Chapter IV: In Their Dreams
After returning home from the zoo, we took a short break before embarking on my most important mission. My father was a manga author, while my mother worked on picture books. But even with their unusual schedules, they didn’t go to bed that late. My dad always said that pulling all-nighters would harm you in the long run. The more tired you were, the harder it was to concentrate on your work. Plus, my mother always claimed it wasn’t good for her skin.
The idea of hurting yourself to make a deadline was silly, honestly. My folks firmly believed that you could only do your best when you were in good health, and I agreed with that sentiment.
Obviously, there was the odd emergency where you might have to work overtime, like if last-minute adjustments needed to be made or something.
If I remembered right, the deadline for my dad’s work should’ve passed. Assuming things were still the same as in my memory, they’d both be resting at a reasonable hour today.
My parents didn’t live too far from my grandfather. It was only around fifteen minutes away by train. The full trip was roughly an hour, though. It took thirty minutes to get to the station from my grandpa’s place, then fifteen by train, then fifteen to walk to my old house.
Unfortunately, it was pretty late at night, so the trains weren’t running. That wasn’t a huge deal, however. We decided against walking there, since such a large crowd of people walking through the streets could potentially attract the wrong kind of attention.
“[Gate].”
I used my divinity, channeled through my smartphone, to open a portal straight to my house. I’d lived there my whole life on Earth, which made it easy to create a mental bridge there.
I took the lead and walked through the portal first. Once I did, I found myself in a familiar living room, not too different from how I’d left it. The lights were off, so I didn’t get a good look right away, but the TV was definitely a newer model than the one I’d last seen.
...Man, this is nostalgic. But I don’t have time to get sentimental.
I brought my arms out and channeled my divinity just a little to cast [Sleep Cloud], dispersing a thin mist of sleep magic throughout the house. My folks might have been awake, which meant I had to make sure that they wouldn’t bump into me, mistake me for a burglar, and call the cops or something. That wouldn’t exactly have been a great reunion.
After I cast the spell, Yumina and the others came through the portal one by one.
“So this is your family home...” Linze whispered as she tiptoed around the living room. It wasn’t exactly very big, so I wondered what they thought... They were used to living in castles and stuff, which made it hardly comparable.
“Now then, darling... What’re we doing? Using [Hypnosis] or [Mirage], perhaps?”
“Nope. We’ll use divinity to create a mental link to my parents. That way, we can appear before them in a shared dreamlike state.”
I’d originally planned to just change myself like Leen suggested, but Karen had texted me saying the dream approach was better overall.
It was kind of funny that she could just text me even though I was in another world, but I was used to such oddities at this point. I’d already browsed the internet and called God Almighty multiple times from the other world. My phone was a sacred treasure, so interdimensional communication was just... possible. It was just one of those things. Yumina and the girls also had that function added to their phones.
Either way, we were just going to cut out the middleman and meet my parents in their dreams instead of just making it feel like a dream. That way, I could appear before them in whatever form I pleased.
Yumina suddenly turned to me and gave a small tilt of her head.
“Is it like when you use telepathy with your summoned beasts?”
“Uh... Something like that. It’s more like I’ll draw everyone’s consciousness into a closed space. We won’t be reading each other’s minds or anything.”
In a way, it was like connecting to an online game... I’d be creating a space out of divinity and feeding our senses into it. I couldn’t describe it that way, though. The girls had no idea what videogames were.
My parents were sleeping upstairs, so I decided to get started. I wasn’t confident in being able to localize my divinity just to their room, so I figured spreading it out and covering the whole house was fine. I was a newbie god, so going overboard probably wasn’t smart.
I told the girls to sit on the living room couch and relax, then headed to the middle of the room and closed my eyes to focus. I let my divine energy channel outward and wash over the house around me.
Slow... Deep breaths... Okay.
“Here we go... [Connect].”
Everyone suddenly lost consciousness, as if they’d drifted off to sleep. One by one, their minds were linked up to the divine pseudo-reality I’d created. And eventually, once everyone had been synchronized, I let myself sink into slumber as well.
“Touya-dono, what is this place?”
“It’s a miniature world made out of my divinity... It’s kinda empty, though... I guess you could consider it similar to the inside of a [Storage] space.”
As I answered Yae’s question, relief set in when I noticed I’d returned to my old self.
Phew, that’s more like it!
Since we were in a virtually constructed space, I was wearing my usual coat and outfit from the other world. That was the image I most associated with myself at this point, after all.
“It’s a bit scary here... There’s a faint mist at our feet and it’s almost pitch black...”
“Oh, well... I’m supposed to be dead, right? I figured I should match the aesthetic if they’re getting visited by a ghost.”
Linze seemed a bit unnerved, but that was the point. I was trying to match the kind of atmosphere you’d see on TV or movies when people were visited by the dead. It was kind of like the divine realm, but a whole lot freakier.
“...Isn’t this a little too spooky? They might think you’re lingering with unresolved grudges if the place has this kind of vibe. You want to show them you’re happy, right?”
“Oh. Good point.”
Thanks, Elze. I probably should’ve thought about that. Guess I got carried away with the whole ghost idea! Whoops... But what kind of environment should I make instead?
“I think it should be sunny and bright... Maybe a field of flowers, too? A happy landscape should set them at ease.”
“Indeed. You need to give them the image of a happy afterlife, Touya,” Leen said as she nodded along with Hilde.
Oh, huh. I really wouldn’t have thought of that.
I snapped my fingers and the scenery changed. The space around us was illuminated with refreshing sunlight, while a gorgeous blue sky stretched out overhead. At our feet, the ominous mist was replaced by beautiful sprouting flowers.
I could change this space on a whim, kind of like the holodeck from a certain sci-fi series. Even creating smells and sounds wasn’t out of the realm of possibility! To illustrate that, I snapped my fingers once more, creating a soft breeze that carried the scent of flowers.
“Amazing... It’s so realistic,” Yumina mumbled as she crouched down to smell some roses. It wasn’t all that different from reality, since you could even touch stuff in here. I definitely didn’t have the divinity to maintain it for any longer than an hour or so, though. It was an ephemeral dream, in the end.
“What about your parents? Shouldn’t they be here?”
“They should be, yeah. I connected their minds to this space.”
As I replied to Sue, I suddenly noticed something in the distance. Someone was running through the field of flowers, heading directly toward me. There was another person not far behind, too.
The one in front was a woman in her thirties, though she actually looked about ten years younger. Her hair was bunched up and tied back, but one bushy part flowed over the front of her right shoulder. The one following behind her was a concerned-looking man in glasses who looked to be about forty.
It went without saying, but they were my parents. My father, the manga artist, Mochizuki Touichirou. My mother, the picture book writer, Mochizuki Tsuzuri.
My mother barreled toward me with a very particular look on her face. It was almost blank and expressionless. I knew it well, having lived in her house for so many years. She was in a bad mood... but why? Was she mad at me? That wouldn’t match up with the touching reunion scene I had in mind at all! Eventually, my mother arrived in front of me. She emanated a silent, dominant pressure that made Yumina and the others back off slightly.
“H-Hey, Mom... Long time no see?” I said as I smirked awkwardly, speaking the first bland thing that came to mind. My mother reached out her hand and touched my cheek. It was soft... I could feel her warmth, even in this dream space.
Her other hand approached my other cheek. Her expression warped and she began to smile gently. It was a smile I’d seen when I was a little boy.
As the nostalgia washed over me, my mother tightened her grip on my head. Then, she leaned her head backward slightly.
Huh?
My mother was about as tall as I was. She was quite the tall, slender woman in her youth. I wasn’t sure what kind of power she was hiding in that delicate frame, but for some reason, I couldn’t escape her grip.
The gentle smile was gone, replaced by a stern glare and a twisted grin.
“You freakin’ brat!”
“Gyaaah!”
I suddenly saw stars as my mother headbutted me in the face. I rolled backward, writhing in pain and clutching at my forehead.
What the hell?! I can feel pain in here? Wait... No, I can’t! It’s only because I thought it hurt! Gaaah! Go away, pain, go away... Okay, it doesn’t hurt so much now... I’m still in control here... But man, what the hell?
“You’ve got a lot of nerve showing up this late in the game! Couldn’t you have come to see us the day after you died or something?! And you’ve even got the balls to come here with nine wives in tow?! Well, look at you, Mr. Playboy! Having a heap of fun without us, huh?!”
“Wh-What?! H-How do you even know that?!”
As I scrambled to my feet, my mother simply stood there with her arms folded. I hadn’t even told her about Yumina and the others... Did she have telepathy or something?
“A-Ack... Are you okay, Touya? S-Sweetheart, even if we’re dreaming, don’t you think that’s a bit much?”
“Like I give a rat’s ass if it’s a dream or not!”
My dad called out in concern from behind my mom. Clearly, they thought they were dreaming. That was what I was hoping for, but I didn’t exactly expect to be full-on attacked. I would’ve expected a hug rather than a headbutt... She had no mercy when she was mad.
“B-But hold on, Mom. How do you know about my situation?!”
“A week ago, some weird old guy claiming to be god appeared in my dream. He said he wanted to apologize for killing you.”
“I had that dream too. He was an old man with glasses and greyish hair.”
...Wait, God Almighty showed up in my parents’ dreams? Does he still feel bad or something? Ugh, I’ve got a bad feeling about all of this.
“...So, what happened?”
“Well, obviously I was mad, so I reached out to slap him and—”
“You what?!”
“...But your father stopped me, so I decided to let it go,” Mom sulked slightly as she spoke.
“Even if it was a dream, I felt like it was a bit much to slap someone who called himself a god... The poor old man almost looked frightened. It was very awkward,” my dad sighed softly.
...Crap, I’m gonna have to apologize to him when I get home.
“I’ve got every right to be mad at that geezer. And I’m plenty mad at you, too! Dying to lightning?! Are you stupid or something?! Give me a break, kid!”
...How about you give me a break? It wasn’t just any lightning, you know?! It was crazy divine lightning. There’s no way I could’ve survived that.
“Anyway, that god asshole told us that you’d come up in a dream soon with nine freakin’ wives! It was so stupid that I was pissed off when I woke up!”
“...I had that dream too, though... Also, you both look like the real deal. Am I actually dreaming right now? Or is this something supernatural?”
I guess they both think everyone else is a dream except for them...
Dad suddenly tried pinching his cheeks, so I silently manipulated the space to blot out his pain.
“...I don’t feel anything. Guess it really is a dream. Well, that’s not surprising... But I’m happy to see you again, son. You look well... Maybe that’s a little weird to say, since you’re dead, but... yeah...”
“Dad...”
My dad laughed awkwardly. It was good to know he still marched to the beat of his own drum. Dad was either very kind or just very blunt. My mom suddenly reached up to pinch her cheek, so I willed away the pain there as well.
“...Huh? But my forehead hurt a bit earlier...”
“D-Don’t overthink it.”
“Well, okay.”
My mom rubbed her forehead a bit, but then she shrugged it off. Sometimes I was glad she didn’t sweat the small stuff.
“You’re a little taller, aren’t you? I’ve seen you in my dreams now and then, but you looked the same as you did when you died all those times. Kind of a shame I won’t get to see you as a man...”
My mom let out a small, sad laugh. My body was divine, so it grew a lot more slowly, but I’d probably have an adult form eventually. If God Almighty permitted it, I’d be sure to come back and visit them again then.
“But...” my mom paused and suddenly glanced over at Yumina and the others. Everyone was a little bit stunned by the headbutt they’d just witnessed, which was pretty fair. Even I’d have been surprised.
Yumina mustered up enough courage to step forward and greet her in-laws.
“U-Um... I-I’m... uh... I am... I-I am...”
“Yumina, right?”
“Huh?” Yumina was stopped in her tracks entirely by my mother’s words.
...God, you even told them that much about my wives?
“The one with the long hair there must be Elze, then the short hair is Linze... The girl with the tied-up hair there must be Yae... Right, dear?”
“I think so, yeah. If I remember right, the names of the girl with the pigtails there and the golden-haired girl... are... Leen and Sue... I think? They’re a little young to be wives, though...” Dad nodded quietly, identifying more of the girls.
What...? What’s going on here? They know Yumina, Elze, Linze, Yae, Sue, and Leen...? How?
“As for the other three... Sorry... I haven’t read that far yet!”
Lu, Hilde, and Sakura looked positively devastated as my mother failed to identify them. She seemed very apologetic.
“...Wait, what do you mean you haven’t read that far?”
“You remember Himura, right? Your old classmate?”
Huh? My junior high buddy? Why bring him up now?
“He’s working as an assistant for me right now... Apparently, he’s gotten lots of dreams from your god friend.”
Wait, what? You’ve even been visiting Himura, old man?!
“He keeps getting shown visions and stories about your adventures in his dream. He came and told me about it... Said he thinks you might have been born into another world and made a new life there... Anyway, he came up with a storyboard and started penning the story.”
“He what?!”
What the hell?! A storyboard is just a rough draft, like a blueprint for a series... It has a basic representation of the composition, panel layout, characters, and so on... It’s basically a way of telling if your manga will work out or not... But he’s been drafting up a manga based on my life in the other world?! What the hell, man! Does he think he’s just getting the ideas from his dreams or something?! Why would God Almighty do this?!
“S-So wait... Where are you up to right now, story-wise?”
“Uhhh... Let me think... The most recent chapter had you recruiting a turtle and a snake.”
Sango and Kokuyou, then... That’s right before I started uncovering the Babylon stuff. We hadn’t met Lu and the other two at that point.
“I must admit, I was surprised to hear you had nine wives... I almost want to ask, but... well, it’s a dream. I’ve had many strange dreams as of late, so there’s no point questioning it.”
“R-Right...”
...Himura, please stop writing about my exploits in your manga. I’m gonna scream. It was bad enough having Babylon and the gods watch my every move, but now my parents get to see everything I do on the other side?! This is embarrassing!
I could at least take solace in the fact that it was still in rough stages and hadn’t been published yet.
“...Mmm?”
“Huh? What’s wrong, Sakura?”
Sakura, who was talking to my mother, suddenly turned around and gazed off somewhere. My mother raised an eyebrow, glancing off into the distance too.
I looked, but all I saw was an endless expanse of flowers. There was nothing in this world other than us, surely... Despite that, Sakura cupped a hand around her ear as if to focus intently. She had the special divine trait that allowed her to hear almost anything. She could pick out noises that were far beyond earshot for anyone else. But what was she hearing now?
“...There’s a strange... wailing?”
“What?”
Wailing?! Th-That’s scary! I don’t want a nightmare, just a dream!
“It kind of sounds... like a baby...? Not quite crying...”
My parents suddenly stared at each other, then started marching in the direction Sakura pointed.
Huh? What gives?
We quickly hurried after my folks, curious about what was going on.
A few moments later, we found a tiny bundled baby laying amongst the flowers. It was squirming around and looked to be on the verge of tears.
“I knew it... There, there, sweetie... You’re such a good girl. You didn’t cry. Well done...”
“Waaah...”
My mom picked up the baby, gently cradling her as she gurgled.
Wait, is this kid...?
My mom smiled softly, rocking the baby and turning her towards me.
“Look here, Fuyuka... It’s your big brother.”
“Uu...?”
...I knew it. Her eyes look kinda like mine too... This is my little sister, huh?
She must have gotten dragged in because I’d designated the entire house as space for the [Connect] process.
“Ahhh... So it was Fuyuka, huh? Did she come into my dream to see her big brother?”
“I think you’ll find it’s my dream, dear. Also, of course she did. It’s only natural that my daughter is so considerate.”
“Now now, honey... I think you’ll find she’s my daughter too.”
My parents were both fussing over the baby while having a strange argument.
...Yep, these guys are as ditzy as ever when it comes to parenting. It’s no wonder I ended up learning more from Grandpa...
I felt a little bit jealous of the girl they were fawning over, but those feelings were blown aside when they passed her to me.
“Gagah...”
“Ohhh...”
Fuyuka reached her little hand out toward me. She was positively adorable... It wasn’t the first time I’d held a baby, but there was something special about seeing my little sister for the very first time.
“Oh! Wow! She’s so cute!”
“She really is!”
“She’s very cute... I know it for sure...”
Linze, Sue, and Sakura started to coo and clamor around the baby, but Fuyuka didn’t seem to mind at all.
“What was her name, again?”
“Fuyuka. It was either that or Touka, but I didn’t want her getting the Tou nickname that her dad and brother got. Not very ladylike, is it?”
My mom chuckled as she spoke to Yumina. I had that nickname back in elementary school, and my dad did as well, since his name was Touichirou.
“Baba... Gagah...”
“Careful there...”
“Bah...”
Fuyuka reached out for Linze, almost grasping for her hair. She was a bold child. Her personality was pretty aggressive, too... Not hard to tell which parent she’d taken after.
“You can hold her if you want.”
“A-Are you sure that’s okay?”
“She’s your sister-in-law, so of course it is. No need to distance yourself.”
At my mom’s urging, I handed off Fuyuka to Linze. I moved a little slowly, since I didn’t wanna drop her. Fuyuka started to wave her arms out as if to tell me to hurry up.
“Gah... Gah...”
“Nice to meet you, Fuyuka. I’m Linze, your sister-in-law.”
“Gah!”
Linze smiled down at Fuyuka, who returned the gesture. Linze honestly had the kind of smile that could make flowers bloom... She really resembled an angel at times.
“C-Can I hold her too?”
“So long as you’re careful not to drop her, then sure.”
Elze asked for permission to hold Fuyuka next. After that, all the girls took turns cradling the little baby. She sure was a popular girl.
“She giggles a lot, she does.”
“Heh... She’s full of smiles.”
Yae passed Fuyuka, who was now laughing, over to Lu.
“She’s certainly not lacking in courage.”
“I’m not surprised, given she’s our darling’s sister... I’m sure she’ll grow up to be quite a powerful and extraordinary woman.”
“C’mon, you guys...”
I had to butt in on Hilde and Leen’s conversation. What the heck did they even mean by that? The image of Fuyuka as a Tomoe Gozen-esque legendary woman, shoving a man down, suddenly flashed through my mind. Still, so long as she grew up to have a kind heart, that’d be fine by me.
I sighed softly, then my mom patted me on the shoulder.
“We’ll take good care of Fuyuka, okay? So don’t worry about us. We miss you, but you can rest in peace.”
“Yeah... Thanks...”
I had mixed feelings about my mom saying that to me, to be honest. To my folks, this was just a dream that had come up because they’d read Himura’s rough draft.
I wanted to tell them the truth, tell them everything... That I was a fledgling god, that I wouldn’t be able to visit them very often if ever again...
If I asked God Almighty for permission, I was sure he’d let me come see them, but even that would have its limits. As a god, I wasn’t allowed to show bias or favoritism toward them just because they were my family during my life in this world. Plus, I’d already decided to leave them behind and live in the other world. They were my old life, and I had a new family to look after.
“Well, we were quite surprised to get a call from his elementary school teachers. They said Touya hadn’t attended school that day, even though he’d definitely left. I was wondering if there’d been an accident or something, and then the police called us. Wanna know what happened? He was found sailing on a raft down the river! The dumb little guy built himself a raft, then needed to be rescued when it started falling apart!”
“A raft...?”
“Yep. He somehow got it into his head that he could sail to school faster than he could walk. He sounds like a real dumbass, doesn’t he?”
Please stop...
My mom was happily telling stories about my childhood as she sat in the field of flowers.
I couldn’t bear it any longer, so I sat a little bit away from the girls and used [Storage] to take out some fresh sandwiches Lu had whipped up for me and my dad.
“That’s an old story, huh, son? It must’ve happened during your second year in junior high, right?”
“...It was my first.”
I’d gotten the idea from one of my dad’s books, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. After all, Sawyer was a kid and he could make a raft. Why not me? But unfortunately, the raft I cobbled together with rope and wood wasn’t very good. Just a few moments after it set sail, it started breaking apart and I fell into the water. Had to cling to a piece of wood to survive. Thankfully, it wasn’t winter... or it could’ve ended way worse.
A lot of people got really mad at me after all that... My grandpa was madder about the shoddy raft, though.
My mom sure was comfortable in this so-called dream... She had no problem blabbing about my dark past. Though, to be honest, she was the type to tell these stories in the real world too.
The girls had gotten quite used to her pretty quickly, so they were asking a lot of questions. I just wished they wouldn’t probe too hard... It was embarrassing...
“I’m surprised you’re married, son. Even if this is a dream, let me congratulate you. I’m proud...”
“Yeah, seems like things are gonna get busy from here.”
“Now, Touya. You should probably slow down a little. Marriage is always easier for a man. Don’t wanna jostle the girls too much.”
...I’m not sure if that’s the case here, Dad. The girls are a lot more gung-ho than I am, at least most of the time... Maybe it’s an other-world thing where women are more brazen over there.
Even the most docile of the girls, Linze, spoke her mind to me quite often. To be honest, I was more worried about not being able to keep up with them. It was a little bit silly and egocentric, but my pride as a man was on the line.
“I don’t think you need to overdo it, that’s all I’m saying. No point showboating for your own family. You’re meant to accept each other, warts and all, so putting up pretenses and being needlessly proud proves nothing.”
I had to admit that he was probably right. Even if the girls heard embarrassing things from my past, it wasn’t like they’d suddenly think I was lame and hate me for it... so it was probably fine for them to hear those stories.
“Touya’s first crush was this girl next door named Shouko.”
“Hey wait, that’s a bit much!”
I groaned slightly as I chowed down on the food in front of me.
Ugh, whatever! At least the food’s nice!
“Guuu... Waaah... Ahhh...”
“Hm? Are you tired, Fuyuka?”
My sister, who was sitting in my mom’s arms, moaned and yawned a little.
I wasn’t surprised. She was asleep in real life, but being drawn in here was keeping her senses stimulated. Even if it wasn’t her real body, she’d probably be quite mentally worn out. Still, part of me wondered if she was trying to protect me from having more stories told. I preferred to believe she was on my side, personally. What a good sister...
Being here was kind of like going through REM sleep, so it was probably hard for a baby.
“...Well, it’s time for bed.”
“We’re done?”
I packed Lu’s food back into [Storage] and stood up. I’d done what I wanted to do, so staying any longer would only make it harder to say goodbye. My dad glanced up at me with a frown on his face.
“I can’t stay here too long, Dad. Besides, Fuyuka’s sleepy. I don’t wanna strain her too hard.”
“I see... That’s a shame.”
Using [Connect] drained my divinity, and I was almost out of juice. I couldn’t risk running out... Plus, I wanted my mom to stop embarrassing me.
My father got up, and we headed back toward the girls. Lu blushed fiercely as my dad complimented her cooking, but his comments only made my mom pout.
My grandpa and dad were great cooks, but my mom just wasn’t meant for the kitchen. The best she could do was rice balls and sandwiches. To her credit, the ones she made were still pretty nice... In a way, I’d come to associate those foods with my mother, and my dad probably felt the same.
I wanted to eat her cooking again, but... well, that just wasn’t possible.
“Are you leaving?”
“Mhm. I don’t want Fuyuka getting too cranky tomorrow. That’d be bad for both of you.”
“Googah...”
Fuyuka wriggled a bit in my mom’s arms. She seemed a bit irritable, so I definitely had to get her out of here.
“Come back for the Obon festival, okay? It’s a time for honoring the dead and all... I’ll make those horse decorations out of cucumber and eggplant to welcome you back. And drag your grandpa along with you next time, got it? I’ve never seen him in my dreams before, so let him know he has a granddaughter to come meet.”
“Oh, well... Sure...” I gave a vague enough response to my mom. I didn’t actually know where my grandpa was. Up in the heavens somewhere, maybe? I was sure he’d have already visited us in our dreams if it were possible...
I didn’t think I’d be able to come see them in time for Obon, but I quietly vowed to visit again. I wanted to see my little sister all grown up, after all.
“We’ll be off, then. Take care, you two... See you later, Fuyuka.”
“Heh... You too, kid. Make sure you have fun with everyone... and don’t make any of these girls cry.”
“I hope we meet again soon, son. Let’s spend a little more time together next time.”
I’d have to train up my divinity to maintain this space for longer next time, so I set that as a personal goal.
“[Disconnect].”
The mental world faded away. My vision blurred, and we all returned to reality...
“Ngh...”
I stood up from the carpet, fully conscious. Unfortunately, I was back in that tiny body again...
“Mmmh...?”
“Hmmmh...?”
Sue woke up first, then Yumina. The other girls gradually awoke after that.
“Hm? What’s with that dog, honey?”
“Oh, sweetheart. I think it’s a stray.”
She glanced back to see her husband peering out the window. He quickly slipped his sandals on and walked down to the garden.
Her husband was a big dog lover. So was she, but she’d never actually owned one before. They once tried to adopt a dog from a friend, but Tsuzuri found herself strangely skittish and afraid of it. And even trying three times, she failed to shake the unease.
“Arf?”
They’d given up on ever getting a dog, but perhaps... Perhaps this was fate. Surely it couldn’t have been a coincidence that this puppy had graced their garden the morning after that strange dream.
The woman briefly wondered if the puppy was a reincarnated form of her son... But, almost as if to dispel that idea, the dog started shaking its head from side to side. Of course not, that would be silly.
“Touichirou... Do you think we could keep this puppy?”
“Hmm... I’d feel bad if it belonged to someone else, though...”
“Oggie! Oggie!”
“C’mon now... I think it’s a stray. And look at how much Fuyuka seems to like it.”
Fuyuka reached her arms out to try and pet the puppy, and the puppy simply allowed itself to be pet.
“Man, what a docile little thing...”
“Right? What do you think? You wanna keep him? Hey, puppy, wanna live with us?”
“Arf!” the puppy let out a cheerful bark.
The woman and the dog gazed into each other’s eyes, mutual happiness welling up inside them. In response to that, Touichirou slid his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose and opened his mouth.
“No.”
“Whaaat?!”
“Gaaah!”
“Awoo...”
Wife, daughter, and puppy all expressed their disappointment.
“Not until we’ve gone through the proper channels. We’ll need to take this puppy to the vet, then the police. We have to be entirely certain this isn’t someone else’s dog... And then, we can keep it.”
“Yay! Thanks, sweetheart!”
“Oggie! Yaaah!”
“Woof woof!” the white puppy yipped and darted around, almost in celebration.
Whew... Infiltration complete... Now I can keep the girl safe...? the guardian deity quietly vowed to fulfill her duty, atone for her sins, and eventually be accepted back into the divine realm once more.
She was in it for the long haul, so she’d probably have to disguise herself as multiple creatures as the girl grew older, but it was something she’d mentally prepared herself to do.
“Oof! Oof!”
“Woof!”
Thus, the Mochizuki family gained a new member. Eventually, various interesting circumstances would arise involving a young lady and her mysterious pet dog... But that was a story for another day.
“Whew...”
I walked down the stairs, rubbing my tired eyes. I had trouble sleeping the night before, probably because of how late we’d stayed up. I had having a series of naps more than a proper rest.
My grandpa often had guests, so there were plenty of futons for everyone to sleep on... But unfortunately, there wasn’t a bedroom big enough for all of us. And since it wouldn’t have been fair for me to only spend the night with specific wives, I ended up sleeping on my own... Usually, this would spell a troubled marriage, but I could see their point.
Yesterday sure was something.
I hoped that the servile god had made it to my family okay. My parents both loved dogs, so it was probably fine. My mom was definitely a dog-lover, even if she could get nervous around them sometimes. I was sure if it made a good first impression, she’d pamper that pooch like no tomorrow. My grandpa and I were more attuned to cats, though.
Either way, if Fuyuka was being kept safe by a guardian deity, I was happy. Even if it wasn’t a fully-fledged god, just having someone look after her was good in my book.
“Hmm?”
A pleasant smell wafted over from the kitchen. I walked over and saw Lu with her apron on, chopping away at various things with her knives. The morning sun shone through the window, illuminating her form. She looked beautiful.
“Oh, Touya. Good morning.”
“Pretty...”
“Hm?”
“Oh, uh. Nothing! Good morning, Lu,” I said as I sat down at the kitchen table. A second later, Lu passed me a freshly-brewed cup of tea.
“You’re up early, Lu. Did you sleep okay?”
“I always get up at this time back at the castle. It’s just part of my routine.”
Lu helped out Crea, our head cook, with breakfast just about every day. Old habits died hard, apparently. If you turned something into your daily schedule, it became easier to repeat over time.
“Where’s everyone else?”
“Yae, Hilde, and Elze are all up. They’re doing some mock training in the garden. Linze and Yumina are watching TV in the living room.”
Everyone sure is up early... But I guess late nights don’t really happen in the other world, come to think of it. People are usually in bed by ten.
“What about Sue?”
“Still asleep. I’m gonna let her rest a little longer, then call her down for breakfast. She’s worn out after yesterday.”
Sue, Sakura, and Leen were still in their beds. It was a little relieving to know that I wasn’t the last one up; I didn’t want to be the kind of husband who kept people waiting.
“Sue played a lot with Fuyuka yesterday, so it’s okay to let her rest a bit more. Sakura’s never been the best at getting up early... As for Leen, it’s probably...”
“...Probably what? My old age?”
“Gah?!”
I turned around and saw a sleepy-eyed Leen standing there in her pajamas.
You scared the crap outta me!
Leen didn’t have her hair bunched up when she slept, so right now her hair was all down. Honestly? She looked great like that.
“Of course not. Older people actually tend to get up earlier, silly.”
“I see. Very well, then. Lu, could I have some tea?”
“Yep. Coming right up.”
Leen rubbed her sleepy eyes as the tea was poured out in front of her.
“Are Sakura and Sue awake yet?”
“Still sleeping. Let’s have them rest a bit longer, they deserve that much. Now, darling... You’ve finished what you wanted to come here for, yes? What next?”
“Oh, well... I guess we’ll have to talk about that. I don’t think we’ll be coming back here any time soon, if ever, so we should make the most of it.”
I didn’t want my honeymoon to only consist of a trip to the zoo and meeting up with my parents. That was kind of lame...
If I used [Gate] via my smartphone, we could go anywhere. Obviously, it used divinity, so I couldn’t use it whenever I wanted, but a day trip would be doable.
“Oh, that reminds me...”
“What is it, darling?”
I got up and walked over to my grandpa’s study. He was a very meticulous man, so the books were arranged precisely on the shelves.
Where was it, again... Oh. Here we go.
I brought a particular book back to the kitchen table.
“What is this?”
“It’s a travel guide. It was written by a friend of my grandpa. I remember seeing it a long time ago.”
The book had all kinds of famous locations in it. It was a bit of an old book, but the landmarks in it were still recognizable enough that I’d be able to get to them through [Gate].
Leen picked up the book and flipped through it.
“Hmm... Quite interesting... This seems to be quite ancient architecture. I certainly like that.”
“That’s Chichen Itza. It’s an ancient city, like a thousand years old or so.”
Chichen Itza was one of the largest ancient Mayan cities from the Postclassic period. The page Leen was on showed the famous temple structure, dedicated to the god Kukulkan. It was a massive pyramid with all kinds of intricate snake-like carvings all over it. The Mayans called the deity Kukulkan, while the Aztecs called it Quetzalcoatl.
“If the city’s only a thousand years old, why is it in such a state of disrepair?”
“There’s no protective magic or anything over here, remember?”
“Oh, that would explain it.”
Earth magic was often used in the other world to fortify buildings, alongside general protective spells. Really rich families would pay extra to bulk up their home foundations. If there was protective magic in this world, we’d have been able to see so many ancient structures in their prime forms... It was a bit of a shame.
The guidebook listed all kinds of places. The Sphinx, Stonehenge, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and the Eiffel Tower were among them. There weren’t just man-made structures in the book, though. There were also natural wonders like Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon.
There were a few Japanese landmarks, too. I was pleased to see the scenic views of Amanohashidate listed, as well as the Tokyo Tower. The Tokyo Skytree wasn’t mentioned, but that was because the book was older than it.
Leen kept on flicking through the book until we all heard a ding from the microwave.
“Touya, you should wake up those two now.”
“Gotcha.”
I headed upstairs and found Sue and Sakura, half-hanging out of their futons.
...You guys are so slovenly... But I guess it’s kinda cute in a way...
That wasn’t too unusual to think, given they were my wives and all.
“Hey, Sue. It’s time to get up.”
“Mweh... Five more minutes...” Sue mumbled as she sleepily brushed my hand away from her shoulder. I suddenly realized Leim, her butler, probably had a pretty rough time dealing with her. Now that Sue lived with me, his duties had shifted to caring for her little brother, Ed. Although I’d actually heard that Leim was in the middle of training his son to succeed him, so perhaps retirement was on the cards.
At least that’s what I’d thought at first... Apparently, he spoke to Laim and said he wanted to work in Brunhild. He probably wanted to be there to look after any kids Sue and I ended up having.
As much as I appreciated the gesture, he’d probably be waiting a while... I sighed a bit as I looked down at the sleepy Sue.
“C’mon now, it’s time to get up. Breakfast’s ready. We’re all waiting.”
“Breakfast...”
The one to reply to that wasn’t Sue, it was Sakura. She’d been completely unresponsive all this time, but the mention of food was enough to rouse her from slumber.
“...Food’s too good here... I’m gonna get fat... Really fat...”
“No, you won’t.”
“...Would you hate it if I got fat...?” Sakura mumbled slightly as she clung to her futon. She sure could be silly sometimes.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Sakura. I’ll feel the same about you no matter what.”
“Good... I’m happy...” She stopped hugging the futon and instead hugged me.
Gah, wait! I’m too small and weak for a full-on attack!
I got pushed down onto the nearby blanket, held there by Sakura’s weight.
“Hey... What’re you doing there? I wanna do it too!”
Sue had finally awoken, and she wasted no time getting in on the hug action.
Ack, wait! What are you... Nooo!
“...Just what are you all doing?”
A stern voice snapped us all back to reality. It was Linze, standing at the entryway with her hands on her hips.
“Everyone’s sitting at the dining table. You’re taking up our time.”
She narrowed her eyes slightly at the three of us. I felt a little bad. Apparently, I hadn’t come down right away, so Linze came to check on me. Whoops.
“...Sorry... We’ll come downstairs right now...”
From my prone position, I slowly looked up at Linze.
Oh crap... Don’t grin... Don’t let her know what you just saw!
“...What is it now?”
“Hmm... Did you do that on purpose...?”
“Huh? Do what?”
“We see your panties...” Sakura’s words caused Linze to grab at her skirt and back away in a flurry. We were already married, so it wasn’t that big of a deal... But at the same time, we probably shouldn’t have discarded all sense of shame.
“They’re the new ones I bought when we arrived...”
“They’re cute, but you shouldn’t wear white... You’re a married woman, so you should wear something more adult...”
“S-Sakura! That’s enough!”
Adult underwear...? Has Sakura been talking to Cesca or something? Or maybe she saw something on TV...
“I’d wear something spicier, cause I’m a married woman now! But Yumina said I shouldn’t do that yet.”
...Yeah, I’m not surprised she said that, Sue... Give it a couple more years at least.
Apparently, people from the other world lived longer than Earth humans. But even though they had this longer lifespan, the average age of death was still younger due to stuff like monster attacks and more widespread poverty.
According to Doc Babylon, the reason for most humans having longer lifespans was that almost everyone had some form of elven or demonkin blood in their family tree. A blood examination at the research laboratory revealed that Yae even had some demonkin blood in her. One of her distant ancestors was a horned creature, apparently. It wasn’t much, but it was there.
Eashen’s ruler was also part-spirit, so stuff like that wasn’t too uncommon over there. Eashen did have a clan of demonkin who called themselves the onifolk, so maybe Yae’s ancestor was one of those.
Maybe that lineage would help explain her insatiable appetite, too...
“Geez! Just get up already! The food’s gonna be gone at this rate!”
“Mm... Good point...”
“Yaeee! Don’t eat my food!”
Sue and Sakura went bounding down the stairs. I didn’t think Yae would do something like that, but there was always the risk of her eating extra helpings of the side dishes before we had a chance to get to them.
“Touya... You’re not gonna rest here forever, are you?”
“I wasn’t even resting...”
Well, whatever. Let’s get breakfast while I still can.
I grabbed Linze’s hand and headed downstairs with her.
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