Kono Sekai ga Game da to, Ore dake ga Shitte Iru (WN) – Chapter 156

To get straight to the point.

That butler actually followed me to the toilet!!

It was a small mercy that the toilet was spacious, and he wasn’t exactly staring at me. But there’s a limit to keeping one’s word.
Elm seems to be planning to keep my every move under his surveillance.

And that continues even now. When I glanced to my left, about three meters away from the sofa I’m sitting on, I saw the man in a dapper butler’s uniform, watching me with the same posture…
I’m going to end up neurotic.

And there’s one negative consequence.
Glancing to my right, at the edge of the sofa I’m sitting on,

“…Hm?”

I made eye contact with a small blue creature tilting its head.
I sighed and gave what must have been my umpteenth warning.

“Ringo, there’s nothing interesting for you there. How about sitting properly over there?”

But Ringo, inspired by Emla’s surveillance zeal, shook her head again.

“…No. Watching Soma is fun.”

I don’t think there’s any fun in that, but Ringo, leaning over the edge of the sofa and resting her chin on it, gazing intently at me, certainly exuded an atmosphere of happiness.
I gave up trying to persuade her and let out another big sigh.

Both Elm and Ringo wouldn’t take their eyes off me.
If I were alone, I might have found an opening, but with two people watching me, it was difficult.
I needed to do something, or I wouldn’t be able to move.

Besides, it wasn’t just these two watching me…

“Muuuuh!”

On the sofa opposite, Maki was grumbling like a new species of animal as she watched me.
It seems she’s still sulking about the spoiler.
I wish she’d cheer up already.

Shifting my gaze from there, my eyes met Ena’s, who was interacting with Fu.
If our eyes met, it meant she was looking at me too, but I don’t understand her.
She seemed incredibly curious about my condition, glancing over at me frequently.
I want to believe Ena isn’t suspicious of me, but who knows.

The only ones indifferent to me are Southern, who continues her bragging to Asu as usual, and Mitsuki, who sits beside me with her back straight like a ramrod.

(I’m glad I chose to sit next to Mitsuki after all.)

When we returned to the living room, my companions were seated quite scattered.
There were limited places to sit, so I thought about sitting next to someone, but I hesitated.
If I sat next to Maki, I’d probably get dragged into another case discussion, which would be troublesome.
If I sat next to Ringo, Maki would likely cause a scene for a different reason, so I wanted to avoid that as much as possible.
If I sat next to Ena, I had a feeling she’d panic and do something strange.
Sitting next to Southern was out of the question.

So, I sat next to Mitsuki, and it seems to have been the only correct choice.
When I sat next to her, Mitsuki didn’t make a fuss like Maki or Ena; instead, the moment I sat down, she became as still as a statue.
Is this what they call the realm of “clear water and bright mirror”? Her cat ears, usually so flappy, were held perfectly straight, as if rigid.

(I need to remain calm, calm.)

Telling myself this, I picked up the teacup placed before me.
It was a bit irritating that the butler had made it, but Miz brought it with great care.
As I brought it to my nose, the gentle, elegant aroma of tea spread from the cup…

“Wha-!?”

Suddenly, with a *crack*, the handle came off.
The cup fell onto the table, splashing tea everywhere, and I hastily jumped back.

“Are you alright? I’ll wipe it up now.”
“Ah, yes. Sorry.”

But this incident seemed to restart Mitsuki, who had been frozen like she was under a spell. With the handkerchief in her hand, she began wiping the tea that had splashed on my left hand.

“I-I’m so sorry! A-are you alright!?”
“Miz. Ah, no, it’s nothing serious.”

Miz, who was nearby, hurried over upon hearing the commotion.
Then, looking at the cup rolling on the table, her eyes narrowed.

“…This! I’ve told that child many times not to glue the handles back on!”

Apparently, the handle had come off once and was just glued back on, making it easy to detach.
The foolish maid would likely be punished by Miz once she returned from her surveillance duty.

“…Mitsuki?”

I noticed that Mitsuki, who had been wiping my hand, had gone still again, as if frozen.
She was staring intently at my hand, a look of deep thought on her face.

“Is something wrong with my left hand?”

I asked, puzzled, and Mitsuki’s cat ears twitched unnaturally.
Then, she slowly shook her head.

“No. …It’s just that the tips of your fingers seem a bit dry.”
“Huh? Ah, no, it’s not…”

As I hastily pulled my hand away, Mitsuki’s gaze followed.
By now, Mitsuki’s eyes had become like a hunter targeting prey.

“If it’s dry, m-may I warm it for you?”
“Huh?”
“T-that is, since I’m sitting next to you, perhaps I could hold your hand like Ringo-san did earlier?”
“Eh?!”

It seemed she had also witnessed the scene between me and Ringo.
As if synchronizing with my flustered heart,

“Muu! Muuuu!!”

The grumbling insect in the opposite seat started to stir intensely.
I wanted to retort that warming it wouldn’t cure dryness, but looking at the cat ears trembling anxiously on Mitsuki’s head, I felt bad refusing.

“W-what is going on…!?”

As I, in my predicament, met the cat-eared girl’s gaze, Mitsuki suddenly blushed.
After a moment of bewildered expression,

“E-excuse me!”

She suddenly scooped me up and dashed out of the room.
…You know, today is a day I get kidnapped by my companions quite often.

“So, what’s wrong?”

Mitsuki asked, placing me on the floor in the hallway, and she opened her mouth, exuding a tense atmosphere.

“There’s one thing I need to ask you privately.
I don’t think something so ridiculous is possible, but I need to thoroughly eliminate the possibility.”

Her phrasing was strangely hesitant.
Could my plan have been discovered?
Breaking into a cold sweat, I nodded.

Then, Mitsuki continued with an even more serious expression.

“I’ll ask you directly. I highly doubt it, but… my—”

She hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath as if steeling herself, and asked with great force.

“—Do my ears sometimes move on their own?”

She noticed it now, that’s it!
I almost shouted it out but managed to hold back.

“Ah, no, I’m sorry for asking such a silly question.
It’s just that you kept looking at my ears so strangely, I couldn’t help but have such an impossible thought.
Yes, please forgive my ramblings.”

Even though I hadn’t said anything, she spoke volubly, unusually flustered.
…But I see.
Now that I think about it, in the game, no human ever mentioned the movement of cat ears.
Perhaps, considering that, it’s the default here that humans don’t pay attention to cat ear movements.

If that’s the case, I’m the only one who can tell her the truth.
Filled with a sense of mission, I opened my mouth.

“No, well… I don’t think they move on their own, even occasionally.”

Not occasionally, they move all the time.
I was about to add, but—

“That’s right!! Ah, thank goodness!!
I was so worried that you might have seen me moving my ears unconsciously!!
Ah, I’m so glad!!”

“Ah, no, so…”

Mitsuki, misinterpreting my words, happily flapped her cat ears and clutched both my hands.
She was gripping them so tightly that it hurt.

“W-wait, Mitsuki! Calm down, listen to what I…”
“It’s fine, it’s fine! I’m calm.
My ears wouldn’t move on their own! That’s only natural!”

Every time Mitsuki spoke, her cat ears twitched vigorously.
They were in top form.
Seeing the ecstatic cat ears, it felt too cruel to tell her the truth now.
If Maki kept quiet, there would be no problem, and I decided to gradually let her know the truth indirectly.

“Ah. More importantly, wasn’t it okay for you to leave your post?
You were working hard to stop this incident, weren’t you, Mitsuki?”

When I asked that, the overjoyed cat ears puffed out their chest with a proud “eheh.”

“There’s no problem with that.
I always know the whereabouts of the residents of this mansion.
For example… the three people who have been peeking from the shadows of the hallway since a moment ago.”

I hastily looked behind me, and three heads—white, black, and blue—snapped back from around the corner of the hallway.
It seemed Elm, Maki, and Ringo had been peeking from behind the corner, like the “X Brothers.”
However, Mitsuki didn’t seem bothered by this at all and continued her story nonchalantly.

“Speaking of which, you seemed to have spent some time alone after talking with the three of you in Rilum’s room, and then rejoined to check the barrier.
Did you do anything in that room that you didn’t want others to see?”

“Huh? No, that was…”

In Mitsuki’s eyes, a sharp glint appeared, similar to the one she showed when she first left the barrier room.
She was looking at me with complete suspicion.
Between the butler and Ringo, do I look that suspicious?

“No, no! Nothing of the sort!”

I denied it, waving my hands in front of my face with a hint of annoyance, but Mitsuki’s glare didn’t waver.
But I truly hadn’t done anything in that room.
As a last resort, I decided to call a witness.

“Elm! Elm, you saw it, right!
You saw that I didn’t do anything in that room!”

I shouted, and the man in the butler’s uniform glided out from the corner of the hallway and nodded with a courteous gesture.

“Yes. Of course, Soma-sama did not engage in any suspicious behavior.”

At his words, I shot Mitsuki a “See? I told you so!” look.

“…However, I cannot say what you would have done if I hadn’t been watching at that moment.”

At the extra words, I protested, “Elm!”

After that, I tried to explain myself many times, but my suspicion was not cleared up on the spot, and we returned to the living room with awkward expressions.
Divide!