Chapter 105

Under the gentle rays of the March sun, we kept our carriages moving along the highway.

There wasn’t much of an atmosphere suggesting that we were headed toward an active combat zone just yet.

Riding his horse alongside my carriage, the hero from Earth was in high spirits.

“Man, I never thought I’d get to charge my smartphone again. I’m so glad I didn’t throw it away.”

Gary’s smartphone was currently charging from the portable power supply loaded in the back of the carriage.

Since we also had solar panels set up on this carriage’s canopy, sharing this much juice wasn’t an issue at all.

Apparently, his phone was packed full of his favorite manga, anime, and images.

The moment he laid eyes on the solar panels, Gary had asked to charge his phone with a desperation that looked like he was about to do a dogeza.

He must be dying to see what was inside.

“It’s been a whole year since I last checked my phone. To think I’d get to see my treasures again… I’m overwhelmed with emotion.”

“When did you come over to this side, Gary?”

“It’s been about a year and two months now.”

A significant amount of time had passed, then.

“How long have you been here, Kota?”

“Well, as for how long…”

I went ahead and explained that I was a summon, moving back and forth between Japan and Saxens.

“Oh my gosh!” Gary stared at me, his eyes sparkling. “K-Kota… I have a favor to ask.”

Well, I figured it would come to that.

There were bound to be plenty of things he’d want to ask of someone who could return to Earth.

Out of a sense of camaraderie as fellow countrymen, I felt I could grant most of his requests.

“Go ahead and tell me. As long as it’s not illegal, I’ll do what I can.”

“Awesome! Well, for starters, I want you to buy a bunch of stuff from back home… Oh man, what should I choose? There are way too many things, and I can’t think straight.”

I suppose that made sense.

After spending over a year over here, his wishlist must be endless.

“In that case, why don’t you put together a list during our encampment tonight? Here, you can have this.”

When I handed him a notepad and a water-based pen, Gary accepted them with a deeply nostalgic expression.

We marched until evening, managing to cover forty-five kilometers today alone.

I felt that was a remarkably fast pace.

I was a bit worried the horses might overexert themselves.

Because we had pushed forward as far as possible, we had already bypassed the post towns.

Tonight, we would be setting up camp near a watering hole on the plains.

“Blitz, are you doing alright? Not too tired?”

Blitz—Lady Clara’s beloved horse who hadn’t been able to spend much time with us lately—seemed to be in a slightly better mood.

Even though he had been walked all day today, he was happy because he got to stay with everyone from morning till night.

Snorting softly, he rubbed his neck against me.

This was his way of demanding a massage.

What a cheeky horse.

He had completely developed a taste for it.

But my massages had leveled up even further, you know.

The best you’ve experienced so far is probably my Golden Fingers at most, right?

Now, I’m a man who possesses the God Finger skill.

I’ll make sure to properly relieve your fatigue.

When I used my skill to heal Blitz, he pushed his muzzle against me with all his might.

He seemed incredibly happy.

Since Blitz was the horse that carried Lady Clara into battle, I wanted to ensure he was always in peak condition.

“You’re special, after all.”

As I spoke to him while stroking his neck, Blitz gave a deep nod.

He was a clever animal, so I felt he genuinely understood what I was saying.

“Take good care of Lady Clara.”

In response, he tossed his neck back, puffing out his chest and letting out a sharp neigh as if to say, Leave it to me.

The sun had completely set, wrapping our surroundings in darkness.

Aside from the sentries, the soldiers had all retired into their respective tents.

Hans and I stood guard in front of Lady Clara’s tent.

Inside, Emma was keeping her company.

“Here, Hans, you should wear this.”

I pulled a down jacket out of my Spatial Storage and handed it to him.

Since it was mine, it might be a bit too big for him.

Even though April had arrived, the nights were still freezing.

Setting up camp in a place like this at this time of year reminded me of my company’s hanami.¹

Back when I was a new hire, I had to camp out overnight at Kudanshita just to secure a spot for the party.

I had a sleeping bag, so it didn’t bother me at all, though.

It was nowhere near as cold as sleeping up on a mountain.

“The clothes you provide are always so incredibly warm, Sir Kota. Is this some kind of magitech item?”

“Cut it out, please. If you say things like that, your lady is going to glare at me, you know?”

Emma was a devout follower of Nordicism’s Elder Faction, so she was fiercely opposed to the development of magitech items.

“My apologies,” Hans said, looking genuinely contrite.

“I’m just joking. Besides, a down jacket isn’t a magitech item, so you can put your mind at ease.”

For Emma’s sake, Hans played the part of a devout Elder Faction believer, but from what I could tell, he didn’t seem particularly invested in their doctrines either.

Come to think of it, I was the same way.

My family home back in Japan belonged to the Jodo sect of Buddhism, but if someone asked if I actively believed in its teachings, I couldn’t really say yes.

You could say I was only tied to it because of social obligations, family tradition, and the family grave.

If anyone pressed me with overly rigid doctrines, I’d just be at a loss.

Though I did like the teaching that chanting Namu Amida Butsu could save anyone—it was simple and easy to understand.

Plus, the concept of saving every single person was pretty cool.

But if you asked whether I truly believed it… who knows?

I was probably the type who only turned to faith when I was in a tight spot.

Lately, though, I found myself praying to Mr. Handsome instead.

After all, I had actually met him in person.

Whether he’d actually grant my wishes remained a mystery, but I at least knew for a fact that he existed.

“Kota. I put together the list.”

Gary walked over to me.

He was wearing his armor, but his undergarments looked thin and chilly.

“Here you go. By the way, Gary, aren’t you cold?”

“I can use Body Enhancement, so hot or cold doesn’t really affect me much.”

As expected of a Hero Summons.

His specifications were on a completely different level compared to a mere summon like me.

“A Hero Summons grants you all kinds of abilities, right?”

“Yeah. My baseline athletic ability and stamina are probably around fifty times what they were back on Earth. Plus, I can use various types of magic.”

Incredible.

He could use multiple forms of magic too.

“It’s the same for the other heroes. But my most unique feature is a skill called ‘Magic Signal’.”

“Magic Signal?”

“Yeah. It’s an ability that lets me turn nearby trees or stones into antennas and communication devices.”

Now that was a skill the military leadership would absolutely drool over.

I had felt that the military’s response to their recent defeat was unusually swift, but perhaps the frontline information was being transmitted directly through Gary’s communication network.

“Never mind that, just check the list for me.”

“Sorry, sorry…”

List of things I want Kota to buy:
Peanut butter
Easy Cheese (spray cheese)
Cola and beer
Spray whipped cream
Jelly donuts
Vol. 4 onwards of “[Manga Name]” (English version)
Portable power supply and solar panel set
Any kind of junk food snack (preferably popcorn—both butter and caramel flavors)

Holy total junk!

I could understand the peanut butter.

That would probably be fine.

But I didn’t quite get the next item.

“What’s spray cheese?”

“You don’t know?! It’s cheese that comes in a spray can. You press the button, and the cheese shoots out of the nozzle like pfffft. It’s absolute heaven when you spray it over a pizza!”

Adding more cheese on top of a pizza already loaded with cheese?

As expected of America.

“It’s not just pizza; I love spraying it on hot dogs too. After a year of hard work, I’ve finally managed to recreate burgers, hot dogs, and pizzas over here, but I just can’t duplicate that unique taste of spray cheese.”

W-Was that something to get teary-eyed over?

Well, having been summoned over a year ago, I suppose it was the ultimate taste of home for him.

“I’ll do my best to hunt it down. As for the cola and beer, I can get those out for you right now.”

“Ugh, thank you, Kota. For starters, I’ll take a draft beer!”

True to his deep knowledge of Japan, his phrasing sounded just like a Japanese salaryman.

Though rather than just being a Japanophile, he felt dangerously close to a total weeaboo.

Now, as for the spray whipped cream, it was probably fresh cream in a aerosol can, just like the cheese.

I recalled seeing something like that at my local supermarket.

The only thing left was the jelly donuts.

“Do jelly donuts have gelatin jelly sandwiched inside?” Did we even have those?

“It’s the kind with jam stuffed inside!”

Ah, I see, so that was a jelly donut.

“And if you slather peanut butter on top of that, it’s the absolute best.”

It sounded like the absolute best way to gain weight.

I was slightly tempted to try it, though…

As for the English versions of the manga, I could probably find them if I went to a bookstore specializing in foreign publications.

“I’ll do my absolute best, but I don’t get to spend a lot of time back on the other side either.”

“Yeah, just whatever you can manage is fine. Should I pay you in dollars or marques? I only have about forty-seven dollars on me, though…”

“Marques is fine.”

“In that case, I’m a multi-millionaire!!”

The hero seemed to be making quite a fortune.

I made sure to emphasize that my next return to Japan wouldn’t be for a while, but Gary’s excitement showed no signs of cooling down.

For the time being, I decided to feed him some fried chicken.

Hopefully, the beer and chicken would help calm him down.

Ah… never mind.

Now he started bawling his eyes out while shouting.