In the luxurious room next door, Makoto sat at a desk, a map spread out before him.
He had bought this map on the way to Axel.
Although Shiho didn't plan to go back, he himself still had to go back.
First, he needed to understand the geographical layout of this hodgepodge other world.
Just then, a knock came at the door.
"Come in."
Yu pushed the door open and entered, gently closing it behind him.
Makoto had him sit down.
After the two sat facing each other, Yu spoke: "Senpai, since the Uzaki Family was transported to a different place than us, it's possible that the other Mrs. have encountered the same situation."
Makoto nodded, acknowledging the guess, and asked with a smile, "So what do you think we should do?"
"I think we need to make our name known first, so that the other Mrs. know we're here and we can meet up."
Makoto nodded. "Mm, that makes sense. But no need to rush. Whether it's Kaguya or Utaha, they already have the strength to stand on their own. Even with those not good at fighting like Ichika or Moeha, without me around, they'll probably keep a low profile. No need to worry too much."
Yu nodded.
Makoto put away the world map, stuffed it into his item slot, stood up, and patted Yu on the shoulder.
"Alright, it's very late. We'll talk business tomorrow. Want to come experience the other world's nightlife together?"
Yu paused, then immediately understood Makoto's meaning. "How could I dare refuse an invitation from Senpai?"
The two walked out of the room one after another, their footsteps gradually fading down the corridor.
In front of the window of the large second-floor room, Mrs. Shizuka watched the two figures walk out of the inn's entrance, stand under the streetlight for a moment, then head deeper into the street.
Mrs. Shizuka immediately took a coat from the rack and put it on, preparing to go out.
"Auntie Shizuka, where are you going?" Kazuha had just come out of the bathroom, her hair still wet, wiping her hair ends with a towel.
Mrs. Shizuka paused, tried to look nonchalant, and smiled. "I ate too much tonight, so I want to go out for a walk."
"Then I won't go."
Kazuha draped the towel over the back of a chair. "I just took a shower. I don't really want to go out now."
Mrs. Shizuka smiled and nodded, thinking to herself, 'If you came along, it would be more troublesome.'
"Come back soon, okay? Even though it's the city, there's still a chance of encountering monsters." Kazuha's voice chased after her from behind.
"Don't worry." Mrs. Shizuka closed the door behind her.
On the bed, Aqua's figure had already spread out, occupying nearly half the bed, snoring loudly.
Kazuha rolled her eyes. "Aqua always takes up so much space every time she sleeps."
Shiho turned a page, her gaze lingering between the lines, when she suddenly remembered something.
She felt that Mrs. Shizuka wasn't the type to hide private savings.
Aqua would be more likely to do that.
'And if she really had money, she could have ordered food at the guild. Why beg for food from Makoto?'
But Mrs. Shizuka had already left, so there was no way to ask.
On the streets of Axel, streetlights cast alternating light and shadow on the stone pavement.
Mrs. Shizuka caught up to Makoto and Yu. Her steps were a bit rushed, her breathing not yet fully settled.
"Commander, I came to pay you back."
Makoto turned around and glanced at her. "You don't have to return the money in the middle of the night, do you? Can't it wait until tomorrow?"
Mrs. Shizuka lowered her head. "It can only be returned at night."
Makoto's gaze stopped on her face for a moment, then he nodded. "Fine. You guys ate less, so just give me ten percent. Ishigami, how much did we spend on dinner tonight?"
Yu thought for a moment. "About four thousand copper coins."
Mrs. Shizuka was shocked.
'Ten percent? Four thousand copper coins?!'
'That meant that for one dinner, Makoto's group plus their group had eaten forty thousand copper coins' worth of food?'
'Those kids could really eat!'
She gritted her teeth, tugged on Makoto's sleeve, pointed to a nearby dark alley, and lowered her voice even more. "C-Commander... c-can we go over there to pay?"
Makoto and Yu's expressions turned strange.
If they couldn't understand what she meant by now, they'd be fools.
"Senpai, I'm going back." Yu made an excuse and turned to leave.
Makoto looked down at Mrs. Shizuka.
Moonlight seeped through the clouds, illuminating her face, making it look even more charming.
'Truly, a single coin can stump a person even in another world.' Makoto sighed.
In his previous life, he had often heard stories of women in foreign soils on the verge of choosing sex work selling their bodies for a meal.
He never expected to encounter a similar situation after transmigrating to another world.
All you can say is, socialism is good. It's really good~
No matter what its problems, at least it won't let you starve to death.
"Th-that... Commander..."
After a moment, Mrs. Shizuka's voice came intermittently from the dark alley. "C-can we not do it here? Can we go to the inn? I can accompany you several more times..."
"No. Right here. I'll treat you to a few more meals."
The residual light from the streetlamp at the alley's entrance, at a certain angle, just illuminated the depths of the dark alley.
The shadows of two people on the wall were overlapping.
More than two hours later, Makoto led a limping Mrs. Shizuka out of the alley.
Mrs. Shizuka's hair bun was loose, a few strands of hair hanging beside her face, glistening with slight moisture under the streetlight.
Her steps were unsteady, walking with a pause each step, her knees turning inward, as if enduring something.
Makoto glanced at her but didn't let go.
Because he saw Yu.
Yu was standing under the streetlight across from the alley entrance, leaning against the lamppost, a pair of earphones hanging from his ears.
Mrs. Shizuka was startled and nearly fell, but fortunately, Makoto's hand held her, steadying her center of gravity.
Makoto looked at Yu with a strange expression. "Why didn't you go to the Succubus Den?"
Yu took off his earphones, his gaze sweeping over Mrs. Shizuka before landing on Makoto's face.
"I was afraid this woman might try something against you, Senpai."
Makoto laughed in spite of himself. "You think she can hurt me?"
Yu said seriously, "There are many special abilities in this world we don't know about yet. What if?"
Makoto paused.
He hadn't thought of it from that angle before.
If you just talk about stats and destructive power, both the Overlord World and the Konosuba World are, at best, a Super Kage level.
But when it comes to their mechanics, that's different.
Resurrection, time stop, teleportation, remotely crushing hearts... These abilities are not to be underestimated. It's really a case of lacking stats but making up for it with mechanics.
Makoto smiled and patted Yu on the back. "Alright, let's go back."
Yu nodded. When his gaze swept toward Mrs. Shizuka, it was still full of wariness.
When they were near the inn, Mrs. Shizuka stopped. "Commander, let me go back first... I don't want Kazuha and the others to see..."
Makoto glanced at her and nodded.
Mrs. Shizuka let go of his hand, adjusted her collar and hair, took a deep breath, tried hard to make her steps normal, and walked into the inn.
After her figure disappeared at the stair corner, Makoto and Yu continued walking.
Mrs. Shizuka stood at the door of the room, taking the key from her pocket.
'Everyone should be asleep by now, right?'
She inserted the key into the lock, turned it gently, and with a click, the door opened.
The room was very dark. The curtains were drawn tightly shut. Only a sliver of moonlight came through the crack in the window.
She could vaguely see people sprawled messily on the bed.
Aqua's figure was spread out. Kazuha was curled up at the edge of the bed. Akemi was lying on her side. Megumin was sprawled at the foot of the bed. Their sleeping postures were worse than the next.
Mrs. Shizuka let out a small sigh of relief.
"Your walk took quite a while, Auntie Shizuka."
The voice came from the direction of the window, cold as the winter wind.
"Ah!"
Mrs. Shizuka's scream had barely left her throat when she covered her mouth with her hand.
"Don't worry. I used magic to seal their hearing."
The sound of a zipper being pulled was especially clear in the darkness. Moonlight leaked through the crack in the window, illuminating Shiho sitting on the windowsill.
Those brown eyes stared intently at Mrs. Shizuka.
Mrs. Shizuka's palm pressed against her chest. Her heartbeat accelerated uncontrollably.
Shiho didn't say anything else. She just stared at her like that.
Mrs. Shizuka knew that if she didn't tell the truth tonight, this girl would never let her off the hook.
She sighed. Moonlight fell on her profile, illuminating the fine lines carved by time and sorrow at the corners of her eyes with particular clarity.
"...Shiho, can you keep a secret?"