Chapter 24

Turning the corner, crossing the bridge, and turning another corner.

Efa had lost sight of the fox's shadow long ago, but she continued to run.

She felt hungry, but now she could only keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Only by doing so could Efa distract herself from her loneliness.

This was not the ancient city she was used to.

That much was clear as soon as she stepped onto the main street.

Carriages without horses, like the ones she had seen earlier, were passing on the gray roads.

After a brief observation, she understood how to avoid being run over by these strange carriages. There were several places where one could cross like wading through a shallow river, and there were always pillars standing there.

When the lanterns on the pillars glowed blue, the iron carriages were not coming this way.

There were too many people in this city.

Many more people than on the main streets of the ancient city, brushing past her as they passed. The bustling crowd made her think it was some kind of festival, but it didn't seem to be.

For these people, dressed in unfamiliar clothes, this was their daily life.

After crossing the main street a few times, her feet tangled, and she almost fell.

Efa had a vague sense that the fox was no longer to be found. But once she started thinking about that, she had to consider something even more terrifying.

She didn't know the way back.

At first, she had tried to remember the route, but the streets of this city all looked the same to the unfamiliar Efa.

The same color buildings, the same shape of corners, the same width of roads.

The people on the streets seemed to be dressed the same, and Efa gradually became frightened.

The word "divine punishment" crossed her mind.

Perhaps the messenger of the gods had immediately inflicted divine punishment because she had been taken away with the fried tofu.

If that were the case, Efa would never be able to return from here.

She would never see her parents, her younger siblings, Shinobu, Taisho, the customers at the shop, or anyone else again.

In this suffocating city where she didn't know left from right, she would quietly starve to death without anyone knowing.

Thinking about it, tears naturally streamed down Efa's cheeks.

"What's wrong, are you crying?"

Suddenly, a man from a pair of men spoke to her.

While the people in the city were not wearing hats, these two were wearing sturdy hats.

Also, their waists. They had wooden sticks hanging from their waists, like the ones Hans and Nicolaus wore. Efa knew that if you hit someone with those sticks, even a grown man would faint.

"Do you understand Japanese? Ah, do you speak Japanese?"

One of the men crouched down and spoke to the silent Efa. The other was talking to a small box with a string attached.

Kidnappers!

Efa understood instantly. These men were trying to take her somewhere. The small box the man was talking to must be a tool to call his fellow kidnappers.

"Can't you understand English? Are you German? Gogoromaru, can you speak German?"

"No way. You know Suburin, right? I specialize in Chinese."

"You only know a few words... 'Chi' and 'Pong' and 'Pinfu'..."

"Rude. I can count numbers properly."

"Only up to nine, I bet."

Ignoring Efa's retreat, the two men were talking in some strange code.

If she were caught, she would surely be sold. If that happened, she would never be able to return to her beloved home.

Efa closed her eyes, bit her lip, and took a deep breath through her nose.

Focusing her mind only on the front, she dashed forward.

"Hey, kid! Wait a minute!"

Shaking off the two men's attempts to stop her, Efa ran.

To escape, she ran into an alley, through a hedge, and across the main street where the blue lanterns started to blink.

She ran, ran, ran, and ran.

When she realized it, she had climbed a stone staircase with dozens of steps and arrived in front of a small shrine.

Her whole body was drenched in sweat, and her legs, knees, and entire body were screaming in fatigue.

Efa sat down on the ground in the shadow of the shrine.

The leaves of the surrounding trees rustled in the wind.

This place was so calm and quiet that it was hard to believe it was connected to the city she had just been in.

The fact that there were so many trees but no leaves on the ground suggested that someone was sweeping every day.

Suddenly, Efa remembered that she had been in the middle of cleaning at the izakaya Nobu.

She had finished part of it, but could Shinobu finish the rest by himself before opening, now that he had returned from his walk?

Thinking of Shinobu's troubled face, Efa couldn't help but laugh.

Worrying about the cleaning of a place she might never be able to return to was not the time.

She had to think about how to survive from tomorrow, or rather, from tonight. Living in that suffocating city seemed too difficult, so Efa decided to look for a way to live near this shrine.

The floor of the shrine was slightly raised from the ground, so if she crawled underneath, she could probably avoid the night dew. For food, she would have to beg somewhere.

If she could be hired at this shrine, that would be the best. Cleaning such a large area would be difficult, so if Efa showed her cleaning skills, she might be given something to eat.

Just as she thought this, her stomach growled.

If only she had eaten that rice ball before chasing the fox.

Fox, fox, fox.

Looking up, she noticed a fox in front of the shrine.

It wasn't the fox she had been chasing. It was a stone statue of a fox, two of them standing side by side as if guarding the shrine.

Because of the fox, she had ended up in such a place.

Thinking this, she felt a bit resentful towards the fox, but as she gazed at the fox statue, that feeling strangely disappeared.

"If only this fox could take me back to Nobu."

After muttering this, she laughed at herself, thinking it was impossible.

She was already exhausted to the limit. Walking over to the fox statue, Efa sat down, leaning against its base.

The cold stone took the heat from her body, which was flushed from running.

Closing her eyes, Efa was soon led into a dream.

"Daughter. Hey, daughter."

Awakened by someone's voice, Efa opened her eyes slightly.

It seemed she had fallen asleep, but she was still at the shrine. It wasn't as if she had woken up from a dream and found herself dozing off at the izakaya Nobu.

However, she wasn't fully awake yet.

The one peering into her face was the white fox that had stolen the fried tofu.

"Daughter, you are from the other land. Why are you here?"

"Because you took the fried tofu that was for the messenger of the gods."

Rubbing her sleepy eyes, Efa protested.

If the white fox hadn't taken the fried tofu, none of this would have happened.

"That's a strange thing to say, daughter. The messenger of the gods is none other than me. In other words, that fried tofu was offered to me."

"Then why did you run away?"

Caught off guard by Efa's sharp question, the fox was speechless.

"Well, daughter, you suddenly chased after me."

"I wouldn't have chased you if you hadn't run away! Besides, isn't the messenger of the gods supposed to be an angel with wings?"

"That's a messenger of a different god. I serve a different god."

"Hmm... I'm not convinced."

The fox shook its head in exasperation and flattened its tail.

"Anyway, it's a serious matter for someone from the other land to wander here without permission. I will send you back with my divine power."

"Can I really go back?"

"Not being able to return would be a problem. Besides, I have some responsibility in this matter."

As the fox made a sign with its front paws, the scenery around Efa began to blur.

"Connecting the izakaya, which seemed unlikely to succeed, to the other land with the power of the god of rice was a success or a failure... I must be more careful not to be seen by this girl the next time I peek."

"I won't chase you if I see you again!"

"Of course. Ah, and I have a message for two people."

"A message?"

"Yes, I will only say it once. Listen carefully and remember it..."

"...Efa! Efa!"

Shaken awake by someone's large hand, Efa slowly opened her eyes.

In front of her were Taisho, Shinobu, Hans, Nicolaus, and Etvin.

"Um, I..."

It seemed she had been lying on her back, and she saw the familiar ceiling of the izakaya Nobu.

"Efa, we were so worried about you!"

Shinobu hugged her upper body, which she had finally managed to sit up. Her cheeks were wet with tears.

"Where did you go during the cleaning? We even got the guards to help and searched in different directions."

"I thought kidnappers had appeared and asked everyone in the neighborhood."

"Still, Efa, when did you come back and fall asleep on the floor? We didn't notice at all when we were asking around."

"Anyway, it's good that you're back."

Taisho, Hans, Nicolaus, and Deacon Etvin also rubbed Efa's face, their faces crumpled with relief.

Efa wanted to tell them about what happened in the other world, but she stopped.

It felt like a dream, and she thought no one would believe her.

However, there was one thing she had to tell them.

"Taisho, I have a request."

"What is it, Efa? It's rare for you to make a request."

"Please make the offering at the kamidana inari sushi once a month."