Chapter 40: Eve of the Festival (2)

Finally, I escaped from that hellish dinner-table and made it back to my room.
Phew—what a day.

But the moment I opened the door, I saw Shiro-san, Chive-san, Munieka-san, and the Witch locked in an intense staring match.
Each sat or leaned on one of the four beds, glaring silently at one another.

“Uh… what’s going on?”
“Oh my, Wof boy. Welcome back.”
“Welcome home, Master.”
“So, you’re back.”
“Heyyy, welcome back~”
“I—I’m home. Shiro-san, you’ve returned, I see.”
“Yes, sorry for the trouble. Still, I can’t believe you saw through Thousand Faces’ transformation.”
“It didn’t look anything like you, Shiro-san.”
“…I see. So it wasn’t me then.”
“Yes. I realized right away.”
“……R-right.”

Shiro-san…? She looked down, oddly quiet.

“Whoa, I’ve never seen Shiro make that kind of face before.”
“Somehow, I’m a bit jealous.”
“Haha, haha… if someone said that to me, even I might act that way.” 

The Witch chuckled softly.

“…What are you all talking about? And what exactly were you doing?”
“Hehe, Wof-kun, don’t you notice something?”

Something…?
There were four identical beds: from the right, the Witch, Chive, Munieka, and Shiro. Four people.

“Huh? One’s missing?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Then I’ll just sleep in a sleeping bag.”
“Now now, Wof boy.” 

The Witch said as if it were obvious.

“You know that’s not allowed, right?”

Not allowed? Why!?

“Wof-kun…” 

The Witch smiled slyly.

“It’s already been decided—you’ll be taking turns sharing a bed each night with one of us until the end of the Great of Rounds.”
“D-Decided…?”
“Yes. It’s been decided.”
“Ehhh…”

Wait, I had no say in this at all!?

“Ahh, relax, Wof-chi. You’re still a minor, so nothing weird will happen, okay? We’ll all be here too.”
“Nothing weird…”

The image that immediately came to mind was… tail grooming.
Yeah, that one’s not leaving my head anytime soon.

“Ahem. There will be no indecent behavior of that sort.”

In that case, wouldn’t a sleeping bag on the floor still be fine?
I thought it, but didn’t say it. It wouldn’t matter anyway. I have zero chance of winning against them.

So I’ll just let them do as they please.
It’s not that I want to sleep beside them or anything like that.
And if someone asked if I didn’t want to—well, I couldn’t say that either.

Even I can tell by now that they all care about me.
I just don’t understand why they care about me so much.

And because I don’t understand, I can’t bring myself to be the one to take the initiative.
Not to mention, I’m not even sure I should.
Still… being liked isn’t unpleasant. And if there’s something I can do for them, I want to do it.

I want them to smile, to laugh, to feel joy.
I want to be kind, to be strong, and never make them sad.

“So then, we’re deciding who gets the first night.” 

The Witch said cheerfully.

“You’re… deciding that?”

“First night.” huh. That’s quite a way to phrase it.
Also, weren’t they just… glaring at each other a second ago?

“We were crushing each other’s presence with sheer pressure.”

“…Can’t we just decide this with rock-paper-scissors?”

All four of them blinked in confusion.

“Rock… paper… scissors?”
“What’s that?”

Wait—don’t tell me this world doesn’t have rock-paper-scissors?
Now that I think about it, I’ve never played it here.

Unbelievable. Rock-paper-scissors doesn’t exist!?

“Oh-ho, sounds interesting. So you say this can resolve the dispute peacefully?”
“It can?”

“Mhm. It can.”

I went ahead and explained the rules of rock-paper-scissors.
Apparently, even back in my previous life, the rules varied slightly by country,
but since this world had no version at all, it didn’t matter.

I taught them the most standard version from memory.
Teaching rock-paper-scissors in another world… this feels surreal.

“Hmmm, fascinating.”
“A way to decide winners peacefully.”
“This could sell.”

…Sell?
Rock-paper-scissors can be sold?

“Alright, let’s just do it already.”
“Yes, yes. A battle of cunning and instinct! I, Cone, will surely win!”

Well, it’s not completely unstrategic, I guess.

“Prepare yourself for my full power.” 

Munieka said calmly.

“Alright, ready—rock, paper, scissors!”

For a split second, I thought about joining in and declaring, if I win, I get the sleeping bag.
But I didn’t. That would’ve been way too petty. And I’m not that much of a saint.

Even if I’m confused, even if this situation feels a bit much…
I can’t deny that a part of me is enjoying it. That much, I know for sure.

After a few ties, the final round came: one showed scissors, three showed paper.
The winner—Shiro-san, with scissors.

She turned to me, smiling proudly, and flashed a peace sign.

“Pleased to be with you tonight.”

Feeling awkward, I stammered.

“Y-Yes, same here.”

Then Shiro-san suddenly leaned close and lightly tapped my nose with her finger.

“Relax. We’re not sleeping just yet.”

“R-Right.”

Behind her, the other three giggled softly.

…How embarrassing.

There was, to my surprise, a bath in the room.

This Hydrangea Grand Hall accommodation was seriously impressive.

I’d heard that the Witch wanted to bathe together, but I turned her down on that one.

…Right. I should probably tell Munieka-san now while I have the chance.

“Munieka-san, do you have a moment?”
“What is it?”
“Actually, I was approached in Minos doll by the Tasan family—they asked if I’d let you work as a maid at their secondary estate.”
“The Tasan family?”
“Yes. They said they’d like to hire you as both a maid and a bodyguard.”
“What does Master think about this?”
“To be honest, my house and the Witch’s house are both small, and there isn’t much to do. If you’re planning to properly oversee Shaldina and the others as maids, I think this offer is perfect.”

The estate is large, after all.
Munieka-san gave a small nod.

“I’ll accept the offer—but on one condition.”
“What is it?”
“I’d like you to connect your house to the secondary estate via a gate.”
“My house?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll have to discuss that with them first, of course.”
“Would it be alright with you, Master?”
“If they agree to it, I don’t mind. But… why?”
“First, so I can always handle cleaning and upkeep of your home. And second, if anything happens to Minos doll and the others, it would be the shortest route to the lab.”
“I see… Alright, let’s confirm it with them first before setting anything up.”
“Understood.”
“I think it’ll probably be fine.”

I had a feeling they’d approve without much trouble.

Tasan, huh… Speaking of that, what I really want to know about is Juicy-san.
Why was she with Alweld? And Shesh-san too.

The Witch came out of the bath.
Next went Chive-san, then Munieka-san, then Shiro-san.

I was last.
It’s cruel to compare it with the Witch’s bath back home, but I started missing that big pot-shaped tub.

After that, we played some card games and read for a bit. Before long, I started feeling sleepy.

When I realized it, it was already deep into the night. I yawned without thinking.

“Wof-kun, are you sleepy?”
“Y-yeah, I’m sleepy… Huh? Where are the others?”
“The other three said they were going downstairs to have a drink.”

So they weren’t going to bed yet.
As for me, I was dozing off already.

“Shiro-san, let’s go to bed.”
“Yes, over here.”

Shiro-san was wearing something that looked like a thin white one-piece dress.
It was so light it looked almost transparent. And—well—she really was white all over.

And… maybe it’s just my imagination, but—
It kind of seemed like she wasn’t wearing anything underneath.
No way… no way, right?

“Come on, Wof-kun, come here to Shiro’s side.”

Shiro-san slipped into the bed first, lifted the blanket, and beckoned me in.

Lying there, she somehow looked more… alluring than usual.

“R-right. Excuse me… I’ll be in your care.”

Nervously, I climbed in. She pulled the blanket over us.
Ah—it felt a little cool.

The bed was small, so our bodies touched.
Her skin was faintly cold, yet warm to the touch—lukewarm, somehow.

That gentle warmth felt nice. It reminded me of warm water, or the air after a bath.

There was a faintly sweet scent—like flowers.

“Good night, Shiro-san.”
“Good night, Wof-kun.”

As Shiro-san softly stroked my head, I drifted into sleep, wrapped in that comforting warmth.