“This is the place! Millie, are you alright!?”
An uninvited guest has arrived. No, I did invite them, and I’d be in trouble if they didn’t come, but the timing is just awful… well, it wouldn’t be as bad if they were a little later, but anyway, they’re here. Now that they’re here, I have to deal with them, though I’m not in the mood at all.
Reluctantly, I get out of bed and face the harem members.
“Kukuku… Did I interrupt you at a good time? You made it all the way here.”
“You! What did you do to Millie—kuh!”
The protagonist… what was his name again? Probably Takashi, he charges in without thinking, but I stop him with a ‘Slashing Airwave’. Last time, it was really tough because I left my sword near the entrance, but I won’t repeat such a foolish mistake. I’m fully prepared.
This will probably be the last time I deal with these guys, and I wanted to cross swords with them properly. I wouldn’t tell Millie and Shino to catch up, that’s impossible, but I want to give them a sense of crisis while giving them some training so they can get a little stronger.
“Kukuku… Can’t you tell what I was trying to do?”
“Tch…! That bastard!”
“The worst!”
My words seem to have completely enraged the three harem members. They take up their weapons and creep closer.
“You really were going to do it, weren’t you?”
I hear something whispered from behind, but I ignore it. Millie is to blame for that.
“What’s wrong? If you’re not coming, I’ll come to you.”
Being near Millie invites all sorts of comments, so I decide to approach the harem members myself.
As if that were the trigger, they all attack at once.
I parry the man’s sword with my own and counterattack, lightly dodge the woman’s axe to make her swing miss, and interrupt the woman trying to use magic by casting a spell myself. As I thought, it’s going to be hard to keep up with Millie and Shino if things continue like this.
“Hmph, is that all? You should have brought more people with you instead of just three.”
“Damn it, this guy…!”
“Such power! But I can’t afford to lose!”
I continue to casually parry the attacks of the two vanguards who are rushing at me.
That’s right, this feeling. I’m starting to remember. A fighting style of charging straight ahead and repeating big swings. As the former head of the Swordsmanship Club, I can’t stay silent.
“What are you doing, charging in recklessly? Be aware of your coordination.”
“What did you say!?”
“Stop with those monotonous big swings and add some variety. You’re not fighting a scarecrow.”
“Sh-Shut up! I won’t lose to someone like you…!”
“Don’t announce that you’re going to cast a spell before you do it. Cast it silently.”
“Haaah!? Shut up!”
“Don’t breathe so heavily. Hide your fatigue and injuries.”
“Haaah, haaah… Damn it… like this”
“Hey, what are you sleeping for? You can’t protect anyone like that.”
“…………”
When I get into the mood to train someone, I can’t help but remember my days in the Swordsmanship Club and get serious. As I point out every flaw I find while fighting them, the three of them become exhausted before I know it.
“…Oops.”
They got tired much faster than I expected. I’ve only been at it for about thirty minutes, but could this be the first time they’ve received serious combat training?
“Kukuku… Is that all? Pathetic, considering how boldly you came here.”
I provoke them casually to give them time to rest and encourage them, but the two vanguards can’t stand on their feet, and the mage is out of mana. There’s nothing I can do.
If I were to follow the successful example, I would need to lose, but is there a natural way to lose from here?
“Hmph. Then you guys can just sit there and watch with your fingers in your mouths.”
“Damn it!”
“W-Wait…!”
I turn my back on the three who are kneeling and glaring at me resentfully and return to Millie’s side. I have no choice but to have Millie do something.
“Eh, eh? Geld-kun, r-really? Are you going to do it in front of everyone?”
“Do what!? It’s not that, it’s just that those guys are exhausted, so I want you to do something!”
When I approached Millie to ask for help, she whispered something outrageous. What would she have done if I had said I would?
“What are you doing? You’re hopeless, Geld-kun.”
“Sorry.”
Millie says with a sigh, but she’s smiling happily. Millie has an extremely peculiar hobby of taking care of me.
“Get away from Millie…!”
I turn around at Takashi’s shout and see him staggering towards me with his sword raised. As expected of the protagonist, he has a good spirit.
I would like to be defeated by such a protagonist, but if I were to lose to such a wobbly guy, it would make me wonder what all that strength from before was for. That’s why I entrusted it to Millie… Ah, I think I heard a cracking sound behind me.
Takashi stops, his mouth agape as he looks behind me. I should pretend not to see it, or he’ll notice me.
“Kukuku… What’s wrong? Is just standing up all you can do? Then I’ll be with Millie and—”
“Ah.”
A shock runs through my brain. My vision flickers.
It must have been Millie’s sneak attack, but she didn’t have to hit me so hard.
“Um… everyone! Now’s your chance!”
“Huh? Ah, yes!”
“Y-Yes!”
I’m dizzy and don’t know what’s going on, but I’m probably being ganged up on. What cruel people.
I continue to be beaten for a while, and I’m battered and collapsed. However, the damage from the harem members’ punches is almost non-existent, and Millie’s blow is the main cause.
“Guh… Listen well, you guys. If you breathe a word of this, you’ll be making enemies of the Waslein Family. Unless you want your parents back home to be left out in the cold, you’d better keep your mouths shut…”
“You can say that from above even in this state, huh, you…”
For now, I’ll say the most important thing. I really wanted to say a lot more, but this is my limit. I believe Millie will take care of the rest, and I lose consciousness.
“Geld-kun. Are you okay?”
“…Hmm?”
I hear Millie’s voice and wake up. Her tone sounds a little flustered.
“Hmm…? Ah.”
That’s right. I was knocked out by Millie hitting me from behind.
“I’m sorry, Geld-kun. I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you that hard, but it just felt so good.”
Well, I can tell that without being told.
Even though Millie is around level 60, she wouldn’t normally have enough power to knock me out with one blow even if she hit me without a weapon. So, I guess a critical hit, as they say in games, landed.
“That was an amazing attack. It might have been the most painful thing in my life.”
“Eh, ah. I’m sorry, I’m sorry? Are you okay? Does it still hurt?”
Millie is desperately apologizing while frantically casting ‘Pefu’ on my head. This is a very rare sight.
Usually, I’m the one who messes up, and I’m the one who tries to appease Millie when she gets angry. Now it’s completely reversed.
If I take advantage of Millie’s guilt, I might be able to give her some bad orders. It’s a valuable opportunity, so I want to make the most of it.
“More importantly, what about those guys? And how long have I been sleeping?”
“Ah, everyone’s already left. It’s been about an hour since then.”
“Then—”
I listen to the outcome of the operation while thinking about what kind of order to give. It seems Millie did a good job.
“—That’s what I said. I think I was able to silence them.”
“I see. Then there’s no problem anymore.”
After all, should I redo what happened earlier? The bed seems to be partially destroyed, but it’s still usable. I’ll restrain Millie once again… no, is there anything else…?
“But Geld-kun was so cool just now.”
“Hmm? Just now?”
“You know, when you were saying, ‘You can’t do that’ and ‘Stand up quickly.'”
“Ah. When I was training them in the Swordsmanship Club style. …You think that’s cool?”
Millie suddenly says something I don’t understand, but I think it’s just strict. Millie might be an M.
“Yeah. You were the club president, right?”
“Well, yeah. As the first club president, I strictly guide my juniors, but I’m still admired as an ideal senior… Millie? What’s wrong?”
Millie, who was just spacing out and saying how cool I was, is now a little dissatisfied.
“Geld-kun as the club president, you seem popular.”
“No…? I don’t have any particular memories of that.”
I should have been popular, for sure. But I don’t have any impression of that at all.
But even with a sleepy head, I can understand it if I think about it a little.
“That’s right, Clem was always by my side.”
I suddenly realize and shut my mouth. I wake up with a start.
“Clem?”
“Clem… that’s right, there was someone who would complain, and that…”
“Hmph?”
Ah, no good.
This is just a story from the past, so Millie doesn’t sulk openly or complain about it anymore. She just narrows her eyes for about a minute. That’s what’s scary.
It’s impossible to restrain Millie by preying on my guilt anymore. If I carelessly show her the restraints, I might be the one getting restrained instead.