Chapter 30: Staaare…
We arrived at the shopping mall, and aside from the customers and employees all being demons, it was perfectly ordinary.
The selection was limited, however. Human towns were clearly better stocked.
Our first stop was a clothing store.
I finished my own shopping quickly, then mostly followed Ayaka around while she browsed.
“Yuu, which do you think looks better? This one or this one?”
Ayaka held up two outfits for me to compare.
This felt exactly like one of those shopping dates I had heard about.
“Hmm… This one.”
I thought that one suited Ayaka’s cute style better.
“Really? Then I guess I’ll get this one.”
…Why did this make me so happy?
“You’ve got the money. Just buy both.”
“Well, I suppose you’re right.”
“If you can’t decide, buy both. We have spatial magic, and who knows when we’ll be able to shop here again.”
Besides, we weren’t exactly short on cash.
“True… Maybe I should pick up some summer clothes too.”
Ah, good point.
It was already May, and the weather would only get hotter from here.
“I’m going to buy some summer clothes too.”
“Want me to pick them out for you?”
Yes!
“I’d appreciate that.”
After browsing more clothes—and thoroughly enjoying what felt like a date—we bought futons and other travel supplies.
When we left the shopping mall, we drove through the city and eventually reached the small settlement where Elvis’s house was—the place we’d originally teleported into.
“You’re a farmer, right? What about your crops?”
I was pretty sure he grew apples and other produce.
“I already asked some friends to look after everything. It’s not like I was doing anything major anyway, so it’ll be fine. Hang on a sec.”
Elvis got out of the car and went inside his house.
Ayaka and I stepped out as well and stretched our bodies.
“Nice weather.”
The sky was perfectly clear.
It was one of those beautifully clear days in May.
“It really is. And it’s such a lovely town with all this nature.”
It really was.
Honestly, if not for my family, I might have invited Takamiya-san, Kitaura-san, Minato, and Riku to settle here with us.
It even had hot springs.
“Ayaka, I know we’re heading to Tokyo, but what about Shikoku?”
I’d actually been wondering about that.
“…I’ve been thinking about it.”
Ayaka’s maternal grandparents lived in Shikoku.
“I’ll go with you. It’d only be a slight detour, and it’s still along the way. If we wait until after we reach Tokyo, though, it’ll be much harder.”
Shikoku was simply too far from Tokyo.
I didn’t even know if airplanes still existed, and with demon and human territories all mixed together now, there was no telling how long overland travel would take.
“…Yeah. I’ll think about it. Right now, meeting up with Mayumi and Hina comes first.”
“I see…”
“You know, now that I think about it, we hardly ever talked about our old world while we were in the other one, did we?”
“You’re right. It kind of became an unspoken taboo.”
Back in the other world, we deliberately avoided talking about our families or our past lives here.
It wasn’t just me.
Everyone did.
The reason was simple—we all knew there was a real possibility we’d never make it back.
None of us, myself included, wanted to think about that.
“Mind if I ask?”
“Sure. Now that we’re back, and considering what lies ahead, I think we should tell each other. It’d be a problem if you suddenly told me later that you had relatives in Kagoshima or Miyazaki.”
She had a point.
“My family’s all in the Kanto region, so there’s no issue.”
“My maternal grandparents live in Shikoku. Everyone else is in Kanto.”
“Hmm…”
“Can’t we just go from Kyushu to Shikoku? They’re practically neighbors.”
From the top floor of the inn, we had seen Shikoku across the sea.
“There isn’t a bridge from Kyushu, is there? I think we’d need a ferry.”
A ship…
Under the current circumstances, that might be difficult.
While we talked, Elvis emerged from the house and walked over.
“That was quick.”
“I didn’t have much to pack—just bedding and daily necessities.”
“I see.”
“Elvis, is there no way to get to Shikoku from here?”
Ayaka asked him.
“Not directly. Ehime and Kochi are human territory and on high alert, so no ship from the demon side would get through. You’d have to enter Shikoku from Okayama and continue overland.”
So traveling by sea really was out of the question.
Well, if a ship came from the demon side, the humans would naturally assume it was hostile and attack.
“So Kagawa and Tokushima are under demon control?”
“Yeah, that’s right. You planning to go to Shikoku?”
“My grandparents live in Kochi.”
“Kochi, huh.”
That meant bonito.
“I see… In that case, we’d probably have to enter Shikoku through Okayama, then continue overland from Kagawa.”
“What about Hiroshima?”
You could get to Shikoku from Hiroshima too.
“Hiroshima is demon-controlled. You wouldn’t be able to use the bridge from Hiroshima to Ehime.”
“That makes sense.”
“I understand. I’ll think it over.”
“Talk it over with Mayumi and Hina after you regroup. Decisions like this should be made together.”
“Yeah. I know.”
Of course it was.
“Alright then, let’s head back to the inn.”
We got back into the car and retraced our route.
Ayaka seemed deep in thought the entire ride, so I decided not to disturb her.
When we returned to the inn, the Medusa attendant handed us our room key, and we got into the elevator.
“Before we turn in, I’ll come to your room and explain tomorrow’s route.”
“I’d appreciate it. We really have no idea where we’re going.”
After getting off the elevator, we returned to our room and relaxed with the tea Ayaka brewed for us.
“The tea you make is really good, Ayaka.”
The words, “I want you to make tea for me forever,” rose to my lips…
But I couldn’t bring myself to say them.
Pathetic.
“Thanks. The tea you made for me at your shop was delicious too.”
Before we returned to this world, we’d had a little tea party together.
That had ended up being our last cup of tea in the other world.
“Alright, enough flirting. Look at this.”
Elvis took out a tablet and placed it on the table.
“You even brought a tablet?”
“It’s useful for all kinds of things. Anyway, as you already know, we’re here.”
He pointed to the eastern side of Kyushu on the map.
Specifically, Beppu City in Oita Prefecture.
“Yeah, figures. Looking at it like this, Kokura’s pretty close.”
Just a little farther north.
“It is close. About two hours by car. But like I said before, there’s an ogre nest on the expressway.”
“Right, you did mention that.”
“So we’re taking the regular roads?”
“Yeah. About three hours.”
Elvis operated the map app and displayed the route using local roads.
“The expressway really is convenient.”
It cut the travel time considerably.
“Exactly. Because it’s so convenient, monsters target it first.”
“Fair point…”
“Three hours instead of two is hardly worth worrying about. It’s still way better than walking.”
The trip back from Kumamoto had certainly been rough.
“If we leave around eight tomorrow morning, we’ll get there before noon. The meeting point is the racetrack, right?”
That’s where we’d agreed to rendezvous.
“Got it. Eight o’clock.”
“Yeah. After that, we’ll be relying on the succubi. I still don’t know exactly what they’re planning, though.”
At that point, all we could do was trust Linda—someone both Takamiya and Kitaura trusted.
Succubi…
Hmm…
Succubi…