Chapter 6 – The Evil Dragon Conducts an Interview 【Part 2】

Interviewer Karma continued to question the candidate for her son’s party, the rabbit beastman, Sheila.

Karma glanced down at the paper in her hand.

“Sheila Gillette. From the Soltipp Forest. Age fifteen. Class is Mage… is that correct?”

What Karma was looking at was a resume containing all of Sheila’s information.

Age, gender, academic and professional history, hobbies, preferences, and so on were written down in painstaking detail.

Ryuuji had an identical document in his hands.

It listed her favorite foods, her least favorite foods, her childhood nickname, and the fact that she was a crybaby who always clung to her mother.

“Uh, why is there so much personal information on here…?”

Ryuuji looked at Karma and asked.

“But of course. This is someone who may be spending a great deal of time with my son. I’ve had her entire background investigated.”

Hmph, his mother said, looking smug.

““Whaaat!?””

Sheila and Ryuuji cried out in surprise.

“Investigated… Wait, you mean Sheila-san didn’t write this resume?”

Whip.

Ryuuji shot a look at Sheila.

She tilted her head anxiously. “A r-resume…? What is that…?”

No way… this resume!

“Naturally. Mother hired that long-eared woman… er, a private investigator, and had her do a thorough background check.”

Hearing this, Ryuuji looked down at the document in his hands.

Now that he looked closer… the cover clearly said [INVESTIGATION REPORT].

“This isn’t a resume! It’s a background check!”

“You could call it that, I suppose,” his mother said without a hint of shame.

Ryuuji snatched the resume—or rather, the investigation report—from his mother and tore it to shreds on the spot.

“Seriously! Why would you do something that completely ignores her privacy?!”

Ryuuji expressed his indignation toward his mother sitting beside him.

But his mother was completely unfazed.

“Because it was necessary,” she replied calmly.

“No, it wasn’t!”

Ryuuji shifted his gaze from his mother to Sheila.

“I’m sorry, Sheila-san. My mo— My mother did a terrible thing.”

At Ryuuji’s words, Sheila shook her head furiously. “N-No, not at all!”

“Sheila doesn’t mind. I think it’s only natural for a mother to worry about weirdos getting too close to her son,” the rabbit beastman answered.

For once, it seemed his mother’s opinion was the correct one. For once.

Sheila had agreed with his mother. Surely this wouldn’t earn her any minus points…

“…Hmph. ‘Still refers to herself by her own name. Displays clear immaturity.’ Minus two points.”

“Eep! I’m so sorry!”

Sheila bowed her head over and over.

“…I see. ‘Apologizes and bows immediately. Displays a lack of self-respect.’ Minus one point.”

“Hnnguuu…”

After that, Karma continued to deduct points for every little thing Sheila said or did.

“Your level is only 9? And you think you can protect my son with that? Minus three points.”

“You can only use ten spells? Far too few. Minus five points.”

“Your magic requires chanting? What happens if my son gets attacked by a monster while you’re busy protecting yourself? Minus ten points.”

Karma kept deducting points. She certainly seemed to be assessing her properly, but somewhere along the way, she started docking points for baseless reasons like “You’re left-handed, so minus ten,” and “You couldn’t go to the bathroom by yourself at night as a child, so minus five.”

Watching this unfold… Ryuuji was starting to get a sneaking suspicion.

This mother of mine… has absolutely no intention of letting Sheila pass from the very beginning!

Beside Ryuuji, Karma continued to scribble negative marks all over the scoring sheet.

Each time she lost points, Sheila would whimper, “Auu, auu…” her eyes welling up with tears.

After she had more or less finished her questions, Karma said, “Well then, let’s move on to the main topic.”

Karma laced her fingers together in front of her mouth, propped her elbows on the table, and spoke.

“The main topic?”

“Yes, Ryu-kun. That was merely the appetizer. Now comes the main course.”

Karma shifted her gaze from her son to the rabbit girl sitting before her.

“Why… did you want to form a party with my son? Please state your motive.”

…You should have asked that first! Ryuuji shot back in his mind.

…But he couldn’t help but be curious about Sheila’s answer.

Why would this rabbit girl want to form a party with a guy like him, who was short and didn’t look strong at all?

“That’s because…”

Sheila looked at Ryuuji. Then she looked at Karma sitting next to him, before returning her gaze to Ryuuji.

“Because Ryuuji-kun… didn’t hate Sheila.”

The mother and son tilted their heads, not quite grasping her answer.

“Um… well… We beastmen are, um, pretty disliked by humans.”

According to Sheila’s explanation, it seemed that beastmen were subjects of discrimination in this world.

They were seen as tainted beings, mixed with the blood of beasts.

Because of that, humans often looked down on them with contempt.

She said they were sometimes called horrible slurs like “half-breed” and even subjected to violence.

…Having lived in a cave for fifteen years, Ryuuji had known nothing of the sort.

“But… Ryuuji-kun was different. When you saw Sheila, you didn’t do anything horrible. In fact… you asked if I was okay, if I was hurt… you were worried about me, and it made me happy.”

Struck by the aura of Karma’s rage, Sheila had fainted.

Karma had brought Sheila and her son back to town.

Karma had intended to just abandon the unconscious girl, but Ryuuji had told her she couldn’t do that.

“And also… while Sheila was unconscious and having a nightmare, Ryuuji-kun held my hand.”

“Wh-Wha?! Y-You were aware of that?”

Yes… Sheila smiled, and Ryuuji scratched his head in embarrassment.

…While she was unconscious, Sheila had been groaning in her sleep. Unable to just stand by and watch, Ryuuji had held her hand tightly until she woke up.

“S-Sorry about that, Sheila-san. For holding your hand without asking.”

“No. I don’t mind. …It made me very, very happy.”

As if to show she meant it from the bottom of her heart, Sheila’s eyes softened as she placed a hand over her chest.

It was so embarrassing that Ryuuji wanted to run away.

“That’s why Sheila thought… I want to be with this kind person…”

Sheila opened her eyes and looked at Ryuuji, and then at the interviewer, Karma, and spoke clearly.

Her eyes weren’t wavering in the slightest; they were looking at them with sincere, straightforward honesty.

She’s not… lying.

“Ah, ahh! Um, um… by ‘be with,’ I don’t mean in a romantic way! I mean, um, uh…”

The way Sheila flailed in a panic… was adorable.

But that aside.

After hearing Sheila’s motive, Ryuuji had a thought.

He was happy.

He had never had his character praised like that by anyone other than his family (his mother and the Observer).

He had never been complimented so directly by a girl his own age… so Ryuuji was happy.

And that’s why… Ryuuji.

To his mother, holding the scoring sheet.

“Mom.”

“Yes? What is it?”

He clearly stated [his own intention].

“I… I really do want to form a party with her. In fact, I’m going to.”

Hearing Sheila’s motive had strengthened his desire to have her as a companion.

“It doesn’t matter if you say no! I’m teaming up with Sheila-san!”

“B-But…”

As his mother tried to stop him yet again, Ryuuji used his trump card.

He felt bad about it, but even so, he wanted to adventure with her.

“If you get in my way, I’ll start to hate you, Mom…!”

…There’s no need to describe what happened next.

Karma, who didn’t want to be hated by her son, made a terribly reluctant face before answering, “…I’ll leave the decision to you, Ryu-kun.”

Ryuuji apologized to his dejected mother in his heart, then said,

“Sheila-san, I’m looking forward to working with you.”

He offered a handshake to his new companion.

“I’m looking forward to it too… Ryuuji-kun!”

And so, Ryuuji gained his very first companion, and his very first friend.