Chapter 45: Return

“Shameless? You’re calling me shameless when I’m asking for the minimum required powers to find Kaoru, in your stead, after you lost sight of her and didn’t even bother to search?”

“Uhh... Wait, what? Find Kaoru? But her soul and presence are completely gone now...”

“You’re not the one who gets to decide that. It isn’t as if you confirmed that in the Akashic Records, right?”

“Oh, well, no. A lesser being of my level doesn’t have access to the Akashic Records... Though, my main body could check them if absolutely necessary... I can only look up very limited and simple records pertaining to this specific planet.”

It was just as the Earth God had said.

“Then there’s a chance. The possibility isn’t zero.”

“...”

The Goddess grew silent.

“Can you please tell me what you know and explain how it happened?”

“...V-Very well...”

Regarding the bonus perks, it seemed like she had vaguely agreed with my terms...right? Okay, then. I’ll show everyone that the Kuon family doesn’t know what it means to give up!

“So, this is the alternate world of Verny. The world where Kaoru is...”

Yes, it’s the world where she is, not where she was. We won’t ever give up, no matter what happens...

And off in the distance, I could see the capital of the Kingdom of Brancott, Aras. The place where Kaoru disappeared...

All right, time to test out my powers!

If I tried using magic without practicing first, it could end pretty badly. Really, though, this so-called “magic” was supposedly just an explicable phenomenon backed by science. It wasn’t as if magical fairies were going to appear or anything. I didn’t know how exactly it was scientific, but you know what they say... “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

I decided not to think too deeply about it.

“Water Ball...”

Whoa, a blob of water appeared! This means I don’t need to carry a canteen around or worry about dying of thirst!

“Fire Ball...”

Good, I could use this for cooking and prevent myself from freezing to death! And now...

“Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows...”

...Nope, nothing happened!

Those mountains in the distance had a huge hole gouged out of them before I got here! Yes, I’m sure that’s it.

Now, off to the royal capital I go!

I paid the gate guard three silver coins and made it into the royal capital of Aras safely. This value of three silver coins supposedly hadn’t changed for a long time, and neither had the price of admission. And so, I continued straight ahead toward the royal palace.

Of course, a commoner couldn’t just waltz into the royal palace... Unless you went through a specific section, that is. Indeed, it was the area known as the Sacred Ground.

Lady Kaoru the Angel... Also known as the Goddess of another world by a select few... Sheesh, just what was that girl doing...?

Anyway, the Sacred Ground was the place where Kaoru had sacrificed herself and ascended to the heavens to prevent a war between the Kingdoms of Balmore and Brancott. The boulder that was said to have crushed Kaoru had fit perfectly into the hole in the ground, making it impossible to remove by lifting it out. They did manage to open a hole that was about the same size next to it and roll the boulder aside, but they only found her unrecognizable, carbonized remains...

Those ashes were still carefully preserved as holy relics.

Only the route leading to the Sacred Ground was open for visitors to enter freely, though it was surrounded by strong walls. The building that included the former audience room was now treated like a temple, and a new building had been constructed next to it to be used as a new palace, with a replacement audience room.

I slipped in with the general visitors and observed the Sacred Ground for some time, then left the royal palace. I had to secure an inn and get some food, of course. My work would come after everyone went to bed.

Late into the night...

I quietly left the inn and went into the royal palace. The Sacred Ground was open during the day, but it was understandably closed off after dark. Fortunately, such security measures were completely pointless in the face of magic.

“Invisibility Field!”

A spell that made me vanish...though, there was probably a scientific explanation for how it worked, like enabling visible light to pass through my body or bending space somehow. Whatever it did, it allowed me to be completely undetectable to the naked eye, and I walked right past the soldiers and into the building.

I used magic to open the locked door, then pushed it open just enough to slip inside. Once I was inside the empty building, I used magic to allow myself to see in the dark. Then I continued toward the “Sacred Room”...

“Let’s see...”

There were no soldiers standing guard inside the building, so I could get away with making some comments to myself.

The exterior was well-guarded enough, and no one would try to sneak into the Sacred Ground to steal anything, anyway. This was a world where the Goddess existed, after all. And a goddess that could be somewhat harsh against people who annoyed her, at that.

The god of Earth had only heard a second-hand report from the goddess of this world, Lady Celestine, and she was in such a depressed and fretful state that she could hardly explain what had happened. As such, he’d had to piece together bits and pieces of information that she managed to get out. It seemed the Goddess Celestine wasn’t the most articulate.

According to her, Kaoru’s soul and presence had completely vanished, and couldn’t be detected even after widening her search range. She had thus concluded that Kaoru was gone for good, but...

This was coming from someone who had only known Kaoru for less than five years or so. In other words, it was too hasty a decision, given that it involved Kaoru. She would never die and leave us behind like that. Just like she had last time...

Kaoru will surely be waiting for us...

I had heard everything. I asked questions over and over, right down to the finest of details. About the body and powers that Kaoru had acquired... And the specifics of the situation when the incident had occurred.

At that moment, what would Kaoru have done? After thinking through it for so long, I had reached a conclusion.

Where was the spot where it was last opened? It was only natural to assume that whatever was closest to the spot where it was opened would be the last thing that was put in there.

So...

“Time-space oscillation magic! Create a tremor through dimensions to force open dimensional storage (Item Box) synced to someone else’s psychic waves! Open, dimensional door!”

Vwoom...

A tremble ran through space, causing the world to distort. Then, a giant dimensional tremor shook reality itself...

“Is this the source of the distortion?!”

A goddess suddenly appeared with an intense look on her face, and...

Poof! A girl appeared.

She looked to be about twelve years old. (By this world’s standards.) The girl had remarkably scary-looking eyes. Not to mention...

“Gyaaaaaa! It...it buuuuuurns!!!”

The girl was on fire, her entire body engulfed in the flames.

“Fire extinguishing potion, come ooout!”

“Supersized Water Baaaaaall!”

“Kyaaaaaa! W-W-Waaateeer!!!”

Splaaaaaash!

The girl with the scary eyes was washed away in a massive flood of water and disappeared somewhere...

“K-K-Kaoruuuuuu!”

“I knew you’d come for me, Celes! I had no time to think of a way out, but I was able to escape into the Item Box without hesitation because I trusted you. Time is frozen in the Item Box, so there was no way for me to get out on my own...”

It had already been proven that Kaoru’s Item Box could store living creatures during the Aligot Empire’s invasion, when it stored Belle as she dove into the well. A bead of sweat rolled down Celestine’s forehead as she embraced Kaoru and let out a cry of joy. It was likely that her body didn’t actually produce sweat, but it had such functions as a medium of expression...

“O-O-Of course! I-I-I would never give up on you so easily and l-leave you alone...” Celestine said with a tight smile, but she could clearly see the lip movements of the girl standing behind Kaoru...

“You. Owe. Me. Big. For. This...”

Gyaaaaaa!!!

Celestine was thus deeply indebted to a girl who had demanded so many unreasonable perks, and so shamelessly, at that...

But she couldn’t let Kaoru learn that she had actually given up on finding her, and that she would have been stuck in the Item Box for all eternity without Reiko’s help. She absolutely couldn’t find out about this! And so, although it was likely that she would pay greatly for this debt, Celestine had no choice but to be at the mercy of the other girl, who was playing along for now.

“I’ll have to do something about these burnt-up, soaking clothes...”

The injuries from when Kaoru had fallen through the hole and gotten torched had already been healed using potions. Her hair, which had been singed pretty badly, was already fixed, as well. Normally, her burns should have been of such severity that she would have been in critical condition, but the shield that Celestine had bestowed on her had contained the damage.

Then, Kaoru finally noticed the other person standing there.

“Wait...”

She recognized this girl. It had been a little under a year for her, but it felt as if it had been over a decade since they last met. But no matter how many years went by, there was no way she could forget. She was one of the only two close friends she had. There was no mistaking her.

“...Reiko...as a high schooler...”

It was Reiko Kuon in her fifteen-year-old body, just like Kaoru. One of her two best friends. Compared to Kaoru, Reiko’s body was rather well developed... Particularly certain parts of her body. So, Kaoru thought Reiko was currently the high school version of herself, but since her body was that of a fifteen-year-old, it was technically her middle school version.

“Hehe... I’m here...”

“Reikoooooo!!!”

Reiko believed she would see Kaoru again, but this was completely out of the blue for Kaoru. She couldn’t help but scream and embrace her old friend. And having been hugged by Kaoru in her soaking wet clothes, Reiko also ended up being drenched.

“I’m sure you two have a lot to talk about, but we should leave this place. There are many humans on the way.”

“Oh...”

The guards would be rushing over to see what the commotion was about. Water did just flood out of the building, after all.

“Repair, clean, and dry!”

Celestine repaired the damage caused by the flood, cleaned up all the dirt, and dried everything off, erasing all trace of what had just happened here. Kaoru’s clothes were blessed with the same effect, leaving her clothes looking good as new. Reiko’s clothes, which had gotten wet from Kaoru, were dried as well.

But there wasn’t enough time to deal with the water that had flooded out of the building, so that was left as it was.

“Transporting!”

Then they were gone.

When the guards arrived on the scene, they were puzzled to find the Sacred Ground unchanged despite having so much water around the building. Afterward, the priests surmised that Lady Celestine, who hadn’t made an appearance since the incident, had cried tears of anguish for her late friend, and everyone agreed with that theory.

“Well, I’m off to give him the good news!” Celestine vanished, having transported Kaoru and Reiko outside of the city, then to an inn as per Reiko’s request.

No time had passed at all since the incident from Kaoru’s point of view, and Celestine had no intention of talking about what had happened during her absence. And so, the most important thing for Celestine now was to see “him” again and fill him in on the events.

Kaoru and Reiko were left alone together. They also had a room for two, so they could talk until morning without interruption.

“R-Reiko, why are you here...? And you look...” Kaoru asked, and Reiko responded rather casually.

“I’m in the same boat as you. I died, then that godlike manager of Earth reincarnated me.”

“What...?”

Kaoru had suspected that this was the case ever since she saw Reiko in her younger form. There was simply no other explanation. But...

“That guy said he only makes mistakes once every several thousand years, and he made another one already?! And with my friend, of all people...” Kaoru said through gritted teeth.

“Oh, no, no! He didn’t make a mistake or anything. I got to live a full life!”

“Huh? But how’d you die so quickly...? Did you get in an accident or something? Or was it fate?”

“No, I died of old age.”

“...Huh? What? Whaaaaaaaaat?!”

“...So that much time has already passed on Earth... Maybe time flows differently there compared to this world...”

“Huh? No, the god of Earth said time passes at the same rate.”

“Huh?”

“I’m saying the same amount of time should have passed since you reincarnated here, Kaoru...”

“Whaaat?”

“Lady Celestine said herself that it’s been over seventy years since you disappeared...”

“Whaaaaaaaaat?!” Kaoru was dumbfounded. “H-H-How did this happen... That Celes... I thought she rescued me from the Item Box right away... Wait. When I was freed, you were there. And decades had already passed. That means... Celes. Celeeeeees!!!”

The cat was out of the bag. She knew everything. But it couldn’t be helped. It would have been impossible to keep it a secret forever...

The next day, the two girls left the royal capital. Their destination was Grua, the royal capital of Balmore. There were many things Kaoru had to confirm there...

All the people she wanted to protect and take care of... What could have happened to them in her absence? She had to see the truth with her own eyes. She also wanted to know what had happened after the incident.

But all of that had happened in the distant past, over seventy years ago. Most of those involved were likely dead already. Through being executed, or perhaps due to old age...

So, those things could wait. The average human lifespan was very short in this world. It wasn’t just infants and mothers giving birth who had high death rates, but adult males died pretty often, too. And that was without counting the massive deaths caused during war.

Therefore, the chances of Kaoru’s acquaintances being alive were rather slim. If even a tenth of them were still alive, that would have been quite impressive.

But she had to know. What sort of life had they led since her disappearance? So many children she wanted to protect but couldn’t... So many people she had helped who never got the chance to repay her... She had to know what had happened to them...

“Let’s set up camp,” Kaoru said to Reiko.

“Right. We should go somewhere that can’t be seen from the road, then.”

And so, the two moved away from the road, toward a spot where they wouldn’t be targeted by any dubious strangers, and...

Poof! Kaoru popped a tent out from the Item Box.

“Oh, I haven’t put anything in mine yet. I should stock up on water, food, and other essentials while I can...”

“Huh?” Kaoru looked surprised by Reiko’s comment. “...You have an Item Box, too?”

“Yeah. Oh, I can make water, but it’s kind of a pain to use magic each time. It’d be more convenient if I could pop it out of my Item Box in a container already...”

“Yeah, I know what you...wait, you can make potions too?! You totally copied me!”

Kaoru looked rather sullen, considering she had put a lot of thought into her ability. Besides, that would mean they had the same exact schtick. It wasn’t as if it would cause her any inconvenience, but...

“Oh, no, I got a different ability. I can use magic, without any limits...”

“That’s cheating!”

“Look who’s talking, Kaoru!”

And so, Kaoru learned through Reiko about what had happened on Earth since she had departed...

However, Kaoru had made sure first to tell her friend not to mention anything about the Nagase family. She would never get to see them again. If they were in distress, there was nothing she could do. It was too late to help, no matter what misfortune awaited them. She could have healed any of their injuries or illnesses if she was able to see them now, but they were all so far away...

And so, it was much better to remain ignorant and assume that they had lived happy lives. Besides, if they were ever in real danger, there was a chance that the Earth God had given them a bit of a helping hand to atone for his mistake. It was best to believe that was true.

To those who lived in that world, Kaoru was someone who was long deceased. She had already said her goodbyes. The image of her family in her mind was better left untouched. It was completely normal for Kaoru to think this way.

“...So why did you come chasing after me...?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Reiko objected to Kaoru’s comment.

“Isn’t it obvious? Because...”

“Because what?”

“Because I, Reiko Kuon, am Kaoru Nagase’s best friend!”

“...Dummy.”

And so, they went on to exchange more information.

“Whaaaaaat?! Kyo is coming too?!”

“Yeah. You can’t keep the trio separated, ya know?”

Kyoko was your average modern girl. Kaoru was a considerate quick-thinker, but was often thought to be scary-looking because of her eyes. And then there was Reiko, who could be quite cutting and sharp-tongued, despite her seemingly gentle and nerdy appearance.

No obnoxious boys, con-artists, perverted teachers, or bullying upperclassmen stood a chance when the three of them were together. Their classmates and younger female students relied on them, and they crushed all evil in their path!

“We are KKR, the guardians of our academy!”

As an aside, the name “KKR” came from combining the first letters from Kaoru, Kyoko, and Reiko’s names.

“Gyaaaaaa!!!”

The catchphrase was from a few years ago for Kaoru, and a few decades ago for Reiko, and they rolled around with their heads in their hands as they remembered it with embarrassment.

“...Haah...haah... That was pretty brutal...”

“I thought I was gonna die...

Kaoru and Reiko finally managed to compose themselves after taking massive psychic damage.

“...But Reiko, you’re an old lady, aren’t you? I can see why your appearance changed, but why do you still act and sound like your younger self?” Kaoru asked.

Reiko responded in a casual tone, “Oh, that? I was wondering the same thing, so I asked the Earth God. According to him, a presence can become exhausted from deterioration due to wear and tear on the body and mind. In other words, it gets weaker when your heart gets worn down, or as your body and brain degrade over time.

And when you die, you’re removed from your physical body. Normally, your soul and presence disperse right away, but...”

“We were salvaged before that happened?”

“Yup. And they refueled our discarnate entity with some sort of energy, which is why we’re so lively! It’s kind of like when you take the CPU out of an older PC, clean it up, then move it into a new build... Though, Kaoru, I guess in your case, that wasn’t really necessary, so you got reincarnated directly.

“Anyway, I guess I have the same energy as I did when I was young, but with several decades worth of knowledge. I knew I’d be coming to this world, so I did a lot of studying to prepare, too. Chemistry, physics, mechanical engineering, political economy, agriculture, and more... So...now, I guess I’m...”

“...A loli hag?” Kaoru asked.

“Look who’s talking...” Reiko shot back.

“Urrrgh...”

“...Aha.”

“Haha.”

“Ahahahahaha!!!”

No matter how many years went by, Reiko was still Reiko. One of Kaoru’s only two best friends...

“Oh, you still have your glasses?”

“Yeah. But I had my vision fixed, of course, so these don’t have any prescription in them.”

“Huh? Then why are you wearing them?”

“Because...”

“Because?”

“Because I look cooler with them on!” Reiko exclaimed.

“...”

But Kaoru had a feeling this was for her sake. Things had been like this for over ten years, ever since middle school. Reiko wore her glasses, and Kaoru had her scary eyes. That was probably why she was still wearing them for their reunion...

Kaoru’s eyes were probably as scary-looking as ever, too.

“Shaddap!!!” Kaoru suddenly burst out, and Reiko smiled warmly.

She could tell what her old friend was thinking. They had been so close for so long, after all.

And so, their conversation went on.

“About what we talked about earlier...” Reiko began.

“Huh? Which one?”

“The incident about the Goddess leaving you alone.”

“Ah...”

“Think you could not bring that up with her?”

“What? Why? I was gonna give her an earful when I see her next...” Kaoru asked in confusion.

“Well, I could use it as leverage for future negotiations...”

“I see... Oh, you’re bad.”

“Heheheh...”

These two were dangerous together. They were relatively harmless individually, but they were a recipe for disaster when combined. Such was the nature of KKR, the guardians of the academy...

“First, I wanna go back to Grua and check if everyone is...no, that might be a bit difficult. I just want to check if the people I know that are still alive aren’t in some horrible situation, then go to the library and look up what happened in my absence. Then...”

“Then?” Reiko asked.

Kaoru grinned.

“If anyone used the chaos of the situation to try anything funny... Well, most of them are probably dead or have pretty much lived a full life by now... Damn, they would’ve gotten away with it by now... I guess the best I could do is demolish their houses, denounce their family names, and turn their descendants into penniless commoners...

“Aristocrats and royalty really seem to care about the reputation and continuation of their family names, and bloodlines and all that jazz, so I’ll just drag them through the mud — no, through the manure — for what they’ve done...”

“Agreed... Some might argue that their children and grandchildren had nothing to do with it, but it’s not like they’re being punished that much. We’d just be taking back what their ancestors took through unjust means. They never deserved their fortune and reputation in the first place...”

Kaoru had always hated those who trampled upon the weak or lied and stole from others. She didn’t mind lying to protect others or to make them happy, but malicious and hurtful lies and lies told to profit oneself were out of the question.

Though, she didn’t often directly reproach those who did tell such lies. Instead, she classified them as enemies in her mind, and when it came to dealing with enemies, anything was fair game. Of course, that included lying to them without mercy, just as they had done.

Kaoru had learned to hold back somewhat by the time she became a working adult. She hadn’t been a child anymore, after all. But when she was a student, a child who could still get away with things due to her youth, she went all out along with Reiko and Kyoko...

And from Reiko’s point-of-view, the Kaoru she knew was 99% composed of Kaoru as a student.

“If your friends are still alive, are you going to reveal yourself?”

“No...” Kaoru shook her head. “In the end, I failed to protect them... And now that they’re finally free from being bound by their Goddess and are off living their own lives, I don’t think showing myself will do them any good...”

In this world, the average lifespan was quite short. Kaoru figured that if any of them were still alive, it would likely just be the members of the Eyes of the Goddess, who were younger than her. Besides, the others were adults, all of them older than Kaoru, so it wasn’t as if they needed her to take care of them. Those children were the only people Kaoru felt responsible for. She had given Francette more than enough in the way of blessings, so if she had lived an unfortunate life, it was her own fault. Kaoru couldn’t do everything for her.

Though, it could also be said that most of the orphans would have died within a few years if they hadn’t met Kaoru, considering their health and general circumstances at the time. One could say that they should have been grateful for being able to live happily for the few years they had before Kaoru’s disappearance, but she couldn’t see it that way. Since she had gotten involved with them and decided to protect them, she intended to watch over them until the end.

But if she was to watch over them until “the end,” it could be said that she had fulfilled her duty already...

“I’ll sneak a peek at them from hiding and leave if they look happy,” Kaoru decided.

Reiko didn’t ask what Kaoru was going to do if they didn’t look happy. She already knew the answer.

“Come to think of it, there is one unanswered question...”

“Huh? What is it?” Reiko asked, but most of what she had asked Celestine involved Kaoru’s disappearance, so she didn’t know much relating to the kingdom of Kaoru’s acquaintances.

“About the hole I fell through and the boulder that was dropped on top of me... I guess you could have dug four meters or so if you got a bunch of people to dig all day and night, then switch out people as they got exhausted... But that boulder! That thing was almost perfectly round! It must’ve been pretty hard to shave down such a big boulder so it fitted that hole perfectly in such a short time. I wonder how they did it...”

“Oh, I know how.”

“What?!”

Kaoru had voiced her question out loud, but didn’t actually expect Reiko to know the answer.

“Around noon yesterday, I went on the Sacred Ground tour as a tourist and the tour guide answered that very question. Supposedly, that boulder was already at the Temple of the Goddess, next to the Goddess statue. Someone who understood that this world is round put it there to represent the world being watched over by the Goddess. Either the culprits decided to use it by sheer chance, or maybe they wanted to kill the Angel with something from the Temple of the Goddess out of a twisted sense of irony.”

“What? But how could it fit the hole so perfectly by coincidence...?”

“It’s the other way around. They dug the hole to fit the size of the boulder. Duh!”

“Ah...” Kaoru had judged it completely wrong. “But that huge boulder was so smooth, like a perfect sphere... It must have taken a bunch of stonemasons or those bishops themselves a lot of manual labor. Can’t you just picture them...?”

“Scrubbing it?”

Gyahahaha!!!

In the darkness, two young girls (by appearance, at least) could be heard laughing. How wonderful it was to have someone who shared the same sense of humor...

It warmed Kaoru’s heart to be able to joke around in Japanese for the first time in many years. Of course, since she had mastery over the language of this world, she could crack jokes in the native tongue here, too...

But no one found those jokes amusing. At all. Even the orphans just looked at her as if they were troubled. As if they were asking themselves, “Do I really have to laugh...?” As if to say, “A Goddess shouldn’t say such senseless things.” Their tight expressions made it clear they were forcing themselves to try to laugh.

And so, Kaoru had shouted, “...Urgh, just kill me!!!”

Differences in culture were quite difficult to overcome...

The two headed for Grua, the capital of Balmore, on foot. There were quite a lot of stagecoaches going around, but they wouldn’t be able to speak freely while riding one.

Their topics of conversation involved events in Japan, things that happened before Kaoru entered the Item Box, Celestine, and the direction they would be taking from here on... None of which could be discussed in front of others.

Having just recently reunited in this world, it was impossible for them to fill several days’ worth of entertaining conversation with topics that would be fine for others to hear.

Kaoru still had her chariot in her Item Box, but she didn’t feel like buying a horse, nor did she want to ride through the city streets in that distinctive carriage. It stood out like nothing else, and there was a chance that someone was still alive to recognize it. But, really, the main reason she didn’t want to use it was sentimental in nature.

Ed isn’t around anymore...

Indeed, horses lived rather short lives. Kaoru’s beloved horse, Ed, must have passed away, still waiting for Kaoru without ever knowing why she had left.

Ed, her old partner and brother-in-arms. He was gone forever...

“So, we made it to the royal capital...”

The two had arrived at the royal capital, Grua. Of course, Kaoru had changed her hair and eye color with potions and switched over to a less conspicuous outfit. It wasn’t as if she only had her favorite outfit, which had become a trademark of sorts. Her more normal clothes were stored in the Item Box, so they hadn’t degraded a bit.

...The style was a bit dated, by seventy years or so, but that wasn’t a big issue. Probably.

Most of the people who had met Kaoru were gone by now. She just needed to look out for particularly old people, and if they had only seen her a couple times, over seventy years ago, it was unlikely that anyone would recognize her face.

Plus, Kaoru was generally understood to not be a goddess, but rather a human who had received the blessing of the Goddess, also known as the Angel. Despite her nickname, she wasn’t thought of as a literal angel or spirit, something in the same realm as the Goddess.

Therefore, the only people who might have thought that Kaoru’s appearance would remain the same throughout all these years were the ones who thought she was a goddess, like Francette or the Eyes of the Goddess. The likelihood of being recognized was slim to none.

“Call me Kaoru from now on, okay? I’m not Nagase Kaoru or Kaoru from Japan, but Kaoru, a resident of this world. The girl you knew named Kaoru doesn’t exist anymore... Besides, people will think I’m an aristocrat if you refer to me by my family name.”

“...Got it. Then I’ll be just Reiko, too. I’ll live in this new world with my new name and life!”

That was the Reiko she’d always known. She was quick to catch on.

The name Kaoru had spread far and wide by the time she had put herself in the Item Box. It had become quite common for people to name their daughters Kaoru, after the girl who was loved by the Goddess. As such, that name was already popular, having been bestowed upon girls ranging from newborn children to ladies in their mid-seventies, so it wouldn’t have at all been suspicious for her to call herself Kaoru. In other words, there was no need to go by an alias.

“First, let’s find ourselves an inn. Camping out in a tent while traveling is one thing, but it’s not like we can do that in the middle of the royal capital. We’ll be in trouble if we end up with no good place to stay.”

Reiko agreed, and the two set out to find an inn.

Reiko had already procured funds from Celestine. It was completely legitimate currency, rather than some fake money that Celestine had created. According to Celestine, it had been “completely removed from human ownership.”

...Probably taken from a chest in a sunken ship, or something like that.

It was likely that she could have created money out of thin air, but that probably went against her own personal policy. Of course, Kaoru’s Item Box was still full of money that she had earned a long time ago, but to her surprise, the currency had changed during the past seventy years. Plus, several neighboring countries were now using the same unified coinage...

It couldn’t be used throughout the entire continent, but it was accepted in the Kingdoms of Balmore, Brancott, Aseed, and the Aligot Empire. Someone could even use it for pretty much the same value in Drisard and the Kingdom of Jusral, which bordered the Kingdom of Brancott.

Coins were minted in their own respective countries, of course, but the composition of gold or silver, along with their weight, were strictly regulated and standardized, so they could be used across regions with the same value.

Normally, in Kaoru’s world, currency fluctuated in value based on the credit of the country where it was minted, rather than by the gold and silver content. This world hadn’t reached that point yet in most places, but these four countries had established a stable commercial sphere, which was quite a feat.

“...So, this is the currency they use now...” Reiko said after they secured their inn and produced a drawstring pouch.

She pulled out a bronze coin, a small silver coin, a silver coin, a small gold coin, and a gold coin, the five types that were commonly used. Other coins did exist, but they were used in large transactions between merchants or in international trade, and most commoners never saw them in person.

Kaoru stared at the coins Reiko laid out in front of her. It seemed all of them had the same design, with someone’s face on the front. But the angle and expression were different on each coin, and the material and size were also different, so it was unlikely to mistake one for the other.

“Wait, this face...” Kaoru had a bad feeling about this.

“...They don’t count currency by saying ‘this many gold coins and this many silver coins’ anymore, but by monetary units. Like yen or dollars. Though, I hear some people still count them the old-fashioned way. So, the units they use for currency now...is called ‘kaorun.’ Named after the old saint, the Lady Angel...”

“Gyaaaaaa! I knew iiit!!!”

Sure enough, the face carved into the coin had quite a scary look in its eyes. Though, this was probably after they had made a bunch of adjustments, likely out of consideration for her image...

“W-Well, it isn’t as if we can’t use your old coins at all. I hear they’re still accepted. It’s a good thing that coins are valued based on the metals used instead of on a pure credit system. Though, they’re worth about three percent less, so the shopkeeper might get annoyed trying to calculate their worth, and you’ll stand out. It might be a good idea to find a place to exchange them as soon as possible...” Reiko said consolingly, but she knew that wasn’t what Kaoru was shocked about. Unfortunately, there was nothing else she could really say in this situation...

It was still quite early when they secured their inn. Therefore, Kaoru couldn’t let her day end already, having finally arrived in the royal capital. She and Reiko set out right away. Their destination was the house that Kaoru had bought for the orphans of the Eyes of the Goddess. Kaoru had read far too many stories where the character regretted putting off important things for later.

She didn’t expect the house to still be there after over seventy years. And yet, she wanted to check to see if the building was still there now, then find out later whether the orphans were still alive. But...

“Why is it still there... And it’s still being used...” It would have been one thing if it had been built out of bricks, but it was an average house made of wood. She had originally rented it out, then purchased it later, but it was already quite old at that point. There was no way it could have been used for seventy more years. It wasn’t as if it was made with particularly good materials and construction...

The house looked just as it did before...though, it obviously showed signs of wear, but it had been repaired and cared for. However, its surroundings had changed significantly.

Large shops stood on either side of the building, with several large multi-family dwellings behind it. Moreover, there were a variety of residences, ranging from what seemed to be dormitories for single workers to individual family homes.

“They must have preserved this place even as its surrounding land was developed and sold off... I told them to sell the house and split up the funds so they could go off into the world... Those idiots...”

Those kids must have married and had children and grandchildren since, with one of them living in the house so they could keep managing it, believing that Kaoru could return again some day...

Even though the chances of that happening were pretty much zero.

As Kaoru thought about it, she couldn’t help hot tears from pouring down her cheeks.

“Huh? What the...”

Kaoru calmed down after some time, then noticed a sign next to the entrance of the building. She approached it and read the text...

“Chief Temple of the Order of the Goddess Kaoru.”

“What the heck is thaaaaaat?!”

Reiko quickly covered Kaoru’s mouth to stifle her outburst. Once she confirmed that her friend had settled down, she pointed at the signs at the shops on either side of the building.

The Eyes of the Goddess Apothecary

The Eyes of the Goddess Souvenir Store

“Get your Lady Kaoru rice crackers here!”

“They own all these shops?! And why rice crackers instead of manju?! Is it to spite me? Huh?!”