Chapter 163

Putting down my luggage, I leaned my back against the wall of the room.

[Somehow, I think we finally get to catch our breaths.]

[Yes, you’re right. However……]

The room we were staying in was quite narrow.

No…… Accurately speaking, it’s just that there’s not much space for us to step on.

There’s a lot of furnishings lying about on the floor.

Therefore, it can be said that the room itself was originally quite spacious.

Among the things that were taking up space, I could see some large furniture among them.

However, the most common among these items were the dust-covered medium-sized furnishings and some other stuff smaller than them.

An unused room must have become a storage room……

Well, this happens quite a lot.

The space near the bed from the door was barely crowded.

Therefore, there was plenty of room for us to place our stuff in.

It seems that it wouldn’t matter that much if we don’t clean up and just sleep on the bed.

[…………………..]

However, I just need a little more space for me to sleep on the floor.

[There’s no point in complaining about this…… The only requirement given to us to use this room is that we need to clean this up. I’ll check with the Witch about how we were going to clean this room later, so let’s clean up as much as we can before the day ends. Is that alright with you, Seras?]

Seras is staring at the bed for some time.

Before long though, she replied.

[Yes.]

I’m already used to sharing a room with Seras.

This isn’t the only night we spent together.

We’ve already slept together in the same room over and over again.

That’s why we’re not particularly repulsing each other.

……Well, Seras herself may be conscious of it though.

It’s probably because of that thing that happened earlier.

Then, Slei laid down on that empty space near the bed.

Her first form is more space-saving, so it seems like she managed to secure some space to sleep on.

[Pakkyuurrriii~……]

As expected, she’s really worn out.

However, Slei could finally take a break now.

I gently brushed her back.

[Sleep tight.]

[Pakkyyuuunnn……♪]

On the other hand though…

[Pigggiii~♪ Poyyooonn~!]

Pigimaru jumped onto the bed.

He looks really happy as he’s bouncing up and down on the bed.

[Pinyyuuuiii~♪]

It seems like he had completely recovered his energy.

Pigimaru and Slei are going to be in the same room with me for the time being.

As for the Witch…

“……Don’t cause any ruckus at night, okay?”

I don’t know what to think about when she said that.

It seems that she thought that Seras and I were in “that kind of relationship”.

Well, it isn’t surprising that she saw it that way.

[Touka-dono……]

[Hmm? What’s wrong, you’re suddenly acting strange.]

[Ummm, I want to discuss with you about our bedtime……]

I made a stop gesture with my hand and walked over towards Seras.

I approached very close towards her, that others wouldn’t know whether our bodies were touching each other or not.

I then brought my mouth close to her ear.

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[Eh? U- Ummm—–]

[For the time being, when you’re speaking at a normal volume, please assume that we’re being eavesdropped on. The Witch may seem trustworthy, but we still don’t know her that well yet. It’s just that if it’s something that could be heard by others, it’s fine for you to speak in your normal volume.]

[Hahhh—–]

Hiding her voice, Seras let out a sigh next to my ear.

[Understood.]

It’s still too early for us to let down our guard.

[So, what’s that thing you want to talk about?]

[Eh? Ah…… You’re probably right about that.]

[Then, let’s talk about it later. Is that alright?]

[Ah— Yes.]

Seras’ ears turned red.

……I got too close to her huh.

Taking a step back, I return back to talking normally.

[……But well, I’m glad that the Witch of Taboos is a softhearted person.]

Elegantly aligning her legs, Seras sat down on the edge of the bed.

[Y- You’re right. I had imagined that she would be more like a person exuding a majestic atmosphere that made her hard to approach.]

[Well, I’m sorry that I don’t exude that majestic atmosphere that makes it hard for the other to approach.]

[Hyaahh—]

Both of Seras’ shoulders jolted in surprise.

The Witch was leaning against the doorframe of the room.

Apparently, Seras didn’t notice her because the door was behind her back.

Incidentally, I was just about to call out to the Witch when she appeared.

Whether she’s going to try to make excuses or she’s going to apologize to her…

Seras flusteredly opened her mouth.

[U- Umm—-]

[In short, what Seras means is that you’re quite friendly.]

[Fuuunnnn… Is that a compliment?]

[I think so.]

Seeking towards her agreement, Seras nodded.

[Yes, I don’t have any reason for me to speak ill about Witch-dono after all. However……]

Seras stands up and turns towards the Witch.

She then kneels down and bows her head.

[I sincerely apologize if my words offended you.]

[Seras, you……]

The Witch relaxedly crosses her arms.

[Have people been telling you that you’re “boring because you’re too sincere”? Or perhaps, while you’re being told behind your back, you yourself vaguely know about it and have been holding unto this problem within yourself……?]

[……………………]

She understood her personality huh.

Seras turns her head towards me.

[Touka-dono.]

Her eyes looked sad as she said that.

“As I thought, that must have been the case?”

And…

For instance…

“I had so much fun talking alone with Seras.”

If I could just say that without triggering her ability to detect lies……

It’s possible that this Princess Knight is surprisingly easy to capture.

[Didn’t I tell you that your sincerity is also your strong point? I’m well aware about your strong points. You just have to be patient with it yourself.]

[Ah, ummm——- Yes.]

Seras looked a bit happy as she nodded her head.

I looked towards the Witch.

[Although, you also came just in time. I also wanted to talk to you a bit more.]

She herself came here, so I didn’t have to go out.

[That’s also what I thought, and that’s why I came to visit you now.]

The Witch looks towards the opposing hallway.

That should have been where Eve and Liz’s room should be.

[There are some things that are hard to talk about when those two are around, aren’t they?]

Therefore, she decided to cut off our conversation for the time being and split our rooms.

It’s to separate our group from Eve and Liz.

[Well, there are still some things that we haven’t talked about yet. Moreover…… It has been a long time since I’ve talked with someone from the outside, so Erika may have been more exhilarating than I thought. I may have been holed up in this place, but that doesn’t mean I dislike other people’s company.]

[Do you mind if I call you Erika?]

[I don’t particularly mind. Incidentally, Erika isn’t actually my real name but…… Well, call me as you want.]

Then, Seras looks a little puzzled.

It’s probably because she didn’t manage to judge that as a lie when she named herself as Erika.

[This mistress is also the same as Lizbeth, I originally only had Anarveil as my name. However, look…… It’s quite long, isn’t it? I also couldn’t find any good names to abbreviate my name into. Therefore, I just turned Anarveil into my surname, and took up the name Erika as it was shorter. Well…… I just took it from the records of the names of Heroes from Another World back then…… I decided on this name because I just like the sound of it. You got a problem with that?]

The Witch recognizes “Erika” as her “real name”.

I see.

So, cases like these weren’t judged as a lie huh.

[Ah… By the way, I sometimes call myself “this mistress” as a remnant to how I call myself before I have taken upon the name “Erika”. I always try to call myself Erika now, but I sometimes inadvertently call myself “this mistress”. But, I mean…… “this mistress” sounds kind of old-fashioned, doesn’t it?]

[By any chance…… Even the idea of tying up your hair into a twintail with those ribbons, you also went along with that after you got your new name?]

When I asked so, the Witch—- Erika touched her twintails.

For the first time, I could feel insecurity oozing out from her face.

[I thought that I looked young wearing it… As expected, does it not suit me……?]

[It doesn’t suit you.]

[Uugghhh…… You’re quite blunt, aren’t you……?]

She glared at me with her half-closed eyes.

However, I can’t feel any hatred or anger in those eyes.

Her shoulders drooping down, Erika held out her hand towards her ribbon.

And then…

Fwwiiisshhh

She started taking off her ribbon.

[But well, I’m glad that I could hear the honest opinions of others.]

Her eyebrows lowering, Erika lets out a sigh.

[Taking care of these were starting to get kind of annoying anyway……]

The ribbons on each of her twintails were untied.

Erika’s long black hair drooped down on her waist.

Her hair has quite the volume.

Erika then tied the unfurled ribbons to a string on her waist.

[As my age began rising, I feel like I need to do something that makes me feel like I was younger…… I guess it just didn’t work.]

That is to say…

Whether it’s calling yourself “Erika” or tying your hair into twintails…

It’s all just to make you look younger?

[From my point of view though, your hair looks better the way it is now.]

When she took off her ribbon, I feel like her impression changed quite a bit.

I feel like she has that majestic atmosphere that Seras has mentioned.

[What do you think, Seras? Do you think it’s better this way?]

[Eh? I just, umm…… I just feel like both of those hairstyles looked quite great though.]

[You know, Erika hates those evasive answers that won’t make you take any risks.]

Seras turned despondent in response.

[My apologies……]

[For every risky things I say and do, Seras balances it out with her reliable deeds and words,]

[You’re a little too protective with your lover, aren’t you? Are you trying to show off?]

[I guess.]

Seras said “To- Touka-do—-” or something like that.

“Good Grief…” Erika said as she shrugged her shoulders.

[Well, how passionate of you.]

Even so, Erika seems to be a very talkative person.

Just as she said, she may have been starving for conversation but……

However, this is more convenient for me.

[However, it looks like your partner is quite troubled with that…]

Erika’s eyes were fixated on Seras.

[Speaking of spirits that could see through the sound of falsehoods, that’s most probably—- Sylphixia.]

The name of the wind spirit that was used by Seras.

[However, I remembered that it’s not a spirit that has been formally contracted by the Ashrain family for generations, isn’t it?]

Seras looked quite serious when she heard her.

[……So you knew huh?]

Fuunnn……

So, there’s a spirit that was formally contracted with their families huh.

[I don’t know what the circumstances were…… But Seras Ashrain made a contract with a stray spirit. The reason why you were in the Holy Kingdom of Neia…… is probably because you were exiled from your country for making a contract with a stray spirit huh?]

Seras stayed silent.

Erika just shook her head in response.

It looks like she’s somehow blaming herself.

[……It seems like I stepped in too far. Sorry, just forget about it. Anyway…… You have the spirit that could see through lies, Sylphixia, don’t you?]

Looking troubled, Erika looked towards me.

[It’s too disadvantageous for me if the both of us were just deluding each other.]

[Then—- Do you want to have an open conversation with us?]

As a matter of fact, I hardly have any information I need to hide from Erika.

[Erika agrees. When it comes to reading true intentions, you’re a bit difficult to read. Most of all, it’s really troublesome to do that.]

[Then…… What do you want me to say so that I could earn your trust?]

[First of all…… Why do you need the Forbidden Curses? I don’t mean to say that you’re in the wrong, but will you honestly speak about it?]

Then, Erika takes out a pocket watch from within her cleavage.

She then tosses the watch towards my direction.

I promptly caught it.

[The both of you will also need to take some rest for a while too…… Besides, I think we’ll have plenty of time to talk, won’t we?]

It seems that she has figured out how tired we are.

I look at the surrounding furnishings that took up most of the space in the room.

[I’d like to spend some time cleaning up this room first though.]

[I’ll see you later then. Worst case scenario, Erika will just help you.]

“Fuunnn…” A small smile appeared on the edges of my mouth.

[Alright.]

Holding that watch, I made up my mind.

[Then, let’s talk. We’ll tell you what happened before we arrived here.]

▽

In the middle of our conversation, Erika stops me from talking.

[I’m sorry to interrupt but—– Huh? Wait a minute, are you kidding me?]

Placing a finger on her forehead, Erika’s eyebrows furrowed.

[Are you saying that you were dropped down into that Disposal Ruins and came out alive……? Eh? That means…… Eh? Wait? That is……]

As if she’s asking for confirmation, Erika asked another question.

[You defeated that Soul Eater?]

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