“Nope, Motoyasu. You aren’t coming. It would cause all sorts of other issues, so you can just stay here. I’ll have Ren or Itsuki keep an eye on you,” I told him.

“What?!” Ren’s brow furrowed in distress.

“But, father-in-law! I have sworn my most unbreakable vow that I will fight for the sake of sweet Filo-tan! Wherever my feathered princess goes, I must follow!” Motoyasu babbled. That might have been useful if he had shown up during the trouble in Q’ten Lo. Unfortunately, back then he’d done absolutely nothing—although I did give him credit for having protected the village.

“If you come, your three filolials will come too, correct?” I asked him.

“That would be the case,” he replied.

“Then just give up. In that world, they will be transformed into a different type of monster,” I explained.

“What?!” Motoyasu exclaimed. I recalled how Filo had been transformed into a humming fairy, a monster that changed appearance many times as it developed. But there were no filolials over there. The only time she could be a filolial over there was when that world was matched with this one during a wave.

“This isn’t settled yet! I will be fine so long as Filo-tan is there!” Motoyasu persisted.

“Bleh! Stay away from me!” Filo retorted.

“Just calm down, both of you,” I barked. “We’ve hardly started yet. The decisions will be made once we’ve heard from everyone. Just be ready to give up on coming along.”

“But—” Motoyasu started again. He wasn’t going to just give up. I needed to redirect the conversation.

“Motoyasu, is your love nothing but chasing after Filo? Defending the place that Filo will come back to—couldn’t that be called love too?” I asked him. Motoyasu snapped back to himself with a look of realization on his face.

“Very well then, father-in-law! I will defend Filo-tan’s territory with my life!” he proclaimed.

“Bleh!” Filo retorted. I waved her back, not wanting her to say anything else. She might trigger him wanting to come along again.

“Naofumi, you’re getting better at handling Motoyasu,” Ren said.

“I’ve had enough practice,” I replied. I wasn’t happy about that either. I almost preferred the old Motoyasu. He hadn’t been easy to handle, but as someone a bit older than the rest of us, he also had an air of being in control. It was something that almost suggested . . . reliability. However, I’d only seen that version of him on the day we were all summoned.

Anyway, I thought, getting back on track . . . I’d consider everyone else first, and then if Motoyasu really was the only one fit for the purpose, I’d take him along. I had to do what was best for everyone, including Filo and myself.

If he did come with us, of course, we’d probably have to drag Melty along too.

“Naofumi, we might need to have a discussion about that look you are giving me later,” Melty said.

“You’re hypersensitive, Melty. Has anyone ever told you that?” I glibly responded.