Ch.151151 – The Birthday Chosen by Jona

# 151 – Jona Decides a Birthday

As the sun set, the students who had been waiting in the visiting room departed with gloomy faces.

“Oknodie. Why don’t you go back too?”

“Jona promised he would come. If I wait just a little longer, he’ll definitely be here!”

A junior class student spoke with a worried face.

That face seemed somewhat familiar.

“You’ve forgotten who I am, haven’t you?”

“Hehe. Sorry.”

“Maximus Montblanc. I told you my brother Max and the baby were helped at the bakery.”

“Ah.”

“Max was supposed to come too, but I don’t know what the problem is, but apparently many guardians who were scheduled to visit couldn’t come, not just me.”

It’s unfortunate.

The Academy must distribute visiting tickets to the guardians of enrolled students.

Some guardians who failed to receive their tickets, lost them for some reason, or had them taken by others end up unable to visit the Academy like this.

But would Jona lose his ticket?

No matter how I think about it, it doesn’t make sense.

Jona isn’t that careless, nor is he the type of incompetent butler who would just wait blankly until the deadline passes and waste time.

“Hmph. Don’t talk about Jona if you don’t know him.”

“Kuhup, such a pitiful child…!”

Despite my confident statement, Maximus is busy wiping tears with the back of his hand.

“If you don’t meet your butler tomorrow, come to the store. I’ll buy you something for lunch.”

“Wow, really?”

Still, I have no intention of telling him about Jona’s good qualities.

My butler.

The only trustworthy ally with 100% loyalty in the game world.

My exclusive possession.

An absolutely reliable assistant who will never betray me.

If others knew what kind of person he is and what he’s capable of, they might covet him and try to make him their butler.

“I’m bored. I’m hungry. This is a waste of time.”

But it’s getting difficult.

Being the only one left in the visiting room, stubbornly holding my position.

Watching my shadow tilt as the indoor lights flicker.

“Jona… you’re really coming, right…?”

Even muttering to myself out of anxiety.

Even beginning to doubt whether Jona’s loyalty is really 100%.

“……”

Even accepting that games and reality are different.

Even feeling that I might just be an ordinary girl, not a special player.

I’ve reached my limit.

I grabbed the whistle and blew it awkwardly. Wheeek.

A messy whistle sound with too much force causing air to leak.

Usually, practice makes perfect.

The more you blow, the better you should get.

But somehow, I seemed to get worse with each attempt.

It felt like there was a lump in my chest, and sadness welled up.

Hurry up and come.

Why did you make me wait so long?

With less than 10 minutes until the visiting room closes, tears welling up in my eyes, and that lying, wicked butler nowhere to be seen.

“So mean…”

What should I do if the facility manager comes to close the visiting room?

Should I use <Hide> somewhere and conceal myself?

But then Jona wouldn’t be able to enter either, so what then?

Should I use <Lock Picking> to open the entrance?

But what if they lock it from the outside?

Is it even possible to hide without being caught?

While I was seriously pondering these concerns, the smell of blood suddenly filled the air.

Tuk tuk.

Tu-du-duk.

Footsteps approaching, dripping something like rain.

Step. Step.

Dignified footsteps that never show urgency anywhere, steps that exude class.

Footsteps that make me want to hide behind curtains, behind wardrobes, always wanting to conceal myself whenever I hear them.

Creeeeak.

When the door opened, I hid again today.

“I apologize, Miss. I was caught in an accident on the way, which took some time.”

“I missed you, Jona!”

Not behind the curtain, not behind the wardrobe.

Behind the face of a good child with a bright smile.

* *

“How did you get hurt like this?”

“There was negligence on the Academy’s part.”

“Let’s go to the infirmary first!”

His appearance was terrible, with bleeding from burst capillaries all over his body.

It was concerning whether a person could survive losing so much blood.

“It’s fine. The bleeding has already stopped.”

As Jona took a deep breath with a look of realization, the bleeding truly stopped completely.

“Wow, amazing!”

So a first-class butler can stop bleeding just by willing it.

Jona is truly an all-capable butler who can do anything!

“Still, your clothes are soaked with blood, so we should stop by the laundry room!”

“Hmph. Who do you think has been washing your sweat-soaked training uniforms and dirt-covered clothes from hiding in all sorts of places?”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to hand-wash with those injuries?!”

“…There’s a modern convenience called Clean magic.”

<Daily Magic – Clean>

A household magic that housewives love most, removing blood stains, dust, and various waste materials from clothes.

Although the activation cost is high, it’s an essential magic worth learning for comfortable living.

If mishandled, it can remove decorations from clothes, cause discoloration, or even make medals attached to clothes or contents of pockets evaporate—a truly fearsome magic.

“Ah, this smell!”

“Just a small talent.”

The Clean magic enhanced with the pleasant scent of fabric softener.

This is nothing short of a cheat key.

Regardless of gender, how could anyone not be attracted to someone with this smell, or rather, fragrance?

“Didn’t Leaf come with you? What have you two been doing? Did you miss me? Aren’t you hungry? Have you been eating your meals properly?”

As I fired questions like a machine gun, Jona raised the corners of his mouth just slightly with a grim face.

Even after not seeing him for a long time, that eerie smile makes my spine tingle rather than feeling happy.

“Leaf was quite disappointed too. I brought Leaf’s gift for you instead. Don’t worry, I’ve already obtained permission for possession and consumption.”

A basket covered with white cloth adorned with red flowers.

Given Jona’s preference for cleanliness and his use of Clean magic, he must have forgotten to clean the blood that dripped onto the cloth.

Inside were a pouch full of candies, various sizes and shapes of memorization sets, a musical instrument, and a textbook.

“Wow. What’s all this?”

“Gifts from Leaf. Considering your growth rate, he brought candies with enhanced flavors, assassination weapons necessary for academy life, and a secret musical instrument.”

“I see. So I hold this handle and strike with it like this? Like this!”

As I grabbed the neck of the mini-violin-like instrument and swung it around, Jona raised his hand and stopped the swinging instrument in mid-air with just one finger.

An incredible strength that never wavers, with the stability reminiscent of a Simmons bed.

“The details are in the textbook, but please be careful as reckless swinging could cut your hand or cause the instrument to explode.”

“…What? The instrument can explode??”

“I don’t want to spoil the joy of learning, so I’ll refrain from saying more. Rather than talking about myself, I’d like to hear about you. About your life at the Academy.”

“I wrote to you in letters, didn’t I?”

“I believe you had more to say than what could be contained in letters.”

“Hehe. That’s true.”

It was strange.

Since becoming a child, I often found myself nodding off as drowsiness overtook me at night.

But today, I didn’t feel sleepy at all while excitedly talking about everything that had happened.

Huhu.

Is this the power of the strong bond formed by 100% loyalty between a player and butler?

“I threw a stone with a swoosh, and the wall crumbled with a crash, so I pulled out a nearby tree and planted it there before anyone noticed, and no one knows there was originally a wall there!”

“In the cafeteria, it was hard to eat because some kids kept calling me a bad child, but Isabelle makes delicious food, so I don’t go to the cafeteria anymore, which is even better!”

“And you know what? Titosoga sometimes gets really brave, and if someone speaks ill of me, his eyes suddenly become sharp like Leaf’s, and he hits people with lighting fixtures!”

While I was enthusiastically sharing stories, suddenly it became twice as dark as if night had deepened.

Looking up, I realized Jona had raised his arm and placed his hand on my head.

His hand, which seemed to summon darkness that obscured even starlight, felt quite comfortable and pleasant, making me smile, but Jona didn’t look very happy.

“Jona. What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing. I just thought that from now on, I should secure the foundation’s support in earnest.”

“Will you give me points too?”

“Rather than that, I’m looking for ways to directly help with your academy life. I might seek cooperation from your friends as well.”

“Ah, could it be a surprise birthday party? You don’t need to throw me a surprise party!”

“Come to think of it, I don’t recall hearing about it. When is your birthday, Miss?”

“My birthday?”

“According to academy rules, guardians can provide special gifts to students on their birthdays, so this might be helpful too.”

Birthday, huh.

This is troubling.

Hmm.

I bit my finger and tried hard to recall.

But the answer was predetermined.

“I don’t know!”

How would I know the birthday when I’m not even a playable character with established settings, but someone who possessed an unfamiliar character’s body?

As expected.

Muttering briefly, as if wondering what kind of pitiful human I am, the butler’s face hiding emotions behind an expressionless mask reminded me of the days spent at Jona’s mansion, making me laugh.

“If it’s too much trouble, would you decide for me?”

“Decide… your birthday, Miss?”

“A birthday is a special day, right? Special enough to celebrate.”

If it’s such a special day.

“I think a birthday chosen by Jona would be even more special.”

Leaning my weight against Jona’s broad, firm embrace, the words came out naturally.

Not something I thought about before saying, but a spontaneous true feeling, a statement thrust like a dagger.

Looking up with wide eyes to meet Jona’s gaze, I saw a small but significant disturbance in his face.