Lord of Disease (JP-GL) 492

492: Layla and Laila

“Daisy-neechan!”

“Ah, Lai—la?!”

As I was waiting for Liz in the break room after work, the loli maid—Laila—who had come in and had accelerated, tackled me.

I caught her and stroked her head. Her light brown hair, which was the same as her sister’s and reached her shoulders, was glossy and fluffy, and it was pleasant to touch. And when I touched her droopy dog ears, she narrowed her eyes, as if in pleasure, and wagged her fluffy tail.

When she had stopped moving, I said to her.

“…Laila? If I had been a living being, that would have been dangerous, so please be a little more gentle.”

“But you’re a wraith, aren’t you, Daisy-neechan?”

“…Yes.”

“So, it’s not a problem if I jump on you, right?”

“…Wait, no. It’s dangerous if you do it to other people.”

“I won’t do it to anyone but you, Daisy-neechan.”

Laila, who was refuting me, one by one. I wondered what made her do that. In theory, there was no problem.

“…Layla.”

But I had a feeling that it was an illusion created by her strong will, and I couldn’t help but look at Layla, who had come in after Laila. She spread her hands and threw me a lifeline.

“Laila, Daisy-san is in trouble. Now, come to your big sister.”

“Big sister is a separate matter.”

At her words, which were so full of confidence, we couldn’t help but look at each other. Laila looked at Layla and smiled, innocently.

“It’s alright. My true love is Layla-neechan.”

“Wait, no… huh?”

What was a real sister supposed to do, when her real little sister said such a thing? I thought I would probably be at a loss for words, just like the current Layla.

“But I also like Daisy-neechan.”

And what was I supposed to do, when she said that? Laila, who was burying her face in my thin chest and was looking satisfied.

She might be a femme fatale. Laila was born the year after the end of the war, the first post-war generation. —Was this a sign that the generations were changing?

For now, I decided to ignore it and looked at Layla.

“For now… I think it was a good first day. What about everyone else?”

“A few of them were a little nervous, but I think it was good. But somehow, I have a feeling they were too nervous…”

“Because there were the supreme commanders of the Demon King’s army, right? I think it’s only natural.”

“…Laila? What do you mean by that?”

“So, there were a lot of people I’ve seen in the bromides.”

Laila seemed to have known. …But she hadn’t been intimidated at all.

Her work was mainly cleaning the guest rooms and serving the guests, which was not physically demanding. In Listrea, small children were treated with great care. Because the long-lived species, as a whole, had a low birth rate, and since their lifespan was long, the proportion of children was inevitably small. So, she stood out, and she had been asked questions, but she had handled it so well that I couldn’t believe she was the same person who had jumped on me.

—If she had known that the other party was Your Majesty the Demon King and the Old One, and had still been like that, then she was a frightening child.

“…Manager…”

Layla, who was looking at me with a reproachful look.

“You, who have ridden on the back of a supreme commander of the Demon King’s army, what are you saying now?”

“That’s right. I heard you pointed a knife at ‘that’ Lord of Disease.”

The person who was now sitting on the lap of that Lord of Disease was saying something. Of course, she knew that I was the Lord of Disease. Even though she didn’t know me during the war—she knew, and this was it.

“N-no. That was… um… I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

It wasn’t for Layla to apologize. It was a natural response… or rather, it had been a rather aggressive response, with a strong resolve, but I liked a person like her, who had resisted with all her might against an injustice that was trying to trample on her precious things.

“It happened quite often.”

“…Huh?”

“…Daisy-neechan?”

The two of them, with a bewildered expression.

“Are there that many people who have pointed a weapon at the Lord of Disease?”

“There are a lot. …I think there are more who are no longer here.”

Many assassins whose faces I didn’t even know. And if you were to count the enemy soldiers, then even more. Most of them were no longer here. No longer—alive.

“…Rather, are there any who are still alive?”

“There are a few. For example, Samarkand is one. And then… the commander of the Dark Knights, right? And the veteran griffin rider of the Third Army’s magical beast division, right? And the commander of the heavy cavalry, right?”

I counted on my fingers. Samarkand, Bridget, Aithys, and Dustin Wenfield… to be precise, his subordinate assassin. That was about it. Just to be alive, there were quite a few.

“…Lord of Disease, why are you still alive?”

“The resurrection period is over, so please call me Daisy.”

Layla rephrased.

“Daisy-san, why are you still alive and well?”

“For the most part, I got through it with guts, momentum, and a bluff.”

Layla’s expression was one of exasperation.

“…Daisy-san, I think there will come a time when guts, momentum, and a bluff won’t be enough, so please be careful with your body and your actions from now on.”

“That’s why I was planning to. That’s why I retired.”

The Sixth Army, and the Lord of Disease, had fulfilled their roles. So, I had thought I would put this name away in my heart and make it a memory among my comrades. If it hadn’t been for something like this.

I didn’t think I would be returning to the army—unless my business failed and I had to prostrate myself before Shino-san and get a new job.

The Lord of Disease was… no more. The one who was here was Daisy Finis, the manager of Lital Hot Springs.

“…Daisy-neechan, please don’t do anything dangerous from now on.”

Laila, who had pulled away a little, looked up at me.

“As much as possible.”

“Not as much as possible! Absolutely not!”

Laila, who was glaring at me. I was happy that she was treating me like that, even though she knew I was the former Lord of Disease, and I smiled.

“…I can’t promise that.”

“—Why?”

Laila, who was glaring at me even more strongly. A considerable force in her gaze.

“I would do that, again and again. If I wanted to help someone who was trying to protect their precious things.”

“…………” Laila fell silent. And she looked away.

“…If it weren’t for Liz-neechan, I would have fallen for you.”

“No, you have Layla-neechan, don’t you? To try to cross the Lital Mountains with that kind of equipment is quite something.”

Even if she couldn’t forgive the impostor… the reason I had been so considerate of them was because the sight of a ‘big sister,’ who loved her little sister, and who, even as she acknowledged that she had no power, had searched for what she could do… and had despaired, and had given up, and yet had tried to resist with a weapon in her hand, had been so dazzling.

“…That’s right.” Laila smiled. A smile that was appropriate for her age.

“—But don’t do anything dangerous, okay?”

If I were to say that I hadn’t done anything ‘dangerous,’ by my standards, I wondered if she would be angry. The one I had been most considerate of was the part of trying to be as considerate as possible for the residents, including Layla and Laila. I had been consulting with Layla, and we had decided to invite the people of the pioneer village she had been in, at the end of the season.

“…Yes, I’ll be careful.”

“Good.” I placed my hand on Laila’s head again and stroked it, and she nodded, satisfied.

“By the way.”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

“The first one to press a knife to my neck was Liz, and now she’s my bride.”

“…Isn’t that a little too special of a story?”

“It just sounds like you’re bragging.”