After having some conversation with Sieg-san for a while, I walked down the hallway again.
It’s still dark outside as it was now 5 AM…… I began heading towards Lilia-san’s office, where she must have bee staying up all night. When I reached my destination, I took a deep breath before knocking on the door and announcing my name.
Then, after I heard Lilia-san saying that I can enter, I go inside the room.
[Good morning. Lilia-san.]
[Good morning…… What’s the matter? Isn’t it still early?]
As soon as I walked in, I noticed the large desk in which Lilia-san was writing what looked like a letter in there. Seeing my arrival, she stopped for a moment to return my greeting with a smile on her face.
I could see some fatigue on her face, which may have been because she stayed up all night, but she is a former member of the Knight Order. Her basic physical capabilities are different from mine, as she looked much more energetic than I had imagined.
[No, I just woke up early…… Lilia-san, you really stayed up all night huh?]
[Yes, I can’t really slack off with this quantity.]
[……Somehow, I’m sorry for that.]
[You don’t have to apologize. I may have said something like that to you yesterday, but I’m rather grateful to you, Kaito-san.]
Since I’m about half the reason why Lilia-san is buried in this massive amount of letters, I somehow felt guilty and uttered an apology, but what I got back from Lilia-san were words of gratitude instead.
When I tilted my head because of the words I never expected to hear, Lilia-san wrily smiled at me before explaining.
Although Lilia-san was a former princess, she had been away from social circles for a long time while she’s a member of the Knight Order. For that reason, after she acquired her peerage….. It seems that she had a hard time making those so-called connections. Fortunately or unfortunately, she suddenly became the woman of the hour, and it may be difficult for her, but at the same time, it was also a lifeboat carrying Lilia-san from her troubles.
She explained that in the current situation where she was thought to have strong connections with the Demon Realm and the God Realm, this would be an opportunity for Lilia-san to have a very advantageous position in connections to other nobles, and she was really grateful for that.
[……Even if I were the head of my family, it could be said that I’m quite inexperienced in my role. I’m really grateful, having acquired such an opportunity…… However, since I’m taking advantage of Kaito-san’s friendship for my own reasons, I rather feel like I need to apologize to you instead.]
[Errr, I didn’t really do anything special so……]
[I knew you would say that….. But, at least, please let me say my gratitude. Thank you very much, Kaito-san.]
[Ah, no, errr, you’re welcome?]
[Fufufu, well, I’m saying the truth when I said this is bad for my heart, so I’d rather you not do this again next time.]
Lilia-san’s gentle smile as she thanked me, together with her beautiful appearance, was filled with a very inquisitive charm.
After exchanging a few words, I remembered the original purpose of my visit here and opened my mouth again.
[Ah, that’s right. Lilia-san, Sieg-san…… Sieglinde-san has brewed me a cup from the tea that the Goddess gave me before, and I know you’re tired from writing letters all night, so do you want some?]
[Eh? Would it be alright?]
[Yes, of course.]
[……Thank you very much. Indeed, I’m a bit tired, and I think I should get some break.]
Yes, the reason I came to visit her was to bring Lilia-san a cup of tea. Time won’t pass for the things I put into my magic box, so I stored the entire pot of tea that Sieg-san made for me and brought it with me.
No matter how well she acted, the color of fatigue could still be seen on Lilia-san’s face. She’s a serious person, and I’m sure she hasn’t had much of a break in the middle of her work, so if possible, I wanted her to take a break at this time.
Perhaps sensing my intentions, Lilia-san put down the pen in her hand and after bowing to me, she began clearing her desk a bit.
Then, when I saw that there was enough space on the desk, I took the pot out and a cup from the magic box, and placed the tea and the cookies that Sieg-san shared with me in front of Lilia-san.
[It smells so good, doesn’t it?]
[Yes, Sieg-san said it’s a tea that can only be found in the God Realm.]
I decided to keep quiet about the fact that it’s apparently a super high-class product and just tell her that it’s a rare tea for the time being.
Lilia-san gracefully brings the cup to her mouth as if she’s enjoying the aroma of the team and after a while, her eyes slightly widened.
[……It’s wonderful. I’ve never had tea as tasty as this one.]
[The tea seems to be a good one, and Sieg-san was quite skillful in brewing it.]
[Speaking of which, Sieg praised Kaito-san before.]
[Eh? Is that so?]
[Yes, she said that if you would need an escort next time, then let her be the one in charge……]
[……Well, I’m also quite grateful for that, to be honest.]
As Lilia-san took a break, we exchanged some idle chatter for a while, and since we didn’t want to turn into a hindrance after touching some of the letters in the desk, we ended up leaving the room and finding an appropriate place to drink tea.
I can’t really say since it may just be a hunch, but I still have the feeling that Lilia-san is also tired.
If you think about it, an irregularity happened just as she was the one in charge of summoning the heroes for the first time in decades, and on top of that, she has encountered unusual situations in a row recently.
From our point of view, Lilia-san is a knowledgeable and reliable figure of authority, but if you were to exclude the filters that she was from another world and is one of the nobility, she’s only one year older than me…… She’s not a being beyond human knowledge, nor is she a superwoman that breaks people’s common sense. And in terms of personality, she’s probably the type of person who doesn’t talk about painful things, which is a bit worrisome.
I wish I could help her, but I don’t have a lot of ideas on how to, as I’m still lacking in knowledge of common sense in this world. I can’t do anything……
As I was thinking about this, I suddenly looked out the window leading to the outside corridor, and like a gut feeling, an idea came into my head.
—–It’s going to rain from noon.
I don’t know why I thought that. Looking at the sky as the sun begins to rise, it looks like a normal, sunny day, but for some reason—– a feeling of near-certainty comes into my head.
But in the end, I don’t know what that feeling is, so I shook it off my mind and went back to my room.
[It’s true that Lilia-chan seems to be a serious person, and she may be the type that stores up her fatigue.]
[Yeah, so, do you have any idea how to let her vent out?]
When noon is about to arrive, I asked Kuro, who is lying on the sofa in my room while moving her legs about, regarding Lilia-san.
A day has passed since she visited the mansion, Kuro started to show up at noon as well, but to be honest, I’ve gotten used to her showing up out of the blue so I didn’t bother throwing in a tsukkomi.
[Hmmm, let’s see~~ wouldn’t going out for a change of pace be a good idea? Going to a festival or something like that may work.]
[A festival? Is there a place doing a festival nearby around this time of the year?]
As I eat my baby castella, I think about the words Kuro suggested to me.
Indeed, a change of pace is a good idea. I’m sure Lilia-san in particular has been keeping an eye on us lately, so she hasn’t had a chance to go out and have fun.
However, would there be a place that’s conveniently holding a festival nearby?
Thinking about it, I asked her back, and after Kuro looked like she’s astonished, she clapped her hands as if she understood something.
[Ah, I see, I haven’t told you about it. In the year of the Festival of Heroes, besides the main festival held in City of Friendship, Hikari, there are many other festivals held throughout the year here and there. If you include the festivals held in the Demon Realm, God Realm and those festivals that are held in small villages, it had turned like there would be a festival everyday somewhere.]
[Heehhhh… I see. In that case, maybe I should suggest it to her……]
[Unn, unnn. If it’s a festival held in the Demon Realm and while I’m free, I’ll go show you around~~]
[That’s reassuring to hear. Then, I’ll be counting on you at that time.]
This may not have been something I decided myself, but thanks to her good suggestion, it should be easier to discuss it with her.
Moreover, this may even be considered as a cultural sightseeing for us, so I feel like Lilia-san is more like take us up on this suggestion. Once again, I think about how this was a pretty effective idea.
First of all though, we need to find out what kind of festivals would be held at this time of year, so I’ll have to ask Lunamaria-san about that.
[Unn? It looks like it’s raining huh~~]
[……Eh?]
As I was thinking about what I should do hereafter, Kuro muttered while looking out of the window…… The sky, which was clear not long ago, was cloudy, and I saw a small drop of water—- rain hitting the window.
Just as what came into my mind earlier in the morning, was it really raining? This might have been too much of a coincidence……
When I saw the rain start to fall as I had intuitively thought it would in the early morning, the question that I had pushed away in my mind came back, and at the same time, something came into my mind again.
——The rain stops at night.
It happened again…… I don’t know why thoughts came into my mind again, but I still felt the feeling of near-certainty along with that thought. What the heck is this……
[Arehh? Kaito-kun…… It seems like you can finally release your “magic power” huh.]
[……Eh?]
[Unnn, I’m sure. It isn’t just a faint feeling, you looked like you were well-clad in magic power. It looks like you’re finally ready to use magic.]
Dear Mom, Dad—— I’ve felt some strange intuitions since early in the morning. It appears that inside of me—– It seems like my magic power had awakened.