Chapter 6: To be together (2)

A noble girl crying as if the world had wronged her, and two shabbily dressed girls standing before her.

Anyone could tell it looked like they were bullying the rich noble child out of jealousy.

‘Oh, ohhh, what do I do?’

Panicked, I stamped my feet.

Should I run? Or not?

I wanted to explain the situation, but would anyone listen to kids from the slums like us?

“Eli. Sh-should we run?”

“The one who cried is at fault.”

What kind of cold-blooded thing was that to say?

As I thought that and turned my head, I saw Eli, sweating profusely, her pupils trembling.

Fortunately, Eli wasn’t that cold-blooded yet.

Even if she was an eccentric child who suddenly pushed herself on us, asking to be friends or to try on a flower crown, wasn’t our way of refusing too harsh?

At the age of 12, there was a high possibility of her developing trauma.

As a fan of ‘The Holy Knight Who Couldn’t Possibly Save the World,’ the original novel of this world, I absolutely couldn’t tolerate it.

It’s better if we can all be friends, if possible.

And if she gained more friends, we might be able to avoid Eli’s dark mastermind route.

“Was it you two? Those clothes… What? It wasn’t like that?”

The black-haired maid, who had been glaring at us with narrowed eyes, listened as the crying Haruna, still sniffling, continued to explain things to her.

Watching the maid’s eyes widen as she listened, and hearing her say, “Hmm, I see~,” in agreement, it seemed Haruna was fortunately defending us.

Haruna was truly a kind child.

“I understand the general situation.”

Fortunately, she seemed to have understood.

Thank you so much, Maid.

Just as I was relieved that things seemed to be ending smoothly… a thunderous declaration fell from the maid’s lips.

“However. You will have to accompany us to our mansion. Because you made my young lady cry.”

The maid clenched her fist and smiled.

Eli and I exchanged troubled glances.

It seemed we had no choice but to follow.

Surely, nothing too terrible would happen to us.

Thinking that, we followed behind Haruna and the maid.

“W-woooow…”

“Wow…”

Following behind the maid and Haruna, we arrived at a moderately large mansion.

Our admiration for the mansion, like something out of a romance fantasy novel, was brief; when we were invited inside, we were overwhelmed by the magnificent, aged, gothic atmosphere.

Haruna, still sniffling, went into a room by herself.

Seeing her quickly turn away from Eli, it seemed she had already developed a trauma.

“Sigh, that young lady.”

The maid looked at Haruna’s retreating figure with a complicated expression.

Then, she led us to a large hall on the first floor of the mansion.

When she opened the door, there was a huge round table, like something only seen in movies.

“So, why are we here?”

“Oh, it’s nothing big. It just seems the young lady caused some trouble, so we wanted to offer you a light meal.”

The maid answered my question politely.

I was a little flustered by her completely different attitude compared to a moment ago.

‘Please wait a moment while we prepare a delicious meal for you,’ the maid seated us at the table and then disappeared.

Then what was with her clenching her fist and intimidating us earlier?

I could only make a bewildered, almost-smile.

Eli didn’t seem particularly flustered and was looking around the building.

Her gaze wasn’t one of wonder, but rather one that seemed to be searching for something.

“Eli, what are you looking at?”

“Just… something looks familiar.”

“Familiar?”

“It’s not that it’s familiar, but… anyway, it’s a strange feeling when I look at that.”

Following Eli’s pointed finger, I saw a stone statue that looked like a combination of a goddess and several animals.

There was a statue of a woman extending her hand, and a peculiar statue with the body of an animal, the face of a human, and six pairs of angelic wings.

There were two in total.

The woman was extending her hand towards the peculiar statue, and the animal-human hybrid statue was looking down at it.

It was a statue that made you feel uncomfortable just by looking at it.

And the design sense wasn’t really to my taste either.

‘No, whether it’s to my taste or not doesn’t matter.’

The important thing was that Eli, born and raised in the slums, would have had almost no opportunity to see something like this.

Or maybe she attended a church when she was young?

If not, perhaps she coincidentally saw something similar, or it might just be a feeling.

“Eli, did you ever go to church?”

“Church? No, I’ve never been.”

Now that I thought about it, I knew almost nothing about Eli.

Even though we had been together for almost a month, I knew practically nothing.

I only knew the original story.

The Eli that Tere knew, and the Tere that Eli knew, were completely unknown.

Even though we’d been inseparable until now, I realized I had never actually asked about her past.

“Hey, Eli. I… I don’t seem to know much about you.”

I said, looking into Eli’s golden eyes.

“So, like, about you. Could you tell me a lot more in the future? I want to know everything about Eli.”

Indeed, only then would the chances of preventing Eli’s dark mastermind ruin ending increase.

“…Okay.”

Eli replied quietly, her face flushed.

Why was it suddenly turning into a confession atmosphere?

“It’s not what you think! It’s just. Uh, I lost my memories, right?”

Feeling guilty for no reason, I made various excuses.

“So, uh! I want to know about the ‘you’ I originally knew… That’s what I meant.”

Eli smiled brightly.

“Then, how about we talk about what we think of each other while we sleep from now on? No lying or hiding anything.”

Is this a late-night talk?

It sounds quite fun.

If I play my cards right, I might be able to uncover some secrets about Eli.

“You two get along well.”

“Oh, um…”

As I fumbled, not knowing what to call the maid who appeared carrying a tray, she smiled and told me her name.

“My name is Lugna. I am the attendant serving Young Lady Haruna.”

After introducing herself as Lugna, she opened the tray.

Inside, there was a deliciously roasted turkey.

Steam rose warmly from it.

The savory scent of meat mixed with the aroma of spices, creating a truly tempting smell.

It was my first time seeing a roasted turkey in real life.

Its grandeur couldn’t be compared to mere chicken.

Eli and I stared at the meat with blank expressions.

Until now, we had only eaten dried meat and hard bread.

And for us, who had been living on wild berries just moments ago, this food was simply too stimulating.

And the fruits around it too—was this what a true feast looked like?

I felt like crying.

“Actually, this food was meant for Young Lady Haruna, but she’s shut herself in her room…”

Lugna smiled awkwardly.

“It’s just leftover food anyway, so please eat comfortably.”

Even if it was leftover food…

As the saying goes, there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world, so wouldn’t there be something they wanted in return?

Eli, too, seemed unaccustomed to such goodwill.

I would have felt more at ease if they had gotten angry and scolded us, but why would they give such expensive-looking food to beggars like us?

“You can just eat it. We won’t demand money or anything after you’ve finished.”

“But aren’t you going to say something?”

They wouldn’t truly offer us food like this for no reason.

As if my question hit the mark, Lugna sighed once and opened her mouth.

“Actually… there is something I’d like to ask.”

See, I knew it.

What kind of favor could she possibly be asking for?

I looked at Lugna.

“It’s nothing major.”

The black-haired, black-eyed maid bowed her head to us as she made her request.

“Would you be willing to live with the Young Lady in this mansion and be her friend, even if just for a short while?”

“What?”

I inadvertently asked again, surprised by the unexpected request.

Eli also looked at Lugna with a surprised expression.

We had just made Haruna cry her eyes out, and now they were asking us to be her friends?

“But you saw us make her cry. Is that really okay?”

“I know the circumstances. And I know it wasn’t your fault.”

She lifted her bowed head and spoke with a somewhat shameless tone.

“My young lady has never had friends her age, so she lacks common sense. Her father passed away when she was young, and she’s been cooped up at home ever since.”

Lugna looked at Eli.

“Even if it’s a bit perplexing, I would be grateful if you could understand.”

“No, I’m not particularly…”

Eli stopped speaking mid-sentence.

It probably wasn’t because she disliked Haruna.

It was just that she drew a line because it would be troublesome if her identity as a Saintess was revealed.

“We won’t ask you to be her friend for free. While we cannot offer much, we can provide money, or fulfill any other wish you may have.”

“What kind of wishes?”

“The Young Lady’s… Ray family doesn’t have extensive influence, but we will grant what we can within our means.”

In that case, I might be able to ask for a recommendation letter for academy admission.

Eli’s admission to the academy was already confirmed, but even though I had awakened my magic, there were still ambiguous aspects about my own.

Moreover, living at the academy would be very expensive.

Eli seemed to have the same thought and met my gaze.

This was a better offer than I expected.

Leaving Haruna as she was felt uncomfortable, and to prevent Eli’s dark mastermind ruin route, it seemed best to risk anything.

“Then, how long do we have to stay in this mansion?”

Actually, staying in this mansion itself was a huge benefit, but I wanted to enter the academy as soon as possible.

“It would be great if you could stay for about a month.”

One month, a surprisingly ambiguous period.

As I looked at Lugna with questioning eyes, she spoke in a sorrowful tone.

“The mistress, that is, the Young Lady’s mother, is gravely ill… It seems she won’t last beyond a month. She’s now having difficulty even speaking.”

I had no idea that Haruna’s mother was seriously ill.

She was always such a bright and positive character, I never imagined she had such a past.

I looked at Lugna with a bewildered expression.

“Her illness?”

“We’ve called in renowned doctors and clergy, but they say there’s no cure… They said it’s incurable unless a Saintess arrives.”

Saintess.

At that word, I flinched and looked back at Eli.

“So, would you be able to keep the Young Lady company until then?”