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I, Vesta, am shorter than Murmur.

Because this kind of event didn’t exist in the game, I had to act carefully.

If I meddled thinking she was the ‘Real Vesta’ and it turned out she wasn’t, I wouldn’t know how to handle the aftermath.

… Considering the violent temperament of the high school senior, it seemed like Citrine could handle it if she stepped in, but I didn’t want to gamble on it.

So, I, Murmur, decided to use a little trick.

“Long brown hair that reaches the waist, with a red hairband…”

“There’s an older sister with a maid doll shorter than Murmur!”

“Ah~ I know who you’re talking about. Clotilde Edelstein, right?”

Professor Aiaie, as expected, knew the identity of the high school senior.

In times like these, getting caught by the professor and attending after-school classes is helpful!

“Is Clotilde senior a bad older sister?”

“Ah…”

I, Murmur, had clearly asked an absurd and rude question.

But Professor Aiaie’s reaction was微妙.

It was as if she had expected it?

“Clotilde uses violent actions and language toward her Maghauscia, but she’s not a bad person.”

“Murmur is really curious about this.”

“It’s just a way to relieve stress, Murmur.”

Professor Aiaie gave a bitter smile.

Is she the type to throw her smartphone on the floor when angry and regret it later?

Anyway, ‘Clotilde Edelstein’ was someone I, Murmur, had never heard of while playing the game, nor was she a hidden character in the setting book.

It’s completely someone I, Murmur, am meeting for the first time…

“But Murmur, it’s not right to think that way just because Clotilde is damaging Maghauscia.”

“Murmur thought she was a bad older sister.”

“Haha… It’s bad behavior. If you keep doing such things to a being that looks just like a person, you’ll end up doing it to people too.”

Professor Aiaie gently patted my, Murmur’s, head.

I managed to find out her name, but…

“Murmur is curious. Why does Clotilde sister get angry at the maid doll?”

“Hmm…”

Professor Aiaie fiddled with her bangs and horns while giving a bitter smile.

“I think it’s because Clotilde isn’t the way she wanted to be.”

“Murmur doesn’t understand what that means.”

“Clotilde wanted an excellent Maghauscia to handle her chores and homework for her magic studies.”

How much did she curse at it?

Professor Aiaie seems to know all the inside details.

“But the Maghauscia Clotilde received as a birthday gift isn’t made by a famous craftsman, nor is it the latest model.”

“So Clotilde sister gets angry and hits it because she doesn’t like it?”

“Even if she hits it, nothing will change.”

I got some information that vaguely points to the ‘Real Vesta,’ but the situation is still ambiguous.

“Is Clotilde sister strange?”

“In what sense?”

“Like hitting the maid doll like that.”

Professor Aiaie let out a small laugh.

“Murmur, you might not know this yet, but among middle and high school students, it’s not uncommon for them to damage their Maghauscia because they didn’t get a maid or because it didn’t do what they wanted.”

I asked just in case, but it seems like it happens often.

… So, do I have to go around asking all those Maghauscia?

That seems impossible, doesn’t it? It doesn’t seem feasible.

“Umm…”

And my, Murmur’s, gut is telling me something.

That Clotilde senior’s Maghauscia is the ‘Real Vesta.’

* * *

In the end, I, Murmur, decided to take action.

Rather than agonizing over it in my room, I decided to trust my gut.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I’ll do something stupid.

I really, really had no intention of running up to Clotilde senior and shouting, ‘Give me the Real Vesta!’

“Vesta, is that Maghauscia over there Clotilde senior’s?”

I, Murmur, was currently hiding behind a pillar while speaking.

“It is an exact match.”

If neither my, Murmur’s, eyes nor Fake Vesta’s eyes are wrong, then it must be the answer.

I swallowed hard, stepped out from behind the pillar, and walked toward the ‘Real Vesta’ trapped in a giant laundry basket.

“Umm…!”

The Real Vesta was diligently moving her small body, smaller than mine, Murmur’s, to do the laundry.

From bedding to underwear, bras, blouses, jackets, skirts, and dresses—she was wrestling with laundry that seemed impossible for her tiny body to handle.

Doing laundry by the river where the water was starting to get cold? Just looking at it made my hands hurt.

“Murmur wants to talk to the maid sister.”

The Real Vesta turned her head once and looked up at me, Murmur.

She was squatting, scrubbing a blouse with her hands red from the cold.

There was no one around the Real Vesta.

But no answer came back.

─ Scrub, scrub, scrub, scrub

The Real Vesta was just diligently doing the laundry.

She was just diligently carrying out her master’s orders.

I had expected this, but I guess I have to say the scripted line.

“In the night sky, there’s the ‘Vergilia Constellation.'”

Vergilia always reacts to this story.

“It’s the constellation that always stays by the descendants of nectar, guiding those who are lost on where to go!!”

So, with both fists clenched, I said it.

“… …”

─ Scrub, scrub, slap! Slap!

No answer came back.

I, Murmur, might have been making a grand delusion, as the small maid doll in front of me just kept doing the laundry.

She was so indifferent that she moved on to a black pair of panties after confirming no more soap bubbles came out of the blouse.

“Murmur knows that the maid sister is Vergilia.”

“… …”

─ Squish, squish, squish, squish

The small maid doll in front of me didn’t even glance at me, Murmur, and just kept diligently washing the bloodstained black underwear.

Even when I stared into her eyes, I couldn’t sense any emotion.

… What? Was the feeling I had last time that she had given up just a delusion?

“Ugh…”

Is she not the Real Vesta…?

There’s only one way to find out for sure now.

… Strip her clothes off and check if Vergilia is sealed inside or not, right?

But, that’s not something a person should do… …

Fake Vesta didn’t resist because she thought of me, Murmur, as her master… …

─ Squish, scrub, squish!

The small maid doll, unaware of my, Murmur’s, dilemma, just kept doing the laundry.

“Ugh…! It was just a delusion!”

Right! That can’t be it!

If she were the Real Vesta, she should look exactly like the Fake Vesta behind me!

There’s no way this small, slow-washing troublemaker Maghauscia is the Real Vesta!

“… …”

─ Squish, squish… slap!

And look.

She completely ignored the story about Vergilia.

Her pupils didn’t even waver.

There’s no way she’s Vesta.

Ugh! Then what? Was there never a Real Vesta from the start?

Was it just a character you could meet by writing a name in a hidden quest?

─ Squish! Slap! Squish, squish!

Even at this moment, the small maid doll was just diligently doing the laundry.

… Total bust.

“Murmur, if things didn’t go as you thought, I recommend returning to your room.”

It was a natural judgment.

… But then, the small Maghauscia caught my, Murmur’s, eye.

No, this is a really stupid thought…

It’s a thought that doesn’t help me, Murmur, at all, right?

“Vesta sister. How long will it take for the little maid here to finish the laundry?”

“… It’s impossible.”

“Why is it impossible?”

“The laundry exposed outside will naturally get dirty. Calculating the little maid’s laundry speed, it would take her a week to finish one round of laundry.”

So, if the clothes have been outside for a week, they’ll get dirty again, and she’ll have to wash them again, creating an infinite loop?

“Then if we take the washed clothes back to the room, it should be fine.”

“Murmur, there’s a reason why Maghauscia doesn’t do that.”

What, is she following some stupid order like ‘finish it all at once before coming back’?

“Then Murmur has decided.”

I, Murmur, squatted down.

“Murmur will help the little maid.”

“That is an extremely unnecessary action.”

“… Murmur asked Professor Aiaie about Clotilde sister. If Clotilde sister breaks the little maid now, Professor Aiaie won’t be able to teach Murmur difficult magic.”

It was an absurd, illogical excuse.

“… Understood, Murmur.”

Fake Vesta naturally reached for the laundry the little maid hadn’t touched yet.

“…!”

The little maid opened her eyes wide and looked at me, Murmur, and Fake Vesta.

And do Maghauscia have some kind of telepathy? The two blinked without saying a word.

“Murmur, I dare say, if you wash the small clothes, it should be fine.”

“Okay, Murmur will help too.”

I don’t want to see the little maid breaking down after doing laundry for a week.

Even if there’s no benefit for me, Murmur…

Even if there’s no good outcome for me, Murmur…

Even if I, Murmur, get pointed at as a demon in this world.

There are things that, as a person, you just can’t leave and run away from.

“Mu… Murmur will level up her laundry skill!”

Even though I know such a thing doesn’t exist, I blurted it out, hoping it might be added in a DLC.

* * *

“Good work, Murmur.”

The great laundry operation that started at lunchtime finally ended 30 minutes before dinner.

Even with three of us sweating profusely, it took this long?

“Murmur will tell you. Little maid, don’t tell Clotilde sister that Murmur helped you.”

I don’t want to hear something like, ‘A demon’s dirty hands touched my panties? Are you crazy?!’

“I apologize for not being able to help you all the way to Leaha Hall.”

Vesta bowed her head and spoke to the little maid.

“… …”

The little maid blinked her red eyes and looked at us.

She still didn’t say a word.

… Well, whatever!

There’s no such thing as a laundry skill, and no stats increased from fulfilling hidden conditions, but…

I just felt a little proud.

“Murmur is going now.”

It’s up to the little maid to carry the neatly washed laundry to Leaha Hall.

I can’t help with that even if I want to.

“… … Murmur.”

The one who suddenly spoke was the little maid.

“Why did you help me?”

No emotion could be felt from the little maid’s face.

“Murmur learned from the hero. If someone needs help, you help them. That’s what a hero does.”

That’s enough of an explanation.

After all, I felt proud the moment we finished the laundry.

“… Just because you wanted to help?”

“Yes, Murmur just wanted to help.”

I’ll find the Real Vesta another way.

If she’s being abused at the academy, maybe through Nicasia’s connections or Monica’s cheat prophecy…

“Lady Siren would surely be happy to hear you say that, Murmur.”

“Huh…?”

She… smiled?

The little maid in front of me showed a smile filled with maternal affection that didn’t match her small, delicate body.

“Vergilia sister?”

Nod, the little… maid politely bowed to me, Murmur, and instantly erased all emotion from her face.

What? What just happened?

Is that a接待 function? Or was that her true feelings?

“Ve, Vesta? Vesta! Did Murmur see it wrong?”

“That’s correct. Just now, the little maid showed you a smile, Murmur.”

While I, Murmur, was this flustered, the Real Vesta lifted a basket full of laundry with both hands and trudged into Leaha Hall.

… Is she the Real Vesta?

Is she really the Real Vesta?

There’s no way a Maghauscia would mention the name of a failed hero and say she’d be happy, right?

“Ah, no…? Was it just Murmur’s delusion?”

Ahh! I really don’t know!

What’s real? What’s fake? Is it just my, Murmur’s, stupid meddling?!

I didn’t sense any magic…?!

“Ugh…! Someone, anyone! Tell Murmur the answer…!”

 

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