Episode 122: Favor and Liking
And so, while being nagged at by Grandma Helga, I was socializing with the girls at the Blue Comet Clanhouse.
Conversation is the most common way to kill time in this world.
After all, there’s no internet, let alone television or newspapers.
And to add to that, most of the girls working as Striders can’t even read.
Let’s try talking to one of the girls around here…
“Oh, ain’t that the Master?”
Oh, Keira.
She’s a rat beastkin girl.
“Yo, Keira. I brought a little something.”
“Oh… Master always brings food when he’s got free time, don’t he?”
“…Have I brought that much?”
“As far as I remember, I’ve gotten something every time I’ve seen you. Ever since we were living in the slums…”
That’s right.
Keira grew up in the slums.
She lived by selling her body, stealing, and begging.
“Really, every bit of food I got from Master was so delicious…! It was the only joy in the slums…”
Keira said, her eyes gazing into the distance.
“Not only that, but you gave pocket money to the slum kids, and you donated a lot of money to the slums through Hookclaw-san… To us, Master is like a god. We’ll never be able to repay you…”
S-So I was that appreciated…
From my perspective, I just couldn’t expect much from the ethics of this world, so I was just giving money and food to prevent them from breaking into my house…
You know… like how the upper class donates to prevent the lower class from rioting, American style?
That’s how I felt about it… but according to Keira, there’s no one else in this town who donates as much money and goods as I do to the slums without asking for anything in return.
The common thought is that poverty is due to a lack of personal effort, and if the poor riot, the soldiers or vigilantes will solve it. That’s the normal way of thinking.
Because that’s the kind of world it is, even if they had ulterior motives, no one would donate like I do. Of course, donations to churches and Guilds are a different story.
“It’s not like I meant to… I’m just donating so the people in the slums don’t try to steal from my house, that’s all. It’s for my own sake, in the end.”
“Heh heh heh…! Master is such a good person after all. Normally, if it’s for their own sake, they’d use the money for themselves. They’d build high fences around their house and hire guards. Ah… Master is so good… such a good True Nature…”
Her eyes were filled with a mixture of jealousy and respect.
There it is again, cultural differences.
Sorry, Japan has good public safety…
The difference in Cultural Capital is cruel.
Even on Earth, the difference between the rich and the poor wasn’t about ability, but about that.
Those who have been exposed to art since childhood, taken lessons, and traveled abroad… even if poor people work hard to raise their money and status, they can’t beat those with a “rich True Nature.” It’s a “difference in birth.”
Wealth isn’t about having stacks of bills lying around the house, having a lot of beautiful women as mistresses, or being able to be fully armed with brand-name goods. It’s something more fundamental, something in the “heart.”
Keira, who couldn’t even live a basic life without taking from others, and I, who have lived richly both now and in the past, see things differently.
…I feel like if I say this kind of truth, I’ll get punched by a straw-hat pirate. I’m not a former Celestial Dragon or anything.
“I’ve been told that many times by the people around me. I don’t think anything I say to people who haven’t been blessed will resonate, since I’ve been blessed with people and things. But… as a practical matter, neither I, you, nor the people in the slums lose out. Wouldn’t you be satisfied with that?”
“…Haa~, I can’t beat Master after all. Is it okay, Master? You can yell at a stingy Strider like me, who grew up in the slums, ‘Don’t complain!’ That’s what people usually do.”
“I hate people who control others by spreading their displeasure around.”
“Oh my, you’re a saint…”
Keira laughed in amazement.
“I might be a saint by this world’s standards, but it’s different in other places, you know?”
“I don’t know what ‘other places’ are, but it’s certain that Master is a kind person here. Everyone in the Blue Comet likes Master.”
“Really?”
I said in a voice like a mascot from an educational program.
“Well, there are some women who dislike you as a man. But there’s no one here who dislikes the True Nature of Master as a person.”
Hmm?
Well, likes and dislikes aren’t a one-dimensional thing like “favorability” in a dating game.
There are guys whose abilities you can trust even if you can’t trust them as a person.
There are guys who you don’t want to be friends with but are interesting to talk to.
There are guys who you like so much that you want to give them everything.
There are all kinds of people, all kinds of evaluations, and likes and dislikes are mixed together like a marble pattern.
I have a lot of lovers, but… I don’t “like” all of those girls in a way that I can accept them unconditionally. There are parts I don’t like.
But, all things considered, it’s a net positive, so I say I love them.
It’s probably the same for them. They probably don’t like everything about me, but still, they said they’d live with me because they like a lot of things about me.
Isn’t that how relationships are?
“Is that so…? I’m glad everyone likes me, but…”
“You might not know, but the Blue Comet normally doesn’t let men cross the threshold of the Clanhouse, even if they come to visit.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“But Master is a trustworthy person. As a special case, you’re allowed to enter.”
Ah… I thought so?
In the first place, it’s a “mutual aid society for women in weak positions.”
Men aren’t allowed in.
I thought it was strange that I had a free pass from the first time I visited…
“Master wouldn’t do anything terrible to us, would you? That’s why.”
Hee, I guess I have social credit after all.