Azu's Mischievous Side

They'd made plans for a vacation, but as expected, they couldn't just leave the very next day.

For one thing, everyone was still carrying fatigue from their recent work.

Having fun requires stamina too, so they decided to take a few days off first.

The tool shop itself continued to operate just fine whether Yohane was there or not.

If anything, with the boss gone, the employees seemed to be working more freely.

As long as they were producing results, Yohane had no intention of complaining.

Of course, leaving the ledgers and finances entirely in their hands would be asking for trouble, so Yohane handled that himself.

People can be tempted in a moment of weakness, after all.

No matter how much he trusted them, he couldn't hand over the very foundation of the business.

Considering how much of the actual day-to-day operations he was leaving to them, he gave them a modest but generous raise.

The expanded section's sales were going well too, and the new layout was paying off.

He'd known before even running the numbers that profits exceeded the raised wages, but the results were even better than expected.

Having finished his work, Yohane lay down on the sofa to take a nap, covering his eyes with a towel.

Before long, soft breathing filled the room.

Shortly after, Azu came to Yohane's room.

Her knock was quiet.

The door opened slowly, and Azu peeked in.

Confirming that Yohane was asleep, she slipped inside without a sound and approached him as he napped.

Her presence was masterfully concealed. Perhaps she'd been learning from Finn.

There was no way a sleeping person would notice her.

Azu gently poked Yohane's cheek with her index finger.

No reaction. Only the sound of his breathing.

Azu had come with a question, and she was about to wake him up, but right before she did, an idea struck her.

She leaned in close to Yohane's ear and whispered:

"You're cute."

The sleeping Yohane murmured her words back.

"You're cute."

Even though she'd done it on purpose, Azu nearly lost her footing.

The impact was far greater than she'd imagined.

She covered her face with both hands, overwhelmed by a mix of embarrassment and joy.

It was a phrase Yohane would never normally say, after all.

Azu took a deep breath to steady her heart and body.

Her racing pulse gradually calmed.

She crept close once more and whispered:

"Be mine."

Just as before, Yohane repeated Azu's words.

"Be mine."

Azu bolted out of the room and rolled around in the hallway.

The emotions were beyond description.

She rolled for a while before finally settling down.

"What on earth am I doing…?"

It was a rare opportunity, so she'd acted on a whim, and now she was the one most shaken by it. A twinge of self-loathing set in.

This time, she would wake him up for real.

Making that resolve, she entered the room again.

She worried that she'd failed to fully suppress her presence earlier and might have woken him, but Yohane was in the same position as before.

His chest rose and fell slowly.

Azu breathed a sigh of relief that her embarrassing antics hadn't been discovered.

At the same time, another thought crept in: since the opportunity was here, maybe she could do just a little more.

Azu had always been faithful to Yohane.

That was precisely why this was a first for her, and the thrill was impossible to resist.

Just one more time, just one more, she muttered like an excuse as she approached Yohane and leaned in close to his ear.

"Be ready for tonight."

Azu listened intently, expecting Yohane to repeat the words.

—But no voice came back.

Puzzled, Azu looked at Yohane.

There, eyes now open, was Yohane looking thoroughly appalled.

"U-um…"

When Azu managed a sound, Yohane sprang up and took a step back.

"I-it's not what you think, that's not what I—"

"Let's talk this out."

Yohane held both hands out toward Azu in a clear don't-come-any-closer gesture.

Every time Azu took a step forward, he took a large step back.

He understood all too well that he couldn't match her in strength.

Yohane fundamentally didn't punish his slaves beyond discipline.

In other words, their relationship was maintained by Azu's loyalty.

"I-I'm the one who'd be on the receiving end!"

"If you have grievances, I'll hear them. So let's calm down, okay?"

Between embarrassment, panic, and confusion, Azu could barely get her words out.

A truly peculiar atmosphere had formed.

"What on earth are you two doing…?"

The one who broke it was Finn, who had been watching the room from outside the window.

After Azu explained herself and Finn provided her eyewitness account, what had nearly been mistaken for a slave revolt was defused.

Having been forced to explain her own embarrassing and foolish actions, Azu was completely dejected.

From Yohane's perspective, he was actually impressed that she had age-appropriate mischief in her after all.

Given her past, he'd always felt she rarely showed a childish side, so he laughed it off.

"You're really not going to jump me, right?"

"I told you I'm not!"

Finn's actual purpose was delivering intelligence she'd gathered from her network.

Apparently, voices calling for a ban on the Church of the Sun God had finally begun to rise within the kingdom.

The bronze statue incident had spread, and there were claims that the Church of the Sun God itself was corrupt.

Of course, it wouldn't be easy to simply ban the continent's largest religion when it was already well-established within the kingdom.

The bronze statues deployed in other areas hadn't caused any incidents, unlike what happened here.

Whether that was because they'd failed, or because this place had been the sole target from the start…

No one present had the answer.

After Finn left, silence hung between the two for a while.

Finally, Yohane spoke up.

"So, what did you actually come here for?"

"Oh, right. There happened to be a sea-related quest at the Adventurer's Guild, and I thought I should report it, so I came, and then, well…"

"You couldn't help yourself?"

"Yes…"

Her reply was barely audible.

The sea-related quest turned out to be a recruitment call for helping at a beach house.

Yohane made a mental note that he might let them do it for a day.