What on earth was that? It was like I’d developed a heart problem. Could it be cardiomyopathy? It had dramatically improved when I used healing magic, after all. But I’d never heard of something like that increasing your libido.

“……”

Maybe I’d ask Peeps. Wait, no, that would be way too embarrassing. I didn’t have the courage to tell him to his face that I’d felt uncontrollable lust toward a girl who had only recently graduated from elementary school. In fact, if I did tell him, I was sure it would fracture the relationship of trust we’d built.

No, it wouldn’t just fracture it—it would probably smash it to smithereens.

I knew if the shoe was on the other foot, I’d be speechless with disgust. Inevitably, the police would get involved.

“…I’ll just, er, keep an eye on it for a while,” I mumbled.

I’d have to make an appointment for a thorough medical examination in the near future. I figured dealing with it could wait until after I got myself checked out, at least. And if necessary, it did seem that my healing magic could serve as first aid.

(The Neighbor’s POV)

Today I am blessed with my first opportunity in several days to see the man next door.

He must have been away at work, because when he gets home, he is wearing his usual suit. I call out to him, and like always, we exchange casual greetings. Then, just as he has done each time before, he gives me food as charity.

“Oh… Is it really okay for me to have all this?”

“It seems like I’ll be pretty busy for a while. My whole schedule has changed, and we might not run into each other as often, so I thought I’d give you a bit more. Of course, I won’t force you to accept it.”

“…Thank you.”

He’s holding out a plastic bag, and I take it with both hands.

Then I hear a teasing voice from close by say “Well-loved as usual, hmm?”

“……”

The heckling is coming from just beside the man, though its source—a boy who calls himself a demon—is invisible to him. The boy looks like an elementary schooler, but his clothes and features are striking: He has pale skin, much paler than a Japanese person’s, plus light-brown hair. From his epaulets flows a majestic cape, and on his head sits a royal crown.

His name is Abaddon.

After meeting him a few days ago, I looked up the name in an online dictionary in the computer room at school. Apparently, he’s a demon who appears in a verse of the Christian New Testament, and his name means “destroyer” in Hebrew. There was also something about the “bottom of hell.” It was all pretty dramatic.

I throw him a glance.

“Yes, yes. I’ll keep my promise… There,” he says with a nod, seeming a little fed up.

This promise is what binds the two of us together. I compete in a death game held by angels and demons, and in return, I reap rewards for defeating enemy Disciples. I’ve decided to use my first reward to change the nature of my relationship with the man next door.

Abaddon floats through the air and touches his fingertip to the man’s head.

“Mgh…”

The change is immediately apparent. Not a moment later, the man’s expression transforms as he looks at me.

His eyes widen—and his gaze slides downward. It moves past my neck and toward my chest, then down farther, to the hem of my skirt and my thighs. His clinging stare is exactly the same as the one I received from my mother’s boyfriend the other day.

Yes, this is it. This is what I want. Look at me more.

No, just looking isn’t enough.

I want you to violate me right here and now.

Hurry. Come on, Hurry up!

“Is something wrong, mister?”

“N-no, it’s nothing. Nothing…”

Feigning composure as he speaks, he takes a half step toward me. The hand grasping the plastic bag trembles over me. I hadn’t really believed Abaddon when he explained what he was going to do, but this is a pretty obvious reaction, isn’t it?

An image of myself being taken into his apartment and relentlessly defiled flashes across my mind.

I can’t stop the mad beating of my heart.

But right when I’m sure it’s going to happen, he swings around to face the opposite direction.

“Anyway, I’m, uh, gonna get going. Bye.”

As though fleeing from me, he turns and heads for his apartment. Within seconds, he has vanished inside. As soon as his front door closes, I hear the clacking of a lock. The sound rings oddly clear in my ears, making me feel as though I’d confessed my love and been rejected. Perhaps my body is simply lacking something he desires.

“Looks like your sweetheart has some real mental fortitude,” says Abaddon, praising the man. I’m keenly aware of that fact already—that’s why I’m so consumed with passion for him.

But what about my reward?

“Don’t tell me that’s it,” I say.

“Just wait a little longer. I’m sure he’ll come looking for you.”

“He’d better.”

Still settled in front of my apartment door, I wait for him—wait for the moment he shows himself to me again. This time, I’ll spread my legs just a tiny bit more in order to make a stronger impression. Though it didn’t go quite as Abaddon had said, the man’s reaction left me pretty hopeful. I could even feel a little bit of moisture in my own underwear.

“I have to say, though, you’ve got a pretty troublesome personality, don’t you?”

“…You think so?”

“This would be much easier if you’d just ask me to make him fall for you.”

“I believe I explained yesterday that there wouldn’t be any meaning in that.”

“Still, you’re really only aiming to excite him sexually.”

“He has to lose out to his own lust, because then he’ll attack me of his own free will. That’s what will make it amazing. And after he’s finished having his way with me, he’ll suddenly sober up, look at me, and regret everything—and then I’ll console him. It’s very important that things happen like that.”

“Being on the receiving end of all those feelings is gonna be pretty rough.”

“It’ll be fine. He’ll accept me, no matter what.”

“How do you have so much confidence?”

“Because he and I are cut from the same cloth.”

“…I see.”

The two of us would complement one another, filling in for what the other lacked. We’re perfect for each other. So please, I thought, come back and violate me. I’m fully prepared. In fact, you could even kill me in the process if you want. Though, I’d be sad to miss Abaddon’s panicked expression when he realizes his Disciple is dead.

But no matter how long I wait, the man never comes back out of his apartment. Abaddon and I remain there for close to an hour, watching his door.

“Abaddon, how long do I have to I wait for him?”

“Hmm. Actually, I’m a little surprised at this myself…”

“Don’t tell me you failed.”

“Your average human really shouldn’t be able to resist such an impulse.”

“……”

After that, we wait for nearly another whole hour.

But even then, my neighbor never comes back through the door.

Once I’d said hello to Peeps in the apartment, we moved to Ms. Futarishizuka’s base. Now that Section Chief Akutsu knew about the warehouse we’d been using on the wharf, we decided to meet up in the high-class hotel from the other day, then travel somewhere else by car. At that moment, we were heading west on the Tokyo Expressway.

I’d decided to mentally shelve the nigh-irresistible base passions I’d felt toward my neighbor for the time being. My considerate pet sparrow had—to my dismay—seen his master rush into the bathroom after getting home and asked if my stomach was feeling all right.

“How much longer until we arrive, child?” asked Peeps.

“Oh, a little under an hour or so,” replied Ms. Futarishizuka. “As long as the roads are clear.”

“…I see.”

“In any case, what do you think of that…that reptilian, was it? What was that?”

“Reptilians are reptilians.”

“Does your world consist of creatures like that swaggering about?”

While in the car, we discussed what we’d heard at the bureau and exchanged information, helped along by Peeps, who had been minding the apartment in my absence. I’d placed him in the travel cage we used when going out together, which I now held on my lap. The car’s rear windows were tinted—a precaution that was hopefully unnecessary.

“Our world is much more diverse than this one.”

“It sounds a little too diverse, if you ask me.”

“Rather than all that, shouldn’t we first consider your boss? Akutsu, you called him? If he is indeed suspicious of us, then I believe we should deal with him soon.”

“Oh, I agree. I was hoping for a curse-buddy.”

If there was one noteworthy thing about this drive, it was the driver—Ms. Futarishizuka herself was at the wheel. That was why we could chat all we wanted in the car, without worrying about anyone seeing us, and even let Peeps in on the conversation. She’d probably taken the driver’s seat specifically for that reason.

But she looked exactly like a little girl, so it was quite unsettling. Actually, it makes me pretty anxious—I feel like we’re gonna get into an accident at any moment. She’d had to slide her seat up as far as it would go.

“What is it? Does something concern you?” Peeps addressed me as I stared at Futarishizuka holding the steering wheel. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him stir, so I lowered my gaze from the driver’s seat to my lap. My eyes met those of my pet bird through the clear plastic guard.

“Huh? Oh. No…”

“Something about the girl?”

“I just didn’t think Ms. Futarishizuka would be driving us personally.”

“Wild, isn’t it? Intense, isn’t it?”

When I said her name, the driver immediately responded, grinning proudly into the rearview mirror. To my frustration, it made her look kind of cool.

As for myself, I hadn’t driven a car for several years. I’d gotten my license while in school, but my life as a corporate drone had only involved commuting from my apartment to the office and back by train—I’d never had time to spend on hobbies like driving. I’d become one of those “papers-only drivers” who carried a license but didn’t own a car. If I took the wheel now, I’d get us into an accident. These intricate Tokyo roads, at least, were out of the question.

“I have a motorcycle license, too. Even managed to upgrade it from the provisional license without taking any classes.”

“Wait. Seriously?”

The way she’d phrased it, she must have gotten her license before state-sanctioned driving schools had caught on. I remembered a superior at my old job bragging that back then, those so-called one-shot assessments had an even lower pass rate than the bar exam. Sitting atop a motorcycle had apparently been a sort of status marker. Personally, I was astonished she’d passed, looking like she did.

“Is it truly so difficult to operate these vehicles?” asked Peeps.

“No, not exactly, but…,” I trailed off.

“Either way, I doubt a sparrow like yourself would ever manage it,” said Ms. Futarishizuka.

“Keep talking like that, and the curse’s crest will grow.”

“Eek! Please, don’t be so unreasonable…”

What’s more, we were riding in a pretty large sedan. It was an imported luxury car—the type with a little goddess ornament on the front of the hood. The whole scene was surreal.

“Getting back to Section Chief Akutsu,” I said, “would it be possible to wait before we use a curse?”

“Why?”

“We don’t know what kind of friends the man has, remember? He’s a government official. He could very well use his power and influence against us before the curse took effect.”

“What was that?” asked Ms. Futarishizuka. “Does that mean you thought I couldn’t?”

“Personally, I would’ve preferred not to have to curse you, either.”

“You got what you deserved.”

“Grrrrr…”

Our situation with the chief also wasn’t as pressing as what had happened with Ms. Futarishizuka. I thought acting now might be going too far. The spell was immediate, so even if we ultimately decided to use it on him, it wouldn’t hurt to wait and watch for a little while first. In the worst-case scenario, we could always have Peeps use magic to put him to sleep, then drag him to the otherworld.

I was much more afraid of what he might do if we pissed him off.

“Then, I will respect your viewpoint on the matter.”

“Thanks, Peeps.”

“I really would like a curse-buddy, though,” commented Ms. Futarishizuka. “Not just one, but two, maybe even three…”

“That said,” I continued, “I don’t feel right doing nothing, so Ms. Futarishizuka, I’d like you to try to get some dirt on him. Can you do that? Apparently, he has quite the connection to your old haunt.”

“Oh, I don’t suppose I’d mind. I’m just as interested as you.”

“I appreciate it.”

For a while afterward, we talked in the car about our current plans, trading banter about this and that. Unfortunately, we couldn’t think of anything to do about the reptilian, and when the car arrived at our destination, we decided that problem could wait until the next day.

The new base Ms. Futarishizuka had secured was in a harbor on the shore of the Sagami Bay, in one of the many warehouses that lined it. Visually, it was no different from before; the warehouse was about as big as a school gymnasium, with several shipping containers inside it.

I stood in the center and took it all in.

Ms. Futarishizuka informed me that the products I’d previously requested—large amounts of sugar and chocolate—had all been delivered in sufficient amounts. She explained I could take as much as I wanted. A closer look revealed labels on the containers stating their contents.

“Another warehouse on a wharf, huh?” I commented. “Are you involved in the shipping industry, too?”

“What do you mean? It’s much more convenient to use sea routes. I’d appreciate it if you put yourself in my shoes, being asked to procure sugar and whatever other odd things you’re after. I was shaking in my geta wondering what impossible request you’d be asking of me next.”

“I see. Thanks for being so considerate.”

That got me wondering—what about maritime products? Thinking back, I hadn’t seen the ocean from Count Müller’s town. If it was a long way away, then I might be able to get a pretty good price for fresh seafood. Maybe I’d propose sashimi or something equally fancy for the more epicurean nobles.

Actually, wait. Didn’t they have freezing magic? In that case, I wouldn’t be surprised if seafood was pretty widely distributed. Either way, I figured I’d consult with the others about likely food products, then decide from there.

“Let’s head over right away, shall we?”

“I’ll leave it to you, Peeps.”

Ms. Futarishizuka saw us off as we departed modern Japan.

After crossing over to the otherworld, we first visited Count Müller. Transporting the goods Ms. Futarishizuka had supplied could wait until after we’d confirmed the current situation. The products would be heading to a Kepler Trading Company storehouse, which meant we’d need to have a conversation with Mr. Joseph. I figured the best plan would be to first get a handle on recent events.

And so, we found ourselves sitting on a sofa across from Count Müller in the reception room of his estate.

“I’m glad you’re here, Sir Sasaki, Lord Starsage,” began the count.

“I apologize for never letting you know in advance of our visits, my lord.”

“Julius, I am sorry for our sudden visitation.”

“No apologies necessary. I’m well aware of your circumstances.”

We traded greetings over a low table. A splendid little tree had been set up on its surface, just like our last visit. As soon as we’d exchanged formalities, Peeps leaped off his perch on my shoulder and landed on a branch. When he saw this, the count’s face lit up.

Well-loved as always, “Lord Starsage,” I thought to myself.

“Forgive me for getting straight to the point,” continued the count, “but there’s something I need to tell you right away, Sir Sasaki.”

“Please, don’t hesitate. We were hoping for news about this world’s situation as well.”

“I’m happy to hear that. This involves the war of succession over His Majesty’s throne…”

With our greetings over, the count quickly gave me the rundown on the otherworld’s political situation. The explanation that followed came as quite a shock.

According to him, Count Dietrich had switched over to the second prince’s faction. When we’d visited last, the count had been in cahoots with the Hermann Trading Company’s president and a thorn in Count Müller’s side. As Müller described it, their families had been at odds with each other since their parents’ generation. The defection came as a total surprise.

In terms of the Kingdom of Herz as a whole, their infighting was no more than a minor kerfuffle between local lords. But now that the succession dispute had begun, and thanks to this first breakaway, their quarreling had become a major topic of conversation in Herzian high society.

“There are plenty of rumors regarding the Kepler Trading Company matter as well,” he told me.

“I see.” I wondered if that, in fact, was the more curious development in the eyes of the Herzian nobles. I recalled how the count had humbled himself before Mr. Joseph—and how even Prince Adonis had followed suit.

But that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, in and of itself. Prince Adonis and Count Müller improving their positions at court and further enabling Peeps and me to pursue our dream of a laid-back life was cause for celebration. The two of us would prefer to keep ourselves sheltered under the protective wings of their authority and influence.

“Because of that, there are rumors about you as well, Sir Sasaki,” added the count.

“There are, my lord?”

“Your knighthood came about through strong encouragement from Prince Adonis’s mother. Then the incident with Count Dietrich and the trading company occurred immediately after that. Count Dietrich himself even mentioned you personally. It’s safe to say that, when it comes to the second prince’s faction, you’re at the center of conversation these days.”

“…Is that so?”

Count Müller seemed genuinely apologetic. Could this be another one of those situations? I could feel the atmosphere in the room bearing down on me now in much the same way as when I’d been knighted. “I’m almost too afraid to ask, my lord, but will we be going to the royal castle like last time?”

“I’m terribly, terribly sorry, but yes. Would you be able to accompany me there?”

My intuition had been spot-on. The count rose from the sofa and immediately bowed to us. I had a direct view of the whorl of his hair—that was how deeply he’d bent at the waist. Even compared to his attitude in the past, he seemed especially humble.

“All I have done is cause trouble for you, Sir Sasaki,” he said. “I am truly sorry for everything.”

“Please, you don’t need to bow to me, Count Müller.”

His apology sounded very pained. Maybe he was conscious of the Lord Starsage perched beside him. In his view, he had embarrassed himself in front of someone he dearly respected; his pride was probably wounded. As the kind of man who bowed his head with zero hesitation, I was a little envious of his attitude—and of the fact he had someone he respected so highly so close at hand.

“One such as myself, who does naught but cling to the goodwill of others, is more than deserving of your scorn,” he continued. “If you wish to cut ties with me after this, so be it. But please, won’t you accompany me to the castle? Please—I’m begging you.”

He showed no inclination to raise his head at my urging, and I was afraid he might stay stuck like that if we left him hanging.

“This is unlike you, Julius.”

“…!”

At my sparrow’s casual utterance, the count’s shoulders jolted in surprise. I could tell his bowed body had stiffened, but he gave no reply.

“Peeps?” I asked. How much meaning had been packed into those few words? I couldn’t tell. Still, it seemed to have communicated something between them.

Unable to sit by and watch, Peeps continued, this time spurring the man to act. “Could you at least give us a few more details?”

“Well, that’s…”

“Do this man and I strike you as so unreliable?”

It was really cool, how they understood each other with so few words. You could tell they had spent a lot of time together. I recalled the portrait of Peeps I’d seen at the royal castle. It had hung in the hallway we’d passed through on our way to see the king. It was an image of my pet sparrow in his previous life, with blond hair and blue eyes—young and yet brimming with majesty and dignity…

“…My daughter—Elsa, she’s been taken hostage,” said the count at last.

Whoa! I thought. What a disaster. Herzian noble society is a complete mess, isn’t it?

“So you were trying that hard to protect us,” mused Peeps.

“…I am deeply sorry for my utter lack of strength.”

The situation was unexpectedly dire. This was far more than a matter of pride for Count Müller—no, this was something much worse. The count had kept his head bowed as he answered, which meant I couldn’t make out his expression. But from the trembling in his voice, I could hazard a guess about his emotional state. This must have been a very difficult choice for him to make.

I felt so bad I didn’t know what to say.

“I am sorry. All of this is my fault.”

“No, it isn’t,” the nobleman insisted. “My powerlessness is the only cause for blame.”

I couldn’t believe Peeps had intuited the facts like that. While I was incredibly impressed, I was also a little envious. This all served to show how deeply the count felt about the Starsage. I didn’t know a thing when it came to magic or politics, but situations like these were different.

“Was it the queen? I am sure it wasn’t Adonis.”

“No. The order was given by Duke Einhart.”

“Ah. Yes, he would do something like that…”

Count Müller had mentioned a name I was unfamiliar with. Apparently, even the second prince’s faction was far from monolithic. Considering the count’s and the prince’s positions, this Duke Einhart must have a lot of influence. I didn’t know what had ultimately caused him to take Lady Elsa hostage, but he’d done so in complete disregard for how the royals might react—and that made me anxious.

“Where is the girl right now, then? In the duke’s territory, perhaps?”

“No. I believe she is in his estate in the capital, Allestos.”

“Did something happen at court?”

“It did, indeed. When we traveled there to give Prince Adonis our respects, my daughter was caught up in one of the court’s disputes. As you can see, I am but a country noble, and so the duke offered to raise and educate her to be his wife.”

Count Müller had grown very close with Prince Adonis over the past few months and was now the most successful noble in the second prince’s faction. It made sense that his daughter would end up marrying into a family of higher rank. Apparently, the duke had taken advantage of that and cooked up a pretext for himself. Lady Elsa is a trusting girl, after all. She would have been pretty easy to deceive.

“Hmm. Duke Einhart has played us, then.”

“…And I was too cowardly to do anything about it.”

The Herzian royal castle sure was a dangerous place. Even though all the nobles were from the same nation, we’d have to be on constant guard. It was like the final dungeon in a game, and the other nobles were like evil spirits, possessed by their desire for influence and running rampant—frightening in a whole other way than a mob of monsters would be.

But this was one time we couldn’t afford to hesitate. “Count Müller, can’t we head for the capital right now?” I suggested.

After all, I was pretty involved in this myself. I’d been having the time of my life in this world, completely dependent on Peeps, and that had placed Count Müller in a difficult situation. Not to mention I’d involved the Kepler Trading Company entirely by my own decision.

“Will you assist us?” asked Peeps.

“Of course,” I replied. “To tell the truth, I feel I should be the one apologizing.”

“I am sorry for involving you in our problems.”

“No, no. I’ve been burdening you at least as much.”

Lately, circumstances dictated that I leave Peeps behind at home while I went out—not to mention how I made him act like a sparrow in front of everyone else. And even when we did go somewhere together, I always put him in a cramped little carrier.

“The time I spend in your room perusing the internet is actually quite fulfilling,” Peeps replied. “And now that I’ve lost my human form, I’ve come to many a realization I would never have before. At the moment, I feel I am spending my time meaningfully.”

“Really? I’m happy to have such a considerate sparrow as my partner, you know.”

“I am glad to hear it.”

As he turned around to speak to me, I felt extremely close to my pet bird. I wondered if the day would come when he’d recover his human form. Looking back on the amazing feats I’d witnessed, I felt like it might well happen in the near future. Still, I hesitated to ask him about it and hadn’t yet broached the subject.

But all that aside…

Is it just me, or is it starting to feel like there’s a new emergency every time we come here?

Count Müller, Peeps, and I headed for the capital of Herz right away. To get there, we used Peeps’s teleportation magic as usual.

One part of the capital featured roads lined with noble estates—even some owned by those with territory elsewhere. It was like Edo in that respect. Along with their estates back home, nobles kept a separate residence near the court. It seemed the higher one’s noble rank, the closer one’s mansion would be to the castle.

The Müller family was no exception—they, too, kept an estate in the neighborhood. It didn’t boast the same scale as their main home in Baytrium, but it was still a grand sight, built all from stone. They had quite a few maids and butlers in their employ as well.

Count Müller had led us here so we could use it as a base for the time being. He also invited us to make use of it whenever we liked in the future.

I was curious about where Peeps had lived in his past life, but when I asked the count, he told me a hostile noble had hit the former sage with levies and now treated Peeps’s old home as his own.

Count Müller wore a pained expression as he explained this. Peeps didn’t seem to mind it one bit, but in my opinion, if Peeps could one day reclaim his house, I wanted to help him do it. Everyone needed a place to call home.

“Oh! Count Müller, you’ve returned!”

“Your Royal Highness? I didn’t realize you were here.”

Coincidentally, Count Müller had another guest—the second prince of the Kingdom of Herz, His Royal Highness Adonis. We’d run into him in a hallway as the count was showing us around the estate. Next to him were knights who must have been serving as his personal guard.

“Those here informed me that you’d returned to your lands,” explained the prince. “I was just thinking of heading for Baytrium myself, in fact. But from the looks of things, I assume the previous matter has been resolved?”

“I prevailed upon the goodwill of these two and brought them here with me.”

The “previous matter” the prince was referring to must have been Lady Elsa’s hostage situation. He threw a glance my way—apparently, he had been apprised of the matter.

“In that case,” he said to me, “I have something to tell you, as well. It’s rather sudden, I know, but I’d like a bit of your time. And I want to tell you two, as well, while I have the chance.”

“Is that all right with you, Sir Sasaki?” asked the count.

“Yes, by all means.”

Once I had agreed, Count Müller led us into another area—the estate’s reception room. The prince’s guard waited in a separate chamber at their lord’s orders. The knights seemed reluctant to leave, but they weren’t about to disobey a direct command from the prince. Now Peeps could join in on the conversation without the fear of being overheard.

The count and I sat on a sofa, next to one another, and the prince sat alone across from us. Since he hadn’t had the time to procure a little tree for Peeps, the sparrow remained in his usual spot on my shoulder.

“Sasaki, the plan is to grant you the rank of baron.”

No sooner had we entered the room than Prince Adonis got straight to the point. Apparently, I was to receive a promotion not just in Japan but here as well.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t simply celebrate this change in status. I got the feeling promotions in this world were more like when you were made a manager in name only, had your salary actually decrease, and were forced to work more overtime.

Besides, why am I being promoted? I thought. I don’t remember doing anything in particular. “I’m sorry, sir, but may I ask the reason why?”

“You’ve worked with the Kepler Trading Company to establish a business of your own in the Republic of Lunge, correct?”

“Well, yes…”

“My mother was made aware of it by Count Dietrich. She must want to make sure she has you under her wing as one of the nobles of this country. My father, too, is keen on the idea. He may have been reluctant in the past, but his concern regarding the Ohgen Empire’s invasion must be more pressing now.”

“Even so, sir, is it all right for them to grant me a rank so easily?”

“The problem is the land you will be granted.”

“You mean I won’t be given a role in the court, sir?”

“The current consensus is to give you land in the Rectan Plains.”

“Wha…?”

The count’s expression changed at the prince’s words—his eyes opened wide in shock.

I remembered hearing the name Rectan Plains. It was where the Ohgen Empire’s forces had been stationed—and where they had attacked the Kingdom of Herz. The image of Peeps blowing the whole place to kingdom come was still burned vividly into my memory. Apparently, Count Müller’s lands shared a partial border with the plains, as well.

“At a time like this, what is he supposed to do with such a territory, sir?” asked the count. “It doesn’t have any small settlements, much less any towns or villages. How is he supposed to collect taxes?”

“All reasonable questions, Count Müller.”

“And that land is meant to be a buffer zone. Does it even count as part of our nation?”

“It appears my father intends to take control of it as a prize for our victory over the Ohgen Empire. I can easily imagine him bequeathing it to you, then telling you to create a moat or two in the region to stave off any more emergencies for the time being.”

“B-but, Prince Adonis, isn’t that going too far?” asked the count.

“I am opposed to it, of course.”

“Forgive my rudeness, sir, but was this your mother’s idea?”

“No. Apparently, it came from my father and Duke Einhart.”

I’d heard that name from Count Müller before we came to the capital. If he was able to hold in-person planning meetings with the king of Herz, he must have been in a very high position. And then there was the whole hostage situation.

Given my position, knowing someone like that was discussing my status was terrifying. The only thing supporting me was the sensation of Peeps’s talons gripping my shoulder through the thin fabric of my suit.

“Duke Einhart is close with my father. And frustratingly, he has the most authority out of anyone among my supporters. No amount of discussion will convince my father to consider our opinions. I tried asking my mother, but she hasn’t gotten anywhere with him, either.”

“Did it occur to them that Sir Sasaki might leave Herz over this?”

“Duke Einhart probably wouldn’t mind that, personally. I hate to constantly speak ill of my own family, but my father has been coaxed into the duke’s camp. Perhaps he believes the situation urgent enough to warrant acquiring the Rectan Plains as soon as possible—in spite of all the dangers.”

“…I see, sir.”

“And that,” continued the prince, “is why I decided to pay a personal visit to explain the situation…”

For Duke Einhart, this was probably a means of keeping Count Müller, who had begun to distinguish himself in the second prince’s faction, in check. By stationing us along the border with the Ohgen Empire, he would make it easier for himself to act in court. I felt like a self-made executive manager who had defied the board of directors and was being relegated to some remote corner of the country.

This must all be part of the infighting within the second prince’s faction. That was probably why Count Müller had asked me to come to the capital with him—although it seemed like he hadn’t been informed of everything.

On the other hand—though the prince hadn’t said this exactly—the king of Herz seemed pretty spooked by the Ohgen Empire. In that light, if we used this future work in the Rectan Plains as leverage, even we might be able to gain some sort of concession from the king.

“Is this truly such a problem?”

As I mulled this over, Peeps spoke up. Until now, he’d been watching over the proceedings in silence. In contrast to the anguished tones of Prince Adonis and Count Müller, the bird spoke quite indifferently. As his words implied, he didn’t seem to mind this at all. Maybe that was why everyone turned to stare at him.

The distinguished sparrow returned their gaze and continued. “No citizens in the territory? Why, that’s a good thing. It saves us the trouble of managing them. In fact, we’ve gained a plausible excuse to distance ourselves from the court. We should take this opportunity to withdraw.”

“But what about your duties as a noble…?” asked the count.

“We can simply build a moat or two. And take a long time with it—several years, perhaps. If we’re working hard out on the frontier, they won’t be able to criticize us, will they?”

It seemed Peeps was thinking along the same lines as I was. From a Herzian noble’s point of view, this treatment was positively humiliating. But for the two of us, who wished for a relaxed, leisurely life away from all the hustle and bustle, this was perfect. In fact, inadvertently getting assigned some duty in the court was a far more disagreeable prospect.

“In addition, if we throw some money around, your lands will profit as well.”

“Y-you needn’t worry about my situation…,” stammered the count.

Partly thanks to our deal with the Kepler Trading Company, our pockets were lined with gold. If we weren’t out to climb the ranks of nobility, then as Peeps said, it wouldn’t be a bad choice to build some moats and secure our position in the kingdom for the time being.

Still, I’d be lying if I said I had no doubts. “Won’t the Ohgen Empire meddle in our business, then?” I asked.

“Oh, they will. I’m certain of it.”

“Isn’t that…bad?”

“It will be fine. I have an idea.”

“…Really? Just remember, if your true identity gets out, it won’t matter what we do.”

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about that ever since the previous incident.”

Well, if Peeps said so, everything was probably fine. As an outsider, I obediently closed my mouth. Prince Adonis and Count Müller appeared to come to the same decision, and no more objections were raised.

We spent that night at Count Müller’s estate, and the next day, Prince Adonis took Peeps and me to the castle. Normally, it would have taken quite a bit more time to receive an audience with the king, but with an introduction from the second prince, we got in faster than a bullet train. In fact, we were permitted to meet him that same day; no doubt the prince had negotiated it with the king some time the previous evening.

Owing to all that, we eventually arrived in the waiting area connecting to the audience chamber—the same one we’d visited previously. It was about fifteen meters square and contained some gorgeous construction and furniture. This room was a stark contrast with the reception room in Count Müller’s estate, still emptied after his family’s financial losses.

As before, we had to submit to a pat down. After that, we passed through the hallway reserved for those entering the audience chamber.

On the way, I saw that Peeps’s portrait was still there.

“……”

“What’s wrong, Sir Sasaki?” Count Müller asked me as I turned to look. As always, his perception was quick and sharp when it came to the Lord Starsage.

“Oh, nothing, my lord.”

I’d just been thinking that, in the portrait, the Starsage’s hair was a very vivid, neat blond… I wondered how the count would respond if I was to broach the subject. Instead, however, I simply brushed it off and continued down the hallway.

When we arrived in the audience chamber, we saw that many nobles had already gathered there, just as before. Under their imposing stares, we proceeded toward the empty throne. Then, alongside the count, I knelt on the floor and lowered my head. After waiting a short time in that position for His Majesty to enter, we heard a voice from above.

“You may lift your heads.”

When we did, we saw that someone now occupied the throne—the King of Herz.

The man appeared to be in his fifties, and he cut a fine figure, with stern, pronounced features that contributed to a sense of awe and majesty. I wished I would age as gracefully. His silver hair—a trait he shared with Prince Adonis—was particularly striking.

The queen sat next to him. She, too, looked the same as before—a woman likely in her midthirties with pretty, symmetrical features. She wore an amicable smile, but she was also the sort who would gladly impersonate a maid to uncover private information on her guests.

What piqued my curiosity even more, however, was the man standing right beside the royal couple. He hadn’t been present last time. Like Prince Adonis, his hair was silver. His melancholy features, however, were a stark contrast to the prince. His hair was long for a man’s, too, and it hid one of his eyes. In short, a typical gloomy character. Still very good-looking, though.

Not just any noble would be standing in that position. Could that be Prince Adonis’s elder brother? I wondered. As I mentally cycled through several possible titles the man might have held, the king addressed us.

“Count Müller, I do apologize for the frequency of these visits.”

“Please, Your Majesty, there is no need for apology.”

The king and the count began exchanging pleasantries as I watched in silence. The casual way the king spoke despite his frightening countenance seemed to demonstrate his trust in Count Müller. It appeared the man was sincere in his joy at Prince Adonis’s safe return from the battlefield.

“Thanks to you,” said the king. “Adonis has been absorbed in his martial training of late. He practices with the sword at every opportunity. He appears quite taken with the skills you displayed on the battlefield, Count. Would you do him the honor of overseeing his training?”

“To instruct His Royal Highness in the ways of the blade would be a far greater task than I am worthy of.”

“Oh, I don’t think there’s any need for such humility between us. Please, Count Müller.”

“To receive such words directly from you, Your Majesty, will honor my family for generations to come.”

But that conversation lasted only a moment. The king bestowed his next remarks upon yours truly. “Moving on, I have something to ask of you, Knight Sasaki.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I am at your command.”

I felt the eyes of all the assembled nobles focus in on me. Their expressions had been pretty caustic when it came to Count Müller, but they looked at me like I shouldn’t be there at all. The shift in attitude was obvious, even from the few I could see out of the corner of my vision.

“I’ve heard rumors you have established a business in the Republic of Lunge through the Kepler Trading Company. I also hear that its president, Sir Joseph himself, came to visit our nation last month.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I have indeed established a trading company in another nation.”

My honest affirmation was met with murmurs of utter disbelief from the surrounding nobles, creating a stir in the audience chamber.

“Diplomatic relations such as these are extremely valuable to our kingdom,” said the king. “Naturally, those who take up such a task must be given an appropriate position. Thus, Knight Sasaki, as of today, I bequeath to you the rank of baron. You will now aid in foreign policy and diplomatic work within the court.”

This was similar to what Prince Adonis had told us—but it was also a little different. He had said I would have my own territory, not a role in the court.

Not a moment later, one of the nobles present raised their voice. “Your Majesty, while I will respect any decision you make, is that role not beyond his position?”

“Duke Einhart, what is this all of a sudden?” asked the king.

“Our relations with the Republic of Lunge are certainly important, Sire. And this knight did, in fact, establish a trading company in the republic. However, that was all he did. He has made no contributions to our kingdom.”

“…I see your point.”

Even among the nobles present in the audience chamber, this man’s dress was especially grand. I pinned him as being somewhere in his fifties, and his bushy white hair in particular looked like some baroque-era composer. Judging by what His Majesty had said, this man was Duke Einhart.

“He may even damage our great kingdom’s reputation.”

“Indeed. Your concerns are reasonable, Duke Einhart.”

“In that case, I would beg our beloved and revered king to reconsider.”

“Hmm…”

The king began to ponder Duke Einhart’s words. The nobles’ attention now turned to the two of them.

In contrast, my attention was on Count Müller, who was kneeling on the floor next to me. I tried to tell him telepathically This isn’t what Prince Adonis promised! However, his eyes were fixed ahead of him, and he showed no signs of having noticed me. Personally, I didn’t want anything to do with a job in the court.

Eventually, the king gave his response.

“Then let us do things like this,” he began. “I shall grant Sir Sasaki the rank of baron. As for his lands, I shall bestow upon him part of what we acquired in the previous war—the Rectan Plains. It borders on Count Müller’s territory as well. I’d like you two to collaborate and help bring prosperity to our kingdom.”

And in the end, a familiar place name made its way into the conversation. After making a show of thinking it over, the king of Herz had proposed this as a “replacement” plan, and Duke Einhart nodded at the decision. At this, the nobles present flew into a chorus of conversations.

Apparently, this had been their intention all along. I was glad I hadn’t jumped to conclusions. Perhaps their exchange had partly been to curtail dissent among the other nobles. I could easily imagine that being the reason for the two of them to stage a compromise.

The intricate power balances of Herzian nobles were far too involved. I found myself curious how someone like Section Chief Akutsu would fare if he was thrown into this mess.

“Baron Sasaki, I believe it would be wise to build, say, a defensive bulwark or two.”

Without wasting a moment, Duke Einhart put in his request—or rather his demand, which already exceeded what Prince Adonis had suggested. When he said bulwark, how large a defensive wall did he mean, exactly?

“It should be an easy task, if the stories about you and the Kepler Trading Company are true, don’t you think?”

In place of the king, the duke started nitpicking at me. Considering this was happening right in the audience chamber, maybe Herz’s royalty had less authority than I had thought. The nobles really threw their weight around, didn’t they?

At the same time, their conversation had made me think the king might truly have high hopes for us.

“I will go to any length to fulfill this task and meet your expectations,” I said. Either way, that wouldn’t change our plans. I’d give my full agreement, as we’d discussed.

But it would be a shame to let things end like this. We’d been lucky enough to see Duke Einhart. I wanted to try to use the public works project in the Rectan Plains as a pretext to solve Count Müller’s problem at the same time. I’d gotten Peeps’s approval on it, too.

“To that end, Your Majesty,” I said, moving my gaze from Duke Einhart to the king, “may I implore you to hear me out on a certain matter?”

“Hmm? Speak, then.”

All eyes gathered on me—the nobles’ gazes seemed to say Oh, what is it this time?

“I hereby pledge that until this bulwark in the Rectan Plains is complete, I will not return to the capital of Allestos. I swear to carry out this task for the prosperity of the Kingdom of Herz. So I beg of you, Sire, please return the color to Count Müller’s life.”

“S-Sir Sasaki…,” cried the count.

No less than the Lord Starsage himself had said this would be fine. It was time for me to strut my stuff.

“You!” roared Duke Einhart in immediate protest. “How dare a mere knight implore His Majesty for anything!”

I’d assumed that since he had been chatting with the king, I could do the same. Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case. The glare he’d just turned on me was absolutely petrifying. I may have been a noble, but the difference between a knight and a duke was considerable.

Still, if I gave up now, who knew when I’d get another chance to express my opinions to Duke Einhart? This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—I had him in front of a whole bunch of other people. Plus, I could draw the king, who presumably outranked him, into the discussion.

I continued to look at His Majesty, my stare pleading.

Finally, he responded. “Color? What might you mean by that?”

Yes! It seemed like he’d hear me out. But in this atmosphere, I couldn’t talk for long. “I would beg of you, Sire, to confirm the particulars with Duke Einhart.”

“…Hmm,” said the king, throwing a glance at the duke.

Man, I thought. I’m not coming anywhere near this place again, even after the bulwark is done.

Then the king lowered his gaze to his feet, pretending to think about something or other. The difficult look on his face persisted only for a moment, however. When he looked up again, he gave his reply—approval. “Very well. As you are so favored by Adonis, I shall grant you this request.”

The king nodded, and that was when the surrounding nobles really started to make noise. The comments that reached me were infinite in their variety. So many different reactions: Some were simply astonished, while others voiced their disapproval.

For now, I’d just be thankful. “I offer my sincerest gratitude for your generosity, Sire,” I answered, bowing deeply, still kneeling on the floor.

A moment later, a youthful voice came from directly in front of me—one I hadn’t heard before.

“How curious, that you would go so far.”

His voice sounded exactly like Prince Adonis’s. For a moment, I thought it was the second prince himself. In his clearly articulated words, however, I could detect a very slight difference in tone. Confused, I raised my eyes slightly. When I did, I saw who it was out of the corner of my vision.

It was the gloomy character with the silver hair who had been standing near His Majesty.

“What is it, Lewis?” asked the king.

“Nothing, Father. Please, pay me no mind.”

If the king was his father, that made him a prince. Judging by his age, the first prince. Though the second prince seemed rather sociable, this young man appeared, from head to toe, to be the opposite. I had heard that for a long time he had been treated as an unwanted child, so maybe his upbringing had influenced his appearance. Still very good-looking, though.

As soon as the prince finished speaking, the king gave his parting words, and the day’s audience ended without much incident.

After our audience with His Majesty, we returned to Count Müller’s estate. He insisted we stay the night, and we accepted his gesture of goodwill. We could bring our products to the Kepler Trading Company the following day. Ms. Futarishizuka had set up a base for us, which gave us some leeway in how we handled things back in Japan.

Soon, it was suppertime.

We’d only had a few moments to relax in the guest room before one of the maids employed at the estate showed us to the dining hall. The moment we exited the corridor and entered the room, we encountered Lady Elsa.

She was already seated at the table, but as soon as she spotted us, she burst out of her chair with a clatter and started shouting.

“Baron Sasaki! I… I heard from Daddy what happened!”

“Lady Elsa,” I replied. “I see you’ve returned to the estate.”

I was surprised by how quickly she’d been returned. According to Count Müller, she’d been a hostage. Had His Majesty discussed it with Duke Einhart immediately after our audience? Otherwise, I couldn’t imagine why the duke would have released her. The Kingdom of Herz was rife with corruption, but maybe the current king was unexpectedly trustworthy.

“And I have you and your familiar to thank for all of it, don’t I?” she said.

“Well, most of the credit should go to my familiar, my lady,” I said, sparing a glance at the bird on my shoulder. I’d just followed Peeps’s suggestions.

“Your familiar is so tiny and cute—and yet so amazing. I couldn’t believe my ears when Daddy told me you asked His Majesty to intercede with Duke Einhart.”

“I believe Prince Adonis may have explained the situation to His Majesty in advance.”

“I still think what you did was splendid!” exclaimed the youthful princess happily.

It really must have been tough, being separated from her family like that.

“Normally,” she continued, “a low-ranking noble making a direct request of His Majesty during an audience would be grounds for arrest! I had no idea you were so courageous. So well, I…”

“……”

Apparently, my actions had been more extreme than I’d imagined. No wonder Duke Einhart was so out of sorts. Hearing Lady Elsa’s words, I broke out in a cold sweat—hours after the fact. But I supposed there was no point worrying over what was already done. In the end, everything went well, so maybe I should just be happy about that for now.

But I need to be way more careful in the future, that’s for sure.

“Thank you, Baron Sasaki,” she said. “For saving me!”

“Please, don’t mention it. We’re very happy with how things turned out as well.”

Aside from Peeps and me, only Count Müller and Lady Elsa were in the dining hall. The count probably wanted to secure as much time as possible to talk with the Lord Starsage; his wife and son didn’t know the distinguished sparrow on my shoulder could speak, after all.

“Lord Sasaki,” said the count, “I’d like to thank you as well.”

“Please, you don’t need to be so formal. We’re more than happy we were able to help.”

“And you don’t need to be considerate toward me just because my daughter is with us…”

After exchanging greetings, Count Müller invited us to sit down at the rather large, circular dining table. The chairs were spread out around it at equal intervals, forming a square. Next to one of them was a little perch.

The food was brought out immediately. Once the party of maids confirmed everything was ready for us to eat, they gave little bows and exited the room. As long as the door—which probably led to the kitchen—was closed, nobody would overhear our conversation. Owing to that, Peeps was free to join in.

“By the way, Lord Sasaki,” said Count Müller a short while after we began to eat, “regarding the issue of shoring up the Rectan Plains’s defenses…” His eyes kept glancing over at the sparrow as he spoke. It seemed like he was going to broach the topic of our future work. I, too, wanted to get a read on the situation as soon as possible.

As for the bird in question, he was hopping around on the table’s surface, deftly using his beak to peck at the thinly sliced meats stacked on his plate. If he was going to that much effort, he must have a high opinion of the food.

“Is there something on your mind, my lord?” I asked.

“If possible, I wanted to ask about your immediate plans,” he explained.

“And what will you do with that information?”

“I would very much like to assist you, if you’ll have me.”

“We’re only creating a few walls. It won’t take that much time or effort.”

“Still, I am concerned any carelessness might invite the Ohgen Empire’s wrath…”

I was concerned about the same thing. Peeps had told me he’d handle it, but I couldn’t help being curious anyway. After all, this would greatly affect the lives of whoever we put to the task. The count, for his part, presided over a town not too far away.

“There’s nothing you need worry about. I’ll handle everything myself.”

“Still…”

“This time, however, we will need just a few extra hands. If you might aid us with the procurement of materials and such, it would be a great help. I shall contact you when the time comes. I might send a messenger, depending on how things play out.”

“Understood. I would be more than happy to offer my assistance.” A smile broke out on Count Müller’s face.

Whoa, he looks positively elated. Was it because the Starsage had asked him for a favor? Peeps did have an aloof side to him, after all.

“Daddy, what’s all this about?”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“How come you’re being so polite to Sasaki’s familiar…?”

As the youthful princess looked on in confusion, Count Müller grew nervous.

Come to think of it, while Lady Elsa knew the bird could talk, she didn’t realize the Starsage was alive. She must have been wondering why her dad—the one with the most authority in town—was humbling himself so much before a bird. It was a heartwarming father-daughter scene, and as an unmarried, middle-aged man, it made my heart feel just a tiny bit empty.

Naturally, my attention focused in on the bird I’d only recently adopted.

“……”

No, I couldn’t get greedy. It was so long ago that I’d decided to adopt a bird and visited that pet shop. Back then, I promised myself that one day I would cup my pet in my hand and pet it with my thumb. At this point, however, even just petting him on the head seemed an impossible task. I wondered if he’d get mad at me if I suggested getting him a sibling.

“…What is it? Something on your mind?”

“Oh, nothing.”

“Is that so? Well, all right.”

And just like that, we leisurely passed the rest of the evening.

We spent the night at Count Müller’s estate, and in the morning, we set off from the capital. Our destination was the Rectan Plains, which we’d be reaching with—as always—sparrow magic.

The reason for our trip was to eliminate any concerns regarding relations with the Ohgen Empire—as Count Müller had pointed out the night before. We’d been planning to visit the Kepler Trading Company for business that day, but Peeps himself suggested we carry out this task first. I assumed he had a whole host of concerns on his mind as well.

“That gigantic hole is still there, huh.”

“It was too much of a bother to fill it back in.”

We were currently flying through the sky. Below us was the big hole—the one the Starsage had previously created with his magic. Over ten thousand Ohgen Empire troops had been stationed in this area, and the memory of how they were obliterated in less than a few minutes was still fresh in my mind. And now there was a huge hole in the grassy plains where the soldiers had disappeared. It was so deep you couldn’t see the bottom; looking at it terrified me.

“Should we just leave it like that?” I wondered aloud. “I feel like it would be dangerous…”

“My plan is to use the hole as part of our response to the Ohgen Empire.”

What a vague response. Were we going to construct a humongous pitfall trap? No, no. Such a scheme would be unbecoming of the Lord Starsage. Just covering the top of it would be an enormous project—probably just as difficult as building a bridge over a great river.

“…What are you thinking?” I ventured.

“The hole is perfect for large-bodied monsters to nest in, don’t you think?”

“Sorry, but the only creatures of that size I’ve ever seen are orcs.”

“Now that you mention it, that is true…”

Well, and the reptilian we saw on the news. To prepare for my future life in this otherworld, it would probably be a good idea to learn about its representative fauna, at least. I wondered if there was a zoo here, or some similar facility. If not, then I’d love to at least peruse an illustrated field guide. I’ll ask Count Müller at some point—I bet he’d have one in his storehouses or something.

“What I’m getting at is this—our monsters will be more similar to my current form.”

“Similar to you, Peeps?”

“Familiars. I was thinking of using a few to curb the Ohgen Empire.”

“Oh, I get it.”

The word familiar had been popping up ever since I’d first visited this world. Familiars—creatures that were absolutely obedient to their master’s instructions. According to previous explanations, any wild animal or monster you captured or called forth using summoning magic, then put under your command, was considered a familiar. Apparently, some who tried to rein in things more powerful than they were fell victim to counterattacks, however.

“I’d like to hold the Ohgen Empire’s troops far away from the border for a while by having a wild dragon take up residence in the hole. That way, the two of us can remain behind the scenes while still maintaining the area’s safety as the bulwarks are constructed.”

“What? You can just tame a dragon like that?”

“It depends on the type of dragon.”

Dragons, huh? That made me super curious—these were dragons we were talking about! I’d encountered much upon first coming to this world that seemed straight out of a fantasy novel, but the word dragon just hit different. When people talked about fantasy worlds, it was all about dragons, and when they talked about dragons, it was all about fantasy worlds. The two ideas were joined at the hip.

If it was possible, I wanted to have one as a pet. Even just a small one. Maybe one that could fit in the palm of my hand and made cute little squeaking noises.

“As far as I can see, the Ohgen Empire’s forces haven’t made any moves to return here. I can’t sense anyone inside the hole, either, so let’s send a few in right away. With this much space, we could place several here without causing an issue.”

“Will nearby villages be all right?”

“I’ll command them not to attack people.”

“This magic sounds surprisingly adaptable.”

“That depends on the power of the caster.”

As we made light conversation, a magic circle appeared in front of Peeps. At the same time, another of a very similar design appeared just above the great hole. I figured the creatures would appear from the second one.

My heart started to pound with anticipation. What sort of dragons would he summon?

As if in response to my excitement, things began to develop below. Once the magic circles had appeared, Peeps began to incant a spell. As he finished, the magic circles began to pulse wildly with light, like a heartbeat.

Meanwhile, an image materialized above the second circle. The silhouette looked like something you’d find in the results of an internet search for the word dragon.

It had a pair of large wings, a longish neck, plus a head sporting a huge jaw and magnificent horns. Its body had thick flesh, and it walked on all fours, just like a dinosaur. Golden scales covered its entire body. The dragon had a very western design—like the one on the flag of Wales.

Right after it was summoned, its jaw turned toward the sky and opened wide.

Roooooaaaaaaar!! came its loud cry, echoing all through the area.

It made my ears hurt, to put it mildly.

The dragon itself was about the size of an apartment complex. It would have been able to crush an entire shed or small dwelling with ease. Even one of its eyes, now turned to look up at us, appeared bigger than my head.

It seemed a little too big to keep as a pet.

In fact, it was downright terrifying. It seemed like it might charge us at any moment.

“Peeps, that’s a really strong-looking dragon…”

“Any weaker variety would simply be exterminated by the Empire.”

He was right—you’d need nerves of steel to pick a fight with something that looked like that. I’d definitely take the long way around. At any rate, I doubted my intermediate lightning magic would stand a chance against it. I’d need stronger spells, and several of them, to prepare—plus friends who would help me escape if it didn’t work out. Actually, if it was going to require that much effort, I’d rather not try it at all.

“Yeah, I can’t imagine anyone defeating that dragon.”

“Not true. Assemble enough people, and it would be surprisingly possible.”

“Wait, really?”

“But the sacrifices would be great. I doubt the Ohgen Empire would try to force an attack. Even if their troops were able to eliminate the dragon, if they tried to invade in their weakened state, they’d be in for a rough time of it.”

“I see. So it’s kind of like a bouncer, in that sense.”

“Exactly.”

Personally, I’d prefer neither side to suffer. I doubted the dragon wanted to get hurt, either. After its initial roar, it had turned rather docile as it watched us floating overhead. Judging by behavior alone, it was basically a well-trained dog. And when I thought about it like that, I started to find it sort of cute.

“Our little buddy has some gorgeous golden scales, huh?”

“People mainly call dragons of this variety golden dragons.”

The faint sunlight reflected off its scales, making them sparkle. Outside the hole, they’d probably shine even more.

“It reminds me of the portrait of you I saw in the hallway leading to the audience chamber.”

“…You saw that?”

In his lifetime, Peeps had been a very handsome blond. That was how the portrait had depicted him, at least. The sparrow’s response to my casual remark was rather disappointing. Maybe I’d stirred up some lingering regrets about his former body. Or maybe there was another reason. Whatever the case, it seemed wise to give the topic a wide berth. That was a little insensitive of me. Sorry, Peeps.

“Come to think of it, you’re going to summon a few more, right?”

“I would feel uneasy with just one. I’d like to summon another two or three.”

“They won’t fight with each other or anything, will they?”

“Unless something very out of the ordinary happens, I can simply instruct them not to.”

After that, he called forth two more similar dragons, successfully completing our work in the Rectan Plains for now. If they were a little smaller and cuter, I might have wanted to come back and check on them—but these dragons were a little too rough and scary, so I decided I’d keep my distance.

For now, I’d just trust Peeps and leave them be. The Ohgen Empire’s armies wouldn’t come anywhere near such terrifying creatures.

Once we’d finished our work on the Rectan Plains, we headed for the Republic of Lunge to visit the Kepler Trading Company and deliver goods we’d promised. After asking for Mr. Joseph at the main store’s entrance, we were promptly shown to a reception room. Luckily for us, the man seemed to have returned from the Kingdom of Herz.

“I’m glad to see you again, Mr. Sasaki,” he said.

“Thank you for making the time to visit us. I know you were busy last month.”

I’d gotten pretty used to this sort of exchange. We traded words over a low table between two sofas; Peeps was on my shoulder.

I wasted no time delivering the goods I had promised them. Recently, I’d been bringing more of the items I had previously brought in using a rucksack or a shopping cart. It was extremely difficult to carry them all at once, so we’d begun to use a storehouse nearby. It had been provided by the Kepler Trading Company and allowed us to securely store our wares.

Time still flowed at significantly different rates here and in the modern world. Even just transporting wares over several trips caused multiple hours to pass here—and sometimes a whole day would go by. I was thankful to have somewhere with restricted entry for this task.

“Before you ask,” I said, “I brought the more unwieldy goods, like the sugar, to the storehouse we discussed previously. Would you mind confirming delivery? I’ll be staying in town until then.”

“Of course. I’ll have those in charge check on it.”

Mr. Joseph clapped, and someone immediately came along. After a few whispers from Mr. Joseph, the man hurried back out of the room. I wondered if he was going to have the goods checked while we were talking. The only thing left was to deliver the products we had on hand, like the simple electronic devices—calculators, first and foremost—as well as other manufactured goods we thought might be in high demand in this world.

“I’m happy to see you again as well, Mr. Marc,” I continued. “I see the color has returned to your cheeks.”

“Yes, and thank you so much for everything you did last month, Mr. Sasaki.”

Mr. Marc was sitting next to Mr. Joseph during our visit. Perhaps it was my lingering impression of him locked in a jail cell that made him seem so happy and energetic now. Even the clothes he wore appeared to be several degrees fancier than when I’d first visited him at the Hermann Trading Company.

“How is the Marc Trading Company doing?”

“Extremely well, thanks to Mr. Joseph. We plan on opening a branch in Baytrium in the coming days, too. I’d like to use it to coordinate with the Hermann Trading Company to support you and Count Müller.”

“That’s very good to hear.”

“Oh? Will you be needing something in the near future, then?”

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

Well, wasn’t this conversation moving along swimmingly? I felt a little bad since we’d just met each other again, but I needed to discuss the homework Duke Einhart had given us during our audience with His Majesty—all that stuff about building defensive structures along the border with the Ohgen Empire.

Peeps and I had already determined how we’d go about it. I, Baron Sasaki, would put in a personal order with the Marc Trading Company, asking them for help procuring the necessary material and labor. Then they’d probably subcontract the Hermann Trading Company for the actual work. With the latter’s roots in Baytrium, I trusted it wouldn’t be difficult.

“Such, er, drastic measures once again…,” stammered Mr. Marc.

“Could I possibly ask for your help with this?” I said.

“Will you be receiving support from the Kingdom of Herz or neighboring feudal lords?” asked Mr. Joseph. “If not, I’m pretty sure the Ohgen Empire’s troops would simply trample it. And our company doesn’t have the military might needed to oppose the Empire’s regular soldiers.”

“We already have that handled, actually,” I assured him.

I’d been waiting for this point to come up and explained what we’d just finished preparing—for some reason, several very large wild dragons had taken up residence near the border on the Rectan Plains, but they wouldn’t attack anyone from the Kingdom of Herz, so workers could labor at a nice, leisurely pace without worrying about the Empire.

“As you all know, the Kingdom of Herz is in decline,” I continued. “However, I have poured no small amount of capital into the country, and I would like to stay there for the foreseeable future. So won’t you lend me your trust?”

This was for Peeps’s sake, too, so I was ready to really plead with them.

At my words, Mr. Marc looked surprised. “Dragons to curb the Ohgen Empire…?”

“I apologize. I am aware of how odd it sounds.”

“No, no. If you say so, I believe it. All right. Count Müller has done a lot for me as well, so please allow me to repay my debts to you both.”

“Thank you for understanding,” I replied.

Great! We’d gotten him to trust us. I wouldn’t have trusted me, had I been in his shoes. Dragons along the national border? It sounded totally crazy.

His staid reaction was shared, however, by the one listening in at his side—Mr. Joseph. When Mr. Marc nodded, Mr. Joseph continued, without so much as a hint of doubt about the dragon situation.

“Do you intend to take an aggressive position regarding the Ohgen Empire, Mr. Sasaki?”

It was only natural he would ask such a question, but I would prefer he not draw any hasty conclusions. I had zero intentions of getting into a fight with the Ohgen Empire.

“Oh, no, of course not,” I said. “This is merely for our own financial benefit.”

“Really?”

“It wouldn’t be good for the Kepler Trading Company if the Empire goes into decline, would it?”

“What a carefree statement. It both fascinates me and makes me hesitant.”

Maintaining relations with other countries had to be far more profitable than palling around with us. I wasn’t about to ask to be first place in his book—in fact, I’d give up second and third place, too. I had no desire to start throwing my weight around. I merely hoped we could continue our friendly relationship, even if we were more of an extra business partner for him.

“Is that point of view related to the nature of your products, Mr. Sasaki?” asked Mr. Joseph.

“I’d appreciate it if you saw it that way,” I replied.

“Then I understand. I’ll give Mr. Marc what assistance I can render.”

“Are you sure, sir?”

“We’ve gotten a lot of inquiries and orders for the products you’ve sold us in the past. If you would do us the honor of providing them wholesale in the future, we can expect significant profits. I look forward to the Marc Trading Company’s success as much as anyone.”

“Well, all right then.”

We even managed to get Mr. Joseph’s backing—I hadn’t expected that.

And so once again, today’s dealings ended harmoniously.

The day after we finished our business with the Kepler Trading Company, we headed for Baytrium, the town governed by Count Müller. We explained to those at the Hermann Trading Company and Mr. French what we’d talked about with Mr. Marc the day before.

None of this had much to do with Mr. French, but I wanted to apprise him of the situation just in case. And when I did, he said—very firmly and fervently—that he wanted to help us out. I supposed a lot of his enthusiasm came from the thought of performing a service for his town.

I also told him to ask Count Müller if he needed anything. They weren’t completely unknown to one another, and if I could get everyone on good terms, then there wouldn’t be any unexpected problems—at least, not around Baytrium.

As for our finances, we entrusted Mr. Marc with all the large gold coins we had on hand—five hundred—about half of what we’d earned so far. Peeps said we should be fine with about that much for the time being. Maybe we’d be able to start the work in earnest when we next visited. We were more than ready to hole up in Count Müller’s territory for the next few years, using the bulwarks’ construction as our excuse.

Thinking about it like that, things were going fairly well. But as we flitted about from place to place, before we knew it, several days had passed. I didn’t even have time to practice my magic during our stay. Next time, I wanted to come for more of a vacation and enjoy this world. Peeps was in agreement.

As our conversation began to wander, we decided to return to the modern world.

But that only lasted for a moment. After turning back this way, he addressed us once again. “Hey. Who are you people?”

We ended up staring at one another across a gap of a few meters. I was willing to introduce myself—in fact, there was a whole lot I wanted him to tell me. But there were people here. We couldn’t speak carelessly. The pedestrians around us were already starting to slip phone cameras out of their pockets.

“Ms. Futarishizuka, please contact the chief,” I said.

“I’m on it,” she replied.

“Magical girl, I’d appreciate it if you came down to the ground…”

“All right,” she answered. “I’ll do as you say, magical middle-aged man.”

“Thank you.”

Ms. Futarishizuka began to contact the chief, phone in one hand, while the magical girl made landfall beside her. I’d be taking charge of the conversation with the boy.

“Were you ever able to see me when we met in the past?”

“What do you mean?” I responded. “I believe today is the first time we’ve met, unless I’m mistaken.”

“……”

Though he was a boy, I immediately switched into my formal, businesslike tone. After all, the kid was a murderer who could kill with his fists alone. Inside, I was shaking with terror over the nearby corpses, from which blood was still draining.

Perhaps he was like Ms. Futarishizuka: a psychic whose real age didn’t correlate with his appearance. I still had questions about how he’d managed to fly, but his incredible physical capabilities matched the characteristics of Futarishizuka’s energy drain.

Regardless, I needed more information to make any decisions. For now, I’d try to keep the existence of psychic powers on the down-low.

“Anyway, are you all right? That’s a lot of blood.” I asked the question in an exaggerated tone, since the boy was bright red with blood spatter. It was to appeal to the pedestrians nearby—to make them think we were just here by coincidence as well.

From the boy’s point of view, I probably sounded utterly shameless, but I trusted it would be meaningful to those who had just encountered us. Official authority was on our side, and we already controlled the media. All that was left was for me to make decisions on the ground.

The magical girl had only been floating for a few moments at most, so the bureau could probably cover it up without too much trouble. The problem was the human remains—the corpses of Takayoshi and Naomi. I wanted to hand them over to the bureau before the local police could arrive. That would give us more flexibility.

“I won’t be able to tell her about this,” said the boy.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

Right now, my biggest point of focus was the boy in front of me. His actions would greatly affect my future as a public servant. I might even have to fight him as a magical middle-aged man, if the situation called for it. My pockets were lined, thanks to Ms. Futarishizuka, but if possible, I wanted to keep my position as a government employee. Being able to borrow the might of the government meant my days were filled with peace and security. When I’d told Ms. Futarishizuka I preferred to stick with the biggest player, I hadn’t been lying. It was necessary to achieve the laid-back life I’d promised Peeps as well.

“Nothing. Just talking to myself.”

“The police will be here soon,” I told him. “You should contact your parents or guardians if you can—”

But the boy completely ignored me and turned around, the black cape across his shoulders fluttering—another elegant motion. Though young, his handsome features implied that, in a few years’ time, he’d be breaking women’s hearts for sure. In fact, he was quite charming as he was now. To a woman with that kind of taste, the boy’s looks would probably be irresistible.

“Anyway, I’ll be going now!”

“Hey, wait a minute—”

At some point, a human wall had formed around the corpses, and it was through it that the boy left. Without being certain of his capabilities, I hesitated to stop him. It wouldn’t have mattered if Peeps had been with me, but I could only handle rank-B psychics on my own, no matter how hard I tried. Even with Futarishizuka’s help, any A ranks would be a lot of trouble—I had become sure of that ever since my fight with the nerd.

So for now, all I could do was see the boy off without protest. He quickly disappeared into the crowd. At about the same time, I started to hear the sirens of emergency vehicles. I could also catch the roar of helicopter rotors in the distance.

“Hmm. You know…,” said Futarishizuka, trailing off.

“What is it?” I prompted.

“There’s something that bothers me about all this,” she said, having finished contacting the chief and still holding her phone in one hand. Her eyes were on the screen. “We’ve been walking for quite a while, haven’t we?”

“Yes, we have.”

We were pretty far from her car, too, and it would be a pain to walk all the way back now. The car, at least, was an expensive foreign model, so I doubted anyone would mistreat it even if we left it alone.

The more pressing matter was probably the site of the battle with the magical girl we’d left behind.

“Well, it looks like time has gone back,” said Ms. Futarishizuka.

“I’m sorry?”

For a moment, I didn’t understand what she’d said. I decided to look at my own phone, hoping to find an answer.

And she was right—the time had reverted, judging by the numbers on the screen. The clock in the corner displayed something earlier than what I’d seen when I checked the signal after everyone disappeared. I was sure of it; I’d been planning to request overtime pay. You got paid more for early mornings, as well as any other time outside normal work hours.

I looked to the side, but the bike I’d grabbed was nowhere in sight, either.

“It’s almost as if we’ve been fooled by a pack of foxes.”

“I guess I won’t be able to file for overtime now…”

Then what, exactly, happened to those wages? There was supposed to be hazard pay, too, which multiplied my base rate by a fixed amount. In fact, Miss Hoshizaki often worked early in the morning and late at night specifically to get hazard pay.

“…You’re unexpectedly firm about such things,” remarked Ms. Futarishizuka.

“Not as much as you, I’m sure,” I replied.

I didn’t want to consider it, but maybe the time we spent in that empty world didn’t count toward time in the real world. I was aware of a precedent for differing time flows, at least, due to the otherworld. Once the notion occurred to me, I found myself surprisingly ready to accept it. In fact, Ms. Futarishizuka already looked more troubled than I did.

After watching our exchange, the magical girl suddenly said, “I’m going home for today.”

“This may sound like a strange question,” I said, “but are you sure?”

For my part, I’d be very grateful if she left. Maybe Futarishizuka protecting her during the angel attack in the empty world had some effect. Come to think of it, she’d also backed down when faced with a wounded child, so she appeared to have a working conscience. She just hated psychics more than she knew how to handle.

“Bye-bye, magical middle-aged man.”

The magical girl waved her stick. There were tearing sounds, and next to her, a pitch-black maw opened up—her Magical Field. I would have preferred she didn’t use something like that with everyone watching, but I couldn’t exactly stop her, so I just let her leave.

It’s a lot better than her flying away through the sky, I decided. Her withdrawal happened in a matter of seconds.

“No good-bye for me, I see,” remarked Ms. Futarishizuka.

“Hey, there’s always next time,” I assured her.

“I’m not sure I want to see her again.”

“Don’t get greedy now.”

In the meantime, the police arrived on the scene. Right after that, a helicopter landed and unloaded some bureau members. They argued over who was in charge, but once a bureau member in a suit flashed his badge, the local police assumed an attitude of respect and gave in. The total one-eighty really hammered home how strict the hierarchy was in police organizations. It was a little scary, to be honest.

“Excuse me, but might you be Chief Inspector Sasaki?”

“What?”

No sooner had the police department been delegated to fieldwork than one of the bureau members who had alighted from the helicopter came up and asked me a question. I felt a little weird hearing the unfamiliar title alongside my name. If memory served, I was supposed to be a detective.

“I never knew you had such a serious-sounding title,” commented Ms. Futarishizuka.

“I don’t remember getting one…”

Wait, no—something like that had happened. I got the feeling the chief had told me I’d be promoted after scouting Ms. Futarishizuka—or something like that. I’d accepted and gone out for some day-drinking, too, all paid for with taxpayer money. Apparently, Miss Hoshizaki had the same position.

Belatedly, I realized why she and I had been given such an ill-fitting title—it was so we could give orders to the local police in situations like these. If I started acting smug or throwing my weight around, they’d probably strip the title from me in no time.

“The situation is in your hands,” said the man from the bureau. “The section chief has already filled us in on the details.”

“Is that in my job description?” I asked.

“You’re the highest-ranking person here, Chief Inspector Sasaki.”

“…I see.”

In television dramas and such, being a chief inspector or higher meant you mainly did desk work. And that was probably true in some cases—after all, this situation had unfolded quite suddenly.

But as I spoke with the man, he wouldn’t stop directing his attention to Ms. Futarishizuka. He was repeatedly glancing at her even as we conversed. He probably knew exactly who she was.

He must have been able to make a beeline for me directly after arriving because the chief had told him she’d be close by. The gorgeous, kimono-clad young girl would stand out even in a dense crowd. She was the perfect signpost to lead him to me.

“Understood,” I finally replied. “Then first, let’s deal with the surveillance cameras in the area…”

There were a lot of things I wanted to keep secret, including our relationship with the magical girl. With that in mind, I decided to handle things as I saw fit. If I racked up some accomplishments I could show off to the section chief, I’d have an easier time at the bureau, too. I’d gotten a promotion very soon after being hired, and it was likely some people wouldn’t take kindly to that.

I wanted to make sure everyone—including those in other departments—believed that I was working hard, whatever the actual case may be.

I told the knight that I’d had my familiar use a healing spell, and he accepted the explanation. Fortunately, he hadn’t heard the bird talk, which helped curb his suspicion.

Lady Elsa’s will, however, remained firm.

“To repeat,” she declared so that everyone could hear, “I would rather die than cause an issue for you, Father.”

She was now sitting on a sofa in the reception room. Count Müller sat next to her. I was across from them, and Peeps was perched on his tree on the low table. The knight had been ordered by the count to leave the room. In the past, that had earned me a glare from him, but now that I’d been made a baron, the man left with a respectful bow.

“Elsa,” began the count, “I want you to listen very closely.”

“What is it, Father?”

“I would never sacrifice your life to protect this house.”

“Is that not an irresponsible stance, as the head of House Müller?”

“……”

The count fell silent. The youthful princess hadn’t hesitated for even a second. I watched her father’s lonely expression as he struggled to think of something to say, and I wondered how he felt about all this. His emotions must have been a tangled mess—pride mixed with sadness, perhaps.

“Hence,” Elsa continued, “my unfortunate inability to thank any of you.” Her stare was now set on Peeps and me. She’d fully made up her mind, and the determined look on her face was full of dignity, implying she’d quickly do it again if we left her alone.

“Isn’t there any way I can talk you out of this?” asked the count.

“I want to assist you just as much everyone else,” she replied. “Barring that, at the very least, I don’t want to hold you back. I beg you, Father, please let me go. I could not stomach the thought of living a life that only causes our family trouble.”

It was very like her, to get this determined once she’d landed on an idea. But at this rate, she and her father would never see eye to eye.

Then a voice joined in from a different party—one who seemed discontent to simply watch in silence: Peeps.

“In that case, I have a proposition.”

My distinguished sparrow returned to his perch on the table. He had to tilt his head upward to look at the count and his daughter, which naturally emphasized his beak and the fluffy down on his chest, both of which were adorable. All present turned to look at him.

“Wh-what might that be?” asked Elsa.

“I would like to suggest something similar to what you have already done once in the past.”

“…Something I did?”

“Yes,” replied Peeps, his big round eyes drifting over toward me. “We will pretend for a while that the girl has died and keep her safe in this man’s world.”

In other words, he wanted to shelter her in modern Japan.

“Time flows at a different rate there. Several years spent here would amount to a mere few months in his world. This way, we will be able to escape Lewis’s scheme without wasting a young girl’s important premarriage life.”

Marriage certainly didn’t make much sense when one party was dead. If we came up with some excuse, like Lady Elsa being kidnapped by bandits on the way to the capital, and hid her away, while it might lead to criticism, the other party would be out of luck. It was possible rumors might spread that the count himself was responsible, but that would also serve to prove the count’s loyalty to the second prince. It wasn’t a completely disadvantageous proposition, considering the feudal attitudes of the Kingdom of Herz.

In addition, the king had set a five-year time limit on all issues surrounding the royal succession, and several months had already gone by. Though it would depend on the nature of the first prince’s plans, if she was to go into hiding for two or three years, the world would move right along without her.

Finally, Lady Elsa herself had spoken of wanting to travel to modern Japan. If Count Müller allowed it, we could implement this solution immediately.

“Please wait a moment, birdie!” insisted Lady Elsa.

“What is it?”

Count Müller’s face broke into panic at his daughter brazenly calling the Lord Starsage he so admired simply “birdie.” It made the man look a little cute, which was totally unfair.

His daughter ignored him and continued to speak. “Sasaki already explained to me that it wouldn’t work out.”

“The situation has changed since then, wouldn’t you say?”

“I would have to agree with Peeps there.”

The sparrow didn’t seem bothered in the slightest by the girl’s lack of courtesy. His proposal seemed to be based on our relationship with Ms. Futarishizuka.

Compared to when he’d first placed the curse on her, we’d come to realize through our mutual dealings how accommodating she could be. The biggest example of this was the warehouse she’d procured for our otherworldly business transactions. With Peeps’s help and Futarishizuka’s connections, we could even shelter Elsa overseas. It hadn’t been long since she’d joined me as a colleague at the bureau, but I’d already come to understand her a lot better—though I figured much of this relationship was due to our healthy payments in exchange for her services.

“…I-is that true?” asked Lady Elsa.

“We won’t force you, of course. It may only be a few months to you, but a few years will go by in this world. Should any misfortune befall your family in the meantime, you wouldn’t be able to go to their aid.”

“……”

“In addition, if anything was to happen to us, you would have no way of returning here. You would never see your family again. You would end up living out your entire life there, without anyone to rely on.”

When he put it that way, I realized she was in a similar position to me—though I didn’t worry too much myself. If I were married in my own world, I would never have been able to take the risk. Maybe Peeps had confirmed that I wasn’t before talking to me. After all, he’d been adopted into a tiny, shabby apartment. If circumstances had been different, I could easily envision a distressing mishap by which my brand-new sparrow ran away from home.

But that was all in the past, so it was time to stop thinking about it. We’re together now. That’s enough, isn’t it?

“I see no problem with it,” she said. “That would eliminate my father’s cause for worry.”

“Please, wait, Elsa,” insisted the count. “You should think this through.”

“Father, I’ve never had such an opportunity before. There’s no need to be pessimistic.”

“…What do you mean?” asked the count.

A smile appeared on Lady Elsa’s face—it was an expression I’d glimpsed the previous time she’d wound up in my world. “Sasaki’s world is so much more sophisticated than ours. Seeing it all with my own eyes and learning from it would be well worth the risks. If I can bring a part of it back here, I’ll be able to help you even more!”

She was coming across like an exam student pestering her parents to let her attend a university in the city instead of the local junior college they preferred. Going to a four-year university instead of a smaller school would net her higher income for the rest of her life, and so on and so forth. I was sure many kids had conversations like this with their families—though, in her case, it involved a little more than just going off to school.

“A-and I won’t go around blabbing to everyone that there’s another world, either!” added Elsa—this was probably in response to my previous warning. “But if I’m able to apply some of that world’s ideas to this one, it might help our town’s development.”

“Elsa, I believe you, and I think you’re correct,” said Count Müller. “But doing this would put you in competition with Lord Sasaki’s business. I hope you haven’t assumed you’ll be able to get their assistance that easily. What can you offer them in return?”

She looked taken aback. “That is, well…”

“Everything they’ve offered has been purely out of goodwill,” he chided her gently, likely to show consideration for the Starsage.

The Starsage, however, seemed like he couldn’t care less. “That world’s knowledge is considerably advanced. They also use a different spoken language and writing system. I doubt she would be able to gain enough information to compete with us through only a few months’ sojourn. Even if she did find something to take back, bringing that knowledge to fruition in this world would likely take many years indeed.”

“But are you certain about this?” asked the count.

“Those are my thoughts on the matter. What about you?”

“If it calms Lady Elsa down, then I’m fine with it,” I replied. She already tried to hang herself once—I couldn’t exactly refuse. I didn’t want to think about what would happen if I did and she made a second attempt.

Also, the proposal was coming from the Lord Starsage this time. At the very least, he was apparently willing to watch over her, and it would only be for a few months over there. That meant I wouldn’t have much of a personal burden.

Count Müller’s expression shifted into one of apology. “…Lord Sasaki,” he said hesitantly.

It’s been one difficulty after another for him lately, I thought. It made me want to ask the Starsage to shoot him a quick healing spell on our way out.

“I am truly sorry for troubling you time and time again,” he said.

“Please, don’t worry about it,” I replied. “You’ve done so much for us already.”

Without the count, we would have had a much more difficult time gaining a foothold in this world. Especially when it came to the royal palace. If not for his good relationship with the second prince, everything would have been a lot tougher. He had truly helped us; that wasn’t a lie.

Appearing to understand my feelings, the count nodded slightly. “All right. Elsa, if Lord Sasaki and his familiar are in agreement, then I will honor your decision. But you will swear on the family name that you will never cause trouble for them, do you understand?”

“Yes!” said Lady Elsa. “I’ll be sure to keep my promise with you, Father!”

And so thanks to Peeps’s proposal, Lady Elsa would be traveling back to modern Japan with us. I couldn’t say I had zero qualms about it, however, given how much we owed Ms. Futarishizuka at this point. I’d better add a little extra to our next round of ingots, I mused.

We spent the night at Count Müller’s estate, then headed for the Republic of Lunge the next day. We had a deal to make with Mr. Joseph and Mr. Marc.

In the meantime, we asked Lady Elsa to prepare for our eventual departure. I knew girls needed several things when staying over at someone else’s place, and the same was probably true in this world. What’s more, we didn’t have a concrete duration for her stay, so we had prepared for the possibility of an extension.

Meanwhile, Peeps and I got to work transforming our modern goods into gold ingots. Like before, we had a large quantity of sugar, as well as several types of manufactured goods that had already proved their worth here. In addition, now that the healing properties of the sample drugs we’d brought had been confirmed, we’d added more of that stock as well.

With everything included, we made about twice the amount we’d left with Mr. Marc for the construction of the bulwarks. Now that Ms. Futarishizuka had officially joined our little team, we’d increased our sugar imports, which had led to big returns. We could expect similar selling prices in the future.

All the products we brought in would be sold under the name of the Marc Trading Company, which itself was now under the Kepler Trading Company’s banner. Mr. Joseph and Mr. Marc would take care of all that; the agreement was that Peeps and I would stay clear of that aspect of the business.

“By the way, Mr. Joseph,” I said, “I don’t see Mr. Marc today.”

“After your discussion last time, he headed for the site,” replied Mr. Joseph. “He’ll be overseeing the establishment of the Baytrium branch and staying there for a while. It will probably be a bit longer before he returns.”

“Ah, I see.” He might really be devoting a lot of his time to this, I thought. Knowing he was running around for our sake made me feel pretty guilty, though it was a bit late for that now.

Unfortunately, our stays in this world had a time limit for the moment. The section chief had given me that new task, so I could only spend a few hours of Earth time here. This trip would be over soon, too, once I’d figured out Lady Elsa’s passage with Ms. Futarishizuka.

All I could do was send some financial support. I’ll pass on some of our profits, just in case.

“I deeply apologize for asking something like this of you,” I continued, “but the next time you see Mr. Marc, would you give him half of the profits on this sale as additional capital and my own thanks?”

“That would be a hefty sum,” pointed out Mr. Joseph. “Are you sure?”

“I am.” I could simply wait for the payment to come from the Kepler Trading Company and pay Mr. Marc a visit directly, but going to him with such a large lump sum of gold would probably cause him trouble. And after all, none of that was urgent, so the Elsa matter took priority in my mind.

“You’re a very prompt decision-maker, Mr. Sasaki,” remarked Mr. Joseph.

“My relationship with my supplier has improved, so I have a little more room to maneuver these days.”

“…I see.”

I was already leaving everything to Mr. Marc, so I at least wanted to make sure his funds didn’t run out. I could always start bringing in more product the next week.

Apparently, a lot more inquiries had been coming in for our wares, and the modern industrial goods were starting to become a hot topic in the Republic of Lunge. I wasn’t surprised to hear that solar-powered calculators were highly prized here as well.

The sedatives, too, were flying off the shelves. Evidently, there were tons of people who, for example, feared assassination on a daily basis. Given that this world was fairly dangerous, the upper class was practically begging for them. I was told that if I was to bring the same number of them next time, I could sell them for twice the price. I did, however, make myself very clear when explaining the need for caution regarding dependence. In any case, our worlds may have been different, but human hearts seemed just as frail in both.

After finishing our business negotiations, we stayed in the Republic of Lunge for the night at Mr. Joseph’s insistence. We were given perfect hospitality at an expensive-looking inn. The very next day, we returned to the town of Baytrium. My hangover was gone in a flash thanks to a healing spell.

Our destination was the high-class lodgings we’d been using ever since first coming to this world. In local time, we’d known the maid assigned to our room for several months now. Of course, it felt like much less to me.

After getting comfortable in the room, Peeps headed out, saying he would change all the gold coins from Lunge into ingots. In the meantime, I practiced the teleportation spell in the guest room. At this point, I doubted I’d forget its incantation for years to come.

I tasked myself with memorizing other incantations, too—specifically, the one Peeps had used to take out all the Ohgen Empire soldiers. My lightning magic had a pretty limited range, so I wanted a more wide-range attack spell. This spell was apparently classified as higher than advanced, so I was certain I wouldn’t have an easy time learning it. Still, memorizing its chant was a necessary step, so I’d decided to just learn the words, if nothing else. I’d already asked my pet sparrow for them and written them down.

Sitting calmly on the sofa, I muttered them to myself again and again. Naturally, the sight of the spell being cast came to mind. The flash of light had lit up the entire Rectan Plains that night, and it was still fresh in my memory.

As I was doing that, about halfway through the chant, something happened. I heard a vwoom, and a magic circle appeared at my feet.

“…!”

Oh, this is bad, I thought. If I had finished the chant, would it have actually gone off?

Considering I was in a private inn room at the moment, the idea rattled me. If it had gone off, it wouldn’t have just demolished this room—it would have leveled the entire building. No, the whole town. Just trying to imagine the number of casualties was terrifying.

What’s more, even Peeps had told me he would have trouble using it unless he was resting on my shoulder. I had no idea how much of a strain it would put on my body if I used it all by myself.

The sudden tension in my body made my mouth clamp shut, and in response, the magic circle at my feet rapidly darkened over a span of ten or so seconds, eventually losing its form and vanishing without a sound. It looked like I’d avoided casting the spell.

“…Magic is insane. This is insane.”

I realized my armpits were slick with sweat. Part of my apprehension was probably because I’d been learning everything in relative safety under Peeps’s supervision. This was a belated wake-up call, reminding me how incredibly scary magic could be. I’d never intended to use it carelessly, but I decided to be a little more cautious in the future. That went double when it came to this spell—I would only practice it with Peeps from now on—and never, ever chant it by myself.

Later, a guest arrived at the inn. According to the maid, the visitor was a servant of House Müller. Long story short, preparations were complete. I wasn’t told the details, but the knight serving as a messenger did ask me to head over to the estate. That had to mean they were finished setting up for Lady Elsa’s false death.

I would have preferred to have paid a visit to Mr. Marc, but I couldn’t make the servant of a count wait. While I was debating what to do, Peeps returned from his ingot making, and we ended up heading to the estate that day.

The plan was set: We’d be taking Lady Elsa back to modern Japan the very next day.

At the moment, Peeps and I were sitting in a wagon traveling up the road that led from the town of Baytrium to the capital, having set off from Count Müller’s estate. Our pretext was that we were traveling to Allestos for Elsa’s engagement with the first prince of Herz. Other than the two of us, only Count Müller and Lady Elsa knew what was to happen.

To suit the occasion, we had a pretty impressive procession of carriages. The hundreds of people walking nearby, including the soldiers escorting us, were a sight to behold, and there were more carriages than I could count on one hand.

One of those carriages was particularly extravagant—the one that held Count Müller and his daughter. Peeps and I were in the carriage behind them, standing by. The other carriages held the maidservants and the knights leading the escort, as well as some other related VIPs, apparently. Clearly, this was costing a fortune both in personnel and food expenditures. They even had one carriage with a kitchen set up in it.

For someone accustomed to riding bullet trains and airplanes, this view was new and different. But as the sun drifted along its arc, I found myself growing bored of it all pretty quickly. Long journeys by carriage were more arduous than I’d realized. Without healing magic, it would have absolutely ruined my hips.

A few days had passed since we left Baytrium when Peeps finally looked through the window at the scenery outside and said, “We should be clear.”

It seemed like the time had come to put our plan into action. With the Starsage himself as both planner and executor, I figured things would be fine. I was still getting jitters, though.

“I should just wait in here, right?” I asked.

“Yes. You may leave everything in my hands—well, talons.” The sparrow nodded to me, then fluttered up off my shoulder and out through the carriage window.

A moment later, events began to unfold.

The soldiers forming an escort perimeter around the carriages suddenly started shouting and yelling. According to the voices I could hear, it was bandits—bandits were attacking. I looked out the window and saw them all positioning themselves to defend the carriages.

As the horses were stopped, our surroundings grew raucous.

According to what Peeps had told me, he would be using an illusion spell. The plan was simple: Fake bandits would show up to attack and confuse everyone, then Peeps would use another spell to put everyone to sleep. While they slumbered, he would destroy the carriage Lady Elsa was in, and we would escape back to modern Japan with her.

In fact, I couldn’t actually see the bandits the soldiers were fighting. It looked like they had begun swinging their swords and spears at a calm, empty part of the road. It was pretty funny from my point of view.

And yet everyone present other than myself was afraid of something I couldn’t see. The servants in our ranks hid behind the carriages and trembled in fear. Some squatted to the ground and hugged themselves. It certainly didn’t seem like an act.

The only possible exceptions were the horses pulling the carriages. They were watching everyone with a sort of incredulousness.

A little later, there was a loud booming noise. It had come from pretty close by, so that was probably Peeps’s spell demolishing Lady Elsa’s carriage. I leaned out of the window to check—and as I expected, her vehicle’s roof had been blown off, and the whole thing was now a wreck. I couldn’t help but feel it was a little wasteful. However, the count had been clear they couldn’t afford to pull any punches.

Peeps returned to my carriage a few moments later, with Lady Elsa and Count Müller beside him.

Elsa carried a big travel bag. It was rectangular and made of wood and leather—the sort of trunk you might see in old black-and-white films. And it was fairly large, too; Lady Elsa herself could probably fit inside. I imagined she was getting some magical support to lift it.

The two of them climbed into the carriage, then closed the door behind them. Immediately, Count Müller offered me a deep bow. “Lord Sasaki,” he said, “please, take care of my daughter.”

“Yes, sir,” I replied. “I will protect her with my life.”

“Are you sure you’re ready to make that promise?” remarked Peeps.

“…That’s what Peeps said, anyway,” I hastily tacked on to my earlier statement.

“She will be safe with me.”

“But I’ll provide as much support as I can.”

Lady Elsa left the count’s side and came over to me and Peeps. The count watched all three of us; the carriage had been made for longer journeys and was just big enough to fit two adults and one child inside. Peeps had landed back on my shoulder as soon as he came in; he apparently needed to be in physical contact with me to cross worlds.

“I am truly sorry,” said the count. “If she acts selfishly, I want you to scold her for me.”

“H-hey, Daddy!” exclaimed Lady Elsa. “I’m not going to be selfish!”

“In my world, we have tools that can record video—moving pictures,” I explained. “I’ll record Lady Elsa, hale and healthy, and bring it to you during my next visit. That way, you can stay in touch, even if you can’t meet in person.”

“Thank you so much, Lord Sasaki. I can never repay you for this.”

“Let us be off, then. The rest is up to you, Julius.”

“Yes. Please, keep her safe.”

Peeps spoke, and a magic circle appeared at our feet—the teleportation magic I’d grown so used to seeing over the past several weeks. A moment later, everything went black.

I sensed someone move right next to me. Lady Elsa yelped softly, probably because she wasn’t used to the feeling of weightlessness. But she didn’t panic. She’d experienced this once before, so she was fairly calm.

We ended up in a hotel room Ms. Futarishizuka had prepared for us. No sooner had our vision gone black than the scene of a cramped carriage was replaced by a large living area. For someone like me, who always stayed in business hotels, this one was so gorgeous it felt like a whole different world.

Sleeping quarters were separate, and the living area was almost forty square meters in size. The windows were large, granting a view of the cityscape below, and through them we could see the morning sun glistening on the horizon. I checked the room’s clock; it was still early in the morning.

“Oh, you’re finally here,” came the familiar drawling voice. “I’ve been waiting.”

“Thank you, Ms. Futarishizuka,” I said.

Now that we’d arrived, the girl in the kimono rose from her seat on the sofa. We’d told her about everything in advance, so our reception went smoothly. We’d also already inspected the place; otherwise we would have had to warp outside of the building first and bring Elsa in with us.

“She will be in your care for some time,” said Peeps. “Thank you for your help.”

“I must say, you’re quite the slave-driving sparrow, aren’t you?”

“We’ve paid in full. I trust there are no issues?”

“Well, you did add some extra onto the payment, so…” Ms. Futarishizuka smiled, probably remembering the gold ingots we’d given her in advance—it had been much more than last time. Even subtracting the cost of our hotel stay and Lady Elsa’s living expenditures, she should have made a hefty profit.

Lady Elsa looked at her and offered a greeting. “You’re the girl I met last time, aren’t you? Th-thank you for doing this!”

“What is this girl saying?” asked Ms. Futarishizuka.

“She’s thanking you,” I replied.

“Oh? What a polite child.”

“As previously discussed,” I continued, “she is from a privileged class in the otherworld. I do feel bad for asking you to do this, but we’d really appreciate it if you treated her as such.”

“A noblewoman, was it?” mused Ms. Futarishizuka. “I’d love to see her homeland for myself.”

“No matter how many times you ask, we can’t say yes.”

“Such an unreliable man you are. As ever.”

“Get too carried away, and the curse will devour you.”

“And such a terribly scary sparrow. Heaven forbid…”

Incidentally, this hotel was located in Tokyo. Ms. Futarishizuka had told us she’d need time if we were going to move Lady Elsa somewhere overseas. She’d apparently picked out a few candidates and would inform us once those preparations were complete. I figured she’d helped out high-ranking defectors in the past or something.

“We’d also like to live here for the time being,” mentioned Peeps.

“Yeah, I think that’s for the best as well,” I agreed.

Like Lady Elsa, the two of us were strictly prohibited from leaving the hotel. What we feared right now was the section chief—we had no idea where he had eyes. To get anywhere, we’d probably have to use Peeps’s teleportation magic. Still, now that our stocking problems were solved, it wouldn’t be that much of an obstacle, and it would only be for a few months at most.

“I’ll contact you from my apartment once I’m done with work,” I explained to Peeps. “Could you come pick me up then?”

“Indeed, we shall make that our process for the time being.”

“Hey, hey!” interrupted Ms. Futarishizuka. “May I sleep here as well? This all sounds rather fun.”

“I don’t see why you need to ask,” responded Peeps. “You can do as you wish.”

“Yes, but you always say such cruel things to me, don’t you? I thought I might be left out once again.”

“…In exchange, I’d like you to do well by this girl. Can I ask that of you?”

“Oh, of course! She is a guest, after all. You can put your full trust in me,” answered Ms. Futarishizuka with a grin.

If not for the curse on the back of her hand, I’d never have believed that one. It seemed like it would be extremely difficult to develop a genuine bond of trust with her. After all, I didn’t believe her in the slightest.

After a few moments, Lady Elsa murmured, “So I’m the only one who can’t understand what she’s saying, huh?”

“I will serve as your interpreter for the time being,” said Peeps. “I have nothing but free time during the day, after all.”

“I’m sorry for making you go through all this trouble, little birdie.”

“Why don’t we use the internet to acquire knowledge about this world?”

“Inter-net? What is that?”

“Oh, the internet is a wonderful thing, indeed. For example…”

Peeps launched into an explanation of the internet for the youthful princess. When I last checked the browser’s history, I saw that the bird had moved on from simply looking at internet dictionaries and news sites—lately, he’d even been poking around on social media. The Starsage’s thirst for knowledge apparently couldn’t be sated. I could picture him coming to me in the near future and begging for my credit card number.

In any case, Peeps had a tendency to ramble when he got like this, so I turned to Futarishizuka to discuss future plans.

“Regardless of what we decide,” she said, “we’ll have to do something about her attire.”

“I know I’m sort of dropping everything in your lap, but could you handle that?”

“Oh, I don’t mind. As long as you’re paying me, I’ll set her up, head to toe.”

“I appreciate it. My one request is that you choose something as inconspicuous as possible.”

“Mm. Some troublemakers already have an eye out for her, after all…”

Every minute we spent here brought us closer to when we needed to be at the bureau. Without much time left, we could only arrange a few things to make Lady Elsa comfortable for the day. We decided we’d procure some essentials for her and take care of other minor tasks once we returned.

With Futarishizuka now an official bureau member, neither of us was very free to go about our own business during the day. Lady Elsa’s welcome party would have to wait until the evening.

I felt bad about that, but at least she’d be with Peeps all day.

Once we had finished getting Lady Elsa settled, we headed for the bureau as normal. I would be returning to my apartment first, then meeting up with Ms. Futarishizuka on the way. Just like yesterday, she picked me up in her car. Now that I’d experienced the comforts of an imported luxury vehicle complete with a driver, I doubted I could ever go back to being a sardine packed into a train car.

The magical girl’s attack had held us up the day before, but this time we managed to arrive at work without any issues. Normally, the bureau didn’t permit its employees to come into the office by car, but Ms. Futarishizuka had negotiated with the section chief and won herself a space in the parking garage.

As soon as we walked through the bureau’s doors, the section chief called for us. Like always, we headed into a cramped conference room, not even ten meters square.

There, he spoke to us from across the table. “Today, you two will be investigating this school.”

One wall of the room had a big-screen TV on it. It showed a photograph of a building that appeared to be a Japanese high school. Next to it were several abbreviated pieces of information, such as the school’s name, a map showing its location, the number of students in attendance, and other related details. It was similar to what I’d been shown before being sent to recruit the boy with the glasses.

“What are we investigating?” I asked.

“One of those killed in yesterday’s incident was a young man who attended this school,” explained the chief.

“So he was in high school…,” I murmured.

“He had a commuter ticket in his wallet; that’s how we found out his identity.”

“You’re very quick with this sort of work, as always,” remarked Ms. Futarishizuka.

I’d thought for sure the man had been an adult. High school kids these days sure looked mature.

“We identified the other victim—the woman—by her driver’s license. We already assigned another team to investigate her last night. She worked at a brothel, so we decided someone tougher and more aggressive would be better suited.”

“Was she an adult?” I asked.

“She was twenty. Why? Did you notice anything suspicious?”

“No, not exactly…” Recalling how Naomi had talked to the young man, I felt kind of sad. Takayoshi must have been trying his best, even though he was only in high school.

“Well,” continued the section chief, “we want you to search the school and look for evidence that the young man was a psychic, as well as get a handle on what sort of power he had. We’d also like you to gather information on any other psychics he might have been in contact with, if possible.”

The section chief used his computer to update the information on the screen. This time, it showed a series of photographs of Takayoshi. Most of them seemed to have been taken at school events, such as athletic and cultural festivals. The bureau must have rushed to contact the school and obtain them. All of them showed the young man leading a seemingly fulfilling life.

“I’ll send more details to your phones,” he said. “Look over them on the way there.”

“Understood, sir,” I replied.

“All right, then,” said Ms. Futarishizuka.

Since the school had released what appeared to be private information on the victim, they must have already been informed of our visit. Just like the time with the glasses boy, we’d be pretending to be observing the school in order to get inside. I assumed the chief would be sending those details to our phones.

I doubted we’d need to verify every last aspect of the job with the section chief—if nothing else, he was good at his work, which was a very nice quality in a boss. At my old job, I always had to double-check everything before I got to work.

“Any questions for me while you’re still here?” he asked.

“Hmm…” But just then, I did think of something.

Miss Hoshizaki wasn’t present in the conference room today. Normally, the two of us were called here as a set, given our respective psychic powers. She, too, seemed to consider my power handy and frequently asked me to go with her on assignments. But the chief hadn’t even mentioned her.

“Will Miss Hoshizaki not be joining us for this job?” I asked.

“No,” he answered. “And there’s something I’d like you to keep in mind.”

“What is it?”

“This happens to be the same school Miss Hoshizaki attends.”

“Wait. Really?” That was surprising. I knew she was still in high school, but now I’d accidentally learned exactly which school she was at. And since we’d already exchanged contact information, I worried I might start to come off as a stalker. “If she’s a student at this school, wouldn’t she be the best person for the job?”

“We operate like the police—in other words, we don’t put bureau members on investigations they’re closely related to.”

“I see.” They were probably concerned about issues like favoritism or personal bias arising. Maybe something along those lines had happened in the past. Above all, the bureau couldn’t deny the possibility that Miss Hoshizaki had been in contact with Takayoshi somehow.

In that light, the section chief’s decision made sense.

Ms. Futarishizuka gave me a questioning look. “That’s quite the coincidence, isn’t it?”

“Your concerns are reasonable,” agreed the section chief. “We’ve already started looking into it via other channels.”

I’d just have to hope they didn’t turn anything up. She was a pretty boisterous person, but she’d done a lot for me. I appreciated having her around and hoped we could continue on good terms in the future. Although if we got too close, that would cause its own problems, so I wanted to maintain a healthy distance.

“Naturally,” he continued, “we haven’t told her about any of this. In fact, she’ll be at school today, as usual. I want you both to be cautious as you carry out your investigation. Contact me if you run into any problems with her.”

If she found out about the investigation, she’d waste no time getting to work on it. We’d have to make sure she didn’t find out. In fact, we probably wanted to avoid being seen by her entirely.

“Understood, sir,” I said.

“Time to roll up our sleeves and get to work,” added Ms. Futarishizuka.

Our meeting ended, and we headed for the school right away.

After leaving the bureau, I climbed into Ms. Futarishizuka’s car for another ride. As a rule, the bureau was fine with its members using taxis for these jobs. A private vehicle, though, would allow us to talk freely, so I asked if we might use her car. It would be more convenient for her anyway, so she happily agreed.

We’d driven for a little while exchanging light conversation, when the girl at the wheel abruptly changed the subject. “By the way, there was something I wanted to tell you about that man.”

“Section Chief Akutsu, you mean?” I asked.

“That’s right.”

I’d asked her before to look into the chief, and it seemed she had more information to share. Her tone had turned suddenly serious, too, so I unconsciously straightened up to listen.

“This intel isn’t from the gross one with the long hair,” explained the girl in the kimono, “but apparently, there are going to be a few positional changes in the bureau. Rumor has it the vice director might be getting transferred—apparently, he took the fall for what happened with us.”

“You’re referring to the incident at the bowling alley, right?”

“I am, indeed.”

“I thought you said the entire thing had been set up by the chief.”

“It was, but it seems the one who was fed false information and ordered the mobilization wasn’t the section chief, but his superior. In fact, rumor has it the section chief actually opposed the operation.”

“Wait. Wouldn’t that mean…?” I trailed off. This was all sounding even shadier. If she was right, the chief was completely crooked.

“Exactly,” she agreed. “The position of vice director would naturally fall to our boss—the one who sold out his colleagues for his own benefit. Quite the villain, if you ask me.”

“Hold on a minute. A lot of people died in that incident.”

“And nobody knows that he was in contact with my old haunt.”

“……” I see, I thought. She has a point. We’d been able to get a whole bunch of info when Peeps and I had beaten that nerd. If that hadn’t happened, the information would have stayed completely secret. The section chief must have known that.

“Let’s suppose you’re right,” I said eventually. “Wouldn’t that put you at a pretty big disadvantage?”

“It would,” she replied. “I believed I joined the bureau of my own volition, though now I wonder if this was all part of that man’s trap. Though it’s too late to change anything, I can’t help but consider the possibility.”

If Section Chief Akutsu had gotten someone like her to say that, then he truly was a force to be reckoned with. Was promotion an attractive enough prospect for him to do all that?

Ms. Futarishizuka’s expression was pretty cool as she kept her eyes glued to the windshield while she spoke. That, combined with what she was talking about, made her seem like a very reliable woman. I found myself captivated, despite her young appearance.

“In any case,” she continued, “you’d do well to be cautious.”

“Could he be a foreign spy?” I wondered aloud.

“We may want to consider that as a possibility.”

“…Understood.”

This was a pretty heavy burden for a regular employee. It made me want to report him to the authorities. Oh, I thought. The acquaintances she mentioned before—maybe they’re part of the “authorities.”

“We don’t have any reason to defy the government, do we?” she said. “So we can take it easy and relax for now.”

“You’re right,” I agreed. “Let’s just try to hold on to our current positions.”

And as for this conversation—I’d take it to the grave. Nobody would benefit from my revealing it. In fact, not only would it cause problems for related agencies, it would make me a wanted man in my own country.

I also had the laid-back, leisurely life Peeps was after to consider. So for now, I’d stick to my role as a completely harmless bureau employee and maintain a proper distance from all this—not getting too close and not straying too far. And with my magic from the otherworld, I had faith I’d be able to survive even the somewhat crazier assignments.

A short car ride later, we arrived at the high school. They’d already been informed of our visit, so we simply showed our business cards and police badges to security and were hastily led to a reception room. The school principal then came to greet us. It was just the same as when we’d investigated the boy with the glasses.

Incidentally, I was the only one who entered the premises. Ms. Futarishizuka was waiting in the parking lot. She was a small child, no two ways about it—I couldn’t exactly bring her inside. The chief hadn’t given me any specific instructions, but I very much doubted he would have approved of the fallout. It was just common sense. I won her agreement by having her provide backup from the shadows.

She could also communicate with me via the earpiece I wore. I had a microphone disguised as a tie pin, too; I could hardly believe we even had these. It was like something out of a spy movie. I also had a small camera in my bag. That way, she could see what was happening inside the school as well. The bureau is really pulling out all the stops. Ms. Futarishizuka had said she’d come running from the car if she saw anything happen, so I was free to work on my assignment without too much concern.

“…And so our school not only values student independence, but also aims for excellence in both academic and athletic fields. The packet I gave you lists some of the universities our students have advanced to, but aside from those, students who wish for employment are…”

The principal was in the middle of an impassioned speech, seated across from me over a low table. According to the info the section chief sent to my phone, my observation was being treated as part of the selection process for a country-wide event sponsored by the National Police Agency. The event itself was real, but the selection process was a ruse.

The man was old, probably close to retirement. You could make out his side-parted white hair from a distance, but it was still thick on his head. I hope I have as much hair when I’m his age. That must be part of why he came across as energetic. He also seemed toned; he probably exercised regularly. All in all, he seemed like the kind of affluent older man who always strove for self-improvement.

“I have to agree,” I replied. “This seems like a model school.”

“Yes, it’s wonderful—my pride and joy.”

I listened to him praise the school for about an hour, but quickly tired of all the talking. This was a public school, so maybe the man was after post-retirement employment or something. It was a pretty common scenario—principals from public high schools becoming teachers or principals at private high schools. To manage that, however, you had to have a certain amount of recognition.

Section Chief Akutsu sure knew how to work people.

“Will you be going to observe the classes directly now, Mr. Sasaki?” the principal asked finally.

“Yes, I’d like that very much.”

If our talk in the reception room was finished, it was time for a stroll through the school. The principal himself would apparently be showing me around. The fact that a man with his position was fussing over me naturally brightened my mood. Having been a long-time corporate drone at an exploitative company, I wasn’t used to this sort of reception, so I couldn’t help but feel giddy even about the little stuff.

Compared to the noble treatment I received in the otherworld—which still didn’t feel quite real to me—to be treated this way in a more familiar context made me feel like I’d gone up a rank as a person and entered a new stage in my life. It was like living in another world right here in Japan.

Of course, all this could come crumbling down at any moment depending on the chief’s mood.

“Classes are in session right now,” explained the principal, “so I’ll show you around the building.”

“I really appreciate it.”

The principal proceeded to give me a brief tour of the school. The place wasn’t old, per se, but it wasn’t new, either. It looked like any other public high school. Compared to the suburbs, and due to the nature of the surrounding land, it felt a little cramped, but that was about it. The principal seemed to have a lot to say, but the school itself didn’t really stand out.

He was also making a mad push for the information-processing room. They’d apparently replaced all their electronic equipment last year, so the room contained rows of brand-new, shiny desktop computers. He spoke very passionately about how they had introduced computer skills classes into the curriculum, with a particular emphasis on programming.

Eventually, we’d made a full loop of the school. Wanting to get on with my actual assignment, I stopped the principal and made a request. “By the way, sir, may I ask you something?”

“Yes,” he replied. “Please, ask me anything.”

“I apologize for putting it this way, but when I’m with you, the students and faculty all seem to tense up. If it’s all right with you, I’d like to take a look around on my own for a little while.”

“Ah, I see. That makes sense.”

“Would that be all right?”

“Why, yes. Take all the time you need. I’ll either be in my office or the faculty lounge. I mentioned your observation to the rest of the staff this morning, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask anyone you see.”

“Thank you so much for understanding.” Good, I thought. Now I can look around the school freely.

The principal and I parted ways in the hall. After seeing him turn a corner, I started my little walk.

First, I headed to Takayoshi’s former classroom. Essentially, my plan was to figure out which classmates he’d been close with, then pull them aside and question them individually. As long as I could get a photo of their faces, the bureau could verify their personal information. It would be a piece of cake using my bureau-provided phone.

Takayoshi’s death still hadn’t been made public, as that might prompt anyone related to the case to flee. His family had put in a search request, but at the section chief’s instruction, it had been accepted, then not pursued. That’s what he’d said in our meeting, at least. He probably wanted to wait and see if Futarishizuka and I turned anything up.

I was walking through the halls toward the classroom when I heard the bell ring to indicate the period was over.

Students began pouring out of their classrooms all at once. Many of them shot glances at me when they saw I was an unfamiliar older man in a suit. As an undercover agent, I sped up to avoid their gaze. I wanted to ask my questions before the break was over. If I missed this chance, I’d have to wait for the next period to end.

“You just glanced at the panties of that girl going up the stairs, didn’t you?” came Ms. Futarishizuka’s voice through my earpiece.

“What on earth are you talking about?” I replied.

Apparently, she’d been watching my actions through the camera. I’d shifted my weight, causing my bag to sway from side to side; she must have tried to imagine where my eyes had been. It had happened pretty quickly—I found myself impressed with her eyesight.

To be fair, my gaze had started to drift in that direction, but I’d quickly stopped it. I had faith that meant I was—just barely—in the clear. I wasn’t lying, so I wished she’d understand the effort it had taken for a male like me to go against his instincts.

“You say that, but you’re pretty pent-up, aren’t you?”

“Even if I was, this is hardly the time or place.”

Ever since meeting Peeps, I’d had almost no time to myself. Even when I wasn’t with my bird, I was usually with someone else. Not to agree with Futarishizuka, but it was only natural I was “pent-up.” Though things had calmed down for me in that respect over the past few years, that didn’t mean my biological processes had completely stopped. When I thought about it that way, it made me miss my freer, single life—but only a little.

“With how pathetic you look, that finicky girl will find you.”

“She’s in a different year, so I think we’re fine, but…”

Takayoshi had been a third-year student, which meant he’d be on a different floor from Miss Hoshizaki. I’d still been keeping a close eye out, though.

“Her location marker is very close to you. If you can’t see her from where you are, she must be on another floor. Just don’t take the stairs right now—or you’re sure to bump into her.”

“Keep your eye on where she’s going for me, then.”

“I’d expected as much, but the bureau’s jobs sure are boring.”

“I much prefer boring jobs like these.”

I’d come here under the pretext of observation. I couldn’t walk around with a smartphone in my hand forever, so I was grateful for Ms. Futarishizuka’s backup. I was communicating with her through the mic at my chest, but just to be safe, I had my phone up to my ear. Still, the students kept casting me curious glances.

“There’s the classroom. Let’s stop talking for now.”

“Okey dokey.”

After ending our conversation, I turned toward the classroom. And not a moment later, I heard a familiar name.

“Hey, did you hear Takayoshi never went home last night?”

“Wait, really?”

“He didn’t text us that he was taking the day off, either…”

“He didn’t go home? Are you sure he’s not just sick?”

“His mom called my mom, so it’s true!”

“Are you sure he wasn’t visiting that new girl he kept bragging about?”

The voices were coming from a group of three male students off to the side of the hallway; they had formed a ring as they chatted. Thanks to them, I got the feeling at least one part of my job would be nice and easy. I didn’t even need to create an opportunity for me to speak with them. I’d been racking my brain over how I was supposed to approach the students, so this would really help me out.

I pointed the camera in my bag at the students. I was pretty sure Futarishizuka had heard them. Once we’d sent the pictures to the bureau, they’d quickly start identifying all the kids. It was very handy to have a colleague so used to this sort of work.

Since the boys were all civilians, and we knew which school they attended, identifying them probably wouldn’t take much time. I expected to have a response before classes let out for the day. That meant we could start the questioning phase before the day was out. That was pretty safe work as well, so they’d be able to mobilize other bureau members.

“Oh no. She’s moving,” came an alert from Futarishizuka. She must have been referring to Miss Hoshizaki.

I doubted the younger girl would come to the third-years’ area, but a middle-aged man in a suit stuck out like a sore thumb in a group of teenagers. If she’d begun to move, I wanted to put as much distance between us as I could.

“You can use the west staircase to head downstairs and leave the school building. We have enough footage to identify those boys. You should be able to wait until the break is over and go back to the principal.”

I hurried through the halls in accordance with my operator’s instructions, going down the stairs and outside onto the path leading from the main school building to the other facilities.

And then I got yet another warning from Ms. Futarishizuka. “Argh. I think she’s getting closer to you…”

“Huh? Wait a second!” I said, accidentally raising my voice.

It was hard for me to get a read on her location data in my current position. Panicked, I looked around but couldn’t spot anyone who looked like her. The thing I had to be most cautious of was being seen from the school building’s windows. If she looked out and spotted me, I might never know.

With that in mind, I took a different route leading to the rear of the building.

“…She’s stopped!” Ms. Futarishizuka said a few moments later.

That report was unnecessary. I’d already found her—right where I’d been headed.

“Excuse me,” came her voice. “You were the one who called me here, right?”

“Y-yeah. Sorry. I know it was kinda sudden.”

Miss Hoshizaki was standing with a male student behind the building, holding what looked like a letter in her hands. The boy was eyeing the letter with a nervous expression.

Naturally, my younger senior at the bureau wasn’t wearing any makeup today; instead, she looked just as she had during the kerfuffle with the glasses kid. Her hair hung in braids, and she wore unfashionable, round glasses, making her look like a stereotypical bookworm.

The boy, on the other hand, was tall and tanned; he seemed like an athlete. His shoulders were broad, and you could see his muscles even through his shirt. He had short hair and a chiseled face. He was definitely attractive, and he seemed well put together to boot.

And now a middle-aged spy was watching them from the shadows of the school building.

“Hoshizaki, please go out with me!”

Whoops. It looked like Miss Hoshizaki had just been asked out by a guy. I’d guessed as much—and it seemed I’d been right. I certainly didn’t anticipate this situation. Good for her, enjoying her youth.

“……”

“Oh-ho, what a youthful scene,” remarked Futarishizuka.

For now, it didn’t seem like they’d noticed us. While by all rights I should have left immediately, she was my coworker, so I couldn’t help myself—I just had to listen in. Was she going to say yes? If she did, I might have to be more considerate about certain things when working with her in the future.

But before I had too long to think about that, I heard her reply.

“I’m sorry. I can’t.”

“Ngh…”

The boy clenched his teeth at the rejection—his hopes had been shattered in seconds.

What a waste, I thought. Her businesswoman attire from the bureau aside, looking at her now, she seemed pretty plain. Naturally, she would have a lower social position at school to match. An attractive young man asking her out seemed like an obvious stroke of good luck. I had no doubt that was why he’d called her here personally, too. I bet he went in thinking it was a sure thing.

“If you’ll excuse me,” she said, turning around to leave.

“B-but! Wait a second!” called the boy. He seemed pretty flustered.

“…What?”

“Are you already going out with someone?”

“I’m not.”

“I thought so! So then, why…?”

He seemed as curious as I was about her refusal. The kid was clearly one of those types who was used to getting what he wanted, so he’d probably never dreamed he’d be spurned. From what he was saying, it seemed he’d already verified she was single.

In a solemn tone, she explained, “There’s already someone I like.”

“Wait. Really?”

“Yes. Really.”

I had to admit, it was really, really weird hearing her speak so politely. Normally, she didn’t bother with pleasantries and simply yelled my name. It was like she was a totally different person depending on how much makeup she was wearing. In fact, I could easily believe she was a mature woman wearing a school uniform and pretending to be a high school girl.

“Oh,” said the boy. “I guess that settles it, then.”

“I think you should choose someone cuter than me,” she added.

“But I think you’re the cutest girl at school.”

“All the more reason not to go out with me.”

“…What do you mean?”

“If you judge a book by its cover, you’ll get burned one day.”

That was strangely persuasive, coming from her. It seemed like Miss Hoshizaki might have had a rougher time of it in the adult world than I had. Come to think of it, how long had she been working at the bureau? I mean, I’m sure my history as a corporate drone is longer, but still.

“But wait,” said the boy, “if you’re going to go out with someone, wouldn’t you prefer someone good-looking?”

“Perhaps, if we were just hanging out casually,” she replied. “But if I was serious about someone, I’d be more interested in who they were on the inside.”

“Well, yeah, I guess I can understand that. Wait, does that mean you think I’m all looks? If that’s the case, you should try hanging out with me sometime. I’ve actually got a good head on my shoulders.”

“That isn’t what I meant. I meant comparatively speaking.”

“Wait, then…what? Have you got your eyes on one of the teachers or something?”

“Something like that, yes.”

“Wow, seriously? I mean, I guess I can’t beat someone like that.”

“Is it all right if I go back to class now?”

“Oh! Do you want to exchange contact information, at least? I guess you don’t want to hang out with me, but if you change your mind, you can give me a call. I can listen to your problems—or whatever. I’d really like to be friends.”

“I’m sorry. Unfortunately, I don’t think I have much room for another person in my life.”

“O-oh. Okay, I get it. Sorry for calling you back here.”

Huh. Does Miss Hoshizaki actually have a lot of friends? Considering the bureau’s work environment, I didn’t think she’d have the time for that. Any casual assignment could be fatal for the both of us. That alone was reason enough to eliminate any cause for hesitation. In fact, I’d seen her get into very tight situations not once, but twice in the short time I’d known her.

“Please excuse me.” Miss Hoshizaki bowed slightly and turned her back to the boy.

The moment her gaze shifted in the direction of her stalker—namely, me—I hastily withdrew behind the building. Dampening my footsteps to avoid her notice, I left the area. Ms. Futarishizuka navigated for me so I wouldn’t run into her a second time.

After that, I went back inside the school and investigated several other locations. Unfortunately, I came up with nothing. I was back in the principal’s office before lunch break to officially conclude my observation, and after that I left the school behind.

It took a little less than an hour to get a response after Ms. Futarishizuka sent the pictures to the bureau. We got back some pretty detailed information—everything from the boys’ names to their addresses and family compositions. It even included whether they were delinquent in paying their utility bills, the balances of their bank accounts, and their own as well as their relatives’ criminal records. It left me pretty terrified at the extent of the bureau’s authority.

Still, the information didn’t lead to any conclusions. The person from the bureau had agreed; there was no trace of them being psychics.

And so as initially planned, we decided we’d wait for school to let out and make contact with one of the boys directly. We’d be intercepting him on a road he used to commute a little ways from the school. That way, we’d catch him alone. At times like these, I found the weight of the police badge in my pocket very reassuring.

Ms. Futarishizuka would be acting separately once again. Just as before, she’d provide support from her car. She had a police badge just like I did, but she looked so young she probably couldn’t get anyone to come with her if she tried. After all, people seemed to find even me suspicious. It disappointed her, but there was nothing we could do.

I stood on the road for a while, waiting for the target.

“Oh, great. She’s on the move,” came a warning from my earpiece.

That must be Miss Hoshizaki. “Again?” I asked.

“She’s headed your way. Hide somewhere—that alley over there or something.”

“Will do.”

Apparently, the place we’d been staking out was also on her way home. Attempting to let her pass, I hid behind a building, still keeping my eyes on the road. This was a small street that didn’t even have a center dividing line, and there was very little car traffic. A modest sidewalk graced only one side of it, but I barely saw anyone walking past. We’d picked a place that would be convenient for us, so that was all expected. We were trying to ensure nobody was around in case the deceased boy’s friend turned out to be a psychic.

After waiting for a few moments, I saw a familiar face coming down the road in my direction. “She’s here. It’s definitely Miss Hoshizaki.”

“I told you so.”

“She seems to be with friends from school,” I said, noting that she was walking with several other female students.

But they were acting strangely. If they were all friends going home from school, why weren’t they talking? Girls their age usually had lively conversations on their way home, right? I saw a lot of students chatting with one other even on packed trains.

Eventually, the group made a turn at the T intersection in front of me. That took them into a pretty narrow alleyway—just barely large enough to fit a small car—between the outer wall of an apartment building and a block fence surrounding a house. Every one of the girls rounded the corner.

A moment later, I heard Ms. Futarishizuka—who still had her eye on Miss Hoshizaki’s location—speak up. “How odd,” she said. “That should be a dead end.”

“I’ll go take a peek,” I replied, looking into the alleyway while still keeping my distance. I was doing this with my phone in one hand, pretending to be a salesperson stepping away to receive a call.

“…She’s surrounded,” I said.

“Huh? What does that mean?”

Just as Ms. Futarishizuka had said, the narrow side street was indeed a dead end. They were a ways back in the alley. Miss Hoshizaki stood on one side—my left—while the girls from her high school had spread out horizontally in front of her, putting on the pressure. I was essentially looking in from the side, which meant I could see into the blind alley without being noticed.

To summarize, things were looking bad. And sure enough, I heard one of the girls start to speak in a raised voice.

“Shindou asked you out, and you turned him down?” she said roughly. “What’s the big idea?”

“…What are you talking about?” asked Miss Hoshizaki. “What do you want, Manami?”

“I—I mean just what I said! What’s the big idea?! Just explain it to me!”

It was the girl directly in front of Miss Hoshizaki who was getting so worked up. Apparently, her name was Manami—and it seemed she and the others had gotten wind of what I’d seen behind the school building earlier. I assumed this Shindou kid was pretty popular with these girls.

“He called me aside during lunch and asked me out. That’s all that happened.”

“Ugh… Th-that attitude of yours is pissing me off! Who do you think you are anyway?!”

The female students standing beside Manami all seemed to agree, given how much they were nodding. They didn’t seem to think very highly of Miss Hoshizaki receiving a confession from, and then rejecting, this Shindou kid. Or that was my read on the situation, at least. I remembered my school days and how the girls loved talking about this stuff, mostly by passing notes in class. At the time, I’d been at the bottom of the school hierarchy, so I’d always been really curious what the notes said.

“I wasn’t trying to be arrogant,” replied Miss Hoshizaki curtly.

“You don’t think about your words at all, do you? That’s why you’re always alone in class! You don’t care about getting along, and you don’t have a shred of empathy for the people around you. It’s like you want to be an outcast!”

“……”

Watching them made one thing clear—Miss Hoshizaki was all alone at school. I’d thought maybe that was the case, but actually seeing her classmates victimize her made me feel pretty bad. She didn’t seem to care at all, though, so as her colleague—who had secretly watched all of this—my emotions on the matter were complicated.

“At times like this, we’re supposed to call 110 and report the bullies!” interrupted Ms. Futarishizuka, her cheerful voice coming through my earpiece. Apparently, she could hear the girls, too.

“Could you not joke around like that?” I chided her.

Manami continued. “You pretend to be super studious and everything, but I bet you were just trying to seduce him. You know he likes serious girls. Even though you got a failing score on the midterms like a normal person! You want boys to look at you that badly or what?”

I wondered if Miss Hoshizaki was just as much of a meathead as she seemed. Though as Manami said, looking at the girl now made her failing marks seem fraudulent. I bet the glasses boy would agree.

But that comment seemed to prick at Miss Hoshizaki. She began to argue. “That’s going too far.”

“It’s the truth, though!” replied Manami. “Why are you pretending?”

I was starting to get a little antsy watching my colleague. I was afraid this argument would devolve into a brawl. Though perhaps I was just too used to my image of her from work.

“I sure hope you didn’t do this just to make us angry since you know Nami is into him!” Manami said, glancing at one of the girls to her side for a moment. “Because if that’s the case, we’re not going to stay silent!”

The girl she’d glanced at must have been Nami. I could see her quickly nod in response.

“Why on earth do you think I know anything about your private lives?” asked Miss Hoshizaki, still indifferent.

“…!”

Manami was taken aback. Anyone could see that Miss Hoshizaki was fanning the flames here; she was probably a little angry at having her failing grades pointed out. I decided I wouldn’t ever bring up her schoolwork when we talked. Now that I thought about it, she had said she’d be joining the bureau officially after she graduated.

“E-everything people do gets around somehow!” insisted Manami. “I know all kinds of things about you, you know! Like how you fake that whole meek demeanor of yours and go out fooling around with guys all the time. I feel so bad for Shindou, the way you deceived him.” She was probably frustrated that Miss Hoshizaki had refuted her argument, and now she was trying to steer the conversation elsewhere.

“Oh, wait. Are you interested in Shindou, too, Manami?” Miss Hoshizaki observed sharply.

“N-no, I’m not!”

“Because if you are, then I apologize. I should have been more considerate.”

“Ugh…” Manami looked like she was about to explode. The other girls, too, started looking in her direction.

Seeing her chance, Miss Hoshizaki quickly continued. “Also—and I’m only saying this because I don’t want any weird rumors starting up—I’m a virgin.”

“What?” said Manami. “Wh-why are you telling us that now?!”

As a middle-aged eavesdropper, I felt pretty bad about having heard that. I doubted she would, but if she ever found out about this, it was sure to hurt our coordination in the field. Just going to pretend I didn’t hear any of this—including what she said behind the school building, whether or not it was true.

“How long do you intend on staring?” asked Ms. Futarishizuka.

“Right,” I said. “Let’s get back to business.”

With a good handle on what Miss Hoshizaki was up to, it was time to get back to work. Assuming Ms. Futarishizuka would alert me if the girls moved anywhere, I turned right around and left the blind alley. Then, with her instructions, I started off toward the designated spot.

But then, a moment later, there was a change.

Almost as if I’d lost my hearing, all the sound in the world simply stopped. That included the girls’ voices, the distant roars of cars, and the buzzing of the air conditioners in nearby windows—everything was silent.

Immediately, I peered into the alley. Miss Hoshizaki was nowhere in sight.

“Ugh…” There was no mistaking this sensation—it was the same as the day before. And immediately prior, I’d made out the flash of a defensive barrier spell around me. Just like what Ms. Futarishizuka had mentioned last time.

I’d put up a barrier just in case one of Takayoshi’s friends happened to be a psychic, and it had probably reacted to whatever this phenomenon was. At the same time, Ms. Futarishizuka’s voice in my earpiece had gone silent, too.

In a panic, I made a dash for her car. But the girl who’d been inside was nowhere to be found. After all, I hadn’t put a barrier on her this time. That only backed up my previous hypothesis: It seemed like this strange psychic power had a reaction to my barrier magic.

“……”

I took out my phone and looked at the screen; like last time, it said I was out of service. I made sure to check the current time in the screen’s corner, too. That way, when I got back to the regular world, I could put in for overtime.

Who was using this power and for what purpose? I wondered, feeling a strange terror as I began my investigation, now all on my own.

“I’m not entirely sure myself. In fact, I’d like to ask him about it.”

“…Him?”

Watching their exchange out of the corner of my eye, I took my phone from my inside pocket and quickly checked the time. Once again, it had gone backward. The phone displayed just about the same time as when I’d checked it immediately after everyone disappeared.

I also had one missed call in the notification bar at the side of my screen. I opened it up to check—it was from Ms. Futarishizuka. She’d probably seen my location suddenly change and tried to contact me. It looked like she’d called just a few minutes ago.

“Excuse me,” I said, quickly standing up and turning back to the boy, “but what happened to that small angel?”

We were still in the corner of the middle school’s yard. At least classes were over for the day; I didn’t see anyone around. If this had happened earlier, it would have been terrible—I would have looked like a middle-aged man who broke into a school and started doing something untoward with one of the students—or something like that.

“I drove her off, at least,” replied the boy. “Though even I can’t imagine what the other side will do next. Considering an unknown element has entered the mix—you, that is—if they want to improve their chances of victory, they’ll probably stay clear for a while.”

“Then, you weren’t able to defeat her?” asked my neighbor.

“They made quite the speedy retreat. I took down most of the other Disciples, though.”

“…I see,” she said, seeming disappointed by his explanation.

I took the opportunity to worm myself into the conversation. “I heard that strange world is produced when at least ten angels and demons assemble in a specific area. Would I be correct in assuming that, since the angels have left, we’ve returned to our world and our wounds have healed?”

“How odd. You’re almost right, but…”

“Am I mistaken?” This was information I’d received right after entering the deserted world this time, from a boy who’d appeared to be a Disciple. He’d had an angel with him, so I doubted he was faking it.

However, the boy in front of me came back with some corrections. “First of all, the numbers don’t matter. And it’s based on the Disciples, not the angels or demons.”

“Disciples,” I repeated. “Are they the ones with the angels and demons?”

“Yep, that’s right,” he said. “Since I killed most of the Disciples and forced the rest to flee, it put distance between her—a demon’s Disciple—and them, and that caused the isolated space to collapse. Outside of that space, angels and demons can’t use much of their strength, so you’ll be safe for now.”

“Then I narrowly avoided death. I owe you my thanks.”

“You helped her, too, so we’re even. No need to thank me.”

Apparently, Eriel’s Disciple had fed me false information. Or maybe he’d been testing me. Whatever the case, I wasn’t particularly interested at this point.

“You really don’t know anything about this, do you?” asked the boy.

“I’d appreciate you explaining things to me, if at all possible.”

“I’m sure—but I’m in the exact same boat, you know.”

“Are you?”

“Remember when I called you an unknown element?”

The angels and demons didn’t seem to know about psychic powers—probably a sign of how well the bureau did its work. I’d entered that “isolated space” on my own, despite being neither an angel nor a demon. From his point of view, that must have been very strange.

I’d probably have to tell him about psychic powers, at least. He was with my neighbor, so I wanted to avoid making an enemy of him. I still had doubts about him based on his previous actions, but now was the time for compromise. There was still room to consider how much about them I would report to the section chief, however.

“Then would you agree to an exchange of information?” I asked.

“Oh, I’d love that,” he answered with a friendly smile.

I decided not to think too hard about what was going on behind his amicable expression. For now, my first priority was my neighbor. As soon as I glanced her way, she hurriedly addressed me.

“Mister, I was really happy you came to save me,” she said. “Thank you so much.”

“Don’t mention it. I wasn’t quite sure what I was doing anyway…,” I replied, remembering what we’d said to each other just before I lost consciousness.

…Please, live a happy life for the both of us.

You still have so much ahead of you.

Or something like that.

“Also,” she said, “I’m so sorry for causing you trouble.”

“No, no, it’s fine. You can forget all about that.”

And now I had yet another awkward event in my past I didn’t really want to think about. It had been a life-and-death situation, so the adrenaline was probably pumping. Thinking back on it, I started to feel like the words I’d spoken belonged to somebody else.

It was time to change the subject—by force if necessary. I turned back to the boy and picked a random topic. “Could I ask you something right now?”

“What is it? Ask me anything, and I’ll answer to the best of my ability. My Disciple directly ordered me to trust you; so as long as nothing crazy happens, I won’t lie.”

“The short, six-winged angel with the sword…”

“Oh, you noticed? That angel was quite a bit higher in rank than all the rest. I’m shocked you survived her attack. This world calls her Michael or Miguel or something like that. She’s pretty hard for me to deal with.”

He made it sound like he knew her personally. Apparently, angels and demons were familiar with each other.

I moved this high-ranking angel into the “very dangerous” category in my mind along with the magical girl and Ms. Futarishizuka’s old boss, deciding to retreat on sight if Peeps wasn’t with me. After only one hit, I’d seen that little Mika was hard for me to deal with, too. If possible, I’d like to never run into her again.

Meanwhile, Ms. Futarishizuka had found her way to us. “Hey!” she called out. “May I come over there? I won’t be attacked out of the blue, will I?”

She was on the small road in front of the schoolyard, peering at us over the metal fence surrounding it. The lower half of her body was hidden by the block fence forming the walls of the alley. As she watched us from afar, I couldn’t tell if she was genuinely hesitant to come over or if it was just a joke.

“Do you know her, Mister?” asked my neighbor immediately. The boy looked my way as well.

“Yes, she’s a colleague from work, I suppose…,” I answered.

“She seems a little young for that.”

“She does, but she’s actually older than you—in fact, she’s an adult.”

“Really? I can’t see her as anything but a child…”

At any rate, I didn’t want to keep talking in a place like this. Despite school being out for the day, students might still show up. I was sure there were plenty of kids staying late for club activities. A teacher might even come snooping around. I could get out of most problems with the police badge in my pocket, but it was always better not to have to use it at all.

“I’ll explain,” I replied. “Could we maybe go somewhere else?”

Fortunately, my neighbor answered immediately. “All right.”

The boy called Abaddon had mentioned not being able to refuse her requests, so I doubted he would be a problem. And this way, I’d get more information about the link between Disciples and their angels or demons.

“Shouldn’t you go back to your classroom to pick up your things before we leave?”

“…It’s so annoying to be a student and a minor.”

“Personally, I’d rather you took those things a little more seriously.”

There was one thing I was still curious about, though.

Had Miss Hoshizaki managed to smooth things over with her schoolmates?

We headed away from the schoolyard in Ms. Futarishizuka’s car, driving around with no real destination in mind and the kimono-clad girl at the wheel. She’d asked me if I wanted to take a turn, but unfortunately, as previously mentioned, I was a veteran “papers-only driver” with basically no experience. Since nobody else had a license at all, she’d ended up sitting in the driver’s seat. My neighbor and Abaddon were in the back while I rode shotgun.

“A proxy war between angels and demons?” mused Ms. Futarishizuka. “That is quite a tale, if I do say so myself.”

“I’m not lying,” replied my neighbor. “Whether you believe it is your choice.”

“Oh, no, I wasn’t doubting you.”

Once we were in the car, my neighbor explained all the strange occurrences that had taken place—including the one the day before that had involved Ms. Futarishizuka as well. Since our information had been so fragmentary up until now, I was glad we were starting to get a fuller picture. My neighbor went on to explain the situation she’d been placed in.

“A death game?” I said. “I don’t much like the sound of that.”

“Are you worried about me?” she asked.

“I’d think anyone would be worried if someone they knew ended up in this situation.”

Two people had already died in front of me—and the culprit was the demon she was with. From my point of view, it was difficult to mentally reconcile. But now we knew that if he hadn’t done that, my neighbor would have been killed instead. That made sense to me. After all, I’d personally been in similar predicaments several times before.

“You are right in assuming she is in a very dangerous situation,” said Abaddon.

“A dangerous situation you personally invited her into,” I pointed out.

“You live near her, right?”

“Why?”

“I’m pretty sure that if you’d just gotten a little bit closer to her, she never would have met me at all. And even if she had, I doubt she’d have accepted my invitation.”

“Don’t say things like that, Abaddon!” exclaimed my neighbor.

“But it’s the truth, isn’t it?”

Apparently, he was aware we knew each other. Not only that, but it seemed my neighbor had recently ended up in a situation that had forced her to rely on him. Based on how he described it, I assumed it had something to do with her family environment.

“Either way,” continued Abaddon, “it’s very reassuring to have you two here.”

“I’m not too fond of danger,” replied Ms. Futarishizuka. I agreed with her, but I didn’t want to leave my neighbor out to dry, either.

“This proxy war between angels and demons doesn’t only take place within isolated spaces. It happens here, too—during a Disciple’s normal life. Disciples compete with, scorn, and hate one another. You need more than just physical strength for that, wouldn’t you agree?”

“I believe I understand what you’re saying,” I replied.

“Joining forces with an angel or a demon brings benefits—which I’ve already mentioned.”

According to Abaddon’s and my neighbor’s explanations, angels and demons granted their Disciples wishes in proportion to their accomplishments in the proxy war—and the wishes could be anything. It seemed Disciples were able to negotiate what they would get.

“But we aren’t Disciples,” I pointed out.

“It seems that my partner likes you a lot, though,” replied Abaddon. “Play your cards right, and I might even be able to do something for you through her. You both seem to be fairly well-off in human society.” He looked dramatically around the car.

Negotiations like these probably happened frequently among other participants of the game, which meant it was only a matter of time before the bureau caught wind of the existence of angels and demons. I had little doubt they would soon end up at the top of the pecking order. In that case, I would have to seriously consider our involvement. Most importantly, this had to do with my next-door neighbor—someone I’d known for years.

“It is dangerous,” murmured Ms. Futarishizuka, “but interesting.”

“Yes, and I’m sure you plan on asking this boy to undo your curse,” I said.

“H-how did you know?!”

“Isn’t it obvious? Though, your response was a little hammy.”

“Well, you do treat me like some kind of chauffeur. Or a taxi driver.”

“For what it’s worth, I’m really grateful to have you…” If I was behind the wheel, we wouldn’t get three kilometers before crashing. In fact, I was 100 percent sure I’d hit a pedestrian. This was a huge sedan, after all—there was no way I could drive it safely.

“This incident will alert angels far and wide to our existence,” Abaddon continued.

“Then it’s possible they might go after your partner, too,” I said.

“And I do feel guilty about that! But this was going to happen sooner or later no matter what. That’s why I feel so fortunate to have met the two of you.”

“…I see.”

I supposed I could understand his panic. According to him, this proxy war had only just begun. Making deals like these early on was for the best. If they secured Ms. Futarishizuka’s cooperation, they might be able to settle everything fairly quickly. In a death game, her powers would be practically cheating. If she got serious, they’d hardly even need those isolated spaces. That is, as long as other psychic groups—the bureau, especially—and magical girls stayed out of things.

“Excuse me for prying,” I said, “but do you not have any other Disciples as your allies?”

“Unfortunately, my partner is a very shy kind of girl.”

“Abaddon, why do you keep telling him more than he needs to know?” asked my neighbor.

Ah, I thought. Then, she’s like Miss Hoshizaki. Given my neighbor’s family situation, I couldn’t really blame her. I thought about it and realized I’d never seen her with friends. After a moment, though, I realized my arrogance. How was that any different from me over the past few years? When was the last time I went drinking with friends? I wondered. Of course, my life has been more fulfilling lately thanks to Peeps’s companionship.

“In any case,” I said, “we are willing to cooperate with you.”

“Wow! I’m so happy to hear that.”

“You really don’t need to force yourself,” insisted my neighbor. “I can handle things fine on my own.”

“Wait a second,” interrupted Ms. Futarishizuka. “Don’t I get a say in this?”

Ensuring my neighbor’s safety necessitated a quick decision. One option was to take her to the otherworld, but time passed terrifyingly quickly there. Given her description of this game’s rules, we’d want to avoid that as much as possible. I was sure the Abaddon boy would disapprove, too.

At the same time, if we planned to intervene in this proxy war, I’d run into certain issues with my barrier magic. In cases like the one earlier—where I was out and about on my own—having it up constantly didn’t cause that much of a problem. However it would pose a problem when I was sleeping or doing clerical work at the bureau. In the latter case, people would keep banging into an invisible wall. And I was pretty certain I wouldn’t be able to interfere with isolated spaces at all if I was in the otherworld.

Deciding what form our cooperation should take would require careful consideration.

“I’ll be direct,” I said to Abaddon. “If that six-winged angel attacks again, will you be able to deal with her yourself? In the worst-case scenario, it’s possible an isolated space could appear this very moment, right?”

“One-on-one, I don’t believe I’d lose, at least,” he replied.

“I saw a lot more angels than her in the sky, though…”

“Are you that worried about this girl?”

“If I wasn’t worried, I wouldn’t have intervened.” I’d known her for a while now, and although I had no intention to delve deeper into her business, I wanted to help her out where I could.

“Well, they suffered a lot of damage in that battle, too,” he continued. “Unless the Disciples are total morons, I doubt they’ll try to challenge us again right away. They don’t have enough information on you, either.”

“I see what you mean.”

“If anything, we want your help in the fights between humans, not angels and demons. After all, they mobilized a lot of angels for this battle and still failed. I’d imagine they’ll try a different angle of attack next time.”

“That does ease my mind. Somewhat anyway.”

Depending on our future efforts, there was no telling how the cookie would crumble. I wondered if showing them Peeps’s magic would change their mindset at all. But apparently, for the time being, I’d be helping them out in a more physical sense in the real world instead.

“In that case,” I told him, “I’d like to take the day to think about it.”

“Go for it!” he said jovially. “I think it’s a good arrangement for both of us.”

Whatever the case may be, I’d have to consult with the big man—well, sparrow—back home. I couldn’t decide our strategy by myself, and that went for how to handle Ms. Futarishizuka as well. This would probably take quite a lot of time and money, so I shied away from making any decisions on the spot.

And knowing the Starsage, he might come up with some sort of ingenious plan.

“…What’s the matter? You look shocked.”

“Peeps, did you actually get so drunk last night that you passed out?”

“……”

He’d said he had a headache—which made the reason for his little nap pretty obvious.

Upon hearing my reply, the sparrow froze—it actually made me a little afraid his batteries had run out or something.

Just like in the dining room, the sunlight was shining in through the living room window, its morning rays falling on one side of the low table, where I could see a sake bottle and two cups. Lady Elsa must have brought them in here. She had found the Japanese sake quite to her liking, after all.

“Peeps?” I repeated.

I’d learned on the internet that sparrows had a much wider field of vision than humans; while they couldn’t see directly behind them, they could see basically everywhere else. I didn’t doubt he was looking at the morning scenery out the window, just like I had. Since we were so high up, I’d left the curtains open through the night.

“I… I’m sorry,” he said eventually. “It is as you say. It seems we drank too much.”

“Er, well, we did the same thing. So don’t worry about it.”

“I hadn’t expected to lose consciousness. I planned to wait for a chance to use healing magic to recover. But the next thing I knew… Well, here we are. I am truly, truly sorry. I have wasted our precious night hours with my blunder.”

The distinguished Java sparrow was unsteady from his hangover, but penitent. The way he hung his head in sorrow was super adorable. He was always perfect at everything he did, so seeing a more human side of him warmed my heart. Despite its relatively high alcohol content, Japanese sake was easy to keep knocking back—and with all those carbohydrates, it made you drunk faster than beer.

In other words, everyone got drunk and passed out. Now I feel bad for recommending the sake.

It had been a long time since I last drank like a college kid in a dorm room. Falling asleep on a dining room floor just before my fortieth birthday was not something I’d ever expected. If I ever drink with Ms. Futarishizuka again, I’ll need to be more careful.

On the other hand, this tragic morning scene also spoke to how much everyone had enjoyed themselves the night before. That wasn’t such a bad thing really, so I decided to leave the past behind me and turn toward the future.

“Again, I am truly sorry,” repeated Peeps.

“Don’t be,” I replied. “I’m sorry for always leaving everything up to you.”

Then my personal phone started vibrating. I took it out and checked the screen—and saw Miss Hoshizaki’s name. Calling to yell at us to get to the bureau, no doubt.

If I picked up, she’d have our location data. Lady Elsa would be staying in this high-class hotel for a while, so we couldn’t afford to have anyone from the bureau find out where we were. As the phone continued to buzz in my hands, I returned my attention to Peeps.

“Peeps, sorry to ask this so soon after you woke up, but could you bring me back to the apartment?”

“Y-yes! I shall do it at once.”

Our next little stay in the otherworld would have to wait until evening. I needed to make my report to Section Chief Akutsu, so I had to focus on my job at the bureau in the meantime.

Using Peeps’s teleportation magic to get back to my apartment, I got myself ready to head into work. As for my hangover, it was completely gone with a single healing spell; I wouldn’t be plagued by half a day of headaches and nausea. I took a shower to wash off the sweat from sleeping, then pulled on my suit.

In the meantime, I asked Peeps to go back and wake Ms. Futarishizuka—she was still snoozing in the dining room. We wouldn’t be able to take our time meeting up today, so I asked him to tell her I’d be using public transportation to get to work.

A short, jam-packed train ride later, I arrived at the bureau, this time without running into any trouble. Passing through the entrance, I headed to my desk and put my bag down. No sooner had I done so than Miss Hoshizaki called for me.

“Sasaki, I’ve got something to talk to you about. Have a minute?”

“Good morning, Miss Hoshizaki,” I replied.

“…Good morning,” she said.

She looked completely different than she had the day before, when she was in high school–girl mode—now she was done up in a suit and thick makeup. She stared at me with a hand on her hip, looking downright intimidating. She might as well have been a different person than the one I’d been watching at her school.

This, to me, was who Miss Hoshizaki really was. I even felt a little relieved. But that was exactly why her coming to me first thing in the morning had me on guard.

“I checked your phone’s location data and found out where you were yesterday.”

Huh? I thought. Why did she bother looking at that? Wasn’t she off duty yesterday?

I never got the sense she’d caught on to me during the previous day’s mission. And if she had, she would have simply come up and said something. Since she hadn’t, I’d been convinced the plan went off without a hitch.

“You were hanging around near my school, weren’t you?”

“Yes, well, I do remember being lost…”

Could there be some sort of urgent task we needed to do that morning? I’d just finished one job, and now there was another? This was really getting to me. Maybe working conditions were worsening because of our personnel decrease. At this point, maybe my best move was to focus on canvassing for new members. I planned on sticking around this place for a while, after all.

“But why did you check my location history?” I asked.

She was taken aback. “…N-no reason! It’s nothing.”

“That doesn’t exactly answer my question…”

Anyone who had the same position or higher could easily look into the location data of members who were out and about. Miss Hoshizaki had contacted me after checking it several times in the past, so this wasn’t particularly surprising.

What made me curious was her reason. If it had to do with some kind of job, I wanted to know as soon as possible. After all, this high school girl was a workaholic who would gladly do overtime late into the night for more pay. If I left things up to her, we’d be working so late I might miss the last train.

“You aren’t, um… You know…”

“I was actually about to give a report on the matter to the section chief.”

“…A report?”

“Do you want to sit in? You’d need his permission, of course.”

“……”

We frequently worked as a pair. If I explained the situation to her now, it would make things easier later. Personally, I wanted to maintain a healthy distance between the two of us, but that wasn’t how things worked in the bureau. Sooner or later, I’d have to tell her anyway.

In that case, I wanted to take the lead in giving the chief the rundown. Letting Miss Hoshizaki do it would just make more work for both of us, and I doubted he’d object.

“Is something wrong?” I asked. “I won’t force you.”

“I… I’ll come! Obviously!” she exclaimed with a nod, heading off toward the section chief’s desk before I even started to move. Her pumps clacked across the floor as she took large strides, intimidating everyone around her.

I was almost certain Chief Akutsu had heard our whole exchange anyway—his desk was right nearby. I followed Miss Hoshizaki to my first task of the day, which would apparently be a meeting.

Thankfully, the chief’s schedule was open at the moment. We went to the conference room right away to discuss what had happened the day before—just me, Miss Hoshizaki, and the chief. We took up our positions in the tiny room.

I gave Ms. Futarishizuka a call, but she said it would take her a bit longer to reach the bureau, so I made the decision to move things forward without her. I’d already brainstormed with her the night before, so nothing one of us said would contradict the other.

“…A psychic power that can produce a specific sort of space?” murmured the section chief.

“That is how Ms. Futarishizuka saw it, at least,” I said.

“And what do you think, Sasaki?”

“I have no reason to object to her theory.” The investigation of this fictional psychic was already ongoing, so he’d probably continue to push the job onto us. “She said a psychic with a similar power has appeared in the past, and she suggested they would easily merit A rank. Are you aware of what she’s talking about? If possible, I’d like you to reevaluate the level of caution warranted.”

“If the results of your investigation are true, then yes, it would call for significant countermeasures.”

“As I think you’ll understand by looking at my location history, I was trapped in the same space again yesterday by this psychic power. I was able to return in the end, but I believe we’ll need to be very careful going forward.”

I was trying to use reason to tell him I didn’t want any more dangerous assignments. Any other bureau member would have done the same, and being too calm about this would only make me look suspicious.

“Were you the only one caught in the phenomenon?” he asked.

“Yes,” I replied.

“Weren’t Ms. Futarishizuka and Miss Hoshizaki nearby at the time?”

“I have questions about that myself.”

If he’d checked Ms. Futarishizuka and Miss Hoshizaki’s location data, that would mean he already knew I was the only one who had suddenly changed locations. The fact that he asked me the question verbally anyway said a lot about his opinion of us. The incident with Lady Elsa was still causing problems.

“I’d like information on what happened inside the space.”

“Like last time, I encountered someone with wings on their back. They attacked me as soon as they saw me. I tried to flee, and eventually the phenomenon came to an end. After that, I met up with Ms. Futarishizuka, and we withdrew for the day.”

I wasn’t lying—just abridging. I’d made sure the middle school’s campus surveillance cameras hadn’t spotted me exiting the isolated space. Between then and when we entered Futarishizuka’s car, which had been waiting right next to the lot, nobody had seen my neighbor or the Abaddon boy. There was zero chance Section Chief Akutsu knew anything about those two. If all of that had taken place close to the front gate, it would’ve been a total mess. It sure is a rough life for employees whose bosses like to spy…

“That must have been difficult for you,” replied the section chief. “I’m glad to have you back here safely.”

“Thank you for your concern,” I answered.

“Sasaki, I’m really curious about that psychic with the wings!”

And there was Miss Hoshizaki with another unnecessary remark.

It was only natural a member of the bureau who worked on-site would have this reaction, but I really wanted to avoid explaining anything verbally in front of the section chief. He was extremely sharp-witted, having graduated from an elite academic institution. If I could, I’d prefer to write down everything I said to him and submit it only after several revisions. I bet he’s been keeping track of every little word and gesture that doesn’t add up.

“We still don’t know whether the winged person was a psychic or if they were the product of a psychic power,” I explained. “I don’t really have any more information I can give you on them, Miss Hoshizaki.”

“…Yeah, I guess there are a lot of different possibilities, huh?”

“There are, indeed.”

Despite being a meathead, Miss Hoshizaki caught on quickly. The sight of her being bullied the day before sprang to mind. I wondered if those rumors among the students about her failing an exam were actually true.

“I want more details on this winged person as soon as possible,” said the chief.

“If you want, sir, I can write up a report.”

“All right. Can you get it to me by the end of the day?”

“Certainly.”

“Also, about future plans. You’ve been out on the job for several days now, so I think I’ll put a different person on the active investigation. Go ahead and focus on that report for today. Starting tomorrow, I want you to shift to your other assignment until otherwise instructed.”

“In that case, Chief, I’d rather head to the scene today,” interrupted Miss Hoshizaki.

“I’m taking command on this matter. I’d like to change how we go about investigating it.”

“…I see.” Great, I thought. That should take care of the whole angel-demon proxy war thing. Soon he’d probably get reports of people wielding strange and fantastic powers unlike those of psychics. But when that happened, I could simply say “Wow, that’s amazing.”

“Oh, and about that other matter. Did you make any progress?”

The other matter he was referring to was the mess with the reptilian who had fallen out of the sky. I couldn’t report anything I had on that, so I’d just left the whole thing alone. “Nothing yet, sir,” I said.

“That’s a pity.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t meet your expectations.”

“Well, you have been keeping an eye on Ms. Futarishizuka—and doing a fine job of it as well. Keep up the good work. We’re getting more and more reports from the related agencies I mentioned before; I’ll send them to your phone later.”

“Thank you, sir.”

And with that, the day’s meeting drew to a close. Miss Hoshizaki had looked unhappy throughout. Personally, though, I was grateful for the section chief’s decision.

Leaving the conference room, I headed back to my own seat before suddenly realizing something and turning to Miss Hoshizaki. “By the way, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, what is it?” she said.

“It’s about our discussion from right before the meeting.”

“Right before…?”

“It seemed like you were about to say something, but I interrupted because I wanted to meet with the section chief first. We have time now, so… If you want, we can grab the conference room again.”

“……” Miss Hoshizaki seemed to fall into thought at my question. She was probably trying to remember what, exactly, we’d talked about.

She thought about it for several seconds. Eventually, she appeared to remember and began speaking very quickly. “I-it was nothing! Nothing at all! Forget about it!”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes! It was just a misunderstanding. Don’t mind me!”

“All right, then.”

That was pretty weird, but then again, Miss Hoshizaki was always weird. Not wanting to pry and run the risk of worsening her mood, I left her alone.

After that, I spent the day writing my report and doing some clerical work that had piled up.

Though I would have loved to have hopped into the otherworld, even for just an hour, I didn’t have any excuse to leave the building, and eventually the work day came to an end before I could seize an opportunity to contact Peeps.

After work at the bureau was done, as always, it was time for a little trip to the otherworld. I used public transportation to get back to my apartment, then got in touch with Peeps before meeting up with Ms. Futarishizuka at the high-class hotel. We then went to the warehouse we were using as a base of operations and did a check of all the goods we’d need for the trip.

I’d decided to bring in three times as much product as before in order make up for the previous night. Despite the shrinking time difference between the two worlds, about a month would still have passed at this point. Our new job as Lady Elsa’s caretakers added yet another layer of tension.

Possibly the most crucial item we were bringing—and this was no exaggeration—was her video letter to Count Müller.

“Let’s be off, then,” said Peeps.

“Thanks again, Peeps,” I replied.

“Can I look forward to my next payment?” asked Ms. Futarishizuka.

“…You have no need to worry. We will bring extra, even, to thank you for your help.”

“Oh! So generous of you,” she said. “I suppose sometimes you just have to complain.”

Leaving Lady Elsa in her care, the two of us set off. Peeps’s spell warped us from the warehouse to the otherworld.

Our general method of bringing over goods was to first get confirmation in the otherworld and then move them into the storehouse provided by the Kepler Trading Company. Before that, we would be visiting the count, getting a rundown of what had occurred in our absence, and informing him of Lady Elsa’s condition.

And so we ended up at Count Müller’s estate in the town of Baytrium. The familiar guard posted outside showed us to the reception room. The count was already there, perhaps having heard tell of our arrival at the estate.

“I’m terribly sorry for our long absence,” I began.

“Our apologies for putting you ill at ease,” continued Peeps. “If you would blame anyone, blame me.”

“No, no, don’t mention it,” replied the count. “I thank you for coming despite how busy you must be.”

It was just the three of us in the room. We could have brought lady Elsa along, but the people here were the only ones who knew the truth behind her death. We didn’t want to run the risk, however small, of someone at the estate spotting her, so we had asked her to stay cooped up in the hotel room for a little while longer. Right about now, she was probably enjoying her dinner with Ms. Futarishizuka.

To be honest, I was a little jealous. Even Peeps had been drooling over that hotel’s delicious food—and that was saying something.

“We come bearing a video letter from Lady Elsa,” I explained. “I don’t mean to rush you, but perhaps you should first confirm your daughter’s safety. Then we can record your reply to her as well.”

“You show more consideration than I deserve,” replied the count. “I’d like that very much.”

I stuck a USB drive into the laptop I’d bought to use in this world and played the video on it. We’d taken it during yesterday’s welcome party. I set the computer down on the low table in front of the sofa and let Count Müller watch the whole thing. As he saw the images and heard the sounds, his expression melted into a smile. He hadn’t shown it, but he’d definitely been anxious.

At one point, he said, “The implements of your world are incredible. I’d say I’m impressed, but it would be an understatement.”

“To me, this world’s magic seems like the work of the gods,” I replied.

“Now that must be an exaggeration.”

“No—I promise you it isn’t, my lord.”

“I, too, have learned that preconceived notions are a force to be reckoned with,” added Peeps.

“…To think, even the great Lord Starsage feels the same,” replied the count.

Neither Peeps nor I was in the video, but you could hear us both from off camera. Lady Elsa’s energetic voice resounded comfortably throughout the reception room.

“My daughter is stubborn—she takes after me—so I truly apologize if she’s made any trouble for you. If you have any concerns, just tell me. A…‘video letter,’ you called this? I’d like to have a chance to caution her.”

“You don’t need to worry about that, my lord,” I assured him. “She’s been getting along very well with the other member of our group as well.”

“Is that so? But when I think about her causing trouble for you, I just…”

“As you can see from the video Pee—er, the Lord Starsage and I took, we’re all getting along great. Oh, and the black-haired woman shown here is looking after her needs over there,” I explained, pointing to Ms. Futarishizuka, who could be seen in the corner of the screen. Maybe it would be best to at least give the count her name—even though they’d never be meeting each other.

“It makes me uncomfortable hearing you call me that,” muttered Peeps.

“I know, I know. It’s only for formal occasions.”

“Might I ask the woman’s name?” said the count.

“Her name is Futarishizuka. We have her taking care of all of Lady Elsa’s needs.”

“Oh! I’m very grateful. Would I be able to send her a gift as thanks? From what I can see, she’s prepared some very expensive lodgings and clothing.”

“Of course. I know she’ll be delighted.”

We continued talking for a little while about Lady Elsa’s life in modern Japan. Though he didn’t complain, the count was very concerned about her. As he gazed at the display, I could read some of the emotions on his face. It made me feel awful, as though I had personally put him through all this. Seeing as it had been some time since our last visit, we made sure he got a full report.

The video lasted for another few minutes before coming to an end. I would have liked to give him the laptop if I could have, but the count declined—being seen in possession of such an object would cause problems. He had such self-control! I felt my respect for him growing. Peeps was amazing of course, but Count Müller was practically superhuman himself.

Once we’d finished talking about Lady Elsa, the count straightened up again and said, “I had something urgent to tell you, by the way.”

“What is it?” I asked, feeling myself tense. Every time we came to this world, there was some sort of problem. And we hadn’t been here for two days in Japan time. My heart pounded as I waited for his report.

“It regards your territory. How should I put this…?” he trailed off.

“Is it difficult to talk about?” I asked. “You don’t need to force yourself.”

“No, it’s nothing like that, I assure you.”

“Then what is it, Julius?” prompted Peeps. “This is unlike you.”

“I… I apologize,” replied the count.

I didn’t want to believe it, but could that dragon Peeps summoned into the hole in the Rectan Plains be wreaking havoc or something? The count did tend to hesitate when it came to the Lord Starsage. Or maybe the Ohgen Empire had attacked. I could think of a number of other potential dicey situations as well. We’d left this place alone for an entire month—a scary prospect.

Eventually, the count said, “It might be faster to show you directly.”

“Then let us head there forthwith.”

“I am terribly sorry to ask this of you two, but I very much appreciate it.”

And so we ended up putting off our business trip to the Kepler Trading company to head to the domain of Baron Sasaki. I would probably be discussing the local situation with Mr. Joseph and Mr. Marc anyway, so I was grateful for the chance to check things ahead of time.

With Peeps’s magic, we could get there and back in the blink of an eye, so we immediately hopped from Count Müller’s estate to the Rectan Plains.

Leaving the reception room, we arrived in midair over the plains, a few hundred meters above the ground. Peeps had told me to use flight magic first so that I would be floating, and then he’d brought us here with his teleportation magic. The sparrow was using more of his magic to hold Count Müller in place. Meanwhile, I used my own spell—one he’d taught me—to keep floating.

The view of the domain was completely different from the last time we’d seen it. Before, it had just been a big, empty plain.

But now, right in the center of that emptiness, stone walls were being built up like a city-state’s fortress. They were far from complete, but enough were there to suggest the general layout of the entire structure. We could see rows upon rows of foundations and partially constructed walls. The ground had been dug up in a very large circle, and workers had pounded stakes and piled stones around the ring.

An absurd number of people were hard at work on the site—you’d need four digits to properly count them all. Many large tents had been set up within the planned walls, doubtless temporary lodgings for the builders. They formed a little settlement unto themselves. I could also see a road leading toward the Kingdom of Herz, with people and horse-drawn carts already traveling on it.

“May I ask you something, my lord?” I said to the count.

“Anything you wish,” he replied.

“How long, exactly, were we away?”

“One month, I would guess? It certainly hasn’t been two.”

It had been two days in my world since our last visit, which meant about one month had passed here. And we hadn’t contacted the parties responsible for construction since the day before that, which meant it had probably been around a month and a half since we’d last spoke with them. In other words, my calculations weren’t much different from the count’s.

“For so little time,” I continued, “things look to be progressing extremely quickly.”

“Yes,” he agreed. “I note even more progress than the last time I checked.”

Even major construction companies would balk at this pace. Personally, I would have been pleased if they’d only gotten as far as collecting personnel and materials. I never dreamed that they would not only have commenced construction, but that I would even be able to see the final product starting to take shape. Another ten days back in Japan, and it seemed like things would be basically finished.

Count Müller had estimated it took about two weeks to ship materials from Baytrium to this spot near the national border. At the time, the route had been perilous and filled with hidden Ohgen Empire soldiers, forcing them to take detours and such. But even without all that, it still took several days.

“Large golems are being employed in major numbers,” commented Peeps.

“It seems a very talented spellcaster is helping with the construction,” the count replied.

“Someone of yours?”

“I know of nobody this skilled with magic—neither individuals nor groups. If I did, we wouldn’t have struggled so much to supply our troops during the dispute with the Ohgen Empire. I doubt Prince Adonis would have ever been in danger, either.”

As Peeps had pointed out, humanoid shapes that looked like golems were visible on the site. Their sizes varied, with the biggest equivalent to a large construction vehicle from modern times. And they seemed to be very versatile. They picked up large boulders, assembled foundations, and pulled carts in place of horses. I was sure their presence was helping the work along by leaps and bounds. Being able to do the same things as a person but at a much larger scale must have been extremely useful. For heavy construction equipment to emulate even simple human actions, you’d probably need several working in tandem. According to the count, these golems could also efficiently ship supplies.

How convenient can this world’s magic get? I thought. It seemed to me that the flower of scientific civilization wouldn’t bloom in this world for a long time.

“Have you been taking the lead on all this, my lord?” I asked.

“Unfortunately, no,” he replied. “I haven’t helped them very much.”

“Then is Mr. Marc the one in command on the ground?”

During my last visit with Mr. Joseph, he’d explained that Mr. Marc was visiting the Kingdom of Herz in order to found a branch of the Marc Trading Company in Baytrium. I wouldn’t be surprised if that had led him here to the Rectan Plains. In that case, I felt sorry for Mr. Joseph.

But when I asked the count about it, he gave me a surprising answer. “Actually, the one leading all this is French.”

“Wait… Mr. French is in charge?” I repeated in spite of myself. That was unexpected. I mean, he’s a cook! An experienced chef who produces incredible meals that even Peeps would beg for. What is he doing on the border with the Empire on a public works project?

“I heard you explained the circumstances around your new title to him.”

“I did, just to make sure I was covering all my bases.”

I’d wanted to tell the Hermann Trading Company about it, too, since I was leaving the work under Mr. Marc’s control. They were well acquainted with Mr. French, so I figured I’d explain it myself, rather than have word trickle down through the grapevine. I never thought it would turn into this.

“After hearing about it, he apparently couldn’t sit still. He talked it over with Lord Marc and is now working on the construction. I was quite surprised myself when I ran into him on-site.”

“His skills as a chef may be unparalleled, but as a builder…?”

“I also hear the regulars at his restaurant are helping out.”

“You can just do that? Ask your customers for help with things?” Wasn’t this the Kingdom of Herz, famous for its corruption and decline? And they were helping me—some new baron they probably had never even heard of. I’d never so much as met any of his regulars.

“Many of his customers are nobles and wealthy merchants who live in or near Baytrium. Our antagonistic relations with the Ohgen Empire certainly play a part as well. The attack has made a lot of people very sensitive to the issue. And since they favor the restaurant’s owner, they found a convenient way to link the two things.”

“…I see.” That solved the matter of where the golems had come from—Mr. French had probably asked for help from someone he knew. You could earn a surprising number of connections through a restaurant; it seemed the same was true in this world.

“And because of your ample donation, they felt sure your feelings toward your territory were true and earnest. Even I was surprised by your consideration when I heard about it from Lord Marc.”

I didn’t remember working all that hard for the money. The economic gap between this kingdom and the Republic of Lunge had basically done the job for me. Thinking about it that way made me feel bad for the Herzian economy. I’d assumed I’d be investing half of my profits from my next deal into the construction as well. But maybe I should hold off. At this point, our plans are going to fail completely—I thought this building effort was going to take years!

“What about the dragons living in the hole?” I asked.

“There haven’t been any reports of them causing damage,” the count replied.

“Well, that’s a relief.”

“I’ve dispatched knights from my own estate just to be sure, but they tell me the job has been mostly peacekeeping. None of them have drawn their sword at the dragons, at least, though a few knights probably couldn’t do much to stop them.”

“You’ve even dispatched your own people? I can’t thank you enough.”

“I should be the one thanking you, Lord Sasaki. I am extremely grateful to you for building this bulwark. And I’d like to continue helping with the construction in whatever ways I can. If you need anything, please feel free to discuss it with me.”

“Thank you so much for all the kindness you’ve shown me.”

If I could, I’d have asked him to slow down the pace a little. But this was a product of the kindness of a lot of other organizations—I couldn’t exactly stand up and reject their efforts. Doing so would not only damage my relationship with Baytrium, it would threaten my friendships with Mr. French, Mr. Marc, and Count Müller. They’d wonder what in the world I was even talking about.

“I expect there will be excitement in the court before long…,” murmured Peeps, verbalizing my own fears.

The only future I could envision involved Duke Whats-his-face picking a fight with me. What was his name again? I wondered. I’ve been so busy back in Japan, I’m really starting to lose track.

“…It is as you say,” replied the count.

“Then, despite the remote location, they’re already talking about what has been transpiring here?”

“I heard the border troops sent a swift messenger horse to the royal castle,” Count Müller replied.

“I suppose a display of this level would warrant at least a message…”

“Someone may poke their nose into all this in the future.”

“We’ll cross that bridge if and when we come to it. Worrying about every little thing serves only to tie our hands.”

Peeps’s remark really made him seem like a former titan of the court. He sounded so cool—even though he was now an adorable Java sparrow.

Meanwhile, we spotted a dragon rising in the distance. It ascended straight up out of the giant hole, looking like a monster in some fantasy film. Its golden scales caught the sunlight, sending glittering rays all around it and giving it the air of a king. I wouldn’t want to pick a fight with a terrifying creature like that, even as a joke.

“The dragons I’ve summoned to the hole seem to be faring well,” noted Peeps.

“Huge as usual,” I remarked. “Just looking at it makes my knees start to buckle.”

“Really? It seems to me that in the near future, you will become strong enough to hunt one alone.”

“Wh-why, Lord Sasaki—you have that much power at your disposal?” stammered the count. “How many in this kingdom could claim to have the strength to slay a golden dragon on their own? I heard you were quite skilled, but this is…”

“At the moment, his barrier could not withstand the dragon’s breath. Challenging one to a fair fight would be dangerous. But if he shores up his defenses enough, the spell he just learned recently would cover his offense.”

I’d already told Peeps all about what had happened in the isolated space—including how I’d learned and used that one spell. He wasted no time in warning me, in an uncharacteristically harsh way, not to use it frivolously. It must really be a mega-powerful spell.

“Peeps, I wasn’t planning on fighting them anyway,” I insisted. “More importantly, I want to go say hello to Mr. French. Would you like to come with me to the surface?”

“I would.”

“Lord Sasaki, might I prevail upon you to let me join?” asked the count.

“Certainly, Count Müller.”

I looked down on an area filled with tents probably housing the on-site builders. Using my flight spell, I began to slowly lower my altitude. I hope they’re all doing well, I thought. This seems like a tough environment for construction work.

Thanks to Count Müller, I secured a face-to-face meeting at the construction site right away. There might have been a little more chaos if I had come alone.

We were in an area with a lot of tents set up near the edge of the site—specifically, a slightly larger tent in the center. I sat down at an improvised table set, probably made from leftover materials, and had my reunion with Mr. French.

“I’m so sorry it took me so long to pay you a visit,” I said.

“N-no, please, don’t be!” he insisted. “I didn’t even consult you.”

In work clothes, the tall, muscular man looked the part of a contractor. He was impressive, covered in dust and dirt. The sight of his long red hair boldly bunched up into a bandana wrapped around his head was overflowing with masculine charm.

Apart from the two of us, Peeps and Count Müller were present as well. This tent was apparently serving as a reception room for the site. A mat had been placed on the ground and a few pieces of furniture set around the tent—all of it neat and clean enough for entertaining people of significant repute. Maybe Mr. French had put it together for the count’s previous visit.

“I hadn’t expected the work to be this far along,” I said to Mr. French. “I heard from Count Müller that you’ve been putting in a lot of effort. Thank you for your work and for finding the time to see us.”

“I can’t possibly take all the credit!” he insisted. “It’s been a group effort.”

“I heard your influence has been vital, Mr. French.”

“Oh, but everyone here has been so kind to me…”

I’d gone over the finer details with Count Müller before we arrived, so we were able to spend some time exchanging greetings and small talk. At this rate, there was absolutely no way I could ask him to take it easy.

Then the tent’s front entrance flew open. Several men appeared, all wearing the same work clothes as Mr. French. They all had harsh, rough faces. We hadn’t expected anyone, so we were very surprised. Did the workers use this tent for breaks?

“Hey, French!” one of them said. “Heard Baron Sasaki was gonna be here.”

“Lord of the realm, and all that,” said another. “Gotta show our faces, say hi, y’know?”

“Is that lanky guy the one?” asked a third man.

“Mind introducing us, or what?” chimed in a fourth.

They boldly strode into the tent, making a ruckus. Combined with their uncivilized appearances, their behavior made them seem almost like outlaws.

Mr. French was the first one to panic upon seeing them. “J-just hang on!” he pleaded. “These two are nobles. You could at least be a little more…”

The men didn’t seem to be registering his words, though. Instead, they ignored him and continued speaking, one after another.

“Pretty good work site, huh? Got loads of real talented craftsmen.”

“All of us here are pretty tight, so no need to worry about a thing, Your Lordship.”

“Bunch of Ohgen Empire folks came bumbling in earlier, Baron Sasaki. But we sent ’em packing.”

“Man, was that a good time or what? Real refreshing, you know what I’m saying?”

“Can’t get in here without an introduction from a friend, after all.”

“And if anyone invites some flake, we kick him out and the guy who invited him.”

“The pay’s good, so there’s people lining up to get an invitation.”

“We’re even getting merchants and whores coming in these days.”

As for me—Baron Sasaki—the only thing I could do was answer straightforwardly. After all, they were here out of the kindness of their own hearts. Plus, they were pretty scary looking, so I didn’t want to pick any fights.

“Thank you. I am Sasaki,” I told them, leading with a bow. Count Müller was here with me, so I hoped we could keep things peaceful. “I’ve heard about you all from Mr. French. I take heart in knowing you have expended the time and effort to come all the way to this remote area, and I hope you’ll continue to support the project.”

“H-hey—hey! That’s all you have to say?” asked one of them without skipping a beat—he was standing in front of the rest, with a shaved head and the scariest face of them all.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I mean, we haven’t paid you any respect, and Count Müller’s right there. I heard you used to be a merchant who did business in Baytrium. Are you fine with us treating you like this right in front your superior?”

“As you can see, I’m a foreigner,” I explained. “This territory originally belonged to the citizens of Herz. The royal family gave it to me as part of my baronship, but I am merely borrowing it from you temporarily.”

“I… Are you being serious?”

To be honest, I didn’t really feel like I was governing this place. In fact, I was passing off all the work to other people. I felt like I should apologize. “Mr. French is also a good friend of mine,” I continued. “If he thinks highly of you, then I must welcome you as guests. As this isn’t a public place, I don’t think there’s much need to stand on ceremony.”

Also, I’d be embarrassed acting all high-and-mighty in front of Peeps. He was essentially the reason I received the title and land to begin with. I couldn’t allow Count Müller to be insulted, but I didn’t mind if they thought lowly of me. In fact, maybe if they didn’t take me seriously, their work would slow down—and that would only benefit us.

“For real?” roared the man with the shaved head. He seemed shocked. “You don’t seem like a noble from Herz, that’s for sure.”

“I… I already told you how magnanimous he is!” cut in Mr. French.

The men in the back shared their leader’s reaction. Was it that surprising? And thanks for the backup, Mr. French.

I decided to turn my own praise toward the count. “Count Müller, too, well understands your goodwill.”

“Indeed,” replied the count. “Baron Sasaki is correct.”

“…!”

At his remark, the men broke out in smiles. But even when happy, scary people were scary. For a moment, I almost thought they were threatening us.

But their surprise only lasted a second or two before they began to get rowdy again.

“Yeah, Mr. French was tellin’ the truth!”

“No kidding. I didn’t think nobles like this even existed.”

“And it’s someone our count trusts, too.”

“Who the hell was it who said he was trying to bring down the count?!”

“I’m ready for another shift!”

“Yeah, I’m pumped!”

The quiet tent was suddenly blazing with energy. How on earth did Mr. French describe us to them? I wondered.

As this band of outlaw look-alikes got more and more excited, I only grew more anxious. Logically, considering my magic powers, they wouldn’t be able to lay a finger on me—but they looked so scary that my fear was instinctual. I felt like I was downtown, being accosted by a band of hooligans.

“Excuse me, everyone, but—,” I began.

“Baron Sasaki, I am truly sorry for our rude behavior,” interrupted the man with the shaved head.

“…Huh?”

“We shouldn’t have tested you. Please, accept our apologies.”

His attitude had done a one-eighty. No sooner had he righted his posture than he offered us a dramatic bow. The men crowded in behind him started lowering their heads one after another, too.

“We were worried you’d deceived Mr. French,” he explained. “But it seems we were wrong. You really are the person he described. Now we can stop worrying and get back to work.”

“…Might I inquire into the details of your relationship with Mr. French?” I ventured.

“I run a construction company in Baytrium, and I’ve been visiting his restaurant regularly for a while,” explained the leader of the men respectfully. “Not as much recently, what with all the nobles showing up, but that’s how we know each other. And that’s why I’m helping out.”

He must be one of the regulars of Mr. French’s Count Müller mentioned, I realized. From how he spoke, he seemed to be a master builder; maybe he was actually a wealthy man, in contrast to his thuggish looks. And if he was, he probably met with nobles on a daily basis. I guess that’s why he wanted to test me. I was sincerely grateful that they cared so much about Mr. French.

“Do all the golems belong to you, then?” I asked.

“No, they’re from the Adventurers Guild.”

“Does the Adventurers Guild also have connections with the restaurant?”

“The guild leader absolutely loves Mr. French’s restaurant, and so adventurers have a leg up getting work here. Real weirdo, that one—loves soup curry beyond belief, always eats the same exact meal, you know,” added the builders’ leader with something of an amused gleam in his eye. He was probably on good terms with said guild leader, whoever they were. Maybe that was why everything on the site seemed so coordinated.

“Ah, I see,” I said. “Thank you for the explanation.”

“If there’s anything we can clear up for you, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

Each of the stern-faced men looked at me with passionate sincerity in their eyes. I found myself unprepared for this; I had no experience being in a position of authority over others. It felt like during homeroom at school or a meeting at work, when I’d be trying to lay low and keep quiet, and then suddenly I’d be called on to contribute. Plus, these people all looked like they could be with the yakuza. I couldn’t help but get nervous.

I went for something safe and inoffensive. “Anyway, it’s amazing this many people were willing to gather so close to a dragon’s nest.”

The man with the shaved head had an immediate reply. “Actually, we were pretty hesitant at first.”

After that, a bunch of the men standing behind him chimed in.

“We were scared out of our minds when we first heard!”

“Working right next to a golden dragon’s nest? Figured the people in charge were insane.”

“But then Mr. French suddenly says he’ll start the work alone if he has to and rushes in.”

“He said the dragons were safe. We thought he’d hit his head or something. We weren’t sure what to do.”

“In the end, we all decided to go rescue him.”

“And when we arrived, amazingly, the dragons didn’t seem to care one bit that we were here.”

“Yeah, so more and more people started believing Mr. French.”

“And now, as you can see, there’s a whole bunch of us!”

Apparently, Mr. French was where it had all begun—he’d taken the lead. I know he said he’d do his best to help when we saw each other last time, but this is something else. I want to apologize to him. I thought we were just exchanging small talk. I never dreamed it would turn out like this.

“You’ve worked yourself to the bone, haven’t you, Mr. French?” I said to the chef. “I’m sincerely grateful.”

“I-it wasn’t all me,” he insisted. “Mr. Marc helped out, too.”

Maybe it’d be better if he had my title instead. Actually, maybe it wasn’t too late. I’d have to start pushing him to the forefront from now on.

I shot a glance at Peeps and made out a tiny nod in response.

“Where is Mr. Marc, by the way?” I asked.

“He headed for the Republic of Lunge not long ago,” came the answer.

“I see…” I had initially hoped to be lucky enough to see him here, but I should have guessed he wouldn’t have time to stick around.

As this world was seriously lacking in communications infrastructure, my only choice was to send him a message through Mr. Joseph. It was then I remembered a certain handy item that existed in modern times. Perhaps the day would soon come when I brought high-powered radio equipment to this world. There were no restrictions here—you could send out waves as strong as you wanted. You wouldn’t even have to encode anything; you could just blast out confidential information as is!

We spoke about the current situation for a little under an hour. Figuring we’d be obstructing their work if we stayed any longer, I suggested we head out. Count Müller couldn’t tag along forever, either—he had plenty of his own business to attend to.

“I’m sorry, but we should probably leave soon…,” I said.

“We’ll do our best to have something to show you the next time we meet!” exclaimed Mr. French enthusiastically.

“No, no, feel free to take it easy. Safety first—I insist. If you need any more funds, I’m sure you can ask Mr. Marc or Count Müller, and you’ll have them in a heartbeat. Take your time if you need to and do a good job with it,” I replied as politely as I could. If he tried to take on too much, it might provoke opposition. I would rather they take their time than burn out.

“Did you hear that, everyone?” called out the master builder. “Baron Sasaki is a valorous man, indeed!” In response, the other men began to cheer loudly enough to shake the tent.

If I stayed any longer, I was afraid they might form a parade, so I left things in Mr. French’s hands and exited the work site.

After our exchange in the Rectan Plains, Peeps and I brought Count Müller back home, then headed for the Republic of Lunge for our now-customary business with Mr. Joseph. To reach the Kepler Trading Company, I prevailed upon the bird’s teleportation magic.

In consideration of the time difference between the two worlds, we brought our goods to the Kepler-provided storehouse in Lunge before the meeting. With Ms. Futarishizuka preparing all the goods in modern Japan, all we had to do was move them from one place to the other.

Finally, we arrived in the company’s reception room for our discussion with Mr. Joseph.

“Oh? Why, if it isn’t Mr. Marc.”

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

Mr. Marc was in the room we had been shown to, seated right next to Mr. Joseph. Just like the last time we’d seen him, he was wearing finer clothing than back when he’d been doing business in Baytrium. His clothes weren’t as gaudy as those worn by the Herzian nobility, but judging by the fabric and tailoring, they must have been expensive.

“I heard you were on your way,” I said. “I hadn’t realized you’d returned already.”

“Yes, I just got back today. I’m glad I arrived in time to meet with you.”

This made things convenient—I could speak to them both at once. I quickly launched into an explanation of the products I’d brought. They weren’t much different from last time—sugar and modern manufactured goods. But since it had been two days in the modern world since our last deal, we’d brought double our usual amount and a little extra.

Essentially, we’d tripled our stock. In response, Mr. Joseph offered about the same price per unit as last time. This was what I had expected, so I agreed and sold my whole stock. I then put half of the profits toward the construction project in my domain. I’d leave that part with Count Müller or the Hermann Trading Company, then discuss with Mr. French how much he’d need. That would lessen the burden on Mr. Marc, too.

“Mr. Joseph,” I said, “for our next deal, would you mind if I increased the amount of product?”

“Would that happen to include sugar?”

“Yes, that’s the idea.”

“Then, please do. I’d be happy to oblige.”

And so my exchange with the representative of the Kepler Trading Company came to a close. Afterward, Peeps and I stayed overnight at an inn Mr. Joseph introduced us to. As always, we received excellent service. The lodgings were of a higher quality than last time, too, which I wanted to believe was an expression of his anticipation for our future business deals.

The next day, we returned to the town of Baytrium and headed straight for the Hermann Trading Company. There, we deposited the funds for Mr. French. I asked them to notify him when they had the chance, and they immediately responded that they would. Mr. Marc may have been absent, but those at the company were working as hard as ever, and I felt comfortable trusting them with large sums of money.

As we were preparing to leave, we were informed that Count Müller wanted to see us. Apparently, he’d been searching everywhere and had asked the company to relay the message if they saw me.

What could it be? I wondered. We just saw him yesterday.

As instructed, we headed over to the count’s estate, eventually ending up in the reception room.

“Yellow skin, black hair, dark eyes—he does appear to be the one you described.”

“Count Müller, who might this be?”

“This is Viscount Ohm. He’s come here on an errand for Duke Einhart.”

“I am indeed Viscount Ohm.”

Together in the room with Count Müller was someone I’d never met before. He was about my age and looked to be about 180 centimeters tall. His dull-brown hair reached his shoulders, parted in the middle to expose most of his forehead. His facial hair was a bit long as well, surrounding his mouth. His ostentatious clothing made it very clear that he was the image of a Herzian noble. What caught my eye the most was his collar, which looked like one of those topless caps kids wore to keep shampoo out of their eyes—a ruffled collar, essentially. His outfit used a lot of lace; he looked like gaudiness personified.

Now that I thought about it, even in my world, lace had been a luxury item before the Industrial Revolution had made lace machines commonplace. Handwoven items were very expensive because of the labor required. If I brought them to this world in large quantities, they might prove another effective product for the Marc Trading Company.

But now wasn’t the time to be thinking about that. The person in front of me was the reason the count had been searching for us.

“My name is Sasaki. I appreciate you coming all the way here, my lord.”

“I’ve come with a message from Duke Einhart for Baron Sasaki,” announced the viscount, getting up off the sofa before I’d even had a chance to get comfortable. Across the low table from me, Count Müller’s face took on a troubled expression as he watched the other noble.

Without much of a choice, I waited for what the man was about to say. As a baron, I was the lowest-ranking noble in the room.

The words that came next touched on a recent hot topic of ours.

“Regarding Baron Sasaki’s bulwark under construction at the border with the Ohgen Empire, Duke Einhart has acknowledged your efforts. It has been decided that, in his compassion, and as the original proposer, he will be supporting the baron in his endeavors.”

“……”

“As a comrade who believes Prince Adonis worthy of the Herzian throne, Duke Einhart hopes that his support will encourage Baron Sasaki to continue working for the prosperity of our homeland. In addition, I plan on taking direct but temporary control over the site for the time being.”

This was a roundabout way of saying “Hey, we support the second prince, too, so let us have a piece of the pie building the bulwark.” Also, “I came up with the idea first, so make sure everyone knows that.” Actually, since someone close to him was taking over the work site, it might have been more accurate to call it a confiscation.

I’d met people like this at my old job. They would hand all the work from their superior off to their subordinates, and when those subordinates did a good job, they’d talk like they deserved all the credit themselves. And when the boss was of a much higher rank—like in this case—it was particularly unbearable to watch.

How did people handle this in Herz? If I disobeyed, things would probably turn sour.

“…What is it, Baron Sasaki?”

Viscount Ohm probably didn’t think for a moment that I’d refuse. He was all set to take over.

But I couldn’t betray Mr. French’s goodwill. I’d have to decline, even if it meant enduring some harassment.

“I’m terribly sorry, my lord,” I said, “but I must refuse your kind offer.”

“Wh-what?!” As expected, the viscount nearly blew his top. His face twisted in anger, and he raised his voice.

I went on to explain myself. “My lord, this matter involves a very insignificant bulwark being built on the border with the Ohgen Empire. It is not so difficult a job that we require support from Duke Einhart. In fact, I was essentially told as much by the duke himself during our audience with His Majesty.”

“You… You intend to go against the duke’s wishes?” Red crept into the viscount’s face. And he was so composed before, I thought. Now he’s furious. Probably because a noble of lower rank had defied him.

“Or does the duke mean to say that his support would outstrip that of the Kepler Trading Company, my lord?”

“Well, I…”

It was actually Peeps’s and my pocket money, but Mr. Joseph’s name was a good one to use in this situation. Herzian nobles were generally weak to outside pressure. I felt like I was steadily beginning to understand how this world worked. Viscount Ohm was at a loss for words. He probably hadn’t anticipated us turning him down like this.

However, not only had these people tried to assassinate Peeps, they’d expelled him from his own world. I couldn’t afford to be careless around them. I’d prefer not to interact with them at all—and Peeps agreed with me on that.

“As promised, I will not set foot in the capital until the defensive structures are complete,” I said to reassure him. “My lord, could you possibly plead with Duke Einhart on my behalf for him to take a long-term view of our work?”

Even after it was done, I didn’t want to go anywhere near the capital for a while. If we stayed cooped up in our own territory, the duke probably wouldn’t complain. Ideally, the kingship would change hands during that time, and they’d eventually forget about me.

But no sooner did I look up at him than Viscount Ohm roared “Y-you’d better prepare yourself for the consequences of disobeying Duke Einhart!” before storming out of the reception room, leaving the door wide open. The quick clat-clat-clat of his boots down the hallway steadily grew distant.

Once the sound faded, Count Müller said, “Duke Einhart must be serious to send Viscount Ohm all the way out here. There are competing factions even among those supporting the second prince. I suspect the duke has grown impatient after hearing of your vigorous efforts here, Lord Sasaki.”

“I am so sorry to be causing trouble for you, my lord,” I apologized.

“Oh, there’s no need for that. I much prefer your decision. Our relations with Duke Einhart are vital, yes, but that bulwark is just as crucial to the town of Baytrium. I’d like to avoid anything getting in the way.”

“I’m very pleased to hear you say that.”

Had Viscount Ohm taken over at the site, the master builder and his group would have flown into a fury right away. Human relations at the site would be in turmoil—and the project itself would naturally fail. The only response to such a situation I could come up with was to have a dragon wipe the whole thing off the map. Nobody would benefit from that—including the kingdom itself.

The count, who seemed to share my understanding, immediately made a suggestion. “I believe I shall increase the site’s complement of knights for the time being.”

“Thank you, my lord.”

Maybe it would be best to tell those working at the site, Mr. French in particular, about what had just transpired. I really hoped everything would proceed as smoothly as possible.

“By the way,” added the count, “there was something else I wanted to tell you…”

“What is it?”

“May I borrow him for a moment, Lord Starsage?”

“Very well.”

It wasn’t every day Count Müller wanted to talk to me alone. Correctly guessing the man’s intent, Peeps hopped off my shoulder right away, fluttering through the air and out the door Viscount Ohm had left open, before disappearing into the estate’s halls.

After watching him go, the count turned back to me. “As I watched the—what did you call it? Vi-dee-oh letter? Something sparked my curiosity.”

“What is it, my lord?” I asked. “You can speak your mind in front of me.”

Was he worried about Lady Elsa? I was in charge of her care. I felt myself tense up under the weight of my responsibility.

However, his next words went in a very different direction. “Well, how should I put this…? The Lord Starsage does not hold his liquor very well.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Instead of Lady Elsa, the count was commenting on Peeps’s drinking habits. He’d probably noticed the cups and the bottle of sake in the background of the video somewhere. The sparrow had imbibed with Lady Elsa in the living room.

“His behavior changes little even with much drink,” explained the count, “but there are times when he gets very drunk. I’ve even witnessed him forgetting some of what happened, which has led to certain situations in the past.”

“……”

“I’m sorry to ask this of you, but please keep this information in mind.”

“I understand fully, my lord.”

Now it made sense why Peeps had been passed out in the living room. It was worth remembering that everyone had a weakness or two. But since Peeps was always such a perfect super sparrow, I found this weak point of his especially adorable.

I had a sinking feeling that Peeps had made a mistake using the website. He must have mixed up the RECORD and LIVE STREAM buttons. I’d always thought it would be an easy mistake to make, since the buttons are right next to each other. One of my former coworkers had done the same, hitting the wrong button while drunk and going live with a dumb video.

“……”

Ah yes, that coworker had been drunk. And so had Peeps. I understood now. I recalled Count Müller’s words to me as we parted ways in the otherworld.

“Peeps,” I said, “do you remember any of this?”

“……”

It seemed safe to assume that his silence meant no.

The presence of a bird speaking a mysterious language and a beautiful foreign girl standing next to him were probably what had sent the viewer count skyrocketing in such a short period of time. I found comments about the talking bird, suggesting it had probably been dubbed over or something similar, but many people had enjoyed the video purely for its entertainment value. As for the language they were speaking, a bunch of viewers seemed pretty serious about figuring it out, and I could easily imagine that helping to expand the video’s reach. There were a lot of people in this world with a lot of time on their hands.

A few moments later, I got another call notification. The screen showed the name FUTARISHIZUKA. With Peeps still frozen on my shoulder, I pressed the call button and picked up. She started speaking immediately.

“So?” she asked. “Do you understand the situation we’re in now?”

“Thank you,” I replied. “I got a notification from the section chief telling me to come in, so if you hadn’t contacted me, I would have gone in blind. You may have just barely saved us.”

That was the worst possible situation I could think of. Getting called into the conference room and being shown the video, followed by the chief sitting me down and calmly asking me what it was. It was easy to imagine. And with Lady Elsa present, Ms. Futarishizuka—whom I’d used to explain her presence last time—would be just as caught up in this as I was. There was little doubt we’d both be dismissed. Depending on what happened, I could even see myself losing my home in Japan.

“You should go to him right away,” said Ms. Futarishizuka. “There’s nothing I can do about this.”

“My sincerest apologies. I feel like I do nothing but cause you trouble.”

“You can say that again. It certainly feels like I’ve drawn the short straw this time.”

“We will do our best to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“…I’ll be hoping for good news.”

She immediately ended the call. Usually, she waited for me to hang up, and her action made it clear just how furious she was. She’d been doing so much for us, too. I feel awful about this.

“Peeps, did you mix up the RECORD and LIVE STREAM buttons?” I asked the bird on my shoulder as I slipped the phone back into my pocket.

His tiny body gave a lurch when he heard that. “I…am sorry. Oh, what have I done?!”

Peeps fluttered into the air and landed on the desk, then he turned to me and gave a bow of apology. Seeing a sparrow lower its head that far was simply adorable. How could I do anything but unconditionally forgive him?

“I apologize! I know this situation won’t be resolved by apologizing, but I sincerely apologize!”

“Seriously, don’t worry about it that much. What’s done is done.”

“But I may have just stolen your home in this world…!”

“Well, in that case, we can just stay in the otherworld for a while.”

“Ahh, what have I done?! I cannot apologize enough!”

He’s so cute, constantly apologizing like that. Especially the way he keeps bowing his little head.

“I cannot believe I got so intoxicated that I made a mistake on the internet…”

“It’s not that unusual, actually. It happens to the best of us.”

Celebrities messing up live streams and ending up on the news was a fairly common occurrence. Apparently, there were plenty of people who made video-editing mistakes when uploading videos, too. For the most part, the creator would take it down as soon as they noticed it, but Peeps had fallen asleep before realizing what had happened.

I recalled the sight of him sleeping on the low table the previous morning—though perhaps “lying there” was a better descriptor than “sleeping.”

“This would have gotten out sooner or later. It just happened sooner,” I said, soothing him.

“I have been reckless. I am truly sorry!”

At this rate, it felt like he was never going to stop apologizing. I figured it was especially hard for him to forgive himself for getting drunk and screwing up since he always had a sense of relaxed confidence about him. If only Count Müller had given me that advice a little sooner, I thought, filled with regret.

Perhaps the count had experienced something similar in the past, I thought. The perfect and flawless Starsage seemed just a little bit more human now, and I felt closer to him as I listened to his earnest apologies.

Whatever the case, I needed to buy some time.

“Peeps, I’m going to go talk to my boss for now,” I explained.

“I’m sorry. I am an utterly foolish being. An imbecile who grew full of himself after being called the Starsage and fell to delusions of grandeur. To think I would trample on all the goodwill you’ve shown me! I am hopeless.” Peeps was sliding into a desperate pit of self-loathing, nothing but apologies flowing from his cute little beak. “I shall refrain from using the internet for the time being.”

The distinguished sparrow must have been hurting quite a lot to suggest voluntarily staying away from the internet. His drooping, sad visage was lovely in its own right, so as his owner, I hesitated to voice any disapproval.

Instead, I decided to do my best to support him. “Well, I appreciate it. I’ll just pop over to the bureau.”

“Mm. Please be careful.”

“I’ll smooth things over with the boss, so don’t worry—just wait for me. In return, can I ask you to go keep Lady Elsa company? I’m sure she’s feeling anxious all alone with Ms. Futarishizuka right now.”

“Understood. I vow to never commit another blunder like this again!”

It was a little early to be going into the office, but there was no way I could laze around the apartment in my current state. Plus, leaving early would let me avoid the packed trains.

I wonder, I thought suddenly. When Peeps was assassinated in the otherworld, could alcohol have been involved? It seemed unlikely, and yet I wasn’t sure how else a normal human could hope to take on the Starsage.

Somewhat earlier than usual, I transferred trains and headed for the bureau. I didn’t bother to contact the section chief. He could easily tell when his subordinates were on their way to the office by checking their location data. In fact, he didn’t bother calling me again, either. That gave me all the time I needed to worry about how I was going to get out of this.

My commute had never felt shorter. I arrived at the bureau in what felt like seconds. Going through the main entrance, I headed up to my department.

Naturally, Section Chief Akutsu was waiting for me. He looked as slick as he did every day, wearing an expensive-looking suit and perfectly shiny leather shoes. For the price of the watch gleaming on his wrist, you could buy a brand-new car, complete with every available option.

“Sasaki,” he said, “see me in the conference room.”

“All right,” I replied.

I followed him through the office, where employees were still sparse. We ended up in the small conference room, about ten meters square. He walked around the table to face me. It was just us in the room, of course.

“I think you know what’s going on,” he began.

“I do.”

I had assumed he’d show the video in question on the conference room screen, but he launched straight into discussing it as soon as he sat down, as though it would be a waste to even pull it up. He must have been certain I had something to do with it.

“I’ll ask you plainly. Who is she?” he said, calm and collected as always, his tone forceful. “She” definitely referred to Lady Elsa.

For now, I’d try playing innocent. “I believe I gave an explanation regarding her before.”

“We found the hotel based on the background of the video and checked the camera footage of the entrance. Two people who looked like you and Ms. Futarishizuka were seen going in. I hope you’re not going to try to claim this is unrelated to you.”

The section chief really likes his surveillance cameras, I thought. At this point, he couldn’t claim it was just for work—it was definitely his hobby. But what a pain for all his employees.

Initially, we had informed him that Lady Elsa was a psychic from another country. I’d also said I had nothing to do with her. But now it was clear to him that she was still in Japan—and that I still had contact with her. It would be weirder if he wasn’t suspicious. And that’s precisely why I had such a hard time answering him.

“I hear she’s staying in Japan for the time being,” I said.

“People are saying the voice was dubbed over, but personally, I have quite an interest in that sparrow that speaks the same language she does. If it isn’t fake, could the sparrow be from the same place as that lizard-man that fell from the sky?”

“Have you already analyzed that recording as well?”

“Come to think of it, I believe you have a pet sparrow at home, Sasaki.”

“……” He was really hitting me where it hurt. Bull’s-eye, Chief. There was no way to get out of it this time.

He continued. “Users on the internet have already determined the location of the hotel in the video. Quite an expensive place, isn’t it? I assume it was obtained through Futarishizuka’s influence. Have you heard nothing about her relationship to the girl?”

“Apparently, she doesn’t understand the language in the video, either.”

“Is that right?”

“That’s what she told me, at least.” For the moment, I decided not to lie. I was hoping to avoid aggravating the situation any further with minor inconsistencies. My plan was to acknowledge the truth for what it was but still claim I didn’t know anything about it.

“I’d like to speak with Futarishizuka as well, if possible,” remarked the chief. “But I can’t seem to get in touch with her. Would you mind trying to reach her for me? Though, I’m sure she’ll come into the office at some point today if we wait.”

“You’re probably right…”

I got the feeling she’d be able to give a good answer to any questions he might ask. She hadn’t been alive since before World War II for nothing. The older, the wiser, as the saying went. But I felt like the chief might be able to outfox even her.

So what am I supposed to do now? I wondered, trying to think as quickly as possible.

But taking that time worked against me. “That said,” continued the chief, “I’d prefer to wrap things up quickly.”

“Has something urgent come up?” I asked.

“You want to continue living here as a Japanese citizen, right?”

“……”

Ah, I thought. This is my boss giving me an ultimatum. He stared at me. His tone had been as detached as always, but I knew my life would change drastically depending on how I responded.

And if he was going to push me that far, then I’d just have to do the same.

“Yes,” I answered. “I would like to continue working for the benefit of Japan.”

“Then do what you need to do—as a member of this bureau.”

“Then, Chief, I believe I’ll do so right away.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

I rose from my chair and moved to the whiteboard beside the conference table. I made out a slight twitch in the chief’s eyebrow—he must have been wondering what I was doing. But he didn’t say anything.

As he watched, I picked up a black marker. “Mr. Akutsu, do you recall the incident at the bowling alley?” I asked.

“…Why this, all of a sudden?”

“A lot of bureau employees died in that incident,” I continued.

On the whiteboard, I drew an equilateral triangle. At each of its corners I drew equally sized circles. In one circle, I wrote the chief’s name. I was about to write the nerd’s name in the second, but then I remembered I didn’t know it, so I put the word suspects instead. In the last, I wrote the name of the bureau’s vice director, who was the chief’s boss as well.

“It would seem the vice director was fed false information by the suspect group,” I explained, drawing an arrow from the suspects to the vice director. The chief didn’t respond to this. I continued to explain, the marker in one hand. “But at the scene, as bureau members were dying left and right, you were the only one taken alive, for some reason—though, I suppose it’s possible you’re worth that much to them.”

I drew an arrow from the chief to the suspects. As I did, the marker started to run out of ink. What a sad time for that to happen. I picked a different pen off the tray below the whiteboard. I couldn’t find the same black color, though, so I was forced to grab the blue instead. It kind of put a damper on the coolness factor of my presentation, but it seemed like the kind of thing that would happen to me.

“Actually, a direct line might not be appropriate here.”

I added a smaller circle in the middle of the other three. In it, I wrote Mr. X. I didn’t know the details for this player, since Ms. Futarishizuka had been hesitant to explain further. Then I drew a line from the chief through Mr. X to the suspects.

“The suspects were probably thrilled at the prospect of eliminating so many bureau members.”

I added an arrowhead to the other side of that line, pointing back to the chief. Personally, I really wanted to know the identity of Mr. X. Maybe Futarishizuka would tell me someday if I got to know her better.

“When you look at it like this, I feel bad for the vice director—he had no idea. I hear he’ll be taking responsibility for the whole incident and leaving his post in the near future. As for who will take up his position… Well, I know I’m curious. Aren’t you?”

“……”

I stared fixedly at the whiteboard. If I’d simply told the section chief I knew he’d set up the incident at the bowling alley, I wouldn’t have needed to go through this song and dance. I did it anyway, because I wanted to give off the impression I knew even more—all sorts of things.

It wasn’t clear whether my efforts had borne fruit, but I did finally get a response from the chief. “Sasaki, would you happen to be connected to the Public Safety Commission?”

Yes! I thought. He took the bait. All thanks to Ms. Futarishizuka’s intel. She really has been nothing but helpful lately. “No, I’m not,” I said.

“Then why are you here right now?”

“Please don’t misunderstand me. You were the one who started this, Chief.”

“……”

During this entire exchange, Mr. Akutsu’s gaze had never once drifted away from me. I was sure he carried a concealed gun, so I was paying just as much attention to his actions as he was mine. There was a chance he would label me a spy and shoot me. Dead men tell no tales, after all. With his position, he could kill me and sweep it under the rug in any number of ways.

“I’d like to keep our relationship cordial, Mr. Akutsu,” I said.

“You expect me to believe that?”

“I very much hope you will. Do you think I would have bothered to tell you about all this if I harbored any ill will toward you? All I ask in return is my status as an ordinary bureau employee.”

“Is the title that attractive to you?”

“It is like heaven compared to my previous job.”

“…I see.”

Hesitation was evident in the chief’s normally confident manner of speaking. He was probably busy trying to guess what I was playing at. The idea that I might be content remaining in my current position was beyond his imagination. In that light, his disbelief actually made me feel pretty good.

“I’ll say it again—I have no intention of opposing you, Chief. Were it not for this incident, we wouldn’t have needed to have this conversation. So will you allow me to continue contributing to the nation as a member of this bureau?”

“Who are you, Sasaki?”

I couldn’t answer that question—nor could I remain silent. This was a good chance to use one of Peeps’s lines. “Our world is much richer in versatility than you think it is, Chief.”

“……”

When an average Joe like me says it, it just doesn’t have the same punch. These sorts of quotes needed to come from the Starsage’s beak. The chief had fallen silent, and I began to think this middle-aged man might have gotten a little carried away. How embarrassing.

Still, I felt like I’d managed to deal with him. I was confident my safety was ensured for the time being. I trusted the chief not to do anything careless now that we both knew each other’s weaknesses. There was nothing I could do if he decided to surprise me by shooting me in the back, but he’d have to at least consider the risks he’d run if he failed. In that light, this situation wasn’t all bad. It would also make it easier to do things related to the otherworld in the future.

“So I’d appreciate it if you didn’t pry any further. I won’t involve myself in anything you’re doing, either. I believe this would be a mutually beneficial arrangement. What do you say?”

Whatever the case, the one thing I didn’t want was to return to my life as a corporate drone. I’d also prefer not to have the government after me. The important things in life were eating and sleeping—Peeps was in agreement with me there. To that end, I wanted to maintain the status quo. I was an employee making a desperate appeal to my boss, insisting I hadn’t the slightest ambition to climb the ladder.

A few moments later, the chief said, “You’re correct, Sasaki.”

“Do you mean that?”

“You had better not be lying about this.”

“You can trust me, Chief.”

“…Very well. Then, I’ll respect your wishes on the matter.”

I did it, Peeps! I’d successfully gotten a compromise out of the section chief. It sounded like he wouldn’t be prying into our affairs in the future. Perhaps that would quell Futarishizuka’s ire, too. I was confident that if I added a little bonus to all my future payments, everything would be all right. And it seemed likely my distinguished sparrow would be more than willing to help out this time.

“Thank you. I’m glad we’ve come to an agreement.”

Even so, that had been some dangerous business. Making deals like this with the chief was going to give me a heart attack.

“It looks like none of you are on the same page,” remarks Abaddon, though it’s unlikely anyone hears him.

Whether we are on the same page or not, my only wish is to be at his side.