Chapter 27
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Black Purple's Question
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“Lady Asrania remembers everything, but you alone forgot it all? Doesn't that make you a total bad guy? You know, the kind who hits it and quits it...”
As Lady Asrania vanished into the back of the hall with Marigold, the atmosphere shifted subtly.
No one openly changed their expression.
Yet a taut tension hung in the air. Everyone held their glasses with smiling faces, but their gazes kept darting around.
Marlboro stroked his chin and let out a hollow chuckle.
“Haha. They called it a gathering, but it's suffocating. Never felt an vibe like this before.”
The Commander standing beside him nodded.
“Couldn't agree more. How should I put it? Suddenly, I want to recruit Lady Asrania to our side.”
“What do you mean?”
“Things will get a lot easier from now on.”
Before he could finish, Esira shot the Commander a glare.
“Absolutely not. Especially not a guy like you.”
“Hey, why? I didn't do anything weird.”
“If you seriously think that, I'll cut your head off.”
“...I did mess up once.”
The Commander quickly backed down. One more word here, and she'd really draw her sword.
Marlboro, sensing something had gone down but not quite grasping it, glanced back and forth between them.
Still, he seemed to pick up that there had been some incident.
At that moment, Dancing Butterfly slowly scanned the hall before speaking up.
“With the main characters out of the room, we should make productive use of our time. We're all gathered here for once—why not chat a bit?”
Esira's eyes sparkled.
“Really? Is that okay?”
“Of course. This was meant to be a place for mingling, after all. No need to be scared.”
Dancing Butterfly reached to pat Esira's head but seemed to think better of it, withdrawing her hand and taking the lead instead.
In the corner of the hall.
At a spot untouched by light, a particularly shadowy girl sat alone.
Her outfit was decked out in purple and black—like camouflage meant to blend into the shadows.
She looked about four years older than Esira, but her face was too youthful to call her an adult.
Dancing Butterfly approached.
The girl looked up at the sound of footsteps, then shrank back the moment her eyes met theirs.
“Eek?!”
A reaction like she'd seen a ghost.
Dancing Butterfly casually pulled out a chair and sat.
“Come on, everyone, have a seat.”
The Commander's group awkwardly joined her.
The girl rolled her eyes like a rabbit that had missed its chance to flee.
“L-Lady Dancing Butterfly...!”
“What's wrong?”
“W-Why me, of all people...? There are so many others...”
Her voice trailed off smaller and smaller. The last bit was barely a whisper.
Dancing Butterfly smiled.
“You seemed the most interested in them.”
“I-I wasn't eavesdropping, I didn't know he was the Commander, I didn't know they weren't Axiom either! I was just wondering why they came here!”
No one had said a word, yet she'd spilled it all.
“Your ability seems like it'd fascinate kids the most. Plus, you don't hate this kind of thing, right? Better than sulking alone in the corner.”
“Being alone is the best...”
Her face screamed she'd picked the wrong mark.
Marlboro snickered.
“Dancing Butterfly, picked up a hobby of bullying kids?”
Ignoring him neatly, Dancing Butterfly propped her chin on her hand and gazed at the girl.
“Shall we start with introductions?”
The girl stared holes into the table pattern, unable to meet anyone's eyes. Her fingers fidgeted with the edge.
“...Black Purple.”
“Two colors in one, huh.”
“Y-Yeah. Black and purple. Couldn't pick just one...”
Esira tilted her head.
“So you went with both?”
“...Y-Yes. Weird, right?”
“Not weird at all. Two makes it even more special.”
Black Purple's face softened just a fraction. She was still tense, though.
“I research monsters.”
“Monsters?”
Reina asked cautiously.
“Their ecology, habits, weaknesses. Sometimes... I even raise them...”
“Raise them?”
The Commander's eyebrow arched.
“Yeah... Taming and keeping them...”
“Is that even possible? Monsters are hostile to humans.”
Black Purple rummaged carefully in her robe sleeve.
Plop.
A round orb rolled onto the table.
About the size of a baseball.
Purple and black swirled together harmoniously.
Esira's eyes lit up.
“Whoa, so pretty! What's this?”
The moment the Commander saw it, his face subtly hardened.
“Just one question. This isn't some kind of Monster Ball, is it?”
“H-How did you know?”
Black Purple's eyes widened.
“I-I made up that name... Never told anyone outside...”
The Commander paused briefly, then shrugged.
“You said your name was Black Purple, right?”
“Y-Yes.”
The Commander playfully snapped his fingers.
“Red or Green would've been better. Blue works too.”
“Th-That doesn't match my image.”
“Why not? Sounds like a protagonist right off the bat.”
“Huh...? Protagonist?”
Black Purple's eyes went round.
“I-I don't really get what that means...”
Reina said,
“The Commander says weird stuff sometimes. Don't mind him.”
Black Purple gave him an odd look, then carefully picked up the orb. Cupping it preciously in both hands, she continued her explanation.
“You catch monsters with this, brainwash them, and tame them as pets.”
The Commander asked,
“So, any monster?”
“There are limits. Not ones that are too strong, only if they're weakened.”
Reina, listening beside him, gaped.
“A thing like that exists?”
“That's why they call it Axiom.”
Marlboro chimed in.
“She doesn't lift a finger—her pets fight for her. Low risk.”
“Taking care of monsters is tough too. Feeding them, monitoring their condition... It's more work than you'd think.”
“Still better than fighting yourself.”
“Maybe?”
The Commander nodded. Now that he understood, his expression cleared up.
“You called it a 'Monster Ball' earlier.”
“Y-Yes. Why?”
“It's really cool, but you should change the name.”
“Huh...? Why?”
Black Purple hugged the orb tight, looking anxious like it might be taken away.
“It sounds too light. Like something from an all-ages game. Go for something with more punch.”
“R-Really? Like what...?”
The Commander thought for a second, then pointed at the orb.
“Monster Cage. How's that?”
“Cage...?”
Black Purple rolled the word around in her mouth.
“Yeah. You capture them. Like a prison.”
“B-But... it can catch people too...”
Silence fell instantly.
Every gaze at the table locked onto Black Purple.
Esira's eyes went wide, Reina furrowed her brow, and Marlboro grinned with a 'ho ho?' look.
“Oho!”
Only the Commander’s eyes sparkled.
“It cages people too? Imprisonment. Brainwashing. Mental breakdown. Fascinating.”
“Commander!”
Reina slammed on the brakes.
The Commander waved it off with a laugh.
“Joking, Reina. Don't make that face.”
It didn't sound like a joke. Reina knew it and clamped her mouth shut.
Reina asked cautiously, her voice dropping an octave.
“Have you ever caught a person?”
“Once, as a test... But I let them go right away.”
Black Purple stroked the orb matter-of-factly.
“Too hard to raise people.”
“Raise?”
“Monsters bond if you feed and pet them. People keep talking, showing emotions. Too complicated.”
Her tone was as serious as reading a report.
“They were pretty scared of me. Haven't heard from them since.”
“No surprise.”
Marlboro laughed and piled on.
“Who'd want to see the person who locked them up again?”
“Better not catch people anymore, right?”
“Yeah. Probably.”
Black Purple nodded. A flicker of regret passed, but it was brief.
Then,
Dancing Butterfly suddenly spoke up.
“By the way, Black Purple.”
“Y-Yes! Yes! Yes! What is it, Lady Dancing Butterfly?”
Black Purple straightened up abruptly, answering in rapid succession. Her voice trembled from nerves.
“Didn't you say you had a question for the Commander before?”
“Oh, is it okay to ask?”
Black Purple glanced at the Commander, then looked away.
“B-But what if it's awkward? If it upsets him...”
“It's fine. The Commander takes anything like this in stride.”
The Commander nodded.
“I can even tell you my waist size. Reina's too, if you need it...”
“Commander!”
Reina cut in, her face slightly flushed.
“Joking. As if I'd know.”
The Commander waved and laughed.
“Th-Then... I do have something I'm really curious about.”
Black Purple twisted her fingers. Her face burned red, eyes wandering aimlessly.
“Ask away.”
The Commander flashed the most relaxed smile to ease her tension.
Emboldened by it, Black Purple took a deep breath, steeling herself, and parted her trembling lips.
“Did you really spend the night with Lady Asrania?”
Everyone froze in shock.
“Pfft!”
Reina reacted first.
Choking hard, her face turned beet red with each cough.
Marlboro was just as flustered. Wine meant for his throat dribbled down his chin instead. His gaping mouth was quite the sight.
Esira's eyes nearly bugged out.
She clapped both hands over her mouth in a hurry, but her eyes screamed volumes.
She didn't grasp the full meaning yet, but sensed something sacrilegious was afoot.
The Commander himself—his soul seemed to have vacated for a moment. His brain short-circuited from overload.
“...What?”
“I-I mean... Did you spend the night together...?”
Black Purple confirmed with a shrinking voice. Her face was a ripe tomato, eyes spinning with what looked like X-rated fantasies.
“What kind of nonsense is that!?”
Reina shot to her feet, shouting.
Her loudest voice since entering.
“No way! Say something, Commander!”
“She does spit some demon-summoning lines sometimes.”
“Commander. This isn't the time for jokes.”
“I know. I'm so flustered my mind's gone blank.”
Black Purple, the culprit, mumbled innocently.
“I heard Lady Asrania gave you crazy special treatment.”
“Special treatment?”
The Commander tilted his head. He didn't recall any. If anything, Esira had nearly killed him.
“She usually slices any male who gets close without mercy. But she spared you.”
Male, of all things, in this context.
“And I heard she saved you. Right?”
Black Purple's eyes gleamed pleadingly for confirmation. The Commander nodded.
Facts were facts.
“Yeah, but what's weird about that?”
Marlboro, wiping wine from his chin, cut in with a grave face.
“Hey, Commander. Why don't you think that's weird?”
“Well, she could just save me...?”
Marlboro recoiled in shock.
What the hell had the Commander done?
His expression said it all.
“What exactly happened? Spill every detail.”
The mood turned awkward.
The Commander decided to explain plainly.
“Nothing much. I collapsed in the forest, woke up to find Asrania there. We traveled together to the village. That's it.”
“She watched over you collapsed without killing you?”
“...Yeah.”
“Nursing you when you woke?”
“Not nursing, just... there.”
“Then you two cozied up for a village date?”
“Not a date. Just got directions.”
The more they heard, the less normal it sounded.
Marlboro tore at his hair.
“This is insane. What kind of flow is this?”
Marlboro eyed the Commander seriously.
“You meet Asrania before? Old flame or something?”
“Writing a novel? I haven't been in this world long.”
He hesitated, then added bitterly,
“I have no past memories. Woke up with amnesia.”
Black Purple jumped in.
“No memories?”
Her gaze was pure contempt—like looking at food waste, or worse, nuclear waste.
“That's the worst.”
“...What?”
“Lady Asrania remembers everything, but you forgot it all? Doesn't that make you a total bad guy? You know, the hit-it-and-quit-it type...”
At that instant, Reina raised her voice.
“No! There's a misunderstanding! The Commander never had time or chance to meet Lady Asrania alone!”
“How can I believe that...?”
“Esira, Lady Esira, back me up! You know better!”
Esira, who had been listening silently, slowly lifted her head.
The child's eyes were chilling, almost eerie.
As everyone held their breath, Esira stared at the Commander wordlessly for a long time.
Then, something snapped.
A tear welled at the corner of her eye.
It dropped, then streamed down both cheeks.
“Trash of a man.”
A while back, I'd asked Lady Asrania what the Commander was like.
“But what's the Commander to you?”
She didn't answer right away. She stared into the distance, her face like she was untangling a knotted mess in her mind.
A long while later, her conclusion was this.
“Hmm, like a dad to you?”
A massive spark went off in my head.
If he's like a dad to me.
Then you, who took me in...
...are Mom?
The thought hit, and my heart plummeted.
Maybe Lady Asrania had known the Commander for a very long time?
She defined him with the word "dad."
Family.
Lady Asrania wouldn't call a stranger "like a dad."
What did the man himself say?
The Commander.
“I have no past memories. Woke up with amnesia.”
Treated Lady Asrania like a total stranger.
No memories. Dodged all responsibility with that.
One calls him "dad," the other says "who're you."
How cruel is that?
What must Lady Asrania feel now?
Acting nonchalant before the man who forgot her—what's in her heart?
Someone she wants to cling to despite no memories?
Or someone she still wants to believe in?
My chest tightened.
It scared me. It saddened me.
I couldn't bear seeing her, bearing all those memories alone.
The man blithely saying "no memories" with that innocent face—I hated him beyond endurance.
Contempt slipped through my lips first.
“Trash of a man.”
Amnesia isn't a free pass.
Forgetting someone you loved and still smiling so carefree.
Daring to do that to the person I love most.
'That guy's not my father.'
Looking at that brazen face made my stomach churn.
I shot to my feet.
Lady Asrania.
I wanted to see her.
She must be swallowing her sadness alone.
Only then did I realize.
Something hot trailed down my cheeks.