Does a Doll Deserve to Live a Happy Life? (Patreon)

Chapter 34: So Much for a Peaceful Last Day

Standing in front of everyone with Scáthach at my side, now fully healed, of course, I couldn’t help but nervously scratch the back of my head at the looks Kiara, Artoria, and especially Tamamo were giving us.

Kiara and Artoria were blushing, trying very hard not to stare at my bare torso… and failing miserably, judging by their repeated glances.

Tamamo, meanwhile, was fiercely glaring at Scáthach and looked one irritated exhale away from hissing.

As for why?

Well, it probably had something to do with the fact that our clothes were still torn to shreds, and I wasn’t even wearing a shirt anymore, leaving my chest completely exposed.

And the hickies.

Yeah… the hickies on both our necks and part of our chests weren’t helping.

To make matters worse, Scáthach wasn’t doing anything to hide them. No, she was going out of her way to show them off, proudly smirking at the girls. Especially at Tamamo, who was gritting her teeth in pure jealousy.

At least Eri was still napping. Small mercies.

“Sieg-kun~,” Tamamo said with a sweet smile that absolutely did not reach her eyes. “Would you mind explaining why both of you are in that state… and more importantly, why you’re covered in hickies?”

I let out a sigh, knowing honesty would save me more trouble than lying. I glanced at Scáthach to check if she had any objection to explaining what happened. She met my gaze for a moment, then simply returned to her relaxed pose.

“Hah… mind if we get changed first and move this conversation to the living room?” I asked hopefully.

Seeing my reaction, most of Tamamo’s tension faded. Kiara and Artoria’s blushes also vanished as they finally noticed the dried blood on both our torn clothes.

“This better be a good explanation,” Tamamo relented with a small pout, joined by two firm nods from Kiara and Artoria.

After giving them a grateful smile, Scáthach and I went to our respective rooms and changed before meeting everyone in the living room. We sat down together, facing the others.

“Right… so this is what happened…”

I spent the next several minutes explaining everything that had occurred during our battle. The others listened with rapt attention.

When I reached the part where Scáthach asked me to kill her, the room was instantly flooded with killing intent, all of it from Tamamo, who was glaring bloody murder at the calm, silent Scáthach beside me.

Thankfully, she reined it in a moment later, otherwise she might’ve woken Eri upstairs. She took a deep breath, then urged me to continue, though her cold stare didn’t soften.

I finished by telling them how I used one of my authorities to heal Scáthach and how I bound her under an oath to stay by my side forever… sealing it with a kiss.

A kiss that had gotten a little heated before we’d returned.

“And that’s what happened,” I finished with a sigh, leaning back into my seat and bracing myself, especially for Tamamo’s reaction.

Tamamo was the first to speak, and before anything else, I noticed the look in her eyes. A serious one. The kind I had never seen from her before. A reminder that beneath her beauty and playful nature, was a goddess of terrifying power if she ever regained all her tails.

“Before anything else, I have a question for you, Queen of Shadows,” Tamamo said, her tone sharpened with divine authority as she stared straight at Scáthach.

“Ask,” Scáthach replied calmly, opening her eyes to meet Tamamo’s gaze without hesitation.

“I won’t ask why you want to die, I honestly don’t care whatsoever about that.” Tamamo waved that issue off as if discussing the weather. “But if you’re going to have a relationship with my beloved, I won’t have you leading him astray. So tell me, Witch of Dún Scáith… do you truly love Sieg?”

Her voice was deadly serious, eyes narrowed as if searching for even the slightest hint of deceit.

Scáthach stayed silent for a moment. Her gaze slid from Tamamo to Artoria to Kiara, all three wearing equally serious expressions, before she finally let out a small, amused laugh.

“Huhuhu… you are truly something else, Sieg,” she said. “To have won the complete loyalty of the incarnation of the Konjiki Hakumen, the King of Britain, and a possible vessel for the Third Heretical.”

She looked at Tamamo first, then Artoria, then Kiara in turn.

None of them reacted. No twitch, no flinch, just steady, silent judgment.

Scáthach’s smile softened as she returned her gaze to Tamamo. “To answer your question, Dakiniten… yes.”

She looked at me for a heartbeat, and I blushed despite myself, before looking back at the others.

“This cold heart of mine now beats only for Sieg and no one else.”

Her hand found mine then, fingers intertwining, her expression uncharacteristically gentle.

“As for my goal… it has changed a bit. What I desire now above all else is to watch over Sieg’s journey until the end, fighting at his side against anything and everything that opposes him. Trading one selfish wish for another.”

The girls took a moment to process everything before slowly relaxing.

Tamamo was the last, staring into Scáthach’s eyes for a long moment before accepting the truth and letting the killing aura around her fade.

Then as if flipping a switch, her expression instantly did a one eighty.

Tamamo crossed her arms and puffed up her cheeks cutely while looking to the side. “Don’t ever call me Dakiniten again. I hate that name. It’s not very cute.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the very Tamamo reaction, with my laughter finally breaking the tension.

“Well, I’m glad everything turned out well in the end~” Kiara said, clapping her hands together with a cheerful aura… though she still sounded a bit jealous.

“Hmm. With how often you get injured, Sieg, I think it’s best if you hold onto Avalon from now on,” Artoria said, frowning slightly as she gave me a soft reprimanding look.

“S-Sorry about that,” I replied, rubbing the back of my head with a sheepish smile. Artoria gave me a twitching smile in return.

“Anyway!” Tamamo suddenly cut in, and before I knew what was happening, my face was buried in her chest as she yanked me away from Scáthach and glared at her playfully.

“Just be sure to always remember, all of Sieg-kun’s firsts belong to me. As long as you don’t forget that, we won’t have a problem,” she declared with a proud, challenging smile.

Scáthach raised an eyebrow, and never one to back down. A smirk curled at her lips.

“Hoh? Is that so? We’ll just have to see about that, then.”

And just like that, the room dissolved into chaos again as Tamamo started ranting about “calling dibs” and “being here first,” while I leaned back with a relieved smile, glad the conversation had ended well.

‘With my training complete… it’s probably time we move on from this world. Though I can’t help but wonder how things are going for the Heroes in Japan based on what little I remember about the story.’

=====

Several Days Later

With my training under Scáthach now complete, at least for the most part, our morning sessions had been reduced significantly, leaving me with far more free time to spend with the others and deepen our bonds.

One thing that had very obviously changed, however, was that my spars with Scáthach tended to end with us making out on the ground rather aggressively. Tamamo had walked in on this once, and ever since, she’d been attending every practice session to make sure we “didn’t take it too far.”

Not that it helped.

Scáthach wasn’t someone who could be intimidated, and she still kissed me senseless even with Tamamo watching. Which usually resulted in Tamamo prying us apart and then kissing me just as fiercely in retaliation.

I’d also noticed Kiara and Artoria attempting to get closer to me in their own ways. Kiara started joining Eri and me during our instrument practice after discovering she had a natural talent for singing, upping our little band to three members. Eri was over the moon, going on an adorable rant about how we were going to be the greatest band ever.

As for Artoria, she had volunteered to be my taste tester for whenever I cooked which if I’m being honest, mostly ended with her eating most of the ingredients but it was still something we did together.

Speaking of the cute unicorn herself, Eri was improving day by day thanks to all the positive reinforcement she received. I talked it over with everyone, and we all agreed it was time to take her out into the world so she could begin overcoming her fear of interacting with people outside our group.

Which was why, over the weekend, we woke up early with plans to visit Japan one last time, to help Eri take that next step, and to say our farewells to this world before moving on. It felt poetic: we arrived in Japan, and it would be our final stop before departing.

“Remember, Eri… that man can’t hurt you anymore. I got rid of him,” I reminded her gently, kneeling down to her height and patting her head.

Eri was wearing a cute red dress and brown boots, with a little bag slung at her side, she looked absolutely adorable.

She nodded nervously, then swallowed and looked up at me. “D-Did you kill him, Sieg-san?” she asked, surprising me with how calmly she said it, and with the complete lack of fear or judgment in her eyes.

“No,” I said, shaking my head. She blinked up at me. “I sent him somewhere he’ll never hurt anyone again.”

‘At least… that’s what I hope happened. I really don’t know, nor do I plan to ask what happens to the people sold to the Company.’ I pushed that thought away. It wasn’t the time.

Not fully understanding, but trusting me, Eri nodded. “O-Okay. W-Where are we going?”

“We’re going shopping at the mall for some new clothes for you, since my little princess is growing way too fast,” I said with a smile, booping her nose and earning a giggle. “And I think it’s finally time we get you a real guitar to practice with. You should be tall enough now to reach the strings properly.”

“Really, Sieg-san~?” Eri’s nervousness evaporated instantly, replaced by pure excitement.

“Really really,” I nodded, scooping her into my arms and settling her on my shoulders. “Now come on, your aunties are already waiting for us.”

“Okay~!” she chirped.

Walking into the portal room, I found everyone already dressed and ready in casual clothes for our outing. Having seen most of them in casual wear before, my eyes wandered over them with appreciation… until they landed on Scáthach.

And I came to a full stop.

A blush surged up my cheeks.

Instead of her usual skintight outfit that left almost nothing to the imagination, Scáthach was wearing a black ensemble paired with boots that reached above her knees, along with a matching purse. The outfit highlighted her unique purple hair and crimson eyes perfectly.

Despite being far more modest than her combat attire, seeing her dressed casually like this made my heart race even more than usual. It felt like seeing a new side of her, one I hadn’t known how much I wanted until now. My gaze lingered longer than it should have.

Of course, she immediately picked up on it as she turned around and faced me. She struck a pose, one hand on her hip, smirking at me teasingly.

“What’s wrong, my dear student? See something you like?” she asked coyly, her smirk widening as my blush deepened.

I cleared my throat to get my brain functioning again. “Those clothes really suit you, Teacher. You look beautiful.”

Then I turned to the others, who were all pouting in jealousy, even if Artoria tried (and failed) to hide it by looking away.

“All of you do,” I finished, earning relieved smiles all around.

“Everyone is really pretty~!” Eri added, backing me up and instantly melting the rest of their resistance with pure cuteness power.

“Hihihi, thank you, Eri-chan. And nice save, Sieg-kun~ Now let’s go!” Tamamo said brightly, appearing at my side in an instant and wrapping her arms around me.

“Ahem. Indeed. We have a long day ahead of us,” Artoria said, coughing into her fist to hide her own blush.

The others gave her amused looks before we finally approached the portal, and stepped through.

Tamamo had recommended Kyoto, since we’d gone on several dates there before and loved the scenery.

But the moment we stepped out of the portal, we froze.

No cherry blossoms.

No serene mountains.

No ancient streets.

Just destruction.

Buildings collapsed. Rubble everywhere. Smoke rising faintly in the distance.

“Oh my…” Kiara gasped, her delicate hand covering her mouth as all of us tensed immediately. “What happened here?”

“Hmm. Some kind of empowered human, from the look of it,” Scáthach said, no doubt using one of her many senses. “And he appears to still be on the move… heading that way.” She pointed in a specific direction.

Instantly alert, I gently lifted the wide-eyed Eri from my shoulders and handed her to Kiara. She quickly pulled the girl into her arms, pressing Eri’s face into her chest to shield her from the sight.

“Such destruction,” Artoria muttered, a small frown forming on her face.

“Seems humanity is rather lacking in this world when it comes to having powerful figures,” Scáthach commented lightly, expression blank. Then she turned toward me. “What will you do, Sieg?”

Instead of answering, I looked toward the still-silent Tamamo. Her gaze was locked on a specific direction. Following her line of sight, I saw the familiar red torii gates, now shattered and lying broken on the ground.

“They destroyed the place where we had our second date…” Tamamo whispered, her expression blank as her hands slowly curled into fists. “How dare they ruin my memories of such a special time.”

She didn’t need to say the rest. It was a temple that worshipped her. The kind people who welcomed us with open arms. The memories we made there.

“Tamamo,” I called softly. She turned to me, and I offered her a small smile. “How about we take a little detour… and deal with whoever did this?”

She blinked once, her brain catching up, then a wide grin spread across her face. She rose onto her tiptoes, gave me a quick kiss, then pulled back with sparkling eyes.

“You always know just what to say, Sieg-kun~ Don’t worry, this won’t take long. I’ll show the jerk responsible why you never mess with someone’s precious memories.” She gave me a thumbs-up, already energized, tails swaying.

I nodded back, then turned to Scáthach to finally answer her earlier question. “Would you mind protecting Kiara and Eri, Teacher? I want to check out where that thing was headed.”

“Sure, I don’t mind.” Scáthach smiled easily, then her lips curled into an amused smirk. “Far be it from me to get in the way of a fight. Besides… it’ll be interesting to see those so-called ‘Heroes’ meet a real one.”

I raised an eyebrow at her cryptic comment, no doubt something she gleaned with clairvoyance, but shook my head and looked to Artoria, who had already changed into her battle garments.

“Want to come, Artoria?” I asked.

“With pleasure,” she replied with a serious nod.

Before leaving, I walked up to Eri, still held securely in Kiara’s arms, and gently patted her head, making her look up at me nervously.

“Stay here with Aunty Kiara and Scáthach, alright? I’m going to go stop the bad guy with Aunty Arty.” I gave her my warmest smile to keep her calm.

She looked afraid to see me go, but she trusted me. Eri stretched out her arms and pulled me into a soft hug before letting go.

“Okay… go beat up the bad guys, Sieg-san. I believe in you~” she said, offering a shaky smile.

“Of course. Leave it to me,” I replied with a reassuring grin before giving Kiara and Scáthach one last look. They returned it with subtle nods.

Turning away, I took a breath.

“Let’s move, Artoria,” I said, face turning serious as I burst forward, running faster than a car, with the knight right behind me.

“Right.”

‘If I’m not mistaken, could this be where they first battle that insane kid with the hands on his face?’