Lord of Disease (JP-GL) 276

276: The Serpent and the Dagger

The plan for today’s date was entirely up to Liz.

Apparently, she had to submit a plan to the security detail.

And since I didn’t go out much, I didn’t know the capital very well. Liz, on the other hand, while she did travel, was primarily stationed at the royal castle and was familiar with the capital.

That said, she had once had a room in the royal castle and had rarely gone out for non-mission-related reasons. And while she did go to the market as a maid, and so went out more now, that, too, was a mission.

With a cheerful Liz, we walked through the market, occasionally being greeted, and then, in a shopping district with many iconic signs, despite the high literacy rate, we browsed the general stores and bookstores and then settled down at a coffee shop.

An open-air terrace, perfect for the pleasant May weather. Though in Japan, it would probably still be too cold to be popular. The fact that we could enjoy it was entirely thanks to the magic-woven clothes and magic items—in other words, the power of magic.

With the power of science, even if the inside of the shop was heated, I probably wouldn’t have felt like having tea outside in such thin clothes. In Liz’s case, she was also a dark elf, so she was more resilient than a human.

We ordered hot milk and scones, a rather standard combination in the Listrea Demon Kingdom. Herbal tea, especially the blend, was also a standard, but since it was cheap, we often drank it at the mansion. Coffee was a luxury item, and tea was also quite expensive. While they were delicious, the price difference with Japan was a concern for a commoner like me. So, these were a rare treat.

The milk, while familiar to a Japanese person, was… farm-fresh… or rather, locally produced, and it had the taste of a high-end milk. And the fact that it was cheap, even with my supreme commander’s salary, was a great pleasure for my still-frugal spirit.

And the freshness of the butter was noteworthy. So, while I could have chosen jam or butter for my scones, I chose butter.

As I nibbled on my scone, I looked at Liz.

“…By the way, Liz, today’s route…”

“You noticed?”

“Yes. It’s the same route I took when I snuck out alone.”

It had been before the Black Hound Barghests of the Sixth Army had been associated with the Lord of Disease, so I had taken one of them, who I had taught to act as much like a normal dog as possible, and had snuck out of the mansion alone.

That had been before Rebecca, Harken, and the death knights, and even Samarkand, had been here. It had just been me and Liz in the mansion. I had loved her then, just as I did now, but I had been unable to bear the suffocating lack of freedom, and I had snuck out alone several times. Crawling on my belly, through the trap zone, which had been even more heavily guarded then.

“I’m sorry about that.”

It wasn’t normal. Even setting aside the fact that you couldn’t normally use a Barghest’s power, it wasn’t normal for a grown-up protectee to sneak out of their own security detail.

“Yes, it’s not. Who would have thought you could get through that security network by crawling and giving orders to a Barghest? I’m filled with a desire to erase the past where I wrote in my report, ‘Possibility of using an unknown magic. Or, possibility of having stealth skills superior to my own.’”

“You wrote that?”

“Well, in a way, to be able to command a Barghest to that extent… is like an unknown magic…”

Liz sighed lightly and took a bite of her scone.

“This is delicious.”

“It is.”

But Liz’s expression was a little down.

“…My cooking is… amateurish, isn’t it?”

“Restaurant food and home cooking are different, and there’s the atmosphere… I’m just happy that a maid named Liz is cooking for me.”

“Isn’t that also just the atmosphere?”

I couldn’t quite deny it. But between having tea on an open-air terrace and eating a meal with a dark elf maid in a mansion, the latter was clearly the rarer experience. And the former, if it was a date with a dark elf in a cute, different outfit, was even rarer.

This was, surely, my happiness.

“…Liz.”

“What is it?”

Liz tilted her head, pausing with her hot milk. Cute.

I was about to say, I love you. But my throat was tight, and I couldn’t say it. So, I changed it to something easier to say.

“When I’m with you, I’m happy.”

“I’m honored.” Liz smiled lightly and drank her hot milk, her expression composed. The tip of her scarf, which was draped over the back of her chair, twitched.

I wondered why happy times always ended so quickly. After leaving the coffee shop and strolling through the capital for a while, we headed home.

A golden light, reflected from the setting sun, caught my eye. Liz’s button.

“By the way, Liz, that button…”

“Oh, this?” Liz turned to me, and the gold button glinted. The design on the button, which fastened a belt of the same fabric as her one-piece, was a serpent.

“Elisha-san asked me what I wanted. I’m not particularly picky about clothes… but I just…”

The basic design of the maid uniform was mine, but I hadn’t specified the design of the cufflinks. It had been Liz herself who had chosen the Sixth Army emblem, the ‘serpent with a dagger in its mouth,’ for the cufflinks. But this serpent was similar, yet different.

“It’s similar to the Sixth Army emblem, but different… right?”

“Yes. It’s a ‘serpent without a dagger.’”

Liz smiled.

“…I hope it will be like that someday. A world where a serpent doesn’t have to hold a dagger… a world where Master doesn’t have to call herself the Lord of Disease and be feared even by her allies. I think that would be your happiness.”

The serpent was me. —Then, what was the dagger?

“Now, let’s go. I want to get back before it gets dark.”

Liz started walking. I instinctively reached out, but I couldn’t even bring myself to hold her hand, and all I could do was touch the sleeve of her dress.

But that was enough for Liz to turn to me. She was backlit by the setting sun, and I could barely see her expression.

“Will you… be with me, Liz?”

“…I hope so.”

My happiness… the serpent’s happiness… was surely not to be found after the dagger had been discarded.

As we stood there, unable to say anything more, a black cat slipped between us.

“Liz… a black cat crossed our path…” I clung to Liz, as if for dear life.

“Huh? …Ah, they say that in the human countries.” Liz muttered.

“You really are human, aren’t you, Master…”

“Huh?” Liz looked at me, her expression quizzical.

“…You’re upset because a black cat crossed your path, right? Because it’s bad luck.”

“No.” I shook my head. And I clenched my fist and declared.

“A cute black cat crossed my path! I’m so lucky!”

“…Wait, you were happy?”

“Yes. I was trembling with joy.”

“…By the way, do you think this cat is ‘cute,’ Master?”

The black cat, which had crossed our path and was now looking back at us, had a rather mean look in its eyes, as if it had lived a hard life on the streets. In the twilight, its pale golden eyes seemed to be glaring at us—

“Yes. An innocent child is cute, but a child with a sharp gaze is also cute.”

But this was probably normal.

“I have a feeling your tastes are a little… special, Master.”

“They’re perfectly normal.”

I crouched down and held out my hand.

“Meow.”

“…Do you have a special ability to speak cat?”

“Of course not. And you should crouch down, too, Liz.”

Cats were wary of standing humans. Using the cat knowledge I had apparently acquired in modern Japan, which now seemed like a past life, I lowered my posture, averted my gaze slightly, and waited, my hand held low.

The black cat came closer… and the moment I reached out, it slipped away. And it stopped a few paces away and stared at me.

“Aren’t you going to give up?”

“That’s not an option.”

It came closer again… and this time, as I remained still, it gently bit my sleeve and pulled.

“…You want me to follow you?”

It pulled again, and then, its tail swishing, it walked away.

“…Can we follow it?”

“Well, I don’t mind. …Even I didn’t know you were a cat lover, Master, and I doubt it’s a trap.”

The place the cat led us to, a back alley, was where a ‘terrible enemy’ was waiting.

Three small kittens, not newborns, but still small. The black cat, who was apparently their mother, stared at me.

To put it nicely, I felt like she was trusting me, that she thought, This person will do something. To put it less nicely, I felt like she was convinced that, This sucker will take care of them.

“Liz, you know what I’m trying to say, don’t you?”

“…Yes, I do.” Liz nodded, a look of resignation on her face.

“Rebecca, I’m home.”

“Welcome back… hmm?”

Rebecca, who had come to greet us, looked at me, with the three kittens wrapped in my dark green robe, and the mother cat at my feet, and her expression was one of exasperation.

“…Which one of you gave birth?”