Ch.163Hostage Secured

We lifted Frill up and headed straight to our hideout.

As soon as we arrived, Eri and Madoka greeted us. They were still up at this late hour. Eri was one thing, but… Madoka, don’t you know staying up late stunts your growth?

“Shota? Who’s this girl?”

Eri immediately called out in a confused tone.

“She’s an enemy. Currently our hostage.”

That’s what I said.

“Don’t tell me… you’re not trying to pick up another girl, are you? Before your lawful wife can make a judgment…”

Eri was about to say something to me.

However, she caught my gaze.

Sasitsu couldn’t take his eyes off Frill. Eri seemed to have figured out what was going on.

“Ah, I see.”

Eri chuckled. She seemed relieved that Frill wasn’t a romantic rival.

“Oh. A hostage. That’s fine then.”

Madoka accepted it matter-of-factly. She’s quite peculiar, I tell you.

“Big brother. I trusted you and didn’t question anything. Give me points.”

While I was off guard, Madoka immediately begged for points.

“Really… such a point-obsessed little squirt!”

I said with a laugh.

“Please give me some. Hmm?”

Madoka immediately put on her cute act.

“I can’t help it!! 100 points!!”

I’ll let it slide because she’s cute! I handed out the points right away.

“Hehehe. I’m happy.”

Madoka looked like she wanted me to pat her bottom, but she held back. It seemed she wanted to accumulate points as quickly as possible to get a marriage certificate faster.

“This is… the marshmallow experiment!!! Madoka!! You’re going to be great!!”

I patted Madoka’s head.

“What’s the marshmallow experiment?”

Madoka tilted her head.

Ah. This is where the generation gap shows. It was super popular in my day.

Teachers even popularized it by arranging the praise point system. You could get a reward for collecting 10 praise stickers, but if you held out and collected 50 points, you’d get an even bigger reward.

“Ah… the good old days.”

The praise stickers were attached to the back of our lockers, and three of us kids, including me, secretly stole one sticker at a time. Those were fun times… but things got out of hand and we were caught. Some idiot stole too many stickers at once. You’re supposed to steal just one at a time to avoid suspicion. Whether it’s crime or anything else, working with stupid people is always difficult.

Anyway.

“G-great… Madoka, will I be great?”

Madoka seemed to misunderstand my words and stroked her chest.

At that moment, Frill opened her eyes.

“My goodness… to wake up so quickly after taking my karate chop. She’s definitely not human.”

Tina said. Don’t judge someone’s humanity based on that.

“Ugh… I’ve been captured…!!”

Frill immediately tried to escape.

“Oh no you don’t. Want to become Sleeping Beauty again?”

Tina raised her hand.

“Eek!!”

The fear seemed to be imprinted in her body. Frill immediately crouched down.

“Now, don’t worry. According to Earth’s Geneva Convention, we don’t torture prisoners or hostages. We’ll obtain information through humane methods.”

That’s what I said.

“You think you’ll get away with capturing me?!! I’ve sent a distress signal!!! My comrades will come running!! You’re all finished!”

Frill immediately started making threats.

‘Nope. They won’t come.’

I knew that well.

Simply put, Frill was a disposable card. Though she was Pink Beard’s subordinate and daughter created from his genetic base, Pink Beard had no familial affection.

Moreover… Frill had plenty of siblings who were her competitors. They were all working hard to achieve merits and become Pink Beard’s successor. It was simple if you thought of them all as Frill’s rivals. Her capture was actually beneficial to them, and they would deliberately abandon her.

“Sure. Then let’s see your friends’ faces. We’ll wait.”

I pulled up a chair and sat down.

“Hmph!! Let’s see how long that composure lasts!”

Frill shouted loudly.

10 minutes.

30 minutes.

Time continued to pass. That’s right. No one came.

“Hic… hic!”

Eventually, Frill started crying. Her mental fortitude was seriously weak.

“Am I… abandoned? Why…?”

Frill cried out with tears streaming down. No. It’s awkward for you to ask me that.

“Here. Blow your nose. Blow!”

Eri, who liked taking care of people, immediately held a tissue to Frill’s nose.

“Blow!!”

Frill immediately blew out her snot.

“That’s quite a lot. We could make soup with it.”

Eri said while patting Frill’s head.

“Hmm!!!”

Frill seemed to somewhat enjoy being comforted one-sidedly.

Anyway, Frill became docile. And so the interrogation began.

“You do the interrogation, Sasitsu.”

I decided to give my friend a push.

“Ah… okay.”

Sasitsu nodded. Buddy, you owe me a meal if this works out.

“Now, don’t worry. I don’t intend to harm you.”

Sasitsu said to Frill.

“O-okay… I can’t trust that pointy-head, but I can trust your words.”

Frill said.

“No. Why me?”

I immediately protested. Is it my face? Is it ultimately because of my face? Damn face-obsessed girl…!!!

“Um… will you tell us? Frill.”

Sasitsu said while scratching his face.

In the end, Frill opened up and told us everything she knew. Wait. She’s telling us so willingly? I almost wanted to object to that point.

———–

Roughly speaking, Frill’s explanation contained information we already knew.

The Other World had originally kept its distance from Earth.

However, that structure changed because of one man. An ambitious figure called Pink Beard emerged from the Other World. Pink Beard had felt inferior about the barren land of the Other World and had invaded other worlds one by one, bringing numerous multiverses under his control.

Six multiverses had already fallen. And Earth was the seventh invasion site.

Pink Beard broke the boundary between Earth and the Other World, creating a rift in Emoshita City. As a result, we got involved in all of this.

Frill explained that she was Pink Beard’s subordinate and daughter created based on his genetic information.

“This is too big of a scale!!!”

Umi shouted loudly.

“Yeah… I thought it was just like exorcising yokai that appear at night… never expected the Earth to be at stake.”

Taiga said.

“I see… so the fate of the world hangs in the balance.”

Sasitsu said in a strangely pleased tone. Well… otakus are peculiar. The concept of being a hero who saves the world is that attractive.

“So… what are we going to do with her? She’s basically an alien trying to invade Earth, right? Should we hand her over to the government?”

Eri, representing the ordinary people, asked.

Despite hearing all these grand-scale stories, Eri showed little reaction.

‘Shota is working hard, right? I’ll support you from the side.’

That’s all she said, showing her maximum loyalty as the lawful wife. She truly had no interest in anything but me. Really… this is why Eri is so great. There’s a reason why the lawful wife is the lawful wife.

“The, the government…!!!”

Frill’s expression hardened.

“No!! She’ll be subjected to all kinds of dissections and inhumane experiments!”

Sasitsu shouted loudly.

Well, that is the stereotype of government agencies.

“But she’s dangerous. Who knows what she might plot.”

Eri stated the logical argument.

“I don’t… want that.”

Sasitsu said.

“Why not?”

I decided to take this opportunity to give Sasitsu a push. Be a man and speak your true feelings, Sasitsu.

“Because…”

Sasitsu started mumbling.

Geez… what a gutless guy. He really needs a lot of help.

A bit aggressively… I had no choice but to give him a push.

“I’ll follow Eri’s opinion as my lawful wife. If you can’t give a convincing reason, I’m just going to report this to the government. Or we’ll eliminate her ourselves.”

I decided to play the villain.

“I… don’t want Frill to suffer! Because… I fell in love with her at first sight!!!”

Finally, Sasitsu revealed his true feelings.

“F-fell in love at first sight?! What…”

Frill’s face immediately turned as red as a radish.

“Woohoo… so Sasitsu can step up when needed, huh?”

Umi gave a sly smile.

“Oh… that’s his type?”

Taiga also started teasing with a smile.

“D-damn it! Anyway!! It’s first love! If anyone interferes, I’ll stop them with all my might!!”

Sasitsu said.

Well, playing the villain was worth it.

“Then… let’s keep her as a hostage for now. It’s not right to keep her at my house… Sasitsu, you take her. You live alone anyway.”

I quickly moved the conversation forward.

“Keep me?! Am I some kind of pet?! Pointy-head!!”

Frill shouted.

Pointy-head… it’s true my hair is pointy, but it hurts a bit to hear it. I wanted flowing handsome hair too.

“Shota! Don’t get discouraged! Your distinctive pointy hair and silly cowlick are your charm!! Just like a legendary hero!”

Tina immediately hugged me and said. Ah… this is starting to heal my complex.

“W-well… I’ll take care of Frill for now.”

Sasitsu said with a fake cough.

“Yeah! Go for it!”

I cheered for Sasitsu as his senior in romance.

“What do you mean ‘go for it’!!”

Sasitsu immediately got angry. Come on, don’t be shy.

——–

And so, as of June, we secured Frill. I had hopes that if Sasitsu persuaded her well, we might be able to use her as an ally.

After finishing our business, we headed home. No matter what, sleeping at the hideout two nights in a row didn’t feel right.

And in front of the house.

There was a girl.

It was Mika.

“Why are you only coming now!!!”

Mika, who had been dozing off at the entrance, immediately got up and ran toward me. Her eyes were swollen from tears.

“I sent you messages… but you didn’t reply!”

Mika burst into tears and shouted.

“Ah!! The reply!! I thought I should respond but I forgot!!”

I finally remembered what I had forgotten.

“I thought… you hated me and were avoiding me…!”

Mika said in a sobbing voice.

“L-let’s go inside first, okay?”

I decided to take Mika in.

“Tch. Being gentle with another girl again.”

I heard Umi clicking her tongue, but I muted that for now.

And so, I took Mika with me.