Chapter 256: Request to the Guild
“Lord Shu!”
The door swung open without a knock, revealing Mesaria-san, the innkeeper of the Fairy Inn.
“Ah, I’m back now.”
It seemed she had rushed over upon sensing our presence in the office.
“I’m relieved to see that both you and Rio are well.”
Mesaria-san entered the room with a flurry, letting out a sigh of relief while apologizing for her abrupt entrance. It had already been nearly ten days since we vanished from El’s side.
“By the way, where’s El?”
There was no one behind Mesaria, just the wall at the end of the hallway. Just because she hadn’t been summoned with us, it didn’t mean she was left behind in this world, did it? I couldn’t help but ask, and Mesaria-san answered with a smile.
“El returned to the inn about three days ago, and she has been waiting for both of you to come back ever since.”
“Oh, really…”
Despite that, it seemed Mesaria-san was the first to rush over. If I expanded my Presence Detection, I could indeed sense El nearby. She seemed to be heading this way, so she would probably show up soon.
—And just as I thought that—
“See? I told you I’d be back soon!”
El peeked her head through the open door of the office, wearing a smug expression as she addressed Mesaria-san.
“…Well, that’s true.”
With a disgruntled look, Mesaria-san turned to El, who greeted us with a cheerful “It’s been a while” before recounting what had happened. Apparently, as soon as we disappeared, El had rushed back to Fairy Valley. When she told Mesaria-san, the innkeeper had turned pale and insisted on searching for us immediately, but El had merely laughed it off. I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing that she believed we could handle ourselves.
“Still, why did you come back here?”
We had been summoned just before the border of the Kingdom of Faerdehelde. There were several large towns on the way back to Fairy Valley, and it wasn’t impossible for us to return to the place we were summoned.
“Because I remembered this place, of course.”
El grinned, pointing at the floor. I hadn’t explicitly explained anything, but it seemed she had figured it out.
“So, where did you go after that?”
But rather than dwell on that, she turned serious and asked what had happened afterward.
“About that… I understand regarding the search.”
After explaining the sequence of events and the request for a search from Kaede-san, Mesaria-san responded with those words. Of course, I intended to request the search from the newly established Information Guild ‘Hinomaru’, so there was no issue.
“Wow… even gods come in all sorts, huh?”
I had, of course, told the two about the Damn Goddess. There were temples dedicated to goddesses in this world, but neither of them seemed particularly devoted to any goddess, so there was no backlash. They didn’t seem to question the existence of such beings, which suggested that they had appeared in history to some extent. But that was neither here nor there.
“Here’s a photo of the target. There are plenty, so please distribute them to the search team.”
As I handed Mesaria-san a bundle of photos, she gasped and widened her eyes.
“…This is an incredibly detailed drawing.”
I wondered what had surprised her, and that was her response. There were no cameras in this world, so I wasn’t sure how advanced their painting techniques were, but nothing could surpass a photograph.
“There are also photos of buildings, so please help identify the locations.”
“Yes, understood. I will arrange that immediately. It’s time for the smartphone you created, Lord Shu, to shine.”
I learned that the smartphone I had made was currently being distributed to several executives at various branches. Once communication was established, those nearby could return with the photos. We could even deliver some of the photos ourselves if needed.
“Alright. Oh, by the way, you can stop the investigation into the ingredients. Please focus on the search for Kaede-san.”
“Ah, yes. Understood.”
After mentioning the ingredients I had found in the world I was sent to by the goddess, I handed over some items that Mesaria-san could procure.
“I got these from over there. Just report back if you find anything during your usual activities. For today, let’s focus on having you remember the taste.”
“That sounds great. If it turns out to be delicious, maybe they’ll start making it in this world too?”
Oh, that would indeed be wonderful. It would take time to develop something delicious here, especially since fermentation was involved, but I hoped it would catch on. When I returned to Japan next time, I might need to procure a larger quantity for distribution…? But I didn’t want to spend too much of Mr. Jinpei’s money on it… Well, I’d think about that later.
“Then let’s have the inn’s chef work hard on that. It might be a good idea to coordinate with the trading company for the recipes.”
“That’s true.”
“I sold a recipe to Fleur-san before, so let’s go with that.”
As Rio and I exchanged glances, we nodded in agreement. We could also research how to make the seasonings over there. Since we had the actual items, it shouldn’t be too difficult. There might even be kits for making homemade soy sauce or miso.
El seemed interested in the seasonings we praised, flipping over the plastic container of soy sauce we had brought back. …But then again, maybe it was just the plastic container that was rare here.
“Well then, I’ll get started on various preparations. The repairs on the open-air bath are also complete. Would you like to take a dip?”
“Oh, the repairs are done? Then I think I’ll go in.”
“Bath time!”
“Haha!”
Phonia, who had been silent until now, perked up her ears in response, and the atmosphere lightened.