This makes my promise to Filo-tan a bit of a paradox. In order to do the right thing, I might have to do things that would otherwise be wrong. I learned that from watching Father.
“Itsuki, I couldn’t help but overhear your noble words!” Trash exclaimed, breaking through the crowd to join us. But he was the one who made Itsuki think this way in the first place. His pestering alone was nearly enough to drive me to action. Should I kill him on the spot?
But I couldn’t. It would cause too many changes to the timeline.
“I had heard a rumor that one of the heroes was using slaves, but I couldn’t believe my ears!” Trash said. “And since Itsuki disapproves, I command it: you two will duel!”
Father let out a heavy, exasperated sigh. A duel against someone who can only use a shield? What a ridiculous concept. Of course, Trash pit me against Father in the first go-around, but I realized now just how stupid I was. And since we had suspected just what was coming, there really was nothing we could do but sigh in the face of the absurdity.
“If Itsuki wins, then you must release your slaves at once,” Trash continued. “And if the Shield Hero wins, then we’ll let the incident pass without punishment.”
“I really don’t think there’s any point,” Father said.
“Of course there’s a point!” Itsuki exclaimed. “Justice will be done!”
“Justice?” Father shook his head. “There’s no benefit to fighting me and you know that I have pretty much no way to beat you in a duel, right?”
“I see benefits for both of us,” Itsuki responded. “If you win, you get to keep your slaves, and we’ll leave it at that.”
“I already have that right,” Father said. “Why are you trying to make it into some sort of lucky prize?”
Father was right to get angry here. But there was no point in arguing with Itsuki. Even though Father already had slaves, Trash was stepping in after the fact to try and act like he had the right to give Father permission. I nearly lost my cool myself.
“How about I fight you instead of Father, eh?” I proposed. “I too am little more than a slave to Father’s will, I say!”
Indeed, for I am the Love Hunter, a slave to my love! I will do anything that my beloved Filo-tan asks of me! And since Filo-tan was Father’s slave, any order from Father is an order from Filo-tan!
“What are you talking about, Motoyasu? You’re not my slave—”
I held out my hand. “I appreciate the good word, benevolent Father. But it’s true. I, Motoyasu Kitamura, the Love Hunter, live to serve your will. I am a slave to love!”
“I have no idea what you’re trying to say,” Father said.
“Regardless,” I said, turning back to Itsuki and Trash. “There will be no problem if I fight Itsuki in this duel as Father’s representative. Am I wrong?”
Itsuki had no chance of defeating me. The biggest challenge would be to avoid killing him by accident. And he had seen me take out the chimera before. He was sure to admit defeat easily.
“Why would the Spear Hero be able to fight in the Shield Hero’s place?” Trash asked. “I will not permit such an exchange.”
“Yeah!” Itsuki said. “This matter is between me and Naofumi! Stop trying to interfere!”
Now I was starting to get angry. I’m sorry, Father, but I may just need to kill Itsuki.
But of course, that would reset the time loop all over again. So maybe I could chop off his hands or legs without killing him. We could always get him back up to shape with healing magic, and I was sure that he would never try to take action against Father again.
Meanwhile, the castle soldiers had to hold Keel, Sakura, Yuki, and Kou back from attacking Itsuki right away.
“Let me go!” Keel barked. “No way! Big Bro, don’t listen to ’em!”
“Calm down, you brat,” shouted the soldier, struggling to hold Keel down. “Hey! Ouch!” The soldier kicked Keel away after she bit him, and Keel hurried to Father’s side.
“Stop bullying him!” Keel yelped. “If you don’t, I’ll teach you a lesson!”
“Keel, it’s not quite . . . bullying.” Father sighed, patting Keel on the head. Keel growled angrily at Trash and Itsuki, and you could sense her bloodlust.
The filolials had also broken away from the castle soldiers and Sakura had even drawn her swords.
“You aren’t thinking about biting me, the king of Melromarc, are you?” Trash said to Keel. “So you’re one of the Shield Hero’s companions, I see. But you do have a slave seal. You must not be able to speak beyond whatever your master commands you. Call magicians who can undo the curse, immediately!”
Then Father clapped his hands loudly to capture everyone’s attention.
“All right, I get it! You want me to fight Itsuki one on one, is that it?”
“Who said anything about a one-on-one fight?” Trash said. “It will be a fight between you and your parties! And my orders are absolute! I’ll confiscate your slaves by force if I have to!”
Father’s jaw dropped in surprise. A duel between their whole parties? Somehow, Trash was always even more idiotic than I could’ve expected.
I may end up breaking my promise to Father, but I couldn’t just let this unfold without intervention. I supposed now was the time to just wrap things up and kill Trash.
And just as I started charging up my spear to launch an attack, Itsuki interjected.
“But that is an act of cowardice!” he cried. “Of course it’s a one-on-one fight!”
“What the hell is going on?” demanded Ren, finally coming over to the discussion. Ren didn’t really react to much of anything until much later in the first go-around, but I supposed that this time he had many more reasons to mistrust Melromarc. Maybe now was the right time to give him the full story.