5
The first thing the masked man said after hearing everything was scathing.
“You have blundered terribly.”
Subaru had answered all of the man’s questions, explaining what had happened with Rem simply and carefully—while leaving out some of the more complicated bits.
He’d mentioned how Rem’s memory was messed up, and that she had knocked him out and fled. And that there was a dangerous young girl with her.
“I know. I’m a big idiot. But that’s not all you’ve got to say, yeah? I showed you all my dirty laundry, so you’re not just gonna have a laugh and call it a day, right?”
“Fool. You think I would spend my own precious time ridiculing a clown like you? This girl, is she reasonably intelligent?”
“Yeah, you could say that.”
Overwhelmed by the masked man’s aura, Subaru answered honestly.
Rem showed her skills in all sorts of everyday situations as a maid, but being good at chores didn’t necessarily make her intelligent.
That came from her uncanny ability to discover people’s talents, positioning people in the right place at the right time and knowing when to act. In combat, she could read Subaru’s actions and coordinate perfectly with him without saying a word.
Rem was clever. Even if she’d lost her memories…
“In that case, it is likely she has beguiled you.”
“B-beguiled? You mean she tricked me? What do you…?”
“In this sort of situation, it is not an issue of memory. What matters is whether this girl is aware she is being chased, and whether she has the skill to analyze her pursuer. For example…”
The masked man’s eyes looked Subaru up and down. Subaru’s shoulders hunched a bit; he felt attacked for his lack of foresight.
And watching him, the masked man’s eyes narrowed.
“For example, leaving tracks in the meadow intentionally in order to disguise the direction in which she fled.”
“ ”
“After being knocked unconscious, you were undoubtedly flustered upon awaking. When under pressure to find someone right away, how would most people react to seeing obvious tracks?”
They would run off like a bloodhound chasing a scent.
That was both the implicit answer in the masked man’s mocking gaze, and what had in fact actually happened. Of course, it was possible to tell him he was wrong, but…
“…True, I couldn’t find any tracks as soon as I entered the jungle. But I assumed it was just the poor footing…”
“Not averting your eyes from an inconvenient truth?”
“Me being an idiot isn’t some big new discovery for me. My redeeming qualities are my flexibility and resolve—is what me and the other me concluded.”
That wasn’t an answer that would make sense to anyone else, but that was how Subaru answered anyway.
The masked man’s theory made perfect sense. When Subaru thought about it, the tracks in the meadow had been too obvious. Some wild foxes and rabbits would also intentionally leave tracks and then leap into tall grass to confuse predators.
If the tracks Rem had left in the grass were the same—a cunning trap to trick Subaru—then…
“She sent me off on a wild-goose chase to buy time to escape…”
“In such cases, most people would choose to escape in the exact opposite direction. From a psychological perspective, choosing the direction that puts you farthest away from a pursuer is logical. Do you understand?”
“…It’s aggravating, but I get it. Damn it, Rem!”
The masked man was right. If she had left those tracks to lure him away, then she’d most likely gone in the other direction. Assuming that was where she was headed, he still had a chance to catch up with her if he went to the other side of the meadow.
Though this is really making me feel like the bad guy…
“Whether it’s my face or body odor or whatever, I’m used to leaving a bad first impression. I’m gonna catch you!”
“Quite the spirited response. Here, take this.”
“Whoa?!”
Subaru stood up and was about to rush off because he couldn’t stand hanging around any longer, when the masked man tossed him something he’d fished out of his bag.
Catching it on reflex, Subaru looked down to see a small knife in a leather sheath.
His eyes widened, and the masked man simply shrugged.
“This is not a place to challenge with a single whip. Use it well.”
“I’m definitely grateful and all, but…you sure? I can’t give you anything in return.”
“It matters not. On occasion, even I feel like a spot of charity. Or would you like to try to steal all of my baggage with that knife?”
It was clearly a joke, but he had given Subaru the opportunity to do just that.
The masked man possessed a certain amount of skill, but not so much that the outcome of a fight with Subaru would be a foregone conclusion. In that sense, this could almost have been called a gamble.
However…
“My name is Subaru Natsuki. There’s no denying I owe you one for this, and I repay my debts. I won’t forget this.”
Fastening the knife to his waist, Subaru bowed deeply. The masked man simply snorted.
“The path has been set. You may proceed. Use every means at your disposal and win back the girl’s trust.”
“That’s exactly what I’m gonna do. Thanks! Oh, right—almost forgot.”
“What?”
Having waved his hand in gratitude, Subaru was about to run into the forest, but then stopped short. The masked man’s question sounded exasperated, but then Subaru pointed at the forest in front of him.
“I’m going this way to get back to the meadow I was in before, but I wouldn’t recommend you go in there. There’s a scary hunter somewhere in there. They’ll nail you from a distance with a bow, and I don’t think any number of lives would be enough to survive. If you’re planning on moving, I’d go around it if you can.”
“…I see. I shall keep that in mind.”
“Yeah, please do. See you later!”
With that, Subaru had avoided the situation of his benefactor getting done in by the hunter. That would have left a bad taste in his mouth.
Subaru rushed into the forest and sprinted at full speed back to the clearing he had originally been in.
“This is nice and sharp!”
Fortunately, it was not too much effort to get back there. The knife from the masked man was sharp, and it was a lot of help in clearing away the leaves and branches in his way.
A knife this size seemed like it would be quick to chip depending on how it was used, but Subaru didn’t notice any issues. If anything, it felt like a quality piece of work.
“It looked like he had some pretty expensive stuff on him. I wonder who he was…?”
Still mystified about that, Subaru hurriedly made his way back to the meadow. And from there, he searched for the spot where he had woken up, and…
“…Found it. This is the real deal.”
He’d found some irregular tracks leading in the opposite direction of the original set of tracks. Rem had done as much as she could to erase them, but even if she got rid of her own, she couldn’t fully hide Louis’s.
Given the effort it looked like it had taken to cover them, there was no way these were also a trick.
Meaning…
“I’m finally on your tail, Rem…!”
Just as he had noticed before, his words made him sound just like a villain, even as he continued to follow the tracks that would give him a chance to make a second impression. As before, the tracks continued to the entrance of the rainforest, but there was no hiding the footprints in the mud or the broken branches.
“I found it! With this…”
I can catch up with Rem.
Boldly moving forward, Subaru followed the footsteps in the mud, and—
“—Huh?”
Being fully focused on tracking her, he didn’t notice until it was too late. A tied vine snapped beneath his foot. The branch it had been holding in place snapped back with incredible force, slamming into Subaru’s side.
“Gehh?!”
Swiped by a branch as thick as his arm, Subaru went flying. Rolling across the muddy ground with a cough, he struggled to get back up after the impact.
The unexpected attack made his eyes and head spin like a patrol car’s flashing lights from the shock and the pain.
“W-was that…”
After a short while, the pain subsided, and he finally stood up. Subaru could still feel it in his legs, and he could tell he’d been hit hard in his side.
But more importantly…
“A trap?”
Though she was escaping, Rem wasn’t content to just run away.
Even without her memories, she still did everything she could, with all her might. That was what made her so fearsome.
And Subaru Natsuki finally realized something.
—This was the start of his second serious fight with Rem since coming to this world.
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