Previously: Liz, exploring the second floor, was threatened by a floating object and fainted.
“Aaaaaah!”
Liz jumped out of bed, feeling as if she had just had a dream about a talking severed head.
Breathing heavily, she looked around and saw a calm, albeit old-fashioned, room.
The sun seemed to have set, and the outside of the window was already enveloped in darkness.
“Huh, um…?”
Her memory was somewhat confused.
She calmed her breathing and tried to organize her thoughts.
She remembered… she had planned to manipulate the ruler of the slums to control the surface world.
And she remembered sneaking into the ruler’s mansion, pretending to be unconscious.
After being checked over, the torturer girl left.
Then, what happened…?
In the end, she couldn’t find the entrance to the underground…
Her head throbbed painfully when she tried to remember what happened next.
“Oh, you’re awake.”
She heard a voice and turned her face towards the kitchen.
An elf girl peered out, looking happy.
“T-Torturer!”
“Torturer…?”
“Ah, no…”
Liz trailed off, and the elf girl called out to the back.
“Zenos. The person who collapsed is awake.”
“Oh, is that so? I thought they’d wake up eventually since they just fainted.”
Someone came from the room where the dining table was.
“A maaaaan!”
” …Huh?”
“…No, it’s nothing.”
It’s a man. A man has come. The man she’d been waiting for…!
Finally, someone she could use as a pawn had arrived.
Suppressing her excitement, she first observed the man. He was human. He had black hair and an easygoing demeanor.
Strangely, she felt like she’d seen him somewhere before. When she looked at the wall, she saw a black cloak hanging there.
“–Wait a minute…?”
A human with black hair, wearing a jet-black cloak. That was exactly the appearance of the ruler that her subordinate, Gaion, had described.
–He’s here…! It was worth sticking it out.
She was suddenly face-to-face with the ruler. She was momentarily taken aback by his gentler-than-expected face, but there was probably no mistake. It’s often the case that these seemingly calm guys are the dangerous ones.
Only the elf torturer was nearby. She might be skilled since she was his close aide, but it wouldn’t be impossible if she could find an opening.
If she could just scratch the ruler a little and make him bleed, he wouldn’t be able to defy her anymore.
“How are you feeling?”
“Y-Yes, I’m alright.”
The ruler, called Zenos, approached her.
Just a little more. If the distance closed a little more, she could reach him. In her lightly clenched fist, the nail of her index finger grew sharp and pointed.
However, the ruler stopped there and just stared at Liz’s face.
–Could he have noticed my intent to attack…?
Her body stiffened, and he thought for a moment before saying:
“Hey, maybe, just maybe…”
He tilted his head several times and continued, as if to confirm.
“Liz-nee, is that you?”
“Huh…?”
Liz’s mouth fell open, and her eyes widened.
She thought she’d heard the name Zenos somewhere before. And the reason she remembered this man’s features wasn’t because of what Gaion had told her.
She knew this man.
Liz put her hand to her mouth and said hesitantly.
“Could it be… Zenos-chan from the orphanage…?”
A/N: Lily’s temple twitched…