What are you doing, Tsutomu?


　Tsutomu swims his eyes to avoid making eye contact with Amy, who gives him a jit eye after seeing the morning paper that came out the next day. The article that was featured with pictures had a solid shot of Tsutomu petting Lorena and Daryl, which was a hot topic of conversation among the labyrinth mania and fans.

　Lorena has become much more famous now that she's made a name for herself, and Daryl has even started a fan club under Zeno's production. Daryl's fans in particular seemed to be making a lot of noise, but it wasn't a problem because it wasn't a negative thing.


''Hey, could it be that you did the stroking method I taught you?　I'm pretty sure. See?　This Daryl's throbbing face!
Don't do it.


　Amy is waving a picture of Daryl, who is waving a picture of Daryl, who looks like he shouldn't be shown in public too much. Tsutomu looked at Daryl next to her, who was turning his head down with a bright red face, and took the newspaper away from her.


'I honestly didn't think it would work that well,' she said. What a lesson you taught me without even knowing it.
Why is Tsutomu angry? I'm the one who's angry!　In these uncontrolled hands!
Shut up. It says criminal in the hand over here. Shut up about the source of all evil.
What?　It's not right for this hand in the first place, this hand!


　Amy grabbed my hand, huffing and puffing menacingly, and I tried to pay her off cumbersomely. Then Corina, who was preparing the dishes, stared at them.


'It's time for breakfast, both of you. If the dishes fall off, you'll be in trouble, so please be quiet.'
Excuse me.
Quite a lot of tomes...


　Korina, who is usually a bit of a shy person, becomes very clear when it comes to food. Tsutomu lightly apologizes to her and Amy mumbles to herself and starts to help Korina.


'I agree with you about being a criminal. Did the old lady use this technique to corrupt you too?
I don't want you to be the only one to say that, though.


　As I'm messing around with Amira, who doesn't feel uncomfortable sticking out as a prize neck, a low voice sounds as if to intercede.


''Well don't stand out by being too weird.


　Garum, who was sitting in his seat with his arms crossed, sounded a little dumbfounded at the article. But there hadn't been any conversation of any sort in recent times, so Tsutomu was inwardly surprised to be approached.


'I know,'
Okay.
..........


　Garum was originally a man of few words, and Tsutomu was unusually overly cautious to speak to him in reverse. It was Daryl, his drooping dog ears swinging happily, who brought the conversation to a halt immediately.


'Mr. Tsutomu!　Mr. Garum!　Are you free next week?　Last time we talked about going out to dinner, you said you had an appointment. Let's go next week!　I found a good place with great meat!


　Garum nodded lightly as Daryl suggested here and there where the two of them had a conversation. Tsutomu scratched his head as if he was pretending to think, and then nodded as well.


''Yes!　So leave us both open next week!　Absolutely, sir!
'All right, don't scream. It's noisy.
All right. Thank you.


　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the most of your time in this area. I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I'm going to be able to help you out. Then, as if to disguise his or her embarrassment, Tsutomu held out his or her hands.


I'd like to pet you again to thank you.　Hmm?
“Yeah, stop it. I didn't know I looked like this, I was surprised. Hey, don't come a little closer!


　Daryl cautiously moved away from Tsutomu, who was rudely moving his hands around. Diniel looked slightly envious of Tsutomu and then approached Daryl from the front, pretending to receive his breakfast. Then, taking advantage of the opportunity to warn Tsutomu, he reached out to him.


''Alright.''
...?


　Daryl, being stroked by a taller Diniel, looked down at her with eyes that said, what the hell is this guy doing? Diniel flinched at the half-eyed Daryl and let go of her hand. She had been taught some petting skills by Amy, too, so she knew that if she got serious, she could do it too.


'Why don't you look like that newspaper?'
"Because Mr. Diniel is a lousy worker.


　I've known Amy for a rather long time, and I've been praised by other beastmen for the way I pet her, so I was confident. But Diniel's blank expression twitched as he returned it so blithely.


''I'm worse at petting than Tsutomu?　I've had more experience petting absolute beasties than Tutom. And even Amy, who taught Tsutomu how to pet them, vouches for my skills. I'm definitely more skilled at it. I don't want you to be too strong just because you're embarrassed.
''Because Diniel-san's petting is selfish. I don't need to compare it to Mr. Tsutomu.


　Diniel, who froze and stopped moving a bit after being told so clearly, then turned his sword gaze on Tsutomu.


''...............................You criminal with hands.
'Hey, you totally took it out on yourself. You should be sorry for yourself.
'Pervert, I hope you die a hundred times in God's dungeon.
Well, I guess a hundred deaths won't fix your selfishness and ineptitude.
..........


　Hearing those words, Diniel was furious, but when he saw Daryl's heartbroken face, he retracted his anger as if he thought it was an act of shame. Then he headed for the stairs with a wobbly gait.


'Breakfast?'
Good.


　With a last faint voice that sounded like a loss of energy, Diniel went upstairs. Amy, who was watching her from the kitchen, made an a-ha moment.


I'm in full-blown sulking mode. I'll go talk to him later.
I don't know. Please.
Well, I'm the one who sowed the seeds. It was Tsutomu who made the problem bloom, though!


　As for Diniel, who felt like he had mastered the art of petting a beast, Amy also felt some responsibility for it. But it was also true that Tsutomu was provoking her and pouting, so she couldn't say anything about it.


''Then when that sulking mode thing is over, I'll take your breakfast with me.
Please. Huh, that Dini girl will probably take a while to recover.
I'm sorry. It was my fault.


　Looking at Amy, who was shrugging her shoulders in relief, Daryl bowed his head with an apologetic look on his face. Amy hadn't had very good feelings for Daryl when she first joined the clan, but now she recognized him as an individual, not as a disciple of Garum.


'Good. I knew that one day I would be ah, and you used to say that much to Dini. As a reward, get a pat on the back from Tsutomu!
Well, uh...


　Daryl smiles back at Amy and Daryl falls silent as he thinks about something.

　It's not that Daryl doesn't want to take the initiative to be petted by Tsutomu either. It's not something he would say to himself. But if it was a reward to be obtained in exchange for something, then he was willing to accept it.


''That's what it sounds like, but...''


　So with some anticipation, Daryl turned his attention to Tsutomu. He just looked at Daryl like that and looked somewhat uncomfortable.


''It's not like that,''
What?　Why?　You seemed to be having a great time moving your hands around earlier!
'No, there's something about being asked to do it that feels a little different. I'll take a pass.
Oh, yeah?


　I'm sure you'll be able to find a lot more information on this in the future. And Amy was observing Tsutomu's behavior with a curious eye.