When we got back to the room and were alone, Mil sat down next to me.
“Al. What do you think the cat people are after?”
“I can’t think of anything …… honestly. There’s not much information to go on. There is absolutely nothing to disprove everyone’s decision.”
Mil seemed surprised.
“So you don’t know too.”
“I can imagine all I want. But I can’t do it when I’m asked to provide evidence.”
Mil sat down right next to me and asked.
“What kind?”
“How do you think the cat people are going to get their hands on our information?”
“Hmm. There’s a limit to how many scouts they can use. We don’t have much interaction right now, after all. If anyone tries to sneak in, they’ll be found out right away.”
“Yes. So do we live in fear without knowing? Or do we run away?”
“It looks like they were pretty adamant about their land.”
Mil seemed to remember the conversation with the cat people.
“The cat may be a humanoid version of the story that lives in the house. If the cat people do nothing …… one day we will attack them. And they know that they won’t stand a chance.”
“So what will they do? They’re going to try to figure out what we’re thinking and what we’re going to do.”
“So that’s where you start.”
“You can’t think of the right strategy if you don’t know your opponent.”
Mil nodded.
“I agree. Al has always been trying to get to know his opponents, after all.”
“Even if they disguise themselves as someone else, our town is so interconnected that they’re bound to be recognized.”
“Yeah, it’s like …… there’s no person who doesn’t have a relationship with anyone.”
“The other possibility is the ship that’s coming and going from the main family. It can’t penetrate the inner workings of our side too.”
“They’ll be stopped at the entrance, after all. And I don’t think they have anything to do with the cat people deep in the forest.”
Then I smiled mischievously.
“The only possibilities left are the messenger and winged tribe.”
Mil’s expression was surprised. So she didn’t imagine it.
“You’re letting a messenger sneak in?”
“We can’t shut them out completely, you know. So there’s a possibility. Can you get rid of all the stray cats? I think some of the stray cats are messengers.”
Mil wanted to know a little more about it.
She grabbed my hand.
“What about the winged tribe?”
“They can get close enough to avoid the patrol nets.”
“How do you know that?”
“You can use your far-seeing magic from there.”
Mil was still not convinced.
“But why would the winged tribe help the cat people that much?”
“They’ll help if it’s just gathering information. I’m sure they’d like to know our motive too.”
“I see. …… Which one do you think it is, Al?”
“I think it’s both. They can get more accurate information by combining the two. It will give them a better idea of where to send their messenger.”
“What makes you think that?”
So I decided to ask her to think back to her past memories.
“It was during the attack on the town. Why do you think they were able to pinpoint the room we were in?”
Mil’s face changes like she’s saying, “That’s right”.
“Ahhhhh! Could they have been inside the house too?”
“No, I don’t think so. It would have been caught by Mil’s spying net. There are no cats in the mansion, so if it comes in, you would sense it.”
“You mean to the outside …… Then how will they come?”
I said, sounding a bit like a teacher.
“First of all, is time a friend or foe to them? How will they know?”
“Isn’t time the enemy?”
“Of course not if you don’t know about Operation Big Wave. I think we’ll have more immigrants first, and then we’ll run out of food and destroy ourselves.”
“What if it’s leaked?”
“I’m sure they’ll be ready to deal with a horde of wild boars before they attack us. Their main focus is to protect their own home, after all.”
Mil nodded her head in a cute way.
She was a grown woman, but sometimes she also acts like a little girl.
This side of her is also cute.
Oops, let’s not stretch our noses just yet.
Mil, oblivious to my worldly desires, tilted her head.
“What difference does it make if they’re prepared to deal with the wild boar?”
I thought, “I guess a beautiful woman can make such a picture too ……”.
“They could monitor the abandoned farms. Or exterminate wild boars.”
“So you think it’s not leaking.”
“Yes. The reconnaissance is to see if we’re running out of food. They’re looking for that possibility.”
“How do you know?”
I know it doesn’t sound like much, but ……
You can get a lot of information from outside too.
“If the food supply is low, there will be less patrols or a blatant increase in food procurement. You can see that from the outside, can’t you?”
Mil sighs and leans in closer to me.
“Huh. I still don’t think I’ll reach Al’s world ……”
“You’ll get there. Especially you, since you’re the one closest to me. I’m looking at the world the way Mil looks at me.”
She puffed her cheeks a little.
“I know it’s selfish of me, but …… I want Al to keep looking only at me. It’s impossible right now, though.”
I hugged her shoulders in silence.
Mil stayed silent and leaned.
“So that’s what I’d like to do when we’re alone.”
“Yeah. I’m thinking about it a lot because I probably want to help you, but …… I’m not always thinking about the hard stuff.”
“You don’t?”
Mil smiled.
“The wedding is all I can think about right now. It really makes me so happy to be an official bride, too. I’ve been alone for so long. I’ve always wanted a family, you know. And now, I got such a wonderful husband. Now I can proudly claim my ownership.”
“You can still claim it.”
“It’s different, you know. Husband.”
“Is it? Wife.”
“That’s the way it is. Then, I guess the wedding will be okay.”
“I hope so …… They might see it as a festival and attack us.”
The tone of Mil’s voice lowered.
“If they do that, I’m going to be very angry indeed.”
“I don’t think there will be any great unity at the moment. If they do attack us, it’ll be easy to fight them off.”
Mil hugged me.
“It’s fine then. I don’t want to see Al ignoring the casualties of the battle, but… I don’t want to see you suffer because of worrying too much.”
“Yeah …… I’m sorry. It’s in my nature …… I don’t like it, that’s why I make plans.”
“I know… but, that’s not the point. Al’s ideas are off point with what we discussed earlier in the meeting, aren’t they?”
I knew you’d notice.
I guess I can’t fool Mil.
“That’s right.”
She pulled her body away from mine and looked at me with serious eyes.
But she still kept one hand on me.
“But …… Al didn’t say anything, did he? Why?”
“Well …… I want you guys to fail and move on.”
“You want us to fail?”
“Yeah, if you only succeed all the time …… you will become extremely afraid of failure. And failure becomes a bad thing.”
Mil thought for a moment and let out a small sigh.
“You’re right. Maybe so.”
“And …… if you’ve never fallen before, you won’t be able to get right back up when you do.”
“Why?”
“You’ll be afraid of falling again.”
Mil closed her eyes and pondered a bit.
“Yeah, I think I understand what you’re saying.”
“And even that choice won’t result in any damage. I’m not missing the point.”
“Well, I’m relieved.”
“I’ll take the blame, so don’t worry about it and ……”
While I was speaking, Mil stopped my lips with her index finger.
“It’s not me …… it’s us. Don’t leave me out.”
I’m really no match to you.
“You’re right, it’s us.”
When we got back to the room and were alone, Mil sat down next to me.
“Al. What do you think the cat people are after?”
“I can’t think of anything …… honestly. There’s not much information to go on. There is absolutely nothing to disprove everyone’s decision.”
Mil seemed surprised.
“So you don’t know too.”
“I can imagine all I want. But I can’t do it when I’m asked to provide evidence.”
Mil sat down right next to me and asked.
“What kind?”
“How do you think the cat people are going to get their hands on our information?”
“Hmm. There’s a limit to how many scouts they can use. We don’t have much interaction right now, after all. If anyone tries to sneak in, they’ll be found out right away.”
“Yes. So do we live in fear without knowing? Or do we run away?”
“It looks like they were pretty adamant about their land.”
Mil seemed to remember the conversation with the cat people.
“The cat may be a humanoid version of the story that lives in the house. If the cat people do nothing …… one day we will attack them. And they know that they won’t stand a chance.”
“So what will they do? They’re going to try to figure out what we’re thinking and what we’re going to do.”
“So that’s where you start.”
“You can’t think of the right strategy if you don’t know your opponent.”
Mil nodded.
“I agree. Al has always been trying to get to know his opponents, after all.”
“Even if they disguise themselves as someone else, our town is so interconnected that they’re bound to be recognized.”
“Yeah, it’s like …… there’s no person who doesn’t have a relationship with anyone.”
“The other possibility is the ship that’s coming and going from the main family. It can’t penetrate the inner workings of our side too.”
“They’ll be stopped at the entrance, after all. And I don’t think they have anything to do with the cat people deep in the forest.”
Then I smiled mischievously.
“The only possibilities left are the messenger and winged tribe.”
Mil’s expression was surprised. So she didn’t imagine it.
“You’re letting a messenger sneak in?”
“We can’t shut them out completely, you know. So there’s a possibility. Can you get rid of all the stray cats? I think some of the stray cats are messengers.”
Mil wanted to know a little more about it.
She grabbed my hand.
“What about the winged tribe?”
“They can get close enough to avoid the patrol nets.”
“How do you know that?”
“You can use your far-seeing magic from there.”
Mil was still not convinced.
“But why would the winged tribe help the cat people that much?”
“They’ll help if it’s just gathering information. I’m sure they’d like to know our motive too.”
“I see. …… Which one do you think it is, Al?”
“I think it’s both. They can get more accurate information by combining the two. It will give them a better idea of where to send their messenger.”
“What makes you think that?”
So I decided to ask her to think back to her past memories.
“It was during the attack on the town. Why do you think they were able to pinpoint the room we were in?”
Mil’s face changes like she’s saying, “That’s right”.
“Ahhhhh! Could they have been inside the house too?”
“No, I don’t think so. It would have been caught by Mil’s spying net. There are no cats in the mansion, so if it comes in, you would sense it.”
“You mean to the outside …… Then how will they come?”
I said, sounding a bit like a teacher.
“First of all, is time a friend or foe to them? How will they know?”
“Isn’t time the enemy?”
“Of course not if you don’t know about Operation Big Wave. I think we’ll have more immigrants first, and then we’ll run out of food and destroy ourselves.”
“What if it’s leaked?”
“I’m sure they’ll be ready to deal with a horde of wild boars before they attack us. Their main focus is to protect their own home, after all.”
Mil nodded her head in a cute way.
She was a grown woman, but sometimes she also acts like a little girl.
This side of her is also cute.
Oops, let’s not stretch our noses just yet.
Mil, oblivious to my worldly desires, tilted her head.
“What difference does it make if they’re prepared to deal with the wild boar?”
I thought, “I guess a beautiful woman can make such a picture too ……”.
“They could monitor the abandoned farms. Or exterminate wild boars.”
“So you think it’s not leaking.”
“Yes. The reconnaissance is to see if we’re running out of food. They’re looking for that possibility.”
“How do you know?”
I know it doesn’t sound like much, but ……
You can get a lot of information from outside too.
“If the food supply is low, there will be less patrols or a blatant increase in food procurement. You can see that from the outside, can’t you?”
Mil sighs and leans in closer to me.
“Huh. I still don’t think I’ll reach Al’s world ……”
“You’ll get there. Especially you, since you’re the one closest to me. I’m looking at the world the way Mil looks at me.”
She puffed her cheeks a little.
“I know it’s selfish of me, but …… I want Al to keep looking only at me. It’s impossible right now, though.”
I hugged her shoulders in silence.
Mil stayed silent and leaned.
“So that’s what I’d like to do when we’re alone.”
“Yeah. I’m thinking about it a lot because I probably want to help you, but …… I’m not always thinking about the hard stuff.”
“You don’t?”
Mil smiled.
“The wedding is all I can think about right now. It really makes me so happy to be an official bride, too. I’ve been alone for so long. I’ve always wanted a family, you know. And now, I got such a wonderful husband. Now I can proudly claim my ownership.”
“You can still claim it.”
“It’s different, you know. Husband.”
“Is it? Wife.”
“That’s the way it is. Then, I guess the wedding will be okay.”
“I hope so …… They might see it as a festival and attack us.”
The tone of Mil’s voice lowered.
“If they do that, I’m going to be very angry indeed.”
“I don’t think there will be any great unity at the moment. If they do attack us, it’ll be easy to fight them off.”
Mil hugged me.
“It’s fine then. I don’t want to see Al ignoring the casualties of the battle, but… I don’t want to see you suffer because of worrying too much.”
“Yeah …… I’m sorry. It’s in my nature …… I don’t like it, that’s why I make plans.”
“I know… but, that’s not the point. Al’s ideas are off point with what we discussed earlier in the meeting, aren’t they?”
I knew you’d notice.
I guess I can’t fool Mil.
“That’s right.”
She pulled her body away from mine and looked at me with serious eyes.
But she still kept one hand on me.
“But …… Al didn’t say anything, did he? Why?”
“Well …… I want you guys to fail and move on.”
“You want us to fail?”
“Yeah, if you only succeed all the time …… you will become extremely afraid of failure. And failure becomes a bad thing.”
Mil thought for a moment and let out a small sigh.
“You’re right. Maybe so.”
“And …… if you’ve never fallen before, you won’t be able to get right back up when you do.”
“Why?”
“You’ll be afraid of falling again.”
Mil closed her eyes and pondered a bit.
“Yeah, I think I understand what you’re saying.”
“And even that choice won’t result in any damage. I’m not missing the point.”
“Well, I’m relieved.”
“I’ll take the blame, so don’t worry about it and ……”
While I was speaking, Mil stopped my lips with her index finger.
“It’s not me …… it’s us. Don’t leave me out.”
I’m really no match to you.
“You’re right, it’s us.”
