Monster no Goshujin-sama

04. Puppet aspirations

4 ~ Rose Perspective ~

To me, creating is almost equal to being meaningful.

As usual, when I took my favorite knife, I began to sharpen the wood cut out to an affordable size.

This magical knife, which any individual would have, can process wood as you wish.

Nevertheless, of course, the arm of the maker is important.

Normal magical puppets only make tools when they are needed, but I always create new tools every day, according to your husband. For this reason or lately, the technology for creating magic tools had improved to the point that I could see that myself.

I wish I could build things better.

Because that would help your husband more.

The time I am shredding trees thus is a moment of bliss for me.

I have a definite feeling it's useful.

I am alive now.

So much so that I think about such a great thing as a bloodless doll minute.

For me given the name Rose, there are two moments of birth.

One of them is the occurrence as a monster called in the name of Magical Papette.

A mother, a monster of my kind, gathered a little magic from the air as she roamed this deep forest, creating her own identity.

And the whole thing of all these works shall be me.

And the other, of course, was that time when I met your husband.

At that moment, the unnamed Magical Papette gained one personality: Rose.

Since that time, I have been given the important role of creating various items, starting with weapons and protective equipment, by your husband.

At one point it was the creation of magical martial artefacts, and at another time it was necessities and simple furniture.

And now in Arakune's nest, he's making a weapon that's been destroyed.

……

There was a gaze watching my work like that.

I'm not your husband.

He has gone on a quest for the woods.

Push my opposite.... No, that's good.

Not now.

I'm talking about this gaze in front of me right now.

"... is it something fun to watch?

"Yes."

In my inquiry, Kato, dressed in sheets, nodded with a slight grin on the edge of his lips.

"It's pretty funny. I think it's strange."

So Mr. Kato took the round shield that I had made.

It's a black shield with a smooth surface.

"I can't believe the ingredients are just trees, but when they're finished making them, they just look like metal"

So she played the black surface of the shield with a slightly stretched nail.

I heard a blunt noise.

Most of my work these days changes to these blackish shades.

The change is not just about appearance, but the nature has become hard and tenacious.

It's nothing like the original wood texture.

But how is that 'strange'?

I doubt it.

And what I have made shall be a magical thing.

I am a magical puppet, and because it is a trait as a monster, there are no wonders or other shards there.

If you tried it on me, I didn't really understand what you were questioning about Kato.

"Wonder, is it?

"Yes.... that? Isn't this strange for Mr. Rose?"

Seeing me snort, Mr. Kato looked a little difficult.

"Ah. Oh well. Like us, Mr. Rose didn't learn the concept of atoms or anything in a textbook, did he?... Speaking of which, Mizushima seniors once said that even on Earth it used to be thought of as a sword or something, but that it would be a clam on the beach"

Bumps and crushes, Mr. Kato.

And me, who answers with her, while basics silently shreds wood.

These sights have been playing out a lot lately.

By the way, Sister Lily is resting a little away for her sanatorium and is not in this conversation. It's okay to move, because your worried husband was so hard on your sister that she was resting until she fully recovered.

With that background, Kato's interlocutor was supposed to be me.

"Create Magic Tool"

Mr. Kato stroked the black shield with his finger belly.

"Maybe it's normal if you try it on Mr. Rose, but it's amazing from me. Magic is amazing."

"This of mine, though not strictly magical, is just using magic"

"If it's not magic, what's amazing is Mr. Rose's arm. This is all we can make."

"Thank you"

"I think that's what Senior Mashima thinks."

When I accidentally looked away from hand and raised my face, Mr. Kato had a slight grin.

……

Apparently she knows very well what I will be most pleased with.

"Please let me know if you need any help."

……

How well do you know and say?

With that in mind, I offered her the round shield that had been in place until now.

"So can you take this to the disposal site"

"Is that it? Will you throw this away, too?"

'Cause there's a mix of clutter.'

Pass the shield to Kato, who is still roughly ready.

Kato slightly lowered his eyebrows and received this.

"Hey, did I interrupt?

"No. This is a separate matter"

"I hope so.... I've been thinking about it for a long time, but Mr. Rose has made quite a few failures."

Mr. Kato did his gaze to Oyama, a piece of wood just a short distance away.

It's all a repeated failure I've made in the last few days to throw away.

Though the resources are as much around, the time spent feels somewhat wasted.

But I did not intend to compromise on my work.

"My arsenal has everyone's life at stake. We can't offer anything that's not at all satisfactory."

"Oh. Enough to be done. Mr. Rose is an artisan, isn't he?"

In a favorable tone, Mr. Kato threw away the failures I gave him.

In the meantime I will look at the new wood, and I will break it into the heels of the whole.

Trees have their own habits. In order to process it, we have to understand the habit properly. That doesn't change even if I am the one who finishes the work with magic.

If you touch it, it will tell you what kind of tease is best for you.

And I have shaped the wood pieces that are now in my hand into elongated pieces. The final form is to be a sword. The image is at this point, largely in my mind. All you have to do is get close to it.

In doing so, Mr. Kato returns and sits again before my eyes.

Attract the sheets and slightly satisfy your lips when you put them on your shoulders. Yesterday, I heard during the chat that you feel safe being wrapped in sheets. Although the metaphor of 'It's like calming down when a baby has his own towel' was hard for me to understand without being a baby.

That's how Kato opened his mouth, wrapped in sheets as usual.

"Is the cause of the failure about Mr. Garbera?

And he made a sound, and a piece of wood broke in two in my hand.

……

I used to be flattered.

My time had moved since Mr. Kato bowed his head in regret.

"Excuse me. Now you're interrupting."

"... no"

The cause is Kato, but it was my mistake that did it.

I shook my neck to the side, putting aside the wood that was no longer in use.

Take something new. As I shredded it, I asked.

"How did you know it was about Gabella?

"Sorry, I heard you talking to Senior Mashima before"

In other words, is it the morning interaction three days ago?

It was when I complained to your husband about my distrust of Gabella.

They were asking me about that one.

If so, even if I hid it now, it wouldn't make much sense.

"Kato's right."

The identity of the 'clutter' that is interfering with my work was to involve Gabella.

I really cared about that Gabella.

Your husband forgives you for Gabella.

If I were to recognize his family, I should forgive her again.

I know that with my head.

But I can't really follow my emotions.

I am your master's shield.

I want to replace all the calamities he suffers with my body of this creation.

I will never mind if this body turns into a wreck as a result.

It was too bitter for me to remember what happened that night when I couldn't protect your husband enough, when I decided to do so.

That night. The despair I felt when they took your husband.

The fury when we reached Arakune's nest and saw your injured husband.

Both emotions still have unpleasant heat in me as a burial fire.

Even then, it is quite difficult for me to forgive her.

Furthermore, I think this is perhaps even fatal for each other… I had no idea why Gabella had led to such an assault.

"I want to make your husband your own"

The motive for Gabella's rampage lies in those impulses that she was born with.

Perhaps the emotion of wanting something important to be your own is something that, for once, more or less anyone can hold.

But I didn't have the emotions in my hand at all.

This is not a question of which is better or worse anymore.

The certainty is that I cannot understand her because of these differences of nature that she was born with.

Forgiving someone is hard without understanding who they are.

That's what lethal means.

Even I have a desire to accept her that your husband is forgiving.

... I do, but that's where I'm really getting the neck.

I find it unforgivable.

Even if your husband knows by his head that he doesn't want it...

"... as long as you're ashamed"

I am not in keeping with your master's wishes.

That, as his family, was shameful.

"Though I don't think you need to be shy"

But that's how Mr. Kato shook his neck sideways at me.

"Mr. Rose is a little too hard to kill himself."

"Kill yourself too much, is it?

"I understand Rose's attitude in putting Senior Mashima first, and I think it's a virtue to try to set up someone... but if that's too tight, now you're out of something called yourself"

"Wouldn't that be"

Kato's words were not perfect for me.

"Your husband decided to accept Garbera and forgive her. Then I shall follow his will. Because we exist to fulfill your husband's wishes. If so, don't you care what I will do?"

"That's what I thought Mr. Rose would do..."

Kato's tone was mixed with a bitter smile.

"But if that's the case, isn't that why Senior Mashima would not be happy that Mr. Rose would kill himself?

……

It was difficult to deny her point.

Your husband takes care of our family.

So much so that he even seems to care more about us than he himself.

"Then what does Kato think we should do about the Gabella thing?

Now he asked me, Mr. Kato.

As it stands, I have no choice but to myself.

I don't know what to do about Gabella.

So this opportunity to have Mr. Kato listen to me was never bad for me.

Behind my brain was still a clear figure of Kato that night when he came to his own battle without even having a single knife.

She is more connected to the hearts of men than we are.

She might find a way to my heart on the trail.

A girl named Kato Mandarin had something to expect.

"Why don't you forgive Mr. Rose when you think he can forgive you?"

Kato opened his mouth after only a few moments.

"You can't kill your own heart. That's not what Senior Mashima wants, and I'm sure there will be distortions somewhere."

"Is it distortion"

"For example, Mr. Rose was pushing and killing feelings for Mr. Gabella, but you can also see that it was depriving her of an opportunity for redemption. Then she'll never be accepted by you"

"... that's the way you see it"

Kato's opinion was interesting to me.

When I realized, I was facing Kato with my hands to work.

That was all the conversation I had with her was worth it.

"The rest will depend on each other's efforts, won't it? Mr. Garbera... well, as I'm sure the seniors are doing something about it"

Kato had eyes to see where it was not here.

I'm dizzy. But the eyes are solid.

I'm sure the world in her eyes is different from mine...

"Mr. Rose wants you to accept Mr. Gabella."

"Yes, of course. But I really don't feel like I can forgive her."

"Really?... I guess so. In a way, that may be natural"

Naturally.

That's how Kato described my current situation.

"Because Mr. Rose has no greed."

"Greed......?

"If you say so, I have a bad impression."

Kato laughed small.

"But even Senior Mashima, for example, wants' someone who loves you to stay by your side ', right? Rose, a family member, will know best that seniors desire' to love those people and to be honest with them myself '. Even this is some kind of greed. I think it's like a senior."

"... greed"

"If you want to say greed and accept, you can call it hope. Because that's a trivial difference on the retreat. What's important is that that's his' humanity '. That would be the same for Lily and Gabella."

Does that mean, for example, that Sister Lily wants her husband to love her?

Or maybe I can say that if Gabella wants the rest of her family to accept her companions.

"Mr. Rose looks skewed by this greed." I want to do something, "" I want you to, "and," I want you to. "… there are many different kinds of cravings, but Mr. Rose looks badly biased towards this last one"

"Does that mean my personality is a defect?

"That's not true."

Mr. Kato denied my doubts in a strong tone.

"I'm biased, I'm just underdeveloped. If you're wrong, it's not a flaw."

"To say yes…"

"I can do it. I can tell you all about it. 'Cause it hasn't been months since Mr. Rose got his heart, has it? Isn't it natural that your mind wasn't growing up?"

Pointed out, I felt like I was being poked in the void.

You were absolutely right.

I have two moments of birth.

It's two things: its occurrence as a magical puppet and its birth as an individual named Rose.

But when it comes to which can be called 'birth' in a more essential sense, that must be the latter.

It is only a thin bunch of paper, no matter how much it is stacked, such as raw as a unintentional doll.

In comparison, what a vibrant thing to get the Lord to serve and the days to serve for him.

Being a magical papet, I have no such thing as a baby.

But in terms of emotion, it's like a newborn baby.

My emotions are underdeveloped and immature.

Sister Lili, who has the memory of Miho Mizushima, originally doesn't even extend to that gabella.

I want to be there for your husband. I want to work for him. 'I want to do' everything that's good for him. That's all I've ever been, and I guess that's what it means to be underdeveloped.

That's why I want your husband… I mean, I don't understand the rampage of Gabella, which ends in the urge to 'do something'.

For once, I don't know the finesse of people's minds, 'cause these are probably the reasons around.

"But is there such a thing as greed in the first place?"

If that is one manifestation of 'humanity', it doesn't seem strange that I, the doll, am not equipped with enough emotion.

But Mr. Kato shook his head to the side and denied this concern of mine.

"I do. What Senior Mashima wants will not be a convenient doll. You should be someone else with a solid personality. That's why Mr. Rose and Mr. Gabella are getting along so easily right now. Then Mr. Rose can't have no desire of his own."

But I can't think of anything.

Did you find that I was out of trouble, Kato gave me a thoughtful look?

Thinking often.

Eventually the crease disappeared from her brow as she was stopping by.

"Has Mr. Rose ever thought he'd be happy?

In response to Kato's inquiry, I leaned my neck.

"Happiness, is it?

"Yes."

Kato nodded.

"That happiness again. If that's what it seems, isn't that what Mr. Rose wants?

"As long as it takes."

With plain suggestion, I thought often.

Happy.

Happy?

It is now that I am doing all I can for your husband that I am happy...

"I could have worked for a senior, or helped a senior, other than that."

Mr. Kato stabbed me with a nail. Well, I know what you're saying.

My desire that I must find must be 'to do something' or 'to do something'. Because if that is the case, I can find and grow my side, which I have never even known myself.

Happy.

Mixed.

……

And it came to pass, when I had the word in my head, that it was upon my head.

-... Rather, I'm too happy to be scared.

"Mr. Rose?

It was a memory that could be considered the greatest treasure of my life.

"Did you come up with anything?

"Oh, no. Well... this is different."

To Kato, who noticed a little trick and asked, I turned back my denial.

Rather than deluded, this was just a lie.

Because there won't be 'this' on the boulder.

No matter how much, 'this' will not be tolerated.

Indeed, Mr. Kato asked me about the memory of happiness I had felt in my short lifetime so far.

In that regard, 'this' is perfect. It is my happiest memory and conforms to the terms she told me without complaint.

But what do you mean, "again"?

Not even at the level of high hopes. This is exactly what the overwhelming extremes are.

You can't hope.

There's no way you can want it.

Because I'm just a doll.

"Mr. Rose, you're lying."

Mr. Kato slashed my excuse thoroughly.

If you try it on her, maybe my awkward lies are foreseeable.

"You're already pretty serious about Mr. Rose wanting to do that."

That's reminiscent of when you were hunting down Sister Lily one night.

The only difference is that there's only one thing.

That night she was doing that for your husband.

And today for me, she does.

She may be discerning with a sharp sensibility in front of her.

That this is an absolutely necessary ritual of passage for me.

Sometimes I was pushed back by such a sure dialogue of hers.

But there were still other determinants.

I have become aware of my desires.

I can't go back by the time I didn't know.

That you want to follow your conscious wishes, that you take it for granted.

That was what was decisive to me.

"Oh..."

Thoughtfully, shake your courage, and I will put it into words.

"To your husband..."

I put it into words.

"I want your husband to... hug me..."

In words… I regretted it.

I want your husband to hold me.

What the hell is that?

What are you going to do?

There will be good and bad things to say.

Indeed, I was once embraced by your master.

I mean the day I returned a despicable male student, who was your husband's alumni.

I also embraced him back, and that night I was leaning overnight with my husband, who fell asleep.

For me to never sleep, that's the dream of the night.

Of course, that was an exceptional event.

It is well known to me.

Dreams are only dreams.

The only thing I really want that to do is to be a fool.

Know yourself.

You must be just a doll.

... That said, my heart could not be false.

Oh, my God.

I really want your husband to give me a hug...

"... oh, already! Lovely, Mr. Rose!

Suddenly I was embraced from the front.

To Kato.

It was me who was stiff, but when I returned to me, I pushed back her shoulder in horror.

"I'm sorry. Kato, would you please step away?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Me, me, me."

Let go of her body for a moment, Kato lowered her eyebrows as her bat looked bad.

She did, somewhere resembling Sister Lily.... No. This probably resembles Miho Mizushima, my sister's pseudo.

An extremely natural figure of a girl, in everyday life.

If so, maybe this is the original girl by the name of Mana Kato, who really looks like her.

"Mr. Rose wants you to hold him, not me, Senior Mashima."

"Uh, yes. That, no. But."

"What is it?

"If a doll like me is to be held by your husband, it will be called a crossover."

"That's not true."

Mr. Kato got a blameworthy tone.

"Will Mr. Rose give up saying that?"

"No. You can't annoy my husband like this..."

"I'm sure Senior Mashima would be delighted if Mr. Rose said my name."

"Are you talking about me?

"As far as I can tell, I think it's the kind of person I feel sorry for when my predecessors keep asking me to do my best, personally."

"It's..."

… I thought it was possible.

There's something he doesn't like about it, even though it's only natural for me to do it for your husband.

Then is this good for your husband as well?

Oh, no, but.

No, no, no. This is a devil's whisper.

"You can't give up."

says Kato.

Rather than a devil's whisper, it was a gentle voice, even with the patronage of the Mother of Mercy.

"Mr. Rose doesn't want to get seniors in trouble. If so, if the seniors want to hug me, that's fine, right?"

"I hope so...... isn't that an unwanted matter?

What happened that night, when it came to that, yes.

I don't think that's ever gonna happen again.

"So don't give up."

I can put my strength into my hand, which stayed gripped all the time.

"Why don't we try our best to make our hopes come true?... because what Rose wants can be fulfilled."

"What do you want me to do?

"It's easy."

Kato stared at me.

"As much as Senior Mashima wants to hug me, I just need Mr. Rose to be cute."

"Am I... cute?

"That's right. Fortunately, Mr. Rose will have just enough arms to build tools. Witches, mothers' trees, special stage performers are gone, and you should be able to use the magic of saving to make yourself cute."

Mr Kato's suggestion was by no means impossible.

I am Magical Papette. It's a monster with a magic knife.

To me, creating is almost equal to being meaningful.

I should be able to create something new again, even with my own existence.

However, the inability to do so does not depend solely on whether or not anything is feasible.

"But is it that I, who am only a doll, am allowed to imitate that?

"It's a good decision."

Kato assured me.

That was probably the strongest tone of the day.

"Okay, Mr. Rose. It's natural for a girl to try to be cute when she wants a boy to hug her. Wearing makeup, polishing yourself... those acts are very important to girls. Seniors don't have the right to blame them."

But I'm a doll.

"What are you talking about? Think about it. Don't you think that's natural for a doll to conjure up and be held by your husband? Whether it's a girl, a doll, or either way, there's no one reason to interrupt Mr. Rose from being beautiful for his senior year. Because Mr. Rose is a doll girl."

You can't give up, Kato repeated.

Feeling its one-way gaze, I strayed.

The accusation as a single family that I can do that.

Rationality that there's no point in doing that.

All things that have made me angry.

Put them all on one side of the scale, on my hope and on the scale.

Do you end up leaning towards one or the other?

I stared at the result of it… inadvertently realizing that I was doing something very stupid.

For the weight of my desire was plain to me at the time when I was weighing.

It's not rational.

Irrational, unreasonable, this feeling.

Oh. Right.

Does this mean 'I want to do something'?

At that time I may have finally understood one end of things: the heart of one.

"For example, if I pretended to be the best -"

I asked at the end.

If you think about it later, I'm sure you wanted some backup.

"- Will your husband be pleased?

"You'll be delighted."

Mr. Kato smiled and blessed my decision.

There are no lies in that word, and the encouraging complaints are accompanied by mercy.

It felt right to me now.

I really appreciated it.

Without her, I would have left this hope, which I had left locked in the warehouse in my heart, long before it became old and rusty.

One day I will have decayed, unaware that what is important is important.

Now, even about Gabella, I felt like I could forgive you one day.

What she had done was angry, but still, the feeling was fading like cutting and throwing away the motive that had made her do so unintelligible.

I may not be able to do it right now, but any of the time. Not so far away. I'm sure...

"Of course, I'll work with you. I'll do everything I can to back Ms. Rose up so she can be cute."

"Thank you"

I crossed the boundaries of family monsters and human beings, and at that time I had a pure gratitude for her as an individual.

"Kato..."

That's why I wondered.

"... are you not angry with us?

"Belly?

Mr. Kato turned his eyes around.

"Me? To Mr. Rose? Again, why?

"We've been on guard against you ever since your husband decided to protect you. He recognized you as an inner enemy. You already know that, don't you?

"Yes, Lily told me before, face to face."

That was just before the death fight with Gabella.

He didn't really care, and Kato's tone was no different than when he spoke of casual everyday events.

"Besides, I told you then, I've noticed it before."

"Then isn't it normal for you to turn your anger on me? At least that Kaga guy was mad before your husband killed him."

Other than your husband and Kato in front of you, I thought in my brain of the only human man I had ever seen alive and talking to.... Although my face was about to be forgotten.

"I'm going to be with that guy... on a boulder, I kinda hate it"

Pretty unpleasant, between Kato's sneaky eyebrows, there was a shallow wrinkle.

"I'm sorry"

I lifted my head.

"But I don't think it's a generous detachment. People would be uncomfortable with it if they were usually hiding it. Mr. Kato shouldn't be surprised if he has bad feelings for us."

I couldn't leave this question alone with all this help.

Together, Kato seems to have taken the time to talk to me to solve my problems.

Mr. Kato nodded at my point.

"Right. As far as I'm concerned, I don't know if I can doubt Mr. Rose's position, but it might still feel a little uncomfortable, if you're normal."

"If so..."

But I'm not mad at you.

That was an inexplicable word.

Usually they did what was supposed to make me angry, and Kato said she didn't feel particularly uncomfortable.

Seeing that I did not understand, Mr. Kato tilted his neck.

"... hmm. Right."

Mr. Kato once again held the round shield of the finished product he had just observed in his chest for his hand, accompanied by a broken finger on his lip, showing him how to think in the sheet.

"If it's easy to understand, I think I have empathy with your family."

"Empathy......? Not against your husband, who is human, but against us, who are family members?

"Yes, to you."

That kind of Kato's statement was convincing, with the exception of one point, to the extent that it was made.

It is because of our empathy that we show understanding in its position and have no anger.

I can see that. I know about that.

But I don't see how you're going to have empathy or anything in the first place.

We are your husband's family monsters.

It is our raison d 'être to devote ourselves to your master. It was the truth in me, which remained unchanged when I knew my hidden desires.

Is there such empathy with us in Mr. Kato, who is human?

"And"

And Kato continued.

"Thank you, Mr. Rose."

"Thank you, is it?

"'Cause you're talking to me normally, without any particular doubt. Mr. Rose is the only one."

"Do you understand?

When I asked in surprise, Mr. Kato gave a slightly bitter look.

"This is how you listened, and even that night, you said you were going to take me with you from the beginning. Besides... I know Mr. Rose has an honest personality. It's not the type of belly art you can do, and if you suspect it, you'll be right on your face."

"My face is all over me."

"Yes. So the part there is a joke."

……

I don't know how serious I am, but as far as it goes, I may be easy to understand.

Conscious, but I am probably the most retarded of these lines, including your husband's.

It sounds good when it comes to seriousness and honesty, but I think to myself that the truth is that you would be right to be stupid and not accommodating. The Gabella thing would be a good example.

If I had suspected Mr. Kato, it would have been passed on to her soon.

To the point of being. Kato's words are clear.

Indeed, unlike your husband and sister Lily, I do not doubt her.

Aren't you going to betray me, or something?

What are you thinking, or something?

That's not what I'm thinking.

Or is it more accurate that I don't know why I doubt it?

To be honest, I don't have a very good impression about a creature called a human being who hurt me about your husband. So I didn't really like Kato either, when I first met him.

But as I spent time with her, her standing in me gradually changed.

Things around here are probably different from my sister Lily's.

There was originally a degree of affinity between me, who was given the role of keeping the "master without the power to fight" himself, and "her without the power to fight". Also, unlike Sister Lily, who has Miho Mizushima's memory, Kato's weight was huge as the other person who spent a long time since I gained myself.

Because of these things, I had no hesitation in taking Mr. Kato with me that night when I was attacked by the white Arakune.

Besides, Kato put up his body and acted for his husband.

Now I have no reason to doubt her.

Rather than...

This is something I don't really want to think about, and I'm never going to put it in my mouth...

From my eyes, your husband's depth of suspicion of Mr. Kato seemed somewhat different.

Something unusual, or clearly, I even thought it was unusual.

Nevertheless, the cause of your husband's being so obvious that even I of the doll could speculate.

A big wound engraved in your husband's heart.

The pain continues to annoy him.

Perhaps unless the pain is healed, your husband will not be able to accept Mr. Kato.

"Thank you very much to Rose for believing in me."

As a result, I have always been concerned about Kato, who is in a lonely situation.

"If you can, as much as I want you to be my friend"

So when I was told this, I was astonished and convinced.

"To a friend, is...?

"It's hard, I knew it"

Difficult, I thought aggressively.

She owes me. The same goes for your husband, and I've been looked after today about myself.

And I shall return his favor.

But I am a family, and she is human.

Different position. Different standing position. Different values. And most importantly, the race is different.

Everything is different by the time it's hopeless.

Being friends is hard because of that.

No, but.

Isn't that where it matters?

"... you can't, I knew it"

Kato makes a thin grin in such a way as to just say it.

I'm just kidding right now. I'm following a laugh just for us.

Seeing her face grinning like that made my heart feel tight.

My unclear emotions are raging around in me.

Until now, I may have held back such impulsive thoughts as immediately useless.

But now I know what it is.

That was something I had just learned.

It was just something you taught me.

I was right to say that it was important.

Pushed back by impulses, I was speaking to her pathetic smile when I realized.

"I will point the blade at you if I have your master's orders"

"Yes?"

Mr. Kato turned his eyes round and looked surprised at my words.

That would surprise you. Even I am amazed at my dialogue.

Slightly, Mr. Kato tilted his neck wonderfully.

"How could you suddenly do something so obvious?

Do you take this for granted?

Yet you asked me to be your friend?

The psyche I cannot even guess right now.

To me, the inner surface of a girl named Kato Makoto has not been able to deduce even a few shards.

Only one thing was clear to me like that.

That meant she spoke the words she meant earlier - the desire to be friends.

Then I shall respond honestly to it too.

Fortunately, I have learned from her that I want to do something. I responded to her, driven by the urge to do more than by the rationality of what to do.

"If that's okay with you..."

"Yes."

"I… I too would like to be your friend"

"... Huh?

Kato opened his eyes.

I don't know what they said, like that.

The colour of twitching and understanding spread to its young face for his age.

"Ah."

Only for a moment, her face distorted as she cried.

"... thank you, Mr. Rose"

Mr. Kato regained it with remarkable spiritual strength.

But there was a smile engraved on its mouth, as if it hadn't cut off.