Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume2 Epilogue (section)

===Part 1===

In terms of conclusion, Sovereignty decided to continue living in Shiraho's home.

Since they were unconvinced that lifting the curse was necessary, Haruaki did not insist. After all, with the Killing Organ gone and no need to drain feelings of love anymore, there was virtually no possibility of harming others&mdash;So they were left alone.

After reporting the series of occurrences to Zenon to pass onto the superintendent, several days had passed. As a side note, the monumental task of the Indulgence Disk's insertion was carried out during this time, with Fear and Haruaki blushing while Konoha pouted. Consequently, Fear lost access to the transformation of the «Inquisitional Wheel» mechanism.

During the lunch break on the day the superintendent returned...

Haruaki and his entourage went to the superintendent's office. The group included Haruaki, Fear, Konoha and Shiraho in uniform. Since Kirika's assistance had to be kept secret, she was not present.

"Seriously, how did things come to this?"

Her always beautiful face in a frown, Shiraho grumbled on the sofa. Glared by her for some reason, Haruaki hastily shook his head repeatedly:

"I-It's not my fault! I simply wanted to report to the superintendent!"

"...I get it. I just felt like complaining."

Unexpectedly, Shiraho avoided eye contact so easily. Although she kept a stiff expression as usual and gave off an unapproachable impression&mdash;From the fact that she could have an honest dialogue with him, Haruaki felt that her human-hating aura seemed to have weakened towards him slightly.

"Even if I resented you, it would not help matters at all. Ultimately, that man decides everything, right?"

"Because this is my job. As the highest authority in this school, I must settle this incident that resulted in quite a number of students fainting. I've already heard what happened but I will not compromise over this one point&mdash;As contrition, you must come to school and attend class seriously. That is my decision."

Swiveling his chair around, the man in the gas mask&mdash;the superintendent&mdash;spoke cheerfully. Switching the target of her glare to him, Shiraho spoke with her usual foul temper:

"Based on the current situation, you are the human I hate the most in this world, deviant!"

"Oh how it breaks my heart to hear that from my late friend's daughter. Sigh, but being scolded angrily by a beautiful woman is perhaps a rare and happy experience for certain people of peculiar tastes. Should I feel thankful instead?"

"..."

"...Just kidding, I'm not into that kind of fetish."

Watching the man in the gas mask speak, Haruaki slumped his shoulders in exasperation.

"Given your unusual appearance, if you say something like that as the superintendent, it's really not funny at all... Seriously, are we done? We've been skipping classes for days in a row, so we don't want to be late for fifth period."

"Hmm, wasting time is no good so let me explain first. Regarding what you are about to witness, let me give two reasons. One, the lack of manpower. When there's only one person present, if any special situation arises, the measures available to take in response are limited. Because of this incident, I received quite a scolding from Zenon-kun. As a result... I have created a new position similar to a secretary's assistant."

"I've heard about this already. Didn't you call us here to witness how the new employee works?"

"Indeed. As for the second reason, well&mdash;Zenon-kun's hobby."

"Hobby?"

The superintendent's words left everyone scratching their heads in puzzlement. The superintendent lowered his voice and explained:

"To be honest... She's really into cute things. She adores them, loves them. But most tragically, her high intelligence has come to realize this&mdash;she is fatally unsuited to cute clothing or accessories. On occasion she may suddenly challenge the notion on a willful whim, but please pretend you didn't notice. At first I simply suggested to her to have the new secretary's assistant wear a uniform, but the result was&mdash;Indeed, as an act of desperation, she seems intent on making a certain someone dress cute in her stead, in order to project herself onto..."

"Superintendent."

A sudden voice came from the door connecting to the adjoining room. Jumping in fright, the superintendent turned his gaze over there, only to find Zenon poking her upper body out from behind the door, holding up a written resignation expressionlessly.

"Please enjoy the tea I've prepared before it gets cold. Should you wish to continue the topic of conversation, I shall completely and vigorously respect your freedom and wishes&mdash;But please forgive me for I must submit my resignation today&mdash;"

"I get it! Jeez, please forget everything irrelevant that was said! Hahaha! Zenon-kun, would you mind serving the tea, please?"

The superintendent responded as if trying to sweep the issue under the rug. Zenon put away the resignation letter and brought the tea into the room.

Following closely behind her was&mdash;

"E-Excuse me! I... Uh... Have brought the tea snacks for everyone?"

It was Sovereignty dressed in a maid uniform. Holding a tray with great unfamiliarity, her situation looked quite precarious as she took wobbling steps.

"I-I see now..."

Haruaki groaned. This was what the superintendent meant by settling the incident. As punishment for making students faint, Sovereignty had to provide physical labor from now on and become the subordinate of Zenon who kept complaining about a lack of manpower.  Earlier in the morning at the school gates, Haruaki had run into Shiraho and Sovereignty who had been summoned to school. They had informed him of the matter, but Haruaki never imagined she would be working dressed like this.

"I know about this outfit! It's how maidservants dress! But based on my memory, there shouldn't be that many frills, right?"

"...I originally wanted to say, if Sovereignty is unwilling, I was going to make her take it off even if I need to resort to force. But troubling enough, Sovereignty actually seems to be strangely happy about it. Seriously, how did it come to this!?"

Fear and Shiraho offered their comments respectively.

"Uniform... Uniform eh? ...Oh well, I suppose it still counts as work clothes in a sense... Maybe?"

"&mdash;Do you have any objections to my subordinate's uniform, Yachi-san?"

"No! Absolutely none!"

Zenon cast an icy-cold gaze, prompting Haruaki to shake his head frantically. Whatever, if the person wearing it had no qualms about it, there was nothing wrong with it.

"Hey Haruaki, what are those ball-like objects on the tray? They look really tasty, no?"

"Hmm...? Those are cream puffs. Wow, these look really high-class."

"Some local souvenirs from the place of origin. I happen to know a great pastry chef."

Haruaki had forgotten about one important matter.

He had forgotten something he should have informed the superintendent.

Indeed, "Sovereignty" "working" "as the secretary's assistant"&mdash;every single one of these concepts held troubling elements.

A sudden scream verified these fears.

"Yawaaaaaaaa!"

Sovereignty slipped and her entire body tumbled forwards. Although she managed to stabilize the tray and avoided overturning it, a cream puff slid off the tray. In order to maintain the tray's balance, Sovereignty landed on her face, unable to change her posture in time. As if guided by some strange turn of fate, the fallen cream puff lay waiting exactly at her landing spot, with the pastry acting to cushion the fall for her nose&mdash;

Gush.

Naturally, the cream puff was squashed while the cream inside squirted all over Sovereignty's face.

"Sniff sniff... Disgusting, it's all sticky..."

Sovereignty sat on her side and got up, blushing with embarrassment as viscous cream covered her face.  Frantically, she seemed like she intended to wipe the cream away from her face first, but because her hands were still occupied by the tray, naturally her only recourse was&mdash;

"I'll just have to lick it off... Ah... Delicious..."

Haruaki rolled his eyes at the scene.

"Superintendent, I forgot to mention to you that this girl&mdash;is unimaginably air-headed. If one had to name someone who absolutely cannot be relied on for critical responsibilities, she'd be the number one candidate."

"...Looks like it."

The man in the gas mask shrugged as if he already accepted things as a done deal.
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"By this point I can't ask her to quit. Anyway, bridges will be crossed when they come. Zenon-kun's appearance may suggest otherwise, but she's actually quite good at taking care of others."

As Haruaki watched, Zenon calmly walked over to Sovereignty's side and gently took the tray.

"Sovereignty-san, are you okay?"

"Ah yes... Oh, I-I'm sorry! I'm all flustered and in a clumsy panic, so&mdash;Oh no! This was meant for the guests but I made it fall and squashed it, and even licked it?"

"These cream puffs already included your portion from the very start, so dropping one or licking it is fine. Just clean it up afterwards. However&mdash;there is one thing I cannot overlook."

"W-What is it?"

Helping Sovereignty to her feet, Zenon stared at her with her usual super cool gaze. Sovereignty timidly shrank hunched her shoulders. What sort of reprimand would she receive? What kind of punishment lay in wait?

"Ah, sob sob... Sob sob sob... Umm, sorry..."

"No need to apologize. Don't move."

"Y-Yes... Sob sob sob..."

Zenon's severe glare flashed.

Then with unbelievable speed she reached out with her hand&mdash;

"&mdash;You forgot to wear a hair band."

"Yes?"

Plucking out a frilly hair band from somewhere, Zenon placed in on Sovereignty's head. Stepping back to admire her handiwork, Zenon proceeded to nod expressionlessly as usual.

"Truly perfect."

...In any case, the direct superior seemed rather satisfied with the air-headed maid.

Then the entire group had tea while Fear expressed amazement at the taste of cream puffs. Before they knew it, lunch was almost over and it was time to return to class. Just at this moment&mdash;

"By the way, Shiraho-kun, how do you feel about school?"

"&mdash;Nothing much, it's very ordinary. I really want to get home soon."

Just as she was about to leave the room, Shiraho halted her steps and turned her cold gaze towards the superintendent.

"Is that so? But that's basically what it's like for students. Anyway, skipping class is not allowed!"

"I got it, okay. This is punishment for causing student's to faint, right?"

"That's only one reason out of many&mdash;the main point is because your father wanted to you to return to normal life."

"...As if you'd know anything about that."

Shiraho's gaze could be described as no different from murderous intent. Nevertheless, the man in the gas mask simply shrugged in a relaxed manner.

"Perhaps I don't. Your father and I could not be said to be close friends. Even so&mdash;or rather, precisely because of that&mdash;I can tell that he cherished you greatly."

"I don't understand what you mean."

"Why would he drag his body here despite his ill health to deliver Sovereignty expressly? Was it really coincidence that he exhausted his strength for this undertaking? He should have known the risks involved. Although his reasons for doing it were unfortunately due to a misunderstanding... You should at least acknowledge that he pushed himself this far for your sake, right?"

"I only find him stupid."

"Really? I simply chat with him occasionally when I visit the shop, but never was there an occasion when he didn't chat to me about you, in his usual gruff tone of voice. Like 'that child has grown taller' or 'she told me to change the lightbulb' or stuff like that... All trivial things that would make me feel like laughing and ridiculing him: 'You even remember that kind of dialogue?'"

Shiraho silently bit her lower lip hard.

"By the way, let me tell you something important, because I think I might be the only one left who knows. That theatrical troupe you participated in before, your father must have gone to watch, right?"

"...Only the first time, that's all. After that, he never attended again. Hardly surprising, for that person never had any interest in me."

"Then you're wrong. After going back home, he angrily scolded his wife&mdash;in the words, your mother. 'Why make her do that kind of thing! She doesn't look happy at all! Let her go learn something she really enjoys doing!' Oh my, I heard that everyone would become mesmerized when they saw your acting skills... But then while your were performing with those acting skills, only one person saw your true expression. So, was that person really uninterested in you?"

"...!"

Shiraho's gaze wavered as she turned her back to the superintendent.

"He is simply awkward in expressing himself. In any case, I hope you take note of this."

"...Like I would know."

Her voice sounded weak, truly very weak.

Without looking back, she simply raised her hand:

"Sovereignty, let's go home together after school. I'll be waiting for you in the classroom."

Then she walked briskly out of the superintendent's office.

Haruaki and the rest, who were left behind, turned and looked at one another, struck with an unbelievable sense of solidarity.

Surely it was plain for anyone to see the reason why she hurried and left.