Crawling her way into the other world, Mika tumbled through. From the shrine’s sanctum, she had no trouble reaching Warehouse No. 4. When she glanced back, the door had returned to its usual, ordinary size.

“How strange…”

Tilting her head slightly, Mika didn’t dwell on it too much and stood up.

Before her stood Hana, Gatt, Zurah, Dada, and even the Guild Master, all gathered together.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Mika said.

“Nah… it’s fine,” the Guild Master replied, though his words were heavy.

It seemed they’d had plenty of time to explain the situation before Mika arrived.

“Guild Master, I’d like you to ensure Flower-chan’s safety and help her return to her parents as soon as possible,” Mika said.

“Tch, dumping such a troublesome matter on me… You really expect me to keep this huge secret to myself?”

But now wasn’t the time to report it upstairs, he muttered with a shrug. As expected, making it public would cause all sorts of problems.

Suddenly, a rat emerged from the corner of the room. Rats were large mouse-like monsters. Mika decided to try using commercial insecticide she’d brought from her own world.

Psssh—

The insecticide enveloped the rat, slowing its movements just as usual. Even if it wasn’t industrial-grade, the insecticide still worked on monsters. That was a reassuring discovery.

In place of a rake, Mika had brought a long-handled shovel. With one hand, she casually swung the heavy shovel and slammed it down on the rat.

“I thought this could double as a broom replacement too~,” she remarked while scooping up the rat with the shovel and tossing it into the hole where she usually disposed of trash.

The Guild Master, witnessing Mika fight for the first time, looked stunned before turning to Dada.

“You guys actually tried to tame this?”

“You’re the one who told us to!”

And so, while occasionally defeating monsters that seemed to appear out of nowhere, they held an uneasy discussion that eventually led to a decision…

Flower would be taken care of in this world—not as a New Human, but as Mika the Ogre’s child.

Until now, Ogres had been treated as monsters, and little was known about their ecology. Exceptions like Takayuki Yamano, the predecessor of Himawari Mart, existed, but generally, they were seen as violent, destructive creatures that couldn’t even communicate. However, thanks to Mika’s recent activities over the past month, she had gained acceptance. So, bringing Flower—whose face resembled an Ogre’s—into town as an Ogre child wasn’t too unreasonable.

Though Flower was only three years old now, her race reached adulthood in about five to six years, growing to around 120 cm tall. Flower seemed to be around elementary school age in human terms. It was convenient that she could understand what was said to her and was well-behaved.

She would be treated as Mika’s child, staying in this world under the guise of a homestay for a cultural exchange, living in the house Mika had received. Meanwhile, the carefree trio of Dada, Gatt, and Zurah—all unmarried—would move in and live together with her.

“In the meantime, try to gather as much information as possible from her about the mountain village. I’ll keep the report suppressed for now, so at least give me something useful later,” the Guild Master said.

By around May, the mountain snow would melt, making it the right time to take Flower back to search for her home. Venturing into the mountains during this snowy season would be suicide.

From there, they would confirm the intentions of Flower’s people while exploring possibilities for interaction. What came after that would be the Guild Master’s and the nation’s responsibility.

“Oh, and since there’s no helping it, I’ll give this to you now.”

He’d planned to hand it over when the Demon King appeared anyway.

With those words, the Guild Master dropped a key with a violet-colored ribbon onto Mika’s palm.

Now then… just which door did this key open?