Outbreak Company: Volume 12

by Ichiro Sakaki

  Suddenly I stopped. There it was again. That stiffness, passing over Rubert’s face for an instant. That look, along with the weird prickling I’d felt earlier, made me pretty sure: it was contempt. Disgust toward demi-humans.

  Zwelberich had very advanced magic, but also what you might call a human supremacist culture. Humans stood at the top of the social hierarchy, and demi-humans like elves and dwarves were subject to discrimination or worse. It’s not like Eldant was completely free of discrimination toward demi-humans, but it sounds like it was way worse in Zwelberich.

  I thought back to how shocked Myusel and Brooke had seemed the first time I had explained that I wanted to eat at the same table with them. If that was how things were here, I could only imagine what it was like to be a demi-human in Zwelberich. Maybe it made Prince Rubert’s hair stand on end to think someone would live under the same roof as a half-elf or lizardman. Apparently it was so repugnant to him that it caused his perfect mask to slip for a bare instant.

  After the slightest beat, Rubert said, “It sounds very lively. What a pleasure.” The tension was already gone from his face. This prince seemed to have more self-control than even Minori-san. In the Eldant Empire, there were elves and dwarves in positions of power, even if not very many, and Rubert knew better than to allow any of his distaste for them to show through.

  When I looked closely, I realized that all his attendants, as well as all the knights and maids around him, where human. The attendants were one thing, but the fact that there wasn’t a demi-human even among the maids must have been a deliberate act of consideration on the part of Petralka and her aides.

  “A society consisting entirely of humans... Wonderful indeed.”

  I thought of what Rubert had said a moment earlier. He had praised the fact that our world had no demi-humans—as if to say he didn’t need them in his own. If this was how an ambassador acted in a foreign state, I could only imagine how he behaved in Zwelberich, where he wasn’t expected to so much as pay lip service to demi-human dignity.

  In my own world, there were plenty of cases of humans starting wars with other humans over differences in religion or language. Sometimes large groups of people from other tribes, or nations, or religions were gathered up and attacked or expelled. And those were fellow human beings. Just think what would happen if the people in question literally belonged to another species.

  If the dominant worldview in Zwelberich were to spread to Eldant, the local demi-humans would find themselves in a storm of persecution far worse than anything they were experiencing now. At worst, we might even end up with a war between humans and demi-humans, or some kind of genocide—the mass killing of demi-humans. It was all too clear why people like Eric-san and Rydel-san would be worried about a marriage between Petralka and Prince Rubert.

  There was an awkward moment of silence as the conversation came to a halt. All of us around the table sipped from our teacups or admired the neatly arranged snacks.

  Then, pale fingers extended. Two hands just happened to reach for the same snack, and met in the middle, brushing against each other.

  One of the hands belonged to Prince Rubert. The other, to Garius.

  Garius pulled his hand back almost as if he had been burned, but Rubert, for his part, only narrowed his eyes in a pained smile. Garius seemed to be barely keeping himself together, but Rubert looked completely composed. Maybe he had deliberately reached for the same snack as Garius, knowing this would happen.

  The two of them seemed to be enveloped in a space all their own. There was tension, yes, but no shadow of hostility or contempt. What’s this...? I could practically see the rose petals dancing through the air behind them, but... that was my imagination, right? It had to be. Because the alternative would be frightening.

  Suddenly, I felt a rush of sympathy for Petralka, sitting between the two men. If I had been in her place, surrounded on all sides by their little moment, I probably would have been writhing with discomfort. But Petralka looked on calmly as if nothing was happening.

  Bam. Bam bam bam bam.

  I looked back at five quick rapping sounds, to find Minori-san down on all fours, pounding her fists against the floor. Ahh. The atmosphere had fired the BL flames within her, and she was struggling to contain them. At least it was her fists she was slamming against the ground, and not her head. That seemed significantly less lethal. But I was still kind of worried about the terrace tiles...

  Petralka, Garius, and Prince Rubert had all noticed Minori-san’s behavior, too, and were regarding her with perplexity. This was bad, I figured, in a number of ways.

  “Hikaru-san, what do we do?” I whispered.

  “Let me handle it,” he whispered back, and then snapped his fingers. Loek and Romilda, who had been waiting behind him as if for exactly this moment, rushed over to Minori-san.

  “P-Pardon me, Minori-sensei,” Loek said, pinning her arms behind her and pulling her to her feet. That was when I finally understood why Hikaru-san had brought them along. They were going to play the part Elvia had not long ago. Loek wasn’t exactly a bodybuilder, but together with Romilda, who was so much stronger than she looked, the two of them would be able to overpower Minori-san if the need arose. There was just one little problem...

  “Ahh...” Loek, still holding Minori-san’s arms, didn’t move. Wait... he was gazing into the sky with tears streaming down his face.

  “T-To think that the day would come when I would be so... so close to Minori-sensei! I am—ahh! I am truly—!”

  “Cut the creepiness and let’s go!” Romilda, apparently worried Loek would stand there forever, stepped hard on his foot.

  “Hrrgh?!” Loek let go of Minori-san, crouching over his wounded foot. Romilda may have been small, but she was a dwarf. She probably had more muscle than I did, and was certainly stronger. Not to mention that dwarven footwear was equivalent to what we would have called steel-toed work boots. So getting stepped on by a dwarf was a little bit like putting your foot in a steel press.

  “Wh-What’s wrong with you?!” Loek wailed. I did feel bad for him.

  “I said, cut it out!” Romilda exclaimed, then grabbed Loek and Minori-san both by the scruff of the neck, one with each hand, and dragged them away. Wow. Go dwarves. They might not have had the reflexes of a werewolf, but for sheer strength, there was probably no one stronger in the whole Eldant Empire.

  In any event, that was three fewer people on the terrace.

  “It seems Minori-san isn’t feeling well,” Hikaru-san said smoothly. “Those two will see to it that she gets some rest.”

  I didn’t think anyone was going to be fooled by that excuse, but he delivered it so confidently that nobody was quite willing to contradict him. And then he segued neatly into the next part of the conversation: “By the way, Your Highness Rubert. You recently proposed marriage to Her Majesty. Might I ask which aspects of the empress you find most attractive?”

  There was a beat, in which Rubert blinked and looked at Hikaru-san with a slight widening of the eyes. He probably hadn’t expected that particular question, and certainly not from a rank outsider like an Amutech employee. Nonetheless, though, his smile quickly came back. “What I find attractive about her? Well, it must be said that real marriages so frequently have but little to do with the preferences or feelings of those involved.”

  “Gracious. You mean your proposal was purely political? That you don’t love Her Majesty at all?” Hikaru-san feigned surprised. Geez! Talk about provocative. I was starting to break out in a cold sweat, and I was only watching. He was dancing with infuriating Prince Rubert, wasn’t he?

  “Now, now, don’t be hasty. Political it may be, but it is politics that now allows me to join myself to the unparalleled beauty that is Her Majesty. A happier chance I can scarcely imagine.” He sounded so smooth. This was courtship. “For I’ve never known a woman more beautiful. If it were only the composed cast of her features, well, perhaps some other fair lady might offer the same. But the nobility of he
r bearing and the radiance of her wisdom make Her Majesty a rare creature indeed. Her lustrous silver hair—to see it is to wish one could take it in one’s hands in sweet caress. But even her shimmering tresses pale before the splendor of her eyes, green emeralds lit from within by the effulgence of her spirit. That is what I find most attractive about Her Majesty.”

  Okay, so I was pretty impressed that he could say all that at the drop of a hat... and with a straight face. I noticed Petralka’s chest puff out a little, pleased to be showered with compliments, even if they did seem a little over the top. And then I thought she glanced in my direction.

  Huh? What?

  I blinked, not understanding the meaning of her look, at which point Petralka frowned and turned away. Was she... mad?

  “Have I convinced you that my affections are more than mere talk?” Rubert asked.

  “I daresay you have,” Hikaru-san said. “Please pardon my most impudent question.” They were both smiling at each other.

  I watched them—and felt something nag at me. I totally agreed that Petralka’s hair was beautiful. And her eyes were definitely like jewels, clear and piercing; when she looked right at me, it always made my heart pound. The way she picked up Japanese in a flash, and the simple fact that she dealt with being empress at her age, both showed how smart she was.

  But... how could I put this? If I had been in Prince Rubert’s place, I don’t think “beautiful” is the word I would have chosen to express what was great about Petralka. The Petralka I knew was outgoing, kind of boyish, selfish sometimes, and totally committed to everything she did. She was the cutest girl I knew. If you pressed me, I might even have called her lovely... Wouldn’t those be better things to compliment?

  Or was this just a case of the interpreter rings not catching the nuance of what Rubert was saying? For that matter, did Rubert know how sensitive Petralka was about her youthful looks? Was he just being considerate?

  Or one more possibility: was I overthinking everything?

  But then, as I finally wrenched my gaze away from Petralka...

  “Oh...”

  There they were. Silver hair and emerald eyes of unparalleled beauty.

  That was it: the hair, the eyes. They weren’t those of Petralka. They had to belong to someone else. Someone else who was sitting right here, someone who could never be described as “cute” or “lovely,” but only as truly beautiful.

  Garius en Cordobal.

  I realized he was looking at Rubert, and when I glanced over, I saw that Rubert was looking at him, too.

  The knight, Garius, and the prince, Rubert. Exchanging a single, brief glance. But that made it all the more meaningful, all the more important that I noticed it.

  Just a second...

  Maybe all the stuff Rubert had just said—maybe he wasn’t really talking about Petralka at all, but about Garius. No, there was no maybe about it. That had to be it. Garius being Garius, he was completely expressionless, but there was a faint flush of what might have been embarrassment on his cheeks. He had the same pale skin as Petralka, so a blush stood out pretty obviously.

  Hmmm. I was starting to get a sense of what was going on here. I looked back at Petralka, who was just reaching out for one of the snacks. Maybe it was one of her favorites, because there was an innocent joy on her face; it really was adorable. When she noticed me looking at her, though, she quickly drew her hand back and frowned again, then put on a prim and proper expression before reaching delicately for the snack. It definitely looked appropriate for an empress, but to me it was all too obvious that she was putting on an act.

  Petralka had lost her parents to a political struggle at a very young age. She’d had to force herself to grow quickly into the role of empress. I knew what a heavy burden she was under—and so it stung to see her forcing herself to act grown-up.

  Silently, I looked back at Prince Rubert. Honestly, he really was a good-looking guy. Nothing to complain about. He was relaxed, gentle, like a prince from some storybook. His whole... I don’t know. Vibe? Aura? Whatever it was, it seemed worlds apart from a son of the common folk like myself. Rubert was more than qualified to be the husband of an empress. He was literally born to it.

  And yet even still, I couldn’t forget the look of disgust that had passed over his face for an instant a little while ago. It was all the more startling because he was so beautiful. Because he looked so kind. And maybe he really was. But I had to guess that kindness didn’t extend to demi-humans.

  What’s more, I assumed he didn’t know the real Petralka. He only knew her as an empress. Did he know the way she puffed out her cheeks like a little kid when she got angry? The innocent sparkle in her eyes when she discovered something new and delightful? The way the simplest thing could bring a great big shining smile to her face? I bet he didn’t.

  Yes, I had gotten myself socked by saying something totally rude the very first time I met Petralka—but on reflection, maybe that moment was what had allowed me to see past the imperial mask she wore.

  Anyway, Prince Rubert may have proposed to Petralka, but I got the feeling he didn’t see her as an individual, a young woman with her own feelings and goals and desires. Even if he really meant all that stuff he’d said earlier for Petralka, and I doubted it, almost anyone who was a smooth enough talker could have come up with that just by looking at the empress. It was almost a social nicety.

  That was a political marriage for you. Obviously, I wasn’t going to sit here and say that every match had to be 100% love, but in my own humble opinion, being married to someone who saw you for your political position more than as a human being... I couldn’t imagine Petralka could ever be truly happy that way.

  And so I finally said: “I disagree. I don’t think those are Petralka’s best features.”

  A collection of startled gazes settled on me. Prince Rubert, of course, and also Hikaru-san, but even Petralka was looking at me with wide eyes.

  “Shinichi...?” she asked.

  This wasn’t just about what Eric-san and Rydel-san and Matoba-san had all asked me to do. I, me personally, didn’t believe in Petralka’s getting married to Prince Rubert. I objected.

  “Listen to me. I think Petralka’s best feature...” The empress turned an expectant gaze upon me, whereupon I nodded emphatically and clenched a fist to underscore my point. “...is what a total loli she is, obviously!”

  “............Huh?” Petralka said finally.

  Hikaru-san and Garius sat frozen, transfixed as if by an onrushing avalanche, but I didn’t so much care about their reactions. Instead I stared straight at the wide-eyed Prince Rubert and went on without a pause: “Especially that chest! Smooth as you like! The smaller the boobs, the bigger the deal! And it’s not just the bust! It’s how even at seventeen, she looks like she could pass for an elementary-schooler! What rare quality! Do you hear me? Do you understand? She’s a legal loli! Under Japanese law, you can get married at sixteen, get it?! And we’re talking about someone who legitimately goes around using the royal ‘we’! It’s like they took every moe ingredient they could find and threw it all together in one girl! Unbelievable!! Petralka-san is truly an angel!”

  To conclude my speech I pounded the table, breathing hard. I could see Hikaru-san with his head in his hands, but that didn’t matter to me now.

  “Shiiiniiiichiiii!” Petralka was glaring at me with a face that would have frightened a demon. The next second, there was a crash as her chair tipped over, and she rushed around the table at me. “Who do you think you are calling a loliiiiii!”

  That adorable, pale fist connected with my face.

  “Gurf!”

  Petralka attacks! Shinichi fainted!

  “Who is smooth?!”

  Still not satisfied, Petralka jumped on top of me, grabbed me by the collar, and began shaking me violently.

  Oof! That’s surprisingly effective...

  “We will be damned if you ever, ever learn to measure your pronouncements and not say whatever comes into
your foolish head!”

  “Oof! No! I really—I just wanted—Prince Rubert to know—the best—thing about you!”

  “‘The bigger the deal,’ indeed!”

  “I swear it’s true!”

  “And when we know you are always looking at Myusel, or Minori, or Elvia!”

  “I told you—big is good—but small—small is great!”

  “Then you should pay more—”

  “More what?”

  “More nothing! Silence!” Petralka finally let go of me, but she threw in a headbutt for good measure. I lay there sandwiched between her and the floor, groaning with pain.

  I could hear Hikaru-san sigh somewhere above me, out of patience. “What are you doing, Shinichi-san?”

  “Me? I’m just trying to communicate what’s best about Petralka... in my own way...”

  “Best, hmph! You are the most impudent, most insolent person, Shinichi!” Petralka finally moved away from me, turning to a wide-eyed Rubert. “This Shinichi has been a study in effrontery since the moment we met. His first words to me were, ‘IS THAT REALLY AN ARCHETYPAL LITTLE GIRL CHARACTER?!’ What fool bursts out with such a thing to an empress?!”

  Was it my imagination, or—despite her tirade—was there a hint of merriment in Petralka’s expression? She stomped and fumed, but I could see Garius shrug with a wan smile, as if to say, “They’re always like this.”

  About half an hour later, the little tea party ended. We left the terrace and headed down a hallway, where we joined up with Loek’s and Romilda’s fathers, who had been waiting for us. We went to a side room the men had reserved for us, where we intended to debrief about the progress we were making. Minori-san, Loek, and Romilda were already in the room when we got there.

  “Sorry Loek, sorry Romilda,” I said to the elf and dwarf who had helped remove my berserk bodyguard. “Thanks for your help.”

  “Don’t mention it! I’m always happy to help you, Sensei!” Romilda beamed at me. She might like to pick a fight with Loek now and again, but she really was a good kid at heart.