Believing in Ouma-san's words about an energy source he knew of that could run Merl-san's spaceship, I wanted to go there right away, but I couldn't right now.
Tomorrow was the first day of school since the summer vacation. While the summer vacation itself would continue for a little while longer, there was homework to be submitted on this day so there was no way I could miss it.
Fortunately, I had finished my homework early so that I could hang out with Kaori and the others at the beach, so I didn't have to worry about that.
…It feels like it's been a while since I've seen everyone. Before the summer vacation, we used to see each other every day, but with the summer vacation, that stopped, and I felt a little sad.
So when the school day was over, I asked Ouma-san to take me to the place where the energy source was located… To my surprise, Ouma-san made a bargain here.
"I can tell you about it, but if that's all there is to it, there's no benefit for me. So, therefore, if you want the energy source for that little girl, you'll have to do me a favor."
"F-favor? What exactly is it…?"
As I involuntarily tensed up at the mention of a favor from Ouma-san, the Genesis Dragon, Ouma-san's eyes snapped open, and he said.
"──Take me out of the house on Earth! "
"…..Eh?"
At Ouma-san's unexpected words, not only I froze, but Yuti and the others as well. Without paying any attention to our situation, Ouma-san began to complain like a child.
"Because it's not fair! Night, Akatsuki, Ciel, and Yuti! Besides, I'm sure that little girl there can enjoy the Earth too! And yet, I'm the only one who is staying at home… It's not fair, not fair!"
"Not fair, you say…"
"Woof…"
"Fugo."
"Pii."
"…Confused. The dignity of the Genesis Dragon is ruined."
As Yuti said, Ouma-san was like a spoiled brat right now, no matter how I looked at him. Night and the others were also confused and dismayed by Ouma-san's behavior.
Then Ouma-san noticed our gaze and gave us a look of disapproval.
"What is it? You guys. Do you have a problem with that? I can never walk around outside of Earth's house as you do, can I? Hmm?"
"That's…"
"While you are enjoying yourselves on Earth, I am spending my days in this house just sleeping… This is no different from my old life!"
That's a problem for me too. If possible, I would like Ouma-san to take a look around the Earth, but no matter how I look at him, Ouma-san's appearance is that of a dragon.
"E-even if you put it that way, Ouma-san is a kind of creature that doesn't exist on Earth, so your appearance is just…"
"Appearance? What's wrong with that?"
"I-I mean, your wings?"
If he didn't have wings, wouldn't he be more like a monitor lizard…? No, huh? I don't know. There's no one around me who has a monitor lizard, so I don't know!
I've been thinking about this for a while, and then I suddenly realized something.
"R-right! The main reason why Ouma-san can't go out of the house is that he looks like a dragon because of his wings."
"Hmph. I'm a Genesis Dragon. It is natural for me to look like a dragon, isn't it?"
"But if you can hide those wings… m-maybe we can fake it…?"
"Why are you becoming less and less confident?"
No, it's okay to come up with an idea, but I don't know if it's a good idea at all.
"P-please wait for a moment! Then, I'll prepare something for you."
After telling Ouma-san, I rushed out to buy something. My destination was the pet store where I had purchased Night's collar before.
Thirty minutes later.
"I-I have bought it!"
"Hou? I didn't know that there were things on Earth that could disguise my appearance."
"Y-yes. Here it is!"
I held out the item I had bought to Ouma-san.
"…..What's this?"
"…..It's clothes."
"…What?
"U-um… It's pet clothes."
Yes… what I gave Ouma-san was a small piece of clothing meant for a pet dog or cat.
This way, Ouma-san's wings could be hidden by the clothes…! No, there might be a great deal of discomfort in his back area, but there's nothing more I can do about it!
In order to at least minimize the discomfort, I chose the thick hoodie-type clothing. However, Ouma-san started to shiver in front of the clothes I offered him…
"D… don't be silly! Why do I have to wear something like this? And it's for pets!"
"B-but, I can't think of any other way to disguise Ouma-san's appearance… Ouma-san wants to look around by yourself, don't you? You've probably figured it out."
"Of course!"
"Or at least… If you just want to take a look at the outside scenery, you can use the cloak of disguise that I gave to Akatsuki, or maybe I can put you in a bag or something and carry you around while you stay quiet."
"Ugh… that's not enough to enjoy as much as I want…"
Yes, there were many ways to hide his appearance.
However, Ouma-san did not want to do that; he wanted to take a walk and enjoy the Earth normally. He might have wanted to go out for a bite to eat, but if he were to hide away, he wouldn't be able to eat what we bought immediately.
Ouma-san was troubled by my words, but he growled in front of the pet clothes before him.
"Ughhhh… but… there's no way I'm going to wear this no matter what!"
"I-is that so?"
What I bought was a pet hoodie – it was pink and had a cute heart symbol on the back.
"It's not something that would look good on me, no matter how you look at it."
"I don't think so. But, look, since we have it here, why don't you try it on?"
"What? N-no, I don't want to wear something so cute!"
"But you won't be able to go out without it, you know?"
"No, a different color or pattern would be fine!"
"Well, well, you should try putting it on first."
"H-hey, stop it! Whoaaaaa!"
I held the struggling Ouma-san in my arms and dressed him in the clothes I had bought.
Then…
"It's a humiliation… for me, the Genesis Dragon, to be dressed like this…!"
Ouma-san was now dressed in a pink hoodie. The size seemed to be just right, but the wings on the back were still pushing against the costume and looked a bit uncomfortable, but it was… acceptable.
"You don't have to be so gloomy about it… It looks good on you, you know? Right everyone?"
As for me, I'm delighted with the new cute side of Ouma-san, so I asked everyone that──.
"W-woof…"
"Bu-buhi…! Fugo, fugo!"
"Pi! Pii!"
"…Silent. I'll refrain from mentioning anything about it."
"H-huh?"
Night and Yuti looked somewhat bewildered while Akatsuki was laughing, and Ciel's eyes were shining as if to say, "Ouma-san, that's great!." Hmm, I thought it looked good on him. I guess I don't have any sense of style.
"W-well, that's okay. The purpose is to take a walk around the Earth. Clothes are just a trivial matter."
"…I feel like I'm being swayed, but so be it. Sigh… I never thought I would end up wearing something like this… I'm not sure if I should be impressed with Yuuya for doing this to me without fear…"
Ouma-san let out a sigh and then continued as if he had regained his composure.
"Well, okay. I can go out in this outfit, right?"
"That's right. Well, there are a few other things you should be aware of, such as talking outside, using magic, rampaging, flying, etc… But as for the most important issue, I think your appearance is fine."
"Hmph. If you say this is not good enough, I will not guide you to the place where the energy source I know is."
"T-that would be a problem…"
Currently, Ouma-san was the only one who knew where an energy source for Merl-san's spaceship might be located. It would be difficult for me and Yuti to find it in the other world by ourselves.
Then, Merl-san, who had been quietly watching our exchange, raised her hand.
(Um, I know I shouldn't be using it too much, but since Ouma-san is guiding us to the location where the energy source is… if your identity is discovered on Earth, I can use my terminal to erase all records of you from Earth.)
"…The more I hear about it, the more amazing it sounds."
Merl-san's own existence, including everyone's memories and electronic records, were erased just by operating the terminal on her arm.
"But if Merl-san is willing to go that far, then we can go out with Ouma-san more safely."
"Oh, that's great! Then let's go immediately──."
"Ah! But we can't go right now, you know? Tomorrow is the first day of school, so I have to prepare for it… Besides, Ouma-san would like to go out in the morning, wouldn't he?"
"Mmm. That's also true."
I've decided to go out with Ouma-san, but first I have to prepare dinner. Then Ouma-san wanted to eat curry, so I decided to go shopping for the ingredients.
At this time, Merl-san expressed interest about Earth, so she decided to take a walk around outside before Ouma-san.
…Well, Ouma-san complained at the time, but it was indeed difficult to take Ouma-san with us to the supermarket, so I asked him to stay at home once more.
＊＊＊
"H-hey, look…"
"What is it, what is it?"
"What happened? Huh…"
"Um…"
(Hmm? What is it?)
When I thought about it, I realized that Merl-san was dressed in a way that didn't look like an Earthling, and her hair was all shiny. Especially now that it was nighttime, the shine of her hair stood out even more, drawing the gaze of many people on the street.
I wonder if it's a good thing that I brought her along…? She definitely stood out, and… her clothes look like full-body tights, so I think it's pretty dangerous.
However, Merl-san herself didn't seem to be particularly concerned about the stares from the people around her and was totally unaffected.
"Um, are you okay? You're standing out…"
(I wonder what makes me stand out?)
"Eh? Um… I mean, the way your hair is shining…?"
(Huh… It's a very common phenomenon on the planet Amel… You're right; Earthlings don't glow. Why is that?)
"Why, you say?"
I never thought I'd be asked that! W-why aren't we glowing…?
Since the question was asked so seriously, I couldn't help but think seriously, but I couldn't come up with an answer. Space is amazing.
As we went towards the supermarket, attracting the attention of the people around us, I was suddenly approached by a voice.
"Oh my? Yuuya-san?"
"Eh? Ah, Kaori!"
And then I met Kaori, who was probably on her way back from shopping. But unlike before, Kaori was surrounded by a group of women who had some kind of mysterious presence.
"Um, who are these people around you?"
"Oh… these are the guards that my father prepared for me."
"Guards? Is there something that happened?"
When I asked her that, Kaori looked gloomy for a moment and then immediately smiled vaguely.
"N-no, not particularly… But my father has been experiencing some disturbances lately, so he assigned them as my guards."
"I-I see…?"
If you ask me, the Earth has also been dangerous… recently? Well, because of me, aliens have been visiting the Earth, so it was indeed a mess. I'm really sorry for everyone on Earth.
Besides, for rich people like Kaori, there might be dangers lurking in their daily lives that I didn't understand. There would be threats, kidnappings, ransom demands, and so on… That's just to be expected. This is not a drama, though.
The strength of a person can not be known without using my [Identification] skill, but the women who were assigned as Kaori's bodyguards seem to have… a strong presence.
Then Kaori approached me a little confusedly.
"Then, um… who's that woman?"
"Ah… this is Merl-san."
"Merl… um, she's not from this world, is she? Is she from the other world?"
Kaori sensed something and asked me that in a low voice, but I answered with a wry smile.
"That's… She's neither from Earth nor from the other world; she's an alien."
"Eh?"
Kaori rolled her eyes and stared at Merl-san as if she hadn't expected that answer.
"S-she's indeed dressed in a somewhat sci-fi design… B-but, is she really an alien?"
"Yeah. To be honest, I don't really believe it yet either… but apparently, she is."
Kaori was taken aback by my explanation.
Then, Merl-san, who had been looking around while I was talking to Kaori, tilted her head and spoke to me.
(Why don't you finish your shopping early? I think your family is waiting for you…)
"Ah! That's right. See you later, Kaori!"
"Eh? Y-yes…"
After saying goodbye to Kaori, I hurriedly headed to the supermarket.
"…Yuuya-san, your circle of acquaintances has expanded to the universe…"
Kaori, who was watching us from behind, muttered a few words, but they did not reach my ears.
"Ojou-sama. I think it's time for you to go back. There's also the matter of the threatening letter…"
"…Yes, that's right. Now that I've done my business, let's go home. Sigh… I hope Kasumi is okay too…"
＊＊＊
(! T-this is… so delicious!)
"T-that's good to hear."
"Comprehension. Even if I don't understand a word of what you just said, I understand. Yuuya's cooking is delicious."
"Good grief. The food in this world is really exciting. Refill, please!"
"Yes, yes."
As I prepared a refill of curry for Ouma-san, I reflected on today's events.
The day after tomorrow is the day I'm going to go to the other world, so the question came up as to what to do with Merl-san from today. Originally, she could have stayed in the spaceship she came in, but the Dragonia's attack had disabled the engines, so she had to stay in my house until she returned to her planet.
Fortunately, my house was big enough for me alone, and I have plenty of room, so it's not a problem.
I wondered if there were any differences between Merl-san and the people of Earth in terms of eating and sleeping, but it seemed that she could eat the same meals as everyone else and had the habit of sleeping on a futon.
Well, it seemed that the futons were not the same as the beds and mattresses that she was used to, but with the drop item, the [Paradise Futon], anyone can get a great night's sleep, so there's no problem.
So with that being said, they were still eating the curry I made for them, and Merl-san was bringing the curry to her mouth with a twinkle in her eyes.
(I've never eaten anything as delicious as this before. Earth… may be a remote planet, but it's really a wonderful place.)
"Haha… Um, what kind of food do you usually eat, Merl-san?"
(Me? That's right… Well, if I were to compare it to what we eat on our planet, I'd say it's more like a block of nutritional food or supplement.)
"Eh… is that really what you're eating?"
(Yes. Despite the taste, they provide all the necessary nutrients and calories.)
What a disappointment; I was kind of interested in space cuisine.
However, as I could somehow imagine from the tight-fitting tights like the ones worn by Merl-san and the Dragonia aliens, the more science and technology advances, the more everything would change into a more efficient form.
As a result, cooking became just a way to prepare nutrients…
"Let's see… There's still plenty of curry to go around, so don't be hesitant to eat it."
(Yes!)
Just like I thought when I met Ouma-san, Japanese food companies are truly amazing. That's what I thought.