Parallel Memory

"My name is Lilith."

The girl introduced herself.

"L-Lilith?"

Zero had a hard time pronouncing her name correctly because the name was certainly not common, at least he had never heard that kind of name. However, he was not going to judge the name of a person.

"My name is Zero Elea."

Zero also introduced himself.

Since that day, Lilith has always shown up in that park to play with Zero. Not only that, but Zero had also toured Lilith around the town. He was surprised that a girl older than him didn't know much about the city.

Little by little he took Lilith around different places. One thing that Zero realized after spending time with her was that she was weird.

One time he was taking Lilith around the Ice cream shop and she was like, "So this is what humans eat?" and other times, she would say things like, "So that's how humans spend their time."

Therefore, Zero concluded that Lilith was not a very social person and someone who would seldom leave her house. He could not think of any other reason as he was just 8 years old without much thinking power.

Anyway, he pitied her because it seemed like she was experiencing these things for the first time, and somewhat he liked spending time with her. Therefore, Zero started taking Lilith to all kinds of places that he likes.

"Let's go there!"

Lilith said he dragged Zero.

With time, Lilith had known about the neighborhood almost as much as Zero knew about that place. She would drag Zero to the places she would love to visit.

Because of how much time they spent together, Lilith instantly became one of the closest friends that he had. The other friends that were closer than her were Eleonore and Misha, whom he had known since they were babies.

Lilith appeared older but it was Zero who acted more mature. Lilith was just like a child following her parents and discovering new things.

While Lilith was older, Zero had no problem taking care of her. It is because he has already experienced this type of thing already.

His childhood friend Eleonore was a lot harder to handle than Lilith. Even when she was older than him, Zero had to handle most of the things in the house.

"She really needs to act more mature!"

Zero said as he thought about Eleonore.

She can't even make anything properly. Even making instant noodles seemed to be an impossible task for her. Anyway, because of that, I had to take care of her sometimes especially when Uncle and Aunty went for dungeon raids.

It was the same for me when my parents had to go on dungeon raids together. They would leave me to the Kanon family. Their house was like my second home and I would occasionally drop by.

Anyways, their parents will let my parents take care of them but because of how busy they are in the office, it would be me who is actually looking after them. Although it sounds absurd to say that an 8 year old is looking after an 11 year old, it is true.

The Kanon sisters were hopeless at housework. They could barely cook anything and left alone, they might just starve to death.

The younger sister was very shy and I barely talked with her because of that. She usually hides behind her sister and does not say many words to me. Even with how many times we were together, she would rarely open up to me.

Eleonore, on the other hand, was very friendly with me. Because our parents were friends and we were brought up together, we were not awkward with each other. As for Misha, she was like that with everyone, maybe worse with others than she is with me.

Anyway, there was no hesitation or anything when we were dealing with each other. And we had spent time together many times that we could be counted on as a family.

*****

"I want this!"

Eleonore said as she showed Zero the picture of Creamy pasta.

As of that day, Eleonore's parents were raiding a dungeon of rank-B, and the estimated raiding time was one week. During that time, Eleonore and Misha were staying in our home.

Because I had to look after them, I told my friends including Lilith that I would be busy for the week. Lilith obviously rejected that and said that I had to come and play with her anyway, but I said I really could not.

We had made plans that day to go to the aquarium but because of Eleonore and Misha, I could not go and had to cancel my plans with Lilith. Lilith obviously showed dissatisfaction. Anyway, we could go there anytime we want, so I didn't think much about that.

-SIZZLE!

Zero prepared everything and was getting ready to make the creamy pasta that Eleonore wanted. He didn't think much about Eleonore's request as it is something that he has done many times before.

Eleonore looked at Zero with satisfaction. She knew that she could count on Zero to take care of her. She tried to help Zero by washing plates but,

-CRASH!

The results were plates slipping off her hands and landing on the ground. No matter whether it was her luck or because she really could not do it, she would always end up in the same situation when trying to do housework.

"Go Sit there!"

Zero commanded angrily.

Even though he appreciated her intent to help him, he knew that she would only add to his workload. It was better for Eleonore to do nothing and just wait for food.

*POUT!

Eleonore showed dissatisfaction at Zero's words. However, she can only keep quiet and obey him because she had committed a mistake.

"I was just trying to help you. What with your anger? Humph!"

She decided to ignore Zero for the day. She would only forgive him if he apologized. She waited for the food and also Zero's apology, both of which failed to come quickly.

-KNOCK! -KNOCK!

Just when she thought that she should take another look in the kitchen, the front door was knocked.

"Coming!"

Eleonore said as she went to open the door.

She assumed that Zero's parents were back. Though it was rare for them to come back so early, she thought that they might have taken a leave.

-CREAK!

She quickly opened the door quickly but the person standing in front of her was not Zero's parents.

"Yes? What do you want?"

Eleonore didn't know who she was and why she was there.

"Hello! Is this Zero's house?"

Lilith, the person who was standing in front of the door asked.

She was in a bad mood because Zero canceled their plan. However, she immediately thought of an idea. If Zero didn't want to come, she would drag him out and take him with her.

She used her intel, which is Zero's friend who knows the information, to find Zero's address. She followed the route and came to the house which had Elea written on it. She knocked on the door and expected Zero to come out.

Nevertheless, the one who came out of the house was a pretty girl of her age.

( Who? Zero's sister? )

Lilith thought.

However, she knew that Zero had no siblings.

( Wrong address?)

She thought that she might be in the wrong place. So she asked whether this was Zero's house or not.

"What do you want?"

Eleonore asked.

Judging by what she said, Eleonore knew that the girl in front of her didn't exactly know Zero's house. She was confirming it which meant she didn't know. She didn't answer immediately and asked about her objective.

"Zero and I had plans. But he failed to show up, so I want to know why."

Lilith answered.

What she said was actually half lie and half-truth. Zero has already explained that he can't come but she was there to forcefully take him away. Anyway, Lilith thought that keeping promises was the most important thing.

Even if he had something to do, Zero had already promised her that he would go together with her, so she came to make Zero fulfill his promise.

"Huh?"

Eleonore said in surprise.

( Go together somewhere? How dare he! )

Eleonore got angry at what Lilith said. Usually, this time is for them to spend together, and Zero stays with them most of the time. Now, she was hearing that Zero had made a plan with another cute girl. Eleonore was angry.

Although it was good that he didn't leave, but the fact that the girl came to take Zero out was irritating. So she replied,

"Zero is busy. You can try another time."

She immediately tried to make Lilith go away. For her, she was someone who was trying to destroy her precious time with Zero.

"..."

Lilith, on the other hand, felt hostile toward Eleonore and assumed she was trying to stop her from meeting Zero. She had not even met with Zero and the girl in front of her told her to go away.

( This Girl! What is her problem? )