Faced with such a surreal scene, nobody knew what to do.
The corridor outside the party was filled with blood. There were no other witnesses, so no one outside of our group knew this had happened. If someone were to see, I’m sure they’d scream and alert the rest of the party.
In this situation, Ares was the first to act.
“I-I had nothing to do with this. I didn’t tell her to do that! She acted entirely on her own! In fact, I’ve never even met that person! I’ll be leaving. You two can clean up this mess.”
He quickly spun a story, claiming he wasn’t involved in any way, and then rapidly walked down the corridor.
…no, he just ran away.
When Ares disappeared around the corner, I turned to Claudia.
“…did Sasha know about my ability?”
“I briefly mentioned it to her…. Do you think that’s why she did this?”
“…I don’t know, but we should take care of this situation first.”
Lilia ran into the corridor and saw us. She seemed to have noticed the distressed look on Ares’ face and came to investigate what had happened. I explained what happened and we carried Sasha into a nearby room.
And —
“…Resurrection.”
I activated my magic and Sasha was revived.
Her eyes slowly began to open.
“This is…I see. So you really can use resurrection magic.”
“…seriously? You weren’t even sure and you did something like that.”
I thought she was just trying to horrify Ares, but she was actually unsure if that would be her end.
“What’s most important is not inconveniencing Ojou-sama. My own safety comes secondary to that.”
“O-Of course….”
She truly is a yandere. Acting without regard for her own safety.
“Well, I understand why you did it, but what are you planning to do now?”
“…what do you mean? I can’t go back to work for Rennis after this happened. If Ojou-sama will permit it, I’d like to be allowed to return only to live in the village.”
“I’d do more than just that. I’d like it if you would return to work at Wells’ shop.”
Sasha seemed shocked to hear this suggested.
“Are you serious? I betrayed Wells’ Clothing Shop.”
“But you did that because you wanted to protect Claudia.”
“That’s true, but…I tried to ruin your plans.”
“I don’t care about that. I thought the dress you made was amazing.”
Claudia and I were only capable of making our dress because I used my title to manually increase her skill level.
But Sasha was able to make a splendid dress using her own, natural abilities. Her talent as a seamstress is definitely superior to us.
And above all else, Sasha is a yandere that’s obsessed with Claudia. So it’s highly unlikely that she’d ever become obsessed with me.
There’s no one as talented as her that’s also safe for me to be around.
Of course, if Claudia’s not okay with it…. I turned to face her.
“…Master, are you trying to cheat again?”
“No, that’s not it.”
“Really? I’ll cut it off if you’re lying.”
“I’m not lying and please stop saying such terrible things so casually.”
She actually looked worried that I was trying to cheat. And it also seemed that she was serious about cutting ‘it’ off. I think I should learn Rejuvenation soon. I have a feeling I’ll need it.
“Don’t you agree, Claudia? Isn’t Sasha an incredibly skilled seamstress?”
“That’s true, but…I’m Master’s seamstress.”
Claudia was pouting. I guess she’s jealous of Sasha. That wasn’t my intention, so I gently stroked her head.
“If there’s interest in Rose’s dress, Wells’ Clothing Shop will have more and more work to do. Do you think you’ll be able to handle all of that on your own?”
“Then, can I be the only one that’s allowed to make your clothing?”
“Of course.”
“…all right then. If so, then we can rehire Sasha.”
She still seemed unsatisfied, but eventually agreed. Claudia does get easily jealous but I think at her core, she’s an honest and cute girl.
“So, how about it?”
I asked Sasha this.
“…thank you. I’m ashamed but I’d be happy to work at Wells’ shop once more.”
She said this and lowered her head. Like this, Claudia and I welcomed her back.
Lilia was left to protect Sasha. It would be bad if Ares were to find out she’s alive.
Claudia and I returned to the main hall where we saw Rose looking around for us.
“So this is where you were, Yuzuki onii-san.”
“Hey, Rose. Is something wrong?”
“It’s not that something is wrong~”
Rose smiled and struck a cute pose.
“…what do you think?”
“It suits you…. You look cute.”
“Ehehe~, thank you, Yuzuki onii-san!”
Rose hugged my arm and Claudia copied her on my other side, but seemed more like she was trying to harm me.
“…that hurts.”
“Muu~, you haven’t told me I look nice or that I’m cute.”
“Claudia, your lewd dress also suits you well. It’s really revealing.”
“Mouuu~~”
“Ouch, that hurts. That really hurts!”
She pinched my arm as hard as she could.
I only spoke the truth. Why am I being punished for that?
“Getting back to the topic at hand, is it okay for you to be here, Rose?”
“No, it’s not okay at all. I need to get back to the guests but I needed to find you.”
“…what do you mean?”
“Mou~, you don’t know? I’ve already had several people ask me about my dress. I need you to tell them about it, so hurry up.”
She unexpectedly turned to Claudia.
“…you did a great job, Claudia.”
“It was really thanks to Master’s efforts.”
“That’s not true.”
I’m about as skilled as an amateur on Earth. If we didn’t have Claudia, the dress wouldn’t be nearly as beautiful as it is, if it were even finished at all.
“Thank you, Claudia. It was thanks to you that I was finally able to take the first steps towards my dream.”
“…Master. I’m also grateful to you. Thank you for everything you did to protect my family.”
“– Yuzuki onii-san? Everyone’s waiting.”
“Ah, of course.”
Claudia and I followed Rose to a group of nobles that seemed to be waiting for us.
I had to explain many things about the dress, and, in the end, we received several orders for dresses. With this, we’ll be able to pay off the debt in no time.
Actually, it will be even more than that. Wells’ Clothing Shop should become the main supplier of the nobilities clothing. My dream of working with clothing will surely come true.
I left the main group but was followed by a group of young noble women.
“I’ve decided! I’ll build a shop for you to work in on my estate, so please come serve under me!”
“No, you must come work in my mansion!”
“Please, stop joking around. This master clothier will be confined — will come work in my mansion!”
I was surrounded by a group of young ladies that had turned into yanderes.
…how did this happen. How did this happen…?
Well, obviously my SSS rank ability triggered the yandere trait within them.
“Hey! Yuzuki onii-san is my master! You can’t take him without my permission!”
It’s nice that Rose is trying to defend me but if she says something like that, it’s possible they could misunderstand and think we’re engaged.
Well, it may be worse if they’re able to understand the real meaning of the word ‘master.’
The conflict between the girls intensified as I was thinking about this.
“I just need him for a little while. Please, allow me to imprison him!”
“If that’s the case, you can lend him to me for a while! I have a special room designed just for him that would allow him to focus on his work!”
“Mou~, none of you are listening! Please, stop it!”
Rose pulled one of the girls off of me and turned to Claudia.
“Claudia, you can explain the dress to everyone and take their orders if necessary.”
“Umm…that’s fine, but what about you, Rose?”
“I’m going to take Yuzuki onii-san out of here.”
— Claudia was left to hold off the noble women and Rose pulled me out of the hall.
…haa~. If this is how things will be, even if I do achieve my dream, I won’t even be able to show off my work.
Of course, I can just stay behind-the-scenes, but…I’d like for my name to be attached to it in some way.
My main priority right now should be finding a way to manage my SSS ranked skill. As I thought this, I sighed deeply, wondering just how futile it may be.
