One lie calls for another.
They say when a person tells one lie, they have to pile on more lies to cover it up. …Exactly my situation.
It all started with 『I made the scrubbing brush』. Then came 『I got the materials from the World Tree』 and 『The World Tree told me to make it』. Before I knew it, false ads were spreading everywhere: 『By the command of the World Tree, Alec Brushes on sale now!』
And now the crown jewel: 『Alec, the one who caused all this fuss? Never heard of him.』
…I’ve really done it this time. What do I do?
I knew I should have told the truth, but the image of myself being crucified by the Crusaders popped into my head, and… well…
And besides, I have no idea what kind of punishment Yggdrasil-san would give “Alec”.
She personally came all this way, and from the little I talked with her, she didn’t seem like the type to dish out cruel punishments to a kid.
But… her hair is green. And people with green hair, you know…
「Hmm? You’re not Alec?」
No choice now. I’ll just have to stick with the lie. If you eat poison, you’ll end up with a plate.
「Yes, I’m not Alec――」
「Alec? Got a minute?」
The moment I declared it, Father’s carefree voice came from outside the room.
…No, Father. Bad timing. This is the worst possible timing!
「Father! Father! Not now, I’m busy right now!」
「Huh? Alec, what’s wrong? Did something happen, Alec? Hey, Alec? …Alec?」
Why today of all days is he repeating my name so much?!
It’s to the point where I’m already wondering if he’s doing it on purpose…….
I hurried to the door, cracked it open just enough to peek at him.
「Ah, Alec, what’s going on?」
「Not now. Uh, I’m… woodworking? Yeah, woodworking. I’ve got this new breeze of inspiration blowing through me.」
「Uh… We’re not gonna have another Miriam incident, are we?」
「It’s fine. Totally fine. So right now, I can’t step away.」
I stretched my hand out from the room, pushing Father back bit by bit, urging him to leave.
「Uh… okay… I was just bringing your allowance for this month, but I’ll come back later?」
「Ah… the allowance… No, I’ll come to you. When this is over, I’ll come get it. Sorry, Father.」
Once he was gone, I shut the door.
…That felt like I just set up a death flag.
And not even a cool one. More like, 『When this is over, I’ll go collect my allowance』…
I returned to my spot, sneaking a glance at Yggdrasil-san.
Yeah, she looked even more exasperated now.
Uh… so… what do I do?
「…Yes. I’m not Alec.」
「………………」
I tried declaring it again. Maybe it’ll work this time? Probably not?
「Huh…?」
Before I knew it, Yggdrasil-san was standing right in front of me.
Wait, what? I was watching her the whole time!
One moment she was sitting cross-legged on the bed, the next she was right here. Hypnosis? Super speed?
Also… why is she gripping my head like that?
「Uh… um…?」
「Fool.」
「—Owowowowow!」
Oh no. The grip strength! It’s crushing my skull!
「You dared to deceive me?」
「Wait, that’s――owowowowow!」
「And when your father kept calling you Alec, you’re actually telling me “Yes. I’m not Alec.”? Are you mocking me?」
It hurts! She’s totally the type who can bend coins like paper! The type who can rip a stack of cards in half!
「N-no, wait! L-let me explain! I-I think… yeah! The son of the village weapon shop owner is named Alec—」
「You’re still lying?」
「—Owowowowow!」
◇
「I am sorry」
「Fool」
After enduring Yggdrasil-san’s iron claw for what felt like forever, I was finally released.
My head was still throbbing though. I should probably have Jisrare-san check it later if I survive this mess…
Come to think of it, calling it an iron claw might be weird since she is the World Tree, right? Wood claw? …Yeah, never mind. It really doesn’t matter.
「Ah, by the way, everyone keeps calling me ‘Alec’, but my real name isn’t ‘Alec’ you know?」
「And so what?」
「N-nothing at all」
My clever excuse was shut down instantly.
But really, it’s not my real name. My actual name is Alexis. Nobody ever calls me that, so even I forget sometimes.
Could it be that no one even knows my real name? I wish people would at least remember something as basic as a name…
The only one who calls me by my real name is Ralina papa.
「Now then, Alec, there are many things I want to ask you」
「Yes…」
「First of all, why did you lie?」
「I thought I might get tied to a stake… and also, Yggdrasil-san was scary…」
I didn’t want to feel that wood claw again, so I decided to be honest.
「Scary? Me?」
「I am sorry…」
「Why though? I even matched my age to yours, didn’t I?」
…Wait. Matched the age?
Does that mean she changed his appearance to match my eight-year-old self? Amazing. That’s way beyond anti-aging.
So that’s why Yggdrasil-san turned into a child’s form….to avoid scaring me too much.
Even after I tried to use her for fraud, she still cared enough to do that. Yggdrasil-san really is full of compassion.
「I don’t think I look scary at all though」
「Ah, well… it was the hair…」
「The hair?」
「The green hair was… kind of scary…」
「Hmm… I see. Well, elves don’t have green hair, so I suppose it makes sense for you to be afraid」
Well, that wasn’t exactly the reason… but fine, it looks like she’s convinced anyway.
「So, crucifixion? I wouldn’t do something like that… In other words, you do understand what you’ve done, right?」
「Ugh… Yes…」
「Honestly… You claim I appeared in your dream and told you to make cleaning tools? And on top of that, you even sold them as a product?」
「I… I’m sorry…」
The second part wasn’t me though…? No, I’ll just accept it… It all started because of me. I’ll take the blame.
「Anyone would want to complain, right? But since the one behind it was an eight-year-old child, I thought it would be too harsh to make it a big deal… so I came quietly noja…」
「I truly apologize…」
「And yet when I finally speak to you, you keep trying to trick me over and over…」
「Please! Please forgive me!」
「And then you even tried to make that weapon shop owner’s son to be ‘Alec’, didn’t you?」
「I beg you… I beg for your mercy…」
That was pretty bad, actually. I should apologize to Jered-kun later…
「By the way… are you really eight years old?」
Oh no.
…W-what? How did she figure it out? Was it the overly fancy apologies? Come to think of it, an eight-year-old throwing around words like ‘forgive me’ and ‘beg for your mercy’… yeah, that might be a red flag…
Everyone’s gotten so used to my weird behavior that no one pointed it out lately, so I let my guard down…
「Just… what are you?」
「N-no, I’m…」
Yggdrasil-san is staring at me suspiciously…
「That Alec Brush thing, and Reversi too… I heard you made both of them?」
「Y-yes, I did…」
Right, no ordinary eight-year-old could make those things…
Wh-what do I do? I can’t exactly say ‘The World Tree gave them to me’ when the World Tree herself is standing here… Maybe I can get away with ‘I was inspired’? Does inspiration work here too…?
「And you also said――‘Isn’t Deis-san bigger?’ didn’t you? …Deis, as in the name of the goddess?」
「Ah…」
「Just… what are you?」
Oh no…
To think I’d be cornered like this… over something as embarrassing as saying ‘Isn’t Deis-san bigger’…
next chapter: Summary
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