Roughly five minutes had passed since they broke into a dead sprint down the rough road—Subaru, his arm clasped in the girl's grip, staggered forward with faltering steps and lungs on fire.
"Hurry up, or they'll catch us. This is no time to play around."
"You—you're one to talk... Hold on, seriously, just a sec..."
At the start, Subaru had been the one running ahead, but the difference in stamina had long since reversed their positions.
The girl leading the way showed no sign of breathlessness, her posture relaxed and almost leisurely. Subaru, on the other hand, couldn't sustain a full sprint for any length of time and was already falling to pieces.
In fairness to Subaru, though, his current state of exhaustion wasn't entirely his fault. His body was still on the mend—mid-rehabilitation, so to speak—and even at the best of times his stamina was below average. Right now it was even lower than that, which was exactly the kind of predicament you'd expect.
"What a pathetic thing you are. To fall behind a delicate flower like myself—have you no shame?"
"I'm using my just-recovered-from-illness card as a blanket excuse for everything. ...But honestly, things are looking pretty rough."
Behind them, the threat of the chasing thugs was still very much alive. Thanks to their head start, the gap between the pair and the group was considerable. But since the alley was essentially a straight path, it was obvious that any loss in speed would let them close the distance eventually.
Ideally, they'd reach the main road before that happened, but— "For some reason, we keep heading deeper and deeper into dark, deserted alleys... Do you have a plan or something?"
He addressed the orange hair moving steadily ahead of him without hesitation. The girl responded to his question with a bright, refreshing laugh.
"Ha ha ha—no idea!"
"Everything I do works out in my favor. That is why there has never been a need to think deeply about it—not before, and not now. Trust in what I do."
"My hat's off to you... Seriously, is this actually going to work out...?"
So far, the fact that they hadn't run into a dead end was entirely her doing. Given the very real possibility of being cornered in a cul-de-sac—forget about reaching the main road—judging their deeper route as a worsening situation might be premature. Even so, "Without some kind of bright outlook... I'm running on fumes here."
"—Hm. This is a problem."
Subaru's comment caught in his throat from the rough breathing. Right in front of him, the girl abruptly stopped. Pulled along by the hand, Subaru halted too.
"Hey, hey—no time to stop! Even a little more distance makes a difference!"
He jogged in place, trying to get the stopped girl moving again. But she tilted her head at his words, then fixed him with a bored look.
"—I'm bored."
"Bored... Huh!?"
"I said I'm bored. In the first place, why should I have to run? My actions are my own. They are absolutely not to be dictated by the crude brutes behind us."
"S-Sure, but that doesn't exactly fly in this situation!"
Subaru panicked at the flare-up of princess-like willfulness. Honestly, even this much back-and-forth was time he couldn't afford to waste. If it were just about saving himself, the optimal move would be to abandon her and bolt. But doing that would defeat the entire purpose from the start.
Caught between ideals, reality, and the urge to run, Subaru clutched his head. Then, seeing him making a hundred different faces, the girl's lips curled into a mischievous smile.
"Hmm, I've decided. —I shall bestow upon you the honor of carrying me."
"No, thank you!"
He crossed both arms in an X to flatly refuse the dubious offer. The girl's expression darkened considerably at his instant rejection.
"The honor of carrying me is not something just anyone can receive. To throw it away of your own volition—you really are a man who knows no fear."
"Do I look like the kind of macho man who can run while carrying a person? Even at full strength, ten minutes with a girl lighter than you was my absolute limit! And now I'm running on empty with legs that feel like a newborn fawn's—come on!"
He pointed at his trembling legs and bellowed, full of vigor and full of complaints.
The girl looked down at Subaru's pathetic display, then let out an exasperated sigh, muttering, "—Acla."
"Huh?"
The instant her murmur reached his eardrums, a faint light suddenly materialized around Subaru. It enveloped his entire body in surprise, a golden radiance that wove a veil of brilliance across his skin.
The golden light covered him from head to toe. Subaru raised both hands in front of his face.
"Wh-what is this!? O-oras are becoming visible to the naked eye... I'm getting kind of excited...!?"
He floundered in confusion at the anomaly overtaking his body. Hidden behind his panic, the girl circled around to Subaru's back with a languid motion.
"If you won't carry me, then I'll ride."
"Whoa—!"
With that, the girl nimbly leaped onto Subaru's back.
Both her arms wrapped around his neck, and bracing for the full weight of a small but real human body, Subaru planted his feet to hold his ground—but that anxiety vanished as quickly as it had come. Because— "What the—you're light as a feather! Wait, or is my body just freakishly energized!?"
Despite the girl on his back, he couldn't feel her weight at all. More than that, even the bag of ringa fruit in his hand had become weightless, and his legs—still jogging—felt like they'd been swapped out for brand-new ones.
"With my blessing, anyone will work like a draft horse. You do the same."
"Ohh—I'm not sure I feel great about this, but I can work with it!
He placed one hand on the girl's waist to keep her from slipping off, and took off running.
Light. So light. His feet were impossibly light. His entire body felt as though it had shed the shell of flesh, every stride covering the ground five times faster than just minutes ago.
The distance that had supposedly narrowed during their earlier lull was widening again, and this time there was no sign of it closing.
The presence of the men receding behind them—his sharpened senses picked even that up with razor precision. Subaru was flooded with a sense of omnipotence, every faculty in his body pushed to its absolute limit.
"What is this, it's amazing! I feel so light! There's nothing to be scared of anymore!"
He lowered his body to cut wind resistance, riding the momentum until his frame became the wind itself. His field of vision narrowed as he blazed down the cramped back-alley at breakneck speed. Mid-sprint, he twisted his head back toward the girl.
"With this much distance, I've got a little breathing room, so—why were those guys after you in the first place?"
The thugs seemed like the type to be weak against authority figures, and Subaru had a feeling that someone with such flashy looks as this girl would normally deter them rather than attract them. She definitely didn't look like any commoner off the streets.
Then again, maybe the whole situation was so absurd that those kinds of considerations had slipped past him.
The girl wrinkled her perfectly shaped nose at his question and said, "It's nothing major," before continuing.
"I was sightseeing to kill time and got separated from my companions. While looking for them, I decided to check out some of the grimy alleys I don't usually see, and I ran right into those men."
"But just that wouldn't be enough for them to come after you..."
"So I sniffed at their ridiculous getups, and that's how it ended up."
"That's totally your fault!"
"Dealing with thin-skinned people like that is just exhausting."
"You should watch your own mouth too!"
It was hard not to feel sympathy for the thugs caught in this typhoon of a girl. Of course, in this particular case, the one taking the worst of it was Subaru himself.
As they continued their back-and-forth, Subaru came face-to-face with a path branching sharply to the right. He decelerated by kicking off the wall, using the recoil to turn—just as that scenario played out in his mind, a brilliant idea flashed through it.
"Just following the road will never shake them. So instead of letting the road lead me—I'll make my own path!"
"Has the dosage gotten so strong it's gone to your head?"
"That's mean! And just you wait—regret doubting me with your whole heart!"
With that declaration, Subaru kicked it up another gear.
The girl on his back shared the same view. She had to have realized that Subaru's momentum was heading straight for a wall with no room for doubt.
She tightened her arms around his neck.
"Hey—you. What are you thinking? At this rate, you'll crash—"
"Spare me the details and just watch—Fire! Behold, the slum's dirtiest little trick—
With the momentum behind him, he planted his foot on the ashen-brown wall and took a second step as if gravity didn't exist. His body rose into the air with a whoosh, Newton half in tears as wall-walking became reality— "SNOW CRAB!"
It didn't work.
On the fourth step his foot slipped out from under him, he flipped backward, and crashed face-down onto the ground. Unable to even break his fall, he slammed his face hard and rolled around in agony.
"That huwts, huwts, huwts, huwts, huwts, huwts—!!"
"What do you think you're doing?"
The girl, who had barely managed to leap free, looked down at the abrasion-covered Subaru writhing in pain like he was some kind of rare animal. In her hands was the bag of ringa, saved from the fall.
Relieved to see it intact, Subaru sat up from where he'd been lying.
"Dammit—I can't believe that failed... That Felt—giving me false hope like that..."
He cursed at the golden-haired girl who wasn't even present. In all fairness to her, that was a raw deal. She had indeed scaled a wall, but she had no memory of teaching Subaru how to do it. And of course, Subaru had no memory of being taught, either.
Having put his all-publicly-displayed failure behind him, Subaru scratched his head and tried to stand up with renewed spirit. But— "Ow, ow, ow—twisted my— wait, ow, that hurts!? Crap, hey, it really hurts, it really hurts!? I just twisted it, but it hurts like it's broken!"
"I pushed your body's functions into an overdrive state. Naturally your limbs move as you wish, but it stands to reason that you'd also feel pain more keenly than usual."
"Don't act like 'it stands to reason' is any comfort!"
She spoke matter-of-factly about just how massive the buff she'd given him was. Did she have no sympathy for his suffering? "Come on, get up," she urged ruthlessly. Subaru, for his part, refused like a toddler throwing a tantrum, whining, "It hurts, it hurts, I'm gonna cry."
The precious time and distance they'd gained began slipping away again, and Subaru could feel the rough aura of the men drawing closer once more.
And then, right at that moment.
"First time I've seen you in ages, and what do I find you doing?"
A large body lumbered into view from the alley that should have turned right.
Subaru raised his gaze. A normal person's head would have reached only this man's chest. His eyes traveled further up, and there he found a bearded, bald head.
"You—you're..."
A familiar, muscle-bound old man looked down at Subaru and the girl.
"The main old man is here! Now we're gonna win—!!"
"It's been a while, and already you're a mouthy little brat. I'm leaving you behind."
"Help, seriously help! I'm in danger both chastity-wise and organ-wise!"
The first referred to the girl and the second to Subaru.
Based on the prejudice that bad people must be dealing in organs, it was an understandable assumption. Hearing this, the old man—Old Man
"What is it now—sticking your nose into trouble again? And with a girl in tow, making a scene—you're full of surprises, you are."
"I don't need that dirty-old-man comment from you! Help me!"
Enduring the pain, Subaru stood up and hopped on one foot over to grovel before Old Man Rom. The bald man scratched his smooth head with a troubled expression, then cast a calculating look at the girl, who had remained silent.
She met his gaze with undisguised displeasure.
"Don't direct those impertinent eyes at me, you grimy old man."
"You're just as foul-mouthed as he is!? And this is the old man who's our miracle turnaround in hell—what kind of thing is that to say!? Don't think poorly of him, Old Man Rom. Both she and I are just a little too honest by nature!"
"You've still got that same knack for killing people's motivation! Now get hidden, quick!"
Subaru clamped a hand over the girl's mouth—she still looked like she had more venom to spit—and bounded in the direction Old Man Rom indicated. There, junked scrap wood was propped against the wall, creating a gap just big enough to hide two people if they crouched low.
He shoved the girl in first, then wedged himself in behind her like a plug. The girl looked ready to complain about the dusty spot, but Subaru desperately sealed her mouth and somehow managed to smother her objections.
"Old Man Rom, we're good."
"'We're good,' he says—I'll block the view with my body, so don't move. If we get found, it's just as much trouble for me as for you."
Despite the grumbling, Old Man Rom used his massive frame to shield them from sight entirely. Leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, the two of them held their breath behind his back.
A mere数十seconds after they'd hidden, the sound of multiple footsteps stormed into the nearby alley— "What the—?! I thought it'd be a kid, but it's just some geezer!"
The man at the front—ready to pounce at the slightest sign of human presence—swore at Old Man Rom's towering bulk. When Rom sent him a silent, piercing stare, the man's bravado crumbled visibly, and he took a step back with a stammered "O-oh."
"What's all the racket? Scaring old people isn't something to be proud of."
He probably hadn't meant to sound particularly intimidating, but when a giant like Old Man Rom spoke in a low, displeased voice, it was intimidation enough on its own.
The effect was exactly as intended—the approaching men, starting with the one in front, were thrown off balance. But— "Well, if it isn't Cromwell's geezer."
From within the group, one man pointed at Old Man Rom and called him that.
Subaru raised an eyebrow at the unfamiliar name, but the one who reacted more strongly was Rom himself.
He etched even deeper lines—ones that might be called anguish—into his already wrinkled face.
"I never did like being called by that name."
"Oh, you're in a position to dictate terms now? Heard you busted up the contraband storehouse and the slum folks aren't too happy with you."
"It was a place where years of grime had built up. Having it cleaned out was more refreshing than anything. ...Besides, they're letting me do as I please these days."
Old Man Rom answered the grinning man with barely a change in expression.
Deciding there was nothing more to squeeze out, the man shrugged.
"Heh, suit yourself. But if you want to get in good with Russel, you'd better go pay your respects soon. The longer you wait, the worse your position gets."
With that parting shot, the man turned and led his group deeper into the alleys. But before disappearing from view, he looked back.
"Oh, right—Cromwell's geezer... did two kids come this way?"
"Haven't seen any. How about you lot—do you know a blonde girl, an acquaintance of mine?"
"Don't know jack. Heh—so you're that worked up over some stray kid? Don't wanna go senile, old man."
With a careless wave, the men finally took their leave.
Rom watched their retreating figures, biting his lip as if restraining his anger.
Peering through a gap in the scrap wood, Subaru couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling settling in his chest. It was good to see Old Man Rom again after so long, and that he was friendly toward Subaru was welcome. But the old man's demeanor right now didn't quite match the picture Subaru had of him.
"...Hifume—"
"Hm?"
A whisper reached his ears, and Subaru broke off his thoughts to glance to the side.
Right beside him—close enough to feel her breath—the beautiful girl was crouching, her mouth still sealed by the palm he'd clamped over it to keep her quiet.
She moved her muffled lips behind his hand.
"You're blocking my mouth—aren't you!"
Chomp—with merciless force, her canine teeth bit into his palm, sending a jolt of searing pain— "—Aah!!"
And a high-pitched, puppy-like shriek from Subaru echoed quietly through the corner of the alley.
※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ "Thanks for the hideout, Old Man Rom. I was wondering if you'd gone senile from that head injury, but you seem fine, so that's a relief."
"I... still have those guys lurking around, you know. Don't feel bad if you want to change your mind."
"Don't be so petty for such a big guy! One little brat like me is plenty—yeah!"
Subaru flashed a toothy thumbs-up, and Old Man Rom sighed with a weary face.
They'd moved from the narrow alley to a slightly more open street. After they'd slipped out of the scrap-wood hideout, Old Man Rom had guided them to this spot—a place where they wouldn't be easily spotted.
With the threat of the pursuing men removed, Subaru and the girl could finally catch their breath. It was that sense of relief that had produced the opening quip.
"Hey, you. You seem awfully chummy—so who is this old man? Explain."
The girl, who had been silent until now, finally tugged Subaru's sleeve with visible irritation, gesturing toward Old Man Rom with her chin. Subaru nodded.
"This old guy was the kingpin of the slum's underworld—ran the whole operation for every shady character in the royal capital. He's Old Man Rom, a stingy bastard who deals in junk. His special talents are staring at knotholes, doting on grandchildren, and playing punching bag."
"I get that you're happy to see an old friend you've been wanting to meet, but you're getting a little carried away, aren't you, boy?"
Rom placed his palm over Subaru's pointing hand and gave him a gentle corrective nudge. Subaru responded with a half-hearted "my bad, my bad."
"That said, I'm exaggerating a bit, but it's not like I'm lying through my teeth."
"So part of it is true. In other words—a stingy, empty-headed punching-bag geezer who lives in the slums. What a sad assessment for someone who's lived this long."
"Your partner here is just as irritating!"
Old Man Rom stomped his foot as Subaru and the girl exchanged shrugs.
Then Subaru turned to face the deflating old man.
"In any case, it really is good to see you, Old Man Rom. Truth be told, I was half-dead back then too, so I had no way of finding out what happened."
"...You switch gears awfully fast. And you—heard you got your guts carved up, but you look chipper enough."
Old Man Rom managed a wry smile, then let his eyes drift over Subaru's body from top to bottom. He looked at the scars visible on Subaru's exposed skin with something close to pity.
"I'm one to talk, but it looks like you took a beating from that knife-wielder."
"The parts she actually cut were mostly my gut, so all of this is from after that incident."
"It's only been a little over a week—what happened to you in that time!?"
"It'd take too long to explain. The point is I'm alive, and that's why we can talk. That's good enough for me. Anyway, back to the topic—"
Subaru deflected Old Man Rom's gaze away from his scars, then pointed in the direction of what he presumed was the slum district and brought up the whole story.
"After the mess at the contraband storehouse, what'd you end up doing? I mean, your workplace got trashed—were you eating properly? Or just living off side dishes again?"
"No idea what you're blathering about in the second half, but I'm managing. The storehouse wasn't the only job I had. Lived this long in the capital's underworld, and you pick up a connection or two."
Subaru fretted like a worried countryside mother, and Old Man Rom gave a short laugh in response.
Truthfully, if the injury from that incident hadn't left lasting effects and his livelihood was stable, that was one less thing for Subaru to worry about. Of course, compared to
"That's why I wasn't worried about you or anything—got it?"
"Morbid as that sounds, there was something I wanted to ask you too."
As Subaru put on a show of pointless tsundere posturing, Old Man Rom's tone suddenly dropped. Seeing the seriousness creep into the old man's expression, Subaru straightened up from his casual posture. Then, without warning, his sleeve was tugged from behind.
He turned around. The girl stood uncomfortably close, her stunning face right there at arm's length, and Subaru flinched.
"I'm bored."
"Don't make demands in the middle of a serious conversation."
"This isn't a demand—it's a choice for the world."
"How annoying. Fine—quiz time. In this world, which are there more of: uphill roads or downhill roads? Let's think."
Subaru unceremoniously tossed the girl into the sea of thought, then turned back to Old Man Rom. Seeing her still sulking from having her input derailed, he gestured invitingly.
The old man let out a resigned breath, then shook his head to collect himself.
"Boy. Do you know where Felt went?"
"...Nobody told you? I heard Reinhard took her."
"Reinhard... you mean the 'Sword Saint'? Why would the 'knight among knights' take Felt?"
Old Man Rom tilted his head as if he genuinely didn't understand. Subaru looked at him with pity for the old man's misfortune, attributing it to the head injury—but then he recalled the events at the contraband storehouse and realized why things didn't add up.
Come to think of it, Old Man Rom had lost consciousness before Reinhard's intrusion. After that, and before Subaru himself passed out, there was no memory of Rom being conscious at the same time as Reinhard. In other words, "Poor Old Man Rom, abandoned at the ruins of the contraband storehouse, could only wake up to find no one to tell him what had happened, standing blankly before what used to be his home."
"I wasn't stuck in such a tragic situation! I woke up at the guard post. They were treating my wounds, which I was grateful for, but I got out of there as soon as I could."
"Ah, right. Yeah, that'd be pretty awkward."
Waking up in a police hospital when you had a criminal record—no wonder he'd bailed without asking questions.
So Old Man Rom, having left the guard post without learning the details, had been unable to make contact with Reinhard, who'd taken Felt into protective custody. He'd been left hanging in limbo ever since.
"So that's why our stories don't match. OK—let me fill in the gaps, from before I blacked out to after."
After laying the groundwork, Subaru launched into a solo reenactment of the epic battle at the contraband storehouse—"Sword Saint versus Intestine Hunter"—complete with animated gestures and acting.
Subaru's surprisingly powerful performance left Old Man Rom in awe, and even the girl—who'd been looking bored—leaned in with shining eyes, clamoring for more.
"And then I said to her, wide-eyed: 'I want you to tell me your name.'"
"She said it, she said it!"
"My, my—what an elegant turn of phrase. I find it rather agreeable myself."
Despite going off on tangents, Subaru finished recounting his tale of valor. All three of them were still buzzing with excitement, but Old Man Rom was the first to come back to reality.
"No time for this nonsense. Ah—so you don't know anything beyond Felt being taken by the 'Sword Saint,' right?"
"Well, that about covers—huh, what's wrong?"
"Uphill roads and downhill roads—they're obviously the same number!"
"Bam—bu-whoop!"
The girl reached the correct answer out of nowhere and landed a body blow on Subaru, who collapsed to the ground in agony. She flexed the fist she'd used to punch him, apparently satisfied. "You two can sort out the rest yourselves," she declared.
Old Man Rom stared blankly for a moment, then looked down at the groaning Subaru with something like pity.
"As much as it's not my place to say—I think you ought to choose your life partner more carefully."
"I already made my choice! Now I'm just waiting for her to choose me! Currently in the middle of an all-out effort to stay in her field of vision!"
Subaru sprang to his feet, pointed out Old Man Rom's absurd misassumption, and struck a pose. Then, clearing his throat, he steered the conversation back.
"With all those connections you've got—can't you, like, go directly to Reinhard's place?"
"If I were that well-connected, would I be living in a wreck drinking my life away? But if that's the case, we've got a problem. —Of all the families, it had to be the Astrea house."
The last part was muttered only to himself, never reaching Subaru's ears. Looking up at Old Man Rom's grim expression, Subaru gave a helpless shrug.
"Well, I might be able to talk to Reinhard myself, so if I find out anything, I'll let you know. I was going to check on Felt anyway."
"That'd be a help... but you've got some surprisingly useful connections. Is it through that girl?"
Rom seemed to remember Subaru's knack for connections from their previous encounter and had concluded—correctly—that Subaru's confidence came from the people around him.
The assessment wasn't wrong, but attributing it to that particular girl was a mistake.
"No, totally different. I don't even know her name."
"You're getting wrapped up in life-or-death situations with someone whose name you don't even know!?"
"When I think back, I was going all-out for Emilia-tan without knowing her name either, so... my behavior isn't all that unusual, right?"
At Subaru's breezy answer, Old Man Rom pressed a finger to the bridge of his nose, closed his eyes, and abandoned the effort. "Thinking about it is pointless."
Then Rom looked straight at Subaru.
"Even if it's not that girl—there's a chance you could arrange a meeting with the 'Sword Saint,' right?"
"Better odds than nothing, I'd think. Put your faith in me like crossing a rickety old bridge!"
"My policy is to test a bridge before crossing it, so how did it come to this..."
Subaru thumped his chest proudly, and Old Man Rom rubbed his bald head, then nodded as if steeling himself.
"Fine, I'll trust you. If you learn anything about Felt, tell me. I'll repay you however I can."
"Don't go spending on my account. You really do have that whole grandpa-warming-up-to-his-grandkid thing going on, don't you?"
"—That's right. She's like a granddaughter to me. So please."
"Then you've got yourself a deal."
When someone laid it out that straight and honestly, Subaru had no grounds for objection. That unreserved, wholehearted acceptance actually made him crack a smile.
He wondered what the golden-haired girl would think if she knew she was this loved. Knowing her, she'd probably blush and try to act tough about it.
"Got it. How do I get in touch with you?"
"Let me think. ...There's a shop called 'Kadomon' on Merchant's Row. Mention my name to the tough-looking guy there, and he'll put you in touch. That's the arrangement."
"Alright, alright—Kadomon... Kadomon?"
It felt like a word that had been seared into his memory recently, and Subaru tilted his head.
In any case, as long as he knew the name of the shop and the area, finding it shouldn't be hard. A methodical search would turn it up before long.
Subaru nodded his understanding, and he and Old Man Rom exchanged a firm promise.
For Subaru, this was a convenient add-on to what he was already doing—no reason to refuse. He was simply carrying out what he'd intended anyway, and if it gave an aging man with limited time left a measure of comfort, that was a bonus.
"Huh—Emilia-tan would probably say something like, 'This counts as doing it for yourself too.'"
"Did you say something?"
"Nah. Oh, right—Old Man Rom. I know it's sudden, but I'm going to need your help right away."
Subaru raised a finger and turned to face Old Man Rom, swaying his hips to draw his gaze.
At the immediate request, Rom made no effort to hide his displeased expression, but a promise was a promise. His face stayed bitter, but he asked, "What is it?"
Subaru prefaced with, "It's not a big deal, but—"
"The truth is, both she and I are completely lost. Before any promises or anything—we're gonna end my adventure right here if this keeps up! So could you guide us to the main road?"
"...That's all? Fine, leave it to me. Which road?"
"To the guard post, if you don't mind."
"You heard me say I escaped from the guard post, didn't you?!"
Old Man Rom's shriek, voice cracking with indignation, was swallowed by the alley sky.
It had been nearly an hour since Subaru and Emilia had gotten separated.