Chapter 5: Negotiations
IN most situations, a man has no leg to stand on before a woman’s wrath.
The same held true of the King of Ruin and his loyal subordinate, proving even they weren’t an exception to the rules that govern the relationship between men and women.
Takuto, the man who’d become the commander of Mynoghra in this new world, was presently imploring his direct subordinate to cheer up after his careless decision ruined her mood.
“C-C’mon…cheer up, Atou.”
“Hmph! I’m not in a bad mood or anything.”
The aura she was exuding begged to differ.
She had every right to be annoyed when Takuto had so arbitrarily decided to waste their precious, limited Mana supply on some measly Dark Elves. He hadn’t expected it to upset her this much, so he’d spent every moment since apologizing in hopes her mood would improve.
It would have if he’d realized the girl was more irritated that he’d failed to consult her than at the wastefulness of his actions. But that was asking too much of a boy who’d spent the bulk of his life in the hospital with little to no interaction with the opposite sex.
On the bright side, his desperate attempt to appease her with endless apologies seemed to gradually wear Atou down until she felt bad about not forgiving him.
“Okay! How about this? I’ll do anything you say if you forgive me!”
“I-Isn’t doing anything going a little too far? I’m not that angry…” Atou chewed out, staring up at Takuto from under her long lashes.
She was starting to worry her master might abandon her if she continued to act coy. She planned to forgive him as soon as he gave her good reason to.
“I can’t do this without you, Atou. I need you.”
“K-King Takuto…”
Frankly speaking, Atou was easy to win over.
For the most part, this girl put her master first, so one or two nice words from him and she was ready to let bygones be bygones. This was unavoidable when Takuto was her whole world, and especially when her whole life—though restricted to the confines of a video game—had been spent by his side.
“I’m sorry for being so stubborn too! I’m a disgrace of a subordinate for objecting to my mighty King’s decision.”
“I’m the one who’s sorry! We came to this world together, so I should’ve consulted you first. Will you forgive me?”
She nodded, and with that, they put the affair behind them.
Overall, neither viewed what happened as much of an issue. They just felt like acting more dramatic to liven up the conversation—their trust in each other was as strong as ever.
But the next problem they had to discuss was more serious in nature.
“Thanks. With that settled, there’s something I wanted to consult you about. Are you up to helping me figure out a solution?”
“Of course, my king! So what’s bothering you? If it’s about our remaining Mana, I believe we should still be safe with the minuscule cost associated with the amount of food you produced…”
“No, that’s not the problem. This is on an entirely different scale,” Takuto imparted with a grave expression.
Atou grew anxious over how much he seemed to be struggling to broach the topic. It could be said the concerns of her esteemed master easily eclipsed her own.
“Did something upset you, my king?”
“Not quite. You remember how we talked with the Dark Elves?”
“Yes…?”
Their abrupt encounter with Dark Elves wasn’t that long ago. Atou replayed the short conversation in her head, but as far as she could tell, they’d handled things well. They’d successfully deceived the Dark Elves into believing their side was stronger without revealing any of their cards.
No problems should’ve arisen from their encounter, but…Takuto’s concerns lay in an entirely different sphere of thinking.
“To tell you the truth, er, I struggled to speak…”
“How so?”
“Didn’t you notice, Atou? Even I thought it was a little strange. I can hold a proper conversation with you, but I suddenly couldn’t talk when other people showed up.”
Atou replayed the events in her head again. She definitely thought his word choice was a little weird. But she chalked it up to him purposely being curt to stop from accidentally giving away too much information and ruining their act.
She’d simply assumed he was roleplaying as a powerful being who left all trivial talking to his minions. At the time, she’d even been so impressed, she’d thought, My king is so impressive to pull this off on the spot!
Sweat trickled down Atou’s brow. What she sincerely hoped wasn’t the case was about to come true.
“Come to think of it, I can’t remember ever holding a decent conversation with the nurses and doctors at the hospital. I have basically no experience talking to others. I think there’s a word for people who can only speak to people they are close to…”
“Oh no…”
Atou trembled. She shook from head to toe. She just remembered her master’s previous life, the slightly troublesome sway it held over him now, and the colossal misunderstanding she’d been operating under.
“It seems that I have…a communication disorder…”
A single tear slipped from Takuto’s right eye as he spoke. He had a burdensome affliction that made it difficult for him to communicate with strangers.
“Please don’t cry, my king!!”
Atou rushed to his side faster than the eye could follow and clung to his arm. That was all she could do for him now.
Takuto wept over his inability to communicate. Atou also wept over the fact her master couldn’t converse well with others.
Even for the Hero of Ruin, who’d once gained infinite power and destroyed the world in a single stroke, this was one enemy she couldn’t defeat for her master.