I take Shizune with me when I go back to Eril, and she’s really surprised when she experiences Transfer.
“Hm, so they drove out someone with this power? What idiots.”
And she doesn’t forget her snark.
“Shouldn’t you go meet Kotori and the others?”
“…They’re working as adventurers, right? I don’t want to bother them. And I want to take it easy for a bit.”
Says Shizune, probably because Arlon left her behind. That’s quite the change from earlier, when she was insisting she wanted to help.
But maybe it just came as that much of a shock to her.
I didn’t think he’d just leave either, but that place probably is very dangerous.
Being demons, some tend to lack common sense too.
“Oh? Welcome back. That took a while.”
Says Suiren when I return.
“And who is this?”
“She was with a demon called Arlon. I met her over there, but Arlon said it was dangerous, and asked me to bring her with me.”
I almost say he pushed her onto me.
“I see. Welcome to Eril. There isn’t a lot here, but make yourself at home.”
I ask where Elsa and Alto are. Since Reese’s stay here is over, I think it’s time to go to Nahal.
I’ve already talked to Suiren about this, so we already have a wagon ready. It’s too much of a distance for those two to travel by foot.
I could use golems, but since Eris is going to Nahal too, I accepted her offer.
“Hey, her ears are pointy, so is she an elf? I’ve never seen one before.”
Says Shizune. So that’s why she was quiet. It was the surprise over seeing an elf for the first time.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Ah, Sora.”
Elsa is the first one to find us, and all the other kids swarm us.
“Who is this lady?”
“I don’t know her.”
“Her face is red.”
Shizune is surrounded in an instant, and like the kid said, her face is red.
Her face moves all over the place as questions are fired at her from all directions, but she does try to answer them all.
She’s eventually released, and is left breathing heavily while the kids run around.
“Good job. Are you all right?”
“Y-yes.”
Shizune composes her breathing, and looks at the kids.
“So, what are you going to do now? Stay here?”
“What about you?”
“We’re in the middle of conquering a dungeon. We’re going to Nahal, but then we’re going back to Majolica.”
“Majolica… In the Magic State…”
“Suiren has a communications device, so you could use it if you need anything.”
I say, and Shizune looks like she’s thinking.
“Hum…”
Then Elsa and Alto come to me.
They’re sweaty from running around, especially the big beads on their foreheads. So I cast purification magic on them.
“We’re going to leave soon, right?”
“Yes, sorry. I know you made friends here.”
“No, that’s fine. We already knew that.”
Elsa looks a little sad, but she doesn’t say she wants to stay here.
But then someone does something I’m not expecting. Shizune.
“C-c…”
She stutters, and…
“Cute.”
Hugs Elsa and Alto.
“How are you related to these kids!?”
She asks while holding them, so I tell her we live together in Majolica, and they look after the place.
“You make kids this young work!?”
She’s mad.
But then Elsa interjects, and tells her why she and Alto work under us.
“I see, that sounds awful.”
She hugs them tightly.
“I see. I’ll go with you and the others, Sora. I’ll work while looking after them!”
She declares. That comes out of nowhere, but if that’s what she wants, I guess it’s fine?
“If that’s your decision, I’m not going to complain, but… Can you do housework and stuff?”
Why is she looking away?
“Elsa… Sorry, but teach her some things. And tell us if you find out what you want to do, while you’re working, Shizune.”
“Yes, I know.”
She responds right away, but with a half-hearted tone.
Her eyes are on the two kids, so she’s not paying attention to me.
I guess we’ll just see how it goes. But I should contact Kotori.
Two days later, we leave for Nahal like we planned.
The kids don’t want us to leave, but calm down when we say we’ll write to them.
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