Side Story: Escaping Reality (Mishurine's Perspective)

"Sherifie, I'm here!"

"Mishurine!? You only just got back. What happened to the soul you brought from Earth?"

"Leon. He made it back to Milsuyute, but he still has no divine power, and I can't think of anything for him to do, so I figured it would be okay to leave him alone for a while."

"He may not be able to do anything, but... at least watch over him!"

"But there's nothing I can do, so what's the point of watching him? Watching over someone takes divine power too. More importantly, I want to eat Japanese sweets!"

Japanese sweets are truly delicious. Dorayaki, manju, and daifuku—they're all exquisite! I made my world as much like Japan as possible because I wanted to eat these sweets in my own world...

My world stopped feeling much like Japan because of my previous apostle, and even setting that aside, it's now on the verge of being destroyed by monsters. How did things end up like this?

I want to help somehow, but there's nothing I can do right now... I might as well think about it after eating something sweet!

"I think I'll come up with a good idea if I eat something sweet!"

"You really are something... Sigh, fine. But once you've eaten your sweets, you're going home!"

"Of course. I love you, Sherifie! I want dorayaki, manju, and daifuku! And warabi mochi too!"

"Ordering that much will consume divine power, you know."

"Even if it consumes some, it would only be a tiny amount. Besides, you have divine power to spare, don't you, Sherifie?"

Bringing things from my world to the divine realm requires divine power, but it takes very little to bring them over. I love Japan so much that I even created a country like Japan in my own world. I want to live surrounded by Japanese entertainment.

I only want to make that dream a reality, so why can't anything go right? Now I have to come all the way to Earth's divine realm and ask Sherifie, which is so inconvenient...

"You do have divine power to spare, but... all right. Dorayaki, manju, daifuku, and warabi mochi, right? Here you go."

"Thanks, Sherifie! Could you get me some manga too? The continuation of the one I read the first volume of last time!"

"Weren't you going home after eating those!?"

"I'll read it while I eat."

"All right, I get it. This is the last thing, though!"

"Yep! Thanks, Sherifie!"

I had been dying to find out what happened next in this manga! I had read only the first volume last time, and it was incredibly interesting. When I asked Sherifie about it, she said the series was complete, so I wanted to read it all the way to the end.

And I have snacks too. Hee hee... I'm so happy.

Mmm, dorayaki are the best! The sweet bean paste inside is delicious, and the outer cake is wonderfully tasty too. Then I lost myself in the world of the manga. Delicious sweets and manga—the perfect combination.

"Mi... rine... Mish... rine... Mishurine!"

"Huh? Oh, Sherifie? What's wrong?"

It was just getting good. They were about to storm the enemy's headquarters.

"How long are you planning to stay!? You don't respond no matter how many times I call you!"

"How long? Until I finish reading the manga, of course."

"You finished it ages ago! This is your fifth time!"

Fifth time? I suppose I have read it several times... But it's so interesting that every time I read it, I get just as nervous and excited as if it were my first time. Manga is a wonderful culture.

"You should go home soon."

"But it's just getting good..."

"You've read it five times already, so that's enough! I'm going with you, so let's go home!"

Sherifie took me by the hand and started flying toward Milsuyute.

"H-hey, don't pull my hand so hard!"

"You won't go home if I don't."

And so Sherifie dragged me back to Milsuyute.

"Mishurine, you have enough divine power to at least see how Leon is doing, right? Show me Leon."

"Why?"

"Why? He's the soul you brought from my world! Just because you failed to reincarnate him, don't abandon him—watch over him!"

"Y-yes!"

Sherifie is scary. She has a terrifying, demonic expression. I used a small amount of divine power to show Leon's current situation.

"Where is this?"

"Huh... That's the Royal Academy entrance exam! Why is Leon there?"

I was supposed to have reincarnated him as the son of a restaurant owner on the outskirts of the royal capital, so why was he taking the Royal Academy entrance exam?

What was going on?

"Mishurine, what is the Royal Academy?"

"It's the only school in this country. Only nobles and a handful of wealthy commoners can attend."

"Why is he taking the entrance exam for a school like that? I thought you failed and reincarnated him as a poor commoner!"

"I don't know, but... maybe he ended up taking the exam because he's so capable. As expected of my apostle!"

I knew things would be different once I granted him abilities. As expected of my apostle—he's so talented!

"You haven't done anything in the end, have you? You only gave him All-Attribute Magic and All-Language Comprehension. It's not because he's your apostle. The souls from my world really are talented."

"That's not true! It's thanks to me!"

"Mishurine, you still haven't even managed to speak with Leon, have you? There's no way it's thanks to you."

Ugh... It's true that I haven't been able to do anything, but I did at least manage to grant him those abilities. Maybe this really was thanks to me.

"Putting aside who deserves the credit, it's good that Leon is at least moving toward a higher social position. Maybe his chances of saving this world have gone up by about one percent?"

"Only one percent?"

"Of course. Leon doesn't even know how dire this world's situation is, much less how to prevent it. It would be a miracle if he managed to save the world under these circumstances."

"Ugh... Well, that's true, but..."

I wonder if there's any way to let Leon know. If he held one of the divine artifacts I once dropped into this world, I could contact him. The staff and book that can seal the hole between worlds are in this country's royal palace, right? If only he could somehow get his hands on them there...

I have enough divine power to issue one oracle, but I could only deliver it to one person in the church in the central district, which is a sacred area. If I gave an oracle to some random person, they'd probably dismiss it as their imagination... And even if that person believed it, there's a chance no one around them would.

If I were going to issue an oracle, the king would be the best choice, but I've never seen him come to the church in the central district... I really can't do anything.

"Sherifie, no matter how much I think about it, I can't come up with a good idea... I could contact Leon if he held the divine artifacts in the royal palace, but the problem is how to tell him that. I can only issue one oracle to someone in the Central Church..."

"The biggest problem is that you have far too little divine power. Just give up and wait for Leon to go to the royal palace and get his hands on the divine artifacts. Until that time comes, keep watching over Leon. It would be disastrous if you missed that moment."

"You're right..."

"If you were in Earth's divine realm, you wouldn't notice when Leon touched a divine artifact, would you? From now on, you're forbidden from leaving this world, Mishurine."

"That's so unfair!"

I can't go to Earth anymore...? The manga, the sweets, all the things I love...!

"As people's faith in you increases, your divine power will recover faster. Wouldn't it be better to work on restoring their faith? Use what little divine power you have and work to restore their faith."

That's easy for her to say, but raising people's faith is incredibly difficult! Usually, either their faith in me is extremely weak or they worship some other god they made up themselves.

But it seems the people in the country where Leon is still have some faith in me... If that's the case, could there still be hope if I work hard?

Issuing an oracle consumes too much divine power, so I need to think of something else. With the divine power I have now... could I at least make the statue of me in the Central Church light up?

I made that goddess statue—and part of the church—myself, so I can make it glow... But would anything really change just because it lit up?

Still, it would be better than doing nothing. I don't want to see the human world destroyed by monsters again. Monsters are savage, and I hate them. I have to do my best somehow!

"Sherifie, I'll give it my best!"

"Mishurine, you look determined now. Do your best. I'll come by with sweets sometimes to cheer you up."

"Really!? I love you, Sherifie!"

All right! I'll do my best to save my world!