https://ncode.syosetu.com/n5562hc/42/
Hand
Lily moved from Olive’s side over to mine, hugging me from behind the exact same way she had done when she was comforting Olive. My heartbeat sped up because it felt just like when Lily was getting in the mood, but I bit my lip since right now is obviously not the time for that.
“Olive. Tonight you saw something we would have preferred you didn’t.”
That private time between me and Lily was seen. It’s Lily’s mistake for not properly locking the door when she came in, but it looks like she can wipe her own ass. It’d probably be for the best if I kept my mouth shut. Because with the way she’s talking, Lily must have a hold of one of Olive’s secrets as well.
“Then the two of you…. um…. have that kind of relationship?”
Lily took a moment to respond. I’m curious how she is going to answer that question as well.
“Your question is vague. But it is how it looks.”
She’s avoiding saying anything concrete and just giving her own vague answers. It didn’t feel like she was answering Olive at all honestly. She probably chose the best possible answer to avoid giving me any unnecessary expectations.
“Even if I were to mention what I saw, I do not think it would have much effect though. Would your votes even drop?”
“Think of it as insurance. I wish to become a hero without a single speck of dust to my name.”
Then the relationship between us is ‘dust’ to Lily. Dirt that can be easily removed by just blowing it away. I already knew that’s how she sees things from the way she has talked before now but hearing her say it outright like this….it stabs right in the heart.
“Understood. I suppose there are a few among our stubborn elders who may frown on such an affair. If I swear I will not say a word about it, what will Lily-san give me in return?”
Olive is being surprisingly direct. The information Lily has must have something to do with Olive’s supposed ‘revenge’ against those commoners. And by the sounds of it, it’d have a much greater effect on the votes than my and Lily’s relationship.
Despite that fact, Olive is looking for something a little more than just us agreeing to keep each other’s secrets.
“Olive. It is not good to be too greedy. Isn’t that right Liffy?”
I was surprised to have the conversation suddenly passed over to me and just dumbly nodded my head a couple times. Lily looked annoyed by that answer and sneered at me, but she soon turned her answer back to Olive.
“I have done my research and know everything, but Liffy does not. Tell her about your revenge.”
“And what are the benefits of Liffy-san knowing?”
“Because I would like her to know.”
I don’t understand what Lily’s getting at either. She’s doing a bang up job of being vague, and I can only guess what she wants from me out of this.
Olive walked into these negotiations while knowing she was at a disadvantage to begin with and finally opened her mouth like she had given up.
“There were a total of four people who bullied Elm. All of them were men. For three of them, I achieved revenge by cutting off each and every single one of their fingers in a way that a healer wouldn’t be able to fix and ordered them to pray for Elm each night with their fingerless hands. They were also living their lives while trying to hide their pasts, so they are unable to come out of the woodworks now to try and take revenge against me. They are fortunate I grew up to be merciful.”
She was reluctant to tell me at first, but as Olive told the story, she started looking more and more happy.
“After I dealt with the first one, the other three became terrified and cautious, but they grew lax and careless as time passed. But while I was taking my time in dealing with them all, the last one became a parent. There is sin in his past, but the child born from him is innocent. I have reached a dead end as a result. I cannot move forward to finish my revenge nor can I undo what I have already started.”
Someone without any fingers on their hands won’t be able to do any decent work. So Olive is worried about how that would affect the child. Although I find it weird that you’d pretend to be a good person after coming this far.
Lily nodded satisfied and took over the talk for Olive.
“Liffy, that Andy you met today is the last one. I couldn’t help but laugh when you told me that story. I would call it fate if I believed in such a thing.”
“A-Andy?”
A strange name’s come up in the middle of all this. The guy is a parent, I nknow that. It’s about the only thing I do know about the guy.
“Quite right. Then, that concludes the story. We will see you tomorrow Olive.”
“Eh….yes. Good night”
Lily abruptly ended talks there and kicked Olive out of the room. It felt like we were only halfway finished there, so Olive left the room looking extremely confused.
After making sure the door was properly locked this time, Lily returned to me. I don’t understand her goal here at all and welcome her back with a frown.
Sorting out everything I just learned, the guy who bullied Olive’s brother and indirectly killed him is Andy, Dahlia’s ex-boyfriend. Olive wants to get revenge on Andy, but she isn’t going to because she doesn’t want to cause any trouble for his kid.
My head feels like there are a couple bees duking it out in my head. Honestly, none of this has anything to do with me, so can’t you just do whatever you want? Even if something does happen to Andy, going by today’s fight, it won’t affect Dahlia or her daughter anyway.
“Liffy, this is a test.”
Lily sat across from me and sipped the tea Olive hadn’t touched.
“Test?”
“Yes. What do you think about the story you just heard?”
“I….don’t care. Hopefully it all works out.”
“Fail.”
“In what way?”
“You lack a will of your own. Over anything. You are like algae floating in a river, being swept from one place to the next. It feels as if you landing in front of me is just your latest stop in life.”
“Is…that bad? Nothing is going to change no matter what I say or do, so isn’t it fine to just deal with whatever ends up happening when it happens?”
To sum up my feelings, it could be best described as me being annoyed because Olive got me wrapped up in it even though all I did was get my ass kicked for something else that wasn’t my fault. So, I’d appreciate it if she just got her revenge done and over with already. Andy’s kid is being looked after by Dahlia, so nothing is going to change for her even if Andy winds up dead. There’s no need for me to do anything at all.
“You wish to stand next to me right? Well I have no intention of keeping some doll with no will of its own. Please think over this matter as if it related to you directly. To be clear, I am not saying you have to do anything at all. Tomorrow night, I merely wish to hear your thoughts.”
“Then you’re….educating me?”
“I suppose you could think of it like that. No matter how things turn out, it will not hurt either you or me. But there will be times in the future when you will be forced to make difficult choices. If you wish to stay with me, you will need to get in the habit of thinking and choosing for yourself.”
“A-All right!”
It sounds like Lily is preparing this and that under the thought that she might accept me. I’m happy to hear that even if it does mean I’m stuck with this troublesome homework. I’m getting fed up with Lily’s heightened awareness of everything around us.
What’s going to happen is going to happen, whether I do anything or don’t. That’s how it has always been and how it will always be. Even if I do what I can and somehow make it through the first screening, that doesn’t change the fact that I won’t win in the end.
But Lily is looking for someone who is still going to try and win the audition even in a situation like this. Putting that in a negative way, she’s looking for someone who is willing to do whatever it takes to win.
There are so many things running through my head it feels like it is going to explode. In the first place, I’m only interested in having a fun and pleasant time, so there is nothing worse to me than all this serious talk.
Everything I was thinking came to an abrupt halt when Lily looked at my face and burst out laughing.
“What kind of face is that?”
“Was it that bad?”
“Not bad, per se. Truthfully, both Olive and Dahlia have wronged you at one point before this. You could choose to have a lot of fun with this, gleefully concocting some plan to make them both fall together.”
“N-Nope. My personality isn’t that bad….”
Although to be honest, I don’t think I could think something like that up even if I wanted to. That would require way too much brain power.
“You should not give up on thinking just because of your personality. Well, I suppose that is what makes you Liffy in the first place.”
“H-Hey! You’re making it sound like I never think anything at all!”
If I push hard down this route, maybe I can give Lily her own homework assignment. With a glimmer of hope, I could feel a huge smile coming up across my face.
“Well, you can balance the homework I gave you with that softheartedness of yours. Good luck”
After saying what she wanted to say, Lily laid down in bed by herself. I was busy building up a fever in my head cooking up all the wisdom I could, and I didn’t even feel like inviting her to finish up from earlier.
Experimental Translations 