453: What Made the Venomous Serpent
For a while, the two of us looked in the direction Shino-san had disappeared. An awkward silence hung in the air.
Liz turned her gaze to me. A sidelong glance.
“…You seem to like people like senpai, Master. A dark elf, a maid—and an assassin.”
“…That’s you, isn’t it?”
It was true that I found elf ears adorable, and my love for maids was on a slightly strange level. And to be looked at with emotionless eyes had become a habit.
“To have taken down the top assassin of the Royal Guard in such a short time, what in the world did you do?”
“That’s a terrible thing to say.”
“Because senpai has never shown any real emotion, and I’ve never heard her joke, and she’s the kind of person who has thrown everything away for the sake of her mission!”
What a thing to say. But…
“…Have you ever done that, Liz?”
“Huh?”
“Have you ever shown your emotions to Shino-san? Have you ever told a joke? …Have you ever prioritized your personal feelings over your work?”
“That… is…”
Liz fell silent. I didn’t know if she had been as bad as Shino-san, but Liz, too, before I had taken the name of the Lord of Disease, and for a while after that—had never shown her emotions.
Liz had gradually gotten used to me. …Mainly, in the form of an exasperated voice, she had first shown her emotions. She had sometimes gotten a little angry, and her reprimands had become mixed with a chuckle, and her sarcasm… yes, her jokes had begun to mix in.
I had wished for such a vice-commander. That was her mission. —To be by my side, a weak human, and to be in a position where she would allow me to show my weakness, was her ‘job.’
Liz, who had grown to the point where she could rip the covers off my bed in the morning, in just a year, was truly something. A Royal Guard-class growth rate.
“…The fact that Shino-san said she was envious is surely something that everyone has created.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes.”
I had heard that the Sixth Army was a popular workplace. And the Lord of Disease had been ranked number one in the ‘ranking of the officers you would want as your superior.’
But if it hadn’t been for Liz. If she hadn’t returned a lighthearted remark with a lighthearted remark. If she hadn’t answered trust with trust.
…If it hadn’t been for such a vice-commander.
If I had been constantly treated coldly by Liz, then even I was not that mentally strong, and my heart might have been broken. So, the fact that the current Sixth Army, and the Lord of Disease, existed was thanks to her.
Liz had once shown me a personal feeling that was contrary to her work. In Itria, even after she had recognized my necessity. She had bent the pride she had held onto, after she had thrown everything away, and she had still told me that it was alright to run.
I didn’t know what Shino-san had been like in the Royal Guard. I had a feeling that Liz was a special case, but the army was a world where rank and orders were absolute. I, too, while I had allowed a lighthearted and relaxed atmosphere, had treated the ranks as absolute, and I had even given the order to my subordinates to die.
…I had a feeling that Shino-san’s muttering was a way of relieving a little stress. Though I had been the type to use the absolute rank as a shield and to order my subordinates to take a bath. Shino-san seemed to be a serious person, and from Liz’s tone, she was probably the type to draw a line.
I hugged Liz. I leaned in and whispered in her long ear.
“By the way, I’m full of desires, but will you still accept me?”
“…You really are a greedy person.”
Liz, with an exasperated voice. …When she had just become my vice-commander, the time when she had shown the most emotion was when she had been exasperated with me. So, if I were to confess that I liked Liz’s exasperated voice, more than she probably thought, I wondered if she would be angry.
Liz hugged me back. Her mouth was brought close to my short ear.
“Because you are that kind of a Master, I love you.”
My ear was ticklish. I turned the ticklish feeling into a smile and, as I laughed, I pulled away and we looked at each other, our noses almost touching. The happiness of having my entire vision filled with Liz. Though we were too close to focus, that was that.
Liz squeezed the hand she had wrapped around my waist. I interpreted that as an adorable invitation and, as I closed my eyes and erased her from my vision, I closed the distance between our lips. Even with my eyes closed, my head was filled with Liz, as if it were melting in the feel of her lips and her tongue.
As we both broke the kiss, Liz let out a breath and relaxed, and she leaned her weight against me.
“My maid is only Liz.”
“…I’m the only one who can do it.”
Liz smiled and replied. I, too, smiled and, as I crouched down, I wrapped my arms around her legs and lifted her in a princess carry. The skirts and the aprons, and the ribbons of our two maid uniforms, fluttered.
“—Everyone, the test is over as of this moment. You’ve worked hard. But for that reason, the traps and the other things are thin. Do not let your guard down. The security from now on will be as we have discussed.”
There were no houses nearby, but since it was night, I didn’t use an amplification spell and just raised my voice.
“And until morning, no one is to enter my room.”
And I lightly jumped from the wall and walked through the garden, avoiding the traps that had been set. I was the one who had set them, and after watching nineteen people, I knew them like the back of my hand.
Liz, in my arms, stared at me.
“…Master?”
“Because I’m a greedy person.”
Today, for once, I was the one in a different outfit. Though the design was different, we were in the same maid uniform, and we were like colleagues, and it was also like the master of the mansion was in disguise, in a servant’s attire, and my delusions were running wild.
“Hehe…”
Liz laughed, with an exasperated voice. Though she was chuckling, the fact that she was accepting it made me happy—
“Then I won’t let you sleep tonight.”
…I was happy, but. Liz’s desires, too, were a little special, I thought.
