Chapter 57: Operation Headhunter

“...You wish to increase production?”

I had brought up the idea after our post-meal tea time. Mine thought about it for a while, then gave me her opinion.

“To be honest, it won’t be easy to increase production with how things are currently. We may be able to squeeze out an extra twenty percent or so if we really tried, but that would be pushing it...”

With that, Mine glanced over at Aral. She probably would have replied that she could do an extra twenty percent if it was just her, but she was concerned about putting that extra strain on the six-year-old Aral.

Knowing Mine, she probably felt ashamed about answering the way she did. She wasn’t supportive of increasing production because she cared about Aral, but I could tell she would have pushed herself for our sake out of a sense of obligation. But that was okay. It was completely fine.

“I know you two have been doing your best to maximize output during work hours, so I’m fully aware that you won’t be able to massively increase production as things are now. If you could, that would mean you haven’t been giving it your all until now. Of course I know that’s not the case. I’m not a fool, you know,” I said, and I could see Mine’s eyes watering up.

I didn’t want her to look at me with a fanatical look like the kids from The Eyes of the Goddess did. Even if we were like family, the only sort of hierarchical relationship between us would be one of employer and employee. There was no need for worship or rabid devotion. So...

“I’ve been thinking of hiring more employees, but I know we would get weirdos if I started taking applicants, so I’m thinking of picking people we want to hire and making them an offer. But it’s not like we have friends in this city, and we don’t know who to trust or who’s in whose pockets. So, question time: Who do you think we should try to hire?”

Mine responded to my question right away. “Orphans!!!”

“Correct!”

Indeed, orphans wouldn’t be connected with any wealthy or influential people, and all they wished for was a full stomach, a warm place to sleep...and to survive. That was all. But if I could provide those three things... I doubted any of them would ever betray me. Just like those kids in the Eyes of the Goddess...

“But this is what’s left of the orphanage that got shut down, and the local lord made sure the orphans from back then went to proper homes, so I doubt he would just leave the kids that couldn’t find homes out to dry, right?”

Reiko was right; this city was unusually supportive of orphans. Everyone was kind to Mine and Aral, too, and according to Mine, people had treated her relatively well even when she was an orphan...

That was why there hadn’t been any homeless kids living by the riverbed or vagrant kids without any place to sleep in this city for a long time. Between the orphanage that used to be here, workplaces that offered live-in jobs for kids who were of age, and the occasional couple that wanted to foster a young child due to losing their own or because they had trouble birthing one, there was a good balance of supply and demand, for lack of a better phrase.

But obviously, things didn’t go so smoothly in every city. Usually, most workplaces were already full of people who had connections there, and orphans were hardly ever offered jobs due to lack of trust. After all, they didn’t have parents or siblings who could pay compensation for damages if something happened. They were probably afraid orphans would steal their money and run off.

In truth, it was far less likely for kids from orphanages to commit crimes compared to the average person. I mean, why would they throw it all away after finally putting themselves in a situation where they could work to eat their fill and sleep in a warm bed each night? Not to mention, they could laugh off hardships that most people would give up on and say, “This is heaven compared to my old life”...

And of course, there was one main reason they worked so hard: If they did anything that would make others lose trust in them, their orphanage would also get a bad reputation, making it harder for the other kids to find jobs. They would disappoint all the people at the orphanage who had taken care of them and all the younger kids who had looked up to them.

Nothing was scarier from the perspective of a former orphan. That was why they were actually rather trustworthy. Unless you betrayed them first, that is.

“Are you going to go looking for orphanages in other cities then?”

“No, I can’t just bring kids over from other territories. They’re still part of that population, even if they’re orphans. They become a part of the workforce once they get to a certain age, and they’d be an important asset if some sort of crisis happened...”

I couldn’t agree with Reiko’s idea. Bringing people from other regions was asking for trouble already, but I didn’t have that much reach in the first place. I might have helped people that I happened to meet along the way or acted like a pseudo-goddess by sharing happiness with others, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to some distant land to help a bunch of kids I didn’t know.

There was no way I could help every orphan in this country, or every country in this world. It was better to just not attempt to do the impossible or to do things halfway.

“What are you going to do then? The kids who were here when this place was still an orphanage found places to be and are living normal lives, right? We can’t just bring them back here. That much is obvious. Doing such a thing would cause trouble for the homes that took those kids in, and it would be a slight to the local lord and everyone who had put effort into getting those orphans into homes. Not to mention, it would hurt Little Silver’s reputation as well.”

“That’s why we’re bringing them back, starting with the kids we can bring back, from places where we can remove them from without issues.”

“Ah...”

That was enough of a hint for Reiko to figure it out. We would “bring them back.” That meant they used to live here once. I was talking about the cases where there wouldn’t be any problem for the kids themselves or the people at their workplace, or cases where it didn’t matter if we caused trouble for them. In other words...

“Mine, you said the person running the orphanage changed about six months before you were sold, right? You escaped about a year after you were sold, then it took some time for you to get here... And it was about half a year ago that the bad guy who took over this place was caught. In other words, there was about a year or so during which the other kids who were sold off went through the same things you did.”

“What...?”

Mine’s reaction wasn’t exactly out of surprise, nor did she fail to realize what I had just pointed out. She was asking if those kids could truly be saved; it was a voice of disbelief, but she wanted to trust in that faint light of hope I had just offered.

She had to know. She knew, but there was nothing she could do about it, and it would have only weighed on our hearts if she had mentioned it to us. That was why she had kept silent. In truth, she wanted to shout from the bottom of her heart: “Please save my friends; they went through the same pain as me!”

All right.

They’d be employees who we could bring here without causing any issues. The only ones who would have an issue with it were bad guys, and they deserved whatever consequence came to them. There was no need to concern myself about that. The local lord would likely take my side, too, and the kids that I saved would likely work as hard as they could and never even think to betray me.

I could save children and take down a bunch of scumbags. Maybe being a “goddess” or “angel” once in a while wouldn’t be so bad... At least, under a pseudonym, and only part-time. Being a full-time, official goddess or angel was a bit too much. I didn’t mind doing it in my free time, though.

A long time ago, I had made a decision when I met everyone from the Eyes of the Goddess. I would live free. I would live in the way I wished. And I would use my potion powers to bless the people, just a little bit. Excluding the bad guys, of course.

It wasn’t that I was doing this for Mine. It was simply that Mine, the other kids, and my objectives all lined up. That was all. I had told the local lord that Little Silver is an organization that provides support for orphans so they can gain independence. I had said so right on the petition to apply for tax-exempt status. Everyone would thus behold as we did that very thing.

“All right! Little Silver, begin Operation Headhunter!”

“So, you were sold in the country northwest across the sea from here, right? We’ll probably have to travel by land, then...” I muttered to myself, then Reiko said from beside me...

“The recommended route is to go by land. You might even call it the rec-route for rec-ruits.”

Shaddap!

In any case, I asked Mine about the details of when she had been sold off and how her life had been since. Of course, she didn’t know she had been sold at the time; she thought she was being accepted into a rich household as a foster child. Even when she had realized just what her situation was, she still assumed that the new director of the orphanage had been tricked and didn’t know what was going on, right up until I told her everything...

“Wha—?! So he...that bastard is the root of all this! He’ll pay for this...”

“He was already caught and sentenced a long time ago!”

In any case, I finished questioning Mine without any issues. Though, that went without saying, since she was being completely cooperative.

And so, I was off to my next stop to gather information. Yes, the local lord’s place. I needed him to show me the records from when they investigated the new owner, and I had to make sure we were on the same page.

The local lord had caught and punished the owner of the orphanage, but that was all he was able to do. I couldn’t blame him, though. It wasn’t as if he had failed to do his work or accepted a bribe. The local lord couldn’t dispatch an official to another country to conduct an investigation or detain and question foreign merchants. And of course, he couldn’t seize those kids after they had been legally adopted and were living in another country.

After all, an orphanage from his own country had received payment and had done the paperwork for the foster children, and the documents had been signed by his own subordinate. If he had tried making a move on someone from another country, they could have marched right over the royal palace and registered a complaint, putting his position as a lord in risk. There was nothing he could have done.

Yet... We weren’t originally from his territory, or even this country. If there was any trouble, he could just claim we were foreign strangers.

Since the lord assumed we had a powerful noble house at our backs, he probably thought we had bodyguards and chaperones watching over us all the time. And not a fake guard like Leia’s, but someone actually keeping an eye on things.

If we did something crazy and no one stopped us, that would implicitly mean that our watchers were fine with what we’d done, which would also hold true for our household. Since the local lord was a good person “for an aristocrat” and was considerate toward orphans, he would surely be willing to take this chance. It was a gamble, but one where he would be putting nothing at risk.

In any case, it was time for me to submit my petition.

I got approval for a meeting right away. When I had submitted the request for tax-exempt status, all I had to do was turn in a written petition; afterward, an emissary delivered me a letter containing the local lord’s reply, and I never actually met him in person.

This time, though, the emissary had handed me an invitation rather than a letter. Yes, an “invitation, ”not a summons. That wasn’t surprising, since he thought I was a noble girl from another country, so he was probably playing it safe. This wasn’t something he could easily approve just from reading my plea, after all, so I had expected that he would want to meet in person.

So, I went to the local lord’s manor at the specified time. Along with Reiko, that is. I could have just gone to talk to him alone, but I felt safer with Reiko at my back in case something went down. Compared to my potion powers, her unlimited magic was far more suited to situations where we were surrounded by enemies.

If we ended up in a scuffle with the local lord, it went without saying that we wouldn’t be able to stay here. If that happened, we would have to take Mine and Aral and hightail it out of here. So, it was possible that we would need to make use of some magic. I had been made painfully aware of my potion power’s limitations during that incident back then.

I had told Mine and Aral to hide in the underground room just in case. There was a bathroom in there too, so no worries there. I had also instructed Mine to teach Aral all sorts of things, like how to read and write.

And so, a servant showed us inside. We greeted the local lord, then came the first words out of his mouth...

“I heard you’ve been selling exceptionally delicious dried seafood and jerky products. I’d like them delivered here too!”

Whaaaaaat?!

...I mean, they are good. They were marinated in my potion sauce, then made with Reiko’s processing methods. Then, the chemical reactions and dehydration condensed the umami, resulting in that indescribably tasty flavor. You can’t get that kind of flavor from some fish or meat shop owner who doesn’t know what they’re doing!

Wait, that’s not what I’m here to talk about!

“I-I see... It’s an honor, my lord...” I replied without much enthusiasm.

“Ah, never mind the formalities! I don’t have time for all that. Please, be at ease.”

It seemed he wasn’t the type who got hung up on social hierarchies and propriety. I used to talk to royals as equals, so if he insisted...

Poke, poke!

Yes, you don’t have to poke me! I know not to be rude!

Sheesh, did Reiko think I was that stupid? Anyway...

“I will have some sent to you later, as you wish. If it suits your palate, we would be delighted to have you order them from the next batch on... However, we will be traveling for some time, so the next delivery will need to be after we return...”

“Oh? A trip, you say? Are you perhaps going home? How long will you be gone?”

It was the perfect segue. I had used relatively soft wording in the petition, and claimed that I would be checking up on the current status of the children who had been fostered from the orphanage a year before it shut down. As such, the lord probably assumed we were going to hire someone to investigate on our behalf.

At the very least, he never would have guessed a couple of “proper ladies” like us would put ourselves in danger for some orphans by going out on a journey ourselves, so I couldn’t blame him for not making the connection even after my comment.

“Oh, it’s just that we were thinking of going to bring back some children who had been kidnapped through falsified documents...”

“Wh-What?!” the local lord stammered, standing up from his seat in surprise.

Well, I couldn’t blame him. It had to be pretty surprising, coming from two little girls like us. He stayed silent, but I could tell there were all sorts of thoughts spinning in his head. I hoped it would lead to the conclusion I had hoped for...

“Tell me more.”

Bingo!

“...And so, we would like to get access to the records from the investigation, particularly information on the people who took the children in. That, and your agreement to stay quiet about this.”

It was time to see how the lord would react. Things seemed to be going well so far...

“...You may look into the records. However, I can’t agree to stay silent!”

Huh? Damn, I should have done this in secret without involving the local lord!

Though, he would have noticed and inquired right away if the orphans who had been sold off started returning... Things were looking pretty bad...

“How could I possibly stay silent about this? I give you my full, official approval on this! I can’t give you specific orders due to my position, but I hereby declare that this region will give its full support in Little Silver’s endeavor to rescue those poor orphans!”

...Huh? I thought he was a good person “for an aristocrat,” but it looked like he was just a good person, period!

“I see...”

Reiko and I were in the local lord’s store of documents and looking into the records of that case. Of course, the person managing this place came with us to help out. We would have no idea where anything was if it was just us two! On top of that...

“I think we got most of the info we’re looking for...”

For some reason, the local lord was also here with us after shouting, “How could I not get involved in something so exciting?!”

“...So, what will you do now?” he asked.

“...”

“Tell me, just a bit.”

Don’t say that like “just the tip”...

“...”

“Come on, just tell me a tiny bit of your plans...”

How annoying.

Though, being a local lord was probably just a bunch of responsibilities and boring routine work, so he didn’t have much time for recreation or going out to do what he wanted. None of his subordinates would push back against his orders or admonish him, and his servants just didn’t want any trouble. A pretty boring life, if you ask me.

Honestly, a third son who lived with the family would probably have much more freedom to go out and enjoy life. You really only need so much authority and status. Too much of either, and they’ll suck all the joy out of your life.

That was part of the reason I disliked standing out too much. There was nothing fun about being hailed as a deity, constantly being watched by the public eye, with no freedom at all. The only thing you couldn’t have too much of was money!

But even though I felt a bit bad about his lack of anything fun to do, I couldn’t help being annoyed. I decided to make up some plausible excuse and have him leave us alone.

“You’re annoying, so please just go back to your work!”

Translation: We wouldn’t want to trouble you, so please leave the work to us, my lord!

“What...?”

His face froze.

What just happened?

“...Kaoru, I think you accidentally switched your inner thoughts and what you wanted to say,” Reiko noted.

“Ah...”

Judging by the look of utter shock on the local lord’s face, it was probably exactly as Reiko had said...

I blew it!!!

“Kaoruuu!”

“I said I’m sorry...”

Yup, we were lucky we didn’t end up getting tried for lèse-majesté. The lord had just laughed dryly and returned to his room, reinforcing my impression of him as a good person.

His subordinates, who had also laughed awkwardly, helped us search through the records from six months ago, and we were able to find out where the three orphans other than Mine had been taken to, along with the identity of the middleman. We had written all that info down, of course.

The local lord had been mortified when the incident had taken place on his own territory, but all he could do at the time was punish the second owner of the orphanage. Of course, he had reported the events to the royal palace, lords of other territories, and other orphanages, so they could never commit such atrocities again. At least, not in the same country.

He couldn’t do anything about those who had been transported to another country, but it is what it is. It’s already commendable that he had gone out of his way to warn the other lords.

Of course, they had just dismissed him, stating that it was better to get rid of orphans, especially for a small sum of money, since they were just a useless waste of resources otherwise. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do much about that either. Everyone had different ways of thinking, and there were some really dumb people out there.

I thought that they should have just scouted homeless kids instead of going through an orphanage, but kids in orphanages were taught how to read, write, and do some simple math from a young age, along with things like common sense and manners. They were also kept healthy, so...that was probably why.

This may not be the right way to put it, but it was the same as how people thought it’s better to get a dog from a pet shop, breeder, or caretaker rather than picking up a stray, since they tend to be trained and done with their shots already.

There may be more upfront expenses, but it would end up costing less in the end... I didn’t want to compare humans to dogs or cats, but since these people actually used children as slaves...

In any case, our investigation was complete! We just had to stop by the local lord’s place, apologize for the earlier incident, and get outta here.

I should treat him a bit with tomorrow’s dried fish and jerky order... Maybe I’ll add some free candy and tell him it’s a gift from back home.

I decided to send something to the guys who helped us check through the records too. They would probably enjoy some alcohol, like the kind from Earth that I made with my powers for me and Reiko. They could always sell it if they didn’t drink. That’d probably be worth a pretty good amount.

Three days later... All of our preparations had been completed.

Gathering intel, check!

Delivering orders and letting customers know we’ll be out on a restocking trip, so we’ll be closed for a while, check! They weren’t too happy about it, but there was nothing we could do about that. I figured they understood this and were just complaining for the sake of it.

Home security, check! I had blocked off the staircase leading down from the first floor basement with a boulder from my Item Box. There was no way some thief would be able to do something about a boulder, especially one that fit perfectly in there. I had also put the fishing boat back into my Item Box.

I had left some furniture and worthless stuff from the orphanage days strewn around the first floor basement and put all the valuables into the box. I didn’t want to incentivize any thieving, after all. It would have been a bad precedent if someone made a killing breaking into and stealing stuff from Little Silver.

And of course, I set up some traps. The idea of finding out how to make our tasty and profitable dried fish and jerky products or swiping some gold or jewelry from some rich girls had to be appealing.

To be fair, I also put up notes and signs that warned of deadly security devices. They clearly stated that the traps were coated with poison, and that any intruders would risk their own lives by breaking in.

Despite that, I decided to make sure the traps wouldn’t be quite enough to kill people. The potion I had coated the spikes in would cause extreme pain and fever, and the wound would swell up and change into a putrid color. I also put up a note that read, “Antidotes available. 10 gold coins each.”

They’d probably go crazy wondering when we’d get back, whether they’d live or die, and when their limbs would rot and fall off. Mua ha ha ha!

“Are you a demon or something?!” Reiko interjected.

“You do that kind of stuff all the time, Reiko. Like that time with that guy who was stalking Kyo...”

“Don’t bring that up, damn it!”

Yeah, no one liked to admit to the blunders of their youth.

Mine and Aral’s preparations...check! Though, they didn’t really have any belongings, so they didn’t have anything to prepare. Besides, we don’t really have to pack for trips or pick what to bring in the first place. All we have to do is dump everything into the Item Box.

“Okay!”

“You’re just gonna ignore me?!”

Reiko was screeching about something, but we were good to go! Aral looked oblivious, but Mine understood that we were putting ourselves in danger (lol) for the sake of her old friends. There was guilt, discomfort, and worry in her eyes. After all, she thought Reiko and I were just a couple of “normal” rich kids. But...

“Kaoru, are you going to tell them?”

“Huh? Tell them what?”

It was Reiko again.

“I mean, they’ll find out about the Item Box eventually, and that you can talk to horses, as long as they stick around long enough. It’s not like you can avoid using the Item Box or talking to the horses during our whole trip. That’d be way too inconvenient...”

Ah. Ahh... Ahhhhhhhhh!

It hadn’t even crossed my mind...

“If we don’t tell them, we’ll have to figure out what to do about beds, water, food, and clothes...”

“Yeah, we’d only be able to use the stuff we loaded onto the carriage in the beginning. We obviously wouldn’t be able to use our beds, and we’d need to put up a tent every time we stopped for the night. And whenever we stayed at an inn, we’d have to worry about thieves, crooked stable keepers, and other employees there taking our stuff... And of course, we wouldn’t be able to bring out fresh food or water at night, or use any magic to wash ourselves off or clean our clothes.”

“I’d die!”

In the beginning, when I still wasn’t properly prepared for life in this world, I was able to get by easily thanks to the Item Box and my potion powers. I haven’t been able to imagine life without them since, and have constantly benefited from their boons. If I was to suddenly stop using them...

“I’d die!!!”

I had to say it twice, because it was that important. Though, that was normal for the average traveler. Oh, I mean, traveling in that state, not the dying part.

“I didn’t expect to run into a pitfall like this...”

I discussed it with Reiko, and we reluctantly decided to reveal some of the details to Mine and Aral. But just how much should we tell them? And we still had to figure out how to phrase things so they would understand.

“We have no choice but to tell them about the Item Box, huh...”

“Yeah. And about that... Should we just tell them that’s your ability? Or should we say you’re using some special item, like a mysterious bag with infinite storage capabilities, or a ring that can store stuff in it?”

That was a tough one... I didn’t want any more fanatics or undying devotion... Everyone from The Eyes of the Goddess were fanatical believers in me as a goddess, but had treated the usual me, or “Kaoru the housemate” as a normal person. But that was just because they were with the other orphans and everyone had agreed to do so, knowing that was what I wanted.

But Aral was still young. That was why Mine took everything including Aral’s burdens upon her shoulders, decided things for herself, and tried to accept all responsibility. I couldn’t put any unnecessary pressure on her or put her in a situation where she would be forced to make a tough decision. I had to explain simply so that she wouldn’t have to agonize or think too hard.

So I had to...

...

...

Oh no, I can’t think of anything!

My thoughts just went in circles, and time passed without progress...

“I have a good idea.”

“Really?!”

Thank goodness for Reiko and the wisdom of age!

“So, what’s your idea?”

I stared at Reiko in anticipation...

“We can tell her we’re angels of the Goddess. That way, they won’t be surprised or suspicious about any miracles or supernatural phenomena, and they’ll take our word as absolute, meaning they wouldn’t ever have to think or worry about anything. Perfect, isn’t it?”

“Did you even try to think?! Two fanatics, coming right up! That’s exactly what I wanna avoid!!!”

“Ah, thought so...”

You little...

She did that on purpose. She does this kind of thing all the time! Not that she was actually trying to annoy me. Whenever we hit a roadblock like this, she threw out ideas that obviously wouldn’t work just to reset my thoughts. It allowed me to start fresh again, exploring routes other than the ones where I couldn’t make any progress. Reiko really is reliable.

And so, I decided to start over...

“We’ll need to tell them we can both use the Item Box, or things could get complicated later on. We should also tell them about my potions...healing potions in particular. Otherwise, we’ll run into issues if either of them get hurt or sick. Though, I could make a potion that makes their appearance and symptoms look like they’re recovering slowly but actually heals them all at once, then tell them it’s normal medicine that just works really well... Let’s just say it’s some secret medicine passed down through our family.”

That was pretty much the only way we could go about it.

“Hang and Scary are divine beings descended from the Goddess’s horse, and they have the ability to understand their owner’s words. The explosive potions I use when we’re attacked by bandits and bad guys are a secret family recipe, and your magic is divine power granted to you by the Goddess. The best way to convince the kids of this setting is...”

“To tell them we’re goddesses, or angels of the Goddess!” we said in unison, then stared at each other.

“Thought so!”

“Whaaaaaat!!!”

After we had given our explanation, Mine pressed her lightly balled-up fists to her mouth, eyes wide with shock, and Aral stood frozen at a loss for words.

“L-L-Lady Kaoru and Lady Reiko...are mages?!”

Yup, that was what we settled on. No, don’t call us magical girls! I had to be careful not to be too Mami-like...

Practical magic didn’t exist in this world, other than the kind used by some monsters, like dragons. But there were such actual examples of magic already, and I had heard that there were some wealthy researchers who had dedicated their lives to the study of magic. Supposedly, they could even use fire magic to produce a candle flame, and water magic to produce a steady drip of liquid.

They say that a demonstration was once held in some country for the royal family, and it was already common knowledge among the people there that humans could use magic. Though, the extent of their prowess was as I just explained.

And so, people didn’t really doubt the existence of magic. Or maybe it was more accurate to say they knew of its existence. But it really didn’t make sense to deny that magic existed when everyone knew that the Goddess was undeniably real and they had witnessed the power of her miracles...

And of course, magic users who could accomplish superhuman feats were featured often in many forms of entertainment, like in plays, epics, and bards’ tales. There were countless stories like those even back on Earth, where magic didn’t exist at all. It went without saying that they would be quite popular in a world where magic was real.

And normal people who didn’t have many ways to get proper information or accurate knowledge believed in the magic that they heard about in stories, and the reason they hadn’t seen a mage in real life was because they were hiding their powers to live normal lives. Or maybe they were believed to live in secret research rooms in a royal palace, or in some high tower on the frontier somewhere...

Just like in the stories...

In any case, mages and witches in this world were like superheroes and superheroines: to be admired, and without a negative public image. Moreover, they were in a separate category from the Goddess, angels, religions, miracles, and the like. Magic was strictly a power that humans could achieve through hard work and talent, like royal guardsmen or wealthy entrepreneurs.

In other words, their accomplishments might be out of reach for the average person, but they were still simply considered really incredible people, and without much mysticism to them. Of course, those powers also weren’t something a girl around who was around fifteen years old could ever achieve... But who cares about the details?!

“All set!”

We had already finished contacting our clients, making deliveries, stashing valuables in the Item Box, setting up our security systems, reaching out to the local lord, and explaining things to Mine, Aral, Hang, and Scary. After that, we had gone to sleep early last night, so we were full of energy the next morning. After having a meal from the Item Box that was already fully cooked...

“Okay, let’s go!”

“Yeaaah!”

We were bringing Mine and Aral with us, of course. We couldn’t just leave them here alone, and Mine knew the other three kids who we were going to go help. That meant we needed Mine with us in order to gain their trust.

No one was dumb enough to follow some strange, seemingly-underage kid that appeared out of nowhere and said, “I’ll take care of you, so give up your current life and follow me.” This was especially true for these kids, who had crawled through the lowest parts of society and gone through such horrible betrayal already. As such, it was best to just have Mine explain everything to them for us.

Their adopter...though, they never actually completed the official adoption process, and instead had just paid a few decades worth of salary upfront, and probably had some apprenticeship contract... Anyway, those folks were definitely going to oppose us, so we needed the kids to trust and cooperate with us completely. Well, even if we didn’t need Mine and Aral’s help, leaving them behind wasn’t an option. Of course it wasn’t.

We had already delivered the dried fish and jerky we had promised to the local lord. Well, we went in through the back door and handed the goods over to one of his servants. No business would call upon the local lord directly just to deliver something like this, and no servant would even allow such a thing. I had included some pickled yellow radish, turnips, and cucumbers, some candy, and a few bottles of brandy for free. The pickled goods were homemade, but we had cheated to get the candy and alcohol.

Oh, and I had also prepared something for the people who had helped us with our research. It’s important to express gratitude for these sorts of things, since that kind of consideration always comes back to you in the end.

Besides those things, we had brought a small bottle of soy sauce for the dried goods, along with a note that detailed how to use it. I even included tips for broiling the dried goods. The chefs here probably already knew all this, but I didn’t want them overcooking the food just because they couldn’t trust things that had been brought in by some kid amateurs.

That was why I made sure to include a sealed letter addressed to the local lord detailing all of this. I didn’t want my food to be ruined by being handled improperly. He probably didn’t have a lot of things to look forward to, after all.

Honestly, I had never expected to get this involved with the local lord himself, even after thinking up all sorts of plans to make connections with nobles and wealthy merchants... Oh well. Things didn’t always go according to plan in life. You could run into unexpected accidents or a stroke of good or bad luck. This could probably be considered one of those strokes of good luck.

After we finished locking up, Reiko, Mine, Aral, Hang, Scary, and I stood in front of the house. It was time to go!

“Come out, magic carriage!”

Poof!

“Whoaaaaaa!”

Panzer had suddenly appeared right in front of us. Yes, I had given this one the most intimidating appearance out of my three carriages to discourage weirdos from messing with us on the street. It was the one with the dummy (Oscar) in the coach box.

Back on Earth, everyone knew that a pumpkin could turn into a carriage with magic. In this world, everyone knew that carriages could appear out of thin air...probably. Mine and Aral’s exclamation wasn’t a scream of fear, but a cheer of excitement. It was the first time they had witnessed magic firsthand. It was no surprise that they raised their voices.

“Brehehe, breehehee! (Hang, Scary, I’m counting on you two!)” I said in the language of horses.

“Brehehehe! (Leave it to us!)” they replied.

Mine and Aral stood frozen as they watched Hang and Scary move into position to get their harnesses put on. They were actually more surprised than when they saw the carriage appear. I couldn’t figure out why...

“Why are you two so surprised? Didn’t I explain that they’re descendants of the divine horse, the one that served someone who was known as a goddess and an angel? That’s why they can understand most of what their master says...”

Aral still didn’t seem convinced. Then, Mine stared into my eyes and said...

“B-But...it wasn’t that the horses understood their master’s words... You just spoke horse language, Lady Kaoru...”

“Huh?”

What? Huh? Whaaaaaat?

I looked over at Reiko and saw her staring blankly, mouth agape.

“I blew iiiiiit!”

According to what I had told them, we should have been speaking human language, and the horses should have understood it. If I spoke the language of horses, any horse should have been able to understand me. Neither Reiko nor I realized this fact. It was a huge plot hole in our explanation...

“D-Don’t tell me...”

“Lady Kaoru is...”

Oh no! They’re gonna find out the truth!

Just how sharp were these kids?!

“Lady Kaoru is a descendant of the divine horse!”

“How’d you come to that conclusion?!”

“Who are you calling a descendant of a horse?!”

“W-We’re sorry...”

I mean, it didn’t bother me...

We had already finished putting harnesses on Hang and Scary and started moving along. We would put Oscar the dummy in the coach box after we got some distance between us and the city. Otherwise, someone from the city might see us and wonder who was sitting there. Our faces were pretty well known around here, after all.

Reiko was the one sitting in the coach box for now. Meanwhile, I was explaining things to Mine and Aral in the cabin.

“I was only making noises and pretending to speak the language of horses because people would think there was something wrong with me if they saw me talking to horses in our language, and there might be some bad guys out there who would get funny ideas if they found out Hang and Scary could understand us. It’s not that descendants of the divine horse can understand their master because they understand our language. They have the power to understand me no matter what, so the words I say to them don’t actually matter.”

“I see...”

Easy!

“Now, I’m going back to the coach box, so you two get some rest. But no sleeping allowed! You won’t be able to sleep at night if you do.”

“Yes, my lady!”

Crisis averted. Reiko would get upset if I left her in the coach box alone for too long, so I had to keep her company. After we got far enough from the city, we could put Oscar up there and we could all hang out in the cabin together. There was some distance between us and the kids as employer and employee at Little Silver, but we could probably speak more candidly sitting and talking in the small carriage together.

Mine and Aral were a bit too stiff. I mean, it was normal for them considering their positions, but Mine was far too rigid when dealing with us, and Aral obviously followed her example. I wanted them to just be themselves.

Yes, like everyone from the Eyes of the Goddess...

“...You heard Lady Kaoru, but what are you gonna do, Mine?”

“Just as Lady Kaoru and Lady Reiko say, of course. I don’t understand why they’re telling us this, but if that’s what they wish for us to believe, we have no choice but to act as if we believe it. So we will say they are mages, not angels!”

“Okay!” Aral replied.

Mine cocked her head in confusion, despite her instruction to Aral.

The Goddess’s wisdom. Benevolence toward orphans. Her countless miracles. The Goddess’s carriage, drawn by divine horses. The ability to speak with animals. These stories were all featured in the chapter known as “The Goddess’s Benevolence” in all versions of the scripture, for both children and adults.

In every country, kids had the scripture read to them in orphanages, and children in general households were repeatedly drilled in its teachings at the Temple of the Goddess or at home by their parents. In other words, everything Mine had seen and heard, and the earlier explanation, were pretty much equivalent to Kaoru declaring, “We are angels.” There was no way a smart child like Mine wouldn’t understand this, and Kaoru and Reiko should have realized that.

So why did they say deceptive things despite already telling us the truth...? Maybe they have some deep thoughts that we can’t understand...

Mine was too sharp for her own good...and she was also overthinking things. No one could blame her, of course. They couldn’t have known that the Angels were dumber—rather, they couldn’t have known that they would make such a careless mistake...