Chapter 14 Festive Mood (6)
“And why do you speak so poorly of artists? Director Louis is a shameless scoundrel, but that doesn't mean everyone is like that,” seeing my skeptical expression, the blonde girl frowned. “You can't know that! You yourself said you don't like shows and don't go to the theater.” After taking out a mirror, she started tidying herself up.
“I don't know how things work in this environment,” I replied with a shrug,” but I do know people a bit. And understanding some principles, as you know, can compensate for the lack of certain knowledge,” I finished my thought under Natal's thoughtful gaze.
“You sound like Father again,” she shook her head. “He always sees deceit and scoundrels everywhere. I can't imagine how someone can live like that,” the blonde girl, shaking her head, tried to cheer herself up. “You're too unfair to the world and people, Kurome,” she sniffed. “Don't act all stern; it causes wrinkles and ruins your complexion.”
'Uh... yeah... sure. It sounds like I was the one crying my eyes out just now, and she were comforting me.'
"Would I have met you, Natal and your friends if everyone was bad?" after hearing this maxim, the "good and kind" mass murderer, necromancer and punisher could only chuckle.
“Actually, I have a gift for you,” I did not spin the topic.
After all, everyone has their own path and their own truth. If members of the Squad were walking the path of mud, blood, and bones, that didn't mean so someone like Eris will someday find out about the existence of this.
“Really?!” the blonde girl, who had forgotten her worries, exclaimed and grabbed the plush tiger lying on the nearby chair.” What a lovely creature! Thank you, Kurome!” I got a kiss on the cheek, and she happily held the toy to her chest. “It suits you better when you're not acting like a sulky meanie, hee-hee,” seeing the sunny smile on the blonde's lips, it was hard to believe she had been crying recently. Only her reddened eyes gave it away.
“The striped one is just an addition to the main gift,” 'which was intended to be give away to a waitress or someone else if she didn't want it.' Even the lover of cute things, Akira, didn't take a plush toy too big to carry around. “The main and more practical gift I'll give you later,” I said, resisting the immediate curiosity of the girl.
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'I hope she'll get lucky and never come face to face with the dark side of this world,' I mentally sighed, looking at Eris, trying to persuade Natal to help find out my secret. 'And how did such a friendly and open girl grow up in the serpentarium of the capital nobility?'
***
My music lesson in my room turned out to be quite enjoyable. It was hardly a lesson, to be honest. Our trio chatted and goofed around more than anything else. Eris showed us what to do and provided us with a guitar to practice what she demonstrated. My friend also gave it a try, but after plucking the strings a bit, he admitted that it wasn't his thing and handed the instrument over to me.
As for me, I mostly needed to get used to it and rekindle the skills from my previous life. Thanks to my accelerated thinking and perception, it wasn't a difficult task. After all, Viktor was just an amateur who enjoyed strumming the guitar and didn't possess any exceptional skills.
While showering me with praise and correcting my mistakes, Eris regaled us with funny and entertaining stories from her own learning experience. I must admit, his stories were much more lively and cheerful than my own stories, filled with a lot of black humor, and sometimes even gloomy. Nevertheless, the beginner artist seemed to enjoy my "scary tales" as well, as long as I didn't get too detailed.
After about an hour of such a pastime, when Hunter came to visit us in search of his ward, the girl even forgot about the gift that I promised to give her at the end of the lesson. However, it was worth mentioning this, as she again burst out with enthusiasm and curiosity.
"Is this a beautiful flask?"
"No."
"A camping set of cutlery?"
"No. Another attempt? I narrowed my eyes mockingly."
"That's not fair! Stop torturing me, Kurome! I'm going to burn with curiosity! What is this useful gift for a traveler?"
"Giving up? Okay, I'll get it right away." I returned to the living room holding a dark lacquered box with golden hinges and a lock.
"Cadet Eris, step out of line!" the girl, sticking out her pleasantly swaying high chest and making an enthusiastic, silly grimace, stepped forward. Lifting her chin, Eris stood at attention as she imagined her. But it was not enough for more than a couple of seconds, and, leaning forward, the blonde began to look at my burden with interest. "For outstanding services to the Forces of Darkness and personally their viceroy in this world, we award you with personal firearms! Hurray!"
"E-I!" Eris snatched the gift from my hands, immediately arranging a hug session. Unfortunately, Hunter's presence did not allow for an ambiguous joke. The girl was shy of him.
"What a cute shiny pistol! I'm like a real adventurer now! Thank you, Kurome! He won't shoot, will he?" having received a negative answer, the blonde, under the displeased gaze of a relative, began to turn the miniature weapon in her hands. From time to time she took "cool poses" and took aim. To her credit, the girl did not point a weapon at anyone present. "So small and light! Only I don't know how to shoot at all."
"Actually, it's not that complicated," I said, shrugging. "You just aim it at the enemy, pull the trigger, and it becomes a corpse. The main thing is to master the safety techniques so you don't shoot the wrong people. I'll also show you how to disassemble, assemble, and clean it. So, the next time some scoundrel bothers you, you can put some holes in them."
"Yeah! Let them try to steal my clothes now! I'll show them!" Eris declared, brandishing a fist.