Thanks to my thriving business, I was finally able to rent the apartment of my heart’s desires. With that, I could kiss my days at the Swindoll Con Inn goodbye. It was a cramped apartment with two bedrooms and a small kitchen, but it was a comfortable size for one person. Above all, I was thrilled that every small noise I made would no longer be met with jeers of “I’ll kill you!” or “Get outta here!”
But there was just one problem. There was this guy who came over every single day...
“I bought ingredients for dinner. I’ll make it for us.”
When I opened the door, Minerva was once again there to greet me.
“So, you’re back again...”
“I’m making stew tonight.” Minerva headed toward my kitchen like it was the most natural thing in the world. For some reason, he’d stored a bunch of his personal belongings in my kitchen, almost like he was setting up camp there.
“Hey, are you going to leave some more of your weird tools in my house?”
“This is a cooking appliance called a blender,” he said. “It’s handy for making potage but...does it bother you?”
“It’s fine for now, but if I got a girlfriend, she’d definitely hate it...”
“You have a girlfriend?”
Minerva was trembling in his boots. Is the idea that shocking?
“Well, not yet,” I said, “but I do want a partner eventually. And if I’ve got a guy friend coming over every day and hanging out all the time, I don’t think she’d be too happy.”
“Of course not. He’d be nothing but trouble!”
“Right? So if I get a girlfriend, you gotta take back all this stuff you got here.”
“Mm,” Minerva mumbled before meekly nodding his head. “So, you do want a partner?”
“Well, yeah. If I had a girlfriend, that’d make life more fun. We could talk to each other about all sorts of things or go on dates, and it’d enrich my life, you know?”
Minerva nodded his head in agreement.
“Also, I’m no saint, so I wanna enjoy our time together at night in the bedroom.”
“The bedroom?!”
“Is it really that surprising? Have you never thought of doing it yourself?”
“No, to be honest, I do have...a great deal of interest in that.”
He’s always complaining about this or that, but he’s the same as me! You closet pervert!
“But if you’re staying over every single night, I won’t be able to do that.”
“Mm...”
“It’s not like I don’t like you,” I said, trying to reason with him. “It’s just that even if we’re friends and all, I think it’s a little questionable for you to be staying over every single night. Do you understand me?”
“I do. That means you want to stay with your partner forever and always.”
“Forever? I mean, I guess so...”
It’d be kinda suffocating if we were literally together twenty-four seven all year round, though...
“I understand that desire very well. I’ll do my best.” In good spirits now, he started to cook.
We made food together, ate together, cleaned up together, and then afterward we’d talk as we drank tea or alcohol; or occasionally play a game from my store’s products, like Shogi or Reversi; or sit side by side as we read books...
Wait, isn’t this kinda weird? This is a bit like what you’d expect a pair of lovers to do... No, no, no, wait, we haven’t done anything sexual. He stayed the night at my place, but we slept in separate beds. Minerva used the couch he had given to me as a housewarming gift. And yet...
That day, we were again drinking brandy after our meal while relaxing on the couch. The brandy had also been a present from Minerva. It was a pretty pricey brand, but Minerva was eager to keep refilling my glass. Was he trying to get me drunk? I felt a bit wary, yet I lost myself in the delicious taste of the alcohol. Before long, my consciousness was beginning to dim. That was when Minerva came at me with a barrage of questions.
“Tell me the truth. You really don’t have a girlfriend?”
“No way. If I had one, I couldn’t drink with a guy friend every night like this.” As fun as it was to talk to Minerva, I didn’t want that to be all there was to my life.
“Then what’s your type, Yusuke?”
“Type...? Hmm, I dunno!”
“There’s no way you don’t know.”
“I dunno what I dunno.” In my previous life, I’d liked fox-eyed lady knights, but I hadn’t been that fixated on them in real life. Up until now, all of my romantic experiences had involved falling for people who were already around me. I didn’t have any particular preferences.
“Lemme guess. You like someone with big boobs like Mira?”
“Hm? Well, Mira is cute, so she’s a good choice. Big boobs, she’s nice, a calming presence—what’s not to like? And I like really lively girls like Meryl too. They seem easygoing but are actually compassionate, and I find that charming about them.”
“So, you do like them...”
I could hear a sound from under his mask like he was grinding his teeth.
“But they’re too young for me, so I wouldn’t go after them.”
“What?”
Oh, I’m getting so sleepy...
“Then how about someone older than those hussies?” he asked. “With big boobs, a big butt, who’s a great cook, and the strongest adventurer around?”
“Wooow... What about her face and her personality?” I said with a yawn. Man, I can’t stop yawning. I wanna sleep...
“Her face is...a little plain.”
“Hm, well, that’s no big deal. What’s most important is her personality. I’d want someone who’s kind... Yeah...”
Minerva was still talking to me, but I was at my limit. I was drifting off into a comfortable world of dreams. Before the last dregs of my consciousness slipped away, I thought I caught Minerva mumbling something.
“I understand. I’ll become a nice person.”
I barely registered anything, but I responded.
“That’s...good to...hear... Zzz...”
✦ ✦ ✦
Yusuke was passed out drunk. I slowly removed my mask right in front of him. I also cast aside the magic robe that concealed my womanly figure.
If he happened to wake up now... At that thought, hope and anxiety swirled together within me, wrenching my heart.
I picked up Yusuke’s defenseless body and carried him to his bed.
“Oh, you’re just hopeless without me,” I murmured. He didn’t wake up even when I poked his cheek. Maybe I should do the usual while I can...
I quietly crawled in beside him so we could sleep together. The warmth I felt from his body started making me drowsy too. How happy I would be if I could fall asleep next to him just like this...
“A kind person, huh...”
I felt like I could become the nicest person in the world, so long as that was what Yusuke desired.
✦ ✦ ✦
My head hurt. I was completely hungover. Apparently I’d gotten carried away last night and drunk too much.
“Here, drink some water,” Minerva said, using his magic to fill a glass with water for me.
“Thanks,” I said, accepting the glass, and as I drank the cold water, it felt like it was rehydrating every parched cell in my body one by one.
“Whew,” I breathed once I was finished, “I’ve been revived.”
I kinda feel like I’ve been depending on Minerva a lot lately...
“Are you going to take the day off?” he asked me.
“No, I can’t,” I said, taking out one of my dagashi. “My regulars are waiting for me.”
Product name: Sky Mint Blue
Description: Soft candy with a refreshing mint taste. Sobers you upon consumption.
Price: One hundred rims (Fifteen pieces included)
The spring breeze blew in from the window Minerva had opened. It carried upon it the scent of an unfamiliar flower, mixing it with the smell of mint inside my nostrils.