Your and My Asylum: Volume 3 – Chapter 1
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I organized the current situation.
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First, Sii’s arm was cut off by the Silver Lion Earl.
Second, although we succeeded in somehow sticking Sii’s arm back on, be it Sii or myself, we were both very upset at the Silver Lion Earl.
Third, that’s why⎯⎯⎯ we’ve decided to receive an apology from the Silver Lion Earl.
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I hugged Sii tightly and comforted her. Although her weeping had ended relatively quickly, her body took a long period of time to cool down.
Sii had her head lowered with a bright red complexion on her face, the redness contained a meaning that was different from the similar color which she was displaying earlier. She spoke.
“Yujin······.”
“Yes?”
“Uhm······ if you could let me go now.”
I released her. After being flustered for a long moment, she grabbed my sides, lifted me up, and set me down on the floor next to the bed. Sii sat on the edge of the bed and stuck her foot out towards me. Once my service reached near the heel of her foot, Sii, who was just barely able to calm her bashfulness down, gave me a sidelong glance.
“But Yujin······. How are you going to make Her Excellency······the Earl apologize?”
“There are two methods that come to mind immediately.”
I massaged Sii’s toe.
“First, threaten her with violence. The execution of this in itself is already impossible right off the bat and even if we did manage to carry it out, it’d be impossible to obtain the desired result. If Miss Sii wishes to hear the reason, then I’ll explain.”
“V-Violence, something like that······ ······ ······ explain. Why is it impossible?”
“Miss Sii and the Earl certainly are siblings.”
“Mm~~! What are you saying all of a sudden!”
I believed that the two of them were truly related.
Furthermore, if you look at the fact that Sii did nothing more than puff out her cheeks, she must certainly be aware of her bloodline as well.
“There are 4 obstacles standing before the execution of that plan. For starters, I dislike violence.”
“You’re changing the subject······ I actually don’t like violence either. Something like making a person listen through violence, that’s really, incredibly, the worst way of thinking.”
“If we put aside the weaponry which the Silver Lion Earl possesses as an unknown factor, then there are two remaining obstacles. They’re both respectively related to the power which the Silver Lion Earl has, the beings which she can summon and the strength that comes along with them. It’d be difficult to make it so that she’s unable to use her summoning ability and even if we’re able to make her use up all of her summons, I’m also a summoned being, so if she cancels my summon, then I’ll just end up returning back to my original world.”
“Don’t ignore what I say! Mm~~ really······. What about the part about it being impossible to obtain the desired result even if we do carry it out?”
“It’s impossible to correct someone through violence.”
Sii looked at me blankly.
“Yujin, occasionally says some incredibly
sane things sometimes.”
I looked at Sii blankly as well.
The pouting Sii started patting my head with her right hand. I stopped Sii’s hand by grabbing her wrist and changed it so that she was patting my head with her left hand. Sii had a puzzled expression on her face before she became red and shifted her patting to stroking my head.
“If it’s impossible, then why did you mention it?”
“Ideas aren’t things that fall from the sky, but they are things that must be dug out from the ground. If you wish to excavate something useful, then you have to dig with a shovel. I’d normally do this in my head by myself, but I have someone to do this together with right now.”
“I-Is someone like me helpful?”
Sii uttered while opening her eyes wider than usual and stealing glances at me. Although it’s a situation where the answer was already there and all she had to do was say it, instead of pointing that out, I lifted the end of her hand and placed it against my lips. Starting from the end of her hand, Sii became bright red and her lips twitched.
“Mm~~······ Yujin, occasionally does some incredibly cute things sometimes.”
Those words flowed as well.
“There’s no need for you to try and see ‘more’ than what I do. Try to look at things that are ‘different’ from what I see. In other words, there is no need for you to ‘match’ what I say and attempt to ‘put strength’ into my opinion. You should either go ‘against’ me or ‘raise an objection’ to what I say. That’s what friends are supposed to do.”
“······ Friend.”
“Yes. As much as that is the case, just as I had said earlier, if you have an opinion or an idea, then say them without reserve. Don’t be seized by the sense that your thoughts are ‘nonsense’, and like right now, start off by laying out all of your thoughts and explain why they’re nonsense. If you repeat this process, then there will be occasions where you’re able to discover veins of gold.”
“Veins of gold······ Okay, I understand! Coincidentally, since I’m the adopted daughter of a blacksmith! I’ll make sure to always hit gold!”
Sii clenched her first and firmed her resolve. I pressed my lips against the end of that hand and sat beside her.
“I’ll continue. The second method of making the Silver Lion Earl apologize. Make an exchange.”
“······ Exchange?”
“‘I was just barely able to consolidate my enthusiasm, but I feel like a keyword completely unrelated to apologizing came out······.’ Did you think this just now?”
“Eh! I didn······ mm, no~~ Yup, I honestly, was······ Yup······I honestly thought that.”
“Let’s confirm our respective objectives. I do not want to break the Silver Lion Earl.”
I grabbed Sii’s hand and explained.
“I believe that a punishment is required. I also believe that she must be corrected. Regardless of whatever past she has experienced, I believe that she’s crossed the boundary of what’s forgivable or not. However, my ultimate goal is to make the Silver Lion Earl regret her decisions. My goal isn’t to kill, break, or destroy her.”
“Okay······ I see. Mm······. Yujin is kind, after all, that’s right.”
“It’s not kindness. It’s selfishness, experience, and childishness.”
“······Please explain.”
“It’s selfishness since if we were to kill or break the Silver Lion Earl, then I would be unable to return to my world. It’s experience because I’ve destroyed someone before and I know the sense of futility that comes from it. It’s childishness since I haven’t personally experienced something that severe yet.”
“The first two make sense, but Yujin, if being kidnapped and being forced to live an irrational life isn’t within the category of being severe to you, then what does ‘something severe’ mean to Yujin?”
“Are you curious?”
“Yes. Yujin was the one who told me to stop moderately agreeing to things.”
I nodded.
“Doing something like that to someone who is more precious than me.”
I answered.
“That’s what a ‘severe action’ towards me is.”
Half-opened eyes. Sii’s pupils, which felt as if they were stuck on a horizon, rose up and ended up in a state where they were stuck on a different horizon, but upside down.
“Yujin, are you not precious?”
“I am. However, there are things that are more precious than me.”
“Okay.”
Sii nodded her head.
“I see.”
Sii uttered.
A short silence.
“And what about Miss Sii?”
“I, want.”
Sii responded. I, want.
She then continued.
“I, want to break her.”
While biting her lower lip, tightly, Sii spoke while gripping onto my hand like a predatory bird latching onto its prey.
“I won’t kill. Yujin told me that there’s nothing past that after all. But, at the very least, I want to return the hardship that I had to go through. Give back the pain that I had to experience down to the last dot, mm, I want to return that pain to her a hundred fold. I want to make it so that she becomes so afraid of me that she’s unable to look me in the eyes, make her lick my feet while in front of others. I want to give her humiliation and pain. I’m.”
I’m, Sii continued.
“I’m a shallow and cruel person. I’m ungrateful, and I really have no sense of honor······, Like Yujin had said earlier, in moments like this, I feel like that person’s sibling. Yup, I feel like that, but.”
After taking a deep breath, Sii Garno Mikatni pressed her hand against her forehead.
“Every time I feel like this, a thought comes to my head as well. Why am I the only one who’s going through this? Bad things become better if everyone shares it⎯⎯⎯. I can’t throw away this way of thinking······ Really, I think, that I’m a lowly human.”
Her words started off spitefully and ended as self-deprecations. Sii, who was taking a moment to catch her breath, fixed her complexion, which was giving off a white glow, and finally gazed down at the hand which she was holding onto. After seeing my hand that had become completely pale because of her grip, Sii became tearful.
“Sorry, it hurts, right?”
“It’s all right.”
“Sorry······ at that time too, it must have hurt.”
“I said it back then as well, but it’s all right. If it did hurt, then all Miss Sii has to do is repent and not do it anymore. It’s fine to repent later if you’re unable to do so now.”
I told her while adjusting the position of my glasses. Sii, while massaging my hand,
“······Whenever I listen to what Yujin says, I feel like the world is quite simple. Even a twisted human like me is able to feel like this. One day, I want to be like Yujin, is what I believe.”
“Although I don’t recommend it.”
Sii smiled bitterly. She didn’t pry any further.
I spoke.
“Since the difference between our goals is something that’ll take time to change, let’s adjust them gradually over time. The smaller goal⎯⎯⎯since receiving an apology is the common ground between our goals, let’s discuss mainly about that.”
“Okay. An exchange, right? What kind of exchange are you talking about?”
“Place the Silver Lion Earl’s apology on one side of the balance and we’ll contemplate on what we’ll place on the opposite side. If it’s a shell of an apology, then that’s something that can be obtained by moderately establishing a distinguished service, however, if we wish to receive an apology that’s not just a shell but an apology that contains pain within it as well, then the thing we have to place on our side of the balance must be heavier.”
“Balance······ Ah, a scale. Mm~ an apology that contains pain······ is it not supposed to be an apology that contains sincerity?”
“You cannot purchase an apology that contains sincerity with an exchange.”
Silence.
“Like I said, Yujin occasionally says some incredibly sane things sometimes.”
“What do you think would be appropriate to place on the balance?”
“Mm~~ you ignored me again······ I don’t want a shell of an apology. If I were to hear something like that, then that would just make me boil on the inside more. That’s why, at the very least, if it can be purchased in a trade, then I want to buy a pain-filled apology. In regard to what to put on the other side of the scale······ Hm······ not a distinguished service, but wouldn’t we need a threat?”
If, instead of a practical reward for a distinguished service, you could reward the individual by saying just a single thing to them, then anyone would pick that option. In the end, pain originates from ‘doing something even though you don’t want to’ after all. The very act of understanding this held a great resemblance to the Silver Lion Earl.
I acknowledged that resemblance.
“That’s correct. Although it’s possible through a distinguished service, if we neglect it, then we’ll need to carry out a service that’s on par with rescuing the Earl when she herself is in danger, so the keypoint is a threat.”
“Rather than that, I don’t want to establish a distinguished service! Just what am I feeling lacking about that I have no other choice but to perform a feat? To that girl······ Mm, really······.”
Sii closed her mouth. That expression of hers, which was more dyed in self-hatred than it was rage, probably came from the fact that she was aware that she was behaving like a child.
I stroked her head.
“Miss Sii.”
“Hm?”
“A line where you will not yield is important, however, if you become buried underneath that line, then you will lose your goal. For that part, I believe that a professional-like mind is necessary.”
I paused for a moment before continuing.
“The Silver Lion Earl is the lord of this City of Confinement. She possesses a faction that’s loyal to her. Her mentality may be unstable, but because of that, she possesses a dangerous charm that radiates from her demeanor. You want to show that individual Hell, right? If that’s the case, then ultimately, you need to have a charisma that’s great enough to go against her.”
“Charisma······.”
Sii made a face that appeared as if she were embracing my words into her chest.
“······, ······, Okay. I’ll, work hard. You’ll help, right?”
“Of course.”
Sii nodded. I stroked her head a bit more before removing my hand and speaking.
“In that regard, if we’re to perform a distinguished service, then we need an achievement that’s impressive enough to receive the admiration of someone who’s either the same rank as the Silver Lion Earl or higher. If we’re going to threaten her, then we need to have a hold on her weakness. In order to do so, for starters, we have to gather information, but mm······ it’d be good if we had a little more people on our side······.”
We needed at least two other people to handle the things which both Sii and I will most likely be unable to manage on our own. Although there were some strong candidates, something that I could provide for them from my end······ there were things that I brought from Earth, but it’d most likely be impossible to obtain a proper sympathizer with this kind of physical reward. If it’s like that, then a slightly different method······.
“Hey, Yujin.”
I paused.
Sii spoke towards me.
“I, since I’ll be thinking a lot like Yujin told me to. Since I’ll be doing my best. Lessen your thoughts a bit, Yujin. ······You shouldn’t rush.”
She was right.
Nothing good would come from being hasty.
“Yes, let’s proceed slowly.”
Once I stroked her head again, Sii looked at me with narrowed eyes.
“For someone who uses formal speech, you stroke my head however you please. I believe that Yujin, is an irreverent child.”
“Is it unpleasant?”
“I never said that!” Sii lowered her head and pressed her forehead against my shoulder. “······more. A bit more. Do it all the way to the back of my neck.”
I did so.