Lyrule’s Melancholy
Angels don’t sleep. Or at least, that was the rumor that had made the rounds in Dormundt a few days after the Seven Luminaries took over the city. It started because of the way in which Tsukasa carried out his municipal work from the office he’d fashioned out of the library in the mayor’s mansion. As the Seven Luminaries’ brain, he enacted a number of different reforms.
A revised tax system that had previously served merely to line the nobles’ pockets, legislation that abolished the noble-commoner-slave class system, and the creation of educational institutions and the appointment of intellectuals to them, disseminating knowledge to the masses. Each was significant, but the list of changes hardly stopped there.
“Getting rid of institutional inequality is the bare minimum requirement for a functional democracy.”
Such was Tsukasa’s stance.
Over the course of that process, he had to converse with a number of intellectuals and former nobles. Strangely, though, no matter what time his visitors came to the office, they invariably found him working.
He was there from before the sun rose to late at night when even the plants lay dormant. At some point, someone came up with a theory as to why that was.
“Angels don’t need to sleep,” they’d hypothesized. Of course, that wasn’t the case in the slightest.
Tsukasa might have been from another world, but he was just as mortal as anyone else. When Mayor Heiseraat asked him about the hearsay, the white-haired boy’s reply was nonchalant: “I don’t rest before I get to work. I rest after I’ve finished.”
In order to rewrite the entire legal system from the ground up, he was making the ex-noble government officials toil day in and day out to get the job done. It wouldn’t be fair unless he worked even harder.
Eventually, a week had passed since the Seven Luminaries took the city.
Once again, Tsukasa was consumed by work. However, his office was empty. Instead, he was off checking on the progress Ringo had made on her power plant.
They’d wanted to ensure the fire wouldn’t spread to Dormundt if there was an accident, so they’d built the generator off the coast, about two miles from the city.
Tsukasa was heading there via his private carriage.
“We’re here, Mr. Tsukasa.”
“Uhh…ah, thank you.”
Hearing the driver call his name, he awoke from his brief catnap and stretched a little. The driver looked at him in astonishment.
“There’s no way a nap that short in a carriage this rocky did you a lick of good. Can’t you just take a day off or something?”
“Not while I’m pushing everyone else to their limit for the sake of these reforms. Me working hard enough to make them think angels don’t sleep is good for morale. ‘Looking like I’m doing my job’ is part of my work in and of itself. So remember, the fact that I doze off on these carriage rides is our little secret.” Tsukasa raised his index finger in front of his lips to emphasize the point. The playful gesture earned him a strained smile from his driver.
“…Why don’t we take the scenic route on the way back? You can call it a city inspection or something.”
“You know, when I hired you as my personal driver, somehow I knew I was making the right call. I have a meeting waiting for me after this, so though I have to decline the offer, I appreciate the sentiment nonetheless.”
Tsukasa opened the carriage door and stepped out. When he did, the prime minister was immediately met with a greeting.
“Ofur here, Tsukasa!”
The voice he heard wasn’t human but electronic.
It belonged to the plant’s foreman, Ringo’s all-purpose support robot—Bear Rabbit, or Bearabbit for short.
Skillfully maneuvering the spiderlike manipulator arms that extended out from his backpack body, the artificial intelligence made his way over to Tsukasa. Masato, who was in charge of supplying materials, was with him.
“Well, well, well. Looks like we’ve got a bigwig riding in on his carriage to conduct a site inspection.”
“Some dunce decided to get the whole city addicted to mayonnaise without considering the consequences, so I’ve been up to my ears dealing with the salmonella poisoning caused by bootleg mayo. It’s just been one thing after another.” After giving his retort, Tsukasa turned his attention to the bustling site of the power plant.
Great groups of people, largely composed of freed slaves who’d elected not to go back to work for their old owners as well as residents of nearby villages who were bored out of their minds due to there being no work in winter, were working to construct a rectangular building equipped with giant smokestacks.
Eventually, it was going to be Dormundt’s new power plant. The brick outer walls were almost complete. There was basically nothing left to do other than finish installing the smokestacks and triangular anti-snow roof.
“Wow. I’m impressed you all were able to build this much in a single week without any heavy machinery.”
“It’s hard to make money during the winter, so people were champin’ at the bit to work. We basically just threw manpower at the problem.”
“The site was all clawttered with the snow yesterday, but they all pulled through anyway.”
“I’m glad to hear the people are so motivated. A country is only as strong as its workforce, after all. By the way, is the generator installed yet?”
“Yep. Ringo used the last of our battery pawer to get it up and running. Once the roof and chimneys are in, we’ll be ready fur business.”
“We’ve got tons of coal to use as fuel, too.” Masato indicated the mound of black rocks covered by a tarp to keep off the snow. All in all, the pile was probably a good ten feet tall.
“All of that is coal?”
“Everyone knew you could burn it for fuel, but they also knew how toxic the fumes were. When they go mining, they usually just end up throwing it out, so I was able to pick it up for almost nothing.”
“That’s what I like to hear. So how long until the plant starts running in earnest?”
“At this pace, we’ll be in a pawsition to do a trial run tomorrow. The pawer’s set up to get stored in the high-capacity battery we salvaged from the pocket nuclear fission reactor, so that should solve our energy problems.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Electricity is one of the few big advantages we have in this world. Once that gets up and running, we’ll be able to proceed with the next operation.”
“Which is?”
Tsukasa thought for a moment, then made his choice. He’d been keeping his plans under wraps so their workaholic teammate, Ringo, wouldn’t push herself too hard. However, Masato was the one in charge of collecting raw materials. It was better not to leave him in the dark.
“I’d like to modernize part of our army in preparation for the battles this coming spring.”
“Modernize? Meaning, you want them bearing firearms?”
Tsukasa nodded.
“I’ve already asked Bernard to put together a special unit—a hundred soldiers, handpicked by him. Bear Rabbit, I need you and Ringo to build a factory next to the power plant equipped with lathes, milling cutters, drill presses, and everything else you need for machine work. I want to create a space where the people of this world can manufacture guns and ammo by themselves.”
A big question mark popped up on Bearabbit’s display.
“Would it be a problem if Ringo and I had a paw in making them?”
“Not as such, but the people of this world were the ones who started this war. They need to be the ones to continue it. That’s why I want them as involved in the process as possible.
“Given the state of this world’s technology, simple bolt-action rifles and break-action shotguns should be sufficient for our purposes. They’re similar to the guns this world already has, so if you explain how to build them and use the machine tools, you should be able to set up a production line without having to get directly involved after the fact.”
“…Yeah, that’s probably for the best. We might have subjugated Dormundt, but a bunch of the former nobles are still pissed as hell. It’s like we’ve got little powder kegs sprinkled all around us. If we give this world machine guns all of a sudden, any sort of revolt they threw would get ugly real fast.”
“That’s certainly one reason, but…I also have other projects I need Ringo and Bear Rabbit to put their considerable scientific prowess and productivity to work on. Things only they can do.”
“Like what?”
“For example, building the equipment and bags to store blood for transfusion like Keine asked for this morning. Also, I need you to start working on an air-defense system.”
“You mean, like, ground-to-air missiles?”
Tsukasa nodded.
“From what I learned from the books I dug through and the chat I had with the mage we captured back at the castle, this world’s magic comes in two forms:
“The first is small-scale tactical magic. It’s akin to tactical arms. It’s quick, single-phrase spells that can do things like ‘summon gusts of wind that can cleave through metal,’ ‘shoot bullets of ice,’ and ‘create bursts of flame large enough to blow up a house.’
“The other is large-scale war magic. This kind is more like strategic arms. It requires rituals that take years to perform, but one spell can raze an entire town.
“There are only a few people in the empire who can use war magic, but…the mayor says the man commanding the army against us—Warden of the North Oslo el Gustav—is one such individual. A few years ago, when he was fighting the now-defunct Yamato Empire, he was able to use Heavenly Fire to engulf the enemy’s base in a sea of flames from an entire mountain away…or so the tale goes.”
“Heavenly Fire, huh? I see… So that’s what you’re trying to guard against?”
“Ideally, although we won’t know if missiles will work until the moment arrives. However, according to Shinobu, this world has both magic and people who ride dragons into battle. Simply put, they have access to aerial warfare. That means we can’t leave our skies undefended… Can you do it, Bear Rabbit?”
Bearabbit gave Tsukasa an energetic reply.
“You can depanda on me! Now that we have materials aplenty and a reliable source of electricity, the sky’s the limit! Once we finish the power plant, Ringo and I will start with the machine tools before moving on to the rest of the list!”
“Good. I’m counting on you.”
Just as their conversation reached a natural stopping point, someone new cut in.
“Tsukasa!”
A cheerful female voice called out to the young prime minister from behind. When he turned around, Tsukasa saw Lyrule’s golden hair bobbing up and down as she dashed over to him. The white-haired boy’s eyes went wide in surprise. He hadn’t expected her to be there.
Once they’d realized that the empire was unlikely to retaliate until after the snow melted, Winona and most of the other Elm residents returned to the village to rest. Tsukasa had been under the assumption that Lyrule had gone, too.
“You didn’t go back with Winona and the others?”
Lyrule shook her head as she answered. “No… I was what started this whole war, so I wanted to try to be of some use to everyone. Today, I was helping prepare food for the workers.”
Now Tsukasa understood why the blond girl had stayed. The rest of the villagers were the ones who’d decided to go to war, so there was no need for Lyrule to feel guilty, but her brain simply didn’t work that way.
Realizing that, Tsukasa responded, “Thank you. I appreciate you lending a hand.”
“Oh, it’s no problem. It’s something I wanted to do,” the girl replied a bit bashfully. “But, um…” After a brief moment of silence, she steeled her resolve. “…I was actually about to go have lunch. Would you like to join me?”
“With the workers, I presume?”
“Mm-hmm. We prepared plenty of food, and also…I still haven’t properly thanked you…for what you did back there.”
What I did back there. Tsukasa sensed Lyrule was referring to him saving her back at the lord’s castle.
After the siege, Tsukasa and the others had to immediately get to work taking over the domain, so he and Lyrule hadn’t had a decent chance to talk since. The young woman was probably still hung up about what he’d done for her.
However—
“You’re too kind, really…but I’m afraid I have to decline.”
—he turned down her offer. Just like he had on the evening of the festival…
“I haven’t put in the labor, so it wouldn’t be right for me to take food meant for the plant’s workers. Also, I have a meeting with the nobles who used to manage Findolph’s towns and villages that I need to get to.”
“Oh…”
“I do appreciate the sentiment, though.” With that, Tsukasa sauntered off at a brisk pace. The white-haired young man found he was disgusted with himself all the while.
As she watched Tsukasa disappear into the distance, Lyrule felt her heart pound. He was just busy. That was all, right? As the guy calling the shots, Tsukasa was spending sleepless nights working. All that was true.
It was all true, but Lyrule sensed from Tsukasa’s reply there was something else going on. She’d noticed it during the festival, too.
Rejection.
He was avoiding her and being distant. Could it be…?
“Masato, does…does Tsukasa hate me?” Lyrule turned toward the businessman, her voice full of unease.
“Nah.” Masato laughed. “There’s no way. He just has a lot on his plate right now.”
“I know that, but…it’s just…I feel like it’s more than that. It seems like Tsukasa actively doesn’t want to spend time around me…” The girl’s eyes swam with worry. Her insightfulness made Masato break out into a cold sweat.
Damn, girl, you’re sharp.
He could tell she’d be a dangerous person to cheat on. As a matter of fact, her hunch was on the mark. Masato knew Tsukasa well enough to be able to tell what was going on.
Right now, the boy was actively trying to distance himself from Lyrule, and Masato could tell why, too. However, the master merchant also knew it wasn’t his place to say. Masato had tried to play dumb, but…
“Is he…is he mad that this whole war is my fault? You all aren’t even from this world, but we went and got you wrapped up in our problems anyway.”
“You weren’t the one who made the call, were you? I’m sure that doesn’t have anything to do with this.”
“So what is it? Does he think my weird ears look creepy or something…?! Or is it—?”
“Hey, calm down. It’s fine. Nobody hates you, Lyrule.”
“But…but…uwaaaaaanh!” All of a sudden, the blond young woman grabbed her long ears and began sobbing in large droplets.
“Huh?! Hey, c’mon, that’s not something to cry about!”
“I’m just—I’m just so worried…” Lyrule’s reaction made Masato falter.
He’d never imagined that Tsukasa’s rejection was taking that heavy a toll on her heart.
“…” Masato let out a small sigh. He couldn’t just keep quiet, not after seeing the face she was making. After all, Lyrule wasn’t the one who’d done anything wrong.
Look, dude, you’re the asshole here. This shit’s your problem, not mine.
After internally cursing Tsukasa a little, Masato went ahead and told Lyrule the truth.
“…Yeah, okay, you’re right. He is avoiding you.”
“R-really?!”
“Don’t worry, though. You didn’t do anything wrong. This one’s a hundred percent on him. Back when everyone in the village was raring to go save you, he was the only person who wanted to abandon you to your fate.”
“Huh…?”
“That’s why it hurts so bad for him to talk to you. Doubly so because you’re trying to thank him for it.” The businessman laid bare Tsukasa’s reason for avoiding the girl.
Rather than surprised, though, Lyrule merely looked perplexed. Tsukasa had been the first to rush in and save her, so she’d never considered the possibility that he’d originally wanted to abandon her.
“Is…that so…?”
“But hey, don’t be too hard on him for it. It’s not like he didn’t want to save you or anything, and he definitely doesn’t hate you. Look, if he hated you, would he really have chosen to take a job as dangerous as charging deep into the enemy’s stronghold himself? That dumbass’s bad habit just kicked in, that’s all.”
“Bad habit? What do you mean?”
“No matter what’s going on, he always puts the well-being of the majority first.
“When the inhabitants of a feudal society rise up against the ruling class, it never ends cleanly in immediate victory or reconciliation. No matter how smart you go about it, a revolution’s always gonna leave mountains of corpses and rivers of blood in its wake.
“Tsukasa knew that could all be prevented by throwing you under the bus. He knew that if he choked back a couple tears, countless innocent lives would be saved. That dude’s the kind of guy who’d say that out loud to a bunch of hotheads who just wanna rush in and snatch you back.
“Just so you know, it’s not because he doesn’t care about you or anything. He’d have said the same thing even if it was about his own flesh and blood. If it’s for sake of the majority…even if that’s a bunch of people he doesn’t know, that guy would go so far as to sacrifice his own parents.”
Ah…
Lyrule felt her blood go cold. She’d heard the same thing from Tsukasa’s own mouth. He’d killed his own father and shattered his family for the sake of justice for the masses.
“I’ve known the guy since we were kids, but I still don’t get it. What’s so bad about putting your own interests first? Is it really so wrong to abandon others for your own benefit?
“Why should we have to sacrifice ourselves and the people we care about just for some randos? I could never be like that. I don’t want to be.
“But Tsukasa doesn’t waver. It didn’t matter how badly he wanted to save you; he pushed those feelings down and gave up on you to protect a bunch of people he’d never even met… I mean, we’re not talking something positive like kindness or benevolence here.
“If I’m being honest…the guy’s completely crazy.”
No human being could think like that. No living creature could think like that. Maybe something had gone wrong in Tsukasa’s head somewhere. Perhaps he was just born that way. It was hard to say. One thing was clear, though: He was broken on a fundamental level.
However, Masato said something else, too. The businessman told Lyrule that Tsukasa Mikogami’s inhuman mindset was exactly what made him the political genius he was.
After he’d finished, Masato flashed her a smile.
“…Anyway, what I’m getting at is that Tsukasa’s a certified weirdo. But he doesn’t hate you, and you didn’t do anything wrong. That dumbass is just self-destructive. Leave him alone for a bit. He’ll come around.”
In a way, Masato’s self-deprecating smile had been a kind of plea. He was being considerate, in his own way. Considerate of his awkward, ruinously sincere friend. Masato was asking Lyrule for a favor. He was asking her not to thank Tsukasa.
The blond girl had sensed as much from his expression and tone—
“No.”
—but refused to comply.
“Huh?”
“Thank you, Masato. Now I know full well what kind of person Tsukasa is.”
Masato hadn’t expected her to shoot him down so firmly. He scrutinized her face in surprise. The young businessman noticed something as he did—Lyrule’s clouded expression had vanished. Now her eyes and mouth were brimming with determination, and her eyebrows were almost bristling.
“…Wait, Lyrule, are you mad?”
“Yes, I am. Very mad, in fact. To borrow a phrase from your world that Shinobu taught me—” Lyrule paused for a moment to take a deep breath.
“I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!!!!”
Her shout was so loud and frustrated that all the construction workers looked up from their work for a moment to see what was going on.
“Damn…that’s pretty mad.”
“Yes, it is. Once I’m finished here, I’m going to go give Tsukasa a piece of my mind.” Lyrule squared her shoulders up in anger as she headed back to her job. Masato let out a regretful sigh as he watched her go.
“She’s a sweet girl. Too sweet for that blockhead, that’s for sure. Hell, if she were a bit older, I’d be all about that.” Tragically, though, she was too young to be Masato’s type. He was only into women at least a decade older than him.
“Too bad,” he murmured again. Beside him, Bearabbit plastered a teasing smile on his display.
“You’re beary sweet, too, you know, clearing up your friend’s misunderstanding like that. Oh, what a beautiful thing male friendship is…”
“…”
“Hmm? What’s wrong? Why are you taking out that Sharpie—EEEEEEK!! That’s barbearic! Quit vandalizing my touch screeeeeeeeen!!!!”
That night, even though it was very nearly the next day, Tsukasa was toiling away in his office.
“I’m so sorry, but there simply wasn’t any way for us to verify the age on some of the buildings… We took the estimates our craftsmen made based on their exteriors and listed them in parentheses, but there’s no guarantee those are fully accurate…”
“…”
A young hyuma, a former baron, stood across the desk from Tsukasa, giving him a report that was filled more with excuses than actual information. As the prime minister sat half listening to the man, he used the candlelight to glance over the accompanying documents the hyuma had delivered. After a while, Tsukasa looked up.
“…I see. You did well. This is plenty.”
The hyuma breathed a sigh of relief. Fatigue was etched across his face. It had probably been several days since he’d gotten a decent night’s sleep. Tsukasa decided to offer him some words of appreciation.
“Thank you for all your hard work. Take tomorrow off so you can rest up.”
The ex-baron bowed, then left the library. The moment he was gone, Tsukasa heard gleeful cheers from the other side of the door. They belonged to the carpenters the man had been working alongside.
“Thank goodness, it’s finally over…”
“Man, my legs are killing me…”
“We were all gonna go for a drink after this, Baron Royce. You wanna come?”
“…I’m not a baron anymore, but I’ll gladly take you up on your offer. I’ve never really had a chance to chat with you fellows before.”
Tsukasa heard their footsteps grow distant. Based on their conversation, he could tell the perceptions among the people of Dormundt were gradually starting to shift.
Not long ago, the nobles and commoners had lived completely disparate lives. The fact that the whole group was going off to drink in the same pub was a sign that things were changing for the better.
It was the government’s job to get rid of unjust laws and eliminate disparities caused by arbitrary things like bloodlines. However, it was ultimately the citizens themselves who needed to come together and create a common sense of values and unity.
Government intervention on that front would only be counterproductive. They needed to reconcile their differences through repeated interaction. Giving the same tasks to people of different social standings and opening up opportunities for them to see eye to eye was the extent of what Tsukasa could do.
Of course, the nobles whom Marquis Findolph had put in charge of running small towns saw themselves as rulers. They were unlikely to change their ways as quickly as the likes of Royce and the other nobles who had merely worked as bureaucrats under Mayor Heiseraat. That was a problem for another day, however.
“…In any case, that was today’s final report.” The moment he said the words aloud, Tsukasa felt his vision waver.
Unfortunately…it seems I’ve hit my limit.
It had been bound to happen sooner or later. Altogether, the white-haired boy had only gotten ten hours of sleep over the past week. Furthermore, all of it had taken place in roughly half-hour increments on shaky carriage rides. Such rest was hardly enough to relieve the fatigue his body was accumulating.
Even though the people of this world were the ones who’d willed it, he and the others had definitely played a role in starting the conflict that would go down in history as the People’s Revolution. In other words, it was Tsukasa’s responsibility to make sure that the war, as well as the vast amount of bloodshed it would bring, ended up holding meaning for future generations.
He’d used that thought to drive himself up until that point, but everyone had a limit. Tsukasa was used to pushing himself to impossible levels, so his true maximum was something with which he was well acquainted. That’s why the young prime minister could tell if he went any further, his body would break.
That was no good. Not only would it impede progress on the reforms, it would make the people start doubting the Seven Luminaries’ angels.
I don’t have any more meetings tonight, and after tomorrow’s morning briefing, I have those negotiations with the nobles who felt their punishments were too severe. I’m going to need my stamina for that… I wanted to finish making some progress on the library’s documents on magic, but I guess I’d better sleep instead.
Tsukasa decided to allow himself a brief respite. With three hours of sleep, he’d be able to make it another three days. However, right as Tsukasa was about to stand up from his chair, he heard a noise.
Someone was knocking on his door.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me, Lyrule. There’s something I really need to talk to you about… Are you free right now?”
Tsukasa expression darkened. He knew full well why Lyrule was calling on him at that late hour. It was Tsukasa who’d saved her back at Findolph’s castle, and she wanted to thank him for it. The young man could tell she’d been trying to do so for the past few days. That was precisely why he had been avoiding her.
Back then, he was the one who’d proposed leaving her to her fate. Such a person was hardly worthy of being thanked. Nothing about that fact had changed.
“…I apologize, but I have another busy day tomorrow and need to get some sleep while I can. Some other time, maybe—”
“I understand completely. If you’re going to sleep, that means you’re done with work for the day.”
“Hmm?”
“I’m coming in!” Lyrule threw open the double doors with a bang and barged into the library.
“Wh—?” Tsukasa gaped at her, not expecting her to employ such an aggressive tactic. The blond girl, on the other hand, kept striding toward him, cutting around his desk.
“L-Lyrule, is whatever this is really that urgent?”
“Yes. I’ve been trying to thank you for coming to my rescue in the castle this whole time, and you’ve been running away from me. I need you to let me thank you properly!”
“I-I’m afraid I don’t quite follow…”
“You can ask me for anything. As long as it’s within my power, I’ll do it.” The girl drew even closer to Tsukasa, then struck a defiant pose right in front of him. Lyrule was so close that if he stood up, their foreheads would bonk.
Tsukasa could see fierce determination glowing in her blue eyes. She’d made up her mind. The expert politician could tell that the time for false pretenses was over.
And so—
“…I was ashamed and didn’t want to say it out loud, but… I’m not the one who saved you. When Winona and the others tried, I told them they were being rash… To put it bluntly, I wanted them to abandon you. I even called your lack of relatives convenient. That was where my mind went.”
—he told her the truth about his attempt to turn a blind eye to her crisis.
Tsukasa knew that Lyrule held some amount of affection for him. At the end of the day, what was done was done. If he could have avoided telling her, that would have been for the best. The boy had no desire to be hated, after all. Yet, even so, he didn’t have it in him to accept gratitude he hadn’t earned.
“I’m in no position to receive your thanks.”
Even when faced with his confession, however—
“Yes, I know that already.”
—Lyrule didn’t so much as flinch.
“What?”
“But that doesn’t bother me in the slightest. Back then, what you tried to do was what I myself wanted. If sacrificing me meant the village would be safe, I was fine with that.
“But…when you came and saved me, it made me so, so happy. I was scared. When Lord Findolph touched me, it made me so sick I couldn’t take it.
“So whether or not you think you deserve my thanks is irrelevant. I’m the one who gets to choose whether to thank you or not! So…I’m going to thank you as much as I want! And I’m not leaving until you let me show you my gratitude!”
Lyrule grabbed Tsukasa, still sitting, by the shoulders and loomed over him. Her slender fingers seemed determined not to let go.
“…I can’t say I’m fond of how pushy you’re being.”
“I’m not happy about it, either, but I have to. Otherwise, you won’t even let me thank you.”
“I was ready to offer you up to Findolph.”
“But you saved me anyway, and you held me tight. I can still feel your warmth from when you did. I still remember how kind you were. So no matter what happens, I won’t hate you! You might think it’s perfectly natural for others to despise you, but I’m never going to feel that way, no matter how much you think I should! If you don’t want me being so forceful, you’ll have to push me away with all your might!”
“…”
Tsukasa found himself at a loss. He’d never expected her to be so persistent…and he certainly hadn’t expected her not to hate him after learning about the heartless decision he’d made. Quite honestly, Tsukasa was flummoxed.
Was it really all right for him to take advantage of her kindness? Could letting her forgive what he’d done really be okay? He’d been the one to advocate leaving her for dead. Tsukasa still wasn’t sure. One thing was certain, however.
The moment he heard Lyrule’s words, sensed her emotions, and felt her joy…had been the moment he’d lost their stubborn little argument.
“…You win. I surrender.” Tsukasa let the tension drain out of his shoulders.
“Besides, if I tried to push you away from this position, I suspect it would constitute sexual harassment.”
“Huh… Hwa-wa-wa!”
It took Lyrule a moment to realize what he meant, but when she did, her face flushed red. The young woman was pinning him from above—her breasts were hanging right in front of his face. If Tsukasa had wanted to push her off, he would’ve had no choice but to grab something untoward.
Yet, even as the girl went crimson to the tips of her ears, she refused to back down. Tsukasa looked up at her in exasperation.
“Having regrets yet? I’m not nearly as accommodating as Masato. There’s nothing for you to gain by doing this.”
“That’s…for me to decide.”
“…I suppose so. Once again, you’re absolutely right.” Tsukasa gave her response a strained smile.
Lyrule’s stance was far more logical than his. She had him beat on all fronts. As a matter of fact, Tsukasa was the one in the wrong for trying to get her to share his guilt. Realizing that, the prime minister saw he had no choice but to humbly accept her thanks.
“You’ll really do anything, then? Even something somewhat laborious?”
“Of course. As long as I’m able!”
“In that case, would you mind sitting down on that sofa for me?”
“The sofa?”
Tsukasa’s eyes looked over toward a couch large enough to seat four people. Lyrule tilted her head to the side, unsure what Tsukasa was getting at, but she went over and sat down as instructed.
“Like this?”
“No, all the way on the end—Yes, right there.” As he spoke, Tsukasa headed to the large piece of furniture himself and sat down beside her.
Then—
“Oh!”
—he rested his head on her lap.
“…Ah, this is comfy. Far better than an actual pillow.”
“Um, Tsukasa, what’s this about…?” The young man’s sudden action had made Lyrule visibly surprised and embarrassed.
“You said you’d do anything, so I was hoping you’d help give me an hour of sleep. How does that sound? With a pillow this comfortable, I could get three hours’ worth of sleep done in just sixty minutes.”
“…Ah.” Lyrule had been bewildered but now saw what he was getting at. Smiling sweetly, the young woman accepted the request.
“Of course. I would even give you the whole night, if you want.”
“That would take quite a toll on your legs.”
“Oh, I’m fine. It would be one thing if we were on the floor, but this is a nice sofa. And compared to how much gratitude I feel toward you, one night is nothing.”
“If you say so,” Tsukasa replied, accepting Lyrule’s insistence. “But if your legs start cramping, don’t hesitate to wake me.”
“I will. Good night, Tsukasa.”
“Mm… Thank you…” With that, the young man closed his heterochromatic eyes. In no time at all, his breathing grew more regular as he fell into a deep, restful slumber. Surely he must have been dead tired.
“Ah…”
When Lyrule looked at his sleeping face, she noticed something. There were dark circles around his eyes that Tsukasa had been hiding with makeup. He really had been pushing himself to his breaking point. And it had all been for the sake of Elm Village and the rest of the people of this world.
As Lyrule came to understand this, gratitude began welling up within her so intensely that she nearly started to cry. At the same time, it made her heart feel tight.
…I want to become someone he can depend on…
It troubled Lyrule that all she could do for Tsukasa was give him a lap pillow. For now, however, the blond girl was going to do just that until he awoke on his own, even if that didn’t happen until morning.
Someone peeked through the door and looked at Lyrule and Tsukasa.
It was someone who’d come to hand over a list of materials they needed to manufacture guns as well as to suggest that it might be more technically efficient to come up with an entirely mechanical system for mass-producing the ammo and grenades: Ringo Oohoshi.
“ ”
Lyrule was affectionately stroking Tsukasa’s hair as he lay on the girl’s lap. When Ringo saw that, a silent scream quivered in her throat. Ever since an incident back in middle school, she’d had a crush on the young prime minister.
That was precisely why Lyrule’s expression told Ringo everything she needed to know. She could tell that Lyrule held the same feelings for Tsukasa that she did.
The scene playing out beyond the door came as an utter shock to the genius inventor. In fact, it was so bad that she wanted to rush in and put a stop to it. However, Ringo also knew just how exhausted Tsukasa was. She couldn’t bring herself to give in to jealousy and interrupt his gentle slumber.
Instead, Ringo choked back the cry rising in her throat and turned around. Then she left, heading back the way she’d come.
“Mrrrrrgh—” All the while, her cheeks were so puffed up that she looked like a hamster with its mouth stuffed with food.
That moment marked the first crack in the High School Prodigies’ otherwise-harmonious relationships with the people around them. For the rift to form between Lyrule and Ringo, two women so demure that nobody would expect either of them to get into a fight with anyone, was truly a surprise.
This fracture ended up sparking some minor turmoil. However, that wasn’t bound to happen for a while yet.
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