Ruria and Meifa (1)

"… Haa…"

In her private room at the Eora inn, Ruria let out an absent sigh.

"… What troubles you, Onee-sama?"

The maid Meifa asked politely.

"He was incredible, wasn't he… Naoto…"

"By Naoto, do you mean our friend Nato? Or the S-Class Master Akai Naoto-sama?"

Meifa cocked her head adorably as she asked.

"Th-that's…"

Ruria gave an awkward, wry smile.

"… I meant Akai Naoto-sama, who became an S-Class Master. He was tremendously strong.

"I cheered him on so enthusiastically I lost my voice… how unbecoming of me."

"No, please forgive me as well."

"And when Naoto-sama won, the two of us hugged and celebrated together. Fufufu, it was so fun, like being back in the old days."

"No, please forgive me."

"… Honestly! I don't mind at all…"

Ruria wanted to interact with Meifa as the close sisters they once were, but Meifa refused to budge from the master-servant relationship.

Ruria looked quite frustrated by Meifa's stiff, formal manner.

"… So, about that… Meifa. You noticed too, didn't you?"

"Noticed what?"

"That our friend Nato is that… S-Class Master Akai Naoto-sama!

"… Haaa… I can't believe it. The discourtesies I've inflicted on him until now…"

Ruria slumped, head hanging.

"(So she's finally noticed…)"

Looking down at Ruria, Meifa felt disappointed.

For Meifa, it had been obvious from their very first meeting that Nato's true identity was Akai Naoto — A-Class rank 1, now S-Class rank 24.

Knowing that, she'd been enjoying the spectacle of an oblivious Ruria, so it was a real shame for her mistress to finally catch on.

Ruria had had several chances to notice before now. That she'd failed to recognize Naoto this long was largely because Meifa had been covering for him.

A Ruria so trustingly fooled was just too cute!

… Meifa loved Ruria far more than Ruria realized.

But Meifa also had a bad habit of teasing, even bullying, the Ruria she loved beyond words, and delighting in watching her squirm.

Her usual stiff, almost-rude manner was just her way of indulging that sadistic streak — because Ruria's lonely-pout reaction was so cute.

Meifa was that sort of slightly… no, deeply troublesome girl.

But Ruria hadn't picked up on this bad habit of Meifa's. Or rather, she accepted Meifa wholly for who she was, so she didn't even feel the need to recognize it as a troublesome hobby in the first place.

"(But let me try one last time to throw her off)"

Meifa, who'd do anything to tease her mistress, fired up her mischief mode.

By this point she was well on her way to being the principal offender.

"Onee-sama, why do you believe so?"

Like a kind, motherly figure, with the gaze of an elder sister watching over a younger one (the two were the same age, though by birthday Meifa was the younger), she gently inquired.

"W-well… his appearance, for one… no matter how I look at it, it's the same person…

"And the names match, and the bit about the duel to decide who'd become Sub-Master matches too… could there really be such a coincidence…?

"If they're the same person, everything makes sense… is what I think."

"(… With all the evidence lined up like this and she still has room to doubt — soft-hearted, or just… well, my mistress and all, but she's adorable, Onee-sama)"

If Akai Naoto had approached Ruria with any kind of malice, Meifa would never have shown mercy. But she sensed no malice from him.

… Which was precisely why Meifa was going along with his mischief at full throttle and enjoying it.

"Ruria-sama. I am of the Faerie-kin, so my vision and hearing both far surpass that of the human race.

"And as one who has confirmed it with those superior senses, I can declare without doubt…

"He, Akai Naoto, and Nato are different people. 100% without question."

"Eh? R-really?"

"Yes. 100% without question."

This exchange carried a private convention only the two of them shared.

Between Ruria and Meifa, there was an ironclad running joke that anything declared "100% without question" almost always turned out to be wrong.

Because Ruria's mother had been an otherworld transmigrator, the two had often read otherworld books from childhood, and they'd laughed together at how, in much of that fiction, probabilities couldn't be trusted at all.

The 1% always hit; the 100% always missed.

Since betrayal was a fundamental story-beat, it was certainly a common pattern.

Ever since, deliberately declaring "100% without question" on things highly likely to miss, then laughing when they did, had become a standard inside joke between them.

That said, Ruria placed complete trust in Meifa, and no matter how many times Meifa's "100%" had been wrong, when Meifa said it, Ruria still tended to believe her.

For Ruria, Meifa's "100%" was understood as a promise meaning "I don't have confidence, so laugh and forgive me if I'm wrong."

For Meifa, it was used to mean "I have absolute confidence that this is wrong."

And as for Ruria's misreading of the convention, Meifa understood and left it alone.

… It was a declaration that worked precisely because of that relationship.

"… R-right. Right. If Meifa says so, then maybe that's how it is…"

For Ruria, the thought of having lectured down to an elite-of-elites S-Class Master, having treated him as her inferior, having committed every kind of rudeness — well, it would be a relief if that weren't the case.

That hope had her clinging to Meifa's opinion.

… Of course Naoto didn't think there was anything wrong with Ruria's attitude, but Ruria had no way of knowing that.

"But no matter how I look at it, it's painfully obvious — it can only be the same person…"

… Until now, when she'd seen him on TV, it had only left a vague impression.

To begin with, TV broadcasts of Garumon battles mostly framed close-ups on the cute Garumon, and Masters were barely shown.

So unless a Master was profiled in a Garumon yearbook, or you encountered them up close, you generally didn't know what they looked like.

Meifa had remembered the faint glimpse of Naoto's appearance she'd caught during A-Class Tournament broadcasts on TV, but Ruria hadn't. It wasn't that Ruria was uniquely oblivious; there were probably many Masters like her.

Especially newcomer Masters busy with their own impending graduation.

… But this time, she'd seen him in person at the venue.

Sure, the beautiful Garumon throwing down a flashy battle stood out more and drew everyone's attention.

But if you wanted to look at the Master directing them, you could.

And no newcomer Master would fail to pay attention to how S-Class — or A-Class Masters aiming for S-Class — gave their instructions.

So…

"Eh, Nato? Why is Nato here!?"

Ruria had noticed almost immediately and been thrown into confusion.

… Quickly enough her eyes were stolen by the ferocious battle that began, and she'd brushed it off at the time.

"(Now, deflecting from here is rather a tall order… but since she internally doesn't want to believe it, I see room to exploit)"

Meifa took the long-odds gamble.

"Is that so? Akai Naoto-shi had his hair and clothes perfectly squared away — dignified, gallant-looking.

"Our Nato is much more laid-back, all easygoing smiles, isn't he?"

"Th-that, that might be true… but to put it that way… I-I don't think his appearance is bad at all."

"I'm not saying it's bad either. But he's the laid-back type. Doesn't that not quite match the image of Akai Naoto-sama, with that sharp, glaring gaze?"

… Even Meifa, who was certain Naoto and Nato were the same person, thought,

"(Is that really the Nato we know?)"

That's how different the impression had been… Between a Naoto who'd casually shown up to check out newcomer Masters between training breaks, and a Naoto fighting an all-or-nothing showdown against the S-Class Master Ursula Belzebute, of course the impression would differ.

"T-that's, well… certainly…"

"And his name isn't all that rare, is it? We have one in our circle of acquaintances too…"

"Yes, well, certainly…"

It was more at the level of "one in her parents' old acquaintances," but still.

True, it wasn't a name on the level of one you'd never heard.

"The duel to decide who'd be Sub-Master isn't an unthinkable scenario either.

"You'd be in a pinch if you hadn't arranged something like that by the time you became B-Class, wouldn't you?"

"That's, well… certainly.

"I should probably get a head start on identifying someone I could see as my Sub-Master too."

"Per the above, every one of Ruria-sama's grounds lacks decisive force and is insufficient as evidence that he is Akai Naoto.

"… If you still have doubts, why not try sending him a message?

"If he were Akai Naoto, he should be too busy right now with parties celebrating his S-Class appointment to respond to messages.

"If a reply comes right away, that means he's a different person from our Nato."

"R-right. I'll try contacting him.

"If Nato were really Akai Naoto-sama, there's no way he'd reply that quickly. Up until now he's always replied to messages within the hour, though…"

Ruria began writing her message.

While she did, Meifa quietly composed a message of her own.

 

*

 

"Oh, a message from Ruria."

Now then, given she'd watched today's battle, she'd surely realize I was Akai Naoto.

… Kind of scary. What if it was a resentful well, weren't you just great at deceiving us kind of complaint?

If so, all I could do was apologize profusely…

Pathetic for an S-Class Master, but still.

"Naoto-sama, you've received a message from Meifa-san, whom you mentioned the other day."

Just then, Colette came in with another notification.

"… Eh, are you holding up okay, Colette?"

The concern slipped out reflexively.

Right now, we'd postponed the victory party.

The reason… Colette and Libera were in serious trouble.

… Yeah, I'd been underestimating S-Class. That kind of level.

Hundreds of thousands of messages were pouring in from all over the world, and Colette and Libera were both completely overwhelmed.

Lyuka and Yuria, Mikoto and Ursula — every able hand was mobilized to help, and it still wasn't ending.

Even so, three full days should manage it, they said, so we'd decided to extend at least three days.

Really, mountains of acquaintances I'd never even heard of. They say when you win the lottery your relatives multiply, but this was a few thousand times worse.

Even overwhelmed like that, she was still bringing me messages from acquaintances with almost no time lag.

I patted Colette's head in praise — good girl, good girl.

Colette narrowed her eyes happily. Cute.

She set down the letter and withdrew… Probably heading back into the warzone.

The veteran Ursula had told me three days was usually enough for things to settle down…

But for Ursula it had only been Libera handling it, three days; mine was apparently several times that volume.

Looked like my name-recognition from the Reido Academy article had drawn too much attention from all sorts of people nationwide.

I felt bad and tried to help out, but Colette and Libera flatly refused to let a Master handle such menial work.

I was sorry, but that was what their secretary skills were for.

I'd let them tough it out and use the time to take care of other things.

… Now then, on to the messages.

"Hm? Meifa?"

The sender was unexpected, now that I thought about it.

She was Ruria's companion, that very cute elf maid-san.

I'd become Friends with Ruria, but not with her, so since direct messages weren't possible, she must have sent through the official channel that goes to my secretary.

Of course I wanted to get closer to her too… but honestly, I hadn't been able to talk with her much, so I was curious what the message was about.

If it was well, weren't you just great at deceiving my mistress — that'd be scary.

I'd start with Meifa's message.

『It's been a while. I am Meifa, Ruria-sama's maid. Congratulations on your S-Class promotion.

My mistress Ruria was greatly excited and overjoyed.

Now then, seeing your performance, Naoto-sama, even our oblivious mistress seems to have realized that Nato-san is in fact Akai Naoto-sama.

It would not be amusing if she figured it out, so I've done my best to deflect on my end, but she remains only half-convinced.

Accordingly, to prevent suspicion from being raised on your end, Naoto-sama, I would appreciate an early reply. Best regards.』

… That kind of message.

… Hey now, Meifa-san.

So that was it. I'd been thinking even Ruria not noticing was a bit much, but next to her this person had been deflecting and covering for me.

… She seemed like someone with a decent sense of humor.

I took a liking to Meifa-san, whom I hadn't talked with much yet.

First, I sent a reply to her.

『Thank you for contacting me. This is Akai Naoto. Thank you for the congratulations.

I don't want there to be any misunderstanding — I have no intent to deceive Ruria.

… Well, I won't deny I've been enjoying her not realizing and choosing not to say.

If Ruria notices and asks, I'll answer honestly. I won't tell any more lies.』

I sent that off…

And now, on to Ruria's message.

『Good evening. This is Ruria.

How did today's duel turn out? I believe with all my heart that you won.

I went to watch the duel between Akai Naoto-sama and Ursula Belzebute-sama.

… It was an incredible match. Both of them were tremendously strong, in a fierce clash, and I came to admire them both.

Someday I want to be a Master capable of fighting such an incredible match. That is what I think.

I want to hear your victory report directly. Could we meet tomorrow?』

… A simple message like that.

Hmm, her tone was stiff. She'd switched to polite speech… I saw, her half-believing state was showing on the surface.

Honestly, staying silent any longer seemed untenable…

But well, as I told Meifa, I'd keep deliberately not saying until she noticed and asked.

… Meifa-san really did have quite the personality, though.

To think she was hiding such a mischievous true nature behind that prim-and-proper maid style.

But I could see why — Ruria has the kind of cuteness that makes you want to tease her.

… Well, even if I don't say, I figure it'll end as a funny story. I'll stay silent and tease her right up to the limit.

Meifa-san was my accomplice… or rather, by any reasonable measure she was already turning into the principal, so I felt at ease.

Because I just hadn't said anything. I wasn't lying.

Sure, let's meet tomorrow, sorry for keeping you waiting — I replied immediately.

… And the next day.

Since I'd been active in Eora for a good while, I figured plenty of people would remember my face there, so I had her come to this town of Amen.

But really… in this world there are a lot of cases where people don't remember faces, especially Masters' faces.

TV broadcasts mostly close in on the Garumon, and Masters are barely shown.

So I got the sense there were many people who just didn't know what Masters looked like to begin with.

Of course, when a Master was a cute futanari Master, they got close-ups at every opportunity and became famous. Broadcasters know what their viewers want to see.

… That said, with all my appearances in the A-Class Tournament and the S-Class swap match and so on, my face wasn't totally unknown.

But when people who noticed me made an ah! face and immediately checked the System… Tch, just somebody who looks like him, misleading.

That kind of thing — they'd click their tongue and walk away.

Which meant the System's notation was that trusted.

Information Concealment really was useful.

… Though, that just meant I was easy to overlook.

Since my face wasn't actually hidden, if I'd had a really standout appearance I figure the cover wouldn't hold.

Good thing I had plain looks. A little sad, but still.

I thought I'd arrived a little earlier than the appointed time, but Ruria and Meifa were already waiting.

A princess in a beautiful dress, and an equally beautiful elf maid.

The two unworldly beauties stood out far more than I did, an S-Class Master.

"… Ah, Nato!"

Ruria waved her hand vigorously with a flower-like smile. Cute… I waved back.

"There are still a lot of newcomer Masters around, huh…"

Lots of sparkling young Masters still out and about.

Come to think of it, I'd been holed up the past month and barely walked through Amen.

Only when meeting Ruria.

"Yes, mid-April is roughly when the newcomer Master graduation season ends.

"The latter half of April it drops off quickly, and by May they're mostly gone, apparently."

Ruria explained.

I'd only learned afterwards via Garumon Communications that I'd debuted late, under disadvantageous conditions.

But mixed among the sparkling young Masters were also young Masters crouched with dark eyes.

Newcomer Masters who'd stumbled at G-Class, maybe.

Hmm, a little pitiful… but it couldn't be helped.

You lose everything when you lose.

Now that I'd risen in rank too, maybe I ought to turn my attention to the lives of these civic folks and think about how to improve them… that kind of thing.

Well, for now, let me enjoy my time with Ruria.

"It's been a while. Sorry I haven't been able to see you much."

"Eh, e-eh… It's fine. I'm glad we could meet."

For now, let's catch up on recent events.

"Congratulations on your promotion to D-Class."

I offered that as my greeting.

So it said. The ranking of someone who'd just risen to D-Class. Probably the fastest of this year's newcomer debutants.

"You won safely too. Congratulations!

"… D-Class 200th… R-right. Of course, the idea that you might be Akai Naoto… that's not possible, is it."

The latter half was muttered under her breath, so I let it pass.

… Did this count as lying?

But I didn't need to respond to a private mutter, right?

"It's been a while, Meifa-san."

I greeted Meifa.

Meifa elegantly bowed.

But she also met my eyes and smiled.

A little bit of an accomplices-in-teasing-Ruria vibe of mutual understanding.

Even with Meifa and me exchanging glances, Ruria didn't seem particularly bothered.

… Normally, you'd suspect what are these two scheming? or something.

She must have trusted Meifa from the bottom of her heart.

She was a bit of an airhead… no, I got it.

For me, to be able to trust someone doesn't mean believing this person won't deceive me; it means feeling that it'd be okay even if I were deceived by them.

Meifa was probably that kind of presence for Ruria.

… Pulling pranks on a Ruria like that and staying perfectly composed — Meifa really did have nerve, I felt anew.

She wasn't a bad girl, and the way she cherished Ruria was clear at a glance.

But maybe it was a being-mean-to-the-girl-you-like kind of thing…

Today let's enjoy ourselves with the two of them.

I started walking with Ruria and Meifa flanking me on either side.

As we walked, we chatted little by little about the time we hadn't been able to see each other.

"How is the town of Eora?"

"Yes, well. It's not bad. Lively… but the inn we're at now is a bit of a problem.

"The major chain inns had very pushy touts, so I avoided them, and then there weren't many decent inns left."

"An inn, huh… I always commuted from home by teleport…"

Come to think of it, I didn't know any inns besides Leone's.

It was the finest inn in history, but I'd been the one to shutter it.

Hmm, if she realized who I was, maybe I could try telling Ruria she was welcome to come to my home.

But inviting a girl into our love nest was way too much an ulterior-motive move…

I mean, I did have ulterior motives though.

"I see… I have a home too, you know. It's my father's estate.

"But since I went to all the trouble of going out on a journey, I want to experience these hardships too."

Oh, looked like I was being meddlesome.

"Ahh… the hardships of travel are indeed fun."

"Yes — noisy neighbors, cramped rooms. Spiderwebs hanging, only cold water in the bath.

"But all of it's fun. I have Meifa with me, after all."

"Ahaha…"

The conversation flowed.

… Ahh, this felt comfortable somehow.

Not just cuteness, but the comfort of spending time together like this…

I was sure Ruria and I had great compatibility.

I really wanted her as a companion… I wanted to support Ruria's dream of becoming an incredible Master, so I wasn't planning to fully take her in as one, but if I could at least temporarily make her a Knight, and then stay close after that… it would be nice if it could go that way.

That's what I thought.

With Ruria and Meifa, our topics seemed nowhere near running out.