Chapter 182: The Maid Sisters Who Usually Look at Me with Disdainful Faces, Do They Like Calling Me Master in Public?

Under Betty's insistence, Petra climbed down from Subaru with a hundred percent reluctance, cutting short this bout of clinginess.

Subaru just shrugged it off—naturally, when it came to squabbles like this, his instinct was to redirect attention as fast as possible.

Since Petra was awake now and seemed fine, he suggested they all go have breakfast together.

Judging by how well he knew the Rem and Ram sisters, breakfast should be just about ready by now.

If they'd worked fast, the two might already be on their way over with the food—so there was no time to waste.

Subaru, Emilia, Petra, and Betty made their noisy, bickering way to the dining room.

The moment they walked through the door, they found the Rem and Ram sisters already standing attentively behind the head seat at the table.

The table itself was laid with a breakfast far more lavish than usual.

"Huh, is Roswaal joining us later?"

Subaru noticed the empty head seat at the table and asked the two maids waiting behind it, puzzled.

"No. A useless waste of space like that doesn't deserve breakfast—right, Rem?"

"That's right. Anyone with ulterior motives toward Subaru ought to be hanged and burned, Sister."

Ram and Rem stood pressed together, fingers interlaced, taking turns tearing the manor's original master, Roswaal, to shreds.

Their experience in the viewing space had chilled their feelings toward Roswaal down to absolute zero.

At this point, Roswaal ranked lower in their estimation than a dog.

"Ahem!" Subaru nearly choked on his own spit hearing that.

It was, after all, the first time he'd heard Rem and Ram speak of Roswaal with such open contempt, and it caught him a little off guard.

Back in the day, that kind of sarcasm had always been reserved for him alone—the status-less newcomer "guest" of the manor.

But that trivial detail was soon pushed out of his mind.

Because Subaru quickly noticed something else: the sisters' way of speaking, their old habits, had somehow reverted—without him even realizing—to exactly how they'd been back when he first arrived at the manor.

Which meant—

"There it is! The comedy-duo oni sisters, making their grand limited-time comeback!"

Subaru thrust out a finger with wildly exaggerated expression and gestures, pointing at Rem and Ram, who stood pressed together across from him wearing perfectly innocent faces.

"Oh no, Rem, Barusu's spouting nonsense again first thing in the morning."

"Oh no, Sister, first thing in the morning Subaru—Subaru—Subaru already wants to be rewarded with some cold sarcasm!"

Ram and Rem kept up their little routine, trading lines back and forth with Subaru.

For some reason, when it was Rem's turn this time, she blushed and repeated "Subaru" three times before continuing.

Perhaps it was the understanding built from years as husband and wife—Rem had Subaru's psychology figured out completely.

Take just now, for instance—her words hadn't been random at all!

Subaru knew perfectly well that she and Ram got a little mischievous whenever they slipped into this comedy-duo banter.

And yet he still chose to joke around with them—wasn't that precisely because he wanted to hear the sisters' scornful remarks as his reward?

And as a devoted wife, Rem was, of course, obligated to indulge her husband's little quirks!

As for repeating "Subaru" three times in a row just now—that was merely a small marital flourish.

And there was a little hidden motive behind it too—using the triple repetition as a diversion—

—she could make her mockery of Subaru sound like playful flirting instead, satisfying him without wounding his pride!

"Hmph, hmph! Don't underestimate my imagination—you two, for daring to mock me, have already met quite the miserable fate inside my head!"

Subaru said this with a knowing smile, thoroughly satisfied.

"Much obliged for the hospitality, dear maid sisters!"

Hearing this, Ram and Rem exchanged a glance, then obligingly put on trembling, quivering acts, gazing at Subaru with the pitiful, helpless eyes of newborn animals.

"Pfft!" Emilia, watching from the side, burst out laughing at the sight.

"Now, now, Subaru—can't you behave yourself a little? Please don't do weird things to Rem and Ram, okay?"

Emilia said this with mock seriousness, wiping away tears of laughter.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Betty—holding Subaru's left hand—watched the women's antics with a dead-fish stare.

Countless question marks were popping up in Betty's mind right now.

Those two little maids—Rem, Ram—and Emilia over there too.

Were they staging some kind of performance art, cosplaying their past selves?

As the only one among them purely and simply from the main line, Betty delivered this sharp assessment.

Her diagnosis: they'd all been mentally jolted by something in the viewing space.

Still—

Betty glanced up at Subaru, and seeing the sheer delight on his face, gave a quiet huff, thinking to herself in typical tsundere fashion.

If it made Subaru happy, then it counted for something that they'd bothered—so let them play their little roles to their hearts' content!

Meanwhile, Petra, arm looped through Subaru's, watched the scene with curiosity but didn't rashly jump into the conversation.

She just kept staring in Rem's direction, since all she knew of Rem was as "the Sleeping Beauty Subaru cared about."

And now that the Sleeping Beauty had woken, speaking and expressing herself so vividly, Petra found it endlessly fascinating.

"Growl~" But soon enough, since she'd just woken and her body was short on nourishment, Petra's stomach let out a loud rumble.

The sound instantly drew every eye in the room, and Petra's face flared red as if set on fire.

"Alright, I'm hungry too—everyone, let's sit down and eat."

Subaru spoke up first with a laugh, saying nothing of Petra and claiming hunger for himself instead, pulling everyone's attention back onto him.

And in the very instant after Subaru spoke—

Rem and Ram exchanged a glance, then reached out together and pulled out the chair at the head of the table.

Then the two of them bowed to Subaru in perfect unison, the motion unreservedly displaying the curves of their bodies and a flash of snowy white at their necklines.

Rem and Ram spoke almost simultaneously, addressing Subaru together with utmost deference.

"Master, please, take your seat."

Subaru was startled for a moment at that.

What was going on here?

(The maid sisters who usually look at me with disdain actually enjoy calling me "Master" in front of everyone?)

Subaru felt a little bashful. Sure, that logic checked out, but this sort of thing was something he and Rem and Ram should enjoy privately, just among themselves.

Doing it out here in broad daylight, in front of everyone—this, this—what would people think?

Thinking this, Subaru instinctively glanced left and right at Emilia, Petra, and Betty.

Seeing no particular reaction on their faces—as if this were all perfectly ordinary—

Subaru's face flushed and he cleared his throat, then walked toward Rem and Ram's position with Petra's small hand held in his right.

As for why Petra, Emilia, and Betty showed no particular surprise—that was, of course, because all three of them knew, to some degree, about Subaru's perverted true nature!

But even a Subaru like that, they still loved him all the same.

____

🔥 HELP UNLOCK THE NEXT EXTRA RELEASE!

Early Access: Can't stand the cliffhangers?

🔥 New history: DanMachi: Inheriting the Legacy of Alternate Versions — posted on The_Mikudayo