Chapter 362 - A Proper Hierarchy
"—Haru, you planned this from the start, didn't you?"
"Sorry."
As soon as the clan was established, the heartless one declared, "Well then, I'm off to mess with the room," and promptly vanished, leaving me one-on-one with a very cross Sora at the quiet Round Table.
The girl who had been swept up into the role of clan master didn't even try to hide her pout as she shot a deadpan glare in my direction.
She's so cute—but if I don't handle this properly, I'll end up having to grovel on the floor later. I've learned that much from our time together.
…The fact that I've learned that from experience just goes to show what an idiot I am.
"For the record, I didn't just push it on you. I need you to understand that both my and Tetra's leadership aptitude is completely nonexistent, so there was no other option but you, Sora-san."
"…I can't speak for Tetra-kun, but I think you have leadership skills, Haru."
"What I have isn't leadership. It's just me charging ahead blindly."
Besides—looking back to the beginning, if you asked me who was really leading, I think it was you, Sora. You were the one who kept adding fuel to my already blazing motivation at every turn.
It's true that I was the one running in front, and maybe Sora was watching my back, but… ah, this is, well. If I think about this too much, I'm going to say something incredibly embarrassing, so let's stop there.
"It's not like I'm going to make you do any tedious work just because you're the master, and we don't even need to announce the clan publicly, so the title is just a formality… It's simply that I thought it suited you best—so, would you be willing to accept the title alone?"
If she absolutely refused, I wouldn't mind taking over, but… man, that really doesn't suit me. It's always been this way, but I'm just not cut out for being in a position of authority over someone, even if it's just in name.
"…………………………It's not like that."
Sora, who had been glaring at me from the side, murmured quietly.
I couldn't tell if she was convinced by my words or if she'd read my inner thoughts about not being cut out for it, but…
"It's not that I… dislike it… and if there's no real responsibility or anything, then it's not something to throw a tantrum over, but…"
"No, no, no responsibility. The system just required us to set a 'Clan Master.' A sub-master has all the same permissions and whatnots—"
"But!"
"Yes!"
She cut me off with an unusually sharp tone, and I immediately straightened my back, maintaining a posture that would allow me to transition into a full bow in less than a tenth of a second.
It was only after she had stared at me for a few seconds that I realized I'd just been paid back. Sora's expression softened, and a small smile touched her lips.
"This counts as one selfish request—someday, I'll have you grant a selfish request of my own, you hear?"
"…………"
Hey world, are you watching? You probably can't see this, what a shame.
My partner, it turns out, is the type of beautiful girl who can say something like that while holding up a single index finger for "one selfish request" and even add a mischievous smile on top.
What is with this young lady of the Yotsuya family? Her cuteness level is off the charts.
"Um, is something wrong…?"
"It's nothing."
I snapped out of the momentary daze I'd fallen into and crumpled up the paper I'd left on the table, stuffing it into my inventory.
It was a dangerous classified document that could expose my hopelessly bad naming skills to the world. I would have to dispose of it properly, completely, and perfectly.
"…Speaking of which, about your naming sense."
"Hold on, are you still mad?"
Is the payback going to continue indefinitely…? I braced myself, thinking she was about to exploit my newly revealed weakness, but that didn't seem to be the case.
Sora shook her head, tilting it with a puzzled expression.
"You're able to name skills, aren't you, Haru?"
"Huh?"
"You know, mine…"
"Aah."
For a second, I almost tilted my head back at her, wondering what she meant. But now that she mentioned it, I suppose I have—however, Sora's understanding of the situation isn't quite right.
"Sora-san, allow me to teach you one of the truths of this world."
"Yes?"
A truth that most men who have ever encountered that language eventually come to understand.
"—You don't need any talent to come up with cool names in that country's language."
"………………Excuse me?"
"You don't need it. Naming sense is irrelevant. With that language, you can just string words together and they become the coolest, most invincible things ever."
"……………Ah… s-so… eh?"
"Kugelschreiber."
"What was that?"
"Kugelschreiber…—It means 'ballpoint pen'."
"………………"
I was fully aware that she was taken aback by my sudden, strange burst of energy, but I was also gradually losing track of what I was saying and found myself unable to back down.
Why I couldn't back down, I had no idea myself.
"I figure you'll find out eventually anyway, so I might as well brace myself for your anger and come clean… The skill names I came up with are all, without exception, one hundred percent based on momentum and how cool they sound."
"…Momentum and sound. Um… just to be clear, do they at least make sense—"
"I'm a complete amateur, so I can't guarantee anything on that front."
"………………"
You might think my use of "without exception" is wrong, but in my mind, it's absolutely correct. I'm certain that was what I was meant to do.
While I was terrified of Sora-san, who was now staring at me with a silent, blank expression,
While I was confused as to why I was sprinting down the path of self-destruction,
I concluded that my brain was probably fried from her cute move earlier—a foolish conclusion that proved my brain was, in fact, fried.
"I'm aware I went wild, but I have no regrets and I don't feel any remorse. In fact, your series of super-cool skill names has been extremely popular, especially with Tiger—"
"Haru."
"Yes."
"Let's have a little chat, shall we?"
"…………Should I perhaps kneel?"
"I'll leave that up to you."
"Yes, ma'am."
For starters, the price I had to pay was the forfeiture of my right to sit in a chair.
For some reason, I tend to do stupid things when I get flustered in front of Sora. For a while after that, I voluntarily knelt on the carpeted floor.
As the younger girl lectured me, I just kept bowing my head over and over.
Sora is definitely the master here. Nevertheless, he managed to defend the continuation of his dramatic German skill name series.
And with that, the curtain is pulled back on the mysterious setting detail that the protagonist's cool-sounding names are just him making things up on the fly, explaining away any things that didn't make sense.