A Basement-Dwelling Loser, the Inquisitor – Chapter 105

[Inquisition Officer: Please edit everything again]

[HP – Harum: Huh???]

[HP – Harum: Can you explain why?]

[Inquisition Officer: …I think it might be difficult]

[HP – Harum: We need to know the reason before we can edit it again ㅠㅠ]

[Inquisition Officer: Do I have to say it?]

[HP – Harum: Yes…]

[Inquisition Officer: I’m just embarrassed]

[HP – Harum: Could we possibly talk briefly with Rene?]

When I conveyed my feelings, a chat came from Harum suggesting to talk on the phone.

To be honest, I wanted to refuse, but… it was unreasonable for me to ask, so I had to comply.

[Receiving a call from HP – Harum]

[📞 | ❌]

Immediately, the call came through.

I took a deep breath, filled with unnecessary anxiety, and accepted the call.

[Hello, Rene.]

“Ah, hello….”

[Umm, you asked for the entire video to be re-edited? You said it was because you were embarrassed….]

“…Yes.”

[Could you tell me specifically which parts you’re embarrassed about?]

Harum asked, seemingly puzzled.

It was already embarrassing for me to admit this, but did Harum really not know?

Of course, I had impulsively sent that chat in a fit of emotion, but still, being embarrassed is being embarrassed.

“Umm, look… you really don’t need to fix everything….”

[Really? Thank goodness….]

“Um, I just think some moves shouldn’t be shown in the video…. I sent that in the heat of the moment….”

[So, there’s no problem with editing about appearance or hair, right?]

“Yes…. I think those parts are perfect….”

[That’s a relief…. When I first saw your request for editing, I was worried it was about those parts… I mean, that’s not an easy task, you know. So what brings up the embarrassment regarding the editing?]

“Um, it’s the poses with the name ‘Swan’… and the Jackknife pose….”

As I listed off the poses I wanted to be cut from the video, Harum stuttered slightly, sounding flustered.

[Uh, um… Rene? Could you explain why you want those poses cut? I can’t tell the difference between acceptable and unacceptable poses….]

You can’t tell the difference?

I could tell immediately upon seeing them.

“Hey, they’re inappropriate….”

[…Huh?]

“The poses are inappropriate…!”

This was a very important issue for me, a devout priest.

[…Huh?]

★

[The poses are inappropriate…!]

“…Huh?”

At Rene’s words, Harum’s mind went blank.

‘Is this for real?’

Of course, there was some interpretation that could be accepted from Rene’s words.

Pilates or yoga poses can certainly look attractive in many ways.

But even so, saying those poses felt inappropriate made me feel a little ashamed.

‘That’s such a middle schooler thought….’

It was enough to give Harum a headache.

It was only natural for Harum not to understand when the person who would usually brush off such chats during a broadcast suddenly showed this kind of reaction.

[Es, especially that Jackknife pose shows the stomach….]

“…Ah.”

Only then did Harum fully understand Rene’s point.

The attire Rene wore while filming those poses was a dress shirt she had brought from home.

Since only women were on set, and there were no plans to make the footage public, she had chosen to wear something comfortably, which led to these results.

But Rene’s thoughts changed, and she decided to upload the footage online.

Moreover, the dress shirt was not made from a material suitable for workouts and did not cling to the body.

Thus, when executing poses like the Jackknife, the shirt naturally flipped up around the chest area.

Given how often such scenes appeared in the video, it was a given for a modest Rene to react like this.

‘Surely I would feel embarrassed in that situation too…’

But that was just my personal opinion; looking at it objectively changed the picture.

Yes, I could admit that it was somewhat embarrassing, but could it really be classified as inappropriate? Harum would surely shake her head at that.

[The Swan poses overly emphasize the chest….]

Harum believed such poses showcased Rene’s health and charm, considering them a fantastic aspect of the video.

In particular, some poses… like the Jackknife Rene mentioned, showing off Rene’s toned abs, left even Harum in awe.

In other words, though Harum understood what Rene meant, she felt that Rene was overreacting.

That thought triggered a hypothesis in Harum’s mind.

‘…No way.’

Harum still recalled the first time she met Rene.

Rene’s appearance was not so easily forgotten.

Thinking back on that made her think Rene could never act like this.

[So, um, it’s totally unacceptable.]

Observing Rene’s reaction continued to raise questions.

“Excuse me, Rene. This might be rude, but can I ask you one thing…?”

[Yes?]

Ultimately, Harum couldn’t contain her curiosity, leading her to ask candidly.

“Um, Rene, do you perhaps have no… um, no romantic experience at all?”

[W-Wait, is that the, um, important question right now?]

‘Got it.’

How could someone as rare as her exist without a romantic encounter?

Harum had been gradually watching Rene’s broadcasts for the sake of the Nuideuil project.

Of course, those were tasks assigned to staff, but being naturally responsible, Harum wasn’t the type to just sit back and wait.

And while watching Rene’s broadcasts, Harum had occasionally thought,

‘She’s doing this intentionally….’

That was her intuition as a woman, and her conclusion.

But seeing Rene now was starting to shake that belief.

Is she really doing this on purpose?

Could this all be an act?

Could it be that everything was completely genuine?

Even though she thought it was impossible, she found herself in a situation where she had to consider that it might be true.

‘I don’t know…’

In the end, Harum decided to stop thinking.

★

“Um, so it’s absolutely not okay.”

Harum was left speechless by my flawless logic.

Well, how could she argue when I had articulated it so clearly?

…When Harum observed it at the time, and when I performed it myself, it felt fine.

However, upon watching the edited video, I realized some poses way too much emphasized my chest, while in others, my shirt flipped and exposed my stomach.

Realizing that fact made my face heat up, and I ended up sending Harum a chat asking her to edit everything.

“Excuse me, Rene. I know it might be rude, but may I ask a question?”

[Yes?]

Finally, Harum, who had been silent in the face of my flawless argument, spoke up.

[Um, Rene, do you perhaps have no… um, romantic experience at all?]

At that question, my mind went blank in an instant.

“W-Wait, is that really the, um, important topic right now…?”

[It isn’t important, but… um, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to….]

Harum’s awkward laughter echoed in my ears.

Why?

What’s with the reaction?

Isn’t it possible for someone to never have been in a romantic relationship?

I’ve never been in a position where I could date anyone.

In my past life, I had no time, no money, and no one to meet.

And in this world, the memories of Earth have caused confusion in my identity, and after becoming an Inquisition Officer, well….

Of course, I had little desire for romance; still, it wasn’t like that was necessarily bad.

More so, what does this situation have to do with my romantic experience…?

“H-Harum, are you implying that my lack of romantic experience is the reason I view those poses as, um, inappropriate…?”

[No, well… it’s not exactly that….]

That reaction is clearly saying exactly that….

The thought of being unjustly accused began to permeate my mind.

I’m not the one who’s strange.

How could they not see the poses emphasizing my chest and my shirt flipping up revealing my stomach?

“Honestly, it’s true; they are inappropriate….”

As a proper priest of the Iya Cult, I simply cannot allow such aspects.

[Um, let’s leave it at that. Phew…! So to summarize what Rene is saying, you want the Swan poses and any scene where the clothing flipped to be edited out, correct?]

“…Yes.”

I was slightly displeased with that response, but I nodded along.

[…Rene. Honestly, it’s fine if we cut the Jackknife pose and the last one. But the issue is, if we edit out all the Swan ones, we’re going to have trouble with the video’s duration. It’ll make it almost meaningless to upload.]

“…Ah.”

Clearly, the video I received was shorter than most others in the Nuideuil series.

However, if we were to cut out everything I mentioned, it would definitely be a problem.

[As you know, if you feel upset and ultimately do not grant permission for the upload, there’s nothing we can do. We have to give up if the person being filmed does not consent.]

I was aware of that.

Harum had explained once before.

[But our staff, they worked really hard on this video. We thought you might feel less uncomfortable, so we handled everything from editing to voice-over… especially the staff who edited had stayed up for three days straight for the hair editing.]

So, Harum continued saying,

[It might be a little embarrassing, but could you please show us some consideration just this once? Of course, I’ll edit all the scenes you really feel are unacceptable.]

…I had no words.

What could I possibly say in response to that?

“Okay… please just edit the scenes with the clothing flipping….”

[…Yes! Thank you so much! …But could it be possible to keep those, um? Honestly, after hearing what Rene said, they do seem a bit inappropriate, but that’s a section the fans seem to really like….]

“Absolutely not…!”

[As expected, right~?]

With Harum laughing off her words, our call came to an end.

“Phew….”

I felt heat rise to my face once more.

I can’t believe I’m facing such a situation…?