「 Dammit! 」
5AM I just returned home from Midorizakura, the bar where I work part-time. Cui noticed my return and flew close.
『 What’s wrong? I thought you were there to make money? 』
「 Yeah, I worked, I did my job, but you know 」
By the way, since I don’t know how long I will be working, I asked Morimura-san to pay me daily.
At 1,200 yen per hour, I worked 9 hours from 7PM to 4AM. That’s 10800 yen. Not bad. However, my hourly wage as a car dealer is much higher.
I whine to Cui, my partner, as I put the money on the table.
「 This junior of mine is a girl. She was looking down on me saying that I’m a NEET. But damn, she’s a cutie 」
『 I see. A cute woman you say? 』
「 Yeah, she’s cute for sure. I heard that she’s currently attending a voice acting school? 」
Yeah, that’s why she sounds cute too. I thought she was good at putting emotion into her voice.
『 I want to see her 』
「 If there’s a chance. For now, it’s daytime so I’ll go to sleep. Here’s your meat. Go eat 」
I took out a bag of jerky I bought from a convenience store on my way home, opened the bag, and put it on a plate. Then, I dropped on the bed.
『 Ooh… Spices are often used in preserved meat so that’s good. This is interesting… 』
Cui mumbled for a while in front of the jerky, but I already closed my eyes and went to sleep.
■
「 Hmm… 」
I opened my eyes. I looked at my smartphone, and the time’s 12.
(It’s been a while since I had a part-time job. But my daily life’s day and night has been reversed)
By the way, I’m allowed to get into my part-time job whenever I please.
Of course, there are rules, like when coming to work, I have to call in by 3PM that day, and sometimes, Morimura-san asks me to come.
「 Either way, the job is cheap but there’s no change. Either way, if I can earn 10,000 per day, I don’t have to worry about eating 」
My rent is only for a 1K shabby apartment, and it costs 40,000 yen a month. I can’t thank Morimura-san enough!
I got out of my bed and started preparing for lunch. Just when I was thinking about how I’m having cup noodles and jerky today… I picked up the bag of jerky and found that it was already empty.
「 Hey!!! The jerky’s gone?! 」
『 Yes. That was a delicacy. I want some ale too
「 You ate it all?! That much?! Huh? How much can that belly hold? 」
My precious meat! I mean, how can you eat all that meat when you’re this small?!
「 Ugh. I was looking forward to eating my jerky while I was sleeping… 」
I started boiling water while feeling sad. But, Cui speaks in a serious tone.
『 Touya. The food in this world is very interesting. The same goes for the cup noodles you’re making right now 』
「 Really? This isn’t rare, it’s very common here 」
I poured the boiling water into the cup noodles. Cui looked as if it was observing.
『 Perhaps the sophisticated combination of the development of the livestock industry, agriculture, control of logistics cost, and the technology to produce a well-equipped and homogenized product. What a commoner can buy here is worth a fortune in other worlds 』
「 Hmm? 」
Commoner. From what I heard so far, Cui’s been cruising through pre-industrial medieval worlds.
『 To regain my power, you need to have a creampie life and money. And so, I’ve come up with an idea 』
「 Huh… 」
I poke the noodles with my chopsticks. It’s a little early, but it’s edible. I’ll add some soup stock and there we go.
『 Touya. You’ll travel to the other world and earn by trading! 』
「 Huh? 」
I listen to Cui as I slurp my noddles.
『 The small things you can purchase here could cost a fortune in the other world. That’s how you can solve your money troubles 』
I chew on the noodles, and then a question comes to my mind.
「 Can you even travel through worlds freely? 」
『 No. There’s a limit. I was born in the heroic true world, and I’m the one who creates heroes throughout worlds. In short, the Hero Guide. And I, no, we… We’ll cross over into a fixed world as the great currents point out 』
「 Haa… 」
Cui told me more about it. The short version is, that beings like Cui always travel to particular worlds.
「 So, I heard that yesterday, you make heroes and gather hero points in the worlds you go to 」
『 Indeed. We’re not free to choose the world we go to. The contractor has to accumulate more than a specified amount of hero points or die. That’s how we return to the Heroic True World 』
So the system is you have to surrender your hero points in the heroic true world and travel to another world. It’s said that Cui can’t decide which world to go to.
『 And our next world is already set 』
「 Oh, so you ended up in here, Earth? 」
『 Wrong. This is the world the elder chose for my banishment. There’s another world I’m supposed to go to next 』
I see. If Cui didn’t use its lewd skills on the eldest daughter, then it could make another hero in another world. That’s why it’s striving to earn points.
Still, I can’t believe that one can’t return to their original world unless they claim a certain amount of points in the world they visit, or their contractor dies.
And once they return home, the points they gather will be collected, and they’ll be sent back to another world. Cui must’ve been working for a black company, it can’t even choose where to go.
『 That world was my next mission. Its name is Leyval 』
「 Reibar? 」
「 Yes. I can build a bridge in that world 』
In other words, if it’s that specific world, we can travel back and forth.,..
「 Then, I bring stuff from here and make a profit there? 」
『 Indeed 』
「 …I have things I want to ask beforehand 」
『 Very well. Ask 』
Wow, you’re being too bossy right now! I mean, I know that you’re great.
「 Is that world safe? 」
『 Who knows? I haven’t gone there yet. But there’s no doubt that Leyval is searching for a hero. Just like all the other worlds I visited, they have a situation where they need a hero 』
We won’t know until we go, but the danger seems there. After all, heroes are born in dangerous worlds.
「 I-I knew it’s going to be dangerous. Can we go back anytime? 」
『 We should be 』
Be confident in that one! Why are you answering so vaguely now!?
Well, Cui’s never gone to that world. I wonder if we can check beforehand?
But, it’s a different world. As someone who had a black beast inside my heart in eighth grade, I’m very curious.
「 But still. Suppose that we could make trades. We can’t use the money we get here, right? 」
『 We can spend the money over there. We can also release my lewd skills to some extent. And if we sell rare items from the other side of this world… 』
「 Oh! That means we can make cash that I can use here! 」
Yeah, I even thought of selling Cui in the first place! Nowadays, you only need a phone and you can sell anything.
I finished my cup of noodles and got up with vigor.
「 Okay! Let’s go take a look then! If it’s dangerous, we can just go back! 」
『 Indeed. It’s my first time in this world too. We should just scout first 』
Oh shit, now I’m feeling a bit excited.
I changed into some more comfortable clothes and got myself ready. I left my phone and wallet just in case and decided to bring in a cheap knife over there.
It’s light and portable, and if anything, I could use it myself. Besides, I wonder how much a cheap knife would be worth over there.
「 Ready! Let’s go now! 」
『 Hmm, you’re quite decisive. That’s my contractor. Well then, let’s go! 』
Cui perches on my head, then flaps its wings lightly. Then, my body was enveloped in white light.
「 Oooh! That’s amazing! 」
Everything became white. I’m being moved to a different world right now.