191. A single word of thanks.
191. A single word of thanks.
"───Aaaaaaaahhh!!!!!!"
"Huh-heeok?! Huh, huh? Huh-huh!"
A sudden scream.
He immediately got up and looked around.
"Ah......eu....a-uh-euuu-eu....!"
"Rhea...? All of a sudden?"
It was far too abrupt, and even putting that aside, Rhea's state was extremely strange.
She clearly hadn't been like this the last time he saw her.
She'd had a slightly blunt affect, yes, but she wasn't the type to scream in agony like that.
The middle of a deep night.
Rhea had appeared out of nowhere.
And on top of that, tears thick as chicken droppings were dripping from both her eyes while she trembled violently.
"....Rhea, are you alright?"
"────"
A worry-filled remark came out naturally.
Rhea flinched sharply, then slowly raised her head.
"Re. ah."
She mulled the name over.
"Rhea....."
Both eyes went dazedly distant.
"Rhea....I, I am......I am......"
Tears welled up again.
"Re──aaaaaaaahhh!!!!"
At last, she let out an agonized scream, a shriek.
A sorrowful, deeply sorrowful wail that filled the room and echoed beyond, through the entire house.
"Chrono! What on earth is going.....on...."
"........."
Loud enough that Minerva, who had been sleeping in her own room, came into his room.
"Heu-eu....heu-ah....ah-eu....aaaah....!"
Rhea shed tears endlessly.
She had collapsed, to a degree that could almost be called a panic attack.
"..........."
Minerva blinked and cast a look at him.
It seemed to ask what this situation was, but truthfully, he himself had no idea what this situation was.
What am I supposed to do with this....
For now, he approached Rhea with the aim of calming her down, but Rhea startled in fright and threw her body backward.
"Hiiiiik!! N...No....don't, do thaaat...!"
"Rhea....?"
He hadn't done anything at all.
Rhea turned away and crawled toward Minerva like a baby.
"Keu-euk! Eub, eu.....eu-eu-eu.....!"
"Oh my.....Yes. Yes. It's alright. You're alright now."
Rhea kept crying in Minerva's arms.
Her tiny body trembled visibly, and she even kept warily glancing to see if he might approach.
Being instantly branded a sex offender or something equivalent wasn't exactly a pleasant feeling, but there seemed to be a need to sort out the situation first.
Isn't she going to collapse at this rate?
No, would collapsing actually be better for Rhea?
He brought out 'Agape' and swapped it to keyboard mode.
"[Power Chord]"
He chose the B Chord, which was a direct counter to stress.
As he played Agape with the keyboard skill he'd honed during the Siren incident, Rhea's condition visibly began to improve.
"Keu-eu-eu....eu....heu-eub....peu, heu-eu....."
The agonized cries, the screams, subsided.
The tears gradually stopped.
Her trembling body slowly settled, and she entrusted herself to Minerva's touch.
"............."
By the time the performance was nearly over.
Rhea was no longer shedding tears.
[B Chord-Master]
[Full Combo]
[ALL Perfect]
[101,620 (SSS+)]
[Complete Immunity to Stress and Mental Debuffs (10min)]
"......Yeah."
By the time the Power Chord even manifested.
Rhea pulled away from Minerva's embrace and rubbed her eyes with both hands.
But does that cover all of it?
Her whole face was a mess, practically wrung out like a rag soaked with tears and snot.
In a hurry, he tore open the tissue he'd used earlier and handed it to Rhea; she silently accepted it and wiped her face.
"....Smells like nighttime cherry blossoms."
"Ah."
Now that he thought about it, this was the tissue used for 'that purpose,' wasn't it.
"Uh....that is...."
"Chrono....."
No.
He felt wronged.
He absolutely hadn't done that on purpose.
He wasn't some degenerate freak who'd shove something like that at a crying kid.
Tissues in a guy's room in the first place—weren't they all obviously for that one particular use!
"Rhea. Could you follow me for a moment?"
"............"
An expression that said she absolutely did not believe him.
Just how low had his trustworthiness fallen?
******************
The two people (?) returned to the room after washing Rhea's face.
He perched on the bed, looked down at Rhea, and asked.
"Explain."
"............"
Rhea said nothing.
Right. That was her character.
At least Mai talked, even if her speech was bizarre, but Rhea was a character who was extremely silent from the very start.
So it was plausible that she kept her mouth shut even in this kind of situation.
Even if that wasn't her personality, when a parent calls after you've caused trouble, shutting your mouth and bowing your head is just the duty of a child.
"Haaaaah...."
"!,........"
A sigh escaped him without his knowing.
Rhea's body trembled visibly.
Minerva, who had been standing guard behind her, naturally widened her eyes like a rabbit and stared at him.
...So, like I said, I didn't do it on purpose, okay?
He let out a light, fake cough and asked Rhea.
"You alright now?"
".......Yeah."
"Then that's good."
"............"
He gestured to Minerva with his eyes.
Given the kid's state, she wasn't in a condition to talk with him.
Seeing that she'd clung to Minerva earlier, that side was probably better suited to talking.
I leave it to you.
Right now, the right call was to entrust this to Minerva.
Minerva perceptively nodded and was taking Rhea out of his room—just about to leave—when.
"............"
"....Rhea?"
Rhea stopped right before the threshold.
She hesitated, glanced sideways at him, and then began taking one step at a time toward him.
"....eut.."
One step.
Another step.
The closer she got, the more she hunched her body and limped on her tiptoes.
"Heu-eut....heu.....huu....."
She clenched her fists tight and trembled.
She bit down hard on her lip.
Her pupils quivered finely.
With teardrops even forming at the corners of her eyes as if she wanted to run away at any moment.
"Thi....s, is...."
".....Hm?"
Something she pulled from her bosom.
A bar of chocolate. Rhea offered it to him.
"Ah, yeah."
He accepted it with his hand.
Rhea murmured with her head bowed, as if she couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes.
"Wor...worked...."
"............."
"....Eub....heu-eub...!"
Several times, Rhea stumbled, her breathing growing ragged.
And at the end of it, Rhea shouted with all her might.
"Worked! Hard! Worked, and...with the money......"
He couldn't hear the words after that.
But he could roughly tell what she had said.
"You said you bought this with the money your mother gave you for doing a good job?"
".............."
A face frozen with tension, however slight.
A stiff, hardened expression.
If it were up to him, he'd have just said thanks and moved on since he'd already brushed his teeth.
"Thank you for the food."
".........!"
Crunch. He peeled back the chocolate wrapper and took a bite.
A subtle sweetness. A bit of bitterness in the middle, and a finish that was, Sure enough, sweet.
"Tastes good."
"Ah....."
Haaaaaaah....
A long, drawn-out sigh.
A visibly more relaxed expression.
He smiled at Rhea and responded.
"Thank you, Rhea."
"........?"
She blinked her eyes.
Tilted her head.
"....Thank me, you say."
"Hm? Uh....because you worked hard and bought this for me with the money you earned?"
So of course he was thankful, wasn't he?
Rhea shook her head as if she couldn't understand what he was saying.
"That is....that is something strange."
For a wife to dedicate everything to her husband is a matter of course.
To this, why ever would one express gratitude.
...Her way of speaking is a bit odd.
A manner of speech that somehow reminded him of a certain TS god.
But it probably wasn't that, right? No matter what, being hit by the combo of TS, loli-fication, and age regression all at once, falling so far as to become a servant demon—
...Even if you were writing a scenario, you'd have to put in some effort; this was simply impossible, beyond the level of not making sense.
So this was, well, that thing.
Just like Mai, the kid's speech had a few screws loose.
And to that end, he answered once more with all sincerity.
"You brought this thinking of me, right? Then of course I'm grateful."
"....I cannot understand. I cannot comprehend it."
Not a single thing could she properly understand.
Her voice grew increasingly somber.
Rhea lowered her head.
".............?"
So, what was he supposed to do now?
If she suddenly bowed her head like that, he was confused about what he was supposed to do in response.
He looked at Minerva behind her and sent a glance.
[What do I do?]
[There's something you're good at, Chrono.]
[Something I'm good at?...Should I play again?]
[Not that.]
[...I'm not a pedophile.]
[Chrono?]
Exchanging glances somehow felt like sinking deeper and deeper into a strange mire.
He looked at Rhea for a moment and made a decision.
The way to soothe a sulking kid is,
nothing beats this in the whole world.
"───Eut...?"
He placed his hand atop Rhea's head.
Gently. Slowly. Not roughly. Carefully, as if touching a jewel.
"Thank you, Rhea."
"............!"
He whispered to Rhea with sincerity.
Thank you. Thank you for thinking of me.
Rhea raised her head and stared at him.
".....You are....you, you are...."
"......?"
An expression that seemed to have a lot to say.
As he was wondering if something was wrong, Minerva, who was behind her, whispered in a small voice.
"Rhea....you were scared of Chrono, remember...!"
"Ah, right!"
Now that he thought about it, she'd fled at the sight of him earlier.
In the heat of the moment, recalling how it was with Mai, he'd gone and stroked her head just like that.
"Sorry."
Maybe this was just causing her more stress.
The moment he hurriedly removed his hand from Rhea's head.
"Ah......"
"Hm?"
A look of regret.
A strange gaze. Both her eyes stared at his hand.
"....Eut...!"
Hoping against hope, he placed his hand back on her head.
"Eu.....heu-eu.....huuuu......."
She trembled lightly.
Anxious, yet
paradoxically, an expression of comfort.
A face where two conflicting emotions intertwined.
Is this a good thing, or a bad thing?
Since she at least wasn't avoiding it, wasn't it probably okay?
Without a word, he stroked Rhea's head and took another bite of the chocolate.
"Heu-euum....."
It was sweet.
A sweetness that felt like it'd make your body feel exactly unwell if you ate it at night.
As he observed the sweetness, the bitterness felt in his mouth, and Rhea's expression that was gradually beginning to melt away.
"......Mm."
Suddenly, a scene surfaced in his mind.
"Rhea, do you happen to know this?"
".......?"
Rhea looked up at him, moving only her eyes.
He spoke to Rhea.
"This is a super old story, but back then, chocolate was used as a drug."
"........"
Just, you know. That's all.
Without a word, he tapped Rhea's head lightly.
And as he let go of her and stepped back...
".............!!!!!"
Rhea shot up from her spot with a violent startle.
And then.
"I belie,ved you....."
"Huh?"
"It was only for a moment, but I believed you!"
".......Hey?"
Wait? Something's weird here?
"Th-this....lolicon, pedophile! Proto-rapist!"
"Hey!"
That's slander, seriously!
In the first place, who the hell gets hard looking at a bean paste pancake like you!
As an aside.
"Ha....yeah. Fuck, that can happen."
Kochiomi Ro looked at the devastated Red Glass Alley and instead felt admiration.
But still, whatever. If he could just recover the 'phone' containing the 'app,' he'd be able to recoup his losses to some extent.
Kochiomi Ro immediately entered the hideout and searched for his subordinates' phones, but....
"....It's gone?"
There was nothing left there.
"Fuck."
As if someone had taken it all.
The hideout was simply emptied clean.
"I'll kill them....whoever it is, I'll definitely kill them!"
Kkiiieeeeeeek!!!
Kochiomi Ro let out a malice-filled shriek.
"Eh-choo...! Puh-heung, purrrrur....who's badmouthing me?"
Around that time, in Mai's case.
"....I kinda deserved the badmouthing though."
Having received the phone with the app, Mai had pulled out all the cash inside the destroyed shop and pocketed it.
Her clothes were so stuffed to the brim that a bill or two was bound to spill.
"But item farming is like, the most basic of the basics, you know?"
If only she'd been caught on CCTV at least, but this country's CCTV filmed the ground, not the sky.