An Unfinished Tale
In the haze of my fading consciousness, one thing stood out clearly: a smell. A familiar one. Without a doubt, it was the scent of the food I would order through delivery apps after dragging my exhausted body back to an empty house at the end of a long day.
Pair it with a bottle of soju, and for that brief moment, it brought a small but certain happiness that made even billionaires seem enviable. Come to think of it, I had skipped breakfast this morning too. The realization that I hadn't eaten anything but a few sips of water for quite a while made my stomach feel strangely hollow. It wasn't exactly hunger in the painful sense, more like a pure, innocent craving for something delicious.
The moment that feeling hit me, the foggy blur clouding my vision began to clear.
“I want chicken...”
I muttered it without thinking and opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was an unfamiliar ceiling. No, in this situation, it should be called an unknown ceiling. I grumbled that painfully cliché line only inside my head before quickly sitting up.
I wondered if all my strength had returned, but my head still felt a bit fuzzy. Still, having slept deeply without any dreams, my condition was far better than when I had passed out cold.
The room with the unfamiliar ceiling seemed to be the same one where I had been with Maida Ren before losing consciousness. Given how clean it was and the pleasant feminine scent lingering in the air, it was probably Nia's room.
'Falling asleep in someone else's house again...'
As my awakened mind began to work, memories of what I had done right before blacking out resurfaced one by one. Even though my body had gone completely limp and I'd been terrified, it was still pathetic behavior. At my age, hiding behind a young woman like that—what the hell was I thinking?
If the first realization was how embarrassingly I had acted, the second was that the woman named Maida Ren, who had messed with my body without permission, was the root cause of everything. And the third realization was—
“Oh my, you wanted chicken? Perfect timing. Tonight’s main dish at the Serita household is fried chicken.”
“───.”
The person who had apparently been listening in real-time right beside me to the sleep-talk I had just muttered. And that person was none other than the gray-haired woman who was the root cause of this entire mess.
“Waaah—look at that face turning red.”
She sounded genuinely impressed by how openly my emotions were showing. As she spoke, she began scribbling furiously on what looked like a notebook in her hands. Her name was Maida Ren.
This woman had definitely been deliberately hiding her presence. She had been observing my every action from the moment I woke up.
With trembling eyes, I looked at the gray-haired woman sitting beside the bed. Those lifeless black eyes paired with an expression of pure fascination created an eerie contrast that was, as always, terrifying.
“...Were you here the whole time?”
“Yep. I can’t cook, after all.”
Whether I stared at her with obvious wariness or not, her carefree attitude didn’t waver in the slightest. I had never met anyone like her in my life, let alone received such intense interest from someone like her, so I could only feel deeply uncomfortable.
Feeling oddly exposed again, I rolled my eyes to check my current state. I was still wearing the pajamas Maida Ren had dressed me in, and clutched tightly in my arms like a substitute teddy bear was a long silver metal pipe. It was exactly the same outfit and equipment I had when I lost consciousness.
I let out a silent sigh of relief and turned my gaze back to Maida Ren, who was still chattering away while sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Plus, watching you sleep was pretty entertaining. You didn’t move a muscle, so at first I thought you were dead.”
I had heard a few times in my life that it was strange how I slept in a rigid, at-attention posture. I never imagined that habit would carry over to this body. Along with learning something about myself that I could never have known without others pointing it out, a small wave of embarrassment followed at the thought that this strange woman had seen me sleeping so defenselessly.
Regardless of gender, it was a natural defensive reaction to having one’s private space exposed against their will. Maybe that was why it didn’t show much on my face, because Maida Ren simply stood up without any particular reaction and held out her hand.
“Here, can you get up?”
“Yes.”
I didn’t know how long I had slept, but it seemed about half my strength had returned. Compared to when I had fought that giant millipede, I still felt weak, but the complete helplessness from earlier was gone. At this rate, I could probably head outside without any major issues.
With that judgment, I nodded and took Maida Ren’s hand—feeling too awkward to leave it hanging—and fully stood up.
“Sorry about earlier. It’s not much of an excuse, but I guess my power control slipped a bit. I drained you more than necessary. I really am sorry.”
“Ah, yes. Well. It’s fine.”
I couldn’t exactly respond pettily to someone offering a sincere apology. I gave a perfectly ordinary reply while looking up at her, only to find that Maida Ren’s expression had turned strange again.
“Is something wrong?”
“...No, it’s just that your reaction feels kind of... old-man-like this time.”
“Old man?”
I ignored the twinge of guilt and deliberately tilted my head as if I had no idea what she meant.
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
Wondering if my height had stayed the same but my face had reverted to its original form, I raised a hand to touch my cheek. Instead of the usual rough stubble, I felt only soft, elastic, and moist skin. Even though my hands had gotten smaller, the strange sensation that the surface area felt ridiculously tiny was an added bonus.
Anyway, that was a relief. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to return to my original body, but something like that should obviously happen at the right time. The only reason I could even stay in a complete stranger’s house right now was entirely thanks to this pretty, cute, and perfect(?) appearance. If there was something I could take advantage of, then I would. That was simply how life worked.
“You really are fascinating. This research is going to be worth it.”
“Research? I’m the most boring person alive. There’s no benefit in paying attention to me.”
“No way. From the first time I saw you, I thought you were incredibly, insanely interesting. I’m sure I could watch you all day and never get bored.”
“...I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”
Did she have any idea that I was inwardly calculating the pros and cons? Despite my curt response, Maida Ren simply smiled as if delighted. She seemed serious one moment and like her head was full of flowers the next. ...I had thought she was strange from the first time I saw her, but now I felt the need to revise that assessment slightly.
'For now, let’s upgrade her threat level to “potential crazy bitch” candidate.'
And so, unable to shake off the hand Maida Ren had offered, I followed her out of the room—only to be greeted by a radiant smiling blonde beauty.
“Ah, Berry. You’re already awake.”
It was Nia Serita, who held the undisputed lowest threat level among all the otherworlders I had met, while sitting at the very top of personal favorability. She was wearing a simple yellow apron, apparently in the middle of cooking, and that domestic sight perfectly stimulated my inner desires as someone of marriageable age, causing my favorability toward her to rise yet again.
But of course, it remained only in my thoughts. I wasn’t foolish enough to let such feelings show on my face.
“Thank you. I’ve been imposing on you in so many ways.”
“Not at all. I’m doing this because I want to. And while it was only partial, I did achieve my original goal──.”
“...Pardon?”
I noticed Nia glancing at the clothes I was wearing when she mentioned her goal, but I pretended not to understand. These pajamas—or more precisely, this light and airy indoor women’s clothing—were probably something Nia had worn as a child. Had she wanted to dress me in them? Honestly, it was a little embarrassing, but I could accept that level of cute desire without complaint. The lingering sense that this body was mine yet not mine played a part too, but at the very least, she wasn’t the type to pin me against a wall and steal a kiss. That was practically saintly by comparison. Honestly, it was almost adorable.
That aside, it seemed I had been invited to dinner. I wasn’t sure if this outfit was appropriate for the occasion. If it had been my original dress, it would have been fine anywhere, but the one Maida Ren had stripped off me was nowhere to be seen—probably being washed. In the end, I didn’t have the face to ask to borrow yet another set of clothes in someone else’s house, so I simply went with the flow.
Led by Maida’s hand, I sat down in an empty chair at the dining table.
...It was still awkward after all.
I had occasionally eaten at other people’s homes while working, so the feeling wasn’t entirely unfamiliar. However—
“Hmm, recovering this much after only an hour of sleep is impressive. I heard you were completely drained, yet you bounced back quickly.”
The problem was the tall man already sitting solemnly at the table, reading what looked like a newspaper and nodding to himself. Even if he was the head of this household, a man was still a man. From experience, I had no choice but to remain wary.
When I glanced at him, he casually pushed up his slightly lowered glasses with a fingertip. Despite his imposing build, he looked more like a scholar. He didn’t seem like he would stare at me with the same creepy eyes as the men on the street, but I still couldn’t let my guard down completely. I hid my discomfort behind a perfect mask.
“Hello. Sorry for the late greeting. My name is Berry.”
“Mm! Sorry about earlier. I’m Noma Serita. As you probably already know, I’m Nia’s father.”
Noma? What an unusual name. Setting that thought aside, I put on my usual business smile for first meetings. He responded with a calm, dignified nod.
No matter how I looked, I couldn’t see any vulgar desire in his eyes.
“Before we eat, there’s one thing I’d like to ask. Will you answer me?”
“Of course.”
His first impression was a bit off, but he seemed like a perfectly respectable gentleman. It was probably too much to view him with suspicion just because he was a man. So I answered softly, looking at him with a hint of remorse in my eyes.
“What exactly did you do before coming here? May I ask?”
“Pardon?”
Before I could even ask what he meant, he struck first. It must have been an unexpected event, because both Nia, who had been preparing the food, and Maida Ren, who had been watching, suddenly crowded in on either side of me with interest.
“This is today’s newspaper that came in while you were sleeping. No matter how I look at it, there seems to be a wanted notice that points to you.”
“......”
The man, who had been wearing a slightly uncertain expression, held out the paper for me to see for myself. I took it in a daze and lowered my gaze. The large printed text on the familiar-feeling paper was unfamiliar in content, but I understood it without any trouble.
I understood it perfectly, and yet...
Wait, hold on?! Wasn’t that just a passing event? I thought it had quietly blown over since nothing happened?!