V4 - CHAPTER 2 : BLESSINGS, REUNIONS, AND PROMISES

—Subaru Natsuki's heart was beating at a fever pitch.

"Um, Emilia-tan… I'm a little conflicted saying so, but shouldn't we cut this out?"

Subaru wore an amicable smile, but cold sweat ran down his face as he made the suggestion. The point of concern was how they firmly held hands.

They were in the royal capital. Specifically, Market Street, an exceptionally congested thoroughfare. No doubt, two people holding hands amid the constant bustle would look like an intimate couple.

So long as no busybodies overheard scraps of their conversation, anyway.

"Absolutely not. This is you we're talking about, so you will do something strange as soon as you're out of my sight. I won't permit a single step unsupervised while we're in the royal capital. Understand?"

"I'm really sorry for my stupidity in the dragon carriage! But this is treating me too much like a little kid!!"

The gaze Emilia leveled at Subaru was sharp and cold. Her trust in him had plummeted to rock bottom levels. Even if he was reaping what he had sowed, the treatment was extreme from Subaru's perspective.

—Following his close call with an "unscheduled stop" from the dragon carriage, and the tragedy of waking up to a Roswaal lap pillow, the subsequent conversation created a plan to limit his activities in the royal capital. This situation was the result.

"I'm deeply aware that I was rash but… Could we at least not do the holding hands thing?"

"Hmm, so that's what you're complaining about. We did this plenty in the village when it was a 'date,' didn't we?"

"Back then I was fully prepared in mind and body, but I'm totally not right now. My hands are sweating!"

Even though his hands were sweating from the exceptional tension, Emilia looked completely at ease, which only made him more nervous.

And as for what the at-odds couple was actually doing in the royal capital—

A coarse, manly voice interrupted their cute little argument.

"—Hey, can you stop flirting in front of a man's shop like this?"

Emilia's face stiffened. Well, that's sensible, accepted Subaru. After all, the voice of the scar-faced man carried an irrefutable argument.

"You're driving my customers away. Buy something or get moving already."

"Well, that's rude and inconsiderate. Here I came all ready to keep my promise. The shock alone could've made me forget completely, you know? Makes me wanna cry."

As Subaru slumped his shoulders, the man, resting his elbow on the counter, indelicately snorted back at him.

Subaru thought the shopkeeper's foul demeanor toward his customers was a good indicator that he'd picked the wrong profession. The shop, with a sign reading CADMON in I-script with bright colors, was a fruit vendor with colorful produce on display. The shop had a deeper significance for Subaru.

"Here I am returning the favor to the first guy I met in a new world, and this is the thanks I get?"

"That's overstating it. It was almost a month ago, and we only spoke a few words, right? I mean, I vaguely recall it, but…"

The owner of the store, actually a very kind man, was striving to remember when Emilia pulled on Subaru's ear and bowed her head.

"Subaru, don't say crazy things. Sir, please don't force yourself on our account." Subaru pleaded with her, yelping "Ow, ow!" as she gave him a sharp glare and said, "I thought you said you wanted to say hello to someone who'd helped you…but I never expected this promise to be a one-sided deal. Unbelievable."

"Hey, Emilia-tan, you can't just throw a promise between men into the garbage like that!"

"Don't exaggerate! How many people do you think a shopkeeper meets in the course of one day?"

"Emilia-tan, you can hurt people when you overestimate them. I mean, there's no way a shopkeeper with a scary face like that is doing that much busin… Ow, ow, I'm sorry!"

The shopkeeper, watching their back-and-forth, clapped his hands as he watched tears well in Subaru's eyes.

"I remember that pathetic look now. You're the kid without a coin to his name. So the ingrate returns without buying a thing."

"I'm gonna ignore how you remembered me…and I told you, I'm back so I can repay you!"

"Ah, I see. Now that's a sense of responsibility. I like it."

Now that he recognized Subaru, the shopkeeper smiled generously, hauling a wooden box from inside his store and placing it on the counter with a heavy thud. The red, round, vibrant fruits inside glistened under the sun.

"Here y'go, abbles like you promised you'd buy. How many? They're two copper coins each now."

"I'll go big and get ten. That'll cover the promise and then some."

The shopkeeper clapped his hands at Subaru's magnanimity. In high spirits, Subaru put his hand into his pocket to get his wallet out when he noticed that Emilia, standing beside him, was doing the same thing.

"Er, Emilia-tan, why are you getting out your purse?"

"What do you mean, why? You can't pay for something without money, can you?"

"No, I mean, it's weird for you to pay instead of me, Emilia-ta… Old guy, what's with that look?"

"You said you'd buy them when you had the money, but I can't condone making a rich girl pay in your place…"

"Can't you see me arguing with my lovely lady here?! I'm trying to pay!"

The shopkeeper watched Subaru with suspicion as Subaru hastily thrust his wallet forward. The contents were his pay from his work at the mansion—and, since Roswaal was a generous employer, Subaru really did have money to spare.

"Lemme see, two coppers per abble… So two silver coins should cover ten?"

"Hey, don't you know the current exchange rate…? It's nine coppers for a silver coin right now."

"So two silvers and two coppers then? Here."

Subaru fished the appropriate coins out of his wallet and handed them to the shopkeeper. The man was stunned into silence, tilting his head as he sighed at length.

"Took my word for it, huh. Kiddo, you really need to not be so trusting. The changes in the exchange rates are posted on the sign at the entrance to the market. If you wander in without giving that a good look, some crooked merchant will have you for lunch."

The shopkeeper seemed to be warning him because his honesty made him a sucker here. True, paying based on only what he was told might be overly trusting, even if it was common sense back home.

Back at the village close to the mansion, everyone was so tightly related in an isolated community that deceit was inconceivable, but a huge city like the royal capital was fertile ground for mischief. In other words—

"Man, you really are a super-good person, old guy."

Subaru smiled playfully in a show of goodwill to the scar-faced shopkeeper.

"Only once in a while. I'd have nightmares if I swindled a customer who'd come back to fulfill a promise I'd nearly forgotten and who paid exactly what I asked for. That's it."

"So you're mean-looking guy with a heart of gold. Got it."

"Take it and go already! You've paid in full. Come again!"

The first half was intimidatingly gruff; the second half, a paragon of customer relations. Subaru, having a good laugh at the two extremes, picked up his bag of abbles with one hand, while Emilia led him away from the shop by the other.

"Thanks, old dude. Maybe I'll bump into you again someday."

"You're quite welcome as long as you buy something… And, miss, you really need better taste in men."

"Now, that's none of your business!"

As the shopkeeper watched them go, Subaru shot him the middle finger as he and Emilia entered the throng of people. As the distance between them widened, the human wave obstructed his vision, and the good-natured shopkeeper disappeared from view.

"I'm glad he actually remembered you… I'm a little surprised, though."

"Yeah, he definitely seems scary at first, but you get used to it pretty quick…"

"Not that. I mean, I'm flabbergasted you did the math that quickly."

"No one says 'flabbergasted' anymore…"

Even as Subaru teased Emilia for using outdated words, he didn't mind praise. He didn't look it, but he was actually pretty good at arithmetic. "I've got a knack for basic math. So you go for the intellectual, cerebral type, huh?"

"Cerebr…? I'm not sure what you mean, but that's not the only reason I'm surprised… Just a little coincidence. Tee-hee, it's funny, actually."

"Ah, that's a cute face. What, what, where's the coincidence?"

"That's a secret between me and the shopkeeper's daughter. So what's next?"

Subaru had some idea what Emilia meant by a secret, but he didn't probe deeper, opting to readjust his grip on the bag of abbles instead. The royal capital was far too big for casual strolling. His first objective of the day had been to visit the first person he'd met in this world. Now that he'd repaid his gratitude to the fruit merchant, his next objective was a no-brainer.

"My next goal…is to see Felt and Old Man Rom. Reinhard took care of them after I blacked out, right?"

"Mm, yes. At first, I thought he'd let them go without any problems, but…all of a sudden, Reinhard went pale and said he was taking the girl with him."

"That sounds like a criminal kidnapping her, but that doesn't exactly fit him… Crap, the good-looking ones get all the breaks."

Subaru clicked his tongue as he sullenly recalled the handsome, red-haired young man.

Emilia watched from beside him, putting a finger to her lips as she pondered the issue. "If you want to get in touch with Reinhard, we should go to the garrison on this side of the Nobles' District. There's a building there that's… Well, it's nothing but a pile of rubble now."

Subaru agreed with Emilia's suggestion. After all, the fact Reinhard had been walking the streets of the capital "off duty" made it clear he was a guard, most likely high-ranking—a knight.

"I guess that settles it. Let's head to the station and get ahold of Reinhard from there. Well, let's get a move o… Oh?"

"What? Something wrong?"

"Nah, I was just counting the abbles in the bag… There's eleven of 'em." He had counted a total of eleven big, round, ripe, vibrant red fruit. It was highly unlikely the merchant, proprietor of his own store, had miscounted. "That old guy's too generous."

As he recalled the prickly shopkeeper, he felt a warm, fuzzy feeling bubbling up inside and smiled to himself.

—Keeping his promise was the right choice.