402: EX5. A Serpent in Love with a Dagger
On that day, everyone in the troupe was in a flutter.
And I—Clarion—was no exception.
There was a mountain of things to do. The ‘actors’ were especially restless, but the props, both large and small, and the theater itself had not yet been checked, so the overall atmosphere was one of a frantic rush.
I, too, was an actor, but since I was also the leader of this troupe, I had a mountain of things to do besides practice. The leader herself, in her easy-to-move-in pants, sweater, and apron, was also carrying things in a wooden box.
Now, I was in a dream I had once seen.
That the ‘doppelgangers’—we, who until just a year ago had been called ‘abominations who do not inherit their mother’s blood’—would proudly declare our race… and would stand on a glamorous stage. Who would have imagined such a future?
The name of the troupe was the Serpent’s Tongue.
It was a name taken from the emblem of the Sixth Army, the ‘serpent with a dagger in its mouth.’
We were the tongues of a venomous serpent. As the disinformation unit, we had spread rumors that had ravaged the hearts of the people, and we had continued to pour a poison that would rot their ears into the ears of the humans.
While the damage to the capital had been small, it was not as if there had been no looting or destruction. There had been districts that had been hit hard.
The district we were in now. In the capital, where there were many stone buildings, there had been many wooden buildings, and it was presumed that they had been destroyed for fuel and had been turned into firewood.
And this theater had been built there. It was not exclusively for our troupe.
—“The urgent problems of housing and food have been settled. So, what is needed next? —Yes, entertainment,” a certain person had said.
I thought what she was saying was right. But I wondered why the smile on her face was that of a villain.
For us ‘actors,’ that smile was a familiar one. In fact, it was a smile that even made us feel relieved… but it wasn’t so strange.
Only that person had continued to believe in us. Our loyalty—was not to the nation, nor to Your Majesty the Demon King, but to that person.
A voice called out from behind.
“Clarion, you look busy, but do you have a moment?”
“—‘Master’!”
I turned, and when I saw her, my face lit up.
“…You’ve started to smile.”
Our master, too, had a much softer smile now. Perhaps it was thanks to the dark elf in the maid uniform, with her trademark red scarf, who was beside her—Lizlit-sama.
Among the ‘actors’—the twenty-eight doppelgangers who formed the core of the troupe—there were many who would wait for Lizlit-sama to be present before they spoke to Master.
I had been the go-between for a long time, but there were times when I had to speak to her alone… and so, at the very least, when there were other people around.
We were the tongues of a venomous serpent. The survivors of the disinformation unit, which the Sixth Army had been proud of.
—The commander, who had been called by the name of the Lord of Disease, had, after the war, while keeping the details a secret, praised the ‘heroes who had made a great contribution,’ and we, too… had been showered with praise.
There had been voices of contempt, calling us doppelganger scum, but they had been drowned out by the louder voices of praise.
It would be a lie to say that it hadn’t bothered me at all. But in the end, for us… the trust of Master and of everyone in the Sixth Army who had followed her was everything.
“So, Clarion, about that matter, I’m ready.”
“…That matter?”
I had no memory of it.
“You know, the food stall.”
“…Huh? You were… serious about that?”
At my wide-eyed expression, Lizlit-sama sighed and said, “…Clarion, this person is always serious.”
“Liz knows me so well.” Master nodded. And she grinned.
“It’s fun to have power.”
“…I have a feeling you’re using it wrong.”
“I think this is just right.” Master laughed at Lizlit-sama’s words, which she had said while looking away. …Perhaps it was.
The parasites, who had misjudged the weight of power, and its use… and their own strength, had been crushed.
But I had a feeling Master was using her power wrong. Though I wouldn’t say it out loud.
“—Everyone, I’ve brought you something! Those who can’t get away now, come later.”
They gathered, one after another.
“Master!”
“Thank you for coming!”
“You brought us something?”
Everyone’s face was bright. …I, too, was like a different person from during the war. It wasn’t that we hadn’t gotten along, but everyone had been silent… and expressionless.
“…Wait, but you’re empty-handed.” One of them tilted her head.
“Jose, rest assured. It’s already ‘prepared.’”
“…Ah, Samarkand-sama is bringing it later…?”
“Ecol, that’s not it. It’s already ‘prepared.’”
Master smiled, a truly joyful smile.
After the war, she had remembered all of our faces and names. She wasn’t so good as to be able to remember a person’s face and name at a single glance… and at first, she had often mixed them up. Aside from me, who had been the go-between, and Josephine, who had served as her attendant in Wessphia. …But I remembered that everyone had seemed to be enjoying it, even when they were mistaken. It was probably… because they were happy that she was seeing them as individuals.
Incidentally, she seemed to be trying to distinguish the knights of the bodyguard unit now. She said she could distinguish them with their magical signatures, but she was still trying to distinguish them by their faces. The fact that she had been trying to distinguish skeletons by their faces alone was surprising. She had said that when she had been a human, she hadn’t been able to tell the difference in their magical signatures.
…When I heard that, I thought… she really was from a world without magic.
For us, magic had always been a part of our lives, and a magical signature was essential for judging an enemy’s strength. Not just for soldiers, but for ordinary people as well, it was a matter of life and death, in the sense of whether you could avoid an encounter with a magical beast. …Well, in reality, by the time you detected them, you had often already been caught.
She beckoned with a grand gesture… and we went outside the theater. The moment we stepped outside, we were hit by a smell that was a direct assault on a hungry stomach—fried oil, meat, sweets…
On the main street in front of the theater… a row of food stalls, from one end to the other.
“It’s all you can eat for the troupe! —Ah, and for the people who are building the theater, too.”
Everyone was speechless. I had thought I had heard a noise outside, but since there were many construction sites in this district, I hadn’t thought it was particularly strange. And I had smelled it, but since it was lunchtime, I hadn’t felt any sense of unease.
To think that all of this was a gift.
“…Master, you were really serious… when you said, ‘It would be nice if there were food stalls in front of the theater, so we could buy food.’”
“I was really serious.” She nodded and, from her pocket, she took out a card with the emblem of the Sixth Army. It was black.
“A black card… hehe…” For some reason, Master had a strange smile on her face.
I approached Lizlit-sama and asked, “Lizlit-sama, is there something special about the color black?”
“It’s a ‘playful touch,’ apparently. She said that in her homeland, there were ‘cards that you could use to shop just by showing them.’ And that black was the ‘strongest color’…”
“…The strongest? That sounds strangely suspicious.”
“It’s Master, so it can’t be helped.” Lizlit-sama said, as if it were nothing.
Master held up the black card.
“If you have this card, which I’ll be handing out later, you can shop for free at the food stalls on this street. Let me demonstrate. —Old man, a basket of fried potatoes!”
“Sure thing!”
The shopkeeper, a rather old dark elf with a white mustache, scooped the fried potatoes from the oil and shook them in a wire basket. The oil splattered, but he must have had a resistance enchantment. A blend of salt and pepper was sprinkled on.
“The basket, if you return it later, you’ll get a copper coin back… but that doesn’t matter to someone with a card. Well, I’d appreciate it if you could return it, if possible.”
“Yes! Everyone, you heard that? It’s a little special, but please follow the shopkeeper’s instructions.”
And she brought the fried potatoes to her mouth… to Lizlit-sama’s mouth.
“Liz, say ‘ah.’”
“…Honestly, you don’t need a poison taster in peacetime.”
“You know, Liz.” She smiled.
“To be honest, I just wanted an excuse to flirt with my cute maid.”
“…To be told that so honestly, I can’t even get angry.”
“Thank you, Liz. And now, I want to flirt with my cute bride.”
“You’re so honest, Master.”
“That’s my best quality.”
Lizlit-sama, as if she had given up, took a bite of the offered fried potato.
“In my homeland, the thin or slender ones were popular. But I like the thick ones…”
“We have those, too, and there are people who like them. But since they take more effort, they tend to be more expensive, and the thick ones are more filling.”
As they were talking, Lizlit-sama naturally took a fried potato and offered it. Master also took a bite, naturally.
“Yes, a happy taste.”
“You’re being so abstract again.”
“The feeling of liberation of eating outside on a sunny day, and the umami of the fried potatoes that hits your brain directly, is enhanced by the roughly sprinkled salt and pepper. And since the oil has been properly drained, it’s not greasy. And besides, to feed each other with a cute bride is to reaffirm your good relationship, and to feel a sense of happiness.”
“No one asked you to be so specific.”
Lizlit-sama sighed.
—Who would imagine that ‘that’ Lord of Disease was such a person?
It was the same for us, who had known her before she had been called the Lord of Disease. We had not imagined that she was this kind of a person. No… we couldn’t have.
Because that person had been frightening.
