Chapter 104 - Declaration of Resolve
"Is Father... mentally ill?"
Perhaps exhausted from crying her heart out, Philia was finally beginning to settle down.
Deciding that there was no need for me to step in, I left it to Ayako-chan to put her to sleep.
A moment of leisure, the first in a while.
I sat by the window doing nothing in particular, gazing at the scenery outside.
The hotel district, transitioning from morning toward midday.
As I was absentmindedly stroking the calm cityscape with my eyes, Angelica threw out that opening question.
"...I'm healthy."
"But Ayako was saying it. Something about PT..."
"PTSD. Ayako-chan is a worrier. After all, you know, she's a well-bred girl."
Well, it's not like I don't have a reason to suspect it.
It's true that shortly after being summoned to another world, I had symptoms like vomiting after combat or seeing strange things.
But gradually, the back of my head became numb, and before I knew it, I could handle things mechanically... wait, is that actually the most dangerous type?
What is it, I wonder.
Is it like applying saliva to a wound and thinking it'll heal eventually, but doing it to one's own mental state?
Or perhaps it hasn't healed at all.
Is it like a wound that has closed up, but has fused back together in a strange shape, and I've just left it alone?
I do think that if I can move safely now, then that's fine.
Even if something in me was broken—would that really be such a bad thing?
I feel like the guy who kills enemies and then walks around with a perfectly calm face is the more dangerous one.
If agony on the battlefield is proof of humanity, then I think this is a cross I must carry... but still...
"Wait, that's cheating! Ange!"
Even though I was developing my personal theory with a bit of a cool-guy flair, this Angelica was shedding tears profusely.
It was extremely difficult to make out what she was saying, but it sounded like she was saying something along the lines of, "If Father is sick somewhere, I want you to fix him."
"Uuu, uuuuuu~"
"Alright, alright, I get it."
I glanced toward the bed in a panic.
Ayako-chan was in the middle of telling Philia a bedtime story—a version of Cinderella where every single character had been changed into a father.
In other words, she was narrating a gruesome story about an old man landing a marriage into wealth, all while her cheeks were flushed red.
Philia didn't seem to quite understand the meaning, listening with a serene expression.
It seemed they were fine.
Ayako-chan was immersed in her fantasy world and hadn't noticed that I had made Angelica cry.
"Let's talk somewhere where we can calm down for now."
I put my arm around Angelica's shoulder and led her toward the bathroom.
To be honest, it wasn't a calming place at all, but I wanted to believe that just shutting out the eyes of a third party had some merit.
I prompted Angelica to sit down. It was a consideration, thinking that standing the whole time might be something.
With a sniffling nose, Angelica plopped down onto the toilet.
And I remained standing there, looking down at my weeping beloved daughter.
...This is awkward.
If this were just a fight, it would be one thing, but since she had cried out of excessive worry for me, I couldn't take a hard stance.
It felt similar to that time when my mother started crying because I had spent some time back in Japan without a steady job.
Being cried over because one is cared for. That is the hardest part.
I wondered how I would have dealt with it if Elsa had been the one here—but she was a woman who rarely showed tears, so I was terribly inexperienced with this kind of experience.
Rather, in my younger days, I was somewhat emotionally unstable, so I remember being constantly comforted by Elsa.
It wasn't just once or twice that she would rest my head on her lap and stroke my hair, saying "there, there."
Elsa was an amazing woman who played the roles of female friend, lover, and at the same time, even older sister and mother.
I could say that the reason I was able to get by in another world was largely thanks to her.
In other words, how should I put it, I was more the type who was good at being pampered.
Since I was not at all prepared for the mindset of becoming an old man, I am quite bad at looking after young girls.
...Even though I'm turning thirty-three this year.
Sure, half my life has been a series of misfortunes, and there's the suspicion that my head has been messed up, but even so, I should have some responsibility as an adult.
Soothe Angelica, and finish off those dragons.
That is the best choice available to me right now.
"Ah—... look, Ange."
I tried speaking to her while scratching my cheek.
I didn't know what to say.
"I'm happy that you care about me, but, well, you know. It's very troubling when you cry, shall we say?"
"..."
"What do you want me to do? Do you want me to go to a hospital or something? But how would I even explain it? If I confessed to a doctor that I seem to have had my spirit broken while serving in a war that no one in this world knows about, they'd probably think I've truly gone mad and force me to take strong medicine... would I even be able to be discharged from that...?"
I don't want to spend my time in an isolated ward with iron bars.
The thought that I really don't want to see a doctor bubbled up within me.
"Was Father always pushing himself too hard?"
"Eh?"
Just as I thought she had suddenly looked up, Angelica looked at me with a serious gaze.
"The Father in the book was written about like a fearless hero. That Hero Keisuke-sama feared nothing and was an amazing person who fought for everyone because he wanted to. But that was wrong, wasn't it?"
"...Were you disillusioned?"
"I suppose."
"I-I see."
"Not with you, but with my hometown."
Angelica pouted her lips.
"It's embarrassing to think that the people from my hometown pushed Father that far, and I hate myself for looking at Father with admiring eyes like he was some hero, and—ugh... enough!"
Is she not angry at me?
A helpless anger toward her compatriots. There's nothing that can be done about that.
"It's not Ange's fault, and it's not a part of it that you should feel responsible for."
"...Even if you say that, of course I'm going to feel it."
"Well, that might be true."
"Because me being offered to Father was meant to be cleaning up the mess left by the people of that world. And yet, I haven't been able to fulfill that role."
"Um... what do you mean by that?"
Angelica said while rummaging around in her back pocket.
"That is. I came as a reward for Father, who defeated the Demon Lord even at the cost of his health deteriorating in various ways and losing Elsa-san."
"It seemed half of it was for the purpose of a trap, though."
"I! Came for the purpose of showing appreciation, properly!"
"I know, I know."
"Found it," Angelica exclaimed. Then, with a flick, she tossed it to me.
What is this... thing that looks like a pink thermometer...
"Wait, this is—"
If I'm not mistaken, it looks like what is called a pregnancy test kit.
Judging by the way Angelica looked away somewhat bashfully, there was no doubt that my interpretation was correct.
"Y-You... don't tell me..."
"Yes."
Angelica nodded deeply.
"I learned how to use it from Ayako. I don't know why, but those were packed all over the shelf where Ayako's clothes are kept."
"That girl really ought to get checked out by a good hospital once..."
As I spoke, I searched my own memory.
In the last few days, were there any nights I couldn't remember? There must have been once or twice when I was accidentally made to drink something by people related to the TV station.
Could it have been then...
"I am a living reward to comfort Father with my body. So, I think it's shameful that you haven't laid a hand on me yet."
"Shameful."
"I will heal Father's heart. ...With this body!"
Angelica puffed out her chest. Her ample curves pushed against the fabric, looking as if they were about to burst.
"...There is friendship even in a woman's world. Ayako and I are rivals competing for Father, but at the same time, we are friends with common interests."
"What is your common interest?"
"Father."
"That was an instant answer. ...So, what does that have to do with this dangerous object?"
This isn't a toy. It's a weapon.
If handed to them by a girl, it is a bewitching tool that almost every man would tremble in fear of.
"This test kit isn't something you should just carry around for fun."
"I know. That's why I'm carrying it."
Angelica stated while wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes.
"The two of us discussed it and decided. That between me and Ayako, whoever gets a baby first will become Father's legal wife. And the one who becomes the wife will devote her whole soul to Father's mental care."
What about my will?
I tried asking the most important thing, but I was brilliantly ignored.
"From tonight on, Father will have to do his best too."