Short Story: Souvenirs for the Gods

“What would I like for a souvenir? Romance manga is fine for me. Oh, and I wouldn’t complain about some delicious cakes.”

“Romance manga and cakes. Got it.”

Now that we were going back to Earth, I decided to ask Karen and the other gods what they’d like as souvenirs. I thought it would be better to get their opinion rather than trying to guess.

“A longsword for me. A katana is also fine,” Moroha requested.

I narrowed my eyes and asked, “Why are you making my life difficult?”

They don’t have swords in Japan. Well, they probably do, but it’s not something I can just buy from a local shop. Even katanas are expensive if you want to get the good stuff.

“Isn’t a kitchen knife or a letter opener good enough?” I tried to negotiate. “Well, I guess that would do, but… Oh, I know. How about a book on

swordsmanship down on Earth? Or even just about swords. That sounds like it would be interesting.”

That certainly sounded a lot more doable. That was Moroha sorted out, then. “Say, is a bow or a knife also off the table?” Karina piped up next.

“Not completely off the table…but I do think the ones over here are of better quality.”

I could get a bow for archery or kyudo, and for a knife, I could get something like a survival knife, but compared to the enhanced weapons you had here, they were barely worth it.

“I’m not too worried about that. It’s a souvenir, after all. I’ll just use it as decoration.”

“So you’re good with that, Karina?” “Sure thing.”

I quickly wrote that down in my notebook.

“Some fruit or vegetable seeds would be grand,” Uncle Kousuke said. Next, Sousuke gave a strum of his guitar.

I see you’re as talkative as ever.

“Sousuke says he’d like a unique instrument,” Uncle Kousuke translated for me.

“A unique instrument, huh? Got it.”

Surely there would be something if I wandered around the music stores.

Would they sell didgeridoos in Japan? “Uncle Takeru and Suika—”

Before I could even finish asking my question, the two of them turned and said at once, “Alcohol.”

“Didn’t even need to ask…”

They likely wouldn’t be content with just one or two bottles either. Guess I’d have to buy as many local sake brands as I could.

“I wanna drink all sorts of sake! So get me tons! Even small bottles! Nice drinking snacks too!”

“I prefer my alcohol dry. Something that hits hard, like the spirits the dwarves drink.”

Unfortunately, I was still underage, so I had no idea what made alcohol good or bad. Suika seemed to want variety, so I’d just buy everything that had a good reputation or that caught my eye. For Uncle Takeru…I guess I could just buy anything with a high alcohol content? There was that Spirytus vodka, right? Said to be the strongest alcohol in the world? Surely that would be good enough.

After asking Granny Tokie and God Almighty what they’d like, I was done. Granny Tokie wanted a stylish watch, while God Almighty wanted a teacup, a small teapot, and some high-quality green tea.

I also asked God Almighty to exchange a few more gems for enough yen for the souvenirs. There were quite a lot of expensive requests there, after all…

I also intended to buy some sort of local traditional crafts for Kraft in Mismede. I didn’t know where the rest of the gods were. I wasn’t sure if they even knew we were going to Earth. Honestly, the prospect of giving gods souvenirs from Earth already felt kind of strange. But, hey, it was fun picking them out, so this was interesting in its own right.