Translator: P411

Editor: Shizukuku

Read at Watashi Wa Sugoi Desu!

Chapter 158 – I Don’t Even Know What to be Surprised About Anymore

Vil-san’s words made Vidello-san’s expression become more and more grim.

The reason ADO was created was because of him? Maybe it was because he had been told such an outrageous thing. He’d been working as a gatekeeper, so he might have at least heard the word ADO. And in addition, he had plenty of opportunities to interact with players.

“I’m getting even more confused. And what happened to the maintenance?”

“So far, there haven’t been any problems, so l left it as it is. A few days ago, there was a disturbance in the wavelength, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there was an abnormal surge in magical energy, but it calmed down as time went on.”

I didn’t know what kind of maintenance he was working on, so I had no idea what he was talking about.

A disturbance in the wavelength caused by a surge in magical energy. He mentioned something like that before I logged in, but what exactly was a wavelength?

As I tilted my head in confusion, Vidello-san made an inquiry. 

“Could it be, my mother spends her days in a room with white walls, surrounded by strange metal things?”

“Ah,” I almost shouted. 

This was about the dream he told me before.

So did that mean the person in the dream whom he thought of as himself… was actually Vil-san? 

Eh, what did it mean? 

As my head tilted, Vil-san raised his hand towards me.

“Can you wait here for a moment? I’m going to turn off the monitor showing this place. It’s dangerous enough that both of us are in an immobile state, so I called someone in. He should be here soon, so I’m going to shut out the information here before he arrives. Otherwise, our conversation might be overheard.”

“Oh, okay.”

While I was replying, Vil-san stopped moving and closed his eyes. As he sat there looking like he was sleeping, I calmed down a bit.

Vidello-san looked at him with a grim face, but when he turned to me, he showed me his bitter smile.

“The tea is getting cold now. After you went to the trouble of brewing it for me.” 

“I’ll brew it again right away. Anything’s fine. What do you prefer? Just let me know what you want.”

“What I want is, perhaps, a kiss from Mac.”

“Huh?!”

I was so surprised by Vidello-san’s unexpected words that I let out a strange voice.

Glancing at Vil-san’s avatar, who was quietly sitting with his eyes closed across from me, I gently held Vidello-san’s hand under the table as he sat next to me.

“But he might still be watching us right now.”

“I kind of knew that when Mac and the others went to sleep, you went back to your own country.¹ I don’t have the right to control what you’re called after you’ve returned and what you do after that, but it’s my ego that I don’t want you, who is also called Kengo, to fall in love with anyone else if you can…” 

Vidello-san, with his downcast eyes, started saying ridiculous things. After all, he seemed to have misunderstood what Vil-san said earlier.

What have you done, Vil-san!? But he didn’t know that we were so in love, so it couldn’t be helped! Yeah, it couldn’t be helped!

“He’s someone who I’ve met a few times before, and he’s my employer for today. The job was just to cook for him. You should already know me well enough to know that I don’t have a crafty personality. I could never love two people at the same time. Please believe me.”

My heart ached as I saw his lonely face watching me, and I put more strength into our holding hands and stood up from the chair. 

I always wanted to give him whatever he desired. I didn’t care if someone saw us.

I leaned over and gave him a kiss.

When I pulled my face away, he looked surprised. He didn’t think I would do it.

“I can never fall in love with anyone other than you. Never.”

“Mac…”

Finally, a small smile returned to his face. Yep. I loved his smile the most.

I was relieved and the moment I was about to let go of his hands to go brew tea, Vil-san opened his eyes.

“Sorry, sorry, it’s safe now. The front door opened immediately after I logged out and finished turning off the monitor. I’ve made sure no one can see this place even if the monitor is turned on again, so let’s have a long talk. I left the job to the other person.”

“Okay.”

I went to make tea. But I wondered if I was allowed to listen to their private stories.

With that in mind, I started working in the kitchen.

When I looked at the time, I knew there was still plenty of time to spare. Come to think of it, I’d left the curry in the kitchen for a while. 

I brewed a pot of tea with a high relaxing effect and presented it to Vidello-san and Vil-san. As I did, both of their expressions softened in the same way.

“Come on, Kengo. Hurry up and sit.”

“Come here, Mac.”

“Oh, I’m allowed to hear it too?”

While taking a seat in a hurry, I felt a little touched. It was like they were telling me that I could get involved.

Vil-san took a sip of the freshly brewed tea and broke into a smile murmuring, “Delicious”.

“Well, let’s continue where we left off. Starting with your question. The person who’s working in a white-walled room, surrounded by machines, is probably—given the circumstances—your mother. She’s also my mother. And you’re my younger brother.”

We were equally shocked by Vil-san’s words.

How could he declare that they’re brothers while Vidello-san was from the ADO world and Vil-san was from the real world? I wondered if there was some kind of proof.

“In truth, Vidello-san isn’t just Vil-san’s younger brother’s avatar or something like that, right…?”

“No, he’s a real living person, born and raised in this world. And I’m just an avatar here, living in the other world, a genuine earthling.”

“I don’t understand a single thing at all.”

When I frankly expressed my thoughts, Vil-san looked amused.

“Well, I suppose you’d feel that way.”

With a chuckle, he took a sip of tea, and his expression softened.

The sounds of the cup being put back on the table seemed rather loud.

“Kengo, did you know about the mass transfer device accident? It’s a story from before you were born.”

Vil-san suddenly changed the topic while looking at me.

If it was about a mass transfer device accident, I thought I’d learned about it in my modern Japanese history class before.

I frantically flipped through the textbook in my mind, recalling the relevant page.

“Erm, about 30 years ago, when the mass transfer device was almost completed, there was a massive explosion, and because of that, the danger of researching transfer devices was called into question, and the research itself was frozen to this day, right?”

I was now a little curious. The teacher had told us that if the mass transfer device had been developed and became widespread, a lot of people would have lost their jobs.

Vil-san seemed satisfied with my answer.

“To be exact, it was 27 years ago. It was less than a year after I was born. Only the explosion and the dangers of the transfer device got major press coverage, but there was more tragedy to that story.” 

A married couple had been at the center of the development of the mass transfer device and carrying out research on it.

The research and development, which hadn’t yet reached the practical stage, made a breakthrough thanks to the wife’s quick wits and ideas. Thanks to that, the device succeeded in transferring materials without any changes to their original forms. The development had actually progressed to the point where, with further adjustments, it would be possible to introduce the device to the public.

However, the husband became jealous at the thought of this breakthrough becoming his wife’s achievement. Then his subordinate in the laboratory at that time started whispering in his ear about taking over his wife’s achievements, and he succumbed to temptation. The husband appealed to his wife for joint ownership, and at first, she agreed, saying it was something they had worked on together. But one day, she found out that her husband had been trying to steal her achievements, even if it meant murdering her, and she lost faith in him after that. 

From then on, the two were at odds with each other in their research, and the laboratory was in a state of internal division.

One day, the couple happened to be alone in the lab, had an argument over a small matter, and in a fit of rage, the husband pushed his wife towards the mass transfer device. The impact was received on the central part of the machine, which unfortunately had its outer metal plate cover removed at that time, causing the mass transfer device to malfunction and subsequently explode.

The explosion resulted in six deaths and one missing person.

“The missing person was ‘Alyssa’, our mother. No matter how much they searched through the rubble, they never found her body. Well, since she is alive, it’s not surprising that she wasn’t there. We don’t know the details of why this happened because my father, who was involved, died in the explosion, and the science of our world isn’t able to prove it. We haven’t even announced to the world that my mother was transferred to this world.² It was an absurd story, so even I didn’t believe it. But, my mother didn’t come to this world as an avatar, but as a real flesh and blood human. That was 27 years ago.”

We were seriously listening to Vil-san’s story.

It’s an unbelievable event, but still.

“At first, my mother was bewildered by this world, where the language, writing, and culture are completely different. She fell in love with a knight who protected her and kindly taught her the language and letters, and then she had you.”

“…You mean, our mother was able to return to her world safely?”

“Of course. And she already knew how to return when you were in her belly. She said the stone statue taught her everything she needed to know. However, at that time, it was a one-way trip from here to there. Back then, when she found out that she already had you in her belly, she gave up on coming back. The stone statue said she would be exposed to strong magical energy, and it was unclear what would happen to the baby. Well, Mother went through a lot in our world, so it wouldn’t have been a surprise if she decided to stay here. As for me, it was painful to be left behind. But I’d like to meet that statue and talk to it for a bit.”

Vil-san looked at Vidello-san. Vidello-san just muttered, “I see.”

Vil-san then turned to look at me, cleared his throat, and continued.

“There’s one more thing the world doesn’t know about the mass transfer device that you were talking about.”

“Oh, that’s not all?”

“Yeah, actually, the research and development has not been frozen. I’m confident enough to say that we’re making more progress than before. After all, I took the initiative and have been leading the research for quite some time now to find out what caused my mother’s disappearance.”