Zoebel-san brought me to a building in Danama, the capital of the Tower country.
At the moment, I am still unable to visit other countries in my game progress, but by having someone send me an “invitation,” I can visit only the corresponding home.
This is fine, but sadly, I can’t walk out there, although there’s a charming, modern, ruins-like town in front of me. I feel like a horse with a carrot dangling from its nose.
Danama has a different charm from the old-fashioned fantasy atmosphere found in Lestein. Instead of just making clothes, I think balancing the storyline and quests is necessary.
However, the building in front of me now is lovely.
After passing through a large gate, visitors are immediately greeted by a square blue pond, oriental mosaic decorations on the corridors and walls, and long, waterfall-like vines hanging down from every corner.
The building resembles a sizeable Western apartment building, apparently a clan home. The tiger girl who greeted us introduced herself as Behind the Shadow, the clan master of Alkalimental.
“Alkali…? Shadow…?”
“Alkali is a girls-only clan made up of gatherers and artisans~. Please feel free to call me Shadow.”
“Ahaha, when she went on hiatus, she wanted to change her name to “I’m in retirement” to make it easier to understand. Then she mistyped it.”
“Ugh… I’ll never forget when I came back after almost 3 months…. When I logged in, everyone was all over me saying I was back from the shadow… I was able to make peace with people who teased me over it, and it’s a good memory now.”
Oh my, I am so sorry to hear that…
Zoe-san brought me here, aside from these conversations, because she had arranged for me to use this beautiful clan home for my date with Ciel-chan.
“Only our members are allowed to enter from the second floor up, but you are free to use the entire first floor and yard~.”
As she says this, Shadow-san gives me a quick home tour. The brightly lit hall with glass panels on the walls and roof facing outside, the room filled with plants and waterways like a princess’s room in a certain valley of the wind, the entrance where a piano and a huge birdcage hang—these are just a few scenes found in the building.
Wow, this is amazing. Isn’t this as much, if not more, a romantic date spot as the places in Lestein I had planned to go?
This place… is free for me to use…?
“Yes, please. You can freely use the objects you find in the room. If you want, you can rearrange the furniture. We have put restrictions on members not being allowed to enter until 10:00, you don’t have to worry about anyone disturbing you. And, we’ll be leaving now. Please feel free to make out with Ciel-chan.”
If you need anything else, please get in touch with us via Ling-san. After saying this, Shadow-san left with Zoe-san and Ling-chan.
The only two people left were me and Ciel-chan.
In the quiet, light-filled hall, Ciel-chan, the queen, strolls with a sombre expression. Sometimes, she stops to look out the window; other times, her eyes meet mine, and she tilts her head.
Oh, that gives off a strong impression~~!
It’s already perfect. This setting and atmosphere perfectly match Queen Ciel.
There was no need to avoid the mob in the picture angle. From my viewpoint, everything is a perfect picture and a movie.
I had not felt this excitement since my first trip to Kyoto, where I stayed at a relatively expensive hotel.
But my excitement did not last long.
After taking a few shots of Ciel-chan in her natural pose with the quaint scenery, I realized something was wrong. It was time to start taking pictures in other poses and using the accessories available.
The studio features were added to the system panel during the date, allowing me to specify some of the characters’ movements and poses.
This gives us more freedom to take pictures, which is also a privilege of the date winner.
While thinking about what kind of scene I would like to create, I casually looked up at the ceiling and saw some unnatural gap.
The ceiling was decorated with blue and white floral tiles, but one was clearly out of alignment.
The house was immaculate, technically and in setting, so I was bothered by such a small thing and stared at it.
…Then it was closed.
My eyes blink repeatedly. The stylish tiles above my head are laid out without a single gap.
It is as if the ceiling is saying.
“What? It was always like this.”
Hmmm. If you put it that way, then I guess it was.
Cause, you see, it’s just not possible. This fantastic clan home was a ninja house; someone hid in the ceiling.
So, what is the purpose of that ninja-san?
…But somehow I was scared, let’s change the room to take a picture.
I left that room, which looked like a study, and headed for the entrance.
But I might want some of those old books as a prop. With that thought in mind, I made a U-turn and went right back to the study—
There was a clatter, a rustling…
There was an unnatural noise, and several thick books fell from the stacks to the floor. But nobody was in the room, and after that, it was quiet.
Eh, what was that?! A bizarre phenomenon! I’m scared! It’s frightening!
And as I stand there, stiff and petrified, something jumps into my sight.
There was a human foot lying on the ground. A girl’s foot, wearing white tights and red leather shoes.
Kyaaaaaaa!!
Luckily, however, before the utterly pitiful screams escaped my throat, I noticed that the bookshelf by my feet was a little out of alignment.
The light was too low to see at first, but there was a space beyond the small gap between the bookshelf and the wall. And that the foot itself, which had been thrown out, seemed to exist on the other side of the gap.
Hearing my heartbeat pounding, I timidly approached the foot. When I put my hand on the bookshelf and applied pressure, it moved as quickly as a sliding door. Behind the wall was—
“…Oh, hi~!”
A girl with tiny white wings was quivering with a drawn-out smile.
“Heh. Excuse me, I was just coming to pick up something I forgot. I’ll take my leave then.”
The player quickly leaves the room, leaving me speechless in surprise.
Err… who?!
After that, as my nerves sharpened, the unexplained things continued to happen. There was a noise somewhere, and when I turned around, a shadow crossed the corridor.
I could hear the presence of multiple people.
They were talking from outside the window.
“Hey, this is my special seat, can you move out of the way?!”
“This window is for two people.”
“What are you doing here? The clan home is now rented out to Boutique-san!”
“That is exactly what I said. Is Zoe okay with it? Taking the time to peek at things like this? You’re a Ciel fan, aren’t you? Aren’t you frustrated?”
“You’re so sweet Ling-san. When you are like me, it’s no big deal to break into the set of Ciel and Vivia-san.”
“How creepy.”
“You’re weird.”
…I feel like I’m being watched.
… I’m being watched!
When I realized this, I could not remain immersed with Ciel alone.
In essence, this game is “adult make-believe,” while VR and various other systems have increased the complexity and freedom of this game, the fundamental concept remains the same.
Here I am, twenty-something years after I was born into this world, grinning and playing such games all by myself.
My sense of shame is terrible.
I wanted to take a picture of myself posing with Ciel-chan, but it was no longer the time.
Instead, I’m embarrassed even to let Ciel-chan pose for me. It would reveal my tastes, interests, and other things, wouldn’t it?
It was even harder with my sister there.
As soon as I start worrying about other people’s attention, all I can do is take safe pictures.
But then suddenly, the three peeping-toms outside start to make noises.
“Where are you going, Zoe-san?”
“Wait, wait, they’ll notice us.”
“Oh my God, I can’t watch this! Vivia-san!”
When I turned around, I saw Zoebel-san had barged into the room with impunity. The remaining peeping toms panicked behind the window, but she strode out as if he had nothing to feel guilty about.
“This is a date, you know! You have prepared such a wonderful costume and set the scene for the event! With a time limit, the time is even being pushed back because of me, what’s with this uninspiring photo session!”
I was taken aback. There are not many occasions when one is confronted with such a compelling argument.
However, Zoe-san acted quickly. Before I could even answer where to start, she sent instructions in all directions.
“Shadow-san, please move the sofa to the windowsill over there!”
“Uh, y-yes!”
“Ling-san, dim the lights! And light that candlestick!
“Okay.”
“There she is! Oh, Memeko-san? Just in time, change into your maid-like clothes and stand by!”
“Ugh… got it!”
“And the person on the ceiling~”
In response to her command, players came in and out of the room in all directions!
All of them are girl avatars, so I guess they are from the same clan, but if you include the person I just found, there were about five of them. Seven people, including Ling-chan and Shadow-san, moved this way under Zoe’s guidance.
While I watched in amazement, I heard a voice from the side.
“Come on, Vivia-san, don’t just stand there! Sit Ciel-sama on the sofa!”
“Ye-yes!”
“No, that kind of ordinary sitting style does not fully show off her elegance and bewitching charm! She should have crossed her legs and made a little sombre movement!”
“Okaay~!”
“And you are by Lady Ciel’s side! Make it more like slumping to the floor and leaning more on your feet! Good! Excellent! Next~”
Shadow-san later described what had just happened.
“It was a very vivid hijacking.”
Previous | Table of Contents | Next