Chapter 61 - I Do Intend to Show Mercy
That mysterious space resembled the boundary between dream and reality.
Her silver hair, possessing both luster and softness, flowed down the woman's back in gentle waves, spreading across the floor like a clear stream.
Though it was called a floor, the space seemed to have neither walls nor floor. It was a white with no visible boundaries. A desperate white, neither cold nor warm.
『I see. So this is how it turned out.』
The woman's face was bowed, so it could not be seen. Her profile was hidden by her hair, and only her mouth was visible.
Her quiet words were masculine, contrary to the woman's atmosphere, and slightly unique.
The woman wore a black school uniform. Because she was sitting flat on the ground, her knee-length skirt was disheveled. Her slender legs were covered in black stockings all the way to her toes.
On her knees rested something silver.
The woman was stroking it gently, leisurely.
Tenderly, like a mother doting on her child. Sensuously, like a courtesan.
——Hehe.
She laughed. And then she raised her face.
『...How pitiful.』
A profile as refined as a fairy's emerged from the shadows of her hair.
The woman had deep blue eyes, slightly upturned at the corners.
The silver object she lifted from her knees was a ball. A long silver ribbon trailed from the ball, dangling down to the floor. From the woman's hands, which held the ball at eye level, red liquid dripped with a picha, picha sound.
If one looked closely,
that ball,
though it possessed long, straight silver hair,
and wore a calm expression with closed eyes,
was a woman's head.
Below the neck, of course, there was nothing.
『I wonder if I can hand this over next time? It's not like your answer will be reflected anyway, no matter how you reply. But even so, I do intend to show some mercy.』
The woman murmured.
Who was the "you" the woman spoke of?
Whose head was that in the woman's hands?
『Among the fairies, this one is my favorite. Hey, you think so too, right?』
Without averting her gaze from the head for a moment, the woman spoke.
In a space of white, black, silver, blue, black, and red, the woman simply continued to stroke the female fairy's head.
＊
Perhaps he should have done whatever it took to keep her there last night.
For some reason, he had been having strange dreams again these past few years.
Louis tightened his Loop Tie, held his robe in one hand, and left his room.
Since they were staying without meals, breakfast was not provided. They had decided to go buy food and then eat together.
The gathering place was the Healer's room to his left. When Louis entered, welcomed by Emiel, he saw Hasumi's back inside the room.
"A clock?"
"I see, you really don't know, do you? Since our worlds are different... Is it a matter of cultural differences?"
He heard such voices between the women. The other person—one creature—speaking with Hasumi was sitting on Hasumi's lap.
When Louis smiled and said, "Good morning," Hasumi turned around happily and returned the greeting.
On the other hand, Elenoa tilted her head for some reason upon seeing Louis's face. But she composed herself and tossed out a perfunctory "Hurry up," continuing her conversation with Hasumi.
Compared to her mode with insiders, she was extremely cold.
Louis shrugged and looked for an empty seat to sit down.
The casual chat between the two women continued.
One way or another, the two of them got along well. Louis didn't think Elenoa would betray him, but—
—Could it be a yuri route...?
An indecent thought crossed his mind.
『I'm sorry. I'm married. I've always kept the hourglass given to me by someone else. I'm not the beautiful fairy the Hero thinks I am.』
『Elenoa is beautiful. You are my partner, more beautiful than anyone. But I've grown tired of that relationship.』
『Eh...?』
『Please, help me, Hero 《me》. I want Elenoa. Honestly, I didn't care about defeating the Demon Lord. I just wanted to be alone with you. If I have you, I don't need anything else.』
『Hero, please, no more...』
No, that wasn't the case. It shouldn't be. He couldn't possibly become a victim of NTR.
Ignoring Louis, who was harboring strange imaginings beneath his cool demeanor, the Hero and the Fairy were getting along warmly.
"In this world, you give a clock to the person you've decided to be with. Pocket watches are popular, I think."
"Heh, interesting. What about you, Elenoa? Do fairies give clocks to someone too? What kind?"
"Me?"
It seemed unexpected for her to be asked such a thing. Elenoa hesitated, "...Um..." trying to recall the game's content.
Louis also cut off his strange thoughts and tried to think seriously.
Lately, he had been relying entirely on Elenoa for game knowledge. Originally, Louis should have remembered it well too, but somehow, holes had begun to appear in his memory.
Now, what was the fairy's clock?
What was it?
—I know.
—I r e m e m b e r t h i s.
In the game, the fairy's clock was something that could only be obtained by reaching the happy end of the fairy route and then relying on luck with a low probability random drop.
That was, if he recalled correctly—
"It's the Moon Clock, isn't it?"
The words came out naturally.
Elenoa looked at Louis in surprise, saying, "Eh?" He was also surprised by his own words. He covered his mouth with one hand, dumbfounded.
—Louis, you knew?
He only returned a troubled smile to Elenoa, who seemed to want to ask that.
"...Yes. The Moon Clock might be nice too. Mage-sama, you have good taste."
"What's a Moon Clock?"
"It's something not very useful, as it can only measure time accurately on nights of the full moon."
Thanks to Elenoa's quick wit, the situation moved forward, so Louis went along with it.
During the trivial conversation, Elenoa kept glancing at Louis.
"What's wrong? Is something bothering you?"
When he asked, she lightly landed on Louis's knee.
Hasumi, whose knee suddenly felt cold, looked a bit disappointed, but Louis remembered that fairies basically lived as they pleased. As he sat dejectedly, everyone's older brother, Emiel, tapped him on the shoulder.
Elenoa spoke to him with conviction.
"I thought so earlier, but are you tired?"
It was a question, but she seemed certain. She would not overlook Louis's poor condition.
When Louis gave up and admitted, "Yes, a little," she lightly took off from his knee again.
"Wait a moment. I should have enough tea leaves for one person left. A pot, sugar, and also milk..."
"You had milk?"
"Oh, didn't I tell you, Hero-sama? My item box can store things without deterioration. I served tea before, right?"
"So you can't put heavy things in it?"
She answered Faras's question,
"I can't. There's a limit to the capacity... Martial Artist-sama, please carry your own weapons. I have no intention of becoming a porter. ...Oh, I'll borrow the kitchen over there. I'll be using fire, so don't get too close."
And so, she began fussing suspiciously at a small table, and about fifteen minutes later.
What Elenoa held up above her head was a cup filled with a light brown liquid.
"I mixed a sauce made by boiling down and caramelizing sugar with milk tea. I wonder if it's called Caramel Milk Tea."
"...Thank you very much."
Smiling, Louis's hand moved to touch Elenoa's head. But he suddenly realized, and while turning his smile bitter, he lowered his hand.
He must not touch her now.
Elenoa and Louis were not yet at a stage where they were that close.
"What about me?"
"I won't give you any. Mage-sama doesn't tease like Knight-sama, so you're special."
"That's discrimination! That's discrimination!"
"Do you understand the difference between discrimination and distinction?"
The female fairy and the knight engaged in a childish argument. Watching this scene calmly was the mage with the female fairy on his lap, and the one who couldn't help but turn his gaze to that mage was the Hero, and the ones watching that Hero were the Healer and the Martial Artist.
Only the Mage and the Healer were aware of this beautiful polyamorous relationship.
Louis calmly interrupted Elenoa and Alois, whose argument showed no signs of stopping, saying, "You two get along well." The fairy, who had been in a fighting mood, quietly straightened up and looked up at Louis. She was cute from any angle.
"Well, I've gotten used to it. Knight-sama feels easier to get used to than normal humans."
Louis felt irritated by such an insignificant response.
"That is good to hear."
Perhaps his irritation reached her, as her wings twitched.
Trying to fly away out of defensive instinct, he pressed her down onto his knee for the time being. "Hyaa!" she cried out. At fairy size, she became immobile just by being covered with a hand from above.
A muffled groan came from under his hand, which was cute.
Because she tried to escape, he would not let her.
"Is Elenoa okay?"
"I'm fine. I'm not applying much strength. It has been my dream to put a fairy to sleep on my lap."
Of course, that was a lie.
He had no intention of releasing her at all.
"I'm really getting sleepy. Good night."
"Eeeh...?"
Ignoring the Hero's astonishment, the fairy fell fast asleep. It did not take much time for the female fairy, loyal to her 'owner,' to fall.
After a short while, Louis finally removed his hand. Confirming that the fairy was curled up and sleeping,
He smiled brightly!
He smiled brightly at the knight. The knight's face distorted significantly.
How childish.
＊
Crossing mountains, crossing rivers, and thus heading toward another country.
Among the group walking along the river, only Louis wore a gloomy expression. Elenoa, who had come to check on him, was suddenly asked by him.
"Are you really going to do it?"
"No. If we follow the story, we have to, and I want to make it easier for myself to move, so if possible, I'd like to ask you..."
At Elenoa's request, Louis made a difficult face.
What he was hesitating over was whether or not to trigger the scenario event.
In the game, there was a scene where the protagonist, who lacked awareness as a Hero, awakened as a Hero following a certain incident. The protagonist, who was exploring the city, was suddenly engulfed in large flames. This was the work of the Demon Lord's side. Seeing the people injured by being caught in the flames, the protagonist resolved to defeat the Demon Lord.
This scenario was about to occur in the country they would soon arrive at, and the one in the most dangerous position here was Elenoa.
To help the protagonist surrounded by flames, the fairy would grow to human size, fly through the sky, and safely carry the protagonist out. In doing so, she would sustain minor injuries. It was a 'character depth' event that revealed the hidden passion and kindness of the fairy, whose true feelings were usually unseen.
"...Haa."
Louis was reluctant.
He knew Elenoa would be in danger, so he did not want to go along with such a scenario. But Elenoa herself was willing, and he had heard that the fairy's injuries would be minor, and apparently, this event would allow Elenoa to change her size.
Resigned, Louis searched his bosom and took out a fragment of parchment.
He summoned a feather quill in his hand and wrote swiftly. If he blew breath onto it, it would fly away as a white butterfly.
If this reached him, Bis, who was working hard in the castle, would puff up his tail in anger, saying, "Eh, are you really going to do it, meow!? Meow!!?" And then he would prepare immediately and come here. Such a scene floated before Louis's eyes, and his eyes softened slightly.
Two days after those events.
As Elenoa had predicted, the Hero was attacked by flames on the main street.
"Kyaaaaaaaah!"
The brick road scorched black.
The vortex of flames gradually narrowed, cornering the girl in the center.
The girl's companions were trying to deal with it using water magic, but it was no use.
By the way, Elenoa was staying behind at the inn because she disliked crowded streets.
Louis expressed his distress, saying, "...Such powerful flames, my magic cannot..." If Elenoa were here, she would have applauded his acting skills.
The Martial Artist stood dumbfounded at his own powerlessness.
There was no deviation from the scenario.
As the girl began to cough, a childish voice, inappropriate for the uproarious scene, cut in.
"Are you the Hero? You look weak, meow?"
Standing on the roof of a nearby house and looking down into the flames was a small child—Bis.
By boldly swaying his tail and ears, he proclaimed himself a Demon.
"Is this your doing, Demon!"
Emiel shouted.
Bis did not answer. He looked down with contempt at the girl who, frightened by the approaching flames, had fallen to her knees.
"What, you really were weak. I could narrate your burning death so that your companions, who can't see your figure, can hear it, but what will you do, meow?"
"S-stop...!"
The flames became a wall, a weapon.
Her companions, hearing only the girl's weak voice, grew increasingly anxious. The Martial Artist, trying to jump into the flames shouting, "Stop it!", was restrained by the Knight in a full nelson.
"How boring. There's no point in waiting anymore. ...Meow."
The flames intensified, the vortex spun faster, and narrowed.
As people and her companions thought the worst, silver crossed the edge of their vision.
It was Elenoa, who was supposed to be staying behind.
"...Hero-sama!"
The small fairy grew to a size capable of carrying a person.
Spreading her large wings, she entered the vortex of flames and carried the girl out.
Both her companions and the people were dumbfounded by Elenoa's appearance as she landed on the ground, flustered while still holding the Hero in her arms.
"Hero-sama, does it hurt anywhere? Are you injured?"
"I'm not injured..."
The Hero was also surprised. She had thought it was the end when she was engulfed in flames, but somehow she had flown through the sky and escaped. The fairy had grown larger, and what had happened in those few seconds?
Hasumi stared intently at Elenoa, gradually lowering her gaze to her chest. Then she placed her hand on her own chest.
"I lost...!"
"To what!? Did Hero-sama hit her head or something!?"
"N-no, I'm fine. Though I'm shocked in many ways."
Outside of such a comedy routine, Bis placed his hands on his hips and expressed his indignation, saying, "Geez, this is unbearable."
"What is the meaning of this?"
"No meaning. Just killing time."
"You do this just to kill time? How barbaric~"
"Shut up, human. As an inferior species, could you refrain from speaking to me? In fact, could you stop breathing?"
The Mage's question, the Martial Artist's question. And Bis's response. All were conversations existing in Elenoa's memory. If one knew Louis's true identity, one would understand the discrepancy in Bis's attitude and responses.
Bis snorted, displeased, and left. After an argument over whether to pursue him or not, it ultimately ended with the Healer's single remark, "For now, her well-being is the priority, isn't it?"
It was a farce that followed the scenario so perfectly it was laughable.
But after the Hero calmed down, what awaited was a question session directed at the fairy. She was forced to answer troublesome questions such as whether she could become human-sized, and why she had kept silent until now.