I suddenly open my eyes.
The blurry world slowly sharpens back into focus. All I can make out is that this is some human's dwelling, and that I've been stuck in a silver birdcage.
When I realise it's my own deep blue eyes doing the seeing, I get a strange feeling. My irises were black in my past life, but apparently the colours I see don't change even if the colour of my eyes does.
The hair scattered across the bottom of the cage is that hateful silver colour. I used to be proud of how straight and glossy it was, but from now on it's probably going to be a complex of mine.
My head throbs when I sit up. My whole body feels heavy.
But luckily for me, the silver thread had already been untied. I used every bit of my strength to bring my wings forward. While I was making my escape, I'd felt the direction I was flying drift slightly. I thought something had got torn somewhere, but I can't find the injured spot.
--- I've been taking it easy up till now, but it's about time I got serious.
This isn't the time to be fussing over eye colour or wings. Let's start by assessing the situation... Just as I thought that, there was a gurgling, sticky buubbling sound right next to me. I fearfully turn to look.
"Eek!?"
Right next to the cage, a purple liquid filling about half a beaker was bubbling away over a flame. It was glistening as it boiled, giving off a terrible stench.
What is that thing!?
"You've got to be kidding..."
Don't keep something so obviously dangerous this close to me. If that thing tips over at the slightest bump, the whole cage gets contaminated. Let's stay as far away as I can. But I also can't really handle silver, so I'll try not to actually touch the cage itself either.
--- Seriously, this is why I hate humans.
--- No sense of tact and no risk management. They're barbaric.
There was a wooden branch running across the inside of the cage, so I sat down on it; at the spot farthest from the beaker, of course.
So, what kind of person locked me up in here?
I look around the room through the infuriating silver bars.
It's a spacious study. The bookshelves which took up both sides of the wall from the floor to the ceiling, left no gap.
When I pull my gaze back in closer, there was actually a human pretty close to me. I was startled that he was so close that I could practically reach him if I stuck my hand out of the cage and floated slightly.
The human was slumped forward onto an open book and he was using his arms as a pillow. His eyes were closed. His lashes were long enough to cast shadows in the moonlight. He seemed to be breathing, but I couldn't hear any snoring.
I flew quietly through the cage and approached him. I held my breath, and studied the human.
"He's asleep... right?"
I've got no obligation to wake him up, so I go back to assessing my situation.
When I turn around, there's a large window. I can see the lights of people's houses through it. A full moon was hung flat against the sky, but it looked a little smaller than the one I saw earlier.
I wonder how much time has passed since I blacked out.
"... You're awake?"
A laid-back voice came from nearby. He woke up so fast I almost wanted to click my tongue.
The first words out of the human who had captured me was a bit slurred and his voice hadn't broke yet.
"Good morning, Mr Human. How are you this evening?"
"I'd like to ask for five more minutes, but I guess I can't. I'll tough it out."
"Personally I wouldn't have minded if you stayed asleep a little longer, you know."
When I make it clear with my attitude that I'd use the extra time to escape, the human chuckles quietly as if he found my comment amusing. He doesn't seem to be making fun of me, though.
How can someone who has just captured a fairy have such pure eyes? Especially when he'd chased us down so frantically. He must've had some reason for capturing me.
Most humans in this world don't have anywhere near as much mana as fairies. They're a vile species that either enslaves fairies or drain them of their mana. Most fairies are well aware that once you get caught, it's game over.
If I hadn't been human originally, I might have killed myself the moment I woke up in this cage.
I keep putting out a menacing aura, and never took my eyes off the human. I need to be able to react immediately if anything happens.
It seemed that he had no intention of picking up on my wariness or tension.
"How are you feeling? I believe I've healed most of your injuries, but please tell me right away if anything feels off."
His way of speaking is a little unique, like an eight-year-old imitating an adult. But the strange thing was that it didn't feel out of place. I get an odd impression from him, like I'm looking at a certain famous detective who's a kid on the outside and an adult on the inside. [1]
Honestly, my first impression was that he is an angel.
His golden hair that swayed softly when he tilted his head was neatly styled, and his eyes were a moon-like golden colour too.
The gentle smile he wears every time I sharpen my glare is definitely not childlike.
But no matter how angelic he (supposedly) is, violating human rights... no, fairy rights, is not okay.
"Is there something you should say to me first?"
"Sorry?"
"If sorry was enough, the death penalty wouldn't exist."
For a boy smirking at me from outside a pure silver cage, even crucifixion would be too lenient.
Even if he's a character from this world... from the masterpiece RPG The Demon King and the Hourglass.
That said, I can't remember if this boy actually appeared in the game. Did I ever see him in the game...?
But I recognise him from somewhere. His hair colour and eye colour.
The boy's beautiful voice sounds just like a certain voice actress's. A female voice actress who often handles the dubbing of boy's voices in Western shows. So just listening to him is soothing, but that's that, and this is this. My own voice is borrowed straight from the game's voice actress too, so I could probably charm some random human just by singing a little. Eleanor was always second place in the official popularity polls, and she even had a character song. I've already forgotten what my own voice sounded like in my past life.
While my thoughts are drifting off in a regretful direction, I keep glaring hostility at him, and the boy gives a wry smile.
He seems to be aware that he's done something to warrant caution.
When he asked, "May I introduce myself?" I nodded, since knowing would help me figure out my situation.
Alright, who are you? Somebody's aide? A mid-boss? An underdog? Or an event-exclusive key character who gets saved by the protagonist's party?
"This is my house. I'm a court mage. Louis Stillus. Feel free to call me Stillus-san."
"Feel free?"
"Louis works too."
What kind of personality does he have? That ticked me off, so I decided I wasn't going to call him by his name.
--- Huh? Wait, hold on?
I know the name Louis from somewhere.
He's someone I shouldn't be forgetting.
It's right on the tip of my tongue.
"... Louis, Stillus..."
"Hm?"
"I-it's nothing, I just thought I recognised your name."
The boy looked puzzled but didn't press me on it.
"I'm Eleanor. So you're the one who caught me, Stillus-san. What do you need?"
"I don't... really need anything from you."
"... You don't need anything?"
"Ah, if you're worried about me extracting your mana or forcing you into slavery, you don't have to be. I don't intend on doing either."
"What?"
Really!?
I smiled for a moment, then...
"I was thinking about how to fend off a future threat, and then I happened to spot you, so I just chased after you."
"Hah?"
I froze for an instant, and...
"Don't worry. I really don't plan on doing anything to you. I just need you to stay here for a few hundred years or so."
"Haaa?"
Right back down I went, in an instant.
What's with that absurdly vague, practically-forever time frame of "a few hundred years"? And I didn't ask for a "found a rare creature, so I caught it" type of answer, either.
"So you're saying it didn't have to be me?"
"That's not quite... right either."
"Then what is it? I don't get what you're saying at all."
I can't help but think he's deliberately being vague.
In response to my anger, my wings go wild. Fairies are very expressive. My wings, which droop down to rest when I'm relaxed, are now beating furiously through the air.
The cage was so big that I couldn't even graze it with my wings fully spread. Yes, the inside of a bird cage. I hated that detail too.
As I flap my wings in a bad mood, Stillus-san stands up and peers down at me with a puzzled expression.
"Are you really Eleanor? You look the same on the outside, but something feels off."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"As far as I know, Eleanor spoke more politely."
"Hah?"
Like you know the first thing about me.
It's true that the Eleanor in the game used polite speech with everyone, but the Eleanor right now doesn't usually talk that way.
I don't remember meeting him anywhere either; isn't he just mistaking me for someone else, or rather a different fairy?
"I'm definitely Eleanor, and there wasn't another fairy with the same name back where I'm from. Have we met somewhere before? I have no memory of it. Could you be thinking of another Eleanor?"
"No, this is really our first meeting. But I'm quite sure the Eleanor I know of is you."
So what does that mean?
The boy said, "Aah..." and then went silent, scratching his cheek like he was a little flustered.
The dumbfounded me and the troubled-looking boy stared at each other for a while.
After a sigh that sounded like he'd given up on something, the boy carefully opened his mouth. I don't think it's my imagination when I saw a slight hint of hope in his eyes.
"Well then, let's see... The Demon King and the Hourglass."
"!"
"Looks like you knew it, huh?"
"How, do you, know, you!"
"Please calm down for a sec."
Unfortunately for him, I'm not the kind of well-adjusted fairy who can calm down just because she's told to.
Apparently he's a reincarnator, same as me. After confirming that fact, I was carried, cage and all, into his bedroom.
The place we'd been in was his study, and when I asked what that suspicious concoction was:
"It's a medicine that needs to be observed over time, so I just brought it into the study with me. I spend more time in the study than the lab."
Is what he said. When it comes to being observed over time, I was getting the same treatment. While I was out cold, it seems he'd been sitting right beside me, absorbed in his reading.
I'm placed on the bedside table. Even when he switches on the lamp right next to me, it doesn't blind me. Fairy eyes are resistant to sudden light; we can even stare directly into the sun.
I take a seat on the branch in the cage.
The boy sat on the bed too, looking strangely pleased.
His features were so perfect that he's promised to grow into a handsome man. But with his cheeks flushed from excitement, he really was just a young boy. I reply to the giggle that seemed to slip out before he could stop it with a suspicious expression.
"You look happy."
"I am. Really happy."
I was dumbfounded when he says it so sincerely and gives me an innocent, beaming smile. Makes me feel like a fool for being so confrontational.
"So there really was someone else who knew about the game."
"You said that without being sure? Wouldn't it have been risky if I hadn't known?"
"Only people who'd recognise the title would recognise it, and if there was no reaction I could've brushed it off. In any case, if you know, this'll be fast. I'm the character who becomes the Demon King in that game. If I grow up 'on track,' in about fifteen more years I'll probably be a self-destructive Demon King. For now, I'm just a court official, though."
So you're the future Demon King. The one who won first place in the popularity poll?
It finally clicks: he's Louis Stillus, the world's greatest sorcerer, and as is standard in dating sims, naturally his looks are top-tier too, who infiltrated the protagonist's party and reveals his true identity at the very end with a cackle; a traitorous yandere-type love target and final boss.
The boy stared at me with puzzled eyes as I sat seiza [2] style in the cage.
The thought of how twisted your feature will be is tearing at my heart.
"Um?"
"You don't need to pay any attention to someone like me. Go on, please continue."
"Uh, huh? Right... So, I decided to secure Eleanor, the one whose job it is to recruit the Hero, now, while I still could. Even if I do become the Demon King, I'm still absolutely terrified of dying."
"Yes, teacher, I have a couple of questions."
"Yes, Eleanor-san."
When I raise my hand, he actually answered me straight away. He's a good sport.
"Even if you catch me, I think another fairy will just get chosen in my place. Besides, why don't you just not become the Demon King in the first place?"
"The answer to both is yes."
"I'm gonna hit you, little boy."
"Please don't say that kind of thing with Eleanor's face. In my defence, I was panicking too. I got my memories back this morning, and went into the forest because I wanted to be alone, and I happened to find you. Think about it. If you suddenly remembered a future where a whole Hero's party beats you, kicks you, burns you, freezes you, slashes you, and crushes you, could you stay sane?"
"I'd refuse in a heartbeat."
"Exactly. Well, the only reason I know the game at all is because my older sister was obsessed with it and used to go on and on about it to me. Other than that, I've only seen commercials and promotional videos. But Louis was my sister's favourite character, so I ended up hearing more about him than any other character. Future me is pretty nasty, huh?"
"Yeah, really."
While the protagonist was sleeping at an inn, he wiped out an entire town that had been helping them. And a guy like that still counts as a valid route; dating games have no shame.
Anyway, things have got pretty weird.
If the love-interest Demon King is male, this should be an otome game world.
If the love-interest fairy is also female, this should be a gal game world for male players.
What is going on here? I'm already sceptical about this world as it is, so there's nothing I can do about this inconsistency right now.
Ugh, I don't get it.