Robot Protection Zone Chapter 33

“Welcome back, William.”

The next morning, William, who had returned after finishing his business trip, stepped into the entrance hall. His work had ended sooner than expected, allowing him to return home in the morning.

He gave a short nod to Sophia, who had come out to greet him.

“Is Didi still sleeping…?”

It seemed Didi was not awake, as there was not a single strand of his hair to be seen. It was what he had expected. The call yesterday hadn’t been at a particularly early time, after all. He was probably up to something late into the night and was sleeping in again.

But why isn’t Eve here?

Wondering if it was actually broken, he checked as he entered the house, and saw Eve standing still at the bottom of the stairs. It looked like it was waiting for Didi to wake up.

It always followed them when he went to and from work with Didi, but with Didi gone, it hadn’t even come out to greet him. It was absurd. Was the owner setting programmed wrong…?

William considered taking it to Thomas but shook his head. This is why it’s a piece of scrap metal. It was a robot that would have been returned to the company and scrapped or recycled long ago if it weren’t for Didi.

“Move.”

He nudged Eve, which was blocking the stairs, with his foot. As he was about to go up the stairs, he suddenly felt a gaze on him and turned around. Eve’s screen flickered.

I think it just displayed something on the screen… Was I mistaken?

Although he had a very uneasy feeling, he figured he must have seen wrong and went up the stairs.

Come to think of it, Didi had asked for permission to sleep in the master’s room yesterday. If so, Didi should be sleeping in his room right now, dead to the world.

He entered the room, imagining Didi fast asleep, buried deep under the covers. But the unexpected sight that greeted him as soon as he entered left him speechless for a moment.

The clothes that should have been in the dressing room were all out. Suits were piled up on the bed like a mound of logs. In the middle of it all, naturally, was Didi.

It was dumbfounding to see Didi leisurely sleeping in, surrounded by his clothes. He was even smiling in a very satisfied way, as if he were having a pleasant dream. He had even drawn the curtains, as if to say he would not be disturbed…

“Ha.”

He wasn’t angry. He was just dumbfounded.

Didi, sleeping with an innocent face. Did he even know how much the clothes he was hugging were worth? Then again, they probably couldn’t compare to the price of a humanbot.

If you looked at it that way, was it like a diamond was nestled in a pile of clothes?

A chuckle escaped him as he imagined Didi’s flustered face when he woke up. For now, perhaps he would just enjoy the sight of him sleeping.

William slowly sat on the edge of the bed.

Lately, Didi had been repeating strange behaviors. He had thought he was imagining it, but seeing Didi constantly glancing at him and blushing made it certain. For a robot, it seemed he liked his master.

It seemed that acting kind to him occasionally, pretending to be the former master, had worked perfectly. It was also amusing. To fall in love just because he was treated a little kindly.

He was a robot who had loved his grandfather, but it wasn’t strange that he had now come to like him. Robots are usually designed to perform a given role. In Didi’s case, it seemed his grandfather had made him to soothe his loneliness. If so, he would have been programmed to unconditionally love his master. Even if he could feel emotions on his own, that kind of manipulation would have been a piece of cake for his grandfather, who had created humanbots.

Hmm… In that case, has he completely accepted me as his master now? The thought made him feel good. This feeling was a sense of accomplishment—no, a satisfaction stemming from a sense of possessiveness.

William brushed away Didi’s bangs, which were tickling his eyes, and turned his head. He saw his clothes, which Didi had hugged tightly, now heavily wrinkled.

‘I should tell Sophia to iron them.’

And what punishment should be given to the immature robot who touched his master’s things without permission? As he fell into pleasant contemplation, William’s lips slowly curled into a smile.

“Umm…”

In a daze of sleepiness, I curled up my body. Still unable to shake off the drowsiness, I hugged my master’s clothes, which were within reach, tightly.

They smelled of my master’s warm and familiar scent. The warmth that had seeped into the soft fabric felt pleasant. As I rubbed my cheek against it with a happy expression, I felt a slight movement.

‘It’s moving…?’

Thinking it was strange, I opened my eyes. In my not-yet-fully-awake vision, I saw a familiar suit. And above it was my master’s face.

“Master…?”

“You’re awake?”

Could I be dreaming? I wondered if I was hallucinating in my sleep, but a reply really did come back. It was really the master!

“Master!”

I shot up and greeted the master. I thought you would be back a little later. Did your work finish early?

As I welcomed him, ready to wag my tail, the master asked me.

“Have you forgotten anything?”

“Forgotten anything?”

I tilted my head and blinked. The master told me to look around, so I lowered my head and… my heart sank.

The master’s clothes were scattered all over the bed. I must have tossed and turned a lot in my sleep, because the suits were so crumpled and wrinkled that they looked as if they were made of paper.

“Ma-Master…”

The scene of the crime had been laid bare, so there was no way to deny it. I stammered, looking up at the master with trembling eyes.

But contrary to my expectations, the master didn’t seem very angry. I had been fidgeting, sure that I would get a huge scolding, but the master actually seemed to be in a good mood.

Just then, the master’s hand reached out and pinched my cheek.

“Master… it hurts…”

Speaking with my cheek pinched, my pronunciation came out strangely. The master chuckled.

“Well, who told you to touch the master’s things without permission? Get up and wash your face. Your face is all puffy.”

The master let go of my cheek and got up from his seat. I rubbed my aching cheek and looked up at the master.

The master isn’t angry… It definitely seemed like the master had become kinder than before. It might just be my imagination… But still, I liked it all the more for it.

As punishment for wrinkling a whole bunch of his clothes, the master teased and tormented me all day, and then he went and caught a terrible cold.

Even though he had rested for a day after returning from his business trip, his condition didn’t improve, and he even came down with body aches. In the end, the master decided to take one more day off, and so he did not go to work today either.

The master’s personal doctor visited the house and even put him on an IV drip. I, being shy around strangers, just peeked in quietly from the side, then only gave a quick bow when the doctor left.

Drip, drip, went the IV.

After staring in wonder at the steadily forming droplets, I glanced at the master lying in bed.

His eyes were closed, but his brow was deeply furrowed. Does he have a bad headache? I carefully opened my mouth.

“…Master, are you okay?”

“Don’t talk to me. My head is throbbing.”

“Yes…”

Feeling like I was disturbing his rest even more, I quietly backed away. I thought it might be better to just go outside. I was about to tiptoe out of the room so the master could rest well when I heard a voice from behind me.

“Didi, turn up the room temperature.”

“Yes.”

I quickly found the remote control and raised the set temperature. The room is large, so it would take some time to warm up…

I suddenly remembered the times when the master would take off his coat for me whenever I was cold. This time, it was my turn to warm him up. I carefully climbed onto the bed and, taking care not to touch the arm with the IV, cautiously lay down beside the master.

“How is it?”

“…It’s warm.”

My body is naturally on the warmer side, so I felt proud that I could be of help in a time like this. I wish I had a function that could regulate my body temperature. Unfortunately, my body didn’t have such a feature.

The master still seemed to have a severe headache, as he was holding his forehead. I was watching him with a worried look, thinking his breathing seemed a bit heavy, when the master suddenly turned over and pulled me into a tight hug.

“Ugh…! Master…?”

In an instant, my body was trapped. I couldn’t move a muscle, afraid that if I shifted the wrong way, I might hit the arm with the IV needle in it.

“I-It’s constricting…”

“They say you get over a cold by passing it on to someone else, so bear with it for a bit.”

“Ugh…”

“Ah, but I wonder if it won’t transfer because you’re an idiot?”

“Master!”

When I snapped at the master for teasing me, he chuckled and let me go. I left the room with a very disgruntled expression.

Once I was out, I found I had nothing to do. I asked Sophia if there was anything I could help with, but she didn’t share any work with me, saying my arm hadn’t fully healed yet. With nothing to do, I sat on the living room sofa, facing Eve, and turned on the TV.

First, the news channel came on. It was what the master watched every morning, but it held zero interest for me. As I was flipping through the channels, a movie came on, and I fixed my gaze on it for a moment.

But even that quickly lost my interest. This was also about a romance between a robot and a human.

“……”

I kept changing the channel, but everywhere else was just broadcasting boring things. In the end, I went back to the movie channel and left it on.