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Chapter 29 – Game Center and Aire’s Stuffed Animals
It was the first time Aire had been in an arcade.
The cabinets sparkled, and the lights were blinding.
Sound poured out of the jumbled cabinets like a flood.
Aire’s heart immediately began to race in the festive atmosphere.
Her eyes sparkled, and her ears moved frantically to catch all the sounds.
Her tail puffed out, and she was instantly excited.
“Wow, this is amazing! Everything is sparkling!”
“It’s a little loud, isn’t it?”
“It sounds like electronic sounds. I haven’t been here in a long time. Wow, there are a lot of crane games.”
“Wow, it’s like a festival!”
This is amazing. What is this place?
It looks like a lot of fun.
Resisting the urge to rush over, Aire stood next to Wataru.
Even if they were allowed to move freely, Aire was Wataru’s bodyguard.
A part of her consciousness was always focused on Wataru.
Wataru said that Japan was a safe country, but Aire didn’t really believe him.
In the flood of light and sound, her eyes and ears were busy moving around.
Still, her eyes and ears were drawn to the arcade machines in front of her.
Her large eyes sparkled like jewels.
Having been exposed to much of Earth’s culture, Aire was already playing home video games and was completely absorbed in them.
She was especially fond of fighting and shooting games.
What kind of games could she play on such a big machine?
Just looking at it made her excited.
“C-cute… Wataru-san, I want that doll. Is that okay?”
“Why don’t you try it? It’s really easy.”
While Aire was interested in fighting games, Mariel seemed to be interested in the crane game set up near the entrance.
Mariel was by no means unathletic, but she tended to enjoy indoor activities.
Besides, though she usually acted mature, there was a girlish, delicate side to her.
The prizes for the crane game were small, stylized stuffed animals, which Aire thought suited Mariel’s tastes.
For some reason, they reminded her of Wataru and the others.
Unlike them, Mariel has a cute side, Aire thought as she casually looked around, but then her eyes were drawn to one of the stuffed animals displayed inside the machine.
It was a big, cute stuffed tiger.
Maybe because it was the same tiger, she couldn’t help but want it badly.
That is so cute! I want it; I want it no matter what! She said.
Before she knew it, Aire was clinging to Wataru.
She stretched out a hand and pointed to the tiger she wanted.
“Master, I want to try too! I’ll get this one!”
“Huh, oh, this one. It’s cute.”
“I’ll definitely get it!”
“Okay, good luck. Mariel, if there’s something you want, you should try for it.”
“Okay, I’ll try.”
Both Aire and Mariel had been given some pocket money.
They took coins from their wallets and gave it a try.
Aire operated the crane seriously, and the arm caught the stuffed animal, but it slipped halfway out.
Aire thought she had it! But then she opened her eyes wide in surprise.
“Unyanyanya…! No way!”
“Ah, that was close. The stuffed animal is big, and the crane’s arm is not very strong. This might be quite difficult.”
“Ma-Master! Let me try again! Let me try again!”
“Well, okay, but don’t overdo it.”
Aire is the kind of person who gets very competitive.
As a warrior, this is a very important quality, and it has helped her become one of the best.
However, it also has its drawbacks, such as her obsession with fighting games and her inability to give up when she loses a bet.
It seemed that Wataru had noticed this early on, and Aire remembered that she had been warned not to overdo it.
Aire took all the 100-yen coins out of her wallet and carefully operated the buttons, thinking back to her previous failure.
First, align it horizontally. Then, align them vertically.
She fully utilized the Golden Tiger Clan’s amazing stereoscopic vision to accurately judge the distance between the front and back, which would normally be difficult to perceive.
Aire stared at the crane intently. This is it…!
Without missing a beat, the crane descended, and this time, she tried to grab the stuffed animal with the arm.
And the result was…
“Master! One more! One more!”
“No, it’s no good. Let’s ask the clerk.”
“Guh, this is definitely rigged! There’s no way to get it!”
“Seeing through things like that is how you win crane games.”
“That’s not fair! It’s cheating!”
It was a series of crushing defeats.
The price of the prizes in the crane games rose to the legal limit.
Perhaps because they would go into the red if they were too easy to get, the probability settings were often made more difficult.
The stuffed animal Aire was aiming for was particularly large.
She had already spent enough money to buy it in a store.
Aire clung to Wataru and begged him to try again, but Wataru finally called the store clerk and had him open the machine and move the stuffed animal to a position where it would be easier to grab.
The settings had probably been loosened by then.
It came out easily with a little tug, but Aire was still a little disappointed.
She wanted to get it on her own.
Still, she tried about 40 more times.
Mariel, who had already gotten three of the stuffed animals she wanted, watched in amazement.
Why is it only me?
Wataru roughly ruffled Aire’s head as she sulked in frustration.
Right now, his roughness was more comforting than gentle hands.
“Come on, there are plenty of other games you like in the arcade. You’re wasting your time standing here.”
“Come on, Aire, let’s try this one together, okay?”
“Okay… thanks.”
Aire sniffed.
〇〇〇
The arcade where Wataru and the others went also had analog games.
Shark Hammer, where you hit a shark’s head that pops out with a hammer, dance games, drum games, and other music-based games, as well as air hockey, which required physical movement, were all dominated by Aire.
Air hockey, in particular, wasn’t just for Aire; there was also the excitement of playing against Wataru and Mariel.
Players used a stick to hit a pallet floating in the air towards the goal.
Although the game didn’t require much strength in such a small space, Aire quickly overpowered Wataru in their match.
“No way. This is your first time, yet you’re so good…!”
“Come on, Wataru-san!”
“O-okay. I won’t lose to you, Aire!
“Fufun, I’m going to win.”
Aire’s dynamic vision and reflexes, skills necessary for competitive sports, had surpassed those of humans on Earth.
When the puck hit the side and took a complicated reflecting trajectory, it surpassed Wataru’s reflexes.
Even with such a fast movement, Aire had the composure to follow the pallet with her eyes.
It was not uncommon for warriors who guarded their masters to be asked to entertain them.
But this was not a fight to the death; it was merely entertainment.
Though victory was assured, Aire had the sense to restrain her power and give her opponent some credit.
Still, it was fun to see Wataru desperately fighting back.
It was also fun to see Mariel nervously cheering him on.
“Damn, Aire, it’s two against one now. Mariel, you take the left; I’ll take the right!”
“I think it’ll be the same even if it’s just the two of us.”
“No, that’s not true!”
With less room to maneuver, the burden would certainly be reduced.
However, it would also cause their movements to interfere with each other.
“Hey, Mariel!”
“Yeah, I’ll pass it to you!”
“Okay!”
(Hmm, they’re starting to work well together, that’s interesting.)
It must be because they’ve known each other for so long.
Aire was impressed by how well they worked together, better than she had expected.
Indeed, the gap in their skills narrowed considerably.
The complexity of the palettes being returned reduced Aire’s ability to react.
But…
“Hehehe, I won.”
“Ah, damn it!”
“W-we lost.”
The moment Aire got serious, the pallet’s movements slowed down like a snail.
This was because Aire’s information processing speed had increased dramatically.
All that was left was to hit back carefully, adjust the angle, and be careful not to break the pallet.
Clunk, the pallet was sucked into the goal.
Even though there was no reason to lose, Aire felt genuinely happy for the first time in a long time.
Being able to take something seriously without risking your life was a good thing, Aire thought.
〇〇〇
Aire played air hockey to her heart’s content, banged on drums and sharks, danced to the music, and thoroughly enjoyed her first visit to an arcade.
There were so many things she wanted to play.
But there was one thing Aire needed to do.
“Master, I want to look around a bit. Is it okay if I go alone?”
“Sure, but be sure to answer your phone.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes! I’ll be careful! Don’t worry about me, Mariel. You stay with Master.”
“Okay, I’ll stay with Mariel. Call me immediately if anything happens.”
“Okay.”
Aire waved her hand and smiled as she walked away from them.
But once she was out of sight, the smile disappeared from her face.
Her eyes were cold and piercing.
Her ears were pointed in the direction she was going, and she was focused on her target.
Her childlike, innocent aura had completely disappeared, and in its place was a beautiful woman with a sharp, intelligent face.
A man who was about to ask her out was startled and quickly stepped out of her way.
“Onee-san, come here.”
“Eh, ah, wait!”
“It’s okay, it’s okay.”
Aire grabbed the hand of a woman sitting at a game machine and pulled her away without saying a word.
The woman was surprised and panicked, but Aire’s strength was overwhelming, and she offered no resistance.
Aire dragged her into the restroom and pushed her into a stall, confirming with her keen ears that no one else was around.
She leaned close to the frightened woman’s face and spoke in a cold, icy voice.
“Hey, why did you follow us?”
The woman’s face turned pale in an instant.
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This was getting quite boring until the end lol
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Ooh, finally some hostility movement. Thanks for the treat.
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