Chapter 52: 52: How in the name of Holy Tree did I end up like this?

” Let go. ”

” I won't. ”

” Lizza... ”

” Ugh... Well, Fio... it's not that bad, isn't it? ”

” It is... Tell her to let go. ”

” Ugh... ”

’How... How did I end up like this?’

” It's not your fault, Lizza... ”

’Are you reading my mind or something?’

” Don't call her like that. And let go of her hand. ”

” F-Fio... It's alright. You are still the most important to me. ”

” I'm still here, you know? I can hear you... ”

’You shut up. This is all your fault.’

” T-The most important... Ehehe... ”

”...”

”...”

’Oh Holy Tree... Not that again... Change of topics, change of topics...’

” Ehem... Silvia, I agreed with this, but... ” I said and pointed at my right hand. 

The situation was so ridiculous to the point that I almost wanted to laugh out loud... On my left side was an angry fluff, glaring and complaining about the weird-smiling intruder from my right side. All of us were walking through the dangerous, monster-filled forest while holding hands like that was the most natural thing to do. 

I didn't even quite understand how exactly we ended up like that... 

’It was like... How to say it... She said that... that... What was it again? Oh, and something about... Ehmm... I think she mentioned a Rebecca person... W-Wait... Who was that again?’

” Hmm... Is something wrong, Lizza? ” Silvia said and looked at me with a puzzled expression. 

’Of course that there's something wrong! Better to ask what isn't wrong with this situation. I feel like I was cheated and I don't even know how exactly...’ 

That was more or less what I wanted to say seeing that failed attempt of innocent-looking face she was displaying for me... Unfortunately, I had other questions to ask her. I wasn't in the mood to play along with her little game.

” Actually, it is... As I said, I agreed with your strange demands but you didn't explain what should we do after we reach the camp. ” 

” Strange demands, huh? You are quite cold, Lizza... Even Fio seems to accept the situation... ”

’No, she's not... She didn't snap from her weird trance-like state just yet to actually hear what you said... Wait... Did you call her Fio just now!?’

Turning my head to the left, Fiona was happily wagging her tail and murmuring random stuff like ’most important...’ or ’my Lizza’ or imperceptible sounds like ’ehehe’. The situation wasn't looking too good... Better to let her be for the moment. Whatever she was doing, it wasn't my fault. Definitely not my fault.

Turning my head to the right, Silvia seemed to be amused by the whole situation. Was she enjoying seeing me troubled like that? Was she a sadistic person? 

” Do you know what I thought about you two before finding out what you are? It's quite interesting... ”  she asked me something unrelated yet again. 

”...”

” I don't know about my brother, but Frank should be assuming the same thing as me... Do you want to know? ” she asked me again. Me not responding to the first question wasn't a problem for her in the slightest. I had no choice but to give up...

” Well, I’m a little bit interest now that you mentioned it... Though, isn't that quite mean to say that about the rude guy... Ugh... I mean, your brother... ”

” Don't worry... It's his fault in the first place. He's not a bad person if you ignore his short temper and blunt attitude. ”

” Waaaa... Merciless... ”

” It's the truth. We grew up together so I'm already used to it. Anyway, that's not what we were talking about. ”

” Yeah, we were talking about what you thought about us... ”

” Yes, I thought that you might be a runaway noble girl from a small noble family or something like that. Now that I think about it, maybe Hector was thinking the same thing back then... ”

”...”

” Lizza... Are you a noble? ” while I was dealing with her ridiculous assumption which for some reason seemed the most plausible for her, Fiona snapped from her trance to ask me another ridiculous question... 

” No, Fio... I'm not. ” I said and show her a gentle smile. It may not be too obvious for Silvia or anybody else but I remarked that she wasn't that fond of the idea of me being a noble. 

’Bad memories with nobles... I wouldn't be surprised taking into consideration her past...’

” Mm. I believe you. ” she said and started to wage her tail again. That didn't last too much though since she remembered about the intruder from my right side. 

” Fio, please... Remember what I said earlier? ”

” Mm. ”

” That wouldn't change no matter what. ”

” M-Mm. ” she said while still glaring at her but in the end, she managed to accept it. 

Goddammit, she had some serious issues... I didn't mind much, on the contrary, I was oddly happy about that to some extent even though I didn't want to admit it. Not to mention that I had my issues as well after all...

*sigh* 

After finishing with Fiona, I shifted my attention back to Silvia. At least she stayed quiet and had the benevolence to not aggravate the situation even further... 

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” Finished? ”

” Yeah... ”

” Good. Then, I assume that you have no idea why I thought that way, am I right? ”

” More or less. ”

” I thought so too... You see, there's a lot of inconsistencies about you two. First, your equipment... You do have an enchanted bag and that bow and even Fiona have an enchanted sword but not a single piece of armor, most probably what you managed to grab before to run away. Your proficiency with the fire element is definitely high but anybody can tell that you aren't used to fighting too much. You look quite young too. Usually, you won't be able to advance that fast in magic without a proper teacher. A good and pricy one at that... Even with talent and luck, that not too likely to happen. ”

” Ugh... Is... Is that so? Oh... usually won't happen... but that's not impossible, right? ”

” Also... Maybe they didn't manage to catch it but I did. Your skill with the bow isn't that high either... ”

’A-As expected from a true archer...’

” Actually, that's quite odd. Aren't you an elf? ”

” Well... Things happened and I started to use the bow just recently. Haaaa... But seriously, I didn't think that we looked so strange to you... ”

” You do. Even now, but not in the same way... Now that I found the truth, you look even stranger... And I didn't finish yet, there's more. ”

” There's more? ”

” Yes. If we were to link what I said earlier with the way Fiona is following you around and her quiet and reserved attitude, she is fitting just right as a servant who is following her ’little lady’ in her quest to... I don't know, maybe escape from some arranged marriage you didn't like or something... I don't know much about the noble stuff either... ”

’True... I don't want to admit it, but that made some sense...’

” Hmm... Oh, we arrived. That is the camp. ” she suddenly said while I was taken aback by it. I didn't even know how we arrived that fast. They said that the camp was close to the forest's periphery.

Prompted by her statement, I took a look at the camp. It wasn't much... Just some tents and camping stuff around them, a campfire here and there and that was pretty much all of it. 

I assumed that they were depositing and carrying all the other stuff in enchanted rucksacks or something similar. What could I say... Hail for the magic development! It had a lot of strong points. 

” W-Wait... Isn't that bad, Silvia? I'm basically a runaway noble girl to the rest of them. Also, how did we arrive here so fast? Didn't you say that the camp is close to the forest's border? I and Fio wandered a lot to arrive close to the nest... ”

” Well... You managed to answer your question by yourself... You said ’wandered’ after all. And so you know, this place is close to the forest border but not so close to the main road... We'll have to walk some more from here to see the road that leads back to the city... As for the first question... hmmm, it should be fine. ”

” Are you serious right now? ”

” Yes, I am... I think it's fine to let it be for the moment. ”

’No, it's not fine at all... Are you messing with me again?’

I stopped walking and looked at her with my serious expression again, though I didn't know how serious my serious expression was... I didn't actually saw my face pretty much. 

’Small reminder. Need to buy a mirror after we arrive in the city again.. If they sell any to a... How did she call me again? Oh, yes... runaway noble girl, goddammit...’

More likely, I would be captured by ’kind’ hoodlums and returned to my supposed noble family for a small competition if rumors like that were to spread around...

’No, thank you. I don't want that to happen.’

” Silvia, I don't want to see people searching around after a supposed noble girl... not when I'm that noble girl if you get what I mean. ”

Or maybe I was wrong and my concept about nobles was different from the actual nobles from this world. From what she said and the little bit I caught in my short stay in the city, it didn't seem to be entirely the case. I heard about some questionable customs and stuff about them.

But they shared a lot of similarities with the ones I was aware of. I doubted that any noble family would do nothing to pursue their runaway daughter... 

” Oh, that... Don't worry. Outside of me, Frank and maybe my brother if Frank told him about it, I doubt that anyone else suspects anything. And that was just a suspicion after we interact with you two for a while. By the way, did you register as an elf at the guild? ”

” Yes, why do you ask? ”

” Then all is good. I was more worried about what Hector will report back to the guild. If he somehow got that suspicion too. ”

” What do you mean? ”

” Well... To be honest with you, he's quite the asshole when it comes to things like this. ” she said and gave me a wry smile instead of the usual wide one for the first time. 

I was taken aback a little bit from what she said. He was indeed an insistent one but letting that alone, he didn't seem to be a bad guy to me. Was I wrong about him? 

” What do you mean? ”

” I mean that you can rely on him but that's just when the situation is favorable for him too. In your case, he made sure to put you two in our group, he probably took into account Frank and Fiona being beastkins as well and so on... If you look at it like that, he seems a good guy, doesn't he? ”

” Well, yeah... ”

” But that's because that was in his advantage. That should look nice in his report since he managed to recruit you at the last moment and you did a great job. Maybe he'll even boast about what you did a little bit... To look even better... But then again, I'm sure that he's going to check your identity as well... If you actually were to be a noble, he wouldn't hesitate to report you to them for more achievements... Maybe some connections too. ”

’Woaaaa... W-What an asshole... And I thought that he was a nice guy...’

” You can't trust people randomly. ” she said, showing me her wide smile again. Seeing that, the chills came back to me in an instant. Actually, wasn't she in the same category as him? We barely knew each other for less than a day.

’Well, whatever... My actual identity was already discovered by her... She kept it a secret too. It should be fine for the moment... I hope...’

” If that is all, let's hurry to the camp. Frank and my brother should be there already. I want to rest a bit too... ”

” Oh, yeah... Let's go. ”

FDSIO

Hi there! Hmmm... Don't know what to say about this chapter... Not much happening in it despite being quite lengthy compared with my average... Most probably because there's a lot of dialogue... Not easy to write either... I got back and rewrite some parts until I was somehow satisfied with it.

Anyway... Hope you enjoy the chapter nonetheless! :) 

PS : Happy Christmas... was what I wanted to say since I wanted to write a 'special chapter with Christmas theme' but I got no time... Sad story. But meh... at least this one came up now... better than nothing =))

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