The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

Chapter 437: The Important Talk

“So, what are we doing today, Master?”

Pochi and I have arrived at the foot of Kamiyama, the forbidden mountain north of Eddo.

No one will be here to interrupt us, and even if someone approaches the area, we’ll know.

With that in mind, I brought Pochi here… for reasons she does not yet know.

Despite that, she agreed to come without question. Maybe my intentions were written all over my face? Or did I subtly alter my words in a way that Pochi could see through? Well, none of that really matters — Pochi agreeing to follow me here is the only important part.

“Hup.”

Finding a nice boulder, I sat down on it, and Pochi did the same.

Now she’s tilting her head, waiting for me to speak.

…Now that I think about it, it’s been over 800 years since I first met Pochi.

Strangely enough, though, I’m not feeling nervous at all. Is it because we’ve been friends for so long, or have I become so desensitized to this kind of thing now? Well, I guess there’s no way for me to know the exact reason…

In any case, it’s probably thanks to all our memories together that I can talk about this… right here and right now.

“No.”

Pochi said before I could even open my mouth.

Well then, talk about preemptive.

“Huh…?”

Voicing my surprise, I turned to her.

Pochi looks… grumpier than usual, and is giving me quite a strong reproachful look.

“Uh, I haven’t said anything yet, though?”

“No means no! Whatever you’re gonna say, I don’t wanna hear it!”

Is Pochi able to tell what I’m thinking or something?

Well, I can’t afford to pull back now — and she absolutely must not be the one who controls the pace of this conversation.

Preventing my emotions from exploding, I lowered my voice and kept my tone straightforward… or at least I tried my best to sound that way.

“…Listen.”

“N-no! You can’t intimidate me into listening to that! Nuh-uh!”

“Please, Pochi, you have to listen.”

“No! Absolutely not!”

“This is important, Pochi!”

Pochi stiffened up in response to my tone — which must have sounded as close to actual intimidation as it got.

…Yeah, I know was being unfair there, but Pochi wouldn’t have listened to me if I hadn’t resorted to that.

And by unfair, I mean VERY unfair — even worse so than the tricks employed by all other Masters I’ve ever met.

I stood up. Pochi did so as well and took a step back.

The look in her eyes is the saddest I have ever seen her be. And even worse is the fact that she actually seems scared of me. She’s not saying anything, but that fear really is apparent… She fears for our relationship — a fear I can’t help but sympathize with. After all, this is something we have never experienced before.

And then…

“You know what’s coming. In a few days… I’ll have to fight Lucifer again.”

“I-I don’t wanna hear any of that!”

…Pochi started shouting as if to drown out my voice.

But I won’t stop talking. I CAN’T stop talking — because it’s my only way out.

“And you, Pochi, must fight Goku’ryu, Hell Emperor of the Blazing Dragons.”

“I know that! You don’t even have to tell me! So don’t say another word!”

“Pochi… Goku’ryu is the one thing you must win against. It’s all right. I know you can do it. I… I guarantee that.”

“I don’t need any guarantee for anything! I’ll win! I’ll definitely win! So please! Stop talking–“

“–And if you do just that, no one will complain about anything anymore, so…”

“NOT ANOTHER WORD!!”

Pochi shouted at me again, more loudly than she ever had before.

But no matter how much she doesn’t want to hear it — no matter how much she’s begging me not to say it — I have no choice but to tell her this:

“…Run away as far as you can.”

The very moment she heard it, Pochi directed a strongly hostile glare at me, as if I were an enemy.

This is the only way. Now Pochi won’t be able to disobey my order.

The ‘Familiar Contract’ between us, even without the part where she is ‘the Familiar’ and I am ‘the Master,’ is still in effect.

In other words… I still CAN give her compulsory orders with the Contract’s power. That is why Pochi was so against this — so sad and scared for our relationship.

“…Please…”

She’s usually not one to beg this hard for anything, but… that still won’t change my mind.

After all, she’s doing THAT because of what I’m doing. I’m the cause of the problem, not anyone else. I have been letting her do whatever she wanted most of the time, so this must be the worst order I have given her so far.

She probably thinks I’m completely hopeless, foolish, clumsy, dorky, scatterbrained, dorky, foolish, a little — and I mean VERY LITTLE — kind-hearted, and occasionally tasty-looking… so I do understand why she would be distraught over this, of course.

“Please… Don’t do this…”

“I have to. Pochi, this is my first and last command… as your Master.”

“No…! I won’t do it!”

Well, she DOES have the option of refusing the order. For now.

Under normal circumstances, violation of a Master’s compulsory order would mean the death of the Familiar. There are some Familiars that this doesn’t apply to, of course — most commonly in cases where the Familiar’s abilities are superior to that of its Master. Well, right now… I’m stronger than her. She technically can’t go against my order even if she wants to. If she does that, she would die… that is, if I included the relevant clause into the Contract in the first place. 

…Which I did not. After all, what is a Master if he cannot trust his Familiar? 

But here’s the thing… I CAN rewrite that clause in.

Pochi knows that, too. And exactly because of that, she’s saying she’ll oppose my order even if she dies.

I mean… yeah, of course I know that. She would never run away, even if it meant she was facing certain death. And exactly because of that, I’m going to write my clause in a little bit differently…

“If the command is not abided by, the Master, Asley, shall lose his life.”

“…!!”

I drew the Spell Circle with almost instantaneous speed and, exploiting the opening resulting from Pochi’s surprise, invoked the spell.

Out here, all is silent — no howling winds, no hustle and bustle of the city, no beasts and monsters.

The only sound entering my ears is the sobs of my Familiar… the likes of which I have never heard before.

“It’s… it’s not fair…”

Her rejection, anger, and fear are no more — only sadness and endlessly overflowing tears, wringing away at my heart.

“…We’ve been friends for a long time. I’ve always known… from the very beginning… how much you value that, so…!”

Before I knew it, streams of tears also ran down my cheeks.

It’s like… Pochi’s sadness has transferred over to me.

“Master… You… YOU FOOL!”

“Okay, look! It’s not like I WANT to die, dammit!”

I gave Pochi a big hug and started shouting my excuses, as if that would make her agree with me.

Then she… cried. A whole lot. Delivering to my ears over 800 years’ worth of sadness.

Our tears soaked the earth.

But it’s fine. This is fine.

Maybe Pochi will curse me for millennia to come — calling me the worst Master she’s ever had — but this was the only choice I could make.

Even without a Master, she’s powerful enough to continue living in the wild for about as long as a normal human. Even if Lucifer wins and conquers the world, she’ll be able to keep on living.

That’s what I want. A selfish wish. A hope I’m clinging to.

I’m sure no one will blame either of us for this… except Pochi herself, that is.

I’d rather not let her die. EVEN if she hates me for it… well, she already hates me for a whole lot of irrelevant reasons anyway.

It’s fine. This is fine.

Sure, I might be the worst Master in history, abusing my power like this… but it’s so that I can face Lucifer without any regrets.

And I’ll never let this choice I made be overturned. No one will convince me to — not Lina, not Tifa, not Fuyu, not Haruhana, not Irene, not anyone.

I understand Pochi’s pain well… so well that I hate it.

She’s the best partner and friend I’ve ever had. The one who understands me the most. That’s including the part where she keeps calling me a fool, of course.

What can I say, though? I love her. Hell, I’d proudly say I love her more than she loves me!

So… yeah. This is fine.