Chapter 53: Reiko

Kaoru hasn’t changed one bit...

Well, it had been decades since I last saw her, but it only felt like five years or so to her. I had grown old and lived through an entire lifetime as a human being. Of course, my way of thinking and sensibilities had matured with age...then eroded, and wilted away.

But this was all due to the deterioration of my aging body, my social standing and treatment by others, and the inevitable erosion of my own mind and soul. Like a machine that had been damaged, degraded, rusted over, and slowed down, what remained was a malfunctioning, out-of-date mess. It was the natural progression of things and an unavoidable truth.

But what if a genius engineer (goddess) swapped my mind and soul (software) into a brand new chassis? And what if they replenished the energy in that worn, exhausted soul to, like, 120% capacity? A spiritual entity that had been supplied with a strong, youthful body and re-energized soul, that was me. Not to mention, the Goddess had given me the ability to recall everything from my student days to my early twenties as an extra perk. As a result...

“It feels like I’m back to the days when I was still with Kaoru...”

This meant that the memories that had naturally faded in the later parts of my life felt vague, while the present me felt as if I was back in those days of my youth. Maybe the Goddess had done this out of consideration for us, so I would be able to get along with Kaoru without issues. It could have been an adjustment she had made when revitalizing my discarnate entity. And she was even thorough enough to clarify my memories of my husband, who had been with me until the end, as well as my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren...

Quite considerate, really. It did make me slightly less angry at her for what she had gotten Kaoru into...

Still, it did pain me that Kyoko wasn’t with us. We weren’t KKR without all three of us together. The balance was all off with one missing. Kyoko had been an ordinary, modern young girl who was always getting herself in trouble. However, the reason she got in trouble was, for the most part, because she was trying to help others.

When she saw a girl being abused, sexually harassed, and stalked in college, she got herself involved right away. And, of course, she immediately got into an argument with the perpetrator. It had turned into a whole ordeal.

Once Kyoko had garnered sympathy from onlookers as a poor, innocent girl who had gotten dragged into the drama against her will, Kaoru appeared. Her role was to put the opponent out of commission by verbally destroying him. If Kaoru had been the first one to approach, there was a chance that she’d be seen as the villain due to her eyes. That was why she had to be the person who came in later to help Kyoko.

Meanwhile, I used my three hidden micro-recorders and my ultra-compact camera to acquire the evidence. Afterward, I went to the lady at the student affairs office, the one I had become friends with. I explained the situation and told her, “I’m thinking of reporting this incident to the police. I was also thinking of discussing this with my cousin, who works for a magazine company...” and for some reason, it got resolved within a few days.

My cousin did indeed work at a magazine company. As the receptionist, that is. I hadn’t actually lied. Not at all. I did “think about” discussing it with her. Not that it would have made any difference...

If it had just been someone like me, who mainly worked behind the scenes, or Kaoru, who was a good girl but was often misunderstood because of her eyes—well, she was pretty scary as an enemy, so maybe it wasn’t so much that she was misunderstood... Anyway, the mood got way too dark when it was just the two of us.

But thanks to Kyoko, who was a cheerful, earnest person, she toned up our image so we didn’t look like antiheroes...or rather, antiheroines. She was a loveable, wonderful mood-maker in class, got along with both girls and boys, and had a strong sense of justice... Or so she seemed.

She hung out with me and Kaoru... Of course she wasn’t an ordinary girl. All I could say was this: “Don’t piss off Kyoko Nishizono!” Well, I knew people said the same thing about me and Kaoru behind our backs. But this was different.

If you angered Kaoru or myself, you’d just end up getting badly injured at worst... Not that anyone would want to go through that. However, if you angered Kyoko, you wouldn’t get off so lightly. It wasn’t that she was malicious or anything... Probably. But...the world would end, though you would be fine as long as you didn’t piss her off. Kind of like how they say, “It doesn’t matter if you can’t hit me.”

In any case, there was a glaring issue when we didn’t have Kyoko. We couldn’t help but drift more and more toward the dark side when it was just me and Kaoru. That was why I hadn’t given much of my input on whatever Kaoru was doing. There was a chance that things could get out of hand real quick if I did.

Also, I was still ignorant about many things in this world. I decided to focus on assisting Kaoru for now. Although I had to admit it would be nice if Kyoko would just join us already, I couldn’t wish for such a thing. Because if she was to appear before us, it would mean she had died back on Earth.

Well, I was sure she had lived a full life and gotten her money’s worth out of her time there. Unlike Kaoru, who had her overpowered ability to create things, I couldn’t use my powers in front of others unless they were rendered unable to tell people about what they had seen. I could use water or fire magic to enhance my own lifestyle and make things in private, but still.

Anyway, my main focus was to put down my roots here with Kaoru and take care of the kids. It reminded me of back when I had taken care of my kids, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. I was used to it. Raising a few more didn’t make any difference. Kaoru had experience taking care of orphans herself, so she had to be accustomed to it too. So, it should have been a piece of cake...

“...So why have you been such a slob?”

“Well, the kids took care of all the cooking, cleaning, and laundry before... And I want Mine and Aral to learn how to take care of themselves, so I thought...”

“Shut it!”

This is bad. I’m not taking care of two kids, but three...

“We’ve established our footing here for the most part, so I think the kids will be relatively safe even if they go out to town on their own. They’re not just orphans anymore. They’re workers who have been officially hired by our business. That puts them under the protection of the officials and guards, so anyone who tries to hurt or kidnap them will be punished heavily by the law,” Kaoru said.

“Yeah, and they have those crime prevention tools you gave them...”

“Aha ha...”

Kaoru was right: Most people in this city already knew Mine and Aral weren’t some lonely little orphans without anyone at their backs. And even if some ignorant person or newcomer from another land tried to mess with them, someone nearby would stop them.

Besides, they didn’t even dress like orphans anymore. Anyone who saw them would assume they were kids from an ordinary household, or low-ranking servants working for a shop. They wouldn’t be treated as if they had no human rights or get harassed by thugs without any consequences.

Now we could have them deliver products to the city or send them out for errands. In other words, Kaoru and I would have more time to do things alone.

“...Time to begin stage two?” I asked.

“Yup. It’s time,” Kaoru said, grinning as she replied to my question.

I decided to give her a piece of advice.

“Don’t make that face in front of the kids. They’ll cry for sure.”

“Sh-Shaddap!!!”

Yeah, she always responded in the same way whenever I warned her like this. She hadn’t changed one bit since those good old days...