An Elf for the Cat (3)
"Slurp...."
"Slurp...."
At some point, Lilrune had come to sit across from me, leisurely sipping her tea. Judging by the atmosphere she gave off and her rather shabby appearance, it didn't seem like she was approaching me with any hidden agenda.
"Um... Lilrune? Could you tell me a little more about why you came looking for me?"
"Of course! Absolutely."
Purity radiated from her every gesture. She seemed far too innocent and young to be scheming anything behind the scenes. But since she was an elf, I had to be careful not to be fooled by appearances—she could easily be well over a hundred years old, despite how she looked.
"The Elder told me. She said that quite an unusual vampire has recently appeared here in Elm Forest."
"Hm... so I was being watched, then?"
"We can know about pretty much anything that happens in the forest. And that makes sense, because we're elves."
"...Anyway, so?"
"Our race currently maintains its neutrality, but because we manage Roen, the great World Tree, we face a great deal of checks and interference from all sorts of places."
"I see—."
Come to think of it, when I first opened my eyes in this world... while making my way toward the village across the river, I remembered glimpsing, from a distance, a tree of colossal size utterly unlike any of the others around it. Even from quite far away from where I stood, it had loomed like a faint silhouette in the mist, flaunting its magnificent form. Surely that tree hadn't been the World Tree?
"So the Elder decided! For the bright future of the elves, we absolutely need a powerful ally."
"Hm."
"And so, while searching high and low for someone who would stand with the elves, she happened to discover a vampire wielding tremendous influence here in Elm Forest!"
"Influence...?"
"From what I hear, you single-handedly defeated three demonkin recently, didn't you?!"
"...Just how much do you actually know about me?"
"All of it!"
I appreciated the refreshingly candid answers, with nothing held back—but the subject matter itself made my brows knit tighter with every word. She knew me in considerable detail, down to the fact that I'd taken down three of the demonkin.
"When it comes to the forest, there's nothing we don't know! That's exactly what it means to be an elf!"
In short, they needed an ally who would fight alongside them for the sake of the neutral elves, and that was why she had come to find me. If you listened without thinking, it sounded like a perfectly ordinary story—but the more I actually mulled it over, the more than one or two things started to smell off.
"But why me, of all people? I'm demonkin myself, you know."
No matter how thoroughly they'd investigated me, they couldn't easily know whether I had a human heart. If they'd decided to trust me simply because I was looking after children, then the elves of this world weren't particularly clever after all.
"Well, because you take care of the children!"
"......"
The thought I'd half-hoped was just paranoia had become reality in the most absurd way. The moment Lilrune gave her answer, my mind went completely white.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes! If the Elder said it, then it must be right!"
"Even so, that's far too— you can't just trust demonkin. You have no idea what schemes they might be hiding."
"That's why I came. Normally an adult would have come, but the vampire living in this forest seems to be very fond of children—so the Elder decided that among my peers, I should go, since I'm the best talker."
"W-wait, hold on.... You're telling me I like children?"
"Yes!"
I had no choice but to doubt my own ears. So I was being treated this way by the elves, all because I happened to be looking after a few children?
It wasn't that I disliked children, of course. But I absolutely did not like all of them just because they were children.
"It seems there's been a misunderstanding... I don't like every child simply for being one..."
"Huh?"
"I met the children I care for now by chance, but we've spent so much time together that I've grown genuinely attached to them. That's why I cherish them—not because they're children, but because of the bond we've built."
"Th-that can't be.... The Elder was certain that if I just went, everything would work out smoothly..."
"Well, you're free to believe what you like."
It had been deeply unsettling and unpleasant to be treated that way by elves I knew nothing about. But I couldn't take all that frustration out on Lilrune, so I forced myself to speak calmly, as if it were nothing. The moment I did, Lilrune—whose face had been brimming with smiles until just moments ago—began to grow visibly gloomy.
"Oh no.... what am I supposed to do with the mission I was given..."
"Nothing to be done. It's the truth."
"But still.... couldn't you at least pay a short visit to our forest...?"
To Lilrune's earnest plea, I calmly shook my head. The elves very likely already knew about my weakness—but there was no reason to go telling her my vulnerabilities, and besides, I felt no need whatsoever to cross the river.
"No way.... this is... it can't be true..."
Before I knew it, Lilrune had gone utterly pale. All her earlier confidence was gone, and what remained before me was a deflated, withered dried fish of a girl, her whole body drooping in despair.
"By the way, how did you manage to get all the way here in such a tiny body?"
"...Pardon?"
"It's fine around here since there aren't many monsters at the moment, but across the river there should still be all sorts of monsters crawling about..."
"Ah.... I already knew from the Elder that there were few monsters here. So the adults escorted me until I crossed the river..."
I'd been wondering about this for a while now. Setting aside her plain clothing, there wasn't a single weapon visible anywhere on Lilrune's body for someone who'd supposedly crossed a forest teeming with monsters. She didn't even have the usual dagger. It must have taken her considerable time to get here, yet she didn't even have a pack with food in it—deeply suspicious, all of it.
"......"
Thinking about it that way, everything Lilrune had told me began to look more and more dubious. That elves—beings with such superb, covert intelligence-gathering ability that even I hadn't noticed them—wouldn't be on guard against me over something as flimsy as "she takes care of children"? No matter how I turned it over, I simply couldn't make sense of it.
"...Lilrune, could you tell me a little more about the mission you received from that Elder?"
"Why all of a sudden...?"
"It just occurred to me."
At my question, Lilrune's face fell and grew even more dejected. She hesitated for a moment, then let out a long, deep sigh and began slowly blinking her eyes.
"Normally it's supposed to be a secret, so I shouldn't just tell you.... but since you still seem to distrust me..."
"I won't tell a soul. Go ahead."
"...You promise? You can't tell anyone I told you..."
"Of course."
Just as Lilrune, after a long pause, finally steeled herself and was about to carefully open her mouth—
"Levi!! I picked them all!!"
Eisen's booming voice rang out, loud enough to shake the whole forest, followed in quick succession by the sound of Ellie's and Iris's footsteps.
"Sister! I got first place!!"
"Me too. All done."
Impossible timing, as if they'd scripted it. It had been the perfect chance to unravel the questions swirling in my head—and of course, timeout had to hit right then.
"Has it already been an hour?"
"Dunno! I just guessed and came back?"
"...Well done."
A hollow, wry smile escaped me before I could help it. I couldn't shake a strange sense of disappointment.
"Huh...? Wait, who's that?"
Ellie, her hands full of herbs, tilted her head curiously as she stared hard at something. Iris, standing beside her, cocked her head along with her.
"Ah, let me introduce her. This girl's name is Lilrune and—"
Just as I was about to naturally introduce Lilrune to the puzzled children, I saw that she had already slipped away from her seat and hidden herself among the bushes.
"Lilrune?"
"......"
The moment she laid eyes on the children, Lilrune had hunched her whole body into a ball of wariness. Trembling like an aspen leaf, her brows knit clear up into figure-eights, she began turning even paler than me, as though she were gazing upon some unknown terror.
"I-I'm so sorry.... the truth is... I've never met anyone of another race before. Only elves..."
"What are you talking about all of a sudden? You spoke with me just fine."
"Th-that's because... your first impression felt somehow cozy and warm..."
Lilrune's sudden, intense shyness was more embarrassing to watch than anything. And amid it all, the fact that she considered me "fine" only made me tilt my head further.
"I steeled myself before coming here... but it really isn't easy after all..."
"......"
No matter how long I waited, Lilrune refused to come out of the bushes. She just twisted her body up like a pretzel from within the foliage.
"Whew.... Then would you like to stay close by my side?"
"Huh?"
"Just until the introductions are over, stay next to me. It'll put your heart at ease."
There was nothing for it. Now that the children had spotted Lilrune, I had to introduce her first, no matter what. Except the very person I was supposed to introduce was hiding in the bushes and refusing to come out.
"C-can I really?"
"Of course. Come over here."
At my modest bit of persuasion, Lilrune's eyes went wide and bright, and she began to hesitate shyly in an entirely different way than before. Soon she emerged carefully from the bushes and came toddling over to my side in quick little steps.
"Thank you..."
"It's nothing."
Everyone held their breath, calmly waiting for Lilrune to take her seat. But contrary to my expectations, the situation turned even more delicate when—instead of the spot beside me—Lilrune plopped her bottom squarely onto my lap without warning.
"Pardon me for a moment..."
"Eh?"
As if that weren't enough, she then slipped both her arms into the crooks of mine and nestled herself right into my embrace. Everyone began to recoil in shock at the thoroughly unexpected turn of events.
"Wh-what is this—?!! Levi, what on earth is she?!!"
"Hey, you!! Who do you think you are, wrapping yourself all over Sister like that?! Get out of there right now!! I haven't even gotten to do that yet!!"
"I-I'm jealous..."
Despite the children's petulant shouts, Lilrune paid them no mind whatsoever—if anything, she leaned in even more comfortably. Her expression was endlessly peaceful, as though she were lying alone in a field of flowers.
"Cold, but cozy..."
After a few seconds of silence, that single quiet murmur from Lilrune finally reached our ears. It was a shocking statement—one that stunned not just me, but every child present, all over again.
"......"
Lilrune's utterly unprovoked behavior drained the atmosphere of the clearing in an instant. And the children's gazes as they turned to look at her had grown remarkably, bone-chillingly cold.