Chapter 2
Chapter 2
The Customer Is Extremely Difficult.
Gulp.
Saliva scraped down my throat as rough as grains of sand.
Fear tried to melt my spine, but my survival instincts cooled my brain instead.
The gallery bastards’ warning flashed through my mind like lightning.
— WhiteMage: Don’t act “ambiguously” in front of her.
……Ambiguity was “gray.”
And “gray” was “black.”
In that case, I had to use this insane black-and-white logic against her.
I forcibly controlled my trembling jaw.
I didn’t avoid the cold touch of her hand caressing my neck like a noose tightening around it.
No, I couldn’t avoid it.
Instead…… I stared directly into those icy sapphire eyes.
“ ……Yes. I’m trembling. ”
“ ……. ”
At my honest admission, Elara’s eyebrows twitched ever so slightly.
I took another step forward here.
“ Because I just witnessed ‘evil’ being ‘purified’ before my eyes. ”
I countered her using the exact same word she had used earlier, “purification.”
“ My lady. ”
Looking at the fingers pressing lightly against my throat, I spoke clearly.
“ Forgive my boldness, but let me say one thing. ”
“ ……. ”
“ If someone could witness that and not tremble, if they could remain unaffected after seeing such a tragedy… wouldn’t that itself be emotionless ‘evil’? ”
At my counterattack, Elara’s pupils widened slightly.
She was “evaluating” me. Now was the moment to drive in the final nail.
“ However……. ”
Even amidst the terror that made my heart feel ready to burst through my ribs, I had to prove that I would not retreat even a single step.
“ ……I did not run away. And I will not run away from now on either. ”
I declared it loudly enough for the entire room to hear.
“ Let me correct myself. My answer is ‘of course.’ I will remain here to help cure you completely, my lady. ”
Within the suffocating silence, I added one final sentence.
“ ……Because that is ‘good.’ ”
At that moment, the air in the room seemed to freeze to absolute zero.
I could no longer smell the fragrant tea nor the foul scent of blood.
Only her gaze remained, piercing through me as if dissecting me alive.
Elara slowly withdrew the hand touching my neck.
And then……
……Fwaa.
The expressionless face that had looked ready to butcher me moments ago melted away like spring snow.
“ Hehe……. ”
An even purer and brighter smile than before bloomed across her lips.
“ ……Pass. I like you. ”
The murderous aura crushing my lungs vanished like a lie.
But it was too early to feel relieved at the word “pass.” Clenching my damp fists tightly, I carefully watched her next move.
Humming softly, Elara walked toward the desk.
Stretching out her slender arm, she dropped the bloodstained dagger with a clack.
“ I think counseling would be best at 「 night 」. Until then, Teacher, please wait in the room assigned to you. ”
‘Night,’ huh.
Probably another “execution ceremony” disguised as “counseling.”
Feeling my sweat-soaked shirt sticking unpleasantly to my back, I barely managed to nod.
“ ……Understood. ”
“ Butler, please guide the Teacher. ”
At Elara’s command, the old butler nodded once.
“ Please follow me. ”
The butler walked ahead like a ghost.
Naturally, I followed behind him.
“ Ah…… and, Teacher? ”
“ Yes? ”
Looking at me, Elara smiled brightly, completely different from before.
“ From now on, instead of calling me ‘My Lady,’ please call me ‘Elara.’ I’ll call you ‘Teacher’ as well. Let’s get along, okay? ”
“ ……. ”
That angelic face made every hair on my body stand up.
The devil who had just painted a servant “red” was now allowing me the intimacy of calling her by name?
This wasn’t kindness.
It was a brand of ownership declaring that I had entered her territory.
Facing this new trap, I completely hid my true thoughts and lowered my head.
“ ……Understood. ”
♣
[Chat] Holy shit that was fucking terrifying
Author:
Wow, gallery bros, thanks. If not for your advice I’d probably already be dead…….
Was it Elara von Heim? She’s insanely gorgeous and stacked too.
But the moment I saw her she stabbed a servant……
The reason? Because the black tea was a little lukewarm? Holy shit, I immediately understood why she’s mentally ill.
Seriously felt like she was testing whether to kill me too…… somehow survived after hearing “you pass” while she was smiling.
[7 Comments]
WhiteMage: Oh, glad you survived……. You’re more talented than expected? Thought you’d die on the first try.
: Damn, what a cruel bitch…….
KimSilsil: More importantly, this part matters……. How’d the counseling go?
: It’s happening at night.
KimSilsil: So now you’ll spend every night together at the moment of destiny? KangkangRobot2nd: Sigh, let’s help this poor rookie bastard……. That way we can escape too.
KimSilsil: Exactly. Everything we’re doing is for your sake too…….
‘ Roughly why these gallery bastards are helping me.txt ’
Judging from the situation, these guys seemed to be seniors who had fallen into this world before me.
Each one probably met miserable deaths at the hands of the heroines and now wandered the gallery like bound spirits.
It seemed the system would free their souls too if I helped “save all 5 villainesses.”
BlondBigBoobsDaisuki: Isn’t Elara insanely pretty? I used to be all about blondes with big boobs, but because of her I almost changed my nickname to silver-haired big boobs lover.
: Anyway it’s nighttime now so I think I gotta go do the counseling. Got any advice?
The moment my last question was posted, the gallery window flashed like crazy.
WhiteMage: LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL counseling? Hey rookie, that’s not counseling. It’s interrogation.
KangkangRobot2nd: 22222. During the day she judges your actions, but at night she judges your mind. Sheesh.
AnywayTheLegalWifeIsOne: Here’s a tip. She’ll definitely ask about you. Questions like “What kind of person are you, Teacher?” or “What is your evil?” Fundamental questions like that.
……What kind of person are you?
Damn it. How was I supposed to answer that? I couldn’t exactly say I was some gamer addict who came from another world to play a game.
: Then what am I supposed to do? Should I answer honestly?
BlondBigBoobsDaisuki: NONONONONONONO absolutely not.
KimSilsil: Rookie. That’s the trap. You survived during the day because you defined fear as good. But nighttime counseling is different. She’ll dig into your “human weaknesses.”
: Weaknesses?
WhiteMage: LOOOOOOOOOOOOL for example don’t say dumb shit like “Actually I have a lot of weaknesses too...” or “I made mistakes in the past...” lololol
: Feels like a confession or something……. yeah;;
KimSilsil: Exactly. She’s experienced everything imaginable, so human struggles, weaknesses, past mistakes... all of it will look “gray” to her.
AnywayTheLegalWifeIsOne: Yep. According to her standards, good has to be flawless. Perfect “white.” The moment you start with “Actually, I also...” you become “flawed good” = “gray” = “black,” and get stabbed.
KangkangRobot2nd: Summary: You’re the counselor, not the patient. Never show your weaknesses. You have to be a “transcendent being” who came to heal her from the position of perfect good.
: ……Fuck.
Just reading the gallery bastards’ advice made my palms damp again.
An interrogation disguised as counseling.
I had to act out the persona of a “perfect counselor.”
The moment I showed weakness, I might also be painted “red.”
That was when it happened.
Knock. Knock.
Outside the door echoed that same mechanical knocking sound from earlier in the day.
“ ……Teacher. My lady is waiting for you. ”
The old butler’s dry voice pierced through the door.
“ ……It is time to begin the ‘ counseling. ’ ”
So it begins.
I left one final comment in the gallery.
: Hey the butler’s here. Going to counseling now. Pray I come back alive.
WhiteMage: Hang in there, rookie.
After WhiteMage’s encouragement, I turned off the smartphone.
Taking one deep breath, I carefully turned the doorknob.
Outside the door, against the backdrop of a pitch-black hallway, stood the corpse-like old butler relying on a single candle for light.
After scanning me once with his gray eyes, he silently turned around and guided me into the darkness.
Toward this second trial, I took my heavy steps forward.
After walking for quite a while, I once again stood before the enormous door I had seen during the day.
Just like before, the old butler knocked exactly three times before naturally opening the door.
“ ……Please enter. ”
“ ……. ”
Carefully, I stepped inside the room.
The brilliant sunlight from earlier had vanished, and only the blue crescent moon outside dimly illuminated the room.
With her arms crossed, 「 Elara von Heim 」 sat in the armchair waiting for me.
“ Welcome, Teacher. Here, would you like to sit? ”
She gestured toward the chair opposite her, and I quietly took my seat there.
“ Would you…… like a cup of tea? ”
She asked with an angelic smile.
Instantly, the servant’s corpse from earlier and the teacup with its “ambiguous temperature” flashed through my mind.
This was not an offer.
It was an attempt to blur the line between counselor and patient, luring me toward the “gray” the gallery bastards warned me about.
Without affirming or rejecting her offer, I looked at her with the gentle smile of a “teacher.”
“ Thank you for the offer, Elara. ”
Just as she had permitted earlier, I called her by name.
At the sound of my voice, Elara’s eyes narrowed with interest.
“ But I did not come here to drink tea. ”
Remaining seated, I met her gaze head-on without avoiding it.
“ I am the ‘teacher,’ and you are someone in need of my ‘help.’ ”
I clearly defined our “roles.”
“ Right now, I wish to focus solely on your ‘counseling.’ I would prefer to exclude all unnecessary distractions. ”
“ ……. ”
At my firm refusal, the bright smile hanging on Elara’s lips…… slowly faded.
She slammed the teapot down with an irritated clang.
“ ……Unnecessary distractions, huh. ”
The voice she spat out was cold as ice, all traces of her previous kindness gone.
“ Fine then, Tea. Cher? ”
Crossing her arms, she sank deeper into the armchair.
“ Then let’s see this amazing counseling of yours. Go ahead and begin. ”
I had taken control of the “counseling.”
From the bag I had brought, I took out paper and a pen.
I put on the mask of the most ideal and perfect counseling teacher possible.
“ Very well. ”
Lightly tapping the paper with my pen, I continued.
“ This is our first session, Elara. Let us begin by asking what part of your heart is hurting. ”
“ ……Who knows. ”
With her arms crossed, Elara gazed at the crescent moon floating in the distance.
“ Maybe it’s that I can’t sleep every night. ”
“ Is there a reason why? ”
“ Whenever I look at light like that…… it just feels disgusting somehow. ”
She gestured toward the moon outside the window.
“ Why is that? ”
“ ……Counselor Teacher. ”
Elara looked at me with a languid smile.
Now…… the second test had begun.
“ Did you know the moon also has a dark side? ”
The gallery bastards’ warnings echoed in my ears like hallucinations.
— KimSilsil: She’ll dig into your “human weaknesses.”
I couldn’t show weakness by saying “I’m scared too,” nor could I attack her with “What does that matter?”
Every one of those answers would obviously become “gray.”
Was it a perfectly good answer like pure white?
Or an evil answer like black?
There were only two choices.
From now on, I absolutely had to become the perfect counselor.
So……
Instead of taking her question as a “test,” I countered it as part of the “counseling.”
Setting down the pen in my hand, I looked at the moon outside the window just like she did and smiled gently.
“ I know. ”
At my calm answer, Elara narrowed her eyes as if to say, “So?”
I accurately traced back her emotions.
“ Elara. Just now, while looking at the moon, you said it felt ‘disgusting.’ ”
“ ……. ”
“ Not ‘scary’ or ‘sad,’ but specifically ‘disgusting.’ ”
Turning my gaze away from the moon outside, I stared deeply into Elara’s eyes alone.
“ We did not come here to see the moon’s dark side. ”
In the voice of a “teacher,” I spoke low and heavily.
“ We came here to see the ‘other side’ of that feeling of ‘disgust’ you’re experiencing. ”
I gripped the pen once more.
“ Now then, will you tell me? What exactly is the source of that unpleasant ‘filth’? ”