1.1.4

When people say, "Time stood still," they must surely be talking about times like this.

There was a girl standing at the entrance to the alley.

She was beautiful. She had long silver hair, with braids in it that reached down to her hips. She was looking straight at Subaru with violet eyes that shone with intelligence. In her soft features were both elements of youth but also mature beauty. There was also a noble air about her that gave her a dangerous and bewitching charm.

The girl was about one head shorter than Subaru, which made her around five feet, three inches tall. The clothes she wore used white as a base color, and there was nothing terribly ornate about them, but on the other hand, the simplicity emphasized her presence.

The one thing that stood out was the white cloak the girl was wearing. It was emblazoned with embroidery that depicted a bird of prey, adding to her impression of majesty.

However, it wasn't the clothes she wore that made her shine so.

"I will not stand by and watch any more of your wrongdoing. That is enough."

Her voice, like silver bells, rang beautifully in Subaru's ears, and for a moment he forgot the situation he was in. He was completely undone by the silver-haired girl's presence.

The other men seemed to be just as shaken up as Subaru was.

"Wha… Who do you think you are…?"

"If you stop right now, I'll let you go. In a way, this is my fault for not being cautious. So do the right thing and give back what you stole."

"Hey, what she's wearing looks expensive. You think she's nobility? Wait, huh…? What we stole?"

"Please. It is very precious to me. I'd be willing to give it up if it were anything else, but I absolutely can't in this case. Please. I won't do anything to you, so please just give it back."

The girl looked as if she was pleading with all her heart.

However, there was an inexplicable feeling of pressure that rose within the group. Something was happening that was hard to explain.

"W-wait a minute! We don't know what you're talking about!"

"…What do you mean?"

The men pointed to Subaru, still underfoot.

"You didn't come here to rescue this guy…did you?"

"…Those are some weird clothes that boy is wearing. Did you all have a fight among yourselves? I don't think three against one is really fair, but…if you're asking me if I know this person, I haven't ever seen him before in my life." Perhaps it was because she thought the men were trying to change the subject, but you could hear an amount of irritation in her voice. Because of that, each of the men rushed to explain themselves.

"Wait a second! If you're not after this guy, then we're not involved! I bet it was that girl from before!"

"You said you had something stolen from you, right?! That wall! You see that wall? She jumped off that wall and ran away on the rooftops!"

"She's farther back! Back past that wall! At the rate she was going, she's probably another three streets down!"

As the men continued to plead their innocence, the girl turned her eyes to Subaru, as if asking whether these men were telling the truth. Without thinking, Subaru nodded.

"Hmm… It doesn't look like you're lying. So the one who stole from me is down farther ahead? I've got to hurry…"

The girl turned away from Subaru and the men and toward the main road. The men clearly looked relieved. Subaru, faced with the reality of his abandonment, started to enter a state of shock, when…

"Still, this situation is one I can't just ignore."

As she turned back around the girl put her hand up, palm facing outward, and a series of shining lights began to dance in front of it.

A dull thud rang out, like that of a hard object striking flesh, followed by the cries of the men as they were thrown backward. Then, there was a high-pitched sound as a fist-size clump of ice fell to the ground right beside Subaru.

The clump of ice, which seemed to have formed heedless of both the season and the laws of physics, quickly evaporated as if it were being eaten by the surrounding air.

"…Magic."

The best word to describe what just happened immediately tumbled out of Subaru's mouth.

There wasn't any incantation or anything, but that chunk of ice had definitely shot out of that girl's palm.

Magic—having seen it with his very own eyes for the first time, Subaru realized something.

"It isn't quite as fantasy-like as I imagined… To be honest, this is kind of a letdown."

Subaru had imagined there would be more light and energy being bounced around. In reality, all that happened was an unrefined-looking clump of ice suddenly materialized, was used as a blunt object for physical damage, and then suddenly disappeared. There was no feeling or anything put into it at all.

"Now…you've done it."

Subaru's feelings on magic aside, the other men, who had taken a real hit from those clumps of ice, got back to their feet. To be fair, it was only two of them who managed to get back up. The remaining man must have gotten hit in a bad spot, because he was still knocked out. But rather than this fact taking the fight out of them, it seemed to just make the other two men even angrier. Standing next to the man with the knife, the other drew out a blunt, club-like object, and both were ready to fight.

"I don't care if you're a magic user or nobility or whatever! I've had enough. We're gonna kill you! Do you really think you can win a two-on-one fight?!" yelled the man with the knife, holding his face, blood still dripping from his nose.

In response to his threats, the girl closed one of her eyes. "You're right, one against two sounds like it could be a little tough."

"…In that case, would two on two be bit more fair?" As if it were finishing the girl's sentence, a new, higher-pitched, genderless voice entered the fray.

Startled, Subaru looked around. The other men also followed suit, but there wasn't anyone inside or at the entrance to the alley who looked as though they were the owner of that voice.

Then, as if to show both Subaru and the other men the answer to their question, the girl extended her left hand.

Sitting on top of her palm and white fingers, there it was.

"When you all stare at me like that, full of expectation, it's uh…kind of embarrassing."

Using its paw to clean its face was a small, palm-size cat that stood upright on its two hind legs.

It had gray hair and floppy ears. To the best of Subaru's knowledge it was nearest to an American shorthair. That is, if you ignored the fact that its nose was pink and it had a tail about the length of its body.

Seeing the small, palm-size cat, the man with the knife seemed overcome with fear and yelled, "Y-you're a spirit mage?!"

"That's right. If you want to leave right now, I won't chase after you, but make up your minds quick. I'm in a hurry."

With that, the men rushed to pick up their fallen companion and leave the alley, but as they passed the girl on their way out, one of the men clicked his tongue and said, "I'm going to remember your face, you bitch. The next time we see you it won't go this well for you."

"If you do anything to her I'll curse you and all of your offspring, you know? Though, in that case you won't be having any."

For the thug, that must have been his best attempt at intimidation, but in contrast, the cat's response was light in tone but much more severe.

The cat didn't seem to be completely serious, but the men paled more than they ever had before, and ran out into the main road without another word.

Once the thugs were gone, Subaru was left alone in the alley with the girl and her cat. Thinking that he at least needed to say thanks, Subaru forgot his pain and started to get to his feet, but…

"Don't move," said the girl in a cold emotionless voice. You could see in her eyes that she was being cautious. Even though she realized that Subaru was not with the other thugs, she wasn't about to let her guard down, that much was clear.

It was actually Subaru's reaction that was more out of place. Even though the girl was looking at him like that, he was fixed on her beautiful and bewitching violet eyes. Not used to seeing such beauty, Subaru unthinkingly blushed and looked away.

"See? I knew I was on to something. If he had nothing to hide, he wouldn't look away like that," said the girl.

"I'm not so sure about that. That seems like a very natural reaction for a boy like him. I'm sensing zero evil intentions," responded the cat.

"Be quiet, Puck. …You know the girl who stole my badge, don't you?" Shushing her cat, the girl turned to Subaru. Her expression, full of confidence, was lovely. However…

"I'm sorry to let you down like this, but I totally don't know her, like, completely not at all."

"Wai—What? Seriously!?"

As her confidence was stripped from her face, Subaru was able to get a glimpse of how she naturally expressed herself, as opposed to her ongoing act. With that dignified air of hers out the window, the girl, flustered, turned quickly to the cat still resting on her palm.

"Wh-wh-what are we going to do? Was this really all just a waste of my time…?"

"A waste that's still in progress… I really think you should hurry. She was really fast when she ran away, so there's a good chance the culprit has some kind of strange protection on her side."

"Ugh… How can you be so unconcerned about all of this, Puck?"

"You're the one who told me not to get too involved, you know? Anyway, what are we going to do about him?" the cat said, as if just remembering about Subaru.

As the topic of conversation centered back on him, Subaru put on a weak smile.

"Oh," said the girl as she finally realized the cat was talking about Subaru.

In response, Subaru put on an empty display of confidence and replied, "Don't worry about me. Thanks to your help, I'll be fine. You're in a hurry, right? You should go…"

Subaru had hoped to finish this off with, If you'd like, I don't even mind helping you out. How about it, m'lady? while brushing his hair back and flashing a smile, but…

"…Huh?"

Suddenly dizzy, Subaru reached for the wall but missed, and fell face-first back onto the ground.

"Wait. You shouldn't try to stand up just ye—Well…okay," came the cat's warning, just a step too late.

After falling with zero capacity to catch himself, Subaru felt a sharp pain as his consciousness went winging away.

"…So, what should we do?"

"He has…nothing to do with us. That's not enough to kill him. We're going to leave him."

In the far reaches of his consciousness as it left him, Subaru could hear just a little of the pair's conversation.

That's an otherworldly fantasy for you. Everyone has quite the severe view on the concept of empathy.

Am I just going to be abandoned here in this alley? was the negative take.

Well, I suppose I was going to die, and now I'm not, so I should be super grateful, was a more positive thought.

With those two views in mind, Subaru's consciousness drifted further and further…further and further away…

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure!"

Right before the thread of Subaru's consciousness was cut for good, he was able to see that silver-haired girl, red in the face, turn around and shout.

"There's no way! No way that I'm going to save him, okay?! Okay?!"

—Man, even when she's angry she's really cute. Go otherworldly fantasies.

With that last thought, really this time, once and for all, Subaru's consciousness fell into darkness.