I turned back toward Lilliwood-san to resume the conversation that the idiot’s interruption had derailed.
"Um, Kaito-san, why am I being forced to sit on my heels?"
"Because we'll never make any progress if you keep butting in. Just stay there and be quiet."
"Lately, haven't you been treating Alice-chan a bit too harshly?! I'm your cute, darling lover, you know! I think you should spoil me more! Actually, please spoil me! Pick me up and hold me!"
"...I’m sorry, Lilliwood-san. Please continue."
"Ignoring me?!"
Since the conversation really wasn't progressing at all, I decided to just leave her be for now and asked Lilliwood-san to proceed. Lilliwood-san gave a look of pure exasperation at Alice, who was still making a scene despite sitting dutifully on her heels, before nodding and resuming the story.
"Now then, shall we return to the matter at hand? First, for the sake of Shaltier’s honor, I should say... those high-ranking demons she eliminated, accounting for seventy percent of the total, were all individuals who used their strength to act with utter insolence. They were like a sickness within the Demon Realm, oppressing and killing the good and the weak. I believe her actions were quite calculated."
"I see."
To be honest, I hadn't doubted that part from the start. Alice certainly had a cold side, but she wasn't the type to indiscriminately kill innocent people. In that regard, I trusted her.
"Yes! Yes! Objection!"
"...What is it, Shaltier?"
"Lilliwood-san... you really don’t have to pick up on everything she says."
"My apologies. It has become a reflex."
Lilliwood-san was simply too kind to ignore the idiot raising her hand to assert herself. Thinking the story was about to be interrupted again, I cast a glance at Alice to hear what she had to say, since she was a party concerned.
"This is very important, so let me set the record straight! I only took care of sixty percent! The other ten percent was Pandora's doing."
"Wait, Pandora-san did?"
"Yes, well... I happened to pick Pandora up after I finished off a total piece of trash who was kidnapping people he took an interest in and performing perverted experiments on them. I raised her myself! However, somewhere along the line, her upbringing went sideways. She turned into someone with a very particular fetish. She would use Search to find demons similar to that original piece of trash, subject them to Torture (And) until they begged for death, and then finally carry out their Annihilation (Destroy)..."
That "And" part sounded terrifying! The sympathy I had started to feel for Pandora-san's supposedly tragic past evaporated instantly.
"On top of that, her loyalty is completely warped. She's a hardcore sadist, but she's also a hardcore masochist toward specific people. Sometimes, when you're scolding me, she just watches us while sucking her thumb and drooling."
"I really didn't want to know that! Wait, does that mean I'm one of those 'specific people'?"
"Actually, after the festival yesterday, she looked like a female in heat and said, 'It was a supreme moment, watching Miyama-sama leer at my shameful self while I was being disciplined like a foolish beast.'"
"What is going on inside that woman's head?!"
Pandora-san was dangerous. She was way too intense. Was she thinking something like, Since he can scold my absolute superior, Shaltier-sama... I want him to scold me too? If so, I was officially classifying her as a terrifying existence on par with Eden-san!
"W-well, let's put that topic aside..."
"No, I don't think I can..."
"...Good luck."
"Don't give me that ominous encouragement!"
As I slumped my shoulders in horror, Lilliwood-san offered a half-hearted word of comfort and resumed the story.
"I recognize Shaltier’s skill and the achievements she made in bringing order to the Demon Realm. While I was a bit unhappy about being given the title of Six Kings without my consent, a world where the weak are no longer oppressed was something I welcomed."
"..."
Wait, she actually had a high opinion of her? Then why was Lilliwood-san so wary of Alice?
"However, it seemed things weren't going exactly as Shaltier hoped. Her internal impatience only grew. Concerned, I once asked her why she was in such a hurry."
"What did she say?"
"She told me, 'I have to finish my goal quickly so I can die!' That was her answer. At that time, there was something dark and cold in her eyes... and I couldn't understand it. I couldn't comprehend the motive of fulfilling a goal just to end one's life. That is why she seemed so eerie to me."
"Ah, well, I was pretty unhinged back then. I'm sorry for making you worry, Lilliwood-san."
I knew what Alice had been searching for. She had been possessed by the madness of fulfilling Iris-san’s final wish—to fall in love—solely so she could commit suicide afterward. To Lilliwood-san, that must have looked like something totally alien. Lilliwood-san mentioned that Alice had brought order to the Demon Realm in just a thousand years, but for Alice, those thousand years must have felt like an eternity. She had come to another world to fulfill a dying wish and finally end it all, yet she saw no progress. Instead of finding love, she saw countless lives being snuffed out in the chaos of the old Demon Realm. That only fueled her desperation.
"By the way, she even said, 'If you get in my way, Lilliwood-san, I'll kill you too.'"
"Whoops! I just remembered some very urgent business! If you'll excuse me— Gack!"
I knew Alice had her reasons, so I didn't plan on lecturing her about the past. However, I made sure to grab her by the scruff of the neck before she could make her escape. Watching our interaction, Lilliwood-san smiled warmly.
"Well, I think I understand what you were so desperate for back then. You were looking for Kaito-san, weren't you?"
"Hmph."
"I don't feel that cold darkness from you anymore."
"Just to be clear, I was only a little wild back then... I do think of you and the others as family, you know?"
Hearing Lilliwood-san say she no longer found her creepy, Alice scratched her cheek, looking a bit sheepish.
"I know. Even then, you were helping us in your own way. When I was restoring Rigforresia, the forest of the Elf Race... the supply of materials was unusually smooth. That was your doing, wasn't it?"
"Well, that was... I'm sorry for saying those things out of frustration back then."
"I don't mind. There is no doubt in my mind that you are precious family to me."
"T-thank you."
As Alice gave her bashful thanks, it was clear she had changed for the better. At the very least, the lingering tension between them had completely evaporated.
Dear Mother, Father—as Lilliwood-san said, everyone has their own heart, so of course there will be disagreements and fights. Even so, despite all the bickering, they truly care for one another. These two really are family.