Previously: While the demi-humans made their respective moves, Liz invited Zenos to the orphanage.
“Zenos is so slow.”
Inside the treatment center, Lily sat at the reception desk, glancing up at the wall clock.
When she returned from shopping, a note had been left behind stating that he was going for a walk in the ruins district with Liz.
“Mumu…”
That childhood friend with amnesia was awfully close to Zenos.
“Lily is worried…”
A sigh escaped her lips.
She wanted to go pick him up, but it would be trouble if they ended up missing each other.
“Or maybe he got into an accident or something, Camilla-san?”
“He is not the sort of man who would die from something as trivial as an accident.”
Camilla, sitting on the bed, answered Lily’s anxious query indifferently.
Camilla looked out at the cloudy sky, knitting her brows slightly.
“Hmm… However, surely she doesn’t intend to make her move today? Zenos’s women might have fallen behind.”
“What are you talking about?”
“No, just talking to myself…”
With a slightly hesitant demeanor, Camilla muttered.
“I left it alone because it was amusing, but perhaps it is time for this mistress to step in… However, getting too involved goes against my principles…”
“What have you been saying for a while now, Camilla-san?”
“Ah, no…”
Just then, the door swung open with force.
“Zenos?”
Lily stood up, but what entered her vision was a werewolf with twitching beast ears.
“Ah, Ringa-san.”
“Is Zenos-dono here?”
Ringa asked, radiating a sense of urgency.
“He’s out right now.”
“Mu, is that so. What about that woman?”
“By ‘that woman,’ do you mean Liz-san? She’s with Zenos.”
“What! That is not good. Where did they go?”
“The ruins district, but… what do you mean?”
Just as Ringa panicked and tried to head back out, a large shadow blocked the doorway.
“Is Zenos here?”
“Oh, is it Reve-san this time? Did you… lose a little weight?”
“Fuhaha, how is it? Have I become frail?”
“I don’t know about that, but…”
“You cannot tell…”
After looking oddly dejected for a moment, Reve spoke.
“So, where is Zenos?”
“He’s out with Liz-san.”
“What did you say! That is bad.”
“Eh, um?”
Just as Ringa and Reve were about to rush out together, yet another guest flew in.
“Doctor!”
“Zofia-san, what is wrong with everyone all of a sudden?”
“What business do you have, Ringa wonders.”
“Move, Zofia. I am in a hurry.”
“Ringa and Reve? Just what is with you lot? I have business with the Doctor.”
In the suddenly noisy treatment center, Camilla let out a dry laugh.
“Kukuku… Good timing. It seems there was no need for this mistress to lend a hand after all. Calm down a little, you lot.”
Floating gently into the air, she looked down upon the group and said:
“Now the cast is assembled, is it not?”
At Camilla’s suggestion, the women decided to gather around the treatment center’s dining table to organize the situation.
“I thought something was strange.”
Zofia spoke rapidly, explaining the circumstances that brought her here.
“It started with the attack by the Underground Guild during the night festival. Originally, we and the Underground Guild were supposed to have an unspoken non-aggression pact.”
“The fact that they broke it means there was some movement underground, Ringa thinks.”
Ringa continued where she left off.
“Ringa and the others were on alert and had subordinates patrol, but then a small incident occurred where a subordinate was knocked unconscious while alone.”
“And amidst all that, the woman claiming to be Zenos’s amnesiac childhood friend appeared.”
This time, Leve chimed in.
“The festival attack. The unconscious subordinate. The mysterious woman. When strange events occur in succession, there is a possibility that something is happening behind the scenes.”
Next, Zofia nodded.
“That’s why I had Zonde secretly investigate that woman and the Underground Guild.”
“Ringa did too.”
“Nu, you guys as well…”
The three demi-humans exchanged subtle looks with one another.
The one who crossed her arms and raised the corners of her mouth was Camilla.
“I see. So it means the Underground Guild isn’t the only one connected to the dark side of things. The reason you lot didn’t show yourselves for a week was that you were waiting for the results of the investigation.”
Zofia slowly nodded in affirmation.
A damp wind blew through the street, rattling the window frames of the treatment center.
“Well, if we moved clumsily, there was a chance they’d catch on to us instead.”
“That is why Ringa was rolling around at the hideout the whole time.”
“It was a perfect period for dieting.”
“And what did you find out?”
At Camilla’s question, the demi-humans answered in turn.
“It’s impossible to uncover the full scope of the Underground Guild in a week, but we grabbed information that a purple-haired woman belongs to a faction that has been active recently.”
“Ringa heard she is a guy who is oddly skilled at manipulating men.”
“There were rumors she possesses some kind of special power, too.”
“Kukuku… I see now. It seems they are not soft women who will go down easily.”
Ringa snorted triumphantly.
“After all, that woman said things implying that Zenos-dono had come to hate Ringa. I was shocked at the time, but thinking about it carefully, that is obviously a lie. There is no way Zenos-dono would hate Ringa.”
“That’s some amazing confidence you have there.”
At Zofia’s remark, Reve nodded.
“Umu, that woman told me as well that Zenos-dono likes weak and slender women. Thinking carefully, that too is a lie.”
“No, that one might actually be true, you know?”
“It cannot be. Zenos and I are mutual loves. Therefore, he cannot possibly like slender women.”
“Then why did you go on a diet?”
“Ugh… actually, I was just a little anxious…”
“Kukuku… Surprisingly maidenly.”
Linga and Reve then threw a question at Zofia.
“What did that woman whisper to Zofia?”
“…”
Zofia fell silent for a moment, then lightly shrugged her shoulders.
“Nothing special. Just a story you’d know was a lie immediately.”
While Camilla grinned beside them, Lily, who had been left out of the conversation entirely, tilted her head.
“Umm… so, what does this mean?”
“In short, that childhood friend is a woman from the Underground Guild, and she approached the Doctor with some kind of objective.”
“Ehh, really?”
“Considering the attack at the night festival, Ringa thinks a faction of the Underground Guild wants to mess with the slums. That woman is their vanguard.”
“Indeed, Zenos is the keystone of this town’s unity. If they take down Zenos, it is as good as having the slums in the palm of their hand.”
As Ringa and Reve explained, a look of confusion floated onto Lily’s face.
“Eh? Th-then, what about the amnesia?”
“That’s obviously a lie. She approached him according to plan from the very beginning, that woman.”
“Eeeeeh!”
After crying out instinctively, Lily muttered as if slightly relieved.
“…Is that so… Thank goodness.”
“No, what is good about that!”
“Ringa thinks it is not good at all!”
“We have been played by that woman up until now, you know!”
Pressed by the demi-humans, Lily answered flusteredly.
“Th-that’s true, but, um… Lily has been really happy since meeting Zenos and everyone… so if losing those memories… was just a lie, then…”
“…”
The demi-humans were speechless for a moment, looked at each other, and eventually burst out laughing.
“I see now.”
“Good grief, Ringa thinks Lily is hopelessly peaceful.”
“Ah, I have mountains of memories I would rather lose.”
“S-Sorry!”
Zofia and the others smiled at the apologizing Lily.
“Well, it’s fine. That’s your good point, after all.”
“Ringa thinks Lily is fine just the way she is.”
“Umu, I too would not want to lose the memories since meeting Zenos.”
Standing up, Zofia cracked her knuckles.
“Now then, shall we start the counterattack?”
As the demi-humans tried to head outside, Camilla called out to them.
“Wait, where do you intend to go?”
“Hm? Isn’t the Doctor and the others in the ruins district?”
“No, they are likely no longer there.”
To the women wearing dubious expressions, Camilla continued triumphantly.
“In this mistress’s estimation, the walk in the ruins was a pretext to lure Zenos outside. It is unlikely she would go for the winning move in a place with so little atmosphere.”
“Atmosphere, you say…”
“If a woman is going to seal the deal, the destination would surely be a place with sentimental value for the two of them.”
“Their place…”
Lily muttered and raised her head.
“Could it be, the orphanage…?”
When Camilla nodded with the corner of her mouth raised, the demi-humans simultaneously tightened their expressions.
“Lily, do you know the location of the Doctor’s orphanage?”
“Y-yeah. I heard about it a long time ago. I think it was toward the western mountains…”
“Alright, let’s head there immediately.”
The demi-humans and Lily dashed out into the outdoors, where a light rain had begun to sprinkle.
Heedless of the rain, they ran straight toward the orphanage.
Camilla floated up to the second floor and looked out the window.
“Kukuku… Is the battle of the women surrounding Zenos finally reaching its climax? Such youth.”
Watching the backs of the demi-humans and Lili growing smaller in the distance, Carmilla smiled faintly.
“…This is no good. For the first time in a while, I felt a little envious of the living.”
This is no good.
A/N: The comicalization of “Dark Healer” by Tono Ichi Ten-sensei is currently being updated on Piccoma.
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