I wanted to continue some daily updates but as expected this weekend (and first two weekdays) were almost busy enough to drag me back to the spirit realm. Relatively more free for the next week so we’ll see if I can actually get around to releasing daily during this. I’m gonna go catch up on some lost sleep. Enjoy this chapter!

 

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“Tina! Don’t come! Please get back to your room!”

Aira shouted, but the footsteps payed no mind as they drew closer.

“I said don’t come here!”

As Aira shouted that, from her side Tina showed her face. And, with an ‘ah’, Tina raised a delighted voice.

“Lilia! What’s brought you to a place like this?”

At her friendly voice, Aira and Kayten’s eyes went wide. Not just that, all the people around them had their mouths stupidly hanging open. At the surrounding reactions Tina tilted her head.

“Huh? What’s wrong? Aira and Kayten too, what with the weird faces?”

“Nah, uh, well…”

Aira’s gaze went towards Lilia. Lilia sent the now bewildered Aira a smile, and spoke to Tina.

“Tina. Might you have a bit of time? I just have a small favour to ask of you if that’s alright.”

“Favour? From Lilia!? Of course it’s alright! Let’s head to my… Ah, I gotta go clean up so wait just a bit! I’ll be right back!”

Say that she hurriedly ran off. Left behind in a daze were Aira and Kayten and the others, as Lilia simply watched them with slight amusement. Aira who was looking at Lilia awkwardly averted her gaze and,

“Well… Sorry.”

“It is fine. I forgive you. Now then, could you please lead me there?”

“Yeah… This way.”

Nodding meekly, Aira started walking. Kayten followed after her, and Lilia went along behind them.

In the second floor hallways, the rooms were lined up with much less space between each door. Just from that you could tell the sizes of the rooms. To say that they were about the same as just the bedroom provided to Lilia was probably a generous estimate. She had heard about it before, but it seems that they really did live in pretty small rooms here.

—Rather it’s more like Lilia’s room is way too big. Way bigger than where I was living.

—Heeh… What kind of room did you live in?

—A one room suite. But it had a proper bath and everything! Cool right!

—Right. Though my room has one too.

—Like you rich people would understand! I’m super not jealous or anything!

Even though she was saying that, Sakura was muttering quietly about how she’d love to try that bath and whatnot, but maybe it would be nicer to just pretend she didn’t hear that? While she was thinking of such things, Aira stopped in front of one of the doors.

“Here.”

Saying so she knocked on the door.

“Tina. For now I’ve brought her here but…”

“Just, just wait one more second!”

The clattering of something being cleaned up could be heard. As Lilia was thinking how unexpected it was for things to be that messy in there, Kayten gave a wry smile,

“Please don’t come to any misunderstandings now. It may be messy but it’s all things related to studying, so I think she’s just cleaning that up.”

“Heeh. She’s quite passionate. I’m impressed.”

It seems Tina really was here studying. It was as she had imagined, but for some reason she felt a bit happy about it. Aira and Kayten were staring at such a Lilia like she was some rare creature, but Lilia noticed not one bit.
After a bit of waiting, the door finally opened. Smiling awkwardly as she showed her face, Tina gave a bit of a forced laugh.

“Sorry about that, thanks for waiting. Come in. Ah, as for Aira and Kayten… Umm…”

“I don’t really mind. And they seem worried anyways.”

At Lilia’s words, Aira and Kayten seemed to feel awkward as they averted their eyes. She was almost starting to feel displeased at just how much they seemed to doubt her, but it probably goes to show just how much they worried about Tina. Tina really was blessed with good friends.
When compared to Lilia’s, Tina’s room really was pretty small. The opposite wall had a window, the left side had a bed, and the right a study desk. Beside the desk was also a bookshelf stocked with learning materials. That was it, and the space between the bed and desk was just wide enough for no more than a single person to pass through.

“It sure is narrow…”

Lilia murmured, and Tina gave a wry smile as she said,

“Lilia’s room is really big after all. I think I’m actually a bit jealous. It would be great to have even one more room’s worth of space, but it’s clear there wouldn’t be enough rooms that way…”

“Though if only a certain bunch of nobles would take up a bit less space this could all be solved.”

Aira’s thorny words startled Kayten as she protested with her eyes, and Tina was unable to say anything as she looked to Lilia’s face with a complicated expression. Lilia,

“So about the favour I wish to ask.”

Pretended to not hear a thing and began the conversation.

—You’ve really grown, Lilia. I’m kinda hap-

—I wonder how I’ll have her dealt with later on…

—Not grown at all! You’ve just stopped saying it out loud! You can’t Lilia, she’s Tina’s friend so you can’t go and crush her alright!

—So basically if she wasn’t a friend then it would be fine right.

—It’s not fine! That’s too extreme!

—To not be satisfied no matter what, you sure are a selfish one…

—Me!? I’m the bad one!?

Ugahh! Screamed Sakura. Lilia drove that voice out of her consciousness, and once again faced Tina.

“Like I said earlier, it sure is something to have you ask for a favour… If it’s within my power I’ll do what I can to help?”

“Thank you. But it’s not anything that difficult. It’d be a quick request for you.”

Wondering what it might be Tina tilted her head. Lilia glanced at the cabinet on the bookshelf as she said,

“Could you perhaps lend me a set of clothes?”

Tina’s eyes widened in surprise, and Aira and Kayten were both speechless. After a bit Tina came to her senses first, and reservedly spoke.

“Uhmm… The clothes I have aren’t really like the ones you usually wear… I mean, they’re like, for commoners, mostly the clothes those kinds of people use you know?”

“I do not mind. Or rather, I should say that I had wanted to borrow just such types of clothing. Also if you could, having a hat to wear would make things even better.”

Just what would she need them for, wondered Tina as she headed for the cabinet. Just a moment, she said as she started rummaging through the cabinet.

“Uh hey, Miss Lilia.”

It was Aira’s voice. When Lilia turned around, a meek looking Aira continued to speak.

 

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Author’s Note:
Friends are (as should be) important, but there is no mercy for that friend, such is to be Lilia-quality.
She was stopped by Sakura so the crime was limited to just her thoughts though.

Sakura

Lilia

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