Translator: P411

Editor: Lilia

Read at Watashi Wa Sugoi Desu!

Chapter 159 – A New Determination

Somehow, the scale of each word Vil-san said was too much for my brain to understand.

To sum it up…

Maybe, the future that we’d nearly given up on… we no longer had to give up on that anymore…?¹

I clenched my fists tightly on my knees. 

I wondered if this was the fate Regalo-san was referring to. I’ll believe in this fate.

“Well, we haven’t developed the device to a practical stage yet. But because we succeeded in transferring souls by intertwining the transfer device with magic and magic techniques from here, players were able to come here through the game units called gears. We couldn’t have sold ADO to the public with our scientific power alone, but it would be difficult for both of you to understand if I tried explaining it more. Anyway, the potential granted by magic here is amazing. Our science was overshadowed by magic.” 

“…Mother was always fiddling with magic tools. Sometimes, she would create completely new magic tools and astonish those around her, but perhaps she already had the scientific knowledge, so she was able to accomplish that?”

“My mother is an engineer at heart. I think she combined the scientific skills and knowledge she learned over there with the magical knowledge she acquired from here.”

The mother of these two is so cool.

She was thrown here on her own, unable to speak the language and not knowing a single person here, and was still able to accomplish something like this.

It’s like… like that person.

“Come to think of it, there was a lady who was able to fix a broken gear in an instant at the Game Festa, could she be…?”

When I mentioned her, Vil-san smiled.

“The one wearing a pantsuit? Then, she was definitely my mother. Did she say anything?”

“She mistook me for a middle school student, and as an apology, she gave me that photoshoot ticket…”

Vil-san’s shoulders shook upon hearing my words. I pretended I didn’t see this, and just recalled the words she said to me. 

“She said she liked the castle town of Sei the best. She said it’s a lovely town to live in.”

“Mac, you met with my mother…?”

The words Vidello-san blurted out sounded lonely somehow.

I see. He only dreamed about her, so there was no way for him to know if she was really safe or not.

If that cool lady was really Vidello-san’s mother, I would tell him everything I knew about her.

“If that person was Vidello-san’s mother, then yes, I met her. She was very cool and also a beauty. And, she’s healthy. She was really happy when she mentioned how much she liked Sei. Maybe you lived in Sei with your parents before?”

“Ah… yeah, I lived in Sei. I see, my mother… she’s doing well. Thank goodness.”

Vidello-san’s expression relaxed as if he was relieved. The smile he finally showed me made me happy too.

While I was reassured by Vidello-san’s condition, Vil-san, who had been staring into the air until now, shouted, “Ohh!”

“There’s an interesting skill.”

Vil-san was apparently looking around the status screen.

He tapped his fingers in the air.

“I’ve always been a little more perceptive than the others since I was a kid, so this makes sense. There’s an [ Insight ] skill in the initial skill column.” 

“[ Insight ]…isn’t that a high-rank skill? Are you sure you didn’t add it when you set up the avatar?”

“No, I didn’t temper with anything else other than the initial appearance location. So the skills that appear from the beginning are, to a certain extent, manifestations of your traits from the other side of the world. Kengo, what do you have as your initial skill? “

“Well, [ Cooking ] was my initial skill.”

“That’s why you can cook well. Ah, come to think of it, if I don’t eat the curry you made soon, the other guy will end up eating everything.”

Vil-san sipped the cold tea and looked around the room.

“Kengo, can I borrow that bed in the back for a little while? I’ll check the outside situation and have curry. Do you still have time?”

“You no longer need to monitor me?”

“That depends on the skills of the guy outside.”

Vil-san stood up and walked around the table to stand beside Vidello-san, who remained seated.

Vil-san stared at Vidello-san for a while and then held out his hand.

“It’s completely out of order, but I’m Vilfred. I’m your older brother. If you don’t mind, could you tell me your name?”

Vidello-san looked at his offered hand, then looked at Vil-san’s face again and slowly grasped his hand.

“I’m Vidello. I don’t feel that you’re my older brother at all… but from what you’ve told me, I believe that you have my mother’s blood in you.”

“I’m glad that you understood. Ah, I got a notification! So that’s how you receive it. I now have your name on my list. This makes me sad to have to erase this avatar.”

Vil-san smiled while still holding his hand.

Is it possible to erase an avatar? That made sense, though. If avatars belonging to people who stopped logging in were lying around everywhere, it would be a nuisance to the people here in this world.

Who pays the fees, then, if someone logged out in an inn and never logged back in? I was a little curious.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“If it’s something I can answer.”

“Mac, you don’t have this appearance in that world?”

Vil-san giggled at Vidello-san’s question. Then, he answered, “He looks mostly similar but different in one critical aspect.”

“Kengo. Could you please stand for a bit?”

“Oh, okay.”

I stood up as I was told and Vil-san brought his hand around his nose.

“Now, Kengo’s head is here, but in our world, the top of his head only goes up to here.”

Then, he moved his hand to his chin.

What the-?! He exposed my most sensitive topic to Vidello-san!?

H-How could he do this…!

While I was trembling with anger, Vidello-san broke into a smile.

“That’s… precious.”

It’s the expression I loved the most, so my anger calmed down instantly.

If I can make him look like this, I guess I don’t mind being… fun-sized. I must be a calculating person.

“I’d love to see that side of you one day, Mac.”

“Well, just you wait and see. I’ll create that future together with my mother.”

Vidello-san firmly held our connected hands. Vil-san showed a slightly bitter smile.

After that, Vil-san went to the bed and covered himself with a blanket before he logged out.

Finally, after all this chaos, we reached a conclusion.

Looking at Vil-san’s avatar’s sleeping face, I exhaled in relief at the silence that had finally arrived.

Then, I felt a gentle touch on my hand and shifted my gaze in that direction.

Vidello-san’s big hand was holding mine.

I felt warmth through his touch. When I got closer to him, I could feel his heartbeat strongly.

I had enjoyed and confirmed again and again that this warmth I felt was real, but now that I had a tiny hope that the future I had to give up on before might have a chance of coming true, this warmth felt lovelier than ever. 

I’m sure Vidello-san had also given up. I’m a foreigner, so I can’t stay here forever. We both were forced to abandon our hopes for a future together, but we still loved each other.

“Maybe, there’s a possibility that we will be together forever… just maybe.”

Vidello-san looked up at me sitting on a chair and gently pulled away his hand.

He pulled me into an embrace and I also clung to him. I put my arms around his neck and kissed him, and he responded to my affection with a peck. 

---

After sharing a lot of kisses, Vidello-san repeatedly warned me to sleep in the room in the back with a lock today. After a final quick glance at Vil-san, he went back to his post. Somehow, it’s a little strange that he regarded Vil-san as his rival rather than his brother. That’s because Vil-san said those strange things first.

While laughing, I obediently went into the room as he insisted, securely locked the door, and logged out.

When I got up, Vil-san and another person were standing side by side, wearing gears, and working on something.

“Welcome back, Kengo. I’m glad you got back safely.”

“Ah, yes, I’m back.”

It was a somewhat intimate greeting, but the one who would be most worried about such a thing wasn’t here.

“He’s a helper here so don’t mind him. And, please prepare two portions of curry. For drinks… anything except alcohol.”

“I’ve been tormented with a nice smell since a while ago, so it’s been so hard to focus on collecting data. Sorry, but could you prepare some for me too? We’re still in the middle of something good.”

“That’s fine but… what’s ‘something good’?”

Their fingers were flying over the keys, so it must be some kind of work.

…Vil-san mentioned ‘something good’ before, but it might really just be about his work.

I put my gear on an empty table and headed to the kitchen.

I heated the curry that had gone cold and took the plates out. When I opened the fridge to check for drinks, there was only alcohol. Oh well, I would just prepare the tea I’d bought for my home. 

I poured the warm curry over the rice, and together with the tea, I put the food on the low table that seemed to be for serving guests and called them over.

To be honest, I was afraid to put the food on a table with machines on it.

Even though I had made a lot, the curry completely disappeared into the stomachs of the two big men.

Or rather, it was just a little strange to see Vil-san’s look of despair when the helper ate a huge portion of food.

But I couldn’t just stop someone who was enjoying the food with a big smile saying, “So so delicious.”

I had a lot I wanted to ask Vil-san, but there was no good opportunity to ask him as he went into work mode right after eating. I declined the offer to send me home and left alone with my part-time money in hand.

After cooking dinner for my dad, I went back to my room and logged in with my gear again.

I unlocked the room and went to the workshop, where Vil-san’s avatar was still sleeping.

I guessed he was quite busy.

While recalling Vil-san in work mode, I quickly left my workshop.

Even if I went outside, the bird didn’t fly to follow me, so it seemed the monitoring was over.

Walking through the streets enveloped by sunset, I looked around the city anew.

Why did it look different than usual?

It felt so strange to feel so happy when people from familiar shops smiled and waved at me, even though that was normal.

As for that quest, I’ll do my best. Not only for Vidello-san but also for the people of this town. Let’s give it our all.

If someone were to ask me now, I would be a bit embarrassed. While having these thoughts, I continued down the street.