The scene is a clinic in a ruined city.
A lone shadow stood before the front door.
Gray hair swayed in the wind.
Large beast ears turned left and right, as if surveying the surroundings.
“Ringa might be a genius.”
Ringa, the leader of the werewolves, crouched down and chuckled to herself.
The owner of this place, Zenos, had gone to the Royal Clinic with a suspicious man named Becker. Since the elf, Lily, and the wraith, Camilla, had also gone along, the building was completely empty.
“Fufufu…”
Ringa slowly inserted a wire into the keyhole. Because the house was already tilted, the lock was quite old, and she was able to open it without much trouble.
She quietly opened the door, muffled her footsteps, and quickly entered. She closed the door behind her and locked it from the inside.
A profound silence enveloped Ringa.
“Now I can do whatever I want…”
She couldn’t help but grin.
But –
Ringa held her breath and lowered her stance. She could faintly hear a sound.
–Who is it…?
She focused her awareness on her beast ears, which were directed forward. The presence of someone was slowly approaching. It seemed that the other party had also noticed Ringa’s intrusion.
She held a hatchet in her left hand and slowly proceeded deeper inside. Then, suddenly, a black shadow jumped out from the kitchen.
“Shh!”
“Kuh!”
She saw a glint of a thrust dagger. With a speed that was not inferior, Ringa swung down her hatchet.
It wasn’t a mutual strike – both weapons stopped moving in mid-air. This was because they were well-acquainted with each other’s faces.
“Zofia, why are you here?”
“Ringa? What about you?”
The first arrival was the leader of the lizardmen. Zofia widened her slit eyes, then returned the dagger to her waist.
“…You’re not planning to steal valuables while the teacher is away, are you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. That’s what you’re doing.”
“Huh? There’s no way I would do something like that.”
“Who knows. Maybe your thief blood is stirring.”
“Don’t lump me in with you!”
“That’s my line!”
The two brandished what they were holding in the hand opposite to the one holding their weapons. Something rod-shaped clashed between them, and sparks flew.
It was a broom and a duster.
“…”
The two fell silent for a moment, and with subtly awkward expressions, they lowered their respective cleaning tools.
“…What, did you come to clean too?”
“Zofia too?”
“Oh, no, no. I can see right through your plan to earn points by cleaning while the teacher is away.”
“I’ll return those words exactly as they are.”
“I’ll have you know, I got here first.”
“What matters is how much you contribute. Ringa, despite appearances, is quite a neat freak.”
“I am too–”
“To think of cleaning while Zenos is away, I am a genius!”
The moment the two glared at each other, the entrance door came off with a loud noise. There stood the orc, Reve, holding a mop.
Zofia and Ringa looked at each other and sighed deeply.
“…Well, I kind of figured…”
“The door is broken, and there’s extra work.”
“Mu, Zofia and Ringa. You beat me to it.”
They had no choice but to start working, competing with each other. Perhaps because of that, the place was sparkling clean in just under an hour.
It seemed that Zenos and Lily usually shared the cleaning duties, but even after being away for a few days, a considerable amount of dust had accumulated.
“Yeah, isn’t it nice? As expected of me.”
“Ringa did more than half of it.”
“I fixed the door perfectly.”
“That’s not doing anything.”
Reve groaned softly, “Uu,” as Zofia and Ringa retorted.
“By the way, what should we do about cleaning the second floor?”
“…Let’s leave the upper floor. It’s Lady Camilla’s room.”
“If we touch it carelessly, we might get cursed.”
The three nodded solemnly. Zofia rested her chin on the desk and gazed out the window.
“Even so, I wonder if the teacher is okay…”
“There’s no need to worry about Zenos-dono. If anything, the people around him are the ones to worry about.”
“Zenos still mistakenly believes himself to be a third-rate healer.”
The midday sun cast a soft light, and a bird chirped, “tweet, tweet.” In the clinic of the ruined city, peace was thus being protected unbeknownst to others.
A/N: End of Interlude–.