When the freezing cold had started to alleviate, the grade school department was given a long vacation. The students who were given ma.s.sive amount of homework greeted spring into their homes. El transferred from the Imperial Capital into the West Vern house’s main residence, spending the latter half of his vacation there.

“It’s leisure time~”

He feebly leaned on the chair by the window and placed his hands on his forehead. His eyes felt hot when he gradually closed them, and he realized that he had finally overused them.

Right now, El is alone in the s.p.a.cious room.

Lucsher-san forcibly dragged Matthias, taking him along to help in her work. Edna had gone shopping, and Leont – who had also followed them into the main residence – said it was a date, and then stalked her.

The whereabouts of Richard-san, who appears at unexpected places in unexpected moments, is currently unknown to El. Besides, what could Richard-san possibly do if El asked him to pay attention to him? Though he is curious, he does not want to know.

Several books are piled up on the desk since a while ago. The holiday homework, materials used for them, and the reference books from the mansion.

He finished the problem early, but El can’t find anything he wants to do now that he is done with them. He can prepare for future lessons, but he wants to enjoy himself if possible. He does not want to use his worn-out mind any longer.

… What had he done to kill time up until now?

Phone, television, internet, games, manga. The things he had taken for grated are now nonexistent here. In that world, he had to live while being pressed for time each and everyday, so he did not have any spare time at all. When he came into this world, he supposed the time he spent gazing absentmindedly at the skies increased.

“Really, free time…”

There is little entertainment in this world. Still, Matthias told him before that there are card games and board games. Even if the playing cards are different, he will have Matthias teach him time next time. He will learn it, and then invite everyone to play together.

He pondered about various things, then let his waist sink into the soft chair while thinking, ‘I’ve gotten used to this world’.

Right then, he heard a knocking sound at the door. Matthias might have been liberated from work. He frantically fixed his sloppy sitting posture and answered, ‘Come in’.

“El-sama, I am here to relay the missive Shenryl-sama sent for you. She will be coming here soon.”

The maid I have seen before in the mansion, bowed down and immediately left.

Shenryl-chan is coming into this room? The same Shenryl-chan who continued ignoring me all this time?

He ruminated over the verbal message in his head several times, then stood up from falling off the chair.

“Why? What do I do? A-a… anyway, I must change for the time being.”

I expected to stay in the mansion the whole day today. That’s why, I am only wearing a house-dress right now.

The frequency of changing his clothes strangely increased when he arrived here. He change clothes when getting up in the morning, he change clothes during midday, then he change clothes at night. Before, Matthias and Edna stopped him when he tried to go out with the same clothes he was wearing. It seems like the clothes for going out is also different.

With that custom, he cannot greet Shenryl-chan with a mere house-dress. He does not understand it very well, but it seems to be an extremely rude thing to do.

Let’s change clothes.

El decided, and ran to the room next door. He unfastened the b.u.t.tons while running then threw off his clothes. He is surprised that he finished earlier compared to when someone is a.s.sisting him. It’s been a long time since he did it by himself.

He reached his destination at last, while dropping off clothes here and there, and then flung open the closet which is usually off-limits to him. Clothes in hangers are lined up in a row.

“d.a.m.n! What should I choose?”

Even if he looked at them, he cannot judge which is appropriate for the current situation. The worst thing is, he cannot reach the hanger since he is too short.

It’s Matthias. If it’s Matthias, he can reach that height.

Though he is having difficulties with his short stature, G.o.d gave him some two or three good points. El restrained his anger since he has no outlet for it, and came up with what he should do instead.

Even if Shenryl-chan arrives any moment now, it would not be strange. If she sees his current appearance, he will never be able to talk to her again.

Time is precious, he thinks, placing a chair right below the clothes so he can grab at their hem. He then extended his arm with all his might and jumped. The hanger successfully came off but several clothes covered his face, and El fell backwards.

“Ouch. I hit my waist. Are these the clothes? No, this one? They all look the same. Ah, really. I’ll just choose this.”

El rubbed his aching waist while looking among the clothes scattered at the floor.

Even if I claim this for Matthias’ credit, the clothes are by no means the same even if they resemble each other.

It’s winter so El chose something with a thick material. He slid his hand through the sleeves of his chosen attire. He finished fastening the b.u.t.tons of the crisp s.h.i.+rt then  put on a cardigan. He wore only shorts for bottoms, and then put on the displayed brown boots. He picked up the clothes on the floor using both hands and threw them on top of his bed with a thud. He cannot place them back one by one, so he’ll just put them in order later.

“Next is… right, the room! The room is messy!”

He quickly but noisily returned to the room he was in a while ago. He somehow only used the first room today for work. He gathered up the books and papers and returned to the second room again so he can place them on the bed. He repeated this several times, and when he finally finished putting away the last book, someone knocked on the door.

Perhaps, it would be better if I had the time to prepare tea.

While thinking of that, he returned the first room to greet Shenryl-chan. He hastily went ahead. Then, something got in his way and made him sprawl forward. He caught himself with both hands, and his face came into a close distance with the carpet.

And then, there was a sound of the doork.n.o.b turning. It’ s a total one rotation.

What a worst timing! Am I going to meet her with this unsightly appearance?

Shenryl-chan’s red hair peeped into the room.

“Excuse me. Is this a good time…?”

“Come in.”

I’ll lay all my cards in the table. Fortunately, he had time to sit on the chair. El picked up the coat that twined his feet afterwards. It is a bulky coat made of fur. It looks like he dropped it carelessly, but then he frantically changed his expression as if nothing is amiss.

“I’m sorry for visiting so sudden. I have something to ask of El-sama.”

“Yes, I do not mind. What is it you request?”

He fiddled with the coat in his hand. This is the first time they spoke directly. 

She looks younger than me, but she has a very steady tone. Her appearance is suitable for her age, however she is born as an aristocrat so she is precocious. It is perhaps due to the big expectations of her surroundings. High society exists and Shenryl’s teacher come and go out of the mansion everyday.

“This.”

She held out a basket knitted out of tree vines.

“I would like to pick some flowers for Onii-sama in the forest. Would you lend me your a.s.sistance?”

“For Matthias?”

El blinked in surprise due to that sudden remark, and asked that back, but Shenryl-chan only pushed a basket towards him quietly without saying anything.

“It is freezing outside today. Still, I believe that coat will warm you enough. Well then, I will wait for you at the entrance.”

When El spared a glance at the coat, Shenryl-chan quickly left in a stylish manner so he wasn’t able to see her off.

“Eh…”

Left alone in the room, El alternately looked at the basket and the door.

Why would she invite me suddenly? Is it because our ages are close? The fact that she likes Matthias is true as I expected, and I’m happy that she meet me without being discouraged.

“It will be bad if I made her wait. Shall I go?”

El put on the coat and the fur collar tickled his cheeks.

Should he leave a message for Matthias?

Shenryl-chan took proper measures against the cold weather, I’m sure she told someone that she’ll be going out with me. If that’s the case, Matthias will eventually hear about it.

He halted in front of the door for a while before he left the room. He retraced his steps once more and reached for something in the second shelf, then thrust his hand in his coat pocket.

El began to walk ahead.

I have a feeling that I can do it today.

“Shenryl-chan also goes to school, right? Will you be in third grade next term?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll be in fifth grade, so it’s a two-year-difference?”

“The difference is three years.”

“Really? I am older than you but you really converse well.”

“This much is natural.”

“Is that so…”

The sound of cruching dead leaves clearly reverberated in his ears. They moved on towards the depths of the forest while exchanging poor words that cannot be considered a conversation.

It was still daytime but the foliage blocks out the light so it was slightly dark. El scolded himself from being discouraged after seeing Shenryl-chan walk inside without hesitation and without stumbling on the tree’s roots.

I did not intend to do something like that, but it is true that Matthias took care of me since before so I cannot blame her for thinking I stole her big brother. But she invited him today. El was sure it’s possible for them to be on good terms.

“That is the flower I wanted.”

After a long time in the depths of the forest, Shenryl-chan finally stopped.

“This red flower?”

“Yes. One basket full of these.”

There are two red flowers at my feet.

“A full basket, huh… It looks like it will take time since they don’t bloom in once place.”

They bloom slightly away from each other, and there were only a few of them El can see in that spot. It seems like filling two baskets of the flowers will be a lot of work.

I’ll pick flowers more than Shenryl-chan. While thinking of that, El reached out to a flower he came across. The stalk broke off after a slight resistance.

When he looked beside him, Shenryl-chan was also diligently collecting flowers.  It appears that she isn’t worried even when her skirt which protrudes from her coat reached the ground either.  She is accustomed to the forest so she might like to play outside. El thought he saw an unexpected side of her.

He put it in the basket and looked for the next flowers while taking uncertain steps. If he wouldn’t find a flower, he will call out to Shenryl-chan and then they will move. Then he will let his eyes wander again in the ground. He merely repeated that earnestly.

It was when they had filled the basket with about two-thirds of flowers.

“Hey, this…”

He called out to her while minding his aching neck due to looking below all the time. The appearance of that beige coat which was slightly far away from him is now nowhere in sight.

“Shenryl-chan? Shenryl-chan?”

His voice grew louder and became impatient. He stamped the ground which he walked carefully until a while ago, and went around the same place several times. He did not find her even if he gradually increased his range. He did not see her from her usual position.

“Not here…”

The sky turned red, and the forest is going to greet the dusk soon.

The mushroom with a red speck made a noise when his hand hit it, and he fell into the ground.

“This is my fault. Because I didn’t pay attention. What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?”

What do I do? He repeatedly said this in an incoherent mutter. And yet, the circ.u.mstances did not changed. Because I took my eyes off her, Shenryl-chan got lost, that fact only unnaturally made the pounding of his chest harder.

As his shadow stretched longer, his steps gradually became fast. He did not see Shenryl-chan even when he walked and walked.

“…ah, I see. It already became this dark.”

The day came to a close. The existence that illuminates the forest sunk, and the world dyed red turned dark. He felt a floating sensation later on, and he was falling before he knew it. He frantically placed his hand on a tree’s trunk for support. If he thought about it, it might be the first time he went outside at this time. Is it already time for dinner? There are neither a lamp nor an illumination sold in shops, and the darkness of the forest’s depths made his imagination even worse. His body shook due to the cold.

“Shenryl-chan!”

In this dark, it is difficult to walk due to the tree’s roots. However, he kept on going forward. This is his responsibility as the older one. From the distance, the howl beasts reverberated. In that place where he did not know what is behind and in front of him, what could he have felt?

He let his foot take a step forward while feeling around for the tree’s trunk using his right hand.

Even if his eyes became accustomed to the darkness and both of his legs are complaining of the pain, El did not find Shenryl. His hands and the feet had become dirty from tripping on the ground. He had to use all of his strength for walking on the mud before, so he is worn out mentally and physically.

The bad visibility shaved off El’s physical strength.  Still, he did not let go of the basket he was holding.

“Shenryl… chan?”

He repeatedly called out her name for the nth time, when before him, he saw the moon casting a fleeting light overhead.

“I came here before. This lake, I remember it.”

Some composure settled into his mind when he realized he knew this place. He approach the huge lake as if he is drawn into it. He placed the basket beside him and bend down to his knee then looked into the lake. Reflected back to him is an expression as if he would cry any moment now. He wanted to avert his eyes from that miserable sight. El turned his face as if to run away, and the basket came into his view.

… Only several petals and two flowers remained in the basket. He fell several times, and they also fell at that time.

“Haha. What are you doing, El. That’s no good. After getting lost, now you lose the important flowers… Ah, really. What are you really doing…”

El’s dry laughter stopped at once.

How pathetic. He violently gripped the flower and threw it out to the lake with all his strength. But the flower was too light so it did not flew far. It floated on the surface of the water while making a ripple.

It will go underwater before long, El saw at it slowly fall under. To the pitch-dark bottom of the lake.

He unconsciously reached for the flower and gripped it. A drop of the water dripped from its stalk.  He clenched his hand around the flower and felt relieved for some reason he cannot understand.

Right at that moment, the lake changed into a bright red color.

“A mountain fire?”

When he looked up, the interior of the forest is burning. That place brightened like daytime.

The instant that the wondrous scenery s.n.a.t.c.h his mind, he grasped the basket and flowers immediately and stood up.

——– I’m sure Shenryl-chan is over there.

He began to run without hesitation.