※This is an IF side story that takes place in the event that Trinity won the Summer Festival.
"Heehee… Hey, my cup is empty."
"I know, just wait a moment… Please, have some."
It was a beautiful sight, watching Makoto, who had failed to master slave-like honorifics even after repeated physical education, pour matcha into my cup with a trembling hand. There was no doubt that the trembling of her hand was born entirely from the humiliation of this situation.
On the final day of the Trinity-Gehenna Exhibition, our miraculous victory was secured by a razor-thin margin of just one person. The feeling I had when the Arius and Pater girls came up to me and started tossing me in the air in celebration… even now, the memory makes my heart melt.
After the closing ceremony, as I happily enjoyed the bonfire after-party, I saw Haruna, Iroha, and Hina all sighing in unison, which did make me wonder what they had been plotting under Hina's lead.
Of course, separate from the victory, after enjoying the after-party to my heart's content, I took Makoto's hat, handed it to Iroha, and saw the three of them off as they returned to Gehenna. From the moment the closing ceremony ended, Makoto was to be my slave for a week. At the time, I was filled with the intent to become a most vicious and merciless master.
The cruel reality set in the next day.
Makoto was loud. She was useless. And while she couldn't openly defy the contract, her entire being, from head to toe, was filled with a rebellious spirit. If I had lost, I would have been frustrated and felt wronged, but I still would have done most of what was asked of me. But not you, I see.
To be honest, I had vaguely guessed this would be the outcome, so there was nothing surprising about it. I just hadn't wanted to realize in this way just how pointless it was to have hoped otherwise.
"Makoto-chan, that look is great on you. Want to live here from now on?"
"Go to he—… No, thank you."
"Ahaha, aren't you getting used to it? It's not so bad, is it? It's not like I'm working you like a slave or anything."
I brought her here as a "slave," gave her some polite etiquette lessons, had a butler's uniform tailored for her, and all she has to do is attend to me while I work. She even gets three square meals a day. Isn't this not just a good deal, but an excellent one…?
"By the way, you really are handsome☆ Just having you by my side gives me strength, which I think is a good thing!"
"..."
Having a female butler who couldn't be more handsome if she tried—as long as she kept her mouth shut—waiting on me feels absolutely fantastic. After I sent her usual hat back to Gehenna with Iroha, I had her hair neatly styled, and when you add a butler's uniform to her cool expression and magnificent figure, the result is a work of art.
Though, I think I've called her handsome so many times that, unlike at first, she doesn't even react anymore. Back when I was still in the middle of her etiquette injection… I mean, education, every time I poked her, I'd get a cute reaction like, "W-what…?!" or "Hah… aren't you tired of stating the obvious? It's getting old." …This is a little disappointing. Did I say it so often that it lost its sincerity?
"Makoto-chan, give me a shoulder rub!"
"Tch… I am… sigh."
"As if resigned to her fate, Makoto-chan put down the document she was reading, came up behind me, and began to give me a heavenly massage that melted away my fatigue."
"Damn it, just say you want me to do it! Just say it!"
"Ahaha! That's another flick on the head for you today."
"..."
Makoto fell silent, moved behind me, and began to knead my shoulders with force. The gesture was clearly meant to be painful, but much to her clenched-jaw disappointment, it just felt wonderfully refreshing.
"I'm kidding, so relax your face, Makoto-chan. You've been trying hard, so for today, you can go back to speaking normally."
Today marked the third day of Makoto's servitude. Her views on Trinity remained unchanged, but a flicker of hope had ignited within me that perhaps they could be changed. If I succeeded, it would be another step closer not to a half-baked Eden Treaty, but to a true one.
"Tch. To think the only tasks you have for me are these menial chores. There's a limit to using a cow-slaughtering knife for a chicken-slaughtering job!"
"Hey… you've got that backward, Makoto-chan…"
"Kikikit! Such details are trivial. If the great Makoto-sama says it is so, then it is so!"
What am I going to do with this idiot… I'm actually worried for her.
"Ah, right. Have any of our kids been bothering you?"
A thought suddenly occurred to me. Through the festival, the Pater girls had come to accept my ways to some extent, but that didn't mean they no longer felt any aversion to Gehenna students. Even though she's here as a result of the slavery bet, Makoto is technically my guest. If the Pater girls were in their right minds, they wouldn't mess with her, but they're the type to occasionally do things that aren't in their right minds, so it's hard to trust them completely.
"Kukuk. Such pathetic pranks are not even worth remembering. However…"
"However?"
"The scale's units being set incorrectly… just how much must one hate us to pull such a prank…?"
"The scale's units? Why?"
"The unit was set to pounds! Pounds! To provide a scale that uses such a barbaric unit… surely even you must know that is not something a human being should do?!"
Hey, we don't use yards, pounds, or inches either. Who on earth would do something so cruel?
"Um, Makoto-chan? I'll apologize on their behalf… Pfft. A pound scale, ahaha. Ahahahaha…!"
"Hey, you find a situation this grave amusing?!"
But it's funny, what am I supposed to do? Is it even possible to not find her overreaction to such a trivial thing cute?
"Well, that aside. If there have been any direct attempts at harassment, or if any happen in the future, tell me right away. Mmm, I'll give them a stern scolding."
At that, Makoto's hands, which had been kneading my shoulders, stopped. Wondering what was wrong, I tilted my head back slightly. Makoto was looking down at me with icy eyes.
"…In that case, shouldn't you hit your own head first?"
"Hey, that's different! You know, Makoto-chan, it's not a crime for a master to treat her slave harshly☆"
I playfully reached up with both hands, grabbed Makoto's cheeks, and moved them around to force a smile. I wonder if she knows just how much I'm holding back. If our situations were reversed, I can't even imagine what kind of tasks she would have had me do. If I hadn't included the clause allowing me to refuse orders that exploited my combat abilities, it wouldn't have been strange if she had actually tried to use me to attack Trinity.
"So smile! They say a smile brings good fortune, right? Mmm, you never know. Maybe once this week is over, good fortune will actually come your way."
Of course, that "good fortune" would mean the end of her life as a slave. If that's not good fortune, what is?
"…You. Don't you ever get tired of working like that?"
"Hmm? This is just me doing what I have to do."
Makoto, who was now more or less just lazing around my office when not doing the occasional task I gave her, suddenly asked me a question. If she had even a shred of use in paperwork, I would have tried to put her to work somehow, but unfortunately, she was completely useless. And I couldn't just let her out of my sight, fearing she might cause some major incident, so she was now essentially a totem pole in my office. Nice to look at, but zero practicality.
"Work is for the underlings. Leaders like us are in the position to command them. Why is it that neither you nor the Prefect Team leader understands that? It's utterly foolish."
Ah, this is… it's getting very hard to resist a forehead flick.
"I guess I'll have to bring Iroha-chan over here after all."
"W-wait! Iroha is off-limits! You'll have to kill me before you take Iroha!"
Good grief. How did our poor Iroha get herself enslaved by this girl and end up in such a predicament? …Come to think of it, with Makoto gone, she's probably enjoying some peaceful days, right? It's definitely not just my imagination that I'm starting to feel envious of Iroha.
"You know, you don't have to understand a difference in values. If you heard Hina's usual thoughts, your reaction would be 'what a fool,' at best. And if you heard my thoughts, you wouldn't come up with anything more than 'how stubborn.' What I'm saying is, choosing to ignore it is also an option."
"Hmph, that's prejudice. Are you underestimating the mercy of the great Makoto-sama? If you thought I'd let it go with just that, you are gravely mistaken. Kikitkit!"
"Aha… well, not that I care, but. I don't really have a strong sense of myself as a leader. I didn't ask to be in this position, you know☆ But staying in this position until now was my choice, so I'm just taking the responsibility that comes with it."
"Kikikikit! What, that's exactly what I expected. How boring. So boring it's pathetic!"
"And what great resolve led you to take on the position of Chairman of Gehenna's Pandemonium Society, Makoto-chan?"
I ask, even though I know the answer will be something trivial. The reason? Makoto can't move on to the next topic until she's had her say.
"Kikikikit. A fine question. It is because… Gehenna wanted me. As long as I knew that no one but the great Makoto-sama was worthy of the pinnacle of Gehenna, how could I refuse?!"
It was a very Makoto-like answer.
"And are you aware that the 'pinnacle of Gehenna' is currently on her knees, facing a wall in reflection?"
"Huh? What are you talking about? I'm right he—"
"I'm telling you to go face the wall and reflect, Makoto-chan☆"
But today, there seemed to be no need to move on to the next topic.
Knock, knock.
"Mika, could I have a moment of your time?"
It was all thanks to a timely visitor.
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