“Setting that aside, that shitty, arrogant woman… She forgot all about the time I helped her…!”
Subaru was referring to having helped Priscilla escape the ruffians who had been surrounding her when they’d first met. The corner of his lips warped, and his tongue twisted in disgust.
The fact was, she’d behaved without the slightest shred of gratitude at the time, but even he hadn’t expected her to be that heartless to someone desperately reaching out for aid.
And then there was Al, so uncaring that he didn’t say a single thing about his master’s violent act. They might be from the same world, but the man was useless to him.
“Damn every last one of those bastards. They don’t know a thing. They don’t understand… It’s not like they’re protecting anyone, but they still get in my way…!”
Subaru ground his molars in irritation. A cut on the edge of his lip dampened his tongue with blood, but the taste of iron didn’t register—only that of anger and humiliation.
“—Switch gears, switch gears. This ain’t the time to get sidetracked by those two idiots.”
He had a lot to process.
Having sent Rem off in one final act of resistance, Subaru headed to their rendezvous point. His feet took him down the street, out of the Nobles’ District and to the capital’s central strata, the Commercial District. From there, he navigated the crowds, heading straight toward his destination.
“Wow! Hey you, mister! You look really hurt! Are you all right?”
“Huh?”
Subaru, surprised by the abrupt voice, shifted his gaze down, looking for its source. The person who hailed him was short in stature, not even reaching Subaru’s hip. It was a beast-man child with an orange pelt, big round eyes, and an adorably joyful face, who was apparently stretching upward to get a better look at him.
“You’re bleeding, aren’t you? Sometimes I cut my mouth when I’m eating, so I know! That must really hurt! You look like you’re ready to cry.”
“I’m not bleeding for a little-kiddie reason like… Er, I’m busy so, later.”
“Don’t you want me to heal it? Sniff-sniff, sniff-sniff. Besides, the smell isn’t just from your mouth, mister. You’re bleeding from your nose, too, you know?”
The wound Priscilla had given him ought to have already closed, but the girl’s sense of smell could apparently still pick it up. The unpleasant memory resurfaced as Subaru tried to brush the girl off. But before Subaru could do so, another girl found her first.
“Hey, Mimi. Don’t be causing people trouble. You know you shouldn’t make so much mischief.”
At the sound of a soft voice, Mimi looked back, waving energetically with her short arms. The person who had found her approached, smiling at her enthusiasm.
“—!”
“I’m very sorry that my girl caused you trou… Mmmn?”
Subaru’s breath caught. She immediately noticed his expression, which made her stop mid-apology.
The momentary surprise vanished. Instead, a look entered her eyes that seemed ready to welcome an unexpected event with open arms.
“You’re… That’s right, you’re Subaru. Emilia’s knight, Subaru Natsuki— So you’re still in the capital, huh? What an unexpected surprise.”
She was a small girl with soft pale-purple hair. Her narrowed light-blue eyes suggested she had gentle regard for others—but Subaru knew that the girl was avaricious deep down. Even if he was meeting her in a different place, there was no way he could mistake her aura.
“Anastasia Hoshin…”
“Mm, I see, you actually remembered me. I was right worried I didn’t make much of an impression back there, so I’m kinda relieved… If you still recognize me after everythin’ that’s happened to you, everyone else should be able to, too.”
Anastasia smiled as she spoke in a Kansai dia—a Kararagi dialect unfamiliar to his ears.
Subaru, shocked to have bumped into Anastasia, scanned the area. If Anastasia was there, that man had to be somewhere around—
“Relax, Julius is on other business. He’s not comin’.”
“…That so.”
Subaru let his discomfort show in his reply once he realized that the reason for his unease was plain as day. Anastasia, putting a hand to her mouth in amusement, seemed to be under the impression he held little love for servant or master.
Subaru couldn’t bring himself to think of the unexpected encounter as a golden opportunity. In the first place, there was Julius. Given the antagonism between them at the parade grounds, Subaru assumed joining forces with the Anastasia camp was utterly impossible.
“Well, you seem to be mostly healed up. I was just a teensy bit worried.”
“…Thanks. You seem in pretty good health, yourself.”
“I’m muddlin’ through, I s’pose.”
“Yeah! Muddlin’ through!”
The Western-sounding reply to Subaru’s sarcasm made the kitten laugh with amusement. Apparently, she was called Mimi, and she was accompanying Anastasia.
“Should one of the big players in the royal selection be walking around without an escort these days?”
“I am trying to travel incognito, after all. Is it not working?”
Anastasia looked around before showing off her outfit that she had created with the attire of local city girls in mind. Her clothes certainly fit in, but her trademark white fox muffler and huge purse didn’t make for a convincing disguise. Apparently, Anastasia gathered as much from Subaru’s look of disbelief and laughed.
“Well, how do you hide charm like mine? Besides, if anything happens, I have my very reliable, hard-working deputy captain, so no worries!”
“Reliable…deputy captain…?”
Anastasia stuck out her rather flat chest in pride as she spoke, but when he saw that she meant Mimi, Subaru adopted a dubious expression. Mimi, who was shooting the breeze at the different stalls, didn’t look the part at all.
“I see you don’t believe me, but it’s true. She’s the second-in-command of my private army. I think she’d hold her own against Julius a lot better’n you would.”
“…”
“Ahh, did I make you mad? Sorry, sorry, my apologies. You just look like a fun person to tease. So, oops?”
Oops my ass. Subaru pursed his lips, making his displeasure clear.
“If this is just small talk, would you mind letting me be on my way? Unlike you, I have things to do.”
“Well, you’re no fun. Things to do like what?”
“I have to meet up with the girl who’s traveling with me. After that, gotta get a dragon carriage and leave the capital. Stuff.”
He was supposed to meet back up with Rem at one of the restaurants lining the royal capital’s main street. Whether his pathetic attempts met failure or success, the two had planned to procure the dragon carriage they needed to leave the royal capital within the next few hours.
“Hmmm. Gettin’ a dragon carriage. So you say, but can ya really? Right now, it’s a lotta work findin’ one here in the capital. I hear it’s just one mess after another recently.”
“Hard getting a dragon carriage? That shouldn’t be a…”
Subaru would have continued to say problem, but the word caught in his throat.
In previous loops, he’d taken his dragon carriage for granted when he returned to the Mathers domain, but the vehicle from the first time around was a loan from Crusch. Considering that circumstances had been similar the second time around, he had assumed Crusch had lent them one then as well.
“Someone’s buyin’ up all the dragon carriages in the capital or somethin’. So if you wanna rent one right now, it’s gonna take a lotta legwork.”
“…Seriously?”
Anastasia suppressed a giggle while Subaru could only murmur in bewilderment.
She had no reason to lie. That would be an obstacle to even exiting the capital. Subaru clutched his head, almost unable to believe the difficulties besetting him.
“Miss, you
shouldn’t tease people!”
Mimi tugged on Anastasia’s sleeve at the sight of Subaru bent over.
“Dragon carriages, you mean those lizard thingies? You can just lend him one, can’t you, miss?”
“Wait, you have a dragon carriage I can borrow?!”
“I’m company president, so a dragon carriage or two is no big deal, see? But it seems you don’t wanna talk with me very much, Natsuki…”
“Ugh…Sorry for… how I behaved earlier…”
When she pointed out how Subaru had tried to cut off their conversation, he replied with an awkward expression. Anastasia put a hand to her mouth and giggled when she saw it.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. I forgive ya. In exchange, would you stick with me for another chat? It’s very important to maintain smooth relationships with others. How about the shop where you’re meetin’ the girl?”
Subaru couldn’t summon the words to refuse the adorable merchant’s smile.
7
“It’s still a bit early for lunch, but it ain’t good to sit down without orderin’.”
Anastasia said this as she returned from the counter carrying a light meal—vegetables and meat sandwiched between two pieces of bread, kind of like an elongated hamburger. Mimi took it from Anastasia and happily buried her face in it.
It was a casual eatery along Main Street, right in front of the main gate of the royal capital. This gate had the most traffic in the entire city, where people ceaselessly entered and exited. The shop was packed; Subaru and the others had taken the last open seats.
“Natsuki, you should eat all ya want. Since you were plannin’ to meet that girl here, you musta meant to eat, right?”
“I feel kinda bad making you treat me to lunch when I’m asking you for a favor. If I really wanna eat something, I’ll take my meal with my friend later. Ana… Er.”
There were many people around, but the establishment wasn’t very large. He hesitated to call Anastasia by name in such cramped quarters.
“I don’t really mind much, but if you’re havin’ trouble usin’ my name, you could call me ‘young lady’?”
“It’d be even harder to say that… Anyway, about the dragon carriage.”
“Cuttin’ right to the chase, hmm? You won’t please your business partner if you prioritize only what you want. The core of negotiation is how much you can please the other party. You’re not too good at that, Natsuki.”
Chiding Subaru for being in such a hurry, Anastasia bit into her meal of vegetables and meat; the way she licked the sauce was charming somehow.
Though she differed from Crusch and Priscilla, Anastasia similarly possessed a unique charisma in each and every gesture that was nothing like ordinary people. Perhaps he ought to say that all the royal candidates had a special essence.
“It’s a little awkward if you stare at me while I’m eatin’. I wasn’t raised with very good manners, y’see. Am I doin’ somethin’ strange?”
“I haven’t been educated in high culture enough to judge something like that… I don’t think it’s weird at all. You just don’t, uh, often see a woman opening her mouth wide like that.”
“…Are you tryin’ to get into my good graces? If so, you gotta do way better’n that.”
Anastasia snickered as she criticized Subaru’s clumsy approach. Her heartless appraisal had quickly brought Subaru to his knees.
“Um, I’m not kidding around here. I’m really in a bind, that’s why I wanna get to the point.”
“If you wanna appeal to my sympathy, that’s the worst plan possible when you’re dealin’ with a girl like me. But I applaud you for tryin’. You need a dragon carriage, right?”
Anastasia spoke while pulling a pen out of a pocket. From there, she spread open the paper wrapped around the pen, quickly jotted something down, and neatly folded the sheet.
“I’ve written down the location of a shop that should still have a dragon carriage and added my signature. This is all you need to accomplish your goal, Natsuki.”
“Well, no need to act all high and mighty about it.”
“I sure will—it’s no fun if I just hand it over for free, is it?”
Speaking softly, Anastasia put the folded piece of paper down on the table. She gently rested her palm over it, hiding it from view, and grinned at Subaru when he winced.
The smile on her face looked different from the ones he had seen on her before.
“Don’t tense up your shoulders like that; it’ll be fine. I just want you to stick with me for a little chat. It’s sad when you can’t talk about anything except what you really need to. I don’t think I’m being too greedy for wantin’ to shoot the breeze with ya till that girl of yours shows up.”
“Why? This is a lot of trouble just for some small talk with a guy like me. Not like you’re gonna get anything out of it.”
“I don’t think there’s a single thing in this world that’s meaningless. You never know who might end up giving you insight. And out of everyone, I feel like you might have somethin’ special for me, Natsuki.”
“…I’m not really grateful if that’s the impression you got from me at the royal selection assembly.”
“It’s not like I’ve met you anywhere else, Natsuki.”
Subaru’s desperate attempt at sarcasm was sliced down and cast aside by a sound argument. After evaluating Anastasia’s request and goal, Subaru immediately resigned himself to his fate.
“Just to be clear, we’re only going to talk until Rem gets here. And then I’ll have you hand over that paper.”
“I certainly lie and deceive people, but I assure you this is true. I can put that in writing if you’d like.”
“You didn’t even blink when you said that… What do you wanna talk about?”
“I told you when we started, didn’t I? The core of negotiations is to get in good with the other party. If you wanna get better at talkin’, you gotta get better at listenin’. A solid start would be findin’ out what your partner’s interested in.”
Or more candidly, Don’t look like you’re simply putting up with the conversation. It would be bad for Subaru to stray from his commitment and sour her mood. He scratched his head and sank into thought.
“Hey, hey, miss, miss. I wanna eat more of what I just had. Pleaaaase?”
“Sure, eat all you like. Ah, don’t make your mouth messy with the sauce. We don’t want that adorable face gettin’ dirty, do we? Well, that’s kinda cute, too.”
“Wipe it for me! Rub, rub! Yay! I’ll be back!”
Once Anastasia cleaned up her face, Mimi flew over to a shop worker in very high spirits. Subaru did a double take as he watched the tiny girl.
“Earlier, you said that runt is second-in-command?”
“What? You’re asking about Mimi and not me? You swing that way, Natsuki? Is it because you have a thing for kitty ears? That’s why you’re tryin’ to get close to my girl?”
“I don’t have any weird fetishes like that. In the first place, if I were into that…”
Subaru clenched his teeth as he recalled the image of a cat-haired knight at that mansion full of know-nothings.
“Anyway, no. It simply caught my interest. I think you said something about a private army?”
“For what it’s worth, they’re pretty famous in Kararagi. They’re the Hoshin Company’s own mercenary band, the ‘Iron Fangs.’ I’m their sponsor, so of course I get the privilege of choosin’ the members.”
Anastasia spoke while shifting her gaze to Mimi, who looked absentminded all the while.
“She’s suuuuper cute, isn’t she? She’s so much fun to hug and go to sleep with, you know?”
“It’s my turn to ask if you ‘swing that way,’ geez. You’re not telling me you twisted arms to get someone like that in as second-in-command, are you?”
“No need to worry; it’s fine. I told ya, didn’t I? That girl’s the number two of the Iron Fangs all right, and she has skills worthy of deputy captain. That’s why I can st
roll around the capital with only her.”
Sensing absolute trust in Anastasia’s comments, Subaru observed Mimi’s back once again. She really didn’t look strong at all. But her master’s words were convincing all the same. A candidate for the royal selection would never walk around with a lone bodyguard if that person wasn’t capable.
“Ah, just to get this out, I won’t talk in detail about the members, okay? I’m not generous enough to put all my cards on the table. In fact, I’m pretty confident it’s a bad idea.”
“Well, that doesn’t make you sound as confident at all…”
Though she’d blunted any effort to poke deeper, Subaru engraved the name of the Iron Fangs into the back of his brain as one more potential threat. If he and Anastasia became overt enemies at some point, it would be yet one more wall to overcome.
“Natsuki, your brow is too wrinkled. You look like you’re glaring.”
“Hey, I was born with this face, okay? No need to go picking at a guy’s complexes.”
“Complex? Mm, that’s fine. That said, you mentioned your birth, but where were you born, Natsuki? We don’t see black hair very often around these parts, and your outfit stands out, too.”
“I was born in Japan on Earth, and this is a tracksuit, probably the only one in the world.”
It was a strange topic. His honest answer sounded like he was dodging the question entirely. Sure enough, it made Anastasia pout; her face clouded.
“Japan of Earth. Never heard of it. But…where is that?”
“Past the Grand Cascade. Far to the east, and then farther east past that is Zipang.”
“The Grand Cascade…”
Subaru gave a flippant answer, expecting her to burst into laughter, but Anastasia sank into thought. Subaru raised an eyebrow at her completely unexpected reaction.
“You’re not gonna laugh? Reinhard thought it was pretty stupid…”
“Mm. Well, you see, once in a very great while, you hear about people who hail from beyond the Grand Cascade. I never expected for you to claim your homeland is there, though.”
“What, there’s other jokers besides me? Famous people even?”
ReZERO_Starting Life in Another World Vol. 6 Page 6
