by Blitz Kiva
“But... Miss Fuyo, do you really think my designs are... nothing?” Airi asked haltingly, unable to meet her eyes.
Fuyo’s response was cruel. “Do you really wish to hear me say those words again?”
Airi could say nothing. It was as if she had done just that. She couldn’t even look at her.
“But Iris, the things I said during my lecture were all from my heart,” said the designer. “I must surpass you; your skill level does not alter that fact.”
“Because the young heir liked my designs?” Airi said unhappily.
“Ichiro... let’s set him aside for now.” Fuyo-Nem said that with surprising ease. She had seemed so fixated on the young heir before. “I’m glad I met you here, Iris. I know now, for sure, that I will never regain my confidence until I beat you.”
Regardless of their talent, all designers were rivals. And chief among those rivals for Megumi Fuyo, at the moment, was Airi Kakitsubata—Iris. Perhaps it was that loathsome young heir who had started it all, but right now, the instigator didn’t matter. To recover her shaken confidence, Megumi had to surpass Airi.
Small-minded. Petty. Airi could have called her any of those things... but she couldn’t.
“Let’s have a good match, Iris.” With that, Megumi Fuyo departed down the hall. What could Airi do but watch her walk away?
“G-Good match? How? How am I even supposed to compete?” she whispered, the words just barely wrung from her throat.
“Hydro... Blaaaah!”
The fireball fizzled! Felicia was forced to run helplessly as the giant lava-dwelling Volcano Dragon chased her! The maw of the giant lizard drew ever closer, and...!
“Hnngh!”
Its pursuit was interrupted by a spinning kick from Yuri! With techniques like “Kick Mastery” strengthening the force from her foot, she smashed it against the bridge of the dragon’s nose. The extremely short range of martial arts attacks stood out in greater relief against giant monsters like this, but Yuri fought well despite her handicap.
As the Volcano Dragon flinched back, Yuri and Felicia jumped aside to recoup. Fortunately, no damage had been done to Felicia, but Gobo-Two, which she had been using as a weapon, was severely depleted. She gave it a potion to bring it back from the verge.
“Felicia, can you keep going?” Yuri asked.
“I can! But... hey!” Despite the presence of the Volcano Dragon in front of her, Felicia turned back, then screamed. “Itchy, why are you drinking tea?!”
Indeed, while Felicia and Yuri were fighting, Ichiro Tsuwabuki was enjoying an elegant teatime just a few meters away. Naturally, it was Kirschwasser who was preparing it, and neither showed any intention of participating in the battle.
“I believed my interference would be counterproductive to your improvement, Felicia,” said Ichiro.
“But someone else interfered even though we didn’t ask!” Felicia shouted back, pointing towards a serious-looking young man in black.
“Felicia, Yuri, if you watch its movement patterns calmly, you can ascertain the perfect moment in which to strike,” the black-clad young man said. “Don’t just rush in recklessly. Plan your timing just right!”
It was Kirihito (Leader), who was on his own today.
He was the leader of a group of gimmick players, and while his level was not quite in the top percentile, it was a lot higher than either Felicia’s and Yuri’s. With the Warp Feather shortage ongoing, Kirihito (Leader) had wound up separated from his fellow Kirihitos. On his way to catch up with them, he had run into Felicia and the others and had volunteered to help them out.
“Really?” Ichiro asked. “He looks to me like he’s educating you as he’s fighting.”
“That’s right, Felicia.” Yuri nodded in agreement. “We didn’t ask for his help, but he’s giving it to us. Let’s do our best together.”
“O-Okay,” Felicia said. “I really didn’t ask for it, though.”
“Sure, leave it to me,” Kirihito (Leader) agreed, earnestly. As one would expect from someone who offered help where it wasn’t asked for, he was quite a good person. At the very least, in Felicia’s experience, Kirihito (Leader) seemed the closest to a genuinely nice person she’d met so far in the game.
The fierce attacks of the Volcano Dragon showed no signs of stopping while they talked. As Felicia ran away as fast as she could, Yuri found an opening and pressed the attack.
Their levels were about equal, but oh, the difference in how they dealt with it! It made Felicia realize just how soft she had become, having been raised in the power leveling bubble. She couldn’t stay this way; she had to become a proper gamer and impress Sera Kiryu.
Every time Felicia thought she saw an opening, she charged in. As a result, she was fried by its breath, raked by its scales, and batted aside by its tail. Kirihito (Leader) was an attentive assistant to her, using potions to restore her low health and keep her in the fraught battle. Eventually, through teamwork, they managed to drive the Volcano Dragon to the brink of defeat.
Then, finally...
“Time for revenge!” Felicia jumped up again, readied her battle-axe pitch in midair with one leg up high, then skillfully threw the ball. “Hydro Blasterrrrr!”
Gobo-Two, fired from the catapult of her right arm, spun at high speed and slammed itself into the dragon’s brow. After the initial impact, it kept dealing damage, shaving down the dragon’s health. Then at last, it pierced through its head completely.
As Felicia tapped back down, Gobo-Two returned to her right hand, and the massive Volcano Dragon slowly collapsed. It’s finished, Felicia thought.
The cheerful fanfare rang out, and the result window appeared before her eyes. Most dragon-type mobs had been created to be boss monsters for a quest, and the experience and money it gave out were appropriate to such a powerful enemy. Felicia felt terribly pleased with herself.
“Did you really have to jump?” Yuri asked, looking at her sidelong as she checked her own result window.
“My coach says it’s an important thing to do if you want to throw the perfect miracle pitch.”
“You moved very well,” said Kirihito (Leader). “If you could just anticipate your opponents’ actions a bit better, you’d be perfect.”
Kirihito (Leader), with the confidence natural to high-level players, just closed the window with a few taps without even checking it. Felicia liked getting praise like that. She’d increase her personal skill a little more and give Kiryu a real fright one day.
As Gobo-Two returned to its original size, Felicia hugged it to her chest, turned back to the young heir at his elegant teatime, and waved. “Itchy! Did you see?”
“I saw,” Ichiro said quietly, then brought the cup to his lips. “I would have saved you if something had gone wrong, but I’m glad that it didn’t prove necessary.”
Ichiro returned the empty cup to Kirschwasser’s tray and smiled very slightly. There was something vaguely satisfied in his expression.
“Hey, what’s with that smile?” Felicia complained.
“I think it’s good that you’re trying to find your own goal in the game.”
“Oh, uh, yeah...” She couldn’t remember ever telling Ichiro about that directly, but maybe he’d just inferred it.
It was just as she had told Yuri the day before: she was trying to find her own way of enjoying the game. She didn’t want her NaroFan life to be so shallow that she just casually logged in forever because Itchy was there. Still, she was a bit embarrassed to have him see through her like that.
She cast a glance at Yuri, but the other girl just shrugged. Kirihito (Leader) folded his arms and nodded, though he probably didn’t actually know what was going on.
“Well, what shall we do now?” Kirschwasser brought a tray with tea for three, as if to congratulate them for the successful battle. “You could wait for it to respawn and fight it again, or we could head back to the guild house for now. I have a feeling Iris will be returning soon.”
“Hmm...” Felicia was
pensive as she took the cup of tea. A thought was rising up in the back of her mind—a suggestion of a sort, or a recommendation. But she was wondering if it might make her sound like a poser.
Ah, well. She’d say it anyway.
“Itchy, you guys head back. We’ll stay here and level up for a little while longer.”
“Hmm?” Ichiro’s eyes narrowed. She couldn’t blame him for being suspicious; it wasn’t the kind of thing she said very often.
She put her hands on her hips and hummed, trying to make a great show of adulthood. “I’m not a member of Iris Brand, but you are, right? I’m sure you’ll have a lot of things to talk about when Iris gets on. Besides, I’ve got Yuri and Leader with me. I’ll be fine.”
“I see.” Ichiro smiled in a way that suggested true satisfaction with that response, and stood up. “I’ll do that, then. Sir Kirschwasser?”
“Sir,” Kirschwasser answered immediately at the sound of his name. As usual, he was every bit the loyal servant.
Felicia would be lying if she said she wasn’t reluctant to say goodbye. To be honest, part of her wanted him to stay and keep watching her fight. But as long as she continued to ask for such things, she’d always be a child. She had to feign adulthood until she truly felt it.
A thought had occurred to Felicia during the Nem incident the other day: in order for Ichiro to acknowledge her, she needed to get some space from him.
As she watched Ichiro and Kirschwasser go, Yuri turned to Felicia. “Felicia, why are you looking so grim?”
“Growing up is a sad thing.”
“Miss Felicia, don’t say that line,” Kirihito (Leader) said, looking as if he’d received some sort of trauma.
Ichiro and Kirschwasser returned to the Iris Brand guild house. As usual, the sale of Warp Feathers on the market was being controlled or limited by someone, leaving hardly any available for purchase. This had completely limited players’ ability to move around in the game, and many were turning to the developers to complain and ask for fixes. Ichiro wondered what the developers would do; their decision to put an upper limit on the number of daily goods in circulation had been made fully with the knowledge that it might result in things like this. But that didn’t mean most players would accept that. This would truly be a test of Azami Nono’s abilities.
Setting that aside...
“I was surprised to hear Lady Felicia say that,” Kirschwasser said, walking one step behind Ichiro. That was all he had been talking about this whole time.
“That means she’s growing up,” said Ichiro. “It’s a good thing.”
“Still, Master Ichiro, I wonder if you miss her?”
“Are you being serious?” he asked.
Kirschwasser chuckled. “Nonsense, then?”
Even so, Ichiro had been surprised by Felicia’s statement. Ichiro had once diagnosed himself as “always underestimating the vitality of others,” and it seemed that held true once more. Felicia was always struggling to prove that she was an adult, and he had given her minimal advice up until now. As a result, Felicia, Asuha Tsuwabuki, was now trying to stand on her own in this game world. It seemed like a good thing, in his mind.
“I suppose we can add Felicia to the list of heroes that Demon Lord Ichiro has high hopes for,” said Kirschwasser.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” It was true that Ichiro’s favorite violin solo was Ernst’s “Der Erlkönig, The Demon Lord,” but he had never himself given thought to becoming one himself.
It was just about then that the Iris Brand guild house came into sight on the merchant town’s main street. But as they drew closer, they realized there was something unusual going on. A crowd of people had gathered in front of the building.
It was unfortunate that a crowd of people in front of a crafting guild’s house could be classified as “unusual,” but then, such was the reality of Iris Brand. Had there been a complete upheaval in the aesthetic sense of the world’s people, such that Iris’s armor designs were spontaneously being appreciated? Probably not.
“I wonder what happened,” Kirschwasser mused, voicing the question in Ichiro’s mind.
“We’ll probably see if we go inside,” Ichiro answered.
“Indeed.”
Ichiro and Kirschwasser tried to make their way through the crowd to go in, but as the others noticed their presence, they parted to make way.
“Oh, Mr. Tsuwabuki. Hey, it’s a bad scene in there.” An Anthromorph addressed him in familiar tones. He’d seen this man before: he was a member of the Akihabara Forging Guild who appeared to be friends with Edward.
“What has happened?” Ichiro asked.
“Ed went over to your guild house to apologize to Iris,” the Anthromorph said.
“I thought he already apologized.”
“He wanted to do it again while you weren’t around.”
“I see.”
It did seem that Edward hated Ichiro quite a lot—which, really, was perfectly understandable—but he was also clearly aware that the incident with Iris had been the result of his own misplaced resentment. If he’d wished to apologize again to suit his own sense of personal integrity, Ichiro had no objection to that. But what exactly had happened between them?
“Iris seemed to be in a really bad mood,” said the Anthromorph.
“Oh?” said Ichiro.
“So she vented at Ed for a while...”
“Oh.”
“...and now she’s pounding her head against the wall.”
“I see.”
Despite saying that, though, Ichiro couldn’t fully parse the scene being described. He exchanged a glance with Kirschwasser, who shrugged slightly—well, surely they’d see once they got inside.
First, he decided to open the door and enter the guild house. When he did, he saw Iris there, just as advertised, banging her head against the wall.
The repetitive motion was reminiscent of a woodpecker, but no matter how much she hit her head, she would neither deal herself damage nor feel any pain. Self-harm was an unproductive avenue to begin with, and he had no idea why she was trying it—but her efforts would prove fruitless either way. The virtual world could be truly unaccommodating.
Ichiro, Kirschwasser, and Edward watched her strange behavior trepidatiously. It was only when Iris abruptly broke out into a dash towards the second floor, looking like she might dive out of the window, that Ichiro finally moved to stop her. As he grabbed her slender wrist to restrain her, Iris cried out.
“Let me die!” she yelled.
“This is all kinds of nonsense...”
“I’m too stupid to live!” she screamed. “Only death can cure stupidity! Let me die!”
“Some say that not even death can cure it,” Ichiro responded with a serious gaze.
“That’s not helping,” Edward commented from behind.
Kirschwasser winced.
“First, Iris, calm down,” said Ichiro. “You can’t take damage in the cities. If you fall, not only will you not die, you won’t even take falling damage. In addition, I view stupidity as the same thing as earnestness, which I interpret as beauty.”
“Are you not going to deny that I’m stupid?!” cried Iris.
“I am not.”
“Let me go! Let me die!”
In the end, Ichiro Tswuabuki’s all-too-honest, unhelpful attempts at dissuading her went on for about 30 minutes, until at last (likely just due to the passage of time), Iris finally started calming down.
“By the way, Ed, why did you stay here the whole time?” Ichiro cast a glance at the Machina in question, who was still standing there quietly.
When Ichiro had first come in, Ed looked like he had been thinking about sneaking out of the guild house. But in the end, perhaps concern over Iris’s bizarre behavior had stopped him from leaving.
Edward folded his arms defiantly, and responded, “Something wrong with me being here?”
“I never said it was wrong...” Ichiro shrugged. “But from an objective point o
f view, I don’t see how your presence could have helped, either. You’re neither poison nor cure.”
Edward did not respond. But, well, he didn’t matter. Ichiro looked back at Iris. She returned his gaze sharply, with bloodshot eyes.
“I have a lot to say to you, young heir,” she snapped. “So much to say! First! You knew that Nem was Fuyo, didn’t you?!”
“Yes. ‘Nem’ is the Chinese name for the Fuyo, the cotton rose.”
“I see! I didn’t know that! I sure wish I’d known it earlier!”
Ah, they must have met, Ichiro thought. The much-admired fashion designer who had come to visit her school must have been Megumi Fuyo.
As entertaining as this was to watch, for her own sake, he wished she’d calm down a little more.
“By the way, who is this Fuyo person?” Edward asked, having likely born the brunt of Iris’s earlier venting.
“The vanguard of a new generation,” Iris responded unashamedly. Her tone indicated a deep respect for Megumi Fuyo, but that wasn’t all she had to say. “The exciting new fashion designer, idol to young girls everywhere! President and designer of the casual women’s fashion brand, MiZUNO! Professional among professionals! The daughter of the owner of the something-or-other group that runs Mizuno Bank! An heiress, born with everything every girl wants, including talent!”
High praise. At her core, Iris was an honest girl. She could acknowledge when something was good—but here, it was all just a way of channeling her malice towards Ichiro Tsuwabuki.
She pointed her finger at Ichiro again and screamed, “And she picked a fight with me because of this man!”
“But you’re the one who accepted her challenge,” said Ichiro.
“I did. Yes, I did. I did, but...” Iris clenched her hands into tight fists, her gaze wandering around the room. There was indecision in her eyes.
Just as Felicia was finally dedicating herself to something, now it was Iris who seemed lost in a maze. It would be easy to offer her a helping hand, but would that be what she really wanted?
