The Neighborhood High School Girl, Miss Isezaki, Is the Great Saintess Returned from Another World~ And I, Suddenly Awakened as Her Exclusive Mana Supply Uncle, Travel Between Earth and Another World with Time-Space Magic~ - 184. Landlady and Aihara Riori

184. 184. 184. 184. Landlady and Aihara Riori

The landlady opened the fusuma, and we entered the room.

(Note:”Fusuma” is a term in Japanese architecture referring to sliding doors made from wooden frames covered with paper or cloth. They are often used to partition rooms in traditional Japanese homes)

As soon as we entered, there was a spacious tatami room with a pleasant scent tickling our noses.

Expensive hanging scrolls and vases adorned the walls, and a petite landlady sat in front of the low table in the center of the room. I tilted my head slightly at the sight of the landlady.

Because when she visited me before, she wore a kimono, so I thought she would change into formal attire for formal occasions… But tonight, the landlady was in her usual casual attire.

Feeling that sense of incongruity, we sat in front of the low table. And as the landlady waited for the proprietress to leave the room, she spoke up.

“Hey, everyone. You came well.”

“Sorry for the wait.”

“What are you talking about? You’re right on time. Old folks like me have plenty of time, so I came early because I had nothing else to do.”

The landlady shook her head loosely at my greeting, then glanced at Aihara, who was sitting next to me.

Aihara had been tense since entering the room, and she was still sitting upright, bowing her head. She probably hadn’t even noticed the landlady yet.

“This kid is Juuzou’s granddaughter? What’s going on?”

“H-Haha! I’m doing great, thank you, ma’am! Haruna-sama!”

When Aihara was addressed by the landlady, she bowed her head further and chanted a mysterious incantation. What’s this?

“Sigh… It seems like she’s nervous around the landlady.”

“Hmm, so my notoriety still precedes me to the Castleuchi, huh? Well, I guess it’s commendable in a way… But it’s not going to work like this.”

With a light sigh, the landlady leaned forward and peered at Aihara’s face across the table.

“Hey, Juuzou’s granddaughter… Let me call you Rio. Rio, lift your face and take a good look. See, I’m just an ordinary woman, right?”

In response to her call, Aihara slowly lifted her face and then opened her mouth wide.

“…Huh, really? Is this granny really Lady Haruna? Huh?”

“That’s right. What do you think, Rio? Can we get along?”

“We can, we can! I want to be super close! Besides, you’re not just an ordinary woman! You’re so cool, and I really respect Lady Haruna! Is this vintage? The color fade is awesome! It’s so cool!”

Excitedly, Aihara raised her voice as she looked at the jeans the landlady was wearing. By the way, they just looked like old jeans to me.

Anyway, Aihara’s tension seemed to have disappeared in the face of the landlady’s rock-like appearance.

Maybe the landlady anticipated that. I don’t know, but the landlady looked satisfied as she lifted the corners of her mouth.

“I’m glad we can get along. It’s a gathering of young people tonight. Let’s have fun tonight. …That’s right, since we’re here, Rio, why don’t you tell us about today’s events? You three had fun, right?”

“Huh, us?”

“Yeah, you. So, Rio, do you think you can get along with Seina?”

“Yeah, Seina-chan and I had our ups and downs, but I think we can get along with that… Oh nooo! I remembered!”

Aihara suddenly shouted.

“I totally forgot because I was so nervous… Senpai! Senpai! What happened next in *that* story?!”

“Oh, that… Right, that will be after the food arrived.”

“Ugh! Am I going to be left hanging here too?!” Aihara held her head in her hands. Seeing that, the landlady shrugged her shoulders inexplicably.

◇◇◇

After a while, the proprietress brought the food. It was a course meal, but since we were in the middle of a complicated conversation, we asked her to bring it all at once.

And while savoring the mouth-melting sashimi, I explained the situation to the landlady.

“Hmm, so Rio found out about Matsunaga-kun’s power.”

“Yes. There’s not much time to explain everything, so I brought her here as is. If you don’t mind, could you also help us with advice…”

“I see, of course I don’t mind. So… does Rio have any questions for Matsunaga-kun?”

“Oh, I definitely have questions. Hey, Senpai, are you really a magician?”

“Wait, from there? Are you serious? Well, if you say it’s different and believe me, it’s less hassle for me, which would be helpful.”

“Oh, no, it’s not like that! Um, well, uh…”

Seeing Aihara once again troubled, Isezaki came to the rescue.

“Sir, I think Rio-san wants to see more magic.”

“That’s it! As expected of Seina-chan! …Well, you see, of course I trust what Senpai says, and I think I understand it too. But being told about magic out of the blue is just too unrealistic. It’s like my brain is having a reflexive rejection. It’s really uncomfortable for me to have this lingering unease, so I want Senpai to show me more magic and help me understand, but… is that okay?”

Aihara looked at me with pleading eyes. It’s annoying how she’s trying to act cute while asking for help.

Anyway, now that I think about it, Juuzou-san seemed quite confused when he actually saw magic. Magic might not be easily accepted by ordinary people. The landlady believed it right away, though.

I flicked Aihara’s forehead with my finger as she continued to plead with upturned eyes, and decided to comply with Aihara’s request as she pressed her forehead with teary eyes.

“If that’s the case, then it’s fine. Well then… this is the Storage Space.”

I called out the Storage Space and took out a doll of “Chiikawa” that I bought at the shopping mall today and planned to give to Maristel as a reward later.

“Huh, where did you just get that from!? Wait, Senpai, you have ‘Chiikawa’ too? That’s surprising! If you want, shall we compare our merchandise next time?”

“That’s not important right now… Anyway, I can summon or store anything like this. There’s also—”

◇◇◇

“This is the Acceleration Haste. With this, I repelled the pickup artists.”

“Whoa, Senpai is seriously a wizard! Oh, no way! Isn’t that amazing!? Super amazing! Yay!”

After showing her several spells, it seemed like Aihara was finally convinced.

Aihara, who had been happily excited, suddenly seemed to realize something and clapped her hands.

“So, Senpai. Even if you don’t get a job, you can easily make money, right? Why are you still unemployed?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“For example, look, you’re so strong, you could easily become a champion in some kind of martial arts competition, right? Or a YouTuber. If you demonstrate magic, you could easily get a million views.”

“Hmm… I wouldn’t do either of those. I don’t want to interfere with people who are sincerely working hard. Plus, if my magic were to be exposed, it would cause problems.”

To my perfectly reasonable answer, Aihara tilted her head and furrowed her brows.

“Huh? Why would it be a problem if it’s exposed? It’s so cool, and you could become charismatic, couldn’t you?”

“You see… with the Storage Space, I could steal anything, and with Dimensional Teleportation, I could escape anywhere. If I wanted to, I could easily kill someone. All the unsolved crimes in the world could be attributed to me.”

“Huh? Senpai would never do something bad like that. If anyone says something stupid like that, I’ll knock them all out—oh, I see… I guess… People who don’t know Senpai wouldn’t understand.”

“That’s right. That’s why I’m currently earning money by selling meat to Juuzou-san. It’s a job that pays 100,000 yen once a week.”

“Wow, that’s so plain. Also, what’s this about meat for Jii-chan?”

“I heard from you that you also had some. Recently, didn’t Juuzou-san treat you to some really delicious meat?”

“Huh!? …Wait, so, that insanely delicious steak was supplied by Senpai!? Where did you get it from? Jii-chan wouldn’t tell me, he just kept dodging the question!”

Aihara leaned in close, her eyes bloodshot. It seems like she had unwittingly become obsessed with monster meat. I calmed Aihara down while answering.

“That’s because… I got it from another world.”

“Huh? Another world…?”

“Yeah. It’s a world different from Earth, a different world. With Dimensional Teleportation, I can jump to other worlds too, you know. …Oh yeah, didn’t you meet a blonde woman at the shopping mall the other day, besides me and Isezaki-san?”

“I did. She was a super beautiful foreigner. She looked like a princess with her vertical curls.”

“Rather than a princess, that person is the daughter of a count from another world.”

“…Huh?”

Aihara opened her mouth in surprise. Then, Isezaki-san cut in between Aihara and me.

“Since we’re on the subject, Rio-san, may I add something?”

“Uh, yeah. What is it?”

With somewhat vacant eyes, Aihara responded, and Isezaki-san placed her hand on her chest.

“Actually, I… was a great saintess in another world.”

She confessed with a refreshing smile.

Isezaki-san seems to be enjoying this. I’m starting to find it amusing too.

“Oh, I see… Ah, this is bad. I might seriously be at my limit…”

Aihara collapsed on the spot and didn’t move for a while. Isezaki-san and I exchanged glances and couldn’t help but laugh.