Leave a comment

Since becoming Fiiyanamia’s daughter, we’ve been eating dinner at the same time. Though, it’s only Ciel that’s eating, not me. Anyways. Perhaps it’s actually unusual for Fiiyanamia to show up to dinner everyday.

After all, she should be able to stay alive without eating anything. For that reason, a lot of times I can’t help but think that she shows up everyday because of us. Just like a mother asking her child how her day has been at the end of the day, I feel like this could be her way of showing affection.

I’m not going out of my way to tell Ciel, though. After all, rather than being told about it by others, this is something best realized on her own. Sappy stories aside, there are once again things that we need to ask Fiiyanamia about.

「My, my, it sounds like today was quite eventful as well.」
「Really? Ain and I went shopping, which was fun, but we only met with Viviana after that. But, right. Fii, could you tell me about the stores that wouldn’t let us buy things and the Amyulute… Or rather the people that are opposing you? You should know all about this, right?」
「Yes, yes. I know about it. I can hear everything, after all.」

Well, I thought so. If there’s anything Fiiyanamia doesn’t know about in Central, it would be things only gods would know. So, the issue now is if she’ll actually tell us what she knows but surprisingly Fiiyanamia continued with the topic.

「Since you already know that much, then it should be fine to talk about it. The reason you weren’t allowed to shop was, I think you already heard about it, because they were given orders to do so. Specifically from one of the people who opposed you two at the Hunter Guild. It’s a person on the upper management of the Merchant Guild who has done considerably crooked deeds in the past.」
「And that person is still in the upper management?」
「It’s not known to the public, after all. And with the shops this time, it seems like some were forced and reluctantly obeyed.」

So the shops that weren’t forced or reluctant to obey must have been in in agreement with his way of doing things from the beginning, I guess? Whatever the case, I am impressed that they would dare show such an obvious antagonism against Fiiyanamia. Hmm, still, were they to go against their superior’s demand, it’s not like Fiiyanamia would protect them for sure.

Part of why she doesn’t accept money was to avoid being involved with those annoying matters to begin with. And I think mother only wants to be helpful to those who she wants to help. They’re doing as they like in this borrowed land, so they should at least clean up after themselves, I guess.

Fiiyanamia takes no responsibilities. After all, she’s not the king of Central. If they don’t like how she handles things, then they should just leave.

For this incident, perhaps we can just file a complaint to the Merchant Guild.

「Additionally the upper management man is part of the faction desiring to overthrow me.」
「Quite fearless of him.」
「I’ve watched people for a long time, but that’s just how they are. As time passes, they forget things. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. I wonder which one it is for this case.」

Saying that, Fiiyanamia smiles. The reason why she doesn’t simply insist on the latter is probably because if they can overthrow her, that faction would be on the side of justice. Ciel doesn’t seem to understand it, she just tilts her head in confusion.

Perhaps Ciel is still too inexperienced to comprehend this. Though, I can’t say that I completely understand it as well.

「So what is this gathering of fearless people trying to pick a fight with Fii?」
「Right, right. They are people who appear periodically, I suppose? It seems like they believe that I might actually be weak and cannot be entrusted with Central since I never do anything. The people who hold influence in Central’s self-governing body would hold this misconception. I crush them every time, however. Though, they always forget.」
「You think it’s that time again?」
「Right, that’s what I believe.」

People… or at least I, can’t properly comprehend events that happened before they were born. One can only get a vague understanding of what happened by asking others, learning, or seeing by chance. I don’t know how long people in this world live, but I’m sure events could be completely forgotten in a hundred years.

Only a few people can comprehend events that happened a century before as reality. Though, when exactly did Fiiyanamia last displayed her power, I have no idea.

「I’ll refer to them as aristocrats for convenience, but this time a high-ranking aristocratic family’s young head expressed their skepticism, which caused the younger generation to follow suit. Additionally, parts of the Hunter Guild, Merchant Guild, and the Church are jumping on this bandwagon.」
「My, isn’t that a big problem?」
「Not particularly. At worst, there was a time I crushed all of the organizational leaders. The leaders this time are still on the reasonable side.」

Certainly, I can’t imagine Rhavelt going against Fiiyanamia. Though, as for the Merchant Guild and church, I have no clue.

『Is that young head someone we are acquainted with or related to someone we know?』
「Is that young head someone we know?」

Ciel relayed my question with brevity. It seems like Fiiyanamia can’t hear my voice in my current state. Fiiyanamia responded with a thoughtful expression while humming.

「By that do you mean people who you met here in Central?」
「Carol, Celia, Viviana, and Friere. Is the young head a relative of theirs?」
「Nope. Though, as you know, the Amyulute family’s eldest son has been influenced by him.」
「In that case, it’s nothing to worry about.」

Since he’s going against Fiiyanamia, it’s unlikely to end well, so I’m glad that he’s unrelated to our acquaintances. For Viviana’s brother, no comment. Now then, we’ve been listening to this without much care, but since they are against Fiiyanamia, that means we might get targeted as well. Actually, we are definitely the ones getting targeted.

After all, we seem easier to deal with than Fiiyanamia and if we were to be captured as a hostage, they might believe that they can gain the upper hand against her. In that case, why don’t we just stay confined here? That feels so wasteful though, so that’s rejected.

Rather, is this what Fiiyanamia meant by an annoying matter? The reason why she said that it might end quicker due to us is perhaps she anticipated that the existence of Ciel as her daughter would become known to the public. By showing what seems like a blatant weakness, she can lure out… No, that’s not necessary, so I guess it’s more so that they’ll make a move and she can destroy them faster.

『Mother Fii is quite hardy. Well she has ruled Central to this day, so I suppose that’s only natural.』
『What do you mean?』
『I believe that she hinted at our existence in hopes that the anti-Fiiyanamia faction would act earlier.』
『You mean we’re made to be her weakness?』
『That’s right. In other words, we might get targeted a lot in the future.』

「Are we going to be genuinely targeted from now on?」
「Right. It’s always best to be cautious, but there’s really no one who can overpower you two. No, no. If there are such people, it would be my work to deal with them. And if you’re inclined to beat them all, it would make things much easier for me.」
「Could it be that this was what you wanted?」
「If possible, yes. If you two became their target and you overpowered them all, people with strange ideas should stop appearing for a while.」

Fiiyanamia smiles unapologetically. I suppose this just shows how much trust she has in us. As for being targeted, it’s nothing new at this point and since we have a stable position now, we can let loose to some extent, so things should be easier than before. I want to avoid deaths as much as possible, but it’ll likely depend on the enemy.

If there’s someone who can defeat us in direct combat, that does sound like a situation to involve Fiiyanamia and I guess she doesn’t plan on making a move until that point. It’s not like we can rely on Fiiyanamia for everything, so I guess that’s only natural as long as there’s no danger.

Eventually we finished eating, so I asked Ciel to switch. I could’ve asked Ciel to relay my words, but that would mean extra effort for the two of us, and if I don’t come out occasionally, Ciel might start sulking.

Of course Ciel sulking is cute as well but anyhow, it’s time to ask my question.

Gladly agreeing, Ciel put her necklace inside the magic bag before switching with me. I then take my hair clip and ring out of the magic bag for me to wear. Fiiyanamia simply watched as this scene unfolded.

「My my, is there something bothering you Ain?」
「There is something I want to ask about.」
「I vaguely expected this, but what is it?」
「How sensible would it be in this world to demand something from someone who attacked you and lost?」

While it might be enforceable depending on one’s status, I want to confirm the common sensibility regarding this. I don’t want to use our status to force through things, so if it’s not generally sensible then I need to think of another plan.

「If it’s someone of lower status losing to someone of a higher one, it shouldn’t be particularly unusual. Rather, if you don’t do anything, people might treat you lightly.」
「True, that might be the case.」

Now that she mentioned it, that’s right. I should have been aware of it, but it’s difficult to keep in mind. You could say that targeting someone of higher status requires enough resolve to risk it. Otherwise the attackers would be the winners in this world.

It’s precisely because it isn’t that simple that there’s people of high status.

「If those of higher status lost to one of lower status, all I can say is that it depends on the situation. I heard it could even result to death penalty.」

I know it’s a characteristic of a class-based society, but it’s really unfamiliar to me. It isn’t like I have strong emotions against it though, so it doesn’t bother me.

「It’s due to being a class-based society, right? I’m unfamiliar with it, so it’s quite new for me.」
「Ain, did you perhaps come from a world without social classes?」
「How do I explain this? Where I lived, there was no disparity based on social class. Even so, I can’t really say that everyone is equal.」

Thinking at the global scale, there might be places that still practice a class-system. And since names come to mind when imagining people of ‘higher status’, while it’s not to the extent of this world, perhaps we were in some form of class-based society. Yeah, enough of my previous life. It’s not really fun to talk about this, so I’m sorry to mother but I’m changing topics.

And I haven’t gotten to my actual question yet anyway.

「Another thing I want to ask, can we hire people to work in this manor?」

Now for the main issue. Fiiyanamia probably heard it already, so she should already know the reason. With how I said it, I feel like a child wanting to keep a stray dog. It’s very rude to call Viviana’s older sister a stray dog, though.

「As long as she is to be treated like the other servants. She will have an apprenticeship period, but there shouldn’t be any issue regarding livelihood. And with the Amyulute’s oldest daughter, there should be no issue with her personality.」

In that case, that’s a relief. If she had said no, I would need to consider personally hiring her instead. It wouldn’t be an issue financially, but we don’t actually need her for anything, so we wouldn’t know what to do with her. Since I heard everything I needed to know, I was about to switch with Ciel but Fiiyanamia suddenly pointed at my hair clip.

「It’s a newly bought hair clip, right? And that ring?」
「Yes, Ciel chose it for me.」
「Yes, yes. It suits you very well. I thought the same with Ciel’s necklace, but you two really look good no matter what you wear.」

Being praised by Fiiyanamia, I couldn’t hold my cheeks from smiling. As I was fighting against my facial muscles not moving as I want, Ciel let out an uncontrollable cheerful laugh.

Hiya~! And so their long day has come to an end. But not without some family time!

Not really a surprise, but it’s always scary to seriously think of how much actual power Fii has even just from her ability to overhear *everything* within Central. Imagine if she was a more active participant in Central’s governance, the governing officials would be either in awe of her nigh omnipotent knowledge or be unnerved by her inhuman perception of whatever shenanigans might be happening behind the curtains. I’m not even sure if the rebellion would be gone, the rebels might think of themselves as distopia novel protags trying to take down a godly tyrant and that’s a much powerful marketing pitch than “she’s not doing any work anyways”. But yeah, she might not be a king or ruler, but she’s the owner of the land, so it’s just theft and assault, lol.

It was also nice to see Fii doting on the girls, mentioning their new accessories and whatnot. Ain being cute is cute as usual. Still, it’s really nice to see how “non-human” Fii is with how she handles things and her general thought process. Literally making our girls bait since they won’t get killed anyways, not really caring about governance or whether the people stay or not, and so on. Just mostly indifferent, which funnily makes her and Ciel seem like actual family with this similarity.

The indifference makes her an avatar of nature, in a sense. She embodies nature’s more primal side, nature is an unbiased judge working by the survival of the fittest. If they win, they win. Whether through scheming or honesty, nature doesn’t care, it’s all part of survival. After all, it’s not for nature to care if you jump in off a cliff thinking that it might just be a short and safe fall, your stupidity and lack of understanding rewards you a Darwin award nonetheless. If they can win against inertia (regardless the method), good for them. If not, not really a problem for nature, regardless of their importance to Central’s governing.

Now then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay clean, stay safe, and have a nice day~!