Magical Girl Tyrant Sylph

Chapter 122

Chapter 4 — Sleep, until your life is over • Episode 4–1 — Succubus ②

Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV

The sound of knives tapping on cutting boards and the sound of simmering ingredients are used as background music while the player controls characters from an indie action game from a long time ago. At first, players can only perform monotonous actions such as jumping and attacking, but as they explore the map and defeat bosses located in various areas, their equipment becomes more faithful and they can do more. The more I can do, the more I can explore the map, and the more I can do, and the more I play, the more I enjoy the game.

I had been interested in this game since I saw the PV when it was first released, but I had put it off for some reason because I had other games I wanted to play. However, when I finally got around to playing it, I found that it is indeed a highly acclaimed game. I found myself playing with my friends, forgetting to eat or sleep, and Futaba, who happened to come by to check on me, saw my emaciated appearance and got angry with her a lot.

That was yesterday, and I was enjoying the rest of the game in high spirits, having eaten well and slept well and feeling 100 times more energetic, when Futaba came over again yesterday and began to make lunch with great dexterity.

I told her that there was no need for her to come, that I had already eaten breakfast today and that she was probably busy after the summer break at the university, but she said that I looked worse than I thought I did yesterday and that she would check on me every day for a while. That’s how we are waiting for the meal to be ready while playing the game.

Well, I don’t doubt that Futaba meant what she said because she was really worried and angry about the mess yesterday, but that’s not the only reason why she comes to check on me every day.

I was completely screwed because I didn’t pursue it deeply before, but it seems that Futaba’s Magical Girl friend who snuck into this house to spy on my transformation was, surprisingly, Doppelganger-san. And Doppelganger-san has asked me what I said about「taking my family back」the day of that competition, when I forgot to turn off the comms. I had completely forgotten about it because she didn’t pursue it on the spot, but later Futaba asked me what I meant by that word. She was wondering if perhaps her brother is involved in some kind of Magical Girl related case.

It was not a good idea to say something thought-provoking before the competition. I said, “I can’t tell you now, but I will surely lead you to a happy ending.” Probably Futaba guessed from those contents that Mizukami Ryōichi was involved in something serious. It was a perfectly good solution, but I couldn’t confess the fact at this point, and in the end, I managed to escape Futaba’s pursuit by repeating that I couldn’t say anything at the moment. Futaba has never mentioned it to me since then, but I’m sure she’s concerned about it.

And one more thing. Maybe this is the most important thing, but Futaba insisted insistently that I should go to school. Unlike earlier, this topic has been repeated over and over again, so I think the persuasion will begin again today after the meal. At first she thought I was a truant, or why I didn’t want to go to school, or if I was being bullied or something, she cut me off to go to a different school, somehow, after learning that my family register didn’t exist, she came to the realization that I had never been enrolled in school in the first place, and that I could go to school even if I didn’t have a family register, she began to talk to me about how there were many children the same age as Ryō-chan at the elementary school and how she was sure I would make friends with them.

If Mizukami Ryō is, as Futaba mistakenly believes, a tragic girl who never entered elementary school and is fighting for her life while her family is involved, then this is a completely agreeable argument, unfortunately, Mizukami Ryō is only a fictional existence, and here I am Mizukami Ryōichi, a 30-year-old man who graduated from elementary school long ago without making a single friend. How can she now say I will attend elementary school? I don’t want to go to elementary school.

Perhaps because I was slightly depressed that I was going to be lectured again after the meal, I couldn’t concentrate on the game, my hand went crazy, and the boss beat me.

「Haah—」

「That’s a big sigh. What’s troubling you, Ryō-chan?」

It seems that Futaba, who brought the finished dishes, saw me, and she asked me that in a worried voice. As expected, it’s hard to say here that I’m depressed about being lectured. Because I know that Futaba is also thinking about me and saying that.

「No, it’s nothing serious.」

「Really? If you have any problems, you can talk to me about anything.」

「Okay, I appreciate it.」

Worries, worries. To be honest, it is a kind of escape from reality that I am now getting involved in a game that I never touched before and that I forget to eat and sleep. I know that myself, but then I don’t know what else to do. Why did Elephant-san do that?

When I think back to that day, my face naturally turns red and I remember the touch of her lips on mine.

「I–Itadakimasu!」

「Mmph, Ryō-chan. You don’t have to be so impatient, the food won’t run away from you. Itadakimasu.」

Once I become aware of it, I can no longer do it, and I can only think of that time. Not wanting this to be obvious, Futaba chuckled somewhat happily and began to eat herself as she devoured the food that was brought to her desk.

.

————I like you, Sylph-chan. I love you. I want to make you my own. I don’t want to give you to anyone. Even if it’s your family, Sylph-chan.

The words that Chisaki-san told me after she kissed me. Of course, I love her. I really love her. But of course, that was my feeling as a friend. I thought Chisaki-san was the same. Chisaki-san is very nice to me, but it’s not because I’m special, Chisaki-san is just nice to me. I thought I was just one of Chisaki-san’s many friends.

But maybe that’s not what Chisaki-san was talking about that day. It’s true that I have never had any friends other than Chisaki-san, and I am aware that I’m not familiar with the subtleties of human relationships, but I still know that friends do not kiss each other. That shouldn’t be any different for girls or boys.

So, I think what Chisaki-san meant when she said “I love you” to me back then was “I love you romantically”.

I couldn’t understand why. I guess Chisaki-san was busy after her summer vacation, but until that day, the distance between me and Chisaki-san seemed to be widening rather than shrinking. We hadn’t seen each other at all and hadn’t kept in touch. And yet, as soon as I saw her for the first time in a while, it was like that.

I didn’t know what was going on that day, and I was in a blank state of mind all the way home. Back at the venue of the victory celebration, Chisaki-san was behaving as usual as if nothing had happened, nor was there anything particularly unusual that had happened in the recent past.

Besides, she told me she likes me, but I don’t know what Chisaki-san wants from me on top of that. Chisaki-san may joke around, but she’s not the kind of lousy person who would lie and make fun of me like that. So even though I don’t know Chisaki-san’s inner thoughts, I think what was said is true. But it’s not like she asked me for a relationship, and I wonder what she meant when she said she would make me fall in love with her.

Or rather, in the first place, which me was it that Chisaki-san said she liked?

The Magical Girl Tyrant Sylph? Or a girl named Mizukami Ryō? It can’t be Mizukami Ryōichi, by any chance. I have never met Chisaki-san as the real me, even though I have shown her pictures.

What did she like about me like this? I’m not the kind of person that anyone would love. I’ve known that for a long, long time. Long, long ago.

But even though I don’t understand it, I still believe Chisaki-san’s words. I am happy no matter which part of me Chisaki-san likes. I am happy no matter which part of me she likes.

That is why it pains me that I would not be able to reciprocate such a favor from Chisaki-san.

The feeling I have for Chisaki-san is surely friendship. My special feelings for Chisaki-san haven’t changed since before, and the feelings of warmth, excitement, and happiness in my heart when I think of her have always been the same. Ever since Chisaki-san took my hand and became my friend, she has been the best for me. If that hasn’t changed since she confessed her love for me, then I guess this feeling I have is friendship. I don’t want to lie to Chisaki-san, who is always sincere to me without any falsehood. Because she was my only and most precious friend.

My most important friend……

Then why am I trying to be a man again……?

Because I want to start over with my family, but I’m separated from Chisaki-san because of that, and I am just alright with that……?

——■■■■■■?

Yes, I’m alright with that. I’m an old man, I shouldn’t take advantage of her forever.

Besides, even if this feeling of mine wasn’t friendship, Chisaki-san deserves better. Someone more deserving than the selfish, cowardly, negative, childish me…

But I still don’t want to leave her.

I was so ready to leave, but because of what Chisaki-san did to me, I’m lost again.

I was happy that Chisaki-san thought of me in a special way, just as I think of her in a special way.

Do I really have to go back?

People will eventually leave their families and go out on their own, I thought I had done so long ago, then why do I want to start over so badly?

——■■■■■■?

Do I want those two to love me?

Am I saying that if I don’t face them, I can’t move forward into the future?

Do I want to know if I was ever truly unloved?

I don’t know, and yet my destination remains the same.

「Haah—」

In the end, my thoughts were always a wild goose chase, and even though I thought I was thinking with my not-so-smart mind, the conclusion I arrived at was always the same. When I think I have to tell Chisaki-san the answer, I can’t help but sigh.

「Mmph, if you keep sighing so much, happiness will escape. Go ahead, talk to Onee-san about anything.」

After the meal, Futaba, who had finished cleaning up and was watching TV after taking a break, pecked me on the cheek.

There was no way I could talk to my sister about my love life. I mean, if I talk about it badly, she will try to connect it to a school story from some other angle. In such a case, the most appropriate response is to let it go.

I turned my head away and resumed the game.