Chapter 1206 - And Then, Time Begins to Move
—So. Well, a lot happened after that.
With our staring contest cut short, Saegusa-san, who broke the silence with What do you mean, ranked? I am Hiyori Saegusa (?), went on a mental rampage with a childhood friend flex that I couldn't counter at all. Keeping up that momentum, saying That's right, know your place, I am Hiyori Saegusa (???), she forcefully dumped an extra-large cardboard box packed with various items of her merchandise that had been mysteriously prepared beforehand on me. And then, saying "Ah, whatever, I'm hungry so let's go eat ramen or something," completely ignoring the flow of everything up to that point, I was abruptly taken on a 3:00 PM (snack) ramen run... and so on and so forth. A lot of things really happened over those few hours.
After an indescribable, yet undoubtedly meaningful time—evening.
"Well, I'm going to go pamper my best friend, so."
"Then, I'll also go look at the face of the person I like—"
"Nope, no way! Seniority rules!"
"Eh..."
I safely returned to the Yotsuya Lodgings, which I had left past noon with Saegusa-san, rocked by her car once again. This time we got out of the car together, and after entering the lodgings, we were fooling around idly in the hallway.
Given the flow of things, I had also wanted to see Nia's face, but apparently, I wasn't allowed to accompany her due to some mysterious theory called seniority, using her being three years older as leverage. This is totally power harassment.
"Hmph. You should just study by listening to my songs (CDs) and watching my anime (DVDs). As you know, thanks to my influence, Nia-chan is a hardcore Japanese otaku, so it's absolutely out of the question if you can't keep up with the talk. Devote yourself and fall into the rabbit hole."
"Speaking of the anime, didn't you only appear for a split second, Saegusa-san?"
"It wasn't a split second, it was three minutes! In three minutes, I made it into the popularity poll rankings, and I even got a name that wasn't in the original work! The author sent me the original novels, the manga adaptation, and all the anime Blu-rays together, it was scary, just a little bit!!!"
"What kind of energy is this? If you don't keep it in moderation, you're the one who's going to sink later."
That said, one way or another, it was hard to call her displeased... well, yeah. Saegusa-san had been maintaining a state that seemed like she wasn't displeased ever since her declaration of war.
Just what kind of relationship had we entered? Right now, neither I nor probably even Saegusa-san could accurately digest it—
"Well then, let's leave it at that!"
"Leave it at what...?"
It was an unfamiliar, smile used as a weapon.
Toward me, who was doing nothing but wryly smiling while holding the extra-large, super-heavy cardboard box she had forced upon me, as if to threaten me... at the same time, if it wasn't my imagination.
"Today, thank you very much for keeping me company!"
Leaving behind a perfect, highly skilled smile that was tinged with a color that could, in a way, be called trust—Saegusa Hiyori turned her face and body away with a huff and left.
...Well, even though I say she left.
"............A raspberry, huh. That's the first time I've seen one in real life."
She had disappeared into the adjacent room, just a few seconds' walk from my own, after opening and closing the door with an ostentatious gesture that seemed to say, Aren't you jealous?... but,
"...Hah, if it were the virtual world (over there), I would have taken a screenshot."
If I had to say, it wasn't bad.
There was no way of knowing what form it would take in the future, but if I were to look at only the current situation... just having her energetically and clearly oppose me was something to be grateful for.
Was that a wry smile, or was it a smile that wasn't bitter?
Spilling emotions and soliloquies that even I couldn't clearly define, I thought about doing some studying as I was told—and quietly tried to return to my room.
At that moment, the door opened.
"Whoops...?"
Not my room. The door that quietly swung open was the adjacent room's.
And yet, it wasn't Nia's room, which Saegusa-san had just broken into using a spare key she had taken out as if it were the most natural thing in the world... it was the opposite neighbor. In other words—
"......"
"Ashe? What's wrong... ah, and, I'm home?"
What appeared was an expressionless Princess, exposing a pure white that shone brilliantly if there was light, and solemnly even if there was none. However, Ashe, who looked at me without a word, spent a few seconds with eyes that showed no emotion...
No, well. It was a face whose emotions probably couldn't be read unless you were someone like me—in other words, in my eyes, she looked clearly displeased and depressed.
After staring at me for a few seconds.
"Oh?"
She moved. That is, she walked briskly over to me.
"Oh?"
Hyoi, thud. She effortlessly snatched the 'Hiyori Saegusa Special Cardboard Box', which must have been quite heavy for a girl, as if it were an empty box or something, and placed it carefully on the floor.
"......O-Oh...?"
Finishing with a headbutt to my front, which she had cleared with her efficient, mysterious movements—meaning my chest—to put it with love, a posture of complete spoiling suddenly manifested.
What is this? I don't know what happened, but as I became an idiot, thinking she was stupidly cute and lovely to the point where my desire to analyze was completely melted and my thoughts ground to a halt...
"......Failure."
She muttered.
With a single murmur spilled by none other than my Princess, I was pulled back to reality.
"..., ......Ah... right."
Today was Wednesday. In other words, including Monday, the day I sent Ashe—the [Deep Realm of Blue Source] conquest force—off to the pitch-black lakeshore, it was the third day. The last day of the scheduled period.
In other words, there was no need to ask this or that, nor any room for doubt.
Failure.
Correctly and unmistakably guessing what that single word meant, while leaning against me as I hesitated over what on earth I should say...
"......Conquest failed. Meeting required."
Surprising, if you could call it that. Typical, if you could call it that.
Without hiding it even a bit, looking depressed to the point where it was clearly visible at least to my eyes, Ashe muttered her report bit by bit—
"............Extremely unpleasant. Pamper me a lot."
"......U-Understood...?"
For now, that was how it felt. She requested a recharge of her mental strength from none other than her fiancé (me).
Meanwhile, around that time, once again, the completely oblivious Lady Liliania Vrubel.
She was currently being mysteriously pampered and comforted to death in the adjacent room, tilting her head infinitely in "?????" as she was raided by her best friend (chick) whose tension was bizarre due to sudden jealousy and various other things.