Yeah, Yeah, Another World, Another World
“Don’t churches of the Hymn Sect have guardian spirits like Miyako?”
“I’ve never seen one.”
“What are you talking about! Any old building should have a guardian spirit or two. They just don’t talk to humans, that’s all.”
Is it something like a zashiki-warashi (a traditional Japanese yokai resembling a child)?
It’s hard to tell now since it’s inside a figurine, but originally, it might have been a little girl wearing a kimono with bangs.
“So then, does the Hymn Sect not conduct spirit communication at all?”
“I’ve never seen or heard of anything like that.”
“Nice going, Okuda. You’ve gone one step beyond the Hymn Sect. We could probably start our own religion now.”
“You want me to die!?”
Judging from what Rio told me about this country’s religious views, this situation seems to carry considerable risk.
If we casually started advertising something like “One healing session for 20 gold coins, 15 for ladies on Fridays!”—well, let’s just say I wouldn’t be surprised if a dump truck came crashing through the door this time.
“Kind of a late question, but how does healing work in the Hymn Sect?”
“When I was little, I saw priests playing instruments and nuns singing hymns along with the music to heal injuries and reduce fevers.”
“So maybe the instrument the priest plays is a magical healing item?”
“！！！！！”
Rio closed her eyes, pinched the space between her eyebrows, and raised a palm toward me.
“Just wait a second… Right now, my entire understanding of reality is being completely rewritten at high speed…”
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Since I haven’t actually seen their healing rituals, this is just speculation—but most likely, the Hymn Sect used an instrument-shaped magical artifact for healing while incorporating singing as part of the performance to attract followers.
At this point, there’s no way they could just say, “Anyone can use this magic item to heal anyone!”
Because of that, the white magic that Okuda recreated is extremely dangerous.
Our main objective is to return to Earth, which means we need to establish a system capable of gathering information more widely.
In such circumstances, creating a hostile organization would obviously hinder our operations.
“So for that reason, this staff is off-limits for taking outside. Basically, we’ll keep it stored inside the brothel.”
“Please do.”
“But leaving it unused feels like a waste, so maybe we can keep it behind the bar counter normally and use it for sudden stomachaches or colds.”
“It kind of sounds like having medicine on hand…”
If only we had a smaller version that didn’t look like a magical item at all, I’d want to hide it in my bag and take it into dungeons. That’s where people get injured the most, after all.
“Won’t it also be useful for laundry and cleaning the room?”
Aoi-chan chimed in with a question.
“Of course it’s fine. It’s really convenient, after all.”
“I won’t let anyone call us smelly anymore!”
“Just be careful—if you use purification magic directly on Rocco, he might mistake himself for ‘dirt’ and accidentally erase himself.”
“Eh… that’s a bit…”
As we were wrapping up the general usage rules and starting to chat more casually, Okuda suddenly seemed to remember something.
“We haven’t tried summoning spirits yet.”
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“No no no no—what if something actually appears!? Based on how things have gone so far, someone real might actually show up—you know, someone holding a trumpet or something!”
“But if someone truly divine did come, wouldn’t they be able to tell us why we were called here, or even how to return home?”
“Hmm, that’s actually a good point!”
What would happen if the “higher-dimensional being” Okuda mentioned really appeared? Would they scold us with something like, “You dare summon me so casually!?”
Even so, wouldn’t they give us a clue—or better yet, tell us exactly how to return to Earth?
“Rio, just asking for reference, but in the past…”
“Never happened.”
She denied it pretty firmly.
“Then, Professor Okuda—we’re counting on you.”
With that, Okuda moved to the center of the tavern area, knelt on both knees, and raised the staff.
“Oh spirit summoned from the heavens…”
Is that really the right chant?
“Come forth and descend upon this place, we beseech thee… we beseech thee… sou rō (so humbly request)… w”
“Wait, stop making it funny!”
The next moment, the staff that Okuda held began glowing intensely, illuminating the dimly lit tavern as bright as midday.
After a short while, the light faded, and the tavern returned to its usual appearance.
“Huh? Just light?”
“There! Over there!”
Haya-kun shouted, pointing toward the back of the tavern.
There was a stage, slightly elevated, and above it rose a pillar of light.
The light gradually narrowed and finally vanished entirely…
Leaving behind a figure with wings on its back.
Everyone froze, staring at the winged being.
“Nnn!”
“!!!!!!!!!!”
The winged person cleared their throat and opened their mouth.
“Iiiimaaaaaa♪ A-ta-shi nooooo♪”
“!!!!!!!!!!”
To everyone’s shock, the figure suddenly began singing.
Since they were standing on a stage, it wasn’t particularly strange for them to sing.
In fact, the wings on their back resembled stage costume elements, blending surprisingly well with the scene.
“Gaahhhoooooo shiiiiiii ♪”
The song was a fairly famous one from Japan—something our generation likely learned in music class at school.
Yet despite the presence of real wings on their back, why did they choose that song?
“Niyoooookoouuuu ♪”
And this person was incredibly good at singing.
Despite being a cappella, their voice filled the entire tavern with overwhelming volume, clear and beautiful enough to raise goosebumps.
The Inaba siblings were clapping along, and Okuda was recording everything on his smartphone.
“Daaaasaiiiiiiiiiii ♪”
This was the chorus.
“This…”
“Huh? She disappeared?”
“Eh? Wasn’t this the beginning of the chorus?”
“That gave me chills…”
The winged singing prodigy vanished the moment she reached the chorus.
Was this some kind of spell meant to leave an unsettling feeling in those who listened?
At that moment, Okuda shouted out.
“Ah!”
“What’s wrong?”
“The magic stone is depleted.”
Looking closely at the staff in Okuda’s hands, the compartment for the magic stone was now empty.
“Time’s up?”
Looking around the tavern, enveloped in an awkward half-finished atmosphere, I noticed Rio and Apra sobbing uncontrollably.
“Hey, are you okay!?”
“Aaaaaaah!! The sacred song… true sacred song… aaaaaah!!”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you……”
Apparently, whatever just happened was something deeply moving for followers of the Hymn Sect.
We decided to leave the two alone for a while.
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