—Subaru Natsuki's heart was beating at a fever pitch.
"Um, Emilia-tan… I'm a little conflicted saying so, but shouldn't we cut this out?"
Subaru wore an amicable smile, but cold sweat ran down his face as he made the suggestion. The point of concern was how they firmly held hands.
They were in the royal capital. Specifically, Market Street, an exceptionally congested thoroughfare. No doubt, two people holding hands amid the constant bustle would look like an intimate couple.
So long as no busybodies overheard scraps of their conversation, anyway.
"Absolutely not. This is you we're talking about, so you will do something strange as soon as you're out of my sight. I won't permit a single step unsupervised while we're in the royal capital. Understand?"
"I'm really sorry for my stupidity in the dragon carriage! But this is treating me too much like a little kid!!"
The gaze Emilia leveled at Subaru was sharp and cold. Her trust in him had plummeted to rock bottom levels. Even if he was reaping what he had sowed, the treatment was extreme from Subaru's perspective.
—Following his close call with an "unscheduled stop" from the dragon carriage, and the tragedy of waking up to a Roswaal lap pillow, the subsequent conversation created a plan to limit his activities in the royal capital. This situation was the result.
"I'm deeply aware that I was rash but… Could we at least not do the holding hands thing?"
"Hmm, so that's what you're complaining about. We did this plenty in the village when it was a 'date,' didn't we?"
"Back then I was fully prepared in mind and body, but I'm totally not right now. My hands are sweating!"
Even though his hands were sweating from the exceptional tension, Emilia looked completely at ease, which only made him more nervous.
And as for what the at-odds couple was actually doing in the royal capital
—
A coarse, manly voice interrupted their cute little argument.
"—Hey, can you stop flirting in front of a man's shop like this?"
Emilia's face stiffened. Well, that's sensible, accepted Subaru. After all, the voice of the scar-faced man carried an irrefutable argument.
"You're driving my customers away. Buy something or get moving already."
"Well, that's rude and inconsiderate. Here I came all ready to keep my promise. The shock alone could've made me forget completely, you know?
Makes me wanna cry."
As Subaru slumped his shoulders, the man, resting his elbow on the counter, indelicately snorted back at him.
Subaru thought the shopkeeper's foul demeanor toward his customers was a good indicator that he'd picked the wrong profession. The shop, with a sign reading CADMON in I-script with bright colors, was a fruit vendor with colorful produce on display. The shop had a deeper significance for Subaru.
"Here I am returning the favor to the first guy I met in a new world, and this is the thanks I get?"
"That's overstating it. It was almost a month ago, and we only spoke a few words, right? I mean, I vaguely recall it, but…"
The owner of the store, actually a very kind man, was striving to remember when Emilia pulled on Subaru's ear and bowed her head.
"Subaru, don't say crazy things. Sir, please don't force yourself on our account." Subaru pleaded with her, yelping "Ow, ow!" as she gave him a sharp glare and said, "I thought you said you wanted to say hello to someone who'd helped you…but I never expected this promise to be a one-sided deal. Unbelievable."
"Hey, Emilia-tan, you can't just throw a promise between men into the garbage like that!"
"Don't exaggerate! How many people do you think a shopkeeper meets in the course of one day?"
"Emilia-tan, you can hurt people when you overestimate them. I mean, there's no way a shopkeeper with a scary face like that is doing that much busin… Ow, ow, I'm sorry!"
The shopkeeper, watching their back-and-forth, clapped his hands as he watched tears well in Subaru's eyes.
"I remember that pathetic look now. You're the kid without a coin to his name. So the ingrate returns without buying a thing."
"I'm gonna ignore how you remembered me…and I told you, I'm back so
I can repay you!"
"Ah, I see. Now that's a sense of responsibility. I like it."
Now that he recognized Subaru, the shopkeeper smiled generously, hauling a wooden box from inside his store and placing it on the counter with a heavy thud. The red, round, vibrant fruits inside glistened under the sun.
"Here y'go, abbles like you promised you'd buy. How many? They're two copper coins each now."
"I'll go big and get ten. That'll cover the promise and then some."
The shopkeeper clapped his hands at Subaru's magnanimity. In high spirits, Subaru put his hand into his pocket to get his wallet out when he noticed that Emilia, standing beside him, was doing the same thing.
"Er, Emilia-tan, why are you getting out your purse?"
"What do you mean, why? You can't pay for something without money, can you?"
"No, I mean, it's weird for you to pay instead of me, Emilia-ta… Old guy, what's with that look?"
"You said you'd buy them when you had the money, but I can't condone making a rich girl pay in your place…"
"Can't you see me arguing with my lovely lady here?! I'm trying to pay!"
The shopkeeper watched Subaru with suspicion as Subaru hastily thrust his wallet forward. The contents were his pay from his work at the mansion —and, since Roswaal was a generous employer, Subaru really did have money to spare.
"Lemme see, two coppers per abble… So two silver coins should cover ten?"
"Hey, don't you know the current exchange rate…? It's nine coppers for a silver coin right now."
"So two silvers and two coppers then? Here."
Subaru fished the appropriate coins out of his wallet and handed them to the shopkeeper. The man was stunned into silence, tilting his head as he sighed at length.
"Took my word for it, huh. Kiddo, you really need to not be so trusting. The changes in the exchange rates are posted on the sign at the entrance to the market. If you wander in without giving that a good look, some crooked merchant will have you for lunch."
The shopkeeper seemed to be warning him because his honesty made him a sucker here. True, paying based on only what he was told might be overly trusting, even if it was common sense back home.
Back at the village close to the mansion, everyone was so tightly related in an isolated community that deceit was inconceivable, but a huge city like the royal capital was fertile ground for mischief. In other words—
"Man, you really are a super-good person, old guy."
Subaru smiled playfully in a show of goodwill to the scar-faced shopkeeper.
"Only once in a while. I'd have nightmares if I swindled a customer who'd come back to fulfill a promise I'd nearly forgotten and who paid exactly what I asked for. That's it."
"So you're mean-looking guy with a heart of gold. Got it."
"Take it and go already! You've paid in full. Come again!"
The first half was intimidatingly gruff; the second half, a paragon of customer relations. Subaru, having a good laugh at the two extremes, picked up his bag of abbles with one hand, while Emilia led him away from the shop by the other.
"Thanks, old dude. Maybe I'll bump into you again someday."
"You're quite welcome as long as you buy something… And, miss, you really need better taste in men."
"Now, that's none of your business!"
As the shopkeeper watched them go, Subaru shot him the middle finger as he and Emilia entered the throng of people. As the distance between them widened, the human wave obstructed his vision, and the good-natured shopkeeper disappeared from view.
"I'm glad he actually remembered you… I'm a little surprised, though."
"Yeah, he definitely seems scary at first, but you get used to it pretty quick…"
"Not that. I mean, I'm flabbergasted you did the math that quickly."
"No one says 'flabbergasted' anymore…"
Even as Subaru teased Emilia for using outdated words, he didn't mind praise. He didn't look it, but he was actually pretty good at arithmetic. "I've got a knack for basic math. So you go for the intellectual, cerebral type, huh?"
"Cerebr…? I'm not sure what you mean, but that's not the only reason I'm surprised… Just a little coincidence. Tee-hee, it's funny, actually."
"Ah, that's a cute face. What, what, where's the coincidence?"
"That's a secret between me and the shopkeeper's daughter. So what's next?"
Subaru had some idea what Emilia meant by a secret, but he didn't probe deeper, opting to readjust his grip on the bag of abbles instead. The royal capital was far too big for casual strolling. His first objective of the day had been to visit the first person he'd met in this world. Now that he'd repaid his gratitude to the fruit merchant, his next objective was a no-brainer.
"My next goal…is to see Felt and Old Man Rom. Reinhard took care of them after I blacked out, right?"
"Mm, yes. At first, I thought he'd let them go without any problems, but… all of a sudden, Reinhard went pale and said he was taking the girl with him."
"That sounds like a criminal kidnapping her, but that doesn't exactly fit him… Crap, the good-looking ones get all the breaks."
Subaru clicked his tongue as he sullenly recalled the handsome, redhaired young man.
Emilia watched from beside him, putting a finger to her lips as she pondered the issue. "If you want to get in touch with Reinhard, we should go to the garrison on this side of the Nobles' District. There's a building there that's… Well, it's nothing but a pile of rubble now."
Subaru agreed with Emilia's suggestion. After all, the fact Reinhard had been walking the streets of the capital "off duty" made it clear he was a guard, most likely high-ranking—a knight.
"I guess that settles it. Let's head to the station and get ahold of Reinhard from there. Well, let's get a move o… Oh?"
"What? Something wrong?"
"Nah, I was just counting the abbles in the bag… There's eleven of 'em." He had counted a total of eleven big, round, ripe, vibrant red fruit. It was highly unlikely the merchant, proprietor of his own store, had miscounted.
"That old guy's too generous."
As he recalled the prickly shopkeeper, he felt a warm, fuzzy feeling bubbling up inside and smiled to himself.
—Keeping his promise was the right choice.
2
"Come to think of it, what did you mean, get ahold of him from the garrison?
There're no phones, right?"
As they walked toward the garrison, Subaru voiced a sudden doubt.
"'Phones'?"
Emilia's mystified expression suggested she'd never heard the word in her life.
"I mean, like, a device to talk directly to someone in a distant location…"
"You mean a metia? They should have magic mirrors…"
"Magic mirrors?"
"Metia that display one person to the other and let you talk between them. They're fairly common as magical artifacts go, so they're apparently used in a number of different places…"
"Gotcha. So there is a way to do it. Mirrors! That's so magical."
When Subaru thought about it, he realized he'd never laid eyes on a real metia. He'd heard the term metia from Old Man Rom at the loot cellar and pretended his cell phone was one, but that was it.
"Either way, it's a ray of hope. If we can get in touch with Reinhard we can clear everything up."
"I suppose so. Rem will be upset if we don't get back soon, so we'd better hurry…"
Rem had wanted to go with Subaru on his tour of the royal capital, too. However, she had too much work to do as the entire group's caretaker so, with great reluctance, she allowed Emilia to be his guide in the city.
No doubt she was tearing through her work out of spite at that very moment.
"Well, it's too bad for Rem, but for me, not having her here is a bit of a perk…"
"…? What did you say just now?"
"Ahh, nothin'. I'm just like, I don't have to be embarrassed if she sees us holding hands and stuff… Hey, Emilia-tan, about that royal selection thing tomorrow…"
Seeing the tense, guarded look on Emilia's face, Subaru abandoned his carefree tone. But then Emilia's expression vanished entirely, and the gloom filling her violet eyes only accentuated her demeanor.
The morning the envoy came, as well as during the time before their departure, Subaru had questioned Emilia several times, but she never lowered her guard. Their arrival at the royal capital had not changed that.
"I've told you several times, haven't I? I brought you here so you can keep your promises and get healed. You don't need to concern yourself with me."
"There's no way I can do that. I mean, here I am, holding your hand…
How could I not concern myself like this?"
At some point during his reply, Emilia had stopped walking, holding Subaru back. Under her hood, a single lock of silver hair spilled down Emilia's face.
Subaru couldn't help but think about how it looked like a falling teardrop.
"I want to help you. If you're having a hard time, I want to do something.
That's how it's been…and that's how it's gonna be."
"…"
Subaru admitted his feelings honestly. He intended to exhaust every effort on Emilia's behalf.
He knew exactly what motivated him, but— "Why?"
"...uhh?"
"Why do you go to such lengths for me, Subaru? I don't understand."
The incredulity in Emilia's eyes thoroughly bewildered Subaru. When her hand squeezed his in search of an answer, Subaru's throat caught as he struggled for words.
"That's…"
"…"
"Th…that's…!"
Even if he knew what he ought to say, he needed the resolve and courage to speak the words. And suddenly put to the test, Subaru lacked both. In the end, Subaru said nothing as Emilia waited.
As the silence dragged on, he ran out of the time Emilia had given him.
"…Let's go. The sun will set if we don't do this soon."
Emilia started forward again, pulling him along by the hand. Subaru followed, clenching his teeth at his own lack of nerve.
As he watched her small, slender back, he hated himself for losing sight of what he needed to say.
He despised his weakness in the face of the girl who had saved his life and his spirit—the girl who lit the brightest fire in his chest.
As Subaru sank into a vortex of negativity and self-hatred, he started as he suddenly heard a genderless voice, like someone whispering straight into his skull.
"—You'd best leave things at that, Subaru."
"…!"
"It's me. I'm speaking directly into your mind, so Lia can't hear you."
The method of communication was odd, but the voice was certainly familiar. It was the spirit Emilia had formed a pact with, the supernatural cat always at her side—Puck.
Subaru was taken aback at the sudden telepathic communication.
"…! So you can hear me, too, then?"
"You catch on fast. I wasn't sure at first, but…it was easy to make a connection, so you might have a high compatibility with spirits. Maybe that's why Betty likes you."
Puck's one-sided knowledge of the situation added irritation to Subaru's gloom. He felt left out.
"Lia's all right. Don't lose hope from that conversation just now."
"That's… How the hell do you know?"
"I just know. I know everything there is to know about Lia, after all."
Even if he didn't put it into words, Puck's fatherly love for her was evident in his tone.
The spirit's guarantee made Subaru feel worse about his own powerlessness. Puck had only reminded him that, when all was said and done, he didn't know a single thing about Emilia.
The Emilia he knew was a stunningly beautiful half-elf girl. She was a candidate to become the next monarch of Lugunica, under the care of her sponsor, Roswaal.
He knew she was honest, naive, willful, and soft-hearted; her personality drove her to help others even at the cost of herself, making her like an older sister, but also an easy mark.
But all these facts barely scratched the surface. He knew nothing of the girl inside, her emotions, or even how and why she came to pursue the monarchy.
"Putting your heart and soul into everything is pretty rough on you, huh?"
Even if closed lips could conceal his shallow thoughts, he could not silence his very mind. It was impossible to hide everything from Puck, who scooped up surface thoughts like so much soup broth.
"Hey, Subaru."
He didn't want to face his own wretchedness any longer. He weakly denied Puck, but these words, whispered to the mind and not the eardrum, never arrived. With Subaru expressing his will through silence, Puck instead continued, "—Don't get my hopes up too much, or Lia's."
"…Huh?"
"Hope is a gentle poison. Even if you know it will ruin you, you can't help but reach for the illusion that seems close enough to grasp. You are truly a poison."
To Subaru, who had viewed Puck as an unflappable, tranquil being, those words contained enough force to change his impressions completely.
"What do you mean by…"
But before he could finish his perplexed reply, Emilia, guiding his hand, stopped walking and said, "We're here."
Subaru pitched forward, in danger of bumping into Emilia's back, but he somehow managed to right himself.
When he raised his head, he belatedly understood why this was called the
Nobles' District. The scenery was more refined than that of the slums or Market Street, with much more money invested in it. This was true for not only the buildings, but also the streets, the walls, and the trees had aesthetic appeal. As the name suggested, this was the ward where the upper crust resided.
Their destination was a building that served as the gateway, sealing off the single street connecting it to the outside world.
The solid stonework structure was far plainer than anything in the Nobles' District behind it. The back of the building contacted a section of the wall, allowing someone on the roof to survey the whole city in a single sweep. However, the purpose of this vantage point was obviously to keep watch over what was below, not to enjoy the sights.
"This is the garrison for the royal capital guards. They also check the identity of people entering the Nobles' District."
"So it's like a customs checkpoint, too. That's probably what they built it here for, huh?"
He could appreciate it on logical and practical grounds, but his aversion to it was no doubt an instinctive reaction to something so emblematic of bureaucracy.
Emilia said nothing to the reluctant Subaru as she headed for the garrison. Mindful of the time and place, she finally let go of his hand. He mourned the loss of her palm.
And just as Emilia was about to knock on the garrison's door, it opened toward the outside as a young man poked his face out.
"—My, it is not often I meet an acquaintance in a place like this. It has been some time, Lady Emilia. You have not changed at all since then."
The young man bowed formally to Emilia—whom he had recognized even though she was wearing the hood. That alone put Subaru on guard, but Emilia's expression was serene as she nodded toward the youth.
"…Yes, thank you. No changes in particular, no. I see you are also in good health, Julius."
"I am honored that you remember me. Your beauty has only increased, Lady Emilia."
The young man named Julius praised Emilia's good looks in a very polished manner. He had violet hair and an equal mix of snobbery and politeness. He was about half a foot taller than Subaru, putting him at around five foot nine, give or take. His body was slender, but he did not seem frail; rather, he had a handsome, supple frame. His amber eyes, no doubt bewitching to the opposite sex, suited him to a detestably fine degree.
"Is it not a rarer sight for you, a royal guardsman, to be here at the garrison?"
The man wore an extravagant uniform with a dragon emblem. A slender sword like a rapier hung from his hip. Julius's appearance and manner of speech suited such a title.
"I've come to express appreciation to the soldiers for their services and take the opportunity to observe the city…or something like that. A friend asked me to pay a visit, and I suppose it is good to put friends first once in a while. After all, I was able to lay my eyes upon a beautiful flower along my path through these streets."
With well-practiced motion, Julius intimately grasped Emilia's hand as he spoke, bending down on one knee. Without a single pause for breath, he brought his lips to the back of her pale hand.
Subaru watched this course of events in complete shock. After a few moments' delay, his emotions came to a boil as this man's conceited behavior rubbed him in every wrong way imaginable. His breath ragged, Subaru was about to rush over and give Julius a piece of his mind when Emilia held him in check with her other hand.
"Thank you, Julius. I regret that this is very sudden, but…I would like to get in touch with the castle about a certain matter."
As Julius listened to Emilia's request, his voice lowered as he looked at Subaru.
"Ah, so that is why you came to the garrison… This matter, does it concern him over there?"
Not enjoying Julius's condescending gaze, Subaru locked eyes with him and glared back.
"—His character and demeanor form a poor match for those clothes. Such an appearance does not make a good first impression."
"Thank you for the kind advice. I have some advice for you, too. If you eat curry udon in an outfit like that, the broth stains will really stand out, so you definitely should pass."
"Thank you for going out of your way to say so. I shall pay it heed if I should ever have such an opportunity."
The smiles they exchanged were most certainly not friendly. Subaru did not like him. Julius no doubt thought the same. In that spirit, he promptly ignored Subaru and turned his attention back to Emilia.
"I shall guide you to the magic mirror, then, though it pains my heart to bring you into a humble place such as this, Lady Emilia."
"You needn't be concerned. I'm quite all right, so please."
"Very well. Come in."
With that, Julius went back inside first. Subaru snorted a bit and stepped forward. But Emilia turned to him in front of the doorway, obstructing his path.
"Subaru, you wait here."
"…Huh?"
Subaru was taken aback. Emilia's long eyelashes trembled a bit as she lowered her eyes.
"I'd like to have you come, but I don't think Julius will take it well, so wait here."
"The heck? You care about that annoying jerk's feelings more than mine?"
"It's not that. It's not about upsetting him, it's that I don't want to put you through something you'll probably hate, so please, Subaru, wait here."
"I hate it enough as it is already. The way that bastard licked Emilia-tan's hand all over like it was nothing…!"
Subaru had pegged that particular action as a sign of perversion, adding one more item to his list of negative impressions. It only compounded how he didn't want Emilia to have any contact with that man. Subaru's masculine instincts wanted desperately to warn her to watch out for Julius.
"This won't take long, so please, be good and wait."
Her words were very gentle, yet heavily tinged with rejection. Emilia was fundamentally distancing Subaru from her own affairs. But afraid of incurring her displeasure for intruding, he was unable to speak a word in protest.
She vanished behind the door as it closed, separating them physically and metaphorically with a dull thud. Subaru murmured, "…I'm super-uncool." Kicking around a rock some distance from the entrance as he waited for Emilia, Subaru distracted himself from his seething self-hatred as he recalled the annoying man.
"She said he was a royal guard, didn't she?"
If Subaru's hunch was correct, that meant he was a Knight of the Royal
Guard. If knightly orders existed in this world, surely Knights of the Royal Guard served the royal family directly. But where did they stand in a country with no sitting monarch?
"The whole royal family died from plague, huh. They might make the elites in the Knights of the Royal Guard take responsibility for not seeing that coming and disband them, tossing them and their families out onto the street… Well, that sucks for the rest of 'em, but I wouldn't mind that annoying bastard going through a little hell…"
The somber thought gave him some small measure of satisfaction. He wondered who he'd picked up that pettiness from.
In the past, Subaru would have never directed his ire about the inconveniences that befell him toward another person. He wouldn't have given a single thought to speaking ill of heaven or venting his frustrations.
In a good sense, he was now concerned with appearances in a way he had not before arriving here. He wanted to live a life that he could show the honest and forthright girl close to him without shame.
It was a vague thought… But he wondered if he had really changed a little? He couldn't tell.
"—Mm?"
As Subaru ruminated, he felt a disturbance and frowned at a glimpse of something at the edge of his vision. For a brief moment, his gaze had wandered toward the city for no particular reason and caught sight of a colorful dress disappearing into a back alley. The color was such a vivid red that it seemed to sear itself into his eyes, even with only a glance. And had the dress been merely traveling down the street, no doubt it would not have registered in Subaru's mind whatsoever.
Even entering a back alley, the garment would not have caught his attention, save for the fact that the girl wearing it was being led there by seedy-looking men.
"Just now… There's no way it could be a that, right…?"
A major crime in broad daylight in front of the guards' garrison—or so
he thought, but perhaps this was a case of hiding in plain sight. Upon closer inspection, the location was in the garrison's blind spot. Subaru had seen them by dumb luck the instant he'd entered an alleyway while he moped.
"Setting aside that I just feel calmer in narrow spaces, I'd better go get the gua—"
Subaru hesitated. He hadn't witnessed an actual crime taking place. It was very possible he'd misinterpreted what he'd seen.
At any rate, Subaru bore a powerful, arbitrary grudge against the garrison at that moment.
"Plus, if I'm wrong, it might make trouble for Emilia… It won't be too late to call for help after I confirm things first."
Voicing this excuse to himself, Subaru shot a glance at the garrison as he ran toward the alley. He felt guilty about going back on his promise to wait patiently for Emilia, but a higher duty called. Plus, Subaru's resentment toward Julius.
And hearing an angry shout the instant he entered the alley, Subaru was firmly convinced he'd made the right decision and picked up his pace. "—Why, you little bitch! I'm not messin' around here!"
3
"Don't mess with me, woman! You want a punch to that pretty little face?!"
"Do not get ahead of yourself, peasant. Those of low character enjoy appropriately lowly fates."
Several voices argued, and three men surrounded a lone woman in the narrow alley, cutting off her avenues of escape.
This was a stereotypical street punk encounter, but what left a burning impression on Subaru was the striking appearance of the girl who repulsed the atmosphere hanging over the cramped alley.
Her hair was a radiant orange like the sun itself, flowing through a single barrette before spilling down her back. Her dress was blood crimson, and above all, the overwhelming beauty of the girl herself shone in her sordid surroundings. Even untrained eyes could tell at a glance that the jewelry on her neck, ears, and fingers were of the highest quality. Her full outfit, coordinated from top to bottom, had to be worth at least a hundred times the money Subaru had on him. And yet, all that extravagant jewelry was incomparable to her face.
She had red, defiant eyes. Her faintly pink lips emphasized the hue of her skin, white as the purest snow. One might spend an entire lifetime and fortune in search of such beauty and never find it. Subaru realized all over again how often this world defied his idea of common sense.
The girl crossed her arms in a calm posture that only accentuated her bountiful breasts. He couldn't just stand back and watch while her attitude raised the men's hackles ever higher.
"—H-heya! Sorry to keep you waiting, honey!"
Subaru immediately raised a hand and wedged himself into the middle of the action. Laughing by himself as he interrupted the surprised trio, Subaru put his hands together in supplication. "It seems that she's caused you a little trouble, but could you do me favor and let it slide? I'm sure you can tell just by looking at her, but the girl is a little…y'know…in the head. You get me?"
Her celebrity-like style practically screamed "Rob me, please!" and she was hanging around the alleyways in a city with questionable levels of law enforcement. What sane person would be so reckless?
Subaru asserted to the stunned men, "So that's how it is!" and grasped the girl's hand.
"Mm…!"
"Hey, let's move on before you cause the good boys here any more trouble. Let's do like we promised today and feed each other sweets, just the two of…"
Subaru quickly laid things out, casting her in the role he'd assigned Emilia in his fantasies, aiming to get her out of there as fast as possible.
However…
"Uhh?"
"Do not…touch me so freely!"
She put her other hand on top of Subaru's, twisting her body to yank the boy forward. A moment after he realized he'd lost his hold on her wrist, his face slammed right into the wall.
"Wht th hll?!"
"Goodness, I take a step outside and this happens? Commoners drooling all over me…"
As he stood back up, Subaru glowered at her, as if finding her words beyond comprehension.
"Play along, damn it! That's the time-honored method of saving a girl from street punks! You're supposed to catch on to these things!"
"I do not know what you mean. I simply do as I please."
"A woman who slams your face into the wall is the worst kind of first meeting, you know?!"
Not only had she not picked up on his attempt to extricate her, but she treated him as a pervert. The pain and humiliation made him regret exercising his limited courage. Thinking that the men must find it hilarious, Subaru turned toward their pitying gazes again.
"Hey, wait a minute, I remember you guys."
Subaru tilted his head with the bad feeling that he was reliving a prior crisis. Subaru compared the faces of the men before him against the ones in his memory, clapping his hands together when a light suddenly came on.
"Ah, Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest. Eh, wait, no way. Does this city have any other punks besides the three of you?!"
Of course he remembered them. These were the Three Stooges he'd encountered on the first day of his summoning. Having experienced death at their hands once already, Subaru regarded them with caution. But…
"I'm more depressed than anything else. Don't you guys have any other way to make a living?"
The three men looked at one another and began to talk, oddly relaxed about Subaru's presence.
"First he sticks his nose in, gets his face smashed on a wall, and now he says he remembers. He bonkers?"
"Hey, I don't wanna mess with him. You deal with him."
"I don't wanna, either. Why don't we just shiv him somewhere?"
With the supposed thieves having finally lost all vestiges of belligerence, the silent girl broke the atmosphere.
"Oh my, so irresolute. Are you a bunch of little girls? If so, adorn yourselves in a manner suitable for my eyes. Yes, some fine jewelry on your burly, hairy bodies would make for quite a sight."
The girl put a hand over her mouth, ripping into them with a look of complete contempt. For an instant, the men did not understand what she had said to them. A moment later, they seethed as one. "Don't mess with me, bitch!"
"Who do you think you are, girl?!"
"What's with the high and mighty talk, huh?!"
Subaru chimed in. "You're seriously off your rocker! We oughta spank into your girly butt the fact that we're guys—wait, why am I jumping in with these idiots?!"
Subaru was surprised at himself for impulsively taking part in a four-man gang. He was acutely aware that blame for the incident lay on the girl's side, too.
"So I get where you guys are coming from, but I'm not turning back now. Besides, I'm carrying my own grudge from the first day we met."
"I dunno what's with that little bitch, but what's the deal with you, shit face?"
Apparently they didn't remember Subaru at all, a pretty meager reaction considering Emilia had sent them packing with magic, they'd suffered a crushing three on one defeat at Subaru's hands, and they'd knifed Subaru to death sometime after that.
"Well, none of those events happened in this world, so all they'd remember here is… Oh yeah, the good-looking guy showing up?"
"—! Hey, I remember him! From an alley off Market Street a little while back…"
"Oh, that one! The brat with a screw loose! He hasn't changed one bit, huh?"
"It's really him. The clothes are different, so I didn't recognize 'im!"
When realization came over Dumb's face, Dumber and Dumbest followed in short order. Though Subaru was no fan of how they'd characterized him, he clapped to applaud their effort.
"Good, good, I'm glad you remember me. So since you know me, how about you let this slide?"
"Are you nuts? We like you way less than someone we don't know. Just
'cause it's three-on-two instead of three-on-one doesn't change a thing."
Even though Subaru hoped to bluff his way through the scene, the willful girl paid no heed to his plans whatsoever.
"Correction. It is not three-versus-two, it is three-versus-one-versusone."
"Can you shut up for a bit?!"
He wished he could have gone back in time five minutes and told himself
not to bother, but the die had been cast. Besides, Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest weren't patient types. Watching the temperature in their eyes dropping, Subaru knew it was only a matter of time before there'd be blood.
"…No choice, then. I really didn't want to resort to this, but…"
"Ahh? Would you stop messin' around already? What the hell can you—"
"I'll have you know, I know Mr. Reinhard, guys. Reinhard and I are best buds. If I yell, he's gonna come running right over!"
"—Wha?!"
This was his trump card, "The Fox Invoking the Lion," and it worked wonders. The mention of Reinhard's name scared the trio witless.
The effect was immediate, and Subaru forced himself to act like a big shot to cow them further.
"So what'll it be, guys? One shout and he'll make mincemeat out of you with his bare hands."
It was a desperate bluff, but the men gritted their teeth resentfully.
"W-we'll let you. This time."
"Remember this, it's not like you beat us or anything!"
"And it's not like we're scared of Reinhard's name or anything!"
The men immediately fled the alley, their weak, stereotypical parting shots only enhancing their petty crook image. Only when they had completely gone did Subaru exhale deeply.
Somehow he'd ridden the crisis out.
Now if he could only get the girl to soften just a little—
"What? Are those the eyes of a beggar? You shall receive nothing from me, commoner."
"They are not. Well, would it kill you to thank me for saving you at least?"
"Save?"
The girl inclined her head slightly with a mystified expression.
She closed her eyes, sinking into thought, and let out a small sigh when she arrived at an answer.
"So that prattling of yours earlier was meant to save me. Mm, I had not noticed."
"You didn't notice?! This sets new standards for dense, you know?!"
"Do not misunderstand. No difficulty would have befallen me even without your help. I can only marvel at your taking pride in resolving something that was not a problem to begin with."
"I don't know what you mean, so what do you mean? I mean what, like, okay, you're super-strong, so you'd have been fine even if I hadn't saved you?"
"Not at all. It is far simpler.—This world is composed solely for my convenience. Nothing occurs that is not to my benefit. It is thanks to me that I was saved, yet you attempt to claim this as your own exploit. Have you no shame at stealing credit from another?"
With one blatant forward thrust of her bountiful breasts, the girl was asserting, as if it was natural, as if it was obvious, as if it was common sense —that she was absolute.
The way her eyes radiated like an arrogant sun made Subaru keenly aware that this was someone he absolutely should not associate himself with whatsoever.
"Th-that so. My bad for being too big for my britches. Sorry to interrupt. Bye now."
He determined it was best to agree with such a person as much as possible—not provoke her, just nod enthusiastically, avoid any defiance, and do a quick about-face away from her.
But an unexpected call came from behind, and Subaru cursed his feet for stopping.
"—Wait."
"Wh-what?"
"What is in that bag there? Show me."
The girl strolled around him, nodding to indicate that Subaru should put down the bag. He didn't want to oblige, but defying her would only prolong things, so Subaru reluctantly opened the bag and showed its contents—a mountain of ripe, red fruit.
"I do not recognize them. These fruits… What are they?"
"They're, um, abbles. The fruit of knowledge. Never seen one before?"
Blinking at his reply, the girl snorted as she looked at Subaru like he was an imbecile.
"You lie. Do not make me laugh. Abbles are white, understand? I have absolutely never seen fruits such as these."
Astonished, Subaru replied, "Well, they're white when you peel them…" It was the girl's turn to stare blankly.
He remarked, "Wait, don't tell me you've never seen an abble that hasn't been peeled…?"
"Mm, I have indeed never seen one that was not at the dinner table.—Very well. Hand them over."
Nodding in satisfaction, the girl audaciously demanded he give up his the abbles.
He'd saved the girl from a robbery only for the girl to attempt robbery on him.
Subaru wanted to see Emilia again. He wished Rem were healing him that moment.
"Hand them over. I shall split one open and see for myself. Or is it only lies that dribble from your lips?"
"…Handle with care, okay?"
Judging resistance to be the fool's choice, Subaru took an abble out of the bag and placed it in her hand. The girl took the abble, turning it around as if studying the sensation upon her palm.
Then, her left hand flashed toward the abble—neatly severing it vertically and horizontally into four equal pieces.
The girl licked the fruit juice off her fingers, satisfied at the cross section.
"Sweet and sour… Certainly, this is the taste of an abble. I will spare your life."
"Spare my… No, never mind. Anyway, you're satisfied now, I take it?" "Ab-so-lute-ly not!!"
Her statement, crossing the line from arrogant behavior to tyrannical, made even Subaru erupt in indignation.
"You don't even care that you sliced one up out of the blue. Why do I have to give you all of them? These abbles aren't just abbles. They're the bonds between two men!"
"Enough prattle. How about this?"
The girl pointed at the bag, her lips cracking into a wry smile.
"We shall wager for them."
"—Wager?"
"Yes, a simple wager. Something easy, flipping a coin and guessing whether it is heads or tails. A single abble shall rest upon each attempt. How about it?"
She was proposing a contest, but all Subaru could do was laugh at her suggestion.
"You just say the darndest things. Why would I agree to that in the first place? There's nothing in that gamble for me. I can just run like heck out of here!"
"Of course, I shall have something worth winning at the ready. Let's see…"
The girl touched her tongue to her lips as she sank into thought. She shifted her bewitching eyes toward Subaru, lifting up her ample bosom with her crossed arms.
"Should you win the wager, you may touch my breasts. How about it?"
Subaru sighed at length and shook his head at her offering up her own body as a gambling chip. The way she offered herself in a wager without a single reflection on the consequences of losing indicated the kind of personality that ruined gamblers' lives.
No doubt she thought that her beauty allowed her to seduce any man setting eyes on her. He thought her worldview was regrettable and rather sad.
The girl gave Subaru a slightly suspicious glance, perhaps wondering what was taking him so long.
With that gaze bearing down on him, Subaru told her exactly what he thought.
"You need to take better care of yourself. That's crazy talk… And you can't seduce me with that look!"
—And so, Subaru found himself still in the alley, having lost seven straight bets.
"That makes seven wins for me. There are only three abbles left, you know?"
"No way! You're robbing me blind!"