Chapter 78: Ignorance Is a Virtue

So I tried to approach Mashiro to ask her about it, but her older sister, Momoka—with a sword at her waist—blocked my path.

"Where do you think you’re going? Stay right where you are.눈_눈" (Momoka)

She glared at me menacingly. Her vertical pupils made her look even more dangerous, but I didn’t back down.

"I just want to ask her a few things about what just happened."

"I’m the one who should be asking questions. What the hell did I just witness? How dare you do something like that to my younger sister?" (Momoka)

"눈_눈 It seems you’re only remembering what suits you. You forgot to mention that your sister was the one who approached my wife first, kissed her, and then kissed me."

"Yeah, and then I saw your wife willingly jump in and do... that." (Momoka)

"..."

Well, she has that going for her. Iris put me in a tough spot, and I couldn’t help but give her a disapproving look for doing that.

"What? I saw an opportunity and took it. You know, honey, it was the perfect chance for our first threesome kiss." (Iris)

"Grrr... and you say that without a shred of shame. You shameless woman." (Momoka)

"►__◄ You have no right to say that. If we’re talking about shamelessness, your sister comes first—she kissed a married woman."

It’s true that Iris can be shameless, but she has no right to say that.

She wanted an explanation, when in reality it was they who should be giving it to us.

This daughter of Amaryllis is way too unreasonable.

"(►__◄) How dare you? Do you think just because that girl...?" (Momoka)

"W-wait, big sister. It’s my fault. D-don’t fight." (Mashiro)

Just then, when things were once again starting to get tense between that unreasonable girl and me, Mashiro stepped in and stopped her.

"Yes, honey, it’s not right to fight. You have to act like a good father." (Iris)

Iris stopped me too, though she said something unnecessary—no one paid her any attention.

On the other hand, even though they stepped in, that girl and I kept staring at each other, and she doesn’t seem to like me.

But I don’t like her either; I totally reject her irrational and authoritarian way of acting, not to mention what she said about Iris.

But it’s true that it wouldn’t be productive to continue this conflict.

I turned my attention back to Mashiro.

She no longer sounded or acted like she did before, which confirmed that what had happened earlier had been some kind of possession, alternate personality, or some other potentially magical phenomenon I’m unfamiliar with.

"So, could you tell us or explain what happened earlier?"

"...No, I’m s-sorry. I can’t talk about that." (Mashiro)

"...Are you saying that literally, or do you just not want to?"

By this point, I’m beginning to understand a little that this world has a certain balance, causes, effects, and restrictions when it comes to sensitive matters.

And I could tell that this situation seemed to be something along those lines.

"..." (Mashiro)

She didn’t answer that, but her body language betrayed her nervousness and a hint of helplessness.

There really did seem to be something else going on.

So I switched to asking someone else the questions.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Huh? Me?" (Akane)

"Yes."

I decided to ask Akane, the middle sister, who, in fact, seems to be the most normal of the three.

"...Seriously, what’s all this about? We just came here for a massage. Haaah~. Well, don’t expect an explanation; I don’t understand any of what just happened either." (Akane)

"No, that can wait. You said earlier that this had happened before, right? As if this strange behavior had already occurred."

"Oh! So you heard that. Hmm... well, not exactly. My sister Shiro acts weird sometimes. Out of nowhere, she just zones out, standing motionless for several minutes, staring into space. Then she starts acting strange, but she never tells us what’s going on. I just thought maybe what happened just now was something like that, even though it’s the first time she’s acted... well, the way you saw her." (Akane)

"I see. So you guys are just as clueless as we are..."

I paused before continuing.

"Can I ask if you’ve by any chance tried to figure out what’s causing this strange behavior? Or did you just write it off as some kind of weird hereditary trait?"

"Huh? How the heck do you know that...?" (Akane)

"I heard you mention something about your mother."

"Hey, nothing gets past you. Well, I don’t know where you’re going with this, but the truth is, no. We didn’t try. It really only happens once or twice a year, and since she refuses to say what’s going on, I figured it was best not to get involved." (Akane)

"Okay, I get it. So, Shiro, right? Can I ask you one more thing? Can you really not tell me anything about the reason behind her actions and all that?"

"No... I’m sorry." (Mashiro)

"Okay, then I want you to answer me now with just a yes or a no. Or just a nod or a shake of the head."

"I’ve heard enough. I don’t know what you’re getting at, but this isn’t any of your business. For a stranger like you..." (Momoka)

"W-wait, sis. Let him continue... It’s okay, you can ask." (Mashiro)

Her older sister tried to interrupt, but luckily, this time Mashiro stepped in as well and let me continue.

In fact, I noticed that Momoka looked surprised, as if it were the first time she’d seen her sister stand up to her.

Anyway, at that moment, I didn’t care about their interpersonal dynamics—I wanted answers.

"All right, nod your head if the person who spoke and acted earlier wasn’t you."

"..." (Mashiro)

She nodded, so, after all, it was someone else.

Now, depending on how I asked my questions, I might be able to clear up all my doubts.

I quickly thought of all the questions that would help me achieve that goal and began.

"So tell me—... No, never mind... Come to think of it, it’s true that I shouldn’t be getting involved in personal matters as a complete stranger."

I really didn’t want to back down. I was about to launch into a rigorous line of questioning, even considering the restrictions the girl seemed to have.

But I stopped because the damn system assigned a mission with the direct and blatant intention of stopping me.

__________________________

Ignorance Is a Virtue

Objective:

Don’t ask any more questions about this matter.

Rewards:

Potential Card

Penalty for failure:

-5,000 Myrr

_____________________

This direct intervention confirmed many things for me, and normally, rather than holding me back, it would actually be one more reason to keep going.

If this were the me from a few hours ago, I’d take the risk to get more information.

And, more specifically, because the penalty had nothing to do with corruption, and I could afford to lose that amount of Myrr.

But, weighing the pros and cons now, the scales have tipped the other way...

I already knew a lot thanks to that message, and, to a certain extent, I had many plans based on it.

Much of that depended on not going against the system.

And on this matter, it was clearer than ever that the system—or the entity or entities behind it—didn’t want us to keep digging into this issue.

Not to mention that I didn’t know what kind of information I might get by questioning Amarillys’ daughter, or whether it would actually be useful to us.

I’ve recently come to understand more clearly than ever that there are some things it’s better not to know. I still regret asking what Iris’s "Nirvana" plan was all about...

In any case, the system isn’t necessarily our enemy now, and, in the grand scheme of things, it’s actually our greatest ally in this world.

If it doesn’t want us to know this, it could also be for our own protection.

It really wasn’t worth ruining everything else just for something so uncertain.

I had to be careful and not rush into anything.

In any case, I could always find out slowly and discreetly later on.

"Ahem... anyway, this whole series of events was confusing, and if it’s okay with you, I propose we pretend nothing happened. I don’t think it’s a bad idea, considering that both sides were wrong about certain things... What do you think, dear clients?"

It was time to shift my focus and concentrate on completing the two remaining missions, although I think I’ll need a little help from my doppelganger for this.

"Um... no, you... me... No, it doesn’t matter." (Mashiro)

Mashiro seemed a little disappointed by my sudden change in attitude.

It seemed like she really wanted to bring something up, but unfortunately, it wasn’t the right time.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Do you think we can just wipe the slate clean? Shiro, Akane, let’s go!" (Momoka)

"...Yeah. /_ \" (Mashiro)

"Phew! That was crazy. Well, anyway, I said from the start that it wasn’t anything serious. Healing spells are more than enough. I’d better use this free time to train." (Akane)

"...I don’t entirely agree with that, dear client. Akane, right?...hmm, From what I can see, several parts of your body are in very poor condition, and that’s mainly due to the same skills and healing magic. If you keep this up, in a few years you could end up with a physical disability."

I spoke quickly. I couldn’t let them leave, so I focused on what seemed to be the main reason they were looking for a massage parlor.

In fact, my words mainly caught the older sister’s attention.

"You—what did you mean by that? (►__◄)" (Momoka)

"Exactly what you heard... I have an ocular skill as a massage therapist that allows me to see certain things. Based on the damage and deterioration I can see, I assume your younger sister puts a lot of strain on her body and also tends to use a lot of healing magic. But I’m going to assume that even though you used healing magic, some discomfort still lingered, and you understand what that means—which is why you came looking for a massage therapist."

"..."(Momoka)

Luckily, among the books my doppelgänger read in Amarillys’ small library were some related to healing magic.

I became really interested in them, since I wanted to understand the difference between a massage therapist and someone with a healing profession, and why someone would prefer a massage therapist if there were abilities capable of healing the body.

That’s when I learned that, with the exception of a few very high-rank skills , magic and healing abilities aren’t perfect and, in the long run, can actually be counterproductive if their effects accumulate.

Of course, this can be addressed through many methods, not just by seeing a massage therapist. In fact, that’s one of the least efficient options, but at the same time, it’s by far the easiest to carry out.

"Hmm, I’d still need to conduct a more detailed examination to confirm that I’m not mistaken. Anyway, as I said, today it might just be a minor discomfort. In a few months, she might lose sensation in certain parts of her body, and in a few years, she might not be able to do anything on her own. Well, that extreme scenario would only happen if she pushed her body to the limit every single day, then cast healing magic, and stubbornly kept doing the same thing day after day."

"...Akane, you definitely need to get treatment... though it doesn’t have to be here—in fact, I don’t trust a man to do it. If we keep looking, we’ll eventually find another female massage therapist. Until then, you’re not allowed to keep training the way you are." (Momoka)

"Ugh... I understand." (Akane)

"Well, you’re not wrong about that, client, but not all massage therapists have the same abilities and skills. And I can assure you that we do have the right ones. Not to mention, it’s not me who’ll be doing it, but my wife—and she’s a rank-two massage therapist."

"Do you expect me to believe that nonsense—that that girl is just a massage therapist?" (Momoka)

"I don’t understand why you think she isn’t. Besides, I don’t think it would be easy to find another massage therapist of that caliber. And if the problem is as I said, it’s not something that can be solved with just one regular massage. She needs several specialized massages that we offer, as well as several days of treatment—especially if she continues to train."

"Grrr! You sound convincing, but this just seems like a desperate attempt to keep us here! What are you planning?" (Momoka)

"You’re taking this the wrong way. I’m only saying this because I feel it will be difficult for you to find another capable massage therapist, and I don’t want someone with such a promising future to end up ruined. That’s why I opened this massage parlor in this city, where the most promising young people gather."

"Although this is the first time I’ve heard of you and this place." (Momoka)

"Well, we don’t usually advertise. I firmly believe that those who are meant to find us will, and that’s exactly why I’m trying to convince you to stay. But I can see that your anger and pride are more important to you than your younger sister’s health."

It seems this girl really has a lot of pride, but I can tell she cares about her sister, and I didn’t hesitate to use that to our advantage.

"(►__◄)... Grrr... Fine! But let me confirm something first. You, hold this."

She still seemed to distrust us, so she took out her own crystal—the one that shows the rank and profession—and handed it to Iris.

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Massage therapist Rank 2

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Yes, there was no problem in that regard.