1.1.6

After Subaru's first friendly interaction in this different world—a pleasant, heartwarming episode—one hour had passed.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Their investigation had stalled.

As Subaru faced the girl's cold stare, he scratched at his face, trying to find a way out.

"Even with all of my experience, I never thought that it would be this difficult…"

"You seem to have a really high opinion of yourself, but I haven't seen anything from you to prove it. No matter how you slice it, things aren't going well!"

"Nobody says, 'no matter how you slice it,' anymore…"

Pointing that out only made things worse, and the girl's stare grew sharper, at which Subaru shrank away.

Even though they had been searching for a little under an hour, for some reason, Subaru and the girl were back in an alley. Of course, there was a really good reason for this. There were several factors Subaru had discovered that made their search difficult.

First, Subaru didn't know his way around town. Given that he had just been summoned from another world, it was hard to blame him for wanting a pass on this one. Additionally, it seemed that the girl was unfamiliar with the area as well, and at least ten minutes were wasted with both having full confidence that the other knew their way around. It was pretty funny, actually, or so Subaru thought. But the way the girl was staring at Subaru, she didn't seem to find it funny at all.

Second, the characters and symbols written here and there…were completely illegible to Subaru. Given that Subaru didn't have any trouble communicating by speech, he hadn't thought all that much about it, but after a second look he saw that all around, here and there were handwritten symbols. Unless they were all some kind of "mystic charms to protect against evil magic" that tended to be popular, those symbols were probably letters for the common language. And because he couldn't understand them, he couldn't even read the road signs.

In other words, while a miracle common in most otherworldly summoning works of fiction is "for some reason our words and writing are mutually understood!", in Subaru's case, only half of that came true. But given that if Subaru hadn't been able to communicate through words he would have been as good as dead, it was hard to call his situation unlucky.

"Still, why do you have to raise the difficulty like that on me…? The world's not kind at all."

Rather than exhausting all options, it was more of a case of finding a series of critical problems before you even get started.

While despairing at making absolutely no progress over the past hour, Subaru noticed that his companion, that girl, was standing up by the wall of the alley with her eyes closed, paying absolutely no mind to him. Seeing her lips move as she muttered something a few times, he tilted his head in confusion.

"Wonder what she's doing…"

"Oh that? She's communicating with lesser spirits."

Subaru raised his eyebrows in surprise as the girl's gray cat suddenly reappeared right in front of his eyes.

"I thought that I hadn't seen you in a while, but you hadn't gone home or anything; you were here the whole time?"

"There's still a bit of time left before I have to go. Unlike those minor spirits she's talking to, I take my job seriously."

"Well that's quite honorable of you. …But, what are these uh…lesser spirits again?"

Going by the name, I suppose they're a rank down from regular spirits? Subaru thought.

As if agreeing with Subaru's musing, the cat, floating in midair, waved its long tail back and forth. "Lesser spirits are beings that, in a state prior to becoming real spirits, start to develop some knowledge. If, over time, they gain power and self-awareness, they'll become spirits like me."

As he nodded, listening to the cat's explanation, Subaru noticed that the area around the girl began to glow. The silver-haired girl was surrounded by faint lights that looked as though they were fireflies.

It was the kind of scene that most people would subconsciously hesitate to interfere with. It was like holy ground, whereby the influence of the supernatural, only what was sanctified was allowed to be.

In response to the scene, Subaru…

"Wow! That's so cool! Are all of these glowing things spirits?"

"Ah!"

…intruded on it without a second thought, breaking the fantasy of it all as he started talking to the girl.

As the girl cried out in surprise, you could see droplets of tears that formed in reaction, sparkling in her eyes. Then the girl's flustered state spread to the lights around her and…

"Oh, look at that. They're panicking."

The many lights started to flee this way and that before finally scattering and disappearing into the air.

"…Umm…"

Both Subaru and the girl opened their mouths, dumbstruck, searching for where the lesser spirits had gone. Quickly the girl tried to continue what she had been doing, but it didn't appear the lesser spirits were heeding her call anymore.

"Just look at what you did! They're gone! What are you going to do about this?!"

"Ah… Um… I'm sorry! It was my first time seeing spirits like that and I got a little excited. I mean, it didn't look like they were dangerous or anything."

"It was only safe because I had them under control. If you had done that to an inexperienced spirit mage, it would have been awful. In the worst case, the spirits could have gone berserk and…BAM."

"'Bam?'"

The girl was trying to admonish Subaru for not taking his actions seriously, but using the word "bam" wasn't exactly helpful.

"Oh, come on. There's no way those little sparkly things could be dangerous. Do you really expect me to believe that?"

"Well, to put it one way," Puck said, "I may look pretty cute…but it would only take two seconds for me to turn you into a pile of dust."

"Damn, spirits are scary!" A shiver went down Subaru's spine in response to the cat's peaceful-sounding death threat, and he looked back at the girl. "I definitely hope you don't happen to be so upset you set that cat on me or anything…"

"I would never use Puck for something like that. If I were going to be violent with you, I'd handle you myself… Ugh, it really looks like they aren't going to answer me anymore." Failing to establish a second contact with the lesser spirits, the girl, depressed, shook her head powerlessly.

"I suppose it's not helpful to ask this after the spirits have already gone, but what is it exactly that you were trying to do?"

"I was trying to see if I could get any information from them about what I'm looking for. They disappeared before I was able to ask, though."

"What, really?!" Subaru was struck speechless by the gravity of his mistake. Seeing that, the girl jumped in.

"Um, b-but… It did take some time and lesser spirits don't have the kind of clear awareness that regular spirits have, so I wasn't really expecting much, but… Okay, I'm sorry, that's a lie."

The girl's hesitancy to lie was in conflict with her desire for a positive outlook, so while she tried, she was unable to soften the blow. In fact, her struggle with herself only highlighted to Subaru his own stupidity. At this rate, he wasn't going to be able to do anything but slow her down.

This is bad, both considering the debt I owe and the fact that she's my one precious connection in this world… I'm gonna do my best to cling to this relationship and not let go…!

"From the look on your face, it looks like you're up to no good, but…did you think of something? Um…" In front of Subaru, who had found a questionable new sense of determination, the girl hesitated. Subaru tilted his head and stared at her for a while as she furrowed her brow, but it was the cat that came to her rescue.

"Ah, now that I think of it, we haven't told each other our names yet, have we? Should we introduce ourselves?"

"Oh, you're right. Well then, I guess I'll go ahead and go first!"

In an overly energetic fashion, in part to help cover up for his previous mistake, Subaru struck a pose and pointed to the heavens.

"My name is Subaru Natsuki! The ignorant and unintelligent, forever and everlastingly penniless! Nice to meet you!"

"Well, that doesn't inspire a lot of confidence, does it? Anyway, I'm Puck. Nice to meet you, too."

As Subaru put out his hand, Puck leapt into it with his whole body for a handshake. An onlooker would probably think Subaru was trying to squeeze the cat to death.

The girl blinked in surprise at Subaru's bold interaction. "It's rare to see someone who's willing to approach a spirit so easily…and your name is just as unusual. With black hair and dark eyes like that—just where did you come from?"

"Ha, I was waiting for you to ask that question. Given this trope, I'll have to say I come from a small country to the east!"

This is a pattern that has often come up in otherworldly fiction since times long past. A character will state that they come from a hidden country to the east, called something like "Zipang." There tends to not be that much interaction between countries, so if you say you've traveled to where you are from that country, it will make sense to most people. It's a magically convenient cliché.

"If you look at a map of the continent, Lugunica is the country farthest to the east, so…there's no country to the east of here."

"What, are you serious? We're at the ends of the east?! So…does this make this country my long-yearned-for Zipang?!"

"So you don't know where you are, you don't have any money, you can't read, and you have no one you can count on. I'm starting to think you're worse off than I am…"

While Subaru was shocked at this new development, the girl was also starting to look anxious. With every action she took you could see the element of her personality that made her want to help others. She probably couldn't help but be concerned about Subaru, who to her was looking more and more to be not only defenseless, but absolutely helpless.

The girl looked at Subaru again carefully, from the top down.

"Taking another look at you, you actually look like you're in pretty good shape. Um… Uh… Subaru."

"Huh? Oh. Yep, Subaru. That's my name." Having his name called in such a hesitant way for some reason felt like a fresh new experience to Subaru, and he couldn't help but stumble in his response. After clearing his throat to hide the fact that he was shaken up, he showed his biceps. "I do strength training every day. Since I'm almost always cooped up in my room, I've got to do at least that much to stay in shape."

"I don't really get what you mean by 'cooped up in your room,' but you're from a high-ranking family, aren't you? Weren't you taught some sort of martial art?"

"I'm actually from an extremely ordinary middle-class family, but…what makes you think I'm from a high-class family? Do I exude some refined air of nobility?"

"Well, you do have a bit of a curious air to you, at least."

Subaru jokingly raised his hands as if to acknowledge the flattery.

But then the girl suddenly grabbed those hands, and Subaru, taken aback by the suddenness of her touch, had to hold back a squeak from rising out of his throat.

"It's also these fingers of yours, but your skin and hair are part of it as well. These aren't the hands of a commoner, and your muscles don't look like the product of hard labor."

Subaru blushed as the girl continued to poke at his hands, but understood. He was also impressed by her ability to see that he was not just simply a foreigner in a foreign land. As Subaru stood in wonderment, the girl continued.

"Black hair and dark eyes. I hear that is a common trait of the refugees from the south, but the fact that you are here in Lugunica with those traits means that you are able to live a life of luxury. Also, the craftsmanship of these strange clothes of yours is magnificent… So, have I got it right?"

As Subaru grew quiet, the girl put on a proud smile. Feeling admittedly drawn by the bewitching atmosphere she had made fitting of her beautiful smile, Subaru processed the contents of what she just said and made a reluctant face.

"If you're asking me whether you're wrong or you are right…you're absolutely wrong, but is there any way I can say it so you won't get hurt?"

"If I'm wrong, just tell me I'm wrong. If you don't, it's just going to be more embarrassing for me." The girl blushed as her earlier confidence transformed into embarrassment. As Subaru watched her go silent, he thought about how he was going to explain where he came from.

He could just say, "I'm a loser who was summoned from another world!" but given the precedent set by fantasy fiction about other worlds, that would open the gates for him to be labeled as someone who was wrong in the head. Looking back on the results of what he had said so far, he felt there was a significant risk in telling the truth.

"You don't have to think that hard about it, you know? If it's something you can't talk about, I won't question you any further."

Seeing Subaru struggling with what to say, the girl came to her own conclusions and didn't press him. Given that she had come to his rescue yet again in a way, Subaru grimaced, feeling all the more useless.

"But…really, this isn't looking very good," the girl muttered, in a now-weaker tone, a clouded expression on her face.

"…" Seeing that the girl could no longer hide how hopeless she felt, Subaru felt a faint flame light up inside himself. "What am I, an idiot? Well, yeah, I am an idiot. Just what have I been doing all this time…"

Right in front of Subaru stood the girl who saved his life. Hadn't he offered to help her out so that he could repay her? If that was the case, then how was he supposed to explain his total lack of support?

"Subaru?"

Seeing Subaru fall silent and looking troubled all of a sudden, the girl tilted her head and looked at him puzzled. Watching as with that motion her silver hair tumbled down off her shoulder, Subaru thought as hard as he could.

Subaru tried to remember what had happened when the thief ran through that alley as those thugs were stomping on him. Focusing on that instant in time, he needed to find something, anything that he could use…

"I have a few things that I want to check with you, is that okay?"

"Um…okay, yeah. Go right ahead."

"Thanks. I'm pretty sure I heard you mention it a few times, but this is the capital of whatever country we're in…right? So, basically it's the town that has the king's castle in it, and it's a really big place, is that correct?" Subaru asked, remembering bits of the conversation that he had had with the girl before.

While Subaru realized that his question must have sounded strange, the girl didn't interrupt and simply nodded a yes.

"So in this big city, there's a girl who appears to be making her living stealing things. By the look of her clothes, she definitely doesn't seem to be that well off… Now this may be obvious, but there's got to be a place where people like that live."

"…"

"Is there a place where crime is rampant, or something like a slum in the area…? I'm sure it's hard to exchange stolen goods for money without some connections, so I think there's a good chance she would have to go back to a place like that."

With the image of the thief burned in his memory, Subaru analyzed her from head to toe, and used all of the knowledge he had about fantasy settings to help form his hypothesis.

"So, I think rather than searching around aimlessly, we have a better chance if we aim for that, but… What's wrong?"

"I was just surprised. You really do have a good head on your shoulders."

"Well, rather than a logical conclusion, it's more that it's a common theme in medieval fantasy, but…if this is all it takes for you to start thinking better of me I have a feeling that I've got a long way to go…"

Despite Subaru's response, he seemed to be taking the girl's praise rather well.

While Subaru scratched at the side of his head to try to keep from showing how embarrassed he was, the girl nodded several times. "We'll go with your plan. Let's go back out to the main road and ask some people if they know of a place that's like what you described."

"We're already really behind as it is, after all. Let's hurry up and get going."

After Subaru and the girl looked at each other and nodded, they headed out of the alley and toward the main road. However, right before they could start their search for a spot where a lot of people who they could question were passing by, Subaru remembered something.

"I was just thinking… I know your cat's name now, but I don't think you ever told me your name, ha-ha."

While Subaru thought that bringing this up now might have not been the best time, the girl's eyes widened a bit in surprise. She then closed them, and after a few seconds of silence, said…

"…Satella."

"Oh?"

Subaru, who because of her silence had begun to think that he had made a mistake, was a bit late in reacting to her whispered reply.

In response, the girl turned away from Subaru and continued.

"I don't have a last name, so you can just call me Satella."

Her voice had no emotion in it. Because of her attitude, it was as if, though she was giving her name, she was refusing to be called by it. Through her actions, this girl, who gave her name as "Satella," was putting a distance between herself and Subaru more than she had ever done before.

Subaru, who already thought that he would feel more comfortable having a surname to call her by rather than having to use her personal name, felt that he really couldn't use that name at all. For the time being, looking for a way out, Subaru decided to avoid using her name entirely, and instead just use pronouns.

As he observed Subaru and the girl's exchange from the sidelines, Puck had one thing to say before slipping back under the girl's silver hair.

"…That's in really bad taste, you know," it muttered, though its voice did not even reach the girl's ears, let alone Subaru's.