Roar, Beautiful Girl's Syllogism!!

“I'll say it again, I want to go outside. Because I don't like you.”

Still expressionless, I tell Lairine flatly.

“Then, I'll say it again, I won't allow it. Because I love you.”

Lairine answers with a strained smile.

“You won't allow it? Even though you're a mother?”

“I won't allow it. Because I'm a mother!”

Right now, the two of us are very close.

So close that if we both reached out, we could hold hands immediately.

But even so, the gap between us is deep.

I've got no intention of jumping over that gap to your side!

If you want to bridge it, you're the one who has to come to me, Lairine.

I won't accept anything else.

Because.

“Reason is on my side.”

That's what I'm convinced of.

<Reason, is it?>

“H, hmm? You know some pretty difficult words, don't youuu? Good girl, good giiirl”

Omake-sama and Lairine let out skeptical voices almost simultaneously.

“But what does ‘reason is on my side’ even mean, I wonderrr? To put it harshly, what you're asking for is just the nonsense of a runaway daughter, you knooow?”

Clearing her throat with a kohon, Lairine arranges her smile into a gentle one and begins to speak.

“On the other hand, I simply ‘love my daughter as a mother.’ The place in this world where you can live most comfortably, and with the most peace of mind, is on this island...... I'm certain of that. That's why I'm trying to keep you here on this island. I'm a mother, after all; it's only natural to wish for my daughter's days to be peaceful, isn't it? Running away from home is just silly, you knooow”

True, there's some reason in Lairine's words too.

This world is a dangerous place, where monsters roam and bandits are rampant.

Furthermore, because of my appearance as a cursed child with black hair and black eyes, I am frequently exposed to discrimination and malice from people.

Even on an island with Kenu-chan sleeping under my feet, every day I've spent here has been extremely comfortable.

“A mother who loves her daughter and gives her peaceful days, and a runaway daughter who rebels against her...... put those two side by side, and however you look at it, isn't reason on the mother's side, I wonderrr? Yours is just selfishness, you knooow”

But.

......But!

This battle of reason...... I'm the one who'll win!!

<What is a ‘battle of reason’...... That's a concept I've never heard of before......>

“Lairine, the saying ‘Let cute kids go on a journey’, do you, know it?”

Looking up at Lairine's face, I asked her abruptly.

Lairine tilted her head and thought for a moment, then clapped her palms together.

“Ah, I remember nooow. That's the proverb from another world that the hero of 800 years ago spread, isn't iiit”

“Then this'll be quick.”

Now, here it comes, Lairine!

Listen well, and tremble in fear!

Before me, armed with logic!!

“I am a beautiful girl.”

“True.”

“In other words, I am cute.”

“No doubt about it.”

“So, for me, a journey is...... destiny.”

“Wha......!?”

That's right!

The fact that I'm a beautiful girl is self-evident!

And my being a beautiful girl means exactly the same thing as my being cute!

Furthermore, my being cute means that, as a natural conclusion, I am destined for a journey!

Behold, the Beautiful Girl's Syllogism!!

<No, what are you talking about!?>

And the fact that this way of thinking is generally accepted as reasonable is obvious, considering that the proverb “Let cute kids go on a journey” has spread both in the world I was reincarnated from and in this one!

To travel is the duty of those born as beautiful girls!

That is the reason of this world!!

“<There's no way that's true!?>”

Oops, Omake-sama and Lairine synced up.

“Listen, Emi-chan...... in this case, ‘cute kids’ doesn't mean whether they're beautiful girls or not, it means something like ‘beloved children’, you seee......”

“Lairine, you don't love me?”

I tilt my head a little, looking up at her through my lashes.

“Ugh......”

Seeing me like that, Lairine's face turned bright red, and she covered her nose.

Then, she suddenly hugged me!

“I love you! I love you, you knooow!! Of everyone in this world, Emi-chan is my favorite!! I LOVE YOU SO MUUUUCH!!!”

“THEN LET ME GO ON A JOURNEY!!!”

At my thunderous rebuke, Lairine's body gave a single jolt, and she staggered back a step, then two, unsteady on her feet, pulling away from me.

“That is...... your duty as a mother.”

“My duty...... as a mother......”

“To be far away, and think of the other. That too is a form of love. That is what I want from you.”

When I said that, Lairine plopped down right where she stood, a dazed look on her face.

Without denying it, without refusing.

Which is to say, it was nothing less than a reaction showing that this woman had accepted my argument and been convinced by it, even though at heart she wanted to deny it.

<Well, I suppose that's true, but...... why would she get swept up in an argument that's nothing but momentum...... Something in it must have struck a chord with her, I suppose......>

A breeze blows between the two of us.

The wind stroked us gently, carrying the scent of grass far away.

Neither Lairine nor I move a muscle.

Only our hair sways softly in the wind.

A few quiet minutes go by.

“......I understand.”

Lairine stood up and spoke.

“I understand. I don't want to understand, but...... somehow it has sunk in. What you are saying, Emi-chan. If that is my duty as a mother, then very well...... I shall swallow my tears and see you off as you set out.”

“Then”

“But!!”

As I trembled with joy, Lairine thrust a beautiful white index finger at me and fixed me with a sharp look.

“You wish to go outside. As a mother, I shall respect that wish of yours. But, sending you out alone. My anxiety about that. I would like you, as my child, to understand that too.”

“In other words, what should I do.”

“It's simple.”

She closes her eyes for a moment, takes a deep breath, and lets it out.

And then, when she opened those eyes again...... Lairine's whole air had changed.

Golden magic power flows through every corner of her body, shining with a divine radiance.

The power she has stopped holding back presses on the space around her, making it creak, mishimishi.

This is the first time I've seen Lairine like this.

In spite of myself, goosebumps break out all over my body, and a cold sweat trickles down.

“I will get serious too.”

Lairine said it quietly, but in a voice that carried well.

“If you want to go outside, then defeat me before you go...... I have no intention of being that mean, of course. But.”

Gou!!

With Lairine at its center, her 【Intimidation】 rages like a storm!

“At the very least, try to land one hit on me in this state.”

“One hit......?”

“That's right. It doesn't matter if you don't deal any damage.”

Even as she sent her 【Intimidation】 flying everywhere, Lairine smiled sweetly.

“I shall become a wall. That, too, is my duty as a mother...... no, rather, I suppose this is my duty, as a parent.”