The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

“Watch the words that come out of your mouth, Tūs.
You don’t have your ears anymore — you are a disgrace to our people!”

“And you’re an Elf who’s attracted to humans — you’re no better!”

 

A storm of arcane energy started raging.

Pochi and I started shaking and jumped to stick together.

 

“W-w-w-wait, wait wait… Lylia and Sir Tūs are ENEMIES!?”

“Hell no, they’re not! But both of them do have pretty inflated egos, so… arguments are bound to happen every once in a while — WHUH–!?”

 

Suddenly, Lylia was in the air, her right fist striking Tūs on the cheek.

Tūs stood his ground, barely managing to keep his body from collapsing.

Instead, Lylia’s fist seemed to be stuck in Tūs’ cheek wrinkles; she was then blown away when Tūs shook his head.

 

“HAAAAAAHHHHHH!”

“KAAAAAAHHHHHH!”

 

And so, for a few moments, a fistfight more thrilling than a turf war between two SS-ranked monsters unfolded before our eyes.

Pochi and I sat down and enjoyed the spectacle from a good distance.

Tūs doesn’t use his magic, and Lylia doesn’t draw her swords, either.

They’re just going at each other with their fists.

 

“You’re a Heavenly Beast, right, Pochi? C’mon, go in and stop them.”

“W-what are you saying, Master!? Aren’t you a legendary hero!? You’re more capable of stopping them than I am!”

“Nope, I’m just a fool! Your words, not mine!”

“Well, I’m just a Pochi, then!”

“Hey, you could at least say you’re the Fool’s Familiar, you know!”

“Absolutely not, sir! I’m too cute for that — I mean, wasn’t that why you got rid of that title for me in the first place!?”

“Cute!? You wish you were! I did it because you were pitiful! And because I’m not a heartless monster, that’s why! Stop daydreaming already!”

“Pitiful!? You’re one to talk, Master! You’ve been doing nothing but lose fights lately! You’re no legendary hero — just a fool! Calling you a fool might be an insult to actual fools!”

“Well, a dog like you isn’t even supposed to have the Heavenly Beast title in the first place!”

“What did you just say!?”

“You got a problem with that!?”

“Nothing changes the fact that you’re just a fool!”

“And you’re just a furball!”

 

　◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

 

When I came to my senses, all four of us were flat on the ground, looking up at the sky.

At some point while Pochi and I were arguing with each other, Tūs and Lylia shouted at us, telling us to pipe down… and then they started punching us, turning their fight into a four-way brawl.

I never thought it would happen this way, but I felt that the fistfight had actually helped us communicate with one another in various ways.
This is probably what it means to ‘let the fists do the talking’.

 

“Hah hah hah… S-so, getting back on topic… What’d you mean when you said ‘very unlikely,’ Tūs?”

 

I forced my aching body up and asked Tūs as he laid down behind me.

Lylia also got up and turned to look at Tūs.

Tūs proceeded to sit up as well, then he scratched his head and started talking,

 

“So I’ve been doing a little research.
There’s a rule to where the Drops of Eternity appeared, and how many of them… probably God’s idea.”

 

Lylia and I looked at each other for a moment, then turned to face Tūs.

Pochi seems too tired to get up, though — she’s just lying there, her belly inflating and deflating as she wheezes.

 

“T’oued.
Shamanesses.
Ring any bells?”

 

Kaoru and Jun’ko… Right, they did drink the Drop of Eternity.

I nodded to Tūs.

 

“Asley, you were in the south when you made your Drop of Eternity, right?”

“Huh? Yeah, I guess.
I’ve been living in a cave to the south of Faltown for… forever, pretty much.”

 

I scratched my chin and tried to recall the time when I accidentally made the Drop of Eternity.

Still, what is Tūs trying to get at here?

There’s a rule to where the Drop of Eternity appeared? And it was God’s idea?

 

“You know where the Elf village is, Lylia?”

“…It’s to the north of Regalia.”

“Right, and that’s where I made my Drop of Eternity.
Strange, isn’t it? The thing just appeared in so many different places, all apart from each other.”

 

That’s… true.

Considering that, though, shouldn’t there be one in the west as well? Wait, no, that can’t be — it’s nothing but mountains in that region.
And past those mountains, there’s nothing but the empty sea.

I drew a simple map on the ground and tilted my head.

Tūs proceeded to point at the map and say,

 

“When the Devil King was killed, God must’ve taken that chance to make sure that he’s killed again the next time around — And so He made the Drops of Eternity appear in this world to help humans prepare for the fight.”

“True.
God couldn’t have used His power effectively if not during that time period.”

 

Lylia nodded in agreement with Tūs’ guess.

 

“So, you’re following me so far? There’s likely one more place where the Drop of Eternity was made…”

“But there’s no civilization in the west–“

“–No, think about it again.”

 

When I pointed at the western region of the map, Tūs pointed at a different spot instead.

 

“…Aha.”

 

He’s hovering his finger over the central region.

Right, God didn’t use his power during this era, but in the era that followed the Devil King’s defeat.

So the central region in this case is… not quite the Royal Capital.

 

“It’s Regalia… when it was the Holy City.”