79. Uta Akizuki and Her Words

"When did someone take the mirror... and who?"

Myra said.

"The church basement isn't under constant surveillance. But there's always a receptionist at the entrance to the underground, so we might learn something by asking them."

"There wasn't anyone there yesterday."

That made sense, given the chaos. I wanted to tell Myra as much, but I held my tongue. Verification was important.

"Does anyone know that the mirror was stored there?"

"Among those in the church, I'm the first to know. Then the regent and those around him... and there might be others who knew the circumstances from when it was interred."

The priest replied. The regent definitely knew—they'd been involved in the church attack. But even so, it wasn't surprising if others knew too. We couldn't narrow down suspects.

"What about Izark?"

The Men in Black mage. He'd fled after the battle. Cecily picked up a small scrap of cloth. It had been caught between the sarcophagus lid and fallen out when they opened it. It was the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠same gray as the robe he'd worn yesterday, with a slightly singed edge. I didn't remember damaging him, but if it was his, it must've been grazed by Mii's attack.

Still, the ones who wanted the mirror were the transferrees Mii and Kei. Izark didn't seem to need it.

"So after escaping, he slipped back in disguised as an injured person? Pretty gutsy..."

He had a muscular build despite posing as a mage. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠He should've stood out.

"The church was closed yesterday. And yet after our fight, the injured started pouring in. Didn't he spread rumors telling people to head to the church to sow confusion?"

It was just as Cecily said—that seemed plausible.

"I see. That should be easy enough to check."

"I'll go ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ask."

No sooner had she said it than she left the room. Ira hurried after her.

They hadn't really joined the conversation since arriving in this room. They must've been bored.

That said, he'd lifted the sarcophagus lid by himself—the one that Chihiro and I couldn't budge together. What terrifying strength.

Mizuki was holding Uta's smartphone. It must've charged a bit. The power was on. Incredible that it still worked after a hundred years. Given that Uta's body was preserved unchanged, there must be some kind of mechanism in this space or sarcophagus.

The screen she held out showed a calendar.

It displayed a date ten years ahead of mine, with what looked like a memo. Mizuki opened it.

"..."

Did she know she was going to die?

I looked away from the phone to Uta.

She just looked like she was sleeping.

Mizuki closed the memo and scrolled back through the dates. The entries started in the same year we'd transferred.

That's what the memo said. As I'd thought earlier, it had a stiff tone, like she never expected anyone to read it.

And Rakushel—officially certified as a fake goddess.

"She's a transferree, but maybe we're always summoned from the same year in our world."

Suppose the gods' war started ten thousand years ago. If a hundred people transferred every hundred years, that's ten thousand in total. A decent number, but would no one notice people vanishing? And with shared ancestry, wouldn't inbreeding become an issue by now?

"Master, do you know someone named Okita Soji by any chance?"

Fam's question seemed out of left field, but it reminded me of her job: Shinsengumi wolf.

"Yeah, I do. Even in our world, they called him that."

"Are you friends? Or were you in the Shinsengumi too, Master?"

Fam's eyes sparkled brighter than ever.

"Nah, sorry. He died over a hundred years before I was born. Was there a transferree who went by that name?"

"Yes. He's a hero in dog-ear legend. Everyone reveres him."

Fam nodded deeply. That's where the sense of familiarity with her mannerisms came from. He'd passed on our world's customs to the dog-ears. And somehow left his name in history, even creating the Shinsengumi wolf job for them. If it was really him, my hypothesis was wrong.

"...No, that doesn't add up!"

Momoka said.

"Okita Soji had tuberculosis. After the war, he hid out at a gardener's place but never recovered and died. There's a grave too. I've read the novels, the manga, rented every taiga drama—begged Dad to take ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me to the grave, though we could only pray from afar. No doubt about it!"

Momoka was a die-hard Okita Soji fan.

"I heard that when Okita Soji transferred here, he already had a disease. Consumption, they said. In the end, that's what killed him."

Fam said.

"..."

Chihiro and I exchanged glances. Consumption—the word had slipped from Fam's mouth first. What did that mean?

But one thing clicked. She had a curse-induced illness with consumption symptoms, so they thought it was contagious and abandoned her.

And the village guardian deity was probably Okita Soji. Why would a figure revered by dog-ears curse the villagers as a dosojin? To uncover the truth, we'd need to visit her hometown.

"Does that Okita Soji's swordsmanship resemble mine?"

"Yes. I haven't seen it myself, but Master uses the same weapons as in the Okita Soji legends."

Fam answered.

"Fam, sorry, but that's a fake. The real one's a super handsome guy. No way he's like this old dude! Don't shatter my dreams!"

"Muu! Master is the handsomest in the world!"

Fam snapped back at Momoka. Sorry, but I was fully aware I was a dull old man. Still, Momoka's rose-tinted glasses were extreme.

"Hey, Fam just said the weapons match. The old man part's irrelevant."

I made sure to tell Momoka that much.

The conversation had gone completely off-track.

I turned my gaze back to Uta.

"What's with 'first child'?" Mizuki said.

"She deliberately wrote 'first,' I guess."

Which meant the current regent wasn't her descendant. There must've been some rift back then. But that was secondary.

"Still, she really looks alive."

Maybe because of the memo, her slightly swollen belly seemed to move. When I reached to touch it, everyone glared at me. Careless. It wasn't lewd intent, but my daily habits made it unbelievable.

"Was it an illness?"

Myra muttered like to herself.

"Shall we check? I doubt I can cure what people back then couldn't, but she left those words because she had some diagnosis."

The priest replied.

"You can do that?"

Instead of answering me, she placed her hands on Uta's body and began murmuring what sounded like an incantation.

That said, this priest was a pervert who'd groped Momoka's ass, yet the women weren't protesting. Fine, I'd stroke Momoka's ass instead. I slipped behind her unnoticed.

"Hyawah!"

Momoka yelped at the touch.

"Wh-wh-what're ya doin' all sudden-like..."

Momoka turned beet-red, staring at me. The mix of surprise, confusion, and embarrassment was irresistible. So the priest got to see this face? Jealous.

She leaned in close to my ear.

"D-don't tell me yer askin' for a kiss right now? N-not in front o' everyone, ya perv."

The priest stayed still, hands on Uta, still chanting.

We were left twiddling our thumbs.

"Rakushel's awful. She never intended to tell us anything from the start!"

Mizuki said. I agreed. But why put us in this situation?

"Mizuki. I think Rakushel-sama can't say it, not that she won't."

Fam replied.

"Why can't a goddess say it?"

"That's right—I forgot Rakushel's imprisoned. The other gods sealed her from telling transferrees our purpose or situation."

Fam nodded uncertainly. Rakushel had lost the gods' war and been isolated ever since.

"At least, Rakushel-sama seems especially fond of Master and Mizuki."

Fam stated firmly. She'd read it from Rakushel's emotions, apparently.

"Come to think of it, during the side tower battle, she shouted something. Did you hear it, Fam?"

The moment she yelled, my mana had dropped sharply.

"No, but it sounded like 'run away.'"

I looked at Momoka and Chihiro, who'd been there. They shook their heads. "Run away" was abnormal. After summoning us here, what was that about?

"By the way, when Fam first met Rakushel, didn't she say something at the end?"

"Two things. I was super jealous and mad at Master and Rakushel-sama back then."

I nodded. It was the day after I'd first gotten lewd with her—the day I'd done it with Rakushel too.

"I was really, extremely mad."

Fam rephrased, recalling the feeling.

"Yeah. I'd never been that angry before."

Deeper anger than when her village was attacked and she was jailed? Anyway, could we move on?

"To me like that, Rakushel-sama said, 'Is the one you truly love the ideal person in your heart? Or the one you're touching?'"

"I get it... it's true, but Rakushel saying that feels super sneaky."

Mizuki replied with a dissatisfied look.

"The other one?" I prompted Fam.

"...I don't want to say now. But I promise I'll tell you someday. Is that okay?"

"No, if you don't wanna say it, don't. No need for promises."

I placed a hand on Fam's head and stroked her soft ears. What was she hiding?

Thank you for reading.

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