Chapter 453 Western-style Building and Family Restaurant
"Oh! The light is on!"
When I turned on the switch just after entering the door, the lights of the entrance and the hallway leading to it turned on. Certainly there is electricity. So the refrigerator and the TV must have also been left alone after grandpa died. Hmm?
The lights overhead are flicking on and off. Are the light bulbs about to burn out? But then I saw that the cause was because Leen was just flipping the switch on and off over and over again. Hey.
"They really work without using magical power. They use the power of electricity … lightning, right?"
"That"s right. That switch is used to turn the lights on and off."
"I see. It"s interesting."
Leen smiled at the retro-type light bulb hanging behind the front door.
"Let’s go inside!"
With Su at the front, everyone goes up the corridor while leaving behind stains on the floor. Wait a minute!
"Hey, don"t do that! You need to take off your shoes at the front when you enter the house!"
"Correct answer! Yae 1 point!"
It seems that only Yae from Eashen, which’s customs are similar to j.a.pan, understood. Even though the exterior of this house is a Western-style building, it is just a Western-style building "Kaze". It wasn"t created to invite foreigners.
"Ah,” everyone who noticed the muddy stains on the floor returned back down the corridor again. I have to clean that later … I hope there is a rag.
Everyone knows Eashen and j.a.panese customs for the time being, so it seems that they immediately noticed the mistake. Take off your shoes and go down the corridor again.
Even at Grandpa"s house, which had many visitors, there are not enough slippers for ten people. I don"t know if it was the doing of the World G.o.d or Mother (I decided it was the former), but fortunately, the house seems to have been cleaned properly, so I think our feet won"t get dirty.
First I thought I would go to the washroom and see if the water was flowing, but I was too short to reach the faucet … What a pity.
"It works properly, I see."
Elze flushed the toilet. That means it is okay, too. Thank you World G.o.d. It would be an inconvenience if the toilet didn’t work.
"King-sama, King-sama, King-sama! This is “Telebi"!?"
"Oh! Is this the “Telebi”!"
Sakura and Su were excitedly watching the flat-screen TV in the living room. Both of them know about the existence of TVs since they’ve watched movies from Earth in their world, but it"s the first time they"ve actually seen a real TV, so they"re getting excited.
"How do the pictures come on there? It doesn"t use magical power, right?"
"Is there a switch like with the previous light?"
Perhaps because Linze and Elze were also interested in the television, they approached Sakura. Well, where is the remote control … Oh, there it was.
I picked up the remote control which was on the small table and pressed ON. The small light at the bottom flashed green, and a zebra suddenly appeared on the screen. Apparently it"s a rebroadcast of an animal program.
"Oh! It"s a horse! Do horses from here have the same shape as the ones from our world?"
"Why does it have those stripes?"
"It"s the same color as Kohaku … Is it a tiger?"
"But it"s a horse no matter how you look at it, Nee-san."
Speaking of my wives’ world, I’ve never seen a zebra there. There was a tiger bear, and a striped demon beast that I didn"t know if it was a tiger or a bear. Wow!?
Suddenly, it was the kitchen that was picked up by Lu, who had gone there from the living room. There are two gas stoves on a not-so-large sink, a microwave on the refrigerator, a toaster and a coffee maker. Grandpa basically lived alone and did everything by himself.
"Touya-sama! Can I use the equipment here!?"
"Eh … wait, how about …?"
Lu, who loves cooking, has her eyes s.h.i.+ning. While being picked up by Lu, I twisted the faucet and confirmed that water came out, and I also turned on the gas stove and confirmed that it ignited. Is the gas all right? We shouldn’t take a bath using this. The baths in this house are small, so there’s a chance, though …
"What are these big and small boxes?"
"The big one is the refrigerator. That one keeps the food cold. The small one is the microwave oven. On the contrary, this is a machine that warms cold dishes."
Lu lowered me and popped open the fridge door.
"It"s true … A cool air drifts from inside …"
"Ah … There isn’t anything inside …"
The contents of the opened refrigerator were nothing. Wouldn"t the World G.o.d do that much?
Lu found a kitchen knife, a whisk, and some other cooking utensils, and interrogated me for answers on what they were. But honestly, I am in trouble because there are some tools I don"t even know.
When I found a few cookbooks in the cupboard, Lu"s interest s.h.i.+fted to them, and she was absorbed in them, so I escaped from the kitchen. Fuuu.
In the living room, Elze, Linze, Su, and Sakura are still crazy about TV.
that? Where did the rest of the girls go? As I was walking down the corridor, I heard a voice from the second floor. Are they in the study?
Grandpa"s study is right there after climbing the stairs. There were a lot of books, but I haven"t read much of them. I still understand that Yumina and Leen are interested in the books, of course, but Yae and Hilda are also interested in them?
Loud voices can be heard from the study. After all, they are there.
"How old should he be in this?"
"Isn"t he three or four?"
"He is crying."
"This type of Darling is also cute."
Hmm? What is that disturbing conversation … As I peered into the study, I saw the four were looking at some thick books. They are…? Hey …! That"s…!
"Ah, Touya-sama"
"Where did you find the book!"
"It was on the desk in this room. When I opened it, I found a lot of faces I’d seen somewhere."
Lean laughs fluffily. Of course. Because it"s my alb.u.m!
Grandpa loved cameras, and when I was a kid he used to take pictures of me every time I came here. The photos were also printed. He shot pictures of me from every nook and cranny, even if I didn’t like them.
"Confiscation!"
Iull the alb.u.m from Yumina"s hands. Don"t leave it unprotected like this! Is this the work of the World G.o.d!??
"You should know that we have seen the bed-wetting photo already?"
"Forget that!"
I wonder how such a photo was taken! I need to use my Divinity to open [Storage] and throw the alb.u.m out of reach of everyone. …… Oh!?
Leen tilts her head when she sees me suddenly surprised.
"……What"s wrong?"
"No … When I used [Storage], my Divinity was less than usual. It is also burdensome …"
Speaking of which, Karen-nee said I could use magic through my Sacred Treasure smartphone.
Instead of directly charging the smartphone with Divinity, I first need to open the app called [Storage]. Oh, it"s certainly easier this way. There is a feeling that the app will support me, or that it will support my magic. …… Is this feeling the same as riding a bicycle with electrical a.s.sistance?
"Though it’s true that there aren"t many magic elements in this world that can be the source of magical power, I didn"t think it was so thin. The magic circle casted when opening the app must do careful preparations and thoroughly collect the mana. "
Just as Leen says, if you were to do that, you can use magic in this world as well. Wizards would be able to be common all around the world and would not just be myths.
"Nyhaa~ Touya-kun. I"m hungry."
Su"s voice can be heard from downstairs. When I checked the time on the clock in the study, it was already past noon. Did the time go by so fast, or is the clock not running properly?
The refrigerator had nothing, so what should we do? There is food in [Storage], but … I"m back on Earth, after all. I want to eat dishes from Earth.
"?! This tastes great!"
Su, who ate a bite of the dish, shouts exaggeratedly. I feel some dejavu. It"s the same reaction as when I first ate a roll cake.
For lunch, we all came down to the town because we wanted to actually eat the food of this world, not the food in [Storage].
It was quite a distance, but there were bicycles for us all to ride on in [Storage], so we could come to the town quicker than if we had walked. …… I just couldn"t reach the pedals, so I asked them to put me behind Elze.
There was a family restaurant right before the main street of the town, so I decided to enter there for the time being.
Rather, it"s dangerous because everyone is looking at the cars, traffic lights, curved mirrors, guardrails, etc. because of their curiosity while they are riding their bikes. Sometimes, it seems like we’re trying to go into the middle of the road …
Even though it was lunch time, the family restaurant wasn"t very crowded. We were guided to a seat where a large number of people could sit, and we all ordered from a menu with pictures of the food while making some noise.
When the food was brought in, everyone"s tension had reached MAX and they were absorbed in every type of food.
By the way, Yumina is eating an omelet, Elze has a diced beef steak, Linze is having a shrimp gratin, Yae is eating a beef stew set (+ loin cutlet set meal + pork bowl + chicken steak), Hilda is having eggplant and tomato spaghetti, Lu is eating a grilled fish & j.a.panese food set, Su ordered a hamburger and fried shrimp, Leen ordered a clubhouse sandwich, and Sakura ordered pepperoni pizza. I have a children"s lunch set. No, I wonder if I could order anything else that wasn’t this, but I probably wouldn’t because of …
"It"s a strange taste, but it"s delicious. There are some flavors I"ve never tasted …"
Lu, who has a tongue that can distinguish things to even a grain of salt, was eating a j.a.panese set while nodding. Is it the ingredients that you have never eaten, or is it the chemical seasoning …? Stop eating while a.n.a.lyzing. Just enjoy the food.
Everyone enjoyed each dish, sharing with each other, and not just eating what they ordered. Perhaps because I"m smaller, I can"t eat much and I"m full with my kids" lunch.
"Now, let"s go to "Dezaato" now!"
"Wait, are you still eating!?"
Not only Yae, who is a big eater, but everyone else is also laughing while looking at the desserts on the menu. All these sweets, I"m hungry …
Eventually, strawberry pancakes and chocolate parfaits, apple pie with mille-feuille, fondant chocolate with matcha cream anmitsu, pudding a la mode with Mont Blanc, various ice creams and cakes, and desserts were brought to our table. … Hey, there are more deserts than the main dis.h.!.+??
Surrounded by the sweet smell, I was drinking some coffee after the meal.
"Touya-sama, what about dinner?"
“You’re already talking about dinner?"
Lu"s words make me laugh, but in reality there is nothing in the fridge. Since we came here, I would like to enjoy these types of meals instead of the food in [Storage] as much as possible.
Should we go shopping later to buy necessities, including ingredients?
"I want to look around a bookstore."
"Oh, me too."
Leen and Linze say that. A bookstore?
"Well, I want to go to a place that sells clothes …"
"I want to go somewhere where I can play."
"I hope to go to a weapons shop."
While Elze and Su’s wishes were pretty easy to be fulfilled, Hilda"s is a bit too much. I told you that no one sells swords or spears here … Oh, but they do sell Kendo equipment?
However, the places they want to go to are too different. We can"t go here and there so much, and I"m not so familiar with the town where my grandpa lived. Well, what should we do … wait?
"Excuse me."
"Yes?"
I called out to the waitress who was pa.s.sing by and seeing that it was a child calling her, she smiled and bent over a little.
"I heard that about five years ago they built a shopping center near here, but where is it located?"
"The shopping center? Oh, if you go straight down the street in front of you from here, you"ll see a big sign on your left … eh? Did you hear about it five years ago?"
"Ah!? Um, my sister! My sister heard about it!"
"Eh? Eh!? What"s wrong!?"
In a hurry, I pull Yae"s arm next to me, and laugh while trying to be convincing at my lying. Dangerous. How would a five or six-year-old child be able to say that?
The waitress returned to work with her neck tilted, as if she thought that I was a "weird child." Kuu. She thinks I"m a weird child …
Yumina pulls my sleeves.
"Touya-sama, what is a shopping center?"
"Well, it"s a building where various shops are gathered together. They also sell clothes, shoes, and food."
"Ah, maybe there is a bookstore in it?"
"Oh, there is."
Linze smiles happily. Since she has one of the rings given to us by the World G.o.d, she can read any book from this world.
"Okay, then let"s go to the shopping center when we finish eating. We have to buy the ingredients for dinner.”
"I need to do that!"
Lou, who is curious about the ingredients of Earth, claps her hands and rejoices. Everyone else was happy and started eating up the last of the desserts they ordered.
The sweet desserts lined up on the table disappear into everyone"s mouths one after another. You can often eat such sweets … thinking of the sweetness of the cake I hadn"t eaten, I sipped the bitter coffee again.
"Hey … it"s pretty big."
"Oh! This is a “Shopping Senta”!"
I was surprised at the large shopping center, which is near the station. There was nothing here until a few years ago.
After parking the bicycle at the bicycle racks, we all headed for the entrance. Everyone was curiously looking at the buildings and people who were shopping with Kyoro Kyoro, but the people around us were also glancing at us. Everyone except me and Yae will look like foreigners. I hope they think it"s just the dyeing of Sakura’s hair color.
"Wow …! It"s glittering! Amazing …!"
A sigh leaks from Elze. We were greeted by various displays illuminated by glittering lights. Right now, we were looking at the clothing store which was near the escalator. You can see that each store has different characteristics. There were also stores selling bags, shoes and accessories.
I look at the information board next to the escalator, pulling Elze"s hand, which seems to be drawn to it. The information goes from the first floor underground to the fifth floor above? It"s pretty complete.
"Touya-kun! The stairs are moving!"
"Oh, this is the one I remembered in Darling"s “Esukareitaa". It"s interesting."
"Oh, Hilda, Leen. Be quiet. It"s attracting attention."
Looking to the side, everyone was crowded by the escalator near the information board. The people on the escalator are going up, tilting their heads wondering why the girls are paying so much attention to it. Sorry. Sorry.
"Is this a map …?"
"Yeah, yes. You can tell immediately what kind of store is on what floor?"
Linze looks at the information board over my head.
Well, the bookstore is on the 4th floor, and the CDs and DVDs are on the same floor. Amus.e.m.e.nt on the 5th floor … There is an arcade.
If there are too many people, I can’t use [Storage] openly, so shopping for foodstuffs is for last. First of all, where should we go? To the bookstore … huh?
"… Everyone, wait here for a moment."
"Eh? Touya-sama?"
I said that to Yumina and the others and broke into a short run. I chase after a person who has just pa.s.sed by. …… There they are.
An old couple who seemed to look more like close friends were walking together in front of my eyes. Mr. and Mrs. Asano. I miss you …
Mr. Asano is a friend of Grandpa’s. We have met several times. For some reason, I often got candy b.a.l.l.s every time I met him. Yeah, he gave me a candy at the funeral of my grandpa, as well … I"m glad he was fine.
I"ve been looking at them from a distance for a while, but I can"t look at them forever. When I returned to the escalator with a little sentimental feeling, everyone had suddenly disappeared.
"Eh!?"
I look around with a Kyoro Kyoro. They stand out so I should be able to find them quickly, but my short visibility makes it difficult to see people …!
There! Elze"s silver hair can be seen in the clothing store that was nearby. Hmmm, they moved on their own!
When I entered the store in a hurry, Elze was having a conversation with the clerk with some clothes in her hand. What? Elze is alone and not with everyone?
"Oh, Touya-san. Which clothes do you prefer?"
Elze smiled happily with a soft dark blue dress and a red plaid dress in her hands. Cute.
Well, after all Elze is better in red clothes … I got distracted!
"Where’s everyone!?"
"If we looked at that information board, we could see where we wanted to go, so we went ahead. Doing these things by ourselves would be using our time more effectively instead of all of us going from store to store in a group, right?"
No, that"s wrong! From experience, when a person who is not a resident of a world wanders around in another world, trouble usually greets them!
I took out my smartphone from my pocket and tried to call Yumina for the time being, but it didn"t get the signal at all. Hey, has she already run into trouble!??
"Oh, we left our smartphones at home, everyone."
"Huh!? Why!?"
"Because we can"t use magic? It would be bad if they were dropped or stolen. They won’t be able to come back using magic.”
Even if we don"t have the smartphones of everyone who originally had the ability to use [Teleport] and [Apports], we used to be able to recall them. But that function has been lost since coming to Earth. But still… Why would everyone leave their phones at home!
I wanted you to have it for such an event!
"I can"t help it. [Search]"
I sneak some Divinity and secretly activate [Search] from my smartphone. This should give me an idea of ??everyone"s position …
Oops. I don"t know what floor they are on from the search screen which shows everything from directly above … Su is in the immediate vicinity, but I can"t see her. She’s probably above this place, on the 2nd to 5th floors.
Behind me, Elze was frowning, still wondering which one to buy.
"Hmm … this has the perfect color, but this one has the best shape for ease of movement …"
"We’re sorry, please give us both."
I tell the clerk that way and take away Elze"s worries. I have to find everyone soon. However, it would be a shame to panic too much and alert security. We have no proof of ident.i.ties. That would be absolutely troublesome.
Hmm … Why do I feel like I"m exploring a dungeon at a shopping center?