17
“We were so worried when we found out you and Liliana were missing, but he kindly told us where you’d be. He said he knew.”
Emilia smiled sheepishly and pointed to a lone young man who was twirling around in circles. It was Liliana’s stalker, Kiritaka, who was supposed to be restrained but instead had gone down on one knee and presented a bouquet (Who knew where he got it?) to Liliana.
“I am Kiritaka, your love slave. For you, my beloved, I would run through fire, swim through oceans, or brave any demon beast’s cave. Ohh, thank heavens you are safe!”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but you didn’t run into the cave, right?”
“Mrrrf! Th-that was only because those young ladies had me tied up outside…” Kiritaka sputtered an excuse as Liliana stared coldly down at him.
Who would have guessed that he of all people would have played a part in solving the crisis?
“The hairpiece he gave to Lady Liliana as a token of his affection is part of a paired metia,” Rem explained. “Apparently, if each person has one of the two, they’ll know where the other is, no matter how far apart they are.”
“So it’s a transmitter.” Subaru snorted. “Nothing screams stalker more than that.”
In part, the man’s obsessive infatuation had saved them. Horrifying.
After Subaru and Liliana were discovered missing, Emilia and the others had immediately launched a search. But it was Kiritaka and Ram who had given them the breakthroughs they needed.
There was a connection between Kiritaka’s metia and Ram’s investigation findings. The pair met up at the secret hideout and then at the cave, where they came upon that life-threatening scene.
“Master Roswaal said that given his cooperation, Kiritaka may be acquitted—provided he agrees never to trouble others with his romantic courtships again. Though from the way he forces his feelings upon Lady Liliana, I don’t see that happening,” Rem explained.
“It pisses me off, but he did save us… I still don’t wanna thank him, though,” Subaru grumbled.
Rem was busy at work healing Subaru’s injuries. But between her close proximity and the soft touch of her hands, Subaru was having a hard time concentrating on the healing.
“But our real problem is those people over there, yes?”
While Subaru smiled sheepishly over Rem’s not so subtle attempts at touching him, Emilia glanced toward the cave. There stood the battered men in white.
The cave was completely buried in dirt, so carrying out the fortune was now impossible. The rowder was the cause of the cave-in. Even if they had disarmed the metia, the outcome would have been the same. In fact, without Subaru and his allies there, the men in white wouldn’t have been able to put down the demon beast. Worst-case scenario, they would have been wiped out. The fact that they were alive now was perhaps cause for some celebration.
“But the reality remains…it’s really hard for them to be grateful they’re alive.”
The bearded man had finally confessed to Subaru why the members of the White Dragon’s Scale needed that money. The home village of the founding members of the White Dragon’s Scale was plagued by an endemic disease. They needed the money to purify the contaminated soil that was the cause of it.
The disease first broke out several years ago, and the infected slowly turned to stone. It was a rare disease, a demonic plague that’d been caused by a demon beast contaminating the soil.
“Traces of a black serpent…sowing disease with wild abandon…,” Emilia muttered bitterly. Subaru felt equally gutted.
The demon beast plague could only be cured by purifying the soil it contaminated. The process required a large number of colorless magic stones, which would cost a fortune to buy.
The men in white had managed to earn that fortune only to have it stolen by a traitor, and their last hope was now buried beneath the rubble.
The mercenaries had family in that village. This was the cause of the desperation and anger burning in the young men’s hearts. And the distant look in the bearded man’s eyes was for his family, who had already passed away.
But it was all too late now. Their hopes were dashed, and there was no way for them to save their community now…
“How about this? I shall take the gentlemen of the White Dragon’s Scale into my service. And as for the contaminated soil, the Muse Company shall provide the necessary funding and materials to purify the land.”
“What?!” With a hysterical shriek, Subaru’s jaw dropped in shock over the proposal coming from the last person he expected.
Emilia, Rem, and the White Dragon’s Scale members in question were similarly stupefied.
Kiritaka gazed up at the sky, twirled his moustache, and said, “Luckily, my Muse Company’s primary product is magic stone. Colorless ones are rather pricey, but it would not be too difficult to gather enough for your needs. Also, my firm is currently seeking extra security to protect our interests, so I believe this is a win-win for everyone.”
“D…d…dude…just how many brownie points are you trying to earn here?”
“If the woman he loves begs for help, helping her is a man’s most cherished desire. And I have many points of sympathy for these men’s circumstances. As they say, mercy goes around and comes around.”
I think that’s supposed to be Those who are kind benefit themselves.
As casual as he was about helping others, Kiritaka currently looked like a messiah. Funny how he’d looked like nothing more than an infatuated idiot at first. (Well, not to say he wasn’t still an idiot.)
But something in Kiritaka’s speech rang a bell in Subaru’s mind.
“Did you ask him to do this, Liliana?”
“……Yes,” Liliana answered meekly, looking down and hugging her lyulyre case. “I felt bad for rejecting them earlier without even hearing them out.”
In the cart, in the cave, when the men desperately threatened her, Liliana had refused to cooperate. But if she felt guilty for that, then Subaru was just as guilty. Besides, even if she had sung and unlocked the metia, the demon beast still had to be dealt with. The cave would have still collapsed, too.
“Chore boy—I had a realization. All my life, I just assumed that as a bard, I would travel the world alone, live alone, sing alone, and die alone. But it shouldn’t be that way. Every time I pass through a place, somebody who hears my songs feels something. And that feeling will never disappear… I’ve realized the world won’t leave me behind.”
“Do you regret not compromising your pride?” Subaru asked.
Liliana looked up and answered, smiling, “I regret not realizing that there are more important things in this world than pride.” She held out the lyulyre for Subaru to admire, fondly caressing the case as she said, “Thank you very much for saving my lyulyre.”
“Sure thing. You owe me.”
“Indeed I do. I’d love to repay you somehow…”
As Liliana looked up at him with doe eyes, Subaru fell into thought. Subaru had risked his life to save something precious to her. His reward would need to be equal to that.
And so Subaru decided.
“Sing for me, Liliana.”
“Huh…?”
“I’m exhausted, and I thought I was gonna die, but everyone survived. All the problems are mostly resolved. So we need a melodramatic credits scene. And you can’t have credits without a song.”
“The muse has spoken. I present you with my new song—‘The Day I Hit My Head, My Last Day as a Sane Person.’”
“Shut up!”
She had slipped an odd remark into her song title, but he had already seen it coming. He’d said risking his life was worth as much as a song. It seemed insane, and it was, but he was fine being insane.
“All right, then. I’ll sing a tune for you—‘The Sky Outstripping the Sunrise.’”
Plucking the strings of her lyulyre, Liliana welcomed the morning sun rising over the distant mountain, bringing with it a new day.
The high chain of notes wove a melody that shook the soul. The introduction melted into the cold morning air. And as the fantasia began, the eyes of the listeners naturally gravitated toward the singer. And then—
—her voice soared high, high into the sky.
A new, busy morning pushed the night away. It was met by the melody and Liliana’s singing voice. The birds harmonized with her, and even the wind seemed to join in.
Before Subaru realized it, unbearable emotions had welled up inside him, escaping as a lone tear rolling down his cheek.
It was the same with Emilia…with Rem…and with Kiritaka, who was writhing on the ground.
And the members of the White Dragon’s Scale who had tried to use her song as a tool to break open the metia also burst into tears when they heard her sing.
That should teach you, Subaru thought. And his message probably reached them.
For a story rife with ridiculous coincidences, a song made for a fittingly ridiculous ending.
Was the shaking of their souls, the hot tears rolling down their cheeks, a fitting match for a risked life?
That question was meaningless—it needed not be asked of anyone there.
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