Mashu's Morning Cleaning Task / Ophelia's Tension

He slept soundly through the night, without a single dream.

It had been a long time since Ian had such a good night's rest.

He opened his eyes and saw Mashu beside him.

The girl was currently holding his arm tightly, looking completely content.

There was still a slight trace of last night at the corner of her lips.

Ian didn't have the heart to disturb Mashu in this state, so he decided to quietly wait for her to wake up.

However—

Mashu seemed to be a light sleeper.

Not long after Ian opened his eyes, she also woke up.

Upon realizing that Ian was looking at her, her face immediately flushed crimson, and it took her a while to squeeze out a single sentence.

"Senpai... good morning."

"Yeah, good morning."

The man gently stroked the girl's hair.

"Did I wake you up?"

"Not at all!" Mashu shook her head repeatedly. "It's just that I'm a very light sleeper."

"Especially since I'm lying in the same bed as Senpai right now..."

Mashu's voice grew softer and softer as she spoke.

This was not difficult to understand—after all, it was her first time doing something like this.

If she could accept it so readily, she wouldn't be Mashu.

"Looks like you didn't rest well last night."

Ian gently brushed Mashu's bangs away from her forehead.

"However—"

"I actually slept quite well with Mashu's help."

"My help?"

"Yeah." Ian's fingers gently caressed Mashu's lips. "Its service was very thorough."

Even though the words sounded like a form of training, Mashu found a hint of happiness amidst the overwhelming embarrassment.

"Does Senpai really think so?"

"I... I thought Senpai wouldn't like it."

"How could I not like it?"

Ian put his arm around Mashu's waist.

"As a 'tool', you are excellent."

This close contact immediately made the girl feel a certain morning physiological response from him.

She hesitated for a moment, then asked shyly.

"Senpai... you're very strong."

"Would you like me to help you take care of it?"

Ian didn't answer directly but instead asked Mashu a question.

"Doing something like this right after waking up, won't it be uncomfortable for you?"

"No."

Mashu's hand grew a bit bolder.

She felt the warmth emanating from him as she replied.

"I am Senpai's 'tool'."

"Serving Senpai is the most natural thing for me to do."

"..."

Ian didn't refuse any longer—he knew that doing so would only ruin Mashu's good mood for the day.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Mashu."

"Yes!"

Fou, curled up in a ball, was still fast asleep on its exclusive throne.

And Mashu had already knelt by the bed, diligently working.

The girl's head was buried between the man's legs.

She was slowly collecting the morning's heat.

Just as she herself had admitted—this was the behavior befitting a "tool".

Ian lovingly stroked her head, his gaze inadvertently sweeping across the phone on the table.

Speaking of which—

Had Ophelia really not reacted at all?

Ian had thought she would express her disgust at his actions.

Now it seemed that wasn't the case at all.

But it wasn't surprising either—perhaps she simply didn't care.

After all, in many ways, Ophelia had reasons to dislike him.

Yesterday's message about the brassiere might also have been part of this dislike.

Everything made sense.

However.

Ian's thoughts were shattered in less than a minute.

Because his phone received a new message from Ophelia—it seemed to be just the moment she woke up as well.

The man picked up his phone and saw a rather shocking scene.

"You!"

"Give!"

"Me!"

"Come!"

"Over!"

"Now! Immediately!"

Several messages popped up on the screen in a very short period of time.

Even though they were just words, Ian could imagine Ophelia's expression when she sent these messages.

He was just about to reply when another message notification appeared on the screen.

"Don't bring Mashu, just you come!"

"..."

Since she had put it so bluntly, Ian knew it would be better for him to respond.

After all, if Ophelia got anxious, there was no telling what she might do.

"Alright."

"Wait a moment."

After replying, Ian looked at Mashu, who was diligently playing the role of a "tool".

He pressed down on her head.

The latter no longer resisted as she had before, but instead allowed the object she was serving to push in further.

Gurgle, gurgle.

Mashu's throat moved slightly.

The morning cleaning task was finally over.

Ian took her for a shower and, after drying her hair, carried her, completely naked, back to the bed.

He tucked her in with the blanket and said,

"Mashu, I need to go out for a while, can you wait for me in the room like this?"

"Wait for Senpai like this?" Mashu glanced at her body under the blanket, her face turning red.

"Yeah." Ian nodded. "Mashu, are you unwilling?"

"No!" The girl shook her head.

"I will properly complete the task that Senpai has instructed me to do."

"That's good then."

Ian gently kissed Mashu's forehead.

"Wait for me."

"Mmm~"

Ian certainly wasn't making Mashu stay in bed like this out of some twisted sense of humor.

He had to ensure that she wouldn't leave his room right now.

The main reason was to reduce the possibility of encountering risks—after all, the mole was very likely within Chaldea.

On the other hand, it was also to rationalize this kind of thing.

Rather than making Mashu realize that she was a "burden":

It was better to make her feel like she was being "asked" to do something.

That way, she wouldn't feel sad.

With everything arranged.

Ian left his room and headed towards 016, where Ophelia was.

More than ten minutes later.

He arrived at Ophelia's door.

"I'm here."

The man sent a message to her.

Soon, the door opened.

The girl with an eye mask on grabbed Ian and pulled him inside.

Click.

The door closed again, and the hallway returned to silence.

"You bastard!"

Ophelia put one hand on her hip and pointed at Ian with the other.

"Didn't you promise not to touch Mashu?!"

"What was the meaning of that photo?!"

"You lecherous insect! Shameless, stinky man! Your head is full of dirty thoughts, you vile rogue! How can there be a Master candidate like you?!"

This top student magus from the Clock Tower spewed out several sentences in one breath, becoming breathless.

It was clear that she was truly angry.

But Ian still looked calm.

He even walked to the side and poured her a glass of water.

"Tired of scolding?"

"Have a sip of water and continue scolding, okay?"

Looking at the water being offered to her, Ophelia knew that her words just now had no effect on him at all.

"You!"

"How can you be so thick-skinned?!"

"This isn't about being thick-skinned, Miss Ophelia."

Ian placed the glass on the nearby round table.

"I just don't want to talk to you while you're angry."

"The efficiency would be very poor that way."

"..."

Ophelia's reaction wasn't slow.

She immediately realized that the real meaning behind Ian's words was "he had a reason for doing this."

She calmed down slightly.

"What do you want to say?"

"Are you going to come up with some twisted logic like 'no one wants Mashu, so you just took action' again?"

"This time it's not just that."

Ian didn't get impatient because of Ophelia's scolding just now.

On the contrary, he became more patient.

"Miss Ophelia, could you please hear me out on what happened?"

"..."

Ophelia wasn't the kind of person who would become completely deaf to reason when angry.

She thought for a moment and nodded.

"Alright, I want to see how you plan to argue your way out of this."

However, Ian had no intention of overly defending his actions.

Sincerity was the best killing move.

He directly told Ophelia exactly what had happened in the bathroom last night.

He knew that this kind of thing already had enough impact on its own.

"This?"

Ophelia, after hearing what had happened, was dumbfounded.

"Mashu, she really confessed to you like that?"

"Yeah." Ian nodded.

"Miss Ophelia, you should know that I have no reason to lie about something like this."

Although she wanted to refute Ian, Ophelia knew that what he said was indeed the truth.

After all, with something like this, as long as you asked Mashu, who was not at all wary, she would definitely honestly tell you about their relationship.

And after learning about this situation, Ophelia had another matter she was very concerned about.

"So..."

The top student magus looked at the man before her.

"You agreed to Mashu's feelings?"

Ian first nodded, then shook his head.

"I agreed, but not completely."

"What do you mean by that?"

Ophelia's cheeks flushed slightly.

She still remembered Mashu's shy appearance in the photo—it was clearly a state of happiness for doing such a thing.

Thinking from this perspective... it should mean that he agreed.

"I didn't start a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship with her, but we did take a step further physically."

Ian explained without any concealment.

"That photo should be able to explain the situation."

"No!"

Ophelia was very anxious.

"Aren't you just toying with Mashu?!"

"Yes," Ian nodded, "Even I think so myself."

"But if I didn't do it, Mashu would be even more upset."

"So you feel like you're at a disadvantage helping her?"

"No," Ian shook his head in denial.

"From a man's perspective, I certainly didn't lose out."

"After all, Mashu is indeed working very hard to cater to what I like—I won't deny that."

"But the fact that I can't think of a better way is also true."

"Miss Ophelia, if you have any better ideas, please be sure to tell me."

"..."

Ophelia fell silent.

She really didn't know how to handle this situation.

Although Ian's approach was unethical, it was the best option at that time.

After all, if even such a humble request was rejected, the blow to Mashu would be more than just a small one.

"Ian, you really are..."

Ophelia turned her face away.

"You always manage to combine your desires with things that make it impossible to blame you."

"Thank you for the compliment," Ian smiled slightly.

Ophelia found that she was actually getting used to his thick skin.

"Then can I ask you one more question?"

"Of course."

"Do you... actually like Mashu?"

"Not at all." Ian answered this question almost without any hesitation.

"But—"

"I also hope that she can experience the happiness she deserves."

"So that's your so-called protection?" Ophelia suddenly understood.

"Letting her suck your..."

Ophelia couldn't continue.

She still felt very ashamed about this kind of thing.

"If that were really the case, I wouldn't dare to appear before you, Miss Ophelia."

Ian took out Olga Marie's plan from his coat and handed it to her.

"This..."

Ophelia took the plan and looked at it seriously for a while.

"The Mutual Observation Plan—an emergency plan to deal with the helicopter incident and the targeting of Master candidates by unknown individuals?"

"Wait a minute."

Ophelia looked at the man before her, suddenly realizing something.

"The person who split the iceberg and stopped the out-of-control helicopter with the falling snow, it couldn't have been you, could it?"

"It wasn't me," Ian smiled slightly.

"It was Mordred."

"Isn't that the same thing?!" Ophelia replied, "Mordred wouldn't be able to exert that kind of power without you."

"You're right about that," Ian didn't refute Ophelia's words.

"In any case, this is the plan that the Director has drafted, and it will probably be announced soon."

"Then what do you mean by showing it to me?"

Ophelia, having finished reading the entire plan, asked suspiciously.

"Trying to prove that you are valued by the Director?"

"No."

Ian shook his head.

"I just want to tell you."

"After the Director announces it, I will immediately apply to carry out this plan together with Mashu."

"Oh... and that girl named Fujimaru Ritsuka, I'll probably try to bring her in as well."

"..."

Ophelia looked at Ian in disbelief.

"That Fujimaru Ritsuka, according to the records, she should just be a slightly stronger ordinary person, right?"

"At a time like this, you not only want to protect Mashu, but also her?"

Ian smiled calmly.

"Someone has to do this kind of thing."

"Then why can't it be me?"

"..."

Ophelia was speechless.

After all, if it were her, she would definitely not choose to carry out such a plan with Mashu and Fujimaru Ritsuka.

Given the dangerous situation, it was only natural to choose someone stronger.

To say something unlucky—if something really happened to her, the weaker ones wouldn't be able to help at all.

"Alright, whether you believe it or not, I've explained everything."

"Mashu is still waiting for me, I'll go first."

Just as Ian was about to turn and leave, Ophelia grabbed his hand.

"Ian, haven't you forgotten something?"

"Forgotten something?"

"Mmm..." Ophelia turned her face away. "Aren't you curious why I would send you that kind of photo?"

"Of course, I'm curious."

Ian looked at the top student magus.

"But if you don't want to say, I'm not interested in digging to the bottom of it."

"Then you should ask!" Ophelia was a little anxious. "Wouldn't it be strange if I brought it up myself?"

"...Alright," Ian said somewhat helplessly.

"So why send me that kind of photo?"

"Because—"

Ophelia turned her head back and looked directly at the man before her.

"Yesterday was Saturday."

"If I'm planning to do something with you on Sunday... then I should prepare properly, right?"