"Oh, that's it! Why do you have a picture of that?"
My sister looks at my phone and rolls her eyes.
"This company was the site we went to for today's cleanup. I had to take pictures before and after the cleanup to confirm the placement of the items we moved."
"Wow, that's quite a coincidence. Did you meet the boss I heard so much about?"
"I was greeted by him, but he seemed a bit strange and nice. Just..."
I'm still stuck on the frightened look of that employee.
"No, I didn't have a bad image of you."
"Oh, yeah. I don't like that guy; he's like a picture of a conscious person. It was painful to talk to him."
My sister hugged her shoulders and shivered. She seems to be seriously uncomfortable with it.
"Oh, yeah. .... Huh? You're business rivals, but you've met before?"
"Only once. It seems that the company has grown by pulling talented employees from rival companies, and they even approached me. I feel sick just thinking about it."
It's rare that my sister hates someone so much. But pulling her out, I admire the fact that he saw that his sister was talented, but I suspect that he had another goal in mind when he targeted her, as she was young and good looking....
"What's the company's image?"
"Hmm, I heard that they are an excellent company, but I also heard some bad rumors in the industry. They seem to be doing a lot of different things, and when they enter a new industry, they always succeed by pulling out the best employees."
"The same goes for Sassetsu, does it pay well to pull people out?"
It's a world I have no experience in, so I can't really imagine it, but I wonder if it's that easy to attract good employees. With my poor imagination, I can only think of ways to tempt them with money.
"The salary was pretty good; though not double my current salary. They were talking about two days off a week and no problems with pay, but...it was all a bit shady."
My sister has a good eye for people, doesn't she? The stalker even said that he had a hard time with her from the first time he met her at school. I don't know if it's her keen intuition or her powers of observation.
"Also, two people from my company suddenly resigned, and when I asked them about it, it seems like they were taken over by them."
"So you've been pretty busy lately."
"I'm desperate to fill in the gaps! I don't mean to blame them for changing jobs, but if they had told me in advance, I could have easily followed up. I thought they wouldn't be so irresponsible, I'm disappointed."
Her cheeks were puffed out in anger, but her childish face made her look like a sulking child. In the past, I would have comforted her by patting her head, but if I did that now, she would probably get angry. She may look young, but she's already over 20 years old.
"I see. You're working hard, Sayuki."
"Yes, I am. I'm doing my best, so…"
I reply to my sister, who is proud and boastful, "Great, great." That company was Utopia, right? The president said that if they liked us after this cleaning, it would become a regular cleaning service. I might have a chance to go there again and I'll try to observe it with a little more awareness.
As soon as I got home, I lost the rock-paper-scissors game and gave up the bath, while I watched the village on my PC. There were very few villagers awake at this time of night, except for the nocturnal Kang and Ran, plus the man in charge of keeping watch.
I checked the past logs to see what the villagers were saying that I couldn't see while I was at work, but with the number of people in the village increasing, it took me quite a while just to read back.
"I guess I'll just let the Gams and the non-main characters slide."
If I read the whole thing properly, I'd lose a lot of sleep time. However, Gams only said "Oh," "Yes," and "I understand." When Gams doesn't speak for a long time, it's a sign that the village is at peace, which makes me think that he should talk a little more, but also makes me feel relieved.
Chem and Carol seem to be getting along well with each other just by looking at the text, but in reality they are just cooperating to keep away the village women who are trying to talk to Gams.
When I lived there for a month, I realized why Gams was so popular. Seeing Gams in the flesh was more powerful looking than through a screen, but I didn't feel safe when the monsters arrived. That guy is irresistible. I can say that with certainty.
Lodis seems to have gotten busier and busier since he became the village chief, writing some kind of documents and going around the village to listen to the opinions and requests of the residents. At first glance, he looks unreliable, but he's doing a great job as the village leader. I'm counting on you, village head.
Laila does the household chores for the family in the morning, works at the village cafeteria from noon, and then takes care of the village's growing number of children and babies. She's showing off her motherly spirit to the fullest.
Murus is in charge of defeating monsters, processing wood and building structures with her elven companions.
In this world, humans seem to be less prejudiced against elves and beastmen, but even so, there are some incompatibilities with humans that can't be helped, and Murus serves as a bridge between them. So far, there have been no visible conflicts or disturbances between the different races, thanks in large part to the presence of Murus.
Kang and Ran are also active as woodworkers, and their presence is a source of comfort. Just by looking at them every day, my fatigue from work fades away.
"No, no, no. First, the logs."
There was a possibility that some disturbing people might be mixed in with the growing number of villagers. Even though I'm going to be watching from afar, I have to check for any villagers who might be making strange comments.
"...Nothing special? What about the fact that Gams popularity is spreading not only to young women in the village, but also to married women..."
If it's Gams, I don't think there's anything to worry about, but if he's unfaithful in the small world of the village, it will spread quickly. I'm sure it's just a longing like a crush on a male idol, but should I lightly warn him with the oracle? This is a point of concern.
"I'm done with my bath."
I heard my sister's voice echoing from downstairs, so I grabbed a change of clothes and went to take a bath. As I took turns going into the bathroom to wash myself while my sister just got out of the bath, I saw one object floating in the bathtub.
"You're....You're following me again?"
Destiny was the first one in the bath. He has learned the wonders of hot springs during his stay in the Village of Destiny, and he has been taking a bath with me more and more like this. I don't have to worry too much about my family finding out about it since I often come home late at night, but I don't know what to think about a lizard taking a bath.
"Be careful, my sister's awake today."
When I warned him while washing his head, he wagged his tail up and down. That seemed to be his way of saying he understood. I'm sure he's fine because he's as smart as a human, but he's pretty bold. He seems to escape from his cage even when I'm not home for work, and my mother has encountered Destiny walking around the house several times.
In the beginning, she screamed and was surprised, but now she says, "Oh, there you are. Do you want some fruit?" And is watching a TV show with him. Human adaptability is amazing. When I went to the living room in a refreshed state, I found my younger sister absentmindedly watching TV.
"You have an early day tomorrow; maybe you should get some sleep?"
"Uh-uh. I'll go to bed in a little while."
"Well, I'm going back to my room. Good night."
"Good night."
It's nice to have a relationship where you can say good night naturally. I was the only one in the family who was not a part of the group, so I was more than happy to be a part of an ordinary day. After grabbing some fruit for dinner, I returned to my room and sat down in front of my computer to observe the village once again.
The guards are yawning, and Kang and Ran are making chairs in the woodworking workshop. The rest of the villagers are sound asleep. It's comforting to see the village in peace. I still can't believe that I was actually there a few months ago.
I've always had an emotional attachment to the characters, not being able to separate them from the game, but after that experience, I can't help but think of them as my relatives.
When a young couple new to the village gave birth to a child, I spent the whole day in front of my PC cheering them on, and even cried when I heard the baby's voice. These days, I don't even want the game to be fun; I just want it to pass peacefully every day.
"The [Village of Destiny] is a game, but it's not a game."
The villagers certainly live in a different world than this one. They respect me because I'm acting as a god. I have to contribute a little. I look over the list of miracles that can be activated by spending fate points. The number of items has increased since I became level three, which is annoying to my indecisive nature.
"Hmm, hmm. Don't look around."
Each time, I just looked at the different types of miracles and didn't activate any of them. The only things I've done since I've been back are the miracle of controlling the weather and calling a vendor for goods for a baby born in the village.
The village is doing well, so I don't need to do anything else, but I want to reserve a certain number of points just in case. At the very least, I need to keep the points to control the golem. In the end, I decided to go to sleep without activating the miracle after much worrying today. I have cleaning work to do tomorrow, so I need to rest up.
"Good night, everyone. Good night, Destiny."
I called out to the villagers and my partner, who was curled up at my feet, and then closed my eyelids. I was so tired that I let go of my consciousness in a flash.
...…
The next day, I woke up and sat in front of my computer as usual.
"What is it? What's going on?"
The villagers were gathered near the door attached to the log fence. Those who couldn't fight hung back, while Gams and the other combatants kept a watchful eye on the door, weapons in hand.
"A monster attack? But then…"
It's not like the villagers are going to get upset over a monster attack now. And since the [Temptation of the Evil Gods] had just ended, the monsters were relatively quiet.
"What do you want?"
Gams is talking to someone in a stern tone of voice. When I scrolled the screen so that I could see the area around it, I saw several strange people near the door.
"Immigrants....No, this is what they look like."
The color of her skin was instantly distinguishable from the rest of the village. Dark skin and good looks similar to those of the Murus. This is....
"Dark Elves, right?"