each other. Peeps fluttered off my shoulder and landed on the perching tree atop the low table. As he did so, he used his healing magic on the count. The man trembled as if moved by some great emotion, confusing his daughter somewhat. Count Müller was a huge Starsage freak—I felt like I should be averting my eyes from his expression of pure bliss.

After trading some casual conversation, the count—having straightened up in his seat—turned to me. “May I ask you something, Lord Sasaki?”

“What is it, sir?”

“It seems to me you’re visiting more frequently these days. Has some problem occurred? If anything is troubling you, I would very much like to help.”

Count Müller’s remark was reasonable. Recently, the time difference between the worlds had been changing drastically. At first, one day back in Japan was equivalent to one month in the otherworld. That had been steadily fluctuating, and now we were seeing cases where only half a month had passed in the same amount of time.

The rate rose and fell daily like stock prices, but it was trending in one direction. During our last visit, we’d run out of time after just one week. We could tell from the date on the clock we’d left in this world that things were continuing in the same vein.

That said, sharing this information with the count would only trouble him. For the moment, I decided to play it off.

“King Adonis has been very busy of late,” I explained, “and I figured you’d want to keep discussing Lady Elsa’s marriage as a family. While I realize you must have little free time yourself, Count Müller, I decided to visit a bit more often.”

“Ah, so it’s out of consideration for us. I apologize.”

“None needed, sir.”

Maybe we’d be able to get away with visiting the otherworld every other day in the future, unless something urgent demanded we travel more frequently. In addition, if time flowed more slowly here, then events in this world would progress at a more relaxed pace. King Adonis was still moving around the kingdom purging the Imperialist nobles, and those at the castle had their plates full adjusting to the new system.

So without anything else to attend to, we left the royal castle behind. Our usual itinerary was to go to the Republic of Lunge next and supply Kepler Trading Company with diesel fuel, but we were going to skip that this time. They had enough fuel from our last visit, so we could afford to wait. I didn’t want to bother Mr. Joseph by going there when we had nothing to do.

Instead, we turned our attention to the trade route between Lunge and Herz. We’d given it a preliminary inspection the time before last, but we’d been leaving it alone since then.

Making use of Peeps’s teleportation magic, we hopped from the court minister’s office to Alterian. We arrived quite high up in the sky, around the same spot as we had previously, giving us a bird’s-eye view of the area.

To one side was a wasteland stretching out toward the horizon. I’d been told that if you crossed straight through it, you’d reach Allestos. But all we could see from where we hovered was desolate earth.

Turning in the other direction put us face-to-face with a range of steep mountains. And it was at the foot of those mountains that we noticed a change.

“Peeps, is that it right there?”

“Indeed. It would seem that progress has been made.”

I could see lines of tents and carriages stretching into the distance—probably employees dispatched by the Marc Trading Company. The tents were already forming a little settlement, reminding me of what the fortress construction on the Rectan Plains had looked like at the beginning.

“Could we go down to see?”

“Yes, let us descend.”

After getting permission from the bird on my shoulder, I tweaked my flight magic and we slowly lowered our altitude down toward the tents.

As we approached, we could see people reacting on the ground. Several people who had gathered at a particularly large tent began to run toward our landing point. They kept looking up at the sky; they had probably seen us floating overhead.

As we got closer, we could make out their features more clearly.

“Mr. Marc?” I said. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“I should say the same, Mr. Sasaki.”

I’d found a familiar face in the crowd, and we exchanged greetings among the tents.

“This seems like a fairly large-scale operation. Are they all from Baytrium?” I asked.

“No. Eighty percent of the men and most of our supplies are from Rotan.”

“I had no idea things had progressed so far. You have my thanks.”

“I’m a Herzian through and through, so jobs like these naturally get me fired up.”

Mr. Marc smiled as he spoke. While I hadn’t told him anything, he seemed to guess why I was here.

“We had the item set up at our new branch location in Rotan,” he explained. “We plan to transfer it here, but until we’ve finished setting up camp, we’ll leave it in the city.”

“I think that’s for the best.”

The item in question was the radio setup we’d provided during our last trip. This place looked little better than a refugee camp, so keeping it back in Rotan would probably set Mr. Joseph’s mind at ease. If Mr. Marc were to lose it, it might damage their business relationship.

“We plan to set up a base of operations here first,” he went on. “We’ll start at the foot of the mountain, then construct each relay point in turn. At the same time, we’ll work on the road to Rotan, if that’s all right with you.”

“Understood. Please do so.”

If Mr. Marc was here personally, then he must be telling the truth about the job getting him fired up. Even in a kingdom known for its corruption, there must be plenty of patriots. At least, that was what I thought as I watched Mr. Marc explain things so passionately.

“Also, since you’re here,” he said, “I was wondering if I could get your opinion on something.”

“What is it?”

“A river cuts across the foot of the mountains, right where we plan to build our route. If we were only shipping goods, we could simply ferry everything across in boats. But considering the road’s future usage, I wanted to know if you’d mind us building a bridge over it.”

“I don’t see a problem with that. The cost of maintenance does concern me, though.”

“I feel the same. We’ll need to set up a second base camp at the bridge.”

Back in Japan, bridges could go without maintenance for several years at a time. But that wouldn’t fly here in the otherworld. Without anyone watching over it, bandits and monsters would wreck the thing within a year.

For that reason, this world had few bridges. Expensive, large bridges were almost exclusively found inside towns. Peeps had explained all this to me in the past.

“There’s a great deal of land between here and the closest settlement,” Marc continued. “Since we’ll be dealing with bandits, we’d like to keep things as inconspicuous as we can until we’re able to station enough troops in the area.”

“Why not dig out a hole and go under the river instead?” I suggested.

“Oh, that’s a thought.”

Underground tunnels might sound modern, but I’d seen them in historical documents and such at school—the ancient Romans built them starting in the first century, for example. And with a cheat code like magic, I assumed it would be possible for the crew here to get past a river or two.

“That would certainly be less conspicuous than a bridge,” he said.

“I can’t say if the benefits would outweigh the cost, of course.”

“Scope-wise, I don’t think it’ll cause an issue. I’ll explain it to everyone on-site so we can figure things out. Fortunately, we have a few people on our development team who are familiar with the region.”

“That’s reassuring.”

“In fact, one of them said he came here at your recommendation.”

I wondered who that could be, but then immediately remembered the conversation I’d had with Mr. French during my previous trip. I was about to say as much when I heard a familiar voice.

“Dad, Lord Sasaki’s here. Maybe you should go say hello.”

It was a young woman’s voice. Suddenly curious, I looked over, and there she was—Mr. French’s little sister. Her father was next to her.

I remembered introducing Mr. French’s father to the Marc Trading Company, but what was his sister doing here? Her appearance took me by surprise.

As soon as they saw me, the two of them rushed over.

“Lord Sasaki,” the father said, greeting me immediately, “thank you so much for your kindness not only to my son, but to me as well. I am in your debt.” He bowed deeply. He was speaking so formally I unconsciously bowed in response.

“Please, it was nothing.”

“I promise I’ll put the leg and eye you healed to use here, my lord,” he went on. “I was out of action for a while, but I’ve kept up on my training. Please use me as you see fit.”

He was about the same age as I was. Like his son, he was red-haired and attractive, blessed with a tall and muscular physique. His facial features were pronounced, and he had a short goatee and shoulder-length hair parted down the middle. He looked just like the lead actor in a Hollywood action film.

With his incredible build, which I assumed had been sculpted during his time as a knight, he struck me as very reliable. Though the son was certainly well-built, the father was something else. I could scarcely believe he and I were the same age. Just talking to him was intimidating.

“I heard you’re familiar with the local geography,” I said.

“Yes, my lord. I once hunted bandits in these parts, while I was still serving the kingdom. At the time, a group of them had set up camp in Alterian and were causing problems for businesses and traders around Rotan. That is how I know the region.”

The man’s back was perfectly straight, as though he was standing at attention. His words were clear and well-enunciated, too. You could tell he was a former knight.

“I have to ask—why is your daughter here as well?”

“I’m so sorry, my lord. I said I would come here alone, but she insisted on accompanying me. If you think she’ll impede our progress, I can send her back home at once. I brought the money for her passage with me just in case.”

Mr. French had probably helped put together the funds. In that case, I didn’t want to let it go to waste.

“I couldn’t let Dad come here alone, sir,” his daughter said nervously. “Did I make the wrong decision?”

“Your family seems very close-knit,” I remarked.

“After our mother left with another man, my father had to raise my brother and me alone. So please, my lord—I’d feel so bad if I wasn’t around to take care of him, and… Oh, that’s not to say I doubt your magical abilities or anything, it’s just…!”

“This is my fault for letting my children take care of me for so long,” her father cut in. “Please accept my apologies.”

It hadn’t been long since I’d healed his injuries, so she was probably worried about his health. In fact, I bet Mr. French had privately agreed with his sister’s suggestion. All the more reason I couldn’t deny her appeal.

“In that case,” I said, “I hope the two of you can work together here.”

“Thank you so much, my lord.”

Mr. French’s father and sister bowed deeply to me. After telling them to raise their heads, I got back to business.

“I apologize for deciding things without you,” I said, turning to Mr. Marc. “I hope you’re all right with it.”

“We appreciate having Viscount French’s support,” he replied. “Since you passed the Alterian region to the trading company, we may need a noble’s name if issues arise.”

“You have my thanks,” I said.

At the moment, I had a pretty overblown title: Margrave Sasaki-Alterian.

In order to achieve Peeps’s and my desired life of leisure, I wanted to become just “Sasaki” again as soon as I could. When I thought about it, involving Mr. French’s family was a stroke of genius. If everything developed smoothly, I might be able to work something out with them.

Since the Marc Trading Company was handling the business affairs as a local governing body, the burden on their family wouldn’t be too big. At the same time, the father—currently without a position in the household—could receive territory just like his son, immediately bolstering his reputation. That sounded pretty good to me.

With that, I’d formulated a plan to pass off everything to do with the Herz-Lunge route onto other people. As long as the Marc Trading Company’s sales kept increasing from the diesel fuel I’d brought and Kepler kept paying me as a board member, development here could continue unabated.

“I’m very obliged to you all,” I said. “I’ll leave this work in your capable hands.”

After a quick good-bye, I used flight magic to float back into the air. Gaining altitude, Peeps and I moved past the clouds and out of sight. Though I sometimes forgot, the Starsage’s survival and his teleportation magic had to be kept secret from the others. We couldn’t let them see us leave.

As the surface disappeared from view, my attention turned to the one on my shoulder. “Peeps, could I ask you to—”

I was about to say “bring us back to Baytrium,” but Peeps interrupted me.

“Sometimes, I can scarcely believe how little ambition you have. It makes me a bit uneasy.”

“Huh? What’s this about? Did I do something?”

“If this endeavor goes well, you plan to give everything to the father and son, correct?”

“Would that be a mistake?”

“I believe it is a near perfect decision from a public servant’s perspective.”

“Oh, good. I’m glad I have the Lord Starsage’s approval.”

“But that is precisely why I can’t understand what you’re thinking. Perhaps anyone with enough years behind them would have made the same decision. But you told me before that you have yet to turn forty. Isn’t it normal for people your age to be more ambitious?”

“Well, I mean, I don’t want to work. Do you?”

“Putting work aside, do you never feel like leaning back and lording over your inferiors?”

“I guess a little, but that won’t do us any good, will it?”

I’d consider it if it brought significant returns, but as things stood, we had far more to lose. Considering the influence my position here had over my social life in modern Japan, I wanted to play it safe for now.

As I mulled this over, the bird on my shoulder thought for a few moments, then nodded.

“…Well. I suppose not.”

“But if you would rather go in that direction, Peeps, I’ll follow you. I’m just not sure how it would benefit us. I feel like there’s a lot of other things that need our attention more.”

For example, finding a way to get the Starsage out of his sparrow body and back in human form.

Then he’d be able to travel between the otherworld and modern Japan without needing my help. That would allow him much more freedom than he had now. He could finally let loose. Though, as a relative newcomer here in the otherworld, I had no way of knowing how difficult a task that would be.

“No, that won’t be necessary. Please continue however you wish.”

“You sure?”

“What reason would I have to lie about such a matter?”

“I just thought you might be holding back for my sake.”

“It’s been a while since someone dared to test me.”

“Wait, hey. I wasn’t trying to test you. I promise.”

Peeps was actually something of a man’s man—a real carnivore, if you will. I could imagine him at home, surrounded by a harem full of women. It occurred to me that I knew nothing about his former lifestyle. I hoped he would tell me in his own time. That would make me happy.

“Should we return to our Baytrium inn?”

“That’s what I was thinking. Would you do the honors?”

“What are your plans once we get there?”

“I was hoping to spend a little more time with those horses.”

“You would do well to use your time here making up for your lack of exercise back home.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

Horseback riding lessons in Japan tended to be divided into forty-five-minute sessions. After three or four such sessions, my body began to cry out in pain. The horse, too, seemed to be at its limit.

Incidentally, the National Riding Club Association of Japan considered a fourth-degree license (the second lowest degree) as proof that one was no longer a beginner. I’d heard you needed around fifty lessons to receive one, and that was only if things proceeded smoothly. A slower, more cautious learner might need closer to a hundred lessons.

I’d looked all this up on the internet since I’d been finding riding practice so difficult.

What I’d learned was that, in order to graduate from being a novice, I’d need anywhere from forty to eighty hours of actual practice. Even if I was gung ho and did four sessions every single day, it would take between thirteen and twenty-five days. Limiting myself to two sessions would extend that another twenty-five days. That wasn’t very realistic, though. Objectively, I’d need at least two to three months.

The books and movies I’d seen in Japan had given me the impression that riding horses was relatively easy. But in fact, it was far more difficult than getting a license for a car or motorcycle. A novice mounting up and riding off into battle was like someone who didn’t own a car participating in an F1 race. At least, that was what it said on the internet.

It looked like I’d be stuck spending my time in the otherworld mainly on horseback riding for the foreseeable future.