55 - Shannon Sarcly
――Morning.
Shannon forced herself awake, fighting off sleep as she pushed her upper body up.
In the past, even if she slept late, her kind older sister would wake her. Meals were prepared and cooked specifically to make them easy for Shannon to eat.
Once her sister left for the academy, Shannon would spend the rest of her time relaxing alone.
Lunch was always provided, so she only had to eat it whenever she got hungry.
When night fell, her sister would take care of her once again.
There had been servants on a few occasions, but they had all fled after she tested the ability of her eyes――her Magic Eye.
No, she had driven them out.
Such was Shannon's new daily life――.
"Ugh... I have to get up already."
Though she didn't want to leave her bed, the reason she woke up so early was because of a scary teacher.
She changed her clothes and headed for the kitchen.
Shannon was blind, but her other senses had become acute.
At the same time, her skills compensated for her lack of sight.
Possessing such special skills, Shannon judged people's feelings by the fluctuations of their magic power.
Her Magic Eye showed her the flow of magic that was invisible to human eyes.
Shannon had learned the art of touching and manipulating that flow... however.
"You're late, Shannon-chan."
When she reached the kitchen, there was a woman already preparing the food.
It was Novem.
"S-sorry."
Her mood upon waking was absolutely terrible. And yet, even after forcing herself to get up, she was told she was late.
The environment that made her previous life feel like a lie began right here, in the kitchen.
"Please go wash your face. Once you've done that, set the table. And then... no, before that, please go check on Lariel-sama and Poyopoyo-san."
Until recently, the sight of Novem and Poyopoyo scurrying around the kitchen had been normal. However, Poyopoyo was currently staying and sleeping in the mansion's warehouse with Lariel.
From early morning, they repeated tasks like shaving and melting metal.
Occasionally, she could hear them arguing violently.
"Those two... are asleep."
Shannon used the ability of her eyes to check the state of Lariel and Poyopoyo. The fact that she could investigate from the kitchen was likely due to the high level of her ocular ability.
She could select and see only the information she wanted.
Then, Novem spoke.
Novem's magic power, which was usually completely unwavering, was incredibly dense when looked at closely. One wouldn't notice it if they looked normally, but it was clearly abnormal.
Shannon had never seen such a person until then.
"In that case, please wake the two of them. Tell them to wash their hands and faces as well."
Novem continued cooking.
For Shannon, there were three people who made her feel she could not win.
One was her older sister, Miranda.
Another was Novem.
And the last was Celes, whom she had met in the party.
When ordered by one of these three people she could not defy, the current Shannon had no choice but to obey.
"...Fine, I get it."
Leaving the kitchen, Shannon headed for the door leading to the garden and stepped outside.
She didn't feel the morning sun as dazzling, but she could still tell the weather was good.
Even if what she saw differed from what others saw, Shannon's eyes could perceive more information than what could be seen in a visual image.
When she headed to the warehouse, junk was scattered all over the place.
Lariel was lying across a row of wooden boxes.
He was covered with a blanket, but it had slipped open.
Poyopoyo was in a state called "sleep mode," standing with eyes closed. Both of them were stained with something like black soot.
Shannon looked at a large box placed inside the warehouse.
Four legs.
And wheels were rolling nearby. She had thought they were making a carriage, but as far as she could see, that wasn't the case.
"What is this junk... have they been spending days making something like this?"
Lariel, who was supposed to be an adventurer, now spent his time going to the library or the academy, then returning to make something with Poyopoyo.
To the library to see Clara.
To the academy to visit Damian's laboratory.
Aria, whom she remembered playing with as a child, went out somewhere every morning to receive guidance.
Her older sister, Miranda, had also been attending a private school since graduating from the academy to acquire trap-related skills that adventurers possess.
Novem was training in magic, even though it seemed unnecessary.
All three of them were moving to polish themselves.
Amidst that, Lariel alone――.
"S-stop... that's not Best Lariel..."
(...Best Lariel? What is that? Is this guy a narcissist?)
He seemed to be tossing and turning in a dream.
His chest was open, and a blue gem was visible.
(I can see six lights. I can see another light inside Lariel.)
Lariel's blue orb, which she didn't think was the same as Aria's orb――.
Six lights were visible there.
One was shining inside Lariel, appearing to be well-integrated.
"...S-stop... I won't do it anymore."
Shannon pinched the nose of the tormented Lariel.
Then, Lariel began to struggle as if suffocating and bolted upright.
"It wasn't my fault!"
Having bolted upright while shouting such a thing, Lariel was breathing heavily, panting.
When he looked around, he seemed incredibly relieved for some reason.
Then, several lights began to move within the blue orb.
Lariel pressed his forehead with his hand and looked at Shannon.
"...Why didn't you just wake me up normally?"
"Eh? I tried to wake you up by calling out to you at first."
To Shannon, who lied with a straight face, Poyopoyo, who had woken up unnoticed, spoke.
"That is a lie. You were calling the crystallization of love between me and the chicken coward 'junk.' Furthermore, you didn't call out to him at all."
Poyopoyo spoke with a sharp expression, but the area around the nose was black.
"...You two, go wash your faces and hands. Novem is waiting."
Then, Lariel spoke.
"Breakfast? I wonder what's on the menu today."
Getting up and leaving the warehouse, Lariel seemed curious about the breakfast menu.
In contrast, Poyopoyo――.
"That vixen! To think she would defile my sanctuary!! Chicken coward, I shall be the one to prepare breakfas――"
"No, I'll eat Novem's breakfast. Besides, an automaton oversleeping... you should learn from those three."
The "three" referred to the automatons working as maids at Damian's place.
Shannon had heard about them too, but Poyopoyo reacted excessively.
"Do not compare me, a special unit, to mass-produced models! Are you listening? If you don't listen properly, I'll cry! I'll cry so much it'll be annoying!"
"...You're already annoying enough."
To Lariel, who called them annoying with a smile, Poyopoyo seemed excited, saying things like "I hate that smile!"
(I wonder what the ancients were thinking when they made an automaton like this.)
Poyopoyo, who was connected to Lariel by a thin thread, had Lariel's magic power flowing through their body. That flow was clearly different from a human's.
No, it was similar, but there was a distinct difference.
The two heading toward the mansion seemed to get along well, despite insulting each other verbally.
As Shannon closed the warehouse door, her body felt heavy since she hadn't moved much until now.
Just as she was about to enter the mansion, Aria came bursting out of the entrance.
"Crap. I'm gonna get yelled at! If I'm late, Lyla-san's knuckle sandwich will――!!"
With a sandwich of ham and vegetables in her mouth, Aria tidied her hair with her fingers, checked her clothes and equipment, and bolted.
Recently, she had more scrapes and bruises, and when she took a bath, she would let out sounds like an old man, saying, "Ah~, this hits the spot~."
It seemed her masculinization was progressing even more than when she first arrived at the mansion.
And yet, she played the innocent kitten in front of Lariel.
If she heard that this was known, she would surely blush and be flustered.
Previously, because she was born into a martial family, she had felt like a tomboyish girl swinging a spear around.
However, now the impression of a female warrior was strong.
That tendency had become quite strong lately. She was likely receiving guidance and polishing herself, but Shannon worried in her own way that she might lose something as a woman.
(Should I tell her that Lariel saw her sleeping in her underwear on the living room sofa? Also, where is she even heading?)
While Aria seemed to be gradually straying from the path, Miranda, who had finished her preparations, came out of the entrance.
"Oh, Shannon. You're still over there? I thought you'd run away from helping Novem, but here you are."
Shannon looked at her smirking older sister.
She wasn't wearing the academy uniform. She was in rough attire, a jacket over a skirt.
She carried a bag, and inside were tools used for trap-related work.
She used to be gentle and motherly, but now her dark side was emerging, and she had become strict with Shannon.
However, right now, more than that――.
"...I-I forgot!"
Novem had told her to call Lariel and the others, but she had ended up relaxing in the garden.
As she hurried back into the mansion, Miranda spoke.
"Do your best today! I'll be back after noon."
Even if told that, for the current Shannon, Novem waiting in the kitchen was the top priority.
Returning to the kitchen, Novem was ignoring Poyopoyo while watching Lariel eat the breakfast she had finished preparing.
"You vixen! That role belongs to me!"
"Is it delicious, Lariel-sama?"
"It's delicious."
Despite the heartwarming scene, Novem turned a smile toward Shannon when she noticed her.
There was no disturbance in her emotions. Rather, she was calmer than when she spoke with Lariel. She was so calm that it was conversely terrifying.
There was no fluctuation. Normally, people――even the automaton Poyopoyo――experience fluctuations. Yet, Novem did not.
When she realized it, Shannon found that incredibly frightening.
She felt the danger instinctively.
"Shannon-chan."
"Y-yes!"
"Go wash your face and hands first. Once you've eaten breakfast, we'll start with the cleanup."
She wasn't angry.
But to Shannon, that was terrifying.
It was then.
"Ah, I'm stopping by Damian's today, and I'm going to the library right after, so I'm good on lunch. I'll eat out. As for Poyopoyo..."
"Naturally, I shall accompany the chicken coward. I must keep watch so that the bespectacled woman doesn't lay a finger on the chicken coward's chastity."
After Lariel looked at Poyopoyo, he turned his face to Novem and spoke.
"Damian didn't tell me to bring them today, so I'm leaving them behind. You can work them as much as you want."
"Master-samaaaa! But I cannot defy an order!"
The energetic Poyopoyo had fluctuations of magic power that Shannon couldn't read as either happiness or sadness.
Lariel was normal. There were subtle fluctuations.
And Novem, too, fluctuated just a tiny bit.
"Understood. Do you have any requests for dinner?"
As Lariel began to worry about dinner, the lights of the blue orb began to move once again. It was as if they were speaking to Lariel.
Shannon felt that Lariel was hearing them too.
(I wonder what that orb is?)
Aria's red orb didn't cause such phenomena. Four lights were visible, but they simply existed quietly.
They didn't assert themselves.
Lariel's blue orb felt noisy――.
――Noon.
Shannon and Novem were eating the lunch prepared by Poyopoyo, who had defended the kitchen to the death.
She was tired today as well.
Cleaning, laundry, and shopping――.
Shannon regretted now, even if it was too late, that she should have kept servants in the mansion even if she hated it.
"Shannon-chan, your eating habits are vulgar."
"Who cares. I'm blind, you know."
Then, Novem stared at Shannon.
"Hie! I'll do it properly! That's what you want, right!"
"That's right. Since you can do it if you try, you must do it properly."
Now, she couldn't even defy her.
Previously, she had been able to touch and disturb the opponent's magic power, but after touching Novem and feeling terror, she became too scared to do it.
Her mental motivation――she had come to hate touching her.
"Please eat properly. I can't make it for the chicken coward, but if it's an order, I'll make it with all my heart, you brat."
The meal Poyopoyo made was delicious.
It was hard to believe it was made by an automaton.
It was at a level where it was doubtful if a normal human――even an average woman――could make it this well.
However, their mouth was incredibly foul.
Shannon asked.
"There's absolutely no heart in that, is there? Do you really care about Lariel that much?"
Then――.
"A-are you an idiot? I don't like that guy at all. It's just that the sight of him working hard is dazzling, or the way he sleeps innocently is cute... anyway, it's not like that!"
Seeing the automaton suddenly start acting as if reciting lines from a play, Shannon was surprised, wondering if they had broken.
However, Novem was normal. She said nothing.
Once Poyopoyo finished speaking, they said with a refreshed face.
"Hmph, I'm steadily working through my collection of lines I've wanted to try recently. At this rate, the last scene is guaranteed to be a happy ending. I wonder what lines I should say."
Shannon thought.
(This thing is a pain... as I thought, the ancients were strange somewhere.)
Leaving the self-satisfied automaton alone, Shannon decided to resume her meal――.
――Night.
When everything was finished and all that was left was to sleep, Shannon got into bed and opened her mouth.
"Haa, I'm exhausted..."
Because she had relied entirely on servants and Miranda until now, she found this unfamiliar life to be very painful.
The muscle pain on the first and second days had been severe, and it had been very difficult.
Despite having played the role of a fragile blind girl until now, she had let out groans on the bed due to muscle pain.
It was infuriating that Miranda had seen that and laughed.
However, since she had been forgiven for everything she had done until now, she couldn't defy her.
Her sister was acquiring trap-related techniques day by day, showing improvement at a speed that made her think it was a natural talent.
If she defied such a sister, what kind of fate would await her... she was too scared to resist.
"I mean, what's so great about that guy?"
She wondered about it every day.
What was so great about Lariel?
She didn't think Miranda would choose a partner based on looks alone.
She understood that he was excellent as an adventurer. After all, he had at least eight skills.
Moreover, Aria played the innocent kitten in front of Lariel. Though it was obvious.
Poyopoyo didn't even try to hide it.
And then there was Novem.
That Novem showed fluctuations of magic power only to Lariel.
"...I wonder if there's something good about him?"
Recently, she found herself thinking only of that.
At this rate, her sister would be pampered by Lariel and become strong to a level that would be beyond recovery.
She tried to stop it, but couldn't think of a way.
"Just you wait. I'll get my revenge soon, Lariel!"
Saying so, Shannon thought about Lariel until she fell asleep――.