So once we got the fabrics prepared, we went back to the inn in the Melromarc castle town.
“Okay, now you can sleep for as much as you want,” I told Yuki and Kou.
“Motoyasu, aren’t you going to sleep?” Yuki let out a big yawn.
“Oh, I’m certainly going to sleep. But before that, I want to get the basting done for your clothes, I say!”
“In that case, is it okay if we watch you until you fall asleep?” Yuki asked.
“Of course, I say!”
As I started sewing the base of the fabrics together, I gradually heard Yuki and Kou breathe deeply and fall asleep. Kou started snoring again.
Since we were going monster hunting every day, too, we were all exhausted.
Sewing isn’t so bad if you get used to it, but I stopped a little early to get some rest.
But first I measured the fabrics against the sleeping Yuki and Kou. Yes! They fit perfectly.
I, Motoyasu Kitamura, can tell the clothing size of a filolial by a single glance, I say!
While thinking about such important matters, I climbed into bed alongside Yuki and Kou and fell asleep.
That night, I had an amazing dream about my reunion with Filo-tan.
Father was smiling at me brightly too.
I would walk through water, through fire, through hell itself and back for them, I say.
Father and I hadn’t planned to meet up the next day. But I realized that now was about the time that Sakura would turn into her angel form. Would it be okay for me to see them?
Well, it’s not like Father would get mad at me or anything.
“Motoyasu, what are we going to do today?” Yuki asked.
Nowadays we were going hunting at night. It was getting stressful to have to be sneaking around all the time.
But we couldn’t afford to let anyone see our true strength. Soon enough I’d be sure to put an end to Trash, the Crimson Swine, and the High Priest too. It wasn’t a half-bad idea to stealthily assassinate them like I had done to Smoked Human, but that might cause all sorts of strange differences in the time loop. I needed to do something to burn off my stress. But what?
Aha! I knew one surefire way.
“We’re going to the peak,” I told Yuki and Kou.
“What’s the peak?” Kou asked.
“Are we going mountain climbing or something?” Yuki said.
Both Yuki and Kou had their heads tilted in confusion. Technically, Yuki was pretty close to being right. But the peak that I was referring to meant something different altogether.
“‘Peak’ refers to when filolials race to the top of a mountain,” I explained.
“No way!” exclaimed Kou. “So we can run as fast as we want?”
“Of course, I say!”
Kou’s eyes sparkled with excitement. Yuki, who valued refinement, frowned and fidgeted as if Kou had said something improper. But all filolials tend to love running. It’s the perfect way to release stress! And on top of that, it’s great exercise for a healthy body, I say.
But for me, the sweetest stress relief in the world is to simply ride on a filolial’s back as they race up a mountain!
“If we’re lucky, we might encounter some bandits too,” I said. “And if they come chasing after us for revenge from their hideout, we might be able to get a carriage and kill two birds with one stone.”
“Are bandits yummy?” Kou asked.
“You can’t eat humans, Kou,” I reminded him.
Father had told us so, after all. I personally didn’t see any problem with it, since their dead bodies would end up getting eaten by other birds if we just left them there.
“Keel’s tail looked so, so, soooo yummy,” Kou said. “Wagging back and forth, I just wanted to gobble it up.” Kou wobbled back and forth as if he were in a trance. Hmm . . . so Kou was a big fan of dog tails.
Now that I thought about it, Filo-tan was always watching Big Sis’s tail too. When Father wasn’t there, Filo-tan said, “I’ve been thinking this for a long time, but, Raphtalia, your tail is just so round and tasty-looking. Can I please eat it?” Big Sis smiled and said to her, “You can eat my tail, but only if you give your feathers to Naofumi for him to use in his cooking in exchange.” Filo-tan responded with a fearful yelp, and that was the end of that. I watched the whole exchange with my heart as full as a groom’s as he awaits his princess bride!
“If you eat her tail, Father won’t be happy,” I told Kou.
“Aw, man.”
“Today we’re going to let loose, I say!” I declared, and Yuki and Kou cheered with joy.
Oh Filo-tan, we weren’t necessarily searching for her yet. But now that I had prepared the clothes, I didn’t really have much else to do and needed to let out some stress. Pretty much all that was left was to find more herbs for Father that he could use to make his medicine.
The next day, after the filolials enjoyed their running, we set off to find more herbs for Father. We captured some dungeons to acquire the sealed plants within and then went to meet Father.
Well, here I am in Riyute, I thought. So where could Father be?
He might be helping the villagers here in some way, in typical Father fashion. So I went around the village looking for him and stopped by an inn that looked like a place Father would stop at for the night. And that’s where I found him, I say.
“Oh hey, Motoyasu! Nice timing. Come over here.”
As I was walking toward the inn, I heard his voice out the window.
“Whatever may it be?” I asked him.
“Hm, well, we’ve had an issue. I don’t want to say it out loud, so just come inside,” Father told me.
“At once!” I declared and rushed inside to Father’s room.
“So yesterday, Keel and Sakura and I were going around the area, taking care of some monsters and collecting herbs. Then, when we came back here, I thought Sakura would get lonely, so I got a room for us to stay together.”
My heart fluttered. What a wonderful glimpse of Father’s loving compassion! He was making Sakura a beloved companion, just as he had in the last go-around.
“But it’s what happened next that I want to tell you,” Father continued. “I was keeping a close eye on her because you told me about how she would change forms, right?”
“I deeply apologize for the interruption, but is it necessary for you to explain all that to me?” I inquired. From everything that had happened in the past, it was only a matter of time before Sakura changed into her angel form. So what was the problem?
“Yes, and that’s what happened in the end, but not quite the way you’d think,” Father said.
I had no idea what Father was talking about.
“Oink oink!” added Keel, but unfortunately, I could not understand a word she said.
“It’s kinda hard to explain,” Father continued. “I want you to see Sakura’s human form for yourself.”
“So she turned into her angel form!” I exclaimed.
“Wait, is that Yuki behind you?” I asked. “I mean, you did explain it to me before, but . . . she does look like a little child, doesn’t she?”
“Like a child, you say?” I asked.
I mean, they were pretty much the same size and height as Filo-tan was. I didn’t see any problem there. More than half of the filolials in angel form that I had seen were about that same height. But the way Father was speaking, I wondered if Sakura had turned out different.
“Sakura, can you come over here?” Father called.
“Huh? What’s up?”
I looked over in the direction of Sakura’s voice.
When I saw her, I noticed the same pink hair and wings growing out of her back . . . but it was in the body of a calm-looking angel who appeared to be around 17 years old.
She was wearing the same clothes as the local villagers.
Could Father have told her to become this way?