— Morning.
Fighting the sleepiness, Shannon sat up in bed.
In the past, no matter how late she slept, her kind older sister would wake her up. Meals were prepared too, cooked in ways that were easy for Shannon to eat.
Once her sister headed off to the academy, Shannon would spend the rest of the day on her own, taking it easy.
Lunch was already made, so she could just eat whenever she got hungry.
When night came, her sister would look after her again.
There had been servants a few times before, but when they tested the abilities of Shannon's eyes—her magical sight—they ran away.
No, Shannon had driven them away.
So what did Shannon's new daily life look like?
"Ugh… I have to get up."
She didn't want to leave bed, but the reason she had to wake up early in the morning was that there was a scary teacher waiting.
She changed clothes and headed to the kitchen.
Though Shannon's eyes couldn't see, her other senses had grown sharp.
At the same time, a Skill compensated for her inability to see.
Having such a special Skill, Shannon could judge people's emotions through fluctuations in their mana.
Her magical sight showed her the flow of mana, invisible to ordinary eyes.
Having learned to perceive and manipulate that flow, Shannon—however—
"You're slow, Shannon-chan."
When she reached the kitchen, a woman was already preparing the meal.
It was Novem.
"S-sorry."
Her mood upon waking was terrible. And yet, even though she had forced herself up, she was told she was too late.
This environment—so different from her life until now—began right here in the kitchen.
"Go wash your face. When you're done, set out the plates. After that… no, before that, go check on Lyle-sama and Poyopoyo first."
Not long ago, it was normal to see Novem and Poyopoyo bustling around the kitchen. But now Poyopoyo was staying in the mansion's warehouse together with Lyle.
From morning, they had been cutting metal and melting it down, repeating the process over and over.
She had also heard them arguing heatedly from time to time.
"They're… asleep, you know."
Shannon used the ability of her eyes to check on Lyle and Poyopoyo's condition. She could do this even from the kitchen—likely because the ability of her eyes was that powerful.
She could select only the information she wanted and see it.
Then Novem spoke.
Normally, Novem's mana never wavered at all, but upon closer inspection, it was extraordinarily dense. You wouldn't notice it at a casual glance, but it was clearly abnormal.
Shannon had never encountered someone like that before.
"Then please go wake the two of them. Tell them to wash their hands and faces as well."
Novem continued cooking.
For Shannon, there were three people she felt she couldn't beat.
One was her sister, Miranda.
Another was Novem.
And the last was Ceres, whom she had met in the party.
Being ordered by one of those three she couldn't defy, the current Shannon had no choice but to obey.
"…Fine."
Heading for the door that led from the kitchen to the garden, Shannon stepped outside.
She didn't find the morning sun glaring, but she understood that the weather was nice.
Even though what she saw was different from what others saw, Shannon's eyes could perceive more information than a video recording.
As she headed to the warehouse, junk was scattered everywhere inside.
Lyle was lying on his side atop a row of wooden crates.
He had a blanket over him, but it had slipped off.
Poyopoyo was in "Sleep Mode," standing with her eyes closed. Both of them were smudged with something like black soot.
Shannon looked at the large box sitting inside the warehouse.
Four legs.
There were wheels rolling nearby. She had thought they were building a carriage, but it didn't look like one from what she could see.
"What is this junk… You've been spending days making something like this?"
Lyle, who was supposed to be an adventurer, was now going to the library and the academy, then coming back to build things with Poyopoyo.
He went to the library to see Clara.
He went to the academy to visit Damian's research lab.
Aria, whom Shannon remembered playing with as a child, was heading somewhere from the morning to receive instruction.
Her sister Miranda, after graduating from the academy, had been attending a private school to acquire the trap-related skills that adventurers needed.
Novem was doing magic training even though she didn't seem to need it.
All three of them were working to better themselves.
Among all that, only Lyle was—
"St-stop… Best Lyle isn't that…"
(…Best Lyle? What's that supposed to mean? Is this guy a narcissist?)
He seemed to be having a nightmare.
His chest was open, and a blue gemstone was visible inside.
(I can see six lights. There's another light inside Lyle too.)
It was different from Aria's jewel—Lyle's blue gemstone.
She could see six lights within it.
One was glowing inside Lyle, looking like it belonged there.
"…St-stop… I won't do it again…"
Shannon pinched the nose of the murmuring Lyle.
Lyle thrashed about in pain and sat bolt upright.
"It's not my fault!"
Having jumped up with that outburst, Lyle was panting, muttering "Zehah."
Looking around, he suddenly looked incredibly relieved.
Then, inside the blue gemstone, several of the lights began to move.
Lyle pressed his forehead with his hand and looked at Shannon.
"…Why didn't you just wake me up normally?"
"Huh? At first, I tried calling out to you."
Shannon lied without hesitation, and Poyopoyo—who had already woken up—spoke up.
"That's a lie. She was calling the crystallization of love between me and that Chicken 'junk.' And she didn't call out at all."
Poyopoyo delivered this with a crisp, composed expression, but the area around her nose was black.
"…You two, go wash your faces and hands. Novem is waiting."
Then Lyle spoke.
"Breakfast? What's on the menu today?"
Getting up and leaving the warehouse, Lyle seemed curious about the breakfast menu.
Poyopoyo, on the other hand—
"That vixen! How dare she defile my sanctuary! Chicken, I'll make breakfas—"
"No, I'm eating Novem's breakfast. Besides, an Automaton oversleeping… Take a lesson from those three."
"Those three" referred to the Automatons working as maids at Damian's place.
Shannon had heard about that too, but Poyopoyo was reacting excessively.
"I am a Special Model! Don't compare me to a mass-produced unit! Are you listening? If you don't listen properly, I'll cry! I'll cry so much it'll drive you crazy!"
"…You're already annoying enough."
At Lyle's smiling declaration that she was annoying, Poyopoyo became agitated, saying things like "That smile is what I hate!"
(What were the ancient people thinking when they created an Automaton like this?)
Poyopoyo was connected to Lyle by a thin thread, and his mana was flowing through her body. That flow was clearly different from a human's.
No, it was similar, but there was a distinct difference.
The two headed toward the mansion, trading insults but clearly on good terms.
Shannon closed the warehouse door and felt her body grow heavy—it had barely moved these past few days.
As she was about to enter the mansion, Aria burst out through the front entrance.
"Oh no. I'm gonna get scolded! Lyle's fist is gonna—!!"
Biting into a sandwich stuffed with ham and vegetables, Aria combed her fingers through her hair, checked her outfit and equipment, and dashed off.
Lately she had been getting more scrapes and bruises, and when she took a bath, she'd groan like an old man, "Ahhh, everything aches."
She had grown more masculine since first coming to the mansion.
Yet in front of Lyle, she played the prim and proper girl.
If anyone told her people knew about this, she would surely blush and become flustered.
Previously, she had given off the impression of a bratty girl born into a martial family, swinging a spear around.
But now, the impression of a female warrior was much stronger.
That tendency had grown significantly in recent days. She was probably receiving training and honing herself, but Shannon worried in her own way whether Aria was losing something as a woman.
(Should I tell Lyle about the time she was sleeping in her underwear on the living room sofa? Come to think of it, where is she headed?)
As Aria appeared to be gradually losing her way, Miranda—who had finished getting ready—emerged from the entrance.
"Oh, Shannon. You're still here? I thought you'd run off from helping Novem, but here you are."
Shannon looked at her grinning sister.
She wasn't wearing her academy uniform. She had on a casual outfit—a skirt with a jacket draped over it.
She was carrying a bag, but inside were tools for trap-related work.
She used to be gentle, like a mother, but now her darker side had come out and she had grown strict with Shannon.
But right now, more than that—
"…W-wait, I forgot!"
Novem had told her to go call Lyle and the others, but she had ended up relaxing in the garden instead.
Hurrying inside the mansion, Miranda spoke.
"Do your best today too! I'll be back after lunch."
Even being told that, for the current Shannon, Novem waiting in the kitchen took priority.
Returning to the kitchen, she found Novem watching Lyle eat the breakfast she had prepared while completely ignoring Poyopoyo.
"That vixen! That role is mine!"
"Is it good, Lyle-sama?"
"It's good."
Despite being pleasant and calm, Novem turned a smile toward Shannon when she noticed her.
There was no emotional disturbance. In fact, she was calmer than when talking to Lyle. So calm, it was almost frightening.
There was no disturbance at all. Normally, people—even the Automaton Poyopoyo—showed some fluctuation. But Novem didn't.
When Shannon realized this, she found it terrifying.
It triggered an instinctive sense of danger.
"Shannon-chan."
"Y-yes!"
"Go wash your face and hands first. After breakfast, we'll start with the cleanup."
She wasn't angry.
But to Shannon, that was what made it scary.
Just then—
"Ah, I'm going to stop by Damian's place today, but I'll also be going to the library, so skip lunch. I'll eat outside. Poyopoyo is…"
"Of course, I'll be accompanying that Chicken. I have to keep an eye on that four-eyed woman so she doesn't make a move on Chicken's virtue."
After glancing at Poyopoyo, Lyle turned to Novem and said:
"I wasn't told to bring Poyopoyo to Damian's today, so leave her here and put her to work."
"My Masteeeer! But… I can't refuse an order!"
The energetic Poyopoyo was giving off mana fluctuations that Shannon couldn't decipher—whether she was happy or sad.
Lyle was normal. He had slight fluctuations.
And Novem was really only barely fluctuating.
"Understood. Any requests for dinner?"
As Lyle began pondering dinner, the lights inside the blue gemstone moved again. It was almost as if it were speaking to Lyle.
And Lyle seemed to be hearing it.
(What is that gemstone?)
Aria's red gemstone didn't cause phenomena like this. Shannon could see four lights within it, but they just existed quietly.
They didn't assert themselves.
Lyle's blue gemstone felt noisy by comparison.
— Afternoon.
Shannon ate the lunch Poyopoyo had made while holding the kitchen, together with Novem.
She was exhausted again today.
Cleaning, laundry, and shopping—
Now, far too late, Shannon regretted that she should have kept servants in the mansion whether she wanted to or not.
"Shannon-chan, your table manners are sloppy."
"It's fine. I can't see, you know."
Novem stared at Shannon.
"Hyah! I'll behave, okay?! Is that what you want?"
"That's right. You can do it if you try, so you need to behave properly."
Now she couldn't even push back.
She used to be able to touch someone's mana and disrupt it, but after sensing the terror within Novem's mana, she had become too afraid to do it anymore.
Her mental drive—the willingness to touch—had vanished.
"Eat properly. I can't make it for Chicken, but if it's an order, I'll put my heart into it, you scoundrel."
The meal Poyopoyo had prepared was delicious.
It was hard to believe an Automaton had made it.
Even an ordinary person—a regular woman—might not be able to cook at this level.
However, her language was awful.
Shannon asked:
"Your heart is absolutely not in that, is it? You care about Lyle that much?"
Then—
"Wh-what, are you stupid? I don't like that guy or anything! It's just… watching him try so hard is dazzling, and the way he sleeps so innocently is cute, and… anyway, it's not like that!"
Watching the Automaton suddenly launch into what sounded like lines from a play, Shannon wondered if she had broken.
Novem, however, was perfectly normal. She said nothing.
When Poyopoyo finished, she spoke with a satisfied expression.
"Hmph, I'm steadily working through my collection of lines I've always wanted to say. At this rate, the last scene is guaranteed a happy ending. I wonder what line I'll get to deliver."
Shannon thought:
(This one is such a pain… The ancient people really were a little off, weren't they?)
Leaving the self-satisfied Automaton to her own devices, Shannon resumed her meal.
— Night.
Once everything was done and all that remained was sleep, Shannon climbed into bed and spoke.
"Ahhh, I'm tired…"
She had always relied on servants and Miranda, so this unfamiliar life felt incredibly difficult.
From the first day to the second, the muscle pain had been brutal, making everything a struggle.
She had spent so long playing the part of a fragile, blind girl that the muscle pain had her groaning in bed.
Seeing that, Miranda had laughed—and it infuriated her.
But having been forgiven for everything she had done up until now, Shannon couldn't push back.
Day by day, she was mastering trap-related techniques, progressing at a speed that made you wonder whether she was a born genius.
If she defied a sister like that, who knew what would happen to her… She was too scared to resist.
"What does he even have going for him?"
She asked herself this almost daily.
What was so great about Lyle?
She couldn't believe Miranda would choose a partner based on looks alone.
She understood he was outstanding as an adventurer. After all, he had at least eight Skills.
And Aria played the prim girl in front of Lyle. It was painfully obvious.
Poyopoyo didn't even try to hide it.
And then there was Novem.
Even Novem showed mana fluctuations only when it came to Lyle.
"…Is there some good quality about him that I'm missing?"
Recently, that was all Shannon could think about.
At this rate, her sister would be swept off her feet by Lyle, growing stronger and stronger until it was beyond recovery.
She wanted to stop it, but she couldn't think of how.
"Just you wait. I'll get my revenge someday, Lyle!"
With that said, Shannon thought about Lyle until she finally fell asleep.