Chapter 81

“How did it go?”

It’s time to exchange information with each other after the meal. Because this is important.

“Yeah. I think we’ll soon have delicious bacon.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, I was dismantling the wild boars that you guys casually threw into the Physics Lecture Room before the Brass Band people came, so I packed three meat blocks into one huge wooden barrel, and decided to put it in George-san’s basement.”

Yup, I’m looking forward to its completed form. Slurp.

“No, not that, the brass band.”

Yeah, I know, don’t be so anxious.

“Uhmm. It was about to enter Pattern B, but then returned to A. Then they stopped my ascendance to heaven and after spending a super frustrating time, I finally achieved my ascendance to heaven through the efforts of the stealth maid dolls.”

“It’s a lot more appropriate than the explanation of bacon…”

Can’t be helped since the importance is different, the importance is. Because it’s bacon, you know?

“What do you mean by stealth maid dolls?”

Seems like everyone’s interested in it, so I caught a nearby one and made it transparent. Everyone looked surprised. Well, that’s right. If it becomes transparent, their range of action will expand considerably.

…yup. After all, if they become transparent, the maid dolls might also be useful in battle. That’s what I thought.

“By the way, how did it go on your side?”

You guys went to get the English Department Lab, right?

“Ahh. We recovered the English Department Lab and the English Department Lecture Room, but Fukuyama wasn’t there. There were a few other boys and girls, but…they’re in a terrible state. Malnourished and barely breathing, so I used recovery magic then made them ingest water and food. Right now, I had the English lab at the back, so they’re sleeping there. …ah, Maito, can I ask you to [Clean] them?”

…yeah, I think they’re in a terrible state.

Uhm, I wonder if it has been more than a month since we fell into this world.

If they hadn’t taken a bath since that time…okay, I’ll do my best.

“Of course. Then, I’ll be gone for a while.”

“Ahh, wait. Listen to the whole story first. …and, that’s it. Regarding Fukuyama, he probably never returned to the English Lab since the day he kidnapped you.”

Uhm, then, you mean he went to 1F from the time he ran away from Ketorami-san?

“So I was wondering and sent Kadomi to the South with Ketorami. I’m thinking of making them look for the courtyard, but…Kadomi.”

“Eh? …yeah, uhm. There’s a lake in where the courtyard should be…and there’s an island floating there, with no water around it.”

…yes?

“Uhmm…the water around the island is falling like a waterfall. So I think that if you fall from there, you’ll fall to 1F.”

…ah, hmm, yeah. I see. I can imagine the scene.

“…maybe it’s the temple when you fall from there?”

“Maybe. Tomorrow, we’ll explore the island.”

Ah, yeah. Hariu and Suzumoto can fly in the sky. There’s no problem with the waterfall.

“Then, I think we’ll go to the temple soon so Maito should ask [Alive Grimoire] as much as possible tomorrow.”

Yup. I wonder if that time has finally come.

…I don’t feel like it though. [Alive Grimoire]-san also said that it didn’t recommend going to the temple. Well, I think that book’s prejudice was included in that. …ah.

“Uhmm, then, I have to answer that. You know. The “person who knows if the temple can return us to the original world when we erase the cause” question.”

“…ah.”

Don’t look like, there’s still that thing? I was thinking seriously, you know?

“I thought about it, but the person who’ll know that is inevitably an otherworlder or someone related to it, right? Maybe someone who’s been summoned in the past?”

That book did say that. At first, they’d just summon several people, but then, a large number of otherworlders would also be summoned in vain.

“That means otherworlders other than us should be in this world, we just don’t know it… they might have been foreigners summoned in the past.”

Yeah, that’s right. If they remained, then the temple is lying or the summoned foreigners couldn’t get rid of the cause…ah, in that case, they might have died, or gave up, or decided not to move? If that’s the case, we should have encountered more of them.

“But we haven’t met people with black hair and black eyes so far.”

“No, Maito-san can [Disguise], right? If they have that kind of skill, they can blend in.”

“But if you say that, it’d be endless since there are many possibilities.”

Yeah, that’s right. But that book. I don’t think it’ll do that.

“I think [Alive Grimoire]-san will ask a fair question.”

Seems like the way it interacts is through an exchange of information. So if it gave a problem, it’s certainly a problem that I can solve.

“…let’s think of it this way. It should be among the people in this world we’ve met so far.”

Yup. I think so too.

“There are only a limited number of people in this world who talked to us properly, so it’s easy to brute force it.”

“No, wait. Think the other way around. We got in touch with that person, but they didn’t say anything in particular. If so, I can only think that they’re hiding it intentionally.”

Then, even if we attack them, there’s a high possibility they’d give us the slip.

“…for the time being, the people in this world that we have come into direct contact are the gatekeepers of Deichemoore. Then George-san. Next is the gatekeeper of Eizor. Then Dahlia. Is that all?”

Right? …it’s surprisingly small.

“So, with the [people who like the law of conservation of mass won’t like it] criteria…the person who ignores the law of conservation of mass is…”

“George-san.”

“It’s George-san.”

“Obviously George-san, right?

…right. Because various things are strange.

The first strange thing was the money. That time of the underground auction was remarkable.

Why was so much money left in that small pawnshop?

And there’s Sagara-kun and the others’ testimony that there’s no place to put the money. If so, I can only think that he’s increasing it in a way that I didn’t understand. For example, using skills.

Next was the first time we met.

Why did he decide that I and Toriumi weren’t aristocrats but otherworlders?

Just from not knowing the price of things, how did he decide whether we’re nobles or foreigners?

However, it’s not like there are only those two choices.

“But it’s all circumstantial and there’s nothing we can do if he wanted to slip away.”

That’s right. You can say that about the money. Even if Sagara-kun and the other’s testimony was wrong, it wouldn’t matter.

For the latter, he can say anything, like being lucky or something.

Therefore, we need more substantial proof. More…uhm, should I place some stealth maid dolls to monitor him?

“…Maito-san. Where did you put the bacon?”

“Ha? Ah, basement.”

“You mean the food inventory?”

“No, the one next to that…ah.”

“…Sagara and his friends said there’s only one basement, which is the food inventory, right?”

…I should have noticed it earlier.

“Why did the basement increase?”

…right.

The confirmation will be tomorrow, so for the time being, let’s [Clean] the people from the English Lab and go to bed. Yup.

“Sorry for interrup-… [Clean]! [Clean]! [Clean]!”

The people who didn’t bath for more than a month smelled worse than I imagined. Yup.

But for the me right now, the range of [Cleaning] has expanded, so it’s a relief that I can completely clean the classroom and the sleeping people with just a few waves of the duster. Yup.

…I feel sorry for these people as well.

…if we hadn’t come, these people would be like the Chorus Club…yeah. Let’s stop. These people are alive, though weakened.

Let’s make porridge that’s kind to the stomach tomorrow morning. Let’s do that.

Now then. It’s been a while since I slept with Ketorami-san, Hunter, and the maid dolls.

No, even with the addition of the maid dolls, it’s still fluffy. Hang in there Hunter, thanks to your silky power! …huh?

“…hey, Hunter, did you grow up?”

“Oh, did you notice? Did you notice? That’s right. I [molted].”

That’s in the physical sense, right? Hunter seemed to have molted while I wasn’t looking. Later, everyone showed me Hunter’s peeled-off skin, but you can keep it…

Or rather, if Hunter grew too large, I have to think about where to put Hunter. He won’t fit in my sleeve.

Good morning. Today’s breakfast is bread, but I’m also making porridge for the English Lab people.

Our meal today is bread, crispy smoked meat, soft-boiled egg, and vegetable soup.

The soup stock for the vegetable soup was made with meat.

When the meat and vegetables are fully mixed into the soup, transfer half to another pot and boil porridge in that one. I think it’s better to eat something as nutritious as possible.

Everyone hadn’t woken up even when the porridge was cooked, so let’s take a look at the English Lab first.

They aren’t very strong, so they probably didn’t have the physical strength to get up and come here on their own.

So when I went to see what was going on, one of the sleeping boys woke up.

“…here is?”

The English Lab, but it looked too clean. Well, not only the dirt accumulated since they came to this world but also the dust and dirt that accumulated over the years was cleaned.

“It’s the English Lab. Can you get up? Can you eat food?”

“Eh, ah, yes…”

Good. Then I should hurry. I returned to the lab with the porridge in a wooden bowl along with a wooden spoon.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. Here you go.”

However, even when I handed the bowl, he seemed unable to support it and was about to drop it, so I supported it in a hurry.

“Uh…sorry, I can’t get my hands on it.”

It seemed painful to only have half his body awake. Yeah, then it can’t be helped. Scoop the porridge with a spoon and bring it to his mouth.

“Yes. Please open your mouth.”

He looked lost for a moment, but he couldn’t beat his hunger so he obediently opened his mouth, and I thrust the porridge in.

“It’s, really, delicious.”

Yeah, it would be delicious if you hadn’t eaten for a while. Yup. Eat a lot. However, to a reasonable extent.

While I was assisting him in his meal at a slow pace, someone hesitated at the door.

“…Maito. …uhm.”

Oh my, it’s Kadomi-kun. Kadomi got up and went to the lab but I wasn’t there, so he probably came to see me. Well, today, I’ll give priority to these people’s breakfast over your breakfast.

“The next person is also awake.”

When I was told that, the girl nearby also opened her eyes and blankly looked at me.

“I’ll help this guy with his meal. Why don’t you get this girl’s porridge?”

Thank you, then I’ll accept your offer. I passed the spoon and bowl to Kadomi-kun and brought another bowl of porridge.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m…hungry.”

The girl looked so weak that she couldn’t get up without support, so I supported her and tried my best to feed her porridge.

“Delicious?”

“…yeah, very…”

Then the girl started crying, so I wiped it off in a hurry. Don’t! Don’t let the sodium and water, which you need, go out of your body!

“Delicious…”

…uhh…when you cry like that, I also want to cry. It must be painful that you couldn’t eat anything until now. Yes, yes. You’ll at least eat a lot from now on. I’ll make a lot.