Chapter 666: Welcome Back, Kaito ④

After I finished greeting Lilia-san at the mansion, I thought about heading to Fate-san in the God Realm right away but…… There are many people I know at Lilia-san's mansion, so I thought it would be better to finish greeting them first.

The people I'm particularly thinking about…… were Anima and the twins. Anima, Eta, and Theta aren't Lilia-san's servants, but are people hired by me, so their positions are slightly different from the other servants, and I'm the one paying their salaries.

Before I returned to Earth, I gave Anima about 80% of all the money I had, so there shouldn't be any problem. With Anima's personality, she wouldn't waste money, and I'm sure she would pay Eta and Theta well.

So, what was it that I'm concerned with? Of course, I am quite concerned about how the three of them are doing…… but actually, before I returned to Earth, Anima had asked me something.

"Would it be alright for me to invest the money entrusted to me at my own discretion to some extent?" or so she said. At that time, I had easily given her permission. It's not that I'm worried about how her investment went, but I was just a little curious to see how Anima used the money over the past two years.

As I was heading towards the room that Anima was using, I saw "four people" approaching at a fast speed from the end of the corridor.

[Master!]

[Anima, I was just about to come and see you. I'm…… back?]

[Yes! Welcome back, Master!]

[Welcome back. I'm glad to see Master in good health.]

[I'm glad to see Master again…… desu.]

[Welcome back, Miyama-sama. It's a great pleasure to see you again.]

Cheerfully greeting upon seeing me was Anima, Eta, Theta…… and Caraway-san?

[……Arehh? Why is Caraway-san here?]

[When Master was away, I had hired her as my assistant. My apologies for having you know of this matter after I had finished hiring her.]

[Eh? Ah, no, I don't really mind…… Errr, is Caraway-san alright with that?]

Caraway-san is a Viscount-level, High-ranking Demon, someone that is part of the upper echelons of the Demon Realm. I know that she and Anima were good friends, but is it alright for her to be serving me? I'm sure there should be better places to work, like being a subordinate of one of the Six Kings……

[Yes! Rather, I volunteered to become Anima's assistant. Thanks to Miyama-sama's generosity, my position in the Demon Realm has been restored, but I didn't want to gather subordinates like before, and instead, I thought of working for Miyama-sama who had saved me.]

[H- Huhh…… Errr, then, once again, I will be in your care.]

[Yes!]

……Generosity? Saved her? To be honest, I don't have any idea what she was talking about , but Caraway-san seems to be very happy about it…… oh well.

Thereupon, Anima took out her magic box and brought out a huge bag from it.

[Master! I will now return the money that Master has entrusted to me.]

[……Doesn't it seem to have multiplied from before?]

[Yes! I thought it would be second-rate of me as your retainer to return the money entrusted to me as it was, so at my own discretion, I had invested them and had it grow even more!]

[……I- Is that so.]

Isn't this about triple the money I gave her though? Hmmm, it seems that Anima has a surprising talent for managing money huh. She certainly does look like someone who would charge upon her problems head-on, but she's quite attentive to details, and with her being hardworking and eager to gain new knowledge, I guess she must have grown even more in the past two years.

It's just that, unnn…… Even as she's firmly saluting towards me, she is clearly releasing this aura that seems like she wants to be praised, so I guess Anima is still the same as before.

Smiling at this cute girl's actions, I lightly patted her on the head.

[……You've done a great job, haven't you? Thanks…… In that case, can I continue to leave half of the money with you?]

[Y- Yes! Please leave it to me! I'll definitely live up to Master's expectations!]

Anima is supposed to be a bear beastman, but looking at her like this kind of makes me feel like I'm looking at a puppy vigorously wagging its tail. But well, thinking about the fact that I'm going to be living in this world for a really long time, it's really reassuring to have someone as dependable and trustworthy as Anima by my side.

It's troubling how she sometimes works too hard…… but while making sure to pay attention to her in case she does such a thing, I will continue to rely on her even in the future.

After greeting many people at Lilia-san's mansion, I had come to a temple in the God Realm. Shiro-san had asked me to visit her last, so this time, I'm going to visit my lover Fate-san…… and to say my greetings to the rest of my God acquaintances.

The first thing I did was to visit Fate-san's temple, and the moment I stood in front of the big doors of Fate-san's room…… I suddenly felt a chill run down my spine. What is this feeling…… and why the heck am I now thinking back to the time when I visited the Hydra Kingdom?

With that thought in mind…… I quietly moved to the side, staying away from the front of the door. Immediately after that, the huge door blew open and a small figure came charging out like a human bullet.

[Kai-chaaaaaaaan!!!]

[……………….]

I wonder what the emotion that came to my mind was at that moment? Perhaps, it's resignation. Despite the fact that I had avoided the door, Fate-san still somehow turned at a right angle and came charging towards me.

I felt like the world had run at a slow-motion as her head, with our height difference, came towards me…… and slammed right on the "pit of my stomach".

[Gafuu!?]

[Kai-chan! You're too slow! I've been waiting for you for a long time!]

Unnn, I thought about this back in the Hydra Kingdom…… but Fate-san, what kind of grudge do you have with the pit of my stomach…… This freaking hurts.

<Afterword>

~~ Kaito's Current Subordinates ~~

Overall strength: Can fight countries in an upfront battle

① 

Name : Anima

Position : Chief Retainer

Strength : Count-rank

Ability : All-Around Competence (She have learned a lot more things within the two years of Kaito's absence)

Loyalty to Kaito : Holds no Upper Limit

② 

Name : Caraway

Position : Chief Retainer's Assistant

Strength : Count-level, High-ranking Demon (Officially became a Count-rank Demon after the battle in the God Realm)

Ability : Able to Understand Monster Language, so along with Sieg and Illness, she was particularly taking care of Bell and Lynn

Loyalty to Kaito : Filled with Lots of Love

③ 

Name : Eta

Position : Retainer

Strength : High-ranking Demon (Almost Baron-level)

Ability : Clumsy, so she's in charge of physical labor

Loyalty to Kaito : Very High

④ 

Name : Theta

Position : Retainer

Strength : High-ranking Demon (Almost Baron-level)

Ability : Dexterous, so she's in charge of cooking and such chores

Loyalty to Kaito : She is always ready for the time when Kaito calls her to serve him for the night (She's the one with most knowledge in regards to those kind of stuff)