CH 149

I headed over to Mr. Amato, just to find him yelling, “Whaaa-! You, that was intentional, wasn’t it!? Yeah, right, stop it with the barefaced lies! Wait, you’re going to eat again!? I’m telling you, you’ll become fa… Whoa! Don’t charge at me!!”

He was being toyed with by the monsters.

“Ah! Mistress has come!”

When Black Fatty noticed me, everyone left Mr. Amato alone and gathered around me.

“Ooohh! My cute monsters! Are you guys doing fine? Any complaints?”

“All fine~”

“A weirdo came!”

“Weirdo~”

“An unpopular guy~”

Looks like he’s being called unpopular and such.

＊

“Shut it! I can hear everything! Don’t call me unpopular!”

Whoa, Mr. Amato is full of life right now. He’s much more suited to be a farmer than a programmer, isn’t he?

“Above all, I’m glad to see you having arrived safely, Mr. Amato.”

“Thanks to you. That water pistol and the pepper bombs really saved our asses.”

It’s no water pistol!

“Or rather, the pepper bombs were terrifying! They caused not only the guy hit by it, but everyone around him to roll on the ground.”

“Eh!? They seriously rolled ’round on the ground? Were they alright?”

Sword, you’re worrying about the attackers here, you know?

“Yeah, it looks like their lives weren’t in danger. But, they were begging all the time to be saved. Since they were so pitiful, I couldn’t help but to apologize.”

“Oh, how kind of you, Mr. Amato.”

“Eh…? In your eyes, as a super sadist, that’s kind!?”

Of course! The other party were folks who tried to kill Mr. Amato. Personally I’d have tortured them a lot more terribly before slaughtering the whole lot.

＊

“Oh right, Mr. Amato, there’s something I want to show you. Please come to the dining hall if you have a moment.”

Mr. Amato became dejected.

“If I have time? Well, as long as these guys don’t get in the way,” he said, pointing at the monsters.

“Being able to talk with them is fun, right? Isn’t that great for you? Being emotionally attached is a good thing, you know? Anyway, see you later.”

After bidding him farewell for the moment, I set up the cherry bonsai in the dining hall. Thinking that I must show him the scattering of the blossoms, I pasted the petals back onto the tree.

…As I did, droves of servants gathered. Do all of them want to watch?

“You guys want to watch it as well? This is a toy where I bought the foundation from the beautiful Planavayuh and rebuilt it together with her and Sahad. It’s quite well-made, and back when I watched it, I couldn’t help but groan in admiration. Such ideas are important, you know? And this is a fine example of it. Sahad also made his clay tableware after learning the ropes himself. You guys should also not fear failure and try out all kinds of things while always asking yourself why things are as they are without being too inflexible in your thinking.”

“”Okay!””

Plana and Sahad were embarrassed.

How adorable. They’re so innocent.

As I gazed at the two while thinking so, Sword told me, “…Seriously, your kind to everyone but humans, aren’t you?”

Shut it! I’m simply kind to everyone without making a distinction whether someone is a human or not!

….Sword was standing right behind me, placing his hands on my shoulder and head. He’s probably worried about the possibility of me crying again when I see this toy in action. But well, the one who’s going to cry a lot more…

＊

“Whoa, everyone’s shown up in full force.”

Going by the voice I think Mr. Amato has entered the hall.

“…Wait! Isn’t that a ［Cherry Tree］ figure!? Incredible! Did you make this, Lady Indra?”

“Yep. The foundation was made by the pretty elven girl over here, but the whole panorama has been created by me and the friends I scouted this time!”

“Nothing less of you. You’re really amazing, Lady Indra!”

There’s still much more to come.

“No, you see, it’s not over yet. Take a good look.”

I activated it and the wind started to blow. And then a flurry of falling cherry blossoms whirled around.

I could hear everyone loudly cheering. But, Mr. Amato…

＊

After standing frozen in silence, tears quickly began to spill out of his eyes.

“I made a blizzard of falling cherry blossoms. I reproduced what I knew from the memories inside me. Personally I haven’t actually seen it, but…Mr. Amato, you saw it, right? How about it? Is it a proper representation?”

Thereupon everyone noticed that Mr. Amato was crying.

Meanwhile he nodded while sobbing, “……I recently hadn’t gone to view the cherry blossoms as I was a corporate slave. But, when I finally made the release and went home, such a wind…blew. A cherry tree was blooming and I remember how I thought that it was finally that season again while looking up to it. It was incredibly beautiful. Dropping by a convenience store, I bought some low-malt beer, and aimlessly wandered around while drinking it. At that time, the petals danced in the air thanks to the wind…”

Mr. Amato had closed his eyes, probably recalling the scenery of that time.

＊

After a while, Sword tapped Mr. Amato’s shoulder.

“……Indra and I are plannin’ to go look for this tree. Well, while doin’ some sightseein’. ………Wanna come with us?”

After looking at Sword dumbstruck with his mouth gaping open, Mr. Amato shook his head.

“I’ll wait. Over here. From the start, I haven’t been such an active guy anyway. That’s why I had no problem staying over at the company and working all the time either. Right now I’m taking care of the monsters, doing something like being an animal caretaker, I guess. If you discover cherry trees, bring back some saplings. I’ll plant them in some corner of the garden and grow them. Once they turn into large trees, I’ll look at them with the monsters.”

Sword laughed, “I see. …Okay, we’ll bring back a ［Sakura］ as souvenir next time. Until then, feel free to gaze at this creation of Indra.”

“Gotcha,” Mr. Amato agreed, and directed his eyes back at the cherry bonsai.

We made it with the materials on hand, but I guess we were able to reproduce it pretty decently. The cherry tree in our memories.

＊

The servants prepared a dedicated place and decorated it with the cherry bonsai.

Well, I feel it’s got a slightly different vibe if you look at it during summer, but well, I couldn’t really tell them to only take it out when spring comes around, like it’s done with Hina dolls.

Or rather, they seem to like it quite a bit. Everyone has been considerably moved by it. They put back the petals in place by themselves before making them scatter again. It appears to be unexpectedly popular.