“What the heck?” Zenos muttered, tilting his head in confusion.

Liz smirked to herself in the background.

***

That evening, the third demi-human leader dropped by.

“Doc! You home?”

“Hey, Zophia. What’s up?” Zenos replied from his desk.

“I hear you took care of one of mine,” the lizardwoman explained. “I wanted to say thanks.” She’d brought fruit as a gift, as well as payment for his treatment services during the random attack incident.

“Did they ever catch the guy?”

“Well, apparently the victim got stabbed from behind and never saw who did it. For shame.” Zophia shrugged in disappointment, then turned to Liz, who had brought tea. “You’re the one Lynga found, right? Passed out on the street?”

“That’s right. My name’s Liz. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“I’ve heard about you, and how you knew the doc back when you were kids.”

“We did know each other, yes. I was very shocked to see him standing there when I woke up.”

“And you’ve lost your memory, and are staying here for now, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct,” Liz answered with a perfectly clear gaze.

Zophia glared at Liz for a moment, then sighed softly. “Well, all right. I’ll come by again soon, doc. Bit more often than usual too.”

“Yeah?” Zenos said.

“There’s just something nagging at me, see,” Zophia said as she stood, glancing sideways at Liz.

As soon as the lizardwoman stepped out of the clinic, someone called out to her from behind. “Um, Zophia?”

“What do you want?” she asked, turning as Liz closed the clinic’s door behind them.

Liz took a look around before lowering her voice and saying, “Something’s been bothering me about that stabbing incident.” Zophia listened quietly, and Liz continued, “I happened to be near the scene and spotted an orc and a werewolf quickly walking away from there.”

“What was that?”

“Of course, they could simply have been unrelated, but I figured I’d let you know just in case...”

“Hmm. You have a great memory for an amnesiac.”

“I remember things that happened after I woke up,” Liz insisted. “I’m being serious.”

Zophia was silent for a moment, then turned on her heel. “Hmph. I’ll keep it in mind.”

Left behind, Liz watched Zophia’s retreating form. “You do that,” she whispered. “It’ll keep you busy.”

***

“Huh,” Carmilla said from the second floor of the clinic, balancing her pen on her lips. “Not bad, childhood friend.”

In just one day, Liz had managed to keep the three demi-humans at bay. Truthfully, the wraith hadn’t thought Liz would go that far.

“Lynga and Loewe, I get, but Zophia is a sharp one. I thought she would be more trouble than that, but you were quite crafty with that little tale.”

Zenos had brokered a reconciliation between the demi-humans, but that was still recent history. No one knew when the conflict might rekindle, and thus by hinting that a werewolf and an orc may have been involved in the stabbing incident, she’d managed to keep Zophia’s hands tied. Now the lizardwoman was forced to closely monitor Lynga and Loewe’s movements, preventing them from coordinating. Liz had subtly sowed misinformation to great effect.

Carmilla hummed. “Now, how long shall I continue to simply watch? There is no entertainment in watching her take over the place.” She flipped through the diary, checking off Loewe and Zophia’s names. Looking at the remaining ones, she smirked. “Perhaps I can afford to wait a bit longer. The battle for heroine is reaching its climax, after all.”

The wraith chuckled giddily.

“Do not be fooled by how weak your next opponent seems, childhood friend. She is not to be underestimated.”

***

Year 304 of the Saint Fabilaus Calendar, July 14th, night.

As darkness fell upon the clinic, Lily was preparing dinner in the kitchen when Liz walked in, feigning innocence. “What a wonderful smell. Do you always cook the meals, Lily?”

“Zenos cooks often too,” Lily explained. “But when he’s busy, I do it.”

“Shall I help?”

“Don’t worry about it. You’ve already helped with cleaning,” Lily replied awkwardly.

“Oh, it’s no trouble. I was no help at all with the repairs, so please, I’d like to at least do this much.”

Lily hesitated. “But...”

“Why don’t we each make two dishes, then?” Liz suggested with a gentle smile. “That way we can split the work. I feel bad, freeloading like this. Please, let me help.”

“O-Okay.”

“Thank you! Oh, but your apron is too small for me. Maybe I could borrow one of Zenos’s.” She casually took one of Zenos’s aprons from a shelf and wrapped it around herself. Standing at the kitchen counter, she casually hummed a tune as she deftly chopped vegetables, filleted fish, stir-fried meat, and even prepared a homemade sauce.

“W-Wow,” Lily murmured, her eyes wide with awe as she watched from beside Liz, holding a knife.

Grilled vegetables with cheese dressing, pie-crusted grilled wraps, creamy pasta loaded with shrimp, and one-horned-ox round steak. In no time at all, Liz had prepared four dishes, all beautifully plated.

“All done!” she exclaimed.

“Um, Liz?” Lily spoke up. “You said we’d each make two...”

“Oh! You’re right! I’m so sorry. I got carried away.” She stuck out her tongue in an oh-no-I’m-so-clumsy manner, then carried the plates to the dining room. “Well, it’s already done, so we may as well eat up. Zenos! Dinner’s ready!”