Published: August 10, 2026
Once again, let me say it plainly: I'm bad with Morganaite.
When she's working as an ambassador, that's one thing. But in daily life, the way she drags out her sentence endings and speaks in such a fawning tone makes me wonder if she can't just talk normally. And then there's the way she clings all over Amelia right in front of me—it's offensive to the eyes. Above all, I can't stand the fact that she's taller than me and uses that as an excuse to mock me. I mean, I'm still average height by the standards of my original world, okay?
On top of that, she openly treats me like an enemy and, even worse, perfectly obstructs my conversations with Amelia without Amelia ever noticing. I really wish she'd stop that.
Probably, if this were the old me, I'd have used presence concealment to cut all ties with Morganaite and just kept my distance from her and Amelia alike. The same way I severed ties with the classmates who came from my original world with me at Reytis Castle. The same way I didn't even speak to Kyousuke, my best friend. The same way I left Reytis Castle alone.
But now, I have Sato as a precedent.
Until I came to this world—or rather, until I saw what Sato did in Morte—I don't think I really accepted him as a hero or as a leader. Honestly, I looked down on those guys who charged ahead without thinking of the consequences, chasing only the information right in front of them.
I still find his occasional airheadedness and that excessive, overly good-natured behavior that ignores priorities incredibly annoying, but even so, if someone were to be chosen as the leader of all of us summoned people, and as the "hero who defeats the demon king," then I think it would be Sato. No one but Sato. I'll never, ever say that to him, though, because it gives me goosebumps.
After that incident, I learned that if I put my own self-preservation first and keep cutting myself off from others to run away, there are things I won't be able to see. That had almost become a habit of mine, since I'd been naturally so inconspicuous ever since I was in the original world.
Besides, since you can't see into a person's heart, I can't rule out the possibility that my own paranoia is making me misread things.
Most importantly, unlike Sato, whose reason for hostility toward me still isn't clear, I do have a pretty good idea why Morganaite dislikes me.
Being near Amelia, whom she adores and dotes on, and the fact that when Amelia called for help, Morganaite couldn't be by her side and I was the one who helped her. Those are probably the two reasons.
So I decided to talk to Morganaite. Compared to the way I used to be, that was a huge step forward.
"...So that's why you interrupted my and Amelia-sama's fun, fun, happy bath time together just for something like that?"
"Sorry. ...No, wait, is this actually my fault?"
I flinched a little in front of Morganaite, who was tapping her nails against the desk and looking extremely irritated, and apologized honestly. But then I tilted my head, thinking it still felt rather unreasonable since she was the one who'd gone and caused unnecessary trouble in the first place.
I had approached her while Amelia was taking a bath, and it seemed Morganaite had been planning to bathe with Amelia. She had refused to talk to me, and Amelia, who had seen it all, ended up calming her down. That's how we got here, so I suppose it's understandable.
"What?"
"Nothing. Anyway, there's something I want to ask you."
"Haa? Since I'm going there now, I don't suppose I'll be able to scrub Amelia-sama's back, so I guess I don't mind answering you."
"Eh?"
"Haa?"
Morganaite's attitude was annoyingly condescending to the point that I almost snapped back reflexively, but I held myself in check and scratched the back of my neck.
There was no way I could bluntly ask the current Morganaite, who was at peak bad mood, "Why do you hate me?" I could already imagine her tearing me to pieces with words.
"Uh... right. About that. What exactly do you mean, that the butterfly flower society broke away from Tsukimi Family and that Kingdom of Wendes is involved?"