A/N.: Hello everyone! I hope that you enjoyed this fanfic's first side story at the previous chapter! Most of them would be centered around humor category, I hope that they would be enough to make everyone laugh a bit even if the rest of the fanfic is more centered onto serious(?) matters? I am also up to take requests for the side stories from the readers! Feel free to propose what you want! I'll try my best to match up my responses with them! Because I don't think that I'll be able to personally write a side story for each 10 chapters till the end of the story… (-_-)

Sorry by the way for the sudden change and re-change of the "mysterious character", but now all the modifications had been done! In order to not have any confusions, please re-read the previous chapters. I am sincerely sorry if this chapter is not as good as the previous ones, or even considerably lower in Quality, but please forgive me for that...


CAPITAL OF THE DEAD ARC - I : A (Not) Touching Reunion


"It seems that my turn to appear has finally arrived—"

*Clack!*

"..."

"..."

"...Triss?"

"...What is it, Meliodas?"

"Why did you just shut the door closed?"

"..."

Yes, when Meliodas came down this morning, after an incredibly good night of sleep that recovered his strength and refreshed him from his tiredness since his little exercise with Ban, along with the soreness that come with using his power, wherever it was physical or magical, after ten long years of peace, especially with how he had to sleep with ropes surrounding him lately due to the wariness of a certain pig (but compared to the price to have Elizabeth as his body pillow, it's nothing!).

So now in a good mood, he decided to descend first and prepare his store for the beginning of another day of work. But when he walked down the stairs, he noticed two odd things that made him pause for an instant.

One, is a female voice that he didn't recognized, however he could feel that she was cut off before even finishing what she had to say. It was too early for customers to arrive, so who was it?

And another, was a curious sight that greeted him when he had entirely descended down the stairs and looked straight ahead with a blank look.

Standing there, with both her hands holding the doorknob while trembling and unmoving was a back he could easily recognize, after all only she had such long hair and was wearing such a dress.

Since she didn't answered him earlier he decided to call out to her once again, "Oi, Triss—?"

And as he spoke, at the same time…

*Bang! Bang!*

"Come on, Trista-chan! I don't remember having done anything to receive such a terrible treatment! At least open the door, will you please?" The banging sound from the other side of the door became louder as the voice spoke once again.

But Trista didn't acted as the voice wished to and instead put both her hands on the door, her feets spreads in a symmetrical manner on the ground as she pushed forward harder, with no intention of letting whoever was outside entering.

"...Triss."

"Stay quiet, act as if you didn't heard nor saw anything. With a little chance she would accept it and leave." Immediate response from Trista.

"You're aware that I can hear everything, don't you?!" ...And also from the unknown woman outside it seems. Probably that of a girl in her late teens to her early twenties? It seems to lack the deepness of a grown woman, but well it vary between people so he couldn't be fully sure of it, after all Trista who had the appearance of a young girl had a voice akin to that of a mature woman. However…

*BANG, BANG!*

The sounds were keeping on louder, and the blows hitting the other side of the door was growing stronger (even the ground and the interior of the store was trembling, the glass bottles also jumped on their shelves), to the point where Trista had to switch position and instead pushed her back with both palms against the door with her legs pushing her body backward in order to keep it closed.

Meliodas looked at the scene incredulously, looking at the creaking spiderwebs-like cracks that were forming on the door, it seems that a bit more it would be break.

Then Trista's glare was now directed back at him, "What are you staring at? Go search for a table or a closet and help me block this door!"

"If you want to continue like this then I'll blast this door open!" The voice outside warned, not any hint of joke in her voice as annoyance started to replace her whines.

And taking both sides in account...

"..." Meliodas stared at her, and stared, before after a long silence, he finally came to his verdict, "Triss, just let her enter."

He ignored the grave (and rare) look on Trista's face that was directed towards him, screaming the word 'TRAITOR!' everywhere (it was rare to understand what she was thinking so easily usually). From what it seemed to be, it seemed to be one of her acquaintance so he'll let her deal with her at her own expense. Especially since he lost the energy he previously had just by looking at this display.

He originally planned to let the others sleep a little longer today, but he was pretty sure that this loud ruckus had woken all of them up. It was only a matter of time when they would come down and question the source of it, but he didn't think that he would have enough strength to even explain it to them. And if possible, he would like to Trista to hurry up and move away, the life of his door was depending on the speed of her reactions after all.


Thankfully (and surprisingly) everyone are heavy sleeper recently.

Meliodas then looked at the newcomer with a raised eyebrow with his arms crossed over his chest, ignoring the glare that the still fuming Trista was sending towards him on the side. "...So? You are…"

"Oops! Sorry, sorry! I would have introduced myself far sooner if it wasn't for a certain someone's interference!" The newcomer glared at Trista who just ignored her before she bowed in greeting before grinning at them, "My name is Mira, someone who is passing by! And once again, sorry for the ruckus earlier, but if Trista-san just let me enter then none of this would happen!"

The young woman, or rather girl, who just introduced herself politely, is girl of short stature (but still taller than him and Trista) with red eyes and slightly tanned skin. Her hair is a light-chestnut brown color and is relatively short. She wears hair ornaments which ties her hair into two small bunches. She wears an extravagant foreign-looking outfit and an ornament across her waist resembling the back of an old mirror.

"It would have been better if you had just given up and went back home." The said person suddenly interrupted without missing a beat.

Meliodas felt that Trista's words were sharp enough to make someone who is weak-hearted cry in shock, but the Mira's smile didn't reacted in such a manner (her eyebrow twitched, a vein on her forehead pulsed and her smile faltered for a second though) before she immediately turned her head towards Trista.

Knowing by personal experience that it would be the beginning of another ruckus if he doesn't stop them (and some additional damages following it), Meliodas immediately spoke. "So? What are your relationship with Triss?"

The woman, or rather Mira immediately beamed at him (Wow, so bright!) at him, she put a hand on her modest chest as if she was preparing to boast about whatever she was going to say later on. "Isn't it obvious~? We are—"

"Simple acquaintances with no relation with each other."

Because of that simple sentence, Mira's cheerfulness was destroyed in an instant, even less than one second. "At least say that we're friends! And if we had no relation with each other then we wouldn't even be acquaintances! If you continue like that, I'll truly end up thinking that you hate me!"

"It's not like I liked you to begin with."

"I am begging you, please at least hold back your words a biiiiiit—!"

Meliodas looked blankly at the now pathetic two-person show that was presented in front of him. A grown(?) woman was crying waterfall, kneeling on the ground, and whining like a child throwing a tantrum without letting go of the hems of the long dress of a girl who was almost one foot or one head smaller than her. The girl seemed more annoyed by this display than anything and didn't seemed to feel the least guilty about it.

This completely destroyed her earlier graceful image.

Even if she is mainly the reason of why she is like this. But for once, Meliodas can feel himself sympathizing with Trista's situation instead of admonishing her. Which was rare, really really rare for him to do so.

'Seriously Triss, are you being like this to absolutely everyone?' Such a thought almost made him sigh.

He was pretty much sure that Trista's attitude was also partially at fault, it was quite an unfriendly one after all though she doesn't mean anything bad in truth… or does she? It was hard to know, it was as if badmouthing was as easy as breathing for her. Was she even conscious of it…?

"I'll take her outside. You people can either wait for us or go first, do as you wish. In either case, I'll catch up." It wasn't long enough after Trista forcefully dragged Elwyn (who was still clinging to her) out of the Boar Hat and informed Meliodas that she will take her and the ruckus the latter was causing far away and return when things would be calmer.

Meliodas was too dumbfounded (though he didn't showed it on his face) to do anything other then waving at her and watch her off when Trista was pulling Elwyn away. ...Or rather than pulling her away, it was more like Elwyn who was being dragged since she was still clinging to Trista's dress, the latter didn't even paid her attention as she walked forward, dragging the crying woman behind her.

—Mira...

Though he didn't knew this woman for even a few minutes, there was already an opinion of her forming in his mind, he can even say that he has never met someone so versatile before. Thus…

"She is an idiot." He muttered so as he was scratching his hair before turning around and walked back in the shop.

And when he arrived, he was welcomed by…

"Say, Captain~! What with that ruckus since earlier?!"

"That's right, Cap'n~ Did ya picked up a baaabyyy or somethin'?"

"M-Meliodas-sama? Is everything alright?"

...He was welcomed by another ruckus, and so early in the morning. (It seems that in contrast of his hopes, his traveling companions still woke up, at least Elizabeth's presence is soothing as always).

Meliodas gave up and face-palmed.


"Seriously, what on earth was that?"

"Uuuhh~"

"Don't 'uuh' me."

There was currently a quite strange sight in the middle of town. A lone figure wearing a hooded cape was dragging a brunette's body across the floor by the collar, making a trail of dust behind them and dirtying the latter's outfit. No matter how one looked at it, the former was incredibly irritated while the latter could only whines and covers her face with her hands in embarrassment and almost crying in shame.

It was no wonder that they attracted a lot of attention, wherever one of them was a foreigner or not.

"I-I understand, it was my fault, I apologize, so please stop this treatment already!"

"How weird, I often hear you say such things but it's seems that you hardly remember to correct your mistakes."

"Please, I'm begging you! I truly feel bad for it, so please let go of me already! All those people are looking over there, it's like a torture! Please stop!"

"Don't say stupid things. Compared to real torture, this is far gentler, after all you have yet bled, have you?"

"I AM bleeding! My heart, that is! I never expected you to even drag me on the floor through the town! I'll even grovel if it's needed so please stop it! Waah~"

"Hah… I get it, I get it already so don't start to cry again. It's my ears that would start to bleed this time." Finally the girl let go of the other one with an exasperated sigh.

"Th-Thank you…" The other one wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes with her sleeve as she sniffed before standing up and dusting her clothes off from the dust and dirt that were sticked on them.

The girl in hood was now looking around, "Now we have no more choice but to search for a calmer place to speak."

"But it's because…"

"Don't you dare to say that it's my fault."

"...Uuh…" In the end, there was nothing that could be denied or retorted under that glare and those harsh words, so the second figure just regressed into a smaller state as if it was to hide from the first one, even though she was taller!

But as her red eyes wandered around, avoiding the still fuming girl nearby, something caught her attention. Now that she thought about it, they were in the middle of the town, so of course there would be shops, wherever it was for food or other things…

"...? What's wrong?" The hooded one approached her, questioning her sudden silence compared to the ruckus she was making earlier.

Suddenly she felt very nervous, sweat started to drip from her forehead due to her mental conflict over the fact if she should just say the truth to her or just quickly make up some random excuses. No need to say that deciding between both was quite difficult, especially under that scrutinizing gaze that doesn't seems to leave her any soon.

'...Is that how a frog feel on the dissection table, I wonder?' Such a thought couldn't not wander through her mind.

"Mm…? This is…"

"Ah…!" The brunette gasped upon seeing the hooded girl now staring at the thing she was staring at earlier.

It seems that when she was being busy with those strange and thoughts befitting for the situation but totally uncalled for, and now even deciding between the two previous options would be useless.

Because of her previous actions it seems that she has already angered the hooded girl enough to the point of being to the limits of her patience (despite the fact that the girl has usually nerves of steel). The last one may be the last straw before the eruption of the bubbling volcano. And if that were to happen, only a bloody ending would await her...

She knew this girl long enough to understand that, besides the iron claw that she did to her the last evening was the most obvious proof of all. Even though there was no mark, she could still feel the phantom pain...i

'Th-Though there may also have the possibility that such an ending be avoided, with some slight tiny bit of chance…!' Now all her senses were on their sharpest edge! She clenched her fists, cold sweat on her face and her hairs were standing, balanced her posture and prepared herself to any upcoming attack that may be directed to her. It felt as difficult as the more difficult and delicate missions she went through, the feeling wasn't much different from disassembling a bomb on the verge of exploading.

The alarm itself was ticking its countdown in her mind...

Everything that needed to wait for is for her final verdict, and…!

...She has never felt such a feeling of tension before, the silence never felt as much painful and long in her whole life, and more than anything, she has never been so scared of that little one's response. Especially since her face was inexpressive and her eyes were hidden by her bangs. And...

"...Let's go." At the beginning when she heard such a response, she thought that it was originally a joke, but seeing those heterochromia eyes being fixated over what she was looking at earlier seems to say otherwise.

...Relief or astonishment, she didn't even knew which one she was currently feeling right now. But she knew that the face she was currently making was inclining more towards the latter without even needing to look at it nor to touch her own face. And moreover the little outing that she wanted to do seems more like some kind of important mission now...


Now that she thinks about it, for Mira, the most of the time she was with Trista in the past was often for co-work, during a past before her shutting herself into her newly created library. Surely because of the fact that those two only spend time together on missions (they were often put together for reasons that she didn't understood), now the forgotten sensation started to come back to her…

""..."" Both Mira and Trista raised their gazes to face each other at the same time, as if they were just the mirror reflexion of each other, both of their expressions were filled with intense concentration, almost as if they were glaring at each other.

Mira's earlier cowardliness was nowhere to be seen, and she almost seems dignified in her current straight posture. But Trista refused to yield either, as if they were in the middle of some kind of tough mental battle.

"Trista-chan."

"What is it?" Mira started to initiate a conversation, but neither her or Trista's gaze separated from each other.

"You can't do that. Please be a little more patient."

"I believe I have been enough patient, don't you think?"

"It hasn't even been 10 minutes yet."

"10 minutes is already long enough."

"No, no, you are just to impatient!"

Then simultaneously, both of them lowered their gazes on their common target, resting on the table where they were sitting face to face.

Seeing that Trista's attention was still fixed on the 'target' between them, Mira called out to her once again. "A little more, just wait a little more!"

"..."

"Kuh…! So not even my words can reach her anymore…?!" Mira bite her lower lip in frustration and clenched her fist.

Trista was no longer in state of even responding, as if she couldn't even see nor hear Mira anymore, as she slowly but fluently moved her hand to grab a nearby 'weapon' to 'finish off her target', and stab it directly in the heart.

Seeing this, Mira was about to extend a hand to stop her or at least to guard her little protegee, when...

"—I am sincerely sorry for the wait~!"

""...!"" And at their sides, finally appeared Mira's savior, the words she previously said managed to break Trista out of her trance, giving Mira enough time to put the 'target' further in security, far away from the heterochromia girl's reach.

Trista's eyes widened upon seeing what was in the 'savior's' hands and you can almost literally feel her beam of delight. Of course she didn't smiled or anything, but the atmosphere around her was literally sparkling like thousand suns, you can even hear the 'pling, pling' sound and see the stars shining of all their lights floating around her.

The 'savior' didn't seemed to take notice of that as she smiled in a very professional way and passed to Trista a new target for her to feast on, "Thank you very much for your patience, here is another order of mixed berries special pancakes! Please take your time and enjoy!" The waitress said as she handed another plate of pipping hot freshly made pancakes, ornated with various fruits, whiped cream and fruits sauce.

...Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is not a mistake nor a auditory illusion. It's pancakes. Yes, PANCAKES.

Those famous flat cakes, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based batter that may contain eggs, milk and butter and cooked on a hot surface such as a griddle or frying pan, often frying with oil or butter.

Nothing more, nothing less.

And yes indeed, those two were fighting over a single plate of pancakes before the second order arrive.

"S-Say Dear… It's me or the situation around those two girls seemed to be far more serious earlier?"

"M-Maybe you are right? I don't really know, you sure it wasn't all your imagination instead?"

"I-I wonder, maybe you are right…" So an elderly couple whispered to each other in confusion, it seems that they witnessed the scene from earlier.

'But well, it's no wonder that they are confused by this… I am sincerely sorry.' Mira apologized to them in her mind as she covered face, which was crimson from embarrassment, with both her hands.

In order to understand this situation, let's rewind at around 30 minutes ago…

"...? Your pancakes are going cold."

"F-Fueh?"

"Aren't you going to eat your share? If you don't, I'll gladly have it in your stead—"

"No, no! You definitely can't! Sweets are things that I won't yield to anyone, even to you!"

"...Tch."

"You just clicked your tongue, didn't you?!"

"If so then stop losing focus, if not I will steal from your plate."

"Geez… This isn't a battlefield, you know?" Mira sighed as she took her silverware, the knife in one hand and the fork in the other, as she started to cut her pancakes into mouth-bite size.

'Geez… At least give me the time to have a flashback properly…' She was a bit sullen that Trista kept on interrupting her, but the sweetness that spreaded through her palate helped her to put her bad mood asides.

Well, since there is no time for a proper flashback, there should be at least one for a small summary.

Actually what attracted Mira's attention earlier was a sign in front of a rustic-looking cafe, and as everybody guessed, it was to spread about a new recipe of pancakes that they were currently selling at their shop. Of course just like any girl worthy of such a title, Mira loved sweets and absolutely wanted to get a taste of it. And if she remembered well during their times together, or from what the others said, that Trista seems to be the same (which was confirmed when the usually serious girl accepted to waste her precious time in such a place).

However the problem that came afterwards is that after they both placed their orders (which was the same), only one arrived at the beginning. The savior… or rather, the waitress explained apologetically that due to some small problems in their kitchen tools, the second order was going to take a little more time to come out. Which ended up into a staring battle for the first plate of pancakes… She never expected for the usually mature Trista to be so childish when it came to desserts...

"*Hoff*... *hoff*...!"

"...?" Upon hearing a weird breathing sound, Mira looked up with a confused gaze before frowning sightly at the sight, the one who made such a huffing sound was none other than Trista with her mouth open as she continued those weird breaths.

'What on earth is she doing…?' Mira couldn't help but wonder so before realization struck her upon eyeing the piping hot pancakes plate in front of Trista.

Compared to her own which had the time to cool down during their staring contest, Trista's was freshly fried out of the pan, so still burning hot. But it seemed that Trista couldn't wait for it to cool down and immediately ate some. Now she is suffering of the consequences.

'Seriously… she is really hopeless, isn't she?' Mira couldn't help but sigh incredulously at this, this action only add to her unexpected childishness. However…

"—In the end, food is just for satisfy the hunger and alimentate the body with energy, I hardly care of the taste."

This overlapped with a past memory. Mira then looked straight at Trista who was unaware of her gaze, though she wasn't smiling she seemed to be so happy while eating. And this brought a warm smile on Mira's face...


"...Phew…"

"Yes, it was really delicious." When they were finished with the pancakes, both gave a sigh of satisfaction, seeming to be glad about the quality of their small meal.

Trista put her silverware on the now empty plate and Mira clapped her hands together as if she was praying whoever it is for allowing to eat something like this, a tradition of her homeland, which seems to not be the case in Western lands like Britannia.

Mira then looked at Trista in front of her, who had an unusually relaxed expression on her face, with her eyes closed and for some reason, her face chibified as she was drinking some tea. Flowers were literally floating around her along with a light fluffy atmosphere matching it, and she was pretty sure that the 'mognyomongyo'-like sound she could hear from it wasn't her imagination. That defenseless side she was showing right now was so unlike her usual self…

"Fufu…" Mira couldn't help but giggle at that, but as soon she realized her blunder it was too late already.

It as if the magic had been broken. The fluffy and warm mood around Trista dispelled in an instant, she snapped her eyes open, her face went back to normal as she settled down the teacup on its saucer plate before glaring at Mira in front of her. All of this took less of 5 seconds, yes.

"...What?"

"N-No no, it's nothing, it's just…" Mira paused a second, trying to choose her words carefully, before finally answering her. "It's just… that you have changed."

"...Changed?" Trista tilted her head on the side at Mira's answer.

"Yup, you have changed, compared to your past self." The brunette nodded with a smile as she drank some of her tea too before putting the cup back on its saucer, mirroring the actions that Trista did earlier before continuing to speak and explain herself further.

"In the past you always had an expression as if you were on the verge of falling asleep."

"...Did I?"

"You did, you did." Mira answered with a confident smile while Trista just raised an eyebrow at her words.

'Well, it can't be helped if she isn't the one who would notice her own changement…' Mira thought with a wry smile. Or rather even if she were to look at her own face, Trista would surely not be able to notice the changes, she is one who neglect herself a lot after all and it seems that it didn't changed even after all those years.

She didn't have such a cold expression as she had before and even though it had yet reached to the point where she could smile, she had became more expressive than how she usually used to be. It was quite slow but it was nonetheless a progress compared to her past self, and more than anything, her eyes weren't empty like before. Besides the 'bored and indifferent' expression she used to make is far less noticeable now!

"...How are your thoughts of Britannia?"

"Well as you have said, it is quite old-fashioned, but since you said it quite a long time ago I expected things to be more, well… advanced…? Not to be impolite of course!"

"You don't have to hold back your words in consideration for me, you know?"

"B-But isn't Britannia your homeland? S-Sure it isn't as advanced as mine but, it still possess its own charms you know? A-And the food isn't bad either!"

"And you certainly don't have any reasons to try to defend it. It's not like I held any particular attachment to this place."

"..."

"...So? For forcing me to drag you into such place, away from them, you sure have a better reason than 'since it's been a while from the last time I saw you, I just wanted to catch up', right?" Mira flinched at those words, and it certainly didn't went unnoticed by Trista's sharp gaze.

"..." At the sight of Trista's stoic expression staring right at her, Mira start to fidget nervously, and after a few minutes of hesitation…

"A-Ahahaha…" So she settled with just laughing to mask her nervosity. And Trista was just keeping on watching her with her flat stare.

"..."

"Ahahaha…"

"..."

"A-Aha…"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...I-It's as you said, I am terribly sorry for the bother." Mira's laughter died completely before she literally slammed her head against the table in apology, making a loud 'BANG' sound reasoning through the shop, this earned once again a few stares from the other customers, and Trista just cupped her cheek with her hand, her elbow on the table, as she gave a weary sigh.

(It shouldn't be her job to sigh yet here she is, isn't she usually the one who make other sigh?)

"By the way, I was wondering since yesterday but what with the 'You being uncute is what makes you cute'? Is that supposed to be a certain's person's imitation? Or did you finally got corrupted by that one and ended up into a masochist?"

*Tchack, tchack, tchack!*

Though Mira wanted to deny all of this, the imaginary arrow that took shapes due to Trista's words and went flying before mercilessly stabbing her head were more painful than expected and could only makes her suffers in silence.

"A-As expected is that no good after all…?" Mira mumbled weakly, her face still against, even afraid to look up and see what must be the frightening glare that Trista must be sending her right now.

But…

"...It can't be helped."

...Eh?

"Even if it's for such a reason, you went your way to come to such a faraway place, besides if I were to refuse you, you would make another annoying ruckus."

...Was she hearing correctly right now?

"Fine, I shall listen to whatever you have to say, so go ahead and speak for all the day if you want."

...It's not a dream, right?

"What's wrong? If you have nothing to say then we better stop there—"

"I have things to say, I have a LOT OF THINGS to say, so please let me talk!" Mira's mood went into a 90° degree change as she literally, she immediately stood and literally slammed her hands on the table. Her really depression completely disappeared and was changed by such an energy that makes you even wonder if it was really the same person as before.

Trista's eyes widened for a small moment before she went back to her usual expression and closed her eyes in resignation.

In normal times, it would have been a pretty sight to see, a girl like a western doll and another who looks like an eastern one, both of them weren't bad-looking, enough to make people turn their gazes, yet nobody were calling out to them, because they wouldn't get much calm and peaceful moments in this place anymore as long as those two were here… It's a miracle that they didn't even got chased out.

"B-By the way, those are sure cute clothes that you are wearing! Different from the usual black or dark clothes you usually wear! Though it's also similar than what Mikado-sama always makes you wear, err... Lolita fashion... was it? What color is it? Purplish blue? Royal blue? Marine blue? Oh, I know Velvet blue, is it? From where did you get them? May I tell Mikado-sama about it?"

"..."

"Trista-chan?"

"...I'm leaving."

"E-EH?! Please wait a second, didn't you just said that you will listen—"

"I'm leaving."

"Like I said wait! Ah, are you going to make me pay the bill alone?! Don't run away!"

Even though Trista showed once a rare moment of open(?) kindness, Mira ended up messing it with her clumsy unnintentional but unneeded last comments and caused her to run away. By the way, Mira didn't seemed to have proper Britannian money on her so Trista had no other choice but to go back at the cafe after hearing a recognizable cry, when she was halfway through the town, and pay for both of them. Seriously, that klutz...


"...So how come you ended up returning at dusk?" Meliodas frowned at them, his arms crossed, as he was standing in front of the shop, which didn't moved from its initial place since morning.

Trista blinked at him blankly twice while Mira behind her hanged her head in guilt.

"So Triss, do you have anything to say?"

"So you put the shop on wait here all this time?"

"This isn't the answer I expected. How about you try again?"

"Even though I said that you guys could go ahead and we will catch up."

"Elizabeth and Diane insisted on staying because they were worried about you. Ban, him, was more interested over how you will catch up to us, and how long you'll take."

"...Worried?" Trista raised an eyebrow at this, acting as if this was the first time that someone said this to her.

Meliodas didn't noticed this though as he continued to speak without pausing, "Yeah, worried. But still you sure can't catch a clue, can you? This is the moment where you should apologize."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, it is, seriously, how on earth were you raised to even be like that—"

"—AAAAA—AAAAAH—AAAAHHH—!" Mira, who was silent this earlier, suddenly forced herself between Meliodas and Trista before screaming out all the air of her lungs and shaking her arms with an incredible energy, as if she was trying to cover what Meliodas was about to say with her own voice.

This caused both Meliodas and Trista to now focuses their attention on her and looks at her as if she was some kind of wonder of the nature.

Suddenly she felt herself blushing in embarrassment once again, "E-Err… That is… U-Um…"

"I was thinking that since this morning, but… you sure are a noisy woman, aren't you?"

"Indeed, even at the cafe she was making such a ruckus, all the customers' eyes were only on us."

"T-Trista-chan is partially at fault for this!"

Despite the accusation she received, the doll-like girl only responded with nothing other than calmness. "Even though you were the only one who was making noise? I, don't remember having even raised my voice like you even once, though?"

"...?!"

"Triss, did you had to deal with such an noisy one often?"

"Indeed, wherever it is now or in the past, she was always such a klutz crybaby."

"I see, I can almost sympathize with you now, at least you would know how I feel don't you?"

"I am pretty sure that I am nowhere as noisy as she is."

"But the headache that you gives me are as comparable."

"I see, if so then I shall try to be more careful about it from now on."

"Triss…! You have finally understood, didn't you?!"

"Look like it is the case."

Between Meliodas who seemed to be incredibly moved and Trista who solemnly looked downward, Mira's shoulders started to tremble, her irritation boiling more than her tears as she screamed towards the heavens. "WHY ARE BOTH OF YOU SO MUCH IN SYNC ONLY WHEN YOU ARE BAD-MOUTHING ME—?!" Her cries were reasoning even through the faraway mountains.

Both Meliodas and Trista looked at each other before nodding and then pointed at Mira while speaking in perfect sync, ""Because you are a top-notch teasing material."" They said it as if it was the most obvious of things, with a perfectly straight face devoid of any hesitation, and of course the only reaction they would get from it is...

"What on earth does that even mean?!"

In the end, it was decided that Mira would be allowed to stay for a few days.

"Because if I were to refuse she would literally drown the whole town with her tears."

"Wow, that would be an amazing record."

"Even I wouldn't go as far!" But even though she was whining, Mira actually felt a bit relieved deep down, it seems that Trista didn't got to hear the end of Meliodas' words, and it was really a good thing. Because no matter how composed she looked, even she wouldn't have taken those words well... especially if they are from HIM of all people.


"Uuh… It was horrible…"

"A-Are you alright, Mira-san?"

"*Sniff* Thank you very much, Princess Elizabeth."

In the end, Mira was offered a party filled with food and ale, something that she should be happy about, after all parties are for joyous festivities and celebrations, and the fact that despite her being a total stranger they were all welcoming her with open arms was something she should be rejoiced with, yet…

"Cheers to Mira, Triss' crybaby klutz friend!"

...Yes, she would have been happy, if it weren't for that thing that Meliodas said! Trista didn't even denied her being her 'friend' this time! It should have been something she should be happy about but she can't even feel the satisfaction or joy from it now! And yet, and yet…!

...Which lead to the situation where she was comforted by Elizabeth who handed her a handkerchief (Diane didn't counted as she was always Meliodas' ally, it seems that love truly made people blind, huh?).

Since Mira wanted to exit the scene quickly before her heart suffer even more from those merciless comments and that her waterworks start to waterfall again. It seems that the Sins want to continue their party and even Trista stayed behind this time (why did she felt that they were only using her 'welcoming' as an excuse to drink?), so Elizabeth decided to show her the 'room' she was going to use from now on.

"Unfortunately we don't have enough spare rooms for everyone here, so Trista-san said that she would share one with Ban-sama for now so the attic that she used is now for you to use." At the beginning there was some hesitation against such a decision by the gallery but after both Ban and Trista assured with an absolute certainity that 'Nothing would happen, or rather

"...Attic, huh…?"

Seeing her murmurs to herself like this with a pensive look on her face, Elizabeth thought that she wasn't satisfied with her situation and thus proposed an alternative instead, "Ah, of course if you don't like it I can sleep in the attic and—"

Mira literally flinched at that as she quickly shook her head and hands in denial, "No, no, it's fine! If I were to let you sleep in such a place, it would be who would be killed!"

"Eh? Killed? Why?" Elizabeth tilts her head in confusion as Mira start to sweat in response and awkwardly averted her gaze in return, refusing to meet the pure and innocent princess' one who didn't understood her insinuations.

"N-No, nevermind…"

'Besides even if I were to say it she wouldn't believe me!' Because people like her would probably never doubt someone she put her trust into. And Mira was also afraid of what might happen to her if she were to say it.

When they arrived, Elizabeth opened the door of the attic and allowed Mira to see the interior of it. As expected, it was truly an attic, one where you would stuff all the things you don't need but can't throw away yet, there was an rusty armor in it and all kind of other things.

However the books that were all out of the empty bookshelf and were forming some kind of messy circle, empiled one over the other into a clumsy tower, making one wonder why it wasn't falling off.

She couldn't help but laugh at this, easily recognizing the culprit behind such an action. "Ahaha! This side of her didn't changed at all…"

In the past they shared too, that girl used to take out all the books at once, reading them on the floor instead of a chair, pile them one by one into some kind of tower each time she was finished with one and left them like this without putting them back to their original places on the shelves.

In the end, it was HER who had to clean behind during times like this, and no matter how many times she complained or scolded the girl, she never stopped that weird habit of hers.

"Excuse me, but what did you…?"

"Ah, I'm sorry this is nothing, I was just remembering the past a bit. Thank you very much, I'll be alright now, you can feel free to head downward." Mira hastily smiled at Elizabeth and explained, not wanting to worry or confuse the princess due to her accidentally voicing out her thoughts.

Elizabeth agreed with a smile and bidded her a good night with Mira watching her off before closing the door behind.

"Princess Elizabeth, huh? I understand why she, no, they are so protective of her, she is such a good child…! And probably the only normal one in this group…" Mira smiled wearily as she realized that each time she would end up being depressed due to Trista or Meliodas' teasing… which is just bullying to her, she would end up going to complain to Elizabeth's place. She felt bad for forcing the girl to put up with her but at the same time relieved that there is such a saint-like existence still present and to such a place, even!

She walked towards the pile of books on the floor before picking them up one by one and placing them back onto the shelves.

Since she just came, she doesn't know how they were placed originally and all the books were not from the same serie, she decided to separate them by color first. If she was wrong then she can always correct herself when the right time would come.

She then turned around and took a good look at the space around her. The attic was so much filled with spacious things that there was hardly any free space, even with the spot she just cleaned.

It was hard to move.

It was slightly hard to breath.

It felt restraining…

Not even enough place for a bed, even for a sofa…

She knew that she was the one who agreed to stay here in first place so she can't go back against her decision now but…

'All this time, since the beginning of their travel, did she always lived in such conditions?' Mira sat on the only free spot on the floor, as expected, it was cold and hard, so much that she felt that her back would hurt next morning.

She could hardly imagine herself sleep in such conditions, being used to sleep on a bed. Even if it was an hard bed, it was still far better than sleeping on the floor. She was pretty sure that if she asked such a thing, they would surely indulge her demand.

'But it isn't the case for the one who was occupying this place the previous few nights.' Mira thought as her as her fingers traced over the surface of the wooden floor.

In the past too, for some reason, that girl would always refuse the bed in order to sleep on the floor, saying things like 'I can't get used to bed'. Her past and naïve self thought that it was because that girl was too cautious, or that she was showing a considerate side by letting her having the bed, but it wasn't that at all…

It's just that for that girl, sleeping on the hard and cold floor instead of a warm and soft bed was the most normal of thing. She was so used to it that she never thought about changing that habit. If she were to choose between a free and warm bed on one side and the floor with nothing, not even a blanket on the other side, she would probably choose the latter instead of the former.

It was sad, truly… And the girl herself doesn't even notice that, she probably thought that if she could handle to sleep in the attic then so would Mira, but she was wrong. And the worst is that all the people around her are all convinced that this is fine this way, without questioning even the decision… just like how her past and naïve self was… It's amazing about how you end up realizing things when time pass which you could never understand before, and how regretful she felt because of her careless past actions.

Her seeming to be alright don't mean that she truly is, even the fact of someone being worried about her sounds weird to her, and they should already have passed over that stage back then, and yet…! It was as if that girl has reversed into the time when she first met her. What on earth happened during those last few decades when they didn't saw each other…?

"Besides, in the end, we never got to do any serious talk, didn't we…?" Mira murmured in a pensive manner as she leaned her back against the wall and sat down, there wasn't even enough place to lie down here, just a bit she felt annoyed but it's also her fault for coming unannounced and forcing herself in.

There were a lot of things which that girl missed over the few previous years, and also a lot of things that they stops learning about her situation as for some reason she cut all ways of communication 10 years ago. And also about the matter of 'Lilliel', it was incredible that this girl who was usually so sharp ended up forgetting about it, especially after the serious reaction she gave when she mentioned it last time.

'As expected she truly changed…' She originally thought it to be a good thing, but unfortunately changes don't always only bring the good parts.

"Please tell me, Professor… am I doing it correctly?" Slowly, as faint as a whisper, Mira called out the name of her mentor, senior and superior… or rather previous superior. One who especially cares about that girl, and one who is no longer in this world… How on earth would that girl react if she were to tell her this? Right now Mira can only lament over how own weakness and fear for when the time would come...


A/N.: Here is the finally awaited character who kept on being introduced during the previous chapters yet never had her name revealed up until now! She is acting childish in contrast of her mature(?) appearance (at least more than Trista's), which create quite a contrast with Trista who seems to be her opposite. Today's chapter is mostly focused on her point of view and with some things about another side of Trista instead of the "doll-witch shut in her library". Hopefully having her in the group even temporarily would add more spices to the story… But remember that I am bad at writing actions scenes so please forgive me for my clumsiness..

[REVIEW-ANSWERING CORNER]

- fantasy.92's review at chapter 9: "I love it! Can't wait to know more about the new character. Update when you can"

A.: Here she is! I hope that she will be to your liking! Sorry if she is different than the one I previously talked about, but I have my reasons about it, I promise! ...I hope...

- merendinoemiliano's review at chapter 9 and 10: "PLovely introspection and dialogues, can't wait for next chapters. Don't worry, i can be quite patient."

"Lovely chapter about this family, dialogues are introspection are really improving, can't wait for more."

A.: I'm glad that you liked the chapters, I hope that you will continue to like them from now on and thank you very much for your Praises!

- Maya Yoan's review at chapter 9 and 10: "Ah, I don't mind at all with more Elizabeth POV here and I really love the Melizabeth chemistry here~ Trista, just let them hug at least, they need it, should you interrupt like that? *huff

also the part 'I am busy right now, let's push it to a later date' with a straight face, I can imagine it, it's so Trista *chuckle. Keep at the good work!"

"Ahahahaha! I like the show *give_applause

You know, dirty-minded people maybe mistook the very first part (not me, I mentioned my little brother who got perverted after reading the first part before I knock him with my book) but still, I love this. I'd like to say that my favorite part was how Meliodas interacted with Trista like an adult treated child and the part where he went with polite manners to Elizabeth but ended up being pervert pfft"

A.: I didn't meant to write anything's dirty so it makes me a bit awkward when it's misunderstood (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄ , glad that you like Trista's attitude though! I have also seen that the number of your Nanatsu no Taizai fanfic keep on growing! Good luck with it!

- Guest's review at chapter 2, 3 and 7: "Well isn't this a gem"

"Am pretty gem indeed"

"Lovely fic it's very well paced and you've got a great base going it's also well written and it's not following any clear cliche I'm glad Iv find this a very nice gem you've made"

A.: To even say it 3 times in one row...! Thank you very much, I'll try my best to polish it into something that you would continue to like!

- believergirl62's review at the Author's Note: "I don't think you should feel that bad about doing modifications if you truly feel it needs it in certain spots because it just means that you want to make sure that you are really happy with it and you want to completely make sure that it's perfect basically. I really look forward to the next update when it's ready."

A.: ...Thank you very much! You don't know how much your words make me feel moved, to the point of crying tears of joy! I was always worried about this side of myself and each time I apologized I hardly, and close to never, received any responses about that so I thought that the readers were fed up with me, really thank you so much! I'll try my best to write a fanfic that would please you until the end! (TT_TT) Besides it's been a while since your last review, thank you really much for responding again!