STVS 09

~Chapter 09~

**[This was a predetermined defeat.
The young lady is lying warmly inside her room, while I’m outside, scrambling around like a dog—how could I possibly stand a chance?

I need to come up with another method. I already took my wages in advance, after all.

And so, the method I devised was…

Talking.

I talked like crazy.

It seemed like the young lady was extremely shy around strangers. If I kept talking and approaching her like this, maybe she’d say at least one word?

With that thought, I really said everything under the sun.

I started by apologizing for the incident last time, then introduced myself.

My name, age, height, appearance, personality, body measurements, special skills, hobbies, likes, dislikes, and so on…

As I kept talking, the topic naturally drifted to stories about being a night-soil carrier, and at that point I got even more excited.

I must’ve had so much pent up inside me. I complained that, as a human being, the cook could stand to make the food a little less tasty, and that people really poop way too much. Then I even got to talking about the steward.

The head steward was the greatest shitter in the entire So family estate. Twice the amount of everyone else, and the smell—ugh… you’d understand what it means to faint on the spot just from standing there.

Anyway, while I was rambling on like that, I heard a faint rustling sound from inside.

What was that? Did she react?

Startled, I called out to the young lady several times, but after that there was no further sound. Would it kill her to answer just once…?

Still, maybe the young lady enjoyed listening?

Alright. Tomorrow, more poop stories!]**

**[Month, day.

It’s already been five days since I started talking about poop.

I’ve run out of stories.

No—how is that possible? I’ve worked here for quite a while now. How could I already be out of stories?

But there’s nothing I can do. The truth is, the job of a night-soil carrier consists of nothing but cleaning latrines, scooping poop, and scrubbing poop vats all day long.

So then what should I do?

Today, maybe I’ll try… going inside?

Honestly, after all this, shouldn’t it be okay? So I gathered my courage and went in.

Something immediately flew at me.

Haha, figures. There was no way our young lady would let her guard down just because of poop stories, right?

I knew this would happen, so I prepared to dodge in advance… but I still got hit squarely. Yeah, yeah—I get it. If I could dodge properly, I’d be learning martial arts instead of serving here, wouldn’t I?

Still, this time it wasn’t a blade.

It was a teacup. And a very solid, sturdy one at that…

That damn teacup broke my nose.

It hurt like hell. Honestly, it hurt more than getting cut by a blade. I even got a double nosebleed, so I clutched my nose, screaming, and ran away. The guard uncle stared at me from behind like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Damn it. So embarrassing.

Anyway, I thought it was at least a crack, maybe a fracture, but when the physician checked me, he said there was nothing wrong at all… Just how hard is my head?

No wonder learning letters here feels so difficult. Should I be grateful my head’s this solid?

…Then maybe I should roll it around a bit more?]**

**[Month, day.

This time, I didn’t hesitate and opened the door right away.

Immediately, several books flew at my face like lightning.

Rather than painful, it was puzzling.

Huh? Why didn’t she throw something hard this time?

Was it because yesterday I screamed at the top of my lungs and ran away? It did hurt a little, but my nose was fine. Well, I did wrap it tightly in bandages, though.

…Did she throw something lighter because she was worried? No way, right?

Confused, I took a few more steps inside. Honestly, compared to what I’d been hit with before, books were nothing. But once I went in a bit further, dishes started flying at me with ghostlike precision.

Ah, damn it. Yeah, figures.

I ran away again like a dog, dodging the dishes.

But now that I think about it, none of those dishes actually hit me directly. Most of them missed me or fell to the floor.

It’s not like the young lady couldn’t hit me…

…Could it be that she was deliberately avoiding me?

What? What? Is she really worried about me? Was she throwing them away from me because she felt bad?

Even as I told myself that couldn’t be true, a grin spread across my face. Discovering such an unexpected side of the young lady made it even worse.

Maybe… maybe I don’t actually dislike the young lady that much?

Still, it could all be my imagination. I should experience it a few more times to be sure, right?

Alright. Tomorrow, I’ll go in two steps!]**

**[Month, day.

My prediction was correct.

The young lady has a surprisingly soft side.

For example, like this.

The young lady hits me with something hard. I scream and make a huge fuss while running away. Then the next day, she hits me with something a bit softer. If I look fine, only then does she pick up something hard again.

So it goes: hard, soft, once I’m okay then hard again, then soft again—hard, soft…

What is this? Am I being trained?

But strangely, it was addictive.

Especially the more I acted like I was in pain, the more subdued the young lady became the next day. Sometimes I even exaggerated on purpose.

Is this what it feels like to tame a wild animal?

Like taming a creature that growls whenever it sees you. The feeling of seeing it cautiously approach when you pretend to be hurt…

Cute.

Tomorrow, I’ll roll around on the floor and really put on a show!]**

**[Month, day.

I learned another new fact about the young lady.

She’s surprisingly sharp.

She eventually noticed that I was faking it…

Yeah, honestly, I was careless. Rolling around on the floor making a huge scene for ten whole minutes just because I got hit by a single brush was pushing it a bit.

But still, isn’t it a bit much to change so suddenly?

Now, whether I’m hurt or not, she starts by throwing something hard. If I dodge well, she shows no mercy; if I hesitate even a little, she goes a bit easier on me.

Seriously, what am I, a fish? Is she a fisherman, throwing bait out and watching to see if I bite? Does she think I’m a fish in her pond?!

That’s right—a fish in her pond.

Tomorrow, I’ll go get hooked again♡]**

**[Month, day.

Something a little special happened today.

To be honest, I haven’t been in a great mood lately. My mother collapsed again, coughing up blood.

She couldn’t open her eyes for several days, and only barely regained consciousness. She smiled faintly when she saw me, and the fear hit me hard when I saw her face drained of all color.

What if something really bad happens? What if I end up alone again…?

Because of that, I couldn’t really focus on the young lady for a few days. I couldn’t even bring myself to open the door—I’d just wait briefly in front of it, then leave.

And then yesterday, everything finally burst.

I don’t even know why I did it. Maybe it was because the bruises all over my body were throbbing that day, or because I felt frustrated at a reality where I couldn’t do anything. Because I felt so utterly pathetic…

In the end, I broke down crying in front of the door.

As if that weren’t enough, I poured out all the complaints I’d been bottling up.

That the places I’d been hit still hurt too much, that I wanted to stop getting hit already, that I felt hurt because the young lady never answered me even once, and so on.

Looking back now, how dumbfounded must the young lady have been? I’d been coming alone and making a ruckus all this time, and then suddenly I got dejected and started bawling…

But apparently, it left a strong impression on her.

The next day, after I’d collected myself and resolved to apologize for yesterday, I opened the door—only to find that nothing flew at me.

One step. Two steps. Still nothing.

That was my chance to look inside, but I was so shocked that I couldn’t see anything clearly.

All I could make out was a bed draped in layers of curtains. As if possessed, I shuffled toward it like a zombie. When I was about halfway there, something light as down flew over and gently bumped into me.

It was a pillow. And then, a small voice followed.

“G… go…”

My heart skipped a beat.

It really did.

I stood there frozen for about three seconds, then shouted “Young lady!” like a madman and ran forward.

Of course, I didn’t get to see her. I was immediately hit by something again and had to run away screaming in pain.

Normally, I would’ve been cursing up a storm inside my head… but that day, I just couldn’t stop smiling. Thinking about that soft pillow made my chest feel ticklish.

Young lady… do you not hate me that much either?

Anyway, ever since that day, I keep wanting to go to Sonangwon for no reason.

All we do is chase and be chased, hit and be hit. But now, I’m even starting to like getting hit. Because when I get hurt, the apologetic young lady will hit me with something small and soft next time.

If that keeps happening, won’t she naturally let me get closer to her someday? Just thinking about that day makes my heart flutter so much I can’t sleep.

Did I pick up a weird hobby or something?

But… if it’s the young lady, maybe it’s fine♥]**