2.6

"Thanks for hiding us, Old Man Rom. The last time I saw you, I thought you'd

had the sense knocked right out of you, but I guess you made it through fine."

 "…Do you want me to change my mind and call those youngins back?"

 "You sure are petty for a big guy! With me here, there's more than enough

petty for everyone!"

 Subaru grinned and shot him a thumbs-up. Old Man Rom sighed with a worn-

out look.

 They'd moved from the previous narrow alley to a more open city street. Old

Man Rom conversed with Subaru while guiding the pair to a place where they

could blend in.

 The girl, having kept her silence until that moment, finally tugged Subaru's

sleeve in irritation.

 "Hey, you. I see you having an intimate conversation. Who is this old man?

Explain it to me."

 "This old man is the face of the royal capital's slums. The giant's Old Man Rom

—trader for the bosses of the sticky-fingered types and all-around stingy

bastard. He's got bad eyes, loves his cute granddaughter, and he's not nearly as

tough as he looks."

 "That is his worth after having lived a long life? I see. I pity your pathetic

existence, gnarled tree."

 "Your lady friend is an annoying little girl, isn't she?"

 Old Man Rom was indignant at the harsh appraisal. Though Subaru's

explanation was the truth, he set that aside and gave Old Man Rom a warm

smile.

 "I'm so glad I ran into you, really. Even I was getting desperate back there. I

didn't have a clue what I was gonna do."

 Old Man Rom made a strained laugh and casually looked Subaru over.

 "…The way you switch gears so quickly really throws an old man off. Seems

you managed to escape with your life back then, too…"

 His face twisted painfully as he saw the scars on Subaru's body.

 "I may not be one to talk, but it seems that knife wielder got you pretty

badly."

 "Nah, that babe only got me in the stomach. All the other wounds are from a

thing that happened after."

 "Goodness! Something else happened to you, not even a month later?!"

 Subaru thought Old Man Rom's loud reaction was quite sensible as he

reviewed the last month—though in truth, the boy had experienced nearly

twice that time. Those turbulent weeks had included the maid sisters, the

demon-beast incident, and the Liliana issue.

 With Subaru keeping his mouth shut, Old Man Rom seemed to accept things

all on his own, shaking his head as he brought up a separate issue.

 "—Hey, brat. Do you know where Felt went off to?"

 "…Haven't you heard? Reinhard took her with him, or so I'm told…"

 "Reinhard…the Sword Saint? Why would the knight among knights take her

with him?"

 Apparently, this news was a bolt from out of the blue.

 Subaru thought back to how things had gone down at the loot cellar, finally

noticing the inconsistency. Old Man Rom was out cold before Reinhard had

entered the fray. Rom and Reinhard hadn't interacted while Subaru was

conscious.

 "So, what, you just woke up in a wrecked shop without any explanation, and

all you could do was wonder?"

 "It wasn't nearly that bleak. I woke up in the guards' garrison. I appreciated

their healing me, but I let myself out right after."

 "Ah, yeah. Not exactly a comfortable place for you, huh."

 A criminal wouldn't feel at ease waking up in a police hospital. Subaru

couldn't blame him for getting out of there ASAP without hearing all the fine

details.

 "So that's why you didn't hear, huh? Okay. Anyway, let me fill you in on what

happened before I blacked out, plus the little bit that apparently happened

after."

 After that preamble, Subaru acted out a dramatic retelling of the events at

the loot cellar. Old Man Rom watched Subaru's meaningless theatrics with

admiration, and even the bored-looking girl leaned forward, gripped by the

performance from start to finish. Subaru concluded, "She was so surprised! And

then I said, '—I want you to…tell me your name.'"

 The girl replied, "Ho-ho, a rather fine choice of words, if I do say so myself. I

must grudgingly approve."

 Rom followed up, "Keh, you really told her… Bah, this is no time to admire!

The bottom line is that you don't know any more about Felt other than the fact

the Sword Saint took her with him, do you, brat?"

 "Part of why I came here today was to do some footwork to find out exactly

what happened…"

 But he'd hit a roadblock right at the heart of it, the attempt to make contact

with Reinhard.

 Rom murmured to himself so faintly that Subaru did not hear.

 "But… The House of Astrea, of all things…"

 Old Man Rom had a serious expression as he lifted his face. Subaru helplessly

shrugged.

 "Well, I'm gonna see if I can get ahold of Reinhard, so I'll let you know if I hear

anything. I mean, I wanted to find out if Felt was safe and sound to begin with."

 "That'll be a big help… You seem oddly trustworthy. Is this girl involved with

this somehow?"

 "No, not a bit. I don't even know her name."

 "Just how many scrapes do you get into for girls whose names you don't

know?!"

 "Hey, back when I didn't know Emilia-tan's name, I was pretty desperate, so I

don't think anything I did was that weird."

 Subaru's indifferent reply made Old Man Rom rub his eyebrows in exhaustion.

 "No point thinking about it. All right, fine. I'll rely on you, so let me know if

you find out anything about Felt. If I can repay you, I will."

 "You're really gushing. It's because it's your adorable granddaughter, huh?"

 "—That's right. She's…like a granddaughter to me, so please."

 Subaru's jaw dropped at Rom's straight-up, unashamed agreement with him.

He wondered if the blond thief girl really knew how deeply he felt for her.

Knowing her, he figured she'd go red in the face and try to blow it all off.

 As Subaru's discussion with Old Man Rom wrapped up, the girl haltingly

murmured, "Reinhard… To hear the name of Reinhard here, of all places…"

 She suppressed a laugh. Subaru's relaxed expression tightened again as he

turned toward her.

 "Hey, it's not polite to eavesdrop. Don't go listening in on other people's

business like that."

 "I did not listen in. You two oafs simply began speaking right in front of me.—

You. From the way you speak of him, it seems your claim to know the Sword

Saint was not a bluff. Are you close?"

 "It'd be a bit much to say we met once and became best friends forever, but

we're on good terms, yeah."

 Subaru owed a debt to Reinhard. He had enough of a sense of reciprocity to

pay it back…even if he couldn't exactly imagine Reinhard in a crisis that Subaru

could bail him out of.

 Subaru asked his new companion, "Well, what do you know about Reinhard?

You don't seem like a fan of his."

 "From what I have heard, he is a rather twisted person. Beyond that, I have

only seen him slightly from afar."

 The way she declared someone to be twisted without having even spoken to

him suggested it was her own thinking that was twisted. But with the girl's

silence indicating she had no intention to elaborate, Subaru turned his attention

back to Old Man Rom.

 "Leaving her aside, how should I get in touch with you?"

 "There's a store called Cadmon on Market Street. Give my name to the

grumpy-looking man there and he'll get in touch with me."

 "All right, all right. Cadmon… Cadmon?"

 As Rom explained how to get in touch, Subaru tilted his head at the familiar-

sounding word.

 Either way, he'd fulfilled his promise to pay Old Man Rom a visit. That was

one thing off his to-do list. To take care of the rest, first, he needed something

else…

 "Incidentally, the girl and I are actually completely lost. I don't want my

adventure to end here before I can fulfill my promise, so ah, could you lead us

back to the main street?"

 "Mm, all right. Leave it to me. Which street is it?"

 "Back to the garrison. Please and thank you."

 "Didn't you hear me tell you I escaped from that garrison?!"

 Old Man Rom's exasperated shout filled the sky above the alleyway.

 According to that sky, he'd been separated from Emilia for nearly an hour.