Ren glanced at Sakura and Keel. “You’ve sure got some strange companions,” he commented.
“Keel is certainly a bit of an oddball,” I agreed.
“Me!?”
You don’t often see a dog therianthrope like Keel, so I had nothing but the utmost affection for her, I say.
“Well, yeah, that guy, but also . . .”
Ren glanced at Yuki and Sakura.
Ren, just what did you mean by suggesting that Yuki and Sakura were strange companions? Filolials—this world’s supreme, ultimate beings! Don’t you dare put yourself in the same sentence, I say!
“Are they demi-humans with wings growing out of their backs? Their legs look kinda bird-like too.”
Ren was examining Yuki and Sakura closely. He wasn’t even close to correct. He may as well have been blind. He ought to have known from all of his gaming experience that filolials were not mere demi-humans. Well, I did also make unfortunate errors based on my gaming knowledge in the past, I supposed.
“The white-haired one looks way too young to be your companion. Are you forcing her to come along with you?” Itsuki demanded.
Father narrowed his eyes at Itsuki. “Why are you so intent on painting me as a criminal? We have no intention of making her fight against the waves of destruction, and we’re protecting her at all costs.”
“Yeah!” chimed in Keel. “I won’t let anything happen to her!”
I understood how Keel was feeling. Father’s words were so moving they made one want to lay their life on the line out of sheer loyalty!
“This is Keel,” Father said to Ren and Itsuki. “Right now he’s in therianthrope form, but he’s a great demi-human.”
“I’ve been able to transform for a while now!”
“So it wasn’t just a monster capable of speaking our language then . . .” Ren muttered.
“That’s closer to what Sakura and Yuki are,” Father said, gesturing to the filolials, who transformed with a poof.
Ren’s and Itsuki’s jaws dropped. The filolials quickly reverted back to their angel forms.
“Keel lost his village in the first wave of destruction, before we were all summoned here.”
“Yeah! Which is why I’m gonna stop the wave no matter what!”
“And I’m Sakura.” Sakura introduced herself, stepping forward and bowing her head.
“You all didn’t know?” Itsuki sneered. “Naofumi is a convicted rapist.”
“Itsuki!” Father shouted, unable to contain himself. Ren let out a long sigh.
“Big Bro’s a rapist?” Keel burst out laughing. “What a joke! He can barely bring himself to glance at Sakura when she’s naked!”
“Keel!” Father glared over at her. “Look, I’m glad you believe me . . .”
Father turned back to face Itsuki.
“Look, I didn’t do it, whatever you think I did. And don’t even think about going after the people who actually trust me and are my friends.”
Itsuki scoffed. “I wonder what they would think after seeing the tears rushing down Myne’s face.”
The tears of a pig. I didn’t know what one was supposed to think after witnessing such a revolting sight.
Perhaps the time had come where I should think about putting an end to that disgusting creature.
“She’s a pig,” I spat. “That pig is the one who committed crimes against Father, not the other way around. Those were poisoned tears!”
“I couldn’t agree more!” Yuki declared. “Naofumi is simply not that kind of person! I know because Motoyasu trusts him. And from what I’ve heard and seen myself, Naofumi would never do such a horrible thing. He’s so peaceful and gentle that he’d sooner be the victim of such a crime than to actually commit it himself!”
Thank you, Yuki! Together we shall be Father’s defense against the prosecution!
“Motoyasu, Yuki, please—if we make a big fuss, this isn’t going to end easily,” Father protested. “And Yuki—what do you mean I’d sooner be the victim?”
“There have been rumors about the horrible deeds you’ve committed,” Itsuki said, ignoring Father’s protests. “I hope you aren’t thinking of coming to arms against your fellow heroes.”
Yes, I had forgotten that Melromarc was spreading rumors about us. I supposed Itsuki believed every last word.
“When you accuse me of things I have no memory of, all I can do is tell you that I honestly don’t know anything,” Father said, exasperated.
“So you’re practically admitting to your crimes,” Itsuki proclaimed.
Father sighed. Why in the world was Itsuki so absolutely convinced that Father was a rapist? I was the same way in the first go-around, but seeing it with my own two eyes made it hard to believe. He probably had come to think ill of Father from what the Crimson Swine had told him.
I also remembered Father calling Itsuki a slave to justice. His lone objective was to claim that others have done wrong, even if it was a lie.
Ultimately, Itsuki was working alongside the Crimson Swine at this point. He’d believe anything she told him, no questions asked. Otherwise, he wouldn’t believe all the fake rumors about Father.
Ren butted in with an annoyed expression. “Just how long are you going to keep having this pointless debate? I want to class up already.”
The pig who had up until now been watching on the sidelines with a smirk quickly assumed a serious expression. But I saw you, pig! You cannot hide your repulsive behavior!
Ren turned to the pig. “Can we class up now?”
“Oink oink,” replied the pig and took Ren and his party members to class up.
“Make sure to do it fast,” Ren told his companions. I remembered how Ren had always been like that. He didn’t care about giving his companions the ability to choose like Father did. Even I had let my pig companions freely class up, I say.
So from a distance, we watched Ren and his team finish classing up. Then, after they were finished, Itsuki and his companions went next. I observed his team. I had secretly assassinated Smoked Human, but what exactly was the outcome of that? And just as I thought, the Crimson Swine wasn’t a member of his party either.
“What happened to the Crimson Swine?” I inquired.
“Crimson Swine?” Itsuki gave me a strange expression. “Who in the world are you talking about?”
His attitude was so irritating that if he hadn’t been a hero, I might have just about snapped. Paralyze Lance would have been a good compromise to make him suffer without any real consequences.
“He’s probably talking about the princess,” Father chimed in.
“Princess Malty?” Itsuki asked. “She’s helping us out from behind the scenes, but she’s not a part of my team. When we visit the castle, she supports us.”
I could hardly believe it. She wasn’t a member of Itsuki’s party?
“You should know, she wanted to help out the heroes, but after being nearly raped by one of them, she was traumatized and couldn’t actually set out from the castle,” Itsuki said, casting a glare at Father.
He was irritatingly stubborn. He continued to fixate a disgusted glare at Father, but Father had managed to ignore it so far, so I ignored Itsuki as well.
Still, when you think about it, it was a strange outcome. Originally, the Crimson Swine was working with me. So why wouldn’t she just go with Itsuki instead?
Could it be that cooperating with Itsuki would actually interfere with her evil deeds? Or was it that Itsuki was in fact too annoying to cooperate with at all? When I thought back, she mostly supported us from behind the scenes, even when she accompanied me. She really was pathetic to her core.
When you consider Itsuki’s aggressive fighting style as well, if things didn’t go well, she could end up getting crushed with the rest of them. So she was taking care to separate herself from the battles and support only from the sidelines.
While I pondered such matters, Itsuki and his companions finished classing up. I wasn’t 100% sure, but it did seem like he had different companions this time around. For example, I knew that one of his companions was that stalker pig, but I didn’t see her anywhere.
Then again, I recalled that around this point in the first go-around, she hadn’t been with him either.