Chapter 100

This is awful. It’s madness. “Oh? Excellent timing. Hop in,” suggests Hecate, raising her glass. The young lady, in a flash, whips off her pajamas and dives into the bathtub. “What’s going on? What am I looking at, exactly?” Drills can only stand and stare in utter confusion, unable to keep up with how things usually happen in the mansion. “Eliza, come on! Hurry!” “I—Fine! Don’t blame me if you’re scolded later!” Drills enters the bathtub, too, albeit reluctantly, but she quickly gets used to it and starts playing with the young lady. As a result, the ruckus in the bath gets even louder, and in the end, Miranda finds us all and gives us an angry lecture. Time to throw in the towel. “Then there was no issue in the forest after all?” “No, sir. It looks like it was my mistake.” The next day, the Hero reports everything that happened to Papa in his study. Still, it was far from “no issue”—more like nothing but issues. Last night, after talking to Hecate and Zenobia in the bath, the Hero decided to be our ally as well. She appears to be refreshed after a night’s worth of crying; her mental state has completely recovered. “Hmm. In that case, there’s nothing I need to tell you, but…” Papa strokes his full beard, then hands her a letter addressed to the guild. Hecate is probably smoothing things over with them, but the envelope probably has the marquis’s name on it to prove that the Hero did the job she was supposed to do. Papa is really good about being considerate. “I heard you’ll be leaving for the Royal Capital immediately, but why not spend a little more time relaxing here? The airship won’t arrive for another month, and it will probably take just as long to get to the capital on foot.” “Arwf, arwf. (Yeah, yeah! You finally made up with Zenobia. You should just stay here.)” “No, there’s something that’s been on my mind. I’d like to return on foot by myself.” “I see. In that case, it would be barbaric to try and keep you here any longer.” “Thank you so much for your hospitality. Farewell.” The Hero bows her head under Papa’s watchful eyes and politely exits the study. Figuring I can at least see her off, I follow her out into the hallway. “Arwf, arwf? (Are you sure about this, Hero?)” She must have been under that cursed holy sword’s control for a long time, and at the end, she was forced to fight beyond her limits. After the battle, Nahura used some healing magic on her, too, but can’t she rest some more first? “Hey, Routa?” “Arwf? (Yes, yes, whatever is it?)” “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t call me Hero anymore.” Oh? You were so fussy about being the Hero before. Are you over it now? “I wasn’t the Hero. I’m far from one. I was just a regular person. I was shocked when I first realized that, but now I feel almost liberated. This wasn’t how I felt at the very beginning. I wanted to be a hero because I wanted to help people, that’s all—not for anyone to call me a hero. I finally remembered that.” “Arwf. (Hmm. That’s a good look on you. In that case, I’ll stop calling you Hero and call you Alstera—well, that’s a little long. Can I call you Allie?)” That doesn’t sound very heroic, but I guess it doesn’t matter since this is a parallel universe anyway. “Allie… It’s kind of embarrassing, but sure.” Without the holy sword, and with the severity in her face gone, she looks like a girl her age should. Maybe I really am clueless, to have mistaken her for a man. After we leave through the mansion’s front entrance, Zenobia is waiting for us at the gate. “You’re going?” asks Zenobia. “Yeah,” says Allie with a firm nod. “Stop apologizing, then.” “I won’t anymore. Zenobia, won’t you come—,” starts Allie, reaching a hand for her before stopping and shaking her head. “This is where you belong, isn’t it?” “Yeah.” “I see. Okay, then I’ll give it my best do-over, too. If I can hold my head up proudly not as the Hero, but as Alstera, I’ll come visit again. Is that all right?” “Of course. Come anytime. I’ll be waiting.” The two bump their fists together, then part ways. Zenobia stays in place, leaning against the gate pillar, not going after Allie; and Allie walks away, her gait confident. These two should be fine now. Zenobia looks refreshed now, too, with a years-long burden now gone. I gained a lot from this incident myself. Two new allies who stick with me even though they know my true identity. Plus, they’re both SS-Rank adventurers. The mansion now has an even stronger combat force—Wait, what do we need that for?! I don’t need combat power for my pet life—I need days of peace! Why should I be sticking with these battle-loving children anyway? I’m going to the old man to get some food! “Arf, arf! (Old maaan, breakfast pleeease!)” I hear we got a fresh shipment of rice with the airship’s last arrival. I have no problems eating fluffy, steamy rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Just start wheeling it out now! As I head through the backyard toward the kitchen, I hear people talking. “Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Oh, how the mighty have fallen!” “Shut up! You’re the one who got made into a kitchen knife!” “At least we got out with our lives, but it seems you’ll have to spend the rest of that life in that form, just as we will…” Mircalla and Richmond are talking to a knife she’s holding. What’s with this weird scene? She’s been seen talking to me before, and the maids are already starting to consider her a little strange in the head. Wait a minute. Did that knife just talk? I totally remember that voice from somewhere… “Grrrr, that damn witch! How humiliating it is for someone such as I to be sealed away in a tiny knife like this…!” Oh, okay. Just as I thought, that knife must be Belgor, all sealed up. Hecate must have stolen his power, same as she did with Mircalla and Richmond. That purple metal shard I glimpsed in the bath must have been a piece of Belgor. “Just give up already. You can share the fate with the two of us.” “And we haven’t found a single thread that would lead us to regaining our power. I believe it best to simply resign yourself to the facts.” “How soft of you! And you still call yourselves generals?! Fine, then! I won’t rely on the likes of you! I’ll start by brainwashing the first human to pick me up, and then accumulate power again! Where are they?! Where is my first user?!” The enraged knife shakes in Mircalla’s hand. Then we hear the old man’s voice from the kitchen. “Heeey, Mircalla? Have you seen my knife? The one Dr. Hecate gave me. I wanted to test it out.” “Oh, chef. It’s right here. Please, feel free to use it until it breaks,” says Mircalla, giving an evil grin and handing the blade to the old man. Is this going to be all right? The old man isn’t like Allie. He’s a normal person. If it comes down to it, I might have to wipe out that knife, too, with another beam. “Fwa-ha-ha. So you are to be my first sacrifice? Very well. I will violate you down to your bone marrow, and—” As if he can’t hear the voice of Belgor, who possesses the knife, the old man takes it from Mircalla and holds it up to the light, evaluating the blade. “Hmm. This is a pretty good knife.” “Impossible…! He’s impervious…?! How much mental fortitude can this man possibly possess…?!” “You’re such an idiot. We just said your powers have been stolen. That includes the one you used to control humans, like before. That witch would never hand over something that could be even slightly dangerous.” “I-impossible!! What, then?! Are you saying I must live out the rest of my life not as a monster, but as an item good for nothing but cutting food?!” “That’s right. Just give up and go dice some onions or something.” “N… Nooooooooooooooo!!” The old man, totally oblivious to Belgor’s screams, goes back to the kitchen in a jovial mood. A moment later, I hear the soft sound of something hitting a cutting board, and then a scream of agony from Belgor. “C-cutting food, regular food, that doesn’t even have any mana in it—this is not what I am meant to do! Will this hell never end?! I will not be able to endure it!! I don’t want to! Stop! Please, stooooooop!!” “Hmm-hmm-hmm. ♪” Belgor’s screams mix with the old man’s humming to paint an incredibly surreal portrait. “Arwf… (I wonder… Is it really going to be okay to leave them like that?)” As I’m wondering about what I should do, a gust of wind blows through. “It’ll be fine.” It’s Hecate. “I hold the power over life and death for those little ones. There is a zero percent chance of them performing any evil deeds.” And now she’s saying something horrifying: “And even if something did happen, you would fix things like you always do, wouldn’t you, Routa?” “Arwf. (Wait a second. Like I said before, I don’t know what you expect from me. I’m just a pet.)” “I suppose…all of them? I have faith that you would do something about all of them if I leave it to you.” Whoa, that’s a heavy burden. Please don’t make me carry that. As Hecate smiles at me, I scratch an ear and look away. My only desire is for a peaceful, lazy life as a pet. Dangerous affairs are the last things I want to stick my neck out for. I guess, though, I won’t forgive anyone who tries to get in the way of my peace. But that’s all. “Hee-hee. I see. And that’s why I can believe in you, Routa.” Oh, stop it. I don’t want people rating me that highly. You’re making the back of my ear itch even more. “Oh, Routa! There you are!” Ah, it’s my lady. She’s waving at me energetically from a second-story window. “Eliza brought a really fun board game! Do you want to play?” “Woof, woof! (Seriously?! Yes, a million times yes! Even though I’ll just be watching!)” “What about you, Dr. Hecate?” “Well, if you insist, I politely accept.” “…Arwf? (…Go easy on them, all right?)” I doubt Hecate would ever pull her punches when it comes to competition. She’d be the kind of person to steamroller children at games. “Oh? That was rude. If you’re going to be like that, then I won’t give you any of the treats I brought.” “A-arwf?! (What?! I was just kidding, I’m sorry! Forgive me! Do you want your humble servant to lick your feet?!)” “You only say that because you want to…” “Arwf…? (H-how did you know…?)” And so, engaging in our usual banter as we head for Lady Mary, we go to enjoy the peace that has once again returned to us.