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After we finished conveying the information to Camellia-san, we decided to visit Lillie-san. It seems that Lillie-san isnāt at this forest though, and is often in the Great Forest near Yggfresis.
However, it wasnāt far from where we were, and after moving to the entrance of the forest, we arrived at our destination after about 15 minutes of walking around the forest, admiring the green scenery.
The path to our destination was well-maintained and easy to walk in, but the place we arrived at was also quite beautiful. In the center of the open space was something that looked like an altar, a mysteriously bright area, where the light of the sun shines through.
[The place is called the Forest Haven. This place is often used for various events, and Lillie-san often spends time here.]
[Heehhhā¦ā¦ This place is beautifulā¦ā¦ However, there are surprisingly not that many people here.]
[This place is basically treated as the place where Lillie-san works, so thereās a tacit agreement that people who donāt directly report to Lillie-san donāt go near this place.]
As I moved along, listening to Aliceās explanation, I saw the back of Lillie-san as she stood in front of that altar. Lillie-san standing in front of the large stone altar illuminated by the light was very picturesque, or rather, the atmosphere around her looked somewhat magical.
[ā¦ā¦Hello, Miyama Kaito-san. Also, Shalltear-sama.]
[Hello, weāre here today because I have business with you.]
[Shalltear-sama does? Oh my? I wonder how I can be of help?]
After we returned a greeting to Lillie-san, who turned and greeted us as we approached, Alice began conversing with her, but Iām a bit curious about their earlier exchange.
I mean, Lillie-san could read the surface thoughts of others, so questions like āHow can I be of help?ā wouldnāt be something she would askā¦ā¦ but I guess it isnāt possible for her to read the surface thoughts of Alice, one of the Six Kings huh?
[No, Iām sure that with Shalltear-samaās skill, it would have been possible to prevent me from reading her surface thoughtsā¦ā¦ but Shalltear-sama is hiding her thoughts with other methods.]
From what Iāve heard from Lillie-san, who has read my surface thoughts, Alice apparently hasnāt made it impossible for Lillie-san to read her thoughtsā¦ā¦ However, sheās using some other method.
[When Shalltear-sama was around me, she would usually use the method of ācreating false surface thoughtsā, giving me false information instead.]
[Well, itās one of the popular countermeasures against mind-readers. Itās like covering up your thoughts with other thoughts. On the other hand, against someone who reads your thoughts as deeply as Shallow Vernal-sama, if you split your thoughts into tens of thousands of different thoughtsā¦ā¦ even if they read through all these thoughts, they wouldnāt know which one is the truth.]
For her to say that sheās able to do such a thing while talking like normal, I guess I should say that itās to be expected of herā¦ā¦ Especially when it comes to exchanges involving information gathering, Alice is probably on a level that makes her the strongest.
[ā¦ā¦Sometimes, as in this case, sheās creating surface thoughts that I immediately know are false, but there would also be times that I get confused by thoughts that donāt seem very false.]
[Unnn? Is she making some kind of gag-like surface thoughts this time?]
[Yes, easy-to-tell jokes like adjustment of the Peerage system, creating a Maid-Rank on top of the Duke-ranks, and raising me to Duke-rankā¦ā¦]
[ā¦ā¦No, Lillie-san. Unfortunately, thatās the truth.]
Ahh, I seeā¦ā¦ Thereās also a pattern where she would pretend what sheās allowing her to read was false surface thoughts, but it was actually the truth huhā¦ā¦
After hearing my words, Lillie-san looked shocked for a moment, before she tilted her head.
[ā¦ā¦H- Hmmm? Truth? Huh? No, but from what I could read from Miyama Kaito-sanās thoughts, indeedā¦ā¦ H- Hmmm? I- Is it just that Iām clueless about the societyā¦ā¦ and Maid is actually a noble peerage title?]
That wasā¦ā¦ a surprisingly straightforward tsukkomi. Itās as she said, right? Thatās how you would usually feel, rightā¦ā¦ On the other hand, me, who didnāt feel like that title is out of place at all, may have been too infected by that Maid Ideology. Lillie-sanās reaction is the one thatās normal.
[ā¦ā¦Well, I can understand why you donāt believe it. I donāt want to accept it eitherā¦ā¦ but the fact is that we now have a Maid-rank above the Duke-rank.]
[ā¦ā¦Errr, Shalltear-sama? Iām sorry for asking a lot of questionsā¦ā¦ but why is it Maid-rank?]
[Because thatās the only way I could convince Ein-san.]
[Ein-san? I- Is that so?]
I wonder why? I kinda feel like Lillie-san still doesnāt understand it even when she hears Aliceās words. For me, Aliceās explanation is very easy to understand butā¦ā¦ Arehh? Could it be that Lillie-sanā¦ā¦
[ā¦ā¦Lillie-san, have you not talked with Ein-san that much?]
[Let alone talk to her, I think the times Iāve met her could be counted by hand. Ein-san rarely appears in public. Since she doesnāt go out in public even during the Festival of Heroes, I donāt get to see her nearly as often. Camellia seems to be close friends with her thoughā¦ā¦]
Come to think of it, I think Bacchus-san did say something like āI never thought I would meet someone who rarely appears in public~~ā when he first encountered Ein-san.
Also, thinking about it again, Ein-san certainly didnāt appear publicly at the Six Kings Festival or the White God Festival, and I donāt know if itās also something sheās quite particular about, but I think sheās the type that works behind-the-scenes.
[As Kaito-san thinks, people donāt often meet Ein-san. Even if someone visits Kuro-sanās castle, it would basically be Funf-san who handles themā¦ā¦ In the first place, visitors to Kuro-sanās castle are usually those invited by someone who lives there, so the person who invited them will be the one receiving them, so Ein-san rarely appears.]
[I see, so itās just that I see her frequently, and it isnāt like she would usually appear when thereās a visitor huhā¦ā¦]
[Yes, I mean, the reason why Ein-san, who is the de facto head of Kuro-sanās camp, that is if you were to exclude Kuro-san, comes out frequently and immediately receives you is because itās Kaito-san.]
I see, Ein-san is widely known by name, but sheās someone that people outside of Kuroās family and Maid-related people almost never meet huh.
Now that she mentions it, I guess it makes senseā¦ā¦ but because I had the impression that sheās someone I meet frequently, I was a bit surprised.