Yari no Yuusha no Yarinaoshi (LN) - Volume 2 - Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven: A Guarantee of Safety 

I groaned. When I opened my eyes, I saw a group of men wearing robes and staring at me in amazement. 
“What’s all this?” 
“Huh?” 
How many times had I seen this before? Father, Ren, and Itsuki started to have the same conversation that they did every time. So while they talked, I figured I’d sort out the situation. That’s what Father asked me to do, after all. 
First and foremost, I knew that Melromarc was going to try to destroy any relationship between the four holy heroes—the four of us summoned here. I knew that they wanted to get rid of Father, so they planned to send a false accusation his way before the four of us grew close enough to believe him. The first time that the time loop reset, I had kept that in mind, so I trusted Father and rescued him from the accusation. 
I sent Father off to Siltvelt because I figured it would be safer there. But Melromarc forces were lying in wait at a fortress at the Siltvelt-Melromarc border, and they killed Father with ceremonial magic. 
In the next go-around, I made a fuss about the false accusation Melromarc was planning for Father in our first meeting with Trash and the crimson swine, before they were able to execute it. Having ruined his devious plot, Trash wanted to have us eliminated as soon as possible. Thanks to Éclair’s help, we were able to stop his scheme and we fled to Siltvelt as wanted criminals. 
After that, we arrived safely in Siltvelt. But Takt had been cooperating with the crimson swine, and the crimson swine started a new war in order to get revenge on us. Smoked Human ended up killing Itsuki, and the time loop reset for a third time. 
Those were pretty much the main points I remembered from everything up until now. 
All that being the case, what would be the best course of action? 
What did Father tell me before? Something about using my knowledge of future events to decide what to do? 
I had to do as Father said. I thought extremely hard about it. 

 

“Hey,” Father said and tapped me on the elbow. 
“What is it?” 
“Are you going to introduce yourself or what?” 
While I had been lost in thought, it appeared that everyone had already started introductions. 
“It is I, Motoyasu Kitamura!” I proclaimed. 
While it would probably be fine to explain some of the truth of the situation to everyone, I had to be careful to not be nearly as dramatic as last time. Unfortunately, I doubted my own ability to stay calm, so I decided to remain silent altogether. 
“So Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki, is it?” Trash said. 
“My lord, and me as well,” said Father. 
“Ah, yes,” Trash added. “Naofumi.” 
If I let this play out, I would have a chance to talk to Father and the other heroes eventually. In the meantime, Ren explained status magic, to Father’s shock. 
If I could just stay quiet for now, I would be able to find the perfect time to rescue Father, I say. If I tried to argue with everyone about future events like I did before, Ren and Itsuki wouldn’t believe Father about the false accusation. The events of the previous go-around had proved that. 
But if not now, when would they believe me? 
Trash and the crimson swine’s past interference prevented me from knowing the first thing about what happened to Father during these first few days. I didn’t even know where he would be staying. 
I didn’t have enough information. Even if I kept in mind what Father had told me last time, there was still a strong possibility that the time loop would end up resetting yet again. 
So in order to gather some information, I figured it would be best to figure out where Father was staying, for one, but also what Ren and Itsuki were up to on the first day of the time loop. The first day or two had an outsized influence on the course of events, I say. 
I returned to the core problem at hand—namely, when exactly would Father believe everything I had to tell him? 
The answer, of course, is when Father is falsely accused but no one else believes his side of the story. 
The mere notion of allowing Father to be falsely accused almost caused me to immediately vomit all over the place, but in order to gain Father’s trust and use my knowledge of future events . . . this was the best and only way! 
The only problem was that it hadn’t happened yet. So even if I let things play out and Father believed me, what would we do after that? 
I, Motoyasu Kitamura, would do all that I could to prevent needless war! 
There were plenty of options. There was Zeltoble, the mercenary country that Ren fled to in the last go-around. Zeltoble was full of secrets—the ideal country for a fugitive. I could also visit the Coliseum and make plenty of money there. 
But would hiding away in Zeltoble actually solve any of the problems at hand? 
Of course, Melromarc wouldn’t just sit and watch us escape to Zeltoble. Since we couldn’t take a portal there, Trash and the crimson swine would undoubtedly cause us all sorts of trouble. 
We could take the portal halfway to Siltvelt and move from there. But there was still the strong possibility that Melromarc would eventually declare war on Zeltoble. 
On the other hand, even if they knew that Father was in Zeltoble, it could take Melromarc some time to act. 
But on the other other hand, Zeltoble might offer up Father as a sacrifice to Melromarc in order to avoid war. 
But at the same time, it was also valid to wonder if Melromarc would really declare war on a country of mercenaries and traders like Zeltoble. 
Father told me to avoid war at all costs, after all. 
I couldn’t forget about Takt either. He might take action. 
However, I knew from the events up until now that it was unlikely that Takt would come directly to us. 
There was no doubt that I needed to eliminate him as soon as possible. 
Nevertheless, I had to be careful with the timing there. Not only could killing him cause a new war, but we’d also have to worry about his hordes of remnants. 
I was starting to get the feeling that Father’s advice about using my knowledge of the future to our advantage was not actually very useful. 
Don’t get me wrong—Father’s words are absolute! I would never think that Father was wrong about something. 
The ultimate conclusion was therefore . . . 
That we would not go to Zeltoble. 
The next candidate for analysis was Faubrey. There was always the chance that we’d have to deal with Takt, but since Faubrey is such a large country, we likely wouldn’t have to worry about an invasion from Melromarc. 
I remembered that back when I was chasing around pigs, the Church of the Four Heroes from Faubrey also played a role in proving Father’s innocence, in addition to the queen of Melromarc. 
But in the case of Faubrey, my knowledge of future events didn’t come in handy either. In the best-case scenario, we could take care of Takt quickly, but what would the ripple effects of killing him be? 
I willed my brain to think even harder! 
Father asked me to avoid war. When had there not been a war? 
When I reflected on past events, I seemed to recall that whenever the queen of Melromarc showed up, she always stopped whatever Trash and the crimson swine had been scheming. 
Which means that she can guarantee Father’s safety, I say! 
For the time being, I could expect the Church of the Three Heroes to take immediate action against Father. 
I remembered that in the first go-around, after we defeated Takt after the Phoenix battle, it had pretty much been the end of full-scale wars. 
Yes, that was it, I say—fleeing to another country wasn’t our best option. And although it would be a bit dangerous, it was in fact the ideal strategy to stay in Melromarc to make our move! 
In the first go-around, Father focused on earning money and prepared for the waves of destruction. After that, everything started to go south, but up until then, he had been relatively safe. 
This was my best bet! 
If I could guarantee Father’s physical safety in the interim, things just might work out. We’d act as peddlers, moving quickly from place to place so that the Church of the Three Heroes wouldn’t know our exact whereabouts. 
There was just one problem with that plan. 
Namely, what about my own objective? Last time I hadn’t been able to find Filo-tan, even though I bought every last filolial from the monster trainer, I say! 
How was that even possible? 
I pushed my brain to think even harder, but it was already running at max capacity. 
What if Father hadn’t bought Filo-tan from a monster trainer, and someone else had ended up buying Filo-tan before I did? It would be far too difficult to gather up enough money to buy all of the filolials from the monster trainer in time. 
“I’ll make arrangements to find companions for you,” Trash was saying. “The day is almost over, heroes. Please take your time and rest, and we’ll set out tomorrow. In the meantime, I’ll find top-notch talent to assist you.” 
“Thank you very much,” Father said. Father, Ren, and Itsuki bowed. We were to be taken to relax in a guest room together. 
Of course. They had only decided to separate us to launch their trap because I had accused them of betraying Father in the throne room. 
I suddenly remembered Éclair. What should I do about her? I figured I should probably rescue her from the castle prison, right? 
But if we rescued her, we’d just be inviting suspicion from Melromarc. In the previous go-around, it was also because we rescued Éclair that we had decided to flee for safety’s sake to another country. And that’s how there ended up being a war. 
I decided to not rescue Éclair. 
I also remembered that in the first go-around, one way or another, big sis ended up with Father. Where had she come from, anyway? 
“Hey, this is just like a game, don’t you think?” Ren was saying, 
“It does seem like a game, but it’s not quite—” Father began. 
“This world is from a console game,” Itsuki said. 
“No, it’s a VRMMO.” 
“Huh? VRMMO as in virtual reality MMO? That sounds like something out of the future.” 
“Huh!? What are you talking about!?” 
“Wait a second!” I called out to stop them from arguing. 
“What’s your problem, Motoyasu? Asides from introducing yourself, you haven’t said a word.” 
Father was already talking to me so intimately, I say! Last time, I always sensed a bit of hesitation when he called my name, but now he was talking to me with his guard completely down! 
When I saw a glint of suspicion in Father’s eyes, waves of nostalgia swelled in my heart, I say. 
Based on previous experience, they wouldn’t believe me if I told them the whole truth now. Which meant that even Father wouldn’t believe me—yet. 
“Ren, Itsuki,” I said. “And Father. I want you to listen to me carefully.” 
“What’s up?” 

“You just called me Father as if that was really my name,” Father said with a bemused expression. “Is that some sort of weird joke?” 
It was a totally different reaction from the previous and first go-arounds. This was Father’s naked, unadorned character, I say! 
It looked like he was the kind of guy who got swept up in the excitement! 
“Yes, Father, you are in fact Father,” I informed him. “This is no joke. To I, Motoyasu Kitamura, you are Father!” 
“Uh . . .” 
I let Father’s confused expression stand for a quick moment and then began to explain. 
“All of us came from different worlds,” I said. “We’re all from Japan, but they’re completely different. You should all do your best to remember that.” 
“Huh? Really?” 
“First of all, Ren is coming from a Japan that has VRMMO. And Itsuki was summoned from a Japan where people have psychic abilities.” 
“What?” 
Father was squinting at me like he didn’t believe me. Well, in this case there was nothing I could do about it. If you weren’t from a world that has VRMMO and psychic abilities, of course you wouldn’t believe that they were real. But I knew from past experience that Ren and Itsuki would back me up here. 
“But why would someone from a science-fiction Japan with VRMMOs come to yet another fantasy world? Sounds like a bunch of nonsense—” 
“Why are you stating the obvious?” Ren said. “Everyone knows that there are VRMMOs.” 
“What!?” 
“Huh!?” 
Father’s and Itsuki’s voices cracked when they yelped in surprise. Ren and I exchanged glances. 
“We definitely don’t have those!” Father shouted. 
“Yeah, there’s no such thing,” Itsuki agreed. 
“Okay then. So what about psychic abilities, Itsuki?” Father asked. 
“Is that supposed to mean supernatural powers? Of course there are people with those.” 
“No there aren’t!” 
“No way!” 
We were repeating the exact same conversation about the differences between our worlds all over again. 
It seemed like they had finally calmed down a bit, and they turned back to me to ask more. 
“Motoyasu, how do you know about all this?” 
“The truth is that this world is caught in a time loop,” I informed them. 
“A time loop?” Father asked. “You mean the same span of time just repeats over and over again? So are you originally from this world, then?” 
“No, I’m from Japan as well. I was stabbed by a pig in my world and died before being summoned here, I say.” 
“A pig? So you’re from a version of Japan that has intelligent pigs . . .” Father shook his head in amazement. 
Father wasn’t wrong, but he wasn’t right either. 
“Father, are you asking me if the world I come from is like a gal game?” 
“So that’s what your world is like?” 
“Unfortunately, since it’s my own world, I have no idea what’s different about it,” I told him. 
Father had an amused expression on his face, I say. I, Motoyasu Kitamura, was beginning to have a bit of fun myself! 
I continued. “And Ren and Itsuki make the mistake of thinking that this world is that of a game that they know, I say.” 
“Really?” Itsuki asked. “I mean, this is a lot like a world from a game that I know. That’s what I thought, at least, when Ren was explaining about status magic.” 
“Yeah,” Ren said, “this world is the one from Brave Star Online.” 
“Thinking that is a critical error!” I declared. “The power-up method that you two are familiar with will eventually reach its limit.” 
“Which means what?” 
“There is some overlap with power-up methods that you two know about,” I explained. 
“Really?” 
“I guess we’ll see.” 
At this rate, it was evident that it would be difficult to get them to believe anything I told them. 
Getting Ren and Itsuki to trust me was the current biggest problem at hand. Even though I had proven to them my knowledge of their worlds, it seemed like they were just getting even more confident in their limited understandings. Father was the only one listening seriously. 
“Based on the game that they know, they call the hero wielding the shield a loser, but, Father, you shouldn’t listen to them, I say!” 
Ren and Itsuki were staring at me with cold eyes. They were completely blowing me off! 
“The hero wielding the shield is a loser?” Father said. 
“That is exactly what you shouldn’t believe!” I proclaimed. 
“Hmm . . .” Father fell into thought. “So there are different kinds of power-ups. And? Why do you keep calling me Father?” 
“Because you are Father, Father,” I declared. 
“That doesn’t make any sense.” Father raised an eyebrow and began to watch me unpleasantly. Did I say something rude? 
Meanwhile, Ren and Itsuki raised their shoulders and glanced at one another. I was quickly losing control of the situation. 
Well, Ren and Itsuki hadn’t believed me or Father in the past no matter what we said, so I figured it was out of my control at this point. 
“Father, in a previous time loop, you became the father of the object of my devotion, which is why I refer to you as Father.” 
“Really? But even if that’s true, then you’re saying we continued fighting in this world so long that I eventually have a daughter. Does the loop last for ten years?” 
Why was Father’s intuition so off this time around, I say? My explanation must not have been very good. 
“That’s not the case,” I said. “Your daughter, Filo-tan . . . She will be born in about one month, if I’m not mistaken.” 
Father burst into laughter. 
What in the world was happening? 
But soon Father calmed down. “Well, I suppose that if this is another world, a lot of things could be different.” There was the Father I know! Unparalleled deduction capabilities! “So if that’s the case, what kind of person is my wife?” 
“After going through many painful experiences with women, you eventually develop a hatred of the female kind,” I explained. “That’s when you try to sleep with a man.” 
“What!? You’re telling me that men can give birth in this world?” 
It seemed like quite a leap of logic to me, but I greatly admired Father’s imagination. 
Father’s tone abruptly changed. “Sorry, but nothing you’re saying seems to have much credibility, Kitamura,” Father said. 
Now he was speaking so coldly to me! After he had been so warm and open . . . I had been demoted several positions in Father’s heart, I say! 
Ultimately, this meant that I wouldn’t be able to talk to him about the false accusation, I supposed. 
“No, please listen!” I declared. “You obtained a filolial egg—” 
“Heroes, dinner is ready!” called a voice. 
That was bad timing. But it was my fault for handling the situation so poorly. 
Oh well. I’d try to speak to him the next chance I got. 
“After dinner, I’ll tell you all about the power-up methods,” I told Father. 
“No, don’t worry about it,” Father said. “I think I’ve heard enough.” 
Father rejected me so politely, I say. 
I didn’t understand it at all. What had I done wrong? 
As various discussions happened around the dinner table, I passed the meal in intense contemplation. I recalled the dinner from the first go-around. My heart had been racing with excitement, I say. 
It’s not that I had gotten entirely used to it, but I had accepted the fact that this world was different from the Japan that I grew up in. 
After dinner, it was time to go to bed. I thought about following my nightly custom of visiting the filolials in the castle. After I confirmed that Father and the others were fast asleep, I hopped out of bed and went walking through the castle. 
Should I get my hands on some money and buy filolials from the monster trainer? 
Hmm . . . rather than buying from the monster trainer, maybe it would be cheaper to visit a filolial breeder instead. In order to help protect Father, I had to make sure I spent my money wisely. 
But finding Filo-tan was all or nothing. I was vexed beyond words, I say! 
Just as I was walking out of the castle to go to the garden, I heard a voice. 
“What time do you think we can meet the heroes tomorrow?” 
I followed the sound of voices and noticed that they were coming from a guest room in the castle. When I peered inside, I saw a group of soldiers who, if I remembered correctly, were the group that would eventually become Ren’s companions. So Trash was in the middle of gathering together companions for the heroes. 
Well, it wasn’t worth paying any mind to, I decided and continued making my way to the filolial stables. It was my favorite place, after all. 
“Hey, this bed is hard! Get me a better bed!” 
Wait a second! 
That was the voice of the guy who killed Itsuki in the previous go-around! Smoked Human was giving orders all high and mighty about something or other, I say. 
I decided to investigate further.