'Oh!　The lights are on!

　I flipped a switch just inside the door, and the lights in the front door and the hallway leading to it came on. There's definitely electricity in there. If they left it as it was when my grandpa died, they should have left the TV and the fridge in there too. Hmm?
　The lights overhead are on and off. Is the bulb about to go out?　But then I saw that Lean had just flipped the switch several times with a crack of a switch. 'Hey.

''It really does work without shedding magic, doesn't it? This is using electricity ... lightning power, right?
'Yes. That switch flushes it on and off.
'I see. Interesting.

　Leanne smiled at the retro shaded bulb hanging from the front door.

'I'm sorry to disturb you!

　Everyone, with Suu in the lead, clattered up the hallway with their dirt feet. Wait a minute!

No, you can't, that you can't!　We take our shoes off here when we go into the house, that we do!
'Correct!　Eightfold one point!

　Yae, who was from Yisheng, where customs are close to those of Japan, seemed to understand that the house was a Western-style house. The house is a Western-style house, but it is not built for inviting foreign guests. It is not built for inviting foreigners.
　I'll have to clean up later. I'll have to clean up later.... I hope I have a rag.
　Everyone seems to have noticed the mistake right away, as they know Yisheng and Japanese customs to a point. I took off my shoes and went up the hallway again.
　Even at my grandfather's house, which had many visitors, there were indeed not enough slippers for ten people. I don't know if it was my mother or the god of the world, but fortunately the house was cleaned properly, so my feet wouldn't get too dirty.
　I thought I'd go to the bathroom first to see if the water flowed, but I was too short to reach the tap.... I was so miserable.

It comes out all right, here.

　Else flushed the water for me instead. So that means the toilet is fine. Thank you, World God. It's indeed a problem if the toilet doesn't flush.

"King, king, king, king!　This is 'Terebi'!
'Oh!　So this is 'Terebi'!

　Sakura and Suu were excitedly looking at the flat-screen TV in the living room. Both of them know the existence of the TV because they have been showing movies and such in the other world, but this is the first time they have actually seen it, so they must be getting excited.

'How does this work?　We're not shedding magic, right?
Isn't there a switch just like the lights earlier?

　Linse and Else also approached Sakura and the others as if they were interested in the TV. Let's see, where's the remote control........ Ah, here it is.
　I pick up the remote control that was on the low table and turn it on. The little light at the bottom blinks green and, poof, a zebra appears on the screen. Apparently it was a rerun of an animal show.

'Oh!　Horses!　Does the horse look the same over here?
Why are there so many stripes?
It's the same color as the amber. It's not a tiger, is it?
But it's a horse, sister.

　Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I've never seen a zebra in the other world. There was a striped demonic beast called Tiger Bear, which I couldn't tell if it was a tiger or a bear, though. Whoa!
　Lou suddenly picked me up and took me out of the living room to the kitchen. It's not that big a sink, two gas stoves, a refrigerator, a microwave, a toaster, a coffee maker, and many other things. My grandfather basically lived alone and did everything by himself.

'Fuyasu-sama!　Can we use the equipment here?!
What... no, I don't know...?

　As Lou loves to cook, her eyes sparkled. As Lou held me up, I turned on the faucet to make sure the water came out too, and made sure the gas stove was lit as well. The gas is okay, too. Now we can take a bath. The bath in this house is small, so that's in order....

'What are these big boxes and little boxes?
'The big one is the fridge. The big one is a refrigerator, where you keep your food cold. A small one is a microwave oven. The small ones are for microwaves; these are machines that heat up cold food.

　Lou set me down and opened the refrigerator door with a bang.

'It's true..... A chill in the air wafted in from inside....
''Ah......... As expected, there's nothing inside........

　The contents of the refrigerator I opened were empty. As expected, the World God wouldn't go that far.
　Lou found some kitchen knives and whisk, and he asked me a lot of questions about cooking utensils. But I don't know what to do with them, and to be honest, I don't know what to do with them either.
　When he found some cookbooks in the cupboard, Lou's interest shifted to them, and he became obsessed with them, so he made his way out of the kitchen as quickly as possible. Phew.
　In the living room, Else, Linse, Sue, and Sakura were still engrossed in the TV.
　Huh?　Where are Yumina and the others?　I was walking down the hallway when I heard them talking from upstairs. A study?
　Up the stairs is my grandfather's study, which is just a short walk away. There were a lot of books there, but I never really went in there. Lean, of course, I can still see Yumina's interest in them, but Yae and Hilda's interest in books?
　I can hear him frolicking in his study. So this is it.

How old is this one, sir?
I think it's three or four.
You're crying.
These darlings are so cute, too.

　Hmm?　What is that disturbing conversation......... When I peeked into the study, I found the four of them looking at a thick book. Huh?　Hey....!　That's it!

Oh, Mr. Winteryacht.
Where did you find that?
'I found it on my desk in this room. I opened it up to see what it was, and it was full of faces I'd seen somewhere.

　Leanne laughs, huffing and puffing, a small laugh. That's right. Because that's my album!
　My grandfather loved cameras and used to take pictures of me every time I came here as a kid. Rather than he took a picture of me, he took a picture of me. I hated it because he took so many weird pictures, but he even took a hidden picture of me.

'Confiscation!'

　Snatch the album from Umina's hands. Don't leave this thing unprotected!　You don't think it's the world gods, do you?

I've seen the pictures of you wetting yourself, that I have.
Forget it!

　I can't believe they even put up that picture!　Using my divine power, I opened [Storage] and threw the album out of everyone's reach. .........oh, oh!
　Leanne tilts her head when she sees me suddenly startled.

''Well what's wrong?''
''No......... When I used [Storage], my divine power was reduced more stealthily than usual. I can't believe I'm being burdened like this........''

　Come to think of it, Hanakoi sister told me to use magic through a divine weapon 《smart phone》.
　Not directly, but charge the divine qi to your phone and open the app that has been granted 【Storage】. Yeah, it's certainly easier this way. There's a sense of support, or rather, a sense of boosting the divine energy. ........Like a bicycle with electric assistance?

''It's true that this world doesn't have a lot of magic elements as a source of magic power. I didn't think it was this scarce. It's not a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

　If Lean is right, it means that if you do that, you can use magic in this world too. The legend about wizards in the world may not be completely false.

Winter's night. I'm hungry.

　I could hear Sue's voice from downstairs. When I checked the time on the clock in my study, it was already past noon. Oh, is it that late already?
　The fridge was empty, so now, what should I do? There's some food in storage, but since we've come all the way back to Earth, I'd really like to eat the food from here.



''Ugh!　This is amazing!

　After taking a bite of his food, Su exaggeratedly exclaimed. Oh, that's some déjà vu. It's the same kind of reaction as the first time I made her eat a roll.
　As for lunch, everyone also wanted to actually eat the food from this world instead of the food in [Storage], so we came down to town.
　It was quite a long distance, but we had enough bicycles for several people in 【Storage】, so we were able to come to town in less time. ........although I was the only one whose legs couldn't reach the pedals, so I had Else ride behind me.
　There was a family restaurant just before the town's main street, so I decided to go in there for now.
　I mean, it's dangerous because everyone's eyes are constantly scurrying around, looking at the cars, traffic lights, curve mirrors and guardrails that run by everyone else. They're trying to run in the middle of the roadway....
　Even though it was noon, the restaurant was not very crowded. We were ushered to a table that could seat a large group of people and we all ordered from a menu that had pictures of the food and everyone was fussing over it.
　When the food arrived, everyone's excitement was already maxed out and they were absorbed in their respective dishes.
　By the way, Yumina had a fluffy omelet rice, Else had dice steak, Linse had shrimp gratin, Yae had a beef stew set (plus a loin cutlet set meal, a pork bowl, and chicken steak), Hilda had eggplant and tomato spaghetti, Lou had grilled fish and a Japanese set, Sue had hamburgers and fried shrimp, and Leanne had I ordered a clubhouse sandwich and Sakura ordered the bacon pizza. I'm the kid's lunch set. No, I didn't think I'd be able to order it unless I had the opportunity to do so....

'It's an unusual taste, but it's delicious. There are a few flavors mixed in that I've never had before, but...

　Roo, whose tongue could distinguish even a grain of salt, was nodding at the Japanese food set. Is the taste of something I've never tasted before an ingredient, or is it a chemical seasoning or something else...?　Stop eating while analyzing.
　Everyone was enjoying their own food, sharing with each other, not just what they ordered. As for me, I'm not able to eat that much, probably because I'm getting smaller, and I'm full from the children's lunch.

Now, the next one is 'Dezaato,' that is.
What, you're still going to eat?

　Not only is Yae, who has a big appetite, but everyone else is also excited while looking at the desserts on the menu as if it were natural. This is what it means to eat sweets separately....
　Soon, strawberry pancakes, chocolate parfait, apple pie and mille-feuille, fondant chocolat and green tea cream anmitsu, pudding à la mode and Mont Blanc, ice cream and cakes, and other desserts were brought to our table in torrents. Wait, there are more than the main dishes!
　Surrounded by the sweet smell, I was drinking my after-dinner coffee.

'Fuyao-sama, what shall we do for dinner?'
You want to talk about dinner already?

　I almost chuckle at Lou's words, but in reality, there's nothing in the fridge. Since I've come all the way over here, I want to enjoy the food over here as much as possible, not the food in 【Storage】.
　Let's go shopping in the afternoon, including food, shall we?

''I'd like to take a look around the bookstore over here.
Oh, me, too, sir.

　And Leanne and Lindsay. Bookstore.

Well, I'd like to look at the clothes...
Warawa would like to go somewhere to play.
I am an arms dealer.

　I'm still hoping for Else and Sue's, but Hilda's is a bit tougher. I told them that we don't sell swords or spears or anything like that over here........ Ah, but do they sell Kendo shinai or something like that?
　However, we wanted to go to different places. I don't have the time to go all over the place, and I don't know that much about the town where my grandfather lived either. Now, what to do........wait?

Um, excuse me.
Yes. Oh, what is it?

　A passing waitress smiled at me and bent down a little when she realized that it was me, a child, and said, "I heard about this new department store being built near here about five years ago.

I think I heard about a new department store being built near here about five years ago.
Department store?　Oh, if you're in a shopping center, go straight down the street in front of this one and you'll see a big sign right on your left. ........eh?　Did you hear that five years ago?
'Oh!　Let me see. Oh, my sister!　Your sister told me she heard!
'What?　Huh?　What is it?

　He hurriedly pulled Yae's arm next to him and laughed to cover it up. Dangerous. What is a five or six year old boy who looks like a five or six year old talking about?
　The waitress's sister tilted her head slightly as if to say 'strange child' and went back to work. Kuh. I think I'm a weird kid myself........
　Yumina bites and pulls her sleeve.

'Fuyao-san, what's a shopping center?
Well, it's a bunch of stores in one building. Clothes, shoes, food.
Oh, you don't happen to have a bookstore in there, do you?
Yeah, I have.

　Linse smiles happily. With the World God's Ring, I can read the book over here.

''Alright, then, when you're done eating, let's go to that shopping center. I also need to buy some food for dinner.
That's the way it should be!

　Lou, curious about the earth's ingredients, clapped her hands in delight. Everyone else started to put away the desserts they had asked for, happily spluttering.
　One by one, the sweet desserts on the table disappeared into everyone's mouths. How could they eat something so sweet........ Feeling the sweetness of the cake I hadn't even eaten, I sipped my bitter coffee again.




I'm not sure if I'll ever see it again. It's pretty big, isn't it?
'Oh!　So this is the 'Shippigussentha'!

　I was surprised to see a fairly large shopping center, even though it was far from the station. Until a few years ago, there was nothing here.
　After parking our bicycles in the bicycle parking lot, we all made our way to the entrance. Everyone was looking at the building and the shoppers with interest, but people around us were also glancing our way. Everyone would look like a foreigner except me and Yae, I guess. I hope they think I'm just dyeing my cherry blossoms and hair color.

''Wha...!　It's so sparkly!　Amazing...!

　A sigh escaped Else. The first thing that greeted us was a variety of clothing stores, boutiques, illuminated by twinkling lights. Each boutique has its own characteristics. There were also shops selling bags, shoes and accessories.
　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for when you go to the store. So there is a basement floor and five floors above? That's pretty much all there is to it.

''Fuyou-sama!　The stairs are moving!
'Oh, so this is what Darling remembered as 'Esquerea'. Interesting.
Um, Hilda, Leanne. Be quiet. You'll get in trouble.

　I looked to the side and saw that everyone was glued to the escalator right next to the information board. The people on the escalator went up, tilting their heads dubiously at the girls, wondering why they were paying attention to them. 'Excuse me, excuse me.

''Is this a map........?''
'Yeah. You know what floor the shops are on right away, right?

　Linse looks over my head at the information board.
　Well, the bookstore is on the fourth floor, and the CD and DVD stores are on the same floor. There's an amusement........arcade on the fifth floor.
　We can't use [storage] openly if there were this many people here, and shopping for foodstuffs and such is the last thing we want to do. Let's start with the bookstore........what?

Everyone stay here for a moment.
'What?　Mr. Fuyu?

　I said that to Yumina and the others and ran off at a trot. I'm chasing after a certain person who passed by earlier. ...there they were.
　A few days later, I saw an elderly couple who seemed to be on good terms with each other walking together out of my sight. It's Mr. and Mrs. Asano. It's nostalgic....
　Mr. Asano was a friend of my grandfather's. I had met him a few times. I have met him a few times. For some reason, he often gave me a candy ball every time we met. By the way, he gave me a candy ball at my grandfather's funeral, too. I'm glad to hear you're well.
　I watched the two of them from afar for a while, but I couldn't keep peeking at them forever. Feeling a bit sentimental, I came back to the escalator and found that everyone had suddenly disappeared.

''What?''

　I scurry around and look around. They stand out, so I should be able to find them easily, but because I'm short, my vision is poor...!
　There he is!　I can see Else's silver hair inside a boutique that was just around the corner. Hmmm... After you move of your own accord!
　When I hurriedly entered the store, I saw Else talking to the clerk with some clothes in her hand. Huh?　Else is the only one who's missing.

'Oh, Winter Night. Hey, hey, which outfit do you think is better?

　Else was smiling happily, holding a navy blue fluffy dress and a red checkered dress in her hands. Cute.
　Yeah... I knew Else would be more comfortable in a red dress.......not!

Not!　What about everyone else!
The board will tell us where we need to go, so we'll go ahead. It's a good use of time, rather than just going around in a big hurry.

　No, but yes!　I can tell you from experience that when people who don't live in the other world wander around, trouble usually greets them from the other side!
　I took my phone out of my pocket and tried calling Yumina anyway, but there was no answer at all. Hey, hey, are you already in trouble?

Oh, I left my phone at home, guys.
'Yes!　Why!
'Because I can't do magic, you know?　It's not a big deal if you drop it or have it stolen. It won't magically come back.

　Originally, everyone's phones that were granted 【Teleport】 and 【Apports】 could be recalled to hand even if they were lost. But that function was lost when they came to Earth. I can't understand why everyone would want to leave it at home though!
　I wish I'd kept it there for cases like this!

d*mn it. [Search]

　I shed my divine energy and secretly activate 【Search】 from my phone.
　Sheesh. I can't really tell what floor we're on with the search screen from directly above....... There's Sue in the immediate vicinity, but I can't see her. Probably he is on the second to fifth floor above this place.
　Behind my frowning face, Else was still struggling to decide which of my clothes to wear.

''Hmmm.......for color, it's this one, but for ease of movement, it's this one......''
I'm sorry. I'll take one or two.

　I tell the shopkeeper and bust Else's problems to death. I can't wait to find everyone. I don't want to get in trouble with the police for breaking something. There's nothing to prove your identity. It's just a matter of time before things get worse.
　Sigh..... Why do I feel as if I'm exploring a dungeon in a shopping center?