Returned from Another World, Earth Turned Out to Be Quite the Fantasy Too. Also, Losing Heroines, Stop Looking This Way. - Chapter 50

Chapter 50: “Feels like I’ve asked for something troublesome, hasn’t it?”①

“My apologies, Yura-dono. What do you mean by ‘change’?”

The elder asked Natsuki with a bit of unease, prompting him to clarify.

It wouldn’t be wise to refuse surveillance here.

While there are things he’d prefer to keep secret, if the existence of Greys and the Angel were to be discovered, Miyako might not be flexible enough to handle it, and might even become aggressive. Leaving aside Jack and Nancy, Koume possesses considerable power, and there’s a chance Miyako could be obliterated by her, which is not desirable.

His decision was that Mio, who made a good first impression, would be more reassuring.

“I understand that it’s easier to surveil with a classmate, but Miyako-san and I don’t get along well, she’s confrontational, and I’d prefer someone who is more understanding, like an older sister figure.”

“—Fu, hahaha.”

The one who let out a laugh at Natsuki’s comment was the head of the family, Kaya.

Following that, the elder who had been speaking earlier also smiled.

“Understood. How about this: Miyako will keep a distance at school, and Mio will take over in other places? Mio is a high school student, so she won’t be able to be by your side during the day.”

“That makes sense. Let’s go with that, then. But please, no interference. As long as it’s just you keeping an eye on things on your own, I won’t mind.”

“Understood, we’ll do it that way. Miyako, Mio, is that alright?”

Miyako nodded with evident displeasure, while Mio nodded without showing much emotion.

Just when it seemed the discussion was concluded,

“Wait!”

A single elderly woman raised her voice loudly, dissatisfaction clear on her face.

“Yes?”

“It’s not just ‘yes.’ Listening in, it seems you have no proper way of speaking to the Counselor Seiun, and to top it off, you’re considering Mio as a watcher?”

“I am fond of him. Please refrain from making arbitrary comments.”

The old woman, her temper flaring at Natsuki’s manner of speaking and seemingly dissatisfied about Mio, continued loudly.

“After all, why should we humble ourselves to this unknown boy? We are the Minazuki family. Even the gods are on our side. We should crush him with our powers and then make him listen!”

“Did we not agree beforehand not to engage in such foolish actions?”

“I am not convinced!”

“Then, you may leave. You are being disrespectful to our guest.”

“What disrespect! And Mio as a watcher? Such a failure could bear grudges against our family and fabricate false reports. No, there’s also a possibility of her colluding with this youth to cause mischief!”

“—Silence!”

The elder, referred to as the Counselor Seiun, tried to interrupt the old woman with a shout of anger. However, the old woman did not stop.

“No, I will speak. Unlike a promising future head like Miyako-sama, what can Mio, a dropout with no use other than being a sacrifice, possibly do for our family? No, there’s also an undeniable chance of her harboring resentment and manipulating this boy to her advantage!”

“Enough, be quiet!”

The angry shout, filled with the spiritual power of the Counselor Seiun, caused the old woman to lose consciousness.

“Natsuki Yura-dono, we deeply apologize for what has happened. It must have been quite unpleasant for you. However, we want you to understand that the words of this person do not reflect the consensus of our clan.”

“As the head of the family, I sincerely apologize for the unauthorized remarks made by one of our members.”

“No, I’m not bothered by it… But what do you mean by ‘sacrifice’? It’s not a word I can just ignore.”

Natsuki had never imagined that the conversation would turn to talk of a ‘sacrifice’, especially involving Mio.

Despite thinking it best to stay out of it, he couldn’t ignore the comment.

(Were they talking about a sacrifice to the gods earlier? Wow, there are still people doing that in modern times. That’s disturbing. Gross.)

In the other world, there had been a girl chosen as a sacrifice. With good intentions, he had defeated a malevolent spirit pretending to be a god, only to be scolded by the girl who had been chosen as the sacrifice, telling him, “Don’t meddle in things!” There was also a time when he was sent to rescue a girl to be sacrificed to a dragon, only to find out that the girl, who had been treated like a slave in her village, had fallen in love with the dragon. He ended up apologizing for interrupting. Incidentally, he told the village that he had slain the dragon.

Given such experiences, if Mio herself wished for it, it would probably be none of his business.

(―But she definitely doesn’t look like someone who wishes to become a sacrifice.)

Looking at Mio, Natsuki let out a sigh.

Whether or not sacrifices were made wasn’t his concern, but he wished he hadn’t been informed. Knowing about it only made him feel uneasy.

Unlike his former stepsister, who destroyed their family, or his childhood friend, who was always spiteful, he had no ill feelings towards Mio, who seemed undesiring of scattering her life away as a sacrifice—that felt wrong.

Above all, he was convinced that any god that required human sacrifices was no good at all.

With a sly grin, Natsuki decided to play a little mischief.