(Typically, it’s recommended to carry a weapons terminal at all times to avoid being caught off guard in such a condition. However, at the moment, he is…)
“…Ah.”
The focus of everyone’s attention shifted to the device in Myuhi’s hand. Yes, Shinichi did not have his foster with him right now. Moreover, his servant had mentioned that he was extremely depressed. Could a person in that sort of mind really be able to defend himself?
“!”
“Ruona, wait!”
Without so much as a pause or a word, Myuhi bolted out of the multipurpose hall. From how quickly she ran, it was evident that she was headed somewhere with great urgency. It needn’t be asked where she was headed. After all, in her hands was Shinichi’s foster, which she held onto dearly.
“And off she goes… What about you?”
The fox servant acted all surprise, yet she clearly wasn’t and just provocatively asked that question.
“…Shinichi will get mad at me if I leave my post now,” Aristel said.
Though she was visibly anxious, she resolutely said that she couldn’t go.
She would stay behind here and act as the students’ representative.
After all, Shinichi couldn’t possibly like someone who abandoned her duties.
“Sigh… He might be in danger, but I can’t leave my post either. I have to protect everyone here. I also have to come up with an alibi for those two. I’m the only one who can,” Frire said.
Frire held her head as though she was coming down with a migraine, but she too couldn’t give chase.
The fox servant turned to Tomoe next, but she just glared at the fox with hostility.
Tomoe had noticed it, that everything was going just as this black-bellied beast wanted, as well as what she took advantage of to make all of this happen.
“You intentionally made us anxious to get Myuhi to move, didn’t you? You even talked about stuff I’m sure Shinichi didn’t want us to find out to get our sympathy!”
“Calm down, Tomoe! She said that he didn’t tell her not to talk about it, didn’t she!?”
Tomoe approached the fox servant with anger in her eyes, but Ryou stopped her.
He knew just how hotblooded she was, but he couldn’t afford to let her hit an amaryllis.
“Let go! If he’s depressed, then it wouldn’t be strange for him to have simply forgotten!” Tomoe said.
“Safina-san, you…” Aristel said.
The girls looked warmly at Tomoe as she flailed about, while Ryou just couldn’t figure out how she could remain oblivious to her own feelings after all of that.
“Fu fu fu, but I didn’t lie,” the servant said.
Tomoe glared at the strongest beast, as though to ask, ‘who do you think you are?’
But her opponent was a shrewd person as well, and she merely avoided the issue, neither confirming nor denying anything.
“In the first place, isn’t it weird!? You know how much in danger he is, and yet! You should have been able to think of something, and yet you left him all on his own to come here—”
“—I am unable to refuse the wishes of my master.”
It was a solemn and sorrowful voice that kept Tomoe from finishing what she had to say.
Strange as it might be, there was no sense of guilt, yet the words conveyed a strong yet somewhat fragile sense of sadness.
“No matter the situation, no matter what, I will always prioritize the wishes of my master. That is my way of life and my limit; however…”
──That’s not the case for you, right?
Though she didn’t say those words out loud, her eyes conveyed just that, and Tomoe backed down.
This servant had taken advantage of their feelings and even acted as though she were testing them, so Tomoe was furious, but a servant like her, who was willing to sacrifice even her own feelings for the sake of her master, didn’t deserve to be scolded.
“…I apologize for causing a commotion, but I will be taking a different path from here on as well,” the servant said.
“Are you not going to wait for Nakamura with us?” Frire said.
“No, in the first place, master has already decided not to take me to Garesto. Partly, because it will cause a commotion, and partly, because Earth needs someone to watch over it.”
Even her master couldn’t easily cross worlds, after all.
That was actually news to them too because Masquerade just kept popping up everywhere that they’d thought for sure he could just pop over in Garesto too.
Though if they thought about it, being able to do that too was just too much.
And if he could cross worlds so easily, then he should have been able to come back sooner.
“For the mean time, I shall be staying with my master’s parents to watch over them. Please enjoy your trip to Garesto, as for me, I will take care of any problem that might arise here. Even if WW3 were to break out, I’ll be sure to immediately crush it.”
The servant cheerfully laughed, but everyone else just made a complicated face.
They couldn’t tell if she was serious or not about that joke, but what was scary was that she really could do that.
That was also why Aristel could notice that.
“Ha ha ha… Oh, so that’s why you told us about Shinichi-san’s weakness. Since you won’t be by his side, you want us to assist him in your place,” Aristel said.
“Fu fu, with so many of you, if you can’t do even that much, then you don’t deserve to stand beside him.”
The fox smiled as though in confirmation, but the words that left her lips next were just terrible.
Aristel was taken aback for a moment, but she quickly nodded in agreement.
“Harsh, but I shall do my best.”
Seemingly satisfied with her answer, the fox turned to Frire and sighed.
Though she looked like she was looking as something favorable, it seemed that she couldn’t quite come to terms with it.
“It would be much better if you acted more like a woman,” the servant said.
“I know I’m terrible in that regard, so just let it pass.”
“Fuu… How long do you intend to use my master as a replacement for your older brother? The two of you are both strangers, you know? Just a man and a woman. If you want him to become your family, there’s a much better way.”
“…Huh?”
The servant shrugged at Frire’s puzzled expression, and seemed to have given up on any further actions. It was up to her now to decide what to do next.
While the other two female students were increasingly feeling the sense of crisis, the servant fixed her gaze on her last target.
“Tomoe-san.”
“Y-Yes!?”
Perhaps because of the flow of conversation until now, Tomoe was alert and ended up responding loudly, but the servant just looked at her gently.
“The next time we meet, let’s have a girls talk all by ourselves, as fellow servants of my master. Now, if you’ll excuse me!”
“W-W-Wait just one second! Why is it already decided that I’m going to be serving him!?”
While Tomoe was all confused, the servant went to the window and skilfully opened the glass.
They were quite high up, but there was no need to worry about her even if she fell.
“Oh, right. One last thing.”
Just when the servant was about to jump off, for some reason, she turned back to them with amusement and said meaningfully.
“When my master is alone and depressed, perhaps because he knows he’s in danger, or perhaps merely in an attempt to change his mood, he will unconsciously search for a troublesome smell. And before you know it, he’ll end up meeting a troublesome woman.”
“Huh?” Aristel said.
“What?” Frire said.
“In other words?” Tomoe said.
The servant laughed.
“In other words, he’s probably raising flags with some troublesome woman right about now.”
After dropping one last bomb, the servant jumped off the building.
The girls found themselves chasing after her because of those last words, but all that was left was the heavy downpour of rain and the traces of light.
The three girls looked at each other with a troubled expression, but in the end, they could only remain quiet.
“Eh? There’s going to be even more?” Ryou said.
(More girls? How troublesome.)
For some reason, only Ryou and Shirayuki could be heard lamenting.
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