1.1.7

Using the sounds of the bustling crowd as a guide, Subaru and Satella walked back through the alley they were in and reached the main road about ten minutes later.

Shifting his gaze this way and that, Subaru looked for who they should question first, when Satella, who stood beside him, pulled on his sleeve.

"Hey, Subaru…"

When Subaru looked back at Satella he saw that she had her gaze fixed on something on the other side of the street. Subaru looked in the same direction and realized what Satella was looking at.

I have a bad feeling about this, he thought.

Adding further weight to his fears, Satella continued, with a serious look on her face.

"…Do you think that kid is lost?"

Out of all the possible things that could go wrong with this plan, the final one had reared its head.

"…Well, uh…"

One of the several things that Subaru had discovered throughout the day was that the silver-haired girl standing next to him was an incorrigibly kind person. But, whether it was due to a curse or some other reason, she would not ever admit it herself.

Subaru sighed a deep sigh. "Let's just calm down a minute."

"What are we going to do if she gets up and goes somewhere while we're dillydallying?! We've got to go talk to her right away…"

"You know, that kindness of yours is a great virtue, and given the fact that I myself was saved by that kindness I really don't want to say this, but do you have any idea what situation you're in right now?"

Where Satella was looking, near the buildings across the street, there stood a young girl. She looked as though she was around ten years old, with shoulder-length brown hair that was very cute. If she smiled, the people around her probably would not be able to resist smiling back, but unfortunately, at the moment her eyes were filled with anxiety, and she looked moments away from tears.

There was probably an 80 or 90 percent chance that Satella's observation was correct. Subaru was sure it was, but…

"There's also that my screw-ups are partially at fault, but the thief who stole from you is just getting farther and farther away from us. If we waste any more time here, by the time we catch her, she might already have sold it and then we'll have no way to get it back."

"You're probably right…but…"

"Then…"

Certainly it would feel bad to just leave the girl like that, but with all of the other people around, the chance that someone else would help her was high. On the other hand, Subaru and Satella were pressed for time, and needed to gather information to continue their search.

No matter how he thought about it, their current plan should have priority over helping that little girl, but…

"But don't you see, Subaru? Look at her, she's crying."

"…"

"If you don't want to stick around with me, that's just fine. Thanks for everything you've done, Subaru. I'll figure this out on my own…after I help that little girl." While Subaru stood at a loss for words, Satella looked like she had already made her decision. The way she said it, it wasn't as though she was saying that Subaru just didn't understand and she was tired of him, but that she felt guilty for forcing Subaru to play along with her unreasonableness.

Her silver hair dancing behind her, Satella trotted off across the street to where the little girl was standing. The girl, who had been looking down with her teary eyes, noticed that someone had suddenly come to her side. There was a glimmer of hope in her eyes as she looked up, probably because she thought the person she was looking for had found her.

"I'm sorry I'm not the one you're looking for," said Satella as she knelt down to talk to the girl, whose eyes opened wide in surprise.

But in those eyes was not a feeling of relief, but a feeling of fear. You could tell, even from far away, that being spoken to by a stranger had caused her heart to shrink away, afraid.

"I'm sorry if I'm bothering you, but where are your father and mother? Aren't they with you?"

It looked as though Satella had noticed the girl was afraid, and her voice was in a tone that was kinder than Subaru had ever heard it before. However, it wasn't enough to convey her concern to the girl, who had lost sight of her parents and was now shivering because she did not know what to do.

"Umm… Uh… Please don't cry. I won't do anything to hurt you, okay?"

Satella tried to keep open the girl's heart before it shut completely on her, but it didn't seem to work, and the little girl only shook her head back and forth. The tears that had welled up in her eyes looked as though they were about to overflow, when…

"Now feast your eyes on this magnificent notched ten-yen coin!"

"Huh?" said Satella, surprised by the sudden voice that had leapt in, and when she looked up, there was Subaru in his gray tracksuit.

Subaru first smiled weakly at Satella's reaction, and then turned his smile from her to the little girl. The sudden intruder had also surprised her. Subaru then put out his right hand in front of her.

"Now, can you see this coin here in my right hand? I bet you can! All right, now I'm going to squeeze it tight. Like this…squeeze squeeze squeeze…"

"Wait, Subaru…what are you…?"

"And would you look at that!"

Ignoring Satella's interruption, Subaru took his fist where he had been holding the notched ten-yen coin and opened it wide for the two to see. When he did, the coin that should have been in his hand was gone.

"Wow! The coin I was squeezing is gone! Now where could it have run off to…?"

The little girl blinked a few times and then stared hard at Subaru's right hand, but whether she looked at the back of his hand or his palm, she couldn't find it. Subaru, emboldened by the girl's reaction, nodded, and then reached out with his left hand and gently brushed his fingers through her hair.

"Would you look at that! So this is where the coin was hiding."

When the little girl saw the coin resting between the fingers of Subaru's left hand, she was stunned.

Satella, who couldn't figure out the trick, was just as confused.

Subaru took a magnificent bow before the two and then dropped the notched ten-yen coin in the little girl's hand.

"I'll let you keep it as a present. It's special, so take good care of it, okay?"

Subaru looked on with a smile as the little girl held the coin close and nodded vigorously.

As he was doing so, Satella poked him in the side. "Hey, Subaru…"

"Don't look at me like that. I mean, I'll admit what I said before was a bit harsh but…"

"How did you do that?"

"Oh, you mean that? You're not questioning my motives, but how I did the trick?"

Subaru promised to explain the trick later to Satella, who looked very interested, before turning back to the little girl, who was looking very curiously at the ten-yen coin. It seemed like Subaru's amazing magic had helped calm down her anxiety. When Subaru knelt down and asked her a few questions, she answered them quickly and clearly.

"I see. So you got separated from your mother, huh. Don't worry, don't worry. Just leave it to your big brother and sister. We'll find her right away!"

After giving the girl another pat on the head, Subaru held out his hand to her, and with a little hesitation, she grabbed it. Satella, who was watching, opened her eyes wide.

"You really look like you're used to this… Subaru, is your profession taming children?"

"When you take it out of context like that, that sounds really, really bad! And no. I'm unemployed."

Technically, Subaru had the incredibly convenient status of being a student. However, given that he hadn't been going to school lately, and particularly now that he had been summoned to a different world, he didn't really feel that he was qualified to call himself that anymore.

But, regardless…

"So, big sister, how about you hold this lonely little girl's hand? She looks like she could use another friend," said Subaru with a wink. The little girl had reached her other hand, the one that was not holding on to Subaru's, out to Satella.

Satella looked surprised for a moment and held her breath, but then let it out and took the little girl's hand in her own. "Right. Don't you worry. Just let your big sister handle this. We'll definitely find your mom, okay?" Satella said, smiling at the little girl as she nodded silently.

Subaru and Satella led the girl along, with her between them, and the three continued down the main road through the waves of people together.

"The way we are now, don't you think there are some people out there who look at us and think that we're a young couple with our child? How embarrassing!"

"…Huh? Even with the benefit of the doubt I don't see how anyone would think that you and that girl are anything other than brother and sister…"

"I can't tell if that's just a really dry joke, or that's really what you thought I meant!"

As Satella and Subaru went on talking, the little girl between them let a small smile spread across her face.