“Kakeru-san, please take good care of our daughter.”
“Kakeru-onii-san, please take care of my big sister too!”
“Yes, of course.”
After explaining the situation, I told them that while my ability couldn’t bring her back here, I could deliver messages and items between them. We agreed that I would act as a bridge between them once a week.
The only condition on my side was that they never tell anyone else about me. Yuuka had already helped me tremendously in this other world, so I couldn’t ask for anything more in return. Well… I did conveniently leave out the part about essentially living off her support at the moment.
I also had one more favor to ask: I wanted them to properly register the smartphone Yuuka had with her. It was a hassle searching for places with free Wi-Fi every time, so being able to use this phone directly would be a huge help.
If they ever wanted to tell her something or if there was an emergency, they could send messages. Naturally, communication wouldn’t work while I was in the other world, but as soon as I returned to Japan, I’d be able to read them. Yuuka would also be able to send emails to her family, which surely made her happy.
“I’m back. They believed me—and you—without any trouble. They also said they’ll apply for and activate the phone right away.”
“That’s wonderful. Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. Oh, and here’s a message from your family.”
“…!”
Just as I’d recorded a video of Yuuka to show her family, I had recorded a video message from them for her. She had seen Haruka-chan’s video recently, but it had probably been a long time since she’d seen her parents.
“…Kakeru, thank you so much.”
“Yeah.”
Tears welled up in her eyes.
At this point, staying here any longer would only be intruding.
◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆
“Good morning, Kakeru♪”
“Morning.”
The next morning, when I entered the mansion’s spacious living room, Yuuka was preparing breakfast with a huge smile on her face. Even if she still couldn’t meet her family in person, her sister had recovered, and now she could communicate with them. She seemed genuinely overjoyed.
“Thank you so much for yesterday. Thanks to you, I slept soundly for the first time in ages.”
“The feeling’s mutual. Up until now, I’d been sleeping in cheap inns and even stables. Getting to sleep comfortably in a proper bed felt amazing.”
Life before reaching this city had been incredibly hard. I had been tempted more than once to resort to shady dealings or risk selling items from Japan. If Yuuka hadn’t helped me, I probably would have gone down that path.
We truly owed each other.
“Mm, this is delicious! It’s been so long since I’ve had proper Japanese food.”
“Hehe, I’m glad you like it. Japanese food really is far better, isn’t it? Comparing them side by side makes it obvious.”
Yesterday’s breakfast had been Western-style with bread and such, but today’s meal was the very image of a traditional Japanese breakfast: rice, miso soup, natto, grilled fish, rolled omelet with dashi, and boiled greens.
Everything had been bought at the supermarket using money earned from the flea market.
Apparently, Yuuka had been craving Japanese food too, savoring every bite of these familiar flavors. And honestly, Japanese rice tasted noticeably better than what we’d eaten yesterday. When you eat something every day, you stop appreciating how wonderful it really is.
“By the way, about your room, Kakeru… Since it’ll be more convenient for protection duties, would you mind taking the room next to mine?”
“Umm… This might be a bit late to ask, but… are you really okay with me living in this mansion?”
At the moment, I was simply using one of the guest rooms. But since I’d be helping maintain communication between Yuuka and her family for the foreseeable future, she wanted me to choose a room that would properly be my own.
She was taking care of me in every possible way. My freeloading lifestyle was only escalating…
“Of course. I’ll still be relying on you from now on, and besides, there are plenty of empty rooms. To begin with, I bought this mansion largely so other Blessed Ones would trust me.”
“I see.”
I’d wondered why she lived alone in such an enormous mansion. It turned out that this, too, had been for the sake of saving her little sister.
Certainly, living in a grand estate inspired far more trust than staying somewhere suspicious. Though, when I first met her, I hadn’t exactly had the luxury of checking her residence.
“But thanks to you, Kakeru, I’ve already achieved my goal. Honestly, I could sell this mansion now. I stand out a bit too much in this city, and it makes it hard for you to enjoy walking around. Maybe I could retire from adventuring, move to some distant village or town, and the two of us could just live peacefully together.”
“Whoa, no way! That would be too much! You worked hard to become an S-rank adventurer, and you have this incredible mansion!”
If she went that far for my sake, I’d feel terrible.
“…Do you hate the idea of living with just the two of us that much?”
Puffing out her cheeks, Yuuka looked up at me with reproachful eyes.
Even that dissatisfied expression was adorable.
Of course I didn’t hate the idea. Living peacefully with such a beautiful woman sounded like an ideal life.
But right now, the feelings between Yuuka and me were built upon mutual gratitude. It felt different from romantic love…
Ding-dong.
Suddenly, the mansion’s intercom rang.
Honestly, being interrupted while struggling to answer Yuuka’s question might have been a blessing.
Incidentally, the intercom was apparently a magic device. Since many Blessed Ones came from Japan, there were quite a few magical tools in this world that resembled things from their previous lives.
“…A visitor this early in the morning? Is it an emergency request from the Adventurers’ Guild? Or could it be…!”
For a brief moment, Yuuka looked annoyed by the unexpected visitor, but the next instant, her expression changed to one of surprise.
“Kakeru, maybe the person I told you about before—her—has finally arrived!”
“Huh? You mean the one who still has lingering attachments to Japan…? But didn’t you say it would take a little longer?”
“It’s only been a few days since I sent the letter… Normally, it should take another two or three days, but she’s far from ordinary. Just in case it really is her, wait in the room next to the guest room.”
“Got it.”
After discussing it with Yuuka, she had only told that person that we might have found a clue about returning to Japan, without mentioning me at all. We had already decided that once she arrived, we’d first determine what kind of person she was and learn the details of her attachment to Japan before deciding whether or not to help her.
Yuuka would guide her to the guest room, while I would stay in the adjacent room and quietly observe.
Yuuka had only given me a rough description of this person.
Just what kind of woman was she, and for what reason did she wish to return to Japan so badly?
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