The next morning, I awoke in the bedroom of the inn.
I looked to my side to see Rose quietly sleeping with a cute look on her face, but Claudia wasn’t on my other side.
When I looked around the room, I saw Claudia sitting on the windowsill looking out over the city.
The morning sun shining through the window caused her bluish silver hair to shine brilliantly. She looked more beautiful than I had ever seen her.
“…oh, Master, good morning.”
“Good morning, Claudia. What are you doing up so early?”
“I was practicing sewing. I tried a few different techniques, but…could you check my work?”
“No problem. Just give me a moment.”
I got out of bed and quickly washed my face and tidied my appearance. I then changed my clothes and sat in the chair opposite Claudia.
Claudia held out a sewn cloth for me.
“I did my best.”
“I’m sure you did, but…I’m going to judge it honestly.”
Claudia nervously looked between my face and the fabric.
“…okay. I think you did a good job but it’s still inferior to Sasha’s sewing that I saw before.”
“…really?”
“Her sewing skill was rank B as well, right?”
“Yes. Maybe Sasha has a talent that increases her sewing ability.”
“– I remember hearing that some skills can be of a higher quality if you’ve learned them through years of practice.”
It was Rose that responded to Claudia.
She was still in bed but was now sitting up while using the sheets to cover her exposed chest…. What a stunning pose.
I-I shouldn’t be focusing on that.
“You’re saying if I use my ability to forcefully raise a skill’s rank, it will be permanently weaker than a skill that was improved naturally.”
If that’s the case, it may be better if we don’t use my ability, but Rose told me I shouldn’t worry about it.
“You know that the skill rank displayed in the status window just represents how much of a bonus your base skill gets, right? Your exact stats aren’t represented on the status window.”
“Yeah…. Medea-nee said something like that.”
The ability rank isn’t necessarily representative of how talented you are in a certain skill. It just represents how much of a bonus increase that particular skill will receive. The actual stats are hidden.
So that means…the only reason Claudia’s sewing ability is lower than Sasha’s is that Medea-nee’s system is bugged.
— My system is flawless. I’ve just created a hurdle for you to overcome, Yuzuki-kun.
…and that’s what she said. While Medea-nee was tormenting my mind, Rose was curiously staring at me.
I explained to her that there was a workaround for this, but it would be difficult to explain how I knew.
“Before, when I said Medea-nee, I was actually talking about the Goddess Medea. In fact, Medea-nee actually brought me here from another world.”
“Umm, what?”
“You’ll probably need proof too.”
Just like I had to do with Claudia, I opened my status window for her.
Rose read through it before reaching my numerous titles. “Goddess Medea’s First Love, Received Goddess Medea’s Love, A Traveler From a Different World, Loved to Death By Yanderes….” Rose read my titles one-by-one.
“Yuzuki onii-san, these titles….”
“Yeah, I have memories of my life from a different world and I have spoken directly with Goddess Medea….”
“‘Received Goddess Medea’s Love,’… Does that mean I wasn’t your first!?”
“That’s what you’re worried about!?”
She’s too ridiculous. Well, actually, Medea-nee wasn’t my first. If I think back, just as my previous life was ending Hinano was my first. But if I were to tell Rose that, this life might end the same way. I quickly reassured her that she was my first.
“…really?”
“Of course.”
Hinano happened in my previous life and Medea-nee happened before I was reincarnated. So technically, Rose was my first in this world. So I didn’t lie.
More importantly, I want to get off this subject because Claudia is starting to look annoyed.
For whatever reason, the fact that she was my first seemed to be incredibly important to Rose. Truly, this is the yandere trait at work.
Anyway.
“For now, I think you’ll need to improve a little more. It’s not impossible to complete the dress with your current skill level, but I want it to be amazing so everyone will be impressed.”
“If it does turn out to be impossible for me, should I ask my mother to try looking for another talented seamstress?”
“…I’d like to avoid that if possible. This dress should be made entirely by Wells’ Clothing Shop. That should be our last resort.”
We currently have two months until Rose must attend the event. Due to the debt owed by Wells, we can’t afford any delays. In other words, we have to have the dress done by that time.
Considering how long it will take to sew the dress, we have little time left to spare.
We may have to rely on an outside source if Claudia can’t improve in time.
Of course, I’m not going to say that and add extra pressure on to Claudia.
“If I just need to practice in order to increase my skill naturally, then I’ll work my hardest to do so.”
“That’s good. We can spare another day or two. After that, we’ll have to use my ability to raise your rank if you’re still not there yet.”
There are useful bonuses that come with reaching rank A with any skill. There are bonuses that make it easier to increase that skill as well as making you more skilled with a needle. No matter what, it’s worth raising it to rank A.
“Well then, if I need one more rank, should we head to the dungeon today?”
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
“– Oh, I actually have something else I need to do.”
Rose said this as we were deciding what to do for the day.
I’m a little surprised considering they both registered to be adventurers yesterday and I assumed she’d be excited to go further into the dungeon.
“Are you going back home?”
“Yeah. You learned inscription magic for me so I’m betting the hidden stats for that skill are my lowest. I’d like to take some time at home to learn exactly how it works.”
“Oh, okay. Then…did you want the Thread of Purity?”
“Thanks. I’ll practice for a while, but when I think I’m ready I’ll attempt using it.”
And that’s why Rose left on her own while Claudia and I returned to the dungeon.
Usually, when we go through the Guild I’ll hear people shout something similar to, “Oi, that guy is here!” But we didn’t receive that reaction today.
I wouldn’t say people are starting to accept me. It really just seems that nobody has noticed my presence.
“Oh, Yuzuki-kun, welcome.”
…well, one person noticed me almost immediately. Of course, it’s Sylphy-san, my exclusive receptionist.
Although she was speaking with other adventurers, it almost seemed like she was expecting me.
…well, Rose is able to pick out my specific scent from far away, it’s possible Sylphy-san also has an ability that helps her detect me.
Either way, it’s surprising to see Sylphy-san working with other adventurers.
When I first met her, her nameplate had the title ‘Not a Yandere’ on it, but after meeting me, that was no longer the case and she was told to no longer work with any adventurer besides me.
But apparently, that’s changed.
As I was thinking this, I saw Sylphy-san direct the next adventurer in line to another receptionist.
She then greeted Claudia and me.
“…was that okay?”
“Of course. I belong to you exclusively, Yuzuki-kun.”
“That’s fine then, but…you were just helping another adventurer.”
“At first, I had just planned on doing office work when you weren’t around. But, even though I’m a yandere, there are several people that still wish me to be their receptionist.”
“Is that so? You really are popular.”
“…no, I think it’s a bit different than that.”
“How so?”
“Word has spread that even though I’m a yandere, I’m only obsessed with you. Adventurers now believe I’m safe to be around.”
“Oh….”
When it comes to yanderes in this world, they seem to be harder to detect than in my previous life. Yanderes in my previous life were few and far between but they made themselves known…. Women in this world that have a dormant yandere trait are just time bombs waiting to go off. And this world is filled with them.
In other words, girls that are already known yanderes are safer than girls that appear to be sane.
…the words ‘human sacrifice’ floated through my mind.
“Actually, there are some matters that Master wanted your input on.”
After looking around the room, Sylphy-san leaned across the counter and brought her face within centimetres of mine. Claudia tensed up and I could tell she was getting ready to defend me.
I lightly pulled on her sleeve to tell her to stay calm.
Previously, she was a weak girl, but…recently she’s been much more reliable and it’s clear that she gets jealous easily…. But that’s okay because she’s cute.
“So what did you need my input on?”
“Yuno and Gray’s punishment. Usually, as criminal slaves, they’d be sent to the mines, but… you requested a more lenient punishment for them.”
“Yeah. My skill is what caused them to do what they did.”
To Be Loved to Death by Yanderes. Its effect increases the likelihood that a person’s yandere trait will be activated by 10%. Due to my other titles, this increase becomes 37%.
And that’s only during the day. During Yandere-Time, it’s increased by another 20% for a total of 57% increase.
And since this is just a stat correction, this 57% increase is in addition to the base percent chance that a person’s yandere trait will activate.
So some people are more likely to be affected than others…but I still feel responsible. And this is why I asked the Guild to be lenient on Yuno and Gray.
“Has their punishment been decided?”
“First of all, for Gray, it’s been decided that he’ll be put under a slave contract that will force him to no longer be able to bother you. This way, he’ll be able to return to being a guard at the dungeon.”
“That sounds good.”
“As for Yuno…she will also be put under a slave contract and be assigned to the Guild’s intelligence department. Of course, that is as long as you are okay with it.”
“I’m fine with Gray.”
I was betrayed by Gray and died. However, it was thanks to him that I was able to learn the Resurrection skill and revive Claudia.
I can’t forgive his betrayal but I am also grateful to him.
“You’re okay with Gray…does that mean you’re not satisfied with Yuno’s punishment.”
“I’m feeling anxious. Is she really not a danger?”
She killed Claudia once and in terms of her yandere trait, she can’t even be compared to Gray.
Of course, I understand that this was primarily due to my own skill, but I want to avoid any situation that could cause Claudia any more harm.
“There’s no need for you to be worried. The slave contract will make it so she can’t harm you or Claudia.”
“…and there’s no possible way she could find some way to harm us without violating that contract?”
“You don’t need to worry about that. She’s actually been provided with a little motivation as well. On top of her contract, she’s been convinced that if she works hard and follows the rules, there’s a chance that you will want her.”
“So you’ll be using her feelings against her.”
This will prevent her from violating her contract and also use her yandere feelings to motivate her to work hard.
…it actually seems like a good use of her obsession.
“This is just a suggestion, if you’re not okay with it, we can scrap the idea entirely. But if that’s the case, she’ll be sent to the mines…. Which do you prefer?”
“…as long as she doesn’t try to harm me or anyone I care about, I don’t want her to be punished that harshly.”
“I understand.”
Just as we settled on their punishment, a commotion seemed to erupt within the guild hall.
“They’re awfully noisy. What’s going on?”
“It seems there’s a rumour circulating that the Earl of Chaos’ troops have landed on the island.”
I was surprised to hear that name here of all places.
“Is the Earl of Chaos attacking the island?”
“Eh? Oh, no. It’s not like that…or, well, that shouldn’t be the case. I don’t know exactly why he’s come so I can’t say for sure that that’s not the case. There’s also the matter we’ve talked about before that he may be involved in.”
Sylphy-san’s voice became a low whisper at the end.
She was talking about the person that’s the mastermind behind many of the nefarious plots happening on the island. It seems likely that the Earl of Chaos is involved but there is no concrete evidence to prove that.
“Is there any reason you can think of for him being here?”
“…I don’t know if there’s been a dispute between him and the Brad family or if there’s another reason entirely for him being here.”
“I see….”
It’s troublesome if we don’t know what he’s doing here. It’s possible Rose has done something to draw him here without telling me.
I’m worried…. We need to hurry and increase Claudia’s sewing rank. Considering the time I’ll need to make the dress, we’re almost out of time.
The reason the Earl of Chaos is here was pushed to the back of my mind while Claudia and I delved into the dungeon.
And so…over the course of a few days, Claudia’s sewing skill increased from rank B to AA.
She also increased the ranks of several different support magics.
Furthermore, her ‘Sexual Technique’ increased from C to B, her ‘Weak to Pleasure’ rose from E to D, and her ‘Shyness’ rose from F to E…. Well, we didn’t spend all day fighting in the dungeon.
…i-it was unavoidable. In order to earn SP efficiently, I needed to check her status window regularly and increase the rank of her support skills.
Then, while Claudia and I were still in the dungeon…each time I increased her rank, she’d beg me to mess up her status window.
