https://ncode.syosetu.com/n5562hc/64/
Villa
“There is definitely something going on. Nerine is acting too stupidly. If she doesn’t want to become a hero, she could just drop out, but she isn’t. Why? Is someone threatening her? No….”
Lily stared out the window in the carriage seat across from my own. Every now and then the carriage would violently lurch one way or the other, but that never interrupted her vocal stream of thought.
Lily lost in thought, hand over mouth, is prettier than any scenery out the window. If I was a painter, I would want to carve this moment out of reality and save it for prosperity.
Lily and I were the only two people in the carriage. A day has passed, but the rift between Lily and Nerine hasn’t mended. We decided it would be best then to travel separately and split ourselves into two different carriages.
Neither Peony nor Ran hate Lily, but they both sympathize more with Nerine who is younger and has faced hardship from the higher ranked, traditional nobles.
I’m staying neutral, but I couldn’t bear to leave Lily by herself and joined her carriage. Of course if you ask how I personally feel, I’m going to fully side with Lily no matter what.
Our carriages are currently on their way to the villa belonging to the Ruhuna family. My family is lucky to have one house in our name, so obviously I’m talking about Lily’s Ruhuna family.
Our team decided that in order to create an image of us killing a dragon, we should practice by killing actual monsters in the suburbs, but Lily was against us lowering our standard of living at all. That’s how we came to the decision of staying at her villa.
There are few decent lodging facilities like the dorms out of the capital, so we ended up agreeing that it’d be better to stay there rather than accumulate fatigue camping.
“Liffy, what do you think?”
“Huh? About what?”
“Nerine. There was nothing strange with her during the first round of the competition. Do you think something went wrong as soon as the second round began?”
“I wonder…. but I did talk with her a while back, and she told me she didn’t want to have an arranged marriage with a noble then too. I’d say her feelings about that are real at least.”
“Then perhaps someone is taking advantage of her dream to become independent.”
“You really think Nerine is being manipulated by someone?”
“I think it is possible at least. A child who used to be so honest is now trying to use lies to disrupt her team. In addition, if she was to run off and choose an opponent without hearing our opinions, she would have chosen the goblins. Who would possibly choose to fight a dragon while knowing none of their teammates can use magic?”
“Hmm…. I suppose, but….”
It’s true that Nerine’s behavior hasn’t exactly been consistent, or at least has a lot of points that stand out. If someone is trying to pull the strings behind the scenes, why are they doing it? There are so many things I don’t understand I end up just laying my head back on the headrest.
“Well…. nothing will be accomplished by endlessly mulling it over here.”
Saying that, Lily stood up and pulled down the shades on the window, completely hiding us from the outside world.
The carriage seat is wide enough for three people to comfortably sit together, and yet when Lily sat down, I found myself squished up against the wall.
‘Pass the first screening, and I will think about our relationship’. That was the promise Lily made, but we’ve been so preoccupied making plans and packing since the start of the second screening that we haven’t had the time to slow down and talk.
After all, we’re going to be fighting a dragon. Last night the whole team gathered together to make a plan, but it’s just the two of us now. The opportunity for us to have a leisurely conversation is finally here.
“Lily…. um…. the promise, do you remember it?”
“You can just ask openly rather than acting all fidgety. There is no way I would forget.”
Lily hugged me tightly from the side and whispered in my ear despite there being no chance anyone would overhear us.
“I will not run away, and I will never let you go. We have plenty of time. But before that, there are things we have to get out of the way. You wouldn’t be able to enjoy yourself if there is something on your mind either right?”
“You mean Nerine?”
“I do”
Lily talks, and I’ve realized she really likes saying everything in the most roundabout ways. It’s like she’s using our future as a bargaining chip, and she wants me to try and mediate between her and Nerine. I wish she’d just come out and ask me straight.
“I get it. I’ll talk to her when we reach your villa.”
“Thank you. You are a huge help.”
At that point, Lily moved her gaze away from me and once again started staring out the window. The words I want to hear are neither thanks nor a compliment. It felt like she was deliberately trying to lead me on like this, and I continued to glare at her with my obvious resentment.
♠
We arrived at the villa. The carriage passed through the magnificent iron gate, rolled up the road, and circled halfway around the large fountain to come in front of the mansion.
“We have arrived. Shall we go?”
When I followed Lily out of the carriage, I found our other three teammates already out and stretching their bodies to relieve the fatigue or our long trip.
“You look tired”
“Yeah…. I can’t wait to take a nice, long nap today.”
I called to Nerine from behind, and she answered with a smile that covered up her tiredness. Nerine is an airhead, but she isn’t stupid. It also looks like she doesn’t see me as an enemy.
“Ladies, thank you for all your hard work on the long trip. We have been expecting you.”
A servant who knew we’d be coming by came out to greet us. They escorted Lily inside alone while other servants stepped forward to carry our luggage.
“Aiyah. Lily’s a proper lady after all. We’re going to be spending the next two weeks here? And are those hot springs? That’s not good. I’ll never want to leave. You think they’re hiring any more servants for this place?”
“We’re here to train Ran. We came here because there are dragons near the volcanoes, not for the hot springs.”
Peony immediately shot down Ran’s merrymaking. Dragons apparently gather at a nearby volcano for their mating season, making it the perfect time and place for training.
But a by-product of that volcano are the nearby hot springs. Apparently this mansion was built to draw those hot springs in. It isn’t any taller than the mansion I visited in the capital, but it is insanely wide. I started counting all the evenly spaced windows but gave up partway through.
“Everyone, we will now show you to your rooms. Please follow me.”
A maid who didn’t look much older than us was standing in front of the entrance. She motioned for the rest of us to follow her inside. We grouped together and gathered behind her as she led us through the front door. The maid was kind enough to explain everything we’d need to know about the mansion during our stay as she guided us to our rooms. Walking through, I didn’t see as many servants here as I saw in the capital mansion, probably because there’s usually nobody staying here.
Unlike back at the dorms, each of us will get our own rooms while we’re here. One by one my teammates left me until we finally reached my room at the end of the hall. The first thing I did after walking in was jump into the bed. It was just as good, no, better than the one they gave me in the dorms. It’s so fluffy that it wrapped around my body, making me believe for a second I would continue to sink down forever.
I don’t know what kind they are, but flowers scattered around as decorations made a sweet perfume that created the perfect welcome. I wouldn’t agree with Ran wholeheartedly, but I can agree with the spirit of what she said at least. Knowing a noble lady definitely has its perks.
But I didn’t have the time to relax. Now that everyone is cooling off after that long carriage ride, this is my chance to talk with Nerine. I feel bad since she’s as tired as any of us, but I’m desperate here.
I frantically fought off the bed’s tempestuous allure and managed to escape from my room. I took slow, solid steps across the mansion’s thick rug as I made my way to Nerine’s room, but a high-pitched almost made me jump out of my skin.
I spun around out of surprise only to find the young maid who had shown us around picking up the broken shards of a pot.
“Oi! Again!? These last few days….”
Someone who looked like they’d be the head servant must’ve heard the noise and came rounding the corner to scold the maid, but they fell silent as soon as they saw I was there too.
The whole thing was incredibly awkward, so I quickly made my way to Nerine’s room.
“That girl came from the mansion in the capital right? It makes sense she was fired from there.”
“But Lily-sama is a kind person. I heard it was because of Lily-sama’s consideration that she was sent here where there’s less work to do. It’d be fine if it was small mistakes you could overlook…. Ah…. excuse us”
The door to a storage closet was left open, and I could hear a couple of servants gossiping about the maid from inside. They awkwardly stopped talking when they noticed me walking in front of the door, but I smiled and put my finger to my lips to let them know I wouldn’t tattle on them.
Nerine’s room is on the other side of a very long corridor. I knocked on the door and walked inside after hearing the usual cute voice welcome me in.
I closed the door behind me only to find Nerine wrapped up in the comforter like an unopened present in front of me.
“Ah, Liffy-san. Is something wrong?”
Nerine looked like a bagworm with the lower half of her body sticking out from the comforter in that half-unpacked state. It looked like she might’ve been sleeping, but the voice coming from under the covers was lively and energetic.
“Ah….yeah. I just wanted to talk to you. Are you feeling sick?”
“No! The blanket is so fluffy and smells so good, I just ended up like this!”
“I get it. I had to bite back tears to leave my bed too.”
She seemed fine, so I sat down next to Nerine. The bed sank beneath my weight, and the scent of the flowers was kicked up into the air. It smelled differently than my bed did. The flowers in here are different than the ones in my room. I wonder if there’s a reason for that.
“So, what did you want to talk about?”
“Nerine…. you were cold with Lily after the ceremony. Did something happen? I’m not blaming you or anything. I just want to know if there’s something bothering you.”
I tried my best to stay cheerful and make it clear that I wasn’t her enemy.
“I’m not sure. Lily-san always used to shine, but when I overtook her, maybe she just became irrelevant.”
“Why don’t the two of you try talking to each other once. It’s not like Lily hates Nerine at all.”
“I don’t know. It’s weird, and I don’t know that talking about it will change anything.”
Nerine is surprisingly stubborn. Maybe it’s just her personality. I remember there was a cuteness to the blunt way she liked to talk.
“What’s wrong….”
Tickling her sides will cheer her up. Thinking that, I pulled the blanket off of her head.
The first thing I saw was a huge stain on her pillow. It only took a second look for me to realize it was made by Nerine’s tears.
I couldn’t guess as to what the reason was, but I knew well enough to know she wasn’t in any condition to talk. All I could do was hold her and stroke keep stroking her head until she stopped crying.
Experimental Translations 