Lord of Disease (JP-GL) 120

120: I Met a Fairy in the Library

I had returned to the mansion after our ‘inspection tour’ of Liverit Village.

There was a library in my mansion.

I’d heard that the previous owner had passed away about ten years ago, leaving the mansion vacant.

Since then, it had been maintained by the state, but no one had moved in, due to its slightly inconvenient location on the outskirts of the capital.

Perhaps it was intended to serve as a secondary line of defense for the capital, but the high-end residential district on the outskirts of the castle town, which already served as the final line of defense, was more suitable for that purpose.

According to Liz, there was another high-end residential district near the royal castle, a last resort for the wealthy, who fully intended to be protected in case of an emergency.

But this slightly inconvenient mansion was perfect for me, the Lord of Disease, commander of the Sixth Army, who needed a ‘strategically important, yet seemingly vulnerable’ base to serve as a decoy.

Even as a branch of the Demon King’s army, the Sixth Army was a small unit, so this mansion was just the right size. While there were many empty rooms, we were expecting more guards, so we might eventually have enough people to fill it.

And the mansion still had some of the original furniture, and a library full of books. So, I frequented the library, for both serious study and entertainment.

And it was in that library, today, that I met a fairy with adorable elf ears.

Well, it was Rebecca. And I knew she was an undead, a material ghost, not a fairy.

“Rebecca! What’s with that?!”

“What is it? You look so flustered.”

She was holding a large book, seemingly too large for her small frame, with ease. She wore her usual black, frilly shirt and skirt. Her smooth, white skin, like the finest porcelain, and her long silver hair, like the pale light of a winter dawn, were also the same as always.

And her deep crimson eyes… were now looking at me through a filter.

The name of that filter was… glasses.

Thin, silver-rimmed, oval glasses, a delicate frame that perfectly suited Rebecca’s ethereal, almost fragile beauty, when she wasn’t speaking.

[Illustration (By Mitemin)]

“I had no idea, big sister! That Rebecca was a meganekko!”

“Who are you calling big sister? …And what about the glasses?” Rebecca tilted her head.

It was an almost offensively cute gesture, but it was part of her communication style as an undead, to express herself clearly through her actions.

She was quite expressive for an undead, but she knew that those of other races often had difficulty reading her expressions.

What might seem like an over-the-top gesture in modern Japan was a natural form of etiquette in the multiracial nation of Listrea, a skill that the more competent naturally acquired.

And for me, Liz and Rebecca’s little gestures were a source of daily comfort and joy.

“I had no idea Rebecca was a meganekko. A former elf, a material ghost, a necromancer, in a black gothic lolita outfit… with glasses? Isn’t that a bit much?”

“I don’t understand.” Rebecca shook her head, a clear gesture that said, “I don’t understand.”

I ignored her and declared,

“But it’s cute, so it’s okay! Big sister fully supports meganekko!!”

“Please. Try to have a conversation that I can understand.”

“Sorry. I was just so… moved. By the way, Rebecca, this is the first time I’ve seen you with glasses, and I haven’t really seen anyone else wearing them, either.”

Glasses. An important item that enhanced the intellectual cuteness of a cute girl.

But… I’d almost never seen them in this world. The only other time had been at the royal castle’s workshop, when I’d gone there for the bromide production, and the person wearing them had been an old dark elf, his silver hair faded to white.

He’d been cute in his own way, but this was the first time I’d seen a cute meganekko since I’d been transferred to this world.

“Well… they’re a luxury item… and there’s not much need for them.”

“Why?”

“Most eye ailments can be cured with healing magic, and with physical enhancement magic, poor eyesight is rarely a problem. And it’s difficult to make high-quality lenses.”

“What a tragedy… some people would be crying tears of blood…” I shook my head, my hand to my forehead.

This world of magic, a world where ‘everyday magic’ was so widespread that it had reached even the common household, was often quite convenient.

But there were things that were lost due to that convenience.

Like meganekko.

“Who are these ‘some people’?” Rebecca’s eyes were filled with exasperation. At this point, I couldn’t tell if she was just feigning exasperation as a form of etiquette, or if she was genuinely exasperated.

“But what about your glasses? Your eyesight isn’t bad, is it?”

“They’re for detailed work. They’re more for seeing mana and spells than for correcting vision, so they don’t have a prescription.”

“I see. That’s why your face doesn’t look distorted.”

“What are you talking about?”

“When you wear glasses, your face… looks a little distorted, because of the lenses.” I gestured with my hands, moving them in and out by the sides of my face.

“Oh… so glasses were common in your world?”

“They were.”

“I’d like to hear about that, too.” Liz appeared silently behind me. I turned and smiled at her.

“Still hungry for information?”