Previously: Liz intends to win Zenos over, but Lily proved to be surprisingly formidable.
The next day, a gloomy, overcast sky stretched out from the morning on.
Resting her cheek on her hand at the reception desk, Lily spoke as she gazed at the dim sky outside the window.
“Hey, Zenos. I wonder what happened to Zofia and the others?”
Zenos lifted his gaze from an old medical text he’d acquired at the black market.
“What are you talking about?”
“They haven’t been to the clinic for a whole week, you know. That’s unusual for them…”
“That explains why it’s so quiet and peaceful.”
“Hey! Aren’t you worried, Zenos?”
“Hmm…”
Seeing Lily’s worried expression, Zenos closed the medical text and replied.
“I don’t think they’re weak enough to need my worrying.”
“I hope you’re right…”
Lily let out a sigh.
“And Liz’s memories still aren’t coming back… though it seems like she’s remembered a lot about her time at the orphanage.”
Liz was currently out shopping.
Zenos stared blankly at the medical text on the examination desk.
“That’s true… Liz-nee, perhaps she…”
As he started to speak, Lily turned around.
“Perhaps what?”
“Ah, no… it’s nothing.”
Zenos stood up, came to stand beside Lily, and gazed out the window.
“Looks like we might get some rain today.”
The heavy, low-hanging gray clouds stretched over the slums as well.
Inside the werewolves’ hideout, Ringa was hugging her knees, staring blankly at the ceiling.
“Boss, you seem a bit down lately. Is something wrong?”
Her subordinates called out to her in concern.
Still hugging her knees, Ringa gave a listless reply.
“…I just don’t feel motivated.”
“Did something happen?”
“…Ringa didn’t use any needles.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s nothing…”
With a sigh, she flopped over and rolled around on the ground.
“Hey, what’s gotten into the boss?”
“No idea…”
“What’s going to happen to the werewolves of the slums?”
As her subordinates exchanged worried words, another werewolf appeared in the hideout. He hurried to Ringa’s side and whispered something in her ear. At that, Ringa’s beast ears, which had been drooping limply, twitched and shot straight up.
“…Hmph, I see. So that’s what this is about.”
Meanwhile, at the rocky mountain where the orcs had their stronghold, Reve was staring blankly into space.
Her cheeks were slightly sunken, and her face lacked its usual vitality.
“Um, Chief, isn’t something a little off with you?”
Her subordinates surrounded her anxiously.
With a slow, deliberate motion, Reve turned her gaze to them.
“Nothing is wrong with Us.”
“No, something is definitely wrong. For you to not eat for a whole week… You haven’t even touched your favorite rice balls.”
“…I am on a diet.”
“A diet? You, Chief?”
A loud murmur went through the crowd.
“Is there a problem? I am striving to become a frail maiden, after all.”
“No way! A frail Chief isn’t our Chief!”
Reve was slightly taken aback by the blunt admonishment.
“W-What a cruel thing to say… For your information, I am currently hungry and quite irritable.”
“S-Sorry, sir!”
As the subordinates dejectedly retreated, another came forward and reported something to Reve. A faint light returned to her listless eyes.
“…I see. I was almost deceived.”
At the same time, in the lizardmen’s hideout, Zofia sat with her legs crossed, deep in thought.
“What is it, sis?”
“Ah. You’re back, Zonde.”
Acknowledging her younger brother’s presence, Zofia narrowed her eyes. She tapped her arm with her index finger and slowly posed a question.
“Hey, Zonde. There’s something I’d like to ask you.”
“What is it?”
“Do you trust our comrades?”
“Of course I do, sis. We’ve been through everything together.”
“Then what about the werewolves and the orcs?”
“…”
Zonde fell silent for a moment before continuing.
“A little while ago, they were nothing more than enemies… but I suppose things are different now. I haven’t forgotten that Ringa and Reve were the ones who carried me to the Doctor when I was seriously injured.”
“…”
“What’s this all about, sis?”
“No, I just had something on my mind. More importantly—”
Zofia’s eyes fixed squarely on her brother.
“Did you find out anything about that matter?”
“Yeah, I did…”
After listening to what Zonde had to say, Zofia slowly stood up and grabbed her jacket.
“I see, so that’s what it was. Well then, I’m heading out for a bit.”
“Where are you going, sis?”
Zofia looked back at her brother and said.
“Isn’t it obvious? To the Doctor’s place.”
Around the same time, in a back alley of the Ruined City, Liz, who was supposed to be out shopping, was speaking with her subordinate, Gaion, in the shadows.
“What’s the word from above?”
“Same as always, they’re telling you to hurry. They say if you don’t, they’ll make a move themselves.”
“Hmph. And to think they showed no interest in the surface until recently.”
As Liz’s expression soured, Gaion spoke with concern.
“Lady Liz, are you all right? You look rather pale.”
“…I’ve been having the most awful nightmares lately. I haven’t been able to get any proper sleep.”
For the past few days, a woman’s severed head had been appearing in her dreams without fail, causing her to writhe in her sleep. She was at the point where she had to hide the dark circles under her eyes with makeup. She didn’t need her superiors to rush her; if this dragged on any longer, she wouldn’t be able to take it.
“How are things proceeding on your end?”
“I succeeded in driving the demi-humans away, but that elf is proving to be surprisingly troublesome.”
“S-So, what’s your plan?”
“I have a plan, of course. A plan to win him over.”
“As expected of you, Lady Liz.”
Looking up at the sky, which seemed ready to burst into tears at any moment, Liz gave a faint smile.
“I’m going to settle this today. After all, it’s the perfect weather for a confession.”
The infiltration mission was quietly entering its final phase.
An hour later, under the oppressive gray sky, a man and a woman could be seen walking the streets of the Ruined City.
Translator’s note
The original text uses hankoku (半刻), an old unit of time roughly equal to one hour.
It was Liz and Zenos.
“I’m sorry, Zenos-chan, for suddenly asking to walk through the Ruined City.”
Liz turned to Zenos beside her with an apologetic look. She had used the excuse that she felt like she might remember something to lure him out for a walk, timing it perfectly for when the elf girl was out on an errand.
“It’s fine, but have you remembered anything?”
“Not yet… but I have a feeling…”
Liz narrowed her eyes as she gazed at the decaying buildings. The wind that caressed her cheek was tepid, and the air was thick with humidity. A clatter came from a ruined house they had just passed.
“Eek!”
Liz threw her arms around Zenos.
“It’s just a cat, Liz-nee.”
A cat meowed and scurried away down the street.
“Oh, my. That startled me.”
Liz let out a breath of relief and slowly released Zenos.
“My, Zenos-chan, you’ve gotten so big. You used to be so small.”
“Well… I managed.”
A deep emotion was mixed into their casual conversation. Both of them knew that there had been many children at the orphanage who never got the chance to grow up.
“I used to hug you a lot back then, too, Zenos-chan.”
“Did you?”
“I did. Like when you would cry in the night.”
“I never cried in the night.”
“Oh, but you did. Sometimes.”
“I didn’t. I absolutely did not.”
“You’ve always been so stubborn.”
They continued on, completing a loop of the Ruined City and returning to a spot where the clinic was visible.
“So, did you remember anything, Liz-nee?”
“Yes, I feel like I’m so close. All I need is one more push.”
Liz pressed her hands to her temples and spoke deliberately.
“Hey, Zenos-chan. There’s one more place I’d like to go. Will you come with me?”
“One more place…?”
Zenos glanced up at the sky, then turned his gaze toward the clinic.
“But it looks like it’s about to rain, and Lily might worry if we’re out too late.”
“Please, Zenos-chan. If I miss this chance, I might not be able to remember again.”
Staring at Liz’s earnest expression, Zenos pressed his lips together and nodded.
“…Alright. Where do you want to go?”
With a gulp, Liz announced their destination.
“—The Daritz Orphanage. The place where it all began for us.”
A/N: Their respective motives are now in motion.