In the afternoon, I was alone in the Schale office, troubled by the day's administrative work.
Although I had long since grown accustomed to this workload, having no one to accompany me or share the burden inevitably made it dull and exhausting.
When I treated the girls from the Engineering Club to lunch at a family restaurant enthusiastically recommended by a certain seminar accountant, I had originally planned to keep them around as extra labor.
However, during the meal, they casually mentioned that they had rushed over after putting their own work on hold. I changed my mind, let the three of them use Schale's bathroom, and then allowed them to head back.
After signing yet another document, I set down my pen for the moment, rubbed my aching wrist, and glanced at the mountain of paperwork whose height had barely changed. I could not help but feel indignant.
Didn't I just finish dealing with this yesterday? Why is there so much again today? Is someone exploiting my labor?
At this rate, to uphold Kivotos discipline, I will have to make Rin take photos from a few more angles so I can seriously study whether she secretly shortened her skirt.
Leaning back in my chair, I closed my eyes to rest, clearly feeling the faint twitch of my right eyelid. Suddenly, I heard the office door being pushed open.
I startled awake and sat up, then relaxed and lay back again once I saw who it was.
"Mm? Sensei, why do you look like you are so unwelcoming toward me?"
A voice deliberately tinged with grievance, yet unable to hide its deep mischievous intent, drew closer.
A petite, adorable white haired girl in a gothic princess dress hopped energetically straight toward me.
The power of feudal superstition is not to be underestimated.
More precisely, I had already anticipated this situation back when I received her unsettling momotalk.
I sighed softly to myself and gathered my spirits. "Mutsuki, what brings you here?"
"Ta da." Mutsuki stopped beside me, lifted her left foot, spun in place once, and struck a cute pose with a V sign by her eye. "Because Sensei replied that you were working and looked really tired, Mutsuki decided to come and give you some relief~ and care, you know?"
If it had been any other student, I might have been overjoyed.
But since it was Mutsuki, with her little devil personality, I had to be on guard.
Who knows what kind of scheme she was plotting.
I reached out and placed my hand on top of the pile of documents. "I see. I am very touched. But look, I still have so much work to handle."
"What? All of this has to be finished today?" Mutsuki put on a pitiful expression and pleaded, "Can't you push the work back a little?"
Using such underhanded tactics, even someone as upright and impartial as me was nearly swayed by Mutsuki.
"…There is no helping it. As the person in charge of Schale, there are times when you simply have no choice."
In truth, it was not absolutely necessary to finish everything right now. But to leave enough leeway for field operations and matters related to the Game Development Department, it had to be done as soon as possible.
"Haa, then it can't be helped."
Mutsuki sighed, pulled out the chair at the workstation next to me, and sat down. Propping her cheek on one hand, she gazed at me with a bright smile. "It's fine, I can wait. I'll be a good girl and stay right here until Sensei finishes working. So, um?"
I could not help asking, "Are you very free today?"
"Isn't that a bit rude to say? But yes, that's exactly right. Today the Problem Solver 68 did not accept any requests, everyone is free, so I came to find Sensei to play."
Didn't you just say you came to comfort me?
And what do you mean, play with me, you are clearly here to toy with me.
"It will be hard to finish quickly," I could not help but remind her again. "Won't you get bored?"
I was still trying to dispel her mischievous intentions.
Mutsuki tilted her head, her expression sly. "Not at all. Being able to admire Sensei's expressions from the best seat is a wonderful form of entertainment too, kuhuhuhu~."
Could it be that she was planning to pull all sorts of pranks while I worked, interfering with my devoted service to Kivotos?
Facing the girl's gaze, a mix of sincerity and teasing in proportions impossible to tell, I quickly surrendered.
"Alright, since you have gone this far."
"Thank you, Sensei!"
After that, I continued working under Mutsuki's watchful eyes.
At first, I was worried she might not behave herself, so I deliberately spared some attention to observe her movements.
"Sensei, what's wrong? You should focus when you are working."
Instead, she noticed and said this with a smile.
"I was just wondering if you might be thirsty," I replied calmly, making up an excuse without missing a beat. "You know how to use the coffee machine, right? You can also take any drinks from the fridge."
Mutsuki dragged out her words. "Kuhuhuhu, I knooow every thiiing~."
You brat, just what do you know this time?
Realizing that paying attention to Mutsuki's potential pranks only made it harder to work, I made an effort to ignore this little devil and tried to fully immerse myself in the paperwork.
But I could not.
"Ji i i." (Staaare)
Mutsuki did not do anything that directly obstructed my work.
"Ji i i." (Staaare)
That is, assuming that wandering around beside me, occasionally leaning down, making onomatopoeic sounds of staring, and intently gazing at my profile did not count as a disturbance.
And she was already so close that I could feel the girl's breath on my skin.
In such a distracting situation, how could anyone work seriously?
I knew it. She definitely came with ill intentions today.
I set down my pen and said in a low voice, "Mutsuki…"
"Oh? Sensei, are all your tasks finished already?"
The white haired girl asked knowingly, her expression pure and innocent.
"No. Can you sit quietly in the chair?"
"Eh, it's so boring to keep waiting here." Mutsuki pouted and complained, then quickly switched to a radiant smile. "Don't be like that, let's play together. Sensei, today is such a rare day. To play with you, I even prepared toys."
In my opinion, I am your real toy.
At this moment, Mutsuki had already taken out two ring shaped items. "Ta da. Today, I want to use these bracelets to spend a happy time with Sensei."
I refused once more. "I still have work to do."
"Even while working, taking breaks is very important, right?"
Mutsuki looked worried. "When I don't see Sensei, you are working all day long… I thought that since we rarely get to play together, Sensei could also take the chance to rest a bit…"
So that is what Mutsuki was thinking?
I was half skeptical, but most of the dissatisfaction in my heart dissipated.
Mutsuki forced a bit of sparkle into the corner of her eye and pleaded, "If we play… is that not okay?"
I looked at the mountain of backlogged paperwork, then at the clearly scheming Mutsuki.
Such a simple multiple choice question, was there really any need to hesitate?
"Just for a little while."
"Yay."
Mutsuki cheered with delight.