“—I’ve been expecting you.”

I arrived at the mansion using trains and buses, and a beautiful maid with long, straight, light blue hair was waiting for me in front of the back gate.

She looks similar to Shirayuki-san, or rather, her facial features are also similar, so she might be her older sister.

“Nice to meet you, my name is Aima Eito. I have an appointment to see Furei-san.”

“Thank you for your courtesy. My name is Shirayuki Hitomi, Koori’s mother. It seems my daughter is under your care.”

“Ah, so you’re Shirayuki-san’s mother――Mother!?”

She bowed with such refined elegance that it took me a split second to realize something felt off. By the time I came to my senses, the words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them.

No, but… no matter how I look at it, she doesn’t look older than her early twenties…!?

“Do I really not look the part?”

“Well, um… I honestly thought you were her older sister…”

“Fufu, you certainly know how to flatter, Aima-sama.”

No, no, that’s not a compliment!

She really doesn’t look like a mother!

It would even be believable if someone said she was in her late teens!

Just like Maria-san, is there some kind of rule that beautiful women just don’t age!?

My head had been completely occupied with how I was going to get back at Emera, but that shocking revelation blew everything right out of my mind.

—Well, Shirayuki-san herself looks young enough to pass for an elementary school kid despite her age, so in a way, this all makes sense.

“…………”

“―!?”

Suddenly, her mother’s eyes turned icy cold.

She was only staring at me. And yet, the way her narrowed gaze fixed on me sent a chilling shiver down my spine.

Ah, this is that thing.

She’s the same type as Maria-san… the kind who can read people’s minds.

I doubt they’re actually related by blood, and they shouldn’t have any real connection to each other, but the atmosphere she gives off is identical. There’s no mistaking it.

Realizing that, I hastily tried to cover it up with a smile.

“I’ve already heard the situation. Please, come in.”

Just as Shirayuki-san had said, her mother let me onto the estate without any trouble.

Inside the gate was an absurdly large garden, and I quietly followed behind her as she walked ahead of me.

From this point on, anything could happen—so I needed to stay alert…

With that in mind, I kept my guard up as we crossed the grounds. But for some reason, every maid and butler we passed bowed their heads to me without fail.

They aren’t trying to attack me, nor do they show any hostility or murderous intent, so it seems I’m just being guided to where Emera and the others are waiting.

And then――

“This is where Emera-sama and Furei-sama’s rooms are located.”

――Without anything happening, I was led to the front of their room.

Hey, hey… this is going so smoothly it’s actually scary.

“Um…”

The whole situation felt so unnervingly smooth that I tried calling out to Koori’s mother, who had escorted me up to this point—hoping to probe for anything suspicious.

But—she had already vanished without a trace.

“Is she a ninja…?”

As expected, she’s Shirayuki-san’s mother.

She seems to have left without a sound while I was trying to determine whether there were any traps on the door or around it.

She’s incredibly strong too. Even when I was walking behind her along the way, I couldn’t find a single opening.

In fact, I think Shirayuki-san looks cute in comparison.

“Well… now that I’ve come this far, I guess I have to go in.”

Since it’s finally time for the real thing, I switched my mindset and knocked on the door three times as a matter of courtesy.

――But there was no answer from inside.

It seems they want me to enter silently.

“They sure act high-and-mighty to the very end…”

If that’s how they want it―I opened the door while deliberately radiating murderous intent.

And then—

“Huh…?”

Sitting on an expensive-looking sofa with Furei on her lap, feeding her what looked like a fancy high-end pudding with an “an~”, was Emera—who froze the moment she saw me.

Um… why is she this relaxed…?

Even Furei had frozen stiff when I looked at her…

“What are you doing here?”

As I stared at the two of them, wondering what the hell was going on, Emera—still frozen in that exact pose—asked me a question.

“Well, I came because I was told to.”

“…………”

When I answered honestly, Emera narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

A single bead of sweat trickled down her forehead.

“So that means you’ve defeated Koori, huh? To slip past the traps and assassins I set up so easily…”

After setting Furei down from her lap, Emera praised me as if trying to act like someone in a position of power.

No, I didn’t slip through anything; it was a free pass!

In fact, I was guided here.

I wondered what the hell was going on―and then I noticed something.

So that’s how it is… Furei must have arranged everything without letting Emera catch on.

Back in the classroom, I never showed Emera the full extent of my abilities.

That’s why Furei figured she could smooth the way for me without Emera noticing anything.

If Emera questioned the servants, it would normally give everything away—but if Furei silenced them first, then with their power dynamic, it wouldn’t be a problem.

Seriously… Furei, your acting skills are too good.

I was even fooled myself.

Understanding that much, I released murderous intent again.

“What are you getting so cocky about? Now that I’ve come this far, do you understand what kind of situation you’re in?”

From Emera’s point of view now, I am an unknown existence.

After all, she must think that I easily overcame the traps and assassins she set up and arrived here in a short amount of time.

If that’s the case, it will be easier to negotiate.

“Do you really understand the situation? We have your sister’s photos. If you attack us, we’ll spread them across the entire world, you know?”

“Oh really…”

While Emera glared down at me with her usual arrogance, I kicked off the floor.

“—So, tell me. Have you learned anything?”

I closed the distance to Emera in an instant and grabbed her right arm with my left arm.

“Ouch…!”

The moment I tightened my grip, Emera’s face twisted in pain.

But I ignored it and continued speaking.

“Before you dump anything online, I could just finish you off right here, couldn’t I? A dead person can’t exactly operate a phone, can they?”

“―!”

Emera, who had been desperately trying to pry my left hand off her, went pale the instant she saw my face.

She probably thought that I was serious because of my expression and murderous intent.

However―

“…I figured you might try something like this, so I already gave the order to release Hina’s pictures if we don’t make contact by the designated time. So… please let go of my sister’s hand…”

I was planning to threaten Emera into deleting the data just like this—but it seems someone else took my killing intent as ‘the real deal’.

Furei grabbed her phone and glared straight at my face.

“…A bluff won’t work on me.”

“Want to test whether it’s a bluff or not…? Though by the time you do, it’ll already be too late.”

It was almost certainly a bluff.

Emera might have done something like that, but there was no way Furei—who genuinely cared about Hina—would ever give such an order.

Probably because she thinks she’d crossed my line by taking photos of Hina in her underwear. Furei must have assumed I’d snapped completely and gone on a rampage because of it.

That’s why, even though we were secretly on the same side, she mistook my killing intent as the real thing.

Of course, I had no intention of throwing my life away over something this stupid, or doing anything that would make Hina suffer, so I never meant to kill her… but if I said that here, the threat against Emera would lose its effect.

Now, what should I do?

“…We did agree that if you beat Koori, I’d listen, didn’t we? If you can overcome the trials I set for you, I’ll delete all the photos of your sister.”

Surprisingly, it was Emera who presented a solution.

Is it because she values her own life, or is she just confident she’ll win?

It’s not wise to clash with Furei like this, and Shirayuki-san told me to buy time with Emera’s unreasonable demands, so my answer was decided quickly.

“Alright. What are the trials?”

“Let’s see… first, let’s have you win against Pochi…”

Pochi?

Is she trying to make me fight a typical Doberman or Shepherd?

I got a little confused because the name said by Emera made me think of a dog.

If I kick or hit the dog, animal rights activists won’t stay silent…

Actually, it would hurt my conscience.

“Furei, I’m borrowing Pochi.”

“…Understood…”

While I was troubled, Emera seemed to have taken it as tacit consent and started talking on her own.

I mean, isn’t that your dog?

I thought that, but there’s no point in saying that to her.

Furei looks a little displeased though.

“Come.”

When I released her hand, Emera strutted forward as if she were leading the way.

I followed behind her as she continued descending—lower and lower.

“—There’s no one here… Where did you send all of my maids?”

“I have no idea…”

“Oh? So you’re going to play dumb…?”

I answered honestly, but Emera clicked her tongue.

I really don’t know, but she seems to think that I imprisoned them somewhere after defeating them.

There’s no way I would go through all that trouble.

…But still… seriously, there’s no one here…?

Even though it’s a large mansion, it’s strange not to meet a single person.

When I was heading towards Emera and Furei’s room, I passed by so many people.

Even Furei looked puzzled by how strange this was.

“…We’ve arrived.”

They brought me underground—though calling it “underground” felt wrong, because the area was a lush expanse of greenery.

It looked like a full-on jungle. To think they built something like this beneath their mansion… rich people really are on another level…

“Pochi, come here…”

Furei took out a silver flute she had hidden under her chest and blew it softly.

With how huge this place was, shouldn’t she blow it harder for the sound to reach?

—or so I thought, until I heard rustling in the distance.

It seemed the sound had reached just fine.

But—as I listened to the steadily growing noise, I felt something was off.

Hm…?

Wait a minute…

Could it be…?

As I was thinking that, the sound grew closer and closer—and what finally appeared was a two-meter-long bear, its entire body the color of honey.

Yeah—are you insane!?