「Even so, you surprised me. Lapis-chan, you launched up, out of the riverside.」

「Eh?」

Lapis began to panic, hearing this information for the first time.

「Your hair was beaten up, the dress tattered, and you had quite bad wounds. Honestly, at first, I thought you were a drowned body.」

「T-that bad…?」

「Yeah. Well, when you reach my age, most things don't surprise you but, that surprised me.」

「"My age", so…」

Lapis stared at Lily. No matter how she stared, Lily was around 20 years old. Maybe she's in her teens. Looking, she should be around her mid to late twenties.

「Lily-san, you aren't young?」

「Oh, you make me happy with that. Then, question! How old do you think I am?」

Lapis thought over the sudden quiz. She could only go from appearances, so she honestly said what she saw.

「Around 20 years old?」

「Fufu, I'm not that young. Higher up.」

「Eh?」

The answer was wrong. However, Lily didn't seem to give an answer, instead smiling and gazing at Lapis. Then, she's has to answer again. But, the answer can't be too high, being careful to avoid being rude—

「Around 25 years old. How is that?」

「Like I said, I'm not that young. Much, much higher up.」

「Um. …I don't know, I give up.」

「Nn-, I wanted you to guess it, but… Okay, a hint! Your answer is off by 2 digits!」

「…digits…     …     …Digits!?」

It was so unexpected that for a moment, Lapis forgot to speak.

She heard the words, processed them, and understood them. The strangeness took time to understand.

More than that, though.

「Eh, then, Lily-san, you're 1000 years old?」

「Unfortunately, I am in my 6000's.」

It was her first time hearing someone be 6000 years old.

「Having already gotten here, I'll just tell you. This year, I am 6332 years old♪」

「Okay, since you're thinking that I'm lying, I'll give you a special, related hint about my occupation♪」

With that, she slowly reached under the bed and pulled out an item and placed it on her head.

It was a pitch-black hat. The rim was excessively wide and the center was pointed at the top. Yes, in a single word to describe it —

「—Witch?」

「Cor ・rect♪」

Lily gave a captivating smile.