「 You sure are considerate nyan 」
Izumi said. I…
「 No. That’s not the case 」
Izumi and Miki-san looked at me.
「 I’m only doing this because I want to. I want to satisfy myself, and it’s not what Izumi thinks 」
I’m just a high-school student, and yet…
Using the Black Forest, Kouzuki SS, or the Miko power.
I’m entrusted with power that ordinary students cannot possess.
Yes, I’m entrusted with power.
That power isn’t mine.
Therefore, I can’t use that power as I please.
I must decide how far I can go.
「 I just want to do it for myself. I also want to be worthy of my family members. Therefore, whatever it is, no matter how much work it takes, I want to see it through with my eyes and I want to be responsible for it 」
That’s why I go to the front and do not leave it to others.
「 It’s just my selfish thoughts, not because I want to look after you 」
I said. The van turned quiet.
The one to break the silence is…
「 Darling, are you hungry? 」
Edie.
「 You still haven’t eaten Ai’s bread? 」
Right, Ai gave me an experimental pastry when we were leaving.
I haven’t eaten yet since I was busy infiltrating Miki-san’s middle school.
「 Speaking of which, I haven’t eaten yet. 」
Yukino ate all the sandwiches prepared for me earlier this breakfast.
Now that one of the problems is finished, I find myself hungry.
「 Let’s eat together, Kinoshita-san park the car somewhere 」
「 Got it 」
Kinoshita-san pulled up to the bank of the river road and parked the van.
「 Let’s eat breakfast. Which would you eat, Yo-chan? 」
Nei opens Ai’s bag.
There are various baked goods in it.
「 Let’s see, split it two per head 」
I counted the pastries and divided it by the number of people in the van.,
「 Eh, don’t mind us. We ate our breakfast, Yo-chan can eat three or four 」
Nei said, but…
「 No, Ai said that everyone should eat so two per head split will do 」
I looked at the driver’s seat.
「 Which do you like to get Kinoshita-san? You can pick first 」
I should prioritize age at times like this
Kinoshita-san looks young enough that you can call her a high-school girl but she’s an adult already.
「 Right, I’ll take the pie over there and the cream bun in the front 」
「 What about Tsukiko? 」
「 I’ll take this and this 」
「 Ya-chan? 」
「 I’ll pick one after Yo-chan 」
「 Just pick first 」
「 Then, I’ll take this and this 」
「 Edie? 」
「 I’ll take this and this one 」
When going with the age Order, Izumi’s in her first year in high school, Miki-san is in her third year in middle school, and Kurose Anju is the same age as Miki-san despite graduating from Switzerland already.
But…
「 Miki-san, pick one 」
I’ll give priority to Miki-san who’s not my woman yet.
「 Then, I’ll take this and this 」
Next.
「 Anju, pick 」
「 O-Okay 」
Kurose Anju, who’s watching out of the car, takes the bread.
「 Then, I’ll take this and this 」
The remaining pastries are two red-bean paste bread, one pie, and one chocolate croissant.
「 Izumi, pick one 」
「 Eh, but I’m a pet, so I’ll take the leftovers 」
「 There are still four remaining, so you should pick two 」
「 Is that so? Then I’ll take this and this nyan 」
Izumi picked the pie and chocolate croissant.
And so, the ones I’m left with are the red-bean paste bread.
Then.
「 Izumi-chan, that’s not it 」
「 Are you an idiot? 」
Nei and Edie scolded Izumi.
「 You don’t usually leave the two red-bean paste bread like that 」
Miki-san looked at Izumi with a fed-up face.
「 Gyahaha, Izumi-chan’s so funny 」
Kinoshita-san laughed.
「 No, uhm, but I don’t like red-bean paste 」
Izumi speaks with a small voice.
「 Drop it, Yo-chan, I’ll take the red-bean paste bread 」
Nei took one.
「 I’ll distribute tea 」
Meanwhile, Tsukiko poured tea from the bottle into the paper cups and distributed it to everyone.
「 Then, let’s eat 」
「 Thanks for the meal 」
Kinoshita-san speaks brightly, and then we ate food in the van
「 Still, this is delicious 」
「 Ai-chan’s getting better at baking 」
「 She’s talented 」
Kinoshita-san, Nei, and Edie said.
「 I had some yesterday too. This isn’t pastry that a high-schooler would make 」
「 I think so too nyan 」
Miki-san and Izumi ate our pastry yesterday at the school festival.
「 The bread is great, and the food in the Kuromori mansion is also delicious and so happy, don’t you think so too, Anju-chan? 」
Kinoshita-san told Kurose Anju.
「 Yes. I think so too 」
「 I knew it, the best place to work is somewhere with good food 」
Kinoshita-san smiles brightly, and Kurose Anju looks gloomy.
「 What’s wrong? 」
I asked Kurose Anju.
「 No, uhm, how do I say it…I wonder if it’s the right thing to do, I just found myself as Kuromori-sama’s bodyguard 」
I took Kurose Anju from Ishigami Mizuki just the other day.
「 It’s okay. We all like Anju-chan 」
「 Anju has all the qualities of a good bodyguard when trained well 」
Nei and Edie are going to America with Margo-san soon.
They want to train Kurose Anju to be my bodyguard by then.
「 That’s right, Anju-chan’s earnest and cute, and you’re one of the best candidates as Boss’ bodyguard 」
Kinoshita-san looks at me.
I feel that Kurose Anju’s worried about something else.
「 Last night, I asked Misuzu. We’re meeting up with the Ishigami house soon enough 」
I feel like Kurose Anju’s worried that her contract with the Ishigami house is still intact
She’s got that personality after all.
Mentioning the Ishigami house made Kurose Anju look at me.
「 I’ll talk with the Ishigami house. You don’t have to worry about it now 」
「 Yes, thank you 」
「 Either way, this is going to be a conversation between two noble families so you don’t have to worry about it 」
The Ishigami siblings were tricked to cause trouble for me, who’s related to the Kouzuki house.
That’s why I had Ishigami Norio and Mizuki experience physical humiliation as punishment.
I took Kurose Anju from them too.
Whatever deal we come up with is a problem for the Kouzuki house and Ishigami house, not Kurose Anju’s.
However.
Kurose Anju looks worried about something.
「 Or perhaps you’re dissatisfied with us? 」
I asked her directly.
「 No, I feel honored that someone like me would serve someone involved with the Kouzuki house, which is a great noble family. Even allowing myself to enter Kouzuki SS 」
Kurose Anju’s born into a family that has a bodyguard of the nobility.
But the family they served for generations have have been lost in her parent’s generation.
So, she ended up serving as Ishigami Mizuki’s bodyguard, who happened to have no bodyguard.
However, Kurose Anju wasn’t treated that well by the Ishigami house.
So, I decided to take Kurose Anju because I thought that her talents and abilities would go to waste if I don’t.
Kouzuki house is at the top among the nobility, so serving me as her bodyguard is much more prestigious than the Ishigami house.
Kurose Anju won’t find it a bad deal.
「 Right. The food is great, the tasks are fun, and the pay is amazing. You won’t find a place better than this 」
Kinoshita-san said.
I came to my senses.
Oh right, we haven’t talked about Kurose Anju’s pay
I don’t even know Edie or Mitama’s salary at all.
「 As for your paycheck, you’ll get what you need 」
I said.
Kurose Anju was a bodyguard of the Ishigami house, which had strict conditions.
I have a gut feeling that she has a reason why she needs to make money.
That’s why I have to pay no matter how much Kurose Anju needs, it’s not about the salary.
「 I have a Mother and two brothers 」
Kurose Anju speaks with a small voice.
「 Okay. Living and school expenses. If you want, I can also cover your Mom’s job and housing 」
I…
I also need to check on Kurose Anju’s home environment.
I’ve been busy for the past few days that it didn’t come up to me.
「 Huh, Boss hasn’t heard from Seki-san? 」
Kinoshita-san looked at me dumbfoundedly
「 Seki-san already has a full report on Anju-chan. Oh right, Seki-san was also busy yesterday and the day before that, I guess she hasn’t passed it on yet 」
No, Shou-neechan…
She’s waiting for me to ask about Kurose Anju.
She has everything arranged ahead of time, and she makes sure that there are no issues, furthermore;
I’m the owner of Kouzuki SS
I took my phone out and called Shou-neechan.
『 Yes. This is Seki 』
Shou-neechan answered the call instantly
「 About Kurose Anju’s salary 」
『 Okay, I’ll arrange them and report back 』
I hear a gentle voice from the other side of the line.
I…
「 Love you, Shou-neechan 」
『 Me too, it was amazing last night 』
I had sex with Shou-neechan last night
「 Me too, it felt amazing 」
『 Great. I’ll handle the rest 』
「 Yes, thanks 」
『 My schedule is still full today, good luck 』
「 Thanks, take care, Shou-neechan 」
『 You too. I’ll be excusing myself now 』
「 Later, Shou-neechan 」
I ended the call.
「 So, Anju-chan, Seki-san’s going to handle your case personally 」
Kinoshita-san smiles.
「 You don’t have to worry about it anymore then, Anju-chan 」
Right, Kurose Anju shouldn’t worry anymore.
Shou-neechan’s a perfectionist in her work.
「 If you have worries, then you can contact your family later when we returned to the mansion 」
I told Kurose Anju
「 You can also ask Seki-san for the details about your family 」
Nei said.
「 By the way, you can’t tell your family about us. I think that Anju-chan’s family phone has someone from the Ishigami house listening 」
I think Nei’s right about that.
「 I don’t think that the Ishigami house would be honest enough to admit their faults and apologize. They’ll try to find something to blame us for when we meet them. And that’s why they’d use you or your family for that 」
That’s the reason why…
Shou-neechan’s sending protection to Kurose Anju’s family.
To keep them safe from the Ishigami house.
「 But, don’t worry, no matter what the Ishigami house does, they’re no match against Kouzuki SS 」
「 Let Shou take care of it. She’s amazing you know 」
Edie also added.
「 I understand, I’ll leave it to her 」
Kurose Anju said.
「 I also need to make my resolve now 」
Just like Miki-san and Izumi.
She can’t run away now that I found her.
「 That’s right, give up the struggle. Join me 」
Kinoshita-san’s voice echoes in the van.
「 Still, even after two pastries, I’m still hungry. What about you Boss? 」
Kinoshita-san seems to be a big eater.
I…
I think I also want to eat something.
「 Should we return to the mansion right away? 」
Kinoshita-san asks
「 Yo-chan won’t get enough rest, if we go back to the mansion now, there will be a lot of hard work for Yo-chan 」
Nei objects.
「 We can’t go to any shops with this group either. 」
Edie looked at everyone in the van and smiled.
It’s Monday Today.
Furthermore, it’s already past 8.
Putting aside Kinoshita-san, Tsukiko, Nei, and Edie wearing work gear…
I’m in my school uniform, Izumi’s in her sailor uniform, Miki-san’s wearing her middle-school uniform, and Kurose Anju’s wearing a jersey.
We can’t go to 24/7 family restaurants or fast food.
「 If so, let’s go to Minaho-oneechan’s place 」
Nei suggested.
Minaho-neesan stayed over at the hotel in front of the station, the current Black Forest facility.
「 Either way, we’re going to meet up with Minaho-neechan later 」
This afternoon, we’re going with Minaho-neesan to take away the talent Agency
「 Right. Let’s not have Minaho-neesan go back to the mansion to join us 」
I’m the one who asked Minaho-neesan to come with us to the talent agency.
We should be the ones to join up with her.
「 Wait, I’ll contact her 」
Nei took out her phone and called Minaho-neesan.