"Now, I wonder if you're feeling a bit better?"
"No, wait a little longer. Whoa, this is bad — the world is tilting. It's still tilting. I thought I'd gotten over it, but I guess not. I guess the old saying about a leopard not changing its spots really does hold true…"
Subaru and
They probably thought they were brother and sister or something. Or maybe they assumed the pair were wide-eyed tourists from some far-off land, marveling at the Grand Waterway for the first time.
"I won't say both of those guesses are wrong. …Not being able to see the truth is a cruel thing. *Ugh.*"
"If you're going to retch in the middle of a conversation, just sit still and enjoy the breeze. Why do you think Betty is accompanying you, if you're going to worry that much?"
"So I won't be lonely when you leave me behind. Betti is such a sweetheart, isn't she?"
"…If that's what you want to think, then so be it. Just hurry up and feel better."
When he leaned his shoulder against Beatrice, she tensed up, her small body bracing to support his weight. Seeing her put in that earnest effort only deepened his fondness for the girl — which was a strange thing. Just where was the upper limit of his trust in her?
About fifteen minutes had passed since Subaru collapsed with seasickness on the ferry.
Having been put off the boat, Subaru and the others had no choice but to walk to their meeting point, and they'd been waiting for him to recover before setting off.
Originally, Emilia had insisted on getting off the boat and walking with Subaru, but Otto had pointed out, "If you keep the person who agreed to the meeting waiting, the longer it takes, the worse impression you'll make," and with that extra bit of counsel, she had reluctantly decided to leave Subaru behind.
Still, given that fifteen minutes of rest had finally stopped the world from spinning, it was frustrating that he couldn't exactly call it the wrong decision.
"Well, even if Anastasia's people have it out for us… they wouldn't go so far as to pull something in broad daylight on a street this crowded."
There was anxiety about moving alone in an unfamiliar city where he'd been invited by a political rival. That was why Garfiel was there as a bodyguard. In the present, where Subaru's presence held considerable influence for Emilia's camp, an attack on Subaru was far from pointless.
Even so, as he'd said earlier, there was a strange sense of trust that Anastasia wouldn't choose something as foolish as cornering him here and now. Add to that a slight confidence that Julius wasn't the type to resort to underhanded tactics, and he didn't feel too bad.
"As for the knight who lives up to his title, I do trust his sense of chivalry…"
"Subaru. Grinning to yourself while muttering is creepy."
"I-I'm not grinning! And I'd be seriously offended if you thought I was laughing about remembering him! Alright, I can stand up now. Let's go."
At Beatrice's rebuke, Subaru raised his voice, took a deep breath, and stood up on the spot.
He rolled his shoulders, wrists, and neck, and it seemed the seasickness had finally subsided. There was still a bit of heaviness in his limbs, but nothing that would impair his movement.
"Well, if anything happens, Betty will take care of it."
"Counting on you. But we probably won't run into trouble anytime soon. Anyone who'd try something with this many witnesses around would have to be a real idiot."
Because they were royal selection candidates who had to mind the public eye, their opponents had to be selective about their methods. Emilia too had always been told that in public, she should play the part of a well-behaved, naturally lovable girl. Though in truth, she was already a well-behaved, naturally beautiful girl — so really, being herself was enough.
"In other words, the pure innocence that no other candidate can replicate is the real weapon of our angel, Emilia-tan…!"
"I can see your thoughts heading in a weird direction again. Subaru, Subaru — look, the destination is this way. Come along, won't you?"
Beatrice's handling of Subaru's tendency to go off on tangents was something she'd gotten completely used to over the past year. Taking his hand in hers, she guided him through the unfamiliar streets with the casual ease of walking around her own home.
The Muse merchants' guild was apparently at the border between the First and Second Streets, along the Grand Waterway. Subaru had only heard a hazy explanation through his seasickness, but Beatrice would know the way.
If there was a problem, it was
Even though they were supposed to follow the Grand Waterway, the roads themselves often had to detour around or avoid the countless small canals that connected to it, so they couldn't go in a straight line. Naturally, there were a number of turns, bridges to cross, and even the occasional need for Beatrice to leap over a canal while carrying him — "Oh, look, Subaru. There's an amazing fountain over there."
"Right. …Which park is this?"
It was a city park with a large fountain at its center, and it was this that had drawn an involuntary sigh of admiration from Beatrice as she led him by the hand. There were no playground structures in sight, but the well-maintained flower beds and fountain were pleasing to the eye, and children could be seen playing in the water around the fountain.
It was unquestionably a peaceful, soul-soothing scene. Unquestionably, but — "This clearly isn't the destination, right? The heir to a major trading house playing a high-stakes money game at the edge of this park? If it rains, the bills will get wet."
"Does seasickness make you stingy too? Taking in this beautiful view, and the first thing that comes to mind is something so dreary… Betty is disappointed in you as a partner."
"The old you would have blushed and tried to cover up your own mistakes, but lately you've gotten a bit too glib. It makes Daddy sad."
"Ca-calling yourself Betty's father is four hundred years too early! Subaru, there really is no way to describe you other than as someone who is completely lacking in that kind of awareness!"
Beatrice overreacted to the latter half of that for some reason, but Subaru was satisfied enough just seeing her bristle and didn't press the issue. More important was how they'd ended up in this park — "Betti. You kept saying 'leave it to me' and leading the way. Wasn't your confidence because you actually knew the way?"
"I knew the destination, yes. But the route to get there was a bit uncertain. So, to make sure we wouldn't get lost along the way, I tried that method I once read about in a book — the 'Left-Hand Rule for When You're Lost.' Was it a lie, I wonder?"
"The left-hand rule for when you're lost?"
"A groundbreaking method where you place your left hand on the left wall and follow it to reach the goal."
"That's for when you're trying to solve a maze and can't figure it out!?"
The strategy Beatrice had come up with was a well-known technique for navigating from a maze's starting point to its goal. Subaru had to admit it was effective in principle, but since it was only a basic method, it had plenty of shortcomings when it came to application. Specifically — "If you try the left-hand rule from a midpoint, you could end up trapped in the maze forever! What if the wall you've been touching isn't the outer wall but an inner wall? And besides, this is a city that looks like a maze, not an actual maze!"
"Mmph! Even for Subaru, I won't forgive you for mocking the wisdom of our predecessors. Betty was the librarian entrusted with the management of the Forbidden Library, a treasury of knowledge. The application of accumulated knowledge is essential to life — it's the weight of history!"
"I'm not mocking the predecessors — I'm mocking you for thinking you've mastered their wisdom just from reading books! You big-headed know-it-all!"
Given that she was curious by nature (and four hundred years old), that it had taken her time to come out into the world (four hundred years), and that there was a gap between her internal sense of normalcy and the world's timeline (four hundred years), some of this was understandable. Even so, this loli was surprisingly unreliable.
"If you're going to say all that, then perhaps Subaru has a plan to overcome this situation? Why don't you share it?"
Hands on her hips, Beatrice fixed Subaru with a provocative stare.
On his part, Subaru was keenly aware that he'd just shown his embarrassing seasick side, so he steeled himself to show Beatrice that he could be relied on.
"Heh. Your assessment that this place is like a labyrinth was correct. But you were mistaken in treating it as a complete maze, left-hand rule included. Unlike the left-hand rule, which becomes hopeless from a midpoint, I have a far more perfect strategy."
"Oh my, so awfully confident. I can already sense the stench of failure, but go ahead and share it, won't you?"
"Don't make that face. The strategy is called — 'Inside the Stone.'"
"Inside the… what?"
Beatrice tilted her head, a question mark practically floating above it. The name might have been a bit too specialized to convey its meaning, but Subaru cleared his throat with an air of importance and began to explain.
"Listen. First, we define our current position as the starting point. From there, we head in one direction until we hit a junction. When we do, we first explore both paths to their dead ends. Once we've confirmed that either there's a dead end or another junction beyond it, we return to the first junction."
"…Go on, I suppose."
"Then we map it out, calculating the junctions and steps as we go. We advance toward whichever path wasn't a dead end, and at the next junction, we repeat the same process we did at the first one. By continuing this way, we naturally fill in the map of the path to the goal and the dungeon's layout…"
"That's way too tedious! Before we even get there, the sun will set and dawn will break!"
"You — you idiot! What's wrong with prioritizing certainty?! Do you have any idea how many players have been able to safely return from dungeons that were too complex because of this method?! If anything, this is what you were talking about — the wisdom of our predecessors!"
"Becoming so reliant on predecessors' wisdom that you lose sight of your original purpose — that's the bad pattern, I suppose!"
Beatrice, having had her proposal dismissed, was venting her frustration by trying to stomp on Subaru's supposedly brilliant idea — though even Subaru had to admit that wasn't quite what was happening.
It was true that the strategy was excessively time-consuming, and before that, they didn't even have paper and pen to do the mapping with.
"Guess there's only one option left…"
"What are you going to do? My trust in Subaru's judgment has dropped quite a bit."
He'd been hoping to rebuild trust with a reliable approach, but he'd only managed to lower it further. Having your sincere efforts go unappreciated was just a fact of life.
"Let's change tactics. And for our compromise, I propose…"
"You'd propose?"
"We ask someone for directions honestly."
"That's the right answer…"
In truth, Subaru never had that strong a need to solve everything by himself. Beatrice's pride was the only obstacle, and it seemed even that had been cleared.
Fortunately, Kiritaka, who ran the Muse merchants' guild, was a well-known businessman and a prominent figure involved in the city's administration. Any local would know the location.
Thinking this, Subaru looked around to ask someone for directions. But — "It's a park, but there's hardly anyone here."
"The timing doesn't seem wrong either. It's a perfectly normal mid-afternoon — ideal for a nap, I'd say."
Subaru agreed with Beatrice wholeheartedly, and the temptation to nap in the shade of a tree tugged at him, but he shook it off. Well then, let's head back toward the canal where there had been more foot traffic — just as Subaru was thinking this, he noticed something.
"— I can hear something."
The sound of wind, and the gentle murmur of flowing water.
Mixed in with those, tickling Subaru's eardrums, was a human voice — no, a singing voice.
"——"
What he heard, broken and intermittent, was a fragment of song and music, yet for some reason it clawed at Subaru's heart most terribly. His feet began to carry him toward the source of the singing without any conscious decision on his part.
And he wasn't the only one — Beatrice, who had noticed the same thing, moved with him.
And when Subaru and Beatrice, drawn along by the melody, arrived at the spot, they were so overwhelmed they forgot to even breathe.
——At the far end of the park, before some kind of monument, a single girl was singing.
She was a petite girl with tanned skin.
Her features were bright and lively, with large, round eyes, and her vivid yellow hair was gathered into two bunches that hung down from either side of her head. Her hair and body were adorned with decorations made from tree nuts and animal bones.
Clutched in the singing girl's arm was a stringed instrument she plucked with her fingers — something between a guitar and a ukulele in size — and as she played, she sang, her throat resonating with the music.
The energy her song carried was overwhelming.
As Subaru listened, he could feel things that had no business being there — a wind that shouldn't have existed, an earthquake that shouldn't have been happening. This could not possibly be a sensation born from the sheer volume of her voice. She had only one voice, and the tune she sang was, if anything, a ballad.
A single girl, with nothing but her fingertips and her singing voice, was generating energy on par with an entire orchestra — and it pierced through Subaru's entire body.
"——"
What truly stunned Subaru, even more than the girl herself, was the sight of her audience.
Surrounding the singing girl, listening in total silence to every note, was a crowd. They numbered well over twenty, all of them hushed and enraptured by the song — so absorbed that they hadn't even noticed Subaru and Beatrice standing at the park entrance.
In fact, until they'd gotten this close, Subaru had thought the girl was alone. That was how completely this place was under the girl's dominion.
And as Subaru stood there trembling with the full force of that impact, the girl's song surged toward its climax, and the audience's intensity reached its zenith — "— No money, no future, no dreams, only vanity. Ah, what do I see? Behind my eyelids, darkness. Beyond the darkness, nothing. It runs out, it runs out, the end is coming."
"When you listen closely, those are some seriously depressing lyrics, hey!?"
"Kyah!?"
Snapping back to reality at lyrics that had given up on dreams, futures, gods, and Buddha alike, Subaru couldn't help but deliver a devastating retort.
The instant he did, the girl startled, cutting the song short. She nearly dropped her instrument, and naturally, the music stopped as well — and in the next moment, that mysterious aura that had been dominating the area vanished completely.
Seeing this, Subaru paled, realizing he'd done something terrible.
"Oh crap, I killed the mood. That wasn't what I meant — OW!"
"Subaru, you idiot, you ruined it! I was finally enjoying myself, and you had to go and do something so tasteless! That was way too much, even for you!"
Before he could even apologize, a sharp, piercing pain shot through his foot.
He looked down to see Beatrice, her face contorted with indignation, driving her heel into his foot. She had snapped out of the spell the same moment the song ended, but she clearly wasn't going to forgive the one who'd interrupted it.
And — "Huh? The song…?" "This is a park… just now, I was definitely in darkness…" "No, no — I had no choice back then… because, because…" "When I grow up, I want to defeat Temion and save Dragonfin…" "I want to support that dream…" "Tina-chan…" "Rusbel…"
The audience, who had been swallowed up by the music, were now returning to reality one by one. Among them, some had collapsed under the song's influence, and a few young boys and girls had used the musical interlude as an opportunity to get cozy — but for all of them, the return to the present was undeniable.
And what did everyone who'd returned to reality do? They all glared at the source of the interruption — that is, at the man with the established reputation for being unable to read the room,
— which, translated liberally, was the collective insult they hurled at Subaru.
※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ "Great job, everyone! No wait — the reviews were brutal, weren't they?"
"Don't say that so cheerfully. After being stomped on that much, I hope my right foot and left foot aren't different sizes now. Is my right foot going to be okay?"
"I wouldn't know. This time, Betty isn't going to help you."
At Subaru's question, Beatrice turned her face away with a definitive refusal. He checked for himself, and fortunately, his right foot didn't seem to be swollen to twice its normal size.
For having ruined the impromptu outdoor concert, Subaru had been subjected to a storm of criticism from the audience — or rather, not exactly, because the girl who'd been singing had smoothed things over, and a disaster was averted.
The audience had each exchanged kind words with the girl, conveyed how moved they'd been by her song, shaken her hand, and then about half of them had trooped off after stepping on Subaru's foot for good measure.
With a guilty conscience, Subaru couldn't say a word, and Beatrice had silently condoned the whole thing, so public opinion was squarely against him.
As for his foot, he should probably brace for internal damage inside his shoe and sock.
"If I get hurt, I'll end up relying on your recovery magic anyway. Doesn't that feel pointless?"
"It would be a waste of the mana I've been carefully saving. Wait for it to heal naturally, or try asking Emilia instead."
"One way or another, you always get sulky when I ask Emilia to heal me… But yeah, natural healing makes sense. I was kind of numb to it all."
Subaru decided to follow Beatrice's advice, since her reasoning was sound.
Since coming to this world, he'd gotten injured more often, and he'd grown too comfortable with the omnipotent ease of having those injuries treated. Especially during his parkour training, when bruises, scrapes, and sprains were daily occurrences, one of Emilia or Beatrice would always fix him up in no time.
The fear of pain from injuries hadn't diminished, but there was no denying he'd developed a degree of complacency — a sense that getting hurt wasn't that big a deal.
"You're always tightening things up just when I start to get sloppy. Sorry for always leaning on you. I'll try to think more."
So saying, Subaru gently ruffled Beatrice's hair. She turned her gaze toward him, her body gradually leaning into his touch — "Well — if you've reflected on it, then that's enough. Consider that pain a lesson and endure it, won't you?"
"Mm-hmm, I will. Oh right — sorry for holding you up while talking over here…"
Subaru and Beatrice's partner talk would have been incomprehensible to anyone watching. As one of the parties responsible for the disruption, Subaru approached the girl to offer his apologies. However, he was stopped short.
The girl was holding her palm out toward Subaru and Beatrice. And then — "I've got it!"
"Huh?"
"Listen. — I don't know anything about age differences!"
Leaving Subaru and Beatrice stunned, the girl abruptly struck her instrument to set a rhythm. Then she clicked her tongue to find the timing, drew a small breath, and began to sing.
"Hey, do you see it? Can you feel it? The age gap in your love and mine. Everyone says it's strange, but I couldn't care less. What I'm always worried about is the height gap in our love. Hey, wait for me. Please, wait for me. Just a little longer, just a little more, and if I stretch I can almost reach. If we get that close, no one will care about the age difference anymore. So please, just two years. I'm begging you, just wait that long. The distance between your love and mine. The sweet, melting distance of love."
"The shrinking distance of our love quietly becomes a burning passion, and soon a stork will come and deliver a child to us both — our future is a bright love story!"
"Huh?!?"
The sudden outpouring of song and lyrics left Beatrice dizzy. But just after the girl finished her verse with a shout, Subaru suddenly jumped in on the beat, riding the rhyme in what was essentially a rap. Despite being pure spinal reflex, he slipped into it surprisingly well.
Beatrice's final cry of shock was in response to the sight of the two of them high-fiving without any discussion whatsoever.
"Wait a minute! Why — why did Subaru suddenly join the song? And why are you acting like that's perfectly normal?!"
"Come on, Betti, what are you saying? …Music crosses all borders, you know?"
"That's a lovely line. This Liliana is so moved her heart is trembling. Well, maybe not trembling, but—"
"B-Betty's attitude like she's the one in the right is totally unacceptable, no matter how you look at it…"
Beatrice wore an exhausted expression at the pair who were going their own way, to say the least. Even Subaru felt that was a bit too much for Beatrice, so he turned back to the tanned girl — "Just so you know, Betti and I aren't in the kind of relationship you're imagining, and even if Betti grew another two years, she still wouldn't be in my range."
"Huh? But wouldn't she be about thirteen or fourteen? You know, for someone who looks like this, I'm actually quite skilled at observing people's ages. It's a gift from life experience, you might say."
"She'd be about four hundred and two."
"You're just saying that because I hit the mark, aren't you? No need to be so stubborn!"
The girl apparently took Subaru's statement as desperation and refused to listen.
Subaru, for his part, didn't bother correcting her further. In any case, the conversation had gone way off track. He needed to reset.
"So anyway, let's get back on track. That 'I've got it' moment — was that a new song?"
"No, yes, actually! You see, I may look like this, but I'm incredibly sensitive to inspiration, and watching the two of you interact made it impossible to hold back! I'll be sure to write it down properly in sheet music, so feel free to be proud of it!"
She rattled off the words at breakneck speed, then covered her mouth with her hand — "Ah, but wait, that wasn't the end of it! Big brother, yes, big brother — you matched my rhythm at the end there, didn't you? Was that… surely that was the first time you've gotten that kind of response? Even I was so happy and excited that I got carried away!"
"That was the god of rap descending upon me for a brief moment. Even if you asked me to do it again, I probably couldn't. I don't have that kind of skill or talent. Just a flash in the pan."
"A flash… in the pan…"
The girl's expression turned faintly melancholy as she looked at Subaru, who was gazing off into the distance.
A feeling passed between them — a silent understanding of something that couldn't quite be put into words. This display of unspoken connection was finally too much for the girl who was being left out of the conversation.
"Subaru."
"Hm? What's up, Beatri—?!"
The instant he felt his sleeve tugged and looked down, a shockwave sent Subaru's body spinning through the air. He bounced across the park's lawn, hit the ground hard, and managed to roll into a breakfall. But the momentum was too great, and he kept tumbling until the world started spinning.
Meanwhile, having executed the attack, Beatrice fixed the tanned girl with a cold stare — "I won't let you two dominate the conversation any longer. From here on, Betty will be in charge. If you try to resist, you'll meet the same fate as him."
"Eep… A-ah, then…"
"Be quiet. Focus only on what Betty says, what Betty asks, and responding to it promptly. The only reason you haven't been punished yet is because your singing was excellent. But that leniency won't last."
Even the trembling girl received no mercy from Beatrice's voice.
After watching the girl nod vigorously, Beatrice let out a single breath. In the time between that exhale and her next words, the girl braced herself for what was coming.
And then — "Lead us to wherever the main office of the Muse merchants' guild is, won't you?"
"— Huh?"
"I won't say it twice. Lead the way, or refuse and face Betty's wrath — pick one."
"I — I'll guide you! Please, let me guide you!"
Faced with this coerced ultimatum, the girl immediately raised the white flag.
Beatrice nodded with satisfaction, but just then, Subaru came crashing back, slamming into the ground as he returned. Beatrice raised her chin toward him with a pointed look.
"If you have a complaint, go ahead and say it."
"Is it within acceptable limits to use that carefully stored-up mana for my educational correction?"
"That depends on the time and place, I suppose."
"You've got flexible thinking, Betti. Also — I know we caught ourselves a guide, which is great, but…"
Subaru scratched his cheek and paused.
Beatrice gave him an irritated look at the half-finished thought, so he continued.
"That girl is probably Liliana, the famous songstress. I don't think we should handle this carelessly."
She'd introduced herself as Liliana earlier, and with that singing ability, there was virtually no doubt. Though her personality didn't exactly match the title of "songstress" — "H-h-hello there, how do you do! Heh heh, I'll guide you, I'll lick your boots, whatever you want! Just please — spare my life! I beg you, I beg you!"
There she was, prostrating on the ground, begging for her life in the most abject manner.
To correct himself, she wasn't just a poor match for the title — she was nothing at all like what one would imagine a "songstress" to be.