We were looking for a building in the capital to rent as a branch of Kyoko’s Trader Shop. Owning a shop instead of renting would be better for credibility, and rentals had issues like getting pressured by the landlord if something happened, or crooks forcing a buyout to change owners, which happened when I was running a medicine shop in another country. Normally, that sort of thing wouldn’t happen, but when the shopkeeper looked like an underage girl and unusual goods were being sold, the odds of getting targeted by weirdos shot way up.
Yup, I knew from experience, and I was one to learn from my past. But real estate was expensive in the royal capital, and properties on sale were scarce compared to rentals. Plus, if we ran into serious trouble, we might need to quickly relocate or ditch the capital, or even the country, altogether. If we needed to sell in a rush, we could get lowballed or not have time to sell at all. So, renting was the only correct answer when it came to the capital shop.
There was no need to rush finding a place, though. We didn’t want to risk getting fleeced or stuck with a bad property. We had to be especially careful because folks would likely underestimate us as clueless little girls. The best approach was to take things slow, waiting for the right place to show up. Besides, I’d left Kyoko alone for too long, so I wanted her to take it easy here and at Little Silver for a while...though she still had the weekly restocking and staff training at the Trader Shop’s main branch, which was soon to be demoted once the capital branch became the main one. But all she had to do was land her dinghy in a forest near town at night, haul goods via horse-drawn carriage (horse included) from the Item Box in the morning, spend the day training staff and checking ledgers, then fly back to the capital or Little Silver at night.
Meanwhile, I was back to my nighttime activities as the Angel.
“Excuse me...”
I was visiting a modest, not-quite-slum-level house after dinnertime, where a purehearted couple lived. Yup, I was back to the classic “Tears of the Goddess” door-to-door sales from the good ol’ days. The price would be whatever the family could spare without strain, like a single daikon radish, or a wooden charm carved by their kid. I’d done this tons of times in the Kingdom of Balmore, so this was gonna be a piece of cake.
“Yes...?”
A woman, likely the wife, opened the door. It was careless of her to open it without checking who it was, but robbers probably wouldn’t bother with such a poor-looking house, and my voice was clearly a young girl’s, which wasn’t exactly cause for alarm. I figured her husband was behind her anyway.
“What brings you here?”
This wasn’t the type of place that would get visitors at this hour. She knew that, and though her face showed suspicion, she was polite in her response. She had to be a good person. Most folks would brush off a strange kid bothering them this late. That said, a beggar wouldn’t come to a place like this; they’d go to a house that was a bit better off.
“I’m selling medicine,” I answered. “Right now, I’m offering a cure for any illness for just one daikon!”
“Huh?” Her husband’s voice synced perfectly with hers from behind. What a couple! Then, there was a drawn out silence.
Uh-oh, did I come on too strong? No response...
“Um...”
“Come in...” the wife murmured.
“What?” I asked.
“Inside, please.”
“Whaaat?!”
Who’d invite such a suspicious visitor at night like this? Were they so naive that they trusted any stranger who knocked on their door? No, they were probably so desperate that they were willing to take their chances, even if I was a scammer or the devil. These were exactly the kind of people who deserved a goddess’s mercy.
“Um... Medicine...Master?” the wife asked tentatively. I looked like a teenage girl, so it was natural for her to have her doubts. Most people didn’t believe me back when I started my work in Balmore either. They’d eventually trusted me once word got around, though... Good times.
Anyway, it was time to get to work. It’d been a while, but I knew exactly what to say.
“‘Heal my devout servants,’ so saith the Goddess,” I proclaimed. “Where’s the sick one?”
“Y-Yes, right over here!”
The child was clearly visible given how tiny the house was, but it was part of the ritual. They complied pretty readily, but even if I was scamming them, they didn’t have much to lose since I was only asking for a single daikon. No one would bother conning someone for that cheap. Sure, a street kid might risk it for a piece of food, but I was dressed in expensive-looking clothes. Besides, no one was dumb enough to run a scam like this when the Goddess existed in this world and was known for dishing out divine punishment.
I pretended to examine the child, took a Tears of the Goddess from my pochette, and had them drink it. I then took something small as an offering of gratitude to the Goddess. They didn’t have a daikon, so I accepted an onion this time. Just some routine work.
“Be sure you don’t spread the word about me too much. If someone trustworthy asks you what happened directly, you can tell them, but swear them to secrecy. If nobles or guards ask, you can talk if you think they’re good people or if they threaten to harm you. But if that happens, you must report the situation here,” I said and handed them a slip of paper. “May the Goddess’s blessings be upon you all...”
I turned around and left, the couple thanking me profusely with tears streaming down their faces, their kid sitting up in bed looking dumbfounded.
“So, my first mission since coming back was a success,” I said.
“You know that’s gonna get leaked right away, right?” Kyoko pointed out, exasperated.
“Of course; that’s the plan. If no info got leaked, the higher-ups wouldn’t hear about the miraculous saint, right?”
“Oh, right...”
Kyoko wasn’t cut out for these mind games. She had always been a straight shooter, and her approach was to go right up to the front gate and blast it with a rocket...even if it meant ending the world.
Our work in the capital was going smoothly. Namely, my secret operations with the “Pseudo-Angel Theater,” and Reiko’s occasional solo Hunter’s Guild requests. Meanwhile, Kyoko was relaxing at the house we rented or at Little Silver, when not on her weekly restock runs at her branch shop, until she found a good property to rent out.
Falsetto was always with me as I traveled between the house at the capital and Little Silver...and of course, during my round trips doing Angel Theater. When Reiko and I stayed home, she’d visit her beloved horse at a suburban ranch. Unlike Reiko, Falsetto didn’t need to build her rep as a hunter. Since her duty was as an Einherjar, she couldn’t make a name working for hire; supposedly, she wasn’t even allowed to take on that sort of work in earnest. Registering as a hunter and taking on small tasks was fine for convenience in other countries or for earning travel funds locally, but as an Einherjar, which made her a soldier of the Kingdom of Balmore, it made sense that she couldn’t get too famous as a hunter.
Reiko’s hunter work mostly consisted of gathering materials. She didn’t accept hunting or escort quests, since they took too much time and dealing with clients and other hunters was a hassle. But “gathering” didn’t mean she was going around picking common herbs. She took on jobs for rare plants deep in monster-infested forests, ores from distant lands, or materials from high-ranking monsters. Those were requests from people who didn’t expect anyone to actually complete them but paid the guild fee for the slim chance at success, or publicity stunts by shops to flaunt their prestige by putting out high-difficulty, high-reward tasks. Sometimes, there were legit ones, like requests for a sick child’s miracle medicine.
Anyway, the capital’s Hunter’s Guild board had plenty of Mission: Impossible type gigs, unlike rural towns, and Reiko—C-Rank Hunter Can—took those if she knew the item existed for sure, or the request was for something she’d already collected, sitting frozen in time inside her Item Box. Even we couldn’t get something if it didn’t exist, like the mythical Jeweled Branch of Horai, a gem from a dragon’s neck, or a cowrie shell born from a swallow. But if it was something like a fire rat fur coat, Kyoko could whip it right up in her mothership. Making fabric that didn’t burn was no problem.
I was just a stray priestess now, with explosive potions and Kyoko’s self-defense weapon...and Falsetto, who never left my side when Reiko was out. So, I wanted Reiko to make a name for herself as a hunter...and have fun doing what she wanted.
“I’m here to deliver materials for a job.”
“Oh, yes. Um... Can, was it? The request was for... Wait, whaaat?!”
The receptionist reeled at the sight of Can’s request form.
“P-Pardon me, are you sure you didn’t mean to submit a failure report...?” she asked.
“Delivery.”
Silence.
“Can I turn it in here?” Can asked.
“Oh, yes, it’s not bulky, so here’s fine, but...really?”
“Yes.”
Can pulled a long, straight horn from her bag and placed it on the counter with a heavy thud.