Volume 3 Chapter 4 Part 7
I found Shizuku alone waiting for me when I got home from work.
I’d asked Ria and Deet to call Miri so we could all attend the festival together.
The three would return tomorrow.
Without much else to do, I moved to my computer and starting grinding experience with the levelling-up click game.
Shizuku moved next to me. 「Master, I thought you might be happy if Deet and Ria took turns spending the night with you alone so I came up with that plan, but did it cause you trouble?」
I picked up Shizuku, sitting at my ankles, and carried her to the bed.
「Kya-」she squealed.
I lay on the bed face-down, using Shizuku as a pillow and burying my face inside her.
「Shizukuuuuuu-」
「It seems everything went well. But you don’t seem happy, Master.」
The mastermind Shizuku had seen through even me.
「Nothing went wrong but… I just can’t decide.」
Shizuku jiggled. 「Shizuku isn’t a human but… you like both Ria and Deet, right? What’s wrong with that? The problem is that you’re looking at the situation from a japanese person’s mindset.」
Well, I suppose polygamy wasn’t unheard of in the other world, which shared many characteristics with the Middle Ages.
「I know, but… if I did that, I feel like they’d get jealous of each other and stuff…」
「Wouldn’t that be more preferable to making one of them cry?」
… She certainly had a point. I couldn’t bear to see either of them miserable.
「True. I’ll do my best with Deet too, then.」
「Yes! Please do, Master!」
Shizuku jiggled enthusiastically.
「But… if Master is only kind to those two…」
「Eh?」
Shizuku voice grew quiet. 「Shizuku also… will get a little jealous… maybe… so, if Shizuku can become braver…」
「S-Shizuku!?」
As if fleeing, Shizuku dove into the futon near the bed, completely disappearing from sight.
♦︎ ♦︎ ♦︎
Ria, Deet, and Miri were standing outside the temple in blank amazement, staring open-mouthed at the various nighttime food stalls lined across the grounds.
Shizuku had stayed behind to watch the house, but had she come with us, she surely would’ve been equally stunned at the sight.
「W-wow.」
「I-is this a festival?」
「It all smells so good!」
Festivals in japan were traditional, often religious celebrations, deriving from ancient customs.
There was a good chance that the other world didn’t host such cheerful events.
「This is completely different from the department store!」Ria exclaimed as she examined the rows and rows of tented stalls.
「There’s a lot more people here.」Deet agreed.
Their observations were spot on. Despite the lack of centralizing as with a department store, festivals always attracted large crowds.
If we attempted something similar in the other world, we might be able to gain a great deal of publicity for our redevelopment efforts.
All we needed was an expansive space to set up the stalls- funding and investments weren’t necessary. And after relocating homes away from the slums and renovating the old areas, we had plenty of space. I figured that setting up stalls in the now-deserted areas might prove beneficial.
「Oh, we have that food in our world too!」Deet stopped in front of a stand.
It was a kebab shop that I’d seen a lot recently.
「Can I look around?」Deet asked.
「Sure. Just meet me under the torii in two hours.」[1. TL Note: Torii is the red japanese gateway at temples and shrines- you’ve probably seen an image of it before]
I’d noticed this for some time now, but Deet had a remarkable passion for learning about Japan. And now that the festival contained something resembling her own world, it was only natural that she’d want to investigate further.
「Nya!? What’s that small fish shop over there?」
I glanced over to where Miri was pointing.
「Oh, that’s goldfish scooping. You take a paper spoon and try to scoop up goldfish.」A festival classic.
「Paper? Won’t it get soggy?」
「Exactly. So you’re supposed to avoid touching the water as much as possible. If you’re good at it, you get lots of fish for only 200 or 300 yen.」
「Are the fish for eating?」
「They’re to keep as pets. I can’t raise them at home, so…」
「I wanna try!」Without hesitation, Miri began forcing her way through the crowds to the goldfish scooping stand.
「Miri!」I called after her. 「Remember to meet back at the torii in two hours!」
Maybe giving each of them 5000 yen had been a mistake.
I’d made sure to stress the meeting location, so maybe it’d all work out?
None of them had ever been to a festival before, so I guess I should’ve expected them to want to explore freely.
「Ria, you can also look around if you want.」
Ria turned to me, her cheeks puffed, looking angry.
「You’re such a bully, Sir Thor.」
「W-why do you say that?」
「I want to explore the festival with Sir Thor.」
「W-why?」
「Because even though we did all that two nights ago, I couldn’t even spend time with you yesterday!」
I had no words.
I still hadn’t fully grasped the workings of a maiden’s heart. I was pretty thickheaded, after all.
「M-my bad. Shall we walk together then?」
Ria shook her head. 「It’s not your fault. I’d love to walk with you. Sorry for acting so selfishly.」
Ria’s face was cast downwards the entire time as we made our way through the crowds, trailing behind me and gently holding onto my sleeve.
As an other worlder, she must’ve been afraid that she’d get lost amidst the bustling crowds.
I took her hand, detaching it from my sleeve and holding it firmly in my own.
「!」Ria startled, staring at me.
I flushed in embarrassment when I realized the position we were in. Nevertheless, we continued walking, our hands linked together.
The clamorous din of the festival seemed to fade into nothingness. The only thing I could hear was my own heartbeat.
I truly was the epitome of a virgin.
「That’s- an apple, right?」Ria abruptly spoke.
「Huh?」
「It’s pretty…」
She was looking at a candied apple. Guessing from her words, I assumed that the other world also had apples.
「Want to try one?」
Ria gave a tiny nod. 「…I want to share one with you.」
「S-sure.」
I walked over to the shop.
Though I was only ordering a candied apple, I couldn’t stand the embarrassment and let go of Ria’s hand.
「One please.」
「Hm? Okey-dokey~」
The person manning the shop reminded me of a motivated shounen protagonist.
「Hey, you~」Without warning, I found a finger pointed directly at me. 「You’re Suzuki, aren’t ya?」
I recalled his face from somewhere, but try as I might, I couldn’t remember where.
He twisted his headband. Huh? Ohh~
「You’re- that real estate agent, right?」
Indeed, this yakuza-looking man was the real estate agent who’d introduced me to the ‘haunted’ apartment.
「Hi Suzuki. Glad to see you doing well.」
「Eh?」
「Well, it’s just that the people who introduced me to the haunted apartment seem to have gone missing, so…」
I-I better make sure that doesn’t happen to me as well,
I didn’t want to dwell on it, but I had a feeling their skeletons were somewhere in the dungeon.
「They were saying some crazy stuff about slimes and goblins before moving out. But you seem to be doing just fine.」
「Ah, I see… by the way, aren’t you a real estate agent? Why are you working here?」
Manning a food stall at a festival, that is.
「Oh, my real estate business shut down. Right now, I’m working part-time through a company connection.」
That made sense. Though I wondered what kind of company had connections with a food stall.
「Didn’t someone contact you about the management change?」
No. And also, I don’t care. Hurry and give me my candied apple already. Before you ruin the mood I had with Ria.
「But regardless, Suzuki. That’s quite the beautiful girl you brought with you. Is she a foreigner?」
「Y-you could say that.」
Ria, standing in my shadow, greeted him in broken japanese.
Then, the real estate agent left his stall to stand with us, completely neglecting any other customers.
「Wow, you really are a beauty. Suzuki and I are good friends. Right, Suzuki?」
Since when did that happen?
「Do you mind if we have a chat while you eat your candied apple?」The man asked Ria. 「Suzuki, you can go take a look around the festival while we talk.」
I felt Ria tug sharply on my sleeve.
「You wanted to try a candied apple, right?」The real estate agent continued to speak without regard. 「Bet you’ve never seen one before!」
「I wanted to try a candied apple with Sir Thor.」
Ria flatly rejected him, tightly clinging onto my arm.
「Thor? Ah, you mean Suzuki. Don’t worry, I won’t keep her for long! I mean, she’s not your girlfriend or anything, right?」
As those words left his mouth, I suddenly found myself being stared at by Ria’s pleading, upturned eyes.
What was Ria to me, exactly? ‘Girlfriend’ wasn’t quite right…
As I frantically searched for the right term, a word unconsciously slipped out of my mouth. 「…wife, I think.」
「Huh, wife? But you aren’t married, are you? Ohh, I get it. Is this some lingo from anime or the internet? Hahaha!」
I disregarded the real estate agent. Instead, my attention was fully focused on Ria.
「Thanks, Sir Thor.」
Ria, beaming, briskly walked over to the real estate agent’s food stall, taking an apple that had yet to be dipped in the caramel.
「Can I have this?」Ria asked the real estate agent once she returned, holding the apple.
「Sure?」
She handed it to me. I felt as baffled as the real estate agent looked.
「Let’s scare off that man.」Ria cupped her hands over my ears and whispered. 「Show him the thing from Yotube.」[2. TL Note: parody of youtube]
Ah, so that’s what she was planning. I held the apple, raising it in front of the real estate agent.
Crunch.
In the palm of my hands, the apple was smashed into smithereens.
A simple task for me, who was already level 17.
「Eek!」The real estate agent squealed in terror.
「Sir Thor and I met at a martial arts dojo.」
「I-I see.」
Well, for someone like me, the dungeon was close enough to a martial arts dojo.
Ria had once seen a clip of someone crushing an apple on Yotube and, unimpressed, asked me why people found this so impressive. I had to explain that people normally didn’t possess the strength to obliterate an apple.
She probably also remembered the fact that she mustn’t go around beating up people, even if they were being annoying. Hence the apple solution.
「So, um…」The real estate agent stuttered. 「Ah, I know! Why don’t I give you the candied apple for free! ‘Cause Suzuki and I are best friends, right?」
And with that, Ria and I returned to browsing the festival.
Though we only intended on buying a single apple, we ended up receiving two for free.
I held my candied apple in one hand, and Ria’s hand in the other. Ria too held my hand in one hand, the candied apple in the other.
「It’s not even that good.」I muttered. 「I guess I should’ve expected that from a real estate agent selling candied apples.」
「I think its delicious.」
「Really?」
「If I’m eating it with Sir Thor like this… anything will taste amazing…」
Hearing those words, my own candied apple seemed to grow a little sweeter.
「Sir Thor, thank you for calling me your wife earlier.」
「Ah- um, yeah.」
「Ehehe.」
Ria squeezed my hand. I was too embarrassed to look her in the eye.
「The festival idea is definitely going to be a success. Because it’s super fun, after all.」Ria declared.
「Yeah. I hope so too.」
As we walked, the intercom abruptly buzzed to life.
-Ladies and gentlemen, please excuse the interruption. If you are the parent or guardian of a lost child named Miri, please report to headquarters located at near the main shrine. Thank you.
Ria and I looked at each other. She burst out laughing.
「Shall we go pick her up?」
「Sure!」
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