Trails with Cuddle-Cuddle Osbon
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Helen
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Author Note:
A chapter on the battle against the Jaeger King.
Thank you for the typo reports as always.
Chapter 045 – Fufufu, son. It’s The June Field Study③
As the shockwave and dust caused by Loa Valimar crumbled the surrounding land, Rean remained wary.
Switching his ARCUS to communication mode, he created several clones via the Piece of Power and placed them in hiding nearby at the ready, in case of an emergency.
As he was wary, Rutger escaped and Rean was unable to catch him.
Fie’s father had left her behind and disappeared. Upon learning that, Rean was determined to bring Fie to meet Rutger, at all costs.
Amidst the dust, Rutger hadn’t moved from the spot. Was he injured and unable to move? No, if Rean’s impression of him as a powerful figure could to be trusted, then Rutger was probably wary of Rean as well.
I’ll save the clone for tailing, so the option I have…… Dad, tell me when the call connects to Fie.
[“Fufufu, Son. Leave the timing to me. Until then, go wild as much as you can.”]
Roger that.
Choosing in his head which Craft he could use and which he couldn’t, Rean quickly shifted his body.
The moment Rean recognized the bullet had pierced the space that he had previously occupied, Rean drew his tachi to intercept it.
“Hah, to think I got ambushed by the person I was talking to, you sure were raised well, boy!”
“I can’t be reserved against an opponent more powerful than myself, after all……!”
What clashed against Rean’s tachi was a large gunlance as tall as he was.
Combined with Rutger’s physical strength, a single sweep would likely decide the outcome against an ordinary opponent.
But while it was a weapon that was supposed to be wielded with both hands, Rutger was wielding it with one.
If one looked closely, Rutger wasn’t using his left arm at all. Perhaps it was either broken or had a dislocated shoulder.
Either way, the surprise attack seemed to bear results and Rean managed to render one of Rutger’s arms useless.
In addition, by using the power of ogre, Rean’s physical strength had increased to the point where it rivaled that of an one-armed Rutger.
At the same time as Rutger’s eyes widened in shock, Rean threw his opponent away with brute force.
However, not only did his opponent match him, he also skillfully deflected the force.
Rutger started afresh and readied his gunlance, but Loa Valimar, who had connected with Rean via tactical link, began pursuing him.
{“Van-ku-oh.”}
A rain of light fell from its raised arm.
Rutger was unable to resist this attack, which showed no regard for their surrounding environment, and took a move to dodge.
However, he instantly saw through the range of the attack and rushed towards Rean.
But Rean had already expected that.
He raced around with a speed where even Rutger could only see the afterimages, and together with Van-ku-oh, Rean unleashed a barrage of Crimson Slash.
Rutger was under heavy fire, but Rean was unable to land a fatal blow, let alone multiple hits.
This guy is strong, or rather, skillful……!
The reason Rutger wasn’t hit was because he was skillfully using Loa Valimar’s rain of light as shields for Crimson Slash.
The opposite was also true, just when he thought that the Crimson Slash had intercepted the gunlance, the blade full of fighting spirit skillfully intercepted and skillfully changed directions to avoid the rain of light.
There were small scratches.
His skin turned red due to the dripping scarlet drops from the abrasions caused by the unavoidable rays and slashes, but that was all.
Since it didn’t impede Rutger’s movements at all, it couldn’t be considered damage.
It was unbelievable how skillful he was, considering that Rutger was only fighting with one arm.
Rean sensed that in terms of defensive power, Rutger was probably better than Aurelia.
Valimar, shift to close combat!
{“Oh!”}
Judging that this wasn’t going to work, Rean sent Loa Valimar, ready to swing his massive arm once again.
Rutger refused to let that happen and fired bullets from his gunlance like a machine gun. Loa Valimar’s movement stopped, but its body didn’t collapse.
Seeing this, Rean immediately summoned Loa Valimar upon himself, forming ashen armor over himself, and closed in on Rutger despite being hit by a hail of bullets.
As expected, the bullets pelting Rean’s entire body did some damage, and he felt a blunt force like pain, but Rean didn’t care and kept running.
Rutger smiled ferociously at the sight.
As if to say that it was the privilege of the adults to judge passionate and talented young people like him,
“Take this!”
“OOoooooohhhhh!”
Leaving his defense to his ashen armor, Rean ran up to Rutger, his tachi clashing against Rutger’s gunlance.
Their clashes had been evenly matched up until then, but Rean had emerged victorious this time.
Rutger’s eyes widened.
Rean had unlocked the depth of his power of ogre.
His fiery eyes turned black and the pendant concealed inside his clothes began to blink repeatedly.
Unable to bear the demonic force, Rutger let go of his weapon, having concluded that his entire right arm would be rendered useless if he didn’t.
That was a correct move, but it meant that he was left completely unarmed in front of Rean.
Rean didn’t miss this opportunity.
“Termination Slash – Du——”
A powerful strike, encapsulating his power of ogre, approached Rutger —— at that moment, Rean’s right cheek got hit.
“Gah…………”
Rean had no idea what had happened.
However, out of the corner of his eye, Rean saw Rutger pull back his left fist, exuding a black aura, allowing him to realize what was going on.
It wasn’t that Rutger couldn’t use his left arm, it was that he didn’t.
It was probably for this moment.
He was looking for the right timing to make a dramatic turnaround and turn the tide of the battle, in an instant.
Rutger’s left hand was placed on Rean’s right hand, which stopped his movements.
The strong grip caused pain to Rean even through the ashen armor, forcing him to be unable to swing his tachi properly.
Their arms that remained free were Rutger’s right arm and Rean’s left arm.
Rutger, who forced the fight into a barehanded combat, exuded an even stronger darker aura, knowing this was the deciding point.
——However, Rean also thought it was the deciding point.
“Too bad for you、boy——!”
[“—————————Commander?”]
Without counter attacking and defending against Rutger’s attack, Rean took out ARCUS with his free left hand and raised it up.
Hearing his daughter’s voice over the phone, Rutger’s movements became tense for a moment.
During that hesitation, Rean adjusted his posture.
Rutger came at him with his right fist, to hit him right on the forehead like a rapid-fire gun.
Rean’s skin broke and blood spilled from his forehead, but Rean didn’t look away.
He just persisted in delivering Fie’s voice to Rutger.
“Fie, can you hear it? The good-for-nothing dad, who left you, is here.”
At the same time, Rean released the ashen armor and materialized Loa Valimar.
{“Vel-da-doop.”}
A gray ray of light split the night sky.
Hearing Fie’s gasp over ARCUS, Rutger concluded that the attack that was intended to inform Fie where they were.
[“Commander……!”]
Rutger grimaced at the urgency of Fie’s voice.
Meanwhile, Loa Valimar held both Rean and Rutger in his arms.
“Now you can’t escape……”
“Kah~ to think I got tricked by this brat, I guess I let my guard down.”
As Rutger shook his head in exasperation, Rean reached out his free left hand and placed it next to Rutger’s ear.
“What do you mean by this?”
“Don’t you understand why after I did all this?”
“No, no, I know that. What I’m curious about is why you’re willing to go to such lengths for Fie. Are you dating her, by any chance?”
Fie shouted over on the other side of ARCUS.
Rean couldn’t tell what she was saying, but he was sure she was saying that they weren’t in that kind of relationship.
“I just don’t like the idea of a family being torn apart so unilaterally. It’s one thing if both parties are convinced about it, but I don’t think it is right for a father to just leave without saying anything.”
“Did you do all this just for that reason?”
“It’s an important reason to me.”
“I see. I’m relieved to hear that she has formed great relationships with people around her at Thors.”
“She’ll feel more relieved if you call out to her directly…… Are you not going to answer her?”
“This kind of thing should be said personally, after all.”
Thus, Rean told Loa Valimar not to let go of Rutger until she arrived.
Rutger, realizing his intention, gave a wry smile then laughed heartily.
“By the way, what’s your name?”
“My name is Rean, Rean Schwarzer.”
“I see……then Rean, tell this to Fie. You have to earn your own reward.”
“Even if you try to escape at this point——”
“Come, Zector.”
Rutger muttered an unfamiliar name.
As if in response, Rean’s heart groaned in pain.
The moment Rean looked at Rutger again, wondering what was going on, he was at a loss for words.
Behind the restrained Rutger, a Great shadow appeared from the pitch black darkness.
It was a familiar sight of a Divine Knight’s teleportation ability that he had seen many times before.
But that was the end of the familiarity.
Rean saw particles of light spilling out from behind Rutger, who was constricted.
Following his instinct, Rean had Loa Valimar tighten the hold, but the light didn’t stop.
Eventually, Rutger was enveloped in light and was sucked out by a shadow —— he was teleported to a purple knight doll.
“This is……?!”
Released from his restraint, Rean looked up at the knight doll in astonishment.
Rean quickly regained his focus and ordered Loa Valimar to capture the knight doll, but Loa Valimar was instead pierced in the chest by the knight doll’s fist, causing its body to disintegrate.
Although recovering Loa Valimar was possible, the result had shown that Loa Valimar was unable to stop the knight doll in front of him.
“Sorry, but I think things will be bad if I leave you be…… So at least while you’re here, I’ll have you behave.”
“?! Vali——”
“Naïve.”
At the same time that Rean pointed Loa Valimar at the purple knight doll, an impact ran down Rean’s back.
Rean collapsed due to the weight of a human sinking onto his back—— Rutger, who was supposed to be riding on the purple knight doll, had appeared behind Rean without him realizing.
“If you use the boarding motion, it can be utilized as a short-distance teleportation…… It’s a hidden technique for an Awakener, and depending on how you use it, you can do a lot of things.”
“Guahh……”
The gunlance bullet, which had been recovered without Rean realizing it, was fired into Rean’s back.
Rean vomited blood and his body twitched like a fish, but even though he was sweating profusely, he didn’t lose consciousness.
Rutger whistled at Rean’s perseverance, but pointed the gunlance at Rean’s neck.
With just one pull of a trigger, a bullet was fired into Rean’s neck.
But even so, with the combination of the ashen armor, his fully unleashed power of ogre and if Rean moved without caring of consequence, he could still——
“——Commander……!”
At that moment, the long-awaited girl arrived.
Now that he had accomplished his goal, Rean felt relieved that he no longer needed to do anything reckless.
But from Fie’s perspective, despite managing to meet again with her father, the fact that her said father was hurting Rean was confusing her.
“Yo, Fie~ you haven’t grown that much, but it seems your aura has changed by quite a bit? You’re still cute as ever though.”
“It’s yo, Fie, after allー……” 1
“Shut up, Rean!”
Fie furiously yelled, which made Rean fall silent in response.
[“Fufufu, son. It’s your fault for making such an interjection over a confrontation between a father and a daughter.”]
While Rean cowered at the sound of their argument, Fie reached out her hand to Rutger.
“Commander, why are you still alive —— no, why did you leave me behind!”
“Ahー……”
“Rutger-san, you said that rewards are something you have to earn for yourself, right? In that case, I’ll use that right —— Please answer Fie’s question.”
“Rean……”
“Oi, oi, you’re sticking your nose into this?”
“At the very least, what you used earlier is your trump card, right? The moment I made you use it, it’s my win.”
Rean hinted at the purple knight doll with his gaze.
Rutger scratched his head but complied.
“Geez, kids sure are good at sophistry…… oh, well, I’ll take it. Fie, I was the one who told Leo and Zeno to leave you behind after I died.”
“Why……!”
“Since I picked you up, you had no option but to become a jaeger. That’s why I wanted you to leave us and make a decision yourself. What you really want to do, that is.”
“If I can be together with everyone, I’m fine just staying as a jaeger……”
Fie bowed her head, sobbing as tears welled up in her eyes.
Only she could understand the feelings of a girl who had been left behind by the family she thought would be with her forever.
But Rean could sense her deep sadness here.
“I know it’s cruel to make you choose after spending so much time together. It’s just that I can see that you were quite dependent on Zephyr. Even if it was a drastic measure, I wanted you to make a choice after you learn more about the world around you.”
It was simply a form of paternal love.
Although he was aware that jaegers weren’t good people, one could see his consideration in trying to make his daughter into a better person.
“Learn about the world, Fie. And if you still want to come with me after that, I won’t stop you. But if you remain dependent on Zephyr, I can’t afford to accept it. At the very least, get to know yourself and broaden your horizons until you graduate from the academy.”
“I……”
“Well, Thors is a prestigious academy in the Empire, right? I’m sure you’ll be able to learn a lot about society there. Besides, I’m surprised you actually managed to enroll in such an academy, Fie. As expected of my daughter.”
“Commander……”
Unable to bear it any longer, Fie ran to embrace Rutger, but before she could do so, Rutger teleported and entered the purple knight doll.
With the weight gone, Rean quickly stood up, but just as he moved, Fie jumped into his arms and she ended up embracing him.
Rean frantically tried to let go, but Fie seemed to have mistaken Rean for Rutger and just buried her face in his chest and cried.
“Wait, Fie! ……Aah, damn it, she isn’t listening. Rutger-san! What are you thinking, running away from your daughter’s hug!”
“This time, it is you who won the right, not Fie. There’s your reward, a hug from Fie. Enjoy it to the fullest.”
“Don’t use your own daughter as a reward!”
“It’s a reward you won by using Fie as bait, so just consider yourself lucky. Well, I’ll tell Zeon and Leo about it, so prepare yourself the next time you meet them. Of course, if you meet me the next time, too.”
“In that case, come down and fight me directly, I’ll catch you right away! Aah geez, you idiot……! Oi, Fie, look at who you are hugging! Your dad will run away again!”
Rean slapped Fie’s shoulder and shook her forcefully.
Fie finally realized that the person she was embracing was Rean, and with a blush that was noticeable even in the dark, she let go.
“That’s all I can say. Later, Fie. I hope you have your answer the next time we meet.”
“Ah……!”
All Fie could do was reach out her hand.
Rutger, still riding on the purple knight doll, vanished into the North Ambria night.
Even after his figure disappeared, Fie continued to look in that direction for a while.
Eventually, the silence of night returned.
“Err, Rean……”
Perhaps because her emotions had finally calmed down, Fie remembered what had happened earlier and felt embarrassed to face Rean, so she turned away and called out to him.
“Um, I don’t really understand, but I’m sure you found Commander and did your best for me, right? I don’t know why you went to such lengths, but, well, I’m really grate——”
Fie’s words trailed off.
No, it was forcibly interrupted.
It was because she heard the sound of someone collapsing.
When Fie heard the sound and looked over at Rean, she found him lying face down.
No matter how she thought about it, it was clear the sound she heard earlier was from Rean’s collapse.
“Rean?!”
Fie hurriedly held Rean.
She found him unconscious, blood flowing from his mouth and injured from a bullet that had penetrated his clothing on his back.
“Oi, oi, what on earth…… hey, Rean, Fie!”
Toval, who had heard the commotion, rushed over and joined them.
Toval saw at a glance that Rean was injured and approached Rean, who was being held by Fie.
“Toval, Rean is……!”
“This is…… terrible. Fie, do you have any medicine?”
“I-I don’t.”
“Then go back to Sara’s house right away and bring all sorts of things! I’ll use Arts to heal him in the meantime!”
“O-Okay!”
Afterwards, Rean regained consciousness thanks to Toval’s tireless treatment, Fie’s tools, and Celine’s secret help in healing him.
Even though Rean was protected by his ashen armor, he still had bruises all over his body from the bullets and the injury from the bullet that had been fired into his back was also quite heavy.
Although he wasn’t seriously injured thanks to four different types of recovery powers, which was a combination of his power of ogre, Arts, medicine, and magic, Rean was forced to spend his second day of field study in North Ambria recuperating in Sara’s house.
Despite Sara’s lectures, Rean felt no regret about his actions.
It was because he thought that how he managed to make Fie meet her father again was the greatest accomplishment.
Toval belatedly realized that the boy named Rean Schwarzer was someone he shouldn’t take his eyes off for even a moment, and Sara was troubled by the existence of the still-living Jaeger King.
Author Note:
I think Rutger-san is more skillful than strong, and has a high level of ability to achieve his goals.
The origin of the title of Jaeger King was revealed in the game, but personally, I think it has something to do with his high rate of task completion.
While Rutger enjoyed the process and thought of his corps as family, the Northern Jaegers might be better when it comes to the pure act of earning mira… (The latter didn’t care what they had to do for that, after all.)
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