Previously: Realizing Liz’s true identity, the women pursued her and Zenos towards the orphanage.
Water droplets falling from the heavens were intercepted by the thick, lush branches and leaves, making a rhythmic, pattering sound.
Zenos and Liz had stepped into the mountains that towered over the western edge of the slums.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been here,” Zenos said, placing a foot on the moss-covered stone steps.
With every step he climbed, a sentiment different from mere nostalgia welled up inside him.
“I’m sorry for making you tag along all the way out here, Zenos-chan.”
“No, it’s fine. I just hope it helps jog your memory.”
Zenos turned his gaze toward Liz, who spoke with an apologetic tone.
“It’s just, Big Sis Liz… the Daritz Orphanage isn’t…”
“Yeah, I remember that. But I feel like I might find a clue if I go there.”
“If you say so…”
The Daritz Orphanage was located halfway up this mountain, as if intentionally keeping away from the public eye.
Naturally, there were no forms of entertainment nearby; there were only vertical trees growing haphazardly in random clusters.
The two moved forward in silence through the mountain woods, which remained dim even during the day.
“Oh, look at this.”
Zenos crouched down and picked something up from the ground.
He was holding what looked like a reddish-black stone.
“Oh, how nostalgic. A Haguru nut.”
Translator’s note
The Haguru nut/fruit (ハグルの実) is fictional. We’re calling it a nut because of how it’s described next.
At first glance, it looked like a stone, but it was actually the fruit of the Haguru tree.
“We used to pick these a lot during our breaks, didn’t we?”
“Yeah, they were a necessity back then.”
If you kept one in your mouth for a long time, you could taste a faint sweetness.
The children, who were constantly starving, always kept some hidden in their pockets.
Zenos leaned down and gathered a few more nuts in his hand.
“Here, these are for you, Big Sis.”
“Eh, me? I don’t really need…”
“Come on, these things saved us back then. Keeping them might trigger a memory.”
“Ah… thank you.”
Liz stared at the nuts piled in her hand before tucking them away into her clothes.
As they climbed higher, a rusted gate appeared above them.
The two paused for a moment before slowly resuming their pace.
Passing through the iron gates that rattled mournfully in the wind, they stepped out into a slightly cleared area.
“We’re here…”
“Yeah, but—”
“I know.”
The Daritz Orphanage of the past was no longer before them.
Only a few pillars and a fraction of a roof remained in a pitiable state; otherwise, charred debris lay scattered everywhere.
As the thread-like rain fell, the two former residents exchanged words.
“Do you remember that day, Big Sis?”
“Yes. A fire broke out, and this place burned down.”
“That’s when everyone was scattered, right?”
The orphanage, which had once felt like an eternal prison, met its end in a single fire.
Instructors frantically trying to douse the flames. Someone’s scream. Amidst the hellish chaos, the children fled in all directions to avoid being caught by the adults. The whereabouts of everyone who had shared their joys and sorrows were still unknown to this day.
“I thought I saw you taking Gina away through the smoke, so I assumed you two were still together.”
“Gina is—”
“Did you remember something?”
Liz placed a hand on her forehead and closed her eyes as if in pain.
“Vaguely… but it’s still not clear.”
“I see. Well, we came all this way. No need to rush; let’s just talk about the old days for a bit.”
“Yes, please.”
Zenos and Liz moved under the small remains of the roof to avoid the rain.
“By the way, Zenos-chan, what did you think of me back then?”
“Hmm, what did I think? I guess you felt like everyone’s big sister.”
“Everyone’s big sister…?”
“You were kind and dependable. You were scary when you got angry sometimes, but I think everyone in our group loved you.”
“You too, Zenos-chan?”
“Well, yeah.”
Zenos scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
“What I remember most is that incident where the contents of the Director’s safe were completely cleaned out.”
“Oh, that did happen.”
“Someone snitched and said I was the thief. The instructors were about to put me through hell.”
Even the brutal adults at the orphanage had something they feared: Director Daritz. He was the embodiment of sadism; Zenos remembered how not just the children, but even the adult instructors would tense up just by looking at his face.
Stealing the Director’s money was not something one could get away with. There had been talk of selling his organs to pay it back, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say he had prepared for death.
“But you protected me back then, too. I’m truly grateful.”
“Now that you mention it, that did happen. Back then, I was still…”
As the rain began to fall harder, the latter half of Liz’s sentence was lost to the sound.
Water droplets splashed vigorously against the overgrown weeds.
Liz let out a long breath, then suddenly reached out and linked her arm with Zenos’s.
“What’s wrong, Big Sis?”
When he turned to look, Liz was watching him with a feverish gaze.
“Hey, Zenos-chan. Why don’t we go to our ‘secret base’?”
Through the driving rain, three demi-humans and one elf sprinted through the streets of the slums.
To stop Liz’s scheme, they kicked up splashes from puddles as they ran.
“Come on, move it!”
“Ringa is already moving as fast as possible!”
“But Lily is falling behind!”
When Zophia looked back, Lily’s figure had grown quite small.
She was swinging her arms desperately, but she seemed out of breath, and the distance between them was growing.
“Lily isn’t going to keep up. What should we do?”
“Ringa thinks the choice is obvious.”
“Yeah, agreed.”
The three nodded simultaneously and skidded to a halt.
Running back to Lily, Reve hoisted her up onto her shoulder with ease.
“I shall carry Lily.”
“Eh, I’m sorry, Reve-san.”
“Think nothing of it. It is just the right amount of weight to regain the muscle I lost from dieting.”
Ringa, running alongside them, spoke up: “Ringa will not allow her to seduce Master Zenos and take over the slums.”
Zophia nodded, focusing her eyes on the mountain shrouded in rain.
“Me neither. That said, the opponent is a member of the Underground Guild. Don’t let your guard down.”
The rain intensified. Thunder rumbled deep within the black clouds.
The women’s battle was now reaching a critical turning point.
Translator’s Note
The author uses “Wind and clouds are brewing rapidly” (風雲急を告げる) which is a Japanese idiom used to describe a situation where a major, potentially chaotic change or conflict is about to break out suddenly.
Author’s Note: We are now reaching the latter half of Chapter 3.
Everything is (planned) to come together nicely in the end, so I would appreciate it if you could stick with me for a little longer…!
Thank you for finding this story.