"Though I initially thought this filthy place might have some charm in its disorder, once you get used to it, there's nothing eye-catching about it. It can't even serve to amuse my boredom."
With her arm raised, daintily swaying the hem of her dress, the orange-haired girl spoke in a bored tone without breaking her listless gaze.
"Just a few minutes of peeking into an alley, and you've already written the place off? The designer who planned this capital city probably never expected it to be called boring."
"The world exists for my sake, so everything in it should exist to entertain me. I can't fathom the mind of whoever approved such dull streets. Royals turn out to have surprisingly poor taste, it seems. That may be why they've gone extinct recently."
"Weren't you making awfully bold statements right under the king's nose, you..."
Listening to the girl's nerve-wracking remarks, Subaru couldn't help shrinking down and glancing around, even though he knew perfectly well no one was nearby.
The girl sniffed at Subaru's caution—or rather, his cowardice.
"What a dull reaction to a trivial concern. To be frightened by something of that magnitude... You really are nothing more than an ordinary vessel, after all."
"I'm fully aware that I'm ordinary, mundane, everyman, the most pedestrian of commoners. And given the crap I've already caught today, I really don't want to get dragged into any more of your careless remarks!"
"How absurd. You should take pride in having played even a minor role on my glorious path. To find fault with that would be tantamount to defying reason itself!"
"I don't want to waste any more time and cause trouble for my companion! We're already way past the deadline, and every minute that passes makes my situation worse! I'll be completely written off!"
The thought of
So, if possible, he wanted to avoid continuing to humor this girl's ironclad ego.
That was the sense of危机 Subaru felt. But the girl smirked contemptuously at his plea.
"How ridiculous. While you're with me, it would be rude to divert your attention to any existence other than me. In fact, I have a companion as well, but I couldn't care less about having been separated from them."
"Could you at least care a little? I feel bad for your companion."
The thought of this girl being the personification of arrogance, and someone being stuck as her escort—Subaru could feel that unseen person's hardship in a short time, and sympathy welled up in him.
She was surely some unlucky, beautiful, refined-type beauty who got dragged around by this unreasonable young lady. Subaru, who had a weakness for the gentle and ladylike type, definitely wanted to check her out.
"But, in exchange, getting to touch base with that person requires going through her first, doesn't it."
"You dare call me 'her'? You're getting rather bold. Push your luck too far, and you'll find yourself losing more than just my good mood."
"I'm sick to death of those kinds of threats! I'm trying so damn hard to avoid triggering every flag I can, you little— There, there, nice girl, calm down, okay?"
Subaru circled in front of the girl walking beside her, waving his hand dismissively in a teasing gesture. The girl furrowed her brows as though bothered by something, but then let out a small laugh.
"Fine. A fool can only truly serve as a fool if they accept their role as such. Someone who can't even determine where they belong—I won't bother dirtying my hands over the likes of them."
"Are you calling me stupid while sounding all smart about it?"
"If I were to agree that you're stupid, that'd be playing right into your hands, wouldn't it? Whether that's conscious or unconscious makes little difference."
Speaking with an enlightened air, she fixed Subaru with a mocking gaze from ahead. Receiving that unpleasant look, Subaru clearly recognized just how badly they got along.
"Ah, whatever. It's not like it matters."
They were passing strangers to begin with. Two people who didn't even know each other's names—once they reached the main street, they'd turn their backs and never meet again.
Subaru didn't possess the kind of universal benevolence that would make him endure unpleasant feelings just to get along with anyone. Trying to like the things you hated was, in Subaru's book, the most contemptible thing you could do.
And yet, even after making that judgment, he still had no intention of parting with the girl until they reached the main street—which rather said something about his nature as a person.
Between the two of them, making rough small talk as they walked, the person who might have smoothed things over—Old Man
The old man Subaru had met again after a long while still had his usual carefree demeanor, but Subaru could tell his situation wasn't all that good.
How much value the Loot House held for the people of the slums—Subaru, whose understanding of both the capital and the slums was shallow, couldn't fully grasp it. But that the Loot House's owner, Old Man Rom, held a certain standing was something Subaru could infer from his earlier encounter with the thugs.
And that losing the Loot House had sent his position in a decidedly unfavorable direction.
"Not being able to do anything is a heartless thing to say, but..."
Even recognizing the old man's situation, Subaru couldn't do much for him. In fact, Subaru was practically a party to the incident that had destroyed the Loot House.
From Old Man Rom's perspective, Subaru was one of the despicable people who had smashed his workplace to bits. He would have been well within his rights to hurl bitter words of blame, yet the fact that Rom hadn't done so showed he was a rational man after all.
It was precisely because Subaru thought well of him that he wanted to fulfill the old man's wish, at least somehow.
He had to confirm
Rom had explained that, while it would add a bit of detour time, following the route he'd described would get them to the main street safely. Having already endured a run-in with thugs, he was absolutely not eager for a second encounter—aside from the pointless back-and-forth with the girl along the way, there was nothing to complain about.
"—And just as I was thinking all that, the exit finally shows up."
Passing through the winding alley, bright sunlight finally poured in from beyond the darkness. Constant streams of people crossing back and forth suggested they were emerging onto a commercial street or somewhere similarly lively.
This agonizing time was finally about to end. Subaru turned back to the girl.
"Once we're out on the street, you and I are total strangers. I need to go find my precious, precious companion, and I'd rather not get mixed up in any more of your messes. Your companion is probably searching desperately for you, so don't go wandering around pointlessly—go find them."
Prepared to be called cold-hearted and callous, Subaru pushed the girl away fairly firmly. Being led by the nose for this long was part of his motivation for giving her payback, but more than that, he judged that if he didn't make it this clear, the girl in front of him wouldn't get the message.
Perhaps because Subaru had stated things so definitively, the girl didn't interpret it in her own favorable light either. Still, she didn't forget to smile fearlessly.
"That you and I have nothing to do with each other goes without saying. You are merely one of countless stepping stones for me. Concerning yourself with a pebble by the roadside is unnecessary for someone who receives the world's adoration. —It's not as though I'm bothered by you or anything."
She crossed her arms, emphasizing her ample chest, and glanced sideways at Subaru with darting looks.
Her gestures belied her words, and the contradiction was so obvious that even Subaru—who was oblivious to such nuances—could tell.
"Even someone that arrogant doesn't want to be disliked?! You're a handful, you know that?!"
"It is simply the law of this world that I am loved by all things. To go against that is to defy reason itself. If anything, I'm the one surprised by your lack of common sense!"
"I've got confidence in my lack of common sense, but not on your level!"
The hostile atmosphere from before had completely evaporated, and Subaru shouted back with exaggerated exasperation.
If only she'd just grown to hate him and they could part ways cleanly, it would've been fine—but she had to go and show this side of her that was impossible to truly resent. She was definitely a pretty girl on the outside, and when she displayed these subtle, un-hateful qualities, even Subaru didn't know how to handle it.
She had such a strong ego and a habit of making inconsiderate remarks, yet she was afraid of being disliked by others.
—It was almost as though she were someone else entirely, and the feeling made his heart itch unbearably.
"Oh, fine, fine, I get it, I get it. I won't dislike you, I won't."
For some reason, his hostility drained away, and Subaru answered with a wry smile. The girl furrowed her brows in displeasure and said, "Now then—"
"I am someone who is naturally loved. Don't state the obvious."
"Ahhh, yesss, of course you are~ Since you're a spiritual baby, it's only natural that everyone loves you like a baby~ Agabababa~"
His finest cross-eyed face was a local sensation among the neighborhood babies. Afterward, the moms he socialized with would burst out laughing every time they saw him—though at those moments he hadn't been making the face at all, which left him feeling inexplicably hollow.
This approach, twin to that sad memory, was something he was certain would bring the house down. But the girl's reaction?
"Hmm. I'll show you a small measure of pity."
Rather than laughing, she sighed, pressed a finger to her forehead, and shook her head with her eyes closed. Without even looking at Subaru's frozen expression: "Whether consciously or unconsciously, you've made that sort of behavior a part of yourself. It cannot serve as a virtue. It's nothing but a flimsy shell to hide your weakness. It's unbearable to watch. Especially combined with that face of yours."
"Starting serious and then casually mocking my appearance in the second half...!? That's—"
"If you insist on maintaining that look, it's none of my concern."
With that, the girl closed the subject and made no further comment on Subaru's behavior.
Having lost the cue to revert his cross-eyed expression, Subaru tilted his head in confusion with his face still twisted, unable to grasp what she was trying to say.
He couldn't quite understand what she meant.
She was someone whose attitude and actions—even her words—lacked any consideration for making herself understood by others.
If he pressed further, he probably wouldn't get a clear answer. Thinking that, Subaru gave up on saying anything more to her.
Or perhaps, by deciding she was simply an incomprehensible being, Subaru avoided confronting her words on the spot.
In any case, even if Subaru had responded differently, he likely wouldn't have obtained a deeper answer.
Because— "—I finally found you."
The instant they stepped onto the main street, that voice reached them.
Unlike the darkness of the alley, blazing sunlight hammered down on the main street. Having suddenly emerged from the shadows into the light, Subaru squinted against the glare.
Standing against that brilliance was a girl in white robes, watching him.
Her beautiful brows were furrowed in a mixture of exhaustion and worry, and the silver hair hidden within her hood swayed gently. Among her refined features, her lips formed a smile of relief, and he could see her violet eyes trembling faintly with an indescribable emotion.
One glance at that melancholy beauty, and he could tell just how much she had been worrying about him.
He felt guilty for having made her worry, but there was also a man's heart that was glad to be cared for. Love was complex, regardless of gender.
"Oh, Emi..."
The moment he stepped onto the main street, the person he'd been wanting to see revealed herself.
His face brightened at the faster-than-expected reunion, and he called her name—but the words were abruptly cut short by a sense of unease.
Standing beside her, from whom a soft breath escaped at the sight of Subaru, was another figure.
A sturdy build confirmed it was a man. The four characters for 'cuckold' immediately flashed through Subaru's mind— "Hey, hey, what's the deal! Who is that guy to Emilia-tan?!"
He charged straight ahead, immediately inserting himself between the man and Emilia. Shielding Emilia with his back as he retreated, he pointed his finger and glared—preparing to take a good look at that despicable man's face. But when his eyes landed on it, his expression froze.
"Whoa there, easy, little lady. Your companion's got a few screws loose—she okay?"
The man shrugged casually, addressing Emilia with a friendly tone—though his voice was slightly muffled and hard to make out.
After all, his head was encased in a pitch-black full-face helmet.
A helmet that covered the entire face—on its own, it wasn't that unusual an outfit. This being the capital, the people passing through the streets wore all manner of attire.
Among them, armor and mage robes were fairly commonplace. There were even knights serving as guards posted throughout the city. If the man had simply been in full plate armor, Subaru probably wouldn't have been this stunned.
No, what left Subaru dumbfounded was precisely because the man's outfit was more bizarre than even full armor within the capital.
"Using girly language and calling someone a homewrecker right off the bat—I'm kinda fresh and excited about that, actually."
"Your fashion sense is seriously messed up!?"
"You've also got a pretty mouthy way of talking to your elders, huh? Lucky for you I'm a mellow, good-natured old guy, but say that to the wrong person and you'll lose your head."
Standing in front of the shrieking Subaru, the pointed-at man cheerfully tapped his own neck.
His unusualness wasn't limited to his head—no, it was unusual precisely because it stopped there.
The pitch-black full-face helmet covered his head. Below the neck, there should have been matching armor. But in reality, what covered his body from the neck down was not armor at all—it was light clothing made of cheap materials like rough linen.
It didn't look like it was made from any special fabric either—it was genuinely just simple light clothing. Not just the top, but his footwear followed the same theme; his shoes were even zōri sandals.
At this point, the logic behind the ensemble was beyond him.
Subaru's tracksuit was already out of place in this world due to its oddness, but the man before him was certainly a strong contender in the department of unusual attire.
Or perhaps this was the standard in this world—he couldn't rule that out.
"But that's not the case, right, Emilia-tan!?"
"Don't worry, Subaru. I was just as surprised by his outfit as you are."
"See? I shocked her good—ain't that adorable? What really got me was when she went and asked me, a guy searching for his lost companion, to help out. That part, I didn't see coming."
The man chuckled as he cheerfully let slip the details of how he'd encountered Emilia.
Hearing this, Subaru gave Emilia a flat stare.
"Emilia-tan, your kindness is one of your best qualities, but seriously, you gotta be more selective about who you help. You know why poisonous mushrooms are such garish colors? It's to warn everyone around them—'I'm poisonous! I'm dangerous! Eating me will kill you!'—so they prevent harm before it happens!"
"Whoa, when you put it like that, it makes me sound like I'm some kind of dangerous criminal—which I honestly can't see any other way to interpret. That's pretty harsh, don't you think?"
"Somebody as suspicious-looking as you would be an instant report in my hometown, where overprotective parents are super发达. An emergency school assembly would be called at the nearest elementary school."
And by the end of it, just walking down the street on a weekday would get community bulletin boards circulating about you.
Was his excessive defensiveness, despite apparently doing little to actually help children, just Subaru's bias? He wasn't sure.
While entertaining these pointless thoughts, Subaru turned back to Emilia.
"Anyway, I'm always telling you to watch out for cars and men, right? Men are wolves, so you can't just beam your smile at them carelessly... Are you angry?"
"I'm just wondering if Subaru remembers the things I've told him, since I listen to what he tells me. That's all—no hidden meaning."
—Foot, meet mouth. Subaru cursed his own slip of the tongue, wanting to cover his face.
But thankfully, the lecture was interrupted. Not by any of the three in the conversation, but from elsewhere— "Hmm. To think you'd be waiting here along my path—that's quite thoughtful of you. More considerate than I expected, Al."
"...Honestly, I can't deny it feels like a total coincidence, but agreeing is easier than pissing off the princess, so—yeah, absolutely! That's exactly what happened!"
The man—called Al—laughed at the haughty girl who stepped forward with imperious words. He then roughly ruffled her orange hair with his palm and pulled her to his side.
"What a strange coincidence—the person you were looking for and the person I was looking for happened to be together. Maybe there's some kind of fate at work here."
"The red string of fate between me and Emilia-tan was just being tugged—there's no fate between these two teams, I'm sure of it!"
"Tch, you never shut up, do you."
Al raised a muffled laugh at Subaru's retort and waved the hand he'd been using to pat the girl's head. From the start, all his actions had been expressed through the movement of his right hand alone.
This was only natural. After all, the man before him was missing his left arm entirely.
A single arm beneath a pitch-black helmet, paired with casual clothing that was entirely at odds with his imposing appearance.
From his voice and face—everything besides his outfit—he was probably at least a decade older than Subaru. And yet he didn't come across as particularly authoritative; his lighthearted attitude matched his lighthearted clothes.
Put nicely, he was approachable. Put bluntly, he was an restless adult.
"Wait—is she your companion!? The refined, beautiful type who always looks troubled because she's getting dragged around—what happened to that expected dynamic!?"
"Life's never that convenient. Deal with this old guy version. —Miss?"
Brushing off Subaru's dissatisfied outburst, the magnanimous man turned to Emilia with a puzzled look.
It was through his demeanor that Subaru, belatedly, noticed something off about Emilia.
She'd been silent for a while now, not joining the conversation at all.
She was subtly hiding her face by pinching the edge of her hood, trying to shield her gaze by retreating behind Subaru's back.
The person she was trying to hide from was someone only she could be hiding from. You didn't need to figure it out from their positions—it was immediately obvious.
"What is it? Why are you staring at me so intently? Now that we're parting ways, you've realized how rare my beauty is? I may be a sinfully beautiful creation of the gods, but staring in silence is rather rude."
"Sorry, but if you're looking for visual entertainment, we've got a fine selection over here too. ...Anyway, we've both found our companions, so it's about time we split up, right?"
Rather than responding to the girl, Subaru directed his words toward Al, deliberately steering the conversation that way.
For reasons he couldn't pinpoint, Emilia was reluctant to show herself further in this situation. If that was her wish, Subaru would honor it. And the person to negotiate with for that wasn't the girl who seemed impossible to reason with—it was the man who still seemed willing to talk.
Whether Al read Subaru's intentions or not, he didn't say anything particularly objectionable in response.
"Yeah, that works. I know how tiring it is being stuck with a princess."
"...I genuinely sympathize with you. No, seriously."
"With a grown man's tolerance, handling it isn't that exhausting. I wouldn't expect that of someone your age, though."
Shrugging at Subaru's dead-serious words, Al looked down at the girl. His eyes were invisible inside the helmet, but his aura was reminiscent of a father watching over his beloved daughter.
They probably didn't have a bad relationship, Subaru vaguely sensed.
"Well, we'll be heading this way... You?"
"Then we shall go this way as well."
"...Then we'll go the opposite direction."
"Then we shall go the opposite—"
"This is getting tedious! Did you fall in love with me or something!? Easy catch!?"
"It was merely a joke. How tiresome. A boring man meets a boring end."
With a final bored remark, the girl departed with her companion in regal fashion. There wasn't a hint of hesitation in her stride—Subaru was annoyed at being so thoroughly cut off despite having wanted exactly this.
So, for one last bit of payback, Subaru called out to the departing girl: "Hey, catch this, Your Highness!"
"That's quite the insolent tone you take with me. I'll have Al order your head—"
The girl began to turn around, some dark words on her lips, when her crimson eyes widened slightly.
Arcing through the air toward her were the two lings Subaru had clumsily tossed. They traced gentle trajectories aimed at the girl and settled perfectly into her hands.
Confirming she'd caught them, Subaru grinned.
"There you go. Lings of friendship. Next time some bad guy dangles lings as bait, don't go wandering after them, okay?"
"I wasn't in that alley because of something that silly."
"You've earned a permanent spot in my heart for that. Just take them, okay?"
He pushed the lings on her with his absurd logic, grabbed Emilia's arm, and turned his back to them. Just before doing so, he briefly regretted that if he'd simply put his arm around her shoulder, she might not have refused this time. Regretted it, then decided that for now, just being able to walk hand in hand would be enough.
And as the two of them walked briskly away, from down the street came one final shout: "—Hey, little lady! Thanks for helping me search!"
A muffled voice, but carrying genuine gratitude.
※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ After parting ways with the haughty girl and her mismatched guardian, Subaru walked along the street for a while before stopping.
"Hey, Emilia-tan. They're gone now, so can we finally talk?"
Glancing around, Subaru addressed Emilia, who had stopped alongside him. She had maintained her silence all this way, and thanks to pulling her hood down deep, she hadn't shown her face even to Subaru.
He worried whether something he'd said during the interaction with those girls had upset her. Then: "...I'm sorry, Subaru. I was just... spacing out a little."
Emilia blinked as if suddenly snapping back to herself, offering that explanation.
Relieved that she'd at least spoken the first word, Subaru concealed his relief and put on a goofy grin.
"You can space out all you want in front of me! In the meantime, I'll have plenty of opportunities to do all sorts of things to Emilia-tan that can't be put into words..."
Words that can't be put into... words?
At Subaru's wriggling-finger gesture, ripples suddenly appeared in Emilia's violet eyes. Seeing those ripples trembling in her large pupils, Subaru tilted his head.
"That's right—things too difficult for words or brush to capture. But before long, Emilia-tan will be entranced by the movements of my Golden Fingers and become a body that can't live without me... Huh? I feel like my hair is freezing from behind—must be my imagination!?"
『I don't think it's your imagination.』
The faint cold presence chilled the back of Subaru's neck quite physically. At the same time, what echoed in his mind was the forced telepathy he'd experienced barely an hour ago.
Feeling the invisible gray kitten's quiet anger—Emilia's guardian—Subaru broke into a cold sweat and gestured frantically.
"That said, I'm still a man's man, so I absolutely wouldn't do anything so terrible without mutual consent. First, in a suite with a night view, we'd properly convey our feelings to each other—then and only then, right? Right!"
At Subaru's maiden-like musings, someone invisible sighed.
Somehow, he'd escaped punishment. A different kind of relief washed over him. To that Subaru, Emilia pressed her lips together slightly and said: "Subaru. —About that girl from earlier."
"Oh? What's this? Is Emilia-tan jealous? A jealous-possessive-type development? Seriously!? My two weeks of painstaking effort—this is the day my struggles finally bear fruit—"
"—Subaru."
Subaru, cutting off Emilia's words to voice his own desires, was in turn cut off by Emilia calling his name in a strong tone.
Her expression was serious, and her violet eyes held an intensity that made even Subaru stop goofing around.
"Huh? Emilia-tan, that serious look—what's going on...?"
"Please don't joke about this. Subaru, why were you with that girl...?"
Emilia was trying to press him about something. Though shaken by her earnestness, Subaru knew he had to give her some kind of satisfying answer.
—But Subaru's rare, sincere thoughts were drowned out by: "Found you at last! You've been a real pain in the ass to track down!"
A rough, savage roar that overwrote their conversation entirely.
Startled, Subaru looked around and froze.
The street, which until moments ago had at least some pedestrian traffic, was now surrounded by men who looked like nothing but trouble.
At their head stood someone Subaru recognized all too well—the Tong of the Tong-Chin-Kan trio. Chin and Kan were absent, but the man grinned down at the stunned Subaru and his companion.
"You really ticked me off back there. I was gonna come find you and that little broad to settle the score."
"...For a petty spat, you rounded up a whole gang? I'm genuinely disappointed in you, man. You're supposed to be the kind of guy who, no matter how much he gets mocked or humiliated, wipes his own ass and keeps his own score. I always believed that about you... I really did...!"
"Why're you saying stuff that actually hurts my feelings!? What do you even know about me?!"