Chapter 207 - Race

Ha? Eh? Street Racing?

What the hell is this idiot saying?

Street racing… He’s drifting further and further away from being a hero.

What’s more, he’s giving off a very refreshing smile.

It’s annoying. Insanely annoying.

It’s a face I might unintentionally punch with all my might.

I don’t really want to involve myself with this anymore.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

I lift up my shield…

Naofumi: 「Portal-」

Melty: “Wait, wait! You’re leaving!?”

Naofumi: “After seeing that, what other option do you want me to pick?”

If there’s an option B or C, please tell me.

Melty: “If you leave, what will happen to Firo-chan?”

Naofumi: “Hm… I’ll give up on her.”

Melty: “Say what!?”

If I leave her be, Motoyasu will definitely do something. I’ve decided to believe in the man.

Though that’s only for my own convenience.

Firo: “No!”

Firo is resisting quite hard.

Rishia: “Fuee… What is that guy doing, the Hero of the Spear!?”

Naofumi: “Ah, that person’s been like that for quite a while.”

Rishia: “What did you do!?”

Naofumi: “This person’s sister broke him, and then Firo destroyed all remaining parts of his personality.”

Melty: “Sister…!”

Rishia: “The Sword person also turned strange due to the former princess, right? Are you not going to save him?”

Naofumi: “The individual is satisfied with his current situation.”

Rishia: “Ah, and who is this ‘Father in Law’?”

Naofumi: “It seems to refer to me.”

Melty: “And Why!?”

Explaining sounds like a pain. I want to run away as soon as possible.

The one who isn’t here when Firo was in a pinch was that man… Is it because he was raising Filo Rials?

He really does unnecessary things.

I was worried because I hadn’t seen him for a while, but he was raising children.

He couldn’t get Firo’s attention, so he raised other Filo Rials to console him!

Firo: “Firo wants to return home…”

Naofumi: “Yeah… I also want to return.”

Firo doesn’t like being around Motoyasu.

But I need to put her somewhere while she’s in heat.

Naofumi: “Um… Motoyasu, what exactly are you doing?”

Motoyasu: “Street Racing.”

Naofumi: “That doesn’t answer anything!”

This is no good. Too many things aren’t adding up.

The Curse Series… I want to believe that that is the cause.

Naofumi: “…Why are you operating a place for street racing?”

Motoyasu: “These kids said they wanted to, so I let them do as they pleased.”

Naofumi: “Ah, I see. Aren’t you giving them a little too much freedom?”

Filo Rials love carts, and like hermit crabs, occasionally steal them from each other… and he let them act freely.

I don’t understand.

I never was able to understand all of Motoyasu’s actions, but in the time I haven’t seen him, he’s turned even more unpredictable.

I should have noticed when Filo Rials came up.

I was deceived by being told tales of Fitoria and Bandits.

But let’s see here, Ren was a thief, and Motayasu became a Bandit… Is Itsuki aiming to become the Pirate King?

Melty: “Hey, why are you Father in Law!?”

Naofumi: “Perhaps because I’m the one who raised Firo.”

Motoyasu seems to think owner = parent.

Firo may be my subordinate, but she’s definitely not my child.

Even if I was her father, isn’t this guy older than me?

Why is he calling someone younger than him ‘Father in Law’?

Motoyasu: “See, Firo-tan. It’s our children.”

Naofumi: “Is that true!?”

So while in heat, she already did it with Motoyasu.

But she still wanted to do it with me? What a bitch.

What a troublesome person. I placed quite a bit of trust on her… I hate bitches, you know.

If it’s true, she better be prepared for quite a bit of punishment.

Firo: “No! He’s wrong, Master! Firo never did anything like that!”

Melty: “There’s no way Firo-chan would do such a thing! Please stop lying!”

Motoyasu: “By the way, there are quite a few pigs around you, Father in Law.”

Melty: “Listen to me! And what do you mean by pig!?”

Rishia: “P-pig!?”

Naofumi: “Pig? What do you mean by that, anyways?”

Motoyasu: “I mean exactly as I say. Aren’t there a lot of pigs around you?”

… um, well… Motoyasu did call some women pigs before at the inn we stayed at.

He also called Raphtalia Tanuki-pig.

Could it be…

Naofumi: “Oy, when you look at this, what do you see?”

I point at Melty.

Motoyasu: “A blue piglet. It’s saying oink over and over again. I find it annoying. It’s gross…”

Melty: “What was that!? When you say pig, are you referring to me!? Cut the Crap!”

Naofumi: “Give it up. It’s your sister’s fault.”

Melty: “Idiot Sister!”

Well, I guess I can understand Melty’s rage at being called a pig.

But this seems to really be the case.

After being swallowed by the curse series, Motoyasu can only see women as pigs.

He’s not reacting to Melty’s words, so he can’t even hear them.

But… He doesn’t seem to hold any ill intentions.

Naofumi: “So are those Filo Rial really your and Firo’s children?”

Motoyasu: “Nope.”

… He answered very honestly… He probably bought them.

Don’t make up stuff to send us into panic.

Now that I think about it, when I went to the Slave Dealer’s place to drop off money, something was strange.

He didn’t look me in the eye.

Was this the cause?

Motoyasu: “Now then, Father in Law. I challenge you.”

Naofumi: “Why!?”

Motoyasu: “We’ll set the torch up by the cliff as a goal point. The first person to reach it will be able to select and keep one of their opponent’s angels. Does that sound alright?”

Naofumi: “Don’t go deciding things on your own!”

Filo Rial: “Mo-kun, is it time yet?”

Motoyasu: “Almost, dear.”

Who the hell is Mo-kun!?

Those three Filo Rials are Red, Blue Green. It reminds me of old racing games.

To complete the set, they would need a Yellow, but… Ah, I guess Human form Firo is blond.

Those three each seem to have distinct personalities…

But I don’t really want to check.

Motoyasu: “Now then, let’s start the race!”

Naofumi: “O-oy! Listen to me!”

Before I can stop him, Motoyasu disappears down the path he came from.

The sight of the Three Filo Rials running in little girl form…

In my world, this scene would have gotten him arrested immediately.

Melty: “W-what will you do?”

Naofumi: “… Let’s ignore them and go home.”

Melty: “Won’t that become our loss?”

Naofumi: “Probably, but I don’t really care.”

Damn you Fitoria. Next time, I’ll just have Rat shove Firo in a test tube.

It may be dangerous, but we’ll fill her with sedatives until her mating season ends.

The scenes in my imagination shift to SF. This sounds like Cold Sleep.

She probably won’t die, she’ll wake up before that.

Firo: “Hm? What do you mean?”

Melty: “Well, Firo-chan. If you lose to the Spear Hero, you will belong to the Spear Hero.”

Atlas: “That’s right Firo-chan. Thank you for the time we shared ‘til now. I’ll take up your role of sleeping next to Naofumi-sama.”

Firo: “Eh!?”

It’s a bit late, but Firo finally realizes she’s been made into a competition prize.

Firo: “No!”

Naofumi: “Uwa-”

Firo starts running off at a remarkable pace.

Rishia: “FUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

I agree with Rishia’s shout.

With the difference in start times, we’re already losing by quite a margin.

What is the course like?

I bet it’s advantageous to Motoyasu. That man’s been using this mountain as his territory, right?

Let’s see. I take out a map.

With all the shaking, it’s hard to read.

I look through the map, but… There are so many winding paths I have no idea which way to go.

There are plenty of paths that go alongside cliffs.

… It seems Firo’s motivated, so I guess I should support her.

He never said magic was banned.

Naofumi: 「Zveit Aura!」

With this, her speed should rise.

Naofumi: “Firo, use the inertia of the carriage to maintain speed as we round that curve.”

Firo: “Okay!”

As I propose that, the bird begins a drift with the carriage.

What sort of turning method is this? I’m worried that the wheels will break.

But Motoyasu is doing the same. In a cliff ahead of us, I see Motoyasu far ahead, rounding a corner through drifting.

Firo’s base speed is higher, but Motoyasu’s familiarity with the course, and his early start make it hard to catch up.

Naofumi: “Right! Left! In that fork, the left path is shorter!”

It’s hard to drive while looking at a map.

Also, our carriage is made of metal, and has quite a few passengers.

If we want greater speed, it’s probably best to leave then.

Naofumi: “Hey Firo.”

Firo: “What~?”

Inside the shaking carriage, everyone is frantically holding on to the sides to prevent themselves from falling out.

Naofumi: “Can you leave the carriage and chase them?”

Firo: “I can’t!”

Naofumi: “Why?”

Firo: “This is Firo’s battle, right? Then Firo can’t leave the carriage.”

Naofumi: “I see…”

Is it something carved into her Filo Rial instincts?

… Now that I think about it, if I purposely lose then Firo will become Motoyasu’s… but he seems to have sworn loyalty to me, so we can make that in name only, and he can deal with Firo’s mating season without me.

I don’t need to know how he’ll deal with it.

After we’ve saved the world, in the sunset, he’ll meet with Firo and once again…

Firo: “Master is thinking something strange!”

Melty: “Naofumi, please quit it with that face you make whenever you think something rude!”

Ah, they saw through me.

Well, even if we lose, we won’t lose that much.

Naofumi: “No matter how dirty Firo gets, as long as she works hard, I’ll never abandon her.”

Firo: “Bu-! Firo’s not dirty!”

Firo’s speed rose.

Does she know what that means? She must be mad because she does.

Should I make a mistake as the navigator now?

No, I’ll need to have a reason she can accept.

Naofumi: “Firo, go left there. It should be faster.”

By the way, that way has a bridge suspended by ropes, apparently.

It will be difficult with a carriage.

Melty: “W-wait, Naofumi! We’re heading for a rope bridge!”

Naofumi: “Yeah.”

If we fall, I’ll use Portal Shield and warp us out.

Snap. Snap. We hear the sound of ropes snapping around us as we cross.

Melty: “KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Melty’s screaming voice Is quite annoying.

Rishia: “FUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

Rishia’s scream is also quite comparable.

Atlas nervously looks between the two screaming people, and grabs my shirt sleeve.

Atlas: “I-it’ll be fine, right Naofumi-sama?”

Naofumi: “Yeah.”

Atlas: “I-I see, What happened to those two?”

Naofumi: “They’re shouting to distract themselves from an unescapable reality.”

As if she heard me, Melty starts shaking my body back and forth as she screams.

Firo: “Mu!”

With a final snap, the bridge splits in two.

Now then, to escape.

I prepare to use Portal Shield, but then…

Firo faces the carriage, dis-attaches herself from it, and grabs the rope of the broken bridge. As the Carriage passes over her, she delivers an amazing kick to it, sending it all the way to the other side.