162　Because I’m a pervert.

"I'll confess."

　A few minutes later, without knowing why she blushed so much.
　Cosmos, who had finally regained her composure, opened her mouth.

"Confess? "
"That's right. I'm a dishonest person."
"Okay."

　I don't understand what the story is.
　But it sounded kind of interesting, so I decided to listen to it for a while.


"If I create an intense character like that, no one will try to look into my depths, will they? "

"……like persona building, huh?"
"Yeah. But I do think about these things from time to time. However, I think it makes a huge difference whether you show it or not."
"Like trying to say it out loud, I guess?"
"Just like you say. Especially for those who are close by."

　Are you saying that you routinely try to play the goof?

"Dishonest, isn't it?　Master, please laugh at me."
"I still don't understand what the dishonesty is."

"……That is, if I create a character like this, people will only see me as "that kind of person". If I do something improper, something weird, everyone is content to accept it because I'm a pervert."

"Eh? "
"Eh? "

　A pervert?

"Are you a pervert? "
"What else if not a pervert? Ninety percent of what I say is tongue-in-cheek, dirty talk."
"You mean the goof part is all about dirty talk? "

"Eh? "
"Eh? "

　The conversation is not going anywhere.


"M-Master, could it be……"

　Cosmos said, the edges of her mouth twitching.

　Oh no, she found out.


"Sorry, I wasn't really listening that time."


　I frankly tell her―― Cosmos, after a moment of silence, said "Oh my God! " and then, with her head in her hands, continued "Stupid stupid me! " and smacked herself on the head.

"I just gave myself away, didn't I?　Seriously!　I didn't want Master to know about it! "

"That you're playing a pervert?"

"Yes!　I wear a pervert mask!!　Best regards!! "

　Cosmos reacted with desperation.

　I see, you wore the mask of a pervert……

"I see, so that's why you said those things so that only Champani could hear you. Oh god, and I was so certain."
"Certain? "
"……No, it's nothing."

　I was instantly embarrassed by my mistake. Why did I think it was a Manzai sketch? What an idiot.


"But why are you acting? "

　I mentioned a question to divert the conversation.

"That is exactly what I said earlier."
"So, by being perceived as a pervert, you can hide your dishonesty? "
"Yeah."
"Why are you trying to hide your dishonesty?　Are you really that much of a cheat? "

　I think we all have that side of us, but to try to hide it by masking it so thoroughly is a little hard to understand.


"……I wonder why. Somewhere down the road, this was the only way for me to live."

　Cosmos looked somewhat sorrowful as she spoke, then turned her head slightly and continued her words.

"I have a feeling it was initially to stand out among the maids. When I was called one of the Ten Great, and my job came with great responsibility, I became afraid of making mistakes when I was in a higher position, so I had the immunity of being a pervert. I chose Jojutsu because I had the shallow calculation that if it was a skill that no one else seemed to be doing, I might be able to get to a respectable position."


　If she makes any mistakes, they will act like, "Oh, because she's a pervert," and they will assume that. What is hurt is the false self that plays the role of a pervert. The real you is not hurt. In other words, an escape route.

　To have such an idea is itself "dishonest," she said.


　I can't help but wonder how Cosmos feels. Even I've wanted to run away again and again. From the pressure of being number one in the world. But, in the end, I didn't run away, not until the very end. Hence, we are here now.

　And she knew that I was the one person who would never run away from her, which is why she compared herself to me, and why she was so self-deprecating. So I guess she didn't want me to be the only one to find out.

　She believes I will never forgive her.
　That's aggravating. I must show understanding.


"I don't disdain it."
"! "
"I will not be such a narrow-minded master as to refuse to acknowledge you."
"Master……"
"There's definitely a reason you're the way you are. I can say this with certainty. If you don't mind, you can talk to me about it.　I can't give you witty advice, but I can listen without disdain."

　There is a reason why Champani became obsessed with the young lady role and why I am obsessed with the number one in the world. There is a catalyst. It is a kind of destiny from which there is no escape.

　Just as there are those who have been unable to escape, there are those who have been forced to flee. Yes, just like Eko when she was in the magic academy.



"……I wasn't related by blood to everyone in the house I lived in."

　After a few moments, Cosmos slowly broke the silence.


　Yukari has gathered this talent. Everyone has special circumstances. She dared to choose only such people.

　I didn't understand it at the time, but now I can see why…… if only I looked into Cosmos' eyes.

　These girls are destined to be saved here. Here where you can ignore anything and everything that bothers you in society.

　It was Yukari, of all people, who arranged it. She was a cold-hearted, venomous, and unsympathetic person who should have lived her life as an assassin without even being given a name, but she was the one who made it happen.


"I was from a reasonably wealthy family. Bloodline is a thing, after all. Strangely enough, I was the only one who was not able to accomplish anything. While my other brothers and sisters were making headway in business management and battle, I couldn't get anywhere with any of it."

"I thought you excelled in the arts. "

"I'm glad you knew that. Yes, I made it blossom here. I had always been a natural artist, but in an environment where I couldn't make the most of it…… no one would look at me in the first place, and art didn't really do me any good."

　Yukari has told me that she is responsible for many of the designs at the Firstest residence. I think it's a useful enough talent…… but there was no environment where she could make use of it, huh?
　Indeed. The ambiguous nature of art may not make sense without an environment in which it can be shown and seen.

"All my family members were kind people. Well, that was just on the surface. It wasn't long before I was so disgusted and felt so inferior that I had to leave home."
"So, did they enslave you? "
"No, I voluntarily enslaved myself."
"……Seriously? "
"I am serious. I seriously thought at the time that it was a thousand times better to be needed and used as a slave by someone…… than to live as a failure with a sense of inferiority."

　In other words…… more suffering.

“I hate myself…… because, ever since Master bought me, I have been very blessed with a life that is really too convenient and ideal for me. And yet, and yet, I…… still can't get rid of my inferiority complex. I am trying to play the pervert and allow myself to be cowardly, mean, and a failure. I have deceived and forced myself to accept it. She's a pervert, so there's nothing we can do about it, something like that."

　She is convinced that the dishonest notion comes from a lack of confidence due to a sense of inferiority, in the form of "because I'm a pervert". Even if she makes a mistake or is criticized for doing so, she simply ducks and says, " It's because I'm a pervert," and avoids getting herself hurt. That is the way Cosmos lives now.

"Perhaps it is more likely that I am using the mask of a pervert to hide my true, defective self and put on false airs."

　Cosmos laughed sadly and said.

　Oh, I'm sure she knows. That way of life has already reached a point where there is no easy way to correct it.


"Thank you for talking to me. I don't want to say I appreciate it, but I'll give you my favorite quote instead."

　Then there's nothing more I can say.
　Let's hope that one day her inferiority complex will disappear and she will be able to hold her ground.

"Don't think, just feel."

　I smile.

　If you think about it and it doesn't solve the problem, so it's useless to think about it.
　If she eventually realizes that this is the place where it will still be resolved, that's all that matters.

　In response to my irresponsible words, Cosmos erased some of the loneliness from her smile and replied.

"I'm very good at feeling."





"Now, at any rate, we must learn Jojutsu."
"You never waver, Master."

　We talked a lot, but we must not lose sight of the purpose of the day.

　Learning 【Jojutsu】can be tricky. The acquisition requirement of hitting the same monster dozens of times, which one would tend to think can only be met by using a strong monster with high HP, is actually not the case. A certain slime that appears in this slime forest easily solves that problem. The tricky part is whether or not you can encounter that slime.

　Once you have encountered it, the rest is easy. Yes, if only we could find it.

　The four remaining skills are Bishop, Rook, Dragon Horse, and Dragon King. Since that is for two people, there are a total of eight slimes to meet.

　……Hopefully, we'll be done by the end of the night.


"Found it! "

　A good start!　We found the first one.

　Lurking in the shadows of the trees, just out of our line of sight, was a shiny, angular slime that looked like metal. Its name is Metal Slime.

　This Metal Slime actually has a terribly high VIT. So much so that even with counterstopped STR, the damage is not enough.

　Instead, the MGR is incredibly low. So much so that a low INT First Form spell will kill it in one hit.

　Therefore, it is easy to learn each skill of 【Jojutsu】if you beat it with a stick until you meet the learning requirements for each skill and finish it off with a First Form spell.

　Of course, they will fight back, but their attack motions are similar to those of other slimes, and their AGI is rather low. You can afford to look and then evade. It is a monster that is truly tailor-made for the job.

"All right, go, Cosmos."
"Yes, I'm almost ready to come."
"No, just go."
"I'm almost there."
"Is that a dirty joke?! "
"Ehe! "

　Is this the result of feeling without thinking?

　When I rebutted her like Champani, Cosmos turned her cheeks shyly and said, " Okay, then, I'll be serious..." and headed for the Metal Slime. You don't have to be shy about it……

　……But maybe this was for the best. It seemed like I could build up a somewhat good relationship with this girl, too.

　Yes, this is all right for now. But when she gets to that glorious stage, either in summer or winter, she's going to have to change a little bit.





"I'm h-home."

　1:00 am. After finishing the search for Metal Slime, we returned home.

　It was hard to find the eighth one, which is why it was so late. But thanks to our hard work, both Cosmos and I were able to learn all the 【Jojutsu】 skills.

　It's okay, though. Despite the fact that I had nothing to hide when pressed about what I was doing with that perverted masked maid until this time of night, I found that I had a troublesome opponent.……


"――Welcome back."

　Geez, Yukari!

　You've been up until this late? So that means……

"Tomorrow, Eko will be learning axemanship, and I and the other Yve squad applicants will be learning Thread Manipulation."
"Yeah, I guess."
"I thought I might need to do some prep work."
"Prep? "
"A nightly session of Thread Manipulation."

　That's a double-meaning sentence, right?!

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Thank you for reading.

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Cheat sheet

Stats details

＜Status Details＞

• HP　Hit Points
• MP　Magic Points
• SP　Stamina Points
• STR　Short range attack skill power, strength, physical power.
• DEX　Long range attack skill power, dexterity, hit rate.
• AGI　Quickness, avoidance rate.
• INT　Attack Magic skill power.
• LUK　Good luck, critical rate.
• VIT　Simple defense.
• MGR　Magic defense.

Types of combat skills

Named after shogi pieces (The word in bold is the one being used in this translation). From easier to acquire to harder.

1. Pawn/Soldier (Fuhyou)
2. Lance(Kyousha)
3. Knight (Keima)
4. Silver General (Ginshou)
5. Gold General (Kinshou)
6. Bishop (Kakugyou)
7. Rook (Hisha)
8. Promoted Bishop/Dragon Horse(Ryuuma)
9. Promoted Rook/Dragon King (Ryuuou).

List of Swordsmanship skills

Swordsmanship

1. 《Soldier Swordsmanship》　                  Normal attack.
2. 《Lance Swordsmanship》　                    Piercing attack.
3. 《Knight Swordsmanship》　                   Precision attack.
4. 《Silver Swordsmanship》　                     Strong single-target attack.
5. 《Gold Swordsmanship》                           Small-range attack to all directions.
6. 《Bishop Swordsmanship》                      Quick and powerful piercing attack
7. 《Rook Swordsmanship》　                      Rush piercing attack
8. 《Dragon Horse Swordsmanship》　  Powerful ranged attack in all directions
9. 《Dragon King Swordsmanship》　       Most powerful range attack, takes time to prepare

List of Shieldmanship skills

Shieldmanship

1. 《Soldier Shieldmanship》　                  Normal defense.
2. 《Lance Shieldmanship》　                    Piercing deflection.
3. 《Knight Shieldmanship》　                   Defense + knockback.
4. 《Silver Shieldmanship》　                     Defense +chance to parry
5. 《Gold Shieldmanship》                           Ranged guided defense + knockback.
6. 《Bishop Shieldmanship》                       Reinforced defense (Temporarily boosts VIT and MGR)
7. 《Rook Shieldmanship》　                      Rush attack
8. 《Dragon Horse Shieldmanship》　    ???
9. 《Dragon King Shieldmanship》　       Powerful shield attack, takes time to prepare

List of Archery skills

Archery

1. 《Soldier Archery》　                  Normal range attack.
2. 《Lance Archery》　                    Piercing range attack.
3. 《Knight Archery》　                   Precise sniping range attack.
4. 《Silver Archery》　                     Strong single-target range attack.
5. 《Gold Archery》                           Weaker range attack with added knockback.
6. 《Bishop Archery》                       Strong piercing range attack.
7. 《Rook Archery》　                      Very strong single-target range attack with scaling % damage.
8. 《Dragon Horse Archery》　    Powerful Area of Effect piercing range attack.
9. 《Dragon King Archery》　       Powerful on-impact range attack, takes time to prepare

Types of Magic skills

They use the “Form” or “step” system of martial arts. From lower to higher.

1. First Form　      　      Regular attack
2. Second Form　      　 Extended range attack
3. Third Form　      　    Strong single target attack
4. Fourth Form　      　  Strong extended range attack
5. Fifth Form　      　      Extremely powerful extended range attack

• Their cast time becomes longer in this order First→Third→Second→Fourth→Fifth.

Ranking of the skills

From lower to higher, then it changes to the “Dan” system of martial arts, which means Grade.

1. 16th class
2. 15th class
3. 14th class
4. 13th class
5. 12h class
6. 11th class
7. 10th class
8. 9th class
9. 8th class
10. 7th class
11. 6th class
12. 5th class
13. 4th class
14. 3rd class
15. 2nd class
16. 1st class
17. Grade 1
18. Grade 2
19. Grade 3
20. Grade 4
21. Grade 5
22. Grade 6
23. Grade 7
24. Grade 8
25. Grade 9
26. Title

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 ToC    

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