Leave a comment

It was a sharp gaze like a needle. I didn’t know where it was coming from exactly, but they were clearly looking at me. I could even feel a faint bloodthirst in it.

“Hmm?”

I instinctively voiced my unease from that bloodthirst, which caused Elliot to look at me quizzically, not noticing anything himself.

This gaze was most probably not from some assassin that targeted his life, but instead from that secret agent—Priscilla. It’d be a waste if she comes and ruins this perfect opportunity now.

Thinking that, I entice Elliot to do something about it.

“Um, well… I felt like I was being watched by someone…”
“Huh? Ah, well… Please excuse me for a moment.”

After hesitating for a moment, he stood up with a cramped smile and headed towards the bathroom located at the corner. And at the same time, the gaze I was feeling vanished completely.

He was most likely planning to give orders to Priscilla. I felt bad for her, but I didn’t want her to attack me again. I decided to have Elliot himself restrict her movements.

After a while, Elliot came out of the bathroom. I started feeling the gaze once again, but there was no longer any killing intent in it. He probably told her to hide her killing intent.

“Sorry to have made you wait. It’s been getting cold lately, hasn’t it?”
“It’s already summer, you know…?”
“Ah, no, well, I got chilled last night.”
“Quite a kid, are we?”
“I’m ashamed to admit it.”

He tried to play it off with a joke, but I could see through him. Sorry Priscilla, but you get the short end of the stick this time.

“Ah right, Lord Lyell can’t actually hold his liquor that well, you know. Although he himself believes otherwise…”
“Oh, really?”
“Lord Maxwell and Gadius on the other hand have no bottom.”

Elliot touched on every one of the Six Heroes, but I seldom appeared in his conversation. Now that I think about it, he was still five years old when I died. It’d be weirder if he remembered it.

But that also meant that he didn’t know any of my weaknesses, while he did know the others’. I had to make use of it. Still, Lyell is weak at drinking? I feel like he could drink better than me at least… Maybe this kid is actually a heavy drinker.

Still, I’ve heard of Lyell’s weaknesses from Maria, but I had nothing much on Gadius.

Thus, as I listened to his conversation, my hands were gradually slowing with food. I looked like an adult through the illusion, but I was still a child in reality.

Not to mention, I wasn’t quite as well developed, and my stomach was appropriately tiny. Even just that parfait was enough to fill up my capacity quite a bit.

“Ugh, I hate my inefficient stomach.”
“Oh, have you had your fill already?”
“I believed I was a heavy eater… But turns out it’s not quite the case.”

I utilized the words that I initially said, putting a hand to my mouth in a cunning manner. I personally liked girls like Michelle that ate a lot… Now that I think about it, Cortina used to be quite a heavy eater herself. She went on a binge eating back when she rejected me, too.

“You ate so little it is far off from calling yourself a heavy eater…”
“Unfortunately, it seems that your purse avoided the disaster.”
“Ahaha, I was quite fortunate there. Then, would you like to give it another chance next time?”
“Next time? Are you suggesting you’d like us to meet again?”
“Yes, I do. Rather I really hope that we do.”

Even so, I did not give him my address. Of course, my address was Cortina’s house. No way I could do that. Elliot on the other hand told me where he currently stayed. He didn’t try to get my address either. He was quite the gentleman when he wanted.

“Well then, I pray that we get to meet again soon.”
“If that’s what you’d like, then I shall contact you some other day, Mr. Elliot.”
“I will look forward to that day.”

I’d have liked a handshake at least, but there was a difference between the sizes of my illusionary and real hands. My actual height was around 130 cm but this illusion was over 150 cm.

With a 20 cm difference, there was quite a significant difference between the hand size too. Moreover, a child’s hand differed from the adult’s supple shape. Touching it could get me found out.

The two of us left the shop together and parted after exchanging a small bow. I intentionally lightened my gait, making it known to Elliot that I was in a good mood. At the same time, I started feeling around for presences.

“As expected… It’s still there.”

I could feel a gaze from behind. It was most likely Priscilla. Despite getting warned about it by Elliot, she probably planned to follow me to ascertain my identity.

I would praise her devotion to work, but this time it was only a bother. I didn’t want her to attack me again.

It was evening now. A period of time when the pedestrian traffic was growing in number. I intentionally got mixed among the crowd of people, and went in and out of stores many times to shake her off.

Priscilla appeared to be desperately trying to keep up, but there was a limit to what she could do alone. Before long, I could no longer feel the gaze or the presence of the pursuer.

Just to make doubly sure, I repeated the process a few more times, and when I was finally convinced that no one was following me, I proceeded towards an alley devoid of human presence.

After making sure that no one was around, I undid the illusion and returned to my real form. I couldn’t sense any shock from the surroundings, so it seemed like I had indeed shaken her off completely.

“Good grief. Either way, I suppose I should call this a job well done so far?”

I got a favorable impression out of Elliot and promised to meet again. He probably hadn’t fallen for me just yet, but he clearly had a liking for me.

I had to consult Maxwell on how to proceed from now on.