Hikaru-san.

  When I had been kidnapped by the Kingdom of Bahairam, Japan had found Hikaru-san to send to replace me. It probably would have been better from the government’s perspective if I had never come back at all. If they specifically tried to get rid of me, they risked poisoning their relationship with the Eldant Empire. But if I was eliminated by a convenient accident, something that the Japanese government appeared to have no hand in, than they would have every reason to send a replacement for me.

  I’ll bet there was rejoicing in Japan when they heard I had been kidnapped by Bahairam.

  And then I’d come back. Thanks to Myusel and Elvia and Minori-san and Loek and Romilda, I had come home safely. And so the position of General Manager, which the government had intended to bestow upon Hikaru-san, vanished into thin air, and they were forced to send him as my assistant instead of my replacement.

  After their experience with me, I assumed the government had carefully investigated Hikaru-san’s temperament and personal philosophy. They would want to be sure he would do as they wished. After that, it would just be a matter of waiting for the right opportunity to usurp me.

  If Petralka, Garius, and others like them came to value Hikaru-san more than me, then Amutech’s leadership could be changed with no special fuss. That was why Matoba-san or somebody had gone out of their way to find out who Petralka’s favorite character was and work it into their plans.

  I stood silently, but my mind was flooded with images from the classroom. Hikaru-san surrounded by students, chatting happily. Were they so happy that even if I disappeared, they wouldn’t mind having just Hikaru-san?

  For that matter, if they were forced to choose between me and Hikaru-san, how many of them would actually take my side? Half of them? None of them?

  That couldn’t be true. I tried to deny it, but once the notion had gotten into my head, I couldn’t get it out.

  To my own humiliation, I realized I was shaking.

  “Is that all you wanted to talk to me about?” Hikaru-san asked, smiling. Was it just me, or was that a smile of triumph?

  Then Hikaru-san said, “I’m going to go relax in my room until dinner.” He turned and began walking slowly away from me.

  I couldn’t do anything but watch him go.

  When dinner was over, I quickly retreated to my own room, unable to stand being in the same place as Hikaru-san.

  I hadn’t had much appetite, and didn’t really touch my dinner. I felt bad for Myusel, who had worked so hard to make it, but I could hardly even remember what she had served. I recalled taking two or three mechanical bites, but I hadn’t tasted anything.

  “Sigh.........”

  How pathetic am I?

  I flopped on my bed. I had no idea what to do.

  In the past, when it had come to a fight with the Japanese government, I had found I was able to square off against them. Petralka, of course, and the entire Eldant Empire, had my back—and that gave me courage.

  But now? Now, I wasn’t so sure.

  The reality was, Hikaru-san wasn’t even technically my enemy. He was only thinking of how best to run Amutech to serve the interests of the Japanese government; he wasn’t specifically trying to get rid of me. If he had been, there would have been plenty of opportunities to take more concrete action. I probably wouldn’t even have been able to resist.

  But Hikaru-san genuinely didn’t seem hostile toward me.

  I don’t think he was actually concerned about me at all. It was just that as he worked harder and harder, I was eventually going to find myself cornered. That was all there was to it.

  Given my official position, I didn’t have a lot of room to criticize what he was doing, even if I personally thought it was problematic.

  “But what if I wasn’t General Manager anymore...?”

  Just saying it aloud made the possibility seem a little more real.

  Would the Japanese government kill me? No. However accepted Hikaru-san might become, I didn’t think they would be able to do anything as heavy-handed as murdering me. It would just hurt their standing with the Eldant Empire too much.

  In that case, might they simply send me back to Japan as someone who had no more business being here?

  It was at that point that it dawned on me: I could go back to Japan.

  When I first came over to Eldant, it was basically a kidnapping. And for confidentiality reasons I’d never been allowed to go back to Japan. I wondered sometimes if my parents might be worried about me, but then again, I thought there was a chance they were perfectly happy to have shed a worthless time-waster like me, and so I’d resolved not to think about it too hard.

  ............Hey.

  Don’t do this to yourself. Don’t let your thoughts go in these ugly directions.

  I heaved another sigh.

  That was when I heard a knock at the door.

  Curious, I looked over, although I didn’t bother dragging myself up off my bed. Honestly, I didn’t have the energy to get up, or even to answer.

  “Um... Master, are you there?” a cautious voice called out when I didn’t say anything. “It’s Myusel.”

  “Oh!” I reflexively jumped up. “Oh, uh, I’m here! You can come in!”

  ...Er, Kanou Shinichi? Weren’t you just saying you didn’t have the energy to get up or talk?

  Disappointed by my own fickleness, I quickly straightened my clothes. As I did so, the doorknob turned slowly, hesitantly.

  “Master... Shinichi-sama?”

  In the narrow wedge of light between the open door and the wall, Myusel’s face appeared. I nodded, and she pushed open the door and came in.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  She came in, all right, but once she closed the door behind her she stopped moving and just stood there. I watched her, but she seemed reluctant, looking at the ground and fidgeting slightly.

  “Um... I... I know it might not be... my place to ask, but...” Her face was bright red, but then Myusel finally resolved herself and looked up at me. “Is... Is something the matter?”

  “Huh...? Er, what makes you say that?”

  I asked out of instinct, but in reality, it was a stupid question. Think about it: I’d barely touched the dinner she made before dashing off to my room. Of course she would conclude I might not be feeling very well. Then again, Myusel was prone to assuming things were her fault—like that she had messed up the cooking or something—but let’s ignore that for now.

  “Y-You just haven’t seemed very... happy lately, Shinichi-sama. Especially earlier. You looked like... like you were in so much pain...” She didn’t look up as she spoke. Shyness drove the redness up to her ears.

  I could only stare at Myusel. Notwithstanding tonight’s meal, I thought I had been doing everything I could to act normal. And yet Myusel, it seemed, had seen right through me.

  Then on top of that, she purposely came to my room just to check on me...

  Uh-oh. It would be pretty embarrassing to start crying now.

  “Myusel...” I blinked to hold back the tears, then looked at the maid. “Do you have a moment?”

  I patted the bed beside me gently.

  Myusel looked uncomprehending for an instant, then said, “C-Certainly...!” She made her way over to me a little bit awkwardly, then sat down where I had indicated with no small hesitation. She closed her eyes and put her hands in front of her chest almost as if she were praying.

  After a second I said, “I want to ask you something.”

  “Me...?” She looked taken aback.

  “Maybe I shouldn’t. But... I want to talk, or at least to be heard. That’s all I need.”

  “Er, ah, b-but, y-yes, certainly, of course you can!” Myusel nodded vigorously, looking strangely out of sorts.

  What was going on? She was even more red than before... But anyway.

  “To tell the truth...”

  And then I told Myusel about everything I had felt from the day Hikaru-san arrived until now. About the trading cards. About the ero games. About the Japanese government’s philosophy, and Hikaru-san’s.

  I did worry that speaking ill of Hikaru-san might cause Myusel to become disillusioned with me. But if so, I felt that might help me accept that I had been wrong. It was sort of like when I had decided to rebel against the government—Myusel seemed to me like a bellwether of this world, and how she felt set something of a standard for me.

  Everything I had thought and felt, I spilled out to Myusel.

  When it came to explaining what an “ero game” was and what had happened to Shade, she once again blushed with embarrassment, but nonetheless listened to me all the way through. As I spoke, I couldn’t tell what she might be thinking, but she at least had the good grace to hear me out, even if my talk was approaching babble.

  When I finished, she said, “So Hikaru-sama...” She looked shocked. Then, suddenly, it seemed like something had clicked into place for her. She put a hand to her mouth and said, “Oh...”

  “What is it?”

  “Now that you mention it... I just...”

  After a moment’s hesitation, Myusel came out with it. “When you were taken hostage by the Kingdom of Bahairam, Shinichi-sama, I thought it almost seemed like the Ja-panese government had expected you to be captured all along...”

  “Ahh. So that’s how it was.”

  I sighed. Apparently I had been carried off by Bahairam because my own government had leaked the information that caused them to take an interest in me. That suggested my replacement, Hikaru-san, had been waiting in the wings since even before then. Maybe since... immediately after my rebellion against the government.

  No doubt they’d wanted their second general manager to be someone who would follow their wishes more closely. And that was why...

  I sat, silent. I remembered the way Hikaru-san had lambasted otaku as only someone who grew up among them could.

  The government had really hit the jackpot with him. He had all the otaku knowledge, but basically despised otaku as consumers. Hence he would have no qualms about using otaku products or works as tools of cultural invasion—might even enjoy using them to cause consumers to dance in the palm of his hand.

  It was ugly. Hideous. But hadn’t he succeeded in gaining everyone’s trust? At least, it looked to me like he had.

  I was just an otaku. What was I going to do—twiddle my thumbs and watch him? If I wasn’t careful, then in trying to resist him I could find myself doing the exact same thing he was. Battling over profits. Taking what sells to be what’s right. And then, I would be just like him.

  So, then... What to do?

  “What should I do...?”

  I had told Myusel I just need someone to listen to me, but this is where I’d wound up. It probably made me look pretty weak, but to be honest, I probably didn’t care.

  “Maybe you guys don’t even need me here anymore...”

  “That isn’t true!” Myusel exclaimed, almost as if to wipe out my words with her own. Then, more quietly, “Er, I... I mean, pardon me...” She looked at the floor, shrinking again in the light of my shocked silence.

  The words had come out instinctively, without careful thought. But that only went to show that they were her true feelings.

  “I don’t... I don’t understand these difficult or complicated things,” Myusel began, sounding hesitant once again. “I don’t even really know whether what Hikaru-sama is doing is right or wrong. But Shinichi-sama, to me... to me, you’re a very important person. We absolutely do need you here. Otherwise... why would Minori-sama, and Loek-sama, and Romilda-sama go all the way to Bahairam to rescue you...?” She squeezed her knees with her hands. “Even Her Majesty did what she could... And Elvia-san, it took a little while, but she threw herself into helping you...”

  There was a long pause before I replied, “I see. You’re right. I’m sorry.” I really meant it.

  She was right. Even if I was evicted from the position of General Manager of Amutech, that didn’t mean everyone would immediately hate me or something. This wasn’t a binary question: one or zero, enemy or friend. That kind of thinking only constrained what you could see. Just because people liked Hikaru-san didn’t mean they automatically disliked me.

  Had I felt so totally cornered that I’d lost sight of even something as simple as that? How embarrassing...

  “And... if it turns out Hikaru-sama is your enemy, Shinichi-sama, then... then even if perchance Minori-sama, Elvia-san—and even Her Majesty—if they all side with Hikaru-sama, I’ll still...” Myusel looked at me, almost beseeching. And here I’d thought I was the one who needed encouragement. “I’ll still stand by you, Shinichi-sama. That’s one thing that will never change.”

  The way she spoke, it was almost as if she was begging me to let her be my ally.

  Oh!

  I could feel a fluttering in the depths of my heart. Yes: it was just like before. If Myusel was on my side, then I could and would fight.

  “Myusel...” I opened my mouth, just... happy. Feelings are only meaningful if you tell the other person about them. “Thank you. Thank you so much.” The words may have been stale, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

  “Oh, er, n-not at all—I just...” It seemed like she couldn’t figure out how to go on, either.

  So Myusel and I sat there on the bed, both of us silent, until...

  “I’m going to figure this out, somehow,” I said. “I can’t let things go on like this.”

  “Yes, sir. If there’s any way I can help, please let me know.”

  “Sure thing. When the time comes, I’ll tell you.” Finally, I was at least able to muster a smile.

  Guuuurrrrgle.

  As if to prove that my energy had come back, there was an unmistakable growl from my stomach. Myusel and I both looked at each other for a second, then burst out laughing.

  I guess I had my appetite back.

  “I’ll go make a nighttime snack for you.”

  “Thanks. I’ll come to the dining area.”

  “Oh, no, I can bring it here to your room.”

  “Oh, gosh, you don’t—I mean—” I scratched my cheek with one finger. “I sort of... wanted to go with you.”

  I just want to be with you for a while.

  Naturally, I couldn’t bring myself to put it quite that bluntly. As Myusel blinked away her surprise, I said, partly to cover my embarrassment, “Whatever you make, I hope it’s good.”

  “It will be!” Myusel said, nodding and smiling broadly. Seriously, she was cute enough to make me fall over right then and there.

  Later on...

  What follows isn’t from my perspective, but Myusel’s. It takes place in the middle of the night, but she related the events to me after she woke me up the next morning.

  With that in mind...

  “Um...” Myusel knocked twice on the door, then said, “Hikaru-sama, I’ve brought tea.”

  “It’s open,” came the answer from inside. “Come in.”

  Myusel excused herself and then pushed a cart with tea implements on it into Hikaru-san’s room. Hikaru-san apparently had some kind of habit of taking tea about three hours after dinner, and he had asked Myusel to bring it to him each day.

  In his room, Hikaru-san was working on something on a personal laptop, but he closed it as if to hide whatever it was and turned to Myusel. “Thank you.”

  “Not at all...”

  This was also just as usual.

  Myusel poured the tea and put it on Hikaru-san’s desk along with some tea candies. She tried hard not to disturb Hikaru-san when he was working—normally she would simply have pushed the cart back out of the room. But tonight...

  “Um... Hikaru-sama?” She stood stock-still as she spoke.

  “Yes? What is it?” Hikaru-san asked, looking at her.

  “You always work until so late at night...” Myusel glanced at the laptop.

  Hikaru-san always seemed to be doing something on that computer when she came in with tea. At that hour of the night, I would be reading manga or watching an anime in my room, and Minori-san, leaving bodyguard duties to the various security systems around the house, would probably be reading some kind of BL book or fujoshi-oriented doujinshi. It made Hikaru-san look like a bit of a workaholic.

  “I hope I’m not overstepping myself, but... um... you should make sure to rest sometimes, for the sake of your health...”

  Hikaru-san had closed the lid of the computer, so Myusel couldn’t see what he was doing. It was possible he was playing a game or something—but Hikaru-san’s expression didn’t look like someone who was relaxing.

  “Well. I suppose you’re right.” A ghost of a smile passed over his face. “This is the only thing I’m good at. I just...”

  “Wha...?” Myusel blinked at this unexpected declaration.

  The whole reason she had spoken to Hikaru-san like this, unlike she usually did, was because after talking to me, she had started to wonder about the philosophy of this person, Ayasaki Hikaru... or something like that.

  Myusel told me she couldn’t see Hikaru-san as a bad person. In fact, very much like me, he had been exceptionally kind to her and Elvia and Brooke and Cerise, regardless of whether they were mixed-bloods or demihumans or what have you.

  Of course, that could have been part of some hidden agenda, but what was there to gain by being considerate of servants like Myusel? That was what made Myusel, at least, think that this was more than Machiavellian calculation.

  Just like with me.

  So if it was true that he was trying to chase me out—if that was true, then Myusel wanted to know what his thinking could be. And true enough, it was ultimately the Japanese government that was trying to get rid of me, not Ayasaki Hikaru himself.

  When I thought about it, I could see that Hikaru-san had never gone out of his way to be hostile to me. He argued with me about the trading cards and the ero games, but that was only after I had started an argument with him.

  “Surely you’re good at other things, too,” Myusel said, distraught. “Everyone thinks you’re really something, Hikaru-sama...”

  “Yes, I imagine they do,” Hikaru-san said evenly. “That’s what I mean by the only thing I’m good at. Getting everyone to say how wonderful I am.”

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21