AN: This takes place after the prologue of Volume 5.
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As I checked the items I had bought after arriving in the other world, the head maid appeared.
「Good morning, Yuuki-sama. Weren’t you supposed to be attending school today?」
「Ah, I have some business with Cid-sama today. Also, it seems Myuri’s family just had a baby, so I bought some baby goods from the other world.」
When I showed her, the head maid’s curiosity turned toward the unfamiliar items.
「Understood. I’ll inform the staff to arrange time with His Majesty. And, Yuuki-sama, what is this?」
「This one’s called powdered milk. When mixed with hot water, it becomes milk for babies. And these are baby snacks, they’re probably too young for them now, but I bought them for testing.」
「How wonderful… With this, there’s no need to milk animals or rely on wet nurses who can’t produce milk.」
「Exactly. I also thought about bringing bottles for feeding, but I decided against it due to sanitation concerns.」
The head maid tilted her head slightly. 「Feeding bottles?」
「Right, you don’t have those here.」
I took out a new baby bottle from my item box and showed it to her.
「This is it. It’s designed for feeding powdered milk. See, this part at the top is shaped to make it easy for babies to suck on.」
I handed the bottle to the head maid, who poked and pressed the soft nipple curiously.
「I see… it’s well made. But what are the sanitation concerns?」
「To sterilize it, you need to boil it, but this material can deform if it’s heated too much, which makes it hard to use. On the other hand, if you don’t boil it enough, it becomes unsanitary.」
「I understand… That would certainly make things difficult, especially having to time it every time.」
In this world, there are magical timekeeping devices, but they can only measure time roughly. That’s why I decided to stick with powdered milk only.
「Yuuki-sama, His Majesty is ready to see you.」
「Got it. Also, I brought some cakes, so could I borrow a refrigerated magic device?」
「Of course. I’ll bring it to you once your meeting is over.」
After bowing politely, she guided me to Cid-sama’s office.
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「Yuuki, it’s been a while.」
「It’s only been about a week, but yes, it’s good to see you again.」
I took a seat while pulling out some carbonated drinks from my item box.
「Ooh… what is this?」
「It’s something called ‘Shan○ly’. In my world, we have a festival every winter, and this drink is usually enjoyed during that time.」
With a pleasant ‘pop’, I opened the bottle and poured it into a champagne glass before handing it to Cid-sama.
「————Mmm! This is delicious!」
After one sip, Cid-sama immediately gulped down the rest.
「I’m glad you like it. I’ll bring more next time once I stock up.」
「I appreciate that. Though I might get too used to drinking during work, which could be dangerous, hahaha!」
Cid-sama laughed heartily. I should probably give him the rest of the souvenirs and get to the main reason I came here.
「I also brought some cakes and baked sweets. I’ll hand them over to the head maid later.」
「Oh! Wonderful, wonderful. Much appreciated.」
「Now then, the reason I came here today is that I’d like you to help me find someone.」
I explained that the divine message had revealed the Ootori family was still alive and currently in this world, and asked for his assistance in locating them.
「Leave it to me. Do you have a portrait of this couple?」
「Ah, no, I don’t have a photo of them.」
「I see. Then bring me a picture once you have one. I’ll send it out to the other nations using the Dragon Courier Service.」
「Dragon Courier Service?」
「Yes. I heard that in your world, letters are delivered by airplanes. So, I thought we could do something similar. We have dragons who carry letters and official documents between nations.」
「Huh, that’s pretty unique to this world.」
「Indeed. So, bring me that picture as soon as you can. I’ll notify the other nations in the meantime to keep an eye out for any otherworlders by that name.」
「Thank you so much! I guess it’d be faster to ask the person directly for a picture, then. I’ll head back for now!」
「Wait, wait.」
As I stood up energetically, Cid-sama stopped me.
「What is it?」
「Leave the cake before you go…」
「Ah… sorry about that.」
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After handing the cake to the head maid, I returned to this world and headed straight for school. I walked into the faculty room.
「Excuse me, is the homeroom teacher for the second-year student, Ootori-san, here?」
An older woman came over.
「I’m Ootori-san’s homeroom teacher. And you are?」
「Ah, sorry. I’m Kaminagi Yuuki from Class 1. I needed to talk to Ootori-san about something…」
As soon as I said that, the teacher’s expression turned uneasy.
「Actually, she hasn’t come to school today. We haven’t been able to contact her either, so I’m a little worried.」
「I see. I might have an idea where she is, so I’ll go look for her!」
「Wait, what about your classes!?」
「Sorry! I’ll take the day off!」
I quickly changed my shoes and went back home, then contacted Tomoe-chan.
「Yes, Yuuki-san? Is something wrong?」
「Sorry for bothering you while you’re working, but that dungeon you mentioned this morning, the one where you can meet the dead, where exactly is it?」
「Let’s see… it’s in a place called Higashi Izumo, in Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture.」
Shimane Prefecture? A dungeon where you can meet the dead? No way…
「It’s called 『Yomotsu Hirasaka』.」
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