"Hey, Liz! Stop standing there spacing out and hurry up with the carrying!"
Nod.
Lizbet obediently nodded.
Next came the apology.
"I'm sorry."
She had not been standing there spacing out.
She had still been clearing the dishes from the customer who had just left.
But she was not allowed to argue back.
She knew what would happen if she talked back.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"You're late! Half price! Apologize!"
"I'm sorry."
The customers at the White Foot Pavilion were low quality.
Eve had told her that before.
"Liz! Are you slacking off again!? Honestly, get it together already!? Who do you think is providing your bed and meals!? Hey, don't stay silent! Answer me!"
"…Yes."
"Are you mocking me!? Apologize!"
"I'm sorry."
"Apologize to me too, not just the customer! Come on!"
"I'm sorry, ma'am."
"Ah, fine, fine! Now, don't just stand there! Carry this next!"
"…Yes."
The mistress pointed at the customer seats.
"Hurry up and carry it!"
Today too she worked while being yelled at.
It was all right.
Tomorrow Eve would come to pick her up.
Eve had said so.
Endure until I come to get you.
I will definitely rescue you from here.
She had promised.
Eve did not lie.
That was why Lizbet had been able to endure until today.
For Lizbet, the only remaining hope was Eve's existence.
(Big sister…)
She clutched the wooden carving necklace Eve had given her.
It was painful to be here.
But she did not want to cause trouble for Eve.
She knew Eve had it hard too.
Eve continued fighting as a blood gladiator.
Betting her life.
For someone like her.
It was many times harder than her own situation.
So—she would fight too.
She had to become strong.
Like Eve.
She would not complain.
Lizbet quickly finished washing the dishes.
While draining the water from the plates,
"You're still doing the dishes!? You're so slow! Dark elves really are useless~! Don't mess with me!"
She was a useless child.
A failure of a child.
She had learned that clearly since coming here.
Everything she did was called slow.
She was told she was clumsy.
She had never been praised even once.
But,
(I mustn't give up.)
She remembered Eve's words.
"The two of us will fight together. The two of us will win our freedom together."
(We are fighting together. I mustn't lose either… I mustn't lose.)
The male customer was in a cheerful mood.
The only customer left was that man.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"You're late! Half price! Apologize!"
"I'm sorry."
The male customer looked at Lizbet with cloudy eyes.
His gaze was sticky.
"But compared to when she first came to this shop, this girl has gained a bit of sex appeal, hasn't she? Hehe… she seems better suited for something other than helping in the shop. I think she could earn way more than being a lowly servant in a dirty shop like this…"
"Hey!? Don't mess with me!"
The mistress yelled at the male customer.
"This girl is going to be taken in by a certain person! I've been keeping her just to hand her over to that person from the start! So don't lay a hand on her, got it? I can't hand her over with even a single scratch… I absolutely cannot let her get marked. See? Not a single bruise, right?"
The mistress did not use violence that would leave scars or bruises.
"Hehe, did she catch the eye of some noble? How envious. Hihi, too bad, too bad."
The person who would take Lizbet in.
(It must be big sister.)
"But it's a waste for her to become one man's property, isn't it?"
The male customer grabbed her arm.
Lizbet hurriedly shook him off.
She hugged her chest and moved away from the customer.
Goosebumps rose on her skin.
"Hey, I told you not to touch her!? Honestly, the customers here really are low quality!"
"Hahaha, my bad, my bad."
"You too, Liz!? Acting all seductive even though you're just a kid… what, you think being young makes it okay!? Is this your way of defying me!? Are you mocking me!?"
"I'm sorry."
The male customer let out a belch.
"Still, what an unsociable kid… she doesn't smile or cry. Does this kid even have emotions? With that kind of attitude, the gentleman who buys her out won't have any fun either."
"Ahahaha! But guess what!? This kid is actually just acting tough! But she can't win against me… watch this~?"
The mistress rolled up her sleeves with enthusiasm.
"Here we go!"
Slap!
The mistress slapped the back of Lizbet's head with her palm.
"There! There! There!"
She kept slapping the back of her head.
The movements were practiced.
"There there! There there there! Here here! How long can you endure~!?"
Slap!
Slap!
Slap!
The mistress continued hitting her head.
After more than ten hits—
"…Hic."
Tears welled up in the corners of Lizbet's eyes.
Then came faint sobs.
Lizbet tried to hold her mouth shut and endure.
But the sobs would not stop.
"Hic… hic… hic…"
"Hehe… see? She looks all composed, but it works perfectly. Well, this is also part of her training."
"No… well, I get it, but… wasn't that a bit too much just now?"
The male customer's smile was strained.
Lizbet wiped her tears.
She steadied her breathing.
(I mustn't lose.)
She had to become strong.
At least in spirit.
Like Eve.
"Too much? Hah! The one who has it tough is me! I work so hard yet nothing good happens! What's wrong with letting off some steam with this kid!? And—you too!? You stopped crying so quickly! Hehe, but I know what you hate the most~!"
The mistress brought her face close to Lizbet's ear.
She took a breath.
The next instant,
"WAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WAAAAAAAHHHHHH! WAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
The mistress screamed at the top of her lungs.
Right next to her ear.
Threateningly.
Intimidatingly.
Lizbet hated this the most.
Her legs went weak.
She instinctively crouched down on the spot.
She hugged her head and closed her eyes.
If she covered her ears, the mistress would pinch them hard.
So she could not cover her ears.
"U… hic…"
Tears welled up again.
(I'm sorry for being weak, big sister…)
"I-I'll head back now… well, uh, don't overdo it too much, okay…?"
The male customer stood up with a reluctant look.
The door closed.
The male customer left the shop.
But the mistress's screaming did not stop.
How long would it continue?
(Big sister…)
"You're getting cocky, you shitty brat! I'll kill you! WAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! WAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
"Hic… hic… big sister…"
BANG!
The sound of the shop door opening rang out.
The mistress's screaming stopped.
Had the previous customer come back?
"Y-You—"
Footsteps approached.
"Bugyah!?"
The mistress let out a choked scream.
Then came the sound of a person being slammed hard against a table.
Lizbet opened her eyes.
(Huh? This smell…)
"I had not heard it was this bad."
A leopard-faced "big sister" was standing there.
▽
"Big sister…?"
She had heard tomorrow was an important blood fight.
So she had thought Eve would not come today.
Eve strode straight toward the mistress.
"Hiii!"
The mistress remained on her backside and raised her hands to stop her.
"What are you doing!? Isn't tomorrow your final blood fight!? You need to get back quickly or—"
THUD!
"Bugyeh!?"
Eve kicked the mistress flying.
"I-I'll tell the duke! If you do something like this, you won't get away with—"
"It is already over."
Eve's voice.
It was the scariest tone she had ever heard.
"This child is coming with me right now. And you—"
"Hiiiieee! P-Please spare me~!"
The mistress dropped to her knees and bowed her head.
She took a praying posture.
"I was only told by Duke Zuan to train this girl strictly! And also, to break her spirit so she would be easier to handle later… I didn't want to do any of this either! But what choice did I have!? If I refused, I would have been killed too!"
The mistress trembled violently and pressed her forehead to the floor.
"I have important people too~… Even someone like me has people who would be sad if I died. So please, at least spare my life~!"
"Will you really keep your mouth shut?"
"O-Of course! Ah, of course I will!"
The mistress looked at Lizbet.
Her face was a mess of tears.
"I'm sorry, Liz… I apologize for everything I've done until now. Please forgive me? That's right, you're a kind child… Ah, what have I done to such a kind child…"
Eve held out her hand to Lizbet.
Squeeze.
A warm hand.
A reassuring hand.
It felt like a fire had been lit in her chest.
"Big sister."
"There are circumstances, so we can no longer stay in this royal capital. I am sorry… it looks like I will have to drag you into another harsh journey. Even so… will you come with me, Liz?"
"Yes."
Tears spilled from her eyes one after another.
"As long as I am with big sister… I will go anywhere."
Eve's softened gaze suddenly sharpened.
That sharpness was directed at the mistress.
"Listen well. Say that Eve Speed suddenly disappeared while searching for Lizbet and headed south. In exchange for your earlier apology, I will spare you."
The mistress nodded repeatedly.
"I-I understand! I will definitely say that! Ah—thank you! I will never forget this kindness for sparing me! Liz… you live strong too, okay?"
Lizbet bowed her head.
"Thank you for everything until now."
"Yeah, yeah! Hic… take care, Liz!"
Eve took her hand.
"Let us go, Liz."
Lizbet stopped.
"…Big sister? Um—that—"
A demon with a fly's face was standing at the door.
A figure in a black robe.
Lizbet clung to Eve.
"Be at ease. That man is an ally. He saved my life. He can be trusted."
Up close, the fly head was clearly a mask.
There was a person inside.
"Is he… a good person?"
"Yes."
At that moment,
BANG!
The fly person slammed the wall hard.
Lizbet instantly closed her eyes.
She shrank back.
Her body began to tremble.
She opened her eyes slightly.
She looked around nervously.
The fly person approached.
She fearfully looked up at the fly person.
Then his hand reached toward Lizbet.
She shrank back again.
Pat.
His hand gently rested on her head.
"Sorry for the sudden loud noise. But—"
A man's voice.
It sounded young.
Yet it carried a strange dignity.
She thought it sounded like a king.
"Your reaction told me everything I needed to know about that woman."
His hand withdrew.
"Go on ahead with her first, Eve."
The fly person walked past them.
"I will finish a small errand and catch up."
Eve nodded silently.
She could tell Eve trusted the fly person deeply.
Lizbet was led outside the shop by Eve.
Then, a voice came from inside the shop.
"Did you think you could get away with it? Too bad. I may not have been able to see through that woman's acting, but that kind of stinking performance doesn't work on me. Well, I do have some confidence in my own acting ability… even without her lie detection, I could smell it out. So what was it? You were going to tell the duke that Eve headed south while searching for the girl? Kaka, don't make me laugh."
The fly person's voice sounded completely different from before.
"There's no way a human like you would honestly keep a promise like that."