Chapter 81

“Uh…Alfoncina, I—” “You don’t have a girlfriend, right?” She questioned him in a teasing manner. He stood no chance against her like this. “I don’t, no, but this is…” “I’m kidding~.” She ruffled his hair. “Everyone would be mad at me~. I’ll wait just a little longer. Just a little more.” She finally freed him. But the sensation still lingered. “How much is a little longer…?” “Who knows? Like I said yesterday, it could be about two months? If no one makes a move, then I’d consider the statute of limitations to be up. And I’ll be very bold when I act~.” She had already started walking toward the hotel. “Let’s go. I’m certain we should be able to sleep a bit more if we head back now.” “Uh…so what were you doing at this hour…?” He could tell the danger had passed, but he still didn’t know what happened. “I had some work I had to take care of. Well, more like beat into submission,” she said with glee. “But the real challenge is tomorrow. Oh, it’s today already.” “Where was your work today…?” “There’s a diner that’s open twenty-four hours a ways up the road, and that’s where I was. But that’s all settled now.” She’d had a premeeting, or even confidential talks, with government officials at a diner in the middle of the night—he could instantly imagine it. Not many people would guess they were doing things at a diner of all places. “Were your opponents powerful…?” “Powerful? Well, we weren’t fighting with our fists or weapons. I fought with my own methods.” So a negotiation. And whatever it was had been settled even before the main event. “But the real fight is tomorrow.” Alfoncina’s smile briefly disappeared, but it was soon back. “I’m counting on you, Ryouta!” “Of course, Alfoncina!” “Work” was fierce—as soon as it began, the noise was almost deafening. There was nothing peaceful about this at all; the venue was more like a battlefield. “Listen, we are fighting against time,” Alfoncina said from next to him. “You remember the layout, right? Make sure that on your first move, you use as little energy as possible. It’s like boxing. You will eventually pay for it if you get too enthusiastic.” “Understood. I won’t lose.” “I always want to run away right before we start. But now that we’ve come this far, we have no choice but to go through with it.” It wasn’t long before someone came rushing toward them. “Two? That will be one thousand yen! Thank you very much!” The duo was at a doujinshi convention, at booth East A-05a. Ryouta didn’t really know much about any of this stuff, but they had been stationed right beside some shutters that were closed earlier that morning, and the assumption was that there was going to be quite the crowd of people. There was already a huge line before the event started, and they were overwhelmed by customers once the venue opened. Their sheer passion left him in shock. “Oh, please limit yourselves to three copies per person! Sorry, I cannot accept sketchbooks! A gift? Thank you very much! Ten thousand yen? Please hold on a moment—let me get some change!” Their book-display and checkout-counter placement were perfect. They both could accomplish everything with the least amount of movement. “Now listen to me. Just because we are a big doujin circle, it doesn’t mean we can let people wait in line for a long time. The convention won’t last forever. Think about how they’d feel if they spent the whole time on our circle. Hand out new copies fast enough that there cannot be a line!” That was what Alfoncina had said to him before the event started, her eyes burning with the spirit of a true warrior. “I’ll do my best. I’ll fly faster than an arrow. But can I just say one thing? “Your work was for a convention?!?!?!?!?!” They sold out before noon. “Thank you~. We sold everything~! Here, have some water!” He accepted the bottle she handed to him. “I had no idea conventions would be such hard work…,” he said. The imposing walls of cardboard boxes now all sat empty. “Aren’t they~? The manga world is a battle. You must be physically fit in this world~.” Even though they were provided with chairs, the constant deluge of people meant they had no time to sit. “But it’s fun, isn’t it? Having my own doujin circle means I get a taste of the excitement of selling my creations and then watching customers come to me to buy them. Once I learned how fun this was, I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop until I die.” “That’s so cool,” he said. He really admired her moxie. “There’s nothing cool about it. I’m not even acting. I like drawing manga, and that’s it. There’s nothing more to it. That’s why I don’t think I’m Kin Hayashimori the manga artist, but just a girl who likes manga.”1 “Were you selling books about the abbot this time?” Cat-Eared Abbot: The Zen Mind was an anime that was getting popular. Shiren had good things to say about it, too. “Mm-hmm. I’m happy so long as they get just the slightest taste of how much I love what I do~.” “By the way, what were you doing at the diner last night…?” “Oh gosh, I’ve gotten so much work for YouRou IKou! because of the anime~. I had to draw some extra comics as soon as possible, but I hadn’t been able to put aside any time for it. So I thought I’d wake up early instead~.” “Oh yeah, I heard you cry, I can’t do this, let me leave…” “I wanted to leave and get some more sleep. I’m so tired~.” “Then what about I’m not going to give it all up now?” “It means I wasn’t going to give up all my manga work.” “Then I’ll do what I must for you was…” “I was talking to my deadlines. I will do what I must for my deadlines—which I did, thankfully! I am very tired, though.” Ryouta was starting to feel like he’d put in a lot of effort for nothing. “So…why did you leave your phone in the room yesterday?” “Oh, I forgot about it!” So that was all it was. “And before we went to sleep, you said, ‘If I asked you to throw everything aside and run away with me, would you come with me?’ So was that…?” “I just wanted to abandon my deadlines and the convention and get away from it all.” And so the mystery was solved. What an anticlimax. “I’m sorry, then what about the meeting between Japan and the Empire…?” “I think someone else is going to that one~. This is a secret, but I heard they’re going to hold it in Oshiro. It would be quite troublesome to come out all this way if you consider security and whatnot.” And now every mystery was solved. “So your work was this convention and the manga stuff, right?” That was why she got no compensation from the state. “Exactly. I applied to join this convention; then I got approval from the Empire. Japan is more than happy to let Kin Hayashimori in.” “Kin Hayashimori sure has a lot of power!” The manga artist should have been her less powerful identity, but Hayashimori was no slouch, either. “Let’s clean up, then.” “Okay. Oh~. On the way back, I have a quick meeting with some editors, okay~?”2 They began their trek back at night, so they got dinner boxes on the Shinkansen. The boxes tended to run expensive, but in a way, it was comforting knowing the price cap wasn’t all that important. “Wow, the chicken set was great!” “It was only eight hundred yen, right? You could have gotten something nicer.” “Nope, that’s plenty expensive by Fuyukura standards.” “Na~na~nana~na~, nanananana~na~na~ Aaannd this is for you, Ryouta!” After humming a tune that sounded like she was at an awards ceremony, she handed him the Jieyi pills. “Just swallow them down. I’ve heard they’ll work almost immediately~.” Ryouta took the bottle from her and stared at them. “What’s wrong? Why aren’t you taking them?” “Because you seem kind of sad about this, Alfoncina,” he replied, looking her in the eye. She was smiling, but just on the surface. “I do? That’s not my intention…” “I know that. I guess it’s a minion’s instinct. You don’t want me to take this, do you?” “Haaah…” She sighed deeply. “I knew you would be able to tell.” “Please tell me all the effects this medicine has. You said there were no side effects before, so tell me all the main ones.” Resigned, Alfoncina began to talk. “This medicine doesn’t undo a half-established minion transformation, but it instead blurs memories of the would-be master in the would-be minion. That’s why they’re called Jieyi pills—it’s Chinese for ‘memory dissolution.’” “So if I take them…” “You won’t forget about me completely, but you’ll find your memory will be fuzzy about things like when I’ve bitten you or how we came to Tokyo,” Alfoncina said. She was acting nonchalant about it, but that was because she knew it would be unfair to express her reluctance. His minion bond with her was just a little too strong to not be a problem, and for Ryouta’s sake, it would be best if he used the medicine. Many others would be satisfied with this conclusion and would even be happy about it. All she had to do was swallow some of her own selfishness. “That’s why you said we should make our trip in Tokyo a date.” “I thought it would be a nice idea, since I knew this wouldn’t last…but maybe I shouldn’t have… I didn’t realize I’d end up so interested in you…” Ryouta was also able to tell that the way she was behaving the previous day showed her true self. “Come on now, you should take it right after you eat. It’s not going to put your life in danger~.” “No, I don’t think I will.” He placed the bottle on the little table where his empty meal box sat. “Are you sure?” “I feel like I’m chickening out with a reset button. I think I’ll just have to live accepting you’ve bitten me before.” “I’m not responsible if Shiren and Ouka get mad at you~.” “I’ll just explain myself. It’s okay………I think.” If they were going to get mad, then they were going to get mad. But he could probably reason with them. “If I told them to put themselves in my shoes for a second, they’d probably accept.” They would both understand the pain of being forgotten. There was no terrible tragedy to erase, so it was likely best to keep his memories. “All right. Then I’ll keep this with me, okay? I’m not sure if I can bring this into the Empire.” “Okay.” Alfoncina placed the bottle into her bag. “But I’m not responsible if you make any mistakes because you’re a minion~.” She smiled with glee. “Yeah, you’re right… I’ll manage.” The two looked at each other and smiled. “This medicine cost almost thirty thousand yen~. And it was all for nothing~.” “I’m sorry…I’ll pay you back…” “But it’s a small price to pay considering I still get to keep you around from here on out~.” “Huh?” “You did very well these past two days.” He felt something warm brush his cheek. “Wha…? Wait, Alfoncina, did you…kiss me…?” he asked, flustered by the sudden gesture. “Heh-heh~. I think you’re imagining things~. Or perhaps, it’s best if you never find out?” “You’re right…I won’t ask any more questions…” And just like the previous day, she yawned. She’d hardly slept the night before, too. “Yaaawn, I’m going to take a little nap again. Don’t wake me up, okay~?” “All right.” “Oh, and no matter what happens, do not wake me up.” “Even if we come to Oshiro?” “That’s right. Our only choice is to pass it.” “Well, you should probably wake up…” “But if you wake me up just because we’ve reached our stop, I will be in an extremely bad mood. That’s how bad it gets when my sleep is interrupted.” “That’s awful…” If she wasn’t awake, then their only choice was to miss their stop. “Anyway, I’m going to sleep! Don’t wake me up!” In a single minute, Alfoncina started snoring softly. And one minute after that… …she fell over onto Ryouta’s lap again. “Zzz, zzz…” “Rgh…I have a bad feeling about this…” “Oh, Ryouta, so big and hard… I’ve never seen a beer bottle so tall and sturdy…” “I genuinely can’t tell if she’s sleep-talking or just messing with me…” Alfoncina still didn’t wake up when they came to Oshiro Station. “Yaaawn, good morning, Ryouta. Are we almost there?” “We passed Oshiro a long time ago,” Ryouta said, exhausted. “We’re almost in Hakata, the last stop. We came all the way to Kyushu.” “Oh my, we won’t be able to turn back at this hour~.” They had apparently boarded the last train from Tokyo to Hakata, so they had no hope of getting back to Oshiro.