Chapter 2: Teleported to Another World Along with the Entire House

At the beginning of April. It was a morning no different from any other, but this day was special.

Onigawara Shouzou, 41 years old, woke up in the morning and quickly groomed and dressed himself, just as he always had. His carefully ironed suit was almost dark enough to be a dress suit. Today, he was taking the day off work, planning instead to attend his daughter’s entrance ceremony at her new middle school. After trimming his beard at the brand new bathroom sink, he put on his glasses and tried to soften his grim face a little.

Regardless of how it played out, his first impressions were always the worst. He was the very personification of the triple combo of “huge body,” “fierce face,” and “rough voice.” The only person who did not cower with fear when meeting him the first time was, so far, his wife alone.

He wouldn’t allow anything to ruin his daughter’s big moment, so after checking his expression one last time, Shouzou made his way to the living room.

“How strange...... why isn’t it showing anything? Ah, good morning, honey.” In the living room, his wife Silvia was standing in front of the TV with the remote control in one hand and her head tilted in bewilderment. She was a silver-haired, blue-eyed drop dead beauty. And in spite of her delicate frame, two large masses protruded from her chest area.

She was six years younger than him, and she was still using honorific speech with him, despite having been married for 13 years and counting. However, she was still as young and beautiful as the day they met.

“What’s the matter?” Shouzou asked, but a single glance was all that was needed to understand the situation. The TV screen was completely black, with the words “No Reception” displayed smack dab in the middle.

“Not a single channel works. We just bought it, is it already broken?”

“Maybe it’s the antenna rather than the TV? Are the satellite channels not working either?”

“They are not. Not a single channel is working.” His wife Silvia looked truly at a loss. But her eyebrows being scrunched up together still did nothing to detract from her beauty.

“How about using magic to fix it, my dear goddess?”

Upon hearing Shouzou speak in a joke-like tone, Silvia blinked, then said, “Oh, my! Honey! How rare it is to hear you crack a joke.” She giggled with a ufufu in delight.

“Ha ha ha. It seems that I’m also in rather high spirits today. Well, the entrance ceremony is only until noon, so let’s call a technician after we get back.” At 41 years old, he had finally attained his dream of owning a brand new house. Yet within not even a week after moving in, a problem had already cropped up. Though it was quite a vexing matter, he did not want to attend his daughter’s big event in a bad mood.

Shouzou made an effort to act cheerful, heading toward the front entrance to pick up the morning newspaper. After passing through the spick and span hallway, he changed into his outdoor slippers at the doorway. Pushing open the door, he leaned out. Upon doing so—

He became dumbstruck at the magnificent view that greeted his eyes.

Several meters in front of him was a gate around chest high that was latched closed.

That was fine.

But what he expected to be there on the other side of that gate—such as a road and their neighbor’s house across the street—was gone without a trace. Their neighbors on either side were gone too.

The bare earth was sloping downward for several hundreds of meters off in the distance, until it spread out into a grassland. Wait no, were those farms or fields? There were tall grasses growing in orderly sections.

Then, far off in the distance, a city was visible.

Surrounded by high walls, it was a city that Shouzou had absolutely no recollection of.

His glance returned to his hand.

Inside the gate, there was the newspaper on the ground. The delivery guy was probably quite flustered too at this sudden unfamiliar sight.

On second thought, if the other side is really like what I’m seeing, then where did the delivery guy come in from? Shouzou pinched his cheek just once. Ouch.

He lumbered over to pick up the newspaper, then turned on his heels. Returning to the living room, he took a seat at the dining table set. His wife was nowhere to be seen. Presumably she had gone off to wake their children. On the table was a cup of fragrant coffee that had been prepared for him.

He pushed up his glasses, then spread open the newspaper. There had been a skirmish at some disputed border. There were the results of some pro sports matches. But at a glance, there wasn’t any particularly inexplicable news.

He took out his smartphone. A quick scan of the article titles of several news sites also did not mention anything that particularly caught his eye.

He took a sip of his coffee, then sighed.

(What was that? What did I just see......)

Just when he was considering going to take a second look, he heard a, “Dad, look!”

His eldest daughter, Yuna, flew into the living room with an excited voice. Clad in her brand new school uniform, she made a quick twirl, which caused her black ponytail to bounce around. She was 12 years old, and from that day onward, she was a first year middle school student.

“It suits you very well.”

“Ehehe~ ♪”

Shouzou’s face slackened slightly at her cute, adorable smile.

“Oh, Yuna, you’ve already gotten changed?”

Silvia came in. From behind her, a little girl with sparkling eyes appeared.

“Yuna-onee-sama, so cool!”

The youngest daughter, five-year-old Hina, was still in her pajamas. It was clear she had just gotten out of bed, as she was affected by a clear case of bedhead. Her hair was the color of glistening silver. Her eyes were also blue like the seas of a southern country, so it was clear to see that, out of the three siblings, she was the one who had inherited the most from Silvia’s genes.

After the two of them, a young girl trailed in, looking sleepy still.

“It’s already morning? I can’t believe this...... Why doesn’t anyone else think it strange that it becomes morning in an instant as soon as you fall asleep......” The middle daughter Kana, 10 years old, a fifth grader at a new elementary school as of today. She, too, was in her pajamas. Her short, brown hair contributed to her overall boyish impression.

The three sisters each had different hair and eye colors, but their faces all bore great resemblance to Silvia and were very lovely.

(I’m so glad they didn’t take after me......) Shouzou gave a quick prayer of thanks to the gods.

The three girls took their place at the table, and conversation blossomed as it always did.

“Is Hina-chan coming to the entrance ceremony too?” asked Yuna.

“Hina-sama is taking the day off preschool~!” Hina energetically threw both arms into the air.

“Aww, lucky you. I want to take the day off too...... Why isn’t it summer break already......” Kana rested her chin in her hands.

“Kana, didn’t your spring break end just the day before yesterday?”

“When humans become accustomed to a lifestyle with plenty of sleep, they find it difficult to revert from that.”

“Just wake up at the same time everyday, then.”

“What kind of person wouldn’t want to sleep in and laze around on their precious days off?”

“Kana-onee-sama is a lazybones-san~”

“Aww, now you’re making me embarrassed~”

“Kana, she was not complimenting you.”

The serious Yuna and free-spirited Kana did get into arguments at times, but Hina always managed to bring them back together harmoniously.

Kana was the only one who couldn’t make it to the entrance ceremony due to having classes of her own, so she was probably feeling a bit lonely due to that. But Yuna being Yuna, she was being considerate toward Kana’s feelings, so she was taking a gentler tone than usual.

All of them were growing up to be such good kids.

Shouzou did not want to destroy this happy lifestyle.

And that was why—

(The situation outside, I really do need to confirm it one more time.) But the moment he renewed his resolve, his smartphone vibrated.

He had received a message on a messaging app.

[Department Head, are you all right?]

That was all it said.

What was that supposed to mean?

The person who had sent him the message was one of Shouzou’s subordinates. She was the new hope of the company’s sales department who, having joined the company three years ago, turned out to have a very forceful personality that belied her demure appearance.

What did she mean by “all right”? Could it be related to the abnormal sight outside? His curiosity piqued, Shouzou decided to call her instead of messaging back.

(......Out of range?) However, when he tried doing so, a message along the general lines of “you cannot reach the number you are dialing because you are out of coverage range” appeared on his screen.

(What does that mean? I’m at home right now, so how can I be out of range......) This hadn’t happened even once since he and his family moved here.

At that moment, his phone began vibrating again.

This time, it was a call. However, it wasn’t a call made through the phone service carrier, but through the messaging app.

But when he fiddled with the app to answer the call, an extremely flustered voice came out of the speaker.

[Is this the Department Head?!]

It was the same subordinate who had sent Shouzou the message.

“What’s the matter?”

[What do you mean “what’s the matter”?! Department Head, where are you right now?!]

“I’m at home. What about it?”

[No way......]

“What do you mean ‘no way’? But anyways, that aside, is there an issue that came up? You sound awfully flustered.”

[But Department Head, your house! It’s completely disappeared!]

“Hah?”

A weird sound came out of Shouzou’s mouth.

His family members turned toward him with questioning looks.

[It’s being reported on the TV right now that a house disappeared in its entirety within a single night.]

Apparently a short clip uploaded to the internet had gone viral almost instantaneously and thus got picked up by a morning news channel.

Struck with astonishment at hearing the phrase “Onigawara Shouzou-san’s residence,” she had tried calling him, but was told that he was out of range. That was why she tried sending him a message. Seeing that the message was read quickly then prompted her to attempt calling him through the app.

“Yes, even my smartphone is saying that I’m out of network coverage range. But I still have internet access. There’s no problem with our power and water either.”

But the TV didn’t display anything.

(Could it be that the airwaves can’t reach us......?) The house internet was connected through a fiber optic cable. And it was from there that they had Wi-Fi spread throughout the house. The call happening through the messaging app was being handled this way instead.

In addition, the news channel had apparently also found their newspaper delivery guy, who commented that when he threw the newspaper into their now vacant lot, the newspaper had disappeared too.

Everything was a bewildering whirlwind of chaos, but that made it all the more imperative for him to confirm and get a grasp on the situation. For the moment, Shouzou hung up the phone. In any case, he wouldn’t be able to continue the call anyway if anything else unexpected cropped up.

“Honey......” Anxiety flickered in Silvia’s eyes. The children also looked worried.

“Apparently our entire house has been moved somewhere else. I’m going to check the situation outside. You all stay here.”

“But......”

“Don’t worry. No matter what happens, I will protect my family.” The wrinkles around Shouzou’s brows deepened as cracking sounds also rang out clearly from his knuckles.

But that moment.

Ding do~ng

Their doorbell rang, and their intercom flickered to life.

Unease ran through the family.

Shouzou gestured for his wife to remain seated, then headed toward the intercom.

On the LCD screen was the figure of a woman.

It was a young woman with long hair wearing a suit that made her look like she was there for a job interview.

“Who might you be?” Shouzou asked in a wary voice.

In response, the woman said something very strange indeed.

“I am a goddess who’s come here from the celestial realm.”

After a short moment of dumbfoundedness, “We’re good, thanks.”

Shouzou reflexively turned off the intercom—

★

Despite having reflexively turned off the intercom, Shouzou understood that the self-proclaimed goddess might be the key to understanding how they could resolve the current situation, so he eventually invited her in.

After coming into the house, he directed her to the Japanese-style guest room.

With a low table in between, he and the woman confronted each other.

“Um, I’m sorry this isn’t much, but......”

How considerate it was to receive a visitor bearing gifts this early in the morning.

“So then, who are you?” Shouzou thought he managed a gentle tone, but the woman started and averted her eyes.

“I, I am, um, this is who I am......” She held out a namecard.

“...... Administrative Bureau of Reincarnation and Transmigration? Emalia-san?” Almost all of it seemed suspect, but the word “transmigration” did catch his attention.

The woman, Emalia shuffled backward hurriedly, then—

“We are truly sorry for what happened!!!” She pounded her forehead against the floor in dogeza.

“While conducting the final test run of our new transmigration system, we mistakenly transmigrated your entire house to this world.” Emalia ground her forehead against the tatami floor.

Shouzou exhaled a breath. “Please raise your head. I’m not asking for an apology. Let’s move toward a more constructive conversation.”

“A-As you say...... I am much obliged......” Emalia raised her upper body. Timidly returning to her original position, she kept her head down low in fear, only looking at Shouzou in quick, occasional glances.

Silvia prepared tea and placed it before the two of them. Then she withdrew to a position diagonally behind Shouzou and sat in seiza.

With another “Much obliged” Emalia shrunk even deeper into herself.

While slightly vexed at the timidness of his visitor, Shouzou quietly questioned her.

“Leaving aside the points that I find hard to understand, the main gist is that due to a fault in some mysterious system on your end, all of us have been caught up in the ensuing aftermath?”

“Rather than a ‘fault,’ it wa—Eep! Y-Yes, that’s the general gist of it!” Emalia’s fumbling for words was cut short with a single direct glance from Shouzou. The sharp glint in his eyes had apparently made her shudder. In a fluster, she began to babble excuses.

“N-Normally this is something that would never happen. The transmigration system sets ‘individuals’ as the target when conducting transmigrations, so this is the very first time that it has happened to an entire house along with everything in it, and even we are scrambling to identify the cause and—”

“Emalia-san.”

“Yessir?!”

“I have no intention of assigning blame for something that has already happened. Neither would there be any point in me pressing you to identify the cause. So let’s leave all that for a later time. All I want is one thing, and that is for everything to be returned to its original state.”

“It, it is indeed as you say...... But, it’s just that, um......” Emalia once again reverted to fumbling for words.

Shouzou was getting quite irritated by then, but he consciously made an effort to hold himself in check, understanding that an emotional outburst from him would only serve to further delay the conversation.

“It will be difficult in a short time frame?”

“As long as the cause remains undetermined, it’s hard to...... And even when the cause is determined, we would still have to correct the system error and conduct retests, so it seems it might take a year at the earliest......”

“A whole year?”

“Y-Yes, I’m sorry...... Ah, but! For some reason, this time, a connection to the previous world remains. Power, gas, water, internet, basically everything that goes through cable communications and normal plumbing systems, all that is still perfectly usable. Furthermore, anything that is left on your lot would get sent over to this side, so all packages that don’t contain anything alive can reach you without issue. I think there won’t be any significant impact on your lifestyle—”

“Emalia-san.”

“Yessir?!”

“Even if things are fine at the moment, seeing as how even you said ‘for some reason,’ that means we have no guarantee that this lifeline would remain indefinitely. On top of that, I have a job, my daughters have school, and my wife has her socializing with everyone in our neighborhood. Not being able to carry on in our normal lives as a part of society would be a very serious problem indeed.”

“It, it is indeed as you say, sir......”

“Today is our eldest daughter’s very important entrance ceremony. Can you send just the five of us back right now?” Despite making his voice as gentle as possible, Emalia only got more visibly dejected.

“Is that impossible as well?”

“As I explained earlier, the transmigration system operates by sending ‘individuals’ to other worlds. Belongings are bound to the individual, then sent along together. This time however, for whatever reason, the house is the transmigration target, and all five of you are bound to the house. To send a bound target separately, and furthermore for the targets to be alive, I’m afraid that would be rather difficult......”

But that was not all.

“The new system that caused the issue this time processes the information of transmigration targets in a completely different way from the old system. Naturally, backward compatibility is possible, but the opposite—using the old system to return a target sent by the new system—is impossible.” She further added that the old system was incapable of returning a target from a new world back to Japan once again.

“In other words, at the current moment, we have no option but to wait for the new system to be fixed?”

“Yes...... That is the case......”

Shouzou looked up at the ceiling.

He somehow managed to suppress the urge to slam his fist onto the table. Railing at Emalia would not resolve the situation. Neither would venting his anger make him feel any better.

(One year...... a whole year. Wait, no, she said ‘at the earliest.’ Including the time needed for them to identify the issue, it might be even longer than that.) They had savings. They might have to live a bit frugally, but it should be enough to last them for two years.

However, their connection to their original world was not guaranteed. It would not be strange for it to be severed at any moment.

“So will your side provide us any support for our livelihood? Specifically, living expenses, or guaranteed support for crucial instances?”

“Th-That’s......”

“Don’t tell me your side’s stance is to ‘survive somehow’ without any intention of providing support?”

“No, of course not! Normally, it is forbidden to have further contact with targets after their transmigration, but this time is an irregularity and the fault lies with us, so as special treatment—”

Emalia placed a hand on her own modest chest and said, “I have been assigned to stay here to do all I can to support everyone’s livelihood—”

“Rejected.”

“Eeep?!”

“Ah, sorry, I couldn’t help it...... However, what is it specifically that you can do to support us?”

“I’ll find a job.”

Shouzou looked up at the ceiling again.

“I cannot use my powers as a goddess in the mortal realm, and my powers have been restricted quite significantly in the first place, so my ability might not seem much at a glance, but at the very least, I will earn enough to support your family’s livelihood—”

“Ahh, that’s enough. That’s enough, Emalia-san.”

“I’m sorry?”

“You’ve clearly just been forced to take the fall.”

Within Emalia’s speech and conduct, he could feel a sense of desperation and resignation from time to time. Having been a salesman for so long, and having sat across from so many people during that time, Shouzou could tell.

“I really hate this from the bottom of my heart, but I was ordered to by a superior so I have no choice” was coming across so loudly that it almost hurt.

After a brief instant of astonishment, tears began gushing out from her eyes in huge drops.

“It was just, I’ve only been doing admin work in the celestial realm the entire time, and, and it’s my first time descending to the mortal realm, and I was just so worried......” Wordlessly, Silvia moved to sit beside the bawling goddess.

“It must have been so hard for you. But it’s all right now. We’re here with you. You can rely on us as much as you want.”

“Madam...... uwaaaaan!” Emalia buried her face in Silvia’s bountiful breasts.

Silvia kindly patted her head the entire time as she cried her eyes out.

When she had calmed down enough, Shouzou asked her about all the various paperwork regarding him taking leave from work and about his daughters taking a leave of absence from their schools.

In response, he was told that all relevant coordination, which also included disclosure of information to the Japanese government, was being handled by Emalia’s superiors.

Shouzou took a sip of tea.

“So, do you have any clue as to what caused the issue?”

The longer that took, the longer their return to their previous world would take. Consequently, it was of utmost importance.

“We are not entirely without a clue. The current hypothesis is that a massive magic source interfered with the transmigration system’s functions. We had never detected this source previously, so it must have been very skillfully concealed. And it just so happened that this very significant magic source was present in the Onigawara residence. That’s all we know at the moment.”

Hm? Shouzou tilted his head.

“A powerful magic source......?”

“Indeed. One so significant that it ranks as goddess class...... and a Grade 1 goddess level, at that. We find it hard to believe that such a magic source actually exists in the mortal realm, but still...... Ah, by the way, I am a Grade 7 goddess. I’m really sorry for being such a small potato......”

Shouzou looked up at the ceiling for the third time.

Then he brought his gaze back down to shoot a glance at his wife who was, at the moment, still next to Emalia.

“Silvia, could it be......” He couldn’t manage to say the rest, but their many years together enabled his wife to catch on to what he wanted to say.

“Yes. It appears that I was the cause.”

“Eh?” Emalia let out a stupid-sounding voice.

Silvia became visibly dejected.

Shouzou immediately comforted his wife.

“None of the responsibility lies with you. Not including something so significant when testing a system on a scale large enough to actually affect society just ‘because it’s beyond expectations’? That can only be an excuse.”

“Thank you, honey......”

“Eh? Eh? Um, wait, what? What are you two talking about......?”

Seeing Emalia’s look of utter confusion, Silvia placed a hand on her shoulder.

Then she told her straight.

“I am a goddess. A Grade 1 goddess.”

Emalia stared at her dazedly for a brief moment, then—

“EHHHHHHHHHHHH?!” A really loud shout reverberated throughout the house.

★

The stunningly beautiful girl that he met on that rainy summer night, Silvia.

That night, after being pushed down by her, they encountered success on the first try. She became pregnant with Yuna, their eldest daughter.

It was one of those so-called “shotgun weddings.”

While insisting on declaring herself a “goddess,” Silvia said, “Now that I have formed a relationship with someone in the mortal realm, I cannot return to the celestial realm anymore. You will be taking responsibility for me, yes?”

Though it sort of sounded like a threat, as someone who had absolutely zero luck with women so far, there wasn’t a single reason for Shouzou to say no.

Or rather, he welcomed it very much. It wasn’t even an exaggeration to call it the jackpot, an overwhelming victory.

But “goddess”? “Celestial realm”? Was that some kind of secret lingo? When he had just met her, Shouzou hadn’t the faintest idea what it meant, but—

Emalia asked back in a quivering voice.

“In other words, Madam is a goddess? Like me? Like...... a ‘goddess’ goddess......?”

“That’s what I said.”

“And she’s a Grade 1 goddess, much higher rank than me......?”

“That’s what I said as well.”

“No, no, no, no! Why is a Grade 1 goddess a homemaker in a place like this?!”

“‘A place like this’? That’s rude of you.”

“Hah?! No, sorry, that was a slip of the tongue. I’m very sorry......” Emalia shrunk into herself in dejection, but almost immediately started, then her head shot up as if she had just realized something.

What a busy girl she was.

“More like, why is the master so calm about it? She’s a goddess! A Grade 1 goddess! The wife that has been beside you for all these years! Why aren’t you surprised?!”

“I don’t really get the whole goddess ranking system, but the fact that my wife is ‘a goddess’ is something that I’ve known for ages.” Naturally, at the start, he didn’t actually believe that she was a real goddess.

—“Strictly speaking, I’m not supposed to do this in the mortal realm. But just for you.”

However, after seeing her create fire out of thin air and fly around the sky for a bit, he had no choice but to believe.

“Even if that’s the case, how can you accept it so easily?!”

“What reason could I have to reject it?”

Normally, Silvia was just a typical stunning beauty. Even after their marriage, she was a sociable homemaker who got along well with all their neighbors. Her being a goddess or not was a trivial matter for Shouzou.

“What is with this married couple......cough cough. I beg your pardon. In other words, could it be that my support is actually not needed at all in this situation?”

“It’s true that even though I’m retired, my magic capacity and yours is still three digits apart. If we fought, it would end within the blink of an eye,” said Silvia.

“Please stop scaring me......”

“However, since I formed a relationship with someone in the mortal realm, my ties with the celestial realm have been completely cut. This is why we will need Emalia-san to serve as the go-between.”

“Th-That’s right, I suppose. That’s all I’m needed for, it seems......” The light almost faded completely from Emalia’s eyes.

It seemed like she had already suffered rather significant damage, but the conversation was not over yet.

“So would I be correct in understanding that the cause is now identified?”

“Heh? Ah, yes. May I report it to my superiors?”

Silvia placed a hand on her cheek and sighed.

“There’s no helping it, I suppose. But now that this has happened, I can use my magic again without worry.”

“Ahh, since you’ve been taking precautions so far to hide your real identity.”

“Ha ha ha” went the intimate couple as they laughed together jovially.

“It’s forbidden to use magic in a mortal realm!”

“But my ties with the celestial realm have been completely cut, and my powers have already been restricted. The situation being what it is, I won’t take no for an answer, all right?” Emalia thought she saw a jet-black aura rising up behind Silvia’s gentle smile. She shivered like a kitten abandoned in the heart of winter.

Can I go back already......

“So then, Emalia-san.”

“Yessir?!”

“Stop being frightened at everything. So anyways, where will you be staying from now on?”

“Eh? Ahh, umm...... I was planning on setting up a tent right beside this house.” The realization that the unavailability of support in the form of local currency—which meant that staying in an inn would be beyond her means—left Emalia’s shoulders slumped in despondency.

At that moment, the voice of a goddess with an outstretched hand reached her ears.

“How would you like to stay in this guest room?”

“May I really?!” She shot a quick glance at Shouzou, who was “hmming” with arms crossed.

“We can’t in good conscience allow a young lady to stay outdoors.”

“Thank you so very much! I’ll go bring my tent in right now!”

““You’re going to set it up in here?!””

“I’m sorry, I was just so flustered...... I’m going to bring a futon then.”

“We have a futon for guests, so just use that.”

“I am very much obliged, again and again......”

After a while, Shouzou patted his chest in relief. For the moment, the cause had been identified. So at the earliest, they might get to go back to their original world in a year’s time.

They’d ended up accepting Emalia as a lodger, but having an older sister-like presence of a similar age (in terms of appearance) to their eldest daughter Yuna might give the kids some sense of reassurance.

“Ah, I’d forgotten!” shouted Emalia. She looked down at the ground uncomfortably.

They had finally managed to end things on a more positive note, yet now it seemed she still had bad news to convey.

“What is it?”

“It really does pain me to say this, but......” Emalia closed her eyes tightly. “Normally, during the transmigration process, a special ability or power is bestowed upon the target. After all, ‘Freely and cheerfully enjoy your second chance at life’ is the approach that our bureau takes. However, this time, because the target of the transfer was the house, everyone was treated as bound accessories, which meant that......”

“None of us get a special ability?”

“I am really, truly, very sorry!” Emalia shuffled backward and dove into a dogeza again.

Despite her various unreliable aspects, Shouzou found himself in appreciation of, at the very least, how polished her dogeza was.

“We have no need for special abilities or anything like that.” Just being able to live normal lives was more than enough. That was what Shouzou truly believed from the bottom of his heart.

However, Emalia once again dribbled out even more bad news.

“Truthfully speaking, there are things called ‘magic beasts’ that live in this world......”

“‘Magic beasts’......? I take it that you’re not talking about bears or wolves or beasts of that sort?”

“W-Well, it’s a wide range, from things of that level, to things of cataclysmic levels that can wipe out entire cities by themselves...... like dragons, for example......”

“Why is it that time and time again, you offer such important information only at the very end?”

“I’m really, really sorry...... Oh, but! If a barrier is set up using magic, then there would be no need to fear them. Since it affects the safety of all of you, I have been granted special permission to use my powers for this.” Emalia blew out a breath and delivered her previous words with full confidence.

“Hmm,” said Shouzou while crossing his arms.

“In other words, at the moment we are in a defenseless state unprotected by a barrier?”

All the blood drained out of Emalia’s face.

Shouzou found himself once again in astonishment at how scatterbrained this goddess was.

And as they say, “When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.”

Running footsteps pounded down the hallway toward the guest room.

“Dad, it’s terrible!” The eldest daughter, Yuna, rushed into the room in a fluster.

“There’s something gigantic in the yard!” In quick succession, in came the second daughter, Kana. “It’s a doggy-sama~” The youngest daughter, Hina, seemed to find it all rather quite amusing.

“So one of those so-called magic beasts has already shown up.” After being relieved at seeing his daughters safe, Shouzou made to get up, but was abruptly stopped by what his daughters continued to tell him.

“But Dad, it’s strange.”

“It’s slamming its body against our house really hard, but—”

“Our new house is so strong~!” Apparently, in spite of the magic beast’s effort to break their windows, the house had remained steadfast all throughout. Come to think of it, there wasn’t even an audible sound of impact.

Emalia started with a shout.

“So that’s how it is! This house is the transmigration target. That’s why it got a cheat ability!”

“We would have really appreciated it if you’d properly confirmed that sort of thing first before coming in.”

“Hauu, I’m sorry......” Apparently the state of affairs was not as urgent as it’d first seemed. But with that said, neither was it something that could remain unaddressed.

Shouzou got up, then headed toward the living room. Everyone else followed behind him in single file. At the end of the first floor hallway, upon opening the door, a glass sliding door that reached from the floor to the ceiling came into view. On the other side of it, a dog the size of an elephant was glaring straight at them.

Its pure black fur looked as sharp as needles. Its bared fangs seemed very similar to western broadswords. The magic beast seemed to be in the middle of a short break, as its long tongue was lolling out while its shoulders were heaving up and down heavily.

“It’s a hellhound! To think that such a big one was in the vicinity......” Despite the chills she was feeling, Emalia tried her best to remain calm and analyze the situation.

“Please don’t provoke it. After a while, it should give up and just go away on its own.”

But then Shouzou took a step forward.

“But that means it might come attack us again at any time, right?”

“Eh? Well, that’s...... but once I set up the barrier......”

Shouzou took another step.

“But that means my daughters won’t be able to run around and play outside.”

“Heh? Well, that’s...... but safety is top priority......”

Shouzou’s steps brought him quickly toward the window.

“Naturally, the safety of my family is top priority.”

“Then—”

“Therefore!” Shouzou was mad. Blood rushed to his head.

Too much had happened today already.

Their house was transmigrated to another world out of the blue. The person sent to do the explaining was timid and jumping at everything and just completely useless in general.

Then this. This was the final straw.

He shot a quick glance behind him. There stood the family that he loved so very dearly.

The constantly naïve and bubbly Hina aside, Yuna, and even the usually full-of-herself Kana looked frightened and worried.

This...... thing had frightened his beloved daughters. That in itself was a crime worthy of death!

Shouzou undid the latch to the glass door, then threw it open.

“Master, what are you—?!”

His family’s safety was of utmost priority. Anything that threatened their bright, fun, and carefree livelihood, no matter what it may be—

“Elimination!” Thud.

Shouzou stepped outside in his bare feet.

The gigantic black magic beast crouched low and snarled while fixing its sight on Shouzou.

The exchange of glances lasted but a few seconds.

“GRRRR!” The magic beast lunged at Shouzou. With saliva spraying everywhere, it opened its maw wide to snap Shouzou up.

But in response—

Shouzou bent his knees. Immediately afterward, he lightly lifted the palm of his hand.

Gachi~in!! [Gafun?!] The palm of his hand connected perfectly with the magic beast’s chin.

The large maw that missed its target was forcibly slammed shut, with the sound of the top and bottom racks of teeth crashing together ringing out loudly. The magic beast’s upper body shot up into the air, and it did a complete backflip before landing on its back.

The magic beast had apparently suffered a concussion, because it just laid there, twitching. Eventually, it shivered, then slowly got to its feet while quivering.

Shouzou looked on, then slowly inhaled deeply.

All of the children clapped their hands over their ears in synchronized motions.

Immediately afterward—

“GET LOST!!” A single shout tore the air apart.

“Piee?!” The startled voice was from Emalia. The loud sound had caused her legs to give way.

“Kyaun, kyau kyauun!” The magic beast leaped up, then ran away as fast as it could.

Shouzou turned around as if nothing had happened and made to step back into the living room, but realized that he was barefoot.

“Honey, thank you for keeping us safe. Here you go.” His wife Silvia had brought over a wet towel. As expected of a couple that had spent so many years together. Shouzou accepted it with a word of thanks, then wiped the soles of his feet clean first before coming back into the living room.

“As expected of Dad!”

“Papa so awesome—!”

“Otoo-sama, so cool~!”

His children crowded around him. Shouzou’s expression softened as he hugged all three of them at once.

Something that was a matter of course, performed as a matter of course.

Seeing the family reacting the way they did, Emalia felt faint while opening her mouth to ask.

“Master...... who, are you......?” It was a very natural question to ask.

However, for Shouzou, it was an incomprehensible question.

He was no one special enough to merit the question “Who are you?”

The only thing that set him apart from other people was that he had taken a goddess as a wife.

“Just your average company employee.”

“Like hell you are!” Emalia was so bewildered that she unconsciously slipped into casual speech and shouted out loud.

“Hauu, I’m sorry, that was rude of me...... But, but, but that’s strange! How can an average company employee take out a hellhound with a single punch?!” Her question, delivered from her position still sitting on the floor, merely caused Shouzou to blush and avert his eyes.

“I, in front of the kids? That’s a bit......”

What’s he blushing about? This middle-aged man.

Emalia turned her gaze toward Silvia in search of an answer, only to get a very bashful “Iyaan.”

Yuna was also looking down in clear embarrassment.

“Nn? What? What’re we talking about?”

“A good woman has her secrets~”

“Uh, Papa is a guy though?”

“A good man has them too~” Clearly the two younger daughters hadn’t a clue.

Emalia once again turned her gaze back toward Shouzou, at which—

“Well then, I suppose I should step out for a bit.”

Was he trying to dodge the topic?

“More like, where is the master planning on going?”

“I hardly think that was the only magic beast close by. I’m going to quickly chase away every single one that lives in this area.”

Emalia could not find anything to say in response to Shouzou’s glittering eyes.

“Silvia, can you set up the barrier or whatever it is?”

“Not a problem. I’ll have it up in the blink of an eye.”

“All right, I’ll leave that to you then.” The married couple went ahead and continued the conversation while leaving Emalia behind.

The poor goddess could do nothing except just stare at Shouzou’s large back as it headed toward the front door in an overbearing manner.

It was only with Silvia’s help that Emalia finally managed to stand back up. So much had happened today that she just wanted to get back quickly and take a rest. However, she just couldn’t make herself let the matter go.

“Madam, why is the master so strong? I’m only guessing, but the feeling that I get is that he’s much stronger than even me, even though I come from the celestial realm!”

“In terms of sheer strength, he is actually above even me, a Grade 1 goddess. After all, he did just physically repel a magic beast.”

“All the more so, then! How did an ‘average company worker’ gain strength that exceeds even that of us goddesses?!”

Silvia’s cheeks once again flushed red bashfully.

Then she brought her mouth close to Emalia’s ears, who was looking decidedly unamused at seeing this reaction again.

“Our connection of love, that’s the reason.”

“I’m sorry, come again?”

“Did you not know? When a ‘human’ is deeply, dee~ply connected to a god or goddess, both in heart and body, they are bestowed a huge blessing of love.” Silvia covered her blazing cheeks with her hands, as if to hide her bashfulness.

Befuddled, Emalia’s gaze panned away.

Three cute girls were looking her way with blank faces.

In other words, the “human,” clearly Shouzou, gained strength that exceeds that of the gods because, together with Silvia, a Grade 1 goddess, he performed a certain act that led to the creation of these children......

“IT’S MY FIRST TIME HEARING SOMETHING LIKE THAT THOUGH?!”

“Well, the effect of doing it just once or twice is almost negligible, after all. But the two of us, when we got married, oh my we just, every single night, and even now we are still...... ufufu♪”

Emalia found herself gazing at the Grade 1 goddess who was once again blushing to the tips of her ears.

(......Just go explode.)

Emalia found herself clicking her tongue repeatedly inside her head.