Under her roommate’s horrified gaze, the girl carried on with her makeshift worship as if she were the only person in the room, murmuring under her breath the entire time.
“I am Toujou Kaisoku, residing at XX Road, XX School, Dormitory XXX, Hokkaido.
Please do protect me.
I promise to upgrade the offerings in the future!”
Having completed the ritual, she finally turned and made eye contact with the roommate she technically shared a room with but had never really gotten to know.
Said roommate was already reaching for her phone in a posture that strongly suggested she was about to dial an ambulance.
The girl rushed to explain.
“This is a custom from my hometown!
Just think of it as praying for good luck going forward!”
“…Are you really okay?
Toujou Kaisoku-san?” Compared to a nobody like herself, this roommate was a genuine heavyweight.
The young lady of the Satomi family, the horse girl known as the young lady among young ladies—Miss Satono Diamond.
She had an excellent reputation on campus.
There were some odd rumors floating around, but Toujou Kaisoku understood those were most likely spread by jealous people.
At least the original Kaisoku’s diary had never contained a single bad word about her.
“I swear, nothing’s wrong.” The girl wiped away her sweat and answered earnestly.
“It’s a tradition from back home.
When we’re about to commit to something important, we pray for a bit of divine luck.”
“What an unusual custom.
Does asking the gods for last-minute help when you need something actually work?” Satono Diamond expressed understanding of the tradition but still raised the obvious question.
“If you don’t honor the gods normally, would they really bless you when it matters?”
“Who goes around praying for no reason?” Toujou Kaisoku waved her hand dismissively.
“Gods are just psychological comfort.
When things actually go wrong, counting on divine intervention isn’t going to do much.”
“…Toujou Kaisoku-san, you’re joking, right?” Satono Diamond’s expression turned serious in an instant, and Kaisoku felt her heart skip a beat.
Did the Satomi family have some kind of religious background?
She seemed to have stepped on a nerve.
She scrambled to recover.
“I don’t disrespect the gods!
I just want to rely on myself.
If you went running to the gods every time something came up, wouldn’t they get tired too?”
Kaisoku felt her explanation was perfectly sound and thoroughly persuasive.
But the peculiar look in Satono Diamond’s eyes made her resolve to never pull this kind of stunt in front of her roommate again.
“Fine—you have a point.
The Three Goddesses should be honored in one’s heart, not pestered with prayers about every little thing.
That would just be laziness.” Satono Diamond sighed and accepted the explanation.
“But, Toujou Kaisoku-san… you’re awfully lively today.”
“…Huh?
Huh?!
Am I?!” The girl scratched her head, suddenly realizing she might have been a little too animated.
Had she blown her cover less than a day into her new life?
That would earn her the title of Most Embarrassing Transmigrator in history.
But there was still room for damage control.
Thinking fast was about the only advantage she had right now.
“I… I guess it’s because I suddenly realized that the only ones I can depend on in this world are… the Three Goddesses.” She mentally queued up a melancholy soundtrack, and even her voice dropped to match.
“I have no parents.
I’m only in school because of student loans.
Plenty of people have helped me, but when it comes down to it, they weren’t helping me—they were helping a helpless umamusume.
So I was always too afraid to connect with anyone.
But I had a realization: if I keep shutting people out, I’ll never be able to repay the kindness this world has shown me.
You have to answer kindness with kindness.
Staying sealed up forever is meaningless.”
“…You’re right, Toujou Kaisoku-san…” Satono Diamond’s eyes dimmed with sympathy.
It was true—Kaisoku’s circumstances were enough to earn anyone’s pity.
That kind of upbringing could easily produce someone withdrawn and isolated.
Refusing to form connections was probably her way of protecting herself.
And yet, even after all that, she hadn’t given up on changing.
How could Diamond not support that?
She made a quiet decision to look out for Toujou Kaisoku a little more going forward.
“That’s a good thing.
Tell you what—dinner’s on me tonight.
Let’s eat out somewhere nice.
Cafeteria food covers the nutritional bases, but you need something actually good once in a while.”
“Wait—really?!” The girl was practically drooling.
Before transmigrating, she’d gone ages without eating meat.
The sausages in her instant noodles?
Everyone knew modern sausages were ninety percent starch—meat content approaching the sanity levels of late-game V in Cyberpunk.
The moment she heard the offer, her salivary glands went into overdrive.
“That won’t be too expensive?”
“…Toujou Kaisoku-san, you might not know much about my situation—” Satono Diamond had never met an umamusume who worried about her spending too much.
The Satomi family’s reputation was hard to miss even for the most sheltered person.
But it was clear this girl had been poor long enough for the fear to become reflexive.
Diamond reassured her quickly, “Don’t worry about it.
Order whatever you want.
It’s not some fancy place.”
“Then… then… then I humbly accept, Miss Satono Diamond.” Toujou Kaisoku discreetly wiped the corner of her mouth, doing her best to project calm composure.
Internally, she was on the verge of actual tears.
Months without meat in her past life, and now she was getting a feast on her very first day after transmigrating.
What kind of rags-to-riches story was this?
Thank you, Miss Satomi, for your patronage.
As of this moment, you have ascended in my heart to the same rank as the goddess who sent me here!
Satono Diamond had no idea that her casual generosity had just elevated her status in Kaisoku’s internal pantheon to godhood.
But since they were going out, she had an idea.
Her childhood friend came to mind.
If Toujou Kaisoku wanted to connect with people, why not introduce her to Kitasan Black?
After all, Kita was warm, earnest, and had a gift for melting away unnecessary distance.
For someone who’d just decided to rejoin society, she’d be a shot of pure adrenaline.
And Diamond had a feeling—Toujou Kaisoku would get along with them beautifully.
She trusted her instincts.
“Since we’re going out for dinner, maybe change into something a little nicer?
We’ll be eating in public, after all.” Satono Diamond suggested.
But the moment the words left her mouth, the girl’s expression crumbled.
“Diamond-san… I only have my school uniform.” The girl’s voice was tinged with genuine sadness.
As a girl, her wardrobe consisted of exactly one category of presentable clothing: the uniform.
Even her pajamas had been a pity gift from Miss Hayakawa.
From head to toe, aside from a handful of coins, she was authentically broke.
“…I’m sorry, that was thoughtless of me.” Satono Diamond realized her mistake and felt a pang of guilt.
“How about this—we’re about the same size.
You could wear something of mine?”
“Is that… really okay?” Kaisoku scratched her head awkwardly.
“You’re already treating me to dinner, and now you’re lending me clothes.”
“It’s fine—they’re just old things.
Not worth anything.” Of course, Satono Diamond had no intention of actually picking something old.
To make up for her faux pas, she went straight to her closet and pulled out a piece she herself rarely wore—a pale green dress that was understated in appearance but extraordinarily comfortable, made from fabric so fine it practically whispered.
It was Diamond’s least-worn but most treasured item.
The result of treasuring it so much was that it spent most of its life collecting dust in the closet.
Though it pained her, she handed it over to Toujou Kaisoku.
“This dress is yours now.
I think it’ll suit you.”