89. More Madness Than Will
89. More Madness Than Will
"You, when did I ever tell you to subscribe to adult channels?"
"?"
"Don't play dumb."
I showed her the payment history displayed on my phone and said,
"Uehara Sora or Hakata Yui or whatever.... Aren't these all just porn!"
"If by 'porn,' you mean 'erotic videos,' then that's not incorrect."
But Mai, I had something to say.
"You never told me not to, Big Brother."
"....So that's your excuse?"
Because I didn't stop her, she wasn't in the wrong?
At Mai's unexpected argument, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
'Somewhere, I've seen this shamelessness a lot.'
A certain boundary line that transcended common sense.
A perspective akin to that of a transcendent being, sitting somewhere above human morality—
"Cronus...."
The way her common sense was skewed in peculiar ways,
the way she claimed the problem lay with me even when she was the one who committed the wrongdoing,
even the way she firmly believed that herself—
'As expected of a White Horse made by Cronus.'
In odd ways, she was showing similarities to Cronus.
No, now that I thought about it, she did oddly resemble Cronus.
Like her eyes that were perpetually dissatisfied with the world,
or her strangely detached attitude,
or how she became passionate in an instant when it came to her own business,
and maybe even in how she oddly loved to brag about herself.
"? Cronus has nothing to do with this."
"I know."
Who said anything.
Mai seemed to feel some dissatisfaction with my attitude and went on saying this and that, but they weren't really words worth listening to.
I let it go in one ear and out the other as I sat down and pondered how to clean up this mess.
'If I tell her to stop, she will stop, but....'
Would that really be okay?
As I quietly watched Mai, wondering how best to teach her, Mai looked up at me.
"Mai, did I do something bad?"
".........."
That look in her eyes.
That look in her eyes bothered me.
'It's probably because of the trait, but....'
That was exactly why I had even more reason to pay attention to Mai.
'Because the moment this kid's mood goes sour, problems start bursting out.'
After being subjected to the Virtuous Wife and Mother trait continuously, I had learned a few things.
One of them was that the degree of the Virtuous Wife and Mother trait changed depending on Mai's mood.
"Fuuuuu....."
If there was a silver lining, it was perhaps a silver lining.
The kid's personality itself wasn't bad—no, it was actually quite good, so she didn't get upset easily.
For example, even when I had left Mai behind last time and neglected her all day, aside from her carrot juice chant, no major problem had occurred.
However, since there would be many times in the future when I'd need to go out and inevitably leave Mai alone, I also needed a countermeasure for that.
Looking at it from that perspective, I spoke to Mai.
"I was just startled because dozens of payment records suddenly popped up. If you had told me beforehand and said you wanted to buy them, what wouldn't I have bought you?"
"....Trait, Virtuous Wife and Mother. Detecting Big Brother's change of heart. What are you thinking?"
"Just. I figured you should have something to relieve stress too."
I mean, to relieve stress, watching a few dozen porn videos should be— well, not exactly okay.
Still, it's not like she was doing alcohol or drugs.
And I wasn't so broke that I couldn't cover her watching a few porn videos.
I sat on the sofa and stroked Mai's head.
"If there's something you want to watch, watch as you please. But don't go out without telling me or anything like that. If you're hungry or want something to eat, tell me. I'll buy it for you most of the time."
"......Big Brother, are you okay? Shouldn't you play a [Power Chord]?"
"Why would I?"
Why on earth.
The kid's face turned slightly pale, and she was circling around me, not knowing what to do.
"Strange. Big Brother is being kinder than necessary. Presumed to be strongly under the influence of Trait, Virtuous Wife and Mother. What should I do... Should I go find Ur Goddess...."
"I'm perfectly normal, so cut the nonsense."
If you act like that, people will misunderstand and think I usually treat you badly, you know.
Well, there wasn't a single person around to see it, but it still made me feel weird.
"....Mai is not bad."
Mai calmly asked in return,
"Because after Big Brother came back, the way you treated Mai changed."
"...I don't think it's particularly different."
"It changed. Mainly in a wary way. Of course, Mai understands too. Because I am a creation made by Cronus."
".........."
Mai, who had pulled out a carrot juice at some point, continued as she drank it.
"If Big Brother wants to treat Mai well, then Mai wants to ask. Is it because of the 'trait,' or is it sincere? If you sincerely want to treat me well, then there's no problem, but if it's because of the trait.... Mai, might be a little sad."
"....Tch."
What was she talking about?
I lifted the hand that had been stroking her and lightly rapped the top of Mai's head.
"Kuh—! Hurts...! The bad Big Brother is back!"
"Shut up. And you asked if it's because of the trait?"
Hey.
I overcame your trait a long time ago, you know?
I pressed dooown on the top of Mai's head.
"Virtuous Wife and Mother or whatever, even a dog living at home gets taken for walks, fed, and played with. This is similar to that, so don't get any weird ideas."
"....Mai, is Big Brother's dog?"
"Paw."
"..........."
Without a word, Mai placed her right hand on top of mine.
"Other paw."
".........."
Mai placed her left hand.
"Stand up. Sit. There you go, good job."
"..........Uum..."
She stood up and sat down.
When I stroked her head and praised her, Mai looked at me blankly and said,
"....Woof?"
"Wow, look at you."
If I put a leash on her later, would she walk on all fours too?
I leaned back against the sofa again and let out a sigh.
"Haaaa... Anyway, this issue ends here. Watch whatever you want, to your heart's content. But get my permission first."
"....Then a demand to Big Brother."
Mai picked up the remote, promptly switched the screen to the adult channel, and showed me the title of a movie.
"I want to watch this."
"....Whoa."
The movie she was pushing on me was, of all the many, many films out there, [The Goat Lady Had an Affair].
'You're a fundamentalist in many ways.'
Especially a classical romanticist.
Even as I said it, I wasn't quite sure what it meant, but let's just take it as meaning she was pretty impressive and move on.
"I'm telling you in advance, I'll be away from home for about a week starting tomorrow."
"................"
"....Oh."
Not a single question mark.
Mai just stared at me silently.
Then she slowly turned her head toward the TV and promptly displayed the titles of movies and porn videos.
"Payment requested. And sleep with Mai tonight."
".....Fine."
I could sleep with her for a day or so.
And so, that day, I went to bed with Mai.
[Ma'am... Actually, you're lonely, aren't you?]
"Pit-a-pat."
"..................."
Though, I never imagined we'd be watching porn together right before sleeping.
*****************
The next day.
I left the soundly sleeping Mai behind, packed my bags, and went outside.
"I'm not late yet, right?"
"You were exactly on time."
In front of the main gate on the first floor of the Athena Guild.
Minerva was also waiting for me without being late.
"Shall we move out right away then?"
It was only 8 in the morning, but there was no time to delay.
Just the urgent missions I had to solve today alone—was it 8 or 9 that were prepared?
'They're all simple things, but...'
Still, since the scenario was starting to flow in earnest, it was the time when NTR events, ero events, and various other dangerous elements would start appearing.
I couldn't afford to be completely relaxed, but I also couldn't go entirely at ease.
If I had gone alone as originally planned, that would be one thing, but since Minerva was with me, I needed to move a bit more cautiously.
Cautious in everything, to avoid any possible ero events.
And to pay attention like that, time was naturally required.
Therefore, since I needed to cut down on unnecessary time,
"If we can reduce it, reducing as much as possible is better for later."
"Saving time is always essential."
Neither Minerva nor I needed any more idle chatter.
The only thing to think about was the missions; it was just about doing the tasks given to us.
Minerva and I moved directly to the area indicated in the missions.
...
..
.
Day 1 missions.
Since it was the very first day, there wasn't anything particularly difficult.
"First, 2 basic herb-gathering missions."
"The most basic type of mission."
And
"4 subjugation quests."
"Pardon?"
"Slime, goblin, hobgoblin, and even wolves."
"Ah.... Yes. That much, if we put our energy into it, should be manageable."
And
"Boss monster subjugation."
"If it's a boss monster....."
"The Goblin Champion we saw before, and a werewolf."
"....Why are there two?"
"Because I accepted two missions?"
"............."
And finally, one remained.
'This is a mission that's okay to do today or tomorrow, but...'
I took out a barrier stone from the subspace backpack on my back and showed it to her, saying,
"Barrier maintenance. We just need to bury these 4 artifacts in the designated spots, and that's it."
".....I see."
Minerva slowly nodded her head.
Then she asked me,
"Chrono, you clearly don't understand the human heart."
".........Hmm."
Actually, even as I said it, I felt a bit of 'Oops.'
Should I say the quantity was more than expected, or should I say the intensity of the missions was manageable individually, but thinking about tackling them all at once already made my mouth taste sour...
"S-still, actually, these are all connected, you know? The barrier maintenance, we can bury one in the ground each time we move to handle the subjugation quests, and the gathering quests, we can do them while we're passing by anyway, and when hunting boss monsters, you often run into the monsters around them, right?"
"Yes. That's correct. You're right."
Minerva didn't deny it.
It was just...
"The problem is that this plan is squeezed right up to the limit of what a person can work."
"...........Hmm."
I couldn't deny it.
I silently affirmed Minerva's words.
".....Ha."
As if my lack of denial had solidified her conviction,
Minerva slowly leaned her back against a tree and muttered,
"Sure enough, the Great Demon Hell Kaiser risen from hell... doesn't understand the human heart at all."
"....What did you say?"
"It's nothing."
Right.
Of course it was nothing.
"Hell Kaiser—no, to be with Chrono, I must endure this level of fiery hell with a smile."
"......Hmm."
Faced with this trial, Minerva did not break.
Rather, it was a sight of her burning with will and steeling her resolve.
If it had been the usual me, I would have clapped and admired her for that, but...
"Now, what are you doing, Chrono? We must hurry and go resolve the missions."
"Uh... yeah, sure."
....With her eyes shining like that,
the word madness seemed more fitting than will.