Classes are over. Maybe it's from sitting in the same position all period, but stretching feels great.
"Hey, wanna go check out some clubs?"
As I was getting ready to head home, Kitamura called out. Looks like he's a little worried about me.
"Sorry, I've got something to do today. Maybe next time."
Clubs, huh. Sports clubs are out. It's hard to keep my physical ability throttled back, and it'd be unfair to the kids taking it seriously.
My school's private, but it doesn't push athletic recommendations that hard, so we're not exactly a powerhouse. I've heard there are a few people who make it to nationals in individual events, though.
I was kind of looking forward to clubs, honestly.
I left school and walked a bit. Near campus there's an arterial road lined with a supermarket and a drugstore. I'm planning to pick up dinner there.
It's only been about half a month since I started living alone. Before that I lived further out in the country with Grandpa and Grandma, the three of us.
When Grandpa was alive, he used to drive us to shop for groceries. Well, I'm away from my hometown now, so I don't have memories with them here.
"Welcome! Grabbing a bento again?"
It's one of the bigger supermarkets in the area, with lots of staff and customers. A woman who looks like a college-aged part-timer called out to me.
"Nah, ingredients today. Gonna cook a little."
She's the one who recognized me from coming in for the discounted evening bentos; we'd had a bit of small talk.
She's a meddlesome big-sis type, and I have slightly embarrassing memories of how easy it was to chat with her.
"You've gotta eat your veggies too, okay?"
"Yes, ma'am."
I thought about just buying as many bentos as people, but it might look weird when I always get one. So I headed to the produce aisles.
Cooking for five people… just the shopping's a chore.
To be honest, since I lived with Grandpa and Grandma, I'm not great at Western food. For home cooking I can do things like hamburg steak and curry—Grandma taught me a lot.
I want to feed them things they'll like… Maybe hamburg steak today. Sashimi's cheap, but over there we basically never ate fish raw. I'm worried how it'll go over.
Outside, the western sky was turning orange.
"Wow…"
I don't know why, but tears suddenly threatened.
I didn't cry when Grandpa and Grandma died, or over there either.
It's not that anything in particular came to mind, or that I was feeling sentimental.
…Maybe I'm just tired. I've been living on edge, focused on the Demon Lord's defeat.
I shook it off and hurried home.
"I'm back—"
My companions and the Demon Lord were at the house, with no sign of fighting.
The vibe is… well, about what you'd expect. Not exactly having fun or relaxed, but it'd be stranger if they were calm in a world with no ties for them.
"Welcome back, Kakeru."
"Sanctina? What's up? Calling me by name all of a sudden…"
I was putting groceries in the fridge when Sanctina came to help—and startled me by using my name.
"Oh—we decided to stop with 'Hero,' 'Demon Lord,' and 'Princess.'"
Makes sense. They're thinking things through so they can live here for a while. I need to get my act together too.
"Kakeru, you're back. This one's yours."
Just as I was about to start dinner, Noctia—the Demon Lord—handed me a plain, slender bracelet. The magic item from before.
"I don't need one."
"Filia and I discussed it. It has transformation magic, translation, and a spell that prevents suspicion—mental magic, basically. It also seals magic and skills, and suppresses physical ability."
I stared, dumbfounded at her matter-of-fact tone. I know a few magic items, and I got some when I became the Hero, but nothing this multifunctional.
"Magic/skill seal and ability suppression… something you'd use on criminals?"
"Yes—originally. I set it so you can toggle it with a thought. I calculated based on the mana density here; it should bring you down to about how you were when you lived in this world before."
As expected of the Demon Lord. Materials must be limited, too.
"Big help. Thanks."
She's always two steps ahead. How did this Demon Lord get driven all the way back to her castle? Or was that situation one she set up on purpose?
"Oh, right—at lunch I think my danger-sense skill triggered during a small quake. Do danger-sense skills go off for natural earthquakes?"
When I mentioned it, Noctia and Filia—who had been watching TV in the living room—both looked startled.
"Kakeru, are you sure?"
Filia came over looking serious. I told them it had triggered at school, where there are no monsters or hostile people, and she fell into thought.
"Danger-sense won't trigger for purely natural phenomena. Could you have been mistaken?" Noctia said.
That made me less confident.
"I don't know. It was faint. If you say I'm mistaken… maybe."
"Have Sanctina check you. Plenty of people who went to the battlefield young struggle with trauma after returning home. There are cases where people claim danger-sense triggered when there was no danger. You're a bit too tightly wound," Filia said.
If it was just a false alarm, that's fine—and I felt relieved—but Filia ended up worrying about me. Sanctina gave me the same look.
Just then, Princess Pricha walked over.
"Kakeru, I was going to say this when you got back. You don't have to tiptoe around us. I'm going to forget my position as a princess, too. We don't know how long we'll impose on you, but while we're here, let's forget 'Hero,' 'Princess'—and even 'Demon Lord.'"
"Your High—… Pricha…"
Looks like she's calmed down over the course of the day. That mental strength is so very her.
"I'm fine. More importantly, I'll start dinner."
If it's all in my head, good. Just… don't treat me like some PTSD case, okay? I am tired after everything.
"I'm thinking hamburg steak tonight. It's one of my country's classic dishes."
We're all tired and disoriented—it goes both ways.
This world isn't inferior in living environment or food. If anything, the variety and quality of easily available ingredients are better.
If the meals suit them, I think it'll ease their stress and worry.
I also need to talk about going out—how to use money, and maybe they'll need smartphones. The more I think about it, the more complicated this world seems.
We've hardly seen the neighbors since the moving-day greetings. I'll say they're long-term homestay guests.
First things first, we should get our stories straight.