I confess.

　A few minutes later, without knowing why I blushed so much.
　Cosmos, who had finally regained his composure, opened his mouth.

''Confession?''
Yes. I'm a cheater.
Yeah.

　I don't understand the story.
　But it sounds interesting, so I decide to listen to it for a while.


'If I create a strong character (...) like that, no one will want to look deep into me, right?'

...... character building, huh?
Yes. Yes, but it's true that I do think about these things from time to time, but there's a big difference between showing it and not showing it. But I think there's a big difference between showing it and not showing it.
I'm trying to be discreet,
'You're right. Especially for those in close proximity.

　Do you mean that you try to blur it out on a daily basis?

'It's not fair, is it?　Please go ahead and laugh at him, master.
I still don't quite understand what's cheating.

"When you create a character like ......, when you create a character like this, people will only see me as 'that guy'. If I do something unfair, or if I do something weird, they're going to be convinced that I'm a pervert (...)

What?
What?

　Pervert?

Is he a pervert?
'That would be perverted. Ninety percent of what you say is crude.
You mean the blurbs are all goofy?

What?
What?

　The story doesn't fit.


'Gentlemen, master, if you would please go to ......'

　Cosmos says, the corners of his mouth twitching.

　'Oh shit, they found out.


'I'm sorry, I didn't really listen to you,'


　To be honest - Cosmos was silent for a moment, then "Wow! And with his head in his hands, he said, "Stupid, stupid, my stupid! He popped his own head.

'Jeez, you've broken it to yourself!　God!　I didn't want my master to know about it!

You're playing a perv.

'Yes, sir!　I'm a perverted mask!　From now on, it shall be known to you!

　Cosmos reopens in desperation.

　Oh, right, you were a perverted mask .......

'I see, so that's why you were saying those things so that only Champagne could hear you. What, I'm just saying that.
You're sure?
...... No, it's nothing.

　I was instantly embarrassed by my mistake. What's a manzai? Stupid.


'But why are you acting?'

　I interjected the question, as if to divert the conversation.

'It's like I said before,'
'You think being thought of as a pervert helps you hide your cheating?
Yeah.
'Why do you try to hide your cheating?　Are you really that much of a cheater?

　I think we all have that side of us, but I don't understand why you would try to hide it so thoroughly by wearing a mask.


...... I don't know why. I don't know when it happened, but this is the only way I was able to live my life.

　Cosmos uttered somewhat sadly, and continued to speak with a slight downcast look on his face.

'I feel like it was to stand out among the maids at first. When I was called the Ten Greatest, and my job came with great responsibility, and I stood in such a superior position, I was afraid of making mistakes, so I had the immunity of being a pervert. I chose wand arts because I had a shallow idea that I might be able to get to a higher position if I had a skill that no one else would have.


　When you make a mistake, you act like you're going to make a mistake and think, "Oh, he's a pervert. It's the false self that acts the pervert that gets hurt. The real self doesn't get hurt. In other words, a way out.

　She said that having that kind of idea was itself "cheating".


　I can understand how Cosmos feels. I wanted to run away from the pressure of being number one in the world, too, many times. From the pressure of being number one in the world. But in the end, I was able to keep running until the very end. That's how I got to where I am now.

　And she knew that I was the one who would never run away, which is why she contrasted herself with me and became so despicable. So I guess that's why she didn't want me to be the only one to find out.

　She doesn't think I'll ever forgive her.
　That's aggravating. I have to show her that I understand.


"I don't despise you.
!
'I don't intend to be such a narrow-minded master that I won't recognize you.
Master ......
'There's absolutely no reason for you to be like that. I can say with certainty. You can tell me if you want.　I can't give you any witty advice, but I can listen to you without disrespect.

　There's a reason why Champagne has become obsessed with the young lady and I'm obsessed with the world's number one. There is a reason. It's a kind of fate from which you can never escape.

　Just as there are those who can no longer escape, there are those who were forced to escape. Yes, just like Eco when he was in witchcraft school.



'...... I wasn't related to everyone in the house I lived in by blood, right?

　After a while, Cosmos slowly broke the silence.


　The personnel Yukari had gathered. All of them had heard of the wacky ones. He dared to choose only such people.

　I didn't understand at the time, but now I can understand why ...... if I look into the eyes of the Cosmos.

　These women are destined to be saved here. Here where they can ignore everything in society that bothers them.

　That's how it was arranged by none other than Yukari. The cold-hearted, venomous, and uncompassionate woman, who would never pity another person, who should have lived her entire life without even being given a name for assassination for a living, made it so.


''I'm from a fairly wealthy family. Bloodlines, after all, are a part of it. I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but it's not. It's a good idea to be able to have a good idea of what you're doing.

I thought you were supposed to be good at art.

I'm so glad you knew. Yes, I made it bloom here. But it seems to have blossomed from the beginning, but there's no way I could make use of it in an environment where ...... no one would ever look at me in the first place, and art, you know, doesn't do a d*mn thing for me.

　Yukari has told me that her numerous designs at the Firstest Manor are mostly her work. It's a useful enough talent to be useful, but ...... wasn't in a position to make use of it.
　Certainly, huh? I'm sure that the ambiguous thing called art would not have any meaning if there was no environment in which to show and be seen.

'They were kind people, all the self-proclaimed family members. Well, that's only on the surface. It wasn't long before I built up a pool of disgust and inferiority complexes and left the house.
Did you get enslaved?
No, I became a slave myself.
...... Seriously?
'Seriously. I really thought at the time that it was a thousand times better ...... to be needed and used as a slave by someone else than to live with an inferiority complex and live as a defective person.

　That's ...... sick again.

I'll hate myself ...... because I've been very blessed with a really too convenient or ideal life since my master bought it for me. And yet, I ...... still can't get rid of my inferiority complex. I'm trying to play the pervert and forgive myself for being cowardly, mean and unworkable. You are tricking me with me and forcing me to convince myself. I'm a pervert and I can't help it.

　The cheating thoughts that come from a lack of confidence due to a sense of inferiority are convinced that it's just a pervert. Even if he makes a mistake or is criticized for it, he ducks because he is a pervert and avoids getting hurt himself. That's the way Cosmos lives today.

In fact, maybe he's hiding his true, imperfect self under the mask of being a pervert and pretending to be something he's not.

　Cosmos laughed sadly and said so.

　Oh, she must know. That this way of life has already reached a point where there is no easy fix for it.


'Thank you for talking to me. As a thank you, I'll give you a few of my favorite words instead.

　If that's the case, there's nothing more I can say to her.
　I'll just stand still and hope that someday her inferiority complex will disappear.

"Don't think, feel.

　He grins.

　Thinking about it doesn't solve it, it's useless.
　If you eventually realize that this is the place where it will still be resolved, that's fine.

　In response to my irresponsible words, Cosmos erased a little bit of loneliness from his smile and replied, ''I'm very easy to feel.

''I'm very easy to feel, aren't I?''





Now, after all, you are going to learn wand techniques.
You're not wavering, are you, Master?

　I couldn't resist talking about it, but we shouldn't lose sight of the purpose of today.

　Learning 【Wand Technique】 is a tricky thing. The learning requirement of hitting the same demon dozens of times, it's easy to think that this can only be fulfilled by a strong demon with high HP, but in fact it's not. A certain slime that appears in this slime forest can easily solve this problem. The tricky part is that you can't meet that slime (・・・・・・・・).

　Once you meet the slime, the rest is easy. That's right, as long as we can meet them.

　There are four skills left, Kakugyo, Flying Car, Dragon Horse and Dragon King. That's for two people, so there are a total of eight slimes to meet.

　I hope we can finish by ...... night.


''Ouch!''

　Good luck!　We found the first one.

　The one lurking behind a tree out of the corner of our eye was an angular slime as shiny as metal. Its name was a Haganese slime.

　This haganess slime's VIT is actually frighteningly high, to the point where it can't deal satisfactory damage even if it has a perfect STR.

　Instead, its MGR is terribly low. To the extent that a low INT Ichino type will kill you in one hit.

　Therefore, if you beat him up with a stick until he fulfills the conditions for mastering each skill of 【Wand Technique】, and finish him off with the Ichino Kata at the end, it's a dimension that can be easily mastered.

　Of course, he will resist, but his attack motion is similar to other slimes and his AGI is rather low. You'll be able to avoid them when you see them. It's a demon that can be said to be just the thing for you.

"Okay, go Cosmos!
Yes, I'm almost there.
No, go.
I'm almost there.
That's your joke!
Ahi!

　I didn't even think about it, and this is what I felt!

　When I tsked like a champagne, Cosmos turned to Hagan's Lime with shy cheeks and said, "So, I'm going to be serious, then. You don't have to force yourself to be blurry ...... if you're not going to be embarrassed.

　Maybe this was the right thing to do, even if it was ....... I was going to have a good relationship with this guy, somehow.

　Yes, I'm okay with this now. But when she gets on that glorious stage in the summer or winter, she's going to have to change a bit.





'Ta, I'm home!'

　One AM. I finish looking for a hagane slime and go home.

　It was hard to find the eighth one, and it was at this time of night. However, the hard work was worth it, and both Cosmos and I were able to learn all the 【Wand Technique】.

　Ha, it's fine. Even though there's nothing to feel sorry for, if you're pursued by that perverted masked maid until this kind of time, the troublesome partner is ......


Welcome home.

　Geez, Yukari!

　You've been up until this time. So, you can go to ......

Tomorrow we'll be learning Eco's axe technique, as well as yarn manipulation for anyone who wants to join Eve's squad, including me.
Yeah, I guess so.
I thought you might need some prep work.
Prep?
Nighttime string manipulation.

　You're a f*cking joke!