Chapter 82: Here They Come

“What?! The Angel has already left?”

In a manor in a certain rural territory, a girl who appeared to be about fourteen or fifteen years old was meeting with the local lord. Although she appeared to be a mere traveling swordswoman, she carried herself with a calm, confident demeanor, without showing a hint of fear while speaking with the lord. It was almost as if she were on equal footing with the lord himself—and older than her appearance suggested.

The muscle-brained Falsetto had seemingly traveled the vast distance that Kaoru and Reiko had taken many days to cover in an astonishingly short amount of time. There was a significant difference in their methods of transportation—Kaoru’s group had traveled by carriage, taking their time sightseeing and staying at various stops for days, while Falsetto was a lone rider, charging toward her destination with single-minded determination. She had only paused a few times to rest her horse, taking just a day or two for recovery.

This pace had only been possible because of Flat, her renowned Silver-breed horse. An ordinary horse would have collapsed within the first few days of the relentless dash.

“Indeed. They say she headed for the royal capital,” the lord said. “But your coming here is by no means a wasted effort. Count Tartus will likely face punishment, as His Majesty has been informed of his actions, but there are surely others who have set their sights on the Angel. And I’m afraid there will only be more of them moving forward... It would be no matter if they were to approach her with awe and reverence, hoping for even a drop of the Goddess’s mercy. However, if they believe the Angel to be a fraud or some deluded fool—like Count Tartus did—and treat her with disrespect, plotting to exploit her...”

“The kingdom—no, this entire continent—will fall,” Falsetto finished his sentence for him.

She had heard it directly from the True Ancestor herself. Over and over again...

Thus, the Einherjar were far more sensitive to the dangers of matters regarding the Goddess and her Angel than anyone.

“I beg you! Go to the royal capital and protect the Angel—protect this continent!”

“That was my intention all along. That is our mission and purpose of existence as the Einherjar. Moreover, I’ve been directly ordered to do so by the True Ancestor...”

“Ah! I’m counting on you, Einherjar Falsetto! The fate of this continent rests on your shoulders. I entrust this kingdom and continent to you!”

“Leave it to me!”

With that, the girl who appeared to be fourteen or fifteen years old mounted her beloved horse and rode off toward the royal capital.

“We’ve secured permission to relocate. It seems the warning from us, the Eyes of the Goddess, asking whether they were fine with this continent sinking into the sea, was quite effective.”

“You call that a warning? It was practically a threat...but that’s fine. If it speeds things up, that’s all that matters. As per the Lady Kaoru Chronicles, Chapter Two, Section Three, Item Six...”

“‘Money, connections, power, and leverage for threats are only worth what you use them for!’”

“All right, dispatch the advance team to secure the shops and establish regular transportation routes immediately! At the same time, prepare the main team for deployment! Hurry! Don’t let that muscle-brain or the descendants of that old witch snatch this opportunity from us!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Preparations for deployment are complete!”

“Good. Be sure to repay the debt of gratitude to Lady Kaoru in my stead. I’ve taught you how to give basic commands to the Dog Corps and Bird Corps, but I’ve written instructions down just in case. Take the notes with you. Once you arrive, if you manage to make contact, Lady Kaoru should translate for you. Elite Special Forces of Countess Raphael’s Territory, Dog Corps Elite Unit and Bird Corps Elite Unit—move out!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Woof!”

“Caw!”

“All hands, prepare to set sail!”

The ropes were untied, and one by one, the ships departed from the pier. The joint fleet of three military warships and three civilian merchant vessels resembled a convoy, but the warships weren’t merely escorting the merchant ships—they too were headed for the same destination with a mission of their own. Thus, it might have been more apt to describe them as a fleet rather than a convoy.

In any case, the six sailing ships—products of seventy-eight years of evolution since the miraculous Great Leap Forward of Aligot’s shipbuilding technology—were truly a marvelous sight. An elderly man watched their departure, leaning on a cane and supported by a nurse.

“Ah...there go the children of the Aligot Empire... I entrust you all with repaying our debt of gratitude to the Goddess Kaoru in our stead.”

Meanwhile—along the coast, on a cliff overlooking the sea, and in various parts of the Aligot Empire, countless elderly people watched the departing fleet with tears streaming down their faces.

“Okay, let’s go!”

Having settled her bill, Kaoru had a big stretch and then left the inn. The inn staff, as well as the covert bodyguards assigned to her after the Temple incident (Kaoru was unaware of their presence, of course), assumed she’d simply meant that she was heading out to wander around the city.

What Kaoru had actually meant was, she intended to leave the royal capital entirely. She’d stopped by under the pretext of rest and fundraising, so staying there for an extended period without doing anything would have clearly been unnatural. Therefore, her plan was to leave the capital and operate as a priestess in the surrounding regions, using the city as her base of operations. That way, she could frequently stay in the capital, making her name known there while creating opportunities to connect with the upper echelons...hopefully respectable ones, this time.

Wait, since the royal capital is just a temporary stop that I can leave anytime, maybe it’s more like a camp than a base. My actual base would be Little Silver, I guess. Whatever. There’s the term “base camp” too, so it doesn’t really matter.

Anyway, my plan was to operate in the villages and towns around the capital, occasionally staying at various inns in the city, trying each of them at first without sticking to any particular one. Then, the holy priestess Edith, the skilled hunter Can, and the up-and-coming pretty merchant Salette would just so happen to meet in the capital, form a bond, and become a tight-knit trio, rising to prominence together.

Operation Backer Acquisition was officially kicking into high gear!

“What? Lady Kaoru—I mean, the Angel—er, the priestess Edith has left the royal capital?”

The name of Einherjar was known far and wide throughout the continent. Anyone who dared to falsely claim the title would be hanged without question, so imposters were virtually nonexistent.

Those who bore this name were granted significant privileges. Not in terms of money or lavish feasts, as the True Ancestor was known to live a life of simplicity and integrity, with no interest in luxury whatsoever...even though such things could have been provided in abundance if she so desired. Instead, the privileges offered were the provision of information and supply of weapons. Thus, the information that the muscle-brained Falsetto sought was easily obtained at the Commerce Guild. Of course, in exchange for that information, the news that Falsetto the Einherjar had arrived at the royal capital was relayed to the royal palace, the Temple, and various guilds.

And so, Musclehead Falsetto, the descendant of Fearsome Fran, was the first to arrive in the royal capital. Meanwhile, on the highways, the Eyes of the Goddess and the descendants of the old witch were approaching—and on the seas, a fleet of six sailing ships, propelled by favorable winds, sped toward their destination.

“So, the contract is now finalized, correct?”

“Indeed. I look forward to working with you.”

“Okay, we’ve secured a shop with living quarters. Now, we just wait for the main team to arrive with the wares and wagons... So, how’s the situation over there?”

“Three warships and three merchant vessels have made port. The merchant ship crews seem to be planning to rent shops, just like us. The warships are officially here on a goodwill visit, but if something happens, they’ll likely empty their ships and deploy their full forces, along with their marines... And, of course, the merchant crews who have rented shops and established a foothold on land will do the same. The witch’s faction also seems to be planning to rent shops to set up their base.”

Ordinary houses would be too cramped, and noble estates were rarely available, so commercial properties were likely their only option.

“The Aligot Empire’s navy, the combined forces of the empire’s Commerce Guild and Maritime Guild, Countess Raphael’s household, and Viscount Dorivell’s household, huh...? If something happens, it’ll be a fight until either our side or theirs is annihilated. Though, that could be said for the Eyes of the Goddess too,” the man entrusted with leading this expedition team by Emile and the Elder Council of the Eyes of the Goddess said with a grin.

Normally, if a unit lost a third of its forces, it could no longer function as a cohesive combat group without reorganization. In other words, it would be considered totally defeated. If losses reached fifty percent, it would mark a state of collapse, making even reorganization impossible. And if all of a unit’s forces were lost without any generals, officers, or soldiers able to fight, it would be complete annihilation. This rarely happened except in battles on small islands or when one side was completely outnumbered and surrounded on all sides. Even then, most would surrender before every last soldier was killed. If a commander refused to surrender, the second-in-command would likely take them out.

Therefore, complete annihilation was almost unheard of in ordinary battles or those led by commanders with any semblance of sanity. But a battle with a group of fanatics, led by fanatics, could hardly be considered an ordinary battle or compared to one led by a sane commander. In other words, it was entirely possible that it would be a war of annihilation.

“No, it won’t come to that... The Goddess would rain her judgment down before that happens.”

The Elder Council—the founding members of the Eyes of the Goddess—had waited seventy-four years for this moment, their ultimate aspiration. The commander of the team dispatched to fulfill that dream savored the honor of his role.

He smiled blissfully, vowing to give his life without hesitation for this mission.

“Sorry for the wait. I’ve submitted the paperwork to change our base of operations to the Hunter’s Guild in the royal capital. They were really welcoming. I was even called to the guildmaster’s office to meet him.”

Reiko had finally arrived in the royal capital—or, rather, C-Rank Hunter Can had.

We were both disguised in our “mob outfits,” eating at a city diner. It was a moderately spacious, moderately crowded place, where neither the staff nor other customers would pay us much attention, and the food was pretty good too. And of course, Reiko had cast a soundproofing spell, so there was no need to worry about being overheard. We just had to pay attention, because we wouldn’t hear if a waiter spoke to us.

“Huh...but normally, the guildmaster wouldn’t pay a C-Rank hunter a visit just because they changed their base, right?” I asked.

“Nope. But apparently, the guildmaster from the last town I was at sent a letter asking them to take good care of me,” Reiko replied.

“Whoa! That’s so kind of him, going out of his way for a rookie leaving their town!”

Between the guildmaster and vice guildmaster of Kyoko’s Commerce Guild, we had really been blessed with good people. Not to mention, the people of Tavolas were kind to us despite our being orphans and outsiders too. Someday, I really had to repay this kingdom for everything.

Maybe I could provide some “very mild healing powers” a bit early, or distribute some of Kyoko’s convenient mothership-made products. Developing medicines from this world’s plants using her mothership could be a good idea too. That way, we could teach the apothecaries of this world how to make them on their own. At first, I’d have to limit the use of healing potions disguised as the Goddess’s blessing to avoid rumors spreading too quickly, but once we laid enough groundwork to protect ourselves, we could expand a bit. If nobles got involved, I could just tell them healing through prayer in the royal capital was handled by the Temple, and it would be presumptuous of me to compete.

“Kyoko said she’d feel bad for her clients if she closed the shop in her town, and more importantly, it’d be unfair to the orphan kids who found a path to independence,” I said. “So she’ll keep that shop running as a branch and set up the main store in the royal capital. Making the original shop the main store and the one in the capital a branch would make it easier to avoid nobles by having them they needed approval from the main store to do anything, but if a noble actually went to that town and pressured the shop there without Kyoko around, the orphans would be in big trouble. That kind of thing needs to be handled by Kyoko herself. It’ll probably take a while longer to find a rental shop and start fully operating here.”

“I figured as much...” Reiko said, nodding as if she’d expected my explanation.

We’d known each other for long enough that of course she got it...though, come to think of it, Reiko and Kyoko had known each other way longer than I had, since they’d still been together after I’d died back on Earth.

“Anyway, I’ll keep staying at different inns and working as the stray priestess. And you...”

“I’ll do the same, moving between inns while keeping up my activities as a hunter,” Reiko said. “I’ll take on tougher targets to catch the attention of important people and get special requests. The house we rented in the suburbs was leased by Kyoko as Salette, so we shouldn’t use it openly right now. We’ll have to wait until Kyoko gets here. Until Edith and Can become friends with Salette, we’ll have to visit as ‘Salette’s other friends’ in different disguises.”

“Hmm, I guess you’re right... I messed up a bit there, but there wasn’t much we could have done about that. Back then, we didn’t expect that incident to be resolved so easily, and at that point, Salette was the only one out of the three who could secure a property in the capital without raising suspicion,” I said. “It’s in the suburbs, so the rent wasn’t too high, and letting it sit for a few months wouldn’t be too big of a loss. Anyway, we should have Edith and Can meet up already. We could easily become friends with Salette the merchant; maybe we’ll meet while out shopping and hit it off talking about rare goods or something. So, it’s time for the up-and-coming young hunter and the rising free priestess to meet up before Salette arrives. Of course, I could put out a request, and then you’d accept it...but come to think of it, a priestess making a request of a hunter isn’t very common. I could just buy the meat used in the charity meals at a butcher supplied by the Hunter’s Guild. There’s no guarantee that the requested prey will be hunted, and with the request fee plus the purchase price, it’d cost more than buying from a butcher, so no one would go out of their way to hire a hunter directly... We’ll have to come up with a better plan.”

And so, the two of us put our heads together...

“A bodyguard request!” we said in unison.

We’d be able to spend a lot of time together if she worked as my bodyguard, and it wouldn’t be strange for two girls of similar age to quickly become friends. Plus, it was totally natural for a young girl who looked like she had no idea how to fight to hire some protection. It would’ve been far stranger to hire a male hunter to protect me closely for all of my outdoor activities, especially ones like night camping. A female solo C-Rank hunter, aged fifteen to eighteen, confident in her combat abilities against both monsters and humans, capable of handling a few orcs or ogres or fending off a group of male hunters—there weren’t many who could meet those conditions.

“All right, time for Operation Friendship to begin!”

I arrived at the Hunter’s Guild to put up a request for a bodyguard. Even though it was past the second morning bell (around 9 a.m.), the place was filled with all sorts of people, from grubby old men to underage kids. Normally, hunters gathered at the guild first thing in the morning when the day’s request board was posted to fight over the best jobs and head out to work. So those lingering at the guild at this hour were either well-off hunters who weren’t as desperate, those who had regular work and didn’t need to fight for postings, rookies taking unpopular odd jobs, or kids earning pocket money by reading the request board or picking out jobs for illiterate hunters. Those who were good at picking out jobs tailored to a hunter’s abilities could actually earn quite a bit. They didn’t need to read every single request on the board, but rather assess the hunter’s capabilities and select a few suitable ones. This required quite a lot of skill, so it made sense that they were properly compensated. When those kids became hunters themselves, they tended to live longer, so hunters often doted on them and gave them preferential treatment.

Anyway, there were a good number of hunters around, but no one gave me trouble with the ol’ “Heh, this ain’t a place for little girls like you!” I mean, judging by my clothes, I obviously wasn’t an aspiring hunter.

Hunter parties in this world didn’t include clerics who cast healing magic or anything, so I was clearly here as a client—a customer, a potential patron. And I appeared to be a twelve- or thirteen-year-old girl in priestess attire, no less. Messing with someone like that wouldn’t fly with other hunters and guild staff around. Besides, I was slightly—somewhat—okay, very different from the kind of women the folks here were looking for.

Shut up, dammit!

“Excuse me, I’d like to put up this request...” I said at the reception counter.

“Yes, allow me to check...”

The receptionist glanced at the paper I handed her, then frowned slightly.

Yeah, I expected that.

“Pardon me...but it may be difficult to find someone who will take this. The reward and terms are fine, but not many hunters will meet these requirements and have the ability to complete the request...”

“What...?” I said, putting on a troubled expression.

“Now hold on, what did you say?!” someone said. “You mean to tell me a client is offering a fair reward, and no one in the royal capital’s Hunter’s Guild is capable of taking on the job? You might as well be calling us incompetent! I can’t let that slide, even if it’s coming from a pretty receptionist! I’m a B-Rank hunter; tell me why you think even I can’t handle this job!”

It was one of the hunters lingering around who had spoken up. Butting in on a request that hadn’t been posted, let alone submitted yet, was clearly against the rules. But the man didn’t seem to be picking a fight or anything. It was only natural he’d be annoyed at being told no one here was capable of handling a job with a proper reward, especially as someone with confidence and pride in their skills. So the receptionist didn’t scold him—a few others were nodding in agreement too. But then...

“Condition number one: The hunter will be camping with a young female client, so they must be female.”

As the receptionist read the first condition out loud, the man’s face turned red, and he slunk back, defeated. Those who had been nodding in agreement quickly looked away, pretending they hadn’t heard anything.

They sure backed down quickly.

After being warned that I’d still have to pay the posting fee even if no one took the request, I finally got it processed and posted on the board.

Bodyguard Request

Details: Personal protection for a free priestess (twelve years old).

Duration: Until either the client or the contractor wishes to terminate the agreement.

Location: Based at inns in the royal capital, traveling to nearby towns and villages, including through forests.

Rest Days: None (the bodyguard will rest on the same days as the client, but they will still be on duty).

Reward: Three small coins per day. Meals and lodging provided by the client. The contractor will share a room with the client.

Contractor Conditions:

The hunter will be camping with a young female client, so they must be female.

Only one contractor will be hired.

Must be capable of defeating several orcs or ogres, as well as several malicious male hunters or thugs.

Must be capable of defeating a noble house’s private troops or mercenaries.

When the hunters saw the posted request, their reaction was unanimous.

“That’s impossible!!!” they all cried out.

“A young, solo female hunter who can protect the client while taking down several orcs or ogres?”

“Someone who can beat multiple soldiers, mercenaries, or hostile hunters single-handedly?”

“While protecting the client from being taken hostage?”

“There’s no freakin’ way!” the group concluded in unison.

Some kind soul had read the request out loud for the illiterate hunters, but that only increased the number of people agreeing that it was impossible.

After that, a few female hunters read the request board closely, but ultimately walked away, shaking their heads. Some of them might have considered temporarily leaving their teams to take on the job, but they must have realized they couldn’t possibly meet the prerequisite combat ability.

Reiko—Can—had been standing by the request board even before the job was posted. If anyone had reached for my request, she was in position to snatch it first with superhuman, magic-enhanced reflexes. Of course, the chance of another hunter suddenly lunging for it with all their might was incredibly low, so she’d planned to casually peel it off the board at a natural moment and accept the job. Reiko and I were cautious types, so it was merely a precaution.

No one seemed interested in the request. And so, figuring it was about time, Can reached for it...

Whoosh! Fwsh! Grab!

Unbelievably, the scenario we thought would never happen had actually occurred. A girl had lunged at the request with all her might, grabbing it at the same exact moment as Reiko—Can—who’d been ready to grab it faster than anyone.

Reiko, whose physical capabilities were enhanced with magic, was matched in speed.

Impossible...

Even though Reiko had started moving at a normal pace at first, she had a head start. And the moment she noticed the intruder, she’d moved with the full speed of her empowered body—with improved dynamic vision and reflexes—and still, they’d grabbed the posting at almost the same exact time. No ordinary human could have done that.

“Let go! I am accepting this request!” the girl barked.

“No, that’s my line. I grabbed it first, and jobs are first come, first served,” Can shot back.

“Wrong—I clearly grabbed it slightly sooner. This is mine!” the girl said, showing no sign of backing down.

“Grrr...” they growled at each other.

The request absolutely couldn’t fall into someone else’s hands—such were the thoughts of both girls, who refused to yield to the other. One was, of course, Reiko, who was supposed to accept this rigged request. And the other...

Seeking further information and hoping to meet with the guildmaster to secure future favors, Falsetto arrived at the Hunter’s Guild. There, she encountered the commotion caused by a twelve-year-old-looking free priestess’s bodyguard request. A free priestess, around twelve years old, seeking a bodyguard—a solo female capable of mowing down orcs, ogres, hostile hunters, soldiers, and mercenaries single-handedly—at this precise moment. To Falsetto, this could only mean one thing: the Goddess herself had foreseen her arrival and was telling her she was the one to take on this job. Naturally, she believed there was no other explanation. After all, no one knew Kaoru had peers at her side.

Falsetto had heard from the lord about the Angel’s current name and appearance, and the True Ancestor, Francette, had told her the Angel often used false names and altered her facial features, hair, and eye colors with her divine powers. Shockingly, she would even disguise her most distinguishing trademark feature—her terrifying eyes.

Thus, given the circumstances, Falsetto had no doubt that this free priestess named Edith was none other than the Angel Kaoru in disguise and that this request had been prepared specifically for her. So...

“This hunter woman is my enemy, obstructing the divine mission bestowed upon me!”

It was only natural for her to think this way.

Neither Kaoru nor Reiko could have imagined that someone would have appeared at that moment to take on a request so ridiculously difficult that no one other than Reiko could possibly have accepted it.

“Are you even a hunter anyway?” Can asked. “Judging by your appearance, you’re obviously some kind of knight. Besides, do you even have the skills to handle this job?”

Falsetto was wearing practical clothing for a long journey, but her weapons and armor were clearly expensive, too refined to be a hunter’s gear. Only registered hunters could accept requests through the Hunter’s Guild, so it was an obvious point for Reiko to target. However...

“Indeed, I am a knight. However, I am registered as a hunter for the convenience of being able to travel freely to foreign countries, cross borders, enter fortified cities without paying fees, and earn pocket money when my funds are low. Though, that said, I’ve kept my rank at B to avoid unnecessary complications...”

“Whaaaaaat?!” the assembled people yelled. Their voices were raised in shock—not just Reiko’s and Kaoru’s, but the surrounding hunters’ and guild staff’s as well.

“Here,” the girl said, pulling her hunter registration tag from under her clothes with her left hand. Her right hand still gripped the request form tightly, showing her unwavering resolve to never let go.

“It really is a B-Rank tag...” Can said, eyes wide.

“Now, that proves I’m a registered hunter, B-Rank, and fully qualified to meet the prerequisites for this job. So, why don’t you prove you have the necessary skills? Are you B-Rank? Or perhaps even A or S-Rank?”

“Ugh...”

The tables had turned. Reiko had tried to trip up her opponent, only to be deftly dodged and counterattacked. At this point, her only option was to settle the matter with a mock battle on the training grounds. Even then, Reiko was confident she wouldn’t lose as long as she didn’t let her guard down.

However, there was one concern: the girl’s alarming speed when she’d reached for the job posting. If that speed was reflected in all aspects of her physical abilities, there could be trouble.

Reiko had only strengthened her body with magic; her combat skills were practically amateur-level. Sure, she had trained in some martial arts in her previous life in preparation for her reincarnation, but training in martial arts wasn’t the same as having actual combat skills. And it wasn’t as if she had dedicated her life to perfecting her abilities; she had only spent two days a week at a dojo.

How would she fare against a professional combat specialist who matched her magically enhanced physical capabilities? Even if she were to use magic, it would be severely limited if she had to be discreet about it in front of an audience. A slight delay, a minor mistake, or a technique catching her by surprise could mean defeat. She couldn’t afford to let Kaoru’s bodyguard role fall into the hands of some stranger.

Reiko fell silent.

“What’s wrong? Is there a reason you can’t answer?”

“Guh...”

Just as Reiko stood there, unable to respond...

“That’s enough!”

Kaoru—Edith—stepped in. The situation was getting out of control, and with Can’s disadvantage growing, she had no choice but to intervene.

“I am the client who issued this request,” she said. “I’ve seen everything. Let’s borrow a room here and discuss this matter among the three of us.”

“Um... I’ll be joining you as well!” the receptionist interjected. “Even though you’re the client, this request was made through the guild, so we can’t allow you to act in violation of the rules. Specifically, things like making the two candidates outbid each other to lower the compensation or imposing unfavorable conditions to see who would be willing to accept. The rules are first come, first served, and only if the client absolutely refuses a candidate can the next in line step in, but that’s quite rare. And I’m sorry, but in this case, we couldn’t determine which of you grabbed the request first, so we can’t decide who has priority for negotiations. This is an unusual situation, so I’ll be present for the discussion as well.”

It was a reasonable stance for a mediator. After all, trust and profit were paramount for the guild. However, for Kaoru, who had been planning to find some excuse to choose Can, this was an unwelcome development. As the client, Kaoru certainly could pick whoever she wanted, as compatibility mattered when it came to choosing a bodyguard. But the “first come, first served” rule was in place to prevent clients from being too picky. So to choose Can, Kaoru would either need to prove Can grabbed the request first or provide a clear reason why the mysterious girl was ill-suited for the job. Yet right now, the girl who had proven she was at B-Rank held a significant advantage over the C-Rank Can.

This is bad... How am I gonna convince the guild staff to accept my choice of Can? And more importantly, how do I convince this girl, who’s obsessed with this request for some reason, to accept being passed over? Kaoru desperately thought to herself as the receptionist led her to a private meeting room.

The four of them were guided to a private room and took their seats.

“Let’s have a showdown,” Edith announced.

“Showdown?” the other three asked in unison.

“It’s a head-to-head contest to determine which of you is more suitable to fulfill my request.”

The three others nodded in understanding.

Reiko—Can—was quite sharp. She had likely known what Kaoru had meant by “showdown” but played along, acting clueless to avoid suspicion...or maybe she was genuinely confused, thinking, “What the hell is she suddenly going on about?”

Realizing that there was the possibility of an upset in a combat-based contest, Kaoru seemed intent on steering this toward an interview or oral exam. This way, her bias could directly influence the outcome, and with Reiko knowing everything about Kaoru, there was no way she’d lose to some random girl. They were quite optimistic things would go their way.

“First question. Can you defeat four ogres on your own?”

“I can.”

“I can.”

Their answers were in sync. Kaoru had expected that answer; it was just a light jab to start things off.

“What if you’re attacked by a noble’s squad of nine soldiers?”

“I can defeat them.”

“I can defeat them.”

This wasn’t helping to distinguish them. Asking if they could defeat an entire platoon of forty soldiers would be too absurd. It might have worked if it had been just Can and the girl, but with the guild receptionist there, Kaoru decided to change her approach.

“Our carriage and a merchant’s wagon following us are attacked by a pack of ogres,” she said. “Which do you save?”

“Both.”

“I’d wipe out the ogre pack, so it wouldn’t matter.”

There was a drawn out silence.

“If both an unfamiliar little girl and I are attacked at the same time, who do you save first?”

“The little girl!” Can and the girl said in perfect sync.

Damn, I knew it! Well...even if they were my hired guard, no priestess would tell them to prioritize herself over a little girl. Normally, that would’ve been the wrong answer for a bodyguard. But even back when I was traveling with Fran and Emil, I always told them that I had potions and that my body was only temporary, so they should protect Layette and Bell over me... Kaoru thought.

Meanwhile, Falsetto was thinking, Lady Kaoru’s questions are all straight out of the holy text, the Lady Kaoru Chronicles. As I thought, she’s picking these questions to ensure I’m chosen...yet this woman keeps stubbornly refusing to back down. This might make it hard for Lady Kaoru to discern which of us is the Einherjar. I can’t trouble Lady Kaoru any further. I have no choice but to reveal my identity in a way only she would understand...

“Miss Edith, my great-great-grandmother sends her regards,” Falsetto said, switching from her usual knight-to-commoner tone to a more refined, courteous manner.

Hardly anyone alive today would have great-great-grandchildren of Falsetto’s age...except for the True Ancestor—the savior of the continent, Fearsome Fran. Therefore, Falsetto believed that comment would tip off Kaoru that she was the descendant of the True Ancestor. But...

“Huh? Oh, uh...right...”

It completely flew over Kaoru’s head.

Kaoru hadn’t imagined Francette’s family would have grown so large, and more importantly, she didn’t even really comprehend what having a living “great-great-grandmother” meant. After all, most people only dealt with grandparents, and in some cases, great-grandparents, and the term “great-great-grandmother” was hardly used. The average lifespan in Japan was longer than this world’s, but people married and had children later, so elders with great-great-grandchildren Falsetto’s age were uncommon.

Who? Does this girl work for someone who knows me? Kaoru thought, immediately growing wary.

Falsetto was bewildered, realizing the effect was the completely opposite of what she’d intended. Now that I think about it, during the “Lady Kaoru Response Training” I took before I left, the True Ancestor mentioned Lady Kaoru can be sharp at times, but she can also be oblivious or downright slow...and that she likely limits her own abilities and intellect on purpose because seeing through everything would be boring. Looks like I’ll have to be more direct...

“I am the Einherjar.”

“What?!”

Falsetto was certain the matter was settled. But then...

“That title was given to Francette alone! You’ve got some nerve, imposter!”

“Huh...?”

“Whaaat?”

“Whaaaaaat?”

Kaoru’s sudden angry outburst left Falsetto and the receptionist with their mouths agape and eyes wide in shock...

“Huh? So...the term ‘Einherjar’ doesn’t just refer to Fran now, but the entire clan descended from her bloodline, with over three hundred members?” Kaoru asked.

“Yes. Our family line is rather resilient...” the girl replied.

Kaoru was at a loss for words. A descendant of Fran’s bloodline. Apparently, some of her abilities had been passed down through the generations...and this girl had inherited an especially potent share of that blood.

After that revelation, Kaoru, Reiko, and Falsetto forced the receptionist out of the room to have a private conversation among the three of them. Once Falsetto explained she was working for Francette, Kaoru revealed that Can was also part of her inner circle, allowing them to speak openly. Since the receptionist had overheard her careless remark, Kaoru explained that what she meant to say was “That title was given to Francette alone (by the Great Saint Lady Kaoru).” She further clarified that, in her sect, the title “Einherjar” belonged exclusively to Francette, who had been directly appointed by the Great Saint, and no one else was permitted to claim it, no matter how closely related they were. The receptionist seemed to have bought the explanation.

“And so, as the one said to have the most potent blood of the True Ancestor out of the clan’s younger generation—I, ‘Musclehead Falsetto,’ have taken on this glorious mission...”

“Pffft!” Kaoru and Reiko burst out laughing despite themselves.

“Why...why would you announce such a nickname with so much pride...?” Kaoru wheezed.

“Huh?” Falsetto replied, blinking, clearly not understanding what Kaoru meant. “Our clan’s motto is, ‘The only things you can trust are your own well-trained muscles!’ My nickname comes from the True Ancestor’s kind words, ‘Your mind is as reliable as your muscles,’ so I’m truly proud of it...”

“It’s supposed to be a compliment?! And you got it from Fran?!”

Indeed, Francette had been exceptionally strong and capable with the sword, but her intellect had been strictly average. She wasn’t a fool by any means, but she hadn’t ever seemed particularly studious. If Falsetto had received such high praise from Francette, then the girl must have been quite intelligent.

“I can do multiplication and division of fractions!” she said proudly.

“Uhh... Oh...”

Well, in a world at this level of civilization, perhaps she was considered to be on the smarter side. She hadn’t attended school or had a private tutor like noble children, and it wasn’t as if she had many books or access to educational TV programs. It was only natural, considering her clan valued martial prowess above all else.

It wasn’t that the people of this world were unintelligent. There were surely many who excelled in mathematics, geometry, physics, astronomy, philosophy, and other fields. But those were people who had the status and wealth to afford an education. No matter how bright someone was, they wouldn’t achieve their potential without proper schooling. In that sense, perhaps Falsetto truly was brilliant if she’d taught herself fractional calculation without textbooks or teachers. There was no telling what would have happened if she had been born into a high-ranking noble family or the household of a renowned scholar...

However, despite being connected to a ducal family, there were over three hundred other descendants, most of whom were still alive. Not to mention, the eldest son who had inherited the dukedom from Roland was still living, which meant there was no realistic way for a title to trickle down to her. So, while Falsetto had managed to become a knight, her status hadn’t been much higher than a commoner’s until then. That was why all of her talents and efforts had been poured into martial arts.

The founder of her clan was the True Ancestor—also known as Fearsome Fran, the great hero and guardian of the continent. Fran was her descendant’s revered great-great-grandmother; a living legend who represented what it meant to be a true hero. Young Falsetto had inherited the blood of this hero, dedicating her exceptional mind and physical prowess from childhood to the seemingly impossible dream of surpassing the True Ancestor and serving the Goddess Kaoru, who would one day return. Now, this girl was on the verge of seizing the honor that over three hundred of her kin had dreamed of but never achieved. It was the one mission worthy of staking everything, even her own life, on accomplishing. Thus, the fanatic, berserker warrior had been born.

Ah... She’s one of those who’ll never give up, no matter how much we try to drive her away...

Sent by Francette herself, she was a disciple fully steeped in Francette’s beliefs. Even if they sent her away, there was no way she would just meekly return home. She would likely just follow them in hiding, lurking day and night, watching over them from the shadows. Kaoru had seen more than enough of that back in the pre-Item Box days.

“Okay then... I’ll hire both Can and Falsetto as bodyguards,” Kaoru said. “Also, from now on, call me Edith when I’m in this form, and whatever name is appropriate when I’m in other forms. Under no circumstances call me by the wrong name in public, or refer to me as a goddess or the Angel. Oh, and Falsetto, don’t publicly declare that you’re an Einherjar. If people find out I’m being protected by someone like that, someone will start digging into my background.”

No matter what part of the continent they were on, Francette’s name was far too famous, which meant the title of Einherjar was likely just as well-known. Kaoru’s instruction was spot-on. However...

“Yes, my lady! I am deeply honored to be taken into your service! But, um...the thing is, I already revealed that I’m the Einherjar at the Commerce Guild...” Falsetto mumbled. “The Commerce Guild is strict about information control, and to get information about you—Edith the free priestess, that is—I had no choice but to disclose my identity...”

“Whaaat?!” Kaoru and Reiko cried out simultaneously. Kaoru went on, “The Commerce Guild of all places? The den of cunning traders where information is more valuable than anything? Give me a break...” The pair slumped, dejected.

Seeing their reaction, Falsetto panicked. “W-Well, I could go slaughter everyone involved with the Commerce Guild right now...”

“Stop it!” they cried out in response.

And so, Kaoru and Reiko thoroughly educated Falsetto. She was to only kill villains or those who attacked them first, but enemy soldiers could be killed preemptively, even if they weren’t necessarily evil and combat hadn’t started yet. If possible, incapacitating them without killing was better, as it would burden the enemy more, and captives could yield information, be used for prisoner exchanges, or ransoms.

“I see...” Falsetto seemed to grasp their explanation quickly. The nickname “Musclehead” was a mark of intelligence after all.

Kaoru and Reiko let out a sigh of relief, confident that she wouldn’t indiscriminately kill anyone who opposed or disrespected them. Of course, they already knew that Falsetto wasn’t someone who enjoyed killing or actively sought to hurt others...unless the Goddess was involved. People like her were usually mild-mannered and rational but turned into menaces when their revered Goddess was insulted or put in danger. Kaoru knew someone like that...and Falsetto was her descendant, raised on her teachings.

“So, at the Commerce Guild, you only asked about the free priestess Edith’s whereabouts, right? You didn’t mention anything about a saint, Angel, goddess, or Kaoru?” Kaoru asked.

“No, I figured that information would be confidential,” Falsetto replied. Apparently, she’d forgotten she’d said, “What? She left the capital? Lady Kaoru—I mean, the Ange—I mean, the free priestess Edith?” at the merchant guild.

Perhaps she could try to pass it off as a mere slip of the tongue, but it didn’t inspire much confidence. Besides, it was quite well-known that the Einherjar had been awaiting the Goddess’s return, as it was stated in the doctrine of the Order of the Goddess Kaoru. So, it wasn’t strange for one of the Einherjar to be investigating a girl rumored to be a saint. If Edith truly had been the Goddess or the Angel, the Einherjar would have come in droves, rather than sending a single young girl like Falsetto. Given those factors, Falsetto’s slipup at the Commerce Guild had been lightly dismissed.

Thus, the news that an Einherjar had appeared at the capital had reached the royal palace, the Temple, and various guilds such as the Hunter’s Guild and Mercenary’s Guild, but not the less relevant ones like the Artisan’s Guild and Apothecary’s Guild, though the information was only relayed to the upper echelons of each organization. Her purpose had been reported as a mere “religious investigation.”

Perhaps the Commerce Guild had wanted to keep the precise details to themselves, or maybe they’d hesitated to spread unverified, low-credibility information that could harm their reputation, or they’d otherwise feared causing trouble for the free priestess by spreading rumors. Whatever the case, Falsetto’s blunder hadn’t turned into a fatal mistake, which was fortunate for Kaoru and her group.

And so, a new member joined Kaoru’s party...

“What?! A new member was decided without me?” Kyoko let out a shocked cry during the nightly scheduled call.

Anticipating this reaction, Reiko had already lowered the communicator’s volume and cast a soundproofing field.

“I am Musclehead Falsetto, a direct disciple and great-great-granddaughter of the True Ancestor Francette. Pleased to make your acquaintance!”

“Pffft!”

As expected, Kyoko burst out laughing on the other side of the call. Kaoru and Reiko decided to explain the origin of her nickname later, when Falsetto wasn’t around...

Chapter 83: Birds and Dogs

“What’s the status of the other groups?”

“The Imperial Navy seems to be maintaining the status quo until their replacement ships arrive. The joint team of shipping companies and maritime merchants is focusing on establishing their foothold, aiming for self-sustaining profits and long-term operations without support from the homeland. The witch’s faction and their familiars secured a former noble’s capital residence slightly outside the city center and are watching for an opportunity to contact codename ‘K’...”

“Tch! The nerve...after we all agreed to respect K’s wishes and refrain from direct contact... I mean, I get it. Since the witch herself isn’t here, they can’t communicate with their familiars beyond prearranged basic signals, so they want to connect with K quickly for translation purposes. But that’s their problem. It’s certainly no reason to bother K or act in ways that may raise suspicion among the locals. Not that they’re the type to listen to reason...” the leaders of the Eyes of the Goddess expedition team said, then shrugged.

“All right, let’s start the Falsetto Review Meeting,” I said.

“Okay.”

“Got it!”

Falsetto had moved out of her previous inn and into ours.

I mean, obviously...

She’d taken the room next to mine and Reiko’s. Since we shared a room, Falsetto insisted on joining us, but we got her to back off by saying we had secret goddess duties to attend to. She’d argued that the request conditions said we’d share a room at the inn, but we’d told her that was only because it was rigged for Reiko. She seemed pretty dejected, mumbling something under her breath. Apparently, she’d thought the job was meant for her.

Well, tough luck...

I’d told her Francette used to stay in a separate room too, and she’d reluctantly agreed. Francette had shared her room with Roland, after all.

For today’s meeting, Kyoko was participating remotely via a communicator. It felt a bit lonely not seeing her face, so I thought it might be a good idea for us to add a holographic imaging feature for our remote meetings. I could’ve made one as a potion container, but Kyoko’s mothership should be able to handle it. I didn’t really want to rely too much on the “Goddess Workshop,” and I had to give Kyoko a chance to shine or she’d get sulky.

“Francette knew about my return and sent Falsetto to protect me. She’s a total fanatic, and it’ll be impossible to send her away. If we mess up, it could lead to some serious trouble. So, you get why we have to accept her, right?” I asked.

“Right,” Kyoko replied.

I’d told Reiko and Kyoko about my past associates many times, so no further explanation was needed.

“If she causes a commotion every time something happens or intervenes at the worst possible moment, it’ll be a headache. It’ll be much better to keep her under our control from the start. Plus...”

“Yeah?”

“Francette helped me a lot back then. I have a feeling Falsetto will help us too.”

Kyoko and Reiko said nothing, but they understood. I could give all kinds of logical and well-reasoned excuses for my decision, but they knew that ultimately this was what I really wanted. So...

“Approved!” they said in unison.

“We should be fine in terms of secrecy. Francette and her people already believe I’m a goddess from another world, so no matter what scientific gadgets or magic we show, they’d just dismiss it as goddess stuff. They’d never betray me or leak information either. Falsetto will make the perfect ally: loyal, discreet, and reliable as a bodyguard. We can count on her to protect Little Silver, and since she brought her own horse, she can take care of Hang and Scary too. Come to think of it...this is a really great deal for us,” I realized.

“You’re right...” Kyoko agreed.

“Sounds useful...” Reiko chimed in.

And so, Falsetto joined our group. Unlike the children we hadn’t shared our secrets with, she was a full-fledged member of our inner circle.

“So, Fal— Whoa!” I yelled as something flew by.

“Eek!” Reiko squealed.

“Wh-What’s wrong?!” Kyoko asked.

Was that...a bird?

“Oh, it’s just...a bird flew in through the window. Not a raptor or anything, just a regular bird. It wasn’t exactly a small bird, maybe pigeon- or crow-sized, but pretty...”

We’d kept the window open because we didn’t have to worry about mosquitoes and flies thanks to my insect-repellent potion. With the soundproofing field, we didn’t have to worry about being overheard either, and the breeze felt nice... But instead of bugs, a bird had flown in.

Why? How?

“Goddess, Goddess. Gramma’s messenger wants to meet,” the bird said falteringly.

“Huh? Who’s ‘Gramma’?” I asked.

My powers allowed me to understand bird speech, so that wasn’t a surprise, but I had no idea who this “Gramma” was. The problem was that this person wanted to meet me and that they seemed to know me as a goddess. I didn’t personally know any birds that would call me “Goddess” in this distant Kingdom of Balmore. All of the birds I’d interacted with as a goddess had probably died out around seventy years ago. With their short lifespans, they must’ve gone through dozens of generations...

Wait a minute.

Long ago, I’d heard that some birds lived fifty to sixty years, and there was a record of a parrot living for ninety years. If so, some birds might not have gone through many generations, and stories could have been passed down to their children or grandchildren. Could the descendants of those birds still be around? Had my legend been passed down orally, like with Hang and Scary?

“We found you before the dogs! Victory for birds. Joyful! Proud!” it said.

“Huh? Dogs? Are the birds and dogs competing over me?” I wondered aloud. “Dogs and birds that can’t communicate with each other, competing over me... No way, that’s not...wait, yes it is... Mariel!”

The only one capable of such a thing, besides the three of us, was Mariel, thanks to the potion I’d given her!

“Were you sent by Mariel...or one of her subordinates?” I asked.

“Bring her? Take you?” it asked.

“Hmm, not the brightest, I see... Or maybe it’s been a few days since Mariel gave you the message, and you’re fuzzy on the details. Either way, I guess I have to go see her...”

“Are you sure it’s safe?”

“Kaoru...”

Reiko and Kyoko sounded worried.

“It’s fine, don’t worry,” I said reassuringly. “Remember that story I told you about the horse I helped? She’s the noble girl from back then. She’d never betray me...I think. But how old is she now, anyway...? She was about fifteen back then. With seventy-three years in the Item Box and about a year passing since, she’d be eighty-eight or eighty-nine? Super old in this world. Seems she’s been promoted to a higher title too. Mariel’s really made a life for herself.”

It was getting late, though, so we decided to schedule the meeting for later.

“Tomorrow, we’ll meet somewhere discreet. Tell them,” I said.

“Got it. Tomorrow, somewhere private, meet. I’ll tell.”

“Huh, your memory’s better than I thought... Wait, I doubt an old lady like Mariel came out in person, so a message in bird tongue won’t work! Hold on, I’ll write it on paper, so take it with you.”

“Okay. I’ll wait...”

And so, I tied a piece of paper to the bird’s leg, but...

“Why isn’t it leaving?” I wondered.

“Goddess, pet me...”

“Okay, okay.”

I gave the bird some scratches on its head and neck, and the bird closed its eyes blissfully. After savoring it for some time, the bird—which was too big to call a small bird—flew off.

“So that’s the second faction following the Einherjar,” Reiko said. “This inn stands out too much, so we should meet somewhere else. And it’d be best not to meet at their base, just to be safe. Falsetto and I are going too, of course.”

“Right,” I said, nodding without protest.

I figured they would. I’d said it was fine, but it’d been seventy-four years since I’d last seen Mariel. That was plenty of time for anyone to change. At her age, Mariel was at a point where it was a miracle that she was alive at all. And here was the Goddess, famous across the continent for reviving and rejuvenating the great hero Fearsome Fran. It wouldn’t be surprising if she wasn’t able to resist the temptation. Besides, even if Mariel herself had no such intentions, her subordinates might act on their own desires or for her sake.

It never hurts to be cautious.

“I wanna go too—”

“You don’t—”

“You don’t need to come, Kyoko!”

Reiko cut me off before I could say it...

“They’re here...”

The previous day, the bird—a bit too big to call a small bird—had returned with a note specifying the time and place. But it said they’d send an escort in the morning and that the meeting would be at their base, so we’d sent it back with a note saying, “Meet at the Goddess Statue in Central Square. No escort needed.”

Yup, in practically every country on this continent, there was a big park with a statue of Celes in the capital, usually near the royal castle and Temple. It was probably used as a gathering place for citizens during events, emergencies, or disasters, among other things. I’d chosen it because no one would dare do anything improper in front of the castle and Temple. There was a guard post separate from the castle gatekeepers there, and the area had decent foot traffic. It was one of the least suitable places in the capital for attacking or abducting a young woman. Besides, it wasn’t strange for a goddess or the Angel to choose the Celes statue as a meeting spot. I wasn’t dumb enough to stroll right into their home turf. There was no telling what could be waiting there, from ambushers to sleeping drugs slipped into food or drinks to who knows what else. I could neutralize any drugs by drinking a detox potion beforehand, but there was no need to give up that bit of info, since they could always plan countermeasures or try other methods. It was better to give out as little information as possible.

For the same reason, I hadn’t chosen a restaurant as the meeting place. If the location was known in advance, they could have stationed undercover agents posing as unrelated customers, tampered with the food, or pulled any number of tricks. If the discussion dragged on, we could move to a suitable restaurant of my choosing afterward.

In the end, I made the bird go back and forth three times. I should’ve designated a location from the start to save it a trip... Though, the bird closed its eyes blissfully each time I scratched it above the beak and around the neck, so it was probably fine. I was used to handling birds, since I had cared for my cherry Java sparrow Pippi and white Java sparrow Jaja back home. I was good with dogs and cats too. I was pretty popular with animals...but not with human men or little girls, for some reason.

Aren’t men and little girls technically animals too?! Damn it! Huff, huff, huff...

Anyway, I was standing in front of the goddess statue when six men started walking directly toward me.

I was in Edith Mode—obviously, since they’d come to meet the free priestess Edith. Reiko—in Can Mode—and Falsetto were nearby, pretending to be unrelated strangers. The Goddess Statue in the capital’s central square was a classic meeting spot for visitors from out of town, so there were plenty of others waiting for people like we were. I was pretty sure we didn’t stand out...but the men walked straight toward me without hesitation.

They must have researched my appearance beforehand; they were working for Mariel, after all. Both sides were associates of the Order of the Goddess Kaoru, and given the timing, they likely knew about Falsetto too. I’d had her wear a disguise, though I wasn’t sure if they’d see through it or not. Even if they did, they wouldn’t know about Reiko...or the C-Rank hunter Can. She was with me when I’d met with Emile, but they’d likely assumed she was just a temporary companion or guide, not my peer.

The information being circulated among the Order of the Goddess Kaoru likely only mentioned Reiko as some woman accompanying me, and they had no way of knowing about a rookie hunter named Can in this distant country, nor her connection to me. They might have heard I’d hired a bodyguard, but she and Reiko were in disguise. No matter how capable their intelligence network might have been, there was no investigating something they didn’t know existed.

So, to prepare for a surprise attack, I’d positioned the disguised Falsetto nearby for her quick reflexes, while Reiko stood farther back, where she could get a good view of the entire situation, cast magic to protect us, and not worry about her own safety. The bird’s existence made it almost certain these were Mariel’s men, and I didn’t think she would send anyone shady, but it was always best to prepare for the worst.

That was the Nagase way...and the KKR way!

“We’re terribly sorry to keep you waiting!”

Yup, arriving after me and making me wait was, given their position, outrageously rude and disrespectful. It was no wonder they were sweating bullets. As the Angel, the considerate thing to do would’ve been to arrive exactly on time or slightly late, but that would’ve given them time to set something up, so I’d arrived over an hour early and gone to an inconspicuous corner to watch for any suspicious figures taking positions. I’d moved to my current spot about thirty minutes ago, ensuring we’d spot one another immediately, and they wouldn’t be able to move their operatives into position afterward.

Six men to meet a little girl seemed a bit much. Had they planned for one of them to meet with me while the other five snuck into the crowd unnoticed? Or maybe they intended to gang up on me and take me to their base by force. Either way, I had no obligation to play along.

I flicked my fingers, signaling Reiko, who was positioned to my right-front and their left-rear. As planned, Reiko cast a soundproofing field around us (including Falsetto), so no one could hear our conversation.

“No, no, I just arrived too early,” I said. I’d deliberately said “I” instead of “we,” though I wasn’t sure if they believed me.

“We can’t talk standing out here, so we should find a nearby shop...” the man who seemed to be their leader suggested, but I cut in.

“Yes, let’s go to a place I reserved.”

“Huh?”

The leader looked surprised. I mean, after all this careful preparation, there was no way I was gonna let them take me someplace where they could have all sorts of traps prepared. I wasn’t stupid. That was why I’d arranged a location myself. Even with the soundproofing field, I wasn’t brave enough to hold a conversation out in the open like this.

I gave Reiko a subtle glance, and she had her arms crossed, signaling that there weren’t any suspicious targets nearby.

All right, let’s go...

After ten minutes or so of walking, we arrived at the reserved restaurant.

It was quite a fancy place. We’d secured a room in the back, so there was no worry about suddenly being surrounded by big scary men. The other patrons were either wealthy or on company expense accounts, so there weren’t any unsavory types mixed in. The high price wasn’t just for the quality of the food; it guaranteed safety and a comforting environment. We hadn’t spotted any tails or ambushers on the way, so after our group entered, Falsetto and Reiko followed, casually joining us in the private room.

The reserved room had a table for six with three seats facing one another. There were three of us, so I figured there’d be two or three of them. Well, they could squeeze four in on their side and put chairs at the ends if needed...or so I thought, but only two of them ended up sitting, while the other four took up guard positions—standing, of course.

Apparently, only two of them would do the talking. That was good, since being surrounded by six old men would’ve been overwhelming...

“We are deeply honored to be granted this sacred audience...”

The man who seemed to be higher-ranking of the two bowed reverently as he spoke, the other following suit. They’d waited to sit before bowing, maybe because grown men bowing to a little girl would’ve stood out too much. This world had no concept of gender equality, and the young were expected to respect their elders. Even in a private room, the waiter who’d shown us in was still here, since we hadn’t ordered yet.

And “sacred audience”? That’s not a term to use for a little girl in a place like this...especially not in front of the waiter.

I decided to shut him up for now. “No, let’s talk after we order...”

And so, we ordered some food and drinks. No one ordered any alcohol, which felt discourteous to the restaurant, since it was a high-margin menu item that didn’t take any cooking on their part. But of course, Falsetto and Reiko were my bodyguards, and their side was here for an important discussion with someone they saw as a goddess or the Angel, so it was natural that no one would drink. I felt bad, so I ordered some expensive fruit juice, and Reiko did the same, while Falsetto ordered water. She clearly had no intention of consuming anything, and was instead ready to draw her sword and strike at a moment’s notice.

The men probably didn’t plan to eat or drink much either, but they ordered a decent amount as a courtesy, including for the four standing guards. It was basic etiquette for customers.

Seeing that their initial greeting didn’t reveal a haughty attitude or unreasonable demands, Falsetto and Reiko seemed to relax slightly. I was a bit relieved too, of course. Even if they had ill intentions, they weren’t going for a direct, forceful approach. Not that we couldn’t handle a head-on confrontation, but subterfuge and scheming were more our specialty.

After talking to them, I decided we didn’t have any major issues. They hadn’t tried to demand anything or force interactions, though they did ask about birds and dogs. Apparently, after Mariel had briefed them before their departure, they could only communicate with the dogs and birds using simple signals she’d taught them beforehand, like “capture without killing” and “annihilate the enemy,” and they lacked deeper rapport beyond the typical human-animal bond. They’d asked for help with reporting the current situation and effective use of the Dog Corps and Bird Corps, which was fine.

They’d secured a large residence, and I didn’t mind translating for them in the courtyard. Supposedly, these animals were the descendants of the dogs and birds that had helped way back when. In Mariel’s territory, the Raphael Earldom, there was a breeding ground for those dogs and birds, where their descendants still lived. It was a safe place for birthing, laying eggs, and raising young, and some elite offspring were able to join the Raphael Earldom’s Dog Corps or Bird Corps. They didn’t have to worry about food and were provided care in case of injury or illness. Those too old for military service took on roles like training young ones or standing watch. If something ever happened to them, their families were cared for. As a result, the competition for spots in the Dog and Bird Corps was incredibly fierce.

Oh... I should’ve hired dogs and birds for security at Little Silver too!

Instead of just using alarms, guard dogs that could physically take down intruders would’ve been so much more reassuring. Not to mention, interacting with animals would’ve been great for the kids’ emotional growth. Sure, they had Hang and Scary, but those two were a bit too big, plus they weren’t fluffy and couldn’t go inside the building. Maybe it was worth considering.

“So, we have absolutely no intention of disturbing your peace, Lady Kaoru...” the leader said.

Good, they get it...

“And the members of the Eyes of the Goddess likely share the same basic stance.”

“Huh? They’re coming too?” I asked.

“They’re already here. They’ve set up a base as well...though they seem to be refraining from contacting you. We would’ve done the same if not for the issue with the Dog and Bird Corps. The Aligot Empire’s Navy, along with their maritime merchants and traders, are here as well. Once they solidify their foothold in this country, they’ll probably be more proactive about getting involved...”

“Whaaat?!” I blurted out, stunned.

“Looks like we don’t need to prepare backup forces for emergencies anymore,” Reiko said mercilessly.

No, no, Mariel’s group and the other factions shouldn’t have known about Little Silver yet...or about Reiko and Kyoko. In fact, they probably didn’t even know Kyoko existed. Since historical records likely noted that I disliked being spoken to formally by those close to me, that tidbit was likely carried over to written biographies and religious texts. So, even if Reiko spoke casually with me, they likely assumed we were just close friends and wouldn’t suspect her of being a fellow goddess.

The only things these people knew about were my actions as the priestess Edith and that I, Kaoru, was Edith. And the only one these people were fully committed to protecting was me. Sure, they’d try to keep those around me safe—only to avoid displeasing me—but given the choice of saving me from a scratch and Reiko or Falsetto from serious injury, they’d prioritize me. So, it was questionable whether they could be used as a shield for Little Silver in a crisis.

I mean, if I asked, they’d probably agree to guard Little Silver, but if they heard I was in danger or in trouble, they might abandon the orphans and rush to my aid. Would devout followers and fanatics ignore a goddess’s orders? Yes. Obviously. Fanatics were the type to say, “If it means protecting the Goddess, I would defy her orders and burn in hell without regret. I could wish for nothing more!” That was what made them fanatics; they weren’t like ordinary believers.

Besides, I didn’t like ordering people to do those sorts of things. If someone risked their life for a job, it should be their own choice, not because they’d been told to. I hated being worshipped as a goddess and propped up like an idol by fanatics, and I despised the idea of issuing orders as either. That was why I couldn’t give the order to protect the children of Little Silver at all costs.

“I will meet with the birds and dogs,” I said. “I’ll help translate their instructions. But unless it’s absolutely necessary, humans are not to contact me directly. Send messages via dogs or birds with written instructions, worded carefully or in code to avoid issues if intercepted.”

Even if they sent a coded message, I could read it, thanks to my ability to understand all languages.

“Understood,” the man said. “Our true desire would be to serve at your side, but we know that’s not your wish... However, if you ever require our aid, please call upon us at any time. And if we ever deem it necessary, we’ll intervene without hesitation.”

Huh?

“No, that’s not—”

“We will intervene!”

“Uh...okay...”

There was no point in arguing. Emile and his group were the same—whenever they had that look in their eyes, nothing I said would get through to them.

There was only one thing I could do: make sure no situation arose that would make them think intervention was needed.

What a pain...

The meeting ended without any further issues. Mariel’s subordinates were reasonable, which was a big relief. The people working for Emile would probably be fine too. Besides Reiko and Kyoko, Emile and the original members of the Eyes of the Goddess were the ones who understood me better than anyone in the world. We hadn’t lived together for years for nothing. So, I couldn’t imagine the subordinates trained by the still-living Eyes of the Goddess members would do anything I’d dislike or disapprove of.

“The problem is the folks from the Aligot Empire...”

Even if they had no ill intent—in fact, they seemed to mean well—their sense of boundaries seemed to be a bit off from what I’d gathered from that incident in the pre-Item Box days, the research material I’d found in the Kingdom of Balmore’s capital library, and now from Mariel’s men.

Things had been complicated after the invasion. The war with the invaders had killed many Aligot soldiers, leaving countless widows and orphans. Even though the empire’s aggression was what had caused it, my actions had been the main reason for their defeat and those heavy losses. Naturally, I was hated and resented by the bereaved, but those whose families hadn’t been affected and those who understood the empire’s financial desperation had seen my leniency at the peace conference, my information about the large western island, and my support for building new oceangoing ships, and had come to believe I was the Angel, then a goddess, and thanked and worshipped me.

So, the Aligot Empire’s people had been divided between those with intense hostility toward me and those with intense devotion. But over seventy years later, most of those who’d lost loved ones were now gone. The living were those raised by the Aligot Empire’s Great Leap Forward, who’d been taught that the empire’s revival was thanks to Goddess Kaoru.

In this world, goddesses weren’t mythical beings; they’d occasionally made appearances, foretold disasters, or destroyed evil nations. They were real entities to be both revered and feared. And compared to Celes, the Goddess Kaoru was known to be relatively gentle, causing minimal collateral damage. It was no wonder there were so many fervent believers...

“Kaoru!”

“Kaoru!”

“Oh, sorry. I got lost in a flashback...”

Oops. I was in the middle of a three-way meeting, with Kyoko participating remotely, and I was reporting on the meeting with Mariel’s subordinates. I couldn’t skip sharing such important information, especially since Kyoko could potentially end the world if she acted recklessly without the full context.

So, we had to make sure Kyoko understood exactly what was going on and to drill into her that if something happened, she was to consult with us before acting alone...for the sake of world peace.

“I am the Goddess Kaoru!”

“Ooooooh!”

I was in the courtyard of a former noble’s capital residence that Mariel’s subordinates had rented out. It was hidden from outside view and muffled most sounds, though they probably heard the dogs howling loud and clear. As promised, I had come to brief the dogs and birds on the situation. Mariel had likely explained the background and plans to them before they left their territory, so my job was to update them on what had happened since and then explain what would come next. Per her subordinates’ request, I was to include a few tweaks to suit my convenience.

The briefing went something like this: I’m Kaoru, the goddess from the legends passed down by Mariel and your ancestors. Like Mariel, I understand animal speech...or rather, I’m the one who gave her that ability. If you’re ever in trouble, feel free to consult me. Mariel seems to want you all to work with her subordinates to protect me, but I’m a goddess, so I’m fine on my own. Think of this as a vacation and just take it easy. I might occasionally ask for help with investigations or intimidation, so please help me out then. You’re welcome to visit for fun, but don’t come in droves and arouse suspicion among the humans. Keep it to a few friendly dogs playfully nuzzling, and make sure to nuzzle other humans too, so I don’t stand out as special. Make sure to keep my goddess status a secret from other humans.

There were only dogs here now, since birds couldn’t understand dog speech. Once the dogs were done, I’d repeat nearly the same talk with the birds...in their own language, of course.

I finished briefing the dogs and birds. When I mentioned I’d be using various disguises, the dogs said, “We’ll know you by scent, so no problem,” and the birds said, “We’ll know you by your aura, so no problem.”

The dogs’ “scent” thing made sense, but what the heck was an “aura”?! Some kind of electromagnetic wave from bioelectric currents, unique to each person? Like, different waveforms or frequencies? And birds could sense them somehow?!

Huff, huff...

Well, I’d heard a theory that carrier pigeons navigated by sensing the Earth’s magnetic field...but I decided not to dwell on it.

The dogs and birds seemed thrilled to meet me and receive their mission. I appreciated the enthusiasm, but it wasn’t as if I were their employer, so I wouldn’t be giving them tons of tasks—only in emergencies. Still, having free access to birds and dogs might come in handy when sending messages and conducting reconnaissance. But doing that would feel like constantly borrowing Mariel’s dogs and birds, so maybe I’d recruit local dogs and birds directly instead...

Oh well, that’s enough for today!

“Um, Lady Ka—Edith, I have a request...”

“Hm? What’s up?”

Back at the inn, Falsetto approached me, looking somewhat nervous.

“I...well... I humbly ask that you bestow upon me a divine sword...”

Ah... She mentioned Francette refused to give her Exgram...

Falsetto had complained that you would’ve expected her to say something like, “Protect the Goddess with this divine sword Exgram in my stead!” and she was right. I couldn’t blame her for grumbling about that, but Francette had received that sword because she’d broken her own while shielding Prince Roland with her life. It was pretty brazen and shameless of Falsetto to demand a divine sword from a goddess without accomplishing anything, and while her own was still in fine shape, to boot. That was probably why she was too embarrassed to speak more directly, but still, she desperately wanted that divine sword.

I get how she feels, but...what to do...?

Even if she’d only inherited a fraction of Francette’s power, a normal sword might not be able to withstand her full strength. And no matter how strong she was, she could get caught off guard if her sword broke mid-battle, like what had happened to Francette. It’d be pretty awful if such a young girl died trying to protect me, especially if it could’ve been avoided if she’d had a decent blade.

Hmm... I guess I have no choice.

“Approved!” I said.

“Huh...? What? WHAAAT?!”

What, she really didn’t think I’d agree? Whatever...

“I grant you a sword worthy of an Einherjar! Come forth, Divine Sword Clai Solas!” I exclaimed, and a sword materialized above my upturned palms.

“Oooh!” Falsetto let out a scream of joy.

Of course she was thrilled; other than her, only the guardian of the continent, the great hero Francette, had received a divine sword in her clan. The four royal guards I’d give Exhrotti to didn’t count, since they weren’t part of Francette’s clan or her descendants.

“It’s a bit different from Francette’s Exgram,” I explained. “Its durability is about the same, so it’ll hold up even if you swing it with full force or use it recklessly. It shouldn’t break even if you strike with the flat side or block at odd angles. It repels blood and grime, and its edge won’t dull even if you neglect it. It doesn’t have the ultrahigh frequency vibration function though. You’d be able to cut through other swords like butter with it, which wouldn’t help your training. Plus, it’d be bad for protecting me...do you know why?”

“Because if an enemy swings their sword at you and I block it with my own, cutting through their blade would send the severed tip flying toward you, and they could still swing with the rest of the weapon in their grip,” she answered.

“Exactly! Well done!”

Yup, breaking the enemy’s sword wasn’t always ideal. Francette was a seasoned swordmaster, so she understood that trait and used it well, parrying with the flat of her blade instead. But Falsetto seemed to lack real combat experience and didn’t fully grasp the vibration function, so...

Wait a minute! Is that why Francette didn’t give her Exgram...?

No, Francette wasn’t that clever! She probably just didn’t want to give up her divine sword. That was definitely it.

“It’s basically the same as the Exhrotti the four former royal guards, the Four Walls, had,” I added.

“Oh! I’ve seen Exhrotti in action! Not with the Four Walls themselves, but wielded by their descendants,” Falsetto said. “They say Exhrotti can cut through an opponent’s blade when wielded by a master... I’ll strive to reach that level!”

Oh... Well, good luck with that.

Chapter 84: Defensive Preparations

“I’m thinking we should arrange more guards,” I suggested.

“What, even more?” Reiko asked, dumbfounded. “With my defensive and offensive magic, your explosive and healing potions, Kyoko’s tiny beam weapon that doesn’t look like a weapon, and Falsetto, who can handle ambushes and knock down arrows or throwing-spears with superhuman reflexes without magic enhancements? And if we have time, we’ve got space fighters, shuttles, and the mothership’s main cannon from above...”

Yeah, Reiko had a point. It was overkill. But Falsetto was a close-combat specialist, and relying on her to react instinctively in a fraction of a second to an ambush felt a bit shaky. So...

“It’s not about offensive or defensive power. I want to boost our ability to detect danger and respond quickly to a sudden attack.”

“Oh...” Reiko and Kyoko got it too. “Dogs and birds!” they said at the same time.

Yup. Not Mariel’s subordinates, but ones we could use freely for ourselves. Our very own direct-hire fluffy dogs and birds!

Mariel’s dogs and birds would object fiercely if they found out, so we’d have to keep it a secret from them...though they’d probably find out in no time anyway. It’d be fine as long as they didn’t interfere while we made preparations, though. We couldn’t keep relying on someone else’s forces forever, after all.

“They’ll act freely as usual, but on days when they’re on duty, they’ll watch out for suspicious people from a distance. They can also track targets to find their hideouts or meeting spots. We’ll use that house we rented as our base. It’s on the outskirts of town and has a decently big yard. We won’t have dozens of dogs stationed there like Mariel’s place; instead, we’ll rotate a few through at a time, so it shouldn’t be an issue.”

That was the house we’d hurriedly rented for the Kurth Trade Company deal but ended up not using. If Reiko, Falsetto, and I were to live—er, use it, we probably had to move there instead of staying at an inn. Inns weren’t convenient for coming and going at night, and since we’d often be away from the capital, keeping a room booked felt wasteful. Plus, I didn’t want to end up without a place to stay if the inn filled up, and it felt a bit unfair to have me and Reiko sharing a room while Falsetto was alone in another. I insisted on “use” instead of “live” when referring to inn accommodations because our real home was Little Silver, where the kids were, and the capital was just a temporary stop. Our base was with the children, not a place full of scheming and intrigue like the royal capital. If we were to relocate our base, it’d be to some rural area or deserted island, not here...ideally, it’d be somewhere else by the sea.

Other countries were options too, of course. In fact, if we had to sell Little Silver and relocate, it’d probably be because we needed to leave this country anyway. Depending on the situation, we might even end up needing to leave the continent altogether. Kyoko had apparently wandered other continents before joining us on her search for me and Reiko... Grr, Celes didn’t have to drop her off on a whole different continent! That jerk...

“All right, let’s call Kyoko to join us and make it a four-person team! And let’s build a secret underground base at the new place! We can just fill it back up when we move out!” I said.

With the Item Box, I could store the dirt from when I hollowed out the ground and then plop it back in when we left. Easy peasy.

“Hey, I’ve got a favor to ask. Do you have a minute?” I asked.

The stray dog I spoke to looked up, glanced around, then tilted its head in confusion.

“It was me! Me!” I said.

“WAAAH! It talked!” the dog yelped.

I mean, I guess it’d have to be shocking from their perspective.

Anyway, I approached the stray dog by the riverbed...though maybe it was just a free-roaming pet. I was speaking in dog language, obviously.

“I’m a friend of this world’s goddess. Can you connect me with the boss around here?”

“Sure thing, follow me!”

Guess making appointments isn’t a thing for dogs...

“So, what does a human goddess want with us?”

The local dog boss eyed me with suspicion, which was understandable. If a normal-looking monster showed up at a human’s door and claimed to be the god of monsters, they’d assume it was pushing some sort of deal favoring its own kind at the humans’ expense. A dog would expect something positive from a dog god, not a human one.

“No, gods don’t have fixed forms or specific species assigned to them or anything like that. I take a human form when dealing with humans, and a dog form for dogs. I’m just in human form right now because I’ve been operating among humans, and what I have to offer is gonna be good for everyone,” I explained.

“Details!”

The dog that had guided me here was a stray, but the boss was someone’s pet. Not the kind that was chained up all day, but one that was free to roam. In Japan, free-range dogs had been banned by ordinance long before I died, but they were normal here. Of course, if a dog bit someone, the owner got punished, and if the dog got killed in retaliation, they had no right to complain. The reason a pet dog was the local boss was because it was bigger and stronger than the rest, with ample food and training as a guard or hunting dog. Strength was needed to protect its territory and its underlings. Plus, this boss shared its food with orphaned pups and injured or sick dogs. Apparently, it was a dog of real character. Only someone with a surplus could do that. It would be pretty difficult for a skinny stray struggling for food each day to take on the boss role.

Anyway, the boss took care of the dogs in the territory, earning their respect and loyalty. The conditions I offered were something that couldn’t possibly be ignored. It was a no-brainer, really. Ample food for strays, treatment for injuries and illnesses, support for birthing and raising young, shelter for those without a home, and relaying messages to owners if needed. Yup, I’d taken the conditions from Mariel’s recruitment from a long time ago and added some extra perks. As a result...

“We’d love to take the contract!”

Yup, figured as much.

“All right, I’ll need some dogs on rotation; a few for our personal protection, and a few for house security—they’d just be lounging in the yard most of the time. Oh, any dogs with owners should prioritize their owners’ home security, family protection, and other duties. We won’t be in this city forever, and they can’t betray the family they’re indebted to, right?”

“Yes, that’s exactly right...”

“Plus, if a lot of owned dogs start disappearing and are seen hanging around our place, that’d be bad. So I’ll need you to keep owned dogs out of the rotation or manage it carefully. Oh, and don’t recruit any troublemakers. There will be two meals a day, morning and evening. Owned dogs should eat at their homes to avoid suspicion, so they can pass any leftovers to the strays. If anyone says they don’t need food because they eat at home, they can give their share to orphaned pups. I’ll count one adult portion for three or four pups, since they eat less. Clean water will be available at all times. For now, send any injured or sick dogs, weak pups, or old dogs to our place. There’s no limit on treatments, so don’t hesitate to ask for help with minor injuries or illnesses. I’ll listen to food preference within reason too. For example, fatty or lean meat, that sort of thing. I won’t tolerate complaints like ‘I hate orc meat! Give me beef!’ though.”

Though, even an aristocrat’s pet probably wouldn’t be that picky.

“Yes, ma’am!”

Good! Got me some reliable guards!

They’d detect approaching threats from afar via scent or sound, had lightning-fast reactions, and wouldn’t make for good hostages because enemies wouldn’t be able to speak dog. A skilled soldier with a sword would be one thing, but some thug with a knife wouldn’t stand a chance against an adult dog intending to do them harm. Not to mention, they were immune to bribes and would never betray us, since I was the only one who could speak their language.

Okay, next!

“Excuse me, bird over there, do you have a minute?”

“A talking human? No way!”

Here we go again...

“Hey, cat over there. I’ve got a pretty sweet deal for you...”

“AAAAAAH! IT TALKED!”

Enough, already!

Well, it was just a simple task of repeating the same explanation I’d given twice already—actually, counting the old days, it was way more than that.

This was my first time dealing with cats, but they were so soft and fluffy. Just picturing one diving headfirst into the bed, spinning around under the blankets, then poking its head out and staring up at me with those sparkling eyes... What could be better?!

Huff, huff...

Anyway, cats could double as indoor alarms and auto-defense systems. Apparently, most humans couldn’t beat an adult cat in a serious fight. In public places like Kyoko’s shop, any blatant techy gadgets like alarms couldn’t be used, so I thought cats could bridge the roles of dogs and birds.

Plus, those little tsundere fluff balls were just too cute!

And so, Reiko, Falsetto, and I left the inn and moved to the rented house. It was rented under Kyoko’s name, but who cared about the details? We could say a merchant had rented it for when they stayed in the capital but hadn’t needed it yet, and we were subletting from them...though it wasn’t as if anyone would care or ask anyway. Only the real estate agent would ever know the renter’s name.

“Here we are, our new place!” I announced. Reiko already knew about the house, so I was explaining for Falsetto’s sake.

The animal teams were to arrive gradually over the next few days. We couldn’t just bring them all in one after another, and drawing that much attention would’ve been bad for us.

“This is just a residence and not Kyoko’s shop, so we’ve got plenty of rooms. All four of us will have one to ourselves.”

There, that resolves the issue of me and Reiko sharing a room while Falsetto is alone. Problem solved.

Though, Falsetto had come to serve me thinking I was the Goddess Kaoru... I wondered what she thought when she learned there were two other goddesses from another world here? Would she treat them as my equals or differently? Francette, the Eyes of the Goddess, Mariel, and other members of the Order of the Goddess Kaoru weren’t fanatics just because they thought I was the goddess, at least according to what everyone had told me long ago and based on the records in their scriptures.

If being a goddess was what made people fanatics, they’d have been rabid Celes worshippers before I arrived, but they were completely normal devotees of hers. The reason they were so fervent about me was probably because they felt like I’d saved them.

So, how did they feel about me and my two goddess friends? I asked Falsetto straight up.

“I pledge my all to serve you, Lady Kaoru,” she answered. “As your dear friends and goddesses from another world, I’d serve Ladies Reiko and Kyoko with my life...after you.”

And that was that.

I had been pretty direct about a sensitive topic, but it was something we had to make clear. If we didn’t establish the dynamic between the four of us, there could be trouble caused by mix-ups in priorities when it came to giving orders or instructions. In the end, we decided we’d all live as equals, like workplace colleagues, but in emergencies, orders would be given as between goddesses and their guardian knight.

I thought Falsetto might push back, saying it would be too presumptuous of her, but she didn’t. I asked why she’d agreed so easily.

“How many times do you think we’ve heard the True Ancestor recount the Days of Glory?” she asked. “We’ve heard each episode dozens of times, over and over and over again... She repeated the same stories so often that I thought she’d gone senile! I’ve practically memorized them. So, we Einherjar all know you prefer to talk casually, and that you get carried away if someone doesn’t scold you from time to time!”

What the heck?!

From then on, Falsetto started talking to us on more casual terms. I mean, she didn’t act like we were school friends or anything, but more like how Francette acted back in the day. Of course, she spoke like a hired guard to her employer in front of others, but a bit of informality between young women was nothing too unusual.

A few days had passed since we started living in the new place. The house didn’t come with any furniture, but there was a bunch of stuff in my Item Box, so that wasn’t a problem. I even still had the bed that I had confiscated from that baron’s house when I’d first arrived in this world. Furniture I’d gotten later and the stuff I no longer needed after replacing it were also all stored in the Item Box instead of being thrown out. That included the beds left behind when we’d bought the orphanage that became Little Silver, since we’d renewed them with nice, fluffy beds for the kids. Yeah, I spent money to support the local economy... I just kept old stuff instead of throwing it out. We were only using the old furniture temporarily, since I planned to buy new stuff once Kyoko arrived, but I thought buying a bunch of furniture without the owner present might’ve drawn attention. Plus, I wanted to pick out the furniture with everyone, including Kyoko.

Today was the day the first group was going to arrive. Of what? Fluffy, cuddly animals, obviously! The first shift of guard dogs, spy cats, and surveillance birds was on its way! Most of them I’d only met once, at the bosses’ briefing, with a few I’d seen again to treat their injuries or illnesses. I let the boss of each species handle the shift schedules, so I didn’t know who was coming today. But I’d given them all flea, tick, and lice repellent potions at the briefing, and Reiko had cleaned them with purification magic, so they were all soft, fluffy, and cuddly!

Except they showed up dirty again. Guess that’s what happened when you lived outside, sitting and rolling around on the ground. So, I decided to have Reiko clean them with magic every time they came in for their shift. They probably had fleas again too... Actually, the flea-repellent potion was made to be long-lasting. Japan’s filaria medicine consisted of dewormers that needed to be ingested regularly, but my potions from the Goddess Workshop were in a class of their own! Fleas, ticks, lice, and parasites were prevented and eliminated, with lasting effects—because I’d willed it so when I made them!

All right, one dog, one cat, and one bird were to be today’s therapy crew. Into the house they go!

“Whew... That was great.”

Reiko, Falsetto, and I looked content, while the dog, cat, and bird looked exhausted. They were the unfortunate trio chosen as today’s sacrificial offerings. What were we supposed to do? Some temptations in this world were impossible to resist! It wasn’t as if the three animals had resisted...though they had this martyr-like look in their eyes, as if they were thinking, “If the Goddess wishes it...” Then they fell under the spell of my magical fingers.

“Now, let’s head to the yard and talk security plans with everyone. This isn’t about magic or miracles, just pure physical security, so I’m counting on your expertise, Falsetto,” I said.

“Leave it to me!” she said.

For strategic discussions about small-scale ambushes or assaults, it was best to consult someone with specialized knowledge and training. Reiko had studied combat in worlds at this civilization level, but that knowledge was based on Earth. The weapons, fighting styles, and ways of thinking here were different. Earth’s medieval combat didn’t involve pitting captured monsters against enemies, and concealed weapons here could be nothing like what we might expect.

The dogs and birds would provide home security around the clock, but they didn’t need to stand guard like human soldiers armed with spears. They were dogs, so even if they were snoozing, they would snap awake when a suspicious person approached. We’d build a small doghouse in the yard, letting them sleep inside on rainy, windy, or cold days. On nice days, they could roam freely and play or nap on the grass...

Oh.

I’d thought about it before, but maybe we should have hurried up and started moving forward with the plan to deploy guard dogs, surveillance birds, and spy cats to Little Silver too. Hang and Scary were sort of handling it, but horses weren’t exactly suited for antipersonnel combat, and their huge size meant they couldn’t go indoors. If we offered bonuses for out-of-town work, paired them with their partners—their lover dog, lover cat, or lover bird, that is—or told them they could play with human kids, the ones that liked humans might sign up. Unless they loved this place or their local friends, some might even settle permanently at Little Silver... Wait, what am I, stupid?

Why not just recruit from the strays...er, the self-sufficient dogs in Tavolas, where Little Silver was? That was so dense of me...

Local hires would spread the word to unrecruited dogs, and if the kids were in danger, the free dogs, cats, or birds nearby might help out, hoping for rewards or because their kin were our allies.

Anyway, it was time for a strategy meeting regarding our defense plan here!

“And that’s it. Done! Now, I just need to encrypt it.”

Falsetto pulled out a sacred book and began converting the text she’d just written into code. It was a basic substitution cipher using the same book for the sender and receiver. The whole thing was simple, but in this low-tech world, locals couldn’t easily decode it without the key book or a computer. Plus, the book Falsetto used was one of the Order of the Goddess Kaoru scriptures, which was a handwritten manuscript. Even though the content was the same, the font size, characters per line, and lines per page varied across different copies, meaning only the one specifically instructed to match could be used for encryption. As a result, the low civilization level in this world made the cipher even stronger.

Falsetto was writing a report to Francette the True Ancestor back home, and the message was being encrypted in case it got intercepted or read by prying eyes. It was a natural precaution for her to take as an Einherjar. Using ciphers too often could provide more data to decode them, so it was best not to overdo it. But for an Einherjar, and for Francette, nothing was more important than reports about the Goddess Kaoru, so one could argue, “If not now, when?”

For Falsetto, sending the report in plain text was out of the question, since she would have been thoroughly chewed out by the True Ancestor if she had.

“I’ll have the regular couriers from the Eyes of the Goddess deliver this,” she said. “They’ll definitely check the report, but it’s encrypted, and even if they manage to crack it, that won’t be an issue. It’s a far better option than entrusting it to local guilds, merchants, random hunters, the old witch, or the Aligot Empire folks.”

Out of the groups Falsetto listed, only the Eyes of the Goddess were from her home country. The latter two were comrades as Order of the Goddess Kaoru believers, but everyone else wanted Kaoru to settle in their country after her trip around the continent. In that sense, they were all rivals to be wary of.

“Considering our conflicting interests, the Eyes of the Goddess are the only ones we can almost count as complete allies,” Falsetto explained. “If they tried anything funny, the True Ancestor would storm their headquarters, so they wouldn’t dare try to betray us. Even Nagase’s Children couldn’t stand up to Mad Dog Fran’s wrath...”

Francette had cool titles like “guardian of the continent” and “great hero,” but she also had many negative ones like “musclehead,” “mad dog,” and “the woman who doesn’t know restraint.” Though, the Einherjar thought “musclehead” was a compliment...

It seemed the Order of the Goddess Kaoru wasn’t exactly a monolith.

“I’m starting my activities as the Angel,” I announced. “I’ll secretly heal the sick and injured and leak to a select few powerful folks that it’s the work of the upgraded Saint Edith to secure reliable, influential allies. Those left out will be distracted by the mysterious saint and ignore the stray priestess with only weak blessings like me, killing two birds with one stone!”

“If that info doesn’t get leaked elsewhere...” Reiko muttered. “Anyway, how are you supposed to figure out your healing targets? You used to rely on that Eyes of the Goddess group for intel and protection, right? We’ve got enough protection now, but we don’t have much in terms of gathering information. Animals can scout for us, but they can’t understand human speech, so they won’t be much help...though they can’t be beat for cuddling therapy. You’re not gonna tell me to turn invisible with magic and scour the city for sick or injured people, are you?”

Reiko smiled sweetly, but her smile didn’t reach her eyes. I shook my head frantically.

There was no way that’d work. Even if she went invisible and staked out an area, people wouldn’t conveniently start talking about their ailments, and there’d be no way to tell if they were good people or not. Even the worst villains could be kind to their own family and friends. Plus, I planned to focus my Eyes of the Goddess relief efforts mainly on ordinary commoners. I wanted backing from influential nobles and rich folks, but that didn’t mean I had to save them. I just needed them to hear somewhere that there was a saint out there with miracle-level blessings, unlike the weak ones of the stray priestess Edith...and that she was Edith’s secret identity.

So, targeting commoners for healing would be fine. Healing a gravely sick aristocrat would blow secrecy out of the water...though checking every commoner in the city would be way harder than checking the nobles. There were far fewer aristocrats, and it was much easier to get info on their ailments, unless it was being hidden deliberately. Servants, apothecaries, and the Temple could all be sources of information, and aristocrats liked to gossip among themselves. On the other hand, commoners were often too poor to afford help from doctors, medicine, or the Temple, making them harder to track.

Hmm, what to do...

While Reiko, Falsetto, and I were relaxing with some tea, we heard a knock at the door...but we hadn’t done neighborhood greetings yet, and hardly anyone knew we’d moved in. It would’ve been a crime if we’d moved in without permission, so I’d visited the real estate agent to explain that Salette had asked us to stay here to prevent the empty house from deteriorating and from squatters moving in, and that she would move in soon. The agent seemed pretty happy about it, even wrapping up our leftover tea snacks for us to take home...though they should’ve been given to the maids or something.

Anyway, we’d paid our rent, and it was only a day since we’d settled in, so there was no reason for the agent to visit. Sure, there were a few folks who knew me, like the jewelry store clerk, some nobles, the king, and the guards, but none of them knew I’d moved here.

Guess I’ll find out.

Naturally, Falsetto stuck to my right side like a magnet. Standing this close, I felt like she’d hit me if she drew her weapon...

Reiko stood three or four meters back, ready to cast magic at any time.

I was the one who opened the door, since Falsetto had her hand on her sword’s hilt in case the mystery visitor lunged at me. Of course, I stood off to the side, out of the door’s direct line. Ideally, we’d have a video monitor to screen visitors, like at Little Silver. We planned to install one here too, but hadn’t expected guests so soon. I would’ve needed to ask Kyoko to make it anyway. The door didn’t even have a peephole because I’d planned to put up a monitor right away, and we couldn’t just drill one without permission, since it was a rental.

I swung the door open without calling out, “Who is it?” to avoid giving the opponents time to time their attack. You could never be too careful when it came to safety, which was a Nagase family principle...though it hadn’t helped when a deity split me in half.

Anyway, I flung the door open forcefully, and...

“Whoa! Uh... H-Hello! We just moved nearby... It’s not much, but this is for you...”

There were three visitors, all men, and they handed me some snacks.

“Oh, so courteous of you. Thank you...” I said, accepting the snacks.

Bringing cheap snacks when greeting the neighbors was a Japanese custom, not one from this continent. But back in the pre-Item Box days, I’d taken the Eyes of the Goddess kids to greet neighbors when I gave them a house, hoping the locals would learn their faces and help them if needed. I’d only done it that one time, and only those present knew about it, so it hadn’t spread as a custom... So how did these guys know? Plus, people didn’t say “It’s not much” while gifting something here. They would say something like “It’s delicious” or “This is great” like they did in the West.

Come to think of it, Mariel’s men had mentioned the Eyes of the Goddess were here too... Supposedly, they’d been holding back on making contact, but once they knew Mariel’s group had reached me, they would obviously follow suit. Besides, it was odd that the guard dogs had let them through without alerting me. However, I’d taught Emile and the others some phrases in dog speak that’d make them seem like allies and servants of the Goddess. It would’ve made them look like weirdos trying to talk to dogs, but I thought it’d be useful if they were ever attacked by strays or needed help from nearby dogs in a pinch. If they’d passed those phrases down to their people, it’d explain why the dogs didn’t react.

Still, the dogs were positioned behind the visitors to attack, just in case. They weren’t dumb enough to trust strangers unconditionally.

“So, Emile sent you?” I asked.

“Yes! To be granted a divine audience with the Goddess Kaoru is the utmost honor...”

As I thought, Falsetto and Reiko still hadn’t let their guard down.

“Talk normally, please,” I said. “I’m sure Emile told you I hate that uptight stuff.”

“Y-Yes. Then, if you’ll excuse me... Since the Fearsome One’s agents and the Raphael Earldom have already made contact, we, the Eyes of the Goddess, couldn’t bear to lag behind as your first servants in this world...”

Their formality hadn’t changed much, but I decided to let it slide. Few could instantly switch to speaking on casual terms with the goddess they worshipped. It’d be like telling a Japanese person to talk to Amaterasu as if they were equals... Yeah, that wasn’t happening.

“All right, all right!” I said, defeated. “Well, Emile wouldn’t stay quiet after Francette outmaneuvered him...and Mariel’s people came over too.”

“Exactly!”

If I’d accepted Falsetto from Francette and the representatives from Mariel’s group—including the dogs and birds—and then sent Emile’s people away, the old man himself might have crossed the continent to yell at me in person, and I couldn’t have that.

Now I need to come up with an idea for casual interaction... Wait, am I stupid? This is exactly what I needed!

“Will you take on a job?” I asked.

“Of course!” the men said in unison.

Okay, back off a bit! You don’t need to breathe in my face!

“The reward—” I began, but was cut off.

“We don’t need any!”

“O-Okay...”

I suppose no true believer would take payment from their revered goddess for their service...

“So, are you guys trained in investigation and intel-gathering skills?” I asked.

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

“Yes...!”

Wait, their responses were off...

“What’s everyone’s role?”

“‘Eyes’!”

“‘Ears’!”

“‘Mouth’!”

So they’re all intel operatives...

So they weren’t potion wholesalers...though, I had figured as much. They’d been sent by Emile, after all. And while the Eyes and Ears were obviously for investigation and intel gathering, the Mouth was for spreading rumors, incitement, and manipulating public opinion—intrigue specialists, basically.

Apparently, after I’d vanished, the Eyes of the Goddess had evolved from a medicinal shop to a wholesaler, then to a comprehensive pharmacy, and had even launched a sect with a souvenir shop that had turned into a general store. Even after all that, though, their core membership had never forgotten their mission from when they were first founded. It was the reason the Eyes of the Goddess had been created in the first place, and their very rationale for existence: to gather intelligence to aid the Goddess in saving righteous people suffering unjustly, and to protect the Goddess from evil trying to exploit her.

No matter how their business model had changed, it always remained a public-facing front and a means to fund their main activities. Their purpose hadn’t wavered from the start; everything was for the Goddess. So, naturally, the Eyes of the Goddess had an intelligence division directly under the top brass of the organization. I mean, there was nothing “natural” about that, but yeah...

Anyway, the Eyes of the Goddess possessed the exact skills I needed now. There was no way Emile would’ve sent me ordinary medicine peddlers.

“What I want is the original mission of the Eyes of the Goddess: gathering intel,” I explained. “I’ve got protection already...maybe even excessively so, so I’m good there. I need information on commoners—good people who are suffering from injuries or illness. And if you’ve got any spare capacity, I could use info on nobles or royals with injuries or illnesses too. I want details on whether they’re good or bad people, and whether they’d be useful.”

“Yes, ma’am!” two of them said at the same time.

Wait, only two? Oh...the Mouth.

“As for manipulating information and steering public opinion, we’ll save that for when info gets leaked or aristocrats start scheming and getting funny ideas.”

“Yes, ma’am!” the Mouth said.

We were all set. The three of them seemed to be getting emotional; I could see them trembling... Well, a devout believer being personally tasked with a mission from the Goddess they worshipped must’ve been pretty moving—especially when that mission was tied to the Eyes of the Goddess’s main purpose, so that was understandable.

“Hmm, so the Ange—I mean, free priestess—has hired bodyguards. A skilled young woman, at that. Good...improving her safety will always be a plus. This should prevent some idiot thug from picking a fight with her or any clueless lowlife merchants starting trouble. Yes, yes...”

The king let out a deep sigh of relief at the shadow’s report.

“And they’ve rented a house,” the shadow added.

“Excellent! There will be no more need to worry about guests at the inn harassing them or problems from ignorant nobles and merchants! Good, very good... Withdraw the temporary guard posts next to the inn and set up a new one near the house they’ve rented. This may be long-term, so be sure to pick a suitable building. Make sure the royal guards stationed there can live as comfortably as possible.”

“Understood, Your Majesty... Also, two groups that appear to be foreign agents have made contact with the free priestess.”

“Good, good... Wait, whaaat?!”

The king yelled at the shadow for saving the most critical part for last. It was understandable. The shadow likely figured starting with this piece of news first would cause such an uproar that the king wouldn’t have heard the rest of the report.

“Find out everything there is to know about those two groups! I’m increasing the budget and special allowances, so assign more shadows to it at once! The future of our kingdom—no, the continent—is at stake! I want the full, undivided efforts of the shadows put into this! Now go!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Increased budgets and allowances would mean most expenses would likely be covered...even if they had to tail a target into an upscale restaurant or gather intel in a tavern. Of course, no one planned to commit fraud or falsify reports, but if one followed a target into such establishments, they would have to order some food and drinks. For the mission.

All right, might as well enjoy this a bit...strictly while doing what needs to be done for the mission, of course...

The intelligence agent was quite the character, it seemed... Though he had zero intention of slacking on the job.

“Here I am!”

“Here you are!”

Kyoko had arrived in the royal capital, having left her shop to a new manager and two employees, and only needed to go back weekly to restock its products. She’d also arranged with the Commerce and Hunter’s Guilds to help if there was any trouble at the shop. Apparently, she’d deposited a bond with the Hunter’s Guild branch, which would pay out the hunters if they had to act for whatever reason. If nothing happened, the payment would be refunded upon termination of the contract...minus the guild’s commission.

The orphanage had also agreed to help if needed. Two of their kids worked at the shop, and there was potential for more hires in the future. If those kids proved themselves, other shops might follow suit, so they had every reason to defend the shop with their lives. After all, the new manager was an orphan too. But there was one problem...

“Isn’t restocking a hassle? Can’t you just beam stuff down with your mothership?” I asked Kyoko.

“Ah...” she grimaced at my question. “I can’t just send goods by themselves, so I’d need to go along for the ride. But teleportation breaks matter down to the quantum level, sends it on a beam as energy waves, and reconstructs it at the destination, right?”

“Uh, probably...” I replied.

“Then wouldn’t you be dead the moment you got broken down?”

“What...?”

That was quite the bombshell.

“I mean, you’re being disassembled! Even if you’re put back together, that’s like saying, ‘We made a clone with your memories, so it’s fine to delete the original you, right?’ And even if your body and memories are replicated, can your soul and consciousness be copied? Those things can’t be scientifically explained yet, so assuming they’re not carried over, wouldn’t your rebuilt body just be a meat sack moving on your previous memories? Just a soulless, empty meat robot...”

“What...?” I muttered. This was getting scary.

“Come to think of it, Earth’s god did say something about collecting consciousnesses and souls or something,” Reiko added.

This was actually freaking me out.

“Oh, what about the ‘Anywhere Door’ method? That doesn’t break you down, but it warps space or uses another dimension to make a shortcut to the destination,” I asked.

“Remember what we talked about? The goddess said warping space-time and opening dimensional holes causes distortions, so that kind of magic is off-limits. Even if we used some sort of scientific method instead of magic, she’d probably say it was against the rules and shoot it down.”

Yeah, she had said something like that... Well, we had plenty of cheat powers already, so a bit of inconvenience wasn’t gonna kill us. We had all the time in the world, so there was no need to obsess over taking the shortest path. Dealing with some hassle and inconvenience can be kinda fun...NOT! It’s still a pain, no matter how you spin it!

Chapter 85: Begin Operations

We were looking for a building in the capital to rent as a branch of Kyoko’s Trader Shop. Owning a shop instead of renting would be better for credibility, and rentals had issues like getting pressured by the landlord if something happened, or crooks forcing a buyout to change owners, which happened when I was running a medicine shop in another country. Normally, that sort of thing wouldn’t happen, but when the shopkeeper looked like an underage girl and unusual goods were being sold, the odds of getting targeted by weirdos shot way up.

Yup, I knew from experience, and I was one to learn from my past. But real estate was expensive in the royal capital, and properties on sale were scarce compared to rentals. Plus, if we ran into serious trouble, we might need to quickly relocate or ditch the capital, or even the country, altogether. If we needed to sell in a rush, we could get lowballed or not have time to sell at all. So, renting was the only correct answer when it came to the capital shop.

There was no need to rush finding a place, though. We didn’t want to risk getting fleeced or stuck with a bad property. We had to be especially careful because folks would likely underestimate us as clueless little girls. The best approach was to take things slow, waiting for the right place to show up. Besides, I’d left Kyoko alone for too long, so I wanted her to take it easy here and at Little Silver for a while...though she still had the weekly restocking and staff training at the Trader Shop’s main branch, which was soon to be demoted once the capital branch became the main one. But all she had to do was land her dinghy in a forest near town at night, haul goods via horse-drawn carriage (horse included) from the Item Box in the morning, spend the day training staff and checking ledgers, then fly back to the capital or Little Silver at night.

Meanwhile, I was back to my nighttime activities as the Angel.

“Excuse me...”

I was visiting a modest, not-quite-slum-level house after dinnertime, where a purehearted couple lived. Yup, I was back to the classic “Tears of the Goddess” door-to-door sales from the good ol’ days. The price would be whatever the family could spare without strain, like a single daikon radish, or a wooden charm carved by their kid. I’d done this tons of times in the Kingdom of Balmore, so this was gonna be a piece of cake.

“Yes...?”

A woman, likely the wife, opened the door. It was careless of her to open it without checking who it was, but robbers probably wouldn’t bother with such a poor-looking house, and my voice was clearly a young girl’s, which wasn’t exactly cause for alarm. I figured her husband was behind her anyway.

“What brings you here?”

This wasn’t the type of place that would get visitors at this hour. She knew that, and though her face showed suspicion, she was polite in her response. She had to be a good person. Most folks would brush off a strange kid bothering them this late. That said, a beggar wouldn’t come to a place like this; they’d go to a house that was a bit better off.

“I’m selling medicine,” I answered. “Right now, I’m offering a cure for any illness for just one daikon!”

“Huh?” Her husband’s voice synced perfectly with hers from behind. What a couple! Then, there was a drawn out silence.

Uh-oh, did I come on too strong? No response...

“Um...”

“Come in...” the wife murmured.

“What?” I asked.

“Inside, please.”

“Whaaat?!”

Who’d invite such a suspicious visitor at night like this? Were they so naive that they trusted any stranger who knocked on their door? No, they were probably so desperate that they were willing to take their chances, even if I was a scammer or the devil. These were exactly the kind of people who deserved a goddess’s mercy.

“Um... Medicine...Master?” the wife asked tentatively. I looked like a teenage girl, so it was natural for her to have her doubts. Most people didn’t believe me back when I started my work in Balmore either. They’d eventually trusted me once word got around, though... Good times.

Anyway, it was time to get to work. It’d been a while, but I knew exactly what to say.

“‘Heal my devout servants,’ so saith the Goddess,” I proclaimed. “Where’s the sick one?”

“Y-Yes, right over here!”

The child was clearly visible given how tiny the house was, but it was part of the ritual. They complied pretty readily, but even if I was scamming them, they didn’t have much to lose since I was only asking for a single daikon. No one would bother conning someone for that cheap. Sure, a street kid might risk it for a piece of food, but I was dressed in expensive-looking clothes. Besides, no one was dumb enough to run a scam like this when the Goddess existed in this world and was known for dishing out divine punishment.

I pretended to examine the child, took a Tears of the Goddess from my pochette, and had them drink it. I then took something small as an offering of gratitude to the Goddess. They didn’t have a daikon, so I accepted an onion this time. Just some routine work.

“Be sure you don’t spread the word about me too much. If someone trustworthy asks you what happened directly, you can tell them, but swear them to secrecy. If nobles or guards ask, you can talk if you think they’re good people or if they threaten to harm you. But if that happens, you must report the situation here,” I said and handed them a slip of paper. “May the Goddess’s blessings be upon you all...”

I turned around and left, the couple thanking me profusely with tears streaming down their faces, their kid sitting up in bed looking dumbfounded.

“So, my first mission since coming back was a success,” I said.

“You know that’s gonna get leaked right away, right?” Kyoko pointed out, exasperated.

“Of course; that’s the plan. If no info got leaked, the higher-ups wouldn’t hear about the miraculous saint, right?”

“Oh, right...”

Kyoko wasn’t cut out for these mind games. She had always been a straight shooter, and her approach was to go right up to the front gate and blast it with a rocket...even if it meant ending the world.

Our work in the capital was going smoothly. Namely, my secret operations with the “Pseudo-Angel Theater,” and Reiko’s occasional solo Hunter’s Guild requests. Meanwhile, Kyoko was relaxing at the house we rented or at Little Silver, when not on her weekly restock runs at her branch shop, until she found a good property to rent out.

Falsetto was always with me as I traveled between the house at the capital and Little Silver...and of course, during my round trips doing Angel Theater. When Reiko and I stayed home, she’d visit her beloved horse at a suburban ranch. Unlike Reiko, Falsetto didn’t need to build her rep as a hunter. Since her duty was as an Einherjar, she couldn’t make a name working for hire; supposedly, she wasn’t even allowed to take on that sort of work in earnest. Registering as a hunter and taking on small tasks was fine for convenience in other countries or for earning travel funds locally, but as an Einherjar, which made her a soldier of the Kingdom of Balmore, it made sense that she couldn’t get too famous as a hunter.

Reiko’s hunter work mostly consisted of gathering materials. She didn’t accept hunting or escort quests, since they took too much time and dealing with clients and other hunters was a hassle. But “gathering” didn’t mean she was going around picking common herbs. She took on jobs for rare plants deep in monster-infested forests, ores from distant lands, or materials from high-ranking monsters. Those were requests from people who didn’t expect anyone to actually complete them but paid the guild fee for the slim chance at success, or publicity stunts by shops to flaunt their prestige by putting out high-difficulty, high-reward tasks. Sometimes, there were legit ones, like requests for a sick child’s miracle medicine.

Anyway, the capital’s Hunter’s Guild board had plenty of Mission: Impossible type gigs, unlike rural towns, and Reiko—C-Rank Hunter Can—took those if she knew the item existed for sure, or the request was for something she’d already collected, sitting frozen in time inside her Item Box. Even we couldn’t get something if it didn’t exist, like the mythical Jeweled Branch of Horai, a gem from a dragon’s neck, or a cowrie shell born from a swallow. But if it was something like a fire rat fur coat, Kyoko could whip it right up in her mothership. Making fabric that didn’t burn was no problem.

I was just a stray priestess now, with explosive potions and Kyoko’s self-defense weapon...and Falsetto, who never left my side when Reiko was out. So, I wanted Reiko to make a name for herself as a hunter...and have fun doing what she wanted.

“I’m here to deliver materials for a job.”

“Oh, yes. Um... Can, was it? The request was for... Wait, whaaat?!”

The receptionist reeled at the sight of Can’s request form.

“P-Pardon me, are you sure you didn’t mean to submit a failure report...?” she asked.

“Delivery.”

Silence.

“Can I turn it in here?” Can asked.

“Oh, yes, it’s not bulky, so here’s fine, but...really?”

“Yes.”

Can pulled a long, straight horn from her bag and placed it on the counter with a heavy thud.

The receptionist picked it up, examining it with a serious expression.

“It’s real... Not a fake like a narwhal horn...”

Narwhals were marine creatures with long, straight “horns”...which were actually tusks. They also existed on Earth; in both worlds, their tusks were often passed off as a certain something...

“A unicorn horn...”

The receptionist’s voice came out louder than intended from the shock, loud enough to reach the hunters in the dining area. There was a clamor of chairs falling backward and tables getting jostled as hunters jolted into a half-standing position.

“A unicorn horn?!” they said in disbelief.

Their reaction was understandable; a unicorn horn was prized as an antidote or cure-all, and was something nobles, royals, and rich merchants were willing to pay fortunes for...though its effects were placebo level, and it wasn’t the magical panacea it was thought to be. That didn’t matter to sellers, though—if buyers wanted it and it was genuine, there was no shame in selling what was in demand, especially for something that was so hard to get. Unicorns had been overhunted for their horns, massively cutting down their already small numbers. They were no longer seen anywhere near human settlements, and getting one meant venturing into uncharted wilderness—in other words, monster dens that humans avoided for good reason.

The silence was thick in the air. The girl couldn’t have been older than fifteen or sixteen. Judging by her build and the way she carried herself, she had to be a complete amateur when it came to combat, and she was traveling solo. There was no way she could have even gotten near a unicorn’s habitat, let alone hunted one. That meant she had to have obtained it from another source, and if she had one, there were probably more. No one would enter an area like that and leave after hunting just one. Locations such as the Forest of Evil, Forest of No Return, Death’s Peaks, and Demon’s Gorge had other rare monsters, herbs, and ores too.

“We need to see the guild master. Karen, report to the guild master!”

“R-Right away!”

A young woman ran off at the receptionist’s order, probably to brief the guild master about what was happening. They couldn’t just bring Can in out of nowhere, after all.

There was a heavy silence again as the hunters and guild staff locked their eyes on Can.

“What?! A unicorn horn was turned in?!” the guild master shouted with a look of shock and stupefaction. “That job was requested by a hopeless noble who’d pay anything to cure his daughter’s illness! Sure, it’s a delivery job, so anyone could buy it instead of hunting it themselves, but anyone who got their hands on one would auction it off for a fortune or gift it to the king for a barony! Who in their right mind would bring it to the guild?”

The guild master was still reeling from the news the young staff member Karen had shouted after banging on his door and barging in without waiting for permission to enter.

“How in the world should I know?!” Karen asked. “Anyway, Loreia is bringing her now...with the horn!”

Karen had said her piece. Normally, she’d return to her post, but she shuffled into a corner and stood there silently for some reason. Clearly, she was dying to hear how this hunter had gotten a unicorn horn and planned to stay. Guild staff were extremely strict when it came to secrecy, so she wouldn’t leak anything she heard there. The guild master let it slide...or rather, his mind was racing too much to even pay her any notice. And before he could even process the shocking news, there was a knock at the door.

“Excuse me, but there’s something I’d like to report. I’ve brought a hunter with me,” a voice said at the door.

“C-Come in!”

As the guild master tried to regain composure and maintain an air of authority, Loreia, the receptionist, entered with a young girl who barely seemed to be an adult. Loreia glanced at Karen in the corner, but seeing that the guild master hadn’t dismissed her, proceeded with her report.

“The long-standing request from Earl Vorrel’s household—which is open to multiple takers, has no penalty for failure, and can be fulfilled by delivering the item after obtaining it—has been completed. An adult unicorn horn in pristine condition, top-grade.”

The guild master thought he was prepared, but he found himself speechless. The hunter girl pulled the horn from her bag again, gently placing it on the guild master’s desk. He stared at it wordlessly for what felt like forever, then grabbed a magnifying glass, inspecting the horn closely.

“Impossible...” he breathed, setting the glass down with a trembling hand. He looked at the hunter who had brought it in.

“Wait, aren’t you that rookie from the countryside...?”

“Yes, I’m Candida, C-rank. Like most hunters, I go by a nickname, Can. Pleased to meet you.”

Her polite speech, lack of accent, and likeable demeanor jogged the guild master’s memory, and he remembered the name and profile mentioned in a recent report. His face paled.

“The Ang...f-free priestess’s bodyguard...” His shock was obvious.

“Oh, yes. I accepted that job with another hunter,” Can replied. “But since the client ended up with two guards when she intended to hire one, we were told we could take other jobs occasionally...”

Taking on simple tasks on the side while working a job wasn’t exactly rare, but delivering a unicorn horn wasn’t something one did as a quick side gig. If she had hunted it herself, she would have had to trek to some absurdly remote and dangerous place. Even if she had purchased it, she still would have needed to go to some far-off land to shell out a fortune only filthy-rich high nobles could afford. And beyond the cost, a commoner couldn’t just walk right in and buy something like that. Such items were only available at exclusive high-end auctions and special shops where royals and high-ranking nobles got direct offers, or they were typically gifted to the king. There was no way a rookie hunter could get their hands on one.

But none of that mattered anymore. The disbelief and questions about a young female hunter having such an item had long since vanished, along with petty ambitions of prying info from her for personal gain. If she was connected with her, there was no need to wonder why this item was here. If the Goddess gave it to someone she cherished, there was no difference whether it was a giant gemstone or a unicorn horn. And this wasn’t some keepsake given to be treasured, but likely meant to be sold for charity. So, she must have ordered her guard to cash it in...

They must have accepted this job because unicorn horn requests typically didn’t have a deadline in most guild branches. Submitting it as a request fulfillment probably seemed more natural than just selling it outright...

A kid takes on such a request alone and delivers a unicorn horn days later... There’s nothing “natural” about it!

The guild master’s inner scream was one nearly every guild member would agree with.

“Uh, um, er...”

“It’s Can,” she said, figuring the guild master was struggling to recall her name. Forgetting a name he’d just heard was rude, but it would have been cruel to rebuke the rattled guild master in his current state of shock.

“Y-Yes, Miss...Can. I appreciate you completing this long-standing, high-difficulty request. Keep up the good work!” the guild master said shakily. “Oh, but your current guard duty for the free priestess comes first! Ha ha!”

“Oh, thank you. I’ll do my best...” she replied. She found the man’s strained, forced laugh a bit odd but didn’t think much of it.

I thought I was called in here because I was gonna get grilled. I guess they just wanted to encourage a newbie who pulled off a tough job. His stern face had me a bit on edge, but he’s surprisingly nice. Things should go smoothly moving forward...

Those were Can’s thoughts, but that wasn’t the case at all.

Loreia, the receptionist who’d escorted Can, and Karen, the junior staff member who’d reported to the guild master and stuck around to eavesdrop, stared in confusion. Normally, the hunter would have been questioned relentlessly about where and how she’d gotten the unicorn horn. Forcing a hunter to answer was against the rules, but exceptions applied if the guild master deemed it necessary. A grizzled veteran hunter might not have had a problem stonewalling them, but a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old kid, even one lucky enough to get a unicorn horn, should have cracked easily under a bit of pressure. So, the receptionists had expected the guild master to press her for answers.

A unicorn horn delivery was big news—a serious incident. The client, other nobles, royals, rich folks, and gold-hungry hunters would flood the guild and this girl with questions. Asking questions now was crucial to prevent chaos and to protect the girl. That was why Karen had stayed, so she could find out the details herself. The girl was bound to be targeted by influential people and other hunters. They would want to know if she had more unicorn horns or other rare materials, and would do whatever it took to make her talk or to force her to join their party.

As the guild branch that had processed the request, they had a duty to protect her from such threats...yet the guild master had abruptly changed his demeanor, even showing deference to her as if she were a royal inspector, acting oddly nervous and evasive. He showed no sign of asking the obvious questions, which was clearly odd. The staff members knew the capital’s guild branch leader wasn’t incompetent or corrupt, so they couldn’t help but wonder what was going on.

Their confusion was understandable, but it came down to who knew the top secret info from the royal palace and who didn’t. The ultra-sensitive and classified report the guild master had gotten was about the new Angel’s arrival and her stay in the kingdom. Meddling was strictly forbidden, and all subordinates and allies were to practice utmost caution to avoid harassing, provoking, harming, or displeasing the Angel. This secret was to be prioritized even over his own life. Having received such an order directly from His Majesty, the guild master couldn’t possibly question a person who was clearly acting on her instructions.

“I’ll be taking my leave now,” Can said, then exited the guild master’s office.

“Y-Yes, good work...” he mumbled.

Loreia and Karen gaped as she left the unicorn horn on the guild master’s desk and walked away.

“What are you staring at?! Loreia, handle the delivery and completion paperwork for the request! Use a private room—limit the spread of this information as much as possible! Go!” the guild master ordered.

“Y-Yes, sir!”

Loreia bolted, turning pale as she remembered shouting “unicorn horn” at the counter, causing a buzz among all of the hunters who had heard her.

“Karen, bring the most reliable, skilled party in the guild, immediately! Don’t explain, just tell them the guild master is calling. Go!”

“Yes, sir!”

Karen rushed after Loreia, realizing the guild master’s judgment hadn’t lapsed; there was clearly a reason for his odd behavior earlier.

Naturally, the guild master had summoned a trusted party to secretly escort Can to her inn. Although he’d told Loreia to keep the news contained, the hunters had already heard about the horn because of her outburst. A girl walking alone with that kind of fortune was just asking for trouble. Once she safely reached her lodging, palace guards would likely be discreetly watching over her. Plus, that Einherjar girl would be there.

As guild master, he naturally had such information at his disposal—though in reality, the Angel’s group had moved from an inn to a house they’d rented, but that was a minor detail.

The guild’s vault didn’t have enough gold to pay for the unicorn horn’s delivery at the moment, so they’d pay out some of it up front, and the rest would come from the client, the Vorrel Earldom, in exchange for the horn. Normally, payouts were deposited with the guild upon posting the request, but only the fee was prepaid in cases that had ultra-low odds with a ridiculously high reward, posted across multiple branches, by a client of impeccable social standing who would never default on their payment—the rest was agreed to be paid upon delivery.

“You want us to guard that maiden?” a hunter blurted out as he was led into the room by Karen, making the guild master spit out his tea.

He glared at Karen as he had a coughing fit, but she frantically shook her head as if to say she hadn’t revealed anything.

“Oh, my bad. Karen didn’t say a thing. Loreia’s the one who announced it to the whole world... Though it seems like that maiden set her up.”

Karen had brought in the B-Rank party, Phantom Bow. Their leader was a bit flippant—partially by nature, though he seemed to be playing it up on purpose. People tended to not take him seriously because of this, but he was actually quite honest and reliable. Acting unserious made others less wary of him, and he found it easier to approach strangers and show them kindness without embarrassment. In other words, he was a good-natured fool.

“‘Maiden’...?” the guild master asked with an admonishing tone.

“Huh? She approached a unicorn, so she’s gotta be a maiden, right? That’s what everyone’s been saying,” the Phantom Bow’s leader said.

The guild leader clutched his head. If everyone had been talking about her, that confirmed the unicorn horn news had spread among the hunters, along with the girl’s bizarre nickname. Being as kindhearted as he was, he hoped that wouldn’t become her official title moving forward.

“Fine... If you already know, that saves me the trouble of explaining,” he said. “She’s processing the paperwork for the job in a private room. After that, she’ll leave with some reward money and knowledge of where she got the horn. I want you to escort her safely to her inn, but don’t let her know she’s being guarded. You’ll get five small gold coins if nothing happens, fifteen if you need to save her from trouble.”

“Whoa, that’s generous!”

That would be a small gold coin each for their five-person party even if nothing happened, with a chance to get three each. That would have been cheap if it had been a full day’s work, but they were just escorting her within the capital, to an inn ten minutes away on foot. There wouldn’t be any monsters or bandits to deal with, and if troublemakers showed up, they would likely back off without a fight as soon as a B-Rank party stepped in. Not only would there be a skill gap, but causing a scene in the heart of the capital would quickly attract the guards. Other hunters, good samaritans, and those with ulterior motives would step in if a cute young girl was getting hassled by a group of men. Plus, the girl was a hunter herself, and armed with a sword. Even if someone did mess with her, it was unlikely to escalate into a life-or-death fight. Moreover, they were a five-man B-Rank party. They would scatter random thugs or bottom-tier C-Rank hunters easily, even if there were a dozen or so of them...not that anyone in the middle of the capital would attempt to attack a little girl with such a big group. It would be much more efficient in a group of two or three, maybe five or six at most.

The party was frugal, but spent lavishly whenever they unexpectedly earned a big payout. So, they were in for a fancy dinner and drinks tonight just for going on a little stroll through the city.

“We’re in!”

The leader didn’t even need to discuss it with his members; their voices synced perfectly. In their hearts, they prayed: Please, let something happen! I’m begging you... The gap between one and three small gold coins per person was massive.

“Huh? She’s not heading toward the inn district...”

Can had left the guild after finishing the delivery paperwork in a private room and accepted a portion of the payment in gold coins, tailed discreetly by the five members of the B-Rank party Phantom Bow operating under the guild master’s orders. Can hadn’t completely emptied out the guild’s vault, of course, because doing so would have crippled their ability to pay other hunters and thereby caused total chaos. Plus, Can couldn’t have carried such a haul while keeping her Item Box secret.

Gold was dense and heavy. Water had a density of 1.0, iron 7.8, but gold was 19.3, making it about nineteen times heavier than water and two and a half times weightier than iron. She could have carried some out with effort, but only if she had a proper bag. That sort of volume couldn’t just be stuffed in a coin purse and tucked into a pocket, so Can had only accepted a small fraction of her reward, leaving the rest with the guild. Still, she was carrying a fortune by the standards of C-Rank or lower hunters.

“There shouldn’t be any inns that way. The buildings thin out quickly into open fields,” the archer and sole woman of the group said.

“Is she leaving the capital? No, she can’t be...she’s on a long-term guard contract.”

“Maybe her client’s waiting at the city outskirts?”

“Why would the client risk something that dangerous?”

The party whispered back and forth, but there was no point in speculating.

“She’s been walking for almost twenty minutes now...” the leader said grimly, and the party shared worried looks.

Right after Can had left the guild, another party had followed soon after. It was a four-person, mid-tier C-Rank veteran party with a lousy reputation. Being a veteran and middling C-Rank group sounded somewhat intimidating, but it meant they’d hit their ceiling after spending years as hunters. They had no hope of reaching B-Rank, and had no choice but to scrape together retirement funds or otherwise hope to hit a big score before their strength faded.

If Can had stuck to the crowded boulevard on her way to an inn, they might have given up, but a lone girl heading to the deserted outskirts might have been too tempting of a mark. The Phantom Bow had been thrilled when they first left the guild, thinking there would definitely be trouble for them to cash in on, but they couldn’t help but worry about the girl now... Perhaps they were too soft for their own good.

After Can had left, the shady C-Rank party had followed, then the Phantom Bow—who had been summoned to the guild master’s office by Karen—had departed soon after. It was rather clear to the other hunters what was going on, and no one else thought to follow. They imagined the fate of the party chasing the “maiden” and shrugged.

“Hey, missy, hold up a sec!”

Here we gooo!

Reiko was thrilled; it had been some time since she’d last heard such a typical thug line.

Aaaaaah!

Meanwhile, the five Phantom Bow members screamed internally now that they were faced with the trouble they’d previously wanted.

“Heard you delivered something rare. Care to share where you got it?” the man leered, flanked by three others.

Four of them...

Reiko observed, then responded, “No thanks!”

“Now, now, don’t be like that... Your purse looks a bit heavy. I can help lighten the load for you,” the thug said, but her gold was stashed in her Item Box, so it wasn’t weighing her down at all.

Reiko had no mercy for criminals, but he had only stopped her and asked something so far. They needed to cross a line by grabbing her, taking a swing, or reaching for a sword before she could obliterate them in self-defense, so she decided to speed up the process by provoking them a bit. However...

“Hey...”

“Do we have a problem here...?”

As the Phantom Bow had rushed to intervene, a girl of about fourteen or fifteen with a sword at her hip stepped out from a nearby house and cut them off.

It was Falsetto.

Apparently, the men had stopped Reiko just as she was about to reach the house they had rented. Falsetto’s usual spot in the living room faced a window, where she could clearly see any suspicious passersby. She’d noticed what was happening immediately and sprinted outside.

“What’s going on?!”

Several guards rushed out from a nearby building in a panic. Naturally, Kaoru’s house sat right across from a temporary guard outpost. The building wasn’t fully set up yet, and didn’t have bedding or a dining table, but elite royal guards posing as regular guards had been stationed there around the clock. They were quite on edge, having been briefed on the severity of what was at stake.

Ugh...

Reiko was quite disappointed, her moment having been stolen.

Ugh...

The Phantom Bow groaned internally, realizing their bonus payment was at risk.

Huh...?

The four thugs thought they’d hit a triple jackpot: the source of the unicorn horn, a giant bag of gold, and a pretty young woman. Even considering the risks, the potential gains were life-changing. They could cut ties with the guild and change their names, living the rest of their lives comfortably in another country. They’d chosen a high-stakes gamble over scraping by with small-time hunter work...

But the moment they’d acted, three groups had appeared out of nowhere and intervened. The sword-wielding girl would be no issue. She looked about fourteen or fifteen, likely a rookie hunter or knight apprentice, and hardly a threat. But the other two groups would be big trouble for them. The five-man B-Rank Phantom Bow outnumbered them by one, but numbers weren’t the real problem; it was that their C-Rank party had no hope of winning. Even worse were the guards. Unlike hunters, guards received formal training specifically to fight other humans, not monsters. Plus, fighting a guard was a serious crime, unlike squabbles between hunters. They would spend the rest of their lives as criminal slaves working in a mine at best, or get hanged or beheaded at worst.

“Oh, uh, i-it’s not what it looks like...” the leader stammered, trying to think of a way out of the situation.

“They planned to rob me and force me to reveal confidential information,” Reiko said. “Oh, and it seems they wanted to make me a plaything afterward, then illegally sell me as a slave or kill me and dump my body somewhere...”

“What...?!”

Reiko’s follow-up left the four men speechless.

“Seize them! Kill them if they resist!” the guards shouted.

“Whaaat?!”

The thugs cried out in shock, but the guards’ response was completely normal. There was no reason for them to risk their lives by being gentle with criminals. The thugs could have been armed, so it was natural for them to get attacked unless they discarded their weapons and raised their hands to show their compliance. A guard’s life would obviously be prioritized over a criminal’s.

Mere seconds ago, the four had been upstanding citizens of the royal capital—hunters by trade, making an honest living—but now, they were viewed only as criminals.

“N-No, wait! We haven’t laid a finger on her yet! We haven’t done anything! Besides, this is hunter business! You guards need to stay out of it!” the leader argued.

“‘Yet,’ you say?” Reiko immediately shot back. “So you’re admitting you planned to?”

“Oh...” the four idiots said at once.

It wasn’t as if it changed much, however. Phantom Bow’s job was to escort Can safely to her lodgings (unaware that they were a few meters away). Since the thugs had caused trouble, they were to neutralize them and prevent repeat offenses. The hunters would normally turn the thugs over to the guild master, but since the guards were involved, they would be the ones to handle it.

If the guild master handled the offenders, it would have been an internal matter, and could have resulted only in guild-related penalties. However, being arrested by guards made them criminals who had tried to attack a girl. The difference was massive. Reiko’s stated charges, even if they had only been attempted, were grave. There was no doubt they would have likely succeeded if the three groups hadn’t intervened. Normally, they might have been able to argue that they hadn’t gone through with the crime yet or that it was just banter between hunters and they were just using a pickup line, thereby getting off with just a warning or notice being sent to the guild, but not this time. This incident involved a target of special protection under the king’s direct orders. Had it been Kaoru herself, Falsetto would have already sliced the four in half.

Though Reiko was also a “goddess from another world,” as Einherjar, Falsetto had sworn her loyalty to Kaoru alone—the one who had revived and granted a divine sword to the guardian of the continent, the great hero Fearsome Fran. So, even though she respected Reiko as a goddess and Kaoru’s friend, any disrespect toward her didn’t enrage Falsetto like it would if it had been directed at Kaoru. Of course, that didn’t mean she would ignore disrespect to a goddess, and even knowing human attacks wouldn’t affect her principal, she’d strike without hesitation if they reached for their weapons. Falsetto’s physical prowess outclassed these lowlives so immensely that they could have begun drawing their swords before her and she’d still have cut them down without ever being in danger.

And so, the four C-Rank hunters were fortunate enough to narrowly escape death...from Falsetto, at least.

“Take them!”

The guards bound the four thugs’ hands and dragged them off at the senior guard’s command. The thugs desperately shouted that it was all a misunderstanding, but let themselves get carried off without resistance, knowing the moment they even presented the possibility of posing a threat, they would be cut down immediately.

Disappointed at losing her moment, Falsetto returned to the house with a sullen look, Reiko trailing her silently.

Realizing the job was over, the Phantom Bow just stood there. All they’d done was say “Hey” before Falsetto had cut them off. They couldn’t help but wonder if that counted as “something happening” for fifteen small gold coins, or “nothing” for five.

“I’m back!” Reiko announced.

“Welcome back. Oh, you were out too, Falsetto? Did something happen?” Kaoru asked.

“No, nothing,” Falsetto answered.

“Nothing at all. I made the delivery and left most of the reward with the guild,” Reiko added as she placed a coin purse full of gold coins on the table. “Here’s what I brought home with me.”

“Nice! A haul of this kingdom’s gold coins, and Can’s putting her name out there. And since you’re my guard, my stock rises too. Meanwhile, Falsetto’s identity as Einherjar stays hidden, and our goals are met. Very good... Now, we keep playing ‘Angel Theater,’ open Kyoko’s main shop in the capital, and spread the name of Salette, the mysterious merchant with amazing goods.”

Kaoru grinned, pleased things were going as planned. Indeed, Edith and Can were becoming more famous, just as she’d wanted... However, whether things would end up how she’d hoped was another matter entirely.

“Thank you for waiting. Here’s the remaining payment for the prior delivery,” the guild receptionist said as she handed Reiko the reward from the client, deliberately avoiding the words “unicorn horn”—though it was too late for such precautions now. Besides, they were in a private room, so no one could overhear their conversation.

The multiple leather bags holding the gold coins were free gifts, it seemed. Kaoru, a leather bag enthusiast, would be thrilled.

This time, Reiko had brought a large shoulder bag that was sturdy enough for the weight—assuming the bottom didn’t rip and the straps didn’t snap—and Reiko could even lift it. One gold coin weighed about a quarter ounce, roughly the same as a five-hundred-yen coin, but gold was over twice as dense, meaning it took up half the volume.

“Are you sure you want to take it all?” the receptionist asked. “We can hold it here or transfer it to the Commerce Guild, if you’d like...”

The receptionist’s insistence wasn’t about keeping the money but concern for Reiko. It was a massive sum of money; far too dangerous for a young girl to carry around without guards, and it was unlikely she had a safe place to store it even if she reached her lodgings. Assuming she did make it home, it wouldn’t have been surprising if five or six groups of thieves broke in that night. On the other hand, keeping it at the Hunter’s Guild or Commerce Guild would eliminate the risk of it getting stolen. She could still get kidnapped or have her family taken as hostages, but without the physical coins on-site, it would likely reduce the risk of break-ins and buy her time instead of getting killed then and there. With luck, guards would catch the imposter sent to claim the money or notice what was happening if she was coerced into withdrawing it.

Plus, the sheer weight seemed far too much for a petite girl to carry alone...though, in truth, Reiko had slipped the bags into her Item Box, so they were virtually weightless.

Thinking the girl would give up if she couldn’t lift the bag, the receptionist gave up on convincing her. Moments later, Reiko hoisted the bag effortlessly onto her shoulder, leaving the receptionist gaping in shock; an unprofessional display for a guild employee.

This time, not a single party followed Reiko as she left the guild building. Everyone knew what had happened to the C-Rank party, and no one banked on guards conveniently showing up again. Hunters without the knack for spotting danger didn’t last long, and they all had the sense to avoid her.

“Yes! Scored a big bag of cold, hard cash! We’ve got plenty of this kingdom’s current coins now! Reiko put her name out there, and the funds for Kyoko’s capital shop are set!”

The gold was split into four bags: three small ones for each of KKR, and a larger one Kaoru stored in her Item Box for shared assets. The small bags were for personal spending, but they weren’t strictly separate. They were divided for convenience so they wouldn’t have to pull funds out of the communal bag every time they needed to buy something. They would spend their funds for shared goals, redistributing them if one ran low, and refilling from the main stash when needed. Basically, the three shared one wallet. Since any of them could earn big if they wanted, money wasn’t a big deal.

They’d also given Falsetto a few gold coins. She was supposed to be a hired guard, and she’d need to spend money too. Her guard contract reward was deposited with the guild, but daily expenses like food were covered separately. Even Kaoru’s crew wasn’t heartless enough to tell Falsetto to fend for herself.

Chapter 86: The Earl’s House

“Lady Kaoru, we have a bit of an issue...”

One day, the current generation of the Eyes of the Goddess, who’d set up a base in the city, came to me, sounding grim.

The leader showed up every time, but the other members changed with each visit. Everyone probably wanted to see the Goddess, so there would probably be riots if only the same few people got the privilege, I guess.

“Huh? What happened?” I asked.

“We’ve been gathering and verifying information on the injured and sick among the righteous individuals worthy of your blessing...” the leader began.

“Uh-huh.”

“And we realized there are a significant number of fakes among them.”

“Right, fakes... Wait, WHAAAT?!”

What the heck does that mean?!

“Details!” I said.

According to what they told me, they’d collected and analyzed rumors in the city, pinpointed those who seemed to deserve blessings, and vetted them...only to find a ton of their info was fake or exaggerated.

“Our sources are rumors, which will naturally include errors or embellishments. We’ve always had such cases, but what we’re dealing with now...”

“It’s clearly deliberate misinformation, huh?” I said.

The members of the Eyes of the Goddess nodded.

“Do you know why?” I asked without expecting much, but...

“Yes.”

“You do?!”

“There was a posting on the Hunter’s Guild’s request board: ‘Seeking Tears of the Goddess. Generous reward offered. Deliverers may be hired by our house if desired.’ It was from an earl’s household.”

“Whaaat?! So you’re telling me people are plotting to scam Tears of the Goddess from the Angel for a big payday?” I asked.

“Regrettably...” the leader answered.

I see. In that case...

“I’ll crush them!” Falsetto was gripping her sword hilt with sparkling eyes for some reason. She was just like Francette in moments like these...though that would be a compliment for an Einherjar.

“Are we crushing them all?” Kyoko asked.

“Pick out a few who tried to scam the Angel for now,” I said to the Eyes of the Goddess members. “The noble who posted the request might have a sick or injured family member, so I’ll decide on whether they deserve divine punishment after further confirmation.” They might’ve put a request out for the Tears of the Goddess because they actually needed it. As for the guild, they just posted the noble’s request, so they probably didn’t mean any harm. The Tears of the Goddess, alongside my degraded potions from Balmore and nearby kingdoms, appeared in every religious book written over the past seventy-odd years; they weren’t just myths, but actually existed.

In the peninsular nations around Balmore, many who’d been saved by the lesser potions or the Tears of the Goddess when they were kids were still alive. Such medicine was lost to history by now, but it was said to be among the three great divine medicines, along with Longevity Medicine (just a tonic, like ginseng) and unicorn horns (pure placebo). Unicorn horns were nearly extinct on this continent, found only in uncharted lands, but Longevity Medicine was purchasable with enough cash. Both were famous but weren’t actually that effective.

Lately, the same rumor from Balmore’s days had been spreading in the city, claiming the righteous and devout would be granted the Goddess’s mercy, in reference to a religious verse. A rumor like that was bound to draw some desperate people.

“All right, investigate the noble who posted the request and pick two or three of the worst offenders spreading fake info about the sick. Go, Eyes of the Goddess!” I ordered.

“Yes, my lady!” they said in unison and sped off, faces glowing with joy.

Emile and the original Eyes of the Goddess crew had loved it when I’d given grand orders like that too...

“We crushing, Kaoru? Are we?” Kyoko asked.

“Why do you sound so giddy...?” I asked.

Seriously, this girl...

“Now...have him drink this medicine,” I said.

“Yes, my lady!”

There was a moment of silence.

“Why aren’t you giving it to him?”

Yup, it was showtime for Angel Theater. In other words, I’d visited someone the Eyes of the Goddess had vetted as a target for salvation and handed them Tears of the Goddess...except this person was one of the fakes.

“Give it to him!” I pressed.

“W-Well, my son’s finally fallen asleep. He’s been feverish and couldn’t rest, so it would be cruel to wake him now... I’ll be sure to give it to him when he wakes up.”

I glanced over at the kid; he was clearly faking sleep.

“Very well...then make sure he drinks it immediately after waking. Understood? Do not break this promise.”

“Y-Yes!”

There, I warned them.

That potion, the Tears of the Goddess: Limited Effect Edition, completely lost its healing powers if it wasn’t used within ten hours. Plus, it’d turn foul, and drinking it would cause diarrhea that lasted for days. They couldn’t barge into a noble’s mansion at midnight, so if they were to sell it, it’d be after the morning bell at nine, well past its expiration.

What would happen if they sold such a thing to an influential person?

RIP. I’m outta here!

“Three people are tailing us...” one of my four dashing, dandy, enormous dogs sidled up to me and reported.

“Figured...”

I’d expected something like this to happen. That was why Falsetto and Reiko were guarding me while concealed. Reiko aside, there was no way Falsetto would sit at home and give up her chance for action. Instead of praying nothing would happen for my safety, she probably wished for trouble so she’d finally have her chance to shine.

A follower hoping their goddess employer got attacked...sounded pretty blasphemous, if you asked me.

Whoever was tailing us lacked the guts to grab a girl favored by Celes, but they wanted to know my identity and address so they could use that information for profit later. I’d changed my hair, eye and skin color, and I was even wearing a mask. There was no way I was gonna head home like this—I had to shake off the stalkers, then revert to my original appearance. I couldn’t let my neighbors see me like this.

I had to deal with the unwelcome guests quickly.

I led them to an obviously secluded spot. If I was being followed by common thugs, they’d attack me here, but they were likely ordered by someone to confirm the Angel’s identity and home, so they weren’t likely to strike first...which meant I’d be the one to attack.

We were far from the core of the royal capital; out here, houses were sparse and moonlight was blocked by trees. The Angel Theater always played late at night when people were asleep, so no one walked the paths in these outskirts, and there weren’t any homes with candles lit nearby. Oil and candles weren’t free, so people conserved them here, unlike the rich folks in the city center.

And so...

“Woof, woof, WOOF!”

“Ahhh!”

Three men ran down the path, chased by two big dogs. They’d kept their distance tailing me, but the dogs had circled behind them, making them dash out in a panic. The other two dogs stayed near me for protection. In their state, there was no way these men would be able to spot the dogs lurking in the grass.

“Oh no! Three shady men were following me as I was walking alone at night! And now they’re attacking me! What do I do?” I said with a deadpan delivery, just as the men approached me in a desperate sprint. Then...

“Oh, what’s this?! I’ve stumbled upon a girl being attacked by ruffians. I must save her!”

Reiko rushed up from ahead, equally deadpan.

“Huh...?”

The three realized they’d exposed themselves to the person they were tailing under a massive misunderstanding and panicked even more. Well, the part about them tailing me wasn’t a misunderstanding.

A girl “happened to be” walking by and had witnessed the whole thing, the misinterpretation included. The three men glanced back to find the dogs that’d been chasing them had disappeared. Relieved, they stopped and exchanged looks, unsure of what to do.

“Attacking a lady at night? You fiends! I’ll cut you down!” Falsetto said, her delivery suspiciously smooth, as if she’d rehearsed the line. I’d heard writers practiced their signatures before writing their novels, so maybe she’d drilled on heroic one-liners during training.

The three men stood there like deer in the headlights. They knew they wouldn’t get another chance to figure out my identity or track down my home if they lost me now, so they couldn’t flee. But they’d been exposed, were forbidden from attacking me, and two “unrelated” witnesses had appeared, interpreting the situation in the worst possible way for them.

Tough spot, huh...

I didn’t plan to capture and interrogate them or anything. Not only did I know who their client was, but I had their name and address too. I’d just been at their place, after all.

So, there was simply no need to question these men. A group of men had stalked a girl walking at night and tried to attack her, and were then punished by random passersby. Yup, there was nothing odd about it; just a normal occurrence.

“Your Majesty, I have urgent news!” the Minister of Finance said, bursting into the king’s office without knocking.

“What? What are you— N-No, it can’t be!” the king said, turning pale as realization dawned on him.

“Indeed, it’s about the free priestess!” the minister said, confirming the king’s fears. “The priestess, like the prior Angel, has been aiding the city’s sick and injured with Tears of the Goddess, as recorded in many religious texts. Word of her activities has been spreading among the commoners...”

“That’s all? You scared me...” The king, fearing a continent-sinking catastrophe, sighed in relief. “That’s good for the people... No, that means word of a new Angel will spread among the commoners, then reach the nobles and merchants. We must act fast to avoid trouble. Well done catching this news early!”

The minister ignored the praise and continued, “And some tried to scam Tears of the Goddess from her, spreading false information to get in contact.”

“Guh...”

“Then, after tricking her out of the Tears, they tailed her to uncover her identity and home, engaging her guards...”

“AAAAAAH!”

“Naturally, they were wiped out instantly and thrown into jail at the guard headquarters...”

“Urgh... A-And the free priestess?!”

“She’s perfectly safe. Not a finger was laid on her.”

“Th-Then...”

“Indeed, the Goddess’s beloved child was unharmed, and merely punished some fools. Which means...”

Color was returning to the king’s face at the minister’s explanation.

“So, she fulfilled her duty, struck down the villains, and is likely feeling rather satisfied...” the king mused.

“Yes, that is highly probable. Meaning...”

“The Goddess isn’t displeased!” they said in sync.

“What a relief... And thank goodness for those two hunters guarding her. Once their guard contract ends, I’ll reward them and offer knight apprenticeships if they wish,” the king said.

“They will likely decline the apprenticeship offer,” the minister pointed out. “One is an Einherjar, the other a rising star hunter. After all, skilled hunters...”

“Never give up their dreams and freedom!” they synced again.

“Ha ha...”

“Ha ha ha ha!” the king and minister laughed together.

“So, about those fraudsters...”

“We mustn’t ruin the priestess’s fun!”

“Oh... Right, absolutely...”

And so, they decided to stay out of it entirely.

“We’ve obtained the rough details on the noble who posted the Tears of the Goddess request,” the leader of the Eyes of the Goddess’s intelligence team reported.

“You may speak,” I said.

I’d usually say something like “What’s up?” but they loved it when I played the lofty goddess. They’d been working for free, so the least I could do was meet their expectations with some fan service.

I didn’t offer them only words, of course. I rewarded their good work with potions—not on the level of Tears of the Goddess, but strong ones—or amulets that contained real Tears, which could be bitten in a pinch to release the potion. They’d never accept cash from me, but they gleefully accepted such gifts...though they’d say my presents were too precious to use, and they planned to cherish them as heirlooms.

Use them! It’d be pointless if you died and let them go to waste! I bet you’re the type to hoard elixirs without ever using them!

For lesser accomplishments, I gave them snacks or liquor from Earth. I’d recreated them as potions and had them crafted on Kyoko’s mothership, or otherwise cooked them myself with local ingredients. Back in our old lives, Reiko and Kyoko had been worse cooks than me, but they’d surpassed me by now. They said it was because they’d spent many years as housewives...

Damn it...

Anyway, what mattered now was the report.

“The request was sent by Earl Vorrel,” the leader said.

“Hm? Wait, I’ve heard that name before...” I said.

“It’s the noble who posted the unicorn horn request,” Reiko chimed in.

“Ah...”

Come to think of it, we’d held a meeting about which high-difficulty job to take on. His name had come up as a reputable noble who wouldn’t default on the payment.

“He seemed like an ordinary noble without any red flags...but he’s targeted us twice; first with the unicorn horn thing, and now the Tears of the Goddess...” I said.

“No, we were the ones who chose to accept the unicorn horn request he put out. I don’t think he was deliberately targeting us,” Reiko replied.

“Oh...”

She was right. The only reason we’d accepted it was because we just happened to have a horn on hand. There was no way we’d go hunting unicorns if we didn’t even know where they were. We’d snagged it during a KKR material-gathering tour on another continent via Kyoko’s shuttle. It had been a little bonding trip for us.

“As for Earl Vorrel’s situation...” the leader continued, ignoring my chat with Reiko, likely because the answer was in the report. “His daughter has a rare disease. He’s spared no expense hiring doctors and apothecaries, as well as gathering all sorts of herbs and medicine. Longevity Medicine has no effect. A unicorn horn, bought at great cost, also did nothing. As a last resort, he offered a huge reward for the Tears of the Goddess. By some miracle, he was able to obtain one...but when given to his daughter, it caused endless diarrhea, drastically worsening her situation. The seller of the fake Tears was caught and locked in the mansion’s dungeon. If the daughter doesn’t make it, those swindlers won’t have a peaceful death...”

“G...” I croaked.

“Huh?”

“GYAAAAAAH!!! Reiko, emergency sortie! Kyoko, you hold the fort! Take me to that earl’s house, now! Hurry, let’s go!”

The Eyes of the Goddess leader immediately grasped the situation and sprinted off, me and Reiko following right after. We needed Reiko’s magic to barge into a noble’s house unannounced, not my potion powers.

“Huh? Wait, what’s going on?”

Kyoko seemed clueless but understood that she was on house duty, so there was no problem there.

Falsetto followed as my guard, unprompted, which was to be expected.

A girl was dying because of me; I didn’t have a second to waste!

“Reiko, I’m counting on you!”

“Got it! Body enhancement magic, coming right up! Brace for muscle aches tomorrow!”

“That’s nothing... If it means saving a cute little girl, not even muscle aches or the principal’s office will scare us off! Because we are...”

“KKR!” we said in unison.

It was no surprise that the unicorn horn was ineffective. Its supposed cure-all effect was nothing but a legend—pure placebo. Reiko had just delivered the item as requested, offering up a genuine unicorn horn. So, we bore no responsibility for that... But the Tears of the Goddess: Limited Effect Edition? That was a disaster! Severe diarrhea for a patient weakened by disease could’ve been fatal. And it was an innocent girl who drank it... Even the unbridled power of the super potent Tears of the Goddess couldn’t bring back the dead.

Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!!!

I’d assumed some rich noble wanted the potion for clout—claiming they were favored by the Goddess, offering it to the king, or probing into my identity through the deliverer. And sure enough, the scammers had sent people to follow me. Apparently, that wasn’t part of the request, but their own scheme.

Why didn’t they just spread rumors about being gravely ill?!

A rich noble could’ve done that easily! Even those scammers had spread fake info well enough to catch the Eyes of the Goddess’s attention... Come to think of it, maybe it would’ve been bad if word got out that a noble’s daughter was bedridden with a serious illness. If people thought she was dying, rumors of relapse or not healing fully could ruin her “market value” as a noble bride, which would be a fatal blow to her marriage prospects...unless she was cured by a divine miracle. That’d explain why they’d want to hide her illness, but also why they desperately needed Tears for her.

Guess nobles have their own problems...

With Reiko’s body enhancement magic, even I was able to sprint at full speed without tiring. I was scared of the soreness coming tomorrow, though...

Falsetto’s stamina was to be expected, but I was impressed that the Eyes of the Goddess leader was keeping up without magic. He kept glancing back to make sure we were keeping up, but looked shocked when he realized we were unfazed. Still, we were the Goddess’s entourage. He seemed to accept it and ran at full speed without checking again. Hopefully, that didn’t make his faith even stronger... I was already kinda fed up by his excessive devotion.

Then, realization hit me. I could’ve used a stamina potion instead of Reiko’s potion. Or so I thought, but potions didn’t prevent muscle aches either. I could make one that eliminated soreness, but resetting the body would negate the benefits of exercise, which would be a waste after putting in so much effort. A permanent muscle-growth potion? No way, that was off-limits. Temporary potions to alter looks and ability were fine, but permanent buffs were cheating. Beauty potions, breast-enhancing potions, potions that let you eat whatever you want without getting fat... If I made such things, it’d be like giving up.

I’ll never do it! Huff, huff...

Of course, I could make a potion that got rid of pain, but I didn’t plan to get around the muscle aches that were coming. A day of pain was my self-imposed punishment for hurting an innocent girl and making her condition worse. It was an unforgivable sin.

“We’re almost there!” the leader called out.

I nodded. Apparently, we’d made it to the mansion while I was lost in trivial thoughts. Not like he could see me, though, since he didn’t look back as he’d said it.

“No time to explain to gatekeepers or servants! They’ll be suspicious of strangers after they got duped, and the earl’s probably not leaving his daughter’s side. We might’ve gotten a meeting before this mess, but now’s a bad time. So...” I said, then...

“We barge in!” Reiko and I finished in sync. We hadn’t spent all those years together for nothing.

I thought of sending the leader back as soon as we reached the mansion, since they might lower their guard if it was just us women visiting.

“I know the mansion’s layout. I’ll guide you to the daughter’s room,” the leader said, beating me to the punch.

I guess a devout follower wouldn’t wanna miss seeing the Goddess’s miracle in person...

“There it is,” he said, pointing.

Up ahead, we saw...well, a normal noble’s mansion. Well, it was “normal” by noble standards—and a giant, super luxury estate by modern Japan standards. No gatekeepers stood at the entrance, obviously. It wasn’t a royal castle, so they wouldn’t waste wages on that. No doubt the guards were inside, resting in case they were needed.

The first hurdle was the front door. There must’ve been servants inside, who’d be alerted if we opened the door even if we were invisible. So...

“Reiko, invisibility magic!” I called out.

“Roger that!” she replied.

I instructed everyone to stay quiet, then prepared a handkerchief laced with a potion that caused ten minutes of unconsciousness without side effects.

I knocked on the door the old-fashioned way. A servant opened it, startled to find no one there, and peered around. I crept behind them, pressing the handkerchief to their mouth and nose. Falsetto caught the collapsing servant, easing them to the ground away from the door.

That was kind of her... Oh, wait, she’s just making sure we don’t make any noise.

She was prioritizing efficiency now that we were carrying out a mission... That was Falsetto for you.

Reiko held the door open, then quietly closed it after we all slipped inside. Someone was bound to notice soon, but we just had to be done before then.

Following the leader, we headed to the girl’s room on the second floor. We were able to sneak all the way there without incident thanks to our invisibility.

“Someone must be in there, right?” I whispered.

“Yeah...” Reiko whispered back.

No parent would leave a critically ill girl all alone.

So, we just opened the door without knocking and filed in.

“What...?” we heard someone say. The door had swung open, but no one was there. It was natural to wonder what was going on.

Inside was a twelve- or thirteen-year-old girl on a bed; her presumed parents watching over her in simple chairs; a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old boy and a seven- or eight-year-old girl, who I figured were siblings; and a doctor. Apparently, it was the father who’d spoken. Everyone else’s eyes also turned to the door and saw that no one had appeared. Then, the door closed by itself; silently, unnaturally, slowly...

“Angel entourage, manifest!” I called out, and we suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

“Aaaaaaaaah!!!” everyone but the bedridden girl screamed.

Yeah, that was a fair reaction. Now, we had to convince them we weren’t robbers before the guards rushed in.

“We are the Angel’s entourage! We’ve manifested to save the girl endangered by the fake Tears of the Goddess. Have her drink this!” I said as I thrust out the potion.

I’d decided it would be better to take charge here rather than gently explain myself. There was no time for dawdling. They’d normally be wary after just being scammed, but there was no room for doubt after that dramatic entrance. Besides, there was no reason for us to take such a risk by coming here just to poison a girl who was already dying. Anyone would reach that logical conclusion, but I wasn’t sure if they were able to think logically right now.

Maybe he hadn’t considered I could be a thief or assassin, or how his action could be considered disrespectful to the Angel, but the earl snatched the potion from my hand, propped up his daughter, and poured it into her mouth with trembling hands, slowly and carefully so he wouldn’t spill a drop.

“Fa...ther...?” the girl whispered.

Color returned to her cheeks, her expression blank and untroubled, free of pain or distress. She was healed; everyone in the room knew it.

“Ah... Ahh... AAAAAAH!”

“Waaaaaah!”

The earl’s tearful cry was echoed by his family.

The girl stared from the bed, bewildered, while the doctor stood stunned.

“My lord, what’s wrong?!” guards and servants shouted as they burst into the room. Seeing us, the guards immediately drew their swords. “Scoundrels!”

“Stop! Sheathe your swords and stand down, you fools!”

The earl stopped them before they attacked, which was good. The guards didn’t have to get hurt...

“Please forgive us for our rudeness! And thank you for saving my daughter...” the earl said, kneeling gratefully. The others prostrated themselves behind him, with the guards who’d drawn their swords trembling. Their faces were probably pale, though I couldn’t tell with their heads bowed low.

“No need to worry about that. It would’ve been one thing if we’d come on a proper visit, but we intruded, basically forcing our way in. That was our fault,” I said. “The guards did their duty. They deserve praise, not blame. We were in quite a rush with no time to spare, but nonetheless...”

I had to cover for the guards, since we were the ones in the wrong.

“Such gracious words... All for our daughter’s sake...” the earl said.

Well, yeah, that was true, but I had screwed up big time, so making them grovel would’ve felt bad.

“Her condition worsened because of the Tears of the Goddess...” I said apologetically.

“No, that was because of the criminals who sold me fake Tears. You bear no blame at all!”

Ah...

At this rate, those scammers were going to get tortured to death. That was a bit too harsh, considering they hadn’t meant to cause misery for others or anything. If we hadn’t caught on, the normal Tears I’d given them would’ve reached the sick girl, making the earl’s family happy, the scammers rich, and me content saving a girl without loss. A win for everyone... Yeah, right!

Still, I figured I’d put in a word for them.

“They...weren’t exactly fake,” I said.

“Wha... Whaaat?!”

The earl, his wife, and even the kids, doctor, and guards gasped in shock.

“They were real Tears of the Goddess they’d gotten through trickery. Of course, I saw through their lies, so I repeatedly pressed them to use it immediately, and made it so it would be ineffective after some time to prevent resale or being passed onto a crime boss. They didn’t give it to the child pretending to be sick, of course, but sold it to you instead. So, they were originally real Tears, and they believed they were genuine. Despite their methods and outcome, you could say they were honest about delivering genuine Tears of the Goddess to save your daughter.”

The earl looks conflicted. One more push...

“Lord Earl, if their Tears had been standard and healed your daughter, only for you to learn they’d scammed me to get them, would you have been grateful to them? And I’m sure you know Tears of the Goddess aren’t meant to be sold or traded. Why post a request for them offering a generous reward?” I asked.

“Ugh...”

Now the earl looked pained. Yeah, that had to be tough to answer. He’d probably have thanked them and paid the reward. They’d fulfilled the terms of the request, and the method of procuring the requested item was up to the deliverer, not him. Plus, that request tacitly allowed breaking the rules. And since the earl was the type to honor contracts, even with commoners, he’d likely have been extra grateful to those risking the Angel’s wrath to fulfill his request. He couldn’t say that to us now, though... Anyway, that didn’t matter. That was all hypothetical, so it had nothing to do with this reality.

“Lady Angel, about the reward...” the earl’s wife cut in, seeing him struggle.

Nice, subtly supporting her husband... What a model wife.

“None needed,” I said.

This wasn’t an act of charity; I was just cleaning up the mess I’d caused. I wasn’t gonna accept anything in return for that. Not that I usually took much—sometimes just a daikon radish or onion if it was a poor family, or I’d even leave a few silver coins instead. Besides, the earl had paid a fortune for a useless unicorn horn, so I didn’t want to kick him while he was down by taking more money from him. He’d spent a ton on his daughter’s illness already.

“All right, time to withdraw!”

“It’s about time I dropped the disguise...”

We’d walked slowly on the way home, mindful of the muscle aches that would be coming tomorrow. We were nearly home, so I had to undo my disguise. I doubted anyone was out this late, but I couldn’t risk neighbors seeing me in Angel mode.

“Angel mode” was Saint Edith disguised by a mask. Eventually, I’d let a select few elites know Edith was the Angel, but for now, that connection was secret. Otherwise, I’d get swarmed by all sorts of unwanted visitors, and the house we’d rented in the capital wouldn’t be safe anymore. At home, we hung out as Kaoru, Reiko, and Kyoko without any disguises. We could switch into our personas the moment a guest appeared, and we met with the Eyes of the Goddess undisguised. There was no point in hiding our identities from them at this point.

Anyway, it was time to remove my mask...

Whoosh!

“Huh...?”

My hand touched nothing but empty air.

Silence.

“I...wasn’t wearing a mask... And I’m still Kaoru...” I muttered.

“Oh...”

“And Reiko and Falsetto... You’re both barefaced too...”

“Oh...”

We’d screwed up.

“Kaoru...”

“Lady Kaoru...”

“Hey, none of you noticed either! It’s not just my fault!”

Yup... In our panic, I’d completely forgotten to become Edith or mask up. I mean, the group was just KKR, Falsetto, and the leader of the Eyes of the Goddess. Everyone already knew what was up, so there was no need for disguises. Plus, it’d be weird spending our daily lives with different faces when we were living together. If a guest showed up, our optical disguise bracelets worked instantly, and potions for changing our hair, eyes, and skin could be pulled out of the Item Box in seconds. I’d given Reiko and Kyoko tons of transformation and reversal potions too, of course. But this time, barefaced Reiko and Falsetto, who was supposed to be Edith’s guard, had joined me, Kaoru. Falsetto didn’t wear a disguise, but Reiko was “Reiko,” not “Can the hunter!”

This was bad. Really bad. Falsetto, who was contracted to guard Edith, was accompanying others. The Angel was supposed to be distinct from Edith, with different hair.

Hmm...

Well, Falsetto had been with two others, not Edith or Can, so Edith and Can would likely be seen as uninvolved with this incident. Maybe it wasn’t a big issue after all?

To the guild higher-ups, who likely knew Falsetto was an Einherjar, it’d look like she was earning money for living expenses taking bodyguard jobs, then rushing to the Angel’s side whenever she was needed. No one in this magicless world would guess we could alter our appearance beyond our hair or eyes...

Yup, this is no problem!

We hadn’t met anyone on the night streets, and photography didn’t exist in this world. The earl’s family didn’t know Edith’s face, and we weren’t gonna reveal her identity as the Angel until later. Plus, rooms weren’t brightly lit like in modern Japan; candles or dimmed oil lamps cast shadows, which obscured faces.

There’s no need to panic yet. Be cool, be cool...

This was just a little one-off accident. Hopefully, this info would just stay within the earl’s household. The Angel Theater was meant to stay on the down-low anyway. My plan would’ve been pointless if everyone actually kept silent, so I’d made exceptions for trusted allies if asked. But this time, the parties involved were scammers who’d tricked and tailed the Angel and the earl who’d offered a generous reward for the Tears of the Goddess, knowing it wasn’t something that should be bought or sold. Neither were gonna be eager to tell the world about what had happened.

Yeah, I had a feeling this was gonna work out...

“Anyway, let’s head home, reflect, and figure out what to do next. Leader, you come too.”

We normally parted with the Eyes leader here, but it was better to discuss oversights and risks with his intel expertise. He must’ve been pretty thrilled about joining the goddess trio’s inner circle. I could practically see a wagging tail...

“So, I don’t think there’s all that much risk from this screwup... What do you all think?” I asked after sharing my risk assessment.

Everyone else stayed silent. Were they deep in thought, or speechless at my blunder...?

There were five of us present: The KKR trio, Falsetto, and the Eyes of the Goddess team leader. We could speak openly with these people, so I expected them to be blunt, but...

They all spoke at once.

“You’re downplaying this way too much...”

“Interpreting the situation in a way that suits you is the biggest mistake you can make...”

“You’re being far too naive...”

“This is a total mess...”

You guys are too blunt!

“Well, what’s done is done,” Reiko said. “We’ll have to monitor whatever info gets leaked and squash anything that’s bad for us or overwrite it with rumors of our own...”

The Eyes leader beamed happily. That was his specialty, after all. This was an opportunity to use the skills he’d honed to aid his goddess; it was probably pure bliss for him. I could almost see that tail wagging again. If he was a dog, he’d probably be piddling with joy...

“Can we count on the Eyes, Ears, and Mouth?” I asked.

“Please don’t ask if we can... Command us!” the leader said.

I figured he’d say that...

“Okay then, Kaoru commands you: Track the flow of information and reshape it to our advantage!”

“Yes, Lady Kaoru! We accept your divine mandate, pledging our very lives!”

“No pledging lives. If it doesn’t pan out, we just move on. We could move to the north or south end of the continent, or a different continent altogether.”

Kyoko had already found similar civilizations while exploring other continents before joining us. Come to think of it, Celes had mentioned something similar too. We didn’t have to worry about language barriers, so we could go anywhere we wanted. As for the kids, we could give them the human-language version of the potion I’d given Mariel. Plus, Kyoko’s mothership likely had devices for learning while you slept.

Suddenly, I noticed the Eyes leader giving me a look as if to say he’d never allowed that. Moving to another continent would cut the Eyes of the Goddess off from us, so they’d fight tooth and nail to stop it. The empire would probably chase us with their cutting-edge galleons...

“What’s this about eyes, ears, and a mouth?” Kyoko asked.

Oh, she doesn’t know...

She knew the Eyes of the Goddess did intel work, but wasn’t familiar with their lingo. I decided I’d explain later. For now, we’d watch and wait, praying this whole fiasco didn’t spread.

“The Ange—the free priestess...contacted Earl Vorrel’s household over their Tears request?!” the king gasped at the chancellor’s report.

“Yes...but instead of bringing down divine punishment, she saved their gravely ill daughter and even pleaded for leniency for the scammers they’d captured,” the chancellor went on. “They won’t be set free, but it seems the earl will let them off lightly with a few days of detention and a hundred lashes as punishment. They won’t be penalized by the guild, as they delivered genuine Tears as requested. The fact that they scammed their way into getting the Tears of the Goddess is a separate matter, but they didn’t approach the priestess directly, just exaggerated a child’s condition to the public. She went and left the potion on her own, they could argue. They didn’t steal, threaten, or use violence, and this case is a guild matter. The guards won’t act unless the victim submits a complaint. Therefore, this case is closed. Which means...”

“The priestess isn’t angry, and has guided things toward the best possible outcome?” the king said.

“Indeed. She fulfilled her duties as the Angel splendidly and is likely satisfied and in high spirits.”

“Hm. Good, good, good, good! The earl’s daughter is saved, and all’s well that ends well! Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!” the king clapped, elated.

“However, one concern remains...” the chancellor added.

“Hm? What?” the king asked lightly, assuming it was a minor issue.

“All of our men watching and tracking her agree: there’s a high possibility that there is more than one Angel, or she can change her appearance at will. So, this report on the priestess’s actions is technically a report on the actions of a girl leaving her residence, likely another form of the priestess.”

“Whaaat?!”

They’d already figured out the truth.

“The two women leaving with the Einherjar girl weren’t the priestess or her other hunter guard, and differed from the rumored Angel who’d granted the Tears of the Goddess, the legendary elixir, to suffering commoners...yet their actions matched the Angel’s perfectly. Either she changes forms, or multiple people split the same role. It’s as they say: The Angel isn’t one specific person. All who perform Angelic deeds are Angels!”

It was a line from the Analects of Lady Kaoru, which was published by the Order of the Goddess Kaoru, which had been founded by Emile’s group.

“Hmm... But if she changes forms, why act as the Angel as someone else?” the king asked.

It was a fair question. The chancellor tilted his head and said, “Maybe she accidentally used the wrong form...?”

The king snorted. “Impossible!”

“Indeed, that’s unlikely...”

In this world, wigs, eyeshadow, lipstick, and cheek padding were the extent of available disguises. Only ancient dragons used real magic, and there were no scientific means of disguising oneself. Kaoru assumed visual appearance changes wouldn’t be seen as disguises, but for those who believed in—or knew of—goddesses, it wasn’t hard to believe the Angel would be able to change her appearance with ease. This should have been obvious, but Kaoru hadn’t realized it for some reason.

“The bigger issue is the man who was with them,” the chancellor continued. “He left their house and led them to the earl’s mansion. Moreover, he has visited her residence before. Our investigation revealed that he’s the branch manager of a medicine shop from Balmore, opened here...”

“What?! The major medicine shop in the Kingdom of Balmore would be...”

“Yes. Likely the one run by Nagase’s Children, the Order of the Goddess Kaoru’s income source. The branch opened right after the priestess arrived in the capital.”

“Hmm... All of this can’t be a coincidence...”

“Indeed. It’s likely an attempt to lure the new Angel to their base in Balmore. Nagase’s Children and their descendants were once raised by and lived with the prior Angel. If they tell the priestess their elder in Balmore can offer tales of the last Angel...”

“She just may want to visit them... This is bad. Very bad!” the king panicked. “The Angel is dangerous, but can be greatly beneficial for us if we maintain good relations with her. Her position suggests she won’t blindly favor any one country, but even with that, the prior Angel didn’t tolerate unjust attacks on her host nation, healed injured royals, and was generous to those around her... But then, she was also said to be merciless to those she deemed enemies. That’s not a problem; although ruthless at times, she had human compassion. She only punished evildoers who deserved judgment. The real issue is what Goddess Celestine’s reaction will be when her beloved child is attacked... We don’t know how much she will tolerate before acting—life-threatening danger, serious injury, a scratch, or even verbal insults hurting her feelings... If fools unaware of this risk antagonize her, they won’t be the only ones in danger; all life on this entire continent could vanish. It wouldn’t be a problem if it happened on another continent, but we must prevent it here! We can’t let the folly of idiots unrelated to us doom our nation! It’s better to keep her here, happily performing her Angel duties without a care in the world! Even if it costs a fortune and gives us ulcers and shortens our lives, that will be a small price to pay!”

“Noblesse oblige, indeed...” the chancellor nodded.

Like the king, he was a fine figure who understood the meaning of duty.

The incident at Earl Vorrel’s household spread like wildfire, obviously.

Heretics had plotted to deceive the Angel, yet she saw through their scheme and delivered divine punishment. Yet the Angel, the ever-benevolent saint, had saved the earl’s daughter and shown mercy even to the villains. In a world starved for entertainment and full of devout people, there was no way such a story would stay contained.

There was a long, awkward silence.

“Any excuses for this whole fiasco?” Kyoko asked.

“None...” Reiko and I hung our heads.

Well, Kyoko scolding Reiko and me was a pretty rare occurrence. Usually, Reiko was the one who laid into us real good, with me and Kyoko on the receiving end...er, getting scolded. Reiko and I had both screwed up this time, while Kyoko had been sidelined, so the reversal was understandable. Being left out before grasping the situation was probably what ticked her off about it most, but we hadn’t had a choice. Explaining everything would’ve cost precious time when even seconds wasted put a girl’s life at risk. Even if there was a one percent chance of her demise, that was a risk I wasn’t willing to take. I didn’t have any regrets about my decision, though; even if I was put in the same situation again, I wouldn’t do anything different.

Apologizing to Kyoko was a separate matter, though. We’d wronged her, so I had to apologize. That went without saying. Forgetting about our disguises wasn’t fatal, but it was a major, careless mistake. It was no wonder Kyoko was mad... Her scolding would wind down soon, though. She wasn’t used to getting mad like this, so she’d fizzle out soon and calm down. Her usual anger was colder...smiling serenely all the while.

“I get that there wasn’t any time, so I’m not that mad about being left without explanation,” she said.

That was a lie. Well, she probably did understand, but understanding something and being annoyed about it were two different subjects. But since Kyoko was claiming she wasn’t mad about it, Reiko and I definitely weren’t gonna argue. We weren’t idiots.

“But I’ve been left out a lot lately, haven’t I?” Kyoko added.

Reiko and I said nothing.

“The Trader Shop stuff is fine, I get it. Unlike Can and Edith, who work solo, I have to deal with employees, business partners, and stock, so I’m stuck with less time with you two...but don’t you think you’re keeping too many secrets from me?” she asked. “This happened in our past lives too...didn’t it?”

“We’re so sorry!” we said in unison.

Yup, Reiko and I knew it was true. We hadn’t meant any harm. It was just that we wanted to protect people...including us, from harm. Honest!

We apologized sincerely, and Kyoko relented. She seemed to acknowledge her part in all this, and while she was mildly annoyed at our excessive fussing, she sheathed her sword, so to speak. In exchange, she made us vow that there’d be no more secrets or deliberately delayed info sharing.

We had no choice. I prayed for the many in this world who’d be meeting Kyoko moving forward...

“Now that we’re in this mess, we’ll have to fast-track our plans to protect ourselves from problematic people. My Trader Shop in that town will be demoted from the main store to a branch store. The manager I hired will be the new branch manager and they’ll handle most of the local operations. We’ll tie it to the orphanage for mutual aid, sharing money and labor. If enemies show up, we crush them together. We’ll open the main store in the capital ASAP, one that nobles and royals will value and ally with. This rental will be our hideout and we’ll use the shop’s living quarters as our base and home. Any objections?”

“None...” Reiko and I said.

Kyoko usually wasn’t this pushy. Her insistence showed she was still sore about earlier.

I’d expected the main shop to be changed into a branch. Honestly, that shop had served its purpose and could’ve been closed. It was a hassle for Kyoko to keep it running with all of the restocking and such, but this was classic Kyoko. Once you take in a stray, even a hunter’s heart softens. She couldn’t just abandon those she’d taken in. We had plenty of money and time, so we might as well enjoy the inefficiencies and hassles. There was no fun in living strictly for efficiency, after all.

I had a track record about something similar too—the old Eyes of the Goddess kids and the current Little Silver kids.

We were kindred spirits. Despite our different appearances and personalities, we three were fated to meet.

“I reserved a property for the main shop,” Kyoko said.

“That was fast!” Reiko and I said in sync.

Yup, when Kyoko made up her mind, she moved immediately.

“It would’ve taken too long to spread the news the slow way, so I’m going all out from the get-go. We’re throwing a big opening event.”

Oh boy, Kyoko’s shifted to blitz mode...

When she got like this, she charged full speed toward her goal, details be damned, leaving chaos in her wake. And of course, it was mostly me and Reiko who had to clean up the fallout.

“What kind of event?” Reiko asked.

That was the burning question, of course.

“Something that draws a crowd, makes waves, needs minimal prep, and turns a decent profit... That’s right, we’re doing a wyvern-butchering show!”

“WHAAAT?!”

Chapter 87: Capital Main Shop

“A ‘wyvern-butchering show’?” I asked. “We’re not talking about a tuna-carving show here... Wait, that’s it! Tuna-carving shows must’ve been pretty good business, considering how common they were across Japan...”

“Exactly!” Kyoko agreed. “They’re exciting, unusual, and loosen purse strings with a mixture of performance, entertainment, and commercial appeal, leaving everyone satisfied. Plus, they’re great for promotion! That’s why they were everywhere in Japan. We’re just copying that battle-tested method.”

“I see...”

We didn’t even need to hunt a wyvern; we’d already bagged a few. Back when we’d traveled in Kyoko’s dinghy—not the massive ship dozens of meters wide, but the compact scout craft—some wyverns had attacked us, and we’d stashed them in the Item Box.

So we’d use that stock for the show, butcher it live, and sell it on the spot. Wyverns were rare and pricey around here. Strong, ferocious, and able to fly—not only were they hard to find, but they were even harder to hunt. Even if killed by other monsters or natural causes, their corpses got scavenged by critters, birds, or bugs, or rotted away by bacteria. Plus, that kind of thing happened in remote areas or monster-infested zones, so their materials rarely reached human hands.

A whole fresh wyvern carved up and sold on-site would definitely draw a crowd. Butchers, chefs, armorers, and noble envoys would gather from all over the capital, and the shop’s name would be famous overnight.

Kyoko’s ideas were wild, but this was a good one.

Nice job, Kyoko.

“You’d like to designate someone? Who...wait, Moss? Moss isn’t a hunter, he’s an employee at our butchery!”

Today, Reiko stayed home as Kyoko and I, with Falsetto as our guard, hit up the Hunter’s Guild. We could’ve all gone together, but a bigger group might’ve slowed down talks. Plus, thieves might’ve broken in if we’d left the house empty.

Word had probably spread among shady types that Edith and Can, who’d cashed in big on a unicorn horn, lived there. Our valuables, stuff we didn’t normally use, and even our pairs of underwear were tucked away in the Item Boxes, so thieves wouldn’t find much, but the thought of having strangers rummage through our place was gross. I didn’t need their filthy hands touching everything.

With security traps to spot intruders, we only needed one of us to hold down the fort. Our biggest fear was a lethal sneak attack, like an arrow to the head or a swift stab to the heart in passing. Defending our rigged-up base was no problem, and Reiko was best suited for that job.

Oops, focus! I gotta explain to the receptionist!

“Oh, yes, but I heard Moss was a B-Rank hunter before he retired. Apparently he misses his old title and still takes the bare minimum number of jobs every few months to keep it active...” I said.

“Oh... I think I do remember hearing that, but...”

Whack!

“Eek! M-My apologies, I’ll check right away!”

The senior receptionist from the next counter gave her a “disciplinary” shin kick. Rookie training was harsh everywhere, apparently...

Our receptionist swapped with another staffer, led us to a private booth, and then ran off to the butchery.

A bit later, the receptionist returned with an older man.

“You must be one oddball client if I was your personal request,” he said. “Sure, I’ve kept my hunter license, but I’ve been pretty much retired for years. What do you want with someone like me?”

He eyed us suspiciously. Yeah, anyone would be skeptical.

“Your B-Rank swordsmanship and the skills you’ve honed at the butchery. Moss, you’re the only man for this job...a public wyvern butchering gig!”

“Whaaat?!” they shouted.

Yeah, I figured they’d be shocked.

Kyoko just nodded in silence, leaving all the talking to me... Falsetto staying quiet was a given, since guards didn’t butt into their bosses’ business talks.

Now, is he gonna take the job?

The receptionist stood there, stunned, but Moss’s face shifted from shock to a giddy, sparkling grin.

“I’m in! This job’s mine! Ain’t no one taking it from me!”

Yeah, I figured as much...

Ten days later, Kyoko had signed the main shop’s contract, using the Item Box and her mothership’s workshop to whip the interior into shape in no time. She’d moved toilets, bathroom units, freezers, and refrigerators in from the mothership...plus screens and games for entertainment. And of course, a top-notch security system.

We’d already done promo work for the wyvern-butchering show, advertising that its parts would be auctioned off on-site. Then the Hunter’s Guild and Commerce Guild came at us hard. Not that they did anything sketchy; they’d hit us with desperate pleas and sob stories to sell through them instead.

Envoys from major shops and nobles swarmed us too. Most of them were suspicious of us, demanding that we show them the goods ahead of time. We just brushed them off and told them, “If you doubt our shop’s word or wares, please feel free to take your business elsewhere. Be sure to inform your employer you got kicked out for insulting us with your accusatory attitude.”

It was a seller’s market, so we didn’t need to waste our time humoring skeptics. Some weirdo even told us, “If you really have wyvern materials, they should go to the king! I’ll handle everything for you!”

I’d sent him away by telling him that’d tank our profits so badly it’d kill the shop before it ever opened, that I wouldn’t need a middleman if I wanted to make an offering to the king, and that he was free to hunt his own wyvern to make an offering himself.

We might have looked young, but didn’t people realize we might have someone powerful backing us if we had the connections to get our hands on a wyvern? Not that we did, but still...

I was the one who’d dealt with those folks. Kyoko wasn’t cut out for it, and we didn’t want any...unfortunate incidents from her. Reiko was too calm and collected, which gave off an icy vibe. Her sharp tongue didn’t help either. She seemed perfect for cold rejections, but she’d tick off anyone who thought highly of themselves. It wasn’t a good idea to make too many enemies when we hadn’t even opened yet.

As for me, I explained things gently and turned people away without incident. A little death glare from me was all it took.

No, I’m not happy about that!

Whenever I was helping with opening prep at the Trader Shop in the capital, I was in Edith mode. Reiko was there as Can, of course, and Falsetto was her usual self. We’d decided to play it as old pals from the start. Leaving everything to Kyoko would be too much on her plate, and honestly, Reiko and I were too worried to sit still and do nothing. It wasn’t time to lay waste to the capital and flee yet.

Plus, Can had already delivered a rare unicorn horn to the guild, right around the time I’d presumably asked her to cash it in. And now Salette was selling a whole wyvern, followed by various rare goods. People were definitely gonna connect the dots.

So, instead of dodging suspicion, we laid it all out, making it obvious that we were friends helping one another by swapping goods and cash. Can the hunter sold rare game to Salette and guarded Edith the unsanctioned saint, Salette the merchant funded Edith’s charity work, and Edith healed Can’s hunting injuries. And with Can often away, Edith also hired the skilled swordsman and hunter Falsetto as a backup guard.

Yup, it was a perfect setup!

The big day arrived; it was time for the capital Trader Shop’s wyvern-butchering show.

The venue was the Hunter’s Guild’s butchery. We couldn’t do it at the central plaza, since it would’ve been unhygienic on the dirt, and we wouldn’t have been able to wash the mess away afterward like we could here. Doing it in front of our shop was out of the question, so this was the only option.

Besides, doing it here gave the Hunter’s Guild some clout. The butchery crew—other than Moss, who we’d already recruited—even offered to help for free. That didn’t surprise me, considering it was likely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and something they could brag about moving forward. We still planned to tip them a gold coin each. That was a lavish reward, but this was supposed to be a celebration, so market rate be damned.

Besides, the Trader Shop would be leaning on the Hunter’s Guild and Commerce Guild for regular goods once it was open. The Commerce Guild could auction off materials and still get big profits, and the experience of handling wyvern materials would give them some significant bragging rights.

It was about time.

Oh, there it is...

A custom cart train came into view, linked up and loaded down with the wyvern, pushed by the low-rank hunters and orphans we’d hired. We’d paid them the opening bonus rate of one small gold coin each—worth about ten thousand yen—which was an absolute fortune. Five or six kids joining meant fifty to sixty thousand yen, which was completely unheard of. Sure, the sum was far past market rates, but this was a special gig, and future jobs wouldn’t pay nearly as much.

We’d also invited the staff at the orphanage, so the caretakers and the director had joined as well. They weren’t here to make cash, but just to show their support and gratitude. We’d still pay them, though.

Reiko was with the transport crew, secretly casting gravity-reduction magic. The whole thing would’ve been too heavy otherwise. Fortunately, no one had hauled a wyvern before, and people assumed they didn’t weigh much because they could fly, so no one questioned it.

As the crew appeared, the butchery staff, guild workers, hunters, and onlookers rushed over to help push, eager to see the show or feel like they were part of it. Whatever their reason, everyone was hyped, which was great news for us!

The wyvern reached the butchery, with spectators watching with fascination, some of them eying the potential parts on which they intended to bid.

I kicked off the opening spiel, since it would’ve been too risky to let Kyoko handle it.

“Hello, everyone, thank you for coming to the grand opening event for the Trader Shop’s main capital branch, launched by my good friend, the rising star merchant Salette! Next, we’ll butcher a wyvern—sourced by Salette—with help from the Hunter’s Guild’s butchering specialists, and then we’ll sell the parts right here! The sales will be in auction format—when you bid, please shout loudly and hold up the amount with your fingers!”

The crowd cheered excitedly.

All right, nailed the hook!

“Let’s hear it for the butchery pros!”

I’d phrased it like the guild was helping us for nothing in return and called the butchers “pros” to butter them up. Little gestures like those were important for winning folks over.

And so, the pros started carving. It was their first time with a wyvern, but their years of handling big game showed. Although they struggled at some parts, they went through the process better than I’d expected with their knowledge of anatomy and fundamental techniques. Honestly, I thought they’d have a lot more trouble with it, but they weren’t professionals in the field for nothing.

“Okay, the head is off! We could sell eyes, ears, and other parts piecemeal, but where’s the fun in that? Let’s start the bidding for the whole head from the neck up!”

Yup, let’s get the ball rolling already.

Wyvern tongue and ears were famed delicacies, though hardly anyone had eaten them before. Would it be the chefs who bid on it, or nobles looking for a trophy mount?

“Ten gold coins!”

“Fifteen!”

“Seventeen!”

“Eighteen!”

The bids were climbing nicely. Eighteen gold was around 1.8 million yen. Over a million for just the head, which was a fraction of the body’s weight.

“Twenty!”

“Twenty-two!”

Yup, it’s still rising...wait, no!

This wasn’t about making max profit, but to hype up the crowd, getting the shop’s name out there, and showing we were a fair business. I had to show some finesse as an auctioneer here.

What to do...

“Twenty-five!”

“Thirty!”

The bids were really spiking. They were ramping up the price to shake off the small bidders now. The auction had just started, and we still had plenty of parts to sell. The prices would dip in the later stages, so there was no need to go all in so early.

“Thirty gold, two silver, three small silver!”

Huh?

That was an awfully specific raise. Maybe that was their absolute ceiling?

The other bidders and spectators were chuckling awkwardly.

Oh! Now’s my chance!

“Sold! The wyvern head goes for thirty gold, two silver, and three small silver coins!”

“Whaaaaaat?!”

The room erupted in shocked cries, but I didn’t care.

“Ridiculous! There was a pause because everyone laughed, but there was plenty more to come! Why close it so quickly when the price had much higher to go?!” a chubby, rich-looking guy yelled, clearly having planned to bid higher.

“Doesn’t matter!” I shot back. “This isn’t about making the highest profit possible; it’s our shop’s grand opening and a service to all of our guests! We won’t drag out any bids, and we’ll close as soon as there’s a pause! Now, please turn your attention to the winner!”

At my cue, everyone looked at the bidder.

A skinny man in chef’s garb clutched a coin purse. A boy, around ten years old, stood beside him with a tiny purse of his own. The man’s coin purse likely held thirty gold that he’d scraped together for this day, and presumably, the boy held two silver coins and three small silver coins he’d saved up from his allowance or working.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to cook with wyvern parts. The creature’s tongue, ears, eyes, and cheek meat were all renowned delicacies. The chef had likely maxed out at thirty gold, but someone else had called thirty first, blocking him from making the same bid. Just as he was about to give up, his son had offered him that tiny sum.

The bids would have continued soaring far beyond that price, and they had no chance of winning with that pittance. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to quit without a fight, and he’d raised his one defiant shout, his one war cry, even with the odds completely against him.

The room fell silent. Everyone understood and accepted the situation.

“Today’s auction is all about vibes and service! I’ll decide who wins and when, but it will only go to the top bidder at the moment! Raise your bid before I close, and no one else can snag the item!” I called out. “Now, the next item is ready. Let’s start the bidding for the wyvern’s liver!”

“Ten gold coins!”

“Twelve!”

“Thirteen!”

“Fourteen!”

“Fifteen!”

“Sixteen!”

My spiel seemed to kick the bids back into action, although the raises were in small increments. They called out their bids nonstop, as if afraid a pause would end the whole thing. I hadn’t meant to make it so frantic...

The innards only drew eateries and medicinal wholesalers, but the scales and wing membranes were hot commodities. Armorers, tailors, jewelers, scholars, merchants, noble envoys, and even nobles themselves were yelling their bids. It was total pandemonium...and all the hype made for a great promo.

We’d sold most of the prime parts, leaving just the meat. We’d sold a ton of it, but there was just way too much, and auctioning everything off was a drag. It’d been hours since the show had started too...

Ending here wouldn’t spoil the meat, since we could just stuff the rest in the Item Box, but we had more wyverns stashed in there already. Plus, we would’ve looked stingy if we stopped prematurely when there were so many eager buyers, and we didn’t want to sour the event. Storing the rest also risked exposing the Item Box, and hauling it back knowing the meat would spoil would raise eyebrows. Some folks would probably hound us to sell the meat cheap if that happened, and I didn’t wanna deal with that.

Hmm, what to do... I know!

“Is anyone from the Commerce Guild here?” I asked.

“Yes, right here!” a group replied eagerly.

Yup, no surprise...

“Could you purchase the rest of the meat in bulk? I’m too exhausted to auction off the rest...” I said. “As for the price, let’s see...we sold the good cuts already, and since there’s scrap meat in there too, how about seventy percent of the last bid price per kilo?”

“We’ll take it!” they shouted immediately.

I figured they would. The last bid hadn’t been maxed out, since I’d closed it pretty low. Seventy percent of that was leaving a ton of meat on the bone for their profits, so to speak. Sure, I was tired and wanted to end the auction early, but we also wanted to build a solid relationship with the Commerce Guild.

The Hunter’s Guild? They’d gotten clout from being involved in the auction itself, so they’d be fine. If we’d sold it to them, they would’ve just flipped it to the Commerce Guild anyway, so it would’ve been pointless.

Some folks who’d waited for cheaper meat later in the auction were complaining, but tough luck. True, I’d sped up closings as the day went on, lowering prices as a result, but it wasn’t my problem if they’d misread the outcome. They could just buy from the Commerce Guild anyway, so it wasn’t as if they were completely locked out of getting their hands on some wyvern meat. The guild would hike up the prices, but that was business; this probably wouldn’t fall under their public service duties of mediating for members. Maybe they could toss their staff members a bonus or something.

After the wyvern-butchering show, we returned to the second floor of the Trader Shop main branch. We’d held the show at the Hunter’s Guild butchery, and we’d sold all the leftover meat to the Commerce Guild. We also dumped all of the cleaning on them, claiming they now owned all of the meat scraps too.

The shop opened tomorrow, but we’d known we’d be exhausted today and had already prepped everything yesterday. Therefore, there was no work left for us to do today.

“Good job, team!” Kyoko said.

“Man, I’m wiped...” I groaned.

Sure, the guild pros had handled the carving, but running the auction and yelling nonstop had been absolutely exhausting. Reiko and Kyoko had handled handing off the parts to buyers, but they’d had it light in comparison. People probably thought I was the shop owner... Well, maybe not, considering I was dressed like a priestess.

Sure, I understood I was the right gal for the job. Kyoko and Reiko were terrible at that sort of thing. Kyoko would’ve screwed up the timing for closing bids, dragging things out, and the bidders would’ve tried to walk all over her. And when her irritation hit critical mass, she’d smile sweetly...and the world would end.

In Reiko’s case...I didn’t even wanna think about it.

“That was an amazing promo! Not only did we get the shop’s name out there, but word spread that we have the connections to source a whole wyvern. Folks will think we can stock other rare stuff too...”

“Yup. And we made it clear in front of everyone that Edith, Can, and Falsetto are tied to your shop,” I said.

“That saves us the effort of explaining later, and it’ll be easier for us to maneuver from now on. But...”

“The pests are gonna be all over us!” we chorused.

That was the problem. The Trader Shop crew were all young girls handling ultra-rare, high-value goods, and we’d just made a massive haul today. We were definitely gonna attract some legitimate and not-so-legitimate folks: merchants, nobles, scammers, thugs, and crooks, just to name a few. We’d known that was going to happen from the start, but dragging it out meant we’d have to deal with a slow drip of those pests, so we agreed it was better to blast through them all at once and clear the air. There was no avoiding it, so might as well rip the bandage off quickly. Our defenses we could use openly included Falsetto’s swordsmanship and Reiko’s pseudo-swordsmanship via enhancement magic. We also had covert options, like Kyoko’s ring, bracelet, pendant, belt buckle, and other personal barrier gadgets, microbeam weapons, comm devices, and more, plus my potions and Reiko’s magic. To avoid danger for us and our allies, we’d be making full use of Kyoko’s tech, Reiko’s spells, and my potions and containers.

Even if people found out about some of them, we could just say the Goddess had worked a miracle to save us, and we’d probably be okay. Maybe. Hopefully...

I mean, Edith was a priestess, stray or not. Folks had been calling me a saint lately too. If bad guys attacked, no one would question whose side the Goddess was on.

If things got awkward, we’d just move again and take the Little Silver kids with us. We could donate the Trader Shop branch to the orphanage if that happened. They could turn a pretty decent profit if they got a shop for free with zero labor costs. The guild in that town was pretty solid, and no one would mess with a small shop run by an orphanage. Hunters, thugs, and low-rank guards all counted former orphans among their ranks, and anyone’s kids or grandkids could end up orphaned in this world...

Well, there was no need to stress over worst-case scenarios now. We could just deal with things once they actually happened. Worrying about things prematurely was just wasting time. After all, a maiden’s time was short...though for us three, maybe it wasn’t so short...

“Why not dangle some bait and wipe them out all at once?” Kyoko suggested.

“Kyoko, that’s entrapment. We can’t do that,” Reiko said.

Huh? We can’t?

“Reiko, wouldn’t it just be giving them an opportunity to commit a crime? It’s not as if we’d be encouraging them to break the law, just showing them a little money or information. Normal folks wouldn’t think to steal just because they found out someone else had cash. Only crooks who were on the prowl would actually take that chance,” I said.

“Exactly!” Kyoko agreed.

“But without that chance, they wouldn’t act, right? At least not that time...” Reiko said.

I’d spent enough time with her to know she was going to be against the bait idea.

“Maybe we don’t need to do anything,” I said. “The wyvern alone will spread word that the Trader Shop handles rare stuff, and sharp folks who saw Edith hanging with Can will link Can’s unicorn horn back to the Trader Shop as well. Naturally, they’ll assume today’s sales will go to the shop’s vault too. And when the shop opens tomorrow...”

“The shop’s stock and product list will be available to the public...”

Yup, juicy bait would be out in the open either way.

Reiko shrugged in resignation. There wasn’t much she could do about that.

“Wh-What?! The wyvern butchering-show that everyone was talking about was run by the Ange—I mean, that priestess?!”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the chancellor said. “That shop had been starting to gain fame among hobbyists as a small backwater business selling rare goods, but then they opened a branch in the capital. And their opening promotional event was...”

“A wyvern-butchering show...”

“Exactly. We thought it would be a fake, such as a big bird or paper doll stuffed with orc meat or cheap candy for kids, or an orc named ‘Wyvern.’ We figured the commoners wouldn’t complain about meat being sold cheaply for promotional purposes, so we ignored it, but...”

“With the priestess running it, it must have been real...”

“Indeed...and about sourcing that wyvern...”

“She must have been involved...”

“Most certainly. Should we inform the troublesome upper- and mid-level nobles and major merchants about her? It would cut down sharply on the chances of trouble arising, and even if something did happen, someone in the know could quash it early,” the chancellor suggested, but the king’s face darkened.

“No, widening the circle that far would all but guarantee the information getting leaked. It wouldn’t be long before it spread to every citizen, then to other nations. And those with nothing to lose are unpredictable. Don’t forget the last beloved child of the Goddess lost her life being attacked twice by Rueda’s former priests! And if it wasn’t for the guardian of the continent, Fearsome Fran, repeatedly slapping the Goddess Celestine, this landmass wouldn’t even exist today,” he said. “Fearsome Fran is old now and stuck in her homeland. If catastrophe struck again, who could possibly stop the Goddess Celestine?!”

The chancellor fell silent, unable to argue.

The part about Fran repeatedly slapping Celestine was a theatrical myth, but the people believed it was something Fran would’ve actually done, so it had been widely accepted as fact.

“Those with something to lose, like their family or status, can’t be trusted either,” the king went on. “What if their beloved wife or child was dying? Watching them suffer as their life faded away, do you think they could resist rushing to the priestess for help when they knew she could heal them instantly? Could every noble, merchant, and commoner who caught wind of the news hold back?”

“It would likely be impossible...” the chancellor answered.

“I’m not sure I would be able to resist either,” the king nodded. “Actually, I’ve already built ties with her... I would try to talk my way into having her help. Yes, that’s it! If my family is ever in dire straits, I’ll beg for her mercy. Surely, she wouldn’t brush off a king’s plea...”

“Your Majesty, that’s unfair! Then please help my wife and kids as well—ah...”

“See? Even you would crack,” the king said. “Do you think the lower nobles, merchants, and average commoners could resist?”

“No, they couldn’t...”

“Exactly. If salvation was there, they would grab it. Those who were saved would be grateful, but the others would wonder, ‘Why not my family?’ They wouldn’t simply lack gratitude, but anger and hatred would fester within them.”

“I fear you’re absolutely right, Your Majesty...”

And so, the priestess’s secret stayed locked away, known only to a select few...

It was time for the grand opening! “Of what?” one might wonder. Kyoko—er, Salette the merchant’s Trader Shop main capital branch!

Everyone was hyped thanks to yesterday’s wyvern-butchering show, and the displays were well stocked. There were goods Kyoko had collected solo while flying around the world in her dinghy before reuniting with us, stuff we’d found on our first group trip in ages, items crafted in Kyoko’s mothership workshop, and my potion containers. We had a perfectly varied lineup of products that were super rare but not too outlandish for this world. The prices were sky-high too. We didn’t want to get swamped with low-margin, high-volume sales, and rare items that would draw influential folks weren’t gonna come cheap. If we set our prices too low, those goods would be snatched up by scalpers and wouldn’t reach the people they were intended for. Plus, ultra-pricey goods would deter thugs and shady merchants...probably.

I mean, it was natural to assume that shops handling such high-end items would have some powerful backing, like high-status nobles and royals. And presumably, causing trouble with such a business would draw attention from all around the capital, right? So, crooks who wanted to keep a low profile wouldn’t try any funny business unless they were willing to risk trouble with some bigwigs. That was our assumption, anyway. We three were raised in peaceful Japan, so we didn’t really understand how thugs, criminals, shady merchants, and corrupt aristocrats thought.

There was a massive line snaking around outside even before opening. They probably saw yesterday’s show and figured we were selling rare goods for cheap, so they wanted to scoop them up to resell at a profit.

Too bad!

I mean, sure, we sold rare goods, but at fair prices. We weren’t dumb enough to have a fire sale for scalpers. That’d be a ton of work for us just to enrich vultures. The high-profile buyers we were targeting would pay any amount for the things they wanted, so setting high prices was no problem. In fact, it was better to set our prices slightly above market value to weed out randos and hit our marks. Unlike our branch store (the former main shop), the capital shop wasn’t for selling to the general public.

Besides, there wasn’t really a “market price” for ultra-rare goods that no one could get their hands on. If we auctioned them off, the sky was the limit, so we didn’t just put them on our shelves for a fixed price. If we did, we’d have to set the price at around eighty percent of the expected max bid. That was why those goods were priced as they were.

The shop opened, and customers came stampeding in—or they were about to before glares from me and Falsetto stopped them in their tracks. As they filed in in an orderly fashion, they glanced at the price tags and shouted in unison.

“So expensive!!!”

No, we weren’t ripping anyone off. We kept prices at about eighty percent of what they’d fetch if we auctioned them off. The items were just that valuable.

Stocking things this pricey took guts. Auctions were a gamble. Sometimes they heated up and prices went crazy high, but other times, if there was only one person who wanted an item by any means possible, they could close dirt cheap. Of course, setting the initial price too high could end up with no bidders at all. That kind of thing escalated with the vibe of the room as bidding wars heated up, so kicking things off with a high price could ruin it before it even started.

Say a painting sold for a billion yen after an epic auction battle—if the starting bid was eight hundred million, would anyone jump in without hesitation? Knowing rivals saw value in the item was key to getting people caught up in the race. If the seller started it at eight hundred million and there weren’t any bids, it would make people question whether they should buy it at all. This was especially true if one didn’t know its true worth, didn’t need it, or just wanted to flip it for profit. If they bought something from us and tried to resell it to someone else, they might haggle or push demands that couldn’t be refused due to their status. These items didn’t guarantee big profits; in fact, one bad move could mean huge losses. Plus, everyone knew these items came from us, so the original price was obvious. If we had more of the same item or subsequently restocked our shelves, folks knew they could just buy cheaper from us.

After yesterday’s auction, any rare goods hitting the market would be assumed to be from our shop. Our shop was famous after that stunt, so they’d definitely check if the rare item in question was sourced from us.

So, no one would be able to resell our goods for much higher than our prices. There wasn’t any incentive for buyers to go into a frenzy over our wares. Yup, that would be a big letdown for middleman buyers, but anyone who had to have a legendary item to save a sick kid, for example, would be able to buy it without any issues. Folks who didn’t care about cost—like top nobles, royals, big merchant bosses, or show-offs who wanted to spend big for clout—would also have access if they wanted. A few bold resellers might try at first, but they’d vanish if we kept restocking the same items days later at lower prices a few times.

Looks like the reseller crowd is pretty disappointed.

They probably thought yesterday’s generous auction meant there’d be deals today too. Meanwhile, the folks who came just to gawk at rare stuff seemed to get their fill and chatted happily with their friends. We weren’t here to steal customers from other shops or get swamped, so we didn’t stock much of what regular stores carried. I mean, we carried some, but not much. Those were priced a bit higher than other shops, so it was unlikely that there’d be buyers.

We also sold handy little tools and gadgets made on Kyoko’s mothership, and those were priced pretty reasonably. They were decent products for decent prices, not amazing enough that we’d get crowds fighting over them. Things like hand mixers and precision tweezers for splinters. Fish scalers...wouldn’t be much use here with the sea so far away, so we skipped those. Basically, the kind of stuff you’d find at a hundred-yen shop. I expected them to move a bit.

This main capital shop, unlike the branch shop (former main shop), wasn’t for regular folks. There were no cheap goods here. We stocked slightly pricey conveniences, really pricey quality items, and super pricey rarities. It was also designed so it was fun to browse even without buying anything. We had detailed item descriptions with instructions and trivia, so literate folks could enjoy just by looking. Kind of like Hands, I guess.

And, of course, our security was ironclad. This wasn’t a fruit stand; one instance of shoplifting or a smash-and-grab could cost us dozens of gold coins. More importantly, letting something like that slide would make the shop look weak. Dozens or hundreds of gold coins in losses was bearable, but we couldn’t let others think we were pushovers. Never!

This was a shop run by underage-looking girls; the moment we looked like pushovers, it’d all be over. We’d be swarmed by crooks and eaten alive in the blink of an eye. That was why we had to exterminate every little pest. Besides, “shoplifting” was too soft of a term. Those folks were chronic thieves. In this world, chopping off the criminal’s right hand was the standard punishment, wasn’t it? Or was that for pickpocketing? Maybe theft was an even heavier punishment.

Oh, and “bullying” needed to be called out for what it was too. Punching someone was battery. Tearing up someone else’s notebooks or textbooks was vandalism. Hiding shoes was theft. Extorting cash was blackmail or robbery. Teachers didn’t have the power to investigate or arrest offenders, so reporting to them was pointless. They didn’t want to deal with trouble or liability and so they forced victims to suck it up. There were even teachers who encouraged bullying, thinking it was a good way for the class to bond at the cost of one scapegoat. So, these things needed to be reported to the police, directly to the department that handled those kinds of crimes. And not just a local station, but a major precinct. If the cop didn’t take it seriously, you had to demand to see their badge, check their name, and call the prefectural police’s inspection office. They had to show their full badge with the photo, rank, and name fully visible. Every cop knew they had to show their badge when asked. If they refused, it was one’s civic duty to call 110 and report them as a fake cop.

That was Reiko’s style, which was way better than facing Kyoko’s wrath. But this world didn’t have police stations or inspection offices. So if Reiko or Kyoko were to snap, there was nothing to stop them and no one to pass the buck to. I’d have to handle it myself...which was a scary thought.

Anyway, this shop showed thieves no mercy. Signs out front read: “No mercy for thieves” and “Abandon all hope, ye who steal here.” We even had illustrated signs and looping audio warnings for those who couldn’t read. The recordings sounded like someone was talking behind a thin wall. There were little tricks like pauses, sips of tea, and swapping voices to really sell the experience.

High-value items were chained to displays or had a sign saying, “This is a replica. Please ask to see the real thing,” or just paper listings with names, illustrations, and prices without any actual stock out. Plus, we had cats and birds perched on the shelves, keeping an eye on things. Outside, we had a big dog lounging by a sign that read, “Guard. I’m ferocious, y’know.” Not chained, of course. They were thrilled to get to work.

Beyond stationing the animals as lookouts, pricey items had micro-trackers and alarms that blared if taken outside without the devices being removed first, and hidden cameras were set up everywhere. All from Kyoko’s mothership, of course. We couldn’t show footage or trackers as evidence to local law enforcement, but that was fine. It wasn’t as if we needed to convince the townsfolk of crimes being committed; we just needed to know who the thief was. Yup, we were the judges here.

It didn’t matter if they were a merchant’s goon, a noble’s lackey, or a minion from the royal family. If they stole our high-value goods and didn’t return to their bosses, it was probably because they got into a fight with their buddies or got jumped by someone. We’d be the victims, so there was no reason for us to be blamed. And somehow, their employers would face divine punishment. “Somehow!” Weird, right? A few of those mysterious incidents, and the shady types would probably back off.

Anyway, our opening day wrapped up without any issues.

We didn’t sell much, which was expected with a lineup mainly consisting of “unsellable” goods. A shop selling rare gems wouldn’t be packed all day every day, after all. Our stock was too niche for things to be flying off the shelves like a department store bargain sale.

So, that was it for our first day. I figured the real action with customers and pests would come in a few days.

And so, it was day two of our opening.

There wasn’t a huge crowd of customers lined up today. Curiosity seekers usually showed up on day one, so foot traffic was expected to taper off. Plus, with fair prices being too risky for resellers with no real need, the rush to buy fizzled out as they hunted for better deals elsewhere.

Yup, for anyone but folks who really wanted our stuff, this was just a shop with fancy goods, not a goldmine for flipping goods. Now, the only visitors other than legitimate customers would be idiots and crooks, and those types would probably come a bit later. They’d typically watch and wait for a while, because they’d need time to prepare. Real customers needed to check if we were trustworthy, and criminals would wait for the vault to fill or take time to come up with a scheme to fleece us.

I figured we should prep some other stuff while things were quiet.

“Kyoko, can you make us a small craft on your mothership?” I asked.

“Sure, but...you can’t use the existing dinghy or mini vessel?” she replied.

The mini vessel was a dinghy of sorts too, but Kyoko’s mothership had “dinghies” that were pretty big by Earth standards, so we distinguished them from mini vessels, transport crafts, fighters, and such.

“Yeah, those are kinda big. I was thinking something smaller and easier to handle.”

Yup, everything on Kyoko’s mothership was huge. Each craft was much smaller than her dinghy, but even the single-seat fighters were pretty big. They were designed for space or harsh uncharted planets, so they were armed and tough, with powerful engines, thick armor, and emergency supplies on board. It was no wonder they were so big. They were probably built with crew safety prioritized above all else, with safety margins maxed out, but they were way overkill for short, stealthy hops on a habitable planet. What I wanted now wasn’t a Lamborghini, an armored car, or a big rig—just a daily driver like a compact car or moped—and no, not a nuclear-powered moped.

“We’ve got the Item Box, so no need for cargo space. No airtight seals or heavy armor either. We can use the bigger crafts when those are needed. I want something small, quiet, and fast, for sneaky daytime trips; something easy for me or Reiko to pilot... Something like a Meteor, I guess. A two-seater with cloaking to go invisible or disguise itself as a rock, with some sort of shield to prevent tampering when parked, autopilot, perfect safety system, and comes to us when called. Oh, and no need to get all bendy when driving through rocks and concrete walls!”

“Yeah, I’ve felt bad making Kyoko drive us around for long trips,” Reiko agreed. “The current dinghy and mini vessel are big. Even with invisibility, we can’t hop in or out during the day or near people. A small, discreet craft we can both use would be handy, for sure.”

I knew she’d be on the same page. Even invisible, it felt off when there was a huge mass nearby because of the way it affected airflow or sunlight. So for secrecy and to spare Kyoko trouble, this was a necessity. It’d make it easier for us to visit the kids at Little Silver too.

“I see... That makes sense,” Kyoko said. “I’ll come up with some choices from the mothership’s database, then we can pick out some options and customize them to our needs. The computer will handle design and fabrication... Wait, wouldn’t it be faster to make it as a potion container, Kaoru?”

“That’d be cheating. I don’t wanna overdo it,” I said. “Sure, I’d use that method for emergencies or saving lives without hesitation, but when we’ve got a legit workshop in your mothership, using materials mined by robots from other planets or asteroid belts, it’s...not breaking this world’s rules as much. Your mothership is kinda cheating too, but it’s using existing tools to make stuff, so I figure it’s better than popping things into existence as potion containers...”

“Kaoru’s always been stupidly serious about that kinda thing...” Reiko pointed out.

“Yeah, she can be real empty-hea— I mean, thickheaded.”

What’s that, Kyoko?!

“Don’t mix those two terms up! Ever!” I barked.

“So, I pulled some designs from the database,” Kyoko said, bringing a stack of blueprints and mock-ups. “A two-seater ultra-compact craft, a four-seater for when all three of us need to go somewhere, ground vehicles like bikes and cars... We have types that use tires and types that can hover. Hovercrafts are split into flying car and gravity-neutralizing types. Also, we have water-skimming crafts, submersibles, and more. For emergencies, like evacuating the kids at Little Silver, the existing mini vessel, transport, and dinghy would be safer, right?”

“Uh, right...”

That was a lot of options. They all sounded interesting, but we couldn’t exactly go with all of them. Gravity neutralization had to be safer and more comfortable to ride than tires, but if someone was to see us, floating in the air would be a lot harder to explain than a wheeled vehicle... But come to think of it, even wheels would be a problem without an animal pulling the vehicle.

“Why don’t we try all sorts of prototypes?” Kyoko suggested.

“Sure, let’s do that,” Reiko agreed.

Seriously? All of them?

Well, Kyoko just had to tell her mothership’s computer to do it, so it wouldn’t be much of a hassle. The onboard factory would automatically churn them out once ordered. If resources ran low, robots would mine nearby planets or asteroids, or sneak onto this one at night. Tireless little guys.

All of this had started because Kyoko’s question about teleportation creating a copy at the destination and the original person dying had freaked us out. The alternative was to warp space itself, but that sort of tech was forbidden by Celes because it was likely to cause distortions. Reiko had gotten strict warnings about it when Celes had granted her magic...or rather, science-backed powers.

And so, we got a few different types of useful crafts. Each of us got one of each type, stored in the Item Box when not in use, ready to pull out anytime and anywhere.

Now, getting to Little Silver was gonna be a breeze!

“We’re back!”

“Welcome home!” the kids replied.

Yup, with the prototype crafts done, I’d headed back to Little Silver for a test run after closing.

Reiko and Kyoko had stayed at the shop, even though crooks would probably come during business hours if they were to harass us. But someone could be planning a nighttime theft, robbery, or kidnapping, so we needed at least two people holding the fort. With our airtight security and those two merciless girls on watch, there was no need to worry... Actually, maybe I should’ve worried about any potential intruder’s physical and mental well-being, or maybe their life.

I was just here for a quick overnight check on the kids and would be home before the shop opened in the morning. Leaving the shop to those two felt unfair...to the customers. Falsetto stayed too, but she always left her hands free to block any blades or arrows that may come our way, radiating menace to those around her. Not exactly employee material... No customer would ask a sword-wielding, armored woman oozing murderous vibes for product details. They’d probably assume she was a hired sword to ward off thugs.

Falsetto had tried to insist on coming with me, but I’d explained I had no enemies in Little Silver’s town, and the lord and townsfolk there looked after me. I had to explain repeatedly that hardly anyone there could even hurt me if they’d wanted to.

I’d said “hardly” because last time I’d claimed “never,” and she’d countered by bringing up what had happened seventy-four years ago. Besides, if she agreed that I was a hundred percent safe, it’d be like saying the role of Einherjar was meaningless...and she was never gonna do that.

This time, I’d used the two-seater ultra-compact craft. It had a throttle, brake, and stick for controls; super simple, even for me and Reiko. It autocorrected on turns so there wouldn’t be any sliding around, and we didn’t have to worry about messing with rudders or whatever. In fact, it didn’t even have a rudder, an elevator, or ailerons. It was kind of nuts that a flying craft had brakes on it in the first place...though it probably just reversed the thrust instead of stopping acceleration with physical brake pads.

It wouldn’t crash if stopped in midair either. It didn’t use wings for lift—it actually had no wings at all. No rear thrusters either. It likely floated using gravity neutralization or antigravity. The thrust probably came from bending gravity or something else entirely... It could hover, reverse, and even move sideways. What was this thing, a helicopter?!

It was best not to think of it as Earth tech...because it wasn’t. I didn’t need to understand this stuff anyway. What percentage of drivers on Earth fully grasped engines and gearboxes? They didn’t need a comprehensive understanding of their inner workings to drive a car. Besides, this craft had an autopilot, a safety system, collision avoidance, and monitor systems built in. It was foolproof... Not that I’m a fool!

Like presses needing two buttons pushed at the same time or microwaves that wouldn’t run with the door open, the design was fully idiotproof... Though there were idiots out there who still caused accidents, like people who disabled blaring alarms because they were annoying or microwaved a wet cat to dry it. There was nothing you could do about outright stupidity. I felt bad for managers and safety officers getting flak for those cases...

Anyway, swarmed by the kids, I headed to the tatami-like room. We couldn’t lie around on the floor together unless it was a room with no shoes allowed.

I’ll have to heat up some bath water later...

These kids never bathed unless we were around, saying it was a waste of firewood. We’d built such a big bathhouse and they weren’t even using it... But that should change with Reiko and Kyoko visiting more. Our trips would each be shorter, but things should balance out once matters were settled with the main shop.

“What? You started producing more dried and smoked goods? You’re scouting new clients too? And cut rest periods to just half a day a week? Take a break! Didn’t we tell you to take two days off a week?! You think we’re happy about you working more? Of course not! We feel awful about overworking you kids! Oh, no... Don’t look so sad! Don’t cry! Don’t cry!!!”

“I’m back...” I said.

“Oh, welcome home. How’d the ultra-compact craft handle? Are the kids okay?” Kyoko asked cheerfully.

I slumped, too drained to answer.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen? Kaoru? Kaoru!”

“And that’s what happened...” I said, exhausted.

“Ah...” Reiko and Kyoko replied.

“Those kids are too serious for their own good,” Reiko added. “Or maybe not working makes them anxious. They’re probably afraid we’ll think of them as useless and abandon them and they won’t be able to feed themselves anymore. Or maybe it’s ingrained in them that the little ones will go hungry if the able-bodied kids don’t work hard. I’m sure they had enough to eat at the orphanage, but it’s not as if they were born there. Who knows what life before the orphanage was like for them...”

Kyoko and I went quiet. The kids still didn’t trust us enough to spend their days without worries. Had they been living in fear all this time, worried we’d abandon them at any moment? We still seemed to be far off from fixing the way they became emotionally unstable when we were gone for ten days or more, even though they’d improved a lot. Early on, they’d gone into a full-blown panic when we passed out drunk in our underground headquarters and they couldn’t find us in the morning. It was only recently that they’d learned to tolerate our absence for a week to ten days. Also, even though they feared we might abandon them, they were reassured by the presence of Scary and Hang, because they were certain we couldn’t leave such pricey horses behind.

I dunno how I feel about that...

Side Story: Kaoru and Reiko Take On a Normal Gig

“Kao—Edith, are you really coming too?”

“Yup!”

Reiko...or rather, the C-Rank Hunter known as Can, decided to take on a regular job from the Hunter’s Guild to maintain her hunter qualifications. Apparently, you had to complete a certain amount of work to avoid being labeled a “paper hunter” or “ghost hunter”...which were like paper drivers or ghost members who signed up but never showed up.

So Reiko took on regular jobs from time to time. She could’ve just handed in some random items from her Item Box to fulfill ongoing material-gathering jobs, but Reiko and Kyoko had this idea in their heads that hunters should take on proper jobs from the request board.

I kind of got where they were coming from. If you wanted to build a name or climb the ranks, it wasn’t enough to just turn in rare materials. You had to take on standard monster-hunting jobs too, or so I’d heard...though Reiko was already working as my bodyguard, so she already had a “legit” hunter job covered there.

Anyway, if this was something she wanted to do, I wasn’t gonna stop her. So, I decided to tag along to see what it was all about.

“It’s the maiden...”

“The maiden pure enough to approach a unicorn...”

We heard the whispers as soon as we stepped into the Hunter’s Guild, and Reiko’s face turned bright red—though I couldn’t tell if it was from anger or embarrassment.

Come on, Reiko, that’s not like you!

In any case, we were here to pick up a normal gig, so we headed to the request board. We’d arrived at an odd hour, so the good requests that hunters usually fought over were already gone. We weren’t here for goblin culling or orc meat deliveries. We wanted something interesting—maybe a request that had been sitting on the board for ages with no takers. That was why we came at this quiet time, avoiding the morning rush when new requests got posted. It wasn’t about the reward; we weren’t strapped for cash or anything. If we needed funds, we could just deliver something out of the Item Box. This was about building Can’s reputation and doing something fun that’d make the client happy.

As we scanned the old, untouched requests, something caught our eye:

“Capture a lone unicorn-like creature spotted in the Black Forest.”

“What?! There shouldn’t be any unicorns around here... Oh, that’s why everyone was staring at Can earlier!”

Yup, this wasn’t an old request—it was brand-new, according to the posting date. The Black Forest was a dangerous place, and unicorns supposedly only approached pure maidens. Of course, that was just a rumor, and a false one at that. Still, Reiko—er, Can—had a history of turning in unicorn horns, so it was no wonder everyone was eyeing her.

There were extra details in tiny letters:

“A lone unicorn that only approaches young girls and doesn’t belong to a herd. For now, this unicorn will be dubbed ‘lonely unicorn,’ or ‘lolicorn’ for short.”

“‘Lolicorn’ my ass! What kind of idiot would even put this on the request form?!”

Oops.

I shouted without thinking, and the entire guild went dead silent. I was in my priestess outfit as Edith, and I couldn’t afford to tarnish the reputation of priestesses by acting crude.

“Rei—Can, this request...”

“I’m not taking it!” Reiko cut me off sharply.

Honestly, I didn’t want to get involved in this nonsense either, and unicorns weren’t even invasive. It would’ve been cruel to hunt them down like goblins or orcs. They were intelligent, and their numbers were dwindling; they were an endangered species that should be protected. It wasn’t hard to imagine what’d happen to a captured unicorn. At best, they’d just take its horn, but they’d likely also take its liver and heart. They might even drain its blood daily, just enough to keep it alive. It was said that unicorns were imbued with divinity, and that their flesh and blood could be used to make life-extending medicine. It was pure superstition, of course, and unicorn parts had no effect whatsoever. Even Longevity Medicine was more effective.

“Next!”

We moved on, scanning through the other requests. The guild was still quiet, and the area around the request board was deserted, even though a few people had been there earlier.

“Look at this one,” Reiko asked, pointing.

“‘Wyvern material delivery. Preferably one whole wyvern.’ This is basically a direct request for Kyoko’s shop...” I said.

“The lolicorn one was directed at us too.”

“Don’t call it a lolicorn!”

Reiko’s and Kyoko’s disguises, Can and Salette, looked about fifteen or sixteen, but my Edith form looked around twelve or thirteen. We couldn’t make our disguises too different from our real bodies, because it’d feel off when we touched things or moved, and our eye levels would seem unnatural. I’d chosen my fifteen-year-old body for this world, but I ended up looking twelve or thirteen here due to racial differences. There wasn’t much I could do about that. Reiko and Kyoko looked petite for their age too, but still got pegged as mid-teens. As for me, I was always assumed to be twelve or thirteen.

Why?! What part of me looks preteen to them, huh?! What a load of crap!!!

Anyway, if anyone was gonna be bait for a lolicorn, it’d be me, assuming it didn’t mind my less-than-friendly eyes... Ugh, shut it!

In the end, we grabbed a random request off the board and took it to the counter. There wasn’t anything particularly exciting, and the interesting ones were either reserved for top-tier hunters or were impossible tasks...like the ones related to unicorns, wyverns, or dragons. We could’ve taken those if this was just about boosting Can’s fame or raking in money, but our backstory was that I, as Edith, was tagging along to watch my bodyguard’s work out of curiosity. And, well, that was actually true. Who wouldn’t want to see some monster hunting action? My potion powers weren’t suited for one-on-one fights, so I’d be too scared to hunt alone without a strong frontline fighter like Reiko. No way we’d take on something crazy like a dragon hunt with a spectator like me in tow.

“Uh...”

The receptionist stared at the request form Can handed over.

“The lolicorn and wyvern requests...”

“We’re not taking those!” we both snapped.

So they really were aimed at Can after all... They weren’t the kind of jobs you could do on the side while working as my bodyguard anyway. I’d heard the Black Forest was a significant distance from this country and full of high-tier monsters. How were we supposed to capture a unicorn alive and transport it through a roadless forest? Sure, we could use an Item Box, but still.

As for wyverns, they flew high in the sky, and finding one was nearly impossible. Well, we had a few in our Item Box and could easily take one down with an airship, but it was Mission: Impossible for the average hunter.

“We’re...taking...this one!” I glared.

“Y-Yes, of course...” the receptionist said and processed the request.

Should’ve just done your job in the first place!

“So, the job is to hunt and deliver materials from an orthrus, a two-headed dog monster...” Reiko said casually.

“This is one of those cold requests no one wants to touch, isn’t it? A dangerous, impossible one...”

Sure, we were fine with old or tricky requests, but only the kind that were tough because the requested item was hard to find or transport, not ones involving deadly combat. Weren’t we supposed to avoid dangerous jobs? We weren’t talking about a kobold here, but the two-headed hound Orthrus. Back on Earth, it was on the same level as Cerberus, the legendary hellhound... Though I wasn’t sure if Cerberus in this world was the same as the one from Greek mythology.

“Oh, speaking of two-headed, I used to think ‘double-headed eagle’ was ‘trouble-headed eagle’...” Reiko said out of nowhere.

“Well, I guess that’s better than me... I thought it was ‘double-headed beagle,’” I said.

We both fell silent. Everyone had an embarrassing story or two from their past, right?

We used an airship to travel but decided to hunt the old-fashioned way without magic or tech. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be getting the real hunting experience. It would’ve been pointless if we just spotted our prey with the ship’s sensors and blasted them with its beam weapon. So, we planned to take our time and camp out for a few days. Our tents, beds, toilets, and other stuff came from our Item Box, of course. We weren’t gonna compromise there.

We cloaked the airship in optical camouflage and sent it up above while Reiko and I made our way through the forest with weapons in hand and personal barriers from Kyoko deployed. We were ready for a leisurely hike, treating it as exercise and fully intending to take a few days to find our prey.

“There! Found an orthrus!”

“Already?!”

Welp, guess we’ll camp for two or three days, enjoy the forest, and maybe bag some other prey.

You could never have too many high-tier monsters. We could sell their parts to the guild or at Kyoko’s shop. Oh, we could treat the kids at Little Silver to some rare meat too. Maybe we’d get the guild’s butchers to prep it or give the job to some rookie hunters.

“Okay, let’s spend two nights and three days out here on a hunting spree!”

“Yeah!”

Afterword

It’s been a while. This is FUNA.

Some time has passed since the last volume, but here we are with the release of volume 11 of the I Shall Survive Using Potions! novel! Finally, the descendants and followers of Kaoru’s allies from the “first season,” or pre-Item Box era, have gathered! They all revere Kaoru, but they’re not exactly a united front, with their rivalries and desires to bring Kaoru back to their own countries. And now, a new base has been established in the royal capital, and Kaoru’s crew is starting to make their moves in the shadows...

Kaoru: “Everything’s set up perfectly.”

Reiko: “Kaoru, you’re not going to repeat the same mistakes from over seventy years ago, right?”

Kaoru: “It’ll be fine! Probably... Just trust me and hop on this sinking ship!”

Reiko: “There’s nothing ‘fine’ about a sinking ship!”

Kyoko: “I’m kinda worried...”

Kaoru and her friends are steadily building allies to prepare for the possibility of people in power targeting them or Little Silver. The pests really start swarming them in the next volume as they kick their activities into high gear! Kyoko’s patience wears thin, and though everyone thought she was the most normal of the trio, she finally shows a glimpse of her terrifying side...

Kaoru: “The world’s gonna end...”

Reiko: “No mercy for crooks...”

It’s been nine years since I debuted as a novelist. Across my three series (Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!, Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for My Retirement, and I Shall Survive Using Potions!), including their manga adaptations and spin-offs by other creators, this volume marks my eighty-second published work. My novels alone account for forty-one of those, averaging about four and a half books per year. That’s roughly one book every two and a half months, though I’ve published seven books in a year before, and three in another...

There are peaks and valleys with release schedules, with holidays like New Year’s, Obon, and Golden Week, and I had to work on publishing tasks beyond just writing. Honestly, I think that’s a pretty good pace! And in nine years as a full-time author, I’ve never missed a single deadline! Yes, I’ve done well, if I do say so myself! Next target: reaching my tenth year as a writer and hitting a hundred published works!

To make that happen, please support I Shall Survive Using Potions! the novel, the main manga series, and the spin-off manga I Shall Survive Using Potions! Hanano and Lotte’s Journey (two volumes total)! And alongside 80k Gold and Average Abilities, please continue to cheer on my trio of flat-chested, preteen-looking heroines!

To my editor, the illustrator and spin-off manga artist Sukima, the main manga artist Onshin Futsuu, the cover designer, proofreaders, typesetters, printers, distributors, bookstores, the staff of the novel submission site Shosetsuka ni Naro (Let’s Become a Novelist), everyone who pointed out typos or offered advice and ideas, and of course, all of you who picked up this book, I appreciate you from the bottom of my heart.

Thank you very much!

I hope to see you again in the next volume...

FUNA