But you see…
The goddess we’re dealing with is the goddess of ‘Order,’ right?
She’s the kind of being who’s prepared us with our own resident IDs to not ‘mix’ in this world.
Plus, did she ensure that we would properly blend into the system of this world, worrying about the things that could happen with just those resident IDs?
You can tell how difficult that must have been just by thinking about it for a little while.
Selecting our birthdates and pretending like officials registered our births on that day…
And on top of that, the only reason we can act like adults is because we’ve been recognized as having gone through actual schooling!
This country’s mandatory education is elementary and middle school, right? If we didn’t have those nine years of records, we wouldn’t be able to act normally. We’d have to go find our parents—who, in this place, don’t even exist—and ask them for forgiveness for any crimes!
It would be a different story if we fell into a country where resident registration wasn’t mandatory, but of all places, this country requires fingerprints along with the resident IDs, making it a huge pain to create any sort of documentation.
It would actually be much easier to fit our genetic information to this world. That’s just a matter of having a little fun with our bodies.
If there was something among the diseases here that could severely threaten our lives or, conversely, if there was a disease we had that could cause a serious pandemic here, we’d be in big trouble by now.
We even booked a hotel and went sightseeing, weaving in and out of many people!
“…So, you’re saying it shouldn’t be a big deal for us to donate blood?”
“That’s right.”
Of course, since the goddess is the goddess of ‘Order.’
Manipulating things may be easier, but the impact could be way more severe.
Would the goddess really just leave things be?
Honestly, the fact that this world and the other world even work together is strange.
If the goddess hadn’t considered those thoughts, she wouldn’t have thrown me back here again.
…If she was just tossing me aside to take revenge and now regretting it while pulling her hair out, that would be her own karma.
“If it seems too complicated, shall we postpone the blood donation? Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to head to a hospital for a health check first.”
“Mm.”
While Alice was pondering, I caught a glimpse of Claire looking a bit disappointed from a short distance away, and I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.
“There’s no need to worry too much. The movie theater prices aren’t sky-high.”
If we could watch it for free, that’s great, but it’s not priced so that we absolutely can’t watch it.
Plus—
I pulled out my smartphone and opened the movie theater app.
Right.
Typically, movies that premiere at dawn tend to have early bird discounts regardless of the showtimes.
It was still 10 a.m., and given the commuting patterns of working people, it was a weekday.
“Yup, there it is.”
Of all weekdays, Monday was the busiest, so naturally, there wouldn’t be many people making reservations for morning shows.
At 10:30, there was one movie qualifying for the early bird discount. The theater wasn’t too far from here.
“There’s a movie we can get a discount on, but would you like to go watch it?”
“Okay!”
Claire’s eyes sparkled as she repeatedly nodded her head at my question.
How cute.
I wondered if Claire and Alice had ever watched a horror movie in Azernar?
*
And I realized something I had forgotten.
It had been a few years since I last watched a horror movie.
Having enjoyed various genres of movies, I’d developed some resilience to horror films, but my tolerance for those ‘jump scare’ scenes slowly fades if I didn’t watch such movies or play horror games.
The issue was, I had feelings of ‘fear’ while watching those horror movies.
“…If there’s such a clumsy opponent charging in, wouldn’t it be manageable with the skills we have here?”
As I exited with an empty popcorn bucket, Alice was seriously pondering the realism of the movie.
That’s right.
Though shooting techniques, makeup, and CGI advances made movies quite realistic, conversely, the more you know about that ‘reality,’ the more disconnect you feel because of the alluring realism.
If I’d watched a live theater play, I would think, ‘that’s just fake,’ and it would feel a bit easier, but with Alice’s standards of having actually fought with ‘knives,’ those ‘civilians’ charging in with just a kitchen knife aren’t much of a threat.
“Tut tut.”
Claire didn’t actually click her tongue; she just gave a teasing expression like a playful kitten and said to Alice, confidently.
“Movies are basically an extension of theater, after all. Even if there are standout scenes, you need to close your eyes and accept it.”
It seemed Claire was simply enjoying the fact of having watched a movie in a theater rather than worrying about the movie’s unreality, with a smile on her face.
The problem was that we had just emerged from a ‘horror movie’ with no survivors in sight!
Could it be that I really was the only one scared?
I thought seriously.
So, during the movie—
“Sister, you screamed ‘Eek!’ didn’t you?”
…..
“After that, you were trembling just looking at the knife in the killer’s hand.”
Alice chimed in from beside me.
“…I…”
“Ah, right!”
Claire said excitedly.
“But still, sis, you love horror movies, right? You bought the ticket after all.”
“……”
Well, yeah, I did say that. I do find them somewhat enjoyable.
Even if I get surprised here and there, that’s part of the flavor of watching horror movies. Of course, while some horror movies don’t rely on jump scares, I prefer those kinds, but opinions often vary on that.
However, what Claire seemed to imply was a bit scary.
What idea was she concocting to wear such an expression?
Was she really suggesting we binge on horror films continuously on streaming sites?
“Ah, wait.”
But Claire turned the conversation elsewhere, ignoring my anxious look.
“Now that we’ve watched a movie, it’s lunchtime!”
“…Didn’t you have something you wanted to say?”
When I asked, noticing Claire’s sudden shift in topic, she just tilted her head innocently.
“Eh~? No, not at all?”
“Um, it is true that it’s lunchtime.”
Alice interjected, having eavesdropped on our conversation.
“So how do you want to have lunch? Do you want to eat outside? Or go home?”
“…”
Alice probably didn’t read Claire’s thoughts.
Though the two sisters bore a slight resemblance to each other, that was strongly denied. Their upbringing was different, or perhaps their mother was different; there were plenty of aspects that couldn’t be said to resemble each other at all.
However, there are times they strangely connect emotionally.
Especially whenever they put me in a spot.
I felt that way from living with them for the past few weeks.
Though they were not in sync enough to share thoughts, they quickly catch on when one of them has an ‘interesting idea’ and will subtly set the stage for cooperation without outrightly saying so.
That’s how it was now.
Well… Since we got here, they’ve slyly fed me spicy things or made me eat food that looks like it wouldn’t be spicy but actually is, or they outrightly had me eat something spicy while lying about it not being spicy, but still, I felt like it was a bit much for the two of them to team up like that.
They did buy me plenty of sweets, after all.
“…Fine. I can’t say what you two are thinking, but I guess filling our hungry bellies comes first.”
Well, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to let it slide this time.
It wasn’t like they did something I genuinely hated.
Even if their hearts didn’t fully overlap, the most important common ground between them was that they wouldn’t cross certain lines.
They hadn’t explicitly said it, but from what I could tell, that much seemed certain.
“Since we’re out, how about we eat outside?”
“Sounds good!”
“I’m in favor too.”
The way both girls reacted to my suggestion was exuberant.
…Well, they have resident IDs stating they’re adults, still being only sixteen.
As the eldest, I suppose it’s okay to take it easy a bit.
*
And soon enough, I understood what Claire was thinking.
“…Are you suggesting a horror game?”
“Yep.”
“From the stream?”
“Yep.”
When I looked at Claire in surprise, she gave me a look like a quirky orange cat from an animation.
“…Is that bad?”
“……”
Looking quietly at Claire, I released a deep sigh.
“…Do you have any game in mind?”
“Of course!”
Well, I’ve played my fair share of horror games.
Sure, if the stream keeps going in one pattern, that could be a problem too.
That said, it didn’t mean I wouldn’t sigh.
Sigh~.
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