LiEat – The Lie-Eating Dragon and the Forgotten-Color Songstress

Chapter 2

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The Lie-Eating Dragon and the Forgotten-Color Songstress
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[ Day One ]

“Hey papa, what’s that?”, Efi asked, tugging on my sleeve. I ignored her and stared out the window.

Even though we were riding a train, I had to say it was moving along pretty slow. Heck, the horse-drawn carriage that ran past the train earlier was faster. The only thing this hunk of junk excelled at was shakiness.

“Papa, what’s thaaat!”
“Ugh, shaddup, runt. And don’t call me papa.”

I got so irritated as to use some pretty harsh language at Efi. Didn’t sound like something I’d usually say. But consider what it’s like for a guy like me to get stuck raising a little kid.

“I’m not "runt”! I’m Efi!“

…I got forced into having exchanges like these every day, every hour.

The idea that kids are cute has got to be a fantasy dreamt up by people who’ve never had to be with a kid all the time. Can’t see "cute” in them - “odious” is the right word.

I let out a deep sigh, as if expelling my feelings of having no escape.

“So, what’s that? The long thingy, going all whoosh around your neck!”

Efi’s eyes sparkled with intrigue as she pointed toward my neck. How long was this quizzing gonna go on?

“…This is a scarf. You wear it when you’re cold, or when you wanna look fancy.”
“Fancy! Efi wants to be fancy!”

Just as I finished my reply, Efi grabbed the scarf and tugged, hard. Acting too quickly for me to react, she strangled me, and I let out a groan.

I felt ready to die from the stress of conversing alone, and now you’re getting me physically, too? I’m not long for this world, am I…

“Aaaaagggh! Stop it, you stupid brat! Just sit still!”

Tearing away her hand (which was trying to strangle me further), I unwrapped my scarf and put it around Efi.

…It served no function for either warmth or fashion; instead, she was all but tied up by it. But…

“Ehehe! Now Efi is fancy!”

…As long as she was pleased with it, I guess it didn’t matter.

Looking at Efi so satisfied with herself, a wave of fatigue came over me.

Work hadn’t even started, so why was I feeling dizzy here of all places? I couldn’t help but worry for what lied ahead.

It had been about a month since my shocking encounter with Efi.

Since then, I’d asked Efi direct questions and looked into as much as I could, but all I really found out was that Efi was a dragon who fed on lies. Not even she seemed to know the reason or experience of her birth.

I was delighted at first to have my hands on a dragon, since everybody sought after them. But with the pain and fatigue just piling on day after day, I was already beginning to regret it.

I should’ve sold her to somebody for a ton of money while she was still in the egg - thoughts like that grew bigger with each pa.s.sing day.

“Papa, why are you tired?”

‘Cause of you, I refrained from saying. Well, or maybe I just didn’t have the energy left to voice it. Instead, a little groan escaped my mouth.

Maybe I should take a nap here, I thought. Then I felt the cellphone in my pocket vibrate. Before the vibration even paused, I answered and muttered “Who?”

“Oh, oh? Why so exhausted? You okay over there?”
“…Informant with the hat?”

The call came from a woman who mainly worked as an informant, buying and selling info. Her always wearing a hat is what stood out to me most, so I called her “the informant with the hat.”

…"Course, I couldn’t see that gaudy hat of hers over the phone now.

“Hmm, sounds like you’re still on the train? You’re taking this reeeal slow, huh. The day might just change on yooou.”
“…Hopefully not.”

This informant was skilled, but had some childish aspects. I was never very good at talking with her, but I felt she was vastly preferable to Efi.

Oh yeah, Efi - I turned to her, and found her sound asleep, the scarf still wrapped around her whole body.

“How boring. Feels like there’s not much point in teasing you these days, y"know? By the way, what alias are you using now? Claude? Duke?”
“Those are some pretty outdated ones… For now, it’s Al.”

Thanks to Efi having fallen asleep for me, I was getting back to my conning self. I had to get things straightened out before I reached our destination, or it could lead to a blunder. The smallest mistake could ruin the time, effort, and money involved in coming here - so, had to avoid that at all costs.

“Okay, Al it is. So, I’ll put together the info for you while I’ve got the chance.”

With that, she began to explain.

On a request from the informant with the hat, I was headed toward a place called Indigo Town to determine the truth of a certain piece of info.

The info in question was the legend of the bluebird. Word was that this thing could grant people’s wishes.

“And I’d like you to capture it, if you could… Well?”
“Can’t tell you if I can or not until we know if it actually exists.”

The informant cackled at that over the phone.

“You’re talking about my info, you know? Granted, I’m not sure what conditions will get it to appear, but asking people around town might be the fastest way to find out.”
“Right, got it.”

The instant our conversation came to an end, the announcement that we had arrived at Indigo Town echoed through the train. I said farewell and hung up, and shook Efi’s shoulder as she slept like the dead.

“I’m already fuuull…”, she mumbled, drooling with a satisfied expression. So I awarded her a solid poke in the forehead.

*

“It hurts…” Clutching to my sleeve, Efi rubbed her forehead with the other hand.

I didn’t think I’d prodded her that powerfully, but I grew worried as she kept acting like this. Maybe I had poked a little too hard.

“It huuurts…?” She shot a glance over at me.

…Ahh, got it. She just wanted me to pay attention to her. Toward the beginning, I wouldn’t notice her intentions and got ordered around quite a bit, but after being with her a month, yeah, I could tell.

“Listen, I told you a million times already on the train, but don’t walk ahead of me.”
“Ah, wait, wait! Don’t walk fast! Nooo!”

I had no time to bother with her. First, I had to find a place to lodge here. The train arrived late, so I was in sort of a hurry.

“Oh yeah, do… trains? Do you use money for them?’ Realizing her earlier tactic wasn’t getting her any attention, she talked to me as she usually did.

"Obviously. If you think anything’s gonna be easy, that means it costs money.”
“But you said you didn’t have money earlier, Al.”

Why’d she have to remember that?

“…Listen, Efi. Not having money isn’t something you can solve right away.”

She nodded eagerly beside me.

“But anything else, and usually you can do something about it.”
“So…?”

From my pants pocket, I produced a counterfeit ticket I’d created last night.

“So what you don’t have, you make.”

We walked for a while, but Indigo Town was a big place with a fair number of inhabitants. Plus, with the exception of some residents I occasionally spotted in the darkness, they had a pretty bustling lifestyle. …Some things caught my attention, but I had to prioritize finding lodging for now.

At a large plaza with a fountain in it, I decided to try talking with a townsperson resting on a bench to the side. While I’d taken the scarf back from Efi after getting off the train, I pulled it away from my mouth and got my expression and voice in order.

“Good day. There are a few things I’d like to ask you… Is now a good time?”

He slowly raised his head to look at me. A middle-aged man whose thick beard stood out to me. No sooner had he seen me than his face brightened and he stood up.

“Oh, ohh! Could you be a traveler? Well, what do you think of the town?!”
“Ah, it has a very nice air about it. All the inhabitants seem quite joyful, too.”
“No doubt! Being here makes you happy. It’s the town of happiness, that’s what it’s called! Hope you can bring home a lot of happiness yourself, lad!”

With a hearty laugh, he put his arm around my shoulder and shook me. It was stronger than I expected, and my body creaked a little. I glared at Efi, who was about to speak up, silently instructing her not to so much as burp.

Then I faced the man again with a smile.

“By the way, is there anywhere I could lodge in this town? I’ve nowhere to stay right now, you see…”

The middle-aged man gently removed his arm from me, and brought it back around his head. His expression hardened slightly.

“Hmm… Well, let’s see. As far as I know, most of the inns are all filled up or closed, so there’s just… Ah!”

Having a sudden revelation, the man clapped his hands together in front of his chest.

“That’s right, there’s a large mansion at the back of town, where a pretty little girl lives, known as the Songstress. How about you head to see her?!”
“So this is… a person’s house, you mean?”
“Yeah, but she’s such a gentle soul. Don’t you worry, she’ll gladly accept you!”

There wasn’t necessarily a particular problem with using a person’s house, but for the business of a con artist, a proper inn is just more convenient, with its variable population and all. But if he said there were no inns available, guess there was no choice.

“…Understood. I believe I’ll go inquire there. The back of town, you say?”
“Yep. Just head straight down the road from this plaza and you’ll find the mansion. In fact, around this time should be when the Songstress is singing. If you get lost, you should follow her voice!”

I said my thanks to the man and left.

After walking a few minutes, Efi tugged on my sleeve and asked, “Hey papa, why is it when you talk to people different from me, you’re a different papa?”

“Not papa, I’m Al now. Don’t ever call me papa. Got it?”

“See, your voice is all different too! And your face! Why?” Efi kept tugging.

She’d really stretch that sleeve at this rate. Appearances are the number one thing you have to pay attention to when you’re tricking people. And anything said by a some bozo with a mismatched sleeve would probably lack credibility.

I silently poised my other hand to unleash a forehead-poke, and Efi let out a “gwuh!” and went docile.

With a quiet Efi in tow, I walked out of the plaza, and once I was sure we were on a road without many people, I began to answer her question.

“Listen up. People… When they meet somebody for the first time, first they judge the person by their appearance. Next, their voice and tone. What’s inside, well, that comes way at the end.”

“But you’re all scarfed now, so you’re hiding your face…”
“Yeah, can’t be bothered to fool people except when it’s necessary.” I pulled up my scarf a little.

Long ago, the informant with the hat told me my real face - the face I was born with, wasn’t a great face for being sociable. Since then, I’d hid my expression a lot except when talking to people. Sure, I was aware I had a bit of a nasty glare, but was it really that frightening?

“Hmm… But that means… It’s a lie-Al?”, Efi asked with a vexed look.

“Lies aren’t lies if they don’t get found out.”, I bluntly replied, and she tilted her head as if understanding even less.

“But aren’t lies bad? You lie to people, so… are you a bad person?”

Pure, to the point. And not even with any ill will.

Kids are so difficult to handle when it comes to this stuff. Especially for someone like me who makes a living deceiving people, that much purity is too much to handle.

“Al… Are you a bad person?”, she asked again, worried.

I scratched the back of my head a few times, then told Efi more or less the first response I could think of.

“Sure, I’m bad. But so are the guys who get tricked.”

After walking straight down the path for a while, a pretty sound came into earshot, like a bird chirping from far away. No… It was a human singing.

“Ooh! Pretty song!”

Efi’s mood was improved, her eyes sparkling and voice elated. Felt like a lie how she’d been all quiet and moping like she didn’t want to take another step earlier.

“Once we reach the mansion, we can hear it up close. So pick up the pace a little.”

“Gotcha!”, Efi shouted, and her pace increased. Or rather, she started off running. Did she already forget all those times I said not to get ahead of me?

For as slow as Efi’s head was, she was fast on her feet. I supposed she couldn’t get lost on a straight path, but there was no guarantee she wouldn’t run into something. I groaned and hurried after her.

Turned out I had no reason to worry; by the time I spotted Efi, I’d reached the great white door of the mansion without any real incidents along the way. As for Efi, she was talking with an unfamiliar young man in front of the door.

He had blue hair and wore a black silk hat tilted to one side, decorated with a yellow ribbon. On the side opposite the hat stuck out a perky, dog-like ear, and it twitched about every time Efi said something. Must have had some beast blood in him.

Actually, I recalled how compared to other towns, this place seemed to have a lot of people with animal-like ears and tails.

“Oh! That’s him! He’s my… um, Al!”

Efi pointed to me and began to explain me to the young man. I was focused on catching my breath after all that running, but when the man looked at me, I hurried to rea.s.semble my expression and stuck my face out from the scarf.

“Good day… I’m sorry my sister’s come and bothered you. She didn’t pull any pranks, did she?”

He smiled nicely. “Ah, you’re her older brother? I was afraid she might be lost, so I’m glad you weren’t far. Do you have some business at this mansion?”, he asked in a kind voice.

“Oh, I should introduce myself. I’m Al, and the little girl there is Efina. We’re on a journey, but we’re at a bit of a loss looking for a place to stay in town. A friendly townsperson told us we might be able to inquire here…”

“Indeed, I see now. Yes, Mischa will certainly welcome you. As for myself… I am Phil, Mischa’s humble butler.” The young man, Phil, politely bowed.

I bowed in return, lifted my head, and put my hand on the door handle. The old, grave doors slowly opened with a slight creak.

The moment the doors opened, a clear singing voice washed over me like a giant wave I’d only been feeling the ripples of.

It was a large hall, and right in the center, a girl with an air of transience about her was singing. Slightly further away from the girl, what must have been townspeople gathered in many rings around her, all intently focused on her song.

It seemed we arrived right toward the end of the song, and when the girl finished the final note, the hall was completely silent for a few seconds. Then immediately after, a storm of cheers and praise erupted from the audience, echoing through the hall. Seeming scared by the loud noise, Efi ducked behind me.

The girl went around thanking the people encircling her one by one, but then finally noticing some unfamiliar guests, she approached us.

With each step the girl took, the soles of her shoes clacked against the hard marble floor and made a rhythmical sound. Just as the sound came to a stop, her mouth opened.

She gently tilted her head and put her hand to her chest. “It’s nice to meet you. I am Mischa. Do you have some business here?”

In that moment, the slight flopping of the rabbit-esque ears on her head and the sway of her long hair stood out in my mind.

“You’re a super good singer, miss!”, Efi leapt out to say before I could even open my mouth.

I just can’t contain that boundless curiosity, can I… I held my head.

Turning back to the songstress, Mischa, she didn’t actually seem especially displeased. She bent her knees a little to get on eye level with Efi.

“Heehee, thank you. I love to sing, so it makes me very happy to hear that.” She smiled a mild smile. Efi smiled back, and a peaceful mood filled the air.

…Not good. These two are gonna bring me down to their level. I loudly cleared my throat, getting Mischa’s attention.

“Excuse me? We intend to stay in this town for a little while, and we’re looking for a place to stay. If it’s not a bother, would you let us stay here? We can handle food and clothing ourselves…”

“Oh my! In that case, you should absolutely stay with us. We can provide meals or anything you might lack, and we won’t charge at all. We have plenty of rooms… Oh, yes, Phil. Go find an open room upstairs, please!”

Mischa made a request of Phil, standing a ways behind us. With an “Understood,” Phil came up as if sliding on over.

“I will show you to your room. This way, please.” Phil swung a hand out in front and began to walk.

I told Efi “Let’s go,” but she wouldn’t move an inch from Mischa’s side, so I grabbed her by the collar and dragged her along.

Efi sulked, and waved back toward Mischa.

Going upstairs and down a long hallway, Phil, walking a few steps ahead of us, came to a sudden stop.

He produced a small cl.u.s.ter of keys from his pocket and put one of them into the door’s keyhole. Right as it clicked open, he began to speak.

“Please make use of this room. The mansion is quite large, and first-time visitors are often lost… But I believe this room should pose little issue, being near a hallway which leads to the stairs.”

Phil quietly opened the door and invited us to go in.

It was a s.p.a.cious room with two beds and refreshing light pouring in through a big window. Looked fancier than some hotels.

Maybe this was pretty lucky after all, considering they were letting us stay here for free.

“Wow, the bed’s so fluffyyy!”

While I was busy thinking about that, Efi dove onto a bed and hopped on it like mad.

Shoot, I got careless and let go of her… I apologized to Phil, who was snickering, and went to seize her.

“Oh, no, it’s good to be so full of energy.”

While I fought to calm down Efi squirming about in my arm, Phil asked a question in a suddenly serious tone.

“…By the way, for about how long to you plan to stay here?”

It was a normal, obvious question for someone lending out a room - but the air about Phil seemed a little different, I felt.

…Was there something to this?

“Oh, let’s see… There are a few matters we want to look into in this town. I would like if we could stay here for three days, at least. Would that be a problem?”

For an instant, Phil’s expression seemed to stiffen at the words “three days.”

…So there is something.

Observing Phil’s countenance, I waited for his next move.

“…No, that’s not a problem. Simply, it’s just that there are many inhabitants in this mansion, coming near-daily to listen to Mischa sing or just to visit. It is typically busiest in the noontime…” He paused. “Is that all right with you?”, he asked with a somewhat uneasy look.

He seemed to be desperately trying to conceal his thoughts, but his expression just grew stiffer. I supposed everything he’d just said was his answer for the public.

I put on a cheery look in contrast. “No, no! Not to worry. As you can see, my sister’s rather noisy herself, so I’m quite used to it.”

With that, Phil’s shoulders loosened and he smiled. As for Efi, who I’d offered up as an example, she was still thrashing her arms and legs about in my grip.

“…Alright, let’s make it simple. You’re Efi, my little sister. That’s all the info you need to remember. Don’t talk any more than you need to. Got it?”

Once Phil had left the room, I gave Efi a reminder to keep her from causing any blunders. I’d tried having her use an alias, but she kept forgetting and calling herself Efi no matter what, so it didn’t pan out.

“Mmm… I can’t talk about anything?” Her brow wrinkled, and she tilted her head.

“Like the past, for instance. Where you’ve traveled, what you’ve seen - if you get asked anything like that, don’t say a word. People who suck at lying talk about things they weren’t even asked. And don’t even notice the inconsistencies in their stories.”

Efi seemed awfully confused by that explanation, and her head spun around.

“So what should I do if I get asked?”
“Simple. You can just answer, "I’m a dummy, so I don’t know!”“
"What’s a dummy?”

…Was she really that big of a dummy? Well, maybe convenient for me.

“It means you’ve got a lousy brain.”
“Hmm. Is having a lousy brain bad?”
“Means you’re gonna have a lot of troubles ahead, that’s for sure.”

Boy. I just can’t handle kids at all. Especially when they’re pure and straightforward… and keep innocently b.u.m-rushing me with an empty head, like this runt.

“Hmmm…”

And even after I’d explained it this much, she still didn’t seem to understand. Seemed like continuing with this any longer would just be a waste of time.

“…It’s not really that bad of a thing. So you don’t have to worry about it.”
“Got it!”

Wonder if she really understood? …That’d probably do, at any rate. Until Efi knew what “dummy” meant, I could go with that. I didn’t really mind.

“Alright… There’s still time until the sun goes down, so I’ll check out the town some more. If I’m gonna look for the bluebird, I should know where things are first.”

“Me too!” Efi leapt over as I stood up from the bed to go out. It was pretty forceful, so I nearly toppled over. Managing to regain balance, I tore Efi away from my waist.

“Thought you were saying you didn’t wanna walk anymore earlier? This town is huge, so forget it. Stay here.”

I threw her toward the bed, and she booed me from atop it.

“I’ll buy you something sweet on the way back.”

“Efi will hold down the fort!”, she replied with gleaming eyes.

I gave her a sidelong glance, left the room, and went back outside the mansion.

A few hours had pa.s.sed since we arrived in town, but the bustle outside showed no sign of dying down. I headed for the fountain plaza and found the middle-aged man who told me about the mansion, taking a break on the same bench as before.

Noticing me, he heaved himself up. “Oh, traveler! Well, did you find a place to stay?”

“Yes, we had no problems. We went to the mansion as you said, and Miss Mischa warmly accepted when we asked to stay. You were a great help.”

“I see, I see.” The man smiled and slapped my back a few times.

From what I could tell, there were a lot of good-natured inhabitants here, even besides this guy. With people like that, you wouldn’t get any funny business - easy to handle in general.

The man checked his watch. “Oh, would you look at the time! I’d better get home, or the wife’ll get real annoying… Oh, don’t tell anybody I said that. A happy day to you!” With a quick goodbye, he left in a hurry.

I turned around to resume my rounds. When I did, I noticed a circle of old ladies in the shade of trees whispering to each other about something.

I pa.s.sed by, feigning ignorance, and listened in. Their conversation caught my interest. “Is it all right to let them stay at that mansion?” “Shouldn’t they stay away?”

Were they talking about me? Even after I’d pa.s.sed them by, I felt their eyes on me, so I supposed it was so.

Ever since coming here, I’d felt something wasn’t right. I couldn’t pinpoint it, but it gave me a bad feeling.

Still, the conversation didn’t seem directly connected to my search for the bluebird. It was probably safe to just forget about it.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts, and refocused on the bluebird.

Watching the sunset turn the sky a dark purple, I rewrapped my scarf.

“…Hope this can go without incident.”

The words unconsciously slipped out, and I was taken aback with myself. Didn’t saying things like that just make bad things happen? …But it was too late.

I decided to head back for the day.

Right around then, I remembered I’d promised to buy her something sweet. My feet feeling a little heavy, I went to go pick something out.

Back at the mansion, I opened the front door and found Mischa singing in the hall again. But unlike before, there wasn’t a huge gallery; the only person listening was Efi.

“Oh, welcome back! You must be tired.”

Mischa noticed me first and gave me a soft smile. n.o.body had shown me any concern for my fatigue and suffering lately - and I’d been going through nothing but, so I really needed that.

“Huh? Al, you’re back! Sweets, please!”

…And she was the main reason why.

Wanting to keep that from showing to Mischa, I prepared my face, removed my scarf, and took out a package of cookies I’d bought at a nearby store. Efi’s eyes shone at once, and she tried to rip it from my hands, but I firmly held onto the edge of the package.

When Efi ate sweets, it was like she removed some kind of limiter, and sometimes she’d spit fire. It seemed there were some dragons who could manipulate forces of nature beyond their usual abilities, so I wondered if Efi was one of them. I’d had to throw out a change of clothes in the past thanks to it.

“…You can’t eat it here. You’ll have to come back to the room to eat.”

My normal self nearly came out in front of Efi, but I was cautious to keep on the mask of a kind older brother in front of Mischa.

“Whaaa?! But I wanna eat with the singer lady!” Efi refused and pulled on the package.

Typically she would complain, but comply - why was she resisting now of all times? I guess I really didn’t get how to handle her yet.

“Heehee, don’t concern yourself with me. You do need to get back to your room soon. Please enjoy them for yourself, little sweet-lover Efi!”

Mischa spoke with a charming smile, then bowed and went up the stairs.

…How unexpected.

I didn’t think our war over the cookie bag had been very well-acted. Yet she didn’t show any particular doubts - in fact, maybe she could even see us as a friendly brother and sister.

“Heyyy! Let’s eat cookies!”

Efi’s words brought me back, and hit me with fatigue. Augh… How long should I keep this life up?

Should I consult with someone else of her species? The dragons I knew were enough to count on one hand… My feelings started to get messy thinking about it, so I put a stop to that.

Let’s just sleep for today. Yeah, that’s a good idea.

Not lending an ear to Efi’s whining, I quickly headed up the stairs to our room. She went “Ah!” and went after me, sticking behind me thereafter.

Once we got back to the room, I took off my coat and immediately fell onto the bed. It was rare that I’d ever gotten this tired.

I often dealt with a lot of peculiar people in this line of work, and I was proud to say I was accustomed to handling them. But the girl here was a dragon. And a kid. I didn’t understand one iota of her thought process.

As I felt like I was going to be crushed by fatigue, Efi looked at me worriedly. I turned my gaze to look at her face.

Looking at her again, I thought, she didn’t look much different from a human at all. I wondered if there was a reason why dragons imitated humans in appearance.

Efi had been pondering something as she watched me. I wonder. Maybe she was concerned for me? Then I wish she’d leave me alone.

I had no energy to voice that sentiment and just stared. Then Efi, seeming to have an idea, put on a victorious smile and asked cheerfully…

“Can we sleep together?”

“…Gimme a break,” I bluntly refused.

[ Day Two ]

The chirping of birds tickled my ears and brought me back to consciousness.

I was worried that some of yesterday’s exhaustion would still hang over me, but I sat up and found that I’d made a full recovery.

I’m proud to say I haven’t lived a decent life from the day I was born to the present, but it seemed that when it came to my ability to recover, life wasn’t so unfair. Youth is wonderful. I opened the window and relished that as I felt the breeze.

While I was revering the refreshing morning, Efi got up with a yawn. My early-morning repose ended here.

“…You’re up early today.”

With not a hint of refreshedness in my face nor voice, I said my first words to Efi for the day. She rubbed her eyelids and drawled “Mornin’…” I impulsively replied “Morning” back.

“Where’re we going today?”, Efi asked in a still-sleepy tone.

“Let’s see… I’ll investigate in town. You sit tight at the mansion…”

“No!”, she refused before I could finish. Felt like she was pretty opposed to my suggestions as of late. Was she at that rebellious age already?

“We gotta stay together!”, she pressed further. When I was a kid, I was never this stubborn. Well, though I wasn’t a little girl.

Honestly, if we got split up in this huge town and she got lost, what was she going to do? Did she understand that she was a dragon, something tons of people around the world were after for research?

“I’ll go buy you something else today.”
“Okay!”

…Couldn’t even decide if she was easy or hard to handle. Oh well. Relieved it wasn’t a lengthy battle, my shoulders loosened.

Come to think of it, I’d heard dragons weren’t too satisfied by human food. So why did Efi like sweets so much? And before we came here, I’d fed her quite a lot of lies, so I thought she shouldn’t be getting hungry anytime soon.

“Candy would be good!”
“Sure,” I replied, practically not hearing her.

There were still many mysteries about her.

To be extra sure, I asked the butler Phil to keep an eye on Efi, and left her at the mansion while I explored the town.

Today, I would begin my search for the bluebird in earnest.

Now where to start, I pondered… Suddenly, someone behind me forcefully slapped my back.

“Hey, traveler! Fancy seeing you. Guess it’s just "cause I go around the same places every day! Gahaha!”

I turned around to find that same bearded man. For such a big town which had to have a lot of inhabitants, we really did meet often.

Given our previous conversations, it appeared he knew a fair bit about the town, so maybe he knew something about the bluebird.

“Oh, good day! It’s true, we keep running into each other. You see, I came here to look into the bluebird. Would you know anything, sir?”, I asked with such a cheerful voice and smile, even I thought I sounded idiotic.

Having such a model example around me lately, it seemed I could pull off a far more idiotic performance.

“Ohh! The bluebird, I see. Yes, it’s in this town, alright. Though I’ve never seen it. Still, it’s why everyone in this town is so happy, with a few exceptions!”
“A few… exceptions?”

That got my attention at once. Maybe it was related to the feeling niggling at me since I arrived.

“Ah… Well, I shouldn’t say this too loud…”

He leaned over, put a big hand by his mouth, and brought his face near my ear.

“Don’t you think this town’s a little weird? Most of the townspeople are simple and carefree like me, happy people. But I’m sure you’ve spotted some other, more gloomy folks.”

I was reminded of the old ladies talking yesterday. People like that would hardly be rare or anything in other towns, but it’s true, they felt out of place here.

“See, rumor has it that they’re all monsters taking human form. And that someday they’ll reveal themselves, and attack this peaceful town. So travelers like you had better watch out for "em, too.”

Right after he finished speaking, the man stretched his back and laughed loudly. I was somewhat confused by the sudden change in mood.

“Well, nothing else to really worry about, anyway. Oh, you said you were looking for the bluebird? Well, I’ve heard that the bluebird shows up once a week.”

“Once a week…?”

Though he said “it’s in this town,” it didn’t seem you could encounter it very frequently. So, wouldn’t it be difficult to determine its authenticity in short order…? As I began to ponder, I thanked the man and left.

Without knowing when the bluebird had last appeared, I would probably have to stay in this town for at least a week. Maybe I should have brought along a little more money.

Ever since I started living with Efi, my funds always suffered. When I was alone, I was free to decide whether I should skip meals and whatnot, but that wouldn’t work out anymore. I felt like an impoverished housewife struggling to do finances.

It was an experience which I would never have conceived of going through before I met Efi.

“I’m getting a headache…”

I put my fingers to my temple and waited for the pain to subside.

Come to think of it, that guy said “this town has inhabitants who are happy and carefree, and gloomy ones who aren’t.” And how rumor was spreading that the latter were secretly monsters…

After walking a bit, in a main street lined with various stores, I decided to try casually observing the townspeople.

Indeed, the majority seemed like bright-faced people, but there was the occasional person with a strikingly dark expression. And I saw not a single person somewhere in the middle.

On one hand, I couldn’t perceive the gloomy people as simply having an especially low standard of living. Nor did it feel like they were stricken with some illness, or they were troublemakers, or that there was a significant wage gap between townspeople. There must have been some other reason for the difference in expressions, but I couldn’t tell from looking.

“Maybe it has something to do with the bluebird…?”

The man earlier had told me that thanks to the bluebird, they lived happily.

Given that, were these people who hadn’t received the bluebird’s blessing? If so, what was the reason?

The more I thought about it, the threads of the mystery seemed to get increasingly complex to untangle. I was working with too little information still.

I checked where the sun was at to determine how much time I had left. Still plenty. It was only my second day of searching, so it was unsurprising that I’d have to fumble about.

Though groaning, I moved ahead.

Although I had to wonder, how big was this bluebird? Searching for a little bird in a town as big as this sounded pretty terrible. Once I found it, I’d be sure to price the info extra-high for the hat informant. Fueling myself with that thought, I resumed walking.

*

“Have you lived here a long time, miss?”

The songstress lady thought about my question for a little. Her head slanted, and she answered like she was saying “maybe?”

“Yes, for a long time. I’m very happy to be in this town. So I can’t even think of going somewhere else.”

She smiled gently at me. The songstress lady’s smile was really lovely. Her singing was lovely, but she was a really lovely person too.

“Where did you come from, Efi?”

Her sudden question kind of startled me.

…Where did I come from?

I remembered when I was born. I saw papa… er, Al’s eyes get all wide. But after that, we’d been going all sorts of places, like we were now.

“Hmm… Places! Lots of places!”

The lady made a curious face at my answer, but smiled right after.

Al told me not to answer if people asked about my past, so I wonder if that answer was okay? Efi always keeps her promises!

“True, you did say you were travelers. I’d be glad if this town pleased you, too.”

Right after the lady said that, the mansion door went creeeak.

“Al!”

Al’s appeared from behind the door. When he saw my face, he trembled a little for some reason.

“Did you behave?”
“I did!”

Maybe. All I did today was walk all around the mansion, and have mister butler tell me “I was surprised when you vanished all of a sudden,” and talked with the songstress lady and a bunch of people who’d all gone home now. That’s got to just barely make “behaving”!

“I was behaving!”
“You… don’t have to repeat yourself.” Al scratched his head.

Al’s eyebrows would get all tight, and he’d do this a lot. I wonder what it meant?

I wonder… Maybe he was surprised that I listened to what he told me?

“Eheh!”

Then I guess I should be proud! I puffed out my chest, and I think Al’s eyebrows got even tighter than before.

“Ahh…” I let out a big yawn. I’d walked around the mansion a lot and talked a lot, so maybe I was kind of tired.

“My, perhaps we spoke for a little long. It is getting quite late. Efi was behaving perfectly well, don’t worry. I’m envious you have such an adorable sister!”

“Oh, she’s just always giving me trouble… Hahaha.”

Al replied to the lady with a different face and voice from before. This was a really weird thing about Al. I think maybe they were lies, but I wasn’t able to see through Al’s lies.

“Well, I’ll excuse myself for today. Good night.”
“Good night!”

I waved and saw off the songstress lady, and she waved back.

Once the lady was gone, Al went back to his usual self.

“…Back to the room.”

He pulled my hand with a tired look, so I hurried along, careful not to trip.

Back in the room, first Al took off his coat, then jumped back onto the bad.

I loved jumping on the bed too, because it’s so fluffy and comfy. I got really happy whenever I saw a similarity between me and Al.

“Oh yeah, I didn’t give you this. Here’s a souvenir. Only one "cause it’s before bed. You get the rest tomorrow.”
“Woo! Thanks!”

Al gave me round candies wrapped in a cute little bag, so I took one out and put it in my mouth.

Rolling it around on my tongue, I tasted a sweet flavor. Sweet flavors wouldn’t do much to make me full, but they’d make me really happy. And when I made a happy face, Al would sometimes smirk a little, which I loved to see.

“…Well, guess we should sum up the day.”
“Okay!”

Whenever we came to a town to investigate something and acted separate, we’d always report what happened to each other before saying good night.

Who you talked to, what you found… He told me to tell him everything, so I told him about how I’d walked around the mansion and talked about things with the songstress lady.

“Anything catch your eye while exploring the mansion, or talking to the songstress?”

Wanting to have a good answer, I closed my eyes a little and tried to remember.

The mansion was… big? That probably wasn’t strange. And there weren’t statues of a weird old guy like the town we went to before.

What I talked to the lady about… She said she liked this town. That probably wasn’t strange either, right?

“Err…”

But what I thought was strange and what Al thought was strange were a little different. So like usual, I decided to tell him everything.

Once I was finished, Al nodded a few times. “…I see. Guess we can pretty much say we didn’t get much today.”

I guess since I’d talked so much, I let out yet another big yawn. I got really tired today…

“Okay, you can sleep now. See you tomorrow.”

Al patted my head and quickly crawled under his bed covers.

“Good night, Al!”
“Yeah, good night.”

Our final words of the day. He was always super blunt, but if you said good morning, Al would say good morning back, and if you said good night, he’d say good night.

So I figured Al had to be a good person. Nodding to myself, I got under my own covers and closed my eyes.

I hoped tomorrow could be just like this, too.

[ Day Three ]

Still sleepy… But is it morning already? I opened my eyes, and saw blinding light coming in.

It’s morning! I sat up. I wonder if Al’s up?

I looked over to Al’s bed. He was still lying down on it.

“Morning! It’s morning!”, I greeted loudly. Sometimes I would jump onto the bed to wake him up, but he’d yell at me a lot, so I couldn’t do that again for a while.

Making kind of a pained voice, Al looked toward me.

“…What time is it?”

What time…? Did he want me to check the clock? He taught me how to read a clock one time, but it was too confusing, and I didn’t get it.

“Oh, sorry. You still can’t read a clock yet…”

Al slowly got up, rubbing his eyes. His hair was all messy.

Stumbling around, he started getting dressed and messing with his hair. I did the same. I could at least dress myself, of course!

“…Your ribbon’s crooked.”

…I could mostly dress myself, of course. I got some help from Al at the end, so now I was all set to tackle another day.

Al told me to hold down the fort again and left the room. He wouldn’t take me along yesterday, or before that either. When I really wanted to go with him!

I puffed my cheeks and pouted to myself. In a small town, he’d let me come along, but in a big town like this, he’d always make me watch the room.

He said it was so I didn’t get lost, but I never get that lost! …Probably.

Just sitting around in the room was boring. I wonder if the songstress lady is up? Maybe I should go talk with her again.

After a couple of jumps, the door opened with a click. The handles on these doors were just a little too high up for me…

I pushed the door and entered a long hallway. Yesterday I’d gotten lost here, which led into an adventure. Mansions really are huge! But I’d probably be fine today.

When she was awake, the songstress lady was always in this big plaza-y area downstairs. Mister butler told me yesterday that it was called the “banquet hall.”

There was a big round table with chairs packed around it, and the lady would sit there and talk with the town people, or sing songs.

And she looked really happy doing it. All the town people looked really happy, too.

I went downstairs to the banquet hall, but she wasn’t there yet. But mister butler was there cleaning instead.

“Ah, Miss Efi. Good morning.” He greeted me with a wide smile.

“Good morning!”, I shouted back loudly, "cause I wasn’t going to let him beat me. My powerful greeting echoed around the mansion like yelling from the top of a mountain.

“Where’s the singer lady?”

“Ah, I believe Mischa is taking a bath. She seemed to be in the mood for that today.”

So the songstress lady was in a bath, apparently. Did taking a bath in the morning feel good? I’d only taken baths at night, so I didn’t know.

“Then let’s talk, mister!” If the lady wasn’t around, mister butler would be fine too. He looked at the mop in his hands for a few seconds, then sighed.

“I suppose. I’ve mostly finished, so that should be fine.”

Alright! This might’ve been the first time I could really talk to mister butler. He was always going here and there around the mansion. And maybe I could hear some different stuff from him than from the songstress.

“Wait here,” he told me, so I sat in a chair around the round table and waited. After a little while, mister butler came with a plate and a cup.

“Ooh! Sweets!”

There were sweet things I’d never seen before on the plate. They were colorful, and chubby, and really cute!

Seeing my sparkly eyes, he told me about them. “Have you never seen one before? These are called macarons. They sell them at the nearby sweets shop. They’re quite delicious.”

He placed one in my hand. “Here you are.”

I tilted it around. The macaron rolled and danced in my palm.

After that, I gave it a little bite. A fluffy and sweet taste filled my mouth. Very delicious!

“You appear to be quite pleased. That’s good,” the butler said, offering me a cup. The cup was full of tea. I knew tea, "cause I’d drank it before.

“How much sugar would you like?”
“Lots!”

Mister butler seemed surprised by my answer, and smiled childishly. He put two sugar cubes in my cup and swished them around with a little spoon. Then he sat in the chair next to me.

“Mister butler, have you been friends with miss singer for a long time?”, I asked, suddenly wondering about it. He said he was the songstress’s butler, but they seemed really friendly to me.

“Yes, that’s right. We have been friends for a long time in this town,” he answered while pouring his own tea.

“Has she always liked to sing?”

“Yes. She’s always sung quite often. And I’ve adored Mischa’s singing for just as long.”

He smiled warmly, and the morning light lit up his face. He really seemed to like miss songstress.

And I could tell deep down that he wasn’t lying, so I felt warm inside.

When people told the truth, especially when talking about things they liked, it would lighten up my own feelings. I kind of liked that sensation.

Though, if there wasn’t anyone who lied, I might go hungry and collapse.

“I heard from Al that when you spend a long time with people, you sometimes fight. Have you ever fought with miss singer?”

“Err…”

Mister butler was about to put the cup to his lips, but my question made him put it back on the plate.

“We… haven’t fought, come to think of it. Though reasonably speaking, I suppose that should be the case.”

Reasonably speaking? What did he mean? I had kind of a question mark about mister butler’s words.

I didn’t feel like he was lying. Probably. I couldn’t be sure without Al around.

“Good morning!”

While I was thinking, the songstress lady trotted over with a steamy air around her.

“Morning, miss singer!”

Her eyes blinked, and she looked at me.

“Good morning… Er, Efi!” It took a little while before she said my name and smiled kindly.

Just a little pause. But I found that little bit of time a little weird.

*

Continuing on from yesterday, I went around town for several hours, but failed to obtain any useful information.

“Does this bluebird really even exist…?”

Sure enough, I started to doubt the thing itself. All the residents I’d asked had the same thing to say.

“Thanks to the bluebird, we’re happy.” Albeit with minor differences in phrasing, they all told me that with a cheery look.

Sure, the bluebird seemed to be a popular legend in this town. But isn’t it a little odd?

Maybe the bluebird was a kind of idol. I couldn’t help but get a kind of religious feeling from this. Some people will blame bad things happening to them not on themselves but on divine punishment, so the opposite wouldn’t be so strange.

“…Well, at least I’m not completely out of leads.”

There was one more option. Something I’d heard from that bearded man yesterday, then avoided.

To talk to the gloomy residents…

From yesterday to now, I’d been choosing to talk with cheery-looking townspeople. Mostly because that talk of “they might be monsters, so watch your back” was still hanging over me. Always wanted to avoid ha.s.sle.

But now I was stuck, and I felt like if I kept avoiding it and keeping up the way I was now, coming to this town at all would end up being a complete waste of time.

So no other option. Of course I’m strong enough to protect myself, at least.

Checking the pouches in my coat and pants for concealed weapons, I went into a cramped alley in search of some downtrodden townspeople.

“Sigh…”

I sat in the shade of a large tree.

I had walked around town a lot. Searched every nook and cranny, from tight alleys to wide-open streets. And those gloomy residents I spotted here and there before were nowhere to be found today, not a one.

Maybe they were avoiding me, too. I searched my memory for clues, and recalled the gossipping old ladies on the first day.

“Is it all right to let them stay at that mansion?” - I’m sure they said that.

The residents of the mansion, Mischa and Phil… I hadn’t felt anything odd about them so far. And the people who came to and went from the mansion… while they did give me the impression of being awfully zealous about Mischa’s singing, they were all carefree, cheery people, nothing suspect.

…“All cheery people” made me wonder. Well, maybe people with a gloomy disposition just never even got the thought of visiting someone else’s house.

As I was thinking about it, a person pa.s.sed by. I hid behind the tree and observed them. He was a young man with a face as sullen as a cloudy sky.

“…Do you have a moment?”

I nimbly got out in front of the man and put on a smile. He seemed surprised, letting out a little scream.

“U-Uhh…”

“I’m on a trip, see. I just wanted to ask you something. I can offer you a reward if necessary,” I told him weakly. I acted as much like a pa.s.sing weakling as I could. That would get people to trust you, as long as they didn’t sense any malicious intent.

“No… I don’t need any reward. If it’s just for a second, it’s fine,” the young man acknowledged.

Saying he didn’t want to talk here, the man led me to a nearby bench, and I followed him without saying much.

Once we sat down on the bench, the young man started talking before I could.

“Um… You’re the traveler who came here two days ago, right? You look the same as what everyone’s saying. Is it true they’re letting you stay at that mansion?”

I was a little thrown off. I didn’t expect for him to start talking, and about that.

“Yes, it is… Is there something about that mansion?”

“Well, it’s the mansion, but it’s more like something odd is going on in the whole town…” His head lowered with a clouded look.

“Something odd?”

It caught my attention straight away, but asking directly would probably be counterproductive. So I just repeated the words back and waited a bit to hear it from his mouth.

“…There are those cheery townspeople, you know. Those startlingly carefree people. There are rumors among us… about how they might be monsters.”

I was stunned. So these gloomy people were saying the same thing about the cheery ones. They both suspected the others of being monsters.

“We hear all these strange stories lately. Someone’s dead grandfather pa.s.sing by looking as if nothing happened, a girlfriend who moved far away sitting on a bench and laughing… So everyone’s exhausted. There are even rumors that the songstress at that mansion might be summoning up ghosts with her song.”

“Someone who moved far away isn’t necessarily dead. It wouldn’t be too odd if they came back for some business, would it?”

“Well, it’s my ex-girlfriend, actually. We broke up and she moved away, so I don’t know if she’s alive or not… But I’m sure there’s no business she’d have back here.”

Even so, that was no good reason to jump to speculation about ghosts and monsters. Though considering these gloomy people’s position, maybe it wasn’t surprising that they would.

Irrational things were happening around them. So they went looking for an explanation with at least a little consistency, wanting to prove that they weren’t just losing it.

“So no one will go near that mansion, or those cheery people. We heard the news that they were apparently letting you stay at the mansion, and… Um, this is kind of hard to ask directly, but… I was wondering if you were a ghost, or…”

Aha, so that’s why these gloomy townspeople wouldn’t come near me. Why I couldn’t find one even walking all over the place. Sure, it was a big town, but in two days, rumors could spread to most everyone. And the more they wanted to stay away from me, the harder it would be for someone with no familiarity with the town to find them.

“So that’s it… But no, I’m no ghost. Want to feel it for yourself?”

“Oh, I realize that talking to you now. Though I was startled when you talked to me, and got worried you were here to take me to the afterlife…”

The young man smiled wryly. So did I, figuring he must be quick to believe anything. But I couldn’t blame him for having difficulty making calm judgements when he was so haggard.

“There’s something I want to ask, too. Are you familiar with the bluebird?”

“Bluebird… Uh, yes. There has been a legend like that in this town for a long time. But it’s just a legend. Even if rumors are spreading lately about it really existing… Those started at about the same time I started hearing other weird rumors. So even if it is true, it’s not bringing any happiness.”

The young man’s face grew darker and darker as he spoke to me. I couldn’t imagine that he’d be lying about this. So what he said held a lot of credibility.

In other words, the rumor about the bluebird said to have started around the same time became highly credible, too.

“Thank you very much for telling me.”

“No problem… Please be careful, traveler. Because you might get dragged to the other side, not even kidding.”

With that, the young man stood up, bowed a couple times, and quickly walked away.

Well, now I’d gotten to speak with the so-called gloomy residents as well. And it seemed that the people of this town were suspecting each other of

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