Previously: Zenos and his allies repelled a faction of the underground guild that attacked the festival. Underground, a suspicious woman was talking to the attackers.
“So, I’ll ask you again, what kind of guy was it who interfered with the attack?”
The sweet, cloying voice of a woman echoed in a corner of the underground waterway, where water droplets dripped in the deepening night of the festival.
Even in the dim light, she exuded a bewitching allure.
“Well, it was dark, so I didn’t get a very good look… He seemed to be wearing a black cloak…”
The large, greenish-skinned man kneeling before her replied respectfully.
“I don’t care about that. I’m asking if he was handsome.”
“W-well, I didn’t really see his face… I think he was human, as for his race.”
“Ugh… You’re useless.”
“S-sorry.”
The woman was silent for a while, then she continued slowly.
“But, it seems a new boss has indeed emerged in the slums. Hehehe, how interesting.”
“Boss?”
“It’s strange for demi-humans to be having a festival together, isn’t it? They were killing each other until recently. I thought there might be a new leader, and the fact that he could break up a fight between demi-humans means he has considerable power.”
“I-I see.”
“Did you forget that the attack was to assess that? If we cause a disturbance, the representative will surely come out.”
“R-right, that’s why… As expected of you.”
The large man praised the woman and looked up.
“B-but, what do you intend to do after flushing out this boss?”
“Down.”
“Gah, guh…”
The large man’s body suddenly bent double, and he crumpled to the ground. The woman looked down at the man’s back with cold eyes.
“Are you stupid? During the demi-human conflicts, there were so many factions that fighting any one of them was endless. But now that the slums are united, if we crush the head, the whole thing will collapse at once, won’t it?”
“Y-you’re right…”
“And I will control him. Then the whole town will be ours. It’s about time we got tired of just being underground, don’t you think?”
The large man nodded, still prostrate on the floor.
“A-amazing, that’s an amazing plan.”
Perhaps pleased, the woman snapped her fingers. The large man, finally getting up, gulped and said.
“B-but, he looked like an ordinary man, but to unite and control the demi-humans, he must be a pretty dangerous guy…”
“A dangerous man. Hehe, sounds like he’ll be worth controlling.”
Amidst a subtle misunderstanding, the woman chuckled softly. As if charmed by her suspicious smile, the large man flushed and asked.
“How many soldiers should we prepare?”
“Not many. Once we find his location, taking down one man is no problem.”
“As expected of you, Liz-sama.”
At the large man’s praise, the woman narrowed her eyes silently.
“Zenos. Are you alright?”
The next day at the clinic. Lily spoke to him after the morning’s business was over.
“What do you mean, Lily?”
“Well, you were spacing out between patients.”
“Eh, was I?”
Zenos scratched his cheek, leaned back in his chair, and stretched.
“Well… I don’t know why, but last night, I had a dream about my time in the orphanage, for the first time in a long time.”
“The orphanage in the slums where you used to live?”
Lily asked, pouring hot water into a pot. The soft, sweet scent of tea leaves wafted through the air.
“What kind of dream was it?”
“Hmm… Like, a day’s meal was just water with a pinch of salt, or we were so desperate for food that we ate some mysterious mushrooms growing on an old pillar…”
“H-how awful…”
Now it’s just an old memory.
The dark, stagnant, musty air. The floorboards were always cold and splintered.
The echoes of the adults’ shouts and beatings. And someone’s sobbing. It’s those grey landscapes that he remembers.
“That sounds like a terrible place.”
“Yeah, looking back, it was a pretty harsh environment.”
Normally, in such an environment, children would comfort each other, but the adults, who disliked the children forming bonds, had created a system that prevented it.
“They divide the children into groups of several people. And if a member of the group messes up, the whole group is held responsible.”
Moreover, those who were quick to report the mistakes of others were rewarded with sweets and other things. Therefore, the children became suspicious of each other, creating a tense atmosphere.
“Zenos, how did you manage to survive in such a place…?”
Lily looked surprised, and Zenos shrugged.
“Well, at the time, I thought that was all there was to the world. And—”
He paused for a moment.
“I might have been lucky.”
“Lily, I really don’t think so…!”
“No, there was a group leader in each group, an older child who acted as the adults’ hands and feet, bossing around the younger children.”
Most of the group leaders were harsh on the younger ones, as if taking revenge for having been bossed around themselves.
“But the leader of my group was a kind person, and she covered up our mistakes, so the relationships within the group weren’t bad.”
As a result, he became close to some of the group members. Of course, they couldn’t act too friendly in front of the adults.
Zenos often abandoned the work assigned to him by the adults, stripping the belongings of those who had collapsed on the streets, and he was often beaten for it. But the group leader often covered for him, and without that, he might have been in much worse trouble.
“Wow, that’s amazing. What was the group leader like?”
“Hmm, she had long hair, always smiled gently, and was like a kind older sister.”
“Older… sister…”
Lily stopped her hand holding the teacup in mid-air.
“That person… probably… no, definitely beautiful. She must have been beautiful. Lily can tell.”
“What are you talking about…? It’s a story from when I was a child, anyway?”
“Kukuku… I see, so next is the pure and innocent girl type.”
“What’s ‘pure and innocent girl type’? Why do you always appear when we talk about this kind of thing?”
Suddenly appearing from the second floor was Camilla.
“Fool, if I don’t appear here, where else would I appear?”
“Yeah… well, I guess you’re right.”
“In other words, that woman is your first love, isn’t she?”
“Eh, i-is that so, Zenos!”
“Could you please not jump to conclusions…?”
At the time, he was too busy just trying to survive to think about such things. But looking back, there’s no doubt that her gentle smile soothed him.
Zenos rested his chin on his hand and looked out the window.
“Liz-nee… I wonder if she’s doing well somewhere.”
A/N: Pure and innocent girl…?