Illness-san, how should I say this…… With familiar movements, she casually ties her hair in a light knot and stands in front of the baby castella cooking apparatus. She then baked baby castellas in such a fluid motion that there wasn’t even any need to check if they were baked well or not.
This was the first time I had seen Illness-san with her hair tied back, so her appearance looked rather refreshing.
[How was it liiiiiiike, running a staaaaaall?]
[It was quite an interesting experience. It was my first time participating in a festival like this, so it was a fresh and fun experience.]
[I see~~ I’m glad if Kaito-sama enjoys yourseeeeeelf.]
[……Have you ever opened a stall or something like this before, Illness-san?]
Fortunately, there were no customers at the moment, so we exchanged words while I’m watching Illness-san’s side profile as she baked baby castellas. Hmmm, how should I say this…… She may be small-statured, but when I see her cooking like this, I feel that she’s very dependable and mature.
It’s strange how Tre-san, who is tall and has the body of a model, doesn’t seem very mature, while Illness-san, who is petite and has the appearance of a young woman, seems more like an adult.
I guess it’s just the difference in their atmosphere, or perhaps, it may be the difference in the mood around them.
[No~~ In the first plaaaaace, I’ve hardly participated in festivals befoooooore.]
[Is that so?]
[Yeeees. I wasn’t very interested in festivaaaaaals, so I haven’t really bothered attendiiiiiiing.]
[I see. If I’m not mistaken, Illness-san doesn’t like boisterous places, so you never really felt like it.]
I have the impression that Illness-san doesn’t like noisy places, so it’s understandable why she hasn’t been to many festivals.
In fact, my parents used to take me to festivals like this when I was a kid, but I don’t remember going much after I grew up. I think I’ve often been going to festivals when I came to this world though……
[……I’ve alwaaaaaaays thought that festivals weren’t really something people needeeeeed.]
[Unnn?]
[I thought something that’s whooooole purpose was just for people’s enjoyment wasn’t necessaryyyyyy.]
[……………………..]
With her gaze fixed on the iron plate, she muttered somewhat to herself. I thought that was unusual though. Illness-san doesn’t often talk about her past after all. Although it may be partly because she’s basically acting as a listener when talking to me, she rarely talks about what she was like in the past.
But recently, she has started to talk to me about her past, and it seems that she has undergone some kind of change of heart.
[……Back theeeeen, I used to travel around the Demon Reaaaaalm. I didn’t really have any reason whyyyyy. It’s just, somehooooow, I felt like knowing various things is the right thing to dooooo.]
[I think that’s a good idea……]
[Thaaaaat wasn’t really an action brought by my desiiiiiire. I had a vague idea of what I thought was the right way to liiiiiive, and I was just following iiiiiiit. I never felt anythiiiiiing. Even if I saved someoneeeeeee or acplished somethiiiiiiing, I didn’t feel any sense of acplishmeeeeent. It was just thaaaaat I just felt like I had pleted some sort of quota.]
I quietly listened to the words Illness-san calmly spoke. The content should be quite heavy depending on how you look at it, but for Illness-san herself, that doesn’t seem to be a problem.
After all, from the beginning, Illness-san had been describing it in the past tense…… As if she’s implying that the present is different……
[I’m sure I had been empty all those tiiiiiimes. I haven’t thought that bad of a thing thouuuuugh……]
[……How about now?]
[I wonder about thaaaat? To be honest, there are still a looooooot of things I don’t understaaaand. However, indeeeeed…… I don’t think I would be able to turn back to the empty me anymooooore.]
[I don’t know what Illness-san was like back then, so I can’t judge how the you back then would pare to how you are now…… But still, I’m sure…… that the current Illness-san is much lovelier now than you were in the past.]
[……Kuhihi, thank you very muuuuuch. Hearing Kaito-sama say thaaaaat makes me especially happyyyyyy.]
The expression on Illness-san’s face as she turned to me and smiled, at least, doesn’t look empty at all. Even if the her in the past was empty, I could feel that the current Illness-san is filled with a lot of emotions.
After that, Illness-san turned her gaze back to the iron plate and her mouth moved a bit.
[……And all of thiiiiiis are things I’ve received from my beloved youuuuu.]
I’m not sure if she didn’t intend to let me hear what she said or not , but I haven’t heard what it is that she said…… but looking at the expression on Illness-san’s face, I could somehow tell that what she said isn’t something bad.
Serious-senpai : [Uguuooooohhhh, t- this is hard…… Somehow, after we’ve reached the afterstory, Illness’ offensive has bee amazing…… Or rather, isn’t she getting treated like the afterstory’s main heroine……?]
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