"Well, this is about what I expected. Glad I could subdue it without destroying it."
Rest let out a quiet breath as he looked down at the golem, which lay collapsed on the floor in silence.
When he had first used presence detection, he had noticed that the golem radiated only the faintest traces of mana.
It had probably been left unattended for so long that its mana was nearly depleted.
"If it had been in perfect condition... destroying it might have been my only option."
Ten thousand large gold coins. A golem worth a hundred billion yen—destroying something like that made his skin crawl.
Even if it wouldn't hit his own wallet, he would rather avoid it if he could.
"Are you all right, Rest?"
"Yeah, no problems."
Once Celestine confirmed the fight was over, she stepped forward.
"It really was a highly advanced combat golem. But why would something like this be stored in the basement?"
"That's something we can figure out with a little investigation... Light Ball."
He conjured several orbs of light, illuminating the expansive room.
And then... the astonishing sight that had been hidden by the darkness was revealed.
"Wha—!"
"This is...!"
Rest and Celestine both gasped in unison.
What filled the room was... every conceivable BL illustration.
The four walls were adorned with paintings depicting men entangled with one another in intimate embraces.
On the table were novels of the same genre, and what appeared to be self-published manga volumes.
There were even plaster statues — multiple nude men intertwined with one another.
"Th-this is what the combat golem was guarding...?!"
Ten thousand gold coins. A golem worth ten billion yen had been installed to protect something like this.
He wanted to retort — what an absurd way to spend your money.
(Come to think of it... there were similar illustrations in that seaside villa too, weren't there?)
Could it be... no, could it really be that the woman known as Sanada Shoko had been a fujoshi?
This estate had landscape paintings decorating the upper floors — scenes drawn from fond memories — while the hidden underground chambers housed her prized BL collection.
"W-what a colossal waste of effort... Well, I mean, hobbies are hobbies..."
Hobbies were a person's own business.
BL or otherwise, she was free to enjoy whatever she liked — but as someone who had been dragged along for the ride, Rest felt utterly drained.
He was beginning to feel lost, overwhelmed by the sheer absurdity of what he had been shown.
"Well, it's fine, I suppose... There doesn't seem to be anything else here, so let's just head back. Lady Celestine."
"......"
"Lady Celestine?"
Rest called out to her, but Celestine did not respond.
Had the BL merchandise inflicted such an unexpected shock on her that she had gone completely blank?
"I see... so this type of thing exists as well."
However — upon closer inspection — Celestine appeared to be deep in thought about something.
"It isn't simply men of the same age — they deliberately include age gaps... relationships between a young man and a middle-aged man old enough to be his father. And some are dressed in knight uniforms, using occupational roles to add concreteness, thereby provoking even greater imagination in the viewer... Queen Dowager, your depth of calculation is truly terrifying."
"…………"
What was this?
Rest was equally startled by this unexpected turn of events, yet Celestine seemed to be accepting it with an almost startling composure.
(Could it be... that those illustrations in the villa awakened something in her...?)
"Miss Celestine...?"
"Oh, I apologize. I was simply lost in thought for a moment."
"I-I see..."
"I am truly sorry for dragging you into all of this today. I will make it up to you properly at another time."
And thus... the date (?) with Celestine drew to a close.
In the end, their outing had turned into a rather high-minded painting-viewing excursion of sorts — but it left Rest's chest clouded with a lingering sense of inexplicable unease.