I had thought that since Clarice herself had been so boastful, she must have a lot of self-confidence, but…
Setting out into the city during the day, I could indeed see why Clarice wasn’t hung up on money.
“Wow…”
Maybe because it had been dark the night before, I hadn’t gotten much of a look at the city, but when I observed the place more carefully, there were some really tremendous things to see.
First, in the plaza—
LADY CLARICE, GUARDIAN OF TWILIGHT HELBE!
There was a water fountain surrounding a statue with that inscription.
“It doesn’t look like her at all…”
But the workmanship was so poor that the face looked like it belonged to a completely different person. The statue itself was an elaborate work of art, but the modeling on the face was not quite right.
As I walked down the street away from the plaza, a sight completely different from last night’s spread out before my eyes.
All down the road, Clarice’s name was written here and there. For example, when I went to a bookstore, there was a whole row of newspapers with articles praising Clarice’s most recent good deeds.
Along the main avenue, people were selling dolls modeled after Clarice and lots of painted portraits of her.
Apparently, she was some kind of local hero.
Actually, giving it some more thought, I had seen a glimpse of that the previous night, during her exchange with the family whose house she had repaired.
“—Ah! It’s Lady Clarice!”
“Lady Clarice!”
“Thank you so much for helping us out again last night!”
I heard cheers coming from the other side of the street.
When I looked over, I saw a crowd.
At the center of that crowd was, of course, Clarice.
“Ha-ha-ha. I just did what needed to be done, as always!”
There was the smile I had seen so many times since the previous day. She responded politely to each and every one of the residents surrounding her.
“Um, would you please hold my child?!” A mother pressed her child into her arms.
“Yes, of course.” Clarice cradled the child in her arms like it was entirely natural.
“Sign, please!” A little kid brought her a piece of paper and a pen.
“Sure thing.” Clarice patted his head and scrawled her name on the paper.
“I’m going to give birth to a little girl soon!” A pregnant woman approached her.
“Well then, allow me to pray that you deliver her safely,” Clarice said, rubbing the woman’s belly.
Children, adults, the elderly, many people of all ages watched with jealousy in their eyes, then one person after another approached the woman and handed her food or money. They seemed to take a liking to her.
I get it now. If Clarice gets this much adoration and charity from the townspeople, I guess she wouldn’t have to worry about money. And I have no doubt that the day I stole anything from the house of someone like her, the people here would pursue me to the ends of the earth.
“Ah, Elaina. You came.”
Her gaze landed on me.
Immediately after it did, the eyes of the citizens all converged on me, too.
“………………………………………………………”
All the cheers from the people around her suddenly stopped, and silence fell over the crowd. The citizens all fixed their emotionless gazes on me, as if they were appraising me.
I didn’t feel anything like clear hostility from them. But the fact that the boisterous atmosphere that had been there a moment earlier had vanished as if it was never there was simply eerie.
I stood there confused, not really sure why the citizens had all suddenly fallen silent.
It seemed like they were waiting for Clarice to say something.
“Let me introduce you to everyone. This is Elaina. She’s a witch who’s going to help me subdue the dead tonight. Last night, we had someone leave the Crescent Moon Company, you see, so I got her to agree to work for me on short notice, to make up for that loss.”
As soon as Clarice introduced me that way, the citizens immediately greeted me with applause and cheers.
“Ah! So that’s who she is!”
“If Lady Clarice approves of you, you must have some magnificent powers!”
“I envy you!”
“The guy who was dismissed this morning was an incompetent who wasn’t worthy of working at the Crescent Moon Company anyway.”
“Now, now. Let’s not talk about those who are gone.”
They all greeted me warmly, all at once, as if they had been instructed to make sure they all smiled, and looked happy, and welcomed me.
“……” After wavering for a moment over how I ought to respond, I said, “…Uh, hello.”
I forced myself to smile.
An uncanny harmony had taken hold of the crowd. Whenever the people clapped their hands and their voices rang out with praises of me and Clarice—
—I was sure I felt a prickling sting against my skin.
“……”
And on the other side of the crowd, I could see Clarice, still wearing that same smile.
Everything in the city seemed just a little bit off.
It was almost like everything there existed to make Clarice look good. Wherever I went in town, all I heard was praise for Clarice.
Little children talked about their dreams to become just like Clarice, and older teenage boys and girls were more specific, touting their goals to join the Crescent Moon Company and be of service to Lady Clarice. Even though I spent just half a day walking around town, I saw such sights many times over.
And not a single person ever laughed at those dreams and goals.
Everyone around those boys and girls encouraged them to chase those dreams, as if pursuing those things was only natural.
The greatest threat to the people of this city was the dead.
And Lady Clarice, who protected them from the dead, seemed to be the one and only thing they believed in.
“…Somehow, this place tires me out.”
Ultimately—
—in the early afternoon, I wound up going back to the building that was both the Crescent Moon Company’s office and Clarice’s home.
I went up to the fourth floor and unlocked the door.
I’m going to start working tonight, so why don’t I take a little nap until then?
After all, I have no idea what might happen to me if I disappoint such a harmonious populace—
With those thoughts, I unlocked the door to my room, but immediately after I did, I remembered something else.
“During the day, my mother often comes out into the dining room, so if possible, I think it would be better for you to be out.”
Come to think of it, Clarice did say something about that when she left this morning.
“……”
In the kitchen, a lone woman was cutting vegetables.
She was in her forties. Her blue hair, somewhat darker than Clarice’s, was pulled up in a ponytail behind her head. She turned to me with a lifeless gaze and said, “…Hello.”
She greeted me.
“…Hi there.”
I went ahead and bowed.
I see, so then I take it there’s no place in this whole country where I can relax?