Atelier Tanaka

Book 6: Chapter 4 (4)

Academic City (2nd)

Today, for the first time in what feels like a long time, I’m fully devoting my time to my maid duties.

More recently, I’ve been in Tanaka-san’s office handling paperwork and neglecting my primary duties. Cleaning the main house requires attention on a daily basis. Even though it’s only been a few days, there is already a thin layer of dust covering all of the furniture.

Now that Drill-sama has been gone for a few days, I haven’t had the added headache of dealing with her which has allowed me to finish all of my paperwork and logs much sooner. Now that I have some extra free time, I can return to my maid duties.

Moving around the house felt good after spending almost all my waking hours sat at a desk behind a stack of documents. Even though I’m doing it so I can clean, I can still enjoy it. Even if most might consider the work worse, I still prefer moving around to sitting at a desk.

Most of the time.

“I think I’ll clean Ester-sama’s room next.”

Once the city was officially up and running, I’ve constantly been busy and being able to visit everyone’s room like this has been rare. I’m surprised by how filthy the Elf-san’s room was. I remember she was shut in her room for a long time before leaving with Tanaka-san. There were dishes piled up all over the room.

“Pardon the intrusion.”

I knew that Ester-sama wasn’t inside, but I still made my presence known before entering. Naturally, the room was empty. Nobody had entered her room since she left, but there were signs of her living here all over the room.

Her clothes were thrown all over the bed and floor while used towels were draped over several chairs.

One thing that caught my attention was a messy stack of papers on her desk with a trash bin next to it filled with crumpled papers. I recall hearing Ester-sama proclaim she was working on a book.

I guess she was true to her word.

“….”

I entered the room and closed the door behind me. My focus was still on the papers on her desk. Most of the paper was completely blank which made me assume she must have brought the finished book with her to the capital.

However, the pages that didn’t make the cut were left behind in her room.

“….”

I can’t help my curiosity.

No, I really can’t resist.

“…t-this page fell out of the trash.”

I reached for a page that had fallen next to the trash bin in a crumpled ball.

Just as I imagined, writing filled the page. As I unfurled the paper, the writing became clear to me. Ester-sama, you have such neat handwriting.

My eyes naturally started darting left and right across the page.

?

We had spent the last several days travelling as part of the dragon extermination party. When all of it was finally settled,  we decided to spend the night at an inn. I was lying alone in bed after asking Allen to give me some time alone to sort out my thoughts.

It was my decision to become an adventurer and I had several reasons for making that choice.

The first reason was out of sheer boredom from the monotonous days spent at school. Another was my desire to use the magic I had spent countless hours practicing. Maybe the main reason that I never wanted to admit was to prove to my father that I could stand on my own. There are numerous other insignificant reasons for my decision.

It wasn’t just enough for me to make this dramatic life change on my own; I had to drag my friends along as well. I wanted us all to be adventurers together. No, as I lie alone in that room I knew that none of us were adventurers. We were merely children playing adventurers.

Yes, it was nothing more than a game to me at first.

The reason I peed my pants when confronted by a High Orc was because I was a child out of her depth. And yet, that child had been tasked with slaying a dragon. I mean, isn’t that what heroes do? Even in the great Penny Empire, there are only a select few that have the honor of calling themselves Dragon Slayer.

How had I, or any of my friends, been given the chance of becoming a legendary dragon slayer? Thinking back on it now, it doesn’t make any sense. Having said all of this, it’s not as if I sat back and let others do the work for me. When we first started out, I used all of the magic Cyan had taught me to complete many tasks for the people of the Empire. It was the first time I’d had a real use for the magic I learned.

This magic may have been enough for weaker creatures, but it stood no chance against a dragon.

The magic that I was so proud of glanced off the dragon’s scales like water off of rock.

In contrast, my magic couldn’t even be compared to Lord Fahren’s. He single-handedly slew the Red Dragon.

The difference in power between Lord Fahren and myself seemed insurmountable at the time and it made me think he may be one of the most powerful beings on the planet.

And then the fallen Red Dragon was replaced by an even more powerful being that surpasses all human comprehension. An Ancient Dragon. The power it exuded made me believe it could kill me with a single glance. I regretted dragging my friends along with me, but most of all, I wished Allen were somewhere safe.

Everyone was here because of me and now everyone was just as speechless as me.

And when all of us had lost hope, he was the only one to step forward.

The memory of him at that time sends a tingle between my thighs.

I had never seen someone so cool.

The Dragon he was preparing to face alone was even larger than the airship we had used to travel to Mount Pepe. He showed no sign of fear as he approached the massive creature, and then, their fight began and he managed to stand on equal ground.

It was honestly the coolest thing I’d ever seen.

Even now, as I sit alone in my room writing this, just recalling the memories of that time gets me excited. I can’t help but think about a certain part of him. The image is burned into my mind and I see it when I close my eyes. Ever since we returned to the capital, I’ve dreamt of him every night.

I’m even starting to drool thinking back on some of those memories.

Then the Dragon took me hostage. I was at its mercy and had become a burden to him.

I hated myself for letting that happen.

Even so, he didn’t give up.

The dragon unleashed a torrent of magic capable of levelling entire cities on him, but he still stood his ground and, somehow, managed to even overpower the Dragon.

He did all of this without ever voicing a single word of hatred towards me.

The me that had done nothing but snap snide remarks towards him and had never offered him even the slightest smile or kind word.

That was the most attracted I had ever been to a man.

No one would be able to resist.

I felt something in my chest that was intrinsically different than anything I had ever felt for Allen.

I was used to being loved. I was the daughter of a powerful noble. It was normal for those around me to shower me with love, and everyone always wanted my love. This man was the first person I had ever wanted to accept my love.

I decided in that moment that he was the only one for me.

And I wanted to have his child.

I wanted us to get married. I wanted to get pregnant. I wanted to feel the warmth of his child growing inside me.

It’s something I want so badly that I sometimes feel that my love for him is actually making me go crazy….

?

I was left speechless as the final words on the page trailed off. The page was filled with words expressing Ester-sama’s love for Tanaka-san. A love so strong, capable of causing her so much pain.

“….”

Even so, the page had the word ‘rejected’ printed on the bottom with a note that claimed the words failed to properly convey the love she felt for him. From the perspective of someone unrelated, I feel like her love was clear, but I guess she wanted to make it even more passionate.

“Tanaka-san…. I don’t know if he realizes how amazing Ester-sama is.”

I never thought of my master as cruel until now.

He made the daughter of a great nobleman fall so deeply in love with him and then just let her exist in limbo while he never gave a proper response to her feelings.

What a terrible person.

I can’t help but feel sorry for Ester-sama.

“….”

I was unable to stop myself from picking up page after page and reading through countless words of the love that Ester-sama felt for Tanaka-san.

Each page had the same word printed on the bottom: rejected. Yet, each page on its own was more than enough for me to understand how deeply Ester-sama loved my master. If Tanaka-san was ever able to read even a single one of these pages, I think things would be different.

“….”

I know these words were meant to stay private, but I’m going to have to take them with me. Forgive me, Ester-sama.

***