ch21-ch40 · 031-ch31

Chapter 31: "I Haven't Thought of It At All"

"...And so, I lost my body, and barely managed to transfer my spirit into one of my puppets. Yoyoyoyo..."

The one tearfully explaining his situation is Melkid, who—no longer being remotely controlled—has now apparently actually become a Samoyed look-alike.

And this place is our Shirakawa family's living room.

I had to share everything Papa told me up to the point where I could explain it to Kiriko and Sumi, who got dragged into all this!

That's why I had them come over after school. I felt bad making them come all the way here, but we couldn't talk about this stuff outside.

Then, not only did they not complain, they happily agreed. While waiting for them, I picked up Melkid, who they said they found dropped along the way.

Hanging limply by his neck, held by Sumi, Melkid looked like a puppy that had been caught by its owner while misbehaving and had given up, which was actually kind of funny.

"Sorry, Ai. He was being super annoying, begging me to bring him here. I couldn't just leave him alone."

"It's fine, Kiri. Technically, I'm the most involved person here anyway.... But still, after everything he did, why come to me?"

I glanced at him sideways, and Melkid panicked.

"T-that time, I am truly, deeply sorry! For someone like me to think I could defeat the Black Knight—how utterly absurd, pathetic, hopelessly reckless, and short-sighted! Please, I beg your forgiveness, I implore you...!"

There it is, the full prostration. At first glance, you can't even tell if he's bowing his head, sleeping, or pouting, but apparently this is his desperate attempt at apology.

"It's fine that you're apologizing, but still, why come to me?"

"It's probably because of the eiyōso. Right now, he can barely move without eiyōso, you see."

Papa said this while striking a pose—sitting cross-legged with his arms folded in front of the low table—just like some famous anime dad. At this, Melkid's head shot up.

"As you say. The puppets' energy source is eiyōso, but in the world beyond the mirror where the atmospheric eiyōso is incredibly thiiin, once my power is exhausted, I become completely unable to move, just a lifeless corpse that can't even respond."

According to Melkid, even in this eiyōso-thin world beyond the mirror, the area around Papa—who's from another world—still has the highest concentration.

And Melkid prostrated himself again.

"I beg of you! I know this is a selfish request, but please let me stay in some corner of this house! Please, please...!"

Even watching Melkid rub his face against the tatami, well, considering what happened yesterday, it's weird to feel sympathy for him.

...But still, getting betrayed by his comrades and ending up all alone is kinda pitiful.

"...Papa, what should we do?"

"Hmm. If he promises not to cause trouble, I guess we could let him stay here."

Huh? Despite still having his arms folded, Papa is surprisingly quick to give Melkid the okay.

I really thought he was going to say something like "You idiot!" or whatever.

"So goood... love it..."

Sumi has been acting strange for a while now. She's got her hands together against her right cheek. Isn't that out of character for her?

Putting that aside, Kiriko is normally glaring suspiciously at Melkid.

"Ai's Papa, are you sure this is okay? I know you're the one who brought him here and all, but this guy is the one who kidnapped Ai, you know?"

"Well, that's true—I absolutely haven't forgiven him for that.... But if we just leave him alone, I'm worried he'll be found somewhere else and cause weird rumors. Besides, in his current state, he can't do anything bad anyway, right?"

"A-ahhh, thank you sooo much!!"

Melkid tears up in gratitude.

How has he been crying this whole time??

"However, there are conditions. First, you have to tell us everything you know about the ones targeting us. You'll be betraying your comrades—are you okay with that?"

"Of course! I'm the one who was betrayed and abandoned first!"

Melkid made a gesture like he was gripping a needle, showing his willingness to fight his former comrades. He probably doesn't have any fighting power left himself, but he seems to have the will to fight.

Well, in a sense, he suffered something worse than death, so I guess that's reason enough to betray his boss and fight back.

"The second condition is that you absolutely stay away from Ai's bath and bed! You seem to be quite the pervert, you know."

"That, I promise you! I would never, ever think of peeking at the young lady's bath—not even a fragment of such a thought has crossed my mind!"

.........Hey, wait a minute.

Don't give me that look with clear eyes like "I would never even think of such a thing!"

"Papa, maybe we should kick him out after all?"

"...Yeah, for some reason, I'm starting to feel like he's an incredibly rude guy, too."

"What!?"

Melkid panics, wondering why—when he hasn't told a single lie—which somehow makes him even more annoying.

"Hmph. To not appreciate the charms of a developing girl—what a dog that doesn't even deserve to be called a pervert gentleman."

"Whose side are you on anyway, Kiri!?"

You're the one who was seen naked, victim here. Honestly.