Complaints [Part 4]
“Yeah, I’m in the middle of a part-time job.” Hue revealed his presence after confirming that no one else was in the corridor.
“I see. What job? Do you need my help?”
William asked Hue while helping the dreadfully weary George sit on the corridor’s floor.
“tut-tut, William-sama, I have a duty of confidentiality(?) to protect. I’m not telling you the details of my job.”
“Wowww, so cool. You’re just like a pro!”
“Hue is the biggest earner among the Slum Kidz, after all!”
Impressed by Hue’s ninja mannerisms, William and Emma started singing his praises.
“Hehe, well, yeah… Ah, right. You three, don’t get too close to that Holy Maiden.”
Hue warned the siblings while looking at the crowd from the window.
Hue’s client for today’s job was Joshua. He was commissioned to prevent Holy Maiden Joanna and Emma from running into each other while Joshua was away.
Joshua got the information that Joanna wanted to meet Emma through his personal channel. Since he was still unclear about Joanna’s purpose, he couldn’t just sit still and wait for anything undesirable to really happen. That’s why he had Hue snuck around on days he couldn’t attend the academy.
Rather than being a hairbreadth away from being a stalker… He is the very definition of a stalker itself.
“Mhmm… But I’m curious what kind of person she is.”
Emma rested her elbow on the window frame and stretched her neck in order to search for the Holy Maiden.
At the heart of the crowd, a female student with a conspicuous hair color, a color close to black, was distributing cotton fabric whose yellowness could be seen from afar.
“Huh? That’s…”
Although Emma didn’t particularly care about close-to-black hair color, something about the Holy Maiden’s hair color bothered her.
When she continued staring to take a good look, the Holy Maiden lifted her face.
“! Eeek!”
Emma only saw the Holy Maiden’s face for a brief second.
But, just that short second alone was enough to send chills throughout her whole body.
“Wh-…. Why?”
As if to avoid entering Joanna’s line of sight, Emma crouched down on the floor beside George.
“? Nee-sama? What’s wrong?”
“What’s the matter? Emma?”
Surprised by Emma’s sudden shriek, William, who was chatting with Hue, and George, who was drooping his head in depression, all turned to look at her and asked in concern.
“Th-… That! …Joanna-sama‘s… face… Her face is—!”
Emma pointed at the window frantically while trembling.
“Joanna-sama? What’s wrong with her…! Eeep!!!”
“!!! Oi! William, get away from the window!”
William and George also ducked down the moment they saw Joanna from the window Emma pointed.
“H-Hey! What’s wrong with you three?!”
The three siblings’ reaction after seeing the Holy Maiden surprised Hue.
“Th-That… No, why? Eh? Why? What is happening?”
“Just what is going on?”
“…What to do, what to do, what to do.”
George had lost his earlier weariness and went to hug Emma’s trembling shoulders with vigilant expression. William being William, fully utilized his sharp brain to think up a way to put the situation under control and kept mumbling his thoughts into confusing strings of words.
“What is it? What happened?! …Ah! Wait here for a sec, ‘kay? Don’t move from here, I’ll be back soon, got that?”
Even when Hue tried to talk with the siblings, they didn’t give any response as they weren’t in a state to care about others.
This is my first time seeing them in such a shaken condition.
But we are currently in the academy.
Other students can appear in this hallway any time. It’s not like it’s a restricted area or what.
There will surely be a commotion if someone else sees the three siblings in their current condition.
While Hue was stuck on what to do, he sensed the presence of several nearby students.
And one of those presences belonged to his client of the day.
At this point, “he” was the only one they could rely on.
♠♠♠
Author’s corner:
Mr. Crisis & Mr. Serious:
“Hey, don’t you think we’ve been overworking recently?”
“Now, now, don’t say it like that. It’s our first attempt after the new year, so let’s give it our all!”
