012: Chapter 1 ~ A Small Incident in the Morning ①

January 23, 2021 - 4 minutes read - 669 words

“Hmph… huh?” Allen

Allen notices the dazzling sunlight through his closed eyelids. As his sleepiness fades away, he realizes the pains over his body due to his choice of sleeping spot. He peels his face off of his desk.

“Hmm… I guess I fell asleep without realizing it?” Allen

Allen stretches his stiff body on the chair while a refreshing morning sun shines through the window. He’s currently in his study, which has bookshelves along the wall and piles of books here and there on the floor. He holed up in there yesterday to plan out some things. Allen regrets that somewhat, but he managed to come up with so many ideas that the minor aches and pains were worth it in the end.

“I sort of regret that… but I had so many ideas. It was worth my time and effort.” Allen

Oh Allen’s desk, a closed notebook was front and center, he picks it up and grins. On the front was a hand-written title, Charlotte Training Plan: A List of Naughty Things (Tentative).

If Charlotte saw it, she’d act shocked and ask things like ‘What is this?’. Perhaps she’d even faint from the sight…

Allen flips open the cover and sees the first page densely packed with his handwriting. He traces the first line with his finger while reading it aloud.

“The cake is tasty and well-received.” Allen

The word cake has a happy face drawn above it. Originally, Charlotte was simply a stranger he had met by chance. All that changed yesterday, as he promised to teach her all the pleasures of the world.

Charlotte responded well to yesterday’s cake tasting. She ended up eating three pieces, savoring each bite of them. She wanted to save the remaining cakes for future days, eating one or two per day. Allen felt good about this, even if he didn’t expect her to be so happy with just some cake.

However, sweets alone is not enough…

“More… I have to give her more experiences she’s never had before!” Allen

Allen agonized over writing down more experiences until late at night, that’s what the notebook was for.

“Hahaha! It’s full of strange ideas from my genius brain. They’ll be great for Charlotte! Let’s check the list again!” Allen

Allen looks at the list, then reads what was written there…

Write a groundbreaking magic theory dissertation
Use extremely expensive materials to make legendary magic tools
Banish all rivals to a living hell

Etc. etc.

“Charlotte won’t enjoy that” Allen

Only Allen would be pleased by that list of goals, his midnight work had only produced useless ideas. Allen throws away the notebook and stands up from his chair.

“Well, you don’t win them all… let’s try again after getting some more sleep.” Allen

As he’s stepping out of the study…

“Oh” Charlotte

“Ah” Allen

Allen bumped into Charlotte, she’s surprised for a second, but then bows her head.

“Good morning, Mr. Allen. You’re up early…” Charlotte

“Well, I just woke up from a nap in my study.” Allen

“Were you up most of the night? That’s bad for your health.” Charlotte

“I’m going to my bed to get some sleep.” Allen

Allen chuckles at Charlotte’s consternation. If she knew that he had spent all night working on issues that concern her, she’d fall into deep dismay. Allen chose to not mention that.

“So, I won’t be at breakfast, you’ll have to eat by yourself.” Allen

“Oh, I see. Should I wake you up at noon?” Charlotte

“Yes, please. Umm, what are you holding?” Allen

“Oh, this? It’s a broom?” Charlotte

Allen noticed what Charlotte was holding. The broom was previously abandoned in a storeroom, where it had become covered with dust and dirt from disuse. It seems Charlotte has clearly taken care of that problem, as she’s holding it with a smile.

“I thought I’d clean area around the front door today, would that be problematic?” Charlotte

“Oh, there’s nothing wrong with that… I didn’t ask you to do that?” Allen