Seiji felt as if he had barely managed to escape with his life… No, this must be a mistaken impression!
How could someone as gentle and kind as Mai Houjou-senpai do something so cruel?
"Senpai, you’re really good at making jokes."
"I wasn’t joking, junior~"
Haha… Hehe… the two of them exchanged smiles.
‘Please tell me you were just joking! I’m starting to get scared here!!’
Seiji tugged at the corner of his lips.
He decided not to think too deeply about the hidden meaning behind this beautiful maid-senpai’s smile…
Yep, all he had to do was pay it little attention.
Natsuya and Hitaka returned.
When they returned, Seiji was playing with his cat… whoops, he was throwing snacks at s.h.i.+ka to feed her.
"The two of you… seem to be having a fun time today," Natsuya remarked.
Seiji noticed that both girls seemed rather fatigued and paused his movements, causing him to be bitten on the fingers by s.h.i.+ka as she attempted to get at the candy in his hand.
"The two of you… seem to have had a hard time today," he observed.
Natsuya sighed. "Yeah… we met with some troublesome matters."
Her tone of voice sounded so jaded! Just what exactly could have happened!?
Seiji was in a state of shock.
Then, he noticed that Hitaka seemed to be glaring fiercely at s.h.i.+ka.
Oh, so that’s how it was… or maybe he should say that he should have expected it.
Seiji glanced at the amnesiac girl.
He discovered that she was currently in the midst of licking his finger.
"Hey! Stop licking! Stop sucking!"
"Eh… But there’s still a good smell here~"
"Don’t lick it even if there is a good smell! Are you really a cat!?"
While Seiji was commenting on the situation, his face also began flus.h.i.+ng red.
He definitely needed to remember that feeling just now… no, that wasn’t it! Forget that feeling! Hurry up and forget it!!
This was yet another memory that he would need to seal away.
Why ‘another?’
That was because so many things had happened today when he was accompanying s.h.i.+ka!
Seiji’s sense of reason was constantly being shaken by this overwhelmingly cute creature beside him, and he had to continuously place seals on his memory, or else he might have turned into that which was forbidden.
Sigh…
Seiji wasn’t the one who had sighed.
Rather, it was. .h.i.taka who had done so as she helplessly retracted her gaze.
She was still a reasonable person and knew that the ‘Reaper’s Curse’ would bring various difficulties down upon them… The misfortune wasn’t something anyone could decide.
So, even though today was rather… difficult for her and her lady, there was no reason for her to hate or complain about s.h.i.+ka Kagura.
She quickly returned to her state of calmness.
Seeing that her lady didn’t appear shaken at all, Hitaka was inwardly impressed with her master’s regal bearing.
But, the truth was…
‘Why do I really feel like giving Seiji Haruta a good punch right now?’
Natsuya didn’t understand her own feelings.
But that thought had definitely flashed through her mind, especially when she witnessed how intimate s.h.i.+ka acted with him while playing.
A mysterious sense of rage appeared from nowhere in her heart, and she almost felt like venting it. She barely managed to control herself and somehow used a normal, calm tone of voice.
‘This must be due to us encountering many difficulties today during our investigation, while they just spent this day being idle and having fun… That must be why I lost control of my emotions, right?"
‘Honestly, I can’t be this immature, Natsuya Yoruhana!’
The scion inwardly warned herself to not stoop to such a low level and managed to regain her calm.
The scene was temporarily silent.
All three of them were adjusting their emotions during this time.
As for the other person…
"Brother, give me some more candy~"
"Nope, you can’t have too many snacks before dinner."
"Hmph… Stingy!"
s.h.i.+ka puffed out her cheeks discontentedly.
‘So cute! I should… just give her one more candy…’
"Haruta-kun."
Natsuya’s voice helped Seiji to come back to his senses.
"I’m going back to my room to rest for now… After dinner, we’ll discuss ‘that’ again."
"Oh… okay."
Natsuya left the room together with Hitaka after Seiji nodded in agreement.
After watching the two of them leave, Seiji looked back at s.h.i.+ka again.
"s.h.i.+ka-chan…" He smiled at her. "How about I teach you how to draw?"
After dinner.
Seiji took s.h.i.+ka back to her room, then left by himself and returned to the main hall.
Natsuya was currently pouring tea.
"How did you do it?" she asked.
"I asked her to draw by herself for a while." Seiji shrugged. "I told her that I hoped she would be able to show me a great drawing and give me a surprise… something like that."
Natsuya blinked in surprise as she put down the tea kettle.
"You’re quite skilled at coaxing girls."
"She has a child’s mentality now, and she’s an obedient one, so she’s easy to deal with."
Seiji walked over to the table and sat down as he took a teacup and poured himself some tea.
"Girls… I wouldn’t say I’m good at coaxing them… I’m actually not all that good at dealing with girls."
Natsuya was rendered speechless.
She really felt like beating him up again!
This time, she was quite clear about why that was.
"Houjou-san gave you an excellent evaluation. This is the first time she’s ever praised a boy so much to me."
‘So stop acting like you aren’t one! Admit it! Seiji Haruta, you’re a…’
…a what?
Playboy? No, that didn’t seem right; he was nothing more than a depraved otaku not long ago, and even now… he was still an otaku.
Speaking of otakus, one would normally think of someone who wasn’t good at social situations, especially dealing with girls as they would have introverted personalities… So was he telling the truth then?
No, no, this didn’t seem right!
Natsuya’s mind fell into chaos.
This boy in front of her seemed so bright, sunny, handsome, honest, and direct… he was a perfect, wonderful, handsome boy in the eyes of so many women, yet his hobbies were all otaku-ish, so how should he be described?
…Handsome and cool otaku?
The scion had a flash of inspiration.
That’s right; this was the description she was looking for!
‘Although this still seems like an awkward description, this is the right one. Seiji Haruta… you are a handsome and cool otaku that’s popular with girls and actually good at dealing with them! So stop denying it!!’
"Really? Senpai was too kind." Seiji scratched his face awkwardly. "I thought that I almost made her angry."
Anger? What anger!?
Natsuya recalled Houjou-san’s att.i.tude when she was speaking about Seiji. Houjou-san was smiling so sweetly… it was rare for even Natsuya to see her smile like that. Natsuya suddenly felt another burst of frustration rise up within her.
Honestly!
But still… she could tell that he wasn’t faking it.
No, it was impossible to fake things to such a degree.
This person, he really was just like this...
Ah, yep, that’s why Houjou-san would… That’s why girls would…
Natsuya seemed to come to a realization.
"Haruta-kun, you’re just so… cool."
Seiji was mystified.
Why was the president suddenly saying this?
And this tone of voice felt somewhat familiar… even though it sounded like praise on the surface, he felt that there was something p.r.i.c.kly beneath.
While Seiji was still in a state of confusion, Natsuya sipped some tea as her expression turned more serious.
"Let’s begin discussing the main topic at hand. Our progress on helping s.h.i.+ka Kagura recover her memory…"
Hearing this, the idle gossip from before left Seiji’s mind, and his expression changed to a serious one.
"Before we discuss a method to restore her memory, we must first understand her current situation. There are three possibilities: the first is that her soul sustained injuries during the battle. This caused her mental spirit and consciousness to be severely damaged, thus accounting for her amnesia."
"The second is that, due to losing in battle against Hitaka, a condition of some sort was met, causing an underlying spell previously cast upon her to activate, resulting in amnesia."
"The third possibility is that both of the above were combined. Her memory loss may have been due to both of the aforementioned factors. An underlying spell was cast upon her, and her soul sustained injuries in the battle… Well, it doesn’t matter what the order was, as the end result is the same."
Seiji raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"An underlying spell?"