Even as the conversation kept going off track, the questioning at the guard post continued.
Right now, Jisrare-san is still trying her best to persuade Kate-san.
「The mask is necessary」
「Hmm…」
「For humans, Alec’s face is dangerous. It must not be shown」
Jisrare-san declares this with firm conviction.
…Even if she says it so strongly, it leaves me with mixed feelings.
「There was a human who saw Alec’s face――he turned to stone」
「T-turned to stone…?」
No, like stone… She probably means Kirk-ojisan. He just froze stiff like a statue, he did not actually turn into stone. This is not some kind of mythological monster…
「More importantly, if that were true, then letting someone that dangerous into town would be a problem, would it not?」
「…Hmm」
Faced with Kate-san’s completely reasonable argument, Jisrare-san faltered slightly.
「But that is why the mask exists」
「That is why… So, does he wear the mask all the time?」
「When walking through town, yes. Please be assured」
「That does not reassure me at all. Someone walking around town in a mask like that…」
「…Hmm」
Kate-san’s reasoning is too sound, and it hurts.
Hmm… It feels like Jisrare-san is being pushed back here.
What should I do? At this rate, we might not be allowed into town.
「Is there no way around this…?」
「Unless you do something about that mask, I cannot let you in」
「The mask, huh…」
「If the goal is just to hide your face, there should be other ways, right?」
Well, she does have a point.
Jisrare-san said there was no other option, but there are probably other methods.
That said, she went through the effort of making it, and I was hoping to stick with the mask at least through winter…
…Summer would be impossible. Once summer comes, I definitely need to think of another method.
「In any case, I cannot let you in under these conditions」
「Hmm…」
At this rate, it really feels like we will fail to pass the inspection…
This is a problem. What should I do?
Is there some way out of this? Some way to break through this situation――
◇
「It did not work」
「I see…」
「Unfortunately, we were not allowed into Raft Town」
「That is unfortunate…」
After failing to pass the inspection, Jisrare-san and I returned to Kirk Village.
――A full retreat. With nothing we could do, we retreated from Raft Town and came back to Kirk-ojisan’s house.
And now, he is listening to our complaints.
「We were close to getting through」
「Is that so?」
I do not think that was the case…
Jisrare-san was on the defensive the whole time, and the situation felt quite hopeless.
「We were close, but Alec made Kate angry」
「Hm? You made the gatekeeper angry?」
Ah… well, yes…
I did try to persuade Kate-san, but I failed a bit.
「What did you do, Alec?」
「He tried to get through by offering a bribe」
「Alec…」
Even Kirk-ojisan looked exasperated. He gave me a lukewarm stare.
「I could not think of any other way…」
「Still, Alec, a bribe is not the answer…」
「Yes, I know… I knew that, but I panicked and felt like I had to do something…」
And in that panic――I tried to solve it with money.
The very thing Yggdrasil-san had warned me not to do.
As a result, it completely backfired and angered Kate-san, who is a serious and dutiful gatekeeper.
Her beast ears stood straight up as she fumed.
「…That said, even without that, it still seemed difficult」
「Well, yeah… that mask is the problem…」
「It seems so」
Unless something is done about this mask, entering the town will be difficult. We probably cannot get past Kate-san’s defenses.
「So, for now, we came back to Kirk Village」
「Yeah, you came back… It has been about a month?」
「Around that. It has been a while, Kirk-ojisan」
「Well, I guess it has… Though I thought I would not see you again for two years, so it does not feel that long…」
We kept saying 『See you again in two years!』 over and over, so it is no wonder he feels that way…
「When I saw the two of you waiting in front of my house, I was truly surprised」
「It looked like that…」
After arriving in Kirk Village, we first went to his house, but unfortunately, he was not home.
So we waited outside for a while, and when he returned, he was extremely surprised to see us… He even did a double take.
「So, what will you two do now?」
「If possible, we would like to stay here」
「Hm? Ah, of course, that is fine」
「Thank you. We will leave tomorrow」
「No need to rush. You can stay for two or three days and relax」
「Thank you. That might happen」
「O-okay…」
Kirk-ojisan’s house is strangely comfortable… Just as Jisrare-san said, I have a feeling we might end up staying here again longer than planned.
「That is fine, but what about after this? You could not enter Raft Town, so what will you do now?」
「Hmm, what now…」
Yes, of course, we have thought about that.
Neither Jisrare-san nor I spent two weeks retreating back to Kirk Village without a plan.
「After discussing it with Jisrare-san, we decided to return to Meiyu Village for now」
That is what we agreed on.
The real issue is my masked appearance. Not just in Raft Town, but even in other villages, my mask has been causing problems and nearly turning into incidents.
As long as I keep wearing the mask, this issue will continue to follow us.
Taking that into account, we decided to return to Meiyu Village and rethink our strategy.
「We will go back to the village and think things through. As expected, wearing a mask makes people wary. I want to come up with a way that does not make others uneasy」
「…………」
「Ah, no, I do think it was an excellent idea for hiding my face」
Jisrare-san, the one who came up with the mask, looked a bit down, so I hurried to add that.
「…I will also think of a different approach」
「A different approach…?」
「A different approach」
「I see… Thank you, Jisrare-san」
「Hmm」
What does she mean… What is she planning… I feel slightly uneasy, but it should be fine… right?
「Anyway, that is how it is. It seems this journey ends here」
「I see, this is the end…」
「Yes, this is the end. The journey is over. This trip was… well, I would say it was a success」
「I see, that is unfortunate this time… Wait, what?」
「Yes?」
「A success? This was a success?」
「Of course it was?」
Kirk-ojisan looks confused for some reason, but I would even call it a great success.
It is true we could not enter Raft Town and ended up retreating, but we still managed to reach it, and we visited many human villages. It was a very fulfilling two-month journey.
――And most importantly, two months. We traveled for two whole months. That is a new personal record.
From my perspective, this fourth world journey was a very satisfying and successful one.
I would like the fifth world journey to go just as well.
next chapter: Recap 5
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