Blessings Be Upon You*10
Steeling myself against the urge to slowly back away, I waited for Saintess Sati.
When Saintess Sati arrived, she first greeted Laperesiana-sama. A very polite and well-mannered child.
Then she turned back toward me and gave another polite bow.
“Asuma-sama, hello.”
“Hello, Saintess Sati. Ahh, sorry about this… our slime got huge…”
“No, no. Big slimes are fun.”
Start with small talk, well, slime talk. Weather and slimes are universal in situations like this. Thanks, slimes. Especially you guys with just the right amount of personality to make for easy conversation. Thanks for becoming ridiculously huge. Really, thanks.
“Um, Asuma-sama, umm…”
But slime talk can’t last forever. Saintess Sati was already trying to bring up the main topic.
… However, I had no intention of getting to the main topic.
“Oh, right, Laperesiana-sama. About that suggestion in your recent letter: ‘Perhaps it’s time to arrange a match with some young lady’—”
I turned toward Laperesiana-sama beside Saintess Sati and looked at her as if to say, Please go along with this!
As expected of Laperesiana-sama. She nodded slightly and smiled.
“Yes. I was thinking that at your age, Asuma-sama, it would not be strange for you to have a fiancée. If you wish, the royal family can search for a suitable young lady. What do you think?”
Laperesiana-sama delivered an unrehearsed line so smoothly that it made me shiver in admiration. I’ll do it, I’ll do it, I’ll absolutely do it.
“It’s an honor, but please pretend that suggestion never existed. I will eventually return to my homeland. I cannot form marriage ties in this country.”
… And so, without rejecting Saintess Sati directly, I managed to clearly but indirectly convey my refusal! Thank you, Laperesiana-sama! Thank you! I really didn’t have the guts to reject a delicate seven-year-old girl head-on!
“I see. Well, in that case, I would not force the matter.”
Laperesiana-sama smiled, then glanced toward Saintess Sati.
… Saintess Sati looked shocked. Ahh, well, yes, indirect or not, I did just turn her down. Sorry.
“… Asuma-sama, your homeland…?”
“It’s not this country. Umm, the reason I ended up here was kind of… an accident… I think I can go back eventually.”
I wasn’t planning on telling Saintess Sati the details about another world. That kind of thing could cause trouble if it spreads too much.
“Umm, umm, what’s the name of your country? And… do you already have a bride there…?”
… But not being able to talk much about another world also makes it feel suspicious. Yeah. Not enough information. Looks like I’m trying to dodge the question.
But I can’t answer “I come from that country,” because I know absolutely nothing about the world outside this kingdom.
The only thing I know is that there was a war until recently. That’s it. Nothing else. Nothing at all!
Still, I couldn’t refuse to give any information. And fortunately, Saintess Sati had made the mistake of asking two questions at once.
Meaning! If I answer only the latter question, I can avoid the first, where I came from!
“Yes. I have a wife.”
So I decided to thicken the smoke screen in that direction instead.
“What!”
Laperesiana-sama widened her eyes. Yeah, well, I never told her that.
Mishisia-san and Lisas-san were making faces like, Now that you mention it, he did say he was nineteen… it’s not impossible he has a wife… But, well, yeah… uh-huh…
“Her name is Ayanami Rei.”
Yeah. So.
I realized that being completely honest and just saying my wife’s name was the best move.
I didn’t lie, okay? Really!
Yes, I’m a Rei-over-Asuka guy.
“Ayanami… Rei-san…?”
“Yeah.”
Her parsing felt a bit off, but honestly, I’m probably being taken as “Asuma” being my given name anyway, so whatever.
“So… that’s how it is. I’m going back. Even setting my wife aside, I left my father and mother behind. I’m sure they’re worried about me. I need to return soon and show them that I’m doing well.”
I moved quickly to wrap up the subject. I’d already provided extra information; hopefully that reduced suspicion.
… As for my parents… yeah, I’d rather not think too hard about that.
Because, if time flows the same in this world as in mine, about four months have passed since I disappeared, which means the university absolutely contacted my family.
Meaning I’m probably the subject of a missing-person search.
Yeah… I don’t want to think about it. My parents worrying, my friends worrying, my university credits, my life plans after repeating a year, nope. Don’t wanna think about any of that!
Actually, wait! If I don’t return within seven years, they might legally declare me dead!?
Nooo! I don’t want to become a person without a family registry! If that happens, I’ll really have no choice but to live my whole life in another world! Nooooo! Noooooooo!
… As my heart started spiraling, I pressed my lips together and rode out the internal screaming.
Apparently, my expression looked like that of a lonely little elementary schooler. Laperesiana-sama murmured, “How pitiful…” and even Saintess Sati gazed at me with a pained expression.
Well, yeah. Saintess Sati was also taken from her parents and brought here. She must have a lot of complicated feelings.
“… I hope you can go home soon too, Saintess Sati.”
“… Mm.”
Yeah. She’s still far too young to think about marriage.
Kids should be able to return to a safe home before building a new family… And with that, let’s end the engagement commotion here.
It seemed Saintess Sati also remembered that she wasn’t at an age to worry about marriage, so the fuss subsided for now.
Since she seemed a little homesick, I invited her: “Do you want to climb the Super Giant Slime? It’ll cheer you up!” So we climbed the giant-ass slime together and enjoyed its soft, bouncy surface.
Thanks, giant-ass slime. By the way, you still haven’t shrunk at all. Are you okay? Are you planning to remain here at this size forever?
“Oh, that’s right, Laperesiana-sama! I learned a bit about the Saintess’s ‘Blessing.’”
“What!”
Once even Laperesiana-sama climbed onto the giant-ass slime, I began reporting today’s real purpose.
… If this research progresses, the day Saintess Sati is freed from church duties will get closer. I’ll just have to work hard on this and hope they let me off the hook.
And so, I finished the report.
Saintess Sati seemed to lose track of the explanation partway through, but she nodded earnestly anyway. Cute kid.
“I see… so it’s similar to a servitude spell.”
“Yes. Most likely.”
“In that case, we should try using a servitude potion. Surprisingly, that alone might yield results.”
Since Laperesiana-sama was already prepared to act, it might be best to leave the rest to the royal castle researchers. There’s only so much I can do in Panis Village.
“I shall report to the laboratory immediately… and let you know as soon as we have results.”
“Thank you very much!”
Even if the research leaves my hands, I still want to know the outcome. I’m grateful she’ll keep me updated.
We spent that night in the capital, where Mishisia-san and Lisas-san immediately asked, “So, what kind of person is that Ayanami Rei!?” So I explained everything to them. Yeah… I felt bad letting the misunderstanding continue…
But explaining the whole “~is my waifu” culture was too annoying, so I told them, “She’s a famous person from my homeland. I just blurted the name out.” They responded with, “Your acting was amazing!”
… They’re overestimating my acting! Damn it!
The next day we left the capital, picking up one giant slime by carriage as we made our way to Panis Village. Even after picking up one, there were still giant slimes left in the capital, including the giant-ass slime. I gave up. It’ll either keep living in the capital or make its own way to Panis Village. No carriage can carry that thing!
… Then, after returning to Panis Village, I reported everything to Edele-san, fed the slimes fertilizer, checked out the jewelers’ new creations, talked to the winery about their newly brewed wine, and watched former adventurers fly through the sky behind flying Mewmya at the Mewmya Ranch while thinking, Wooow…
… And so, two weeks later—
“Servitude on soil tends to interfere with organisms within it. It did not go well. Servitude on seeds produced inconsistent results and is currently unusable… However, servitude on water was successful.”
Laperesiana-sama visited Panis Village personally and explained the results! As before, she arrived on a large motorcycle. Everyone in the Royal Third Knights Order rode large bikes. So cool…
“I see. Water doesn’t interfere with organisms much once you heat it!”
“Yes. It seems the value of the Blessing lies in being able to precisely control the blessed target. A potion cannot achieve that.”
Ahh, I see. Fantasy really is something.
Anyway, the discovery that “using a servitude potion on water causes the water’s mana to move actively, producing positive effects on crop growth” is a big step.
… However—
“… But this is inefficient.”
“What do you mean?”
“You cannot grow crops with only water. But if you pour that water onto the soil, it is absorbed and disappears. No number of servitude potions will be enough.”
Ahhh… yeah. Right. Exactly.
Water doesn’t remain in the soil forever. That’s why we need to water crops regularly.
… Yeah. I get it. We’ve circled back to this point.
“Then we’ll just have to use slimes.”
“Indeed. I was thinking the same.”
What do you think about this chapter?
