https://ncode.syosetu.com/n5562hc/67/
Kidnapping
“It’s wrong no matter how you look at it! Wasn’t the target a silver-haired lady!? Then why is there a brown-haired woman here!? And what do you mean, ‘She’s such a cutie’? Your brain’s fried!”
“Shut up! She had a towel over her head, and when I called her name, she answered! And she’s plenty cute dammit!”
I was having a nice, peaceful sleep when some man and woman arguing woke me up. Although even without them, my pounding head would’ve made this a terrible awakening.
Even so, the two’s accents are nostalgic. Reminds me of my hometown.
Right now I’m either in a building with no windows or a basement. There are stone walls on all four sides of me. I don’t see any kind of door, so the possibility that I’m underground is looking real likely.
I’m sure they must’ve had some kind of plan going in when they kidnapped me, but I’m not blindfolded and the rope around my wrists isn’t tied. My kidnappers are doing such a clumsy job of kidnapping me that it’s honestly disappointing.
I don’t think it’s been that long since I was taken. I can say that because the buzz from the alcohol I drank in the mansion’s bathroom is still alive and well.
“U-Um….”
The two looked at me surprised. I’m surprised myself. The girl is that new maid from Lily’s mansion.
“Y-You’re up? Then who are you? You’re not Lily Ruhuna, are you? Why did you react when I called out that name? What are you to her?”
The man, not the maid, spoke to me.
What am I to Lily? Someone who she can mess with all she wants without ever even saying the words ‘I like you’. She might praise me with all kinds of different ways, but doesn’t that basically make me no better than a pet?
I know that’s not what the man wants to hear, but all the frustration I had before losing consciousness was building up again.
“That’s…. what I want to ask! Just what am I to Lily!? Ugh…. I feel like I’m going to vomit….”
Maybe it’s because my blood’s suddenly heating up, but a wave of nausea bubbled up in the pit of my stomach.
I completely forgot to hide the fact that they never bothered tying my hands up, fell forward onto the ground, and puked up everything that was in my stomach.
“Hey hey…. damn it. Give me a break…. I guess it’s fine as long as you’re being meek….”
The maid girl gently rubbed my back while lightly cursing me.
“Ugh…. water….”
The man drew some water from a bucket and brought it over for me. After I slurped it down and got my head put back together, I realized these two were being stupidly honest with me. Even if they had managed to kidnap Lily, she would’ve escaped from them immediately.
My head still hurts as I rinse out my mouth, and I can’t tell if it’s because of the alcohol or the bonk on my head.
I returned the cup to the man, sat down on the chair, and leaned back. I stayed like that and rubbed my temples with my eyes shut tight, but it wasn’t making my headache any better.
“So…. why did you kidnap me?”
The maid girl looked up at me, clearly annoyed as she cleaned up my vomit. She wanted to know why I, the hostage, was sitting back in a chair while they, the kidnappers, were cleaning up after me. Look, I’d love to help, but this headache won’t let me.
“We weren’t aiming for you. I said that before.”
“Ahh…. you did say that.”
“Honestly…. why did you grab this girl….”
The man held his head and leaned against the wall. It looks like he has a lot on his plate. What needs to go wrong in your life for your kidnappee to feel bad for you?
“My name’s Lily Ruhuna too. That’s why I responded when you called my name. Everyone calls me Liffy since it’d be confusing otherwise though.”
“So that’s why. See! It’s not my fault!”
The man looked genuinely relieved and started making excuses to the maid girl. The more they talk, the more I’m reminded of home.
“So by the way, where’re you guys from?”
I startled the two of them when I spoke up with my local accent.
“You know her?”
“I don’t recognize her face.”
The maid girl and man looked at each other and started talking.
“Well…. maybe our villages were close by. I don’t recognize either of you two either. What’re your names?”
“I’m Koha. This is Sawa. We’re siblings.”
The two of them do look similar, in a way. The way the bridge of their noses curl up into their rounded brows are exactly alike.
Koha told me a bit of his personal history, probably because we come from similar backgrounds.
The village they came from really was close to my hometown. But that village no longer exists. It was attacked by a dragon and was completely decimated.
The village was in a spot where you’d never expect a dragon to show up, so there was nothing in place to help deal with the tragedy. As a result, every villager was burned and eaten one after another. By the end of it, these two were orphans. From that point on they have been forced to do unjust things just to survive.
When I was little, I remember hearing a story about a nearby village being attacked by a dragon. At the time, my only thought was, “I sure am glad it didn’t attack our village.” It’s not a great feeling knowing that’s how lightly I was taking things while these two were fighting for their lives.
“So your job this time was to kidnap Lily-san?”
“Yeah. Sawa infiltrated the place in advance, and the two of us kept in contact and passed messages together.”
“Then who hired you two?”
“Hey hey. Don’t think we’ll just answer whatever you ask us. I might’ve screwed up, but you’re still a hostage. At this point, we’ll just have to demand a ransom.”
“Really? In other words, you were going to kidnap Lily for a reason other ransoming her?”
Koha looked shocked and threw his hands over his mouth. With how easy it is to catch him out, he might be even stupider than me.
“Well…. it’s pointless anyway. I’m not a noble, so my parents aren’t going to have much more money than you.”
“Oh yeah….”
The two of them were staring at their feet, so they didn’t notice. Dust was falling from a gap in the ceiling. I thought it might’ve been a third kidnapper at first, but when a white lily petal fell from the gap, I immediately knew that Lily had come to save me.
“Haa…. I’m hungry! You two! There’s no food yet!? Shouldn’t you be preparing something already instead of standing in a daze by the back wall!?”
I know it was forced, but I wanted to let my rescuers know how many people were down here and where they were standing.
The moment Koha moved away from the wall to tell me to keep my voice down, the shattering of wood overwrote his voice as part of the ceiling collapsed into the room.
Two shadows ran out of the dust cloud and restrained Koha and Sawa. A second later, Peony ran towards me with a knife in hand.
“Get ready to run! If you’re hurt anywhere, I’ll…. and you aren’t even tied up.”
Peony looked incredibly disappointed. I’d be tied up with ropes and chains, and while the others were fighting, she would swoop in from the broken ceiling to perform a daring rescue.
I can already picture the fantasy she built up for herself, and instead she found me relaxing in a chair.
But Peony was the only one who had lost her sense of urgency as Lily and Ran were desperately trying to hold Sawa and Koha down.
“Hold on you two! These guys aren’t bad people. Just hear them out.”
Lily looked at me like I was insane.
“Stockholm Syndrome already? Which one is it this time? Something like this happened before with the girls at Ronaldo’s mansion. What is it about the extreme situation of being a hostage that makes you this way?”
“That’s not it! These two were aiming for you Lily-san! And they weren’t looking for money either. There’s someone else behind this.”
Her gaze softened immediately after I said that. She nodded her head, fully trusting me.
“I see. They were easy to track, to the point I almost felt disappointed they weren’t doing things properly.”
It’s refreshing to hear that Lily was thinking the same thing I was about this whole job.
“Yeah about that…. how did you find us?”
“There was a trail of blood leading from the gate, and that led us straight to the tracks of your carriage. It was like you were begging us to find you.”
Lily laughed as if the whole thing was supposed to be an elaborate prank.
“Koha! That’s why I said we should ditch the carriage!”
“You didn’t notice it either!”
With Lily making fools out of them, Koha and Sawa went at each other’s throats with the accusations. Have these two really been able to complete jobs together before like this? I can’t imagine it.
Once the quarrel between these two subsided, a wide smile spread across Lily’s face as if she had just thought of something.
“This is a good opportunity, so how about we clear up another concern while we are here. Ran, Peony, I will need you to play along for a bit. You two as well. Understood, Ms. Rookie Maid?”
Once Lily released the two kidnappers, she pulled out a dagger. Then with a wide smile on her face, she stabbed the blade into her arm.
Experimental Translations 