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The day after I caught a glimpse of Clayman and Sophia-san's lovey-dovey display.
I found myself envying the two of them, and my desire to see Cecilia became so strong that I couldn't do anything. I ended up just lazing around in bed, not even going to the Guild.
Seeing me being so lazy, Gai must have found it annoying, because he told me that if I wanted to see her that badly, I should just go meet Cecilia.
I told him that we didn't have plans to meet today, and that she likely had Cleric work, so it was impossible, but he just said it so easily...
I got angry... or rather, I took out my frustration on him and changed his appearance from a Sphinx to the Venus de Milo.
I made it with all my might, even though I was feeling grumpy.
It turned out well.
Gai started yelling loudly because his appearance had changed.
He complained last time too, when I made him into a Buddha statue and a Sphinx. He's so selfish.
Ignoring Gai's desperate pleas, I decided to sleep.
I woke up to the sound of knocking on the door: *knock, knock, knock*.
I got out of bed and spaced out for a moment.
It felt like I hadn't even slept for an hour...
Because I only slept for a bit, I was sleepy and my head wasn't working well.
I scratched my head and wondered who it could be when
"Youki-saaan, are you there?"
It was Cecilia's voice coming from beyond the door.
"Yeah, yeah! But wait a sec!"
I can't believe Cecilia came to see me!
I quickly changed from my pajamas to my regular clothes and tidied myself up.
I also quickly tidied up the room, finishing in about thirty seconds.
Feeling cheerful, I opened the door.
"Excuse me for intruding."
"...Please come in."
There stood Cecilia, in casual clothes but with a disguise of glasses and a hat, and Happiness, not in her maid outfit but in normal casual clothes.
I didn't know Happiness was coming, but I didn't particularly mind.
I was already overjoyed that Cecilia had come to see me.
"I'm sorry for the sudden visit. I hope I'm not bothering you?"
Cecilia had an apologetic expression.
Not at all!
In fact, you're welcome. I wanted you to come.
For me, who was suffering from Cecilia-withdrawal, Cecilia was the perfect cure.
Happiness, who had known me for a long time, seemed to understand what I was thinking and gave me a subtle expression.
"...Pervert."
She said that, looking at me with disdain.
Why do I have to be spoken to like that?
What's wrong with thinking about the girl I like?
As Happiness and I glared at each other, Cecilia hesitantly spoke up.
"Um... Youki-san?"
"Yes?"
"May I come into the room?"
"...Ah."
Happiness and I were glaring at each other, with Cecilia between us in front of the room.
Indeed, even if we were going to do this, it could be done after inviting them into the room.
I stopped glaring at Happiness for a moment and invited them both into the room.
"...Captain."
As soon as we entered, Happiness spoke to me with a look of confusion.
"What is it?"
"...Where's Gai?"
"He's right there."
I pointed to Gai, who had been transformed into the Venus de Milo.
He didn't respond, perhaps because he was asleep.
Happiness stared intently at Gai for about five seconds and then said one word.
"...This is no good."
"Why not!?"
To my surprise, she rejected it.
The Sphinx was no good, and the Venus de Milo is no good too!?
I admit I made it out of frustration and grumpiness, but I don't recall cutting corners.
In fact, I think it's my best work yet.
"What do you think, Cecilia?"
"M-me!? Um..."
She seemed surprised that I asked her and started to fluster.
While finding Cecilia cute, I waited for her reply. The result...
"I don't think it's very good..."
"Eeeh!?"
To my surprise, Cecilia also gave it a negative review.
That's three strikes in a row.
I deeply felt that art is profound.
Perhaps my artistic sense doesn't align with the aesthetic perspectives of art in this world. At that moment, I was desperately thinking about how to get my stone statues recognized.
"..."
Therefore, I was unaware that Happiness was looking at me with pity.
(Oh, God. Please grant Youki-san the ability to see his own creations objectively.)
Even more unknown to me, Cecilia was praying to God with her hands clasped for my sake.
"...By the way, why did you two come here together today?"
I decided to think about Gai's next form later and asked them the reason for their visit.
"...To make the Captain laugh."
"What do you mean, Happiness-san?"
Did Happiness bring Cecilia all the way here on her day off just to tease me?
I think I have more meaningful ways to spend my day off.
Happiness and I started glaring at each other again, but Cecilia intervened.
"Happiness-chan, please stop joking. Youki-san, you too, calm down..."
Told off by Cecilia, we both backed down.
Well, this kind of bickering was common in the Demon Lord's Castle, so it wasn't even necessary to stop us.
"You've both calmed down. So, about your business... actually, we just came to visit."
I thought they might have something important to discuss, but it seemed not.
Happiness's workload had decreased because Teal-chan had started working as a maid at the mansion.
Cecilia had finished her work in Dagaz Village early and received a vacation.
It was good that I helped with the work.
...Although I felt annoyed, I also had new encounters because of it.
"Speaking of which, is Shiq-kun okay...?"
She must have remembered from our talk in Dagaz Village.
Shiq had been physically and mentally broken by Miller, the Imperial Hero of the Galis Empire.
"No, he's still depressed..."
"Is that so... I'm worried."
Not only Cecilia, but I, Duke, and Happiness are also worried.
However, he's not recovering easily.
He didn't return to the inn yesterday either. I wonder where he went.
"...He'll be fine."
""Eh!?""
We, Youki and Cecilia, exclaimed in surprise at Happiness's words.
Yesterday, Happiness herself came to visit, worried about Shiq, so what happened in just one day?
"Has Shiq recovered?"
"...Not yet. But Celia-san is planning to do something about it."
"Your mother is!?"
When I asked Happiness for more details, it turned out Shiq was currently at the Aquarain family's mansion.
"Cecilia didn't know?"
"Yes. Yesterday, there was a lot I had to report about the Dagaz Village incident..."
It seemed she hadn't known because she was busy.
"...Continue speaking."
Apparently, yesterday Celia-san had business in town, and on her way back to the mansion by carriage, she found Shiq walking alone.
Noticing that he was acting differently than usual, Celia-san immediately put Shiq in the carriage and headed for the mansion.
"...What my mother did wasn't kidnapping, right?"
"...It seems like it, but as his cohabitant, I'll allow it."
"...Continue."
After bringing Shiq back to the mansion, Celia-san apparently heard his story.
Shiq tearfully recounted how Miller had unilaterally defeated and mocked him in Dagaz Village. Celia-san silently hugged him and stroked his head until he stopped crying.
Then, Shiq, exhausted from crying, fell asleep, so she let him stay at the mansion.
By the way, it took Happiness about thirty minutes to finish this story.
"So that's what happened at the mansion yesterday... As expected of you, Mother..."
Cecilia was moved by her mother's actions.
Perhaps it's because she works in a healing profession.
"...Captain, a message from your wife."
"From Celia-san to me?"
"...She said she'll take care of Shiq."
That sounds like a kidnapper's threat. Well, it's just how it sounds, so there's no problem.
"Tell her I understand. Entrusting Shiq to Celia-san is the most suitable choice."
"...Understood."
"Well, either way, I was planning to ask her. It saves me the trouble of going there directly."
"Is that so?"
Cecilia tilted her head, alone.
Because we, Youki and Happiness, knew about Shiq, we had already decided to ask Celia-san for help.
"Well, yes. The reason is, for Shiq, Celia-san is more of a mother than his own mother. What I mean by that is a complicated story, so I'll tell you another time."
This is an important matter for Shiq, and I can't easily talk about it when he's not here.
If the opportunity arises, I'll tell Cecilia.
"I see, I understand."
"Well, I think Shiq will be fine if he's with Celia-san. ...So, changing the subject, actually..."
Suddenly, I remembered seeing Clayman and Sophia-san's lovey-dovey married couple display yesterday.
I had heard about Clayman, but not about Sophia-san.
Cecilia might know something about Sophia-san's adventuring days, so I decided to ask her.
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