CH 302

There was a quarrel between us and the soldiers as we tried to leave on our own, but in the end, Mikoto pushed through and the situation was resolved with a surveillance squad, ostensibly our escort detail. Either way, it’s difficult to stop our actions by force, because if they really wanted to stop us, they’ll need a lot of determination.

Even though we showed our strength just now, if you still want to stop us, you have to act like you’re prepared for a full-scale war. When we were about to leave, a messenger ran to the emperor and his court, and they probably compromised by sending us off with the soldiers. It’s tough for the lowly troops who are being pushed around by Mikoto…

That’s why we had a little trouble, but when we came out to town with the escort, we looked around here and there.

“He~… Is this what it looks like here?” Mikoto said, fascinated.

“… This is your hometown, right, Mikoto?” I said.

Something is suspicious… I was supposed to be guided by Mikoto, but Mikoto was guided by an escort. This is Mikoto’s hometown, so she knows it, doesn’t she? It’s like Mikoto, the ostensible guide, is the sightseer.

“I haven’t been back in years, right?” Mikoto replied. “It’s not surprising that things have changed from what I knew.”

“Well, that’s…” I muttered.

Maybe so, but… if it’s 10 or 20 years, it’s possible that things have changed a lot, though if it’s just a few years, I don’t think it’s changed that much…

“Besides, I used to be bullied because I was a dropout no one expected anything of, and I couldn’t go out into town freely like this,” Mikoto said.

“Ah~… I wasn’t thinking enough about that…” I said.

My parents were very understanding people, so I was able to move around relatively freely. In the beginning, I wasn’t allowed to leave the house officially, but in the middle, I was allowed to have a lot of freedom.

Compared to that, Mikoto, a member of the royal family, may not have been able to go out freely. As Mikoto says, being a dropout and being bullied will also have an impact. Even if she hangs around outside, she doesn’t know when she’ll meet her bullies, so there’s no way she can enjoy it.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s all in the past. Let’s have some fun instead,” Mikoto said.

“Hai,” I replied.

Mikoto is really positive. It’s possible that she’s overdoing it, but… That’s not something I should pursue unnecessarily. Right now, just like Mikoto said, the two of us should just enjoy sightseeing.

“Ah! Look at that!” Mikoto said.

“Ma…” I said.

Mikoto pointed to a windmill. A Japanese-style windmill spins around us.

This place… the country of the demons is like pre-modern Japan. Even if you say pre-modern Japan, you can’t really explain when and what it was. However, as you see in period dramas, many houses are wooden or have tiled roofs, but not all of them have tiled roofs.

I don’t know exactly what year or era it is, but it really feels like the world you see in period dramas. People, buildings, and customs make you feel as if you are really in pre-modern Japan.

At that time, the sun is high. It’s clearly a lower latitude region than the Kingdom of Ploiss. If the time, season, and planet are the same, it means that we are clearly in a low-latitude area. I don’t know how much it’s moved because it’s different by how many times it’s measured specifically. But obviously, the sun is high and warmer than it is over there.

After all, being swallowed by that whirlpool must have been a teleportation gate. The best proof is that I appeared in a place with a completely different climate, in an instant.

“Ah! What’s that?” Mikoto said, running to a stall that sold hairpins.

“Chotto, Mikoto…” I said.

Mikoto is really restless.

“This kanzashi is cute, isn’t it?” I said.

“…Hey Floto, why do you know the word kanzashi? I’ve never seen a kanzashi over on the other side?” Mikoto asked.

“Eh~…”

Now I’ve done it……. Mikoto is strangely observant… she’s usually something of an airhead, but why is this side of her so strangely sharp? This place looks so much like pre-modern Japan that I can’t help but let my guard down.

“It, it’s just a coincidence that I knew the word for them. But I don’t know how to use them too well. Mikoto, can you teach me?” I said.

“… Well, that’s fine. Then…” Mikoto said.

There is kanzashi that are tied up in Japanese hair and are simply used to decorate the hair, but there is also chopstick-like kanzashi that can be used to bundle and fasten the hair. I was a man in my previous life, and I’ve lived in a world without hairpins in this life, so I don’t really know how to use them. I’ll ask Mikoto to teach me how to use it.

“Eh… umm…” Mikoto said.

“Ah… Mikoto?” I asked.

“Chotto matte! Like this… huh?”

Since a while ago… Mikoto has been messing around with my hair. But it doesn’t fit well at all. It sometimes stings my scalp.

“Maybe… you can’t use hairpins, Mikoto…?” I asked.

“Uuu, uusaiwane!” Mikoto snapped. “I’ve never used hairpins before!”

She should have said so first… Why do you say such a thing after starting…?

“Ojou-sama-san, if you’ll hand me that… do it like this,” Oo-chan who ran the stall said as he quickly put the hairpin in my hair, tied it up, and secured it.

“Maa…” I went.

“I-I knew that!” Mikoto said.

I watched the process with a small hand mirror but he was too fast to see how he did it. He just twirls my hair and the kanzashi around it, sticks it in at the end, and it’s done. It feels good to see how it’s done right.

“Then, how about this Ojou-sama-san?” Oo-chan said as he also put a hairpin in Mikoto’s hair.

How skillful.

“Ma! That’s amazing! Could you teach me how to do it slowly?” Mikoto asked.

“Hee,” Oo-chan went. “Well then…”

There is no point in buying a kanzashi if you don’t know how to use it. So we’re going to buy them while having Oo-chan teach us how to use them. It seems that there are several ways to use the same type of hairpin. He taught us how to use it.

“Chotto! I can’t remember if we’re just using my head! Now it’s time to switch with Floto!” Mikoto said.

“Hai, hai…” I said.

Mikoto seemed mad her head was being used as a model to teach us. So this time, it’s my turn. But… isn’t this better? I can understand well because I can learn from the perspective of looking in the mirror and doing it myself.

Well, I guess that’s because Mikoto looked at it objectively a while ago. I might not have been able to understand so far if we had been using only my head from the start.

“I understand now! This is perfect!” Mikoto said.

“I agree,” I said.

In general, our understanding of how to use kanzashi is perfect. At least you should be able to do basic usage.

“Then we’ll take this,” Mikoto said. “Also, do you want to buy one for everyone as a souvenir?”

“Soudesune… It’s not bad for everyone to use a kanzashi,” I said.

There are many cute hairpins with fine workmanship. It might be a good idea to buy them as souvenirs for everyone and teach them how to use them, too.

“This and this… ah, what is this?” Mikoto said.

“Hmm… but it’s hard to put this one back, too,” I said.

After that, Mikoto and I ended up having a lot of trouble and decided to buy some hairpins. But…….

“How much is this?” I asked.

“Hee! Maidoari! They’re all going to be 120 Buhn,” Oo-chan said.

“………… Ah,” I said.

I freeze as I try to pay. I don’t have money from this country… yabee……. It’s hard to say I won’t buy any more!

“Chotto, anta-tachi!” Mikoto said, addressing our escort. “You’re taking money from Otou-sama anyway, right? Pay for us”

“Mikoto…” I said.

Is this ok? Isn’t it extortion?

But the escort honestly paid, as ordered. I don’t know if they really took the emperor’s money as Mikoto said, but at least they didn’t look uneasy or hesitate. From the beginning, Oo-chan who ran the stall didn’t think that we couldn’t pay because we were well-dressed and had escorts. He received the money with a warm face.

“By the way, Mikoto… how much is a Buhn worth?” I asked.

“Saa?” Mikoto went, confused.

Saa? she says…

“Isn’t this the country where you were born and raised, Mikoto?” I asked.

“But I never paid for it myself and I don’t know how much it’s worth,” Mikoto said.

Ooh… It’s all the more refreshing to hear her say it with so much pride. She’s definitely a princess, so it’s not strange, but I can’t help but wonder if that’s okay.

“A bowl of buckwheat costs about 16 buhn,” an escort said, trying to be helpful.

If a bowl of buckwheat is around 500 yen in modern Japan, then if it’s around 500 yen for 16 buns, it’s a little over 30 yen, is it? If that’s the case, one hairpin costs 20 buns, so about 600 yen? I don’t know if it’s expensive or cheap…

Unlike factory mass production, each one is handmade, so in that sense, I feel like it’s too cheap. It shouldn’t be so cheap originally because it’s pretty elaborate to make. Or should I say that these handicrafts are too cheap?

It’s always been the same, crafting jobs are hard work, but the rewards are small, and it’s probably a business that’s being subsidized. I don’t know about pre-modern Japan, but that’s probably how it is in this world’s Demon Country. Otherwise, I feel that this price is too cheap because it is handmade.

“Hee. Is that so? Then let’s go to the next,” Mikoto said.

“Mikoto…” I said.

Mikoto doesn’t seem very interested in such matters… well, I’m a ruler and I have knowledge of my previous life, so I guess I end up thinking and comparing various things.

After that, when I go around with Mikoto…

“Look, look! That person! Her face is weird!”

“Ahaha! It’s true~!”

“…………”

The children are laughing while pointing at me.

“Kore! Don’t be rude with what you say!”

Someone who looks like a parent is scolding them, but they won’t deny I have a strange face. They probably worry about my escort, stopping the child because they think they’re in danger if they offend us too much.

………… This is that. A guy called the Emperor in His New Clothes. The adults must have thought I had a weird face, but they didn’t tell me. But obedient children say what they think. I mean, I’m treated like I have a weird face here!

“I know what she is~! That’s who you call~, a gaijin!”

“Gaijin! Gaijin!”

“…………”

Hmmm… I’m Japanese at heart… But I can’t say that I’m Japanese by my appearance in this life. Of course, I’m a foreigner to them, who are very Japanese in this world… But, I wonder what this is… This sad feeling is indescribable…

“What? Does it bother you? Do you want me to deal with those gaki? Mikoto said, charging her magic.

“Cho! Cho! Mikoto! Why are you so serious about these children!?” I yelled, hurriedly stopping her.

What is she saying about these kids… after all, it would be what a child would say.

“Just kidding, just kidding,” Mikoto said.

No… it wasn’t a joke. She was seriously trying to release a magic spell. Why is that…….?

Ah……. Is that it? Is it because of the experience of being bullied in the past?

Children speak and act immediately as they think. It’s cruel at times. Adults may not force themselves to say anything back or try to confront them, but children may say unnecessary things or make fun of them.

Of course, there are adults like that, and there are children who are sensible. Just because you’re an adult doesn’t mean you’re not exempt from childlike behavior. But that aspect is certainly more common in children.

Maybe that’s why Mikoto remembers the old days when she witnessed things like that. Because she was also bullied for not being good at magic or not having much talent…

“Let’s go to the next one,” Mikoto said.

“I agree,” I said.

I feel like I can’t say anything. Mikoto seems to be bright and positive… Maybe that’s the flip side of her bravado. I don’t know what to do when I think about stepping poorly and gouging out old wounds.

“Hora! Hurry up, Floto!”

“Hai, hai! I’m going now.”

But… Mikoto is certainly smiling now. I think it’s a smile from the bottom of her heart. That’s why… I think we should cherish the moment now.

We wandered around the town and made the escorts pay a lot of money, and even the ones who gave us money at the beginning were teary-eyed towards the end. They didn’t mean to use that much, did they? If 1 buhn is a little over 30 yen…, ah~… well, isn’t the total about the monthly income of a moderately middle-ranking person? No big deal, right?

Could it be that the escort didn’t get the money from the emperor? Then we didn’t do anything wrong. I’ll follow up with something later.

And then… we met the emperor and empress again at the dinner table.