The Struggle of Returning to The Other World - Chapter 31

Chapter 31.1 : It’s difficult to get along with your neighbors
April 29, 2020
Translated by Shufen
Unedited. Sorry!

At the exit, there was a man who called out to us. Well to be more precise, it was at Noel.
We turn around and there’s a slender man slowly approaching us.

“Noel-sama, thank you very much.” (Rayburn)
“Rayburn.” (Noel)

I was familiar with the name Noel said. I know this person.

The thin gold hair is nearly white with slightly long hair. Although he is tall, he is a delicate person with a neutral appearance. The white loose-fitting clothing worn on the body is proof of the higher priests.

Rayburn is one of the young priests that stands out. Even though he is a servant of gold, in the world of priests, it is necessary to have a good family with connections to move up to upper management. In other words, he is a promising man who is blessed with an abundance of magic.

I’ve met him several times as the Priestess. However, we’ve only exchanged a few words of greeting without knowing much of one another. At the time, I wasn’t a sociable person.

“Did you go see Aldina-sama?” (Rayburn)
“Yes.” (Noel)

While I was standing behind Noel, I took three steps back.
If possible, I would like my presence to disappear.
However, that didn’t go as planned.

Rayburn-san glances over at me and looks at me from the top of my head to my feet, as if he were making a decision. His curious glance wonders why a commoner is here in such a place. Well, that’s fine. Just don’t realize I’m Haruatia, the former Priestess.

“Who are you?” (Rayburn)
As expected, Rayburn-san brought up my existence.

“…She is a young lady who is an acquaintance to Sotini-dono. Due to some circumstances, she is about to leave.” (Noel)
Noel answers in a low voice.
I look down and bow to Rayburn-san.

“Is that so.” (Rayburn)
Fortunately, Rayburn-san doesn’t pursue any further. Perhaps he read Noel’s less than talkative mood.

“By the way, it’s time to talk about the ‘Priestess’s Pilgrimage’ again. We’ll contact you shortly to schedule the meeting. Thank you for your hard work.” (Rayburn)

Priestess’s Pilgrimage. What a nostalgic word.

I have experienced that too. Going around the church and performing ceremonies to correct the flow of ki. Aldina-sama is probably going to go around each church to correct the pulse.

I heard from Ordias-san before that there was already a church with a disturbed pulse.
It’s not supposed to happen yet. It is said that it’s not possible for Aldina-sama, who inherited the Priestess’s qualification to find it. That’s probably why the royal palace is busy…

Does the Priestess Pilgrimage mean that they have to identify the disturbed kai?
In any case, it doesn’t matter what I think about it anyway. If they don’t know which pulse is disturbed, I think it’s better to adjust everything again but doing so would have some restrictions.

…I’m a little worried.
I think I’ll check the situation with Ordias-san next time.

“Okay, I’ll let Aldina-sama know as well.” (Noel)
“Thank you. Well then, please excuse me.” (Rayburn)
Rayburn-san left after the conversation.

I secretly took in a breath of relief. After all, if I act normally, they wouldn’t know that I’m the former Priestess. I was able to confirm that both Noel and Ordias-san are abnormal. As I thought, doing bento delivery to the royal palace won’t expose me.

“Noel…sama. It’s far enough now. I’ll go straight to the diner.” (Haruka)
People are starting to notice us.

I use the awkward formal speech to Noel to tell him I can go home alone. Noel knew as well so he nods a little.

“Don’t do this in the future.” (Noel)
“Yes, I’ll be careful.” (Haruka)

Not being able to get close to the priest’s quarters means that I won’t be able to see Noel again. It’s lonely when I think about it but when I first return to this world, I didn’t hope to see Noel again. I was lucky to see him a few times and exchange words. Thinking about this, I bow to Noel and turn around to leave without looking back.

If we meet again, there might be another problem.
Sadly, in each other’s point of view, there is little chance of encountering each other again.

・ ・ ・ ・

Chapter 31.2 : It’s difficult to get along with your neighbors
May 02, 2020
Translated by Shufen
Unedited. Sorry!

When I returned to the diner, the diner owner was preparing to open for dinner at night.

There’s no particular change while the diner owner husband and wife work silently together.
…However, the appearance looks strange somehow. It’s not clear why it’s strange. However, the atmosphere is heavy with invisible discomfort.

“I’m back. What’s going on?” (Haruka)
I secretly asked Sena-san who was working some distance away. Sena-san nodded with a smile.

“The atmosphere in the store is obviously dark, isn’t it? I think after we opened the diner, the diner owner and wife were in good shape. Then we receive bad news from the royal palace.” (Sena)
“Bad news from the royal palace?” (Haruka)

My heart jumped.

Whenever we talk about the royal palace, I can’t help but think that something might have caused trouble for me.

“For a while, there were soldiers who harassed us, right?” (Sena)
It’s a series of events that ended up as a big case for Sena-san.

“After that, I didn’t sue them at the royal palace. Apparently it became a problem at the royal palace. It seems like the royal court wants to confirm the situation.” (Sena)

So that’s it.
But isn’t that good news?
When I tilt my head with that thought, Sena-san smiles and shakes her head.

“The bad guys confessed and said that the series of harassments were requested by someone.” (Sena)
“Eh?” (Haruka)
“In addition, the client was someone like us. A restaurant owner in the same town.” (Sena)

The harassment–was the work of a peer?
I was so upset that I couldn’t say a word.
I didn’t think there were people who could do that in this town. I thought everyone was all good people.

“There was even money exchanged between the restaurant and the soldiers. Today it was decided that both parties would be charged with crimes. We were victims so we got the news.” (Sena)
“That’s…” (Haruka)

According to Sena-san, the soldiers were asked to harass us by the owner of another restaurant. The harassment was at a level that didn’t harm anyone. The soldiers received a reward and began harassing us like they were told. The restaurant owner thinks that the atmosphere of our diner would become terrible so the customers would stay away. However, Sena-san’s flashy counterattack made the situation serious. The royal palace began an investigation which resulted in both the soldiers and restaurant owner to be arrested.

In response to the inquiry, the restaurant owner said he had them harass us because he was jealous. It was unreasonable and unjustified that only our diner is allowed to provide meals to the royal palace.

However, isn’t that a grudge?

After all, the business world is a first come, first serve basis. Just because you were late to it, you can’t expect to get anything out of it. Therefore they cause trouble with harassment caused by resentment.

Sena-san nodded while I took a breath.

The diner owners seemed depressed because they thought they needed to be considerate of others. The restaurants that are doing business near the royal palace formed a union together. Even though they were rivals, they weren’t strangers. It’s a little difficult to get permission from the royal palace for business without any prior consultation.

“The diner owner and wife are too goodhearted.” (Haruka)
“I don’t think we did anything wrong. But maybe there was a problem. It might be necessary to consider not causing any friction with others. I think it’s a good thing that we’re doing this right now. Since one restaurant thought of it, others might’ve of too. The results might not end the same.” (Sena)
“That may be… but… “ (Haruka)
“From now on, we have to think about our relationships with the neighbors. It’s not something we can do right away.” (Sena)

I nod slightly.

As the sun sets, the city begins to light up with magic tools.
Neither the house nor the store have many magic tools, so we have a small light.
It’s a somewhat mysterious and beautiful warm faint light.
There are other restaurants, including ours, that are open at night.
Light attracts the customers in.

I look out over the main street while seeing the customers off.

One shop over there has the same bright light as ours. Like ours, it’s a store that works with the royal palace as a main customer base. I’m not usually aware of those sorts of things but there are quite a few of those when I look out into the distance.

If you walk down the back street for a little while, you’ll enter the residential area for the wealthy people.

In this world, it is said to be normal for ordinary families to eat out. The price of the restaurants aren’t high and the quality of the food is good. It makes sense to think that it’s better to eat delicious cheap professionally made food than to spend time and effort at home cooking. Ordinary families might not even have a kitchen with the required magic tools.

If I think about it, there are quite a few restaurants in this town.

In that situation, it may be a special case to have only our diner do business in the royal palace. We were standing out but it might be difficult to stop delivering the bento.
I wish I could somehow ease the conflict with the other restaurants.

I look up at the night sky.
A starry sky that I’ve never seen in my original world.

It’s very beautiful, but the world is not all beautiful. It’s a night where I was reminded that it was important to deal with things in a tactful way.

・ ・ ・ ・