「──Takato!」
Bisha’s shout made me realize I had returned from the divine realm.
The useless goddess’s “slight relocation” seemed to be several hundred meters. I was standing in a field near the village. A god’s sense of positioning is worse than GPS.
「Takato!」
Bisha dove into me and knocked me over. But it didn’t hurt much. That was probably thanks to my physical abilities being raised just a little.
…A god’s measuring stick really is different from a human’s…
「Takato, you’re safe」
As I soothed the sobbing Bisha, Mishinie came over as well.
「Yeah. By pure coincidence, I got summoned by a great archmage to celebrate killing ten thousand goblins, so I didn’t end up crushed under a rock」
「A mage who can manipulate space? Who is that? Teleportation magic is close to a taboo art」
「That’s the kind of mage backing the goblin exterminators」
Historically, anyway.
「That’s a pretty powerful organization」
Well, it’s run by a goddess, so of course it has power. The kind you can’t oppose.
「What about the villagers?」
「They’re over there, completely stunned」
With some effort, I got up while holding Bisha. In the direction Mishinie pointed, the villagers really were standing there in a daze.
「…Do I need to explain this…?」
「Yeah, you probably should. If you plan on coming back here」
Right. Yeah. I should explain it properly.
I asked Mishinie to look after Bisha and went to explain things to the villagers.
Between this and that, it took until noon to finish explaining. Then we went to the blasted cave and explained again. By the time we could finally leave the village, it was past four in the afternoon. Haa…
「I’ll go bring out the Pioneer. Wait here for a bit」
We were several hundred meters from the village, and I didn’t feel like walking back, so I decided to return by Pioneer. Sorry for failing to stick to my original plan.
「──Takato-san!」
The moment I appeared at the entrance, I was run over by an electric wheelchair. I, it hurts…
「S-sorry! I’ll heal you right away!」
A warm power flowed through me, and the pain faded away.
「What in the world happened?」
「This isn’t a ‘what happened’ situation! An announcement said you were summoned by the goddess, Takato-san, and you didn’t come back to Home at all, so I was so worried. I thought you might have died…」
An announcement? So it gets transmitted to exterminators?
「I-I see. Sorry for worrying you. The timing lined up and it hit ten thousand, so I was forcibly summoned. I’m fine. There’s nothing to worry about. We’re heading back now, so I’ll explain everything tonight. Tell Ladarion I’m okay when she gets here」
After comforting Miriel, I got on the Pioneer and went outside.
「For now, let’s head back to the capital」
It’s about twenty kilometers to the capital. If I push it, we should make it back before sunset.
They said the road continues all the way to the capital, so I followed it and somehow arrived before sunset. We headed to the inn.
「Takato. I’m going to report to Margie-san. I’ll come by later」
With that, I parted ways with Mishinie in front of the inn.
「Takato!」
The moment I entered the room, Ladarion tackled me. Thank goodness my stomach was empty. If it hadn’t been, I would have been spewing sparkling rainbow-colored vomit right about now…
「Ladarion. Any more and Takato will die. Let him go」
Kainzel-san stepped in to help and freed me from Ladarion’s grip. Much appreciated.
Haa. How many times am I going to nearly die today? I can’t tell if I’m lucky or unlucky.
After somehow recovering, I started preparing dinner. I should have asked the useless goddess to let Ladarion and Miriel use the tablet too.
──Piroon!
An electronic sound echoed in my head.
──That wish, I shall grant it. Good luck, members of Sefuti Bullet!
「Was that just now… the goddess?」
Kainzel-san flinched in surprise. It seems the announcement was broadcast to everyone in Sefuti Bullet. Also, what’s with a goddess saying “good luck”? You’re the one who’s supposed to be handing out luck.
「Yeah. She’s the one responsible for dragging me into this world」
「To think I would live to see the day I made contact with a god. I am grateful」
Kainzel-san placed a hand over his chest and prayed. Well, praying is free. Believing is free too. Since they’ll never actually meet her, I suppose letting him have his dream is fine.
「Please have dinner together. I’m going to rest at Home. I want to drink beer and go to bed early tonight. Bisha, just give Kainzel-san and the others a brief explanation of what happened. I’ll explain the details myself later」
「…Takato, you’ll come back, right…」
Bisha looked like she was about to cry. I thought we’d built a good relationship, but I didn’t think I’d ever been involved with her to the point she’d worry this much. Still, being worried about doesn’t feel bad.
「I’ll be fine. I’ll come back. I still have goblins to exterminate」
I patted her head to reassure her and returned to Home, and the moment I did, my knees gave out and I collapsed. I’m really at my limit…
I want to just fall asleep like this, but more than that, I want a beer. Ice-cold beer. I’ll sleep after that.
Dragging myself to the central room, I asked Miriel to bring me a beer.
「Haaah! So good. I can feel the joy of being alive!」
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say I live for this. Beer is the water of life. Wait, could it be that since my magic attribute is water, drinking fluids makes my power surge?
「Miriel. Ladarion. Sorry for worrying you」
I apologized to the two of them as they looked at me anxiously.
「And thank you for becoming my companions. Because you’re here, I can drink delicious beer like this and….」
My strength suddenly drained away, and I slipped straight into a deep sleep.
Leave a Reply