Chapter 189, Girls’ Gathering (Including Guys)_4 (: Lavender)

Translator: Nonon

Proofreader: Silavin

 

POV: Violet

 

For the time being, we did as Mary said and talked about trivial things, like our hometowns and etc.

Silva and I mostly listened, while Kriemhild mainly led the conversation. As always, she was very good at talking to people.

 

“Wait, Mr. Clo made those pajamas?!”

“Yeah, he made not only Gray’s pajamas, but also gloves, scarves and other winter clothes.”

“Wow, that’s amazing… also, when does Mr. Clo sleep? I’m sure his work as the Territory Lord is very difficult too.”

“He said that he had more time after Lady Violet arrived. Making clothes is Lord Clo’s hobby, so it seems to be like a way for him to relax.“

“I see… ah, Gray. We’re not at the public place right now, so you don’t have to use honorifics. Just be more relaxed~”

“Okay, Kriemhild. So after we have a good and relaxed time, we’ll lose ourselves in our youthful fever and have a champagne fight only to regret it later, right?”

“Not even close.”

 

Lord Clo sometimes gets absorbed in sewing, but when it’s time to sleep, he properly goes to bed. Just as Gray said earlier, he also mentioned that he had more free time after I came here.

Lord Clo does all the sewing by himself, so he can’t sew much, but he’s still very fast and the end result is comparable to the works of a professional, so I honestly respect him.

Also, I’ll have to ask Gray who he heard those words from later.

 

“Are you not helping him with the sewing?”

 

Silva, with his unnecessarily perfectly combed out hair, asked us.

I was a little surprised, because I didn’t think he would talk to me… no, I guess he was asking Gray just now.

 

“No, um… Lord Clo becomes very harsh when it comes to clothes… he won’t even allow half a thread’s worth of deviation.”

“Half?”

“I mean half the thickness of the thread.”

“… Eh, by thread you mean that thread, right?… and you’re talking about deviation the size of half its thickness?”

“Yes.”

 

Silva replied to Gray with ‘Is that so…’, looking as if he could not believe what he was hearing.

But it’s true that Lord Clo becomes strict when it comes to sewing.

I want to help too, but Lord Clo is very particular about it, so it’s hard to do anything. A part of it is also because I like watching him sew … but I also don’t want to disturb him, so it’s a complicated situation. Lord Clo did tell me to not worry about it though.

 

“When I try to teach alchemy magic, everybody gives up halfway through—”

“The best way to improve at cooking is to have someone eat your food—”

“Magic is all about the feeling—”

“My favorite place is—”

“The book I read the other day was really interesting—”

 

We talked about a lot of things after that.

At first, I felt awkward and wondered if there was some meaning to this so-called girls’ night, but talking in a situation like this definitely felt different from talking normally. Talking to each other at night in sleepwear, a state something you would not normally show to others, while it’s dark outside, is a strange, childish sensation, like you’re sharing a secret… I never had this kind of freedom back then.

 

“…By the way, there’s something I want to ask.”

 

After a while, Mary noticed that Silva had been staying quiet and asked him what was wrong. He was quiet for a moment before speaking up.

He looked at me for a second, then quickly looked away. Because of this, I thought it was about me, but…

 

“… So, Shiki is full of strange people, isn’t? Ah, no, I didn’t mean it in a bad way.”

 

Looks like I was wrong.

Did he look at me because I also live here?

… I guess Silva also saw Shiki’s people with his own eyes. There are elderly people and half of them are normal people, but there are many strange people too.

Maybe he couldn’t comprehend their uniqueness and wanted to know if what he saw was real.

 

“What do you mean by strange people?”

“Um, well…”

 

Kriemhild’s question left Silva faltering.

His face was red, as if rather than being unable to express himself. He was more embarrassed to say it aloud.

Why did he make such a face? Do we even have the kind of people who are so strange it’s embarrassing to even talk about them… well, yes we do.

 

“I saw it when I borrowed the bath at the church earlier… the clothes of the Sister named Cyan, expose a lot of her legs… and I’ve heard that church members aren’t allowed to wear underwear so I was just thinking about how unusual her outfit was. She’s the strangest woman I have ever seen. I’ve heard that Shiki is full of quirky people, but is this nun is the strangest one of them all?”

“”…””

 

Everybody went quiet after hearing his words and the three of us girls looked at each other.

 

“Oh, but I didn’t look! I thought it would be rude to look, so I tried to not look at her as much as I could except for when I was thanking her! I’m not a pervert!”

 

Perhaps misunderstanding our silence as disdain, Silva started to anxiously explain himself. He looked flustered as a child despite being the same age as us.

And ignoring Silva’s panic, we all nodded to each other and everyone except Gray got closer.

 

“W-What with all of you? Ms. Mary and Kriemhild aside, you’re too—“

“Silva.”

 

Silva had a complicated expression on his face, mixed with embarrassment towards Mary and scorn towards me, but I stopped him before he could say anything.

Kriemhild and Mary probably felt the same way, but Silva wouldn’t want me to touch him, and I felt uncomfortable touching another man, so I’ll at least tell him with words.

 

“That person is considered to be one of the sanest Shiki residents.”

“Huh? What do you mean… that woman, who’s um… almost fully exposed is—“

“Silva, you see, she might be dressed sexily and act as a Sister who’s quick to get physical, but she’s somebody who calms down the chaos.”

“Kriemhild!?”

“Ms. Cyan is a cheerful person who does her job to the fullest. She’s a wonderful woman who generally acts and talks cheerfully.”

“Y-you too, Ms. Mary!?”

 

Up until halfway through, he had a look on his face that said ‘what are you even talking about’, but when we all looked at him with eyes full of compassion, Silva started looking confused. It was as if he wanted to ask how something like that could’ve been considered normal.

…That’s right. To be honest, I’ve gotten used to Ms. Cyan’s outfit. If you think about it, a nun’s habit with a slit and no underwear is very weird.

 

“…I hope you never lose that innocence.”

“Huh, what do you mean!? Hey! Don’t just stroke my head, Ms. Mary! Where are you touching me, Kriemhild!? Wait, tell me what you meant!”

 

Silva continued to be petted by Kriemhild and Mary for a while, unable to comprehend the situation and simply letting it happen.

 

“Is Lady Cyan’s outfit… that strange? Is that level of exposure something to be flustered by?”

“Eh, don’t tell me Gray’s more used to women than I am…?!”

 

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Author’s note:

※It seems that Mary has also come to many realizations after interacting with the residents of Shiki over the past few days.