“Damn you, dog! Right there!!!”

-Groooom!

“Stay there, I said!”

In the peaceful room of the young lady today.

The young lady was playing tag with Gomtang.

It had been a month since Gomtang arrived, yet there was no sign of friendship between them; they were both busy growling at each other.

Gomtang, with an unwrapped  chocolate bar in her mouth, was frantically jumping on the bed, while the young lady was trying hard to catch her.

Gomtang, the thief of the prepared snack  chocolate.

The young lady gazed at Gomtang with a look of total despair.

“You little punk! Bring it here, quick!”

The young lady was making vehement attempts to catch Gomtang. Every attempt to catch her resulted in Gomtang leaping from the bed to the floor, and when given up on, she’d prancingly climb back onto the bed wagging her tail, seemingly enjoying the tease. Maybe taking after her rescuer, her teasing performance was top-grade.

“You little punk! Give it here!”

-Groooom…!

Gomtang seemed to be mocking the young lady.

Like the Turkish ice cream vendor from her past life, playing a ‘will you catch it? can’t catch it?’ game, taunting right in front of the young lady’s eyes to such an extent that even I started to get angry watching them.

-Huff… Huff…

Gomtang panted heavily.

Maybe because of fattening her once scrawny frame over the past month, Gomtang, who had been successfully scaled up, wobbled and finally plopped down onto the floor.

The young lady pointed a finger at Gomtang.

“It’s no good, Ricardo! Let’s smear her with bean paste!”

The young lady spewed out threatening words in front of her pet. I, meanwhile, covered Gomtang’s ears and spoke to the young lady.

“To our adorable Gomtang, bean paste? She’ll be hurt if she hears that.”
“Gomtang, whatever, it’s all annoying!”

The young lady was earnest with her spinning eyes.

She looked at Gomtang, who was scratching her head with a menacing glare as though she may actually turn her into bear soup if toyed with any further.

I took out a  chocolate from inside my clothes as a peace offering to appease the young lady on behalf of tactless Gomtang.

Upon seeing the  chocolate in my hand, the young lady with a menacing gaze proclaimed,

“One piece won’t cut it!”

Amidst such a chaos, I pretended to cave in to the young lady’s greed-ridden honesty and took out two pieces of chocolate from my clothing.

I had brought her home, after all; I had to take responsibility.

Once the two pieces of chocolate were safely in the grasp of the still fuming young lady, she flashed a bright smile and gave a thumbs up.

“Heh!”

‘Why is she praising over there?’

I’m the one who gave them to her. The young lady praised, tapping next to the bed, saying.

“Gomtang! Come here!”

-Grooom!

“Huh?”

Gomtang, wagging her tail naturally, climbed onto the bed and laid the stolen  chocolate next to the young lady.

“Good job!”

The young lady petted Gomtang vigorously. The con artist-like expression on Gomtang’s and the young lady’s faces seemed like they had successfully scammed another fool.

Looking at them sporting evil smiles, I wondered,

‘Was I the one who got deceived…?’

Swoosh. As the young lady pulled out a piece of jerky from her pocket, she began feeding one piece at a time to Gomtang.

‘That pig.’

I felt a wave of betrayal.

So it seemed, the pet was as good at teasing the butler as her owner was.

“Haa… I’ve been fooled again.”

The young lady sarcastically remarked to me as I held my throbbing forehead.

“Being fooled is your mistake.”
“…That’s true.”

She was the one who imparted life’s wisdom unto me.

A month had passed since the end of final exams.

During this time, a new family member came into our lives, and I had launched a fist at Michail – a month that was truly remarkable.

During that time, someone from the Royal Academy visited, and the young lady, upon seeing her cleansed arm, cried buckets – an impactful month had passed us by.

-So fortunate… really… it’s fortunate!
-This is the power of all-purpose ointment.
-Duh… don’t be conned!

We hadn’t lived excessively busy lives for a month.

There was nothing to do, and we didn’t want to do anything.

Having money saved up meant to spend it – that’s the philosophy of life. Future savings were a problem for future me, so for a month, the young lady and I relished the life of the unemployed.

All debts must have been paid off by now. Having lived hard until now, surely a bit of idleness would be understood by the empty wallet.

With the heart of an unemployed with no desire to work, I threw my body towards the young lady’s knees as she sat on the bed.

-Squish.

The thighs felt a bit firm but still pleasantly comfortable against the back of my head. The young lady’s lap pillow could be considered unmatched in the entire world.

Two years ago, it was even softer and squishier, but the legs of the young lady who couldn’t walk were devastatingly thin.

Concerned about straining the fragile legs of the young lady, I lay awkwardly, giving strength to my neck.

Her legs are frail, after all.

‘They are so skinny… nothing but bone.’

Before the young lady could display a somber countenance, I hid my face beneath her abundant bosom. I didn’t want to show my blue mood to the young lady.

Vowing once more to always hold the young lady high, I looked at the palms wrapped in bandages.

‘Rehabilitative touch.’

It was the only method to lean on for now.

Despite being hopeful, I harbored a tinge of unease about an ability I couldn’t be sure of.

Not knowing how much my body might deteriorate.
Not being certain I could heal the young lady.

As I mused in bitterness, the young lady, now serving as my pillow, looked at me with an indifferent expression.

“You’re heavy.”
“There’s nothing in my head so I’m lightweight.”
“You have more than me…!”
“It’s light because I am but a commoner.”

The young lady giggled and tried to push away my head, but as I stubbornly defended the prime spot, she eventually had no choice but to give up.

Despite the young lady not being able to feel her lower body, it seemed she did not fancy me lying on her thighs.

I rubbed my face against the young lady’s skirt, a small laugh escaping me.

“Just for a bit.”
“Eek…!”
“I’ll just lie here for a moment.”

The young lady sighed deeply and focused on the chocolate.

A month’s time.

Although it was a time spent in leisure, quite a lot had happened.

[The Pride of the Swordsmanship Department, Michail, Awakens His Aura!]

The article about Michail awakening his aura made the front page of the newspaper, and the rewards for the events of that day caused quite a stir in the empire.

I wasn’t jealous.

I did not want to become famous anyway.

Nor did I fancy the bother of traveling all the way to the capital just to receive a mere award; it did not seem efficient.

Even if they were offering a large sum of money, I wouldn’t want to travel to the distant capital just for a small commendation and a handshake with the headmaster of the Academy.

I’d much rather spend that time going to see the autumn foliage with the young lady.

Watching the young lady smearing her mouth with chocolate, I thought to myself,

‘Now that I think of it, we haven’t gone to see the autumn leaves.’

I had completely forgotten about it, caught up with Michail’s matters and having a new family member like Gomtang.

This year’s foliage was exceptionally beautiful.

I turned my head to look outside the window. Leaves were falling, but fortunately, it seemed there was still enough scenery left to enjoy the fall foliage.

I stood up, looking at the young lady.

“Eat a lot, grow up healthy…”

Feeding Gomtang pieces of jerky, the young lady had an evil plan which Gomtang, oblivious and happily accepting the jerky, didn’t realize as she laid belly-up on the bed.

“Young lady.”

Startled by my sudden call, the young lady twitched her shoulders.

In an awkward voice, she spoke to me.

“I didn’t give you anything!”

The young lady quickly hid the jerky behind her back. The protruding edge of the jerky wrapper was in view, but I pretended not to notice and asked carefully, gazing outside.

“Would you have time for me today?”
“Time? I’m busy.”
“But young lady, you claim to be busy despite being unemployed.” Her sullen expression brought a smile to my face.

“I need to take an afternoon nap today.”
“Cockroaches will come.”
“No, it’s fine. She eats them all anyway.”
“…”

Considering Gomtang’s suspiciously non-discerning appetite, I gave a slight nod.

“She is indeed great at catching them.”
“Yes. So, I can sleep soundly.”
“Come on, just take a day out with me.”

Pointing out the window where the sunny rays were shining through brightly, I said to the young lady.

“It looks like a perfect day for hiking.”
“Hiking?”
“Yes.”

For a while, the young lady stared outside the window.

As the Hamel Mountains, filled with red and yellow autumn leaves, came into view, her eyes widened.

“It’s a hassle.”
“Why so? Let’s go out, get some fresh air, and eat something delicious.”
“No. It’ll be hard for Ricardo to go up there.”

Touched by the young lady’s thoughtful consideration for the butler, I couldn’t help but wear a pleased smile and I rolled up my right sleeve to show her.

Bare white forearm.

There were spots of dark scars, but it no longer hurt, and it was no longer decayed by black magic – it looked normal now.

The young lady poked it with her finger.

“Is it all healed?”
“Yes.”
“Hmmm…”

It had been a month since I showed my hand to the young lady, but she was still apprehensive.

Still, she did not believe my words, continuing to apply ointment and wrap bandages on my completely healthy arm because of the precedents.

I flexed my arm to show her it was strong and nothing to worry about, but the young lady poking my forearm looked worried as she spoke to me.

“It seems like it’s still hurting.”
“It’s completely healed.”
“Ricardo is a liar, so I can’t trust that.”

I was left feeling somewhat guilty on several accounts.

After a brief moment of consideration, I gently but firmly lifted the young lady up in a princess carry.

A butler sometimes must ignore the master’s opinions.

Facing the young lady’s struggling, I declared,

“Let’s go. Let’s see the fall colors.”

The young lady asked me,

“Do we have enough money?”

My reassuring gaze was my response.

“Hiking is free.”
“Oh…!”

The young lady smiled brightly.

It seemed I had received her permission.

Before leaving, the young lady said with a small laugh,

“Then let’s have a drink!”
“Huh?”
“I’ve not tried it before… Let’s drink. Booze!”

The young lady, with a mischievous laugh, tugged at my clothes.

Booze, huh.

It would be my first time drinking here…

Although I was slightly afraid the inexperienced young lady might get drunk, her clear and happy smile made it hard to refuse. I capitulated.

“Then just one bottle.”
“Okay!”

Worried, I warned her,

“Just so you know, I’m a heavyweight drinker.”
“A heavyweight?”
“Yeah, I can drink a lot.”
“Oh…”

The young lady puffed out her chest confidently and replied,

“I’m a heavyweight too!”

A foreboding feeling came over me.