Chapter 831: Intermission: The Flower of the Earth ①

<Author's Notes>

I'm struggling with the next chapter, so just like always, when in trouble, take out the Intermission chapters! The story takes place between the Housewarming party and the swimming on the beach.

It was said that the forest city of Yggfresis, ruled by Lillywood-san, is the largest city in the Demon Realm along with Megiddo-san's city.

The overall size of this city is probably a little larger than Symphonia's royal capital. I did have some sightseeing back when I came to visit Lillywood-san, but there are still places I have yet to visit.

The most popular place to visit in the Yggfresis would be Lillywood-san's workplace and residence at the foot of the gigantic tree in the center of the city…… the World Tree.

It's a place where Lillywood-san, one of the Six Kings, lives, so it might as well be her castle…… It seems like her workplace was made by hollowing out a large tree, and although it is quite large, it doesn't have the atmosphere of a castle.

The reason why I came to visit Lillywood-san this time was because I wanted to ask her about the World Tree seedling that I received as a memorabilia from her at the Six Kings Festival.

Because after I got that seedling at the Six Kings Festival, I bought a large potted plant and raised it in my room…… It seems like the World Tree is growing fast, as in the two years that I've been back on Earth, it has grown quite a bit and it's getting too big to keep indoors.

And now that I've built my own house, I'm thinking of moving the World Tree from my room to my garden…… and so, I thought of asking Lillywood-san if there was anything I should be aware of since it was a special tree, and what the final size of my World Tree would be like.

Lillywood-san has always been very kind to me, giving me many Fruits of the World Tree, so I brought her some souvenirs this time. I talked to Alice about what would be a good souvenir to bring, and she said that bringing her some tasty water would be great. Thereupon, introducing me to a shop that sells such water, I bought some of it.

……Incidentally, a 500ml bottle of this water cost about "5000 yen". What kind of unexplored region did they draw this water from for them to sell this 500ml water for 5000 yen? Moreover, the fact that it exists as a product means that there are people who buy it.

Well, there are people like Lillywood-san who don't eat food and only drink water, so perhaps, there really might be a demand for it.

As I was thinking about this, I saw the entrance to Lillywood-san's castle, which is also her office and residence. At the same time, I spotted a familiar face.

Meeting her here is quite fortunate, or rather, I'm quite grateful instead. I've met her many times before, and to be honest, she's the easiest person to talk to out of all the subordinates under Lillywood-san's command that I know.

Thereupon, just as I was about to speak to her, she noticed me, stopped her cleaning work, and turning towards me, she smiled.

[Hello, Kaito-san. Are you here for Lillywood-sama?]

[Hello, "Camellia-san". Yes, I've already notified her of my visit with a hummingbird……]

[I see. Well then, please head over to the guest room and I will immediately announce your arrival.]

[Thank you. I'm sorry for interrupting your cleaning.]

[No, no, don't worry about it. It's just my hobby.]

The woman who kindly helped me was Camellia-san, Lillywood-san's subordinate. She was about 150-160cm tall, with semi-long brown hair that was braided in a loose, large braid and swept forward from her shoulder, looking a little like Life-san.

She was wearing dark brown and cream-colored clothes that I imagined to be somewhat like Sweden's traditional outfit…… How should I say this……. It may sound rude to say this, but at first glance, she seems to have the atmosphere of a village girl.

No, I don't mean to make fun of her, but it's really difficult to describe Camellia-san's appearance in words. Her beauty might not be dazzling to the eyes, but she definitely has a lovely, well-rounded face and a kind smile that suits her very well. Just from a glance, you could tell that she's a kind person.

However, her overall atmosphere and the color scheme of her outfit…… I apologize for being really rude, but the impression of a village girl really comes to my mind.

What should I say here? Is it because there's nothing about her that stands out? If I had to pick one, it would be her hair clip with a design of two intertwining grasses……

Anyway, I've met and talked with Camellia-san a few times now, and I think we're more like friends than acquaintances.

She seems to enjoy housework in general, and often cleans Lillywood-san's castle, so we often meet by chance just like today. In fact, at first, I misunderstood and thought that she was a maid serving Lillywood-san, and that she was just not wearing a maid uniform, and thus, I asked the cleaning Camellia-san to help me contact Lillywood-san.

That's how we got to know each other, and when Lillywood-san was busy with her work and I was waiting in the guest room, she would prepare tea for me and become my conversation partner.

Arriving at the guest room with Camellia-san's guidance, she let me in and asked me to wait a moment, before leaving the room.

A little while later, she came back into the room with an apologetic expression on her face.

[……My apologies. It seems that Lillywood-sama is at work, and it will take her around 15 minutes to finish it.]

[It's absolutely fine. I'm the one who suddenly came anyway.]

I'm going to digress from the topic, but Lillywood-san used to prioritize me when I came to visit her, even if she had to stop doing the job she was in the middle of working on, but I felt bad about that, so I asked her to prioritize her work.

This time too, I sent a hummingbird to visit her this morning on short notice, so I don't have any problem waiting for her at all. In fact, I'd be fine even if I had to wait longer.

As I was thinking about this, a wooden cup was placed in front of me.

[If you don't mind, please have some tea.]

[Thank you as always.]

Camellia-san often makes tea that tastes like green tea, which I personally like a lot. In fact, I was also slightly inwardly hoping to meet Camellia-san, so I was really happy.

After serving me tea, Camellia-san sat down on the seat opposite mine, and with a smile, she spoke.

[……Well then, if it's not too much trouble, I'd be happy to talk to you for a while.]

[Yes, thank you.]

[Ahh, speaking of which, thank you for inviting me to the party the other day. I was nervous because there were so many great people there, but I had a lot of fun.]

While I was waiting for Lillywood-san, just like today, Camellia-san would often be my conversation partner. She has a friendly atmosphere around her, is easy to talk to, and is always willing to talk about topics that are easy for us to talk about.

This time too, Camellia-san would break the ice, and the conversation would just continue on after that.

[……By the way, I may have been mistaken…… but Camellia-san, weren't you doing something like serving others on the second half of the party?]

[A- Ahaha. The thing is…… Ein-sama told me to do that.]

[Eh? Are you acquainted with Ein-san?]

[I- I guess I am…… acquainted with her. It's just, ummm…… Ein-sama seemed to be under a misunderstanding that I was a maid…… "I'm grateful that I stumbled upon you here. Would you mind helping us out a bit? Since it's the first-rate maid you, I know I could count on you" is what she said……]

[And that was why you became some sort of waitress……]

[I've always been weak to being pressured like that, so I reflexively said "Yes, I understand"……]

Seeing Camellia-san wryly smiling while saying that, I couldn't help but smile.

<Afterword>

Serious-senpai : [……Wha…… He already…… knows about her…… S- So this is what Lilia usually feels huh……]