Chapter 29
How Cute
Translator : PolterGlast
――――This city will become
a battlefield.
Actually, it wasn't
that big of a deal.
The city would be
attacked by demons, but the damage would be limited to a small area. That was
because Lotus would suppress everything. Even while losing an arm and an eye,
he would awaken his unique skill. Demons all had unique skills, like my
illusion skill, but humans were different. The supernatural powers they
possessed were truly rare, belonging to only a small fraction. Lotus would gain
that power in the future.
When I went to the
city of Volvect, that incident was in the back of my mind. But I also knew that
the casualties were few enough to count on one hand, a small conflict. That's
why I thought things would somehow work out. In a large city, the chances of
being hit directly were low, and if anything happened, I could just run away
from the city before that happened.
Now, it was three
years before the original story, and I didn't specifically remember when the
demon attack would happen, but it wasn't something for today or tomorrow. Even
in a country that was cloudy year-round, there were slight seasons. It was
currently winter and very cold, but the original story suggested it was summer.
So, there were still a few months of leeway.
The option of going to
the demon country, the fifth leaf, wasn't there from the start. In the original
story, Eldorado stayed in the Cloudy Country because of her hatred for humans.
But I was different. I was simply hopeless. Going to the demon country would be
a long, arduous journey, crossing many difficult places. There was no way I
could just do that suddenly.
Maybe I could aim for
it in the future when I became an adult and gained some confidence. I did yearn
for a life where I didn't have to hide my red eyes, but if I didn't mess up, I
could have a sufficiently comfortable everyday life with my illusion skill.
So, honestly, I hadn't
thought about it that deeply.
The city would be
attacked by demons. Hmm, well, that was the story, wasn't it? That was the feeling
I had. Lotus would lose an arm. But in return, he would gain a power so great
that it would overturn his birth status, and it would be a major turning point
in his life.
Every time I saw his
much more adorable smile than in the game, I felt a slight unpleasantness deep
down. The thought of him changing into someone with dark eyes that seemed to
hate everything made my heart heavy.
His figure, just
quietly resting his forehead on my shoulder, made my chest tighten.
Should I just tell him
everything? The city will be attacked by demons. So, please help. But he hadn't
gained any abilities yet. He is just an ordinary soldier. If I were to tell
him, I would have to say where and what kind of enemies, but even if he asked,
I wouldn't know. I only knew bits and pieces of the original story's past from
what Lotus said in the game or what NPCs said. There weren't any actual
flashback scenes, so the information was terribly fragmented.
Then, at least, should
I tell him the timing? Ask him to increase security more than usual?
The thought came to me
sometime after the adult me had parted with Lotus. This time, I said goodbye to
Lotus for good. I made up a random lie, saying that it was far, but I would
still try my best to go to the demon country, and when Lotus looked up, he had
a terribly relieved expression.
The adult El had
disappeared.
Replenishing my MP was
inefficient, but it wasn't a problem to do it in my room. Sitting cross-legged
in a darker room than usual, another cat barged in. Ichi and the others
surrounded it, and I sighed at the same old result of the Appraisal skill.
***
"Hey, El,"
Sutra-san said, "we said the contract was for two months, but you know,
maybe you could stay longer?"
She had flipped the
sign to "Close" and was slowly untangling my golden hair in the
darkened shop. Her leg was completely back to normal now. My contract had been
for a limited time until Stra-san's injury healed.
"At first, I
thought, even if you're extra hands, you're way too small, but you've been more
than enough. You're a bit clumsy sometimes, but you still work really
hard."
"Originally, it
was pretty tough with just me and Mom," she said, pulling my hair slightly
and looking at our reflection in the window, which showed a cute ponytail. Ichi
and the others were secretly bouncing up and down, saying, "Looks good,
looks good."
"Um, but..."
"This is what Mom
told me to say. She said if she said it herself, it might sound pushy. Right,
Mom?!!"
"Shut up!"
Sutra-san chuckled. It
was a terribly warm place. "Lotus didn't come today, huh?" He showed
his face every day and disappeared before we knew it. Today, we closed the shop
earlier than usual because there weren't any ingredients. Even though we didn't
see each other, I felt terribly restless.
"That guy, he
always eats the same thing, I wonder if something's wrong with him."
Sighing, Sutra-san
undid my hair, saying, "Nope," and started changing it into a
different hairstyle.
"He's only eaten
the same thing since the first time. I really think it's strange."
"...The first
time?"
When I tilted my head,
she scolded me, "Don't move!"
"Yeah. A long
time ago, when he was just a kid, he was wandering around in front of the shop,
hungry, so I gave him leftover stew and some hard bread. And ever since he started
earning his own money, he only ever orders the same thing."
Lotus was an orphan.
There must have been various reasons why he was hungry. Imagining it, the
depths of my chest felt heavy again.
"Back then, a
whole bunch of little kids used to come to our place. Mom was feeding them all.
But they all disappeared. Lotus is about the only one left."
"And maybe
Yozaki-kun," Sutra-san muttered, her tone sounding a little different than
usual, so I felt slightly puzzled. Yozaki-san was also an old acquaintance of
Lotus'? Maybe if they were from the same orphanage, he would know about the
demon who had died.
"That guy's got a
strong arm. When Lotus is around, even our rowdy customers get a little
quieter. And he seems to patrol around here at night sometimes too. Even though
he knows, he still orders from the menu every time, he's so earnest despite
that face of his."
Listening to
Sutra-san's words, I realized I hadn't understood anything after all. If he was
just going to eat and disappear at such a tremendous speed, I had thought he
should go to a different shop or order something easier to eat. This place was
important to Lotus.
For some reason, I
felt a little gloomy. I didn't even know why. I thought about the young man
named Lotus over and over.
"He's probably
busy with his work at the knight order, and I don't know if he feels indebted
or anything, but there's no need for him to push himself. While he's at it, he
should just drag Yozaki-kun along."
And why Yozaki-san? He
was the gatekeeper with pure white hair and a cylindrical hat. A young man with
a kinder face and a calmer demeanor than Lotus, who sometimes asked about
Sutra-san. Hmm, I closed my eyes and thought. Even during that time, Sutra-san
kept pulling my hair. Her cooking skills were top-notch, but she seemed a bit
clumsy in other areas.
"Ugh, it's hard
to tie! I envy you with such smooth hair!"
"Oh. You like
him, don't you?"
"Like who?"
"Yozaki-san.
Sutra-san, you like Yozaki-san."
After a moment of
silence, the face of the girl reflected in the window glass was as red as her
own hair.
"Well, why don't
you just go see him? He's always at the gate."
He was the one who
asked about Sutra-san's injury every time they met. At least, she probably
wasn't disliked. When I turned around, Sutra-san's mouth was twitching, and she
took a deep breath as if she was about to say something. She closed her eyes,
exhaled as if giving up, and said, "...Yeah, that's right!" "I
knew it." Even Ichi and the others were dancing around excitedly.
"Or why don't you
just call him over here? Say you'll make him some delicious food. Say you're
all better now."
"There's no way I
can go tell him that after tripping right in front of him! Besides, we can't
just use the shop that easily."
"It's fine.
Everyone needs a break sometimes. Maybe I'll stretch my wings too."
"Mom!"
Sutra-san turned her
flushed face towards the landlady, who had suddenly appeared, and shouted,
"Don't interfere with your daughter's love life!" She bit her lip
slightly. Her usual confident demeanor was nowhere to be seen, and she was
frowning deeply, grumbling. "Well, maybe I'll try calling him over next
time..." What a cute little thing to say.
And finally, she
seemed to have finished tying my hair. "Done!" she said with a
satisfied voice.
Looking at the window
glass, I saw a hairstyle I didn't quite recognize. It was tied up in two high
bunches. When I moved my face from side to side, they bounced along with me. As
I was confirming how strange it felt, I saw Lotus in the window glass and jumped,
startled. I was the only one who awkwardly averted my gaze.
"Oh, Mom. Lotus
is here!"
"Let him in. We
can manage with just his portion."
"Sure,
sure."
Clang, the bell rang
as Lotus entered. "It's cold," he muttered, and the scarf that had
disappeared from around his neck was still secretly tucked away in my room.
"My order
is..."
"You don't need
to tell me. I know what you wantwant."
Sutra-san, looking
exasperated, said, "You should eat something different once in a while,
though," and Lotus frowned, looking probably troubled.
Even though he knew,
he ordered the same thing every time. Or he was about to, but she spoke first.
Remembering her own line, "He's so earnest with that face of his,"
Sutra-san couldn't help but laugh. Lotus looked at her curiously and took his
usual seat. And then, he seemed to notice my hair.
"El, you've got a
funny hairstyle."
"Say it's
cute!"
"It's cute."
Sutra-san got angry on
my behalf, and Lotus just nodded calmly. That was just the kind of guy he was.
"...Oh, thank you." With a strange, subtle feeling, I twitched my
mouth, and then my eyes went to Lotus' still messy hair. The comb that
Sutra-san had used to untangle my hair was on the table.
"Lotus, want me
to comb your hair?"
"Hmm?"
"While the stew's
being made. You said you'd do it the other day, remember?"
He probably
remembered, "Well, do whatever you want." He probably didn't care
much about it. He crossed his arms and lowered his head. Using a chair, I
somehow stretched out my arm and slowly combed his messy hair.
"By the way, that
girl you said you liked! What happened with her?"
"Ah... she dumped
me."
He was probably just
saying whatever to avoid trouble. But Sutra-san, who had asked casually, was
taken aback by the unexpectedly heavy response and made a strange sound,
"Fuhyuhit..." Maybe air had escaped her throat.
"I, I, I didn't
expect it to end so quickly! I-I-I don't want to rub salt in the wound!?"
"Ah, sorry, it's
not like that. She went on a trip. It was a pain, so I just said
whatever."
"You ba-ba-baaaaaaka!"
After shouting, she
mumbled, "No, she went somewhere...? W-well, that's, um, what do you call
it, a once-in-a-lifetime encounter, I guess." I had heard that Sutra-san
was slightly older, but maybe she was the one being played in the palm of his
hand. I just quietly combed Lotus's hair. His words about going on a trip were
flat, and I couldn't tell what he was really thinking.
"Okay,
done!"
I wondered how long it
had been since he had combed it. I worked hard and finally breathed a sigh of relief
when the comb went through smoothly. Jumping off the chair that had made up for
my lack of height, I looked at Lotus from the front, asking with my eyes,
"How is it?" There was a handsome man.
"Whoa..."
No, he was originally
handsome, but his level had gone up even more. From an adventurer who didn't
care about his appearance, he had become a handsome man from some noble family.
"U-uwa, ugu..." Sutra-san, perhaps overwhelmed by Lotus's aura,
pressed her hands to her eyes and groaned.
"Something feels
really off."
Lotus used his own
hand to check his hair, then scratched it roughly, messing it up again.
"Koraaaaa!!!" Sutra-san got angry. I sighed, knowing the emptiness of
having a creation destroyed in an instant. Ichi and the others seemed happy when
everyone was lively. They bounced and danced around, and when they heard the
landlady say, "Okay, the stew's ready!" they immediately ran to clean
the kitchen. "Is there any cleaning we can help with!?" they shouted.
I chuckled.
It was terribly cold
outside, but inside the shop, it was warm and terribly fun. But my chest felt
hollow. I wanted to stay here. I wanted to pretend I didn't know anything and
stay here forever. But I couldn't.
Someday, I would have
to choose. But I didn't even know what to choose.
It was still okay,
there was still time. I thought about the remaining time over and over,
recalling all the game knowledge I could remember. Even though it was all
useless.
There was still time
before the demon attack. So, it was okay. I knew that the words I repeated to
reassure myself were merely a way of stopping me from thinking, but I had no
other choice.
Several days passed,
and I looked up at a large stained-glass window. It sparkled.
And then, I met a demon.
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