Having learned Illness-san’s motivation for starting her journey, although she said there isn’t much about it, it still felt like kindness was the root of her actions, so I was a little happy to think that Illness-san back then was no different from the Illness-san I knew so well.
[Since the time I was traveliiiiiing, just as I’m currently a maaaaaaid, I had been serving someone simply because that was easieeeeer. Various people had asked me various requeeeeests, but for someone like me who had a weak sense of purpoooooose, it would be easieeeer to have someone present a path for me to follooooooow.]
[I see…… By the way, how long have you been working at Symphonia’s Royal Castle?]
[Speaking in terms of time, it hasn’t been that looooong. I was recruited by Symphonia’s Queen Consort 5 generations agooooo, so it’s been about 400 years.]
For me, 400 years feels incredibly long, but for Illness-san, who undoubtedly has lived for tens of thousands of years, it doesn’t seem like such a long period.Well, indeed, assuming Illness-san has lived for 40,000 years for the sake of simple calculations, 400 years just be a hundredth of the time she has lived. It may not be extremely short, but looking at that perspective, it might not feel that long either.
[Have you been living in the Demon Realm before you became a maid in the royal castle?]
[No~~ I moved to the Human Realm right after the Treaty of Friendship was siiiiiigned…… and before I became a maid at the Royal Castleeeeee, I worked at various jobs here and there. II had became an accountant for a trading companyyyyy, and I had also worked as an ecological researcheeeeer.]
[So that’s why Illness-san can do so many things huh.]
[Kuhihi, it ceeeeertainly is quite common that the things one acquire along the way uneeeeexpectedly prove useful in various situations. Howeveeeeeer, looking back like this noooooow, I haven’t really spoken that much considering the years I’ve liiiiiiiived.]
Although she sometimes seemed to be reminiscing about her past, Illness-san basically talked about it in a matter-of-fact way, as if she was reading a document of a person’s past. There are explanations like how she did things or why she did them, but there’s a noticeable lack of anything that could be described as episodes of her past.
However, Illness-san herself knew this, but she couldn’t think of any episodes that she would like to talk about here.[Dramatic changeeeees are something that can unexpectedly occur in unforeseen placeeeees. For meeeee, the last few years have been far mooooooore dramatic than the past tens of thousands of yeeeeears, making me feel like a lot happeeeeeened.]
[I know how that feels. I too…… No, compared to Illness-san, my life is just short, but even so, since coming to this world, my life feels overwhelmingly dense compared to before…… Well, my life actually has been quite dense lately.]
[Kuhihi, I suppose soooooo. If we were talking about dramatic everyday liiiiiiiife, I certainly can’t compare mine with Kaito-samaaaaa~~]
[Ahaha…….]
Looking at her smiling happily, I could feel that her last, which she said had been quite dramatic, had been good for her. She seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the present, which made me feel happy too.
No, I don’t really know why, perhaps because Illness-san’s voice has been incredibly gentle, but it somehow feels like I’m being praised?
[I had been quite selfish latelyyyyy. It’s as if my the emptiness within me had been fiiiiiiiilled, my mind filled with things I want to do and tryyyyyy. Having such a sudden change could be troubliiiiiiing, it’s quite curious how I find myself enjoying iiiiiiiit.]
[No, it’s probably more like Illness-san just didn’t have many desires before. Even now, I still don’t feel like you have become selfish at all…… Ahh, incidentally, for Illness-san, does inviting me to this tea party feel like a selfish request to you?]
[Yeeeeees. This is my desiiiiiire, and I had Kaito-sama go along with meeeeeee……]
[Hmmm. That isn’t the case though. I’m not just going along with Illness-san’s selfishness. It was because this tea party you suggested was something I desired as well, so I willingly participated. And so, this isn’t being selfish at all, and it’s quite the opposite———- I would even welcome more requests from Illness-san.]
[………………..]
It seems like Illness-san has a tendency to refrain from imposing her desires on me, but I’m not really being forced to comply, and I willingly participated in this tea party because it aligns with my own wishes, so this definitely isn’t her being selfish at all.
Hearing my words, Illness-san looked unusually stupefied for a moment……. before she gave me a small smile.
[……This really is troubliiiiiing. When I’m with Kaito-samaaaa, I find myself becoming more and more selfiiiiiiiish. However, the thought that I couuuuuuld come to like this selfish side of me kind of makes me feel tickliiiiiiiish.]
<Afterword>
Serious-senpai : [T- That’s enough already, right? It should be enough…… We can end it here and start a new act , right? Right?]
? ? ? : [Oya? If that’s what Serious-senpai says……]
