Chapter 21: God

“First, please raise your head, Aoi-san. Umm… I don’t intend for you to go that far because of what happened this time. All I want is for you not to tell anyone about me, and if I’m ever targeted by another Blessed One, I’d like you to lend me your strength, that’s all…”

“Of course, I’ll never tell anyone about you, Kakeru-sama! However, please allow me to remain by your side!”

“…Yeah, first of all, I’d like you to stop calling me ‘-sama.’”

Having a small elf girl kneeling before me and addressing me so formally… What kind of situation is this supposed to be?

“I’ve been suffering ever since I was reincarnated into this world… For so long… When I thought about how that man was still living comfortably while my precious family continued to suffer, I couldn’t sleep properly at night. No matter what scenery I saw, my heart never felt joy, and no matter what I ate, I couldn’t taste anything as delicious.”

…Being reincarnated while being falsely accused.

That might have been a much more painful situation than I had imagined.

For these past four years, she had continued suffering through all of that.

“When Kakeru-sama confirmed that my parents were safe and cast that man into the depths of hell, I truly—without exaggeration—was reborn. For the first time, I felt that this world had color. For the first time, I was able to feel that food was delicious. All of this is thanks to Kakeru-sama! Kakeru-sama is a god beyond even my greatest idol, the one who saved everything that I am!”

“…Uh, yeah?”

For now, I was truly glad that she had been saved.

She had been given a second life, after all, and being able to enjoy this other world was a good thing.

…But what does she mean by “a god beyond my idol”?

When she says “idol,” is she talking about that KenSta game?

“I’m really glad for you. But since you’ve been reborn, I hope you can live freely in this other world and do whatever you want, Aoi-san.”

“Then please allow me to stay by your side, Kakeru-sama!”

“…………”

No good…

I don’t really understand what happened, but it seems Aoi-san has somehow made up her mind about something.

She also doesn’t seem to have any intention of stopping with the “-sama.”

Aoi-san seems like an introverted person, but her determination when it came to revenge was incredible. Her willpower is probably much stronger than I expected…

“Aoi, calm down a little. I’m sure Kakeru didn’t save you because he wanted something like that from you.”

“Yeah, Yuuka is right.”

I did want her to help me if I ever got into danger, but I had no intention of binding Aoi-san’s entire life to me.

She had finally been freed from the burdens of her previous life. I wanted her to enjoy this other world freely without being bound by a sense of debt toward me.

“Leave Kakeru’s protection to me. Aoi, you’re free to live however you want.”

“…………”

Yuuka was absolutely right, but for some reason, Aoi-san was glaring at her.

That was strange. Until yesterday, the two of them didn’t seem to dislike each other that much…

“Please, I’m begging you! If Kakeru-sama truly doesn’t want this and I would only be causing trouble… then I’ll give up…”

Aoi-san suddenly made a face that looked like she was about to cry.

Of course, it wasn’t that I disliked having her around, nor was she a burden. And no matter how much more I tried to explain, it didn’t seem like her feelings would change.

“Okay. But it won’t be forever, alright? Once you find something you want to do, I want you to prioritize that.”

“Yes! Thank you very much!”

Aoi-san smiled happily.

Right now, it seemed that after finally letting go of the regrets she had carried for so many years, she had become attached to me as her benefactor.

But after some time passed, those feelings would probably settle down.

Besides, having someone like Aoi-san, who could use powerful magic and create amazing magical tools, nearby would make me feel much safer. I would gratefully accept her offer.

“So, with that decided, I’ll be living in this mansion too. Yuuka, let me know if I need to pay rent.”

“What!? W-well, isn’t it unnecessary for you to live in the same mansion? That’s right, I think the house next door is vacant!”

“This mansion’s security is still inadequate. I can strengthen the defenses with magic tools. Considering Kakeru-sama’s safety, it’s safer if I live here as well.”

“Ugh…”

“Um, from our perspective, that would actually be a great help, but what about your laboratory, Aoi-san?”

When Yuuka contacted Aoi-san, I remember hearing that she had a laboratory in a town some distance away.

Having her strengthen the mansion’s security would be extremely helpful, but I felt bad about leaving her laboratory unattended.

“I originally built it to research magic that would allow me to return to Japan, so there’s no problem. In fact, it’s no longer necessary, so I could even sell it. I do want to create magic tools for Kakeru-sama, though, so I’ll only bring the equipment I need.”

I see.

So the laboratory was originally built with the goal of returning to Japan.

The fact that it was no longer needed meant that she was no longer obsessed with returning to Japan and killing Gondo.

Well, after being exposed like that, he was basically already socially dead.

Most importantly, Aoi-san had finally decided to move forward.

“…Sigh. It’s true that this would be safer for Kakeru, so fine. But I won’t give in on anything else, okay?”

“I have no intention of giving in either!”

For some reason, the two of them once again began shooting sparks at each other with their eyes.

It didn’t seem like they actually disliked each other, but…

Were they really going to be okay?

For the time being, the three of us sat down and discussed what we would do from now on.

As for Gondo, whenever I returned to Japan, I would look up information about him online and report back. I believed he was already socially finished, but once he was officially found guilty and Aoi’s false accusation was cleared, everything would finally come to an end.

Regarding her parents, just like with Yuuka, we decided that we would settle on checking in on them about once a week.

Also, as expected, Aoi still refused to stop calling me “-sama.” Just like Yuuka, I told her I wanted her to call me by my name without honorifics.

…At this point, I might as well just let her do whatever she wanted.

“Alright then, shall we go to the market?”

“Yes.”

“I’m looking forward to it!”

Now that the room I would officially be renting had been decided, and it was also settled that Aoi would be living in this mansion, the three of us decided to go to the market together.

The basic furniture was already provided, but we needed to buy various smaller items and necessities. Since Aoi had apparently rushed out of her laboratory, she was lacking many everyday items, so we needed to get those as well.

Because I had used up some of my Japanese money during this incident, I would have to earn more through the flea market again.

A lot had happened, but thankfully, it finally seemed like I could spend my days peacefully in this other world.

Ding dong.

However, just as we were about to leave for the market, the mansion’s intercom rang.