Discovery (1)

I was a person with at least a modicum of social awareness.

Well, no. I wouldn't pretend I'd never brought up a game I was playing in front of someone with no interest, mistaken their polite tolerance for genuine engagement, and convinced myself we had grown close. Fortunately, that had happened in high school, and since my circle included no girls, the worst consequence was a rumor that I was an otaku. After that, I resolved to become at least a little better at reading the room.

I didn't possess the kind of looks that made people feel warmly toward me on sight, nor was I particularly eloquent. On the internet I could rattle off whatever crossed my mind without a second thought, but that was the internet, wasn't it? You couldn't see the other person's face anyway. In the first place, without being able to observe their gestures or expressions, you had no real way of knowing how uncomfortable you might be making them.

In my own fashion, working at a company and navigating social life had taught me how to conduct myself in order to get through situations reasonably unscathed. At the very least, I was now able to recognize the look on someone's face when they were hearing something they'd rather not.

Or, for that matter, the expression worn by someone who clearly had no idea how to deal with me.

Case in point: even at this very moment, that was precisely the expression on the face of Mia Crowfield, seated before me.

People found it more burdensome than one might expect to make eye contact with someone who lacked all expression. Especially when that expressionless person occupied a lofty, elevated position.

Of course, exceptions existed: people who met that blank face and remained utterly unbothered, radiating confidence that they could "see right through it"; people who boldly proclaimed themselves to be that expressionless person's younger sister; people who were self-assured no matter where they went; and people who were already surrounded by such a wide assortment of women that adding one more stone-faced girl to the mix barely registered.

Listing them out that way did give me pause; it seemed there were an awful lot of unusual people around me. But when I thought about it again, every one of them had been a member of the protagonist's party in the original work. Even if they had their eccentricities, I could simply chalk it up to that and move on.

Though the protagonist himself still treated me with intense diffidence, well, that would sort itself out with time, so I'd let it slide.

The problem was Mia Crowfield.

Just last week, every time her eyes met mine, Mia Crowfield had glared at me with all her might. She didn't even bother to conceal that she wanted to kill me, to the point where I'd had to stifle a hollow laugh.

As befitted a heroine from this sort of game, she had a rather curvaceous figure, yet because she was a little on the short side and her bangs often hid her eyes, she tended to look terribly timid. In fact, unless she was actively glaring at me, she spent most of her time in exactly that timid state.

And so I couldn't help but feel Mia Crowfield's change all the more keenly.

Mia Crowfield, who had quailed like a frightened rabbit even before Charlotte or the emperor's daughter Alice, used to fix me with a furious glare the moment she saw me, but lately, she'd been avoiding my gaze more and more often.

Had her feelings undergone a shift?

If so, why? What ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had caused it?

"......."

"......."

Hm.

I paused.

Come to think of it, there didn't seem to be any reason I couldn't just ask her directly.

Wasn't that right? I was someone ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠who could turn back time, after all. I could simply ask her to her face and be done with it.

And besides, I'd already said far harsher things to her before.

I discreetly surveyed my surroundings. In the student council room were Alice and Charlotte. The other committee members were present too, and the student council president as well.

We'd joined the student council, but we didn't yet hold any specific positions. It seemed the council regarded us as talents they wanted to secure for the time being. Which tracked. In the original work, the student council president was rather aristocratic, but she also evaluated people primarily on ability. She simply applied a considerable bonus for noble birth.

And then there were the two Graces, who had followed Alice in with perfect self-possession.

I had offered them milk tea as well, but unsurprisingly, I wasn't received with quite the same welcome they extended to me, Alice, Charlotte, and Mia Crowfield. It felt more like they got some because they happened to be there.

Leo's expression suggested he was sitting on a bed of nails, while Claire was thoroughly at ease.

Hm.

I could ask. Even if the people around me were shocked, as long as I turned back time, their stares and everything else would cease to matter at all.

But Mia Crowfield didn't know that I could turn back time. So she might try to conceal the truth in the process of answering.

If I asked her here, would I get a proper answer?

"......."

As I observed Mia Crowfield in silence, she darted her eyes this way and that. Judging by the fact that her face didn't redden, it didn't seem to be embarrassment or anything of that nature.

What was causing this?

Acting that way for no discernible reason made me all the more uneasy.

"......."

Hmm.

Ah, I couldn't figure it out.

"Mia Crowfield."

When I quietly spoke her name, Mia Crowfield performed the singular feat of jumping straight up from her chair without changing her seated posture at all.

A clatter rang out as the chair and desk scraped, and I felt everyone's gaze snap sharply toward us.

...... This was a sensation I'd felt before. It wasn't as severe as that time, of course. Mia Crowfield's reaction was noticeably different as well. After all, no conversation as dire as that one had yet passed between us.

"Y, y-y-yes?!"

Her answer, when it came, was sheer fluster itself.

Was I being fair?

It was true that I almost never called someone by name first. That was because I hadn't wanted to expose weaknesses by drawing out a conversation. Of course, I could simply turn back time and adjust the dialogue as much as I pleased, but wrapping up a conversation that way left me mentally exhausted. Even if my body didn't tire, my mind experienced a span of time several times longer than the actual conversation's duration.

For someone who'd been a born loner, sustaining a conversation I didn't even want to have for that long was nothing short of torture.

"There's something I'd like to discuss with you. Would you spare me a moment?"

"N, nnnnnnn-no, I wouldn't like that at all?!"

The words I'd directed at Mia Crowfield were refused on the spot.

I'd proposed speaking somewhere we wouldn't be overheard, though.

For reference, the people around us had their mouths hanging blankly open.

...... Was this really that surprising? Even a quiet, reserved person might sometimes want to have a one-on-one conversation with someone else.

I paused. Could it possibly have been...?

I thought I'd done a decent job building up a Cool Beauty image, but had I actually just come across to others as a hopeless social outcast? As someone with something akin to crippling social anxiety who couldn't even manage to speak to people properly?

Surely I didn't project an image similar to Mia Crowfield, did I?

"...... You wouldn't?"

"I wouldn't! Who knows what sort of thing you'll do to me?!"

I had no intention of doing anything.

No, more than that. The way she spoke made me sound like some predatory lesbian character who devoured girls. Mia Crowfield probably meant it in a "you'll kill me" sense, but her phrasing was perfectly suited to causing a misunderstanding in front of others.

And indeed, aside from Alice, whose expression turned grave upon hearing Mia Crowfield's words, everyone else was staring at me with their mouths hanging open.

...... Or was I wrong? Was I just overthinking it, alone? Had I watched too many comics and anime of that particular stripe and gotten jumpy at shadows?

I wanted to shake my head vigorously to dispel the thought, but no matter how much I intended to turn back time, I still had to maintain a certain degree of character.

"I won't do a single thing."

"How am I supposed to trust you?"

That was true.

From Mia Crowfield's perspective, it could only look that way. I was the enemy who had killed her father.

The problem was: why had the way she looked at that enemy changed compared to a week ago?

"If you must refuse, then I'll ask you here. Will that do?"

"...... Ah."

And when I actually said that, Mia Crowfield's expression went slightly blank. Well, what had she thought I was going to say here? I didn't know whether she believed the subject of her father wouldn't come up, but still, if she saw me as that sort of 'assassin,' she couldn't know what kind of impact any information I might divulge would carry.

"F-fine. As you like."

But Mia Crowfield said that, almost as if putting on a show of bravado.

"......."

I regarded Mia Crowfield in silence, eyes slightly narrowed, then slowly parted my lips.

"In that case, I won't stand on ceremony."

I paused for a brief moment, then—

"Mia Crowfield. The emotion in the way you looked at me last week and the way you look at me now have changed. Might I ask the reason?"

Above Mia Crowfield's head, an exclamation point materialized with a ping—!

Well, not literally. I just thought of it that way. This world lacked such convenient features as a system or a Status ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Window.

"Th-that's......."

At my words, Mia Crowfield stammered briefly.

"E-even if such a change has occurred! It has nothing to do with you, does it?! Why should I have to report every little thing like that to you one by one?!"

With those words, Mia Crowfield spun on her heel and fled the student council room as if running away.

"......."

Hm.

In the student council room, which was briefly wrapped in silence, I swiftly gathered my thoughts.

Seeing that sort of reaction, it seemed unlikely I would have gotten a proper answer even if I'd called her aside for a private conversation.

...... It couldn't be helped, for the moment.

"Sylvia?"

Watching Claire, who was still wearing an astonished expression, address me, it occurred to me that it was about time to return the situation to the way it had been.

I turned back time.

*

I possessed no ability to distinguish tea leaves, but in truth, when you consume something truly expensive and excellent, even someone who knows nothing can at least sense that it's clearly different.

The milk tea served in the student council room genuinely tasted good. Smooth and fragrant. If I had my way, I'd have just dumped in sugar with abandon, but even so, adding about two sugar cubes yielded a reasonably sweet flavor I could tolerate.

No matter what, a Cool Beauty getting fat seemed a bit much.

The rich aroma of tea brewed from high-grade leaves pervaded every corner of the student council room. Perhaps because they drank tea like this every single day, the fragrance seeped into the very space; whenever I entered the student council room, I could detect the faintest hint of black tea.

And so, leisurely savoring such high-grade tea, I observed Mia Crowfield.

Just as before I'd turned back time, Mia Crowfield was desperately avoiding my eyes.

...... The list of people I'd assassinated was still limited to the count and his faction. I'd handled tasks such as offering the emperor a slightly rephrased version of the main-story era's events from the game when he inquired about the world situation, or receiving assignments to acquire information elsewhere—but the count was the only person who'd earned me the gossip of having ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠'killed' someone.

Could she have picked up a false rumor from somewhere?

Had she learned information that I was, in fact, a far more dangerous entity, and become afraid of me because of it?

It was a plausible notion. Her earlier reaction made it clear that she feared being left alone with me.

"......."

I brought the teacup to my lips without a sound and let a little of the milk tea flow into my mouth. The tea, cooled to a pleasant temperature, moistened the inside of my mouth.

......I wondered if I should shadow her.

Tomorrow was the start of the weekend, after all. I could properly investigate Mia Crowfield's movements for once.

If she was receiving information from someone, I'd be able to identify that contact. In the original work she'd had no such person, but this world had seen each character's background significantly altered because of me.

That was good.

My weekend plans were decided.