by Aneko Yusagi
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Take me wherever you want. Kill me if you want to.”
Motoyasu gave a perfunctory reply and nodded.
“No one said anything about killing you.”
I guess after what had just happened his response was understandable, though.
“Everyone expects me to come and save them like it’s their God-given right, but when I make one small mistake they’re all suddenly casting stones . . . I believed in Whore and Elena, but it turns out they’re actually nothing like I thought they were . . . I don’t care what happens anymore . . .”
In other words, he’d believed in his companions and was finally on his way out of a tough situation, only to come face to face with the true nature of those companions, which drove him to despair.
The sun was starting to set. I started to think maybe we should just head back to the village, but I was still waiting on Raphtalia and Filo.
“Feel free to blame the disaster on me . . . Would that make you feel better?”
“Come on, I already know it wasn’t your fault . . . Why do you think I crossed over to another world?”
The cause of the disaster had been Kyo, right? It certainly wasn’t Motoyasu.
“Just leave me alone . . .”
It was probably best not to take him back to the village like this. The place was in a constant state of commotion, and there was a good chance Motoyasu would get worked up. Seeing Atla and Sadeena hanging all over me would probably just make him feel even more lonely and depressed. I guess there was no other choice . . . We’d just get a room at an inn in this village for today and wait for Motoyasu to sort himself out emotionally.
“We’re back, Mr. . . . Naofumi?”
Raphtalia and Filo had returned with the tied-up bandits in tow.
“What happened heeeere?” asked Filo.
“Well . . .”
I explained to Raphtalia and Filo what had just happened.
“I wonder why she feels the need to take it that far . . .”
Raphtalia was in utter disbelief when I told her about Witch stealing her line.
“I’ll never forgive that bitch,” I said.
Filo poked the dispirited Motoyasu with her finger. Sheesh, was he really this depressed just because he’d discovered the true nature of a few women? Actually, he might have just been completely worn out from everything he’d been through. I didn’t really care either way and I was enjoying seeing the suffering on his face. I had a feeling Raphtalia was giving me a bad look.
“Mr. Naofumi? Is something wrong?”
“Nah, it’s nothing. Let’s hurry up and get a room at the inn.”
“We’re not going back to the village?”
“Motoyasu is . . . in a fragile state right now. If he sees how successful I’ve been and compares it to his own current state, he could end up attempting suicide or something. That’s the last thing I need.”
“U . . . understood.”
“I’ll go back to the village and let them know later. This is a good chance for us to relax a bit, anyway.”
There were plenty of problems waiting for us back at the village, after all. Like Atla and Sadeena, for example. It wouldn’t hurt to take a night off and recuperate a bit.
And so we took Motoyasu with us and got a room for the night.
Chapter Ten: New Awakening
They didn’t serve meals at the inn we were staying at, so we took Motoyasu and went to the tavern to get something to eat. As soon as we entered the tavern, Motoyasu sat down at the bar and ordered a drink. He sipped away at the drink and stared at the counter. I guess that was what happened when someone who only thought about women ended up losing those women.
A slutty-looking girl approached Motoyasu.
“Care to join me for a drink?”
“Sorry, but I’d prefer to drink alone. Please leave me be.”
Yeah, he was broken. Didn’t he realize Witch had been that way from the start? Had he really believed in her that much?
Raphtalia, Filo, and I ordered a few meals and ate dinner. The portions were generous, and it was pretty good food for the cheap price. From the looks of it, a lot of the dishes used that red tomato-looking fruit from that village to the southwest. Filo was in good spirits after having a reasonably tasty meal, and she started singing along with the tavern bard.
“Sing one more for us, little miss!” someone called out.
“Sure! Nooo problem!”
Filo started really getting into it and was putting on a real performance. She did have a nice voice. Filo and the bard really hit it off and started singing some strange song that sounded like the theme song from an anime or something. I wondered if maybe it was a song she’d learned in Kizuna’s world.
Maybe I was just imagining it, but . . . something seemed strange about the expressions on the faces of the people in front of the stage. Actually . . .
“Mr. Naofumi, I once heard of a type of monster that sings songs that deceive sailors, causing them to wreck their ships.”
“What a coincidence. I was just thinking about that same monster. Maybe this is some kind of strange magical song that she learned while she was a humming fairy.”
She’d given us a glimpse of something similar during our fight at the coliseum in Zeltoble. Filo knew all kinds of different songs, and she seemed to be able to combine them with the bard’s songs to create something new altogether. Anyway, harpies, sirens, and other similar monsters used their beautiful voices to deceive others. The way everyone seemed lost in her singing with dreamy eyes reminded me of those monsters.
Before long, Filo finished singing and the air filled with cheers. The audience called out for an encore, but Filo must have had enough because she yelled out “nooo!” and ran off the stage. People were giving her bouquets of flowers in appreciation of her performance. Someone gave her some kind of vegetable that looked like a carrot, too. When Filo reacted more favorably to the edible item, everyone started to give her food. With her hands full of gifts, Filo went and sat down next to Motoyasu for whatever insane reason.
“What’s wrong? You’re usually a lot more energetic. This isn’t like yooou.”
That reminded me. Appearance-wise, Filo was Motoyasu’s type, apparently. He’d been throwing himself at her all the time, before he’d disappeared. I remembered him saying something about having a thing for angels, too. I’m sure it had to do with some character in a game that he fantasized about or something. Although, he was the kind of guy who already tended to think of women as angels in the first place.
“. . .”
He seemed incredibly annoyed as he glanced over at Filo before returning his gaze to the counter. So he was going to ignore Filo, too . . . despite having a thing for the way she looked? Yeah, he was broken, alright.
“It happens to me when I’m hungry. I start feeling tired. I’ll sing you a song that will make you feel better.”
Filo got back up on the stage and started singing. What happened to her not wanting to sing anymore? The song had a nice rhythm. But that made me think . . .
“Filo sure knows a lot of songs. Is it just me, or has her repertoire not expanded since the time she was a humming fairy?”
“It’s because we’ve traveled to so many towns all over Melromarc. She’s always liked singing, I think. Whenever we went to taverns, she was always listening attentively to the bards and learning their songs.”
Now that I thought about it, Filo always sang when she was in a good mood.
“The children in the village enjoy her singing, too. She was singing them lullabies recently.”
“Oh yeah. She was, wasn’t she? I remember her singing back at the village when she wasn’t staying the night with Melty.”
Filo faced Motoyasu and danced while she sang. Watching her even made me start to feel better. But why did something about it remind me of a sci-fi anime about shapeshifting aircraft? Huh? Who taught Filo this song? Was it Kizuna? Kizuna was a gamer, and she seemed like th
e type who would watch anime, too, despite being obsessed with fishing.
When she finished singing, Filo went back over to Motoyasu.
“Come on, just leave me alone, okay? I hate women right now.”
“Okaaay!”
Filo started digging around through the vegetables and flowers she’d been given.
“Eat this! It’ll help you be true to your usual desires!”
It almost seemed like she was toying with Motoyasu as she offered him one of the carrot-looking vegetables and a flower. I guess she was just being true to her own curiosity, though. Motoyasu was almost never downcast like this, so seeing him like that probably sparked her interest. The village children had shown a similar lack of ambition in the beginning, too. I’d just assumed Filo had overheard me complaining about having to get Motoyasu on board with things, so now she was trying to help out in her own way.
At least, that’s what I was thinking when Motoyasu looked over at Filo and started quivering.
“Waaahhhhhhh!”
Motoyasu suddenly embraced Filo and started crying.
“Ahhhhh!”
Filo let out an ear-piercing shriek. She started trying to wriggle her way out of Motoyasu’s embrace, but he must have been stronger than expected because she couldn’t escape.
“Wahhh! Waaahhhhh!”
Motoyasu was bawling his eyes out.
“Maaaster! Heeeelp!”
Filo looked like she was about to cry, too, as she reached out to me and called for help. How had things ended up like this?
“What were you thinking . . .” I asked her.
I started to make my way over to help Filo, who was struggling as Motoyasu pressed his face up against her chest while sobbing. I guess if Witch was no longer an option he’d just settle for Filo. But then again, he had openly admitted that he had a thing for the way Filo looked in her human form a long time ago.
“If you switch back to your filolial form, maybe it will surprise him and he’ll let go,” I suggested.
“O . . . okay!”
Motoyasu had been traumatized by her filolial form, after all. He wouldn’t come anywhere near Filo when she was in her monster form. Just like I suggested, Filo switched back to her monster form. But . . .
Sniff! Sniff!
“It’s Filo-chan’s scent!”
Motoyasu was still holding on to Filo in her filolial form and now he was sniffing at her. Whoa! Talk about creepy!
“He won’t let go! Maaaster! He won’t let goooo!”
This was Motoyasu we were talking about here. He wasn’t letting go of Filo in her filolial form?! What was going on?! Then again, I had a pretty good idea of why. I figured I might as well say it.
“You whispered sweet nothings into his ear when he was depressed, so what do you expect? Now accept the consequences and take care of him!”
“Wait just a minute. By that logic, wouldn’t you be treating me the same way, Mr. Naofumi?”
“What in the world are you talking about, Raphtalia?!”
Raphtalia was obviously pretty mixed up, too. But then again, I’d basically indirectly ordered Filo to cheer Motoyasu up, so pushing the responsibility off on her wasn’t really fair. Actually, I’d tried flattering Ren, too, but it didn’t work. The fact that Witch succeeded pissed me off. I guess I was mixed up, too.
“Stooop!”
“Filo-tan! Filo-tan!”
Motoyasu started rubbing his cheek up against Filo’s face. Filo tried to use her superhuman strength to pull herself away from Motoyasu, but he was hugging her with all his might and remained stuck to her like an octopus. Her feathers looked like they were about to be ripped right off of her body. The pain must have been preventing her from using her full strength. Filo had a surprisingly low pain tolerance, after all.
“Heeelp!”
Now Filo was bawling and crying out for help. I wasn’t really sure what to do.
“Umm . . . Motoyasu . . .”
“Filo-tan!”
It was no good. He wasn’t listening. He obviously wasn’t hearing Filo, either. Motoyasu had finally cracked. Or maybe he had just discovered a new fetish. I guess he was fine with Filo in her filolial form now. What happened to the trauma from being kicked in the nuts?
“Maaasteeer!”
We were supposed to be taking Motoyasu with us, but it looked like that was no longer an option.
“If you can’t take responsibility for him then give him a mouthful and go get rid of him somewhere.”
“Okay!”
“That’s terrible! He’s not some pet monster that you can just throw away,” Raphtalia snapped.
“Motoyasu, if you’re feeling better, then that’s good enough for now. Have faith in the power-up methods that I told you about and do your best to power up your weapon!”
“Got it! Filo-tan!”
Filo dashed out of the tavern with Motoyasu still glued to her.
“Wha . . .”
Raphtalia’s voice conveyed a sense of dull bewilderment.
“So yeah . . . we’ll just save taking Motoyasu in for another time. He sure did recover from his suffering fast, though.”
Motoyasu the man-whore. He’d gotten ditched by Witch and the others, but got right back in the saddle and went after Filo . . . Filo was kind of like a horse . . . so that saddle bit was pretty witty, right? Right? Yeah, that was terrible.
“I have a feeling he went right past suffering into a whole new level of despair,” Raphtalia replied.
“I’ll just have Filo act like a bitch and I’m sure he’ll go back to normal. Once he’s being a little more rational she can just tell him she only approached him because she thought she might get a meal out of it or something.”
“Do you really think Filo can pull off a performance like that?”
Who knows? I figured it should be possible if I told her exactly what to say, but . . . I did still have my doubts. I sat there in silence for a moment, thinking, before finally coming to a conclusion.
“I’m sure it will work out one way or the other,” I said.
“I wonder . . .”
“It will . . . probably.”
I couldn’t help but have a bad feeling about it all, but I’d feel guilty if I didn’t tell myself it’d be alright. Motoyasu was in good spirits now. He’d be fine. I was sure he’d be back out chasing some tail by this time tomorrow.
Filo took Motoyasu and threw him off the side of some cliff before coming back, by the way. She was unforgiving. She had several patches of feathers missing, too. I guess she’d literally risked her own life to get rid of him. I figured that was the end of that . . . until the next morning.
“Alright, we’re putting Motoyasu on hold for now. Let’s go give the queen an update and then head back to the village.”
It was a glorious morning without the usual onslaught of the sexual harassment corps back at the village. My stress levels were down, and I felt like I’d slept really well. But we had a lot to do today, so we needed to get to work.
“That sounds good,” Raphtalia replied.
“Master, I want to hurry up and go home . . .”
Filo begged me with a terrified look in her eyes. I guess she’d been traumatized by Motoyasu. Well, she’d hated him in the first place, so I guess it was just an extension of that. If she hated him so much, why had she gotten involved, anyway?
“Why did you even try to cheer him up? I mean, I have a feeling you were trying to help out, but still . . .”
“He seemed down, so I tried to cheer him up like I did with the village children.”
Sheesh . . . It had worked all too well in Motoyasu’s case. He was going to be a real hassle.
“Next time we see him, you say exactly what I told you and then give him the cold shoulder.”
“Okaaay!”
“Alright, I still have to make breakfast so let’s hurry back. Filo, we’re going to use my portal to go back. You take the carriage and meet us there.”
“Noooo!
That spear guy is gonna show uuuup!”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Not even Motoyasu—”
I opened the door to the room.
“Good morning, Father.”
I immediately slammed the door shut. Why was Motoyasu standing guard in front of our room? And he was talking nonsense on top of that. Why was he calling me father all of a sudden? I was pretty sure I didn’t have a son that was older than me. Besides, this was Motoyasu. There was just no way I could possibly be his father. I looked down and held my hand to my forehead.
“What just happened?” I asked.
“What’s wrong?” replied Raphtalia.
“Umm . . .”
I’d just woken up and my brain was still half asleep. I didn’t feel like explaining it to Raphtalia, so I stepped aside and motioned for her to open the door. Raphtalia cocked her head to the side in confusion and opened the door.
“What’s a tanuki pig doing in Filo-tan’s room?! Unacceptable!”
Jab!
“Ugh!”
Raphtalia rapidly thrust the hilt of her katana into Motoyasu’s stomach and closed the door. Tanuki pig? That certainly wasn’t a word I was expecting to hear first thing in the morning. That was just plain verbal abuse.
“Umm . . .”
Raphtalia mimicked my pose and nodded.
“Now I understand. What should we do?”
“How long has he been out there, anyway?” I wondered out loud.
“I thought I heard someone making noises outside earlier, but I never imagined it would be him out there waiting this whole time,” she replied.
“I heard some noises, too, but I just figured it was adventurers walking down the hallway. So that was Motoyasu . . .”
He seemed to be doing well for someone that had been thrown off a cliff.
“Filo.”
“Noooo!”
“If you don’t tell him what I told you to, he’s going to chase after you forever. Go tell him to power up his weapon properly and prepare for the waves.”
“Boo . . .”
Filo wrinkled her eyebrows discontentedly and opened the door.