After discussing with the villagers until the last possible minute, Kanou decided to visit this village regularly for a while.

He would help with the village’s restoration efforts—just two days a week, on Saturdays and Sundays.

Kanou wasn’t particularly skilled at physical labor, but he planned to take things step by step, doing what he could—tilling the trampled fields, clearing new land, and so on.

“The villagers are still uneasy, so if possible… next time you come, could the Annihilating Poison Mist members accompany you? Even just for the first visit…”

A villager spoke apologetically. After checking with Dada, Mika agreed to come to the village again the following Saturday.

“I’ll… do my best to earn the trust of the angels. Thanks, ma’am.”

“Be careful not to hurt yourself. If anything happens in this world, come talk to me!”

After exchanging SNS IDs, Kanou finally waved with a smile and returned to the other world through the Door.

As a side note, the Door was the entrance to the lizardman family’s home. Since Kanou and Mika would be using it frequently from now on, it would inevitably cause inconvenience. Though she felt bad about it, Mika arranged for the family to relocate.

Doors were managed by the nation and the Adventurer’s Guild, so the government provided a replacement home.

Houses with Doors were usually repurposed as storage warehouses, but if the keyholder was an individual—like in this case—they could sometimes rent or sell the property if desired.

Kanou was only active in this world on weekends, but if he continued, he might eventually earn enough money to buy this house for himself.

In any case, the emergency quest to repel the orcs was successfully completed, the village was liberated, and a new Door had been discovered.

Using that Door, Mika and the others safely returned to Acid.

A little before 2 p.m., Mika emerged from Warehouse No. 4, pushing a cart loaded with goods.

As usual, she placed the cardboard boxes of merchandise in the store’s office, punched her time card, bought groceries for dinner at Himawari Mart, and then headed home.

Soon after, the children returned home one by one. Since it was winter, they rarely brought back insect souvenirs. After serving them snacks, Mika said something different from usual.

“Ryouhei, Kouhei, Mom’s going out for a bit. Can you two look after the house?”

“Sure—!”

“Can we watch TV?”

“After you finish your homework.”

“Aww—!” “Aww—!”

Leaving the happily protesting children in charge of the house, she headed to a small, rundown shrine.

If there was a shrine near Kanou’s home, it had to be this one.

Passing through the modest torii gate, she found an offering box, and beyond it, the shrine itself.

Mika took out some coins from her wallet, tossed them into the offering box, and clasped her hands in prayer.

“Sorry for the disturbance. Please show me the Door.”

She inserted the key she carried into the shrine’s door and opened it. On the other side was Himawari Mart’s Warehouse No. 4.