by Aneko Yusagi
“It’s been a while, father-in-law. It’s me, I say, Motoyasu the street racer!”
It was the Spear Hero, flying a flag from his spear and calling himself a “street racer.”
Chapter Five: The Street Racer
What? Huh? What was this moron blabbing about now?
A street racer? That wasn’t even a hero anymore. And yet he had an incredible smile plastered across his face.
“W-what the hell is that?”
“My wagon!” Filo shouted.
“It’s the height of poor taste! What’s the big idea?” Melty jabbed.
“Hold on, Filo.” I cut through the noise. “You’re saying that’s the wagon we used to use?!” The last time we’d encountered Motoyasu, I’d chased after him, wanting to get the wagon back, but it definitely hadn’t been in this state then.
“Yeah. I can see the marks I made on it! Waaah!” she bawled. Seriously? We might not have used it all that much after buying it, with so much other stuff going on, but it had still been Filo’s prized wagon. During any free time she had, I remember her always polishing it.
That same wagon was now turned into this monstrosity. I hardly had words for it.
“I can hardly see any trace of it,” Raphtalia said. “Is this really the wagon that we used?”
“Raph, raph.” Raph-chan moved onto Filo’s crying shoulder and attempted to console her. I understood her sympathy. I really did.
“What do you think, Filo-tan? I’ve tuned up the wagon you left me with all the love I could muster,” Motoyasu explained.
Oh God! I hated this guy. Man, did I hate this guy! “Tuned up?” More like “messed up!”
I just wanted to punch him in the face, so hard. However, I also wanted nothing more to do with him. Fitoria! Gah! She’d set us up!
Yes, it was safe and would also be over quickly, just as had been described. But having to take on this guy? A battle over wagons like hermit crabs changed their shells! And even if we won, who’d want that wagon?
God, it was our wagon in the first place!
What about the stolen wagons that Melty had mentioned? She also failed to mention that it was Motoyasu we were dealing with! I mean, the signs had been there. I was just a moron for not noticing them!
There was no way I was playing around with the broken Motoyasu! I hated his overpowering manner at the best of times. Even if he’d realized the truth and decided to aid us, his basic nature as a perving womanizer was unchanged.
Shit, he was probably only helping because he knew I was Filo’s master!
During the whole Ren episode, he’d helped out and then up and vanished, the result of which was rolling back around with these monstrous modifications!
Without thinking, I lifted my shield. “Portal—”
“Hold on, hold on. We’re leaving?!” Melty interjected.
“What other choice do we have after seeing that thing?” I proclaimed. I would have loved for someone, anyone, to provide me with some choices.
“I do understand how you feel, but . . .” Raphtalia offered.
“But this is a request from Fitoria, isn’t it?” Melty reminded me.
“That’s right! I owe her a piece of my mind for foisting this off onto us!” I was actually seething mad. It meant dealing with this absolute moron. I was amazed Fitoria had put up with it, although maybe she hadn’t had any trouble with that.
Not to mention, Motoyasu had said that he’d rush to our aid if we needed him. And yet, after actually seeing nothing of him at all, now here he was, messing about as a street racer! Are you freaking kidding me?!
“Right, Filo! Take Motoyasu out!” I commanded. Filo would be able to handle this. I was sure of it. Not that my faith in her would have any effect on things.
“No!” she replied.
“You can’t leave everything to Filo!” Melty raged, clearly preparing to lay into me. I just wanted to tell them both to shut up. I really wanted nothing to do with any of this. “That said, while I’d heard a bit about this from Filo, it’s all a bit more problematic when confronted by it firsthand,” Melty admitted.
“I’d heard he was broken, but this is something else,” Raphtalia agreed.
“He is very strange,” Atla added. “I sense a strange love from him, close to insanity. This is certainly not something to be underestimated. That depth of feeling for someone, that’s something I can certainly understand—and won’t be outdone for.”
“What are you rambling about, Atla?” Raphtalia asked.
“That guy is weird,” was Ruft’s opinion.
“You’ve got his number, Ruft,” I congratulated him. The kid definitely had a good eye.
“Why’s he so weird?” Ruft asked.
“Her sister broke him, and then Filo destroyed whatever was left,” I briskly explained. When I pointed at Melty, she gave a scream into the sky.
“Sister!”
“If only we could bring him back somehow, like the Sword Hero and Bow Hero,” Raphtalia said.
“That’s what he wants, I’m afraid,” I replied.
“But tell me, Naofumi. Who’s this ‘father-in-law’ he’s talking about?” Melty inquired.
“Me, apparently,” I was barely able to admit.
“But why?!” Melty asked.
“It has a nice ring to it,” Ruft said.
“Ruft, listen. You must never call Mr. Naofumi ‘father-in-law.’ Ever.” Raphtalia was quick on the uptake.
“Why not?” Ruft asked.
“The better question is, why would you want to?” Raphtalia countered.
“Because he’s so reliable and teaches me so many things,” Ruft explained.
“That is like a father, I’ll admit. But please, for my sake, don’t call him that.” What was Raphtalia going on about?
Gah, anyway, explaining all of this was a pain. I just wanted to run away. This really was a mess we didn’t need.
“I want to go home,” Filo said.
“Yes . . . me too,” Ruft agreed.
“Raph,” added Raph-chan.
Filo didn’t like Motoyasu much either, after all. I stroked Raph-chan in an attempt to alleviate my stress.
“Just leaving isn’t going to resolve this issue, Mr. Naofumi,” Raphtalia advised.
“He would be too much to subdue physically. That’s how strong he is. In order to win, you would need strength such as Master Naofumi, or the Sword or Bow Hero. Even then, he would not back down,” Atla announced, providing an accurate analysis. Motoyasu was surely that strong, at the moment. That was how strong cursed weapons were, after all. He likely still had it.
If we could talk him down, we wouldn’t even have to fight.
From that perspective, this was a simple job. Motoyasu harbored no ill will toward us either.
“Look . . . Motoyasu, what are you playing at?” I started.
“I’m a street racer,” he returned.
“That’s not an answer!” I was losing my calm already. So much was missing from his reply I almost didn’t know where to go next.
“Why have you become a street racer?” I ventured.
“These girls said they wanted to do it, and so I’m letting them be free,” he explained.
“I see. I think you’re the one suffering from excess freedom,” I sniped.
Filolials wanted wagons. They had a hermit-crab-like habit of stealing them from each other, and yet he spoke of freedom? I didn’t understand it at all.
Seriously, the moment the word “filolial” had been mentioned, I should have seen this coming. I was distracted by other words, like “Fitoria” and “mountain bandits.” Or to put it more accurately, I’d driven all thoughts of Motoyasu from my head altogether.
“Can someone tell me, why does he call you father-in-law!?” Melty asked, still stuck on that.
“Because I’m the one who raised Filo, apparently,” I explained. So “owner” meant “father,” did it? Filo might be under my command, but she certainly wasn’t my child.
>
Even if I was her parent, Motoyasu was older than me. So why did I have to suffer being called “father-in-law” by someone older than I was?
“Now, dear Filo-tan, allow me to introduce our darling children!” Motoyasu proclaimed.
“These are your kids? Together?!” When she dumped him in the mountains, had she given him a pity lay and literally laid eggs before making a run for it?
“No! He’s lying, Master. I’d never do such a thing!” Filo was quick to defend herself.
“She most certainly would not,” Melty backed her up. “Stop making up such lies!” Motoyasu, however, just gleefully started in on a story none of us wanted to hear.
“The red one is Crimmy. Her name comes from ‘crimson.’ Next is the blue one. Her name is Marine, which comes from ‘aquamarine.’ Finally, we have Green. Her name comes from ‘green!’ Yeah, you guessed it!”
“We’re not his kids, but nice to meet you!” All three of them gave a slightly out-of-sorts bow.
So they weren’t his kids after all!
Oh, these rascals! There had been three women in Motoyasu’s party before, including Witch. Even after his mental break, he still wanted to be surrounded by women, although, at least this time they all seemed to like him.
In any case, these were his followers now. He looked totally broken and yet was still exactly the same.
“But I must say, there are a lot of pigs around you, father-in-law,” Motoyasu commented.
“Just you listen to me! Hold on. What do you mean, pigs?” Melty raged.
“Pigs? What are you talking about?” I also asked.
“Exactly what it sounds like. Pigs. Do you have a fondness for swine?” he inquired with a straight face. Right, right, hold on. Back in the inn once, Motoyasu had gone on about women being pigs. He’d called Raphtalia a raccoon-pig too, or something like that.
Could it be?
“Hey, Motoyasu. What do you see here?” I ask, pointing at Melty.
“A blue piglet. All that oinking must get annoying, right? Ugh, I really dislike it,” he replied.
“You’re kidding! ‘Pig’? He’s talking about me?! I’m going to rip his head off!” Melty was incensed.
“Give it up. This is all your sister’s fault,” I said.
“My freaking sister!” Melty exclaimed. I mean, I could understand not being able to put up with being called a pig.
Still, it was as I expected. Motoyasu had been taken completely by the curse series and now saw all women as pigs. The fact he didn’t respond to anything Melty had asked him meant he couldn’t even hear what they were saying. Dammit, I just wished he’d stop saying bizarre stuff to confuse us!
Where, then, did he obtain his three filolials? If I had to make a guess . . . Yes, just before encountering Motoyasu again, the slave trader had been acting a bit odd. He’d definitely been avoiding meeting my eyes. Damn slave trader! I’d make him pay for this!
“Well then, father-in-law. Time for us to race, I say!” Motoyasu proclaimed.
“Why?!” I shouted.
“There’s a goal in the pass up ahead that will act as our destination,” Motoyasu continued, oblivious. “The one who reaches it first will get to steal away an angel from the other racer. Are we agreed?”
“No, we’re not. You don’t get to decide that!” I raged.
“Motty, are we going yet?” the red one asked.
“Soon, soon, I say,” Motoyasu replied. Motty? Is that what they called him?!
Those three colors too—red, blue, and green. They reminded me of the starters from a monster-raising game. All he needed was a yellow one and he’d have the full set . . . Ah, and Filo was golden in her human form, which I guessed counted as yellow.
“Let the race begin, I say!” Motoyasu enthused.
“H-hey! Listen to me for a moment!” Before my words even reached him though, Motoyasu was heading back the way he came. Those three young girls trotting along and sounding so happy was like something scraping at the surface of my eyes.
If this was happening in my world, he’d already be in jail.
Still, at least he was consistent. I remembered him racing before. Back then he’d been riding a knight’s dragon. Hadn’t Witch made him do it?
In any case, this looked like the rematch. Was Filo really going to have to race Motoyasu?
“W-what should we do?” Melty asked.
“Ignore him and leave?” I asked hopefully.
“Which would mean we lose the race, wouldn’t it? What about the request?” Melty pressed me.
“I don’t know. I don’t care either. Just talking to him was enough. Time to claim the reward,” I stubbornly insisted. That Fitoria! Making Filo and Melty a little stronger wasn’t going to make us even for all this. I was going to have to ask for a bigger reward. We didn’t have the strength to handle this.
A tactical retreat was in order to come back with Ren and Itsuki.
“Huh? What’s the meaning of all this?” Filo asked.
“The thing is, Filo, if you lose to that Spear Hero, you will become his,” Melty gently explained.
“That’s the short of it. Thanks for everything, Filo,” Atla cut in.
“Atla, that really wasn’t called for . . .” Raphtalia chided.
“This is all a bit scary,” Ruft ventured, watching the others squabble while he clung onto Raph-chan. There was no need to be so scared.
“What?!” she exclaimed. It sounded like Filo had finally realized what the details were of this proposed race. “No way!”
“Uwah!” Melty yelped.
Filo, suddenly desperate not to lose, took off on her running rampage. The next moment, Melty’s screams echoed out and it seemed that Filo had accepted the race.
However, considering how far behind we now were, we were also losing. Badly.
What course was this race even taking? Motoyasu had all the advantages. These mountains were his home turf, right?
I brought up the map . . . As we rattled along though, it was so hard to read! Anyway, when I spread the map out . . . there was just a twisting mountain path, which looked completely unsuited to any kind of “race.” Much of the path was created along the contours of the mountains, creating what we would call a “trail” in my world.
Filo looked like she wanted to do this, so I decided to give her some support. It wasn’t like he’d said we couldn’t use magic.
Still, would Zweite Aura be enough to catch up? Ah crap. Without Sadeena, I couldn’t use Descent of the Thunder God. Was there anyone in my current party who could stand in?
Melty was water-based, so maybe she could use similar magic. Raphtalia and Raph-chan were totally different, so I’d have no luck with them. But hold on. When I most recently tried to cast Aura, I’d sensed the same kind of feeling as when I’d done it with Ost.
I took a deep breath and started to incant the magic. I felt like I was finally capable of pulling off the stuff that Ost had taught me. I reviewed everything I knew, turning it over in my mind. Way of the Dragon Vein involved incanting by receiving power from the media that provided it. In this case, that was external life force. Along with that, I also drew out some SP—the power of my shield.
The magic, meanwhile, was internal magic. I stocked that in a separate vessel. I drew out the life force and then, following the lead of the power, called up the puzzle pieces. At the same time, I imagined the magic incantation.
Three puzzle pieces that I had to connect appeared close to me.
This was the feeling! More, more, I wanted more magical knowledge.
“Mr. Naofumi? I sense a powerful flow of energy from you at the moment. Could it be . . .” Raphtalia had noticed that something was going on, at least.
“I sense warm power flowing out from you, Master Naofumi! Something incredible is about to happen!” Atla enthused.
“I don’t care about that! Can someone stop all this shaking!” Melty yelled.
“W-w-waaah!” That sounded like Ruft.
“Raph!” Raph-chan responded. I opened my eyes a little and looked at the two of them. Ruft had clearly tumbled out of the wagon, and the now large-sized Raph-chan had safely grabbed him.
“I, the Shield Hero, order heaven and order earth. Cut free the bonds of truth, reconnect them, and spout forth pus. Power of the Dragon Vein, I, the one formed of magic and the power of the hero, the source of your power, the Shield Hero, now orders you. Reconsider the state of all things once more and provide my intended target with everything.”
I reflected all of my past experience with the spell. I was starting to understand the differences between using Way of the Dragon Vein and regular magic.
While they were rooted in a very similar place, the level of difficulty was completely different because magic that involved inscribing the magic lettering onto your own power to trigger it placed its focus on ease of activation. Learning more advanced forms of magic meant having to register it to yourself first. While it was simple to use, on the flipside of that, it could take a long time to read magic intended to interrupt that of an enemy.
On the other hand, the Way of the Dragon Vein involved conducting power from close by, and so you needed to calculate the forms for yourself. That was why you couldn’t just use the same form. You weren’t incanting the same elements each time, and so the pieces you were combining the magic from kept changing.
A good analogy, perhaps, was the difference between languages and mathematics.
If you were incanting magic to unleash a blazing fire, for a regular spell you just had to simply read the word for “blazing fire.” But if you wanted a small fire or a complete conflagration, those were different words. So you had to learn those too.
However, when using Way of the Dragon Vein, you just had to produce a formula with a product that equaled fire. The calculation could be “fire” + “oil,” or they could be “conflagration” plus “water.”
Maybe that was why blocking it was pretty easy too. All you needed to do was guess ahead in the magic they were trying to read and force the answer first.
That also explained why it was useful in cooperative magic, because it meant you could still complete the spell even if you didn’t solve all the puzzles alone.
