Chapter 68: Actually, the Pure Meili is Super Cute

The three of them soon reached the village.

Natsuki Subaru walked along the outermost edge of the village — the market street, lined on both sides with shops and stalls — and couldn't help but feel a quiet swell of amazement.

Just this one small stretch was as lively and bustling as anything you'd find in the Royal Capital.

The market was alive with noise. Shopkeepers on either side of the road called out one after another, each voice competing to reel in the next customer.

"How about an apple, my lord?"

Natsuki Subaru was passing a fruit stall, Betty's hand in his.

He was just about to walk on when the woman running the stall called out to him from behind.

Apples, huh… funny, of all the things to say — that line felt almost too familiar.

Subaru slowed his steps, an odd expression crossing his face.

For some reason, it brought back the memory of that future — the save point in those recollections had been right in front of a fruit stall run by a green-haired old man.

All things considered, he really ought to count himself lucky the shopkeeper calling out to him now was a woman.

Otherwise he might have had an actual breakdown.

"Ah, we were meaning to pick up some supplies anyway — let's grab a few apples then. Ram, would you mind?"

Subaru scratched the back of his head and glanced toward Ram, who was half a step behind him.

"As you wish!"

Ram gave a small bow, then turned to begin haggling with the woman running the fruit stall.

Subaru stood waiting, Betty's hand still in his.

But after a glance left and right at the other shops, he quickly found himself growing bored.

At last, his attention drifted idly toward the fruit stall owner who was busy negotiating with Ram — curious, for no particular reason, whether fruit sellers all tended to have green hair.

That single glance froze Subaru solid.

Cold sweat broke out across his back.

"…Elsa?"

Subaru's eyes went wide. He stared, riveted, at Elsa — standing right there in that fruit stall, dressed in plain homespun cloth, every inch the picture of a respectable, ordinary woman, chatting away pleasantly with Ram.

There was no mistaking it. He'd recognise her even if she'd been reduced to ash.

Subaru clenched his jaw. Images from his memories of the future surged up unbidden — scene after scene of being killed at Elsa's hands, each one more brutal than the last.

Terror flooded his chest in an instant.

It was like strolling down the street without a care in the world, only to have a knife-wielding maniac come barrelling around the corner straight at you.

You know how horrifying that would be, right?

And every so-called maniac in existence wasn't fit to lace Elsa's shoes.

As if sensing Subaru's gaze, Elsa — mid-conversation with Ram and seemingly in high spirits — let her eyes slide toward him, the movement so subtle it was barely there.

Her eyes curved into crescents. She gave Subaru a sly, fox-like smile — the look of someone who'd just pulled off exactly the prank they'd planned.

Then, just as quickly, she smoothed her expression back to nothing and returned her attention to Ram, who had gone back to sorting through the fruit with her head down.

Ram noticed none of it. Naturally, she didn't find anything strange about the woman running the stall — how could she? Ram had never met Elsa. Not recognising her was only to be expected.

With little choice in the matter, Subaru made his way slowly over to the fruit stall.

It was obvious Elsa had come here because of him.

That wasn't arrogance on his part — the look she'd given him when they'd parted ways in the Slums had been off, even then. He hadn't imagined it.

He'd seen something in that look that had looked disturbingly like… affection.

Good grief. Just which version of the possible worlds had Elsa come back from?

Was there really a timeline out there where he'd actually won her over?

"Subaru, what's wrong? Is there danger nearby?"

Lost in thought, Subaru heard Betty — her hand still clasped in his — ask the question with quiet concern.

Betty kept her eyes on Subaru at all times. Seeing him frowning hard, his whole body coiled tight, she'd already guessed that something dangerous might be lurking close by.

"Don't worry, Subaru. Betty will keep you safe, I suppose."

Betty tightened her grip on his hand — a small gesture, but through it she offered him something steadying.

Some of the tension bled out of Subaru's chest.

Right. He wasn't alone anymore. Not like before.

With Betty here, even if things came to a head with Elsa —

It probably wouldn't be too bad… probably.

While he was still turning it over in his head, Subaru found himself standing in front of the fruit stall. He walked straight up to Elsa, who was still pretending not to know him, and cut right to it.

"Elsa. What are you doing here?"

Subaru crossed his arms and looked at Elsa — doing her best impression of a mild-mannered, gentle soul — with an expression that said he had no words.

"My, my — whatever does this gentleman mean? I'm afraid I don't quite follow."

Dressed in coarse linen, Elsa in that moment really did look like nothing more than a moderately pretty, pleasantly-shaped ordinary countrywoman.

She raised a hand to her lips in delicate surprise, the picture of soft, helpless femininity.

At first glance, it looked exactly as though Subaru had stormed up to harass a perfectly innocent woman.

"Barusu… who is she?"

Ram caught the gravity in Subaru's expression, set down the apple in her hand, and shifted to full alert in an instant.

"Is this woman an enemy? Do you need me to…?"

Wind-blade magic gathered at Ram's fingertips, its keen edge pulsing and ready.

"Drop it, Elsa. If you don't have any business with us, we'll be on our way."

Subaru put out a hand to stop Ram, then looked at Elsa with weary resignation.

Looking at how carefully she'd disguised herself, how thoroughly she'd blended into the village — it didn't read like she meant them any harm.

He had no patience for a drawn-out confrontation with Elsa right now.

"My, what an impatient man. But then again — that's just like you, isn't it."

Seeing his reaction, Elsa dropped the act entirely and spoke with a cheerful smile.

"I only went to all this trouble of disguising myself and coming here because I wanted to help you, Subaru."

"Help me?"

Subaru repeated it, genuinely puzzled.

"But of course — because someone hired Meili to kill you, you see."

Elsa touched one finger lightly to her vivid red lips, then broke into a sudden, bright smile.

"Meili is my little sister, by the way. Don't underestimate her — she's a formidable curse-user, and an exceptionally skilled assassin."

"So? The moment I heard you were in danger, I came straight here to deal with my sister. How are you going to thank me?"

The more Elsa talked, the more animated she became — until at last she wrapped her arms around herself, a flush spreading across her cheeks entirely of her own accord.

"Why not just offer yourself to me? It only stands to reason that you'd feel deeply grateful toward someone who saved your life, doesn't it?"

"Sorry to disappoint you. The most you're getting is a verbal 'thank you.'"

Subaru slanted a glance at Elsa, and once he'd satisfied himself that she wasn't much of a threat right now, he made up his mind to simply ignore her and head into the village to have a look around.

His best move was to find Meili and see with his own eyes what her intentions were.

With that thought settled, he reached out to take Ram's hand and turned to go.

But at that moment Elsa slipped around and materialised in front of him.

Her sudden appearance nearly made Ram let fly with a wind blade on pure reflex — Subaru threw out his arm just in time to hold her back.

Subaru reminded himself: Bowel Hunter was no pushover.

And somewhere in this village, the beast tamer Meili was lying in wait. Better to avoid a confrontation if he could help it.

"Looking for Meili? I'll guide you there."

Elsa had caught enough from watching Subaru turn to leave — and still head further into the village — to piece together his intentions fairly well.

Without waiting for him to reply, she simply started walking, leading the way, and waved a hand back at them over her shoulder.

"Follow me. I know this village well by now, and I know the spots where Meili usually likes to play."

She glanced back with a smile as she said it.

"Relax — something this small doesn't count as a job. I won't be charging you."

Paired with her plain, simple clothes, that smile of Elsa's somehow managed to look almost wholesome.

Subaru shook his head. He couldn't bring himself to drop his guard around Elsa, no matter what.

Still, this was a chance to pick up some information while he was at it.

"Elsa, how long have you been here? Long enough to open a fruit stall?"

"Ah — not long after leaving the Royal Capital, really. Meili had received a commission to come out to this village and wait for you to show up."

"So I disguised myself as a widow and came to settle in the village along with her, to protect Subaru. The villagers took pity on us and helped quite a bit, actually."

"Hmm~, how lovely of them! What warm-hearted people — in more ways than one."

"Ugh — Elsa, you're as utterly revolting as ever, you know that?"

"Oh my, thank you so much. Could I trouble Subaru to say a few more terrible things to me? My heart is racing for some reason."

"…I have absolutely nothing to say to you."

Elsa led the way ahead of the three of them.

For most of the walk deeper into the village, it was Subaru and Elsa doing the talking.

Gradually, the four of them walked on, their figures growing smaller as they receded into the village.

...

Before long, the four of them arrived at the large open square at the heart of the village.

Low-roofed houses ringed them on every side; at the centre of the square stood a well that served the daily needs of the villagers.

"Meili! Come here~"

Elsa called out in a loud, clear voice toward a cluster of children playing beside the well.

In that moment she looked for all the world like the most ordinary older sister in the world, calling her little sister home for supper.

Subaru followed Elsa's line of sight.

Drawing on his memories of the future, he picked her out immediately — the only child in the group with purple hair: Meili.

Now that he thought about it, Meili's hairstyle was a little unusual — it was the same as the new style Ram had switched to this morning. Long hair combed forward to drape over the chest.

It was the kind of hairstyle that really suited someone a bit more mature.

And yet, strangely, on Meili — young as she was — it somehow made her look even more innocent. He had no idea why.

Subaru rubbed his chin and watched Meili from across the square, a quiet ache in his chest.

Wouldn't it be nice if Meili could stay this adorable forever.

But that was a wasted wish. Every bit of it was an act.

He could never forget what she really was — an assassin.

And the owner of an utterly terrifying magical beast partner, Guiltilaw, who could disguise itself as a small dog.

"Oh, my sister's calling me — I'd better go."

On the other side of the square, Meili apologised with a slightly sheepish smile to the five other children around her, then walked briskly in the direction of Elsa.

"Elsa, what's going on?"

Meili started by looking up at Elsa with a puzzled tilt of her head.

But then her gaze shifted to Subaru, standing behind Elsa.

"Ah! You're — the big brother that Elsa likes!"

Meili's eyes lit up instantly, and somehow she'd recognised Subaru at a single glance.

She broke into a grin, threw her arms wide open, and launched herself straight at him.

Hup!

Subaru just barely caught the small figure that had flung itself at him, folding her snugly into his arms.

"Big brother — are you going to accept Elsa's feelings this time?"

Meili rubbed her cheek against Subaru's chest — warm, and for some reason possessed of a strange pull she couldn't quite put into words.

Then she tilted her head back to look up at him, deep-green eyes wide and guileless, and asked the question with complete directness.

What? Where did that come from?

Subaru's head filled with question marks. He looked toward Elsa —

— and found her squirming in place, red to the ears, exactly like a young girl who'd just had her secret crush blurted out in front of everyone.

Subaru was at a loss. Meili was undeniably cute, but he did need to set the record straight with her.

He opened his mouth to speak — and Meili cut him off.

"If Elsa alone isn't enough, how about Meili thrown in as well?"

Meili blinked her big eyes up at him, perfectly innocently, while speaking words that were far too grown-up for a child her age.

"After all, big brother has been staring at Meili in a very special way since just now — if Meili puts herself in the offer too, would big brother consider giving Elsa a chance?"

N-no — please, Meili — ugh!

Subaru's panic was so complete he almost felt like dropping to his knees and begging.

He shot an instinctive, guilt-ridden look at the people around him, and caught Ram and the others levelling a perfectly synchronised stare of contempt in his direction.

He felt like a strip of salted fish baking under the midday sun.

No — he was absolutely not a lolicon!

Subaru was still wailing inside his own head when a sharp pain shot through his left foot, and the internal wailing promptly became external.

"Betty, what was that for?!"

Subaru threw up a hand in protest.

"Hmph. That's what Subaru gets for holding onto that little girl this whole time. Betty is jealous, I suppose."

Betty turned her head away with a cold little sniff, deeply displeased.

It wasn't as though she felt anything particular when Subaru held that maid Ram — that didn't trouble her in the least.

But this little girl (a word she'd picked up from Subaru) was a different matter entirely.

Betty fixed a distinctly unwelcoming stare on Meili, who was curled up in Subaru's arms looking utterly innocent.

It might have had something to do with their similar size — but toward Meili, Betty felt an inexplicable, prickling hostility.

Something about her just felt like a threat to Betty's own niche at Subaru's side.

The thought made Betty press her lips together in a pout. As if!

One little girl at Subaru's side was more than enough, and that spot belonged to her — hmph!

Ram, for her part, was comparatively composed — but she still made her disapproval of Subaru's aberrant behaviour of clinging tightly to a small child quite clear.

"Barusu, laying hands on a child is the sort of thing that gets divine punishment rained down on you. Ram strongly advises you to reconsider your life choices before it's too late."

Spooked by the united front against him, Subaru hurriedly set Meili down on the ground and stumbled back several steps.

"Hey, can you all please stop exaggerating? Meili was the one who flung herself at me."

Subaru said it with an air of complete and utter helplessness.

Meanwhile, Meili trotted over to Elsa's side and gave a small sigh.

"Elsa, Elsa — looks like I failed. From here on, you're on your own. You'll have to chase big brother all by yourself."

"Mm, don't worry. I'll make Subaru accept me, and then the three of us can go back to the way things were…"

Elsa pressed both hands to her cheeks, her expression sliding into something obsessive and dreamy — the look of someone who had truly lost touch with reality.

Subaru was still staring at the scene in front of him, dumbfounded, when he felt a tug at his sleeve.

He assumed it was Betty wanting something, but when he looked down, it turned out to be the five children from before — the ones who'd been playing near the well.

At some point they'd drifted over and gathered around him, forming a loose circle, all of them eyeing him with frank, uninhibited curiosity.

"Mister, mister — are you really the kind of weirdo who does weird things to little girls?"

A runny-nosed boy asked this with a cheerful, gap-toothed grin.

"Creep! Creep!"

"Oh, I know what that's called — big brother is a lolicon!"

The four boys and one girl around him joined in the gleeful heckling.

Subaru's expression darkened. These little rascals were at it again.

And then, as if by reflex, his passive skill — Friend to All Children — kicked in. Thanks to his natural ease with kids, he was laughing and joking along with them in no time at all.

But in the middle of the laughter, Subaru suddenly felt that something was off.

Wasn't there someone missing from this group of children?

Wait —

Subaru's expression changed in an instant.

Petra — the little girl who would one day become a maid at the mansion — where had she gone?

____

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