"Grandpa, you're too loud!"
"Tenma, what are you hiding?"
I hurriedly tried to cover Grandpa's mouth, but there was no way I could brush this off. Chris and Amur were the first to arrive, planting themselves in front of me as if demanding I spill everything.
"Tenma, let Grandpa go before you start talking. He looks like he's about to die."
"Ah! Sorry..."
In my panic, I'd been pressing on his mouth—and his nose—with all my strength, leaving Grandpa's face beet red as he struggled to breathe.
"Pffoh! I thought I was going to die!"
At least I'd confirmed Grandpa was safe... mostly, so I went ahead and explained the baby's true identity and Nami-Taro's story. And then—
"Tenma, the Behemoth really isn't coming, right? Lady Maria will be furious with us again!"
"My lady, let's return to the south!"
"A trip! We need a bento!"
"Aura, we need to pack quickly!"
"That's right! Slarin, help me!"
Everyone was in a state of utter confusion.
"Like I said, it'll be fine! Trust Nami-chan!"
Nami-Taro declared this with complete confidence, but everyone's panic still didn't subside.
The confusion didn't settle until a little while after Nami-Taro's declaration, and what finally calmed things down was Reni finishing her packing. The women had thrown themselves into the task in a rush, and since Reni had the fewest belongings, she was the first to finish. Once she finally took a breath, she calmed down and realized that if I went to meet the Behemoth—the mother—there shouldn't be any problem.
Upon hearing Reni's reasoning, the women scolded me for not telling them that sooner. But I protested that while they were all in a panic, I'd actually tried to say that several times, only to be completely ignored, and—
"Witnesses!"
They raised counterarguments. Between the physical and mental exhaustion, the women had been slumped in their chairs since a while ago. Incidentally, Chris—who barely needed to pack anything—had actually been the first to finish, but she'd immediately jumped into helping Mary and the others pack afterward, so she was the last of them to calm down after hearing Reni's words. When Chris finally composed herself, she was clutching a Dimension Bag and a Magic Bag packed to the brim with Mary, Arlie, and the entire Jube family's belongings, household goods, and food supplies.
"So, the Behemoth's mother has no reason to come to the Royal Capital, and if she ever does want to meet me, Nami-Taro will come ahead of time to let me know, and I'll go to her instead—so there shouldn't be any problem... probably."
I'd never met a Behemoth, so I couldn't say for certain, but according to Nami-Taro, their intelligence was even higher than a human's and they had good common sense, so it should be fine.
"Well, we'll just have to leave that part up to Nami-Taro... By the way, Tenma. Why has that baby Behemoth taken such a shine to you? It won't even come near the rest of us, let alone let us get close..."
Everyone except me and the Slarin siblings nodded in agreement with Grandpa's words.
"When you put it that way... Maybe it's just my personality?"
I tilted my head as I said this, and cold stares were directed at me from all sides. The whole time, the baby Behemoth kept rubbing its head against my hand, demanding to be petted.
"Joking aside, I think it's probably because I gave it a massive amount of Magic Power. With Solomon too, it latched onto me right after birth because I'd been feeding it Magic Power, and conversely, it was hostile toward Amy."
"So it latched onto Tenma-kun and acted hostile toward Amy—then the theory about the amount of Magic Power fed to it seems to be correct... If it were personality, it would be the other way around, wouldn't it?"
"Based on what Chris is saying, what happens to someone with a bad personality who can't feed it Magic Power either? Maybe they'd just get eaten?"
"Buhii!"
"Tenma! If you eat Chris, you'll get a stomachache! Grrrr!"
The baby let out a cry as if confirming my words, and Amour climbed on top of me to join in teasing Chris. Well, Amour was standing near Chris, so she was captured immediately... but as for me, the baby Behemoth was right there beside me, so Chris couldn't get close.
"That's enough comedy... Bon, let's go back to your mama—ow!"
Nami-Taro reached out to touch the baby as he told it to go back to its mother, but the baby smacked him with its tail.
"You can't stay here forever, y'know, let's go back to mama—ouch! Heh!"
"Biiiii—!"
The baby slapped Nami-Taro back and forth with its tail, then let out a shrill cry. That cry also served as a kind of ultrasonic attack—several tables, chairs, and dishes in the dining hall were shattered. And then,
"Higyu..."
"My... my head..."
"Gyaan!"
Of course, we also suffered damage. Among us, the two beastmen and Shiromaru, whose hearing was sharper than that of ordinary people, bore the brunt of it, being pushed to the verge of unconsciousness.
"S-Sorry, this is... too much. My apologies!"
"Pi?"
If this kept up, things looked like they'd be bad even for Amour and the others, so while the baby was distracted looking toward Nami-Taro, I took out a spare Dimension Bag and forcibly stuffed the baby inside it.
"Oww... even for a baby, that's definitely a Behemoth. My head's spinning."
Nami-Taro, who had taken the full force of the baby's ultrasonic cry, had only suffered damage akin to a mild concussion; the echo had affected us, so our damage was actually greater.
"Alright then, Tenma, lend me the Dimension Bag with the bomb inside. I'll take it straight to Hi-chan's place as is."
Saying that, Nami-Taro tried to take the Dimension Bag containing the baby from me, but...
"...Why are you lifting it somewhere I can't reach?"
"If I hand it over like this, I'll end up resented too. It's fine if just you're resented, Nami-Taro. I don't want to be hated."
I wanted to avoid handing the baby over to Nami-Taro and being resented, especially since the baby had been so affectionate toward me.
"So, decide through discussion."
"Huh? Ahhhhhh!"
The moment Nami-Taro stopped moving, I used the Guardian Gigant to shove Nami-Taro into the Dimension Bag.
"That way, Nami-Taro can persuade them properly."
"No way! Tenma, listen to me—"
"If you persuade them properly!"
"Tenma, I don't think that's possible."
"True. It's impossible."
I pushed Namitarou back down with Gigant mid-sentence and finished what I was saying, but Jeanne and Chris immediately shot me down, telling me it was impossible.
"Tenma, it's no use! Bon just absolutely..."
Namitarou poked his head out again, but I silently shoved him back in.
"Hey, Tenma..."
I pushed him back in again.
"Tenma..."
And again.
"Wait a sec—"
Something felt off about that, like there was a joke mixed in, but I didn't pay it any mind and kept pushing...
"Quit it already!"
I couldn't push him back in. I guess the gag had gone on too far, because Namitarou was seriously ticked off...
"At least acknowledge the joke!"
But that wasn't it either.
"So, did you manage to persuade them?"
"No way! They just keep saying they don't want to go back, don't want to go back — there's absolutely no reasoning with them! So I'm leaving the rest to you! Here, catch!"
"W-Wait—!"
The moment I actually tried to listen to what was going on, the tables turned, and I ended up the one getting shoved into the Dimension Bag.
"Bi! ...Biiiii!"
The baby had apparently mistaken me for Namitarou at first and was about to let out an intimidating cry, but quickly realized who I was and came bounding over happily. Seemed like he wasn't angry about being pushed in here.
"Look, no matter how much you hate Namitarou and don't want to go with him, your mom's going to be really sad. You've got to go back to her, you know?"
"Bii!"
I tried to persuade the baby in a gentle manner, but it rejected my attempts with cries that sounded like "No!" No matter what I said afterward, it kept refusing, and I found myself at a loss for what to do. The baby seemed completely intent on living here. Perhaps because it had arrived here while still in its egg and had been born in this place, living here felt more natural to it than going to a mother it had never met.
"If that's the case, then this is entirely my fault."
To be precise, it was my fault along with Namitarou's, but now wasn't the time for that sort of talk. After all, this baby did have parents, and they must be looking forward to meeting it... So,
"Listen to what I'm saying."
"Bii!"
I was absolutely going to send it back to its mother,
Resolve
hardened within me.
"There's no place for you here. You'd only be in the way."
"Biii..."
I continued speaking while intimidating the baby with a fairly strong killing intent. Even though it had just been born, it seemed to instinctively sense what was being directed at it, and the baby backed away step by step, keeping its distance from me.
"I lost my parents. Slarin and Shiromaru are the same, and Solomon doesn't even know who his parents are."
I doubted a newborn baby could understand any of this, but when it came to expressing my feelings about parents, this was all I could think of.
"But you have a mother. A mother who is eagerly waiting for your return. I can't keep someone like that in this house. So go back with Namitarou!"
"Bii, bii, biii..."
Even if it didn't understand the meaning, the baby had surely understood that it was being rejected through my strong words and killing intent. The baby clearly looked disheartened, and then...
"Biiiiii!"
For some reason, it started rubbing its head against my leg.
I thought I had failed, and was considering whether I should force it into the Dimension Bag so it couldn't get out, making Namitarou take it home by force... but then—
"Biiiiii!"
The baby made its way toward the entrance on its own.
"You're leaving?"
The moment I asked, it responded with a short cry.
I thought I'd done something wrong to the baby, but at least the bigger problem was solved... just then—
"Tenma! So you were able to persuade it, huh!"
Namitarou stuck his head into the bag with words so confident you'd think he already knew the conversation was over. And then—
"Biiiiiieeee!"
"Bon, don't bite! Not there... igaahhhh!"
The baby bit down on the tip of his nose, sending him into a thrashing fit. Namitarou's way of speaking bugged me, but I didn't want to interfere while he was playing with the baby, so I decided to leave them to it and stepped outside... For some reason, everyone looking at me had oddly gentle expressions on their faces.
I had a bad feeling about this, but I didn't want to know the reason, so I was thinking about just making a run for it — but before I could act on it—
"Tenma... even if Ricardo and Celia aren't here, I'll always be by your side, you know."
"That's right, Tenma-kun... Whenever you feel lonely, just call for me, okay?"
Grandpa and Chris said those things to me with tears welling up in their eyes.
"Could it be... you heard all that?"
I asked the four people standing behind Grandpa and Chris, and they all gave small nods in unison.
"Tenma, I can't take the place of your father and mother, but we're family!"
"Th-that's right! I'm a slave, but... I'll do my best to become part of your family!"
"Jeanne, that's the spirit!"
"Young Mistress! For that sake too, let's do our best with cooking and sewing!"
When Amur and Jeanne started saying something, the other two followed up with their own words, but I didn't have the composure to even make out what they were saying.
"U-uh, ah, um…… ah…… AHHHH!"
I didn't know what to say, so I tried to calm down first, but…… I couldn't calm down at all. If anything, my growing embarrassment became too much to bear, and I burst out of the dining hall on pure momentum. Then I dove into my room, locked the door, shoved something in front of it, gathered up the futons, and buried myself inside.
Hiding inside the futon was all well and good, but I wasn't the least bit sleepy, so I could hear the grandpas banging on the door and shouting. And that only made my embarrassment flare up even worse.
When they apparently decided that knocking on the door wasn't going to get them anywhere, Grandpa and Amur tried to break in through the window, but the Golems I'd set up as anti-intruder defenses blocked them, and I could hear them screaming.
"Morning already, huh…… At this point, I really can't keep this up, can I?"
It wasn't just one night — I'd been holed up for over half a day, so I needed to resign myself and come out, but I just couldn't steel myself to do it.
"All right…… okay, let's go!"
I psyched myself up, wriggled out of the futons, cleared away the stuff I'd wedged in front of the door, and stepped out into the hallway — only to find the grandpas grilling fish and meat right in front of my door for some reason.
"Tenma's come out! Secure him!"
Nanitairo pointed a skewer of fish at me and shouted, but the grandpas were either busy with the grill or choking on the smoke, so they couldn't move quickly. I was faster just closing the door again.
"What are those people trying to do?"
Looking at the grandpas made my embarrassment vanish for the time being. If this had all been their strategy, you could call it a roaring success, but rather than being impressed, I was more exasperated — no, more like the feeling that it'd be better not to get involved came first.
"Tenma! Open up, please!"
While I was agonizing over the grandpas' antics, I heard a voice from outside scolding them, followed by Lady Maria's voice calling my name.
"You look more lively than I expected? When I heard you'd locked yourself away, I was worried."
When I opened the door again, Lady Maria was standing there with a relieved expression, and behind her were Grandpa, the King, Ernest, and Lyle, all made to sit in seiza. A little further away from them stood Lord Zain, watching the grandpas with a look of exasperation. And outside the window, I could see Nanitairo hanging upside down, held by Slarin and the others.
"Last night, Chris came in a panic and reported that 'Tenma has locked himself away and won't come out.' So that person said he'd go talk to you, and I left it to him, but…… that turned out to be a failure."
Apparrently, when I still hadn't come out even after waiting late into the night, Chris had rushed to report to Lady Maria, thinking I might be in a bad state mentally. But because it was late, and they figured it might be better to give me some time, they decided to wait until morning. However, the King and Ernest suggested that since I might find it hard to talk to a woman, Lyle agreed, and so only the male royals — people older than me who could act immediately — came to the house. But no matter how much they called through the door, I didn't respond, so they adopted Nanitairo's proposed "Cave Operation," which resulted in them having a barbecue right in front of my door. As it happened, Lord Zain saw that the operation was about to be approved, decided this was going to be a disaster, and went to fetch Lady Maria. Incidentally, our womenfolk were off killing time in town, because the King had judged that "if there are no women there, the conversation will go more smoothly!"
"I mean, even if he won't come out, trying to lure him out with food is just…… But why didn't Tenma react to their voices?"
The answer to that question was simple and straightforward—I'd been asleep and didn't hear them. Apparently they'd called out pretty loudly, but I'd been sleeping deeply from staying up late, and I was also wearing earplugs, so I never noticed.
When I explained, Lady Maria laughed and said, "Well, if that's the case, there's no helping it that you didn't hear," while the old men lamented that everything they'd done had been for nothing.
"I'm hungry too—shall we use these to make breakfast?"
"Would you prepare a portion for me as well? And one for Zain, too."
Seeing the fish the old men had been grilling had made my stomach growl, so I muttered offhand that we should put together some breakfast. Lady Maria and the others said it was still morning, so we decided to cook together. Meanwhile, the old men remained seated in seiza, all wearing matching looks of pleading for help… but I ignored them and took only the grilled fish and meat. Along with that, I also took the barbecue set and the leftover ingredients.
"Oh my, Tenma. Has your self-imprisonment come to an end?"
When I headed to the dining hall, Chris was preparing tea, and the moment he saw me, he made some teasing remark. I wanted to complain, but I had no comeback, so I just ignored him. When he spotted the grilled fish and roasted meat I was carrying, Chris immediately deduced it was a meal and headed straight into the kitchen.
"Now then, what shall we be making?"
I told Chris—who was waiting for instructions—that breakfast would be Japanese-style, southern-style cuisine. He started preparing to cook rice, but that would take too long if we started now, so we decided to use the rice I'd cooked in advance and stored in my bag, even though it was a bit cold.
Since the rice, which took the longest, was already sorted out, all that remained was miso soup and pickles, the grilled fish confiscated from the old men, kinpira made from leftover root vegetables, and natto. As for the meat, I handed it over to Slarin and the others as an apology for worrying them, and had them eat it in my room.
Both Lady Maria and Lord Zain said they rarely had the opportunity to eat southern-style meals, but they seemed to enjoy everything except the natto. Well, apparently natto is an acquired taste even in the south, so there was nothing odd about Lady Maria and Lord Zain not being able to eat it… but Chris was a different story. He claimed he'd barely ever eaten natto before, yet he stirred it over a hundred times with practiced ease, even corrected me on my mixing technique, and then used chopsticks to neatly finish off his natto rice. No matter how you looked at it, that had to be a lie. Incidentally, Lady Maria and Lord Zain couldn't use chopsticks properly, so they ate with forks.
"L-Lady Maria… would it be all right if we joined you over there soon… could we, perhaps?"
Around the time we were finishing our meal, the old man approached Lady Maria meekly, enduring the numbness in his legs.
"Hm? Why is Lord Merlin asking me for permission… Don't tell me those people dragged you along and you've been sitting in seiza this whole time?"
Lady Maria said this with an innocent face, and the old man—well, being the old man—exclaimed, "Th-that's right! Those Alex fellow forced me into it!" before quickly sitting down in the seat next to me.
The three who'd been left behind stared at the old man as though watching a traitor. Completely ignoring their gazes, the old man asked me for breakfast.
"Tenma… we're hungry too, you know… hagh! Tenma, convince Maria! Do it quickly!"
Chris was in the middle of making the old man's breakfast when the King, apparently unable to stand the smell any longer, came over and asked me to mediate with Lady Maria. I thought it was pathetic that he couldn't handle his own wife, but then again, if it was Lady Maria, there was probably no helping it. So I looked toward Lady Maria to hear the King's request…
"Your Majesty, give it up."
The instant our eyes met, Lady Maria flashed a meaningful smile, and I concluded there was no way I could help.
"Lady Maria, I think His Majesty won't have the energy to work this afternoon if he doesn't get something to eat."
However, when Kurif came to bring Grandpa's meal to the Kings I had abandoned and threw them a lifeline, the situation shifted. Lady Maria decided that if they couldn't get any work done anyway, she might as well grant them permission to eat. However, —
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, Lord Ernest, Lord Lyle. This is all that's left of breakfast."
What Kurif produced after saying this was the natto that Lady Maria and Lord Zain had left behind. The three had asked for miso soup and the like to be made, but Lady Maria had agreed with Kurif's reasoning that it would be wasteful not to eat what was left, so they pinched their noses and ate the natto rice. That said, only Lord Lyle seemed to have either gotten used to the smell or gone completely numb to it — it was impossible to tell — but he even went back for seconds and ate his fill.
Thus, it seemed as though "Operation Iwato" had come to an end, but —
"Te~n~ma~~~! I was wrong, so come baaaaack~!"
They had completely forgotten about Namitarou and left him hanging outside until the women returned.