D(EATH)-DAY (4)

"Where are we going next?" Prune asked. Now that they've met up with Elaine..

"The most obvious place of course. Let's go meet up with Takata-san and Aoki-san."

"They're here?"

"Yup– right over.. there."

The two heroes were around the other gang of heroes. Nine suddenly felt deterred to join in-in their conversation.. maybe not now. She wouldn't want Aoki to say anything unnecessary to put her in a position that'll kill her.

Takata who looked this way noticed the two of them. Her eyes rounded into saucers before she decided to wave at them– but in a reserved manner. This was an official banquet after all.

"Crap. Maybe later," Nine waved back.. she was now contemplating whether or not she should put up a concealment barrier like Prune.

Though, the challenges with having a conceal barrier was that, like Prune currently, she had to pay attention to her surroundings and dodge incoming nobles that were unaware of her.

As to why Nine was able to perceive her as normal– that remains a mystery. Along with Noel and Liliath, they could see each other fine even when others couldn't. Must have something to do with [Bleu's Blessing].

"Should we just go back and meet up with Noel?"

"Didn't they say they'll talk with Rin's family? Why are they with this Goddess all of a sudden?"

"Goddess? What goddess?"

"The Goddess of Fate."

"Goddess of.. wha?"

Takata broke from the group and came over.

"Too late. I'll go meet them then, I don't have anything to do.."

"Why don't we go try the wine? There's people walking around serving glasses."

"His Majesty the King!"

But before Prune could close the distance between her and the nearby butler with a tray of delicious looking wine, the announcer's deep voice echoed throughout the hall.

The two of them waited for the whole King's decree ordeal to end. Prune's ears perked up as she listened to the speech in earnest– she found the fact that she took interest in these types of things to be.. quite ludicrous. Her tail even began to sway slightly under her dress.

Takata took this opportunity to sneak over as everyone in the crowd was standing still. She paused a distance away– verifying that the person was indeed Nine– before proceeding forward.

"It's been a while," Nine said with a sigh.

"Why are you here?" Takata, who wore a bright blue dress asked.

"We have something we need to do– you'll see."

"Eh.. is there anything we can help with?"

Aoki, who only now noticed Takata's disappearance, realized that she was talking to Nine.

"Maybe? It depends on what'll happen later. But I guess not."

"Alright. Feel free to tell us, we'll do our best to assist."

"How about you? Why are you here? Aren't you freelancers now?"

"About that.. we got the invitation from Alytia-san so.."

Aoki called off his conversation with the others to come over.

"Alytia-san?" Nine searched through her memories. Who was this again?

"It's Her Highness Alytia," Takata tried to clarify.

"Her Highness hah?"

Prune searched her system map. Her HIghness Alytia.. that one sitting beside Her Highness Siesta.. her elder sister?

"You're here too?! Welcome," Aoki called out.

"Yeah, thanks. Glad to see you're here too," Nine said in a slack voice.

"What do we have here," Sasaki Ishida, the light hero who followed Aoki over asked. He saw Nine and couldn't help but be curious of their relationship.

"I knew it.. I should've made a run for it," Nine muttered.

"Haha.. this here is um.."

"I'll kill you."

"Um.."

"Nice to meet you," without waiting for Aoki to finish, Sasaki reached out his hands for a handshake.

"Are handshakes something normal in this era?" Nine asked, she took a few steps back.

"Is it not?"

"I thought it's supposed to be a bow," Nine curtsied– perfect form. This was the result of Liliath's etiquette training in Bleu's domain. Of course, [Ettique (S)] was there to assist.

"My," Sasaki was impressed. He bowed with his dominant arm leveled to his abdomen.

"I think I'm leaving, I don't want to get involved.."

"What? Who are you?"

"Ciaw." Nine activated the concealment barrier to the max and made a run for it.

Seriously. None of them had any respect for the king. From the map, even Elaine had escaped the ballroom.

Prune, who had been blending into the air, though disappointed that she wasn't able to grab a single glass of wine, followed Nine out anyways.

===

Moirae bowed slightly.

Kyoshi nodded, then looked away.

Liliath's strangling grip on my hand loosened.. I think my bones are broken now.

What was that? Oh.. right.. this concealment barrier. The mana around us was incredibly thick, but it didn't cover Moirae. So that's why he acknowledged her existence and not ours. Eh? When did she..

Liliath tugged at me– more like she dragged me. I merely followed.

"Where could.."

"Give us a moment.." I said, my voice fading as the distance between us grew.

While Moirae stayed, Rin followed. We came to the balcony area far away from the main center stage. The scenic view of the kingdom below, the open sky of the night above, shrouded in the colours of twilight. Liliath took in a sharp breath– and crawled up into a ball..

I knelt down to meet her eye level. She had her head buried into her knees, the sounds of her tears clearly heard.

I stroked her hair.

"You're alright. I'm here Liliath, I'm here."

"Hikh.." she replied with a sniffle. Her sobbings only grew louder.

"Is she.. alright?"

"Yeah, she'll be alright," I took a seat beside her. Inappropriate yes, sitting on the ballroom ground, but fuck that shit. "Sorry. Give her some time to calm down. We'll go greet your family after this."

Rin nodded with an uncertain expression. She stood closeby, in the range of the concealment barrier.

The speech given by the king– whatever he said received a clear applause. I think it had to do with the demon lord, the war in the neighboring duchy and the issue regarding the refugees. In between I also heard him talk about the heroes for a bit.

Speaking of heroes, Nine was having a conversation with them and.. she left for some reason. Oh wait, there's that noble she marked. Who's that? Elaine? Who?

It's seriously getting to the point where not even I know who knows who anymore. There are too many characters, jeez.

"Noel.."

"Yes Liliath?" We looked into each other's eyes.

"Can I.. can we just.. leave?" Her tears glimmered.

"Leave? If you want to then.. yeah?" It'll be a waste though.

"But.. Her Highness Siesta already said.. she'll.."

"It's up to you. I won't force you if you can't."

I don't know how to empathize with Liliath. To me it just feels like some dramatic development. That's me being narrow minded. I'm sure the reality is different if I felt what Liliath was feeling right now.

"Liliath. You have to take the chances.. even when there are time when you realize there are no other paths you can take." Rin said, "That's my thoughts on this."

"I.. understand.." Liliath buried her head back into her knees.

I looked at Rin.

"Ah.. I said that on a whim," she looked away.

Yeah, like hell that was a whim. She perfectly sums up how she became part of our family. She had two choices back then, a change in life, or death.

"Liliath looks cute like this.. don't you think?" Without caring to meet my eyes, Rin asked.

In Liliath's case, it's either she learns of her family situation or continues to live with the information being in the dark. Connecting with Kyoshi would most likely open up the door to the currently unknown situation of Liliath's home kingdom.

"I can do this," Liliath said, standing back up, her tears leaving a sparkling trail.

"Even if things go south, we'll still be here for you, Liliath."

She nodded with a teary resolution in her eyes.