Evil Avalon - Volume 2 - Chapter 29

Chapter 29: A Flood of Memories

“Okay, so I just have to tell Kaoru that I’ll help you level up?” asked Satsuki.

“Yeah,” I replied. “Thank you for the favor, and good luck with your leveling.”

“Thanks! I’ll do my best. Speak to you later.”

I’d gone to the training session but ended up sandwiched between Kaoru’s fierce glare on one side and Kuga, who’d been trying to test me, on the other. To make matters worse, Tenma had joined in. Everything had become too much for me, so I’d fled. I ran crying to Satsuki—ahem, I’d asked for Satsuki’s help—to sort things out with Kaoru.

I closed the screen on my wearable terminal and trudged along the road on my way home. A sigh escaped my lips, then I said, “I didn’t think I’d have to deal with the two of them.”

Kotone Kuga was just as much of a loner as me, and the rest of the class thought she was useless. But she was a bona fide level 20 spy on active duty with a host of espionage skills. Without meaning to do so, I’d followed the path of her high-speed punch with my eyes, which had alerted her suspicions and caused the whole mess. I’d need to avoid future training sessions to keep my distance from Kuga, or she might try the same thing again.

Kaoru would drag me along if she heard me say that, and I knew that I had no right to be trusted or heard. That was why I’d asked for help from Satsuki and Risa, whom our classmates respected and listened to. I felt Kaoru would take those two seriously when they told her they’d help me. Of course, this meant that I now owed the two girls. I shivered to think of what Risa would ask for when she called in the favor, making me want to pay back the debt immediately.

I was also surprised that Tenma had talked to me when she stopped by. She was famed as one of the strongest first-years in our school, and she was a noble to boot. I could hardly believe such an important person knew my name. That girl wore her plate mail armor regularly because of a curse and was also a full-fledged heroine in DEC. Thinking back to her story in the game, I remembered her mentioning that she was interested in dieting.

Her character hadn’t appeared much in the game’s early stages, so I hadn’t been looking out for her, which made it even more shocking that she knew my name. I would need to keep my distance from her as well... Or I might need to fight her ridiculously powerful butlers, which I wasn’t keen on.

While I thought about how I’d escape if I reencountered her, I turned the last corner and arrived in front of my home.

Tatsu Hayase, the owner of Hayase’s Metalware and Kaoru’s father, was unloading boxes from a pickup truck. He smiled and waved at me when he saw me.

“Good afternoon, Souta,” he said.

“Good afternoon,” I replied. “Oh, careful!” I gripped one side of the box he was carrying to support him. He’d been staggering under the box’s weight. The box wasn’t large, but the metal objects it carried made it extremely heavy. I offered to help him transport the rest of the boxes inside; there were plenty of them left in the truck.

I wanted to help him in return for all the help he’d given our family over the years. He had often helped my father supply Narumi’s General Goods with metalware, and he’d looked after me a lot when I—Piggy—was a child.

“That’s everything,” said Mr. Tatsu. “Thanks, Souta. You’ve gotten very strong recently, haven’t you? And with all the weight you’ve lost, you look like a completely different person compared to a few months ago. That is Adventurers’ High for you, eh?”

“Yeah, I’ve been getting more exercise.” I struck a pose to show off my muscles. Just then, my stomach rumbled.

“Why don’t you pop in for a bit?” offered Mr. Tatsu, smiling. “I got my hands on some lovely tea and snacks the other day.”

I did indeed feel peckish, so I took him up on the offer.

***

I—Piggy—had often visited the Hayase house when I was young. The house itself was quite old and looked crooked due to numerous repairs and extensions over the years. The entrance was a sliding door partially hidden behind some of these extensions. We entered through the door, walked through the external corridor, and arrived in the living room. I sat at the low tea table while Mr. Tatsu headed into the kitchen to make the tea.

“All my memories of this place are coming back to me... I guess Kaoru and I used to be pretty good friends,” I said.

The first memory that returned to me was of an excited young Kaoru smiling at me. She’d usually been quite reserved and shy as a child, very different to the dignified personality she possessed now. I generally tried not to draw up Piggy’s older memories, yet they got triggered once I’d entered the Hayase house.

An old picture frame with a faded family photo inside sat atop the short chest of drawers. The photo showed a smiling Mr. Tatsu, a little girl, and a pretty woman that looked just like Kaoru, all in a family hug. The woman was Kaoru’s mother, who had passed away, leaving father and daughter to live by themselves.

A landscaped garden with beautiful trees and a pond with water plants was on the other side of the external corridor. Mr. Tatsu took great care of the garden to keep it in good condition as his hobby. I remembered Kaoru and me putting the goldfish we’d won at a festival into that pond. We had been so close back then... How had we drifted so far apart? Well... That was easy. It was Piggy’s fault for sexually harassing her, duh.

“Here you go,” said Mr. Tatsu, bringing some tea and youkan—a jelly-based snack—cut into two-centimeter-thick slices. “A friend gave me this tea. It’s fantastic.”

“Thank you,” I said. I ate one of the youkan, and the beans inside felt great on my tongue. The sweetness was just right too. I suspected this was a famous brand of high-quality youkan.

Mr. Tatsu sat opposite me and took a youkan, seeming pleased by my reaction. This was probably the first time since I’d taken over Piggy’s body that we had been together like this at a table.

“How are you finding Adventurers’ High?” asked Mr. Tatsu. “I hear it’s a tough school to be in.”

Adventurers’ High certainly was a particularly unusual school. It definitely was tough, but more because of the other students rather than the curriculum.

“I’m doing all right,” I replied.

“When I see you these days,” he started, “I see a boy who’s carving out his path in life at his own pace. And you seem to enjoy that, which is incredible to see.”

Mr. Tatsu added that I’d gotten in much better shape since I’d started high school.

Though, that was because I had taken over Piggy’s body and started a strict regimen of dieting and daily dungeon raids. The real Piggy had not taken care of his body before I’d come along, and I was happy to remind his mind of this. However, I had my family to thank for supporting and trusting me while I followed my plans, and I owed a lot to them.

“But when I look at Kaoru...” continued Mr. Tatsu, sighing as he looked out toward the garden. “I get the feeling that she’s struggling.”

Kaoru stayed out raiding the dungeon late into the night and went home exhausted every day. But physical exhaustion wasn’t all she had to deal with; she also had a lot of problems on her mind. She would barely speak after returning home, and this had been occurring since she’d joined Adventurers’ High.

In the game, the first few months after school had started, she’d known the horrible ways the upper classes and nobles could treat others. The main story had been about how she and the other students resisted and overcame this treatment. As this world was based on the game and Kaoru had still joined the protagonist’s party, she’d face trouble at every turn, no matter what she did.

“I’m worried about her,” confessed Mr. Tatsu. “You’d be doing me a favor if you could look out for her every now and then.” He looked at me and bowed his head as he made his request.

“Yeah...”

Kaoru had grown mightier whenever she had overcome adversity, and she’d eventually achieved her dream of becoming a top adventurer. As far as I could tell, this world’s Kaoru was just as driven as the game’s version. Her combat and academic skills both had huge potential, not to mention her sword fighting ability, so she had what it took to become a great adventurer. I was sure she’d go far if she stuck with Akagi through all the hardship.

But I could only draw that conclusion because I could take a big-picture view of Kaoru’s future using my knowledge of the game’s ending. Mr. Tatsu didn’t have that luxury. For him, he saw his darling daughter struggling to cope and would be concerned. And that concern was strong enough for him to bow his head to someone like me.

My class thinks I’m a no-talent loser, though, so there’s not much I can do to look out for her, I thought.

As it stood, Kaoru would probably be angry with me for running away from the training session the next time we met. The way I was acting, I was giving her more to worry about, not less... But anyway.

I looked longingly at the old, battered tatami mats on the floor, the well-kept garden, and the framed picture of the woman and the smiling little girl. As I did, Piggy’s memories of how the Hayase house used to look flowed through my mind. The one that gave me the strongest impression was the memory of a young Kaoru hugging her pretty mother. At the time, we’d been neighbors of the same age and only spoken occasionally. This situation had only changed when her mother passed away. Kaoru had taken her mother’s death hard and withdrawn from the world, which had made young Piggy desperate to help her, to protect her.

***

“What’s the matter...?” I asked her when I saw her crying alone, her shoulders heaving. I wanted to cheer her up.

She lifted her tear-stricken face toward me. “M-My...m-m-mommy...”

I knew what had happened. Her mother had gone somewhere far, far away, and I couldn’t fix that. So instead...

“H-Here, have this,” I said. I’d taken one of my favorite candies from my pocket and shoved it toward her. I remembered how much she’d smiled before and could see how sad she was, and it had made my heart ache. I was so desperate to cheer her up.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Candy,” I replied. “It’s my favorite one.”

“Don’t want it,” she said.

“Wh-Why not?” I asked. “It’s really good. C’mon.”

Everyone would smile if they ate this, so I’d been certain she’d smile too.

“M-Me and mommy used to eat that one... Together... But she’s gone.” Kaoru’s head dropped, and tears began streaming down her face again.

I couldn’t leave her like that. If I did, I was worried she’d go somewhere far away, like her mother. Looking at the hunched-up little girl in front of me, I felt powerless. I felt like I needed to do something, like I needed to help her.

From that day onward, I would always call out to her and invite her to play, hoping to make her feel better. I even got Kano involved. It worked in the end, and Kaoru ended up becoming very fond of me at the time. It was probably around this time that I’d created the nuptial grimoire.

Years passed, and Kaoru grew into a beautiful young woman. I’d only wanted to make her happy at first, but as her beauty grew ever more transcendent, I started wanting her to be mine and mine alone. Eventually, lust entered the picture as well, and she caught me staring at her breasts and her butt. That was when things started going downhill. Kaoru began to distance herself from me, but the more she did, the more I went out of my way to be together with her, which only added problems. By the time I joined Adventurer’s High, any affection she’d felt for me was gone. That was where we stood now.

***

The desire in my heart to protect Kaoru was earnest and pure, with no ulterior motives. My mind was screaming only one thing: protect her.

Okay, calm down, I thought. I wouldn’t abandon her. That was never an option; I might keep my distance, but she was still dear to me. I’d protect her if the need arose, just like my family. But the right thing to do right now was to see how things played out. Trying to help would only make things worse. Why? Because Kaoru was one of DEC’s heroines who would grow by overcoming challenges by herself.

“I’ve been around her a lot recently, and I don’t think there’s any need for you to worry,” I said. “She’s just learning to cope with the school’s high standards. She’s working as hard as she can to narrow the gap with the students above her.”

“I see,” said Mr. Tatsu. “I do hear that Adventurers’ High has a lot of exceptional students. Some of them even show up in the newspaper.”

Adventurers’ High was a gathering point for Japan’s most talented students. Some of those students were already making waves in the adventuring world, and a few would likely become top adventurers. Having difficulty fitting in with such an elite student body was normal.

Plus, awful events and fights from the game could take place in this world. Few people might climb the ranks to Class D after joining such a school, let alone Class A.

“But Kaoru’s always been a hard worker, and she’s got natural talent,” I explained. “And good friends too. I believe she can face any challenge that lies in her path.”

“Ha ha ha!” Mr. Tatsu laughed. “So that’s how it is? I need to stop being so overprotective of my daughter.”

Kaoru was strong. Akagi and Pinky were as abnormally talented as you could hope from the game’s protagonists, while Tachigi was there to help with his strategic abilities and support. She’d be okay with them and make it far... But that thought pained me a little. A part of me wanted myself to be the person she trusted to have by her side. She was the first person I’d ever loved, so I couldn’t help but feel that way. I would have my chance.

“Of course, I’ll be there to help her if it ever gets too much,” I said. “That’s why I train so hard every day.”

Perhaps Kaoru could face a situation that could threaten to break her resolve. Even Akagi and his friends might be unable to get her out of it. If that happened, I would be there to save the day. Or so I wanted to think since I wasn’t at a high enough level for that yet. Plenty of characters from the game’s main story were at a higher level than me. To help her, I’d need to get stronger and level up first.

“Ah, I see,” said Mr. Tatsu. “You can think in the long term. You’re stronger now. Physically, yes, but emotionally too.”

“You’re overestimating me,” I said. “I was just speaking hypothetically.”

It would be more challenging than I made it sound. The Battle of the Classes was about to start, and I would need to get through many game events after doing that. Clans like Soleil and The Red Ninjettes were at work in the school even as some of the game’s events could shake the world to its foundations. Could I keep my family and Kaoru safe?

“Could” didn’t matter. I would. I had a plan too. I knew everything about the dungeon and the monsters within, including the game events that would unfold. Fortunately, I had the strongest cheat possible: game knowledge. I wouldn’t lose to anyone, even if they belonged to one of the top clans.

The only problem was how Tsukijima and the other players would act. I didn’t know how many others there were. So, I had to account that their intervention could cause this world to veer off the main story’s course and make my game knowledge useless. As long as I became the strongest out of all of them, I’d find a way.

I already had my next raiding spot in mind to level up quickly and save up more money. With that thought, I reached for my third piece of youkan until I heard Kaoru’s voice from the entrance.

“I’m back. These shoes... Do we have a guest?”

I thought I would still have time before the training session ended, but she’d come home sooner than I’d expected.

Shit! What should I do? “Ahem, Mr. Tatsu... I just remembered that I need to do something, so I’ll go home now. Goodbye,” I said.

“Oh, okay,” replied Mr. Tatsu, smiling. “You’re always welcome here. There’ll be more tasty snacks waiting for you.”

I bowed to Mr. Tatsu and tried to escape through the exterior corridor. But the loud creaking of the corridor’s floorboards gave me away, and I wasn’t sure if their age was to blame or my weight. I started to panic.

“Souta,” exclaimed Kaoru.

When I turned around, I found her staring at me. She’d discovered me, so I decided to act like I was well within my rights to be here.

“Oh, hi!” I said. “Funny meeting you here!”

“Is it?” responded Kaoru. “I live here, remember?”

Yes. Technically, this was her home.

“Oomiya said she’d be your partner at the next training session,” she continued. “And that you’d take it seriously.”

“Y-Yep!” I faltered. “So you don’t have to worry about me. Anyway, I’ve got things to do, so—”

“Hold on.”

Kaoru stopped me when I tried to leave again. She seemed to think something over, then began acting awkwardly. She rarely acted like this... Had she come down with food poisoning or something?

“You’ve...changed, haven’t you?” she said at last. “Recently. Or it feels like you have.”

Her question was rather vague, but I knew what she meant. She was talking about how I was different from how Piggy had been before joining the high school. Although her vagueness made it sound like she wasn’t sure what exactly about me had changed.

I definitely have, I thought.

I could’ve said that I was an entirely different person. There was no more sexual harassment, and I was having success with my diet and exercise. Leveling up was going fine, and I was doing well in the dungeon. I could’ve told her to watch me make it big. But I did not, and I would not.

Instead, I put on an awkward smile and gave her a curt reply. “I’m the same as I’ve ever been. See you later.”

Realizing I wouldn’t open up to her, Kaoru lowered her eyes. She looked ever so slightly lonely. But that was how it had to be. She had enough to worry about with school and needed to focus all her mental energy on those problems. That was what would lead her to greatness.

But I’ll be there to save you if it gets out of hand, I promised myself. That’s why I’m going to become stronger than anyone else.

I turned my back to her and walked down the corridor. She didn’t hear the promise I’d made. Regardless, I felt her watching me as I left. She was staring at me, I knew it. Eventually, she called out to me.

“Souta.”

I turned around, wondering whether I’d brushed her off too curtly. Looking at me, Kaoru lifted her pretty index finger and pointed—

“The door’s the other way.”