Memories from the past resurface in Elteel’s mind.
Not as Elteel-Sirius Flame, not as the 《Unlaw》 living in this city.
But as Sheila-Rubyvas, as memories of the eldest daughter of the Rubyvas territory’s ruling family.
Rubyvas was a land about three days by train from Balldlum, prosperous from metallurgy.
And Sheila was born and raised in such a city.
Being from a ruling family, she was wealthy, wanted for nothing, received education that commoners could never afford, and should have had happiness guaranteed.
The problem was Sheila’s own appearance.
Her physical growth had almost completely stopped after she turned ten.
This was the only and greatest problem.
The greatest job of a noble daughter is to marry and create connections with other families. That’s what Sheila believed, but being unable to grow up, she couldn’t find anyone willing to marry her.
Occasionally, there were marriage proposals from those with preferences for young girls, but her father apparently despised such people and rejected them all.
She was loved.
Her father the lord, her brother who was appointed mayor of Ruby Smith (the central city of Rubyvas territory) at a young age, their mother who supported both of them, and the servants who worked in the house.
The townspeople even called her the “Puppy Princess,” but she understood that this wasn’t mockery, but rather a nickname born from their affection for Sheila.
That’s precisely why she couldn’t bear it.
Being loved, yet unable to repay that love.
So a year and a half ago, Sheila ran away from the city and ended up in Balldlum.
Looking back now, it wasn’t just her appearance that was childish.
Running away from home due to discomfort—that’s what children do.
As a result, she awakened as an 《Unlaw》 immediately after coming to Balldlum, and while she took on the form of a dog, her human body grew larger than it should have been.
Then she met Norman, and Sheila became Elteel.
Thanks to him, she was able to accept herself as a monster.
“If I… if it’s my fault that Lonzder-san became an 《Unlaw》, then that’s…”
“Hey.”
Splash—the sound of water.
Lonzder had stood up.
With the water reaching her knees, she approached without trying to hide her lightly tanned limbs.
Coming right up to her,
“Don’t mock me, you.”
“Mmph…!?”
Her jaw was grabbed and lifted.
Their eyes met, their chests pressed together.
The emerald green eyes sparkled just like her nickname suggested.
Like gems that wouldn’t succumb to defilement.
“It’s too late. Far too late for that talk, Elteel. It’s my fault you became an 《Unlaw》? That’s extremely presumptuous. Don’t use me for your past sentimentality—it’s unpleasant.”
Listen, she prefaced,
“My father was a detective.”
She says.
“My mother apparently drifted from some foreign country and worked as a servant in some house. They met during some incident, were united with father, gave birth to me, and died of illness. Raised by my father, I admired him and aimed to become a detective. As you know, I was smart, so I achieved my dream, and after father died when I was eighteen, I began working as a detective on my own.”
Her past—Rosalind-Slaney’s past—was thrust upon them.
Before Elteel could think anything about it, the words continued.
“The Whisper incident and searching for you were no different from any other cases I’d experienced before. What was different was the land called Balldlum. I also became an 《Unlaw》 after coming to this city.”
Do you understand? she asked.
“I was simply living my life to the fullest. As a result of being myself, I ended up in this city. You might have been a trigger, but you’re not the reason I am who I am now.”
Elteel realized that the light in her eyes was anger.
She had never seen such emotion from Lonzder before.
“I am who I am now because I was myself. Not because of your help. Not because you were the cause. What if you were the cause? Tell me.”
“…………Well, I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? Ha, what are you apologizing for?”
“No… I just didn’t think you’d get that angry…”
Elteel hesitated a little, shifted her gaze, and
“Um—I was thinking maybe I should add some brandy to your tea next time.”
Without hesitation, she was thrown, and Elteel was slammed into the water’s surface.
●
“Ngggggh…!”
“No, I’m sorry. This is really my fault. I was wrong.”
Lonzder crossed her arms with her chest resting on them, expressing her anger through growling sounds toward Elteel, who was apologizing profusely beside her. She was filled with a different kind of anger than before.
“You… no, are you serious? Is that your personality? What’s with your fanatical devotion to Norman? Your character is completely different.”
“Well, that’s because it’s Norman-sama.”
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about!”
She shouted, then felt embarrassed.
She had overthought things on her own, talked about her past, and raged—and this was the result.
“Speaking of ‘that’s what I’m talking about’… it was surprising.”
“…What was?”
“Seeing Lonzder-san get angry like that earlier. I thought you didn’t care about anything except Norman-sama, alcohol, gambling, cigarettes, and solving mysteries.”
“This girl, really…”
Her perception of Elteel was being rewritten one after another.
Then, Lonzder suddenly realized something.
“Come to think of it. We hardly know anything about each other that doesn’t involve Norman, do we?”
“…………………………T-true.”
Elteel’s eyes widened in surprise.
Both of them had Norman so central to their beings that they hadn’t noticed.
Elteel only knew Lonzder as a detective, and while Lonzder knew about her circumstances, she knew nothing about her mentality.
It should be said that she had no interest.
It had already been a month since the detective agency was established, and yet here they were.
“I’m… what should I say about myself…”
She looked up at the sky in exasperation.
“Well, no wonder our teamwork doesn’t work well.”
“During investigations, I thought we worked surprisingly well together.”
“Me too. …But thinking about it now, that was because we completely divided roles. You’re probably used to behaving as a detective’s assistant, and so am I. That’s why there were no problems.”
But when it came to combat, that was a different story.
Lonzder had Lonzder’s way of fighting, and Elteel had Elteel’s way of fighting.
Since they never tried to coordinate from the beginning, they almost collided by accident from the very start.
They chose to retreat citing insufficient information, but what would have happened if they had continued?
Probably something terrible.
“Until last month, I was thinking I’d kill you if you got in my way.”
Up until now, including Shizuku and Cklares, the reason they hadn’t clashed and had intentionally kept their distance was because they knew Norman loved and tried to protect each of them.
So last month, when they tried to go save Norman at Balldlum Tower, a strange four-way battle occurred where someone would try to kill someone else, and someone would go to interfere.
And now she was sharing a bath with such a person.
“…………Hey, Elteel.”
“What is it?”
“Setting aside Norman and 《Unlaw》, what do you think would have happened if we had met?”
Immediately after asking, she regretted being too sentimental.
But before she could take it back, Elteel answered.
“Let’s see. If you had taken in a runaway like me… I think I might have actually wanted to be Lonzder-san’s assistant.”
“Huh?”
“You see, the reason I ran away was ultimately because I wanted to be independent.”
“Are you serious?”
“No, I’m being quite casual about it.”
She wanted to throw her again.
But,
“…Heh.”
She couldn’t help but laugh.
In that case,
“Fine. ——Casually, but let’s go for revenge together.”
●
“Huh? Did you two’s atmosphere change somehow?”
Those were Norman’s words as he greeted the two who had returned to the tavern from the bath.
“…You know. Sometimes I think you’re a bit creepy.”
“We became a little closer.”
Lonzder smiled wryly, and Elteel replied with a smile.
“…………Huh. That’s good.”
Norman nodded repeatedly.
“Well then, shall we have a serious talk? What would you like to drink?”
“Alcohol! And bring me cigarettes too.”
“Ah, I’ll prepare them.”
“No, it’s okay here. Vee will take care of it.”
Where Norman indicated, near the counter, the child who had guided them through the sewers—Vee—was waiting.
This child seemed to be their caretaker, having prepared clothes for after their bath and doing laundry for the clothes that got wet in the sewers. Norman and Elteel ordered tea, Lonzder ordered alcohol as she had shouted, and she got cigarettes from Norman.
While the three of them sat around the table waiting for their orders,
“Both El and Lonzder-san look fresh in those outfits.”
“What? Are you excited?”
Both were given simple men’s denim and white shirts. While Lonzder, who usually dressed like a man, was fine, the large-bodied Elteel’s shirt was too short, leaving her midriff exposed.
“Mmm, eye candy.”
“…You’re getting a bit creepy like an old man. Hey, Elteel. Is he like this when he’s with you?”
“Norman-sama is always watching over us.”
“Damn, I understand it but the difference in treatment pisses me off…”
Their respective drinks and food were brought over. Lots of fried bread, sausages and ham, cheese. Though it was provided by the homeless,
“Well, it’s actually quite delicious.”
“The bread is fried because it’s been a while since it was baked. Oh, the cheese is normally delicious. Hmm, sausages and ham keep well too. It makes sense.”
“Apparently so. That’s their wisdom, you see.”
Each of them savored their food, with Elteel in particular consuming meat at a high pace while,
“Now then, both of you. Shall we talk about that Owen-Whisper matter?”
“Right. That’s the problem. What the hell is with that guy? I don’t understand him. Strange weapon, athletic performance completely different from a year and a half ago. Norman, could you dodge a simultaneous attack from me and Elteel at first sight while counterattacking?”
“Eh… at first sight? That’s impossible.”
“But he pulled it off. It’s a mystery.”
“So we struggled and had to retreat once…”
“Hey Elteel. We didn’t struggle and retreat. We swiftly retreated because we knew we would struggle.”
“…? Was there a difference just now?”
“It’s completely different.”
“Norman-sama? ——Isn’t this person extremely troublesome?”
“This girl…!”
“Now, now, now, now, now.”
Norman mediated with a beaming smile.
“Anyway. Finding out that Whisper, who strangely had no information, was indeed strange as expected, is significant. I had a bad feeling when nee-san was reluctant to share information.”
“What about it, Norman? He was waiting specifically for us. You must have brought some usable information or something, right?”
“No, I didn’t bring any.”
But, he pointed between Elteel and Lonzder,
“I brought someone who has it. ——I mean, aren’t you going to join the conversation?”
“I have no intention of getting chummy with you people, Hamish.”
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