Day 17 Month Water

  “So, you got some strange letters, huh?” (Hajime)

  “...Nn, I actually got one three days ago, but due to the whole shenanigans, I missed the appointment, though I got it again yesterday to meet at the same pce.” (Yue)

  Nn, today was supposed to be a rest day from what happened several days ago, though I received a letter from the ever so mysterious IAA again, but this time Hajime is with me since I told him about this mysterious letter.

  When I consulted with him first since we’re not exactly welcomed here as a result of a certain incident, he decided to come with me to the meetup destination.

  Though Hajime at first tried to prevent me from going, I was very curious. Plus, if this letter came from somebody from Isis-san’s castle, which I believe since this pce is like a fortress, it’ll be a great opportunity to regain their trust.

  And here we are, in the Blue Crystal Flower Garden, where many beautiful flowers with blue crystal flower petals bloom and form a stunning bush of flowers in a circur shape with the patio in the middle of it.

  Nn, it was very picturesque, so much so that Hajime took out his smartphone to take a photo.

  And of course, I, his beloved wife, sensed his intention as I walked in front of him and posed.

  “Kclick, kclick

  Several moments ter after Hajime took several photos of me, I told Hajime to switch pces where I would take a photo of him, to which he abode.

  “Kclick, kclick

  Nn~, Hajime in the photo is so cool, so dazzling, so magnificent that I almost drooled and gobbled him up.

  But besides the fact that Hajime is the best, the atmosphere felt really pleasant, nothing too grandiose, just me and Hajime taking turns making memories with each other in this beautiful flower garden.

  The tranquility, the peacefulness, the pleasant feeling, it all felt really great.

  Nn, I hope we can keep this feeling even when we’re back to our homeworld.

  Ah, looks like Hajime asked me if I wanted to take a selfie on the patio. I, of course, readily agree to his suggestion.

  As we sat on the chair in the patio, I snuggled right up to Hajime while he lifted his smartphone with his left hand while hugging me with his right hand.

  *kclick

  Nn, as Hajime checked the photo to see its quality, I kept my eyes glued on him.

  The atmosphere, the background, the tranquility, it was all perfect. Hajime looks so dazzling with his red crimson eyes lovingly glints make the background blur.

  Hajime realized I kept staring at him and he did the same to me.

  As I kept on staring at him, I slowly got closer to Hajime, closer and closer, and eventually stopped as our noses almost touched.

  And then, as we both close our eyes…

  “...Nn.”

  We both went in for a romantic kiss. It did not involve any tongue py or anything, it was simply an innocent kiss couples usually do.

  Yet, it felt so romantic and passionate.

  Several minutes after we exchanged our kiss, I wished to go for more intimacy, but since we’re guests in Isis-san’s home, I reluctantly let go of Hajime.

  Though I pnned to visit Hajime for our nightly activity ter fufu~

  “Umu, I see you’re both quite intimate isn’t it?”

  Me and Hajime were shocked by a sudden mysterious voice. We both slowly turned our heads as if we’re a stiff machine that hasn't been oiled for a long time towards the source of the voice.

  And in front of us… was a dy with white pointy hat with long pretty purple hair sitting right across the table and sipping tea. It was Poris-san.

  “...Poris-san… how long have you been there?” (Yue)

  “Well, I was gonna sit here doing my morning routine, but seeing you and your lover here taking photos of each other at the garden, I decided to not interrupt and leave the garden for a short while so as to not disrupt you two. I also just sat down after both of you flirted, so I didn’t see much of your intimacy.” (Poris)

  Nn, I see, looks like Poris-san’s usually drinking tea here in the garden, but since she saw us flirting, she decided to not interrupt us.

  Rather, while I was enraptured by Hajime before, I didn’t feel her presence at all.

  “Hmm, it's almost here, huh.” (Poris)

  Nn? Before I could ask what Poris-san was talking about, Hajime’s smartphone suddenly rang.

  “Excuse me, hello? Shizuku? Why did you call me using the smartphone? Ah? An emergency? Well I’m with Yue right now so can’t really leave her alone here.” (Hajime)

  Nn, apparently Shizuku called Hajime using the smartphone and asked him to go to the castle because something happened, though apparently it’s not that urgent judging from his tone.

  “How about you go and take care of it, Nagumo Hajime-dono? If you’re worried about your wife here, don’t be, there won’t be any danger here. Ah, if you mean any danger from me, don’t worry, I’m not angry about the incident anymore.” (Poris)

  As Poris-san said that to Hajime, he looked at her with a skeptical and sharp gaze as if he didn’t trust her at all.

  I get why Hajime’s skeptical, since we did something quite outrageous to Poris-san’s master, Isis-san, there’s a chance that she will do something to me.

  But, I have a feeling that she’s not going to do anything.

  “...Don’t worry Hajime, I can defend myself so go to the castle first.” (Yue)

  “...Are you sure, Yue?” (Hajime)

  “...Nn, I’m sure, call it a gut feeling, but I’ll be okay. Besides, you will always go right to me if I’m in danger.” (Yue)

  As I stroked Hajime’s cheek, I assured him that I’ll be okay.

  To be honest, I wished he could stay with me a bit longer, though I have a hunch that Poris-san didn’t come to the garden to only sip tea.

  “Alright, I’ll come back as soon as I settle this matter, so take care.” (Hajime)

  Nn, as soon as I gave Hajime the green light, he kissed me on my forehead and teleported to the castle using the Crystal Key. I love you, Hajime.

  Anyway, now we’re alone, just the two of us.

  “You’re very close to your husband, aren't you? Here, have some tea. Don’t worry, I didn’t put in any suspicious substance.” (Poris)

  “...Nn, thank you for the tea. And of course, we’ve gone through trials after trials and it’s strengthened our bond like no other.” (Yue)

  “Umu, your atmosphere before is just like Isis-sama and Kaito-sama when they visit this garden. That’s also one of the reasons I did not interrupt.” (Poris)

  I see, it was obvious but Kaito-san and Isis-san would visit this pce often judging from what Poris-san is talking about. Well, this is her garden so of course she will use it for dates.

  “By the way, did you know? Blue Crystal Flowers like this are extremely hard to come by, especially this many? The reason why there are so many of them here is because of Spica’s influence.” (Poris)

  “...Nn, her hair ornament does look simir to the flowers here, does that mean she is the spirit of the Blue Crystal Flower?” (Yue)

  “Yes, she is. That’s the reason why there are so many Blue Crystal Flowers here, all of these are all grown by Spica at her will.” (Poris)

  Nn, Poris-san and I engage in a small talk while drinking tea, and from her I learn more about this garden and its mystical properties.

  As we’re still engaging in a small talk, Poris-san asked a seemingly normal question.

  “By the way, 「the weather is beautiful isn’t it?」” (Poris)

  As soon as Poris-san asked that question, I immediately realized why she is here. Well, since it comes down to this, I should answer properly.

  “...「The weather is beautiful since the Archangel of Kindness blesses it everyday.」” (Yue)

  As I answered Poris-san’s question, she wryly smiled as she snapped her finger. All of the sudden, four familiar figures show up sitting in the chair as if they were always there in the first pce.

  Really now, how the hell can they pass by my detection? Hm, I heard that some Count ranked demons can cast Information Concealment magic, which is capable of concealing and preventing any information about a person from leaking out.

  “...Information Concealment magic, huh?” (Yue)

  “I see you’re well versed in magic from this world. To answer your question, yes it is.” (Poris)

  Nn, as I look around at the figures, I can affirm my guess that they are people that I’m familiar with.

  “...So, what business do the Pleiades have with me?” (Yue)

  That’s right, the ones who showed up out of nowhere are Sirius-san, Rasal-san, Spica-san, and Eul-san, coupled with Poris-san, we have all of the Pleiades here with the exception of Iris-san.

  “Now now, no need to rush, let’s take this calmly and slowly, and you don’t need to be so vigint. We're not in some sort of shadow courtroom and we’re certainly not here to judge you.” (Poris)

  As Poris reaffirms me that they won’t do anything suspicious, I rex a little. I also didn’t feel any hostile intentions from any of them, so I guess they aren’t here for what happened days ago.

  “Now, I presume that you’re curious about the letter. Well first of all, I was the one who sent both letters to you. I imagine you’re curious about what the IAA is?” (Poris)

  Nn, just like what Poris-san said, I was really curious about this mysterious IAA and what it’s all about, though since the members were most of the Pleiades, Isis-san’s executive subordinates, I believe it’s something pretty big.

  “Well, let us show you.” (Poris)

  Just as I was still thinking about the mysterious IAA, Poris-san and the rest of the Pleiades stood up and pced themselves in front of me, like they were an idol group or something.

  “Well then. We!” (Poris)

  “Are!” (Sirius)

  “Isis-sama’s!” (Rasal)

  “Adoration~.” (Spica)

  “Association!” (Eul)

  “IAA!” (Pleiades)

  …For some reason they posed right in front of me like they were some sort of evil organization announcing their organization’s name or something with some extravagant pose found in a Tokusatsu show back in Hajime’s world.

  Rather, IAA stands for “Isis Adoration Association”? Now that I think about it, the members consisted of the members of the Pleiades, so of course it had something to do with Isis-san.

  I mean, they’re basically a group of Isis-san’s admirers…

  “So, now that we have introduced ourselves as the IAA which is an acronym of “Isis-sama Adoration Association” where we admire Isis-sama from afar, we'll now go to the reason why we’ve invited you here to the garden.” (Poris)

  As they finished posing, they scattered and sat back down on their chairs in front of me as if their previous act didn’t happen. They put on serious expressions with Poris-san crossing her hands, striking a G*ndo pose.

  “We would like to formally invite you to our group as a member of the prestigious IAA group.” (Poris)

  “...Nn?” (Yue)

  Did I hear them correctly? Did they just give me an invitation to their organization? Did I just get scouted?

  Also, most importantly.

  “...You want me, the person who tried to banish your master from this world, to join your group that secretly admires Isis-san?” (Yue)

  “Well, your antics before did make me reconsider my judgment, but since you’ve sincerely apologized to Isis-sama, we’ve decided to give you one more chance.” (Poris)

  Nn, this atmosphere felt like a job interview, while I sat there nervously, Poris-san asked me a question.

  Then… I have to ace this interview at all cost, a prestigious group dedicated to admiring Isis-san? That sounds like a group I would like to be in, especially since this sounds like a secret organization, makes it more intriguing.

  “Now then, what do you think of Isis-sama?” (Poris)

  As Poris-san asked me that question, I instinctively knew that I needed to answer this correctly, or my chance of joining the IAA would vanish forever.

  Nn, I only have one chance, here I go!

  “...I believe she’s one of, if not, the kindest person I’ve ever met.” (Yue)

  “Oh? How so?” (Poris)

  “...When I first met her, I was immediately affected by her magic aura, so I was afraid of her. However, after Kaito-san intervened and suppressed her magic aura, which allowed me and Hajime to converse with her, I found out that Isis-san was not only considerate and helpful. Furthermore, she also patiently taught me about the magic origin to this world, even lending me her pce to train my magic even further.” (Yue)

  “...” (Pleiades)

  “...Nn, when me and Hajime had a spar with her, we were instantly defeated with just one word. I realize that our difference in strength is so rge it’s comical, yet she’s still worried about me and Hajime’s wellbeing. Even asking Alice-san, the Phantasmal King, the one that didn’t have a positive impression of us, to help us. Not only that, she even apologized to all of the otherworlder cssmates for scaring them with her magic aura, even though they were 100% at fault. Heck, I even thought she didn't need to apologize to us because we essentially did this to ourselves, but she did it anyway.” (Yue)

  “...” (Pleiades)

  “That’s why… I think Isis-san is one of the most precious people I’ve ever met, so much so that I instinctively wish to protect her as she’s ever so precious, especially when she’s talking about Kaito-san. That’s what I honestly thought of Isis-san.” (Yue)

  Nn, I truly convey what I thought of Isis-san from the bottom of my heart, you can even say it’s a rant on how kind and precious she is.

  Like, I can’t even begin to describe it, I honestly even thought like “scold us!” or something but she didn’t and forgave us and even apologized to us instead.

  “Umu, how about it, Eul?” (Poris)

  “She’s not lying.” (Eul)

  “I see…” (Poris)

  As Poris-san asked Eul-san about something to which she replied positively, she and the rest of the members stood up and grouped together seemingly to discuss my status.

  *POP!

  As I nervously waited for their verdicts, they suddenly held something akin to party poppers in their hands and popped them while aiming it at me, sounds of popping resounded and tons of confetti unched in my direction.

  “Congratutions! You’ve passed!” (Poris)

  “...Really!? Did I qualify for joining the prestigious IAA?” (Yue)

  “Well, you’ve passed, welcome to the IAA, here is the proof that you’re one of us.” (Poris)

  As I rejoiced that I passed the interview, Poris-san gave me some sort of card with Isis-san’s portrait of her holding a Blue Crystal Flower with both of her hands in front of her chest in a position as if she was praying. As I take a closer look, there’s a number 42 ingrained at the middle top of the card.

  “...This is…” (Yue)

  “This is a limited edition Isis-sama Bromide, it was handmade through my connection in another adoration association. The number at the top signifies your membership with 42 means you’re our 42nd member. Also, it’s equipped with a detection magic in case there are other members in your area.” (Poris)

  Hee, I see, this card is like a membership card to signify that I’m one of the IAA, it also serves to locate the other members around me.

  I mean, this card is more than enough to prove my worth as one of Isis-san’s admirers, more than what the cssmates were doing anyway.

  Nn, Isis-san in this Bromide is also very cute. I’m gd I joined this association.

  “...By the way, what are the activities in IAA?” (Yue)

  “Nothing really. The only rules here are that you must never interrupt Isis-sama in any activity and to never let her know the existence of the association, for we, the IAA, will only admire her from afar without disrupting her daily life with Kaito-sama!” (Poris)

  Nn, what Poris-san said is indeed correct. For many times, the fans in Hajime’s world had given the idols so much trouble it actually forced said idols to retire faster for their own safety. However, the IAA is above those trashes. Yes, being a member of the prestigious IAA, admiring Isis-san from afar without troubling her, is the only logical thing to do as one of her admirers!

  Anyway, since we’re done here, all of the members teleported to the castle while I walked towards the castle while putting Isis-san’s card inside my Magic Box.

  Nn, I’m also curious about what the emergency was about.

  .

  .

  .

  Quite some time passed after I tried to find Hajime in Isis-san’s castle, since it’s huge, it took me quite a while to find them. Though, as I passed through corridor after corridor, I heard a commotion down one of the corridors so I went there to check it out.

  There I saw the cssmates looking really worried with Hajime looking really pissed with a popped vein on his forehead while confronting Alice-san, and Kaito-san between them trying to prevent a fight.

  As I got closer to the commotion, I saw Shia and other Wifie~s also looking really worried at the prospect of a fight erupting.

  “...Everyone? What’s wrong?” (Yue)

  “Ah Yue-san! Perfect timing desu! Please stop Hajime-san!” (Shia)

  “...What’s wrong?” (Yue)

  “Oi! You're the one that took all of our money right AH!? I won’t ask again! Return it! Now!” (Hajime)

  Nn? I think I just heard Hajime demanding Alice-san return his money? Is it from that time when she took his money for the Holy Sword transfer fee?

  “...Shizuku, expin the situation.” (Yue)

  “Well…” (Shizuku)

  As I asked Shizuku, since she’s the one that called Hajime about an emergency before, she calmly expined what had happened.

  Apparently, since tomorrow is our st day in Isis-san’s home, she and Kaori decided to check whether we have enough money to cover our expenses for the rest of our stay in the Demon Realm. To which they found out that we don’t have any money left in our shared Treasure Warehouse nor in their Magic Boxes, they tried to ask the cssmates to check for money in their respective Magic Boxes, but to no avail.

  Then Shizuku called Hajime, to which he proceeded to flip the content of every single Returnees’ Magic Boxes alongside the Treasure Warehouse, but to no avail. It was as if the money vanished out of thin air.

  While the Returnees were perplexed by this situation, Hajime immediately stormed out to find Kaito-san and ask him to summon Alice-san, which brings to the current situation.

  “Oya? What do you mean by that I wonder~?” (Alice)

  “You… you’re still trying to feign ignorance! I know you can crack our Treasure Warehouse and Magic Boxes! You ain’t fooling me this time! Where is it!?” (Hajime)

  “Oya? I don’t know what you’re talking about~, this lovable transcendental beauty Alice-chan would never steal from the poor~” (Alice)

  “...Alright, that’s it.” (Hajime)

  “Hajime-saaaaan! Don’t do anything rash desu!” (Shia)

  Alice-san kept on taunting Hajime with a really annoying smirk to which Hajime tried to pull his guns out from their holsters, though his wrists were grabbed by Shia before he could do that.

  “Let me go, Shia! If I don’t teach this damn harlot a lesson she’ll just keep on looking down on us!” (Hajime)

  “You can’t okay, Hajime-san! C-cuz I know why our money just disappeared desu!” (Shia)

  Nn? Shia knows why our money's gone from our storages? Upon hearing this, the Returnees looked at Shia with a surprised expression. Hajime then moves his gnce at her with a cold stare.

  “...Shia?” (Hajime)

  “Y-y-yes desu?” (Shia)

  “Spit it out, now.” (Hajime)

  “YESSIR DESU! So basically when you and Yue-san were having a spar against Isis-san, the Returnees were having a severe mental breakdown, it was so severe that not only Kaori-san and Shizuku-san were badly affected, me and Tio-san also affected by Isis-san’s magic aura even though we just arrived. Not only that, when we got too close, our mental strength also took a huge toll so we had no choice but to ask Alice-san for help! I’m sorry!!!” (Shia)

  I see, I completely forgot but Shia did ask Alice-san for help in moving us to the castle safely while restoring the Returnees’ mental state and even Hajime’s artifacts.

  It’s just… Nn… it seems like Hajime just watched Shia who is bowing in dogeza with sheer shock on his face while slowly moving his gaze towards Alice-san.

  “See? I did not steal anything, in fact the payment was too low, no? After all, it is difficult to restore something Isis-san destroyed after all~” (Alice)

  I see… What Alice-san said is correct. I mean, if not for her, I don’t think any of us would be standing here and not minding the horrible aftermath of Isis-san’s Magic Power of Death.

  Which means… this is completely our shortcomings…

  Upon realizing this, Hajime immediately moved his gaze towards Kaito-san with an expression as if he had just met a long lost friend.

  “Heyaa~ Kaito-san, sooooo, this is embarrassing, but can you lend us some cash?” (Hajime)

  “Sadly, this time half of the fault is on all of you, so I won’t be doing you any favor, sorry.” (Kaito)

  “How about a loan? In fact, I can always lend you some manpower for some cash! I can guarantee you that they’re at least useful enough as a meat shield.” (Hajime)

  “Et tu, Hajime-san!!??” (Cssmates)

  Nn, since we’re completely out of money here, Hajime decided to try and butter up Kaito-san for some money, though sadly he got shut down. He then tried to “lend” some of the cssmates to Kaito-san for some money.

  Kaito-san then walked to Hajime, pcing his hands on his shoulder.

  “Just be a hardworking honest man and find an honest job, okay?” (Kaito)

  “...” (Hajime)

  As Kaito-san said this with his usual gentle wry smile, Hajime then pced his hand on his forehead, seemingly having a headache.

  After he realized that Kaito-san won’t be helping this time, he then walked towards the Returnees while taking a deeeeeep breath.

  “ALRIGHT YOU BASTARDS! GROUP MEETING TIME! IF THERE’S EVEN A SINGLE ONE OF YOU ABSENT I’LL MAKE YOU ALL EAT DIRT WITH MY BRIEZE! YOU HEAR ME!?” (Hajime)

  “YESSIR!!!” (cssmates)

  As Hajime shouted like a drill sergeant straight from hell, the cssmates all stood up with postures straighter than soldiers that were being sent into the frontlines of a battlefield.

  Well, since we’re short on money at the moment, and Lilia-san wouldn’t be helping us since she gave us a month’s worth of pocket money, we’re forced to find jobs to gather money.

  Nn, looks like our dungeon delving days will come much faster than we initially thought…

  Afterword:

  Serious-senpai: AIEEEEEE!!?? Why is there a sudden flirting scene!?

  Author: Hmm, judging from your expression, it seems like it was sweet enough. Yosh, I did good as my first sweet scene.

  ???: Mmmm… I wished you made a sweet scene with m—Alice-chan and Kaito-san instead.

  Author: Unfortunately this story is written mostly in Yue’s POV so… maybe in the next sequel?