episode_0052

I consider myself to be someone with at least a bit of social awareness.

Well, I mean, there have been times when I mistakenly thought I had become friends with someone just because I brought up a game topic in front of someone who actually had no interest and was just politely listening. Thankfully, that was back in high school when rumors of me being a gaming nerd spread around due to the lack of girls around me. After that, I realized I needed to improve my ability to read people.

I don’t have a particularly likable appearance that would make people feel favorable towards me at first glance, nor am I good with words. I lived my life on the internet without much thought, but that was because it was the internet where you couldn’t see the other person’s face anyway. Since you couldn’t see the other person’s gestures or expressions from the start, I couldn’t really tell how uncomfortable they might be feeling.

Working at a company and navigating social life taught me how to handle situations somewhat smoothly. At least now, I can tell when someone is not interested in hearing something I have to say based on their facial expression.

But when it comes to people who don’t know how to approach me, their expressions are a whole different story.

For example, Mia Crowfield, who is sitting in front of me right now, had that kind of expression.

People find it uncomfortable when faced with someone who doesn’t show any expression and makes eye contact. Especially if that expressionless person is in a higher position.

Of course, there are those who confidently claim they can read such expressions without any problem, or those who act as if they are the confident person’s younger sibling, or those who are confident anywhere, or those who are surrounded by all kinds of women and adding one more expressionless woman wouldn’t make a difference.

Now that I think about it, there are quite a few strange people around me. But then again, all of these people were characters from the original work. I can just overlook their quirks.

The main character, on the other hand, still finds me incredibly difficult to deal with, but that’s something time will sort out, so I’ll just move on.

The problem lies with Mia Crowfield.

Just last week, Mia Crowfield would glare at me with all her might whenever our eyes met. She didn’t even bother hiding the fact that she wanted to kill me, to the point where I had to suppress a nervous laugh.

As the heroine of this game, she had a rather curvy figure, but being on the shorter side and often having her eyes covered by her bangs made her seem timid. In reality, she seemed timid most of the time unless she was glaring at me.

So, it was inevitable for me to notice the change in Mia Crowfield more vividly.

While she used to cower like a scared rabbit in front of Charlotte or even the Emperor’s daughter, Alice, she would now meet my gaze with widened eyes whenever I looked at her. Lately, she seemed to avoid my gaze less and less.

Has there been a change in her mindset?

If so, why? What could be the reason for such a sudden change?

“….”

“….”

Hmm.

Wait a minute.

Come to think of it, there doesn’t seem to be any reason why I can’t just ask her directly.

Isn’t that right? I can turn back time anyway. It wouldn’t hurt to just ask her upfront.

Besides, there have been times when I said worse things than this before.

I glanced around discreetly. Alice and Charlotte were both in the student council room. Other council members were present, as well as the student council president.

We were admitted to the student council, but we didn’t have any specific roles yet. It seemed like we were the kind of talents that the student council wanted to keep close. Well, in the original work, the student council president was quite aristocratic, but also judged people based on their abilities. They just gave a lot of bonus points for their background.

And there was also Grace, who confidently followed Alice.

I did offer milk tea to both of them, but naturally, I didn’t offer it to everyone like Alice, Charlotte, and Claire. It just felt like I gave it to them on a whim.

Leo had a prickly expression as if sitting on thorns, and Claire was very nonchalant.

Hmm.

I could ask. Even if people around me were surprised to see me, if I turn back time, those looks wouldn’t matter.

But Mia Crowfield doesn’t know that I can turn back time. So, in the process of answering, she might hide the truth.

Can I get a proper answer if I ask here?

“……”

As I quietly observed Mia Crowfield, she looked around with her gaze. It seemed like she wasn’t embarrassed or anything, judging by her face not turning red.

Why is she like that?

It makes me more anxious for no reason.

“……”

Hmm.

Oh, I don’t know.

“Mia Crowfield.”

As I called her name quietly, Mia Crowfield showed a startled gesture, as if she had jumped up in her seat.

Thud! The sound of the chair and desk being dragged could be heard, and everyone’s gaze shifted towards us.

…I’ve felt this before. Of course, it wasn’t as intense as last time. Mia Crowfield’s reaction was somewhat different. It wasn’t such a serious conversation this time.

“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!?”

Even her response was pure confusion.

Is it that surprising?

I don’t usually call out someone else’s name first. I didn’t want to show any flaws by prolonging the conversation. Of course, I could adjust the conversation by turning back time, but after doing so, I felt mentally exhausted. Even if my body didn’t tire, the time I felt mentally was several times longer than a normal conversation time.

For someone like me, who was inherently awkward, having a conversation that I didn’t want to have with someone else for that long was nothing short of torture.

“I have something to talk about, can we talk for a moment?”

“N-n-no! I don’t want to!?”

The words I offered to Mia Crowfield were immediately rejected.

No, I just wanted to have a separate conversation with her where others couldn’t hear.

By the way, the mouths of the people around us were wide open in surprise.

…Is it that surprising? No, even a quiet person might want to have a private conversation with someone else.

…Wait a minute. Could it be this?

I thought I had built up a cool beauty image in my own way, but was I just seen as a geeky loner by others? Did I have trouble communicating properly with others?

Could it be that I had a similar image to Mia Crowfield, or something like that?

“……Don’t you want to?”

“I don’t want to! What do you think I’ll do!?”

I don’t have any intentions to do anything.

No, rather, if I say it like that, I might look like a lesbian character who preys on girls. Of course, Mia Crowfield’s “I’ll kill you” was probably just a figure of speech, but it was a very good phrase to create misunderstandings among others.

In fact, except for Alice, who looked serious after hearing that from Mia Crowfield, everyone else had their mouths hanging open, staring at me.

…Isn’t it? Am I just thinking this way alone? Did I watch too many manga or anime of this genre?

I wanted to shake my head to clear my thoughts, but even in a situation where I was considering turning back time, I had to maintain a certain level of character.

“I won’t do anything.”

“How can I trust you?”

Right.

From Mia Crowfield’s perspective, that’s all she could see. I was the one who avenged her father’s death.

The problem was, why had her gaze towards that avenger changed from a week ago?

“If that’s the case, I’ll ask a question here. Is that okay?”

“Um.”

And as I said that, Mia Crowfield’s expression slightly faltered. Well, what did she expect me to say? She may not have expected any mention of her father, but still, if she saw me as that ‘assassin,’ she couldn’t predict what kind of information I might have.

“Uh, sure.”

However, Mia Crowfield said that as if she were showing off.

“…”

I stared at Mia Crowfield with narrowed eyes and slowly spoke.

“In that case, I won’t hold back.”

And after a moment of pause, I continued, “Mia Crowfield, the emotions in the way you looked at me last week and the way you look at me now have changed. May I ask why?”

With a ping above Mia Crowfield’s head, an exclamation mark appeared.

Well, not literally, but that’s what I thought. There were no convenient features like a system or status window in this world.

“Th-that…”

Mia Crowfield stuttered for a moment at my words and then said, “Even if there was such a change! It has nothing to do with you, right!? Why should I have to explain everything to you!?”

With that, Mia Crowfield turned around as if to flee and left the student council room.

“…”

Hmm.

In the silence that fell in the student council room, I quickly organized my thoughts.

Judging by her reaction, even if I had called her out for a conversation, I probably wouldn’t have received a proper answer.

…I guess there’s nothing I can do right now.

“Sylvia?”

Seeing Claire still looking surprised at me, I realized that it was time to return to the situation.

Again.

*

I may not have the ability to discern tea leaves, but in reality, when you eat or drink something really expensive and good, even someone who doesn’t know much can feel that it’s definitely different.

In fact, the milk tea we had at the student council tasted good. Smooth and fragrant. I wanted to just dump a bunch of sugar in it, but even with just two cubes of sugar, it had a tolerably sweet taste.

But still, gaining weight as a cool beauty is a bit… well.

The rich aroma of the high-quality tea filled the student council room. It seemed like the scent of tea permeated every corner of the room from drinking it every day, and when I entered the student council room, I could faintly smell the aroma of black tea.

And as I leisurely enjoyed the high-quality tea, I observed Mia Crowfield.

Just like before turning back time. Mia Crowfield was desperately avoiding my gaze.

…The person I assassinated was about the level of a marquis and his associates. While I had taken on missions to inquire about the world situation from the emperor’s perspective or to turn back a bit of the main story I had seen in the game, or to gather information from somewhere, the only people I had heard rumors of being ‘killed’ were about the level of a marquis.

Could it be that false rumors had spread elsewhere?

Did she get scared after finding out that I was actually a much more dangerous person?

The thought crossed my mind. Judging by her reaction a while ago, I could be sure of that. She seemed to fear being alone with me.

“…”

I poured a bit of milk tea into my teacup without making a sound. The warm tea filled my mouth at a pleasant temperature.

… Should I go on a chase?

Well, it’s the weekend starting tomorrow anyway. How about taking a proper look at Mia Crowfield’s whereabouts?

If I receive information from someone, I might be able to figure out who that person is. In the original work, there was no such character, but in this world, the backgrounds of each character have changed quite a bit because of me.

Alright.

My weekend schedule is set.