Chapter 624: Visiting the Grave, and Shopping

The Mochizuki family’s ancestral temple is located in a town not far from my grandfather’s house. I remember visiting it a few times when I was little; it’s quite a large temple. Was the sect Soto Zen? I don’t clearly remember.

It’s hard to say my grandfather or mother were diligent about visiting the grave. We didn’t even have a Buddhist altar at home. I think visits were on an “if we feel like it” basis. Yet, I remember that whenever we went to visit, there would often be flowers or incense offered by someone other than the family. My grandfather and my great-grandfather—whom I never met—must have had a wide network of acquaintances. In any case, it’s a touching gesture for someone to go out of their way to visit the graves of our deceased family members.

“Speaking of which, I’m supposed to be buried in that grave, too…”

I vaguely thought this as we stopped at a flower shop on the way to the temple to buy flowers for the grave.

I had confirmed earlier that the fake bones of ‘me’ that the God Almighty substituted had already been retrieved, so they aren’t actually inside the grave. I was relieved that we didn’t have to retrieve them ourselves.

After getting off the bus and walking for a while, a large, magnificent, old gate greeted us.

Perhaps sensing the solemn atmosphere of the temple, the children didn’t make a fuss.

After offering prayers at the main hall, we headed to the cemetery. The Mochizuki family grave was located in a slightly secluded spot within the temple cemetery.

It was an impressive grave, even after seeing it again after so long. It was surrounded by stone panels over an area of about four tatami mats, with stone lanterns on both sides.

There was also a gravestone inscription (Bōshi) next to the main stone. …Wait a minute, is that ‘Shingetsuin Icchō Tōren Koji’ my Buddhist posthumous name? How do you read that? Shingetsuin Icchō Tōren Koji?

The one next to it must be my grandfather’s. ‘Kyūhakuin Saishin Entoku Koji’… Kyūhakuin Saishin Entoku Koji?

It felt strange to have a posthumous name assigned to me without my knowing it…

“Now, let’s start with the cleaning!”

At my mother’s call, we began cleaning the grave. We picked up leaves and flying debris by hand, and swept the grave site with a broom borrowed from the temple. We also had to pull out weeds.

Pouring water from a bucket using a dipper, we gently scrubbed the dirt off the tombstone with a soft sponge so as not to scratch it. It was quite dirty.

After fetching clean water again, we sprinkled it onto the tombstone, filled the flower vases with water, and offered the flowers and offerings we had bought.

The offering was Nanbu senbei (rice crackers), which was my grandfather’s favorite. He especially loved the ones with peanuts.

We lit the incense sticks, waved them to extinguish the flame, and placed them in the incense burner with the burning ends facing the left.

My mother and father joined their hands in prayer, and we followed suit.

Grandfather, these are my wives and children. I wish I could have introduced them properly to you, but… well, that’s just the way it is. A lot has happened since… yeah, I can’t summarize it in a single sentence. But we’re doing well. If you haven’t reincarnated yet, come back for the Obon Festival, at least.

“Do you think they heard us?” “I wonder. Grandfather was pretty carefree about everything.”

I answered my mother’s murmur. Even if he hadn’t achieved Buddhahood and was still wandering as a spirit, I’m certain he wouldn’t stay in one place. He’d probably be off to Las Vegas or Monte Carlo.

If he has reincarnated, he’s probably already enjoying his next life.

“Well, let’s go home.”

We took the offerings with us so they wouldn’t be disturbed by crows or other animals if left there. They would be our snack for the day.

Since we were already out, my mother suggested we stop somewhere before heading back, and the wives agreed.

Since we have [Gate], we can get back anytime, so it’s not a problem.

We decided to grab lunch as well and came to a shopping mall near the train station.

This place felt different from the shopping center we visited during our honeymoon. …I wonder what the difference is between a “shopping mall” and a “shopping center”…? There must be some definition, but it doesn’t matter right now.

For lunch, we headed to a major hamburger chain at the children’s request. They apparently saw the TV commercial and wanted to try it.

It made me nostalgic, too. I used to come here with my friends quite a few times.

Oh, look! There’s the giant hamburger that is practically the symbol of this burger chain. It’s been a while. I can’t pass this up. I might as well order a set meal. I’ll get fries and a drink, and oh, I want chicken nuggets, too.

Some of the children ordered the kids’ meal, which comes with a toy.

Since there were so many of us, we split up and sat at several tables. I sat with my father, mother, and Fuyuka.

After a while, our number was called, and I went to the counter to pick up the order.

Wait, was this Big Burger always this big…? I had forgotten that I was still in a child’s body.

The burger, fries, and nuggets together are quite a lot for the current me. Hmm, I’ll have my father and mother help me with the fries and nuggets.

My immediate enemy is this Big Burger. Its size is even more pronounced when I hold it with my small hands. With my original body, I could open wide and take a big bite, but with my current size, I can only manage to bite the bun… A hamburger is only truly a hamburger when you can taste the meat, vegetables, and bun all at once.

No choice, I’ll have to nibble at it bit by bit. Or… if I squash it down and compress it… can I manage it? Yes, it’s delicious.

“Aww. Yummy.” “Is it delicious? I’m glad.”

Fuyuka was also happy, eating the mini pancakes from her kids’ meal. She also seemed to like the stuffed animal that came with it. Is it a bear? It’s a droopy, unmotivated-looking bear with no hint of wilderness. Well, a bear for a children’s toy that’s overflowing with wildness might be a problem.

Still, maybe the Big Burger was a mistake… I’m about halfway through and already pretty full.

I glanced over at the next table and saw Yae about to start on her third one of the exact same order. …If I really can’t finish mine, I’ll ask Yae.

It would be a waste not to eat what I bought, so I also took a few bites of the nuggets and fries. I pushed the rest onto my father. Okay, now I can focus on fighting the Big Burger with a clear conscience.

“Hey, you need to eat more neatly. Your mouth is covered in sauce.” “Huh? Mmmph…“

Perhaps because I was eating the Big Burger with my face practically buried in it, my mother took a napkin and vigorously wiped my messy mouth. Darn it, being treated like a child again…!

My wives were grinning as they watched me, but I pretended not to notice.

The humiliation of being wiped again was too much, so I ate carefully and managed to finish it somehow. That was a formidable foe… Thank you for the meal.

“That was delicious, for sure.” “I’ve memorized the taste, so I can recreate it once we return to the other world.” “Oh, that’s wonderful.”

I left the restaurant, listening to the conversation between Yae and Lucia behind me. She memorized the taste… Should we open a fast-food restaurant in Brunhild as well?

But that would require a food processing plant or something similar. I could probably make it with [‘Workshop’]…

The problems would be ingredients and employees… Should I create a [Gate] for importing ingredients? If I make a contract with the Kingdom of Horn, an agricultural nation, to import wheat and vegetables, I think it could work.

Oh, and the number of immigrants is increasing, so I might have to create new towns or villages soon.

Negotiating with Belfast and Regulus to see if they would yield a bit more territory might be an option. The area a little distance from Brunhild has many demonic beasts, so those two nations haven’t touched it yet.

If I could secure an area about the size of Tokyo…

As I was lost in thought, the women had led me into a boutique.

My wives immediately started choosing clothes for the children. Wait, they only have children’s clothes? A children’s boutique… a specialty store for kids’ clothes.

I mentioned that Linze could make them if we had the fabric, but they said, “That’s that, and this is this.”

I guess they wanted to buy the genuine articles from Earth.

The daughters were captured by their mothers, and my father and I secretly slipped out and sat on a street bench in front of the store to wait. Kuon also tried to escape but was caught by Yumina and dragged back in. Good luck.

Both my father and I knew this was going to take a long time. We decided to wait patiently. My mother was also busy looking for clothes for Fuyuka in the baby clothes section.

“Don’t they have clothes like that in the other world?” “They do, but the materials are different. They don’t have chemical fibers like polyester or nylon. In the other world, they sometimes make clothes from the materials of magic beasts and monsters.” “Magic beasts and monsters…” “Like giant earthworms or spider silk?” “Ugh…”

My father flinched, but silk is just insect thread.

For reference, I took out a handkerchief made of Arcobaleno silk—silk from a seven-colored silkworm—from my [Storage] to show him. Normally, this fabric changes color when you flow magic into it, but here on Earth, the magic disperses, so the color only changes for an instant before quickly returning to normal. For now, it’s just a soft-touch fabric, but I think it’s a very high-class handkerchief.

While I was discussing the clothing situation of the other world with my father, Kuon emerged from the store with a slightly tired look.

“Are you finished?” “I am. Mother is currently choosing clothes for Allis.”

I made space for Kuon between my father and me on the bench, and he let out a sigh as he sat down. I understand. It’s tough being a man.

“Will it take much longer?” “There aren’t many fitting rooms. I think it will take a little more time.”

Ah… that makes sense. I guess the fitting rooms here are made larger so children can go in with their parents. As a result, there aren’t that many of them.

Kuon took out the portable game console that Yumina had won for him at the shooting game yesterday from the backpack he was carrying.

“Oh? You’ve downloaded the software already?” “Yes. My grandfather did it for me last night.”

I peeked at Kuon’s game console, and the screen of the famous sandbox game was displayed. He was being considerate of his surroundings and had muted the sound.

Curious, I watched the screen from beside Kuon. I couldn’t see Kuon’s character; the screen seemed to be in the first-person view. I could see his hands flickering at the edges of the screen.

Kuon seemed to be flattening the ground, scraping away dirt. He’s been silently doing only that for a while now. …Is that what this game is all about…?

“…Is it fun?” “Yes, very much so.”

Kuon answered with a faint smile, his eyes fixed on the screen. Just flattening the ground…? Well, as long as he’s enjoying it.

I also took out my smartphone and killed time by reading news online.

In the other world, mass-produced smartphones are becoming quite popular, and it’s becoming standard for people in important government positions to have one.

I’ve been asking the Doctors to work on it for a while, and I’m thinking of starting to supply them to the general public soon.

It would be impossible to make them available to everyone immediately, so we’ll likely start with wealthy merchants or people in public service.

I plan to prevent various forms of misuse, but even in the modern world, we have fraud and illegal side jobs. If we register the user’s magic power, no one else can use it, and if a crime is committed, we can disable all smartphone functions for that person from our end.

Still, there will probably be people who find loopholes and try to exploit them. The great thief Ishikawa Goemon once said, “The sands on the beach may run out, but the seeds of thieves in the world will never run out.” Wicked people will always spring up from somewhere…

According to Kuon and the others, ordinary people can buy smartphones in the future (though they are apparently quite expensive), so some measures must have been taken.

I never thought that the state itself would be running a telecommunications service. I might have to think about developing various applications as well… Well, I guess I’ll have to dump all that work on the Doctors in our development department.

“Thank you for waiting.”

Finally, Yumina and the others emerged from the boutique. They had mountains of paper bags in their hands. How much did they buy…?

As I stood up from the bench, I caught a glimpse of Kuon’s screen as he was about to save his game—an entire mountain was gone. He was seriously shaving it down… Why does he need to flatten the ground that much…?

As usual, I began storing the purchased clothes into [Storage]. I did it gradually, hiding behind my wives as we walked, so no one would notice. By the time we reached the bookstore that Leen and Linze wanted to visit, my hands were mostly empty.

As soon as we arrived at the bookstore, everyone scattered to the sections holding their desired books.

The younger children went to the picture book and manga sections; Leen headed to the history and biography section; Quun went to the engineering, motorcycle, and car section. Linze went to the romance novel section… probably.

Kuon was also interested in the guidebooks for the new game he bought. It was a little comforting to see his childish side.

I happened to notice Sue picking up a medical book. Huh? Does she read those?

“Magic can heal injuries, but it can’t cure diseases, can it? Besides, not everyone can receive healing magic. This kind of knowledge is necessary. Even if the other world and this Earth have many differences, they also share much in common. It won’t be a waste.”

With that, Sue picked up several specialized medical and home medicine books, checked their contents, and stacked them beside her.

I knew that Sue could use healing magic and occasionally volunteered at the town clinic, but I didn’t realize she was thinking about it this deeply.

She knows that her mother, Ellen, went through a difficult time when she became blind. Perhaps that’s why she cherishes the importance of life and health more than others.

I guess… she’s matured compared to when I first met her… Has becoming a mother spurred her growth? Well, she hasn’t given birth yet.

Yae and Frei are reading food books. Maybe books about food tours? Lucia and Arcia are looking at recipe books. Yakumo is… reading a historical novel? How serious.

Sakura and Yoshino are in the music-related section, and even Elze, who isn’t very interested in books, is reading a fashion magazine. It’s clear that everyone’s hobbies are remarkably different.

My father, because of his job, is in the manga section, recommending titles to Linne and Allis. My mother is in the picture book section, looking for Fuyuka’s favorite. Elna and Steph seem interested in picture books, too.

Hildegard and Yumina are in the education section… They’re serious about this… Should I read those too…?

Hmm?

Suddenly, my eyes stopped on three high school-aged boys in the manga section. They’re probably a little younger than me. Isn’t that uniform from a pretty good high school around here?

They weren’t looking for books; they were glancing around nervously at the bookstore employees. …Their behavior is suspicious. Don’t tell me… Just in case, I took out my smartphone from my pocket.

I watched them, trying not to look directly at them. Two of the boys became a wall, creating a blind spot from the store employees. The third boy then put a book he was holding into his bag. …Ha, I knew it.

He must have removed the security tag inside the bag because he put a small object into a gap in a nearby bookshelf.

I suspected something because their movement was the same as when we put things into [Storage].

Hmm, I can’t just pretend I didn’t see that.

I walked over to stand in front of the boys.

“Hey, guys. I think you should take the book you put in your bag to the register.” “Huh? Who’s this kid…!” “Don’t start making false accusations.” “Get lost. Go away.”

The boys looked startled for a moment, but when they realized it was just a kid like me talking, their attitude suddenly became aggressive.

“You look quite experienced, don’t you? Are you a repeat offender? Did you get arrogant because you haven’t been caught? Or is it for some ridiculous reason like you wanted a thrill?” “You little brat…!” “Hey, stop it. Let’s just leave him alone and go.”

Another boy stopped the one who had reached out his hand toward me. They must have enough sense to realize that causing a scene here would be bad.

The boys quickly walked towards the bookstore exit.

“What about the book? Aren’t you going to put it back?” “Shut up! We told you we don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Oh, really? Well, that’s too bad. Ah, I didn’t want to do this…

“Excuse me, Store Employee! These guys are trying to leave with a book in their bag without paying!” “What?! You bastard…!”

The three boys glared at me, startled by my sudden loud shout. Naturally, the eyes and ears of the customers and employees also turned toward us.

Among them were some of my wives’ looks, which seemed to say, “Seriously, what are you doing?” but I decided to ignore them. That’s why I didn’t want to do this…

A male employee in his forties also noticed us and was jogging over from the counter.

“Damn it!”

The three boys dashed out the exit and started running at full speed. Are they trying to escape? It will only make their situation worse, as they’ve already been caught on security cameras. Well, I can’t let them get away.

“[Slip]!”

“Whoa!”

“What, you idiot…!”

“Ouch!?”

I activated [Slip] at the feet of the boy running in the lead. Predictably, one boy fell, and the others following him tripped over the fallen boy, tumbling onto the floor in the same manner.

The impact sent the bag he was carrying flying, and the contents spilled out and scattered.

What spilled out were several manga books with their plastic shrink wrap partially torn off. They all looked like new releases. They didn’t steal them because they wanted to read them. It must be for the purpose of cashing them in for pocket money.

The store employee who ran over glared sternly at the three fallen boys.

“Could you explain what’s going on?”

“W-we don’t know anything about these books! They’re not ours!”

“Oh, come on. You clearly put them in your bag yourself.”

I showed the video I had recorded to the employee, confronting the boy who was trying to lie. The video clearly showed the boy putting the store’s book into his bag.

“No way, when did he…!”

The boys, who had turned pale, conceded defeat and dropped their shoulders dejectedly.

I could have secretly used [Teleport] to swap the stolen books and return them to the shelf, but since the shrink wrap was torn and these guys would probably repeat the same thing unless they learned a painful lesson, I didn’t.

Soon after, the mall’s security guards arrived and took the boys away somewhere.

I was asked various questions, but I brushed them off with vague answers like “I was just playing around taking a video,” and “I thought it was strange that he put the book in his bag without paying, so I shouted.” I’m a kid, I don’t understand complicated things! …My wives were giving me judgmental side-eyes, but please pretend you didn’t see that…

Afterward, the store employees’ eyes widened as my wives bought books, dozens of them, per person.

I secretly loaded the purchased books onto a carry cart that I retrieved from [Storage], and we left the bookstore.

“There was something similar in Asakusa, but I see there’s quite a bit of that kind of theft in this world, too.” “Stealing for pocket money, as opposed to starving to death… is peaceful in a way, for sure. In Eashen, they would have been given the brand of a criminal right after being caught, and their life afterward would be miserable.”

Hildegard and Yae, walking ahead of me, were discussing something quite grim. The brand mark? Is that the thing from the Edo period where they tattooed ‘dog’ or something on a criminal’s forehead?

I think the first offense was just a horizontal line, the second added a left stroke, and the third added a right stroke and a dot, forming the character ‘dog’ (犬). The fourth offense meant capital punishment.

The mark and the number of offenses leading to execution varied by region; sometimes it was an ‘X’ or ‘又’ mark.

It seems convenient to know immediately that ‘this person is a criminal,’ but for the person themselves, it would be like being branded with a scar that lasts a lifetime.

In Brunhild, we don’t go that far, but repeat minor offenses can lead to being sent to the mines. In the worst-case scenario, you’d spend the rest of your life digging for ore in a hole. I think that’s even harsher than a simple execution.

Well, Brunhild doesn’t have any mines, so we have to ask other countries to take them.

Our country is still one of the milder ones; there are countries that say, ‘It’s fine to cut off the hand of a thief.’

We don’t have proper prisons yet… Well, we have exile punishments like being sent to an island, though.

I glanced at the cart and saw a book titled something like ‘The Penal Code Made Easy.’ Was this Yumina’s…? Or perhaps Hildegard’s. Those two are often in charge of security and public order in our country.

I should read it too, someday. It won’t do for the leader not to know about it. Even as an adult, studying is essential, I guess…