“You arrived much sooner than I expected, Aoi.”
Sitting in the room adjacent to the guest chamber, I could hear Yuuka’s voice coming from a metal box in front of me.
The square box was a magic device Yuuka had prepared, essentially functioning like a bugging device. It transmitted voices from its paired box, which had been discreetly placed in the guest room.
I felt guilty about eavesdropping, but for the sake of my own safety, I had to go this far.
“I just flew here all night using flight magic. More importantly, tell me about the clue to getting back to Japan.”
Another voice answered.
She sounded younger than Yuuka. Though I couldn’t see her expression, she sounded utterly desperate.
Flight magic—magic existed in this world, but among all spells, flight magic was supposedly one of the most advanced. Yet for someone possessing the Unique Skill Magic King, even such a high-level spell was effortless.
Her name was Aoi.
Like me, she was a reincarnator. She had arrived in this world even before Yuuka did. Having mastered magic, she was one of the few individuals to receive the title of Sage from the kingdom.
“Very well. First, take a look at this.”
“…! That’s a newspaper!”
Yuuka showed Aoi the newspaper I had brought back from Japan.
Of course, there was a possibility that some Blessed One had recreated it based on memories of Japan, but it would be enough to continue the discussion.
“We’ve confirmed several Japanese items like this newspaper, and we’ve already arranged to meet the person who appears to have been distributing them.”
“Let me meet them too! I’ll pay whatever price they ask!”
Well, not only had we arranged to meet—they were already sitting in the room next door.
I felt bad for deceiving her, but I needed to understand Aoi as a person and learn her motives before ensuring my own safety.
So far, nothing seemed particularly dangerous, but her obsession with returning to Japan was clearly intense.
“Of course. But before that, tell me what you’ll do if you return to Japan. We’ve never pried much into each other’s reasons until now, have we? My goal was to return to Japan and use a potion to heal my little sister, who was critically injured in a traffic accident. If your purpose would threaten that person in any way, I can’t allow you to meet them.”
Her sister had already been cured, of course, but Yuuka used that explanation to draw out Aoi’s true intentions.
From her earlier reaction, it clearly wasn’t something as simple as wanting Japanese goods.
Just like Yuuka, many Blessed Ones seemed to have arrived in this world carrying burdens far heavier than mine.
Naturally, Aoi might not be telling the entire truth, so I intended to trust Yuuka’s judgment as the person actually facing her.
“Alright. You’ve helped me all this time, Yuuka, so I’ll tell you the truth.”
“…When I return to Japan, I’m going to kill a man.”
Yeah.
That’s an immediate no.
Sorry, but that’s far beyond what I can handle.
I’m the only one who can actually return to Japan, and no matter how much hatred Aoi harbors toward someone, I could never help someone commit murder.
“…May I ask for the full story?”
“I came to this world four years ago. Before I was reincarnated, I worked as an office employee. But my supervisor was the worst kind of human being. Day after day, he subjected me to power harassment and sexual harassment.”
…Even four years ago, in the Reiwa era, it’s shocking that men with such outdated attitudes still existed.
Then again, I’d worked myself to the bone at a black company, so I wasn’t exactly in a position to judge others.
“I endured it somehow, suppressing all my emotions. But when I refused to go into a hotel with him, that man did the unthinkable—he framed me for embezzling company funds!”
O-of course…
Power harassment and sexual harassment were already horrifying enough, but there was more?
Compared to that, my own exploitative workplace almost seemed harmless.
“I wasn’t stupid. I prepared evidence to protect myself in case something happened… But before the trial could even begin, the accumulated exhaustion of years of physical and mental stress finally broke me. I died and was reincarnated into this world. I’m sure I was branded a criminal, while that man is still living comfortably! I’ll never forgive him! I swear I’ll kill him!”
Honestly, it made my blood boil.
Even as someone completely unrelated, I could feel murderous rage welling up toward the man she described.
The suffering that killed her was his doing in the first place, and as someone who had been exploited by a black company myself, I couldn’t help but sympathize.
“…And the father and mother who lovingly raised me are probably being treated as the parents of a criminal. The company may have made unfair demands against them. The neighbors—or strangers online who know nothing—might be attacking them. I hate that… I absolutely… absolutely hate that…!”
“…”
Aoi’s words dissolved into sobs.
Perhaps because she could see her directly, even Yuuka found herself unable to speak.
Yuuka and I had worried about our parents all this time as well, but Aoi’s fears carried an entirely different weight.
Her lingering attachment to Japan wasn’t driven solely by vengeance.
It was also the desperate desire to protect the parents she loved.
“I searched for someone blessed with the ability to return to Japan, and I spent all this time researching magic that could send me back to Japan, but I never found either. So please—I’ll do anything within my power. I absolutely won’t get in your way, and with magic I can kill that person without leaving any evidence behind. No matter what, I have to return to Japan!”
It seemed that, just like Yuuka, Aoi had been searching for a way back to Japan ever since arriving in this other world.
For four whole years, thinking about her family all the while and harboring a desire to take revenge on her superior… all this time.
Perhaps neither Yuuka nor I could ever truly understand what she was feeling right now.
“…I see. I understand that you, too, have a reason why you desperately want to return to Japan. But I’m sorry—I still can’t let you meet that person.”
Aoi pleaded earnestly with Yuuka.
However, just as we had discussed beforehand, Yuuka had agreed to refuse if the reason for returning to Japan involved committing a crime such as revenge.
There was no way I could help someone kill another person.
…That said, from what I’d heard, I was beginning to think that even I might be able to help her in some way.
“There’s absolutely no way?”
“Yes. I also have a reason that I simply can’t compromise on.”
“…I see. Then I suppose I have no choice. For the sake of my own objective, I’ll force the information about that person out of you if I have to.”
“…!”
“Don’t worry. I absolutely won’t kill you, and I’ll heal you afterward.”
“…Very well. Come at me!”
Suddenly, an overwhelming pressure erupted from the guest room next door.
It was so intense that even I—someone with neither combat ability nor magical power—could clearly feel it.
Then, as Yuuka apparently assumed a fighting stance, the pressure doubled.
This is bad!
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