In Love With the Strongest Man
Translator: Shizukuku
Editor: Helen
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Arc 3: True Identity
Chapter 12 “If you wish, if only you would wish for it.”
* * *
“The Master is in his study.”
“Thank you.”
Right after that, I left the room. It’s not like I had a particular plan in mind. Even so, I couldn’t pretend that I hadn’t noticed.
It wasn’t quite noon yet. Ideal was in his study doing paperwork.
“Ideal.”
“Oh, Shuka-san, what’s up? Did you come to see me?”
I extended my right hand to the man who greeted me with a smile.
“This… it’s a souvenir. The one I promised.”
“…”
Ideal swallowed hard, hesitatingly accepting it.
“—Did you remember it already?”
His face looked terribly sad. When I bought the souvenir, I had hoped it would make him happy. I didn’t want him to look like this.
“I never expected Shuka-san to be unaffected to this extent.”
“Magic, perhaps…?”
I’d heard that the human brain was so complex that it could not be interfered with by magic. And yet, what Ideal did couldn’t be explained by anything other than magic.
—To completely erase a day’s worth of my memories like that.
Moreover, nearly all my guilt about Langetsu and the gratitude I felt for being cared for in this house had almost disappeared. Why would he do such a thing? How did he even manage to do it?
“It’s a little different from magic. Something from a slightly older era… hey, Shuka-san.”
Ideal made eye contact with me. His eyes had a suspicious gleam to them.
These eyes. Eyes that made me crazy.
“—”
I quickly turned away, and I felt Ideal’s lips touch my ear. His low voice whispered seductively to me.
“Shuka-san, didn’t you want to feel at ease?”
His voice was hoarse, as if he were pleading.
“All the things that scare you, all the things that hurt you, I can make you forget them all, if you wish, if only you would wish for it. Why do you insist on remembering?”
“Why, you ask—”
To say that I had no regrets in my life would be a lie. And yet— ah, even so, I didn’t want to forget.
“—Because I was happy…”
“…You were happy?”
In response to the puzzled Ideal, I struggled to think. I wasn’t good at putting my feelings into words. Even so, I couldn’t expect him to understand something I didn’t understand myself, so I did my best to formulate my thoughts without making any mistakes.
“I… Ideal was kind to me. I was able to reunite with Akane. That made me happy. And I thought that my life, which was supposed to be used solely for the sake of the village, had gained meaning… I don’t want to forget those things…”
That was it. I wanted to remember.
I had been working for world peace as a member of the village since before I was even born. I never felt a sense of fulfillment or anything, but I had no complaints about the work itself. I had been resigned to marrying a woman the village chose for me, having children, and dying fulfilling my duty.
But there was one thing I wished for myself, and it came true.
“I helped a small child. My body was injured as a consequence, but it was the best thing I ever did in my life.”
In retrospect, I didn’t care about the taboo in my village against killing children. I, Shuka, just wanted to save that child.
I didn’t want to be appreciated for it. It was all for me. I just followed the first impulse that arose in me, that’s all.
“On that day, I transformed from a cog in the village’s machinery into a human. I was able to change. Fear, pain, everything exists beyond that. That’s why I don’t want to forget anything. I want to remember it all.”
I was probably no match for Ideal. This time it was a combination of coincidence and help from Akane. But if the same thing were to happen again, I wasn’t confident that I’d remember next time.
So all I could do was hope. I wasn’t good with words, but even so, those memories were so important to me that I clung to them desperately.
“The me right now might seem unhappy to you, but there’s certainly happiness that follows from there. Please don’t take that away from me…!”
“Shuka-san… Why…”
Ideal wore a face that seemed angry, troubled, and on the verge of tears all at once.
—That expression, I felt like I’ve seen it somewhere before.
“Shuka-san, please—”
Ah, this man really did resemble that child.
What did that child, who fought back tears as I left him behind, say to me at that time?
“…This is a real pain in the ass.”
“Meow!”
“!!”
When I turned toward the familiar voice, I saw a man with long red hair—Atu—standing at the entrance to the study. Sitting at his feet was Akane, who let out a low cry.
“—Shut up. Don’t say unnecessary things, Atu.”
Ideal spoke in a low, growling voice. A terrifying voice filled with murderous intent.
The black-haired man stared at Atu with an expressionless face.
“M-meow.”
“Whoa, what’s wrong, Akane?”
Akane rushed towards me. He clung on to me and desperately climbed up my body.
He’d climbed to the top of my head before I could stop him, and just when I thought he’d be satisfied…
“Hissss!!”
“Ah!”
“Akane?!”
Suddenly, Akane tried to scratch Ideal’s nose. Ideal instinctively avoided it, but Akane’s sharp claws grazed his cheek. Three distinct red lines vividly marked his white skin.
“What!? Has the cat gone mad!?”
Atu exclaimed in astonishment. I desperately tried to stop Akane, who was attempting a second strike by using my head as a foothold and distanced myself from Ideal.
“A-Akane, what are you doing!? He’s the landlord, you know!? You’re being allowed to stay here under his benevolence, you know!?”
“Grr!! Grrr… Hissssss!!”
“The landlord…”
For some reason, Ideal seemed more shocked by my words than by being scratched. He repeated them in a daze, not even holding his bloodied cheek.
“The landlord… You think of me as your landlord first…?”
“I’m sorry, Ideal, we need to wash that wound right away. It seems my cat has done something bad…!”
“Is that ‘your’ cat…?”
“Anyway, please have a seat over there. Atu, take care of Akane for me.”
“Yes, yes, Shuka’s Akane.”
I entrusted Akane to Atu and was about to go get some water, but there was already a maid waiting with a water bucket ready. She handed me a damp, clean cloth. I gratefully accepted it and wiped Ideal’s motionless cheek. After changing the cloth several times, I applied the medicine she gave me.
“—Alright, for now, you should be fine. I’m sorry, do you feel any pain?”
“I don’t feel… any pain, but…”
Ideal looked completely dejected, his shoulders slumped. He looked up at me intently from the chair I’d sat him in for treatment.
“Damn… Hahaha! How pathetic for the man sitting in the Cardinal’s seat!”
“Meeeoow! Mmmmrow!! Mrrroow!!”
While skillfully holding onto a struggling Akane, Atu burst into laughter. Akane seemed to agree as he delivered mid-air cat punches.
Could “Cardinal” be referring to Ideal? That was a position I’d never heard of before.
“Come on, isn’t this enough already, Ideal?”
“Atu!”
Ignoring Ideal’s protest, Atu continued cheerfully.
“He’s the kid you saved twenty years ago!”
