Volume 1 - CH 19

Nineteenth day of confinement.

Translated by SoundDestiny

Edited by Kaepinned

In the spectacle village where I came to hear that if I ate a red beret I could become a super mangaka,  I was given a poisoned green beret.

“──Te”

But the green beret was actually a 1UP beret, which split and merged with me to become a complete person.

“──up”

The face with glasses was hard to distinguish. It was like seeing a person doing face swap tricks infinitely, just like the ones that usually appeared in dark themed anime.

“Wake up!”

‘Nn?’

My body reacts with a jolt to the loud noise echoing in my ear canal.

“…..Aa, good morning.”

I raise my upper body with a sleepy look on my face.

I feel like I’ve been dreaming of something amazing.

“It’s still night time. I thought it would be better not to wake you, but you weren’t breathing…..”

Konata says apologetically.

Apnea Syndrome?

“I see. I thought I was going to take a little nap, but I must have slept robustly.”

I scratch my head.

I made progress on the manga yesterday and was working on it until dawn, so it’s a reaction to that.

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

Konata exhales with relief.

“I’m sorry for making you worry… I- I mean, you’re wearing plain clothes today.”

I roll my eyes.

Her top is a black V-neck cut-and-sewn.

There is a picture of a goat printed on the chest.

It’s a goat, but not one of those cute ones you see in picture books or cartoons for young children.

It’s a realistic goat.

The horns are egregious and the eyes are scary.

The skirt underneath is also black.

It is a checked skirt, but it is subtle and transparent, like a lace fabric, making it difficult to look at.

She has black belt-shaped accessories on her neck, right wrist and left thigh.

In other words, she is dressed entirely in black.

She looks as if she is going to a death metal band gig or a goth meeting.

Or she looks like a witch just before a sabbath.

‘I guess she has a taste for this type of thing.’

Thinking back, this is the first time I’ve seen her in civilian clothes.

It’s a fresh feeling.

“I had to go out for a bit today.”

Konata says, with a straight face.

“Oo, Is that so? Where have you been?”

“That’s──I can’t tell”

She puts her left index finger to her lips and says mischievously.

“Oh, yeah – oh, there’s something on your collar. Is it rubbish?”

I point to the back of her neck.

I wonder what it is. It’s a piece of white thread…

“Ee?…….。…….。…….。──!!?”

She runs her hand around the back of her neck.

Eventually, her fingers probe for something that looks like thread.

The moment she picks it up and moves her head to see what the 『trash』 is, she runs out of the room as fast as she can and closes the door with a bang.

‘I only saw it for a moment, but that was a price tag, wasn’t it?　So, could it be that she went out of her way to buy that plain clothes to show me?’

I see her off in a daze and think about such things.

Of course, I may be just being self-conscious.

But if my guess is right, I’ll be very happy.

“……………”

A few minutes later.

Konata returns with an indifferent look on her face.

“How is it? Did you get the tag off?”

“There’s no such thing.”

She replies with a bite.

“No, then why did you rush out of the room?”

“I was just going…… to get this.”

She thrusts out something that she has hidden behind her back.

It is a tool that looks like a two-wheeled tire with a single stick through it.

“Abdominal muscle roller?”

“Yes. I train sometimes.”

Konata takes one look at my body after saying that.

“Aaa, yeah. I’m trying to keep my body from getting too tired. I thought it would be more efficient if I had some tools, but you went to the trouble of buying them for me.”

“Here, I’ll give it to you.”

“Thanks. I’ll use it right away.”

I take the abdominal roller offered to me.

I kneel on the floor and hold the handle. Then I put the wheel part on the ground, while assuming a push-up like posture as a starting position. Continuing to extend my body forward, I hold the ‘rolled out’ pose then return to my starting position.

“Oh, they feel good.”

It feels like there is more force applied to the whole body than a normal sit-up.

I went forward and back a few times and when my body is warming up, I suddenly feel a weight on my back.

“──Why are you sitting on me?”

I ask, holding on to the roller.

“Help with training.”

A cold voice descends from above.

My inversely heated back.

Tingling irritation in the neck and arse area.

Ow,owowowow…Ah, but it feels a bit nice.

Can fake nails be used as weapons?

“…..are you angry?”

“I’m not angry.”

“Well… that’s good.”

I feel a bad omen if I pursue it further, so I continue to work out in silence.

In the end, Konata didn’t move off my back until I reached my physical limit and crumpled to the floor.

Incidentally, that day’s dinner was accompanied by protein.

On the other hand, I found out that it is true that they support muscle training.