A little kitten was blushing crimson, her face being centimeters away…

A millimeter more, and our lips would touch…

“Here you are.” It was it this moment, a loli’s palm hit my shoulder, causing a bone fracture (if kansen even have bones).

[You couldn’t choose some other time…?]

“It would not be fun if this austere Akagi-sama lets you kids have your way~.” The complete opposite of innocence gazed at me, with her face feigning that she didn’t say she’s here to spoil our fun.

‘W-well…’ Elina slowly ducked under below my arm and stepped away.

[Thank you…]

“You~ are~ welcome~.” The goddess was not even bothering with hiding her nickering.

Due to this intervention, Elina was too embarrassed to spend any time with me, and rushed like crazy to find the closest inn. The others were far behind us, but thanks to the radio I could at least point Bretagne to where we are.

Since most fantasy towns have similar layout, with inns and taverns seemingly being every 10 meters, it only took us five minutes until we reached one.

I entered first, and immediately the androids

‘Automatas, you idiot.’ (A)

automatas, gazed at us. Their curiosity was picked not only by us looking like humans (since we are humans), but also by me deploying the rigging. I simply decided to deploy the gear to show that I’m someone not too different, hoping for a discount.

We approached the bar counter, and a bearded manlike automata glared at us.

“Inquire. What. Do. You. Need.” Then he appeared to lose interest and continued cleaning mugs.

“I need a room. A big one.”

“Mock. A. Big. One. Question. For. How. Many.”

“Double the amount.” I hugged Elina’s and the loli’s shoulders.

The automata sneered, and pulled a key from the counter.

“Exchange request. 1 key. Exchange for. 10 units of. Copper.” He put down the key, but held onto it, waiting for us.

“Since you are a bit tight on the cash, let this well-off Akagi-sama save you. Interest rate is 1 000 000% per second.” While I sincerely hoped that she is fooling around and was not a tiny bit serious, the goddess put a stack of 10 coins.

“Exchange completed. Mock. Enough. For. Now. Clarification. Food. Is. Not. Included.” The automata gave the fox our key, and after sensing my intention, she dragged Elina upstairs.

I stayed here.

“Hey, Boss.”

“Inquire. What. Is. It.”

“How ‘bout we talk for a bit? You guys, you all, it’s my first time seeing living machines. Where are the people?”

The automata remained silent for a while. At some point he gestured me to lend my ear.

“Whispering. The. Masters. Ran. Away. Addition. They. Feared. Us. Clarification. We. Did. Nothing.” I chuckled.

“Now that’s interesting. I heard for magical dolls you need mana.” Or so the novels say.

“Ridicule. Nonsense. Explanation. We. Have. No. Need. We. Were. Blessed.” The automata raised his hands to the ceiling, like praying people do, when they pray to the gods.

“Blessed? By whom…?”

“Ridicule. Ignoramus. Ridicule. You. Do. Not. Know. Of. Him. Answer. The. Bestower. Created. Us. Addition. He. Gave. Us. Life.”

“Hm… How long ago was that…?”

“Answer. 53 years. 24 days. 17 hours. Ago.”

[HEY! YOU! THE ONE WHO F*ED UP!]

I would’ve continued calling the idling goddess, if not for the door opening.

“We are here!” Bretagne waved me her hand.

“Good job, my little girl.” I waved her back. Regrettably, no points were given.

I led the girls upstairs, and when all 5 of us gathered in the room, I told what I found out from the innkeeper.

“Interesting…” (A)

“What exactly?”

“This quick-witted Akagi-sama thinks that for a wandering mage to get a nickname, they must have at least some accomplishments.” (A)

“How did you even realize they are mage…?”

“It’s easy. You need mana to do this.” She pointed down, at the first floor.

“Guys, what exactly is this foxgirl is trying to tell us?” (E)

“If I got it correctly, she means that this ‘Bestower’ guy has done quite a lot of things. More than just animating machines in two towns.” The goddess nodded in acknowledgement.

“So, it’s time to sound an alarm?”

“No, why?” (A)

“Because you f… I mean, because Your Highness would want to finish everything quickly, right? So, how about you mobilize an army, or two, and track down that…”

“Then, should I just ‘deal’ with you?” The goddess gaze turned cold, signifying that this monster is not joking with me.

[Forget what I said…]

She nodded towards Kasumi.

“Yes.” The miko did a kowtow, and told me: “I shalt perform divination, while thee shalt search for clues. Kakka, the more clues thee gather, the more accurate my divination shalt be.”

[New quest issued!]