Kan and Lan had built their new hut where their previous home and workshop stood before the explosion. The exact same spot. Outside the hut was a stone kiln, built for simple iron smithing.
As I approached, I heard wood being stripped inside. They must have been working.
“Hello? It’s Yoshio. Do you have time to speak with me?”
A pause. “Come in.”
The door opened to reveal the panda with lighter fur, Lan. Even up close she just looked like a big red bear wearing clothes. These two were hard to read, since even their faces were covered with fur. There was never much inflection in their speech either. Their feelings were still a mystery to me.
Back when I was playing the game, I spent a lot of my downtime watching these two. I had some experience with their body language. Right now, their ears were standing straight up, and they were staring at me. That meant nerves or anxiety. Flat ears meant fear, and raised arms were for intimidation. So far so good.
“I apologize for interrupting your work.”
“It’s okay.”
“No problem.”
Kan, who was shaving wood inside the hut, stopped what he was doing and tottered over to me.
Why do they have to be so cute, dammit?!
I fought hard to keep a big dumb smile off my face. You couldn’t tell by looking at them, but these two were older than Rodice and Lyra. They wouldn’t appreciate being cooed over.
Gritting my teeth, I somehow managed to maintain a sober expression. “Did you two carve the God of Fate statue in the tent?”
“Yes.”
“We did.”
Silence. I’d been expecting this conversation to take some work, but this was ridiculous.
I asked them more about their work and other matters, but they only responded with, “Yes,” “No,” “That’s right,” and “That’s wrong.” Even the virtual assistant on my smartphone was a better interlocutor than this.
Luckily, I was prepared. I opened my bag and rummaged until I found what I was looking for.
“What is that?”
“Show us.”
It was the first time they’d shown interest in anything since I got here. They stared unblinkingly at the objects I took out. “These are carpenter’s tool from the World of Gods. This is a Japanese plane, and this is an ink line.”
These were two traditional Japanese carpentry tools. I bought them secondhand online. At Sewatari-san’s insistence that both people and objects could pass through the portal, I’d picked up some souvenirs for my villagers. These were two of them.
“This is the ink line. You lay out the string like this, and when you ping it, it leaves a black line behind. The line is perfectly straight. I thought you could use it for your woodwork.”
I demonstrated on one of the pieces of scrap wood in the corner of the room. They both gasped in astonishment.
“This is a Japanese plane. You can use it to shave down a surface and make it perfectly even.” I demonstrated with the same piece of wood, and they gasped again. Their round little paws were squirming with excitement, and their eyes were sparkling, eager to try the tools out for themselves. “I’d like to give these to you as gifts to mark us getting to know each other. Will you accept them?”
I held the plane and the ink line out toward them. The pandas looked at each other, nodded in unison, straightened up, and held out their paws to me.
“We accept.”
“We’ll take them.”
I felt my heart clench again at their mannerisms. I kept as straight a face as I could, somehow managing to pass them the tools without breaking into a huge smile. After that, their attention slid off me to focus solely on their woodworking. They were facing away, but I could sense their delight. Not wanting to get in their way, I turned to go.
Before I could leave, their voices called out from behind me.
“Thank you.”
“These are great.”
That was all I needed to hear. I lifted my hand in a wave and left Kan and Lan’s little house behind.
“Who next… Wait, I’ve got an open invitation, right?”
Rodice and his family had already requested I come over so they could thank me properly. Carol was excited to have a meal together. Still, I didn’t want to just show up out of the blue and demand they cook me something. I needed to give them advance warning. “I should’ve asked Carol before when she was with me.”
There was no helping it now. I searched the village for her—not too difficult since, though it was bigger than before, it still wasn’t huge. I found Carol straight away, carrying firewood.
“Hey, Carol.”
“Yoshio!” She ran up to me, beaming. I immediately felt my own spirits lift.
“Are you helping out?”
“Yeah! Mommy told me to bring this firewood for her!” Carol was wobbling under the weight of the wood. Clearly, she had grabbed as much as she could possibly handle.
“Could you tell your mommy and daddy that I’d like to come and see them?”
“Okay! But what about the firewood?”
“I’ll take it for you, so don’t worry about it.”
“Okay!” Carol handed me the firewood and sprinted away.
I wish I had her energy…
I thought about immediately racing after her but decided against it. They would probably want to prepare for the disciple’s visit. Spruce the place up a little, but also prepare themselves mentally.
I walked as slowly as I could. The village was small enough that a normal pace would bring me to their door in less than a minute, but I managed to drag it out to three. I put down the firewood beside the entrance and dusted my hands.
“Hello? It’s Yoshio.”
The curtain across the door immediately moved aside. They must have been waiting for me.
“Welcome, Yoshio! I’m afraid it isn’t much, but please come on in!” Rodice’s face was pale with nerves, painted-on smile clearly forced.
I stepped inside without hesitation.
Carol stood in front of a low, round table with cushions arranged around it. “This is your seat, Yoshio!” she announced, patting the cushion next to where she was sitting. I joined her.
“Mind your manners, Carol,” Rodice warned, wiping the nervous sweat from his brow.
Lyra appeared, bringing out a tea set with unsteady steps. Her steadfast reliability seemed to have vanished in my presence.
“Please do not be so nervous. I’d like it if you could treat me in the same way Carol does.”
“B-but, sir! We couldn’t possibly speak so casually to a disciple of the Lord!”
“My husband is right! It’s unacceptable!” Lyra cried, holding a plate up to her face.
Rodice usually spoke in a formal tone, but it was weird hearing Lyra talk like that. I almost asked her who she was, and what she had done with the real Lyra.
“I am a human, too. I am speaking in a manner which befits a disciple of the Lord, but I did not speak this way with Carol. Did I?”
“Yeah! Now you sound weird!”
I laughed. “Sorry. Sometimes grown-ups gotta change how they speak around each other.” Carol was so easy to talk to; she was the only person in the village who didn’t seem afraid of me. Lyra and Rodice stared at me speaking so plainly to their daughter. “You see? Please don’t feel you have to be overly polite.”
“See?! You guys didn’t believe me!” Carol said, puffing out her chest. Apparently, her parents hadn’t believed I could be chill.
“I understand, but we are still in your debt, sir. Thank you so much for taking care of our daughter.” Rodice and Lyra bowed their heads.
“It was nothing. I enjoyed the time I spent with her a great deal. So much that I find myself wanting to thank you.” I wasn’t just being polite; I truly meant it. I never once felt like Carol was a burden, even if she definitely ran me ragged. “Ah, I know. Would you two like to see the pictures we took in the World of Gods together again?”
“Yes, please!” They spoke in perfect unison.
I’d already shown them these photos at the welcome feast, but we had to go through them quickly just because of how many people were there. Lyra and Rodice probably wanted to take a proper look. I pulled up the images on my phone and went through them, one by one.
“These are from the festival, aren’t they? We saw them the other day.”
“You can buy loads of yummy food at these stalls!”
“That does look nice! Everything’s so pretty, too.”
“Yeah! The World of Gods is really colorful and bright!”
As we went through them, Carol and I explained the origin of each photo. Her parents nodded along with interest, their faces alight. We’d looked at about ten, when a hungry growl echoed through the tent. Carol’s face flushed as she put her hands bashfully on her belly. Apparently seeing all the food in the photos made her hungry. We were so deep in conversation that lunchtime was long gone.
“Hungry, are we?” Lyra laughed. “I’ll make some lunch. Would you like some as well, Yoshio? I must warn you, it won’t be too fancy.”
“Yes, please, if you’re offering. Would you mind letting me make something small, too? I only need a corner of the kitchen.”
“I-I couldn’t—”
“Yoshio’s gonna cook?! What are you gonna make, Yoshio?!” Carol interrupted her mother’s objection.
I took something out of my bag to show Carol. She immediately threw her hands into the air and started bouncing with excitement, just like she always did when she was at her happiest. “That’s my favorite! Mommy, Daddy, I promise it’s real good food from the World of Gods!”
“From the World of Gods?!” Rodice and Lyra exclaimed.
“All I need is some hot water,” I said.
“That’s all?”
I slipped past the confused Lyra and got started. Which just meant taking the lid off halfway, emptying in the powdered soup packet, and pouring in water. Lyra boiled some vegetables and sautéed some meat. There was rice, too, and I completed the meal by giving everyone a container of instant noodles.
“There are three flavors, so have a taste and pick the one you like best.” There was soy sauce, pork, and curry. “Will you show your parents how to eat them, Carol?”
“Okay! Watch this!” Carol proudly took one of the cups, removed its lid, and began to stir up the contents with a fork.
Her parents took a cup each and followed her example. They had a taste, their eyes narrowed in a mixture of curiosity and anxiety. Their expressions cleared simultaneously.
“Th-this is delicious!”
“I’ve never tasted anything like this before!”
“See?! Try some of mine!”
The three of them swapped the cups around to try the other flavors. I watched the happy family and sampled some of Lyra’s cooking. It was flavored only with salt and pepper, but it was good. Dordold sold spices, but they were highly valuable in this world, which meant Lyra brought out her best for me. I savored the taste, grateful to her for using such precious ingredients.