“What’s the matter, Master?”
Belly, unaware of how flustered I was inside, asked with a smooth smile. That beautiful appearance was like a work carefully crafted by a master doll maker. I was momentarily spellbound by that smile, but I soon gathered myself and asked with a stern face.
“Belly, why… are you using that way of speaking?”
“Way of speaking?”
I recalled my first meeting with Belly. His behavior was like a sharp-tongued cat, and he expressed his hostility toward me in casual speech. To me, who remembered how he expressed his displeasure toward me without filter, his current appearance was unfamiliar.
“Master, do you… not like this?”
Moreover, it felt strange to hear a child smaller than me, who was probably only about seven years old, calling me Master. Strange wasn’t enough—it was bizarre. I wasn’t Belly’s owner, nor was I a noble.
He did call me master in front of Rose too, but… he’d surely leave someday. In the first place, it was strange for him to remain beside an extra like me.
“No, what I like is definitely the maid from The Lily of Enchantment, but…”
“Belly likes it too.”
Belly smiled brightly without even listening to the rest of my words. His radiant smile, showing his teeth, was as bright as a sunflower.
Belly, whose attitude toward me had completely changed since the day I rescued him, really seemed like a completely different person. And yet, he coldly wouldn’t even answer the other dormitory residents who showed interest in the new person’s arrival. As if no one else but me existed to him.
Thanks to that, Belly became isolated among the other children like me. Of course, I couldn’t think there was no machination by Carl in this situation. Because I could feel subtle glances from him.
But at the same time, Carl also treated me well, contrary to his previous hostile behavior. His confusing conduct came across as bizarre to me. Well, Belly didn’t seem to care much though.
“Even so, you don’t need to copy the way of speaking…”
It was a cuter, more childlike tone than the protagonist in the book. However, aside from that, it was exactly the same way of speaking, so I kept flinching in surprise.
“But…”
Belly whimpered as if about to cry.
That’s right. This wasn’t the first time I’d brought up this topic. After moving into the dormitory, I’d brought it up several times trying to correct it. But each time, Belly’s eyes welled up with tears as if he’d cry any moment, and my softened heart couldn’t say anything.
But if things continued like this, it seemed I’d never be able to correct this speech pattern, so this time I decided to steel my heart.
“Right? Belly, just like you’re not a servant in a novel, I’m not your master.”
I spoke as gently as possible, but after hearing my words, Belly’s eyes changed. At the pupils where a beast-like instinct flashed across for an instant, I unconsciously moved my body back slightly.
“But you came to rescue Belly, didn’t you?”
Though his eyes were no different from a glaring beast facing its prey, from his mouth flowed the polite speech of a servant. The mismatched appearance created a strange atmosphere around Belly.
“You picked up Belly, took care of him, and gave him a name, didn’t you?”
“But that was…”
“Whatever purpose there was, the fact that you rescued Belly doesn’t change.”
In Belly’s eyes lurked deep emotions too profound to be shown to someone who’d only cared for him for a month. Even though what I’d done wasn’t much, they were incredibly intense emotions, unbelievably so.
Overwhelmed by those emotions, I couldn’t think deeply. I was simply worried that if I acted wrongly in this situation, Belly’s mood might twist. I couldn’t forget that appearance of him remaining calm even after subduing a demon beast. I eventually answered obediently.
“That’s true…”
“So Master is my master.”
Is this really okay?
“Please dote on Belly.”
He took my hand and placed it on top of his head. His small head fit in one hand. At his blatant expression asking to be petted, I didn’t refuse and awkwardly stroked his head.
Should I get used to this sudden change? …Right, if I can’t avoid it, I might as well enjoy it. In the first place, wasn’t the reason I picked up Belly to watch this world’s story up close from beside him? Because if I was by his side, I might be able to know this world’s protagonist.
If that was the case, I didn’t need to be reluctant about Belly’s state. Even though being too close to a main character might endanger my life.
“Alright…”
As I let out a sigh-mixed affirmation, Belly’s face bloomed like a flower.
**Chapter 3: The Green-Eyed Monster (1)**
For a while, idle days continued. Belly and I grew even closer, and life was peaceful. But that was only for a moment. Things were about to become a bit troublesome now.
I looked at the paper before my eyes. That paper stuck on the 100th anniversary ceremony notice board was decorated splendidly. So much effort had been put into it that the guild members’ expectations were visible at a glance. Belly, who was reading it, suddenly asked me.
“Why is everyone so excited?”
“Ah, well, it’s the 100th anniversary.”
Since Arbor had reached its 100th founding anniversary, it was natural for guild members to be excited. But if that was all, not everyone would be this happy. There was another reason for their excitement.
“Besides, it’s also the 10th anniversary of Rose’s inauguration, so there couldn’t be anything better.”
To me, Rose was like a friendly older sister, but to the guild members, she was an amazing person. The reason was simple. Because she had greatly expanded this guild. Before Rose became the guild leader, Arbor wasn’t as large a guild as it is now, they say. At best, you’d have to call it a small to medium-sized guild.
In this world, guilds were created frequently and also disappeared just as quickly. In such a situation, lasting 100 years was the same as saying it had solid internal affairs.
But that was as far as it went. Large guilds had been firmly holding their positions for a long time, so squeezing in and rising to the same position was like picking stars from the sky. Because this place too was full of people who didn’t want their interests taken away.
If even a slightly promising sprout appeared, large guilds would commonly intervene and crush it. That’s how the newly sprouted green shoots were trampled.
The one who endured that malice and climbed up was Rose. Rose, who rose to the guild leader position, withstood all threats and raised Arbor to a large guild. Moreover, this was an achievement accomplished within the short time of one year after taking office. That alone showed how remarkable Rose’s capabilities were.
Anyway, since she was such an amazing guild leader, the 10th anniversary of her inauguration must be a significant milestone. And the 100th anniversary too—it was a double celebration.
“At the ceremony, we’re planning to have a celebration performance. I hope everyone living in the dormitory will participate.”
Carl said to the dormitory residents with a smile. Only guild members sponsored by Rose lived in the dormitory. Even if they weren’t currently doing guild work, they were essentially prospective guild members. Being in such a position, participating in such events was naturally expected to some degree.
Carl was only 13 years old, the same as me. The ages of the dormitory residents varied greatly. The age range for living in the dormitory was until becoming an adult. In other words, there were residents up to 18 years old in this dormitory. That meant there were quite a few people older than Carl.
Among children older than him, Carl very skillfully took center stage. The situation was natural and there were no complaints from others. Day by day, his capabilities improved. It was hard to believe he was only 13 years old. I could only marvel at where he learned such abilities.
“So about the performance, we’re thinking of doing something simple like a chorus.”
Carl seemed to have already thought it through, as he explained the plan for the performance step by step. I also had debts of gratitude to Rose and had something called a conscience, so I had no intention of backing out.
But honestly, my desire not to participate in such a bothersome event was overwhelming. In the end, I couldn’t focus on the discussion and kept falling into contemplation.
“Jack?”
“…Huh, what? Why?”
The children’s sulky gazes turned toward me. It seemed I’d been too lost in other thoughts. Carl smiled kindly at me as I stuttered stupidly.
“You need to focus.”
“Ah, sorry. Continue.”
Carl’s confusing attitude had now almost solidified toward kindness. But despite his efforts, after having already gone through such an incident, it was hard to accept it positively. Laughing it off casually was all I could do.
“Then let’s divide the roles like this. No complaints?”
It seemed the role division had finished while I was thinking about other things. No, but if we said we’d do a chorus, what kind of role division were we doing? Was it divided according to vocal range?
I was puzzled, but there was no one to explain it to me again right now. I’d have to hope Belly had listened instead of me.
“Then see you on the day off.”
* * *
Belly didn’t mention any particular special matters, and I greeted the day off without much worry. If nothing else, I wasn’t terrible at singing, so there was no reason to worry. If I pretended to practice appropriately, no one would say anything.
Sometimes I thought how comfortable a life without expectations was. Even if I couldn’t do well, no one expected anything, so no one reproached me. Well, they could look at me with displeasure, but since I usually had a strange image, there was a high possibility they’d just accept it.
Carl spoke to the children gathered in a crowd.
“The chorus group will be in the classroom as mentioned earlier. Just follow the teacher’s instructions there for practice.”
The children who had gathered as if waiting rushed toward the classroom after hearing Carl’s words. The moment Belly and I were also about to squeeze into their midst, Carl grabbed my arm and said,
“Jack. You’re this way.”
“Huh?”
Carl, with a refreshing smile without a speck of malice, pronounced my sentence.
“You guys are the gift production team.”
