PC and the Sage.
A refreshing morning after finishing a task. On the table at home, there was something unfamiliar. Ah, I remembered: it was supposed to be my computer and printer... but I discovered something that shouldn’t be there.
It was a severed head.
“N-nooooo!?”
“Rosarin!? What happened!?”
Hearing my scream, Dirk rushed to my side. I clung to him tightly in a panic.
“T-that…”
I pointed at the desk.
“Ah… Okaasan, don’t get mad at her.”
Dirk’s ring, Rosie-kun, appeared. He seemed to know something about it.
Huh? A ring?
Now that I think about it, my finger feels lighter.
“It’s gone!? Ah! Valkyrie!? What are you doing!?”
What I mistook for a severed head turned out to be Valkyrie. Why was she between the computer and printer, looking like that? Wait!
“You ate them, didn’t you!? Spit them out!! I told you, you don’t have to go out of your way to be useful! Stop overdoing it!!”
“…Y ou really are full of surprises.”
Apparently, Valkyrie had swallowed the computer and printer. What a reckless thing to do!
“I tell you every single time! Stop being reckless! Valkyrie, you’re my precious partner! Computers and printers are convenient, but your importance is on an entirely different level!”
I dropped to all fours and started pounding the floor in frustration.
“I just wanted to be useful. Lately, I haven’t had a role even during hunts, and I hate just being a ring by your side. I want to be a convenient tool for my master, too! I can’t stand losing to some upstart like this!!”
“… You’re really loved, aren’t you?”
“It’s too much love! Anyway, I don’t want anything to happen to Valkyrie, so I’m taking her to the old man’s place! Rosie-kun, if you knew, why didn’t you tell me!?”
Rosie-kun gave me a wry smile.
“Well, peace and quiet are nice, but we haven’t been used much either, you know… Honestly, I understand exactly how she feels. I get what you’re saying too, Okaasan. But, well…”
Rosie-kun explained that their reason for existence is to serve their master. They feel fulfilled only when they are useful to their master. He said it’s something we humans couldn’t fully understand because of our different perspectives.
For now, I launched a surprise attack on the Sage’s house. His wife was at work, and his son was at school, so I could barge in without worry.
First, I rang the doorbell repeatedly. The Sage’s house has a magic tool that works like an intercom.
“Annoying… What do you want, demon disciple?”
“I came to tease the Sage.”
“Go home.”
He slammed the door in my face. This short-tempered old man could really use some patience. Isn’t it important to listen to people until the end, especially as an elder?
“Would you prefer I destroy the door along with everything else, or will you open it willingly?”
“Welcome, come in.”
The Sage’s danger detection and avoidance skills were indeed exceptional. He opened the door obediently.
The Sage’s tea is always suspiciously bad, so I made tea myself.
“So, what did you really come here for?”
“Well…”
I handed him the ring. The sage, a beautiful old man, frowned deeply as he examined it.
“What did she do? What happened this time? It’s so complicated I can’t even read it!”
“Well, Valkyrie, jealous of the over-technology of the otherworlders, swallowed a crystallization of said technology☆”
“………………”
The Sage and I exchanged smiles.
“Hey, you irresponsible disciple!”
“Do you think slapping ‘disciple’ at the end of every insult makes it better, you sadistic master?”
“…………………”
Again, we exchanged smiles.
“You careless disciple! You shouldn’t be bringing over-technology from the otherworld into this one! You knew it would cause trouble, didn’t you? Stop acting on impulse and doing unnecessary things! I bet you just left it lying around, didn’t you!?”
“Ugh… But I don’t want to hear that from a messy old master who creates disaster zones in his own house!”
“I haven’t done that recently!”
“Hah! Do you think I wouldn’t know? You’ve been doing it at the magic court instead lately!”
“Ugh… You’ve got me there. Well, that’s not the point! I don’t even know how this ‘computer’ will affect anything!”
“Useless as always, aren’t you?”
I clicked my tongue. The beautiful old man looked like he was about to cry—he’s surprisingly weak when criticized.
“Even if I’m called a sage, there are things I don’t know!”
“You’re mostly useless, though.”
“Ugh… The problems you bring are always too much! Most of them are things no one could solve!!”
“Ugh… Today’s match is a draw then…”
We weren’t exactly competing, but we had a dumb argument like that.
In the end, the Sage said Valkyrie’s magic power seemed stable, so it should be fine. Reluctantly, I decided to head to school.
What do you think about this chapter?
