4
The man’s appearance was truly strange.
He was a bit taller than Subaru and seemed slender. He had long, lithe arms and legs, and he held a narrow saber in his hand, the one that had been at Subaru’s neck just a moment ago.
He was wearing clothes that gave him the air of a high noble, which was even more out of place for a walk in the woods than Subaru’s outfit. Looking closely, the rags wrapped around his face must have been part of his cloak originally.
It was unclear whether he had bandaged an injury or simply had a pressing reason to hide his identity, but…
“What is that imbecilic expression?”
“Imbecilic or not, people are born looking how they do, so isn’t that slander…? Plus, how could anyone help it when you look like that?”
“How dare you! Your eyes have almost convinced me that I should suspect you of being an assassin again.”
“Don’t decide people’s jobs from looking at their eyes! And my role is the exact opposite of an assassin. I’m not an attacker. If anything, I’m a protector.”
The masked man was watching him carefully, still on guard, with his sword pointed at Subaru.
While delivering this dubious answer, Subaru looked at the man’s equipment and then at the bag placed behind him and furrowed his brow. The man didn’t look prepared for camping and traveling in the jungle. And the bag behind him—it looked like it had appeared out of nowhere, just like the masked man.
Finally, there was the masked man’s weapon. It was obvious he did not have a bow or arrows.
“…I guess you aren’t the hunter.”
“Hunter?”
“Just talking to myself. Incidentally, though… You wouldn’t happen to be able to teleport or make yourself invisible, would you?”
“Oh?”
The eyes peering through the man’s mask lit up at that question.
It wasn’t a sign of anger or him giving up on Subaru, though. His interest had been sparked.
“How did you come to such a conclusion? Speak your reason.”
“…I was cautious in approaching this place. Of course, I know there are plenty of people who can move undetected around me, but you aren’t one of them.”
“Why not?”
“I hope it won’t annoy you if I say this, but I’ve had a lot of opportunities to stumble across powerful people or what you might call superhumans. And compared to those guys who casually defy common sense, the feeling I get from you is…well, normal.”
That sort of comment would definitely anger a warrior of a certain level. But Subaru was simply being honest about his impression of the stranger. The air about the man in front of him convinced Subaru that he knew his way around a sword, but only to the degree of a normal person who had a normal amount of training.
Compared to Reinhard, Garfiel, Wilhelm, and Julius, there wasn’t much to say except that he was clearly inferior to them.
“That’s why I ruled out you maneuvering behind me before I even noticed. Which leaves only teleporting behind me, or else…”
“Using concealment to make myself invisible. I see.”
“Ngh?!”
The man standing in front of Subaru suddenly disappeared.
But that wasn’t the only surprise.
“You disappeared…but you’re still in front of me?”
“Correct. Concealment does not hide my presence.”
To answer Subaru’s question, the masked man appeared again, exactly as he’d been before.
He hadn’t gone anywhere; he had just become invisible. And he’d returned the moment he answered Subaru’s question.
“So it comes undone when someone touches you or notices you?”
“It is still the perfect tool for waiting quietly and hiding,” the man said, before lowering his sword and nodding toward the campsite. “The bed is a lure. I was lying in wait further away. I saw you sneaking around from the beginning. A ridiculous sight.”
“If you see someone being all cautious, of course they’ll look silly… But forget that! If you’re lowering your sword, that means…”
“You are not pursuing me. I know not why you are here or what your intentions are, but you are genuinely lost. In which case, I have no reason to loudly rebuke you or teach you a lesson with my blade.”
Once he’d concluded they had no reason to fight, the masked man sheathed his sword.
Only now did Subaru finally let the tension drain from his body. And in the process, he remembered his original goal.
“This isn’t the time for me to relax. Hey, sorry for asking more questions, but have you seen a blue-haired girl, by any chance? We got separated around here.”
“Blue hair? No, not that I’ve seen. Indeed, yours is the first face I have seen since coming to this place. What are you going to do about that?”
“Nothing! Nothing, but…another swing and a miss? Hey, you wouldn’t happen to be willing to help out with my search, would you…?”
“ ”
“Yeah, I figured.”
No more information was forthcoming, and his request for help had been batted aside.
Under the man’s cold gaze, Subaru turned back to the forest to begin his search for Rem again.
“Wait. If you were separated in the rainforest, then you will not simply stumble across each other again. Do you not think it would be better to prioritize your own survival?”
“…Sorry, but I can’t do that. She’s more precious than my life. I have to find her, have to bring her back no matter what.”
“More precious… To hear that not in the song of a songstress but from the lips of a man, I can only assume those are empty words.”
Subaru’s eyes gleamed. The man seemed to be scoffing at his recklessness.
“And yet your eyes are intriguing,” the man said, pointing at him.
Subaru recoiled, initially afraid he might get his eye poked out, only for the masked man to chuckle.
“Those eyes speak no falsehoods or lies. I do not know if your life truly hung in the balance, but at least here and now, you speak without deceit.”
“In that case… Actually, what does that mean? If what I’m saying is true, then—”
“—Then I am mildly intrigued. I will lend you my knowledge.”
The masked man tapped his temple.
Subaru wanted to yell at the man to quit messing around, but the words never left his mouth.
For some strange reason, he didn’t doubt the man. He was beyond suspicious, but there was a persuasiveness to him. His natural charisma, perhaps.
“Tell me the details of what happened. I shall devise a way to search for her.”
“…She and I were suddenly sent here.”
Without even realizing it, Subaru had started answering the man.
It wasn’t as if he suddenly believed the masked man or trusted him. But any port in a storm, as they say. In moments like this, no matter how untrustworthy someone might be, it was natural to want to cling to something.
That was probably all it was.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login