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Mother Fumie and a Desolate Room
Evening the next day. Chika had just come home, while her mother, Fumie, was working on her novel in her late brother’s room.
—Clack, clack, clack—
“Hero Takashi and his allies were in a pinch. This was also due to the fault of the Elven great wizard, Princess Lancelot.
—Clack, clack, clack—
“Princess Lancelot’s just pretending to be a master of magic. She always acts like a know-it-all and yells at people when she gets angry. Plus, she never helps with experiments and she even drove off somebody who was about to be our new ally. Then when I complained to her, she got mad again and yelled at me. Though she fell over and exhibited her panties to the world afterward.”
“…Is this ‘Princess Lancelot’ supposed to be me?”
Chika called out from behind Fumie.
“Eeeek?!”
Fumie let out a hysteric voice unbecoming of the mother of the house.
“Aaah, geez, that surprised me… Silly Chika, stop with the pranks, will you?”
“I’m not even pulling any pranks. Did you really not notice me even though I’ve been watching you for a while now? Anyway, what’s this? Are you still holding me to what happened the other day, Mom?”
Being asked that by her daughter, Fumie’s face became beet red. It seemed Yes was the answer. However, she soon threw her head left and right repeatedly.
“O-Of course not!! That’s not it! Look, her name’s completely different! She looks like a young girl, but she’s not Takashi’s little sister, she’s actually much older than him! Um, erm… Fu, fufu. Chika you silly, did you want to appear in the novel so badly? Is that why you’re saying something like that?”
She started throwing out childlike excuses. Nevertheless, it wasn’t something an elementary-schooler should understand.
“Mom, stop it. Do you think you can pull a fast one on me with those kinda excuses? If you’ve got something to say to me then say it to my face!”
“My… Chika my dear, you always get mad so quick…”
She was furious as well. Or more accurately, she was exasperated before she could even get angry.
Princess Lancelot, the great wizard who suddenly appeared, was clearly modeled after Chika.
Though at first, she was probably originally a character in Onii-chan’s script…
From her depiction in the story, she was a ‘small-bodied but hot-tempered, arrogant and selfish’ girl. It was unthinkable for a mother to regard her own daughter in such a manner.
In the first place, why is she even mixing in stuff from real life? Isn’t it supposed to be a story from another world?
She had apparently been venting her anger toward Chika for interrupting her the other day by writing about it in her novel. It was very unbecoming of an adult.
…Which was why she said it.
When really, she didn’t want to say it.
“Mom… Why don’t you try uploading it to the internet?”
Chika’s expression almost twisted spontaneously, but she desperately managed to stop herself, and instead wore a contrived innocent smile on her face.
That thing was irresistibly horrid to her, but to her mother, to Fumie, it was something essential. With that in mind, she continued to persevere as she held that kindergartener-like innocent smile.
This was Chika’s own ‘begging-for-something face’—something she didn’t like to wear, despite the fact that she was still a child.
“So like, you see, I heard there’re tons of people who like this kind of thing (novel) on the internet. So like, maybe it’s better to let them read it instead of Auntie Fujioka since she’s not interested in this sorta stuff. …I’m sure Hero Takashi will appreciate it more that way, you know?”
“My…”
‘I’m sure Hero Takashi will…’ As Chika said that last part, even she herself felt disgusted. She felt like she was playing the role of a child in a drama. If there were any sixth-grade elementary-schooler in the world who would say something like that, he or she was, for certain, crazy
Still, she spoke without hesitation, completely with the intent to act just like a real child actor. Her fine performance bore its fruit.
“Oh my, dear me… But that would mean strangers would be able to see it, right? Moreover, people from all over the world…”
Fumie brooded for some time. (Of course, Chika interjected in her heart, ‘showing it to strangers will probably be less embarrassing than showing it to people we actually know, won’t it?’) — one hour passed, and now they were having dinner.
“About the internet thing we talked about… I’d like to try it.”
She finally decided. Chika had three extra helpings of curry, overflowing in delight.
“But can I really do it? I don’t really know how the internet works…”
“It’s fine! I’ll take care of it all! A well-informed person told me how to!”
She definitely could not let Fumie realize the identity of this ‘well-informed person.’
“Hey, Katayama-san! Mom said she’ll upload her novel to the net!”
Chika had covered herself with her blanket in her room, and was speaking to her phone with a lowered voice.
As a matter of course, this ‘well-informed person’ was Katayama.
“So, you’ll really handle everything, right? I don’t really get how the internet works, you know? Can you really do it?”
“Yeah, I will. Don’t worry… I’ll probably be fine.”
“Probably? Listen, you…!!”
He was unreliable as usual. Chika wanted to yell into her phone, like how Princess Lancelot would, but she stopped herself because it could result in her mother finding her out.
“UGHHHHHHHHHHH!!”
She could only groan.
Still, it properly transmitted her anger.
“S-Sorry, I already said I will do it, so I’ll take responsibility.”
“Then that’s fine…”
Though she still held a small amount of worry, Chika cut the call.
That evening, Fumie worked on her novel in a much more spirited manner than usual.
It might be the first time she felt so much fun from tapping on the keys of the keyboard.
—Clack, clack… clack…
“The Elven great wizard, Princess Lancelot had said that she was going on a stroll somewhere, but truthfully, she was going to take the secret spell of the elves. Thanks to the not-actually-unkind Princess Lancelot, Hero Takashi and Knight Sharna finally defeated the enemy. Princess Lancelot was, actually, a very kind girl.”
The characters in the story have finally escaped from their long-lasting pinch.
***
It took a few days to upload Fumie’s novel to the internet.
In fact, the day before was supposed to be the day, but it took more time than expected, due to Katayama’s lack of skill, on top of his actual job piling on him.
It went without saying that Chika kept pestering him the whole day, saying “Why’s it taking so long?!” and the like.
In any case, the evening of that day.
“My, how wonderful! I’ll have to thank your friend, Chika!”
Fumie clapped her hands in joy as she looked at the monitor.
The following was written in green-colored fancy writing on the white background on the top part of the page.
“F’s Light Novel Room.”
Such was the name of the novel website set up for Fumie. It was neat and simple, the fruits of a single young man’s zeal and labor.
“Hey… Hey, Chika…”
“Yeah?”
“Chika… thank you so much.”
Fumie hugged her daughter’s body while bathed in the screen’s white light along with the evening light spilling in from the window.
“Thank you… Also… Sorry…”
“Oh, nah, don’t worry.”
In her mother’s uncomfortably warm embrace, Chika thought.
These days Mom sure likes to hug me a lot… She’s just like a troublesome baby.
She felt that way, but she hadn’t gone the extra mile to say it.
Her mother’s cheeks reflected the evening light glimmeringly.
CClaw Translations 