Chapter 5: Lunch, 1

I have to prove Erika's innocence.

How troublesome. That swordguy might be lying about his identity, but there's Jina's info as well. And Jina can be trusted, as long that you pay her enough. Or maybe I didn't pay her enough, but let's assume that I did.

Yes, she did save the world, in one way or another. Proof of that is the disappearance of the Star of Revival five years ago. That was supposed to be the end of this story, until we get this new piece of the puzzle: the summoned hero.

So the problem is, the last time the kingdom summoned a hero was when we had an actual Demon Lord problem — one thousand and four years ago. Before that, the Demon Lord revived every fifty years or so, and the kingdom immediately summoned heroes out to battle them. I don't know what my ancestor did to knock the Demon Lord out for a thousand years, but it must have been a beauty.

For short, the existence of a hero means the existence of a Demon Lord. They're like a personified Star of Revival.

Did Erika really defeat the Demon Lord, or was it all a ruse and the Star of Revival's just hiding around the corner?

I wanna comfort my little sunshine not with feel-good words, but with hard proofs. And me as well.

So forgive me Erika, for going inside your room like this!

I'm just here to investigate! That's all! It's not that I'm curious as to what your room looks like, yup.

I open the door with a creak, and a surprise immediately unfolds: it's nothing special.

The sheets on her bed is properly folded, without a crease to be found. Her "chemistry" tools — glass vials of all shapes and sizes, stacks of a variety of plants, rocks and other strange materials, and a burner — are all properly placed inside a huge cabinet. No mess was to be found on her long study table, papers all neatly stacked and her favorite quill still preciously kept inside an expensive-looking glass case.

Everything from the ceiling to the floorboards is all clean and dust-free. Ela's doing a good job maintaining this place.

... But there's nothing remotely girly in here. It's just a plain old boring room, with a cabinet and a long table. I feel kind of disappointed, but I should've expected this. Erika's a huge paranoid, she would never leave anything important (or embarrassing) just in plain sight.

My search begins.

I search every nook and cranny — under the bed, behind the cabinet, gaps on the wall and anything suspicious — but I find nothing. I'm not giving up. I'm sure she must've left some clue behind that her actions, like a diary or something.

I walk around, trying to think the perfect hiding place she would've cooked up, and I notice that faint creaking sound. It was so faint that it could've been a mouse squeak, but I caught it nevertheless. Bingo.

I find that one specific floorboard where the creak came from, and rip it open. I promise I'll put it back again.

What I find makes my eyes as wide as plates.

"... What the hell, she still had this?"

Erika never keeps extras of her potions. She got scared that they would burn this house down (she already did once) so she'd always safely dispose of them while saying that she already had the formulas stuck on her head.

So seeing a lone vial with a familiar dull red liquid under the floor makes me realize just how sentimental she was.

I take it and gingerly place it in my pocket. Sorry for stealing this, but I need this more than you. I return the floorboard back in place and leave the room exactly the same as when I entered.

I found it, an evidence of Erika's innocence. Greater than any star or hero.

I walk around this town-like village, looking for a certain little girl whose smile was bright as sunshine. She might be down and all frowny, but a growing girl mustn't miss her lunch. Too bad that the library's closed two days in a row, but it can't be helped.

"Welcome to the Adventurer's Guil... Oh, it's just Key."

"Hey, did Ela come by here?"

As always, the Adventurer's Guild is empty save for one poor receptionist. None of the villagers put up requests and adventurers would rather chill around the Farwitch Labyrinth than stay at this crumbling building. And there doesn't seem to be any foolish newcomers around.

Jina's counting some coins while looking bored.

"So, what's up?"

"Nothing much, just trying to see if Ela passed by."

"Hmm... I have a better idea. I can divine her location for the small price of— hey wait!"

I leave before she baits me into something stupid.

I'll try the open market. Not only can I ask many people there, I can also grab our lunch in the process. But... the afternoon sun sure is scorching hot. Going out twice in a row really is a bad idea.

"La la la~ lala la~ Fish sticks, fish sticks, side of bread bricks~ Making them needs super hard tricks~"

Oh? Walking merrily without a care under this heat is a familiar pony tailed shorty, carrying a bunch of bags of fish sticks while singing a weird song. Whoa, everyone, even tough-looking adventurers, is going their way to avoid her path. I'd avoid that weirdo too. But it's hot, and her timing's perfect.

"Hey there, La. What a wonderful afternoon, don't you agree?"

"K—K—K—Key!?"

She gets so flustered by my surprise greeting that she almost drops her baggage. I flash her the nicest smile I could manage.

"Calm down, La. Breathe in, breathe out."

"Hiiii... haaaaa..."

"Great, you're doing great, La."

"Yes! ... hmmm? La? T—That's my name!"

I nod.

"That's right. La. Is there any problem? La?"

"That's... that's the first time! and the second, and the third, and the fourth and the fifth! Does this mean that you had a change of heart, and is now kind to La?"

Why are you resorting to the third person?

"Yes, my darling La! Today, my frozen heart has been melted by your undying passion, and I have turned over a new leaf!"

What kind of crap am I saying? The hell, shorty's making an exaggerated shocked face. She's shaking. Ah, and now she's got tears on her eyes.

"T—To make that Fairy of the Water cry, what a madman." "She's talking to someone outside her party, who the hell is that guy?" "Kill, kill, kill..."

... and these adventurers passing by us should keep their comments to themselves.

"Ah, not only did Green trust me with lunch today, but Key has finally seen the light...! La, La doesn't care if she dies right now!"

"Now! Let us share a hug, to commemorate this joyous occasion forever in our hearts!"

"Hug!"

I wrap her in my arms, and she wraps me in hers, as we stand here in the middle of the market to share this moment of pure bliss. She smells like fish sticks...

Click.

I masterfully maneuver my hand to her belt — and detach her sword from it.

"Eh? Key?"

I immediately dismiss the hug and act like it never happened. What a nostalgic sword. Even without a scabbard, it's still in pristine condition. As expected of the daughter of that eccentric blacksmith. With a thinner blade than a normal sword — a katana-type, if I'm remembering it right — this fragile-looking weapon is actually pretty deadly in the right hands. And the blue edge design is a huge plus in aesthetics.

This is one of the three original Fu-Erika sword collaboration works: Precipitate (name by Erika) > (name by Fu). How nostalgic.

"Ah! Precipi!"

I reach an arm onto her head to stop her advance as she flails her arms around in a vain attempt to take back her sword.

"Ah! Ahhh! Give Precipi back!"

"Shut up, shorty. Let me borrow this for a bit."

"Ehhh? What happened to kind Key?"

"What're you going on about? There's only one me."

"Awww... But! But you became kind, even for just a second! That's a big step! Do your best, Key! Hooray~ Hooray~"

"Uh, yeah. Hooray."

Now she forgets about her sword and cheers me on. I can never understand her. Does everyone from the Mei family have something wrong in their heads? At least Ela's normal. Relatively.

Huh? Why would I stea— borrow her sword? Just like Erika's Magistrate, this sword has a special feature that makes this stand above any other sword. I turn the handle to trigger the mysterious mechanism inside, and from the blade's tip springs... an umbrella.

That's right. It's a deadly katana sword, and an umbrella at the same time! That is the genius behind Precipitate >.

"Finally. It's not that hot anymore. I really should think about buying an umbrella."

"Ehhh? You opened it! T—That's unfair! Mama's sword isn't for that! Give it back!"

Ah. I'm supposed to be looking for Ela. She must be starving right now. As for lunch... hmmm, that could work.

"Hm. Let's go then, shorty. No time to waste. We still have to find Ela."

"Ehh? Ehh? What's happening?"

I grab her collar and proceed to drag her across the market streets like a life-sized doll.

"W—Wait! I'm in charge of lunch today! I gotta bring these fish sticks to them! Green finally trusted me after all this time, I can't let them down!"

She struggles, but I don't let go of my grip, just like how she never lets go of those bags.

"Give it up, shorty. Let that swordguy starve for all I care. And those fish sticks, consider them a donation to our library, for all the trouble you guys caused."

"Noooo! This was my chance to prove I can be relied on, too! Help me, Greeeeeeeen!"

Now that I grabbed lunch, all I have to do is find Ela. I may have an idea as to where she is. If she's not in front of the dungeon (she never goes there if it isn't list duty day), then she's definitely in that place. They're sisters, after all.

With an umbrella in one hand and the lunch lady in another, I head towards the flower field outside of the village.