Baccano! - Volume 11 - Chapter 3.5

Interlude III The Girl’s Conflict

The Boroñal mansion Dining room

“How are you today, Miss Niki?”

“Huh? U-um…”

Esperanza had wandered in from parts unknown in high spirits, and he spoke to the girl sitting all alone in the dining room.

She’d arrived here after being informed it was time for lunch, but the other servants were still working, so the guest had ended up being the first one there.

The starter soup in front of her was veal shank stewed in chicken bouillon, spiced with saffron and nutmeg. Its unassuming savoriness had a kick to it that whetted the appetite, and the aroma was enough to make her hungry all by itself.

“Oh, no, don’t trouble yourself on my account! Last night, you said you had no appetite and had nothing to eat, so you must be famished now. Go on—try the soup first,” he urged, his large eyes twinkling.

“Um… In that case, I will. Thank you…,” she murmured, sounding apologetic.

The girl dipped her spoon into the dish with an unpracticed hand.

At the first bite, a pleasant heat and a jolt of spice spread through her mouth, while the simple, savory flavor of chicken followed, soothing her tongue. Her eyes widened. It was like nothing she’d ever tasted before. Before she was aware of it, she’d scooped up a second spoonful.

After two or three more, she finally found the right words. Swallowing down a mouthful of soup, she turned to Esperanza. “It…it’s delicious!”

“Excellent!”

Esperanza seemed genuinely happy, and he broke into a smile that was oddly childlike for an adult.

When she saw it, Niki automatically relaxed. She didn’t like dealing with aristocrats, and this man was dressed more bizarrely than most of them—but at the very least, he didn’t seem like a bad person, she thought.

Niki brought her spoon to her lips again.

“Yes, Elmer bolted right out the window the moment he saw it.”

“Did he really…? Elmer? Right out the window…”

After lunch, Niki had nothing in particular to do, so she was conversing quietly with Esperanza.

They weren’t talking about anything important, but right in the middle of the conversation, she felt a sudden pain in her cheek and pressed her hand to the bruise.

“! Are you all right, young lady?!”

“Y-yes, I was injured yesterday, and it just started hurting a little,” she replied.

Esperanza’s eyes narrowed. Even though he knew it was rude, he asked about the wound on her face.

“You have a bruise… Someone really did hit you, then?”

“Huh?!”

“They did, didn’t they?”

Unlike a moment ago, Esperanza’s round, strigine eyes narrowed to half-moons, and his voice grew low and sharp.

Overwhelmed by the dreadfully abrupt change, Niki accidentally told him the truth. “Um, I… I made a mistake at work, and…the foreman at my work site did it.”

“His name?”

“Huh?”

“I intend to challenge that man to a duel,” he said, beginning to rise.

Niki hastily waved her hands. “N-no, please don’t!”

“I will never condone hitting a woman for any reason. Even if I did, I would forgive no more than a parent striking their child with an open hand for disciplinary purposes.”

“…!”

“Miss Niki, that bruise of yours was most likely caused by a fist, and you say the man was not your father. I am under no obligation to allow it!”

Esperanza seemed ready to actually storm into the market, saber in hand. Niki felt she had to do something, and she told a lie she didn’t mean.

“H-he’s like a father to me! I—! Um, I don’t have a father or mother, so…! My boss is important to me!”

“…”

At that, Esperanza wilted as quickly as a deflating balloon and calmly resumed his seat.

“Do forgive my unseemly behavior.”

“I-it’s all right…”

“However, if anything truly pains you, I hope you’ll tell me,” he said with a reassuring smile.

His great eyes were a little frightening, but when he smiled, they had a certain charm.

Somehow…ever since yesterday, it feels as if I’ve been having a very long dream.

Quietly looking down, the girl opened her mouth, preparing to tell him something.

She wanted to talk much, much more with all of them: this aristocrat, and Elmer, and—if possible—the boy and girl who’d rescued her the previous day.

Just as she made her wish—a guest appeared in the dining room to shatter her dream.

* * *

“Lord Esperanza! I’ve found you at last.”

“May I remind the chief of police to remember his manners.”

The instant he heard the man’s deep voice, Esperanza’s mood turned sour.

The man who had entered the mansion without so much as a greeting was Larolf, the chief of police who’d stopped by to introduce himself just the other day.

When Niki saw the man in the city police uniform, she stiffened.

“Do you bring an urgent report of some kind? If not, don’t even bother saying so; just go,” the lord grumbled. It was nothing like how he treated women.

However, Larolf shook his head quietly. “The Mask Maker has a new victim.”

“!”

Niki froze at the revelation.

Without noticing this, the chief and the noble continued their conversation alone.

“…Another?”

“Y-yes, but don’t worry, my lord. The new victim is male, and…so…gahk!”

No sooner had he spoken than Esperanza grabbed the police chief’s face.

“Listen to me. I think you may have the wrong idea about something. I know you do.”

“Mrgh…”

“That male victim’s death may have made a woman sad. How am I supposed to ‘not worry’ about the fact that a woman somewhere beyond my ken may be grieving? Also, personal feelings aside, I am the lord of this town. Do you think I can ‘not worry’ when a new victim has surfaced?”

“Yrgh… Yourgwuh-gwuh-gwuh… You’re quite right, my lord…,” the police chief desperately agreed through the gaps between the fingers squeezing him.

Glancing over the chief’s shoulder, Esperanza saw that Niki was shaking, and he immediately let go.

“Curses, what a sordid thing to make a lady witness!”

“Koff…! I’m saved… Hmm?”

The police chief looked at the girl who had been his savior—then frowned. “Why are you here?” he murmured.

“Hmm?” Esperanza asked, mystified. “Is she an acquaintance of yours?”

“Erm, yes, well…”

Ignoring the faltering chief, Niki’s lips trembled—“Ah, aaah…”—and then she leaped to her feet and bolted from the dining room.

The lord watched her go with his mouth hanging open. Then he ground his teeth and hauled the police chief up by his shirtfront.

“Why, you… What did you do to her?”

“N-nothing! It’s a misunderstanding! She’s just…”

“Just what?”

“She only… The other day, she said she saw the Mask Maker…”

The chief’s words left Esperanza speechless for a moment.

“A-and since she’s not here now, this is a good opportunity to tell you…

“The boy who’s just been killed is the one who saw the Mask Maker…right before she did.”

“…That’s right.”

The girl murmured to herself without really thinking. She had returned to the bedroom she’d been shown to the previous night.

“I mustn’t run away.”

As she said the words, she thought about what they meant.

The meaning of the fate that had been given to her.

The significance of having seen the Mask Maker.

She wasn’t afraid of dying—quite the contrary. If it let her escape this painful reality, she’d give anything to do it, she’d thought.

Except, except—over these past two days, a variety of new worlds had opened up before her.

When she ran from the dining room, she came back to this room—where she’d spent only half a day—instead of fleeing outside. She thought about why.

The answer was extremely simple. She hated the outside world, and the town where she’d been raised, that much.

However, starting the day before, she’d been shown a reality straight out of a fantasy. Her eyes had been opened.

“God…why are you so cruel?”

Even if she knew it was just a stroke of luck, even if she knew it was only for a moment, she’d discovered the possibilities. She’d realized that if she lived, her chances of being happy weren’t zero.

“Just when I thought I’d finally be able to die… This is… It’s just… How could you make me want to live just a little longer…? Just a little longer…?!”

As her eyes filled with tears, the mask grew and grew in her mind.

It was as if her dreams, her smiles, her future, and everything else were disappearing beneath its blank, expressionless surface.