Volu 2, Chapter 30: Occasional Reflections
“You’re actually willing to say it now?”
Leticia’s originally sowhat restless emotions gradually settled. She tilted her head, and her tone carried so suspicion.
“Is there any need to be surprised?”
Ilo blinked. “You told your na, so it shouldn’t be excessive for to tell you so things about myself, right?”
“Ah, mm. That’s true.”
Leticia did not quite understand this little girl’s thought process, but hearing a few stories as a pasti was not a bad choice...
No...
Although she currently had absolutely no clue how to save herself, judging from the current situation, Leticia, who was leisurely playing with water, drinking water, and listening to a story, was practically dancing in a minefield.
But in reality, there really was nothing to do. It was like when final exams were approaching, and even though you had not reviewed at all, you still wanted to play gas. Then, after finally deciding to start reviewing, you discovered that you had left the textbooks at school and had nowhere to begin.
No, no, no. It was not as simple as forgetting the textbooks at school. If they had simply been left at school, there would be a chance to retrieve them. Her current situation was discovering, right when she needed to review, that the textbooks had already been burned as firewood, torn apart by cats and dogs, soaked in water until they rotted, and were even rare, one-of-a-kind copies.
Therefore, even if she wanted to beco Sir Try-Harder, there was no way to start. It was better to sit for a while and listen to a story. That would be much more relaxed and comfortable.
“Actually, my purpose is very simple.”
Ilo said softly, “Because those places are places where my father might go.”
“?”
For a mont, Leticia did not react. Or rather, she could not quickly connect this answer to the cause and effect from before. “Sorry, can you say that again?”
“Eh... Evelyn is unexpectedly clumsy in these things.”
As if teasing Leticia, Ilo revealed a smile that did not suit her age at all. “I really can’t do anything with you. I’m saying that the reason I made such a request that sounded so absurd was because I wanted to go take a look at the places where my father might appear.”
Father...
Ah, now that she ntioned it, Leticia had heard before that Ilo’s father rarely ca ho and was always busy outside.
But in her impression, this behavior carried a very strong positive and admirable impression. Wasn’t it said that he was so busy for the sake of his family...?
Could it be that Ilo simply missed her father?
Sohow...
Looking at Ilo’s relaxed and carefree face, Leticia murmured softly, “It doesn’t really look like it...”
“What did you say?”
Ilo tilted her head and asked.
“No, nothing.”
Leticia shook her head. “I’m just curious why you’re using such a troubleso thod. When your father cos back, wouldn’t it be fine to talk to him?”
“Mm-hmm, mm-hmm... That is indeed a good thod, at least from an outsider’s point of view.”
Her black hair was simply tied into a braid. Ilo pouted and nodded again and again. “Evelyn, I told you about my family before, right?”
“Mm. That’s right.”
Listening to Ilo’s slightly strange yet not at all unfitting accent, Leticia looked at her. “You said that after your mother passed away early, you and your father lived in the village of Ado, and your father also stopped liking staying at ho, right?”
“Mm. That’s roughly it.”
Ilo said, “However, at the ti, I was still hiding so things from you. Or rather, I shouldn’t have told you these things at all.”
“You really are contradictory.”
Leticia turned her head away sowhat speechlessly, coughed, and drank a little more water. “You want to say it, but you also don’t want to say it. Isn’t that like a cow eating grass, spitting it out, then eating it back again?”
“That’s true.”
Although it was a very strange comparison, it was also extrely down-to-earth, so Ilo accepted it very quickly. “After all, Evelyn is an outsider. Like the fragrance of flowers carried here by the wind, you really do have an unbelievable feeling, like a beautiful dream sent by the gods in the evening, letting people feel a different color. But how should I put it... Everyone knows that the fragrance of flowers in the wind cos with the wind and leaves with the wind. So it makes people relax, yet also makes them afraid to relax.”
To put it simply, she really wanted to say it, but she also could not bring herself to say it to a rootless, drifting person like Leticia, right?
“There’s no need to be so tangled up over it.”
Leticia propped up her face, plucked a blade of grass from the ground, and handed it to Ilo. “Want to try it? It tastes all right.”
When eaten, it was sour with a trace of sweetness. Although it made the tongue go slightly numb, overall, it felt quite good.
“Heh... Thanks.”
When she reached out to take it, Ilo’s fingers suddenly paused because she had touched Leticia’s fingers.
They had a softness that matched her identity as a girl, and, matching her commoner status—or rather, judging from so calluses, scars, and hard patches on her fingers—she should be a farr’s child. However, there were also so doubtful points.
Why were there sunken spots... It was almost as if sothing sharp had pierced and gouged them, and after those tiny pieces of flesh had been lost, the wounds had healed again, leaving behind that sensation.
They were very slight, extrely slight. The degree was probably only about the depth of a thin layer after the skin had been peeled open, but they truly existed.
The contact between the two of them lasted only an instant before Ilo withdrew her hand and smilingly held that grass stem in her mouth. “Honestly, Evelyn, you’re soone who makes people both dislike you and like you.”
She carried an elegance like that of a noble, yet also had a wanderer’s casual vulgarity. She looked as if several people had been kneaded together into one. Truly, very interesting.
“Then I really thank you.”
Leticia rolled her eyes hard at those words. “So are you going to say it or not?”
“I’ll say it. Why wouldn’t I?”
Ilo blinked, her blue eyes staring straight at Leticia. “I’ve already said so much. If I don’t explain it properly, I won’t be able to sleep tonight.”
Sleep...
Leticia suddenly grew lancholy, because yesterday, she had slept in an alley ignored by everyone—truly—while keeping a corpse company. What should she do tonight?
She could not go back and disturb Mr. Dead Body again, could she? The weather was not cold yet, and a corpse that had already begun to grow insects would only release an even more refreshing fragrance. Forget whether she could fall asleep there. Whether she could even stay there was a question.
Forget it. For now, she would not think about that. It was only noon. She might as well first listen to what interesting story this little fellow could bring.
User Comments
0 comments from readers