Consulting With Rachel

“It’s been a while since the two of us went out together.”

“Now that you mention it, maybe it has.”

“So, where are we going?”

“Hmm, I haven’t decided in particular, but where should we go?”

Rachel had taken Kent out without deciding on a destination.

“The truth is, I had something I wanted to talk about a little. Since we’re already out, let’s wander around town. You’re free, right?”

“Well, that’s fine.”

Rachel’s forceful side had not changed as usual, but Kent felt nostalgic about that too.

“For now, let’s start attacking the shops around here.”

Saying that, Kent and Rachel came to a street lined with food stalls.

“I feel like there are more shops with dining spaces attached now.”

Kent noticed that the atmosphere of the lined-up shops had changed compared to when he had come before.

“As expected of Big Brother, you noticed well. Before, there were only shops that felt like they just sold things and that was it, but now there are more shops with simple chairs and tables set up. Well, because of that, the road has become a little narrower.”

Since chairs and tables were placed in front of the shops, the road was inevitably occupied and narrowed. When it was not crowded, it seemed people could pass without any problem, but during busy times, it felt like the passage width might become an issue.

“Well, I don’t intend to say anything about other people’s shops, but I feel like this arrangement is a little bad.”

“I don’t really feel that way. This might be Big Brother’s influence too, you know?”

“What do you mean?”

“Because the one Big Brother made at Marie-san’s shop was a huge success, it seems people think that making a space for eating and drinking will increase customers.”

“I see. But I think the conditions would change depending on the shop.”

“I think the current situation happened because they don’t think that way.”

Just as Rachel said, the dining spaces made in front of the shops were being used by many people and were lively. Looking only at that, it felt like every shop had good customer traffic. However, in reality, because customers stayed there to eat and drink, Kent thought that for street stalls, the turnover rate might have dropped and profits might have decreased.

“Well, there’s no point in me worrying about it.”

“Big Brother, since we’re here, shall we eat something?”

“Um, didn’t we eat something before leaving?”

“That’s that, and this is this.”

The two of them had eaten pudding before leaving, but Rachel did not seem to care and was searching for the next food.

“Hey, hey, Big Brother. They’re selling roasted sweet potatoes over there. I’m really curious.”

Rachel found a stall selling roasted sweet potatoes. Kent had the sense that roasted sweet potatoes were something eaten during cold seasons, and since it was still early September and still hot outside, he wondered if they were not out of season, but a long line had formed at the shop.

“Big Brother, let’s line up. I wonder if it’s the roasted sweet potato I know.”

“I wonder. This is another world, so it might be something different from what you imagine.”

A crowd had gathered around the shop selling roasted sweet potatoes, and from where they were, it was impossible to judge what kind of thing they were selling. However, Rachel seemed bothered by the words roasted sweet potato, and lined up without caring.

“Excuse me. Two roasted sweet potatoes, please.”

“Sure. I’ll prepare them now, so wait a little. Here you go. Two roasted sweet potatoes.”

“Thank you. Then here’s the money.”

“Thanks as always.”

Rachel received two roasted sweet potatoes?

“Hot. Big Brother, they’re hot, so be careful.”

“Thanks. Let’s see.”

Kent received the thing wrapped in what looked like dried leaves from Rachel and took out what was inside. Inside, it looked like a roasted sweet potato.

“Big Brother, is this a sweet potato?”

“It certainly looks that way, but I wonder about the taste.”

Kent tried taking a bite.

“It’s exactly a roasted sweet potato.”

“It really is. So this world had sweet potatoes.”

Rachel also followed Kent and tried taking a bite.

“I wonder. Caro-san’s territory has also started growing sweet potatoes, so these might have been produced there.”

“With this many customers lined up, it might be a bother to ask the shopkeeper too. For now, let’s enjoy this taste.”

They were a little curious about the production area, but Rachel did not seem very interested, and she put the roasted sweet potato into her mouth one bite after another. After that, they looked at other stalls, peeked into shops that handled clothes and accessories, and wandered around town.

“I wonder if there’s somewhere we can be alone together.”

Rachel suddenly said that.

“Alone together? What are you planning to do?”

“B-Big Brother, what are you thinking? We’re not going to do anything indecent.”

Thinking about what Kent meant, Rachel said that while blushing.

“Then, how about here?”

“Um, it looks like an ordinary inn, but short-term use for resting is also possible… I see.”

Kent pointed at a sign that happened to catch his eye and said that. The sign said that aside from lodging, it could also be used for short rests.

“This should be fine, right?”

When Rachel said that, she entered the entrance without waiting for Kent’s reply. Kent hurriedly followed after her.

“Excuse me, there are two of us. Do you have a room open?”

“Yeah, we’ve got one open. A rest? Or lodging?”

“Um, a rest, please.”

“Sure. Then for use until evening, it’s three silver coins for two people.”

“Then please take this.”

“Thanks. Then take your time.”

Rachel finished the reception and received the key. Then Kent and Rachel went up the stairs and headed to their room.

“Big Brother, this place is…”

“It’s a love hotel.”

There was only one large bed placed in the room. Kent had vaguely sensed it from the moment they entered, but because Rachel had gone ahead first, he had ended up following her. From the next room, they could hear the voices of an excited couple and a creaking sound.

“For now, a cup…”

Rachel pressed the provided cup against the wall and tried to listen to the excited voices next door.

“Um, what are you doing?”

“I was thinking I’d listen to what they’re doing…”

“…”

In a certain sense, Kent thought that his younger sister was something big.

“Here’s a drink. Well, it’s this kind of place, but what did you want to talk about?”

“Thanks, Big Brother.”

There were no drinks provided in this room, so Kent took a plastic bottle of tea out of his device and handed it to Rachel.

“Actually, I think Big Brother also knows about this, but it’s about the event that happens in winter.”

“You mean that thing from Gordon’s route, right?”

“As expected, Big Brother. It looks like you understood what I wanted to say.”

Rachel took on a serious expression and began speaking. What his younger sister was talking about was in Otherworld School Story, when the route to capture Gordon, the prince of this country, was entered. In the case of the other two, the capture period was two years, so no major events occurred in the first year, but in Gordon’s case, the capture period was one year, so it became quite rushed. Important events also occurred mercilessly in the first year.

“I’ll say this just to confirm, but when entering Gordon’s route, if you raise the parameters above a certain level by summer vacation, events happen one after another, and the relationship between the two progresses, right?”

“That’s right. But did you do anything during summer vacation besides your part-time job?”

“No, I worked. Even if it was for training new employees and making things easier later, I worked without a break during summer vacation.”

Rachel talked about the event, but Kent thought that if she had not even met him in the first place, then she could not have entered that route.

“In that case, I don’t think that event will happen.”

“I think so too, but if it does happen, Josette-san will…”

“That’s true… If it happens… that’s what will happen.”

Kent understood what Rachel wanted to say. At the school festival, her relationship with Gordon progressed, and they entered a suggestive relationship, but that relationship did not last long, and Gordon ended up falling ill. (In the other routes, Gordon stopped appearing, so what happened to him was unknown.) That illness was troublesome, and it was a special disease said to affect only royalty. To treat it, an ultra-rare item called the Fairy’s Tear was needed. The protagonist set out on a journey to obtain that item, but along the way, magical beasts and monsters attacked, so if the necessary parameters were insufficient, it had an outrageous system where it immediately became a bad ending. If it became a bad ending, for some reason, Gordon and Josette got engaged and ended up together, but if she could safely retrieve it and return, Gordon’s illness would be cured, her courage and initiative would be recognized, and she would reach the happy ending.

However, at the same time, if the happy ending was reached, Josette was deceived into buying fake medicine from a corrupt merchant, and because she used it on Gordon, his condition worsened, she was taken into custody, and she left the stage of the game.

“Big Brother, you’d be troubled if something like that happened to Josette-san, right? That’s why I thought we should think of countermeasures now.”

“That would certainly be a problem. So what should we do?”

“In preparation in case the event happens, it might be best to secure the Fairy’s Tear in advance.”

“I knew it would come to that… We’ll have to tell Josette-san to stay quiet if the event happens.”

“Well, I don’t think Josette-san, who is lovey-dovey with Big Brother, would take action at this point.”

Rachel took a sip of tea and continued speaking.

“But that item called the Fairy’s Tear is troublesome.”

“True… In the work, there’s no clear description of where it is. It only says that she found it after searching around forests and mountains, so searching for it seems difficult too.”

“Right… But we know several fairies, so maybe one of them might know?”

“At present, I suppose we can only bet on that.”

Kent and Rachel reconfirmed their policy going forward.