“Requesting answer, Ina.”
Qualia entered the room without knocking, because his common sense was still in the learning phase.
As a result, Ina was surprised, and quickly looked at Qualia while closing the book where she was writing.
“W-what is the matter, Master Qualia?”
The book had the word ‘journal’ written on it, but Qualia determined it was not a priority, and looked at Ina again.
“Qualia is going to the capital. Request your company.”
“Fueh!?”
Ina opened her eyes wide with surprise, but understood once she saw Lobelia standing behind Qualia.
“Did Princess Lobelia invite you?”
“Affirmative. Lobelia wishes to include Qualia in her guardian knight order, Hello World.”
“Guardian knight order!? Incredible…”
Chivalric orders were generally seen as honored, as evidenced by Ina’s happy face. She reacted to the news as if it were about her.
“Qualia’s role can also be established through the tasks of Hello World.”
“…Protecting people’s smiles, right?”
“Affirmative. Have determined at present time that detecting tasty faces is connected to the highest estimation.”
“…”
“Request that you accompany Qualia as a maid.”
Ina’s ears twitched and her face loosened into a smile, but her expression gradually became darker. Her smile turned into an expression of resignation.
“But I can’t. I’m only going to get in your way.”
“…Request explanation.”
“I can’t use magic, or fight physically either, and I’m not smart. I can’t assist a guardian knight, and I’m sure Princess Lobelia will assign you a human maid that is better than me.”
Ina expressed her lack of confidence, while rejecting Qualia’s proposal.
Lobelia, who looked on from behind Qualia, realized this, and closed her eyes.
“You might not remember this, Master Qualia, but ever since you found me three years ago, you have given me a lot of memories. There were bad ones as well, but they were three years where I was glad to have been born.”
She was moved to tears, but tried to contain them so she could see him off. She wanted to look closely at Qualia as he stood at that moment, to burn that image into her mind forever.
“You have finally been freed from those days of being treated unfairly. Forget about me, and keep moving forward, doing what you really want…”
“Negative. Evaluating your expression. Result, this smile is not ‘tasty’.”
Qualia put his face so close to Ina’s that they could almost kiss.
Ina held her breath, as Qualia examined her face in detail.
“Qualia’s highest priority is to detect ‘tasty’ smiles from you. Currently, the probability of you smiling if you remain is small. Additionally, there is a chance that Arrows and Wannacry will behave towards you in a detrimental way.”
“But… I won’t be able to do anything even if I go.”
“Qualia learned about ‘heart’ from you.”
“Heart…”
Qualia thought back…
(What is heart?)
To the bug that appeared when he was a weapon of destruction in the old world.
“But Qualia’s understanding of ‘heart’ is incomplete. It is also estimated that the biggest difference between humans and Qualia is ‘heart’.”
“…”
“Request that you monitor Qualia, and see if there are any abnormalities in Qualia’s ‘heart’. Qualia needs you in order to be human.”
“I’m… A beast person.”
“Not a matter to be considered. You are trustworthy. Strongly wish that you accompany Qualia.”
Ina raised her downward facing eyes to look at Qualia, even though it looked as though her tears were about to overflow, and she had hiccups.
Her teary eyes shined, and she let out a small smile like a mist being cleared.
“Detecting ‘tasty’ smile.”
“…I’m happy that you think of me that way.”
Ina bowed.
“…Please allow me to accompany you.”
“Understood.”
“You’re so cute, Ina. I’m honestly moved too.”
Said Lobelia with a soft expression, as she tapped Ina on the shoulder.
“I will do my best to be helpful to you, Princess Lobelia. Thank you for having me along…”
“But the problem now is the deep rooted discrimination against beast people in the capital.”
Beast people had it tough everywhere.
“Well, it’s still better than to live in an antiquated house like this. Let’s get ready and leave.”
Qualia and Ina started packing.
Not long after, just as Ina was packing her journal along with everything that would be traveling with her, Lobelia approached her.
“Ina, apparently Qualia’s memory is in a state of confusion as a result of his attempted suicide, but did he always talk in that strange way?”
“No. It wasn’t like this before.”
Lobelia started thinking.
“I wonder if we can really write off the way he speaks like an inhuman creature from another world as something caused by problems with his memory.”
“…Yes, I think it is a little incomprehensible if we assume it is a memory issue. And he suddenly started using new magic techniques like the 5D printer.”
“We probably need to think more about that.”
Whispered Lobelia while crossing her arms.
“There is a precedent for someone being reincarnated from another world. Even though it’s dubious, and mostly seen as a myth.”
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Let me guess, it’s a myth now because humanity in the world they usually come from is already long since extinct…