Chapter 21
Control + F
Cannot be Used
Translator : PolterGlast
No matter how I
thought about it, Lotus was the one who had the necklace. No, rather, I wanted
him to be the one who had it.
I searched every place
I could think of, and even had Ichi and the others help me, but I couldn't find
it at all, and I cried, "Uwee."
In the first place, it
was an item that could be bought even with the combined allowance of two
children. Whoever found it might have thought it was nothing special and thrown
it away, or even sold it off somewhere for a pittance. All sorts of unpleasant
thoughts came to mind, so thinking that Lotus had it was actually the best
option.
That necklace could
absorb and store magic power during the night. In other words, it had the role
of increasing my total MP. Even now, I could transform into an adult form, but
only for a short time, and the more MP I used at once, the faster my MP would
grow. I couldn't go back to the village anymore, and I really didn't want to
lose it if possible.
It was also a memento
of the last thing I bought with my childhood friend, but I wasn't too concerned
about that. Sorry, childhood friend.
"Umm, umm, uuu,
uuummm..."
I groaned in bed,
still unable to give up, and searched so much in between that I ended up
acquiring Search Skill Lv.1, but using Tamer Skill × Search Skill, I had Ichi
and the others search every nook and cranny around Harapeko-tei with all their
might. But if it wasn't there, it wasn't there. I felt like crying.
In the first place, I
also had to consider whether it was okay for me to return to Harapeko-tei.
After all, Lotus had seen me in my adult form and recognized me as a demon. I
had been sitting right on the roof of Harapeko-tei. Even though I had fled to
the opposite location, would that kind of deception work?
So far, even when
eavesdropping on the conversations of regular customers, there were no rumors
of a demon appearing, and neither the church people nor the knights had come.
And Lotus hadn't come either.
No, he did come, but
he ate and paid and disappeared at a speed I couldn't even notice. The landlady
was amazed, saying he seemed to be in a great hurry.
In that case, should I
just not worry about it? I made sure to only transform at night inside the
house, and spent several days sadly sighing while thinking about the lost
necklace.
"El, I'm sorry to
trouble you, but could you deliver this to Lotus?"
The landlady handed me
his favorite stew and bread.
***
"Eh, um, eh,
why?"
"He's looked
awfully tired lately, you know. Well, we've known each other a long time, and
he's the type to push himself too hard."
Actually, I had
glimpsed his back once, and his hair was messier than usual, and even though he
usually said hello, he had been quickly disappearing lately. Lotus and the
landlady, who had known each other for a long time, weren't just customer and
shopkeeper. Judging from her calling him "boy," he seemed to have
been a nuisance since he was little. "He was such a cheeky brat!!"
Sutra-san shouted from behind. And then she was scolded by the landlady for
saying shit.
"If I leave him
alone, he'll only eat the same things. Here, take this too."
What was handed to me
was a whole apple. I wrapped the small pot in a cloth, sandwiched the bread in
between, and put the apple in my over-the-shoulder bag. My usual feeling was
that I didn't want to get involved with Lotus, but now it was even stronger,
and personally, I was a little relieved that he wasn't at the restaurant for
long. So, when the landlady suddenly asked me, I could only desperately search
for an excuse while holding the small pot of stew.
"Well, um, the
restaurant is likely going to be busy..."
"It's quite calm
today, so it should be fine."
"Umm, well, I
don't know where he is."
"Why don't you
try going to the city gates for now? Even if he's not there, you could ask them
to pass on a message. They'll probably give it to him."
Sutra-san provided
backup from afar.
"...Couldn't
someone else...?"
I was about to say,
but the landlady couldn't leave the shop, and Sutra-san was injured. It was
obvious that I was the only one. The two of them looked at me blankly. I had no
choice but to nod.
There were times when
I disliked myself. I was the only one who felt awkward around Lotus. He was my
benefactor, the one who let a suspicious person like me into the city and even
introduced me to Harapeko-tei. Because Lotus came to the restaurant so often, I
asked the landlady if he liked stew that much, and she said that he used to
come often before too, but he started coming this frequently after I came to
the restaurant.
Was he worried about
me? No, I was too suspicious in both my origins and actions. He was definitely
coming to keep an eye on me. Even if it was out of his innate helpfulness that
he showed me around the city and made sure I was warm under a roof instead of
shivering from the cold and hunger, it was all thanks to Lotus. I was unconditionally
accepting his kindness.
Yet, while carrying
the stew, all I could think was, "I hope I don't have to meet Lotus at the
gatekeeper's place."
And if that wasn't bad
enough, deep down, I thought, "He doesn't even need me to deliver
food." Even though he wasn't yet an adult by Japanese standards, he was
treated as a full adult in this country. He could probably take care of
himself. So, even though I didn't have to go all the way there, my own
selfishness made my walking speed slow down, and I hated how selfish my heart
had become. After all he had done for me.
I didn't want to get
involved in the game's story. Revenge didn't matter to me. I just wanted to
live peacefully and grow up. My feelings, and the warmth of the stew I was
carrying, felt strangely distant, and the burden became terribly heavy.
――――El, what's wrong?
――――Are you okay?
Ichi and Nii bounced
up and down from my left and right, asking me. I had left San at Harapeko-tei
just in case. He was the most energetic slime, so he was probably dancing
wildly and cleaning the entire floor by now.
"Sorry, I'm fine.
It's nothing."
I hurriedly shook my
head, forcibly putting a lid on my unpleasant feelings. I didn't want to
notice.
No matter how slowly I
walked, I would eventually reach my destination. Besides, I was currently
working and being paid. I couldn't dawdle because of my selfish emotions. I
just had to deliver the stew, the bread, and the apple, and convey the
landlady's message: "Are you eating properly?" If Lotus wasn't there,
all the better. If he was, well, that was fine. Okay, let's go.
"G-good,
a-afternoon!!"
I put too much energy
into it, and my voice sounded a little strange. I called out to the person on
the other side of the gate. When I looked at the city from the outside, there
was always someone standing guard at the gate. So, there had to be someone
there. Thinking so, I called out, and a young man wearing a hat popped his head
out.
"Hmm? Who might
you be?"
He had white hair, and
his hat had a short brim, was deep green, and cylindrical in shape. He had a
gentle, kind face. As I thought, "I've seen this person before," it
seemed he recognized me even faster. "Ah, the suspicious girl from back
then." "Ugh." He was quite direct despite his face. And then I
clearly remembered.
――――Hey! Don't struggle!
――――We just apprehended
you because you were suspicious.
The nape of my neck,
where he had grabbed me, felt restless.
He was the one who had
firmly apprehended me when I first stormed into this city. And he was a male
acquaintance of Lotus.
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