Chapter 117

The Takanashi was a bit unexpected.

She heard that Sakaki Chika's grandmother passed away when she was very young and seems to still be living alone, possibly like her, an orphan.

"I didn't really care about my family's affairs; I just wanted that person to know that my grandmother had passed away."

She felt a sense of closeness to people she had never met before, even though they were related by blood.

But her experiences didn't make her feel much affection for her relatives.

After her grandmother passed away, she felt that something was more important than family ties.

Takanashi didn't quite understand, and just nodded.

Soon, they arrived at the courtyard at the end of the garden.

If I remember correctly, this garden is located very close to the Abailia Territory.

Abailia, the family to which the Overlord belonged.

Although Witch who rebelled against the Kingdom was born there, the House Abailia R'lyeh, second only to the Royal Family, and is sometimes even regarded as a branch of the Royal Family, with the head of the family holding the status of Prince.

According to Ms. Roland, this garden is where Her Majesty the Queen spent her childhood with her sweetheart.

Takanashi had never heard from Her Majesty the Queen about her childhood sweetheart.

But seeing how well the garden was maintained, she probably thought that the Queen might cherish those childhood memories and that unknown childhood sweetheart.

Upon arriving at the gate of the yard, Takanashi didn't do anything extra; he simply knocked gently on the door.

"..."

There was no response after knocking.

"Is he not here?"

"Her Majesty is probably still taking a nap. We arrived a little early; she's usually still resting at this time."

Takanashi, as if it were perfectly natural, talked about the Queen.

Kirishima Ai a little curious.

Then she remembered that they had never known anything about Takanashi's family situation. After all, since R'lyeh returned, Takanashi had never mentioned going home.

Without knocking or waiting any longer, Takanashi simply turned the doorknob:

Come in.

She naturally opened the door and let her friends in.

To be frank, it didn't feel like going to see the Queen of the country; it felt more like knocking on the door of a neighbor's house.

"... Sorry to bother you."

Shortly after entering, they did not see Her Majesty the Queen, but instead saw the simple yet bright and beautiful decor and furnishings, as well as various unexpected household items.

Some are very modern photos and dolls, while others are classical-style clothing and portraits.

Perhaps because they arrived early, the homeowner hadn't even finished tidying up yet, so you could still see women's underwear that had been accidentally left on the sofa.

The designs are also quite bold.

After entering, for some reason, Takanashi felt that the style of the room was somewhat familiar.

It feels like I've seen it somewhere before.

However, after arriving on Earth, she only visited one person's home.

It must be my imagination...

Just as she was thinking this, Sakaki Chika, who was beside her, muttered quietly:

"Huh... those underwear look like something Teacher Haihara would wear."

"?"

Takanashi felt like he was hearing something strange.

Why does Sakaki Chika know what kind of underwear Teacher Haihara wore?

She decided to assume she had misheard.

In short, after entering the room, all three girls sensed that something was amiss.

Meanwhile, Kirishima Ai also noticed something that concerned her.

The portraits here often feature a gray-haired, purple-eyed girl who reminds her of Miss Lily.

Is it a coincidence...?

But even though they're different ages, could someone this beautiful really be someone else?

Confused, Kirishima Ai shook her head, deciding to wait a while and see if she could ask the owner of this place about the gray-haired girl.

"I'll go find His Majesty. Please sit down and have some tea. The teapot is on the table; just pour yourself some. His Majesty won't mind."

After waiting for a while, Takanashi decided to go find the Queen himself.

Fortunately, this house isn't as big Royal Palace.

Even if the Queen is sleeping, she'll find it in a little while.

Based on her understanding of the woman, she didn't linger on the first floor. After opening a few doors, she went up to the second floor.

That woman likes to put the things she cares about most in high places.

Although this place only has two floors in total.

Once on the second floor, it was even quieter than the first floor, and there were so many doors that even the Takanashi didn't know where to start looking.

After searching for a while, Takanashi looked towards the end of the second-floor corridor, where there was a room that looked like it was used for sleeping.

Slowly walking over there, Takanashi seemed to knock on a door, but still received no response.

I listened into the room, but there was no sound.

Although there was probably no one inside, Takanashi still tried to open the door, and it opened as soon as she turned the handle.

When she opened the door, the inside was dimly lit, seemingly without any lights, but she had a feeling that there were quite a few clothes inside.

Is this the room where the Queen keeps her clothes?

But why is it piled up so messily on the bed, as if it's meant to be used as a mattress?

With this question in mind, Takanashi turned on the room light.

"--Skip."

As the lights came on, everything inside the room was illuminated, and things that had been hidden in the dim light were suddenly revealed.

My first thought Takanashi was that, besides clothes and such, there were also many photos inside.

The photos were pasted on the wall, placed in frames, or bound into albums.

However, the Queen was not in any of those photos.

Some of the girls inside were dark-haired, dark-eyed, and somewhat withdrawn, wearing glasses; they looked to be in elementary school.

Some were dressed in junior high school sailor uniforms, looking gloomy and dull, with black hair and glasses.

The girl with black hair took off her glasses, lay on the bed and fell asleep peacefully, her neck and shoulders exposed without any defenses.

Others are more private, such as when changing underwear or taking a shower...

Why are these photos in the Queen's room?

Why are these things placed in this room?

She could understand if this room belonged to a psychologically twisted parent, or even some perverted voyeur, but this little house did not belong to anyone else; it belonged to R'lyeh's Queen.

Takanashi saw these photos, she was initially confused, but her clever mind automatically pieced the information together.

These photos seem to be of the same girl, taken at various times throughout her life.

From elementary school to high school, even including babies and children.

The girl's face looked strangely familiar to Takanashi.

There are even photos of this girl after she grew up and became a mature and charming woman.

One of the photos shows a woman lying in bed, sleeping peacefully, with hot sweat dripping down her neck – a somewhat erotic scene.

This woman is Takanashi Shiori knows.

This was definitely the person Takanashi knew, but... she didn't understand why it had to be this woman.

Looking again at the bed, at the various women's clothes, from large to small, including even underwear, Takanashi's mind went blank, leaving only the words Sakaki Chika had just muttered.

'Those underwear... they look like they belonged to Teacher Haihara.'

She murmured softly, as if waking from a dream, in a daze—

"... Huh?"

Chapter Fifty Her Majesty the Queen

Looking at the brightly lit room before her, exposed to the light, Takanashi felt as if she were seeing the darkest corner of this Kingdom.

Her mind was completely blank.

The room was filled with all sorts of things related to that woman, from clothes to photos, from childhood to adulthood. All these things piled together were so incomprehensible.

What's even more perplexing is that these things didn't appear in some corner of Earth, but in an incredibly distant other world, in a small courtyard in a garden in the Royal Capital of R'lyeh, where she discovered such a room.

The owner of this room is the ruler of this country.

The Queen of Magic Girls, who appeared as a portrait in the rooms of many R'lyeh Magic girls, stood as a statue in the academy, was written in books and poems, lived through a long time, and once defeated Belial and the Overlord.

If this was due to a psychological shift on one day, resulting in strange desires for his sugar daddy, then having such a room wouldn't be surprising.

But... why?

No matter how she thought about it, all she could think about was why, and she even wondered if there was some kind of illusionary Magic in this room that could present the image imagined deep within the mind of the person who entered.

But all of this is absolutely true.

"..."

Now, Takanashi feels his body is a little stiff, and his mind is still a bit blank, as if he can't process the overwhelming amount of information.

She may have already learned the Kingdom's darkest secret.

For reasons unknown, she took a few steps forward and went deeper into the room.

Then, he picked up a white shirt and sniffed it gently.

"It really was her..."

It seems to smell nice.

It was probably the smell of laundry detergent that I often smelled on that woman.

But besides this, there seemed to be another woman's scent.

It's like someone rubbed against this piece of clothing, and it picked up a scent that wasn't originally there.

After a while, Takanashi suddenly realized what she was doing. Somewhat embarrassed, she put down the clothes, but instead of putting them back in their original place, she just hugged them to her chest.

Looking at the room full of evidence of the crime, Takanashi fell into deep thought.

What should we do next...?

After the meeting, and after sending the other knights to investigate the Demon King's appearance in R'lyeh, Shafeilin went alone to the Hall of Pilgrimage in the Court of the Round Table, intending to inform their esteemed Queen there.

Unlike the secular Queen that people know, R'lyeh rarely has matters that require Queen personal management, nor does she need to stay in the palace every day to control the country in the way of a secular king.

This country has no famine and very little crime, and it's hard to say that the Magic girls who are in high positions have any political ambitions.

Therefore, after the rebellion of the Black Magical Girl and the Overlord, R'lyeh maintained peace for a long period of time, and during this period of peace that lasted for hundreds of years, there was not much need for Queen.

In recent decades, the Queen has rarely appeared in public.

It is said that Her Majesty the Queen often stays in the garden where she spent her childhood with her sweetheart, silently gazing in a certain direction, or quietly pondering, or simply falling asleep.

Only on such occasions would the Queen's face, which had been shrouded in sorrow for so long, reveal a nostalgic smile.