I Was Connected to Earth’s Black Market From Another World With The Skill [Market]! (WN)

Chapter 279

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Enjoy~

Chapter 279 – Idle Talk: The Missing Girl

“Rinko seems to be in trouble.”

I tilted my head when Mirryl said that. What kind of trouble does a clumsy saint who goes her own way have…? She doesn’t look like that type.

“She’s sensitive inside. All men’s circuits, including Yoshua’s, are connected in a straight line. Girls’ circuits are more complicated. Even if a switch has the same symbols on it, they don’t all work the same way when you press it, do they?”

Well, I don’t have much of an opinion on gender, but maybe that’s just the way it is. When I was told to pay attention to Rinko, I noticed that at one point, she looked like she was looking into the distance. I see, so this is what Myrril-san noticed with her observing eye. I guess my circuits were only connected in a simple way since I couldn’t tell without being told.

However, I had no idea what to do. When I asked Myrril-sensei about it, she brushed it off and said, “You have to figure it out for yourself.”

If I don’t know, I can’t do anything about it. I had no choice but to be open and honest in my own simple way.

“Hey, Rinko, are you homesick?”

I wanted to speak as casually as possible, but the clumsy saint stiffened. No, I didn’t want to ask in such an alarming way…

“This guy hit her head on.”

Myrril shook her head in dismay. It seems I was too direct.

“The adult standard of decency is to wrap it up with something like an ‘oburaato.'”

“Wasn’t it wrapped?”

“Umu. I don’t know what an ‘oburaato’ is either.”

Rinko shook her head with a smile.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. It is not a very serious matter. I have nothing special to say to my family. We weren’t that close.”

“Oh, really? So maybe a lover?”

“Yoshua! That’s the thing!?”

Sorry, I’m aware of my lack of delicacy, but I’ve never communicated with a high school girl before, so I don’t know what to expect.

“No, I’m from an all-girls high school, and I don’t think there is such a thing. Let’s see…”

“Rinko, don’t force yourself to talk. I’m just curious why you’re a bit sad. No, not me, but Yoshua.”

Don’t throw everything at me. I don’t know anything about the life of a saint or a high school girl, even if they are clumsy. I can’t maintain or take care of them if I don’t have an instruction manual.

“You know, I had a close friend. She’s a girl my age. Before I was sent here, we had a fight over something trivial. I just wondered how she was doing since I left. I was just curious. That’s all. I’m fine.”

It sounds hard to say, “that’s all.” I’ve never seen Rinko so shaken.

“Really?”

“Y-yeah. If it had been a day or two later, we would have made up. It’s not that… important.”

It’s probably just a little thing that’s stuck in her mind like a thorn she can’t get rid of.

I think about it a little. If you have a lot of family members who have died, and your friendships are mostly estranged because of your dishonesty during your corporate life, it will not do much harm if you throw it away. But if there is something left behind, it is not without a solution. But this is only one way.

“Hey, Rinko, does this girl have an otaku personality?”

“Huh? Ah, yes. She was my best friend. She’s a pretty typical otaku. She likes video games, novels, anime, history, and BL.”

“In that case, I guess it’s okay. I think I can help you, but you have to be prepared for some things. Okay?”

“…What do you mean?”

The next day, I walked around with Rinko to every place I could think of. Myrril-san was next to me, coming up with ideas that surprised, frustrated, and confused Rinko.

“This is interesting. This is the first time I’ve heard of a ‘Poraroid Kyamera.” I didn’t know you had a talent for anything other than killing.”

“A Polaroid camera, huh? Okay, Rinko, stand there and smile.”

“Um, Yoshua? Why are you flapping like that?”

“Come on, smile more. You’re smiling too stiffly!”

“”What is it? What are you doing, Takifu♪?””

“Hyah!”

“Oh, everyone, smile!”

◇ ◇

“Whoooaaa!?”

I screamed involuntarily when I saw the packing tag. I was in a hurry to get rid of the strangely heavy box. If something like that falls on my foot, it will break my bone.

“What’s wrong, Maki?”

“I-it’s nothing. I got a package from a friend.”

“Ara, do you have a friend too?”

My mother was rude to me. I have friends too, you know. Or maybe it would be better to say that I had a friend. Even though I got close to some friends after I entered college, there was still some distance between us.

There was only one girl I could really call my best friend. That memory still binds me and casts a dark shadow in my heart. Even though nearly four years have passed, no matter what I do, I cannot clear my mind. The world seems pale gray.

If only I had apologized properly back then. If only I had called her back then. If only I had gone home with her.

Maybe Rinko wouldn’t have disappeared. I might have disappeared with her, but that would have been okay. It’s much better than living in a monochrome world forever, dragging these feelings around with me.

“…This is… no way. Is someone playing a prank on me?”

“What’s wrong? Did you get a bomb?”

She is an extremely ruthless mother these days. Well, in a way, it was a bomb.

I went back to my room and put the package on my desk. If this was a prank, it was unusually elaborate and malicious. Anyone would be surprised to receive a package via international mail from a missing childhood friend. Of course, you’d make a strange noise.

“And why is… such a country?”

Yeah, I don’t know. I think I’ve at least heard of it… in geography class, but honestly, I can’t even imagine where it is. That’s the kind of country it is.

Could it be that Rinko was sold to a criminal organization or something?

“Hmm… I don’t think so.”

She always has unkempt hair, a shabby, dubious appearance, and she looks more like a boy than a girl… and an elementary school boy at that. With all due respect, I don’t think she’s worth the price.

Rinko is fast and elusive, and everyone kept their distance from her because they were unsure of her gender, age, or what she was thinking. Teachers, classmates, her family. I was the only one close to her. The odd one out and her owner. It was a terrible thing to be told, but she didn’t care. Maybe she didn’t care about other people. Her grades were excellent, but she always looked bored and like a stray dog, always looking for something. Maybe there was a real place for her somewhere other than here. That’s how she looked to me.

I don’t know what to think. I unwrapped the package. It was so tightly wrapped that I felt like someone could beat me to death with it. When I peeled off the greaseproof paper, which had been taped with duct tape, I found a pattern that looked like a magic circle. When I touched it, I felt it glow for a moment, and I quickly withdrew my hand. Maybe it was just my imagination.

“What are you doing, my goodness…”

The appearance, the weight, the circumstances of its arrival, everything was suspicious. If I hadn’t recognized the words on the label, I would have taken it straight to the police. Rinko is amazingly smart, but her handwriting is amazingly messy and dirty. My name and address were written in this hieroglyph-like handwriting.

“I guess she didn’t just disappear… she ran away.”

From home. From family. From society. From Japan. Rinko had no place to go for a long time. Rinko’s parents were concerned only with their eldest son and their public image, not with her. Her excellent grades, her dreams for the future, and the culinary and athletic awards she had worked so hard to earn despite her hardships were dismissed as unimportant trash and thrown away.

When she was forced against her will into a strict and boring all-girls missionary high school, Rinko stopped expecting her parents to do the same for her.

“Three years of patience. That’s how I get out of the house,” she said, laughing.

Either they lost patience, or they were involved in an incident. Soon after Rinko disappeared, her house became empty. I don’t know what happened to it. There were many rumors, but whatever it was, they didn’t seem to be worried about Rinko. On the contrary, they probably thought she was already dead. I found Rinko’s personal belongings thrown in a garbage dumpster in front of the house when I visited.

Was this what she had left behind in this world?

When I saw the surprisingly small amount, I stopped crying. I had given up something. At the high school I attended, there was an assembly, but the conclusion was something like, “This is what happens when you misbehave.” I was the only one who was upset. Everyone half laughed and forgot about it in less than a month.

The local police station said they were continuing their investigation, but I never heard anything concrete. It was occasionally talked about at home and at school, but I knew everyone thought it was hopeless. No one believed she was alive.

“Oh, I’m getting angry just thinking about it.”

No, I always say bad things about other people, but…

“I’m the same way.”

I’ve been trying to forget for a long time. I was prepared for Rinko not to come back.

With a thud, a huge, heavy stick falls onto the desk. Wrapped tightly in vinyl tape, it stays there because I don’t really understand it. Inside the box is another A4 envelope and a thick notebook. When I opened it, it looked like a diary, but as usual, the writing was too messy to understand. Underneath were some clothes. When I unfolded them, I found a lab coat and a high school uniform. The name tag read “Saegusa.” It was the uniform Rinko was wearing when she disappeared.

For a moment, I went pale, thinking that she had been kidnapped after all, but it felt strange to see it neatly washed, pressed, and folded.

“…Hmm?”

On top of her clothes was a piece of letterhead.

When I opened it, Rinko’s handwriting danced.

“Sorry. You should go to Tokyo on my treat. I love you, Maki. Be happy.”

Curious about the word “treat,” I cut open the stick and saw that it was a gold coin-like object. Dozens of them were stacked on top of each other to form a stick. No wonder it was so heavy. Well, I’m not really familiar with this kind of thing, but…

“Wait, Rinko, isn’t this illegal?”

This part has not changed. It’s always been the same. She goes her own way with no regard for other people’s comfort or feelings and then turns around and says something smug with a smug look on her face. What is “I’m sorry”? What is “I love you”? I’m not going to take that crap!

“I am the one who wants to apologize! I love you much, much more than you do!”

When I woke up, the room was dimly lit. With tears and snot running down my face, I clutched the letterhead in my hand. I want to go to art school. I want to work as a painter in Tokyo. I had been saying that for a long time. But the truth is that I knew it was impossible. As a high school girl from the countryside with no money, talent, or parental understanding, it was just a pipe dream.

I continued to draw even after I entered a local university. It was just a matter of laziness. It was a hobby, just for fun. I desperately tried to forget my dream that I couldn’t give up. Now it’s too late. This is too cruel.

“…What am I supposed to do when someone sends me gold coins?”

I opened the large envelope I had put aside. There were a lot of card-like things in the envelope. I spread the contents all over my desk. It doesn’t matter anymore. No matter where I am or what I do, Rinko won’t come back. I’ll be alone in the country, living a shitty life…

“Oh?”

There were dozens of photos. Polaroid photos, something you don’t see very often these days. They were all people in places I didn’t recognize. People…?

“Wait, ehh!?”

Short. No, Rinko is small, but the girl next to her is even smaller. I wonder if she is a child. And the girl beside her has ears.

“Cat ears?”

Cat ears, dog ears, long? Elves?

What is this, a cosplay event? There has never been such a big event in Japan… Wait, is that really an event?

That one in the background is, um… a dog? It looks like a wolf, but the size is beyond a Pyrenean dog. It’s in a different pose in the other pictures. The tail is blurred by the movement, so it’s not a doll or anything. Its expression is very friendly, and no one around it seems to be in danger, but it has no leash or collar. It’s just wrapped in a yellow sheet. Is this event safe?

The photos are all in different places. I don’t know if they’re cosplayers… or actors in the picture, but they’re all different, tall, short, different clothes, different ears, different genders… What is that?

When I turned the photos over, each one had what looked like a description in Rinko’s hieroglyphic-like writing.

“Moff, the snow wolf magical beast. Moff because he’s fluffy (no twist).”

“Biot-san, the hardworking bear beastman. Fluffy.”

“Lucre Pawn Myra for the beautiful wolf girl Meifa-chan. Fluffy.”

“What’s that? It’s nothing but fluff.”

“Sea Serpent’s bones are huge! The head is buried.”

“The market in Lafan, the southern territory of the Republic of Hagwai. I’ve never seen this fish before, but it’s surprisingly tasty.”

“The Adventurer’s Guild in Lafan, the receptionist is a beautiful woman with big breasts and cat ears (too many elements!).”

“McKin-shi, the tired lord of the southern territories. Unmarried.”

“Ecla-san, the elf witch, 170 years old (top secret).”

“The walls of the city of Sarz and the guard corps!”

“Tamei-san, the dwarf, is teaching me how to dismantle monsters, it’s a challenge.”

“The balls filled with magic power that came out of the monsters. Gross.”

“No, no, no, no… wait. You have to explain it first, hey.”

I have no idea what’s going on here because it’s all jumbled up, with no regard for order, timeline, or relevance. What is this? If it’s not an event, it’s just that.

As I turned over the pile of photos, I found a crumpled piece of paper at the bottom. It had been placed so that it would be visible, but it seemed to have been crumpled in the envelope during shipping.

As was to be expected from Rinko, she had not changed in her ineptitude at making arrangements. On the paper, bold letters with handwritten emoticons jumped out.

“Maki, are you in trouble? I’ve been transferred to another world!”

“Transferred? What the hell is that? Is it a title, and in what order should I read it?

…Well, that’s Rinko’s fault. This is the order I opened it.

“She hasn’t changed…”

Feeling a bit tired, I looked at the pile of photos. It looks like she took a lot of pictures in a lot of different places. Maybe so I can believe in the other world’s transference. I’m sure it’s to show me that she’s happy and well.

Rinko is in every picture. She may be out of focus, embarrassed, and trying to escape, or she may be blurred and look like an afterimage. In different clothes. With different faces. In different places. With all kinds of people.

“Tig the tiger beastman, Louis with the big breasts!”

“The pirate fort and the elves are so cute!”

“Sweets with the boss of the city of Sarz, Mayor Kerg-san.”

“Group photo at the merchant guild in Sarz, with a high percentage of old men.”

“You’re smiling. What is that? You weren’t the type to be surrounded by friends, shoulder to shoulder. You’re a Riaju, explode.”

“Myrril-chan, a beautiful dwarf girl, and Yoshua, a photographer demon king (from Koriyama).”

“A clothing store in Salz. Or rather a tailor? Dwarf craftsmen are really talented.”

“I was made to change my clothes. It’s winter and… it’s so cold!”

“That dress doesn’t suit you at all. I mean, what the hell is this? It makes you look like a… girl!”

It’s so weird. Rinko started to look like a girl with such a happy face. She has so many, many friends. She seems to be loved more by the old men and women than by the younger ones. This girl seemed to love her deceased grandmother and grandfather.

There was a strange group photo with a jungle-like background and snow in the foreground. In the middle of the picture, Rinko is straddling a squid-like boat or airplane, and she’s puffing out her chest as if she’s totally free. What is that?

“The Ekranoplane I made with old dwarf Heimann and the others!”

Ekranoplane… I don’t know what it is, but she looks very proud and happy.

“I see. Rinko, you finally found it. A place where you can live your life the way you want to.”

Too bad it wasn’t in Japan. It’s so frustrating that I can’t be there. But I’m going to try again and do my best. I will find it one day.

And then I will smile like you.