SSMDTSKKYIKSSKS – Chapter 1. [Interlude 4]

Chapter 1. [Interlude 4]
“Inherited Fear”

 

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[Nn……]

[Liz? Are you awake?]

The setting sun faintly shines on Liz’s face.

She opened her eyelids slightly, looking dazed.

[How are you feeling?]

[Worst ……]

[If you can talk, I guess you’re okay.]

[Take care of me a little more…… Theo’-kun’s meanness …… ugh, my head is killing me ……]

Liz’s complexion still doesn’t look good, and I’m sure she’s not feeling well.

[How’s your memory? Do you remember what happened?]

[……Mmm, that’s embarrassing ……I didn’t mean to show you that part.]

Liz scratches her head as if she is embarrassed. It seems that her memory is still strong.

[Keith and the others came here to visit. Also, in this basket is a piece of fruit that Roca left earlier.]

[I’ll have to thank them tomorrow. I wonder if everyone was taken aback.]

[They’re worried. I was surprised when I saw it, too.]

[I’m sorry …… that I ruined our only date. Let’s do it again another day, okay?]

[I don’t remember doing anything like that.]

[Originally, I took advantage of Theo-kun’s suspension to take him out on the town and do all kinds of stuff with him! My plans are blown!]

[Roca and Shaula are both pretty much the same, but Liz is naughty. If you keep talking like that, I’m going to attack you, okay?]

[I’d rather wait for that. Why don’t you attack me when I’m sleeping? If you want, I can pretend to be asleep right now and you can attack me. Come on, come on.]

Liz lies down and rolls up the futon to appeal.

The white thighs peeking out from the …… short skirt are a sight for sore eyes.

I peeled the fruit with a knife for now, cut it into bite-size pieces, and shoved them into Liz’s mouth.

[Mogogoo! Wait …… ngugu.]

[If you can talk that light, I guess I don’t have to worry. I’ve been meaning to talk to you for a while. It’s important.]

[I’m not sure what to expect. I’m not good at that kind of flirtation. …… Well, I don’t mind going out with Theo-kun as a thank you for taking care of me.]

[Since when does Liz have a white-wing phobia?]

[You know ……, that.]

[Keith and Julian told me about it. The doctor in the infirmary didn’t seem to know much about it.]

[That’s right. Those two guys knew it very well. They are really smart.]

Liz, who answered not very amused, got up and sat down on the bed.

[I don’t know why, but I don’t like birds with ‘white’ wings.]

[I’ve seen a lot of white birds around, but have they ever been okay?]

[Oh, yeah, if they’re far enough away, I just try not to look, and …… I was caught off guard today, so I just went blank.]

Was she born with it? I could see that she had not experienced any fear of white birds.

Then how about this?

[Do any of Liz’s relatives or acquaintances have the same symptoms or elves?]

[Hmmm, some. In Tsefte Aria, it’s more common than in the Empire. My mother had it too.]

[I don’t mean to be rude, but how old is your mother? Elves are a long-lived race, so I was a little curious.]

[She’ll be a 500-year-old lady in a little while. She looks young, though. Oh, and please don’t tell anyone about this, okay?]

A 500-year-old elf.

I remember the lifespan of a normal elf being about 200 years old.

Nevertheless, I would say that her mother’s age is about the same age as what was written in that book and the original incident of the fairy tale supposedly occurred.

[Liz, if you’d like, I’d be happy to talk to your mother in person.]

Liz, who was drinking hot water poured into a cup, gushed profusely.

[You can’t! Impossible!]

[Why?]

[Oh why! What are you thinking about my mother]

[I just thought if she’s around, I’d like to talk to her.]

[She’s in Tsefte Aria, I’m sorry. What’s more, what’s going on, Theo-kun? Why do you care about a nearly 500-year-old woman when you have such a young and attractive elf in front of you?]

Rena is about that age, so I don’t think anything of it, but, well, it doesn’t seem practical to meet.

This is the limit of what I can get out of Liz.

One last thing.

[Your mother is from Tsefte Aria, isn’t she?]

[Yes, but ……?]

[Has she ever been to the Empire?]

[Hmm? I think I heard she’d been here before. ……]

[You know that the alliance between the empire and the elves was formed a hundred years ago. Was it before that?]

[No, I don’t know the details, but I think it was after that. Before we became allies, the only elves who would come to the empire were the ones who are curious. I don’t think that conservative woman would come.]

I recall Rena also saying. In the past, humans and elves did not get along very well. There must have been only those who were fond of or had some reason to be.

Liz’s testimony itself is somewhat uncertain in some aspects, but the takeaways are good enough.

Her mother had never come to the empire before allying. That was all I needed to know.

So it comes down to this.

The angel, or some similar-looking of it, appeared in the eastern territories of the empire and then went all the way to the distant lands of the Kingdom of Tsefte Aria.

[I see. Well, I’m going to go get the doctor from the infirmary now, so just rest quietly.]

[Oh, wait, Theo-kun, ……!]

I left the room as it was.

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