The walk back through the Water Gate City, combining sightseeing with the return trip, went smoothly.
There were times when
The person from earlier—Subaru couldn't remember any distinguishing features other than the fact that he'd been a hooded man close to their age. But what connection could he possibly have had to Emilia?
For someone who knew Emilia, the man had seemed remarkably composed. If pressed, Subaru recalled something about silver hair, but finding someone favorable toward silver hair was so rare it was practically noteworthy in and of itself— "Oh, wait—the perception-blocking coat..."
A thought suddenly struck Subaru. He realized that the man from earlier had been unaffected by the perception-blocking spell woven into the coat Emilia wore—a technique that caused people to unconsciously fail to perceive her distinguishing features.
When the spell worked properly, the best an onlooker could register about Emilia was roughly her gender. But the man had clearly seen her silver hair.
That meant the man was, at minimum, skilled enough to resist the spell.
"Betty."
"I've noticed. The two of them—Emilia and Garfiel—are so oblivious they didn't seem to pick up on it, did they? They're such helpless children."
Sensing the very concern Subaru had arrived at,
Behind Emilia and the others, who were a few paces ahead, Subaru lowered his voice.
"He didn't do anything, but that guy was suspicious. Perception-blocking isn't the kind of thing you just shrug off, you know."
"He's either well-versed in magic or holds sufficient status... Either way, we can't simply write him off as an ordinary citizen. He spells trouble, that one."
"I should probably give Emilia a heads-up later, subtly."
"I think that will be fine. Even Emilia should be able to sense that what she felt was something dark. She won't go looking for him, I'm sure."
At Beatrice's firm assertion, Subaru let out a short "Right" and accepted it.
If she said so, then her judgment could be trusted. Beatrice was good at reading people. If she'd seen reassurance in Emilia's attitude, that was enough for now. There was no need to stir up unnecessary anxiety.
Still, at the very least, Subaru and Beatrice themselves should stay on guard.
It wasn't likely they'd run into that man again so soon in this sprawling Water Gate City—but the possibility of him approaching them was something you could never be too cautious about.
"Almost there, Chief. If I match Betty's pace, the sun's gonna go down on us, ya know!"
"Don't say unnecessary things, you brat."
Garfiel, walking ahead, turned his head back just enough to taunt, and Beatrice hurled a curse in return. Garfiel laughed heartily at the exchange, but then his expression suddenly changed.
His ears twitched, and his nose wrinkled.
"What is it?"
"Well, from the inn's direction... sounds like a heated argument or somethin'."
The moment Garfiel said he could hear voices from around the corner, Subaru and the others picked up on the commotion as well.
It was indeed the sound of men going at each other.
"Sounds like they're putting on a show. This town really doesn't know quiet, does it?"
"The guy who got hit by a magic ore explosion at someone else's workplace—don't talk about other people, Chief. If the merchant guild folks hadn't cleared the area, you'd be surrounded by guards right now, ya know."
"That was totally out of my control, though... Emilia-tan?"
Subaru felt a twinge of guilt as the earlier incident was thrown back at him. He was about to protest when he noticed Emilia had quickened her pace into a jog.
"Emilia?"
Without turning around, she answered.
"One of those voices—I recognize it. More than that, I think it's Joshua."
"Yeah. Now that you mention it, it might be that lanky brat's voice."
"If one of our people is causing a scene, we need to go. Let's move."
Garfiel's lack of tension was a stark contrast, but Subaru dashed past him, following behind Emilia. He caught up to her right around the corner, and that's when the commotion in front of the Feather Robe Inn finally came into view.
"Listen, I'm not gonna keep saying the same thing over and over, you brat! Quit talking smart and go get your master, already!"
"I wouldn't bring my master—or even my brother—before the likes of you. Please leave! I've been dealing with you patiently enough!"
"You're a real hard-headed bastard, huh? Fine—I'll bust right through, you hear me?!"
Joshua, the purple-haired young man, stood before the inn with his arms spread wide, locked in a confrontation with a burly man whose back was turned to them. Judging by the coarseness of the man's language, things were heading toward violence in short order.
"Enough!"
Before Subaru could assess their respective fighting capabilities, Emilia flew in and wedged herself between the two. The man flinched, and Joshua's eyes went wide with surprise.
"Emilia-sama!?"
"I just got back from finishing my errand. You can't cause a scene like this in front of the inn. What started the argument? Calm down and explain."
Her words were almost like a mother mediating a children's quarrel, and the tension that had been about to snap dissipated instantly. Subaru let out a sigh of relief, and Garfiel, who caught up at a leisurely pace, said boredly, "What, so it wasn't a fight after all?"
"You've all returned, one by one... Welcome back."
"Yes, thank you. Now—the cause of the argument. Don't hide it from me."
"There's nothing that would worry you, Emilia-sama—"
Joshua stubbornly refused to involve her, possibly fearing that if he let Emilia settle the matter, it would give someone some kind of leverage over him. If so, he was overthinking it—the idea that Emilia would scheme like that was something she wouldn't be capable of for at least another hundred years.
"It ain't about what I will or won't do. That brat said he wasn't gonna let us in—the ones we called over here. So we were protestin', that's all."
Just before the frustrating atmosphere was about to take over again, the voice that broke the silence belonged to the man Joshua had been arguing with. He narrowed his sharp, upturned eyes and aimed a hostile tone at Joshua's handling of the situation.
"I told you many times. If you're going to impersonate someone, at least put in the effort and know your place. Wearing slightly nicer clothes doesn't make up for how lacking in refinement you are. Give the lies a rest!"
"Sorry for being uncouth! It's not like I chose to dress like this, you know! And I'm stuck being an errand boy too. Ah, damn—there's no reasoning with you!"
Joshua refused to budge on his position, and the man was now tearing at his hair in frustration.
Despite Subaru and the others having intervened to calm things down, the two were in a world entirely their own—utterly in their own bubble.
"This is hopeless. Subaru, what should we—Subaru?"
Emilia looked at Subaru with a troubled expression, bewildered by the two who refused to listen. In front of her, Subaru had his hand on his chin, brow furrowed in thought.
His gaze was fixed on the rough-looking man arguing with Joshua.
"What's wrong, Subaru?"
"No, it might just be my imagination, but... I feel like I've seen this guy somewhere before..."
"Huh? What the—hey. You tryin' to pick a fight with me too now—!?"
The man heard Subaru and Emilia's conversation and was about to redirect his anger their way. But the moment he laid eyes on Subaru, his expression froze.
His lips trembled. Pointing a finger at Subaru, he sputtered: "You—aren't you the guy who conned Reinhard—!?"
"'Conning Reinhard'? That's quite the specific type of scam... Ah."
The phrase "conning Reinhard" triggered a memory in Subaru.
And with it, the man's true identity. He was better groomed than Subaru remembered, and his clothes were presentable now, but those nasty eyes hadn't changed one bit.
"Chin! Chin, isn't it! Wow, what are you doing here? You look—"
"Don't you get all friendly with me! And who the hell is Chin?! My name is Ratchins, you got that?!"
"That's Chin."
"Shut up!"
Ratchins—Chin—violently swatted away the hand Subaru was about to place on his shoulder out of pure nostalgia. When Subaru pouted at the cold reception, Emilia asked, "An acquaintance?"
"Yeah. He's a familiar face from the
"Oh, really? Wait—mug you?"
"And the next time I went to the capital, he tried to rough up Priscilla. Then he showed up later with his crew for a revenge match. Real memorable bunch."
"From what Betty is hearing, they sound like nothing but trash."
Emilia and Beatrice reacted to Subaru's nostalgic words with their own commentary. Behind them, Garfiel cracked his knuckles, and Joshua's glare grew even sharper.
Sensing which way the wind was blowing, Ratchins went even paler.
"W-wait a sec. Sure, that stuff might've happened, but neither of those went through, and it's all in the past, right? Let bygones be bygones and hear me out, will ya?"
"Garfiel. What do you do in times like this?"
"Scum deserves no mercy."
"H-hold on! Seriously, hold on! I said hold—!?"
Clearly sensing that Garfiel was no ordinary thug, Ratchins seemed to realize he couldn't win in a straight confrontation. Perhaps a year apart had given him at least a sliver of growth.
He clutched his head, backed away significantly, then pointed toward the inn.
"I'm telling you the truth! I was called over—no, not me, my employer was called over! But before heading to the inn, they wanted to look around town first, and told me to go ahead and let the inn know! I ain't lying!"
"Yeah, yeah, got it. You can tell your story inside... in the yard, nice and slow."
Garfiel delivered this to Ratchins with a flat calm and began to approach.
Ratchins's desperation was almost pitiful, but Subaru had absolutely no reason to trust him either. Dressing up on the outside meant nothing if the inside hadn't caught up. No wonder Joshua had brushed him off—it was an uncomfortably relatable story.
"Bad timing for you, buddy. You just happened to be on the day this inn has a lot of famous people—"
As Ratchins backed away and Garfiel drove him toward the wall, Garfiel reached for his collar. But the motion stopped, and in the next instant, Garfiel spun around without any preliminary movement.
His eyes were wide open, and his pupils narrowed to pinpoints of wariness in a heartbeat. Every hair on his body stood on end, and his fangs, claws, and muscles all shifted into a combat stance.
The reaction was far too abrupt, far too instinctive, and far too decisive.
It was the primal response triggered by Garfiel's fighting instincts—and precisely because of that, it transmitted a sense of urgency to Subaru and the others without any room for doubt.
And in the direction Garfiel was glaring, Subaru and the others turned— "Ratchins. When you didn't come back, I wondered what all the commotion was about."
In that instant, Subaru hallucinated a wall of flame standing before his eyes.
The flames were red, flickering—no, he was lightly waving a raised hand. A human figure. No—a human.
Hair blazing red like fire, and eyes clear as captured blue sky. Tall, dressed in white, with features so perfectly sculpted you'd never forget them after seeing them just once.
The shock that pierced his entire being had to be what a commoner felt upon witnessing a hero in the flesh. Because this meeting was, quite literally, one of those moments.
There was no mistaking him. The man's name was— "...Reinhard."
Subaru exhaled the name in a hoarse whisper. The young man who had been approaching broke into a gentle smile. That smile had the power to forcibly bring peace of mind to anyone on the receiving end.
Simply being smiled at gave Subaru the serenity of being cradled in the arms of an absolute guardian. And that wasn't just Subaru—it was a peace that everyone present felt.
"It's been a while, Subaru. To meet here of all places, I have to thank Julius for inviting me this time."
"Y-yeah. Long time no see. You been well... Wait, Julius invited you too?"
"Technically, I wasn't the one invited by Julius. Lady
Subaru was inwardly surprised to find himself feeling so overwhelmed by Reinhard.
He'd always been awed by Reinhard's presence. But not having experienced this every-fiber-of-your-being-opening sensation during their frequent encounters in the past, Subaru now realized: the fact that he could perceive how extraordinary Reinhard truly was simply meant that Subaru himself had grown enough to sense it. The more you trained, the more you recognized the distance between yourself and a person like that—how terrifying.
"So it's been a year, huh? You seem much stronger than the last time we met, Subaru. I'm happy about that."
"Easy with the praise—it sounds like you're mocking me. Not that I'm not scared of you anyway. I was confident in my own growth, but looking at you, even that confidence wavers."
"Not at all. If anything, I'm disappointed in my own lack of growth. The difference in what we've each experienced over this past year really shows, and I'm almost ashamed."
It wasn't the kind of concern born from hitting a growth ceiling or the difficulty of leveling up when you were already at a high level. Beyond that, the fact that someone of this caliber still hadn't stopped growing was what truly chilled Subaru to the bone.
"Oh, by the way, Subaru."
"Hm? What?"
"That person who's been glaring at me this whole time—he's a friend of yours, right? If you could ask him not to be so wary, I'd appreciate it."
Subaru followed Reinhard's gaze and saw Garfiel, still locked in combat stance, back arched even further into a hunch, poised to spring at the slightest provocation. Those fangs and claws—weapons that could shred prey with ease—Subaru had relied on them countless times over the past year.
And yet, even if Garfiel were to lash out, Subaru couldn't envision this young man taking a single scratch.
"Garfiel, stand down. This is Reinhard. He's my... friend. He won't cause us harm, and I won't allow him to."
Friend—the word almost caught in Subaru's throat. Partly because the Sword Saint's magnitude made him feel small, and partly because of their last parting—the training ground on the day of the Royal Selection. The memory of brushing away Reinhard's outstretched hand flashed through his mind.
But even as Subaru hesitated, Reinhard nodded without a care in the world.
"As Subaru just introduced me—I'm his friend,
"...
"A fine name. And well-trained at that. To be so skilled at such a young age is remarkable."
Reinhard's offhand remark hit Subaru a beat later.
In the year since leaving the
Reinhard had seen through that fact with effortless ease.
"I've heard the rumors. The twin pillars who protect Lady Emilia—'Shield Garfiel' and 'Spirit Knight
"It's a blessing that it's only my name that's gotten out there."
"I do know another name for you, but I imagine that one wouldn't make you as happy. Incidentally—is the partner of the one who calls himself the 'Spirit Knight' that young lady over there?"
Reinhard's interest next turned to Beatrice, who had shrunk close to Subaru's side. She gripped his hand tightly and stared straight at the young man, who had knelt down to meet her eye level.
"I take it you're a Great Spirit of considerable standing. It's an honor to have this opportunity to meet you."
"...Beatrice is Subaru's contracted spirit. That respectful attitude—not bad. But don't come any closer. You should understand why."
"I do. I apologize for any inconvenience."
Unlike Garfiel, she wasn't openly hostile. But the grip she had on Subaru's hand was dead serious, and the extraordinary tremor running through her couldn't be fully concealed.
It wasn't fear, though. It was something else entirely.
And with a response that could only be called excessively cool, Reinhard turned to the last person present and bowed respectfully.
"Lady Emilia, it's been too long. News of your many accomplishments reached me even in my distant domain."
"Yes, long time no see, Reinhard. It's been a full year since the castle, hasn't it? We've been keeping up with your activities too, you know."
"Compared to the splendid exploits of you and your companions, I still have far to go. To be unable to adequately support my master fills me with something almost like frustration. Especially after hearing of Subaru's exploits."
"Hehe. That's right—Subaru is amazing. He's my precious knight, after all."
Emilia puffed out her chest with pride at Reinhard's praise, which didn't sound like flattery at all. Hearing her boast like that made Subaru feel half elated and half embarrassed.
In any case— "We were getting a little sidetracked, but Ratchins was called here by you, right?"
"Oh, that's right. Is he acquainted with Reinhard as well?"
"Yes. He's... currently serving as a retainer under Lady Felt. There's still a lot he needs to learn, but Lady Felt is fond of him."
"He works for Felt!?"
At this unexpected information, Subaru's eyes went wide. Reinhard, hearing this, looked apologetic.
"Knowing how you feel about them, I can only feel more regret. I was there when they cornered you in that alley, after all. After that, when I encountered them again, things happened... and Lady Felt decided on the spot to take them under her wing."
"Well... I wouldn't say it doesn't bother me, but... What kind of coincidence is this? Of all the people—wait, it was multiple people, right?"
"She hired three of them, including him. Everyone who tried to attack you that day."
"An all-you-can-mug bundle?!"
At this absurd twist of fate, Subaru could only clutch his head and scream.
These three—whom he'd had such a memorable set of encounters with right after being summoned to this world. He'd never given them another thought, yet here they were, reunited in this bizarre fashion.
"So... I get that Subaru is suuuper surprised, but... so Ratchins-kun is Reinhard's comrade. He works under Lady Felt, is that right?"
"Yes. Lady Felt wanted to look around the city, so I asked him to go ahead and inform the inn, but he was taking rather long to return..."
Reinhard simply traced the same story Ratchins had told, and everyone nodded in understanding. Seeing their reaction, Ratchins—who'd been frozen stiff—regained his momentum.
"There! See?! I told you that like a hundred times! But no, you all ganged up on me and treated me like a liar! You owe me an apology and damages, all of you!"
"Ratchins. As I've told you many times, your manner of speech lacks the awareness expected of a messenger. I've confirmed most of the situation, but I'm afraid I can't defend you."
"Whose side are you on!?"
"The side of justice. And in this case, I think it's perfectly understandable that the brother of a friend would be suspicious."
He brushed off Ratchins's shouting with cool indifference, then turned to Joshua with a smile. Joshua returned the smile awkwardly, nodding.
"It's been too long, Lord Reinhard. This time, due to my own failings, the messenger..."
"That was our fault, Joshua. And please—no need for the 'lord' title. It makes me uncomfortable. After so long, being treated with distance feels a bit lonely."
"Brother and Lord Reinhard may be friends, but right now you're political rivals."
"And that hasn't changed. There was no need to take after the old Julius in that regard too."
Joshua fell silent, looking as though he were grinding his back teeth.
In any case, the immediate problem had been resolved. That was a relief, but it raised a new question.
"So aside from us, you guys were invited too? What exactly is Anastasia scheming?"
"The invitation we received was framed as an opportunity for beneficial information exchange. Being Anastasia, we expected some flair, but I didn't think she'd invite Lady Emilia's party as well. Though at this rate, I suspect there may be more to it than that."
"You think she's got something even more surprising up her sleeve?"
"That's certainly possible. What do you think, Joshua?"
Subaru directed the question to Joshua, one of the conspirators. The young man adjusted the position of his monocle and played dumb: "Well, who can say?"
Reinhard narrowed one eye at the hint of composure Joshua was starting to recover, then looked toward the inn.
"Wahoo construction, is it? 'The Feather Robe Inn.' That's an unusual design. Apparently it's not uncommon in
"Oh, surprising. Even you hadn't seen one before, Reinhard? Have you ever been to Kararagi or anything?"
"No. I'm forbidden from leaving the country. There's a risk of violating inter-state treaties, so I even avoid traveling near the border.
At Reinhard's travel-restriction statute, Subaru and Emilia were taken aback. They'd thought it was one of his jokes, but with that "ha ha ha" laugh of his, it was hard to say for certain.
Best to leave that rabbit hole for later.
"Man, I'm beat. We can't keep milling around out front—it'll inconvenience the inn. Let's go inside if we're going inside. Felt and the others aren't here yet, right?"
"I've been away from my supervisory duties, after all. I imagine she's stretching her wings by now. She needs the occasional break, so there's no rush."
"...Occasional? Isn't she stretching her wings the whole time?"
"Ratchins, did you say something?"
"Not a damn thing! So, what should I do? Being here is killing me, ya know!"
Muttering under his breath, Ratchins was tacitly requesting permission to leave. Reinhard sighed.
"Please rejoin Lady Felt, and stay with
"You got it. What about you?"
"I'll head inside with Lady Emilia and the others to pay our respects first. If anything comes up, send up a Goa. I'll be there in five seconds."
"That doesn't sound like a joke, and that's what scares me."
With that parting, Ratchins darted through the group and ran off. Along the way, he made sure to glare at Joshua one more time and put on a show of cowering under Reinhard's gaze. A true paragon of petty thugs.
"Shall we head inside, then? We've already greeted Anastasia, so I suppose we should go tell her that Reinhard and the others have arrived."
"I think that's technically Joshua's job, but... well, no point splitting hairs now. Let's go together."
"...Yes, I'll do that. I apologize for all the trouble."
Perhaps because he hadn't been able to resolve the situation himself, Joshua looked somewhat dejected. One by one, Subaru, Reinhard, Emilia, Garfiel, and finally Beatrice each patted his shoulder before heading into the inn.
"I feel like that whole exchange somehow made me feel even more pathetic."
"You did it, so I thought I should too."
"You both did it, so I thought, oh, I should do it as well."
"If the Chief and Emilia-sama are doing it, how could I not?"
"Betty refuses to be left out. ...Not that Betty cares about being left out or anything. It just happened to work out that way."
"There, there, good girl, good girl."
Subaru and Emilia both stroked Beatrice's head as she walked between them. Beatrice brushed their hands away irritably, then tugged at the hems of their cloaks as she walked.
"This way. Lady Anastasia and the others are currently receiving guests."
Leading them down the corridor, Joshua guided Subaru and the others to a room separate from the main hall. As they followed, Subaru seized on Joshua's words.
"You said 'receiving guests.' Who else is arriving besides us?"
"...There's no need to make such predatory eyes. I'll tell you right away."
"That's a bit much—predatory? I'm not that hungry."
"You don't need to make such monstrous sounds either. I'll tell you right away."
"That's even worse. Monstrous? What kind—a dog, a whale, or a rabbit? Pick one."
In Subaru's memory, those were the top three most unpleasant magical beasts he'd encountered. There might have been others, but he vaguely recalled the charred one having a lion-like face. Not very memorable.
Subaru was digging through his hazy memories when his efforts were interrupted by Reinhard, who murmured almost inaudibly: "A whale..." Subaru caught his gaze.
"The whale—you mean the
"...Yeah. The worst whale there was. I thought I was going to die a hundred times over, and even now I consider it a miracle that I didn't."
In truth, the fact that he hadn't increased his body count against the White Whale was nothing short of a miracle.
That magical beast had been a threat of astonishing magnitude, and the damage it wrought was beyond ordinary. The scale of the sacrifice still pierced Subaru's chest and reminded him of the pain, even now.
"Would you mind telling me more about the White Whale sometime later? That beast is no stranger to me either. It would take a while to explain, though."
"...Sure. If it's hard to talk about, you don't have to."
Somehow, Subaru had a sense of what Reinhard's connection to the White Whale might be.
For Subaru, the battle against the White Whale had been the culmination of a single old swordsman's decade-long obsession—and that old warrior's identity was deeply tied to this red-haired young man. Subaru didn't know the specifics of what had happened between them in the past, but...
He had enough judgment to know that prying out of mere curiosity was not the right move.
"Thank you."
And so, for Subaru's consideration, Reinhard offered only that one word.
And Subaru didn't ask for anything more.
As Reinhard lowered his eyes, Subaru let out a long breath. Emilia and Beatrice sent worried glances his way.
Smiling to assure them it was nothing, Subaru faced them both.
"We've arrived. Please wait in this tearoom until your meeting is concluded."
In front of Joshua, who had brought them to their destination, there was a sliding partition—a fusuma-style divider. The fact that it had what looked like proper washi paper affixed to it showed a nice attention to detail, and Subaru felt a small flutter of his Japanese soul, finding it oddly endearing.
But his optimism lasted only those few seconds.
"Excuse me. There's already another guest in the tearoom—would it be all right to have you wait together?"
Joshua called through the partition, indicating someone was already inside.
From within came the sound of someone shifting.
"—Please, come in. I was starting to feel rather idle myself."
At the calm, steady voice that reached them, Subaru furrowed his brow—and then felt shock.
It was a voice he recognized, one he could never forget. Moreover, he'd been thinking about this very person just moments ago.
Everyone else looked puzzled—no, Reinhard was different. A faint hardness settled into his gentle features, and his blue eyes wavered with uncertainty.
Unaware of this hesitation, Joshua slid the partition aside.
The quiet sound of the fusuma gliding open revealed the room set up as a tearoom.
And there, seated in seiza on a cushion, looking back at them— "...Grandfather."
"Reinhard, I see."
The first words of grandfather and grandson spoke in unison.
It was an unintended reunion—between Reinhard van Astrea and