Chapter 81 - The Path of the Beast
As I talked things through with Angelica, the night deepened, and before I knew it, it was time for bed.
In a state where I didn't know when the enemy might strike, I should avoid meaningless exhaustion.
Halfway through, the topic had shifted from how to defeat the High Priest to the harrowing subject of whether I preferred Angelica or Rio, so I was just going to sleep.
I have no obligation to answer, and no matter how I answer, ruin is what awaits me.
"Ah! Are you running away!?"
"...This is just a hunch, but your reaction was like, 'Your face is my type, but your body is Angelica.'"
"I can't hear a thing," I said, acting tough while pulling the light cord to forcibly turn off the lights.
I dove into the futon with momentum and pulled the blanket up over my body.
By the way, I was lying on the futon spread in the middle of the room, with Angelica on the hallway side and Rio by the window.
I was sandwiched between two girls, sleeping in a row like the characters in the word "river."
The reason I was in the middle was because they had fought over me.
Since both Angelica and Rio wanted to sleep pressed against me, I inevitably ended up in the center.
My own will, the most important thing, was irrelevant.
It's painful.
It's very painful.
There's no way I can sleep in this state.
My right arm is held against Angelica's chest, and my left arm is sandwiched between Rio's legs.
Despite being on high alert, these two were completely devoid of tension.
Or perhaps there were unavoidable circumstances, like they were clinging to me because they were scared?
The sweet scent wafting from both sides of my body was slowly eroding my thoughts.
I found myself feeling a sense of crisis, thinking, If the High Priest attacks in this situation, I'm in real trouble...
As I was fidgeting like that, Rio, on my left, spoke up.
"Hey."
A dignified voice. It was as if a knife had sliced through the sluggish air of the room.
"You were saying something about killing people or committing suicide, but were you being serious about all that?"
"I was."
"Hmm."
"No way," Rio declared. Her tone was blunt.
"I'd been keeping an eye on you because I got this gut feeling that you were a real beast living in the moment, Nakamoto-san, but now I'm starting to think that might be wrong."
"...I'd like to hear more about why you think I'm a beast."
"This is about my Mother, though."
"Let's talk about the beast matter, then."
Rio brilliantly ignored the topic I threw out and continued matter-of-factly.
"My Mother has never had a break between men. Ever since I've been old enough to understand, she's always been dating someone or has someone registered. It's the same now. She's already found Gondo's successor."
"Your Mother is popular, then. Is she a beauty?"
"She's reasonably well-formed, but it's not just that. I think she's just good at it."
"Good at what?"
"Sleeping with men."
I didn't know how to respond to such a raw confession.
"Actually, there was a period when she worked at those kinds of establishments. In a sense, she's a pro."
"I-I see."
"But, you know. Mother is good at being with men, but she probably doesn't like it. Because her wrists are covered in scars from cutting. Every time she has a physical relationship with a man, the scars increase. It's painful to watch, but Mother understands that sharing skin is the best way to hold onto a lover, so she won't stop."
"You, that's..."
"It's not like I'm telling you about my family's misfortune because I want sympathy. Don't mind me. Mother can't be saved by me. She'll probably keep doing it until she can date a proper man someday. Um, what I wanted to say was..."
Aren't you the same, Nakamoto-san? Rio said.
"The same? Like me and my Mother?"
"Yeah. Don't get mad, okay? Mother, you know, she probably doesn't actually like men who are only after her body. She wants them to look deeper inside than that. She's surprisingly maidenly. In her true heart, she must be dying to have a platonic romance. But she's not suited for it, so she doesn't do it. Or rather, she can't."
Rio muttered. She said it's a misfortune when what you love and what you're good at don't align.
"Nakamoto-san, don't you actually dislike fighting and violence? But because you're suited for it and stronger than anyone, you're doing things like monster hunting against your will. That's how it looks to me."
"...I see."
She hit the mark.
One could say she has quite the eye for observation.
"Sometimes, among the dangerous boyfriends Mother brings home, there are types who enjoy violence from the bottom of their hearts. You can tell just by looking. When they're hitting Mother, they're clearly excited."
"...Is a guy like that dangerous boyfriend your ideal man?"
"Huh? As if!"
Nakamoto-san, you don't understand the ideal form of a beastly man at all, right? Her voice suddenly became sharp.
"Listen... a man who's just been bragging about his strength and fighting since he was a kid is just a beast. An animal. Getting hit by someone like that is no different from being bitten by a dog. I want to be disciplined by a human man. I want someone who learned martial arts and became strong through effort. Like some Showa-era old man who was a scrawny farm boy but became a demon after serving in the military. You get it, right?"
"I don't get it at all."
"Why can't I get through to you? That's why, I want to see a single drop of kindness shining through strength and strictness. I'm telling you, it's not like I want to be toyed with by a real psychopath. Like a man who'd sharply slap his daughter's cheek for breaking her curfew, but then drinks alone later, regretting it, thinking, 'Maybe I went a bit too far...'. I want to feel love in those red, swollen cheeks while agonizing over the gap in such a stubborn father."
Is this... something like tsundere moe?
"I don't understand why being hit is good, but I might understand a little bit about wanting a father who is strict but actually kind."
"Right? And then, at two in the morning, that disciplinarian father slips into his daughter's futon, whispers 'I'm sorry,' and takes her virginity. An ideal man is someone who pulls off a love story like that."
"That guy is a total monster."
I was suddenly unable to empathize with any of it.
"I couldn't get into it at all until halfway through, but I finally managed to empathize a little bit during the part about him whispering 'I'm sorry' while taking the daughter's virginity."
Suddenly, Angelica interrupted the conversation.
It seemed she had been listening properly.
"I prefer a normally kind Papa, but taking a daughter's virginity after an argument is quite good."
"You've got good taste. See? See?! It's two against one! I'm telling you, Nakamoto-san is the one who's weird!"
"Father is so old-fashioned in that regard. Honestly, I think it's questionable. A daughter begins her secondary sexual characteristics in order to give birth to her father's baby."
Are you serious...?
I'm being accused by two teenage girls that I'm the weird one for showing a rejection response to a father embracing his daughter.
I feel like I'm going crazy.
"The topic jumped around so much... why... what were we even talking about...?"
"Hmm. ...Right! It's because Nakamoto-san maintains his reason and emotion while continuing to be a brute through his suffering, so you're my type."
"Is that so..."
"And, because I feel a very sweet side in your core, I wonder if you'll really kill that woman. Was it the High Priest? You probably won't even let her commit suicide. I get the feeling you won't even do something like imprison her while she's alive."
"You're overestimating me."
I stated firmly that I would finish off the High Priest.
"I wonder if that's true."
"There is no one more inhuman than me."
Since I've even killed my own child—
Just as I remembered that, the window outside flashed white!
"—What is this?"
It was an intense light, as if a sun had suddenly appeared in the night sky.
My eyes, which were just getting used to the darkness, screamed in intense pain.
"...The High Priest?"
I instinctively opened the window and looked around.
It seemed the light was pouring down from above.
If so, I turned my eyes toward the sky.
Then, I saw the belly and legs of a beast floating there.
It was a horse. A magnificent white horse emitting a brilliant light.
Since I could see bird wings on both sides, it was likely a Pegasus.
It was stationary, directly above the house.