The doorbell echoed, leaving montarily stunned.
Wait, that fast?
Could it be that they were already near Schale, and the mont I agreed, they could not wait a second longer and rang the bell?
"Ah!" At that mont, Arisu cried out, "Is there a visitor? Sensei, please don't move, let Arisu, who has changed jobs into a duty student hero, take responsibility for welcoming and hosting them!"
Before I could stop her, Arisu ran off excitedly toward the entrance. As a high-performance bionic being, she had probably already morized the entire map of Schale.
Was it unintentional, or deliberate?
"Hey! Don't… don't run around indoors!"
Neru made up a rough excuse and chased after her. The silent Saori followed as well.
I walked behind them, glancing at the newly received ssage, doubt rising in my heart.
Midori: Okay, got it. We'll head over as soon as possible.
Which ant they had not even set out yet.
So if it was not the Ga Developnt Departnt, then who was visiting?
My question was answered quickly.
"Wah∼" Just as I was about to reach the door, I heard a very familiar voice complaining, "Neru, so you actually stayed overnight at Schale yesterday? That's so unfair, you made go back first and then secretly ran here yourself!"
Even without recognizing the voice, just from the content, I could tell it was Asuna.
Then ca Neru's flustered rebuttal. "H-huh!? D-don't slander ! Wasn't it Sensei who told you to go back last night!?"
Why so flustered? Was Neru feeling guilty?
Sure enough, faced with my world-shaking charm, even soone usually as frank and open as Neru was still a normal girl in the end. Letting her imagination run wild was only natural.
"Ara ara∼ That kind of attitude is very suspicious," another gentle female voice chid in. "Could it be that Neru-senpai really did sothing strange with Master behind our backs?"
That form of address could only belong to Akane.
I quickened my pace.
"Nothing like that!" Neru snapped in embarrassnt. "And what do you an behind your backs!? Even if sothing really did happen, what does it have to do with you idiots!?"
"Eh, wait a second," a cool voice tinged with surprise said. "Neru-senpai, you did not actually do sothing with Sensei, did you…?"
Even Karin was here?
I frowned slightly. That ant that aside from when she served as Rio's personal bodyguard, with her true identity unknown even to her fellow C＆C seniors, Toki was not present.
The maid agents of Millennium had all gathered at Schale today?
Could it be they ca specifically for Neru?
After a brief thought, I grasped the truth.
It must be that Asuna, Akane, and Karin had long since secretly fallen for . All of them had resolved to treat as their master and serve for life, so upon hearing that their captain might have committed such despicable acts, they rushed to Schale early in the morning to confirm it for themselves.
After all, in this vast Kivotos, only I could possibly et all the needs and fantasies these outstanding maids held toward an existence called Master but actually aning partner.
As I was lost in such reflections, Neru grew increasingly frantic.
"I said no! How many tis do I have to repeat it! If you keep spouting nonsense, I really will start punching you!"
"Ahahaha∼ so scary, so scary. ♪"
Listening to Asuna's laughter, I stepped past the corner and took in the scene at the entrance.
Surrounded by three smiling maids, Neru stood there red-faced, stomping her feet in anger. No matter how you looked at it, she seed rather pitiful.
What caught my attention in particular was this.
Standing beside Saori, Arisu watched Neru's predicant with an expression of wanting to help but not knowing how, looking genuinely troubled.
It made one feel as though her earlier provocations of Neru had not been intentional at all.
"Ah, Master!"
Asuna was the first to notice . She imdiately abandoned Neru, whom she had just been teasing so enthusiastically, and ran over. Her smile was as bright as sunlight, her tone brimming with excitent.
"Hey, Master! I'm here to serve you with everything I have, just like always!"
This wording, this posture, she was probably really here to compete with Neru for affection.
Sigh, I truly am a man burdened with deep sins…
"Then I'll be counting on you," I replied with a smile.
At that mont, however, another voice ca, unexpected and tinged with unease.
"P-please don't take away Arisu's job!"
Arisu, who had sohow followed along, wore an adorably pitiful expression, on the verge of tears.
I could not help falling silent.
"Haha∼ don't worry, Arisu-chan, right?" Asuna said with a laugh. "I won't take your job. We can serve Master together, can't we∼"
Arisu's eyes widened with delight. "Wow, does that an the blonde maid has beco a companion?"
"That's right, that's right∼ And you can just call Asuna-senpai!"
"Bum bum bum!∼ Asuna-senpai has joined the party. ♪"
Was this… a disguise?
Watching the harmonious interaction between Asuna and Arisu, deep down I had already reached a tentative conclusion.
Arisu and Kei were probably, indeed, two different individuals. I wanted to believe that.
But I still had to test it, to eliminate every possible exception.
Even if the chance was only one in ten thousand.
"Master, could I have a word with you in private?"
After speaking to , Akane turned to Arisu with a smiling expression. "I'm also here to join the party, Arisu-chan. I'm Akane, a second-year, and over there is Karin, also a second-year."
Arisu, who had just looked wary, imdiately broke into a wide smile. "Bum bum bum!∼ Akane-senpai and Karin-senpai have joined the party∼"
Karin looked rather surprised. "Eh? too…? Um… then please take care of ."
In the blink of an eye, Arisu had successfully mingled with the C＆C seniors, creating a scene of cheerful harmony.
Incidentally, although Saori was not very talkative, she had already been included in Arisu's list of teammates.
And within this harmonious atmosphere, perhaps I was the only one who felt out of place…
"Hey! Why do you call all of them this senpai and that senpai, but when it cos to it's tiny this and tiny that!"
Neru rolled up her sleeves. "Are you picking a fight with or what!"
"W-wuh.. but Arisu clearly also calls tiny Neru-senpai a senpai…"
"Huh!? You really are picking a fight, aren't you!?"
Oh, looks like there was one more.
Feeling slightly comforted, I left the group with Akane, curious about what she wanted to say to .
Could it be… a confession?
Because Neru, who was originally thought to pose no threat, had unknowingly progressed to the point of staying overnight at Schale with , triggering a sense of crisis, so she decided to strike first?
That had to be it.
However, once we reached a quiet spot, Akane's first words froze in place.
"Sensei," Akane said solemnly, "the reason our entire C＆C unit is deployed today is because we received an order from President Rio."
"Wha…?"
At first I was surprised, but on second thought, it made sense.
Rio was not the type to let take AL-1S away unchecked. And just as she had explained in the conference room last night, C＆C was, in essence, an agent organization directly under her command alone. Neru defying her orders did not an the others would do the sa.
Still, Akane being so upfront with left puzzled.
Could it be that she had been swayed on the spot by my personal charm?
I gazed into her gray eyes. "What was the content of the order?"
"President Rio ordered us," Akane bowed slightly, "to follow all of your commands during the period that Arisu-chan stays at Schale."
…Rio actually gave such an order?
Handing over her most elite force to , soone who had clashed with her just yesterday over how to handle Arisu?
Could it be… that Rio truly had a change of heart?
Or perhaps…
Akane was deceiving , in order to carry out so hidden true mission?
There was no doubt that Akane had held a fair amount of goodwill toward since our first eting. But if we were to compare, Rio was the sa.
Was there an ulterior motive, or was she really being this kind?
Ever since last night's incident, I felt like I had grown overly suspicious and cautious.
Still, this was not sothing worth agonizing over.
"Wait a mont."
After saying that to Akane, I took out my phone and directly called Rio.
After a brief ring, the call connected, and a cold, indifferent voice ca through. "I sent C＆C over simply because I do not want a repeat of last night's incident."
Before I could even ask, Rio had already thrown her answer at .
Of course, calling her at this mont could only have been for this reason anyway.
"Rio, thank you," I said, already more than halfway convinced.
"There's no need to thank ," Rio replied flatly. "Since Neru chose to betray in this matter, the others would have followed her footsteps sooner or later. I rely shortened an unnecessary process."
"…Are you still angry?"
"I am not."
She was obviously still angry.
But in my eyes, Rio's behavior was just like that of a girlfriend in a cold war.
Even though she was indeed upset, she still could not help but worry about …
Finding such a Rio incredibly cute, I could not help smiling, my tone softening.
"I understand. In any case, once this is all over, shall we et?"
There was a long silence on the other end of the line.
I waited patiently, and finally heard Rio's reply.
"The seminar workload is very busy. I may not be able to make ti. I'm hanging up."
With that, she really did hang up imdiately.
I sent a few more momotalk ssages, but there was no reply. I did not know whether she simply had not seen them yet or did not want to respond.
It seed that reconciling with a tsundere rank EX like Rio would still be a long road ahead.
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