Previously: Liz finally met Zenos, and they recognized each other.
In the orphanage in the slums, the phrase “for the sake of the children” does not exist.
Many children are crammed into a small, cramped room with exposed, rough stone, unable to even stretch out their limbs, curled up to sleep.
It’s dark, and the cold floor chills the body to the core.
“Uuuu…”
Someone is crying from behind.
“…”
Zenos, still wrapped in a paper-thin blanket, shifts his position.
The one crying is Gina, a still very young girl.
For a small child, the environment here was far too harsh.
“Is someone crying?”
“It’s Gina.”
Zenos answered the voice of another child by the wall.
The child continued.
“If you make noise, they’ll get angry.”
“I know, Velitra. Are you okay, Gina?”
He asks in a low voice, but Gina just keeps sobbing.
“She might be cold. Use my blanket.”
“You’re right. I’ll give her mine too.”
Zenos received a blanket from a child in the back, and combined it with his own to cover Gina. Seemingly calmed down at last, Gina starts to breathe peacefully in her sleep.
But—
“Hey! Who was making noise just now!”
The adult in charge of supervision came yelling.
He roughly pulled open the iron bars and slammed his club against the wall.
“Daritts Orphanage Rule number fifteen. Private conversations are forbidden. Violators will be punished.”
The adult’s anger filled the room with silence.
“Who was talking? Speak up!”
“Um, that’s not it, Instructor.”
A girl’s voice cautiously spoke up.
Here, the adults had to be addressed as “Instructor.”
The one who sat up was a girl with purple hair.
“You’re the squad leader, Liz? What do you mean, ‘that’s not it’, huh?”
“It was just sleep-talking.”
“Sleep-talking?”
“Yes, when our kids are tired, they sleep-talk more. They’re working hard during the day to make up for it.”
“…”
The instructor flipped through the paper in his hand and snorted derisively.
“…Hmph, it’s true that this squad’s work performance isn’t bad.”
“Yes, we’ll work hard again tomorrow.”
“Be careful about sleep-talking in the future.”
With that unreasonable order, the instructor left the room.
Once the instructor’s presence was gone, Zenos whispered to the girl.
“Thank you, Big Sister Liz.”
They were always being helped by Liz, the squad leader.
“No, I should be the one taking care of Gina as her older sister. I didn’t want to cause trouble for everyone, so I couldn’t call out to her. Thank you, Zenos-chan, Velitra-chan.”
Her gentle voice tickled his eardrums.
—…
“Zenos… chan.”
And now, on the bed in the clinic, is the girl from back then. No, rather than a girl, she has the appearance of an adult woman.
She was surprised, her eyes wide open.
“Is it really… Zenos-chan?”
“Yeah. You look so different that I thought I might be mistaken, but it really is you, Big Sister Liz.”
Zenos said happily. She had a neat and gentle atmosphere, but now she has a somewhat bewitching air.
Liz, her body stiff, opens her mouth.
“That Zenos-chan, is the Ruler…?”
“…Ruler? What are you talking about?”
“Oh, no, it’s nothing.”
Liz shook her head, a slight bewilderment on her face.
“Since you’re working behind the scenes, I guess you’re not going to confess so easily… But, to think… that Zenos-chan is the Ruler, a womanizer, and a pervert who indulges in human experimentation…”
And she’s muttering something incomprehensible under her breath. It seems she’s confused. It’s understandable since she had such a shock that she fainted.
Zenos gazed at her familiar face and said.
“Anyway, what happened, Big Sister Liz, to make you collapse on the side of the road in the ruined city?”
“That’s, um…”
Zenos smiled gently at Liz, who was hesitating.
“Well, I won’t ask if you don’t want to tell me. Anyway, your body is fine, so it should be okay for you to go home now.”
Then Liz looked even more surprised.
“Eh? You’re letting a woman you caught go home?”
“…Huh?”
“Could it be that I failed?”
“Failed… what?”
Liz has been saying incomprehensible things for a while now. Is her consciousness still hazy from just waking up?
“Hmm… I’m a little worried about letting you go home alone. Just to be safe, should I take you home? Where do you live now?”
“…”
Liz was silent for a while, then put her hand on her chin as if thinking about something. Finally, she looked down and put her hand on her head.
“I’m sorry… I can’t remember.”
“You can’t remember?”
“Yes, it’s like my memory is completely blank.”
“But you remember me, right?”
“Well… I remember bits and pieces of the past…”
“Temporary amnesia, huh?”
The <Diagnostic Scan> showed no damage to her brain. However, I’ve heard of cases where such symptoms appear due to mental shock.
Liz’s eyes welled up with tears and she clasped her hands together.
“So, I’m anxious about that… If it’s okay with you, Zenos-chan, could you let me stay here until my memory returns?”
“Eh…?”
Lily, who had brought in tea on a tray, let out a surprised voice.
Zenos crossed his arms and muttered, looking troubled.
“Well… if you don’t know where your house is, you can’t go home…”
“Please, Zenos-chan. Just until I feel better.”
Liz pleaded with him, looking up at him. Zenos glanced at Lily, who looked like she was about to cry, but said as if to convince herself.
“I, I, I think it’s okay! She’s in trouble, so we have to help her!”
Kukuku, a muffled laughter of a paragon of women… was heard from the second floor.
A/N: I felt like Liz gave a sly smile…
The battle of the women is quietly accelerating…!