Chapter 1

"Hey, if you don't have anywhere to go, why don't you work for me?"

That's what he said, and it was a month ago that I was taken in by the old man.

---

For some reason, when I woke up, I found myself lying on a riverbank, surrounded by people dressed in kimonos like in a period drama. I was startled.

"Huh, is it a festival?"

I thought that, but the presence of men with topknots made me feel it was somehow different. And everyone was much taller than me. This sense of wrongness... I'm so small!?

When I looked at my palms, feet, and stomach, I realized I was a child, and I was wearing a tattered kimono. Without a mirror, I peered into the river water to confirm, and it was as I expected. To be in such a bizarre situation and become a helpless child... I felt utterly dejected.

---

However, I suddenly thought,

Who am I, anyway?

I knew I was in Japan, and I remembered there were cars and big buildings. But I couldn't remember who I was or what kind of person I had been. From the way I felt dejected about being a child, I think I was an adult. And from the way I refer to myself as "I," I think I was probably a woman. Well, some men do use "I" too...

This world was definitely not the one I had been in. Otherwise, I would have been a slightly odd child with mild amnesia in this world.

---

Feeling somewhat dazed, I walked for quite a while, and before I knew it, a glittering world had spread out before me. It was an unusual town bustling with women, and the buildings lining the streets had lattices. When I looked inside... huh? Men?

Very beautiful men in elegant kimonos were inside.

Hmm? That's strange, I thought it was something women did. The sense of wrongness still lingered.

As night fell, the lights in the town grew even brighter. My feet hurt from walking, so I decided to rest by squatting down behind what seemed to be a brothel or something (I didn't know the exact term).

Suddenly, I felt lonely and almost cried. Maybe because my body was that of a child, my instincts took over my rationality, and my eyes started to well up.

"Ugh... huh..."

Crunch

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

Just as I was about to cry, someone suddenly spoke to me. Startled, I turned to see a strict-looking old man with white hair in his fifties, frowning at me.

A bit scary.

"Are you lost?"

Startled and scared, I could only shake my head.

"Do you have any parents?"

Again, I shook my head at the old man's question.

"Then... do you have a place to go?"

"N-no..."

It took three questions for me to finally find my voice. But even though I answered, I wondered what this person wanted.

The old man started muttering to himself, like a prayer.

"An orphan? No, no parents... but... from..."

Not understanding what he was saying, I looked up at him blankly. He stared at me with his stern eyes, then smiled.

"Alright, you have a good face."

"?"

"Hey, if you don't have anywhere to go, why don't you work for me?"

Given that I had nowhere to go and knew nothing about this world, I had no choice but to take the hand he offered.