Chapter 494 – The Old House and the Secret

000

“Sister! Thank you for your hard work today!”

The green-haired girl, who roughly waves her hand at the two men who are politely bowing, enters her room, slightly frowning at the sound of her door screaming.

However, if you do not close it slowly like this, the door may fall off and break, so you have no choice but to close the door as slowly and carefully as possible.

Thud. She flinched and shuddered as the house shook with the shock of the door closing, and dust fell from the ceiling in a clap of fuss.

With her hand her, she brushed off the dust that had accumulated on her own head.

“Ha. I worked without pay today…”

Saying that, when she pulls out her hairpin, which was tied up with her dumplings her, her hair her flows down.

Just by lowering her hair her, except for the red horns on her forehead her, a girl who gave off an air of innocence somewhere-Aisha let go of the strength she had tucked away in her shoulders.

Approaching the old cabinet, which would not be strange even if it collapsed even now.

There, a few worn-out ornaments were placed on it, mostly cute things that were just for girls’ tastes.

“Huh-“

Then, what I take out of my pocket is the thing I harvested today.

It is a cute doll with the head of a black cat.

Etc… I should say, although it’s a bit strange that the back of her face her has something like bat wings attached to it.

Even including that, it was a very cute thing.

“You’re… Um… Yes! You’d better call me ‘Black’ because it’s a black cat.”

As she said that, she carefully placed the crow-real name Schrödinger she was holding in her own hand on top of her dresser.

As if, playing her tower stacking trump card, though, when she is carefully raised, her squeaking her is heard and tension runs through her momentarily.

As if that was a misfortune, after a while, Schrödinger is safely placed on top of it quietly and without incident.

“Okay. Then I’ll take a bath… And play with you after that.”

After talking to Schrödinger, Aisha leaves the room just as she did when she came in.

Squeak – and carefully opened the door. With a thump… It closes carefully again.

Then-

“…Heh…Heh…Heh…”

Schrödinger exhaled heavily, opening his eyes as if he could barely hold it in.

Of course, since it was a homunculus, it didn’t need to breathe.

He woke up just before entering this house.

Because of the girl who was holding her tightly with her hands, perhaps not to let herself fall, she couldn’t even find the time to escape and was dragged all the way into the house.

“Damn it… If we don’t get out somehow.”

They say that they don’t like being kidnapped and being called ‘Kkamangi’ and pretending to be dolls.

Thinking so, Schrödinger glanced around for a moment.

…The house, built of black wood that looked like it was all rotten, looked nothing but an abandoned house no matter where you looked.

As for the windows, the glass panes were broken, and something was covered with paper, and there was no bed, so I could see a worn-out blanket spread out on the ground.

“Wow… Can people live in a place like this?”

I didn’t know what they were wearing or what they looked like, but I could tell that it was a house that reached the extremes of poverty no matter where I looked.

If you look carefully, the cabinet on which you are placed, and the dolls around you, are all worn out.

‘It seems that she is quite poor…’

Schrödinger felt a little sympathy for the reality she lived in, but soon remembered that she was the culprit who kidnapped him and shook her head.

‘… No. That’s it, and I have to get out of here, I have to get out. That window… I think if I knock on it a little, the remaining part of the frame can easily come out and get out…’

As it is, Schrödinger moves quietly while being careful not to break the cabinet, then removes only the wings and flaps them—

Sigh. Thud!

When he thought that he heard a voice from behind, the shelf right under the cabinet he was placed on had fallen off the wall.

“What?! What are you talking about?”

‘Geg! Did it still exist…!’

Schrödinger tries to quickly return to his original pose his, but he can’t remember how he was put in the first place, even if he thinks of him.

When he tries to somehow get himself into a convincing pose and stay dead, the sound of a hand being raised echoes in her door.

‘Please… Don’t get caught…!’

If you’re thinking the same thing-

Knock. Knock.

There was a knock on a door other than hers.

“…Guests at this hour?”

And, when Aisha, who had stopped in front of the door, heard the sound and walked away from her room her, Schrödinger sighed once more.

However, upon thinking about it for a bit, Schrödinger tilts his head.

‘No wait… Do I really need to go unnoticed? If I told him the truth and asked him to let me go, wouldn’t that guy also listen to me unexpectedly?’

Perhaps, the fact that I was knocked out by a chop while moving a little while ago was subconsciously traumatic.

‘Great. When that woman comes back, I’ll tell you the story…’

With that decision, when Schrödinger gives up his camouflage and relaxes his body, a voice is heard from outside.

“Ah, sir. You came earlier than usual this time?”

“Yeah…Because I need a sample now anyway.”

The person the girl calls Sensei is also a woman. That too, she was a woman with the same voice as her ladies a little older.

Schrödinger senses something familiar in the voice, but when he hears the steps of the two approaching, he clicks his tongue and strains his body once more to pose as a fixed doll.

OK. Carefully open the door again…

What appeared there was a tall woman wearing a hat with a very wide brim.

Her dark blue wavy hair was down long, and she was wearing glasses with dark colored lenses in her eyes. She was wearing a coat that was long enough to cover her entire body.

No matter where she looked, it was not difficult to see that she was an outsider, since she was not from the Orient.

Deep red lipstick on the corners of her mouth, and shiny golden triangular earrings in her ears.

In her hand her, holding a luxurious-looking bag, she looks like a noble lady of the kingdom.

“Because I don’t intend to stay long either… Then. Can I ask you a favor right away?”

“Yes.”

Saying that, Aisha sat down on her floor and stretched out her own right arm.

Then, the woman who came in took out a thick needle and a small bottle connected with a hose from her bag.

“It will sting.”

“I’m used to it now.”

When Aisha said that, the woman put the needle right into her forearm-vein with a smile on her lips.

Through magical power, the blood is automatically flowed in, passing through a hose and flowing into a small bottle.

“I’m sorry…”

The girl’s eyebrows furrowed at the sensation of blood draining from her body, but the moment the blood flowed in was only for a moment as the bottle was small.

After the blood is drawn, her needle is pulled out and the girl’s arm slowly regenerates in its place.

“…Good. Like I said, you seem to be in good shape.”

“Yes. Then-“

When the girl spoke a little apologetically, the woman pulled out her pocket from inside her bag her, keeping a smile on her lips her.

The pouch, about twice the size of Schrödinger’s, made a creaking sound when placed on the ground.

“I’ll come again next time. Then, just like now, you have to maintain your body condition.”

“Yes… Go, thank you.”

The woman briefly replied, “You’re welcome,” To Aisha’s thanks to her, then stood up and tried to leave her room-

Suddenly, I turned my gaze toward the collapsed cabinet, as if it was bothering me.

“Oops. The cabinet is broken.”

“Ah, yes… I think it was broken earlier. I’m going to fix it.”

Then, naturally, she went upstairs – and found a doll that was a bit unusual, and twitched her eyebrows.

Soon she moves closer to the cabinet.

And what she was looking at was ‘a black cat doll with wings’.

“This…”

“Oh, that’s what I was on the road a while ago-“

For a moment she was about to reach out and reach for the doll.

Her broad-brimmed hat her, hit the wall, thump! A sound was heard and the cabinet collapsed.

“Uh, uh…?”

The shock crushes the dolls under the clutter, and the woman takes a step back in embarrassment, but Aisha gets up and moves closer to her dresser, scratching her head.

“I-I’ll fix this, sir.”

“I’m sorry, Aisha. I must have done something useless.”

As if sincerely sorry, she reached out her hand and kissed Aisha on the back of her hand.

She took a few more coins from her own bag and placed them in her hands her.

“Fix it with this. It’s for decorating your cute collections, so I guess it’s okay to buy a new one.”

“Go, thank you…”

After saying that, she left the room with Aisha, and then left the house.

Perhaps, Aisha will send her off for a while before returning.

Then, in the meantime, Schrödinger crawled out from between the smelly dolls they were laying on, and loosened his stiff body.

He put on a bewildered expression.

“Hey hey…Really? That’s just…”

Schrödinger, who has goosebumps all over his body his, thinks the same thing if he reveals that he is n’t even the slightest ordinary doll.

“Daddy, if you don’t tell my brother soon…”

And he flew up, determined to escape this time, approaching the old window in her door her, and sliding the paper out of the room.

001

After he finished talking about the details of what happened in the capital, Illenu quietly put the teacup in front of her on the table and nodded.

“I understand the situation roughly. I never thought I would have that famous imprisoned princess… You’re still on a reckless adventure, Cleon.”

“I don’t want to hear as much from you.”

I never thought I’d hear from people who ventured out to hunt vampires that I was ‘reckless’.

Amelia, hearing Illenu’s words her, scratches her cheek while smiling bitterly at her.

“Well. It’s hard because of the father who couldn’t get along with each other.”

At Illenu’s words her, Amelia widened her eyes and blinked, and Layla burst into laughter.

“What’s wrong?”

“Uh, yes… Amelia-sama’s father is, in other words, His Majesty the King of the Kingdom.”

Everyone in the party seemed a little taken aback by Illenu ignoring and saying something that even Sasha knew, but Illenu put his chin on his chin and talked.

“Well. It’s a story far away from me. I won’t be able to meet a ‘king’ or something in my future life… Besides, Amelia doesn’t seem to be able to say such things.”

“Yeah, that’s true…”

Amelia shyly nodded at Illenu’s words her.

“Huh? But how does the princess know about me? Didn’t Cleon say that earlier?”

“Hmm? Ah. That’s…”

As for how to explain it, would n’t it be better to talk about the events that happened in the gaps in the other dimension, or the events related to Illenu’s ‘power her as a vampire’ that could possibly happen in this world as well?

When Cleon tries to open his mouth thinking so.

“That’s because I heard about Illenu from Cleon. I have a dream of becoming an adventurer.”

As if Amelia restrained such Cleon, she opens her mouth to tell another story.

“Huh? What was it like?”

Illenu nodded as if he understood, and Cleon glanced at Amelia.

Then, a voice flowed from Amelia through her imprint her.

[Right now, Illenu and Emma will be busy with things… Let’s talk about this when the situation calms down a bit.]

[…Indeed. That too.]

When Cleon nods at Amelia’s consideration, Illenu talks while looking at Cleon.

“But it’s surprising. Cleon talked about me to someone else.”

“Is it strange? A chance meeting, cooperation, and parting. I thought it was an adventure story that Amelia would enjoy.”

At Cleon’s words, Illenu put on a slightly complicated-somewhat bitter expression.

“Farewell…Or so. There are many adventurers who form a fixed party, but there are many things that are connected with one request and one kite.”

“…Is that something meaningful?”

When Layla sees Illenu like that, Illenu shrugs her shoulders and looks at Cleon.

“Sometimes I think about it. If that time… Including Cleon, me and Emma, ​​what would it have been like if the three of us had gone on an adventure.”

Illenu’s eyes changed as if he was looking somewhere, far away.

In her head her, perhaps, she had thought of that not only this time, but several times.

As they ventured out together with Emma, ​​maybe if Cleon had been by her side her—the same idea.

However, that future had already been observed, and Cleon and Illenu already knew that what awaited them at the end would be an absurd tragedy.

That’s why the two of them had no choice but to look at her with a slightly bitter expression.

Certainly- if it had been with Cleon, their adventure might have been enjoyable.

It might have been more comfortable, and it would have been a journey overflowing with more emotions.

But – that kind of thing is a possibility, and a story of what if.

Whenever the two of them, Illenu and Emma, ​​hunted vampires, they would kneel in front of a huge barrier standing in front of them.

Those things might have been more desperate.

And, every time, they shook their heads and joined forces to stand up and conquer the ‘threat’ and ‘future’ that faced them.

More than the possibility of being together with Cleon, the possibility of not joining Cleon-

They were able to grow and shine more brilliantly.

As a result – they were able to escape from the future of destruction that might have approached them.

If you look at the story up until now when Albain and Cleon joined together.

In ‘at that time and in that place’, it can be said that breaking up with Cleon and Illenu was the ‘correct answer’.

“Well… Then, I’ll be staying at this inn for a while. Even if that’s over, can’t we stay together a little longer?”

Lyla spoke lightly to Illenu.

If now

If it were now, when Cleon had some understanding of what would happen to Illenu.

Cleonon and Amelia also think that maybe they can avoid all the tragedies that result from acting like Illenu.

Illenu blinked a little after hearing Lyla’s proposal for her.

After that, he smiled and shook his head.

“Yeah. No. That’s enough for now. First of all, we have to lift Emma’s curse… After that, we have to hunt vampires.”

After saying that, Illenu secretly looked into Cleon’s eyes for some reason, then cleared his throat with a ‘hmm’ before talking.

“Well. If Cleon says, ‘Please take care of me’, I can think of him.”

“…Haha. If I really said that I was asking you, you’d be really taken aback.”

“Muh, what. Who’s saying that?”

At her Illenu’s reaction to her, Amelia also looks at her with her smile.

“…I, I hope that no one else is born with a tragedy like mine. …That’s why, I can’t stop this adventure right now. Maybe- I’m sorry for Emma, ​​but I’ I’ll continue my journey without a destination.”

Illenu looked down at her hands as she spoke.

How many vampires’ blood is already mixed in her hands -and in her body her?

“But maybe. Suddenly, there might come a day when you say, ‘Ah, that’s enough.’ Then, I’ll ask you.”

“Yes. I’ll be waiting for that time.”

At that time- it will be the day that the heavy burden burdened by Illenu is laid down.

Cleon said so sincerely.

Hearing that answer, Illenu stretched greatly.

“Uh-! Okay. Then I’ll take a deep breath. I have to go to work again at night. Emma~!”

When Ile called Emma, ​​​​Emma, ​​who had been playing in her garden feeding jerky to the gryphon, stood her up.

“Yes!”

“Because I’m going to sleep. Be polite to others!”

“Okay!”

She shrugged her shoulders as Emma answered cheerfully, looking more like Emma’s mother than her older sister her.

Just like that, when we see Emma walking to her own room her, Sasha and Leila make eye contact with her and she talks to Cleon.

“Hey, Cleon. Have you met Illenu recently?”

“Something… Aren’t you hiding it with Amelia-sama?”

They are fast-witted women.

Cleon and Amelia looked into each other’s eyes and laughed for a moment.

When Sasha and Leila tilt their heads at the sight of these two, Amelia calms her laughter and talks with a smile.

“It’s a secret now!”