Zanbatou – Ridil [Part 1]

It was an unintentional blind spot. I had unconsciously excluded the Game, because it shared some similarities with aspects of my previous life.

But it was strange. Why does she look like my VRMMORPG player character instead of Carol?

Carol’s face was definitely my favorite, with her dark hair and golden eyes, which influenced me to model my character after Carol…

Was Carol’s face like this from the beginning, or was it a coincidence? Or was it a given from the start that I would be Carol?

So many questions…

–Knock* Knock*.

My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door of my room.

Before I could make a sound to reply, the door opened and someone who dressed like a maid walked in, glared at me and gave me a look of disgust that she didn’t even bother to hide.

“…Excuse me, Carol Ojou-sama, I’ve brought you some food.”

At least mention that before you go in, right?

She was followed by an older woman and a child maid pushing a trolley in.

“You two, once you’ve fed the young lady, let her change once, go to the bathroom, and let her sleep. And while you’re at it, finish cleaning her up. Okay?”

“Ye-, yes”

They both replied, and she headed for the door without even looking at me, just as it was about to close.

[Tch, you little abomination.]

I faintly heard.

“…”

The woman and the girl heard it too, and the atmosphere became a little tense.

At least say it in a way that I can’t hear it. Did you think I wouldn’t understand because I’m a three-year-old? Either that or they think it’s okay for me to hear, but either way, I can clearly see that they don’t like me.

In any case, they at least [give] me food and [let] me sleep. In addition, they are making someone dust and clean next to the place where I’m sleeping.

“…Now, now, Carol Ojou-sama, let’s eat while it’s still warm…Maia, set the table.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

It’s great that the ones who remain can read the air.

“Come to the table, young lady.”

“Aye.”

I’m not used to speaking, so my [yes] sounded a bit weird.

The woman’s eyes widened as I replied, and the girl dropped her cutlery with a bright red face.

I had kind of expected it, but it seems that I will be eating my meals here by myself.

I’m used to it, so it’s okay, but would it be wrong if I asked about Papan and Maman?

The woman took me by the hand to the table and lifted me to a special chair to sit down.

The woman frowned slightly when she saw the food served from the tray.

“Hmm~?”

“No, it seems to be a little cold. I’ll reheat it.”

“Mmm.”

I indicated that it was fine as it was, and she looked a little lost as she put the dish in front of me.

It looked like a loose risotto with finely chopped vegetables and bacon, and a small amount of apple-like fruit.

The woman gave me some cutlery to hold, and I took a bite in my mouth, and was relieved to find that it was just plain good. …It doesn’t seem to be poisoned, either.

But it certainly would have tasted better if it was warm. It was cold, or rather, it was almost close to the temperature of human skin.

“…Is it good?”

“Aye.”

I replied to the woman who asked worriedly, and the girl maid began shivering with a red face for some reason. Do you have a cold?

The girls said that the reason they were acting strange was because I had barely spoken a word to them before. My memory was cloudy up until now after all.

The thirty-something woman’s name was Meiya, and the little girl was Maia, ten years old. They were both commoner maids hired by my parents along with her family, and Meiya had been taking care of me for over a year now.

And that disgusting Maid is Ilaria, the third daughter of a baronet, who is a bastard child of the Arceides family, and is apparently working as an prospective apprentice Maid more than being an actual employee.

So these three are the people who are taking care of me at the moment.

“What about Tohsama and Kaashama?”

I ask about my parents, and their faces become sad.

“You two seem to be very busy, so…”

“I’m sure they’ll come to visit! Carol Ojou-sama is such a lovely girl.”

Her daughter Maia comforted me as she leaned forward. Her face looks so cute.

The two commoners didn’t seem to mind that I was an abomination. Maybe it was only the aristocrats who cared about it to begin with?

I touched my long ears, which popped out as I brushed through my hair.

Abomination. A person with non-human abomination blood in their veins.

Carol, the villainess, is a Half Elf called [Switched Child], born from a nobleman who believes in human supremacy.

[Switched Child Changeling] is a form of ancestry reversion.

In this world, there are {sub-human races} like elves, and those unprincipled {human races} that can interbreed with various races have mixed various blood in their long history, and it is said that when a child with the blood of another race is born from parents who are both human, this is what the term they use to describe them derogatorily.

I don’t think there are any pure human lineages any more unless they live in isolated island countries, but the very rare [Changeling] children born to aristocrats who are human race supremacists are an object of targeted disgust.

However, in this world, the sub-human race blends in with the human race and lives normally. So, as commoners, they did not despise me even if I was Half Elf.

In conclusion, only the human nobility are troublesome.

“Oh my, you’ve eaten a lot. Are you full?”

“Aye.”