Today, instead of staying at my parents' house, I was staying in a monthly apartment I rented near the girls' school.
When I was here, I wore a blonde wig, colored contacts, glasses, and foundation to make my skin looked white.
…I'd been trying out a method I learned from a lady in a certain country's intelligence department that could drastically change the look and impression without much effort, but it just didn't suit my facial structure, which is invariably that of a "flat-faced person"…
However, since I met with people related to Girls' school in this "disguised form" for various purposes such as studying abroad, I had no choice but to go in this disguised form when I was in close proximity to the school.
I couldn't let anyone know that I was Japanese, and I didn't know when or where I might run into someone from the girls' school who had met me before...
"Mitsuha-sama, I'm going to shop, is there anything you need?" (Lorena)
"Ah, yeah, nothing in particular. The ingredients can be whatever you like, Lorena. I'll leave the snacks to you as well." (Mitsuha)
"Got it. Well then, tonight it'll be 'Kare'." (Lorena)
"…Ho, oh…" (Mitsuha)
Lorena was now obessed with curry.
We always had curry at least once a week.
…well, it's fine. Sabi-Colé duo and I also loved curry after all…
Besides, the curry that Lorena made was better than mine.
Even though it hadn't been long since she started making it…
…that's right, Lorena, the maid of the estate, was on a business trip here, taking turns with Katie.
They were both very happy because I was giving them a travel allowance and allowing them to buy things here with the Japanese yen I exchanged for them.
…of course, there were restrictions on what they could buy.
Most of the time they bought things like food, cosmetics, clothing, and accessories.
Not the expensive ones, just the cheap ones.
Maybe for their parents and siblings. They probably wouldn't resale them.
No, I didn't mind doing that much. These kids were serious after all…
They usually shop at a nearby supermarket, so it's not a problem even if they didn't speak the language.
All they had to do was put them in the basket, hand it to the cashier, hold the pre-charged card over the machine and make it go "Wong!"[1] Both Lorena and Katie learned it in one go.
…they were in trouble because they wanted to make it ring over and over again…
I charged the money on a regular basis.
Additionally, in preparation for anticipated situations, I had prepared several cards with both the other world's language and Japanese written on them and given them to use if they got into trouble.
…it seemed that it had not been used even once.
Even if something happened, if they made a troubled face, smile, or speak quickly in another world's language, most things would be fine.
If a persistent man realized that they were poorly able to communicate with him, and he would not give up so easily...
Most of the trouble was over there!
Although they apparently shop at places other than supermarkets, Lorena and Katie were already well-known in the local stores as "The beautiful foreign women who come shopping in maid outfits."
They often did their small shopping in the shopping district, as they were often got discounts and freebies, and were quick to be helped if they got into trouble.
As expected of a real maid, their specs were high…
Oh, it seemed that Sabine-chan and Colette-chan were similar, and shopping outside of supermarkets could save a lot of money on household expenses.
…why didn't it apply to me!
No, it didn't work even when I was disguised as a blonde, it's just me for some reason! Even if I deliberately spoke haltingly!
They thought I was just a normal Japanese with a wig or just dyed hair, maybe…
No, that's right.
The insight of the old men and women in the shopping district was truly impressive!!
And while Lorena and Katie managed the household chores, that's not their main job.
Their true role was to carry out the same mission as "Thunderbird No. 5."
…yes, that's "Receiving and transmitting rescue requests."
A high-performance directional antenna installed on the balcony of the monthly apartment.
And its maximum gain was directed to, of course, Stella Maris Girls' Academy.
A small communication device used by a certain country's intelligence department, which was carried by Sabi-Colé duo.
Because it was wristwatch-shaped, the battery was small, and the antenna was short and built-in, so the signal transmission was poor. Of course, the reception performance too…
In order to compensate for this, the performance of the other side needed to be good.
In wireless communication, the first thing to consider is the location, the second is the antenna, the third is the output power, and the fourth is the performance of the radio.
That's why I put a lot of effort into the antenna on the base station side.
With this, I could receive radio waves from a wristwatch-type communication device whose antenna and output are weak, and I could also hit high-power directional waves from here. …it’s a lot of effort, hmm.
Of course, they both had smartphones.
But if something happened, their smartphone could be dropped or stolen.
…however, even if the kidnapper took away the smartphone, he wouldn't take the little girl's watch either.
Alright, mother of perfection!
And if I was not in my monthly apartment but at home or out, and there's an emergency call from Sabi-Colé duo via communication device instead of the usual call via smartphone, Lorena or Katie would immediately contact me on their own smartphone.
After receiving that, I would immediately rush to the monthly apartment with continuous transfer.
The radio in the apartment was a large fixed station radio, and the antenna had a perfect directionality.
And since I had connected an external speaker and turned up the volume, I could hear it even when the Kati-Loré duo were cleaning or cooking, so I didn't have to worry about it.
When it came to shopping, we either do it when Kati-Loré duo was on shift together, when I was there, or after the Sabi-Colé duo had returned home.
Hmmm, Ishibashi[2] Ishibashi!
"Welcome back. How was school, both of you?" (Mitsuha)
"…" (Sabi-Colé duo)
"…huh? What's wrong? You look so gloomy! Don't tell me you're being bullied or something..." (Mitsuha)
"Uh… just…" (Sabine)
"Just?" (Mitsuha)
"For the next three months, I was planning to have a lot of fun at the academy and have some fun, but…" (Sabine)
"But?" (Mitsuha)
"In the chapel, there was a statue of a thin man crucified, who appeared to have been tortured for a long time, as a warning to others… And next to it, there is a statue of a woman holding a baby, looking at it with a grin on her face… After seeing that, I realized that I should never disobey a teacher here…" (Sabine)
At Sabine-chan's words, Colette-chan nodded vigorously while trembling.
"Then I asked my classmate, 'What is that? Is it a statue of someone who was punished?' And she said, 'Yes, it's a statue of someone being executed.'" (Sabine)
“What?! That’s...” (Mitsuha)
Well, it looked interesting, so I'd just keep quiet without telling them anything…
Author's note
From January 23rd (Monday), "I Shall Survive Using Potions!" Spin-off comic has started serialization! (^^)/
The manga artist is Suki-sensei, who is in charge of the illustrations for the novel version of "Potion."
“I shall survive using potions! ~ Hanano and Lotte’s trip for two~”
The first time is a big service with 1st and 2nd episode updates! (^^)/
On the free web comic site, "Sirius' Wednesday".
Thank you! (^^)/
Translation Note
[1] ワォン, probably the sound the cashier machine.
[2] 石橋 (ishibashi) = stone bridge?