Chapter 4
“So, sorry, I was so relieved by Kazura-san’s answer” .
“No no, It’s been hard hasn’t it? It’s just like cutting a tense cord” .
After the sobbing Valletta had calmed down somewhat, Kazura stood up with a “well then . . ”
Now that he knew there were people dying of malnutrition, it was not the time to be lollygagging .
“I’m going back to my country right now for some medicine . I’ll be sure to be back by tomorrow morning” .
“Eh!?”
Valletta was surprised by Kazura’s proclamation .
As far as she knows, walking at night on unfamiliar territory without any illumination is tantamount to suicide .
In one corner of her mind, she thought that if it’s Kazura, he might have some expensive lighting tool, but for a merchant who had finally reached this village after losing his way to depart in the middle of the night, even if it’s toward the country he came from, unlike going in the daytime he will certainly get lost, and possibly be attacked by animals or bandits .
“Right now? But the sun’s about to go down? The roads are dangerous at night, tomorrow morning is rather… . But then again, going up to the border checkpoint to Balveil from here will take you at least 4 days no matter how fast you go” . «TN: Barubeeru»
At Valletta who was worrying for his safety, Kazura shook his head .
It seem that Valletta mistook Kazura for having come from this Balveil country, but walking from here to j.a.pan will only take 15 minutes .
He had also marked the trees on the grove where he pa.s.sed through, and he didn’t have to walk far into the grove .
“Well, if I put off my departure somebody might die, if that happens no matter how I mourn it won’t be any condolence . Also, it’s not like I came from Balveil . I can go there and back in half a day, and also” .
Kazura took out a pen light from his travel bag, then he flicked the switch .
“Eh!?”
“Even if the roads are dark, I’ve got this” .
While Valletta was still dumbfounded by the strong light from the pen light, Kazura said “well, see you tomorrow then”, and left the room .
“Now then, are there any 24-hour supermarkets near the house?”
In the middle of the dark forest where the sun had set, Kazura sought the markings he made when he came using the pen light, all the while running with his travel bag in hand .
Because it was not a long way away to begin with, after a mere 2 minutes he was already on the stone paved pa.s.sageway .
“‘Scuse me, pa.s.sing through . ”
He greeted the crumbling skeleton on the corner of the pa.s.sageway as usual and crossed the portal leading to his original world .
As soon as he confirmed the scenery around him had changed, Kazura went outside the residence and got on his car .
“Let’s see, the nearest supermarket is… 40 km from here, huh . That’s quite a supermarket shortage” .
Sighing and grumbling, Kazura drove his car towards the supermarket 40 km away where he could buy the Lipo-D and foodstuffs .
“50 sick villagers, whole village malnourished . Also, babies whose mothers can’t give milk . … rice and canned food, and also powdered milk . Let’s see, how much should I buy” .
Kazura finally realized the terrifying amount of food he had to buy while pushing his shopping cart at the supermarket while thinking .
“Wait a minute, I was going to bring them rice, but what if there’s no water? If I’m not wrong, the village just went through a drought didn’t it? I think they had just about enough to drink, but do they have enough to cook rice with?”
It’s too late to regret not leaving the village after hearing about the village’s situation from Valletta .
After having thought about a lot of things while pushing his cart, in the end he bought 100 kg pre-washed rice, 20 kg salt, 5 kg dried plums, 400 bottles of Lipo-D (all the stock left in the store), 10 cans of milk powder, 10 liters of water (for use with the milk powder in case their water is too dirty), and 60 cans of canned peaches (grandma said to eat canned peaches when you’re sick) .
If there is no water, he’d give the villagers Lipo-D for temporary nourishment, and he would bring water in a poly-tank later .
When the goods are being rung up, the part-timer girl manning the register asked “is this for emergency food?”, and he nodded honestly .
“The drugs corner is closed at this time, as I expected . The medicines I brought from the apartment aren’t enough…”
Kazura groaned while driving the car that had gotten almost 150 kg heavier .
The time is now 9:30 pm .
Driving at the safe speed of 40 km/h along the mountain roads, he arrived at the supermarket at 8 pm sharp .
Of course, the drugs corner had already closed some time ago .
There are 20 pills each left of both the antacids and painkillers I gave the village chief, but since there are 50 sick people that number is not enough .
But then again, antacids are for protecting the lining of the stomach, and though the painkillers are antipyretic, the one most responsible for healing his illness was the nutrition drink Lipo-D .
If most of the people were weakened due to lack of nutrition, I should be able to somehow manage with the Lipo-D .
“I think I can do with just giving the medicines to those with high fevers or the ones in pain . If I could just save their lives I’ll leave it at that for now” .
Compromising like that for the time being, Kazura proceeded into the dark mountain road .
Driving while watching the farmhouses dotting the landscape, Kazura suddenly realized something important and shouted “Ah, dammit!”
“How can I bring this many things all the way to the village… I can’t possibly bring the car inside the house” .
The goods he was carrying weighed almost 150 kg, it’s impossible to carry all that to the village by hand .
He could bring them over in several trips, but as a modern-day man, Kazura would say he’d rather not do it .
“This . . is a problem, even if I go to the hardware store now it would’ve closed… . Should I make round trips…”
While driving and being troubled, he saw a pull cart in a storage shed on a field by the roadside .
Kazura spontaneously stopped the car, and stared fixatedly on the pull cart in the shed .
“Muu, nice timing… . but if I just took it like that I’d be a thief” .
Though it’s an heavy old model made of iron, it was very st.u.r.dy due to its simple structure .
The wheels are also made of no-puncture tires (they’re solid rubber on the inside) .
“No two ways about it… this is an emergency, I’d like them to forgive me with this” .
Kazura took the pull cart out of the shed and tied the handlebar to his car with rope .
Then he took out 30 10000-yen bills out of his wallet, put it in a clear plastic bag he had in his car, and wrote “I’m sorry” on the bag . He put the bag in the place where the pull cart was and went back to driving .
Incidentally, several days later when Kazura pa.s.sed through the shed again, there was a brand new foldable pull-cart there . On the cart’s handlebar there was a note saying “Thanks . Take some vegetables or something if you like” .
“Here at last… . The pull cart’s rope didn’t get loose” .
He undid the rope on the back of his car and took the cart inside, putting the rice and other stuff he had on the back seat on it .
He drove slowly, minding the cart, so it took him quite some time until he got back, and it was currently 12 o’clock, midnight .
But even so, he would be back at Valletta’s village in an hour late at most .
It had only been 6 hours since he left the village .
“I’d like to have a bit of rest, but that won’t do . Let’s just have some dried plum and Lipo-D, then go” .
When he thought about it, he hadn’t eaten anything besides soup with some mysterious leaves and arcadian bugs in it since he went to the other world in the afternoon .
It’s a bit tough lacking in calories, but a couple Lipo-Ds and a dried plum could do .
He’ll somehow manage with the combo of 2-punch fight and citric acid . «TN: ファイト２発»
“I’m gonna have to clean the tatami later… . Well, let’s go!”
Kazura shouted to raise his fighting spirit while he pulled the pull cart laden with 150 kg of baggage and crossed the threshold to the other world .
“Ooh, that’s a pull cart for you . It’s light” .
Kazura pulled the cart through the stone-paved pa.s.sage and proceeded lightly, lighting up the path with the pen light .
While in the grove, there were some small problems with tree roots, but thanks to the pull cart which had a maximum load of several hundred kg, he was able to pa.s.s through without a hitch .
As he pulled the cart towards Valletta’s house in the village like that for 5 minutes, someone came over running from the house .
“Huh, Valletta-san, you’re still up?”
“Kazura-san! Could it be? You’re back… and that luggage!?”
Valletta widened her eyes in surprise seeing the large amount of payload on the pull cart .
“I brought food and medicine from my country . Umm… I’d be thankful if you take it without asking too much” .
He thought to tell her all about him coming to this world, but even if he told her he came from another world she would probably not believe him .
Also, if you think about it, it’s quite a strange story for there to be a place where you can go to j.a.pan and back only 5 minutes away from the village, and yet n.o.body in the village knows of its existence .
If that stone pa.s.sage was some kind of hallowed ground, it would be troubling if word somehow got out .
“Kazura-san… . could you be Gre…”
“Eh?”
“Ah, no, it was nothing! There’s so much food and medicine, thank you very much!”
For some reason Valletta became fl.u.s.tered . She then thanked Kazura and slipped beneath the handlebar to help him pull the cart .
He wondered what she was about to say, but at any rate, he was thankful she didn’t inquire too much about it .
Then he pulled the cart together with Valletta to her house for about 5 minutes, but she seemed to be deep in thought and didn’t say a word .
“Aah, my back hurts… . I’m getting muscle cramps” .
After carrying the load on the cart into Valletta’s residence, Kazura rubbed his back with his hand .
Though Valletta didn’t seem too malnourished he didn’t want her carrying heavy stuff, Kazura brought in the 100 kg rice and Lipo-d on his own .
“I’m sorry, I didn’t have the strength… . ”
Looking at Kazura like that, Valletta apologized .
“Ah, no no, don’t worry about it . Rather than that, it’s already night, so what do we do? Should we make rounds on the houses bringing medicine?”
“Yes, I’m sure everyone is in pain, so I want to bring it to them as soon as possible” .
“That’s right isn’t it”, Kazura said, agreeing to what she said, he then slung the travel bag that was in the pull cart on his shoulder .
Expecting this, he had already crammed it full of Lipo-D and powdered milk and also baby bottles .
“All right, let’s go” .
“Okay” .
Lighting their path with the pen light, the two walked around the village in quck steps .
“Here, hold on and drink this . This is magic medicine, your illness will soon be cured” .
“R, really… . Thanks…”
“Eh? No, it’s nothing like that…”
As they arrived at each villagers’ house, they quickly took out the Lipo-D and made the villagers drink it .
Valletta gave them the Lipo-D to drink, for some reason fully confident in it, but Kazura was still not convinced and was feeling slightly anxious .
“What are you saying? It’s the truth isn’t it? Come, let’s go to the next house” .
Even while having an argument like that, they quickly went to the next villager’s house .
After all, there are 50 villagers that was sick in total .
Visiting each house in turn would take quite a bit of time
“Ah, that’s right, since there were babies who couldn’t get their mother’s milk, I have something to subst.i.tute for that . We’d have to hurry there” .
“Eeh!? Really!? Then, I’m sorry for the sick people, but let’s put priority on the babies” .
By the time they finished making their rounds to each house like this, the sun was already peeking from behind the mountains .