I consulted with Urza after she returned to the village regarding the Multi-purpose Humanoid Mobile Heavy Equipment—the Artie Horse—that Lana-san had given her.
If Urza didn’t have a use for it, I would have had to find a new purpose for the machine, but she welcomed the gift with open arms. Of course, that meant we needed to train pilots as well. I asked her if that would be all right, and she assured me it was. And so, the Artie Horse was officially placed under Urza’s care. I told her to let me know once she had secured a proper place to house it, and I would arrange for the transport through Dose’s subordinates.
Not long after, the pilot suits I had requested arrived in the village. At a glance, they seemed to fall into two main categories: baggy ones and tight-fitting ones. Based on those two basic styles, various decorations had been added, resulting in a wide array of designs. Zabuton and her kin were delighted by these unfamiliar styles.
Yor was equally thrilled. Up until now, she hadn't been able to operate an Artie Horse because there wasn't a suit that fit her. She had finally gotten her wish. I told her she was free to choose whichever one she liked and suggested she ask Zabuton to handle any necessary size adjustments.
When I asked if she was sure about picking a tight-fitting suit, she explained that they offered better performance. Apparently, the baggy suits were designed for general use by multiple people, while the tight-fitting ones were custom-tailored for a single pilot. Since they were specialized, their performance was naturally higher. If Yor was happy with that, I had no objections.
Crim then approached me with a request of her own. She claimed she needed a suit to operate machines other than Siegfried. That made sense, but the size was an issue—at least until I realized they had child-sized pilot suits as well. Those were generally baggy, likely designed with future growth in mind. Crim muttered that she would have preferred a tight-fitting one, but I patted her head and told her she’d grow into it soon enough.
As I was comforting Crim, Zabuton came over to ask what I wanted to do about my own pilot suit. I hesitated. While I did want to try piloting one, I had a feeling I’d be satisfied after only one or two sessions. It felt wrong to have them go through the trouble of making me a custom suit just for that. Instead, I asked them to prioritize making one for Yuri first.
As the Demon King’s Daughter, Yuri often visited the village and seemed to have a wonderful time operating the Artie Horses. While she could move them without a suit, it was apparently much safer to wear one. I told Zabuton that mine could wait until they had some breathing room.
Yame-san had settled into village life quite well. Lately, she spent a lot of time with the Father Cat, Raigiel. It felt as though Raigiel was unable to defy her; he often looked like he wanted to bolt, yet he remained by her side, enduring it. Perhaps because of that, the Mother Cat, Jewel, had been in a foul mood, demanding that her husband be returned. My daily routine now included letting the angry Jewel sit on my lap and soothing her.
Now, regarding the uninhabited island Yame-san had given to Urza. Skipping the trip wasn't an option. I wanted to visit at least once before the autumn harvest began. I had been making preparations, but I ran into a bit of a snag. Gucci had suggested I take either Bulga or Stifano along, but I was worried Yame-san might be uncomfortable with that.
I had heard various stories from Yame-san, and I firmly believed that hitting someone was wrong, regardless of whether it granted luck. I tried to get more details from the trio. Gucci was at Draim's Nest and Bulga was busy looking after Kukulkan, so I spoke with Stifano.
"Village Head, there is a misunderstanding—or rather, a significant gap in your perception," Stifano said.
I asked her what she meant.
"Well, Village Head... do you think Yame is a frail demon?"
"Is she not?" I replied. Bulga had said she was weak, and even the story of Yame-san sealing herself away involved her losing to a General.
"That is incorrect. Yame is among the strongest class of the Demon Race. I know the story about her losing to that General, but frankly, there are almost no demons who could have defeated him."
"Is that so?"
"It is. Despite being a human, that General was absurdly powerful."
I nodded, absorbing the information. "But what about Bulga saying Yame-san was weak?"
"It’s because Yame has so many weaknesses... she tends to die quite easily."
"Weaknesses?"
"Yes. And she’s mentally fragile..."
I could certainly see that. But I still didn't like the idea of them hitting her.
"The amount of force we used back then wouldn't have even scratched the Yame of old. In fact, none of us were ever actually able to kill her."
"Really?"
"To compare the difference in power between us and the old Yame, it would be like Lady Hakuren and the infant Lord Hiichiro. Yame would be Lady Hakuren in that analogy."
So, the difference between a parent and a child.
"Yame is a much older demon than we are, though she isn't quite at Lady Versa’s level," Stifano added.
It sounded like children playing with a parent, then. I asked if the hitting was some sort of Demon Race cultural tradition.
"There is no such culture. We hit her for her own sake."
I asked her to explain.
"Yame stores attacks by being struck."
I blinked, confused.
"To put it simply, she remembers the opponent's attack and can replicate it. Yame endures with her natural durability; she doesn’t die. This results in the opponent being hit by their own strength..."
"That sounds like an invincible ability."
"Not at all. She has a mountain of weaknesses. For instance, she can only retaliate as many times as she has been struck."
So if she was hit ten times, she could only hit back ten times.
"Correct. However, since she can stockpile those counts, she has people she isn't fighting hit her so she can store up attacks for later."
I see. It all started to make sense.
"The claim that hitting her brings good luck is true, but it’s essentially bait to ensure people attack her."
"So that was the reason."
"Yes. Yame intentionally acts in a way that invites people to strike her."
Now that she mentioned it, Yame-san had invited me to hit her once. I had refused. It seemed my entire understanding of Yame-san had been skewed. But then, what about the way they treated her? Yame-san had complained that Gucci and the others dragged her around against her will.
"As I said, Yame is incredibly powerful but riddled with weaknesses. If left to her own devices, she’d be casually murdered or die of something trivial."
"So you were looking out for her?"
"Even if she’s murdered or dies, she’ll eventually resurrect, but she doesn't have a very tough spirit. She’s quite a handful to manage."
I suppose that fit. She was the type to seal herself away over a single loss.
"Well... there was also a part of us that wanted her to see our achievements," Stifano admitted.
"For all that, you don't seem to show her much respect," I noted.
"If we showed her respect, she would have been targeted even more. We were quite rowdy back then and had a lot of enemies."
So they were protecting her by keeping her close.
"That was the plan, but it’s undeniable that she ended up being targeted more because she was seen as our companion."
"I see."
"We also ended up involving her in our troubles and asking her to clean up after our messes..."
That explained why Yame-san was so traumatized. Subjecting her to enough stress that she fainted just from seeing their faces was a bit much.
"Lord Gucci and Bulga are extremely fond of Yame. Please, think of them as large puppies who don't know their own strength."
I briefly imagined two massive puppies accidentally crushing Yame-san. Then I looked at Stifano. "Are you not the same?"
"I like Yame too," she replied.
Make that three large puppies.
In the end, we decided that Yame-san would be the one to choose whether Bulga or Stifano accompanied us to the uninhabited island. Stifano predicted that even if Yame-san complained, she wouldn't actually refuse. As it turned out, she was exactly right.
Gucci’s Evaluation of Yame Gucci: “Most demons are practically immortal. Yet Yame, who is famous for ‘not dying,’ is so strange and fascinating.” Yame: “I won’t forget how you tried to observe me dying multiple times just because it was ‘fascinating’! Also, don't think I've forgotten that you've used me as a shield more than anyone else, Gucci!”
Bulga’s Evaluation of Yame Bulga: “She takes my full-power attacks head-on without even trying to dodge. She's amazing!” Yame: “Just because I can take it doesn't mean you should launch surprise attacks while I’m sleeping! It’s not like it doesn’t hurt!” Bulga: “But I heard you don’t actually take any damage?” Yame: “I was obviously just acting tough!”
Stifano’s Evaluation of Yame Stifano: “One of Yame’s weaknesses is the nature of her counters. If an opponent realizes their own attack is being reflected, they’ll usually weaken or stop their assault, right? When that happens, Yame can only rely on the attacks she’s stored from elsewhere, making it hard for her to secure a decisive win. Plus, Yame isn't very fast, so she can't give chase if her opponent decides to run away.” Yame: “I-I was just letting them go. They weren't worth my time anyway.” Stifano: “Since she has so few actual victories, demons who don't know her well tend to underestimate her... which usually causes Lord Gucci to absolutely snap.” Yame: “Wait, really?” Stifano: “Yame, you did beat Lord Gucci to a pulp once, remember?” Yame: “A-Ah, well, that was because he was being stubborn... and I had just been attacked by a dragon right before that.”
Prada’s Evaluation of Yame Prada: “The decision for the Demon Race to serve the Dragon Race was actually partly motivated by the Dragons wanting to do something about Yame. When the contract was being finalized, the first thing the Dragons asked was, ‘Where is Yame?!’” Yame: “Eh? Really? I had no idea.”