The greeting and thanks to Gluttony-san went off without a hitch, although I was a little worried about the future. As a side note, during the tea party, a very happy Gluttony-san asked Natasha-san if she would like to sit with us.
However, Natasha politely refused, saying that "her position doesn't allow her to sit on the same level as me", but her face looked slightly pale... I think that unlike Gluttony-san, her taste buds are normal.
[Miyama-sama, may I ask about your plans for the rest of the day? Should I guide you to the next executive?]
Once I came back home, Pandora-san asked me that. Her eyes were slightly muddy, but she was still in her proper work mode.
I mean, the first executive I've visited, Gluttony-san, had quite the deep personality... but they did say how "they're starting with the decent ones", right? Thus, from here on out, it would be people with characters deeper than me... Phantasmal King's subordinates are kinda amazing...
[It's still early afternoon, and there's plenty of time to spare... The next one is errr, Astaroth-san, right? Is that person available?]
[There is no problem on her side. As a member of the Phantasmal King Corps, as long as the timing is convenient for Miyama-sama, they should put off everything else and free up their schedule. If there's a person who can't even do such a perfectly normal thing despite being an executive, I'll consider them unnecessary and I'll get rid of them.]
[...I- Is that so...]
...Her loyalty's too heavy... Your king isn't me, it's Alice, remember? No, seriously...
[...E- Errr, is it really alright if you lead me to the next person?]
[Of course. However, please wait a little while. I'll contact her once before we leave... and tell her to take off her "stuffed costume".]
[...H- Huhh... I'm counting on you then.]
Did she just say stuffed costume? Unnn, I'm pretty she said that. Pandora-san said that she's going to have her take it off... Does that mean that the person named Astaroth-san is usually wearing a stuffed costume?
The first thing that comes to mind is the exquisitely annoying stuffed costume that Alice often wears...
As I was wondering this, Pandora-san turned to me as if she had sensed my question, she spoke.
[Astaroth is an extremely loyal executive, and she loves to wear that stuffed cow costume that Shalltear-sama gave her a long time ago. There is nothing wrong with that, but it isn't respectful to wear that stuffed costume when meeting Miyama-sama for the first time without being able to see her face, so I will tell her to take it off beforehand.]
[...I see.]
Just by listening to the information she's given me, I can already tell that she had quite the deep personality... She's definitely one of those with buggy loyalty.
Visiting two people with buggy loyalties in a row... and Pandora-san having an extremely heavy loyalty, how should I say this... I shouldn't be physically carrying anything now, but my shoulders feel rather stiff.
While I was thinking about this, I glanced out the window without minding Pandora-san, who was probably communicating with Astaroth-san using her magic tool, and suddenly felt something out of place.
Arehh? The World Tree in my garden... "Has it always been that big"?
It kinda feels like it got bigger than it was a while ago... H- Hmmm, I guess it's just my imagination, right? I just replanted it from my room to the garden, so I guess it just looked bigger because of the change in the surrounding scenery.
As far as I can tell, just because it's a World Tree, it wouldn't grow particularly fast, and it also doesn't feel like someone else made it grow larger... I mean, I just couldn't understand why anyone would do that.
[...Miyama-sama, thank you for your patience. I will now lead you to Astaroth.]
[Ah, yes.]
As I was thinking about this, Pandora-san seemed to be ready to go.
...Arehh? Wait a moment, "what was I thinking about again"? I feel like I was wondering something... but I forgot what it was about.
Well, since I forgot about it, I guess it really isn't that big of a deal...
[....There doesn't seem to be a problem. It would be more of a surprise if people don't notice it until it could grow accustomed to its surroundings and manifest itself, so let's strengthen the effects of "being unable to feel anything out of place" and "even if they do feel that something's out of place, they would quickly forget about it"...]
[Shiro? What are you doing?]
In the Sanctuary, hearing Shallow Vernal mutter, Kuromueina, who was drinking tea with her, tilted her head and asked.
[I was creating a watchdog.]
[Hmmm, you're "creating"... a watchdog?]
[The details are still a secret.]
[...You're not doing anything strange, are you?]
[I don't think I'm doing anything strange though?]
[H- Hmmm... I feel a certain anxiety with what you said, but Shiro-san hasn't been acting so strange lately, so I guess it should be alright?]
[I also don't remember me doing anything strange before though?]
[...As expected... I really feel anxious.]
Although she felt uneasy about Shallow Vernal's secretive actions, Kuromueina didn't pursue the matter any further. Since the incident in the past in the God Realm, Shallow Vernal hadn't committed any major eccentricities, and in fact, she seemed to have calmed down due to her mental growth.
...However, it was "just her imagination". It is true that Shallow Vernal has mentally grown dramatically, but that doesn't mean that her true nature has changed or that her airheadedness has diminished.
Her ability to do random things on the spur of the moment is still the same, and the reason why she has seemed quiet lately is that "she just hasn't thought of anything strange lately".
**********
- Miyama Akari's Home Cooking – Awfulness Level 『2』
- Gluttony's Favorite Food – Awfulness Level 『5』
- Kuro's Baby Castellas (Failure) – Awfulness Level 『1』～『9』
- The Five Despairs (The Worst Failed Baby Castellas) – Awfulness Level 『10』