Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for my Retirement Vol. 2

Mitsuha narrowed her eyes, and it was enough to spook him a little.

“So, will you still do merc work?” she asked.

“Well, it’s the only thing we’re good at,” he replied. “Sure, we could divide the money and split up, but then we’d have nothin’ to do. We’d probably just waste our cash, get hassled for it, or get tricked an’ go back to being broke. Just keepin’ the team together’s safer. I mean, what kinda moron’d pick a fight with us? Though, yeah, it’s nice that we don’t have to take ball-bustin’ jobs just to make ends meet anymore. We’re not plannin’ to fight anytime soon.”

Makes sense, Mitsuha thought. Why would anyone risk their lives for money if they’ve already got it made?

“Oh, by the way, I told you that I’m running an entire county now, right? Would you help me out if we had a bandit problem or something?”

“You bet. Yer jobs get special treatment. People over there ain’t got guns, so it ain’t likely that any of us’d die. But if someone did, then that’d be all they were worth. I’m damn sure everyone’d volunteer for whatever job ya gave us.”

“Uhh, I’m not in a place that can be invaded by other countries, so I doubt I’d ever need as much firepower as last time.”

That’d be way too excessive.

“That aside, do you know where I could get a wooden ship that only needs a crew of about ten to twenty people?” Mitsuha thought that, unlike Japan, the countries around Wolfgang’s base might still use wooden ships without engines, but...

“A galley? What, yer place still got slaves or somethin’?” the captain asked. His eyes were wide open.

I guess I won’t get one here, Mitsuha concluded.

She had no training planned for the day, so she just loitered around the base. That was when she was struck with the idea to buy a tank or an autocannon.

Wolfgang’s “God” performed well during that fight... It was some damn good advertising. I’ll buy one once I’m richer, though. LAVs with 5.56mm guns are too weak. An infantry tank with a 20mm autocannon is where it’s at. Wait, just who am I planning to fight?!

For now, she just decided to leave. Before returning to the other world, she decided to go shopping. Not in Japan, however; she could shop in this country just fine. She could get many things that were inaccessible in Japan, plus they were cheaper. In some stores, she was already a regular, so they often gave her extras or pieces of candy.

Yeah, I know I look twelve, damn it!

“Yer goin’ out to town?” the captain asked.

“Yeah. I’ve got some shopping to do,” said Mitsuha.

The captain lowered his voice. “There’ve been some weirdos sniffin’ around lately. I’m thinkin’ they’re spies from another country.”

“What’re they after?”

“A way to get to the other world, prob’ly. Or materials an’ tech we don’t have here. One of our morons uploaded your photos to our homepage, an’ since you an’ I started doin’ business, we’d exchanged those gold coins a bunch’a times before the ‘big reward from the princess’. Any pro who takes a good look at us would realize that you’ve gone between here an’ the other side tons’a times by now.”

“I understand materials, but... technology? From a world of swords and bows?”

“Ya know what I mean. Magic. Witchcraft. Voodoo. Whatever you wanna call it.”

“Ohhh.” Mitsuha now understood.

These people—or their nation—wanted to secure the rights to the other world and maybe even occupy it with their armed forces. They probably thought they could exchange twenty-four-dollar piece of junk for large plot of land, or a lighter for uncut diamonds.

Little did they know that Mitsuha’s world-jumping power wasn’t anything scientific or some dimensional tunnel between the worlds. Even if they captured and ordered her to take them there, she could just jump by herself, or jump with them to the peak of a freezing mountain while leaving their clothes and weapons behind—the possibilities were endless.

As long as she wasn’t killed instantly, she could world-jump to escape at any time, so people who were forbidden from killing her couldn’t do anything to her. Even if they put her to sleep somehow to interrogate her later, she could jump away from them the instant she regained consciousness. They could only get something out of her if she was willing.

Great. Now I’m mildly interested in seeing what’d happen if I escaped while taking all the supports of the building with me. That potentially gory idea aside... They all think I’m from the other world, and even if they find out my real name, I don’t have any close family members. Oh, how I’d laugh if they tried to take my uncle and aunt hostage. All in all, this really isn’t a big deal.

“All right. I’m sure it won’t be much of a problem, but just keep my name consistent with the story you told everyone. It wouldn’t be good for me if my true name spread too far.”

“Uh, yeah... Got it.” Her emphasis on “true name” had caught the captain off guard.

Just ask that Japanophile on your team, cap. He’ll probably know what I’m talking about.

One of Wolfgang’s members drove Mitsuha to town. The mercs had even argued among themselves over who would be the one to do it, which made Mitsuha feel like her springtime had finally come. She could’ve gone to town by world-jumping, but since that always came with the danger of being spotted, and because it was less than half an hour away by car, she’d decided to accept the ride. Thirty minutes of idle road chatter didn’t seem like time wasted either.

The road had no traffic lights along the way, so the distance between the base and the town was a pretty straight shot, about 31 miles long. A mercenary hive couldn’t be too close to a civilian settlement, after all.

Once the merc had dropped Mitsuha off, he simply turned around and drove back to the base. He knew that once she was done shopping, she would just jump back to “her world”, so there was no point in waiting for her.

For some reason, the mercs seemed to assume that, although Mitsuha could jump from any place on Earth, she could only jump to their base from the other world. They probably believed that anywhere was good for the jump’s initiation, but the destination needed some sort of marker, which she had set up in Wolfgang’s base.

Let them think whatever they want, I say. Could end up keeping me safe somehow.

As Mitsuha walked around town, shopping for ingredients and the like, someone called out to her.

“Excuse me, young lady, do you have a moment?”

She turned to see a blonde-haired, blue-eyed man in his forties with a pleasant aura about him. He looked to be just short of six feet tall, and he wore a dark suit. Alongside him stood two younger men who were also clad in dark suits.

Is that a rule for this crew or something?

“Yes. What is it?”

As she spoke, knowledge of Russian and Chinese languages flowed into Mitsuha’s mind. The Russian was fluent, while the Chinese was slightly less perfect. He’d spoken to her in English, but she had already mastered that, so there were no changes there.

I guess he’s a Russian who learned both English and Chinese.

Needless to say, Mitsuha replied to him in English.

“I would like to talk. May I?” he asked.

“Huh? Well, sure, if it doesn’t take too long.”

The man smiled. “Excellent. What do you say we chat over some lunch? Let us bring you somewhere.”

A car as dark as their suits sat idle behind them.

There’s no way a frail girl would just hop in there alongside three fishy-looking men and their driver. Do they think I don’t know that much ’cause I’m “not from this world”?

“I’ll have to pass. I was told that in this world, you shouldn’t go with people you don’t know or enter their cars.”

They furrowed their brows in frustration, clearly wondering who had told her such a thing.

“But I wouldn’t mind talking with you over some tea in that place over there,” Mitsuha added, pointing.

Left with no choice, the men nodded and followed Mitsuha.

I doubt they’re planning to kidnap me right away. They probably just wanted to establish contact this time. Still, you can never be too careful.

“Err, this place is...” one of the men trailed off, bewildered.

Boy, we’re sticking out like a sore thumb. Any secrecy they wanted is out the window, Mitsuha thought.

The establishment was full of young girls, and they were three men in suits. As you’d expect, this made them the center of attention. They had come to a café that specialized in sweets, and it enjoyed decent popularity among the local girls.

I chose it on purpose, obviously. They can’t pull anything shady here. Hahahaha!

Mitsuha walked to a corner table and sat with her back against the wall. Generally, she believed it was best to avoid situations that had no clear escape route, like interactions with pyramid schemers, cultists, or ex-classmates surrounded by friends she inevitably didn’t know. However, this time she was willing to forego her caution because of her world-jumping power and the nature of this establishment.

She called for a waitress and ordered a cake set. Two of the men went for coffee, while the third asked for a banana sundae topped with chocolate and whipped cream. The first two glared at him.

Oh, I get it. He wanted to try it, but didn’t have the courage to go in by himself. Well, mister, I hope you enjoy it.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Mitsuha asked, making no effort to keep her voice down. She intended to emphasize the fact that she wasn’t acquainted with them; she was just a girl who had been approached by some strange men she didn’t know.

Her tactic was super effective. A group of women around twenty years old gaped at Mitsuha’s table in shock, then glanced at them repeatedly while taking their phones out of their bags. The men didn’t notice this, as they were looking at Mitsuha—who had nothing but a wall behind her—and their backs were turned to the other customers.

Just as planned.

Looking a bit uncomfortable, the man who had first called out to her began speaking in a hushed voice. “I’ll get straight to the point. Are you the princess from the other world?”

Yep, he’s not beating around the bush at all!

“Yes. How do you know that?”

“Oh, most excellent! Now, we are from a country that wishes to form a diplomatic relation with Your Highness’ kingdom. We can even dispatch our army to fight against the demon king!”

Yeah, yeah. You just wanna get a foothold in there and then take it all by force. But what d’you want from that world, anyway?

Modern weapons became useless without supplies and maintenance, and no matter how powerful they were, they’d be fighting on far too many fronts. The constant night raids would deprive their soldiers of sleep, and someone could sneak in and poison their food and water. They’d also have problems stocking up on those supplies, so they’d quickly burn through what they had and starve to death.

“Oh, but that matter has already been dealt with by heroes from this world,” Mitsuha lied. “All that’s left now is to take care of the remnants, and that’s something people of my world should do by themselves.”

The men’s surprise was written all over their faces. “Err, really? But what if a dragon attacks you again?”

“Oh, ancient dragon attacks are a once-every-few-centuries rarity. The mature ones are gentle and intelligent creatures, and the ones that do attack humans are just juveniles being naughty.”

That’s what I’ve been told by a scholar from that world, anyway.

“Is... that so?”

At this moment, their orders arrived. As Mitsuha looked up at the waitress and saw the state of the café, she almost choked. The hot spot for young girls was full of people who didn’t belong. There were men in scattered throughout the café, all wearing plain, dark suits that wouldn’t have stood out anywhere else. Not a single table was open, so these men had been forced to share with the female customers. They appeared to feel quite awkward about it.

The men at Mitsuha’s table had also noticed this, but they prioritized the conversation. If they were to leave Mitsuha, the other agents would surely jump on the opportunity to speak with her themselves. Turning a blind eye to the situation, they resumed talking to Mitsuha.

“Wouldn’t it be best for the future of your motherland if we established diplomatic relat—”

“Лояльность к Родине.”

“HUH?!” The three men looked absolutely flabbergasted.

“I’ve been told those are the words often said by Ivanov, a renowned hero celebrated in my country. He’s known for saving my great-grandfather’s life, among other things. Supposedly, it means ‘Loyalty to the Motherland’.”

The three men blinked, their cheeks flushing.

“H-He’s from our country!” one of them yelped. Everyone in the café turned to stare at him.

Now this is getting interesting.

“What? Ivanov is from this world? The Ivanov?”

“Yes! That name... those words... He must have been from our country!” The agents were ecstatic.

“Well then, um, do you know of his legendary divine weapons? The ‘Avtomat Kalashnikov-47’, ‘Tokarev’, and ‘Godlightning, Arrpeegee-7’?”

“Yes, yes, YES!” They were nearly crying by this point.

“This meeting must’ve been determined by your ancestor and our hero! Our countries should definitely establish a good relationship!”

The older man tried to lean forward and take Mitsuha’s hand, but another man abruptly cut in.

“May I have a moment?” he asked.

The agents Mitsuha had been talking to glared at the buzzkill and his associates. From what it seemed, the new people felt that the conversation was taking an unfavorable turn and had decided to intervene before their competition got ahead.

“Your Highness, would you be willing to talk with us as well?”

Mitsuha beamed at the intruder. “Yes, of course! I don’t want to say the same things over and over. I’d like it very much if we can settle this all at once.”

The men who had gotten to her first clenched their teeth in anger. Every other man in the room stood and walked over to their table, gathering around Mitsuha. Unable to stand by and watch as dozens of men surrounded a young girl, the other customers all took out their phones. They were going to call the police, of course. Some of the girls even prepared to save Mitsuha, gripping cake knives and forks in their hands.

The men, however, were too focused on Mitsuha to realize what was going on around them. They also assumed normal citizens wouldn’t go out of their way to get involved in something like this and would instead merely pretend they weren’t seeing anything.

Additionally, the men didn’t feel they were doing anything illegal. Equipped with this mentality, they had forgotten where they were and how the situation might have looked. Surrounding a girl who looked no older than twelve made them more than suspicious enough to warrant a police call.

“Well, now, this is a lot of people,” said Mitsuha. “Too many for this place, if you ask me. I think we should talk at a later date, and in a better environment. I’ll make sure to keep in touch, so can you give me your contact details?”

Her audience quickly whipped out their business cards and the like and handed them over to Mitsuha. The agent who had first approached Mitsuha looked extremely agitated, but he still believed they had the upper hand. He figured he could talk to her again once all the other agents were out of the way, or make an agreement to meet up in secret. After all, her ancestor’s benefactor had been from his country.

Just as that thought went through his mind...

“Is this where all the reports are coming from?!” someone shouted.

He was one of twelve policemen storming into the café. There had been so many calls about a girl being surrounded by men that a whole bunch of patrol cars had arrived at the scene. After scanning the room, the officers became aggressive.

“Don’t move! Little lady, do you know these people?”

Mitsuha replied pleasantly, “No, I don’t. They called out to me in the middle of the street, told me to get into their car to talk and have lunch, but I had a bad feeling about it, so I said I wanted to go here instead.” Not a single word of this was a lie.

The other customers were impressed by the girl’s tact and relieved that they had made the right choice in reporting the incident. All of the agents around Mitsuha were at a loss for words, mouths agape. The officers were glaring at them something fierce.

If looks could kill...

After all the agents were taken away, Mitsuha was given some questioning and then released. The girls who had reported the incident warned her not to walk around by herself, then treated her to a parfait.

The agents were thoroughly investigated. They had their IDs checked and their fingerprints taken—they weren’t having a very good time. The only agents who had called out to Mitsuha and brought her to the café were the first three, so those who had come after insisted they were merely worried bystanders who had wanted to intervene. However, they were still suspicious, and so had been reported to public safety.

As for law enforcement, they were overjoyed at having acquired so much foreign agent data all at once. Because they had been captured, the detainees had essentially lost their value as agents. As bad as it was, however, it was still somewhat better than keeping their identities at the cost of looking like they had intended to kidnap a little girl.

◇ ◇ ◇

Some days later, all the agents received a meeting invitation via email.

Oh, so the princess was serious, they thought.

The invitation surprised them, as they believed she had been spinning a story to buy time until the officers arrived. Looking back at it, the princess hadn’t lied to the officers, nor had she been the one to call them.

Maybe she was just being honest? Perhaps there was no malice in it at all, they reflected.

Obviously, that was not the case.

The three agents who had first approached her were also thinking something along these lines. Nothing the princess had said was technically false, after all. They believed she was just unaware of the ways of this world and had no idea about the implications of her own words. Most importantly, they shared a country with the great hero of the princess’ homeland. There was no reason to doubt they had the upper hand.

“In three days at the mercenary base, huh?”

◇ ◇ ◇

Three days had passed since the invitations had been sent. The strategy meeting room in Wolfgang’s base was almost completely full. It had enough seats for all of Wolfgang’s members, but the ones sitting there now were representatives from countries all over the world. Among them were mercs acting as Mitsuha’s bodyguards. The parent countries of the agents from the café were not the only ones being represented—Mitsuha had invited many others.

The meeting was sudden and unofficial, so there were few big shots among the participants. Most of them were leaders of information agencies accompanied by their most trusted subordinates. Though more influential bureaucrats of external affairs had a lot of discretionary power, they wouldn’t come to such meetings until things progressed.

Once everyone had gathered, Mitsuha began.

“Thank you for coming all the way here, everyone. We’re here to negotiate diplomatic relations between my territory and yours. As I mentioned in the invitation, we will start with a rite of tribute.”

A tribute was normally something a weaker country gave to a more powerful one, which would then repay them with something several times more valuable. However, Mitsuha was warping this tradition in her favor.

The representatives would all give tribute to her, but she would only respond to the one who gave her what she liked the most. Her payment would be mostly symbolic and worth little—the main point would be the honor of being chosen. It also wouldn’t give the winner any advantage in the negotiations. She was playing them like fiddles.

Though there was little value in the material reward, they were all hell-bent on getting in the alien princess’ good graces. Jewels, dresses, honorary titles... the things they had brought were endless. To prevent preconceptions and keep things fair, the participants didn’t say which countries they represented. Even so, Mitsuha did know some of them without anyone having to tell her.

The representatives stifled a laugh when they saw one particular country smugly present her an AK-47 assault rifle, a Tokarev pistol, and an RPG-7. Their laughs were justified, as these were all weapons that had seen their peak popularity come and go a long time ago. They were barely worth anything, but the man who handed them over was nothing if not confident. Yet even that wasn’t enough to faze Mitsuha.

Finally, it was the turn of a certain developing country.

“These are the certificates for two old, wooden, rowable ships. Both are forty-two feet long and ten feet wide.”

Guffaws echoed around the room.

“Really?!” Mitsuha cried.

The laughter cut short.

“Oh, my... How did you know I wanted that?!”

“Ours is a country without money or specialties, but we still wanted to please you, so we asked the mercenaries about what you’d like, and they mentioned that you wanted a wooden ship.”

“Yes, yes I did! I really wanted this! Oh, we can finally start seining. They’ll do the job until we can start making our own ships!”

Instead of showing off their wealth or technology, these representatives had simply given her something they thought she’d like. Mitsuha greatly appreciated their consideration.

Small or not, sincere countries sure are great!

Upon seeing her excitement, some of the representatives from major countries began to panic and attempt to sell her “bigger and better” ships, but she refused. She told them she didn’t need any ships her citizens couldn’t run, maintain, or use as a reference during construction.

In the end, the winning country was the small nation that had presented her with the ships. Their prize was a breeding pair of horned rabbits, a decoration made of a strange metal unlike any on Earth, and two tickets for a three-day trip to the other world. The prizes were worthless to Mitsuha, but the people in the room stared like they would kill to possess them.

They had all realized that jewels and dresses weren’t the right strategies, but it was too late.

It’s not like I don’t like getting jewels. I can sell them for a pretty penny. I just feel like developing my land is way more important than money right now. Anyway, time to end the rite and get started for real.

“Now, let us talk. First of all, why are you all so keen on forming a diplomatic relationship with us?”

“Err, what?” Her audience didn’t quite understand.

“First of all, though I did have noteworthy status in one country, I’m now under the wing of another one. They gave me a small territory to run, but that’s it. I basically only have real power in my own land. I can’t negotiate with other countries, form contracts, or invite military into our lands without express permission from His Majesty the King.”

They had all been under the impression that Mitsuha was the current princess, so her words came as a shock.

“But... what about the battle against the demon king’s army?”

“Back then, we were short on time and options, so I had to hire some volunteers... heroes from this world. Their reward was nothing but gratitude. Right now, I’m nothing but a low-level local ruler.”

“Th-Then what of diplomatic relations?!”

“Again, I have no right to make such decisions, and I definitely can’t allow people from other countries to visit us,” she replied matter-of-factly.

They were all beginning to realize that circumstances were completely different than they had imagined.

“Then, could you make an effort to introduce us to the king?”

“What do you intend to talk to him about?”

“Why, things like diplomacy, embassies, and trade, of course.”

“And how would you do that?”

“Huh?”

“I truly have no idea how you plan to trade or dispatch your ambassadors. Do your countries have many people with world-jumping abilities? And do they have the skill to retain their life force when transporting objects or other people?”

The room fell silent.

“Oh, did you think I would carry everything for you? That would kill me in no time. And what would you do if I died?”

After a few moments, someone spoke up.

“Err... does anyone else have the power?”

“My power was given to me by a wandering god who happened to pass through my world. I’m the only one who can do this, and it’s not something I can reveal without careful consideration.” Mitsuha’s response left no room for hope.

“Umm, you can have this back.” Upon hearing of the troubles surrounding large-scale world-jumps, the representative who had given her the boats tried to hand his tickets back.

There’s no way he’s an agent, she thought. He’s too good for that.

“Don’t you worry about that. The burden from taking one or two people with me recovers over time. And the ships are more than valuable enough for me to sacrifice a bit of my life force.”

Upon hearing this, one man stood up. “Then please, take us to your country! As a man from the hero’s motherland, I want us to establish contact and form an alliance!”

The others had no idea what he was talking about. He ignored them and continued, “That is surely what is best for the sake of your motherland and Russia both!”

“‘Russia’? Is that your country’s name?” Mitsuha asked.

The man realized he hadn’t yet said it. He must work in intelligence. He probably made it a habit to avoid saying his or his country’s name lightly, she thought.

“Yes, sorry for not saying it before, but my country is called the ‘Russian Federation’!”

“Wait, what?” Mitsuha feigned surprise. The Russian representative didn’t know what to make of her expression.

“You tricked me! That’s not where the Great Hero Ivanov is from!”

He flinched at her sudden outburst, awaiting her next words.

“Ivanov’s country was called the ‘Union of Soviet Socialist Republics’!”

“Ohh, yes, that is the Russian Federation’s old name. It was simply changed,” he said.

“Huh? You just changed the name? You didn’t have an invasion, a rebellion, or a usurpation or anything?”

“No. Our country was Russia at first, but then it merged with a few others to become the Soviet Union. Then it went back to being Russia again.”

Mitsuha faked relief. “Ah, so that’s it. Our hero said he was from the ‘Ukraine’ area of the USSR. So now it’s the Ukraine area of the Russian Federation... I see, I see.”

Immediately, representatives here and there either choked on their drinks or spat them out. Then came the whispers.

“Ukraine...”

“Crimea invasion...”

Mitsuha pointed at one of them. “You there! Please tell me what they’re talking about!”

The man held back a chuckle and did his best to explain. “Well, Ukraine is a country that has a history of oppression at the hands of Russia. There was a major massacre back in the day. Even recently, Russia invaded Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, bringing the country into a state of war.”

The Russian representative glared at the speaker while Mitsuha looked at the Russian with stone-cold eyes. It was just an act, of course.

Of course I already knew about Ukraine.

“You lied to me.”

“Err, no! That’s not what I...” His voice trailed off.

Now that she had publicly shamed him, she could completely ignore everything he said. In the eyes of her audience, he had tried to fool the princess, and he belonged to a nation that had oppressed her hero’s motherland.

It looked like the Russians would be the most persistent of the bunch, so I went and made a reason to ignore them. And my plan worked out perfectly. Yay me!

“Now, back to the matter of diplomacy. Even if we started trading, we couldn’t exchange anything in large quantities. I’m sure you think you could make a profit off something insignificant, but I know this world’s market, so selling something like disposable lighters for a gold coin each just wouldn’t fly.

“Then there’s what we have to offer: small-grained, low-quality wheat, meager amounts of fish, raw game that probably doesn’t meet this world’s safety standards... There’s no demand for any of this here, is there?

“I can’t allow uncontrolled trade of this world’s goods, or bleeding my world of its money and gems. It could destroy industries or the economy as a whole, and you could hardly call that trade. There’s no guarantee I won’t get into an accident or fall ill somewhere down the line, so I don’t intend to take up the heavy role of mediator and cart-horse, going around linking entire countries.

“With all that said, what is it that you want me to do? Please make it something that isn’t a detriment to me or the nations of my world.”

A few whispers danced around the room, but otherwise, no one seemed to have any ideas.

It was then that the representative of another small country piped up.

“Umm, would you be able to give us ore and animal samples?”

The others lit up. Unknown animals, undiscovered metals... These alone could generate immense amounts of wealth. Even the dragon Wolfgang had brought to this world was still a gold mine of discoveries.

“Oh, I can agree to that much,” said Mitsuha. “Very well, I shall give some samples to both your country and the one that gave me the ships. Please return to me if you discover anything.”

“Y-Yes, certainly!” The two who would receive the samples were overjoyed, leaving the rest feeling bitter and perplexed.

“Please wait!” said the American representative. “You need advanced technology to handle the animals properly! You should give them to the larger powers. Our epidemic prevention infrastructure could handle any potential foreign bacteria or parasites they may have!”

“Oh, there’s no need to worry about that. I always make sure to jump without any malicious bacteria, viruses, or parasites. You would only have to keep the animals from escaping and multiplying in the wild.” Mitsuha revealed this fact as if it were inconsequential.

This was the reason she never worried about spreading pathogens whenever she jumped. The world-jump manual the “being” had installed in her brain covered that subject in detail.

“She can do what?” a few people blurted.

One of the audience members—an elderly man—stood up. He didn’t look to be part of an intelligence agency. Mitsuha’s best guess was that he worked in foreign affairs.

“Your Highness, umm... If someone suffering from infection, viral disease, poison, or a toxic substance jumped to another world with you and you made it so that the pathogens and everything harmful stayed behind... what would happen to them?”

“What?” It was Mitsuha’s turn to be surprised. She hadn’t even considered it.

The sick person would jump to the other world, leaving their pathogens and harmful substances behind, right? Ahh! I should’ve thought of that when Margaret was sick!

Mitsuha gripped her head in her hands, and an uncomfortable air enveloped the room.

Oh no! If this spreads, it’ll be earth-shattering! I’m not so dumb I can’t see the potential implications of my world-jumping on sick people. I need to make sure they don’t say a word to anyone! But how? They’re intelligence agents from all over the world!

“Everyone, listen!” Mitsuha said, her voice cracking. “Nothing happened just now, okay? You didn’t hear a thing!” Beads of sweat were breaking out on her brow. “I forbid anyone here from mentioning this to anyone, even if it’s your superior or someone even higher than that!

“If I am approached by any one of your countries’ elites about this, I will put your nation on a worldwide blacklist so that you can’t have any technology or information related to the other world. And if your country tries to obtain some regardless, it will be treated the same. You will not be allowed access to any research regarding the dragon or anything else, nor will you be allowed to interact with me. Anyone trying to mediate for you will receive the same treatment. However...”

Mitsuha took a deep breath.

“...if you all keep this secret safe, and something happens to one of your family members, I promise to try the world-jump treatment on them. But if the secret is leaked, I will retract this promise, as there won’t be any point to your sworn silence after that. If that happens, I will never, ever use my world-jump to treat any of you, your families, your government officials, or information agents.”

She stopped to think for a moment.

“Oh, but I wouldn’t mind starting to reward your silence again under one condition: the leak’s culprit and all those who heard the secret died, and I received concrete proof that there were no records or anything left.”

Silence followed.

The representatives exchanged glances. They knew they were all done for if any one of them reported this to their superiors, and all of them held their families dear. While the seasoned intelligence agency veterans would be able to keep quiet, the desk jockey higher-ups and politicians—who would be nothing but civilians if they lost elections—would jump on this in a heartbeat, and perhaps not even for their families. They would just smell the money in it.

And if the secret leaked... these people here could kill with ease. If not for themselves, then for their families.

I’m confident they’ll all keep their mouths shut. Considering the warning I gave, it’s also in their countries’ best interests.

Mitsuha then held a private meeting with the two representatives to whom she had promised samples, and they had a hearty chat about spinning wheels and other things that might be useful to her county. Just as she’d expected, she got more out of her interactions with people from developing countries than first worlders. She was glad she’d gone out of her way to invite them. Their nations had even sent external affairs workers and ministers instead of intelligence operatives. The smaller countries had been more than willing to spare them for the visit.

Next, Mitsuha told everyone to contact her strictly through the mercenary captain and to stop trying to meet or follow her in town. She followed up with a warning that countries that defied these orders would be completely ignored from that moment on. Now, she felt she could travel around Earth’s cities in peace, and because they were convinced that she was from another world, Mitsuha Yamano, the Japanese girl, would be safe too.

She wasn’t convinced the major world powers would behave, but for now, her position on Earth was secure, so she decided to shift her focus back to her county and its financial affairs. By now, she had separated her earnings as a viscount and the money she earned herself, treating the former as her county’s budget and using only the latter toward her goal of saving 80,000 gold coins for her retirement. They were essentially separate accounts.

Yamano County wasn’t in a position where it would get involved in a fight with a neighbor. It also lacked notably fertile soil, underground resources, or militaristic value, and to top it all off, it was quite small. Mitsuha didn’t have to worry about outside dangers, so she could focus entirely on making money.

All right! I’m gonna get closer to my goal!

At least, that’s what she thought would happen.

There’s no end to this, is there?!