Chapter 31

She had initially assumed that the male goddess before her was a fraud, however she was now more confused since she couldn’t decide which of the goddesses was the real one.

Seconds later, Yuichiro spoke up, asking Kuku bluntly not caring about her confusion, “Is Aoi-sama, your goddess?”

“….Yes, sir.”

He continued, questioning the woman, “Does this Aoi-sama of yours refusing to let Temeraire go?”

Kuku immediately fell silent. Yuichiro, on the other hand, wore a complicated expression as he bit his lower lip. He then sighed and motioned to Goat, who was standing directly behind him.

“If you don’t return Temeraire, then this negotiation is over,” Yuichiro warned and continued, “Fire as many shells as you can at the forest.”

“Yes, sir.” Goat replied quickly, as if he had anticipated Yuichiro’s instruction.

Before Yuichiro could even give Goat the greenlight, Kuku abruptly interrupted him, “Please wait! I will persuade Aoi-sama.”

As Yuichiro had predicted, these women would never want a full-fledged war with Jeweld. That was why they were desperately trying to detain him and his group. Regardless, Yuichiro reacted coldly toward them.

“We’ve already given you enough time persuading them.”

“—Our words do not hold a candle compared to yours. If you are able to persuade Aoi-sama from your own mouth, then…”

In a more menacing tone this time, Goat snickered, “Not being able to convince one little girl speaks volume of your own incompetence, and now you’re trying to force our goddess into such a silly role?!” He then chuckled mockingly at the absurdity of her request.

Seeing this, Yuichiro stretched his arm out in an attempt to control Goat’s uncontrollable laughter, which caused the man to stop. Afterward, Yuichiro quietly said, “Very well,” while staring at both Kik and K’ku’s faces that covered in cold sweat, before continuing, “however, one of you will stay as hostage. While the other one leading me to Am Yisu.” He further added, “In the event that I and my men did not return to this encampment before nightfall, we will immediately behead the hostage in our hands and launch an attack on Am Yisu.”

Goat clucked his tongue, “Do we even have to make such concessions?” expressing his disapproval with Yuichiro’s terms.

After noticing Goat’s disapproving reaction, Yuichiro muttered something to appease his adjutant.

“If we don’t do something about it, this conversation will never meet halfway.”

“That’s not our responsibility.”

“I know, I know. I understand your feelings,” Yuichiro answered in a friendly tone, as if he was talking to a friend.

When Goat heard Yuichiro’s gentle, amicable reply, his expression slightly softened. He then ruffled his own unruly hair lightly with one hand and murmured, “So, can I be in charge of our battalion while Captain Ogami is gone?”

“You’re the only one who can anyway.”

“And cut off the heads of the hostages when the time comes?” Goat said, glancing at both Kiki and Kuku. In response, both of the women averted their gaze, looking down. Sweat beads streaked down to their slim chins.

Yuichiro responded, “I’ll leave that to you. But don’t get too carried away,” to which Goat responded with a grin of approval. Currently, his adjutant was acting like a child eager to open his present.

A while later, Yuichiro’s attention was drawn to Kiki and Kuku, who were still looking down. He then quietly asked, “Are you both sisters?”

“… Kuku is my younger sister,” Kiki explained, to which Yuichiro merely nodded his head absently in response.

“Now, you both decide which one of you is staying here. If you’re not planning to kill your other half, then protect me to death.”

*****

The air in the forest was cool and refreshing. To an outsider, the forest must have appeared as an endless sea of trees, from which no traveler could ever hope to emerge. Even so, when Yuichiro finally entered the forest, his sharp senses quickly relaxed, feeling comforted by the atmosphere. As a result, he took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the scent of earthy soil and wooden trees. Concurrently, the resplendent sunlight poured down on his feet through the cracks in the tree foliage. Then, as he observed the jewel-like lights dotting the forest floor, he was reminded of a game he and his daughter used to enjoy.

A small figure emerged from the back of his mind, hopping around while chiming ‘ken-ken-pa’—avoiding puddles of water after the day had rained, trying not to step on them.

“Father, hurry up, hurry up!” Mana, dressed in a yellow raincoat, turned around and called him. Despite this, he could not recall her face, as if his daughter’s face had become blurred.

As he continued to stare blankly at his own feet, attempting to retrace a past that would never return, he was interrupted by Kiki’s question, “Don’t you think you’re being reckless?” causing his face to distort, his brows furrowed.

“Did you not think I would betray and kill you? If the negotiations fell, did you not think you would also be taken hostage?” Kiki’s further asked.

Next, Yuichiro slowly said, “First of all, there’s no problem if I die. If I’m not there, the rest of the guys will do well. If I do become a hostage, there would still be an all-out war with Am Yisu, no different from my original instructions. Above all, you would not betray me,” answering Kiki’s question with full confidence.

Kiki gave him a perplexed look in return.

“Since you… are unwilling to let your sister die.”

[Therefore, you couldn’t betray me.]

When she was confronted by this fact, Kiki gasped slightly, her face twisted in mortification as she stared at Yuichiro. He remembered how Kiki and Kuku looked at each other when they parted ways earlier at the encampment. It did not take long for them to decide who would stay at the encampment and who would leave. Kiki’s older sister, Kuku, shook her head wildly from side to side in distress after hearing her younger sister’s decision to remain as a hostage, reasoning that she was less mobile than her.

Later on, Yuichiro was left in the dark about what transpired between them after their verbal discussion. He could only see them staring at each other, mouths closed, hands clasped together. Not a single word was spoken between them, which led Yuichiro to believe that they were probably conversing telepathically. Kiki eventually appeared to concede to her sister’s argument. Right up until the moment they left, Kiki clung to her younger sister, refusing to let go her go.

“You can betray me; you can kill me. But in exchange, your sister will die. My men will carry out your orders. I’ll cut off your sister’s head and eradicate Am Yisu from this earth.”

Kiki could see Yuichiro’s hatred in his eyes as he said this indifferently.

She then grumbled, “You-you lowlife.”

Even so, Yuichiro took pleasure in the blatant mockery that was directed in his direction. It felt like he was finally being addressed by the right name.

[No, I am not a goddess. Only a lowlife.]

Kiki’s lips clenched in fear as she watched Yuichiro’s reaction, which instead of becoming angry turned into a smile.

“I can’t believe a goddess like you exists.”

“I see.”

Kiki’s frank words were met with Yuichiro’s sly and curt response. Her immediate reaction was biting her lips in retaliation.

“However, Kuku instructed me to protect you. If I let you perish, the Yellow tribeswomen will regret it forever. Then, I will never be forgiven for eternity,” she said, shooting piercing gaze at Yuichiro. Her green eyes shone with zeal.

She added, “I don’t believe you. But my sister does,” in a somewhat rebuking tone, “so, I will protect you.”

After spitting these remarks, she quickly turned and walked away. In response, Yuichiro looked at Kiki’s straight back, who now lacked her earlier hesitance, and felt an inexplicable bitterness well up within him. In response, he clucked his tongue and resumed his walk.

Finally, after a long trek through the woods, he came upon a large settlement perched precariously upon the branches of enormous trees. The clusters of wooden dwellings looked like a bird’s nest from every angle. Long vines hung from the roofs of each home, and narrow bridges connected them.

As he looked up at the clustered houses like a bird’s nest, Kiki grabbed a vine and beckoned him, “Come here.”

As Yuichiro got closer, the woman urged him to take hold of the vine. Right after he grabbed one, Kiki held him by the waist. Her arm felt strong, as if she were holding a helpless woman.

“Hold on tight. Don’t fall.”

As soon as she muttered this, the vine was pulled upward with a jolt. It seemed that it was being used to hoist the vine upward. Yuichiro was lowered onto a large balcony-like area once the rope was hoisted up to the top of the tree. He could see a large mansion built through a gap in the branches in front of them.

“Please come in,” Kiki led the way.

As Yuichiro was about to walk, he abruptly halted his movement. He sensed that there were hundreds pair of eyes staring at him from all directions. He looked up and saw Yellow tribeswomen watching him stealthily from the windows of their treetop dwellings. As the stares clung to him, he felt his cheeks rise. With a large stride, he continued to walk in order to shake off the stares.

Upon entering the mansion, he noticed an atrium-like ceiling, with sunlight streaming in through the trees above illuminating the entire home. In addition, he saw a number of birds soaring overhead. A short while later, Kiki came to a halt in front of a sizable door. There was a lone Yellow tribe gatekeeper in front of the entrance. When Kiki pointed at the gatekeeper with her eyes, the gatekeeper quickly nodded and knocked several times before asking, “Aoi-sama, may I?”

“Yes, please come in.”

Soon after, the door swung open, revealing a large round table in the center of the room. In front of it sat a girl in a navy-blue sailor uniform. The girl gave off the appearance of any ordinary high school girl in his previous world, with straight black hair that reached right above her shoulders. While her nose was small, her eyes were large and bright, and she had plump, moist lips.

Although the girl had a cute appearance, it was not overpowering to the point of standing out. In fact, Yuichiro believed that the girl could be used as a one-time model for a magazine. When he unreservedly staring at the girl, she in turn gave him a quick, friendly smile.

“Nice meeting you! My name is Aoi Katsuragi!” Her tone was light and childlike.

The girl who introduced herself as Aoi quickly got up from her chair and ran up to Yuichiro. Looking down at her, Yuichiro deduced that she was at least mid-150 centimeters tall. Aoi lowered her eyebrows in concern as she looked up at Yuichiro, who continued to be silent.

“That… If you have black hair, then oji-san is also from Japan, right?”

In response to the timid voice, he spoke up, “I am Japanese, but I was in the jungles in South America when I was transported to this world. What about you?”

Aoi immediately shouted in a hysterical voice, “What??? Jungle???”

She then continued, “For me, I was supposed to be on the roof of the school. But before I knew it, I was already in this world. According to the person who helped me, I was swept away by the river…”

Yuichiro raised his brows after hearing about Aoi being swept away down the river. He then thought to himself, ‘What if, by some mistake, two people from different places were sent to this world at the same time?’

Furthermore, if one of them appeared in the underground temple and the other was swept away by the river that led from the underground temple—-then he would have no way of knowing which one was the real goddess.

Without noticing Yuichiro’s grim expression, Aoi clutched Yuichiro’s cuff with her fingertips, as if she were a lost child.

“Um… I don’t know anyone here at all and I’m scared… Oji-san, what’s your name?”

When Yuichiro heard Aoi’s voice, he lowered his brows. Looking at the girl made him miss his previous life for some reason.

“I’m Yuichiro Ogami.”

Hearing his response, Aoi blinked twice. Soon, her cheeks flushed and she mumbled happily, “Yuichiro oji-san.”

Translator’s Notes

You know, this girl speaks bad news to me. 🤨 I’m not liking her one bit.

p/s: If you like this chapter and want to read ahead, consider supporting me on Ko-fi!