Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 34 - Chapter 2

Sunday With a Cat and Ruth

Sunday, May 29th

Room 106 regularly hosted a crowd of ten, but with the addition of Nalfa and Kotori to the Corona House crew, their numbers had now increased to twelve. Even when Clan deployed her gravitational device to allow sitting on the walls and ceilings, a dozen people was still enough to make the tiny apartment feel cramped. For better or worse, however, a certain incident had recently opened up a hole in the wall between room 106 and room 105 next door. Now everyone could freely travel back and forth between Koutarou’s apartment and Nalfa’s, effectively doubling the space. Today, however, the girls were all gathered in room 106 specifically.

“Meow!”

“Stop that, Snoozy. It’s bad manners,” Maki scolded.

“Mrrrow!”

“Aww!” the girls cried out in unison.

Everyone was fixated on Snoozy, who had his front legs on Maki as he ate out of her hands. She was holding his favorite food, so he was gobbling it down with gusto. Really, she was wasting her breath telling him to mind his manners. The hungry kitty, however, had stolen the girls’ hearts.

“I have to say I’m a little jealous that such a cute cat has taken a liking to you, Maki-san,” Harumi said on behalf of all the girls present.

Snoozy was always following Maki around. It was almost like he’d adopted her and not the other way around. Lately, he spent more time with Maki than his own mother.

“He can be a handful, but he’s also really affectionate... He’s helped me find balance and purpose.”

Maki treasured the cat in return, so she wasn’t displeased by their current arrangement in the slightest. She happily took care of Snoozy without any complaints.

“Gosh, you should stop being so stubborn and just keep him already,” Sanae chimed in.

“Heehee. I want him to be free though, so the fact that he chooses to stay makes me very happy,” Maki replied.

Maki let Snoozy do as he pleased. She didn’t keep him cooped up in the apartment. Whenever he acted like he wanted to go outside, she would let him roam free. And whenever he returned, she would let him back inside. Maki wanted Snoozy to think of her as his family by choice. That was the way she’d kept her cats in her dream. Granted, she could always tell where Snoozy was thanks to her magic.

“Huh, that sounds tough. I’d want to play with him all the time,” mused Sanae.

“You mean with Satomi-kun?” asked Maki.

“Yeah! I always want to keep him near.”

“Then I don’t think you need to worry. That’s how things worked out for me.”

“Yeah, you’re right. So that’s how it is, huh?”

Snoozy meant a lot to Maki—and that was why she wanted him to choose her, just the same way she’d chosen Koutarou. Even if he was only a cat, she felt that he should be allowed to decide his destiny.

“By the way, what’s Dozy up to these days?” Kiriha asked as she skillfully teased Snoozy with a toy. Now that he’d finished eating, he was raring to play.

“Oh, Dozy’s been staying with an old lady in the neighborhood,” Maki explained.

“She’s been taking care of Dozy, but Dozy’s worried about her because she’s all alone,” Sanae added.

With Sanae’s psychic powers, she could discern the emotions of animals. And from what she could tell, Dozy kept coming back to the old lady out of concern for her.

“What a dutiful cat,” Kiriha commented.

“I think Dozy just likes looking after others,” said Sanae.

“You think so? What about Snoozy, then?” asked Shizuka.

“Dozy knows Snoozy has Maki. But you’re playing with me next, little guy!” replied Theia.

“Meow!”

After having fun with Kiriha, Snoozy wiggled over to Theia next. Theia was quick and had great reflexes, making her the perfect playmate for a cat. Lately, Snoozy had taken to a little game of tag where he would slowly approach Theia. When he was close enough, she would try to catch him. Of course, Snoozy would run—that was the fun of the game—but he’d always come creeping back. Playing with Theia was just too much fun to resist.

“Kotori, could you brighten the lights a little?”

“Sure... Is this good?”

“That’s great. Thanks.”

Nalfa wanted to photograph Theia and Snoozy, so she turned to her assistant, Kotori. Nalfa’s video series, “Nalfa Laren’s Japan Chronicles,” was still trending in Forthorthe. Her latest video on the animals of Earth was especially popular. Her viewership was at an all-time high, and photos or videos she posted of Theia and Snoozy were always a highlight. As such, she’d decided to do a special on the two of them.

“Gotcha!”

“Meow!”

Snoozy had been unable to escape Theia this round. His punishment was a belly rub, though he didn’t seem to mind too terribly much. After a few more rounds of tag, he eventually climbed into Theia’s lap.

“Your Highness, the tea is ready,” announced Ruth.

She’d predicted exactly when Theia and Snoozy’s playtime would come to an end and planned to serve tea accordingly. As usual, her timing was impeccable.

“Thank you, Ruth.”

“Meow?”

“It’s tea, Snoozy. You didn’t like it last time, remember?”

“...Meow...”

Theia took an elegant sip from her cup as Snoozy curled up in her lap. They were adorable together.

“Aww, that’s so cute... Other than Aika-san, I think Snoozy likes you the most, Theia-chan,” Shizuka commented with a sigh. She wanted Snoozy to adore her as much as Theia, but she didn’t think things were going well.

“I think he likes you a lot too, Kasagi-san,” Harumi said with a smile. She could tell that Snoozy looked up to her.

“But I don’t want any more earthworms!”

“Just yesterday, he came to present me with a grasshopper he caught.”

“That’s Uncle Dragon for you, ho!”

“All hail the Fire Dragon Emperor, ho!”

“Hahaha, I’ve still got it!”

Shizuka’s problem was that Snoozy looked up to her too much. His natural instincts told him that she was strong, and he subsequently regarded her as the king of the jungle. He often came to pay his respects in the form of his latest catch. Playing with her casually was out of the question, and he kept a deferential distance from her accordingly. Whenever Shizuka approached, he would get nervous and back away humbly. Alunaya—the real reason Snoozy behaved this way—thought it was splendid, but Shizuka just wanted to play with the cute little kitten.

“You’re lucky. I wish he’d just give me some space...” mumbled Clan, who was quite envious of Shizuka.

Clan thought that Snoozy was adorable too, but she was the indoorsy type who’d never had much contact with animals. She simply wanted to observe the cute critter from a distance. Snoozy, meanwhile, had no regard for her personal space. Sometimes he’d even sneak up on her and try to surprise her.

“I hardly know what to do when such a cutie startles me like that...”

“But you don’t have any problems when Master does it, do you, Clan-sama?”

“P-Pardomshiha! H-How could you suggest such a thing?!”

“Oh, Clan-sama... Teehee.”

Ruth knew who was most precious to Clan, but the boy in question wasn’t actually present at the moment. At least... he wasn’t until he heard Ruth call for him.

“Did you need something, Ruth-san?” he asked, peeking his head through the curtain that covered the hole between the apartments.

Koutarou had been working on his homework in room 105, so he hadn’t really picked up on what the girls were discussing—merely that Ruth had mentioned him.

“W-We were just talking about you! It’s not like we need you!”

“My apologies, Master.”

“I see.”

“So you can go back to doing your homework, Veltlion!”

“Okay, I’m on it.”

Since he wasn’t needed, Koutarou quickly lost interest and retreated through the curtain to get back to work. He’d actually started working in room 106 first, but when Snoozy showed up, all the girls gathered to play with the kitten. This was an everyday occurrence as of late, however, so Koutarou was prepared for it.

“...”

Clan watched him go with puffed-up cheeks. Ruth saw her expression and couldn’t help smiling.

“Heehee. It seems you escaped, but that’s too bad, isn’t it?”

“I don’t care about him! Jeez!”

If Koutarou had actually overheard their conversation, Clan would have been mortified. Nevertheless, his apparent lack of interest was frustrating. Ruth knew the delicate position Clan found herself in, however, so her smile was a sympathetic one.

In truth, room 106 wasn’t very conducive to studying. There was always something happening, so distractions and interruptions were frequent. That was why Koutarou had taken to doing his homework in room 105. In fact, Koutarou was grateful that Snoozy would often keep the girls occupied while he worked.

“Mrow...”

But, as expected of a cat, Snoozy didn’t always behave according to plan. Before Koutarou knew it, Snoozy was pawing at his leg in room 105.

“Meow!”

“Shouldn’t you be in the other room playing with everyone?”

“Meow.”

Snoozy clearly didn’t understand Koutarou, but even if he had, he likely wouldn’t have listened anyway. Cats can be selfish, after all, and it was clear what Snoozy wanted. He’d dragged a toy over to Koutarou and was nudging it up against him.

“Come on. If you want to play, you can go play with someone else.”

Snoozy looked up at Koutarou with big, expectant eyes. It was the same expression Sanae and Theia sometimes gave him. And though Koutarou’s psychic powers were nothing compared to Sanae’s, he was still empathetic when it came to animals.

“I know you like playing too, so play with me!”

Koutarou knew that was what Snoozy was trying to say, so, with a wry smile, he reluctantly picked up the toy—a baseball.

“You’re not wrong, little guy...”

“Meow!”

Seeing Koutarou with the baseball in hand, Snoozy got low to the ground. Even though he was as tiny as could be, he looked like he was a big cat on a big hunt.

“Catch!”

“Mrow!”

When Koutarou threw the ball, Snoozy whipped around and flew after it.

“Aww!” the girls, who were watching through the hole in the wall, collectively exclaimed.

Looks like I won’t be getting back to my homework any time soon...

Koutarou had been working on physics, which wasn’t his strong suit. It took a great deal of focus to solve the problems, and there was no way he could concentrate with Snoozy and the girls around. Accepting this, he put his pencil down and began playing with the cat in earnest.

“All right, Snoozy, since you’re a magical girl’s cat, we’re gonna need you in top form!”

“Meow!”

Every time Koutarou threw the ball, Snoozy ran after it. It was almost doglike, but Snoozy was deadly serious about the chase. It was hard to tell if he was playing or hunting. The baseball would’ve been in grave danger if it were a small mouse.

“Next up is a screwball!”

“Meow, meow!”

Snoozy loved playing with Koutarou because he had lots of different throws to use—the baseball was always moving differently. Of course, Koutarou couldn’t throw it very hard in the small apartment, but he could put a spin on it that would make it bounce off the tatami mat in all different directions. It was a surprise to Snoozy every time, almost like the ball had a mind of its own.

“That’s clever. Maybe I should learn to throw like that too,” Shizuka mused.

“I don’t think he’ll bring the ball to you so long as dragon uncle is around,” Sanae interjected.

 “Hahaha! You’ll have to forgive my magnificent presence!”

“Clan, if you like the cat enough to record data on it, then you should just play with it too,” said Theia.

“M-My data is none of your business!”

“Oh, I’d love to get footage of Koutarou-sama and Princess Clan playing with the cat together! Please, Your Highness!”

“See? Even the citizens want you to do it.”

“I-I’m still too scared!”

Koutarou and the girls continued to play with the cat for a while after that. Koutarou would toss the ball to someone else and Snoozy would chase after it. At one point, he even climbed up Clan’s shoulder. It was a fun afternoon for human and cat alike...

But the return of a certain someone would bring a raincloud over the apartment that no one expected.

Yurika returned to the apartment around 10 o’clock that night. She’d started a part-time job recently, so it wasn’t out of the ordinary for her to come home at such an hour... but one look at her made it quite clear that something was out of the ordinary.

“Waaah! Satomi-saaan!”

She flew into the room with tears freely flowing down her cheeks. Startled, Snoozy ran over to Maki and hid behind her. Koutarou was also quite alarmed and turned to Yurika with great concern.

“What’s wrong?!”

“My workplace is getting shut down again!”

“What?!”

Yurika had been through multiple part-time jobs now, and each one had come to an abrupt end when her workplace was suddenly shut down. It seemed her newest job was no exception, meaning she’d been left out in the cold without a paycheck yet again.

“You took some weird job again, didn’t you?!”

“No, I didn’t! It was just at the shopping street store that sells imported goods!”

After unwittingly winding up working for the yakuza and an evil corporation, Yurika had learned her lesson: easy money is just too good to be true. Suspicious warehouses and underground facilities are exactly that—suspicious. So, in an effort to find honest work, Yurika had set her sights on the shopping street. Surely, she thought, the local shops there were too small to be involved in big crime. The wages were reasonable too, so there were no obvious red flags. Yurika had thus settled on a job at the imported goods store with confidence—confidence that lasted a mere three days.

“Are you kidding?! What did you do this time?!”

“I didn’t do anything! I never did before, either! It was never my fault!”

“Oh, that’s right. Sorry. Anyway, what happened?”

“They were smuggling gold in with the other imported goods!”

“Smuggling gold?”

Koutarou was unfamiliar with the practice. He could imagine buying gold on the cheap internationally and bringing it to Japan to flip, but it seemed to him like the costs involved in such a process would ultimately offset the profits. So, for an explanation, he turned to Kiriha.

“If the value of precious metals brought into Japan is high enough, you’re required to pay certain taxes on them.”

“So you’re taxed here even if you bring the gold in from somewhere else?”

“Indeed. And gold smuggling is actually about taking advantage of that.”

“Huh? How?”

“When the gold is brought in illicitly, the smuggler avoids paying taxes on it. They then, however, turn around and sell the gold through proper channels to earn a rebate on the taxes they ought to have paid when it was imported.”

“Wait, so if you smuggle it in and then sell it, you get the tax money?”

“Precisely. It’s an easy way to steal tax money, so it’s how a lot of white-collar criminals get their start.”

“I had no idea...”

Koutarou let out an unconscious groan. Crimes in his simple head meant hurting people or stealing from them directly. He’d never even considered how someone might abuse the system before.

“That said, large sales of gold tend to attract attention. It’s relatively easy to catch individuals dealing in it, which is likely what happened at Yurika’s workplace.”

Smuggling wasn’t an easy gig. There was the difficult task of getting the gold into the country unnoticed, and then the matter of selling it off discreetly. That was why most large operations were run by organizations rather than individuals, and Yurika’s employer was no such enterprise.

“The police are just awful..”

“Don’t take it personally, Yurika. They’re probably in the middle of a big investigation, so they have to suspect everyone.”

Koutarou thought he finally understood why Yurika was so unhappy. He assumed the police had grilled her over her involvement in the case, and she was upset that they suspected her.

“No! The problem is that they didn’t suspect me at all!”

“Huh...?”

As it turned out, however, Koutarou had the wrong idea entirely. His jaw hit the floor as Yurika shared her story.

“Wow, this katsudon is great! Thank you, officers!”

“So, what do you think, partner?”

“No matter how you slice it... there’s no way this girl was entrusted with anything valuable.”

“Yeah, I think so too. She was just a part-time worker who got caught up in the mess. It was only her third day there.”

“All right, young lady, you can go home once you’re done eating. Sorry for keeping you here so late. Just doing our job.”

“Come on, officers! Can’t you suspect me at least a little bit?! Please!”

Yurika was actually upset because the police never suspected her. It would have been one thing if they simply thought she was an upstanding citizen... but it was really because they believed no one would have trusted her to be a part of the operation. It felt like they were calling her incompetent, and Yurika had her pride—however small it might be.

Still, I’m glad nothing actually happened...

Koutarou let out a sigh of relief even as Yurika slammed her fists into the tea table in anguish. He was glad Yurika hadn’t done anything wrong; she’d just been unlucky. That being the case, he wanted to do something for her to console her.

“Say, Yurika...”

“I’m not incompetent, you hear me?! I could be a great bad guy if I wanted— Huh? What is it?”

When Koutarou called out to her, Yurika slowly turned his way. She still had tears streaming down her face, which panged Koutarou’s heart. He hated seeing her like this.

“Why don’t you just stop working?”

“I can’t! Then I won’t be able to buy manga!”

“If you need money, I can help you out.”

“What?! Really?! Th-Then I’ll stop working right now!”

Koutarou’s plan was to take care of Yurika. He still had his salary from Theia, so supporting her financially was no issue. He had every intention of cutting her off when she became an adult to encourage her to be independent, but he wanted her to be able to focus on her studies as they prepared for university. He had an ulterior motive, too. Though he would never admit it, this was his way of making sure he would never have to see Yurika so distraught over losing a job again. These unfortunate incidents weren’t her fault, and he would rather take care of her than see her this sad.

“In return, I expect you to take all the time you would’ve spent working and spend it studying instead.”

He’d also been concerned about the lack of time she’d been spending on school lately, so this plan would kill two birds with one stone.

“Whaaat?! But then when will I read all the manga I’m going to buy?!”

“You idiot! It’d be the same if you were working a real job!”

“Nooo! Don’t be mean to me, Satomi-saaan!”

When Yurika realized that this arrangement would mean having to study more, she threw herself at Koutarou and clung to him desperately.

“Tough break.”

But unlike before, her tears would no longer move him. He knew these tears were different and, moreover, that studying would do her good.

“Satomi-saaan, can’t you give me just a liiittle time for anime and manga? Pleeease?”

“You’ll get it anyway. I don’t have to give it to you.”

“Huh?”

“Think about it. All that time you would’ve spent commuting and stuff is now free time. I bet you’re saving over an hour this way.”

“Come to think of it, between getting changed, doing my hair, and actually getting to work... Yeah, you’re right! That’s at least an hour!”

After talking a bit more with Koutarou, Yurika finally stopped crying. Despite her worst fears, he wasn’t actually being mean to her. In fact, he was really helping her out.

“As for your allowance... Since you should be studying anyway, I’ll pay you half what your part time job did, so 400 yen an hour.”

“You can go a little higher! You’re so generous after all, Satomi-san!”

“I think being able to buy a volume of manga for an hour’s worth of studying is a pretty good deal.”

“Hmm... Yeah, you’re right. Okay, then I’ll do my best studying!”

“If you manage to raise your grades, I’ll raise your pay.”

“Yay! Wait, what happens if my grades go down?”

“So does your allowance.”

“Whaaaaa?! Why do you have to be so mean?!”

“Just think of this as a job. You gotta work for it.”

“Ugh, Satomi-san, you’re so stern...”

Once they ironed out the details of Yurika’s new “job,” she was all smiles again. Koutarou was relieved, even if he would never cop to it. Unfortunately for him, however, Shizuka caught him grinning.

“Heehee, so you’ve finally taken your first wife, you sly dog you. You’re too stubborn, you know?” she giggled, nudging him with her elbow as she did.

She seemed to be enjoying herself a bit too much. Almost like she’d been waiting for this.

“It’s not like that, Landlord-san.”

“I think it is, Satomi-kun. Not only are you letting her live with you, now you’re supporting her too.”

In order to manifest the true sword of kingship, Shizuka and the other girls had staked their lives—their very souls—for Koutarou’s sake. They were safe and sound now, but they’d had no idea what would come of them at the time. They’d all happily made a pledge that would have made even longtime spouses hesitate, and Koutarou knew that. There was no way he could spurn any of them now. So once he came to terms with his own feelings, he’d have no choice but to accept the girls’ one at a time. At least, that’s how Shizuka saw it, and it seemed like Yurika had been the first lucky girl. That was why she was teasing Koutarou now.

“Y-You’ve got it all wrong! Look, she’s out of a job now and it’s not even her fault! I can’t just do nothing for her!”

“So that’s how you’re gonna spin it, hmm? Heeheehee...”

“I’m Satomi-san’s wife?! Are we gonna have a honeymoon?!”

“Keep dreaming!”

Wham!

“I-I’m sowwy, Shatomi-shan...”

Of course, Koutarou wanted nothing to do with this idea. He was a serious, earnest boy who believed in having one partner. He believed that a proper man should have one wife, that a proper man would be able to choose. He was vaguely aware that making his own choice would be difficult, but that didn’t shake his beliefs. He was awkward that way.

“Don’t worry, Satomi Koutarou,” Kiriha, who’d been listening in, said with a grin.

“Huh? About what?”

“I don’t mind being a mistress. I love you, and I know that you love me. The surface’s marriage laws are none of my concern.”

Her smile was incredibly reassuring, but the words out of her mouth were extremely alarming. They lit a fire under all the other girls in room 106.

“Ah, in that case, I wanna be the ghost haunting you!” chimed in Sanae.

“Sanae-chan, at least offer to help out with chores...” her other half scolded.

“I’ll... be in charge of Satomi-kun’s pets,” Maki shyly declared.

“Meow!” Snoozy agreed.

“My position depends on Her Highness,” said Ruth.

“So you say, but you would stop me if I chose someone other than Koutarou, wouldn’t you, Ruth?” Theia asked.

“Of course, Your Highness.”

“I’m impressed you can say that with a straight face, Pardomshiha...” mumbled Clan.

“What about you, Sakuraba-senpai?” Shizuka asked.

“I... I will believe in Satomi-kun and follow him,” Harumi replied.

“How mature...”

“And what about yourself, Kasagi-san?”

“I’d like to build a house in a quiet town and live happily with my family...”

“I get that. A nice, peaceful life sounds wonderful.”

The girls were now all excitedly talking about the future. As expected of teenagers, they were full of hopes and dreams... But in spite of their different ambitions, their goals all had one thing in common: their futures were together. And not just with Koutarou, but with each other. The girls now shared a deep bond thanks to the crests on their foreheads, and the idea of living the rest of their lives without each other had never once crossed any of their minds.

“Teehee. Kou-niisan sure has it rough. He thinks he still has to decide, but the girls have already made their decision. I don’t think he’ll ever be able to break the circle they’ve formed around him...”

“He’s a very kind person, so it would be hard for him... I do think the girls have the upper hand here.”

Kotori and Nalfa shared a glance and a laugh. They had no idea how Koutarou and the girls’ relationship had become so complex, but they couldn’t imagine Koutarou ever picking one of the girls over the others. Nevertheless, that wouldn’t stop the earnest Koutarou from trying. He was like Don Quixote going up against the windmills—it was a battle he was determined to fight, but one he could never win. Kotori and Nalfa couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for him, despite their giggling.

When Ruth said she was going out shopping, Koutarou quickly offered to come along. He claimed that groceries for twelve people would be far too much for Ruth to carry on her own, but in truth, he was just desperate to extricate himself from an uncomfortable conversation. Shopping was as good an excuse as any.

“At 1 PM, we have a meeting with a bipartisan group of legislators concerning an addendum of special exceptions for medical technology. At 2 PM, we have our regular press conference. And at 3 PM, we have a cultural exchange meeting between Japan, Earth, and Forthorthe. Once that’s over, we’ll be going to inspect the spaceport under construction.”

Ruth certainly didn’t mind the company. In fact, she was happy to have some time alone with Koutarou. He would be escorting Theia and Clan to some appointments the following day, so she wanted to be able to brief him without interruption. Tomorrow’s inspection of the spaceport would be especially important, as they would be in an open area that required more security than usual.

“Sounds like Theia and Clan are going to be busy.”

Theia and Clan were both attending Kisshouharukaze High School, but they had to take time off for official duties every now and then. Their days were always busy, their schedules packed full... But it was what they’d chosen for themselves. In spite of their obligations, they still wanted to be normal high school students as much as possible.

“I’ll be counting on you, Master.”

“You can leave the princesses to me, Ruth-san. I’ll protect them.”

Though his powers were borrowed, Koutarou had a unique combination of strengths that made him an excellent bodyguard. The added responsibility of watching over two princesses cramped his own schedule, but he never complained.

“If anything, Master, I want you to protect their hearts.”

“I’ll... try my best.”

“Yes, please do. Heehee.”

Though her sisterly relationship with Theia was much stronger, Ruth was always doing her best to take care of the two princesses. In other words, she always put herself last. She was constantly telling Koutarou to protect Theia and Clan—ideally both physically and emotionally.

I need to protect Ruth-san too...

Koutarou, however, knew that Theia and Clan would be terribly aggrieved if anything ever happened to Ruth. That meant he’d have to keep her safe too in order to keep the princesses happy.

But not just for Theia’s or Clan’s sake...

While he struggled to express it, Koutarou wanted to protect Ruth for his own sake as well. Her presence in his life had a big influence on him. The crest on her forehead was part of that, but Koutarou still would have felt the same way without it. Ruth wasn’t important to him because of the crest; rather, she had the crest because they were both important to each other. Koutarou didn’t know what he’d do without her.

“Huh?” Koutarou unwittingly looked to Ruth as he was thinking about her, and her outfit caught his eye. “That’s not what you normally wear, is it, Ruth-san?”

Ruth generally preferred subdued clothing so as not to upstage Theia in any way. In her book, a guard competing with a princess was out of the question.

“Can you tell?”

“Yeah, it’s even cuter than usual...”

Her outfit today, however, was anything but subdued. With the weather getting warmer, she’d opted for something much shorter than usual. The light blue and white ensemble was also much more eye-catching, but still very Ruth-like. It was a cute look that put fashion over function, yet Koutarou thought it was stylish without being tacky.

“It, um... It looks good on you.”

“R-Really?”

With Koutarou staring at her, Ruth turned bright red. She was one third happy that he’d noticed, one third bashful from being stared at, and one third embarrassed over being praised. In truth, she was so elated that she could just burst into dance, but her modest nature held the reins on her emotions.

“Yeah... Thinking about it, you’re always dressed for work since you’re always technically on the job. I feel like this is the first time I’ve ever seen you in your own clothes... It’s nice.”

“Master...”

“I didn’t know this was your style, Ruth-san.”

Ruth ordinarily chose her clothing to compliment Theia’s, but she’d chosen this outfit entirely for herself. Koutarou had known her for over two years now, but it was indeed the first time he’d seen her dress this way. It made quite an impression on him.

“I wanted to wear something blue...”

“Why?”

“To match you, Master...”

To Ruth, being the vice captain of the Satomi knights was just as important as being Theia’s retainer. Blue was a significant color to her. Moreover... she’d once had a dream about wearing an outfit like this. In her dream, she was actively taking steps to get closer with Koutarou, so she’d bought this outfit in hopes of being able to do the same thing.

“I-I see...”

It was now Koutarou’s turn to blush. Hearing Ruth had chosen the color because of him, he felt both overwhelmingly happy and bashful. That left both him and Ruth unsure of what to say to each other, so they stood there in silence for some time.

“W-Well, we’ve got shopping to do, Ruth-san!”

“Yes, Master. L-Let’s go.”

Just staring at each other when they were both so flustered was difficult. The easiest way Koutarou could think of to get out of the awkward situation was to go about their errand. And so they proceeded to the shopping street as if nothing had happened—which was an honest relief to both of them.

“So, about our schedule for tomorrow...” Ruth began, going back to what she’d originally wanted to discuss with Koutarou.

“That’s enough about tomorrow.”

“M-Master?”

“We can save work for later,” Koutarou replied as he stared straight ahead of them, just as red as he was before.

“Oh... Of course.”

Ruth was puzzled for a moment, but she understood everything when she saw Koutarou’s face. It nearly brought her to tears, but she managed to hold them in. She didn’t want to ruin the moment.

“Earlier, Kiriha-sama said that she wouldn’t mind being your mistress, but I wouldn’t mind staying your vice captain...”

She wrapped her arm around Koutarou’s and gently leaned against him. They began walking like that, though their hastened heartbeats had them going at much slower pace than before.

“Honestly, I don’t think this is how captains and vice captains are supposed to behave. It feels like mixing work and personal affairs...”

“Then that’s the kind of vice captain I’d like to be.”

Arms entwined, they continued forward in the warm early summer breeze. It was a little too hot to be so close together, but neither one of them particularly seemed to care. They had other things on their minds.

“You could give Kiriha-san a run for her money, you know that, Ruth-san?”

“I know. But you see, Master, women simply have certain needs.”

“What? Are you saying that I can’t mix business and pleasure too?”

“I wouldn’t have objected before, but I think I’ve changed my mind.”

“I guess I screwed up, huh?”

“I’m blessed to have such a sensitive, understanding captain, teehee...”

Thus they went along their merry way, chatting all the way to the shopping street about nothing in particular.