HTPTMOTMM Chapter 21

Seeing the vivid reaction shown by the new character, I thought 'this is it.'

So was the female ghost in the purple room really related to Room 1 caretaker Marianne?

Originally in games, aggressive strategy is the answer. Just sitting and picking up information bit by bit is no fun, and it only makes the game progress infinitely slower.

Of course, if this were actual reality, there would be various things to consider for smooth social life, but everything here is game data, isn't it?

"Actually, I went to the annex recently and witnessed it directly."

"...You witnessed it directly?"

"Yes. I was so tired of hearing rumors about the annex. So out of curiosity, I went once."

I said this while smiling with my eyes crinkled.

"Then you also know this? The owner of the child's footsteps heard at the annex is a child with black hair..."

Swoosh!

Right at that moment. Something long like a snake's coil flew toward me.

"You blocked it in one go, as expected of someone from Stella."

A cold voice immediately gathered at my ear.

Ah... this lady is really too sharp and spicy. Where is there a rule about suddenly swinging a whip like this?

"What's this all of a sudden? Suddenly swinging something like this doesn't seem right."

Lady and whip go really well together, but that doesn't mean I wanted to get hit by it, you know? I don't have such tastes.

"If you thought you could manipulate me with just those kinds of words, you were sorely mistaken."

Marianne said coldly while pulling her arm back. The whip gripped in my hand was pulled taut.

"Didn't anyone teach you not to mention the previous Room 1 pair in front of me?"

I was about to counterattack her, but hearing those words, I let go.

"Previous Room 1 pair?"

"Going to the trouble of making excuses about annex ghosts while trying to scratch at my insides, should I praise your effort?"

Marianne struck the whip threateningly against the ground this time, having left my hand.

"I thought you weren't ordinary from the beginning, but you're quite perversely natured, unlike how you look."

I was going to not stay still if she swung that whip at me again, but she didn't directly touch me except for the first attack. In a way, it seemed like she was just testing me once.

But the look in her eyes directed at me was sharp enough to stab someone to death right away.

"I just said what I saw at the annex, but you're reacting sensitively. The previous Room 1 pair was also a combination of a red-haired woman and black-haired boy, I suppose?"

Marianne's eyebrows twitched at my words.

"You keep pretending to be innocent, pretending you don't know anything. Others might be fooled by it, but I don't believe it. Stella's policy is special, so you entered the manor without knowing anything by yourself? Even a passing dog would laugh at that."

Marianne spoke caustically.

But she was wrong. I'm not deliberately pretending to be innocent or pretending not to know anything - it's just that a lot has changed this time around, so I'm trying to gather some information too.

Of course, the fact that I came directly to Room 1 caretaker Marianne and tested her like this, when I could have quietly found out through other means from behind, was deliberately drawing aggro.

But look at this. As expected, becoming the troublemaker of this scene makes the game much more thrilling and exciting, doesn't it?

Most importantly, I didn't feel the need to act kind and considerate toward someone who had shown hostility toward me first from when we met.

"Ah, Lord Lusca! You can't go that way right now!"

Then, someone rustled from behind the bushes in the garden and appeared. A boy with black hair and blue eyes walked over the grass with a book in his hand as usual today, looking quietly at Marianne and me.

"Are you two fighting?"

The brief question settled over the lush garden.

Ah, but seeing the child's quiet eyes somehow made me, a hedonistic player, feel like I had become a wicked adult. I glanced at Marianne once, then smiled brightly at Lusca.

"No, we were just greeting each other. We just happened to meet."

Marianne also seemed to have no intention of swinging her whip again in front of her child, so she lowered her hand.

"Were you reading a book in the garden? I thought Marianne came out for a walk alone, but now I see you were here, so she came to see you."

"I told you before not to approach our child carelessly. Don't talk to him in a friendly way like you just did."

"It wasn't me who approached first, it was Lusca. But Marianne, you were speaking informally so naturally until just now, why are you suddenly speaking formally?"

"Because it's bad for the child's emotional development. No, actually your very existence is bad for the child's education, so I'd appreciate it if you could disappear from our sight right now."

"Why am I bad for emotional development? I'm someone who helps a lot with emotional development."

I grumbled, but Marianne continued to respond coldly without batting an eye.

Still, the previously murderous atmosphere had somewhat softened compared to before. While I'm originally this kind of personality, it was somewhat unexpected that Marianne calmed down her previously terrifying gaze and gave short responses to my words.

Is this also because of emotional education? It seemed like she was deliberately showing Lusca herself conversing with me to let him know we weren't fighting. She does care about the eyes of the child she's raising, I suppose?

"Are you all having a social gathering here?"

But the midday garden seemed to be more of a hot spot than I thought. Seeing Cheswick appear after Lusca proved it.

But social gathering, does it look like we're doing that...?

"May I join in too? It's perfect weather for sunbathing."

A languid voice rang in my ear, followed by Cheswick approaching with his characteristic slow gait. But like the first day I saw him, he was completely soaked today too.

"Cheswick... What happened? Why are you so wet again today?"

"Ah, the kids asked me to pick up a ball they dropped in the pond again."

Cheswick answered my question as if it was no big deal.

From a distance, the sound of children laughing 'kyahahaha!' cheerfully could be heard faintly. It was bright and lively laughter as if they had just played a fun game.

"Why didn't you just ask an employee to get it out?"

"The kids seem to like me, so they specifically ask me to get it out."

Really? Cheswick must be popular with the kids. Well, he does have a relatively approachable atmosphere. He also feels much more friendly compared to Marianne in front of me right now.

"What stupid nonsense."

Then, something like mockery appeared on Marianne's face that I glanced at.

"Sometimes I wonder if you have sense or not. Not that it's any of my business either way."

Marianne said this to Cheswick, then took Lusca's hand and left first. Her vivid red hair fluttered like a ribbon under the swaying black veil.

The gazes of Cheswick and me, who were watching that sight, met simultaneously the next moment.

Cheswick smiled mysteriously while asking me.

"Did I just get scolded by Miss Marianne?"

"It seems like it."

"I have very quick intuition, so why would she say it's confusing?"

"Ah, yes... I wonder."

I gave a lukewarm response without realizing it.

Well, I don't know about other things, but if he really thought Marianne and I were having a social gathering just now, then it's true that he lacks sense.

"But it looks like the kids often play by the pond, so it would be good to give them a warning. It could be dangerous."

"I tell them every time I see it, but since I'm not their dedicated caretaker, they just ignore me."

Cheswick grabbed the hem of his wet shirt and wrung out the water. Under the bright sunlight, part of Cheswick's abdomen was exposed.

'Hmm...?'

Without realizing it, my gaze was fixed there.

I had thought from the first time I saw him that he seemed to have a well-trained body, but seeing it directly, his abdominal muscles were much more beautifully defined than I expected. The muscles weren't overwhelmingly bulky, nor did they feel inadequate - should I call them admirable abs that anyone would exclaim over upon seeing?

'More my taste than I thought... No, but if it's this level, it seems like they put quite a lot of effort into the data settings?'

I suddenly became suspicious.

Of course, I can't be certain just from seeing abs, but could Cheswick also be one of the characters newly created as a player's romance target?

This game had character development as its biggest component, but it was also well-regarded as a romance simulation. As such, all the main romance characters had excellent appearances.

Come to think of it, yesterday I was too surprised to look closely, but when I went to Cheswick's room, his bare face I glimpsed in the darkness seemed quite to my taste too...

"Lynn, I'm a bit embarrassed when you look at me like that."

But I guess I was staring intently at Cheswick's stomach without realizing it while having such thoughts.

When I came to my senses, Cheswick had stopped wringing the water from his clothes and was giving me a slightly awkward smile.

His appearance sparkling in the sunlight created a surprisingly pure feeling.

Looking at him like this, maybe that decadent atmosphere from yesterday wasn't from Cheswick, but flowed from the maid who was with him.

'Huh, looking at him like this, he really does seem like a romance character?'

If this were real society, I would naturally have been flustered about looking at someone else's bare skin with impure eyes and would have gone into a combo of apology and excuses like 'Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that~'. But since this is a game world, I could be a bit more shameless.

"Ah, Cheswick's abs are my type, so my eyes naturally went there. You must have done some serious data training."

"Data training? What's that?"

So basically, I'm saying that regarding the healthy body part of character design, your data values are excellent.

Cheswick seemed puzzled about what my words meant, but he soon smiled at me with the corners of his mouth raised.

"My body is Lynn's type... That makes me happy. Look as much as you want. Hmm, should I take everything off?"

"Ah, would you do that?"

"Then wait just a moment."

"Ah, ah! Wait a minute, I was joking."

But Cheswick was really about to take off his entire upper body, so I hurriedly stopped him.