by Takehaya
“Huwah?”
Yurika let out a stupefied gasp at Koutarou’s unexpected charity. Her face probably reflected something similar, but the ski mask and sunglasses were doing their job perfectly.
“I’ll even pick a game that’s easier for you, too.”
Koutarou was in charge of choosing today’s game, and he was offering to pick something that Yurika would have a better chance of winning.
“So please just take those off, Yurika! You’re fine as the magical girl you are! You don’t have to wear something so weird, even if it’s to win!”
“Well said, Koutarou! A man has to be particular about the methods he uses to win!”
“Even I would shy away from defeating that.”
“...That’s true.”
He could understand Yurika wearing her magical girl outfit to pump herself up, and the ski mask and shades to hide her face. But even so, the sight of it all together was just too bizarre.
Even worse, Koutarou was confident that this getup of Yurika’s wouldn’t change anything. Half a year ago, things might have been different, but now everyone knew Yurika well enough that they could tell what she was feeling regardless of what she was wearing. All this time they’d spent together hadn’t been for nothing.
Yurika would still lose, even in that outfit. She would then jump into the wardrobe to cry, trying to stay quiet, but all the while complaining that she should have bought instant ramen instead of a ski mask and sunglasses.
Imagining that, Koutarou simply couldn’t leave Yurika be. The thought of how things were going to turn out was just too pitiful, and she was a precious friend of his.
“Y-You’re making a fool out of me!”
Having finally realized what Koutarou was thinking, Yurika began to fiercely object.
“I’ll make you regret being so naive later!”
However, even though Yurika said that, she quickly removed her ski mask and shades.
“You know, Yurika, if you’re not happy, you can always give Koutarou his points back.”
“No thank you! I’m happy to keep what I get!”
Yurika happily tossed the ski mask and sunglasses aside with a smile before picking the game board up from the tea table and returning it to its box. Since they were going to be playing a different game now, they didn’t need it anymore.
“...Is Yurika-chan really okay living her life like that?”
Shizuka sipped on her tea as she watched Yurika cheerfully cleaning up the game while humming to herself. Recently, Shizuka was spending more time in room 106 than in her own apartment.
“If you ask me, despite how she may look, Yurika strikes me as the type to scrape by, no matter how rough things get.” Kiriha took a sip of her own tea and smiled at Shizuka. “She’ll probably be fine as long as someone like Satomi-kun is around.”
“Haha, you’ve sure got your work cut out for you, Satomi Koutarou.”
Shizuka and Kiriha both believed Yurika’s life would remain somewhat stable as long as Koutarou was around since he couldn’t find it in himself to abandon her. More accurately, they hoped it would remain stable since they didn’t want Koutarou to abandon her.
“Satomi-kun might just end up getting together with someone like Yurika-chan.”
“That’s certainly possible. Satomi Koutarou looks like the kind of guy who would draw the short straw on purpose.”
Yurika would undoubtedly be worse off without someone like Koutarou in her life. Regardless of how things worked out in the future, Kiriha and Shizuka were sure of that much as they looked at each other and smiled.
“So what are we playing today, Koutarou?”
“If we go with Old Maid, even Yurika should have a chance.”
“Do I need to remind you that Yurika has absolutely no poker face?”
“I’ll sit next to her and pick cards without looking at her face. Hey, Yurika, I told you to cut that out!”
“Eek!”
Upon hearing that the game would be Old Maid, Yurika had reached out for the ski mask and sunglasses again, but she reluctantly let go of them upon Koutarou’s strong objection.
“Just make sure you pick the bad card, Satomi-san.”
Yurika was dissatisfied with this since her equipment was specifically designed to be useful for games like Old Maid, and she took it out on Koutarou.
“Don’t push your luck. I don’t have to go that far.”
“Oh, Satomi-san, there’s no need to be so shy. I know you actually love meee!”
“You really should check yourself...”
Koutarou had decided to change today’s game to Old Maid since it was his turn to pick, but he decided to run it by the other two girls who hadn’t spoken up yet to make sure it was okay with them too.
“Kiriha-san, Theia, do you mind playing Old Maid instead?”
“That’s fine. You can choose as you please.”
Kiriha sipped on her second helping of tea and nodded her head. Her goal was to keep the battle for room 106 at a standstill to prevent the other underground dwellers from getting out of hand. That meant she couldn’t allow even Yurika to lose, so she had no objection to changing the game for her sake.
“In return, however, I desire the sweet jelly you’ve hidden in the back of the cupboard.”
But even so, just letting Koutarou get his way was no fun. Instead, Kiriha struck a deal with him.
“Man, I was planning on eating that in secret!”
“That’s why I’m requesting it.”
Kiriha’s sudden power move left Koutarou panicking a little, and Kiriha smiled rather smugly to see it. She enjoyed pulling these little pranks on her best friend. The truth was that she wasn’t particularly interested in the sweet jelly. She just wanted to see Koutarou flustered.
“Wait, you have sweet jelly?! What flavor?!”
“This is the first I’ve heard of any sweet jelly, Satomi-san!”
Rather than Kiriha, there were two other girls who showed great interest in the sweet jelly: Sanae, who loved eating anything delicious, and Yurika, who loved eating anything at all. Upon hearing there was a dessert in the apartment, they sidled up to Koutarou with stars in their eyes.
This is why I kept it quiet...
Koutarou held his head and smiled wryly, reluctantly accepting Kiriha’s deal.
“...Okay, okay, have as much of it as you want.”
Koutarou had bought the sweet jelly to cheer himself up in the event that he didn’t get any chocolate for Valentine’s Day. However, he couldn’t say no to the two girls in front of him, and so he ended up caving for their sake.
“All right! You’re so generous Koutarou! What a gentleman!”
“That’s a whole meal! Thank you very much, Satomi-san!”
“Heh, you heard him, Karama, Korama.”
“Roger that, ho!”
“Leave it to us, ho!”
With the sweet jelly set as the price for changing the game to Old Maid, the two haniwas hopped off to the kitchen. After watching them go, Koutarou turned towards Theia, who was sitting on the opposite side of the table from Kiriha.
“What about you, Theia?”
“...”
Despite talking to her directly, there was no response from Theia. It seemed especially weird since she was usually rather quick about voicing her opinion.
“Hey, Theia.”
Koutarou waved his hand in front of her face.
“Kyah!”
Startled, Theia jumped back a little out of reflex. She threw her arms out behind her to keep from falling completely on her butt. She then looked up at Koutarou with a blank stare.
“Wh-What is it...?”
“What...? Well, I want to change today’s game, so I was interested in what you thought, but... is something wrong?”
Seeing Theia look so uncharacteristically vulnerable, Koutarou began worrying.
Is she feeling bad or something?
Theia had been a little out of sorts before the ski trip as w
ell. She seemed to cheer up while they were in the mountains, but now there was clearly something on her mind again.
The only thing Koutarou could think of was that it might have something to do with her right to the throne, but Clan, who was really the only potential source of any such problems, no longer had any reason to attack Theia. Clan had renounced her claim to the throne as part of a bargain to return Signaltin to the royal families. And if that wasn’t the issue, Koutarou had to wonder if Theia was sick or something.
“N-No, it’s nothing. Nothing at...”
Theia shook her head and looked down to escape Koutarou’s gaze.
Or maybe I did something to upset her...?
If she was having trouble or felt sick, there was no reason for her to look away from him like that. Theia always looked people right in the eye, so for her to avoid doing that, he had to wonder if he himself was the problem. Maybe he’d done something he hadn’t realized.
“You have the right to select today’s game. Do as you please.”
“Okay...”
Theia answered Koutarou without looking back up at him, but Koutarou was far more concerned about her than her answer.
Hmm, Ruth-san might know something...
Ruth knew Theia better than anyone else. She might be able to give Koutarou a hint as to what was up, so he turned to her for help.
“...”
Ruth, however, was also looking down, seemingly in deep thought. Her expression was serious and it was quite clear that she was mulling something over.
I wonder what’s up with those two. I guess I’ll ask them later...
Koutarou was concerned about the way they were acting, but he couldn’t confront them about it in front of everyone. It might be something involving Forthorthe, after all.
“All right, then let’s get the game started.”
So Koutarou decided to carry on like normal. It would be much easier to check up on them once they were done playing games anyway.
In total, they played five rounds of Old Maid. Kiriha, who remained calm and composed the entire time, ended up collecting the most points. Following her were Sanae, Koutarou, Theia, and Yurika in that order. Alas, despite all her enthusiasm, Yurika came in dead last and lost plenty of points for it. She couldn’t even beat Theia, whose head clearly wasn’t in the game.
“I really should have used the ski mask and sunglasses...”
“What does it matter? You only lost the twenty points that Koutarou gave you.”
“That’s true... But if I had hidden my face, I might have been able to keep a few!”
“...I’m pretty sure you’d still be emptyhanded.”
“Auuugh...”
Yurika cried bitter tears of defeat as Sanae updated the points on the scoreboard hanging on the wall. In the middle of writing, however, she suddenly stopped.
“Oh, hey! Koutarou, Koutarou!”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll give you ten of my points.”
Sanae swung the pen in her hand around like a magical wand as she spoke. Floating in the air like that, she looked more like a magical girl than Yurika ever did.
“Why?”
“I won half of the twenty points you gave to Yurika.”
“Don’t worry. I still have points to spare.”
Koutarou’s goal was no longer to gain control of the room; it was simply to help each of the girls resolve whatever had led them to invade in the first place. Because of that, he didn’t want anyone to lose. That was his primary motivation for giving Yurika points, so there was no need for Sanae to give them back to him.
“It’s okay. I won some today, and besides, I’m striving to become the perfect woman!”
“What’s this gobbledygook all of a sudden?”
Sanae ignored Koutarou as she continued to adjust the scoreboard, subtracting ten points from her total and adding them to Koutarou’s.
Heehee, if Koutarou’s going to be the perfect man, then I just have to be the perfect woman. I’ll become a grand guardian angel that you’ll be happy to have protect you!
Sanae no longer thought of Koutarou as an enemy she had a truce with. She went back and forth from considering him a close friend and an older brother she admired. But either way, she didn’t want him to lose. And since she respected him, she wanted to emulate him and his generosity.
“Thanks, Sanae.”
“Ohoho, there’s no need for thank me! Consider it my treat.”
Seeing Sanae smile so cheerfully as she laughed, Koutarou decided to let her do as she pleased.
Well, now if Sanae looks like she’s about to lose, I can just give her those points back.
Koutarou knew that Sanae was imitating his gesture to Yurika, so he decided to accept her goodwill. And since the two of them were cooperating, her giving points to him didn’t really put her at a disadvantage. Their combined total was still the same.
But more importantly...
Now that the games were settled for the day, Koutarou refocused on what he knew he needed to do.
“...”
And that was figure out what was up with Theia, who was still sulking.
First, I think I should pull Ruth-san aside and ask her about it
Having made up his mind, Koutarou shifted his glance from Theia to Ruth, who was sitting next to Theia.
“...”
Ruth was also still silently looking down. That something appeared to be wrong with both of them made Koutarou quite nervous. Theia’s normally imposing demeanor and Ruth’s calming aura came as a set in his eyes, and without either one, something really seemed off in room 106.
“Ru—”
“Satomi-sama.”
In the exact moment Koutarou was about to say something to Ruth, she called out to him as if she’d known what he was about to say. Before he knew it, she’d raised her head and was staring straight at him.
“Yes?”
Slightly surprised, Koutarou looked back at Ruth. She had a very serious expression on her face. Her eyes were silently wavering like she was trying to tell him something. Her hands were firmly clenched and resting on top of her knees. She looked extremely determined about something.
“There’s something I want to ask you about.”
“I don’t mind.”
When Koutarou nodded, Ruth briefly looked quite relieved.
Could it be that... something really bad has happened?
Based on Ruth’s behavior, Koutarou was starting to worry that Theia was in danger.
“Then...”
Ruth took a deep breath and slowly began to explain.
Just the other day, a long-distance message had reached Blue Knight. It had come all the way from Forthorthe. Specifically, the message was a video letter from Ruth’s parents. They inquired as to how she was doing and how work was going—very normal questions for parents to ask of their daughter who was away on another planet. It had been a long time since she’d seen her parents’ cheerful faces, so receiving a message from them put her in a good mood too. At least, it had until they’d gotten to the real reason they’d contacted her.
“Well, we were originally going to wait until you returned to Forthorthe, but... your arranged marriage has been decided.”
“Huh?”
Hearing those words, Ruth felt absolutely blindsided. She doubted her own ears.
“The other party is really enthusiastic. And he wants to meet you, even though you’re in the middle of Her Highness’s trial.”
Ruth’s father, Lord Pardomshiha, had secretly been trying to find suitors for her while she was away. This one in particular was in charge of a powerful company that was a frontrunner in the science industry. Though he was a civilian, he was a descendent of the distinguished Melcemhein family of knights. On paper, he was an ideal candidate for marrying Ruth.
But not only did he have prestige, he seemed to be a very capable and worthy man. He had taken over for his father just years ago and now, despite his young age, was singlehande
dly running the company. As president, his achievements had come at a brisk pace, and the company rapidly grew under his direction. He was also a well known philanthropist that had donated very generous sums of his personal money to good causes.
If Ruth were to marry him, the Pardomshihas’ influence would increase. The Pardomshihas would forge an official bond with the Melcemheins, who served a royal family other than the Mastirs—Theia’s family. That would mean a marriage between them would grant them new allies. Of course, since Ruth’s suitor was such a rich man, there was financial gain to be had in their marriage as well. And since he was a well known philanthropist, he would also be a great asset in terms of public image.
All of this would enable Ruth to better protect Theia. Really, the arrangement was optimal for Ruth, but the same could be said for her family. That’s why her parents hadn’t objected when the other party wanted to hurry the marriage along. In fact, they welcomed it, which was why they’d sent Ruth the video letter to let her know.
As it turned out, what was bothering Ruth had nothing to do with Theia as Koutarou had hoped. Nonetheless, her story surprised everyone who heard it.
“An arranged marriage... Is that true?”
Theia was no exception as she stared at her most loyal retainer with wide eyes. She was so taken aback that she temporarily forgot her own worries.
“It is, Your Highness.”
Ruth slowly but firmly nodded at Theia. She didn’t seem to be excited about the prospect in the slightest. Her dark expression was riddled with doubt and consternation.
“So... what are you planning on doing?”
Ruth hesitated at Theia’s question, but she answered her sincerely.
“That’s... I’m honestly still not sure. I understand that this marriage is the best option for the future, but...”
Ruth knew all too well the situation she was in. She knew that going through with this would benefit Theia, and she knew there would be consequences if she declined. Having been born into a well known family of knights, Ruth had always known that she wouldn’t be able to marry freely. Marriage among the upper classes, after all, was a political tool.
That was actually one of the reasons she wanted Koutarou to become Theia’s vassal. Knowing that she would one day be married off for the sake of her family, she wouldn’t be able to stay by Theia’s side the same way forever. But knowing Koutarou would still be there for her would make that easier to bear. As long as he stood by her, Ruth could marry without worrying.