***Arc 5 The One Who Obstructed, Chapter 101 A Worried Child***
――Twisted and abnormal.
That’s how she was in society. She's known it for a long time.
That at least she’s different from everyone else.
She couldn’t understand their funny story and jokes.
Even if other people are sad, angry, or in pain, it doesn't matter as long as it didn’t affect her, and even if humans turned
into just lumps of meat, she didn’t think anything of it.
She didn't really understand the obvious thing that ‘normal people’ felt.
In truth, she was fine with that.
Emotions undermine calmness.
Emotional people were the exact opposite of what Krische thought as excellent people, and she didn't really feel the benefits of being closer to ‘normal’.
However, it was an important element for maintaining good social relationships, so she wanted to learn how to pretend to be 'normal' if she could, but if she couldn't, then that was also fine.
There was no doubt that she was better than anyone else, and even if she gave up on mixing with society, in the end, it would still work out.
What made started to go wrong was——
‘……I also do not think that Krische-sama’s differences are weird or creepy. In fact, I think those are Krische-sama’s charming individuality.’
——From that day on.
Since then, Krische had become strange.
“...”
She opened her eyes thinly in the blanket and pressed her face against Elvena's chest, as if seeking warmth.
Warm. Comfortable. Calming. Reassuring——Overflowing emotion that she couldn’t handle.
It used to be much simpler.
Thermoregulation, cushion. That was about it.
But now she was dependent on being hugged like this.
It made her happy, but when she slept alone, she felt restless and couldn’t sleep soundly.
In the past, it didn't seem like much of a problem.
The only thing she needed to endure was the cold.
——She felt as if she had become much weaker.
Things she used to be okay with were no longer okay, and her emotions were shaken by things she used to not care about.
On the other hand, her joy had grown so great that she couldn’t imagine it disappearing.
What was inside her now was an inescapable instability.
“...Bery.”
Krische is helplessly dependent on Bery.
She had learned a lot of words like ‘I like you’, ‘I love you’, and so on.
But there was so much more than that, so much more than she could ever express, that she felt like she was losing her mind.
Berry didn’t ask for anything from Krische. She simply told her that she was fine just the way she was.
But Krische wanted to do anything for Bery.
She was at a loss as only the 'returns favor' that I couldn’t pay back kept accumulating.
That's why, so that Bery likes her, so Bery did not hate her, to not make Bery sad, and to make Bery happy.
She wanted, not to just pretend to be 'normal', but to become truly 'normal' someday.
If she could, she wanted to be the best Krische that Bery wished.
‘... you are a beast. That mixed in among humans.’
She knew without being told.
Bery said it’s her individuality.
Bery said he likers Krische. Shee said she loves her.
But she was always worried.
‘Kuku, everyone you loved will go away if they noticed it... Selene, and that servant. They’re just misunderstanding you now.’
She could say that it’s fine right now.
She can be certain that everything is fine now.
But what about next year, or maybe ten years from now?
Krische was abnormal
There was no guarantee that they would continue to like that kind of Krische.
That’s why, she made more and more efforts to make them like her——‘Ahh, I'm going crazy after all.’
Now it's a battlefield. It's irrelevant now.
What she should be thinking about now was today's battlefield, and yet the irrelevant small anxiety crawled around inside Krische’s chest.
It was just unpleasant.
She imagined Gildanstein's face and presses her face against Elvena’s chest.
She exhaled.
Then her head was suddenly stroked and when she turned her face up, Elvena looked at her with a worried expression.
“Can’t sleep?”
“...Krische kind of woke up.”
She ate and went to bed early.
She only did that when she felt restless.
But her sleep was shallow, and she woke up several times.
The sun had not yet risen.
"... We're in the middle of a war after all. It can't be helped."
Elvena said and put her finger on the everlasting magic lamp.
If it was the type of lamp that has built-in magic power, it can be turned on with a small amount of magic power that anyone can have, even if they do not possess magic power.
However, the lamp that Krische brought with her was not a built-in type.
She was a little surprised that Elvena was able to turn it on so easily.
It is easy for those who have learned hoe to use magic power to send thair magic power into the magic crystal, but it was difficult for those who have not.
"Elvene sure is skilled"
“...Huh?”
Elvena tilted her head and then smiled as she noticed Krische’s line of sight.
"Oh... I was made to take care of these things, so."
The type of everlasting magic lamps that do not have built-in magic power are not mainstream and are a sort of testing equipment.
It is said that in the days when the quality of everlasting magic lamps was poor, they were used among the nobility to measure the ability of their opponents. For this reason, there were also everlasting magic lamps that were intentionally made to be difficult to emit light.
Not too much, not too little.
If the appropriate amount of magic power is not fed into the lamp in a stable manner, the lamp will flicker.
If the magic power needed to emit light is not sent in the ideal distribution, it will take time.
The quality of the magic lamp itself has improved now, and its role as a tester has completely disappeared, but in this way, it functions well enough to measure others' power.
In this respect, Elvena was careful and to some extent sophisticated.
As if turning away from unpleasant things, Krische turned her attention toward that.
"...After the battle is over, if it looks like Elvena won't be able to find a good job, you can be Krische’s assistant. Elvena is very attentive, and seems to be a quick learner."
After saying that, Krische nodded thinking that was a good idea.
If you think about it, she's Kalua's younger sister who was ‘fairly good at handling magic', so it might be better to do that than just have her as a servant.
Basically, Bery and Krische were more than enough to take care of the estate.
“... Assistant?”
"Yes. Once the country settles down, Krische wants to do some research, so Elvena will be helping out with that. It's a work involving magic crystals."
It was what she thought when she saw Bogan and the injured Dagra.
If it went well, she might be able to create a system that can properly heal those wounds.
She was able to do that much on a whim after all, so as long as she study it properly.
"The battlefield is inconvenient in many ways, and injuries and problems occur frequently. Krische hoped something can be done about that.”
"... I'm afraid I'm not educated, so I may not be of any use."
"Krische hasn’t studied anything about it too, so don't worry about it. It will be fumbling around ."
The truth was that Bery would be the best.
She was smart, second only to Kreschenta in handling magic, and was the best partner for her, but Krische didn’t want to take away Bery's precious cooking time.
If you think that way then, it would be difficult for Bery after all, but Selene and Kreschenta were also busy.
If it were a suitable (randomly) partner then it would be Elvena after all.
“Krische intends to end this battle today, but the war may continue for a while. Krische wants to make sure no one around Krische will die."
"... If that's the case, then I don't mind. Anything I can do to help."
Elvena smiled.
A face like Kalua's, a smile like Bery's.
She lifted Krische and put her on her lap and gently hugged her.
"... It seems that your mind has become clear, shall we brew some black tea?"
"Ehehe ...yes. Is Elvena not sleepy?”
"yes. In the first place, a short sleep is enough for me."
‘Did something on the battlefield?’
She knew that Krische was restless.
She had looked somewhat agitated since her return, and even after going to bed, she seemed to be unable to sleep.
But that said she couldn't even ask Krische who didn't say anything about it, after Krische had given up sleep altogether, Elvena thought to distract her from her battlefield so that she might have some peace of mind.
‘What would be a good topic of conversation?’―― the only thing that came to mind was the servant named Bery.
She thought it would be a good idea to talk about Bery, since it was a name that Krische kept mentioning and she always seemed happy when talking about her.
"You know, Bery——"
That was the start of it.
And so it began, an endless bragging that made Elvena stumped.
Her cooking skill was incomparable to Krische, and she seemed to be a perfect servant who did everything in the mansion all by herself.
She was first-rate in everything she did, and anyway, Krische would drag out countless episodes from her memory, raving about how kind, smart, and amazing Bery was.
Krische was at least the best cook Elvena had ever seen.
She was quick and dexterous, and her skillfulness in doing multiple things in parallel as if it were a matter, of course, was unmatched even by professionals.
That Bery’s cooking skills are incomparably better than Krische――Elvena was skeptical about it and the fact that she knew the amount of work involved in taking care of an estate when doing it alone made her think that it’s a dubious tale, but it was Krische who was talking about it, so it was probably true.
What Elvena imagined was a superhuman person who even exceed Krische.
What kind of person would make the superhuman Krische praised so unreservedly?――The Bery in Elvena's image was Krische (ver. BIG).
"Bery said, she loved Krische, ehehe, and then..."
And so the conversation turned to an innocent love bragging story that made Elvena, who was listening to it, blush.
Around this time Elvena started to regret starting the subject, but that didn't stop Krischefrom talking.
Watching Krishe talk so shyly about how like like, really like, loved her, and so on, Elvena's mischievous spirit was tickled, she, however, restrained herself and just nod along.
As she listened to him, Elvena unknowingly hit upon the truth that the reason she was unmoved by the kiss the other day was probably due to the fact that such behavior was more of a routine for her than because of her innocence.
Krische's story was truly that of a child.
She didn't make any logical sense of nor was there any pause in between her story.
A narrative tone led around by her emotion as if to simply pour out her feeling about what had happened.
The only thing that comes across was that she liked Bery and that her life at the ‘estate’ was filled with happiness.
It was not interesting, and rather than fun, it was rather boring.
The story was so poorly told that in some ways she might have enjoyed it more when Roland had bragged.
That said――how great Bery was, how much Krische cares about her.
But the way she happily talked about it from beginning to end was so lovely and heartwarming.
Just listening to her generated a warm feeling in her heart, and Elvena patted Krische’s head, occasionally giving a nod.
She has had guests whispering their love to her.
She also remembers her feelings at that time, which she had ignored with her mind that had realized the reality and resigned.
But how would it feel to be whispered with unadorned love like this by this girl who looked so frighteningly lovely?
"Bery-sama sure is fortune, to receive that much feeling from Krische-sama."
――Surely, it was the happiest thing to be thought of like that.
Without thinking deeply, Elvena's words simply came to mind.
"...is that right?"
Krische reacted to that, and Elvena tilted her head.
“Is there something?”
“...No. Krische just hoped that’s true.”
Krische fell silent as if the fire had been extinguished as soon as she said that.
‘Was there something she’s worried about even after bragging so much (about spouse/lover/love’s affair)?’
Elvena thought for a moment and said.
“Fufu, I am sure there is no one who wouldn't be pleased to receive such a favor from Krische-sama.”
In truth, that was not necessarily the case.
However, if it's her, it's not like anyone would be annoyed by being told that she liked them.
And there was no room for doubt if it was the woman named Bery who was so loved by her.
"Well... if Krische-sama told me that she likes me like that, I'm confident that I'll be happy my whole life. I'm sure Bery-sama is the same."
"... somehow, Krische feels like Elvena is exaggerating a lot."
"That's probably because Krische-sama is underestimating herself."
*Giggle*, she smiled and caressed Krische’s cheek.
"... After the battle is over, you'll understand if you ask directly. Surely, no, I'm absolutely sure Bery-sama thinks of Krische-sama like that."
“…Will it continue to be like that from now on too?”
"Yes, of course"
She chuckled and looked at her well-groomed face, wondering why she had no self-confidence in herself.
She's so pretty and can do anything, but she's helplessly clumsy, such a gap.
It was a funny, weird feeling.
“Because Krische, umm…, not normal”
And hearing her say that, she was convinced――’Ahh’.
She knew some of the rumors――rumors that have cut out just one side of her.
Maybe she was told something when she was on the battlefield.
As enemies, they would probably say some heartless words to each other.
‘What should I say’――Elvena stared at the purple eyes and told her.
"Everyone has a good side and a bad side. Just as Krische-sama recognizes that being not normal is her flaw, so do I, Nee-san, and I'm sure Bery-sama also has such flaw."
Krische’s eyes widened in surprise.
‘Let’s see’, Elvena grabbed a lock of her shoulder-length hair.
The curl was just a little bit inward――when it's short, it didn’t bother her, but when it's long, the curl intensifies and gets tangled up.
"For example, I really dislike the way my hair curls loosely like this, and I think it's one of my faults. How does Krische-sama feel about it?"
"Huh? No, it's not strange at all――"
"Fufu, that's right. Other people don't care about your shortcomings more than you think they do. If it's someone like Krische-sama, it's even more so...of course, there is some degree to it, that said it's a problem if you don't care about your own flaws but."
It's the same with Krische-sama, said Elvena.
"According to the book, to like someone is to find the good part in others, and to accept their bad part is love (sffection). A long time ago, Nee-san told me that this hair, which I disliked, was cute.”
‘I was so happy’, she smiled and gently stroked Krische's head.
Her hair was so smooth and beautiful that she admired it.
"It's a little different, but it's similar... I think Bery-sama thinks that Krische-sama's unusual side is very endearing. I'm sure she'll accept that and still love Krische-sama."
Krische blinked her eyes for a moment.
Then she lowered her eyes and pressed her face happily.
"... Ehehe, after all, Elvena is similar to Berry. What Elvena say is also somewhat similar to Bery’s. Krische feels like Berry would say something like that."
“If you think about such things by yourself, you will generally end up thinking in the wrong direction. If you talked about it, it will turned out to be no big deal."
Ervena said as if she was mocking herself.
"...Because I was like that too. Nee-san must have already forgotten about the idot me, thinking about such things by myself, deciding it was that way by myself, giving up...But Nee-san always thought of me and desperately looked for me."
Then she hugged Krische and pressed her face into Krische’s hair.
"It's rude and stupid of me to think that way to Nee-san who was doing her best. I think it's much more painful and sad for Bery-sama for Krische-sama to be worried like that, to be doubted. Thinking of the worse, thinking of the worse... Does Krische-sama always doubt the Bery-sama whom you love so much every time you are alone?”
"……that’s"
"That's my advice to Krische-sama, who was worried and thinking about silly things like me."
She laughed mischievously and continued.
"... If you're worried, me who is by Krische-sama side, or someone else. There may be people who hate Krische-sama, but there are also many people who love Krische-sama. They will all say the same thing as me. It's just a simple worry that will be blown away by just that."
"……Yes, thank you"
“It’s the Bery who Krische-sama loves so much, that kind of worry will disappear as soon as you two meet again. So please rest assured.”
Krische nodded and hugged.
She smiled a small smile as if savoring the words she had just heard.
After a while, he looked up at Elvena as if troubled.
"Um, Elvena... Krische feels a little relieved, then..."
"Fufu, yes. Shall we go back to bed again? I'll wake Krische-sama up in the morning, so take it easy until then."
"……yes"
She smiled wryly at Krische who hugged her like she was spoiled, and picked up her small body.
"Krische'll finish it quickly and go see Berry."
"Yes, yes. ……For that, Krische-sama has to take a good rest.”
In her arms, Krische smiled as if he had an idea.
"Once the battle is over, Krische'll give Elvena a rest for a while. Krische will also give it to Kalua and the others, so you can relax together. Krische will give the Century an allowance and have them come to Royal Capita, so you can look for a home randomly.”
"... royal capital"
"It's the royal capital. Since Kreschenta is here, we have to move out of Christand’s estate..."
At those words, Elvena tilted her head for a moment and remembered the name of the princess.
And now she understands the fact that Krische used to be royalty.
From now on she will serve a girl who called the princess by name.
It was quite the promotion starting from being a slave, so much that it didn’t really sink in yet
"Krische has a lot of things to do, and it's tough. Let's finish today quickly, and then..."
As she yawned, her delicate body was warm with drowsiness.
Elvena chuckled and stroked her head.
"yes. I pray for Krische-sama safe return.”
"Krische won't get hurt, so it's okay..."
While looking at Krische who immediately fell asleep, she stayed just like that.
Elvena looked at Krische like that until the sun rose.
