Butler's Sudden Behavior (1)
Butler's Sudden Behavior (1)
#
The door closed with a squeak. But I could barely pick up any presence. As expected of Reni. You'd think she'd have gotten the hang of sleep sex by now.
I closed my eyes and waited in anticipation. Before long, the presence reached my bedside. Reni. You seemed to be in quite a hurry that night.
"...Yoo-jin. Are you asleep?"
The one who'd opened the door was Rebecca. No, what are you doing here? You got my heart pounding for nothing.
...Seriously, why did she come? At this hour? If she'd come to drop something off, she would've left it in front of the door like last time. Curiosity piqued, I decided to stay still for the moment.
"...?!"
I heard sniffing sounds right above my blanket. This woman, was she smelling me?! Why?!
"Kh-hmm. Mmm..."
"!"
"Mmm... what the. Why are you here."
Damn it! I was the one who'd spoken, but it was way too clumsy. It was such an awkward, dumb tone that not even a child would've fallen for it!
Rebecca swiftly stepped back as though she had done nothing. Her movement was quick, but she seemed just as flustered as I was.
"..."
"I asked why you’re here, didn’t I?"
"...I apologize for the late hour. I came to return the clothes you lent me."
"Oh, really?"
Rebecca stood blankly for a moment before abruptly holding out the clothes. They were folded with crisp creases and smelled of herbs. Had she washed them immediately after Yuri said that to her? Had the remark bothered her that much?
"Uh, mm. Thanks."
"Not at all. I should be the one thanking you."
"..."
"..."
"What are you doing?"
"...It's nothing."
I reached out to take them, but Rebecca wasn't letting go of the clothes. After a subtle little tug-of-war, she only released her grip after I pointed it out. What exactly did this woman want?
"Are we done here? Time to..."
"...I'll change your sheets."
Huh?
"No, why are you suddenly bringing up the sheets..."
Rebecca tilted her head slightly and looked down at me.
"Bed sheets must be changed at least once a day, but since you didn't open your door yesterday, Yoo-jin, I was unable to do so. Please allow me to do it now."
"No, but it's late. Do you really have to do it now?"
"Yes. It is my duty to maintain the cleanliness of the mansion."
Rebecca maintained an attitude that said she wasn't going to back down. With nothing more to add, I got off the bed, and Rebecca produced a sheet from somewhere and swapped it out in an instant.
Ah. This was a bit awkward. Even if I'd used Clean, this was a bed sheet that had seen a night of madness, wasn't it? The wet stains would still be on it. And now she was taking it away right before my eyes. Embarrassing as hell.
"It's done."
"Uh, mm. Right. Thanks."
Rebecca was still standing there blankly. She stared at me as if she had something she wanted to hear from me.
"...Thanks?"
"Is there anything else you need from me?"
"No?"
Rebecca tilted her head at a strange angle again. Wh-what? Was I supposed to tip her now, after all this? But this wasn't a hotel. Was she that short of money? Had she not said there would be a great deal to recover from that pig bastard?
While I was in the middle of those thoughts, Rebecca suddenly opened her mouth.
"There is no one spending the night with you today. Did something happen?"
No, what the hell was this woman asking me? Why was she so interested in someone else's bed situation?!
"...It can happen. There need to be days off, too. I mean, not that I'm the one who needs a break, but they worked way too hard because of me yesterday, so doing it like that two days in a row is a little..."
Why was I explaining all of this in such excruciating detail?
"...Anyway, yeah. Today is a pass."
"I see."
"..."
"..."
Silence fell again. Ah, I was so frustrated I could die! Why had she suddenly come to my room in the middle of the night and caused all this?
"If you have something to say, say it. Don't just look at me like that. Or don't tell me you..."
"Pardon the intrusion. Please sleep well."
With those words, Rebecca closed the door and left. That woman. What exactly did she want to do?
I lay in bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.
Reni didn't come after all. Were the three of them talking about me right about now?
"..."
Scary. So scary. What on earth was the Holy Sword talking about? Should I have gone over there right then?
Of course, I'd never done anything that could be called bad to that Holy Sword thing. If anything, I'd treated it very well!
But that thing was always choosing only the words that created subtle misunderstandings about people! The act itself was clearly true, but the perspective was way too different!
But I couldn't barge into their room then either.
...It was too late.
I couldn't even use Recovery Sex on myself, and if I stayed up all night like this, I wouldn't be able to do anything tomorrow. I closed my eyes. Desperately praying that Holy Sword thing wouldn't run its mouth about useless stuff....
# # #
The Holy Sword was poking through the piles of luggage in Yuri's room as if finding them fascinating, then turned to look at Yuri.
"When are you going to give me the yummy stuff?"
"Wait just a sec. First, tell me everything about what you went through..."
"Yuri... you're phrasing that way too harshly."
Yuri had already accepted as fact that he'd done something to the Holy Sword. It wasn't necessarily wrong that he had, but she had emotional reservations and was curious as well. The Holy Sword, however, nearly threw a fit when told to wait.
"No! Hurry up and give it! Give it to me now!"
"Wh-why are you acting like that?!"
The Holy Sword suddenly threw a tantrum. She flopped onto the bed and thrashed her arms and legs, then abruptly went limp as though she had remembered something.
"You just tell me to wait all the time! Every single time! I've waited enough already! I hate it now..."
"Ah, okay! Hold on. Just hold on a sec!"
A flustered Yuri rummaged through her backpack. She'd never imagined the Holy Sword would have a sudden outburst like that.
"Let's see. Wh-where is it."
The Holy Sword had its own reasons, in its own way.
The time she had spent sealed beneath the Church. She had been alone for so long that a human wouldn't have been able to bear it and keep their sanity. Of course, the Holy Sword's sense of time was different from a human's, and since she had spent most of that time in a deactivated state, there had been no major problems. Until now.
In human form, the Holy Sword was intoxicated by new sensations and was, to put it mildly, a little out of her mind.
Naturally, the two were oblivious to those circumstances and just floundered about.
"H-Holy Sword. I'll bring it right away, so please calm down just a little... U-hyik?!"
"..."
Reni had merely hugged the Holy Sword, the same way she hugged the younger trainees at the training center when they cried, but the moment the Holy Sword felt that soft texture, she didn't restrain her instincts. The Holy Sword's emotional shifts were as rapid as its tantrums.
"H-Holy Sword! You can't just touch people however you want! That's a bad thing to do!"
"Why? He touches you all the time."
"!!!!"
Reni fanned her face with her hand and made an excuse.
"Th-that is something that, th-that is only allowed between a m-man and a woman who are... wh-who are fond of each other!"
"Yeah?"
Was that so? The Holy Sword was not convinced, because she remembered him tormenting Rebecca like a madman in the panic room.
She was just about to voice her doubts on the matter.
"F-found it. Here!"
With perfect timing, Yuri pulled something out and thrust it toward the Holy Sword.
"What is it?"
"Try it. It's sort of like candy. You'll definitely like it."
A transparent, golden bar with dried fruit pieces scattered sparingly throughout. It was something she'd bought as emergency rations back when she was deep into playing adventurer, but thanks to Yoo-jin's inventory and the Point Shop, she'd never had a chance to pull it out until now.
The Holy Sword cautiously sniffed it, touched it with the tip of her tongue, then shoved the entire thing into her mouth. And then...
"...Huh?"
"Holy Sword...?"
"..."
"Huh? What's wrong with her? Did she eat something bad?! R-Reni! Heal! Quickly!"
"Y-yes!"
The Holy Sword's eyes rolled back, and she fainted on the spot.
To the Holy Sword, whose sense of taste was too acute even in the Dream World to manage anything more than candy with reduced sweetness, real honey in the physical world was an excessively intense stimulus.
The Holy Sword had only fainted because of her sensitive senses and the unfamiliar taste, but the two shook her anxiously, sweating as though something terrible had happened.
"Ehe... he..."
The Holy Sword smiled as it sucked on the honey stick. Only after seeing the Holy Sword's face did the two let out sighs of relief.
"She is not dead, right? I think she only fainted."
"It certainly looks that way."
"...So what do we do now?"
Reni let out a deep sigh.
"I'll take care of her for now. We can't just leave her like this. She seems fine, but there might be something wrong we don't know about..."
"S-sorry."
"No. Then sleep well."
...
"Nnh, H-Holy Sword! You can't touch me there! Are you actually awake after all?!"
"...Fwaaah..."
# # #
The next morning.
When I went down to the dining room at Rebecca's summons, all the girls were already seated in their places.
Had the Holy Sword spouted any nonsense the night before? Feeling slightly anxious, I examined the girls' expressions, but nothing seemed particularly strange.
No, if anything, both of them looked like they'd had a pretty rough night because of that Holy Sword thing. Yuri seemed to have had a rough time thanks to the Holy Sword demanding she hand something over, and Reni... she had dark circles under her eyes as if she hadn't slept.
"You okay?"
"Ah... Yoo-jin... yes... good morning..."
Reni said the words, but she flinched, reacting to the Holy Sword's movements.
What in the world had happened overnight...?
That Holy Sword thing, who seemed like the primary culprit... the Holy Sword's attire was as loose and free as ever.
Ever since transforming the day before, the Holy Sword had remained barefoot and wore only a lingerie-like babydoll. Naturally, none of my girls' clothes fit her, so the babydoll had been borrowed from Ariel.
When they tried to put anything more on her, she threw a fit saying it was itchy and uncomfortable, so it was an unavoidable choice, but... to still be like that even in broad daylight. That was pretty damn problematic!
After we somehow managed to seat the restless Holy Sword at the table, Rebecca served the meal.
Simple bread and soup. It felt a little plain, but there was no need for a heavy meal from the morning. This much was plenty...
"Blech."
Th-the Holy Sword thing!!! Rudely spat it out!!!!
"This tastes weird... this one is hard and bristly and gritty... not nice..."
"..."
A silence born of shock. No one could open their mouths at the Holy Sword's behavior. Only the Holy Sword's grumbling resonated throughout the dining hall.
Everyone was utterly stunned by that bottomless, endless rudeness.
Rebecca's body went rigid. Her complexion turned a shade of bluish green. Even her fingertips were trembling slightly. Right! If she'd been dealing with an actual obnoxious jerk, it'd be one thing, but having someone who looked that innocent spew such abuse—of course that would break her!
"I-I shall prepare a new meal."
"Ah, no. I'm fine with it, though? I think it's delicious." "M-me too!"
"Hey, R-Rebecca. Try to understand. You have to treat this one like a newborn baby and deal with her that way..."
"Big sis. This tastes weird... can I have that other thing, from yesterday?"
"Uh-uh, huh? Ah, right, I'm big sis. That's right..."
You already became her big sis?!
...
And so, the meal ended with no one able to salvage the atmosphere. Post-meal teatime.
Ariel gathered everyone to their seats, saying she had something to discuss.
"I apologize if it feels like I'm constantly rushing you, but I would like to hear yesterday's answer."
"..."
Ariel was asking when the amplification would be possible. Was this woman fairly impatient, too? Or was she very interested in sex?
As if reading my expression, Ariel hastily added to her words.
"If I can analyze your ability, I might be able to create a magic similar to this amplification of yours. If that is possible, then even if we cannot use your divine power to lift the curse on my sister, we might be able to buy enough time to find another method."
"I cannot keep you bound to us forever, after all," Ariel murmured.
A brief moment of silence. Ariel's words carried several implications. This woman, she had been operating under the premise that I was going to leave sometime, after all.
Abruptly, Yuri opened her mouth.
"You can analyze abilities and learn them?"
"If sufficient resources are invested. Yes."
"...Really? Could I learn it, too?"
"If you have the aptitude, as much as you like."
"Hmm..."
Yuri's eyes sparkled. She suddenly looked at me and grinned. Was that woman thinking about doing something weird again?
"So, what do you think?"
I took a quick moment to consider my schedule, then answered.
"Mm... Alright. Fine. Then let's get started tonight."