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THE FLAPPING OF FAIRY WINGS

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*****

This morning, Berta, having successfully dragged Saburo out, roped in Rob and Arcelia as well, and headed to "Senkago," the largest shopping district in Toto.

Berta complained loudly about how inconvenient Saburo's personal car and the train transfers were, but the moment they arrived at Senkago, she dragged Arcelia into the heart of the city. Senkago was, in Japanese terms, like a mix of Shibuya and Shinjuku; it was the trendsetter of Nichirin and one of the most fashion-forward cities in the world.

「――This one suits you, too.」

Berta had made a beeline for her store of choice without hesitation. She had spent the last thirty minutes happily dressing Arcelia in frilly, cute Lolita dresses in black, white, and pink, but Arcelia herself had the eyes of a dead fish.

At first, Arcelia had resisted stubbornly. She had no intention of getting friendly with a bounty head like Berta, and besides, frilly clothes weren't her style. But Berta didn't care at all and forced Arcelia to change. Once shoved into a changing room and forced to change with the help of some stealthily used magic, Arcelia—who was bad at magic—had no way to resist.

While Berta acted lethargic, she was surprisingly agile, dragging Arcelia into one store after another. Berta herself was having a blast, trying on and buying everything from trendy outfits and dresses to even risqué lingerie. She’d call Rob over to show him everything she tried on, so when it came time for the lingerie, Arcelia had to stand firm in front of the fitting room to stop Berta from inviting him in. Though, because of that, Arcelia got dragged into trying on lingerie herself, and was talked into buying a few sets regardless.

「You gave up on recruiting me, right?」

「People change their minds, don't they? Plus, we've come all this way, and I happen to like cute things.」

Berta said something like that, which didn't make much sense.

Paper bags kept piling up in Rob and Saburo’s hands with every shop they visited. Berta would sneakily call her familiar dogs to carry the luggage away somewhere, but until then, it was up to Rob and the others to hold it. Rob had effectively become a pack mule alongside Saburo, but Saburo didn't seem at all bothered by being pushed around by Berta.

(I said it before, but she's like a granddaughter to me, provided she doesn't do anything bad.)

Rob caught a glimpse of the hidden side of Saburo's life in that remark. If Nichirin was a society similar to Japan, someone in Saburo's position surely wouldn't have had the freedom to spend time with his family. It wasn't hard to imagine that he hadn't had the time to dote on his children, let alone his grandchildren or great-grandchildren, or to indulge their whims. Now that he was in his twilight years, perhaps he was projecting those regrets onto Berta and the others.

Rob didn't feel like he could reach that kind of seasoned state of mind, so he pulled the visibly tired Saburo into a nearby coffee shop to escape. The coffee shop, which looked a bit like a certain famous coffee chain, had floor-to-ceiling glass windows that gave a full view of the street. Through the window of the upper floor of the building across the street, he could see Berta swinging Arcelia around, but what stood out most was the statue on the street.

It was a brand-new statue of Grand Marshal Saburo Fujita, looking as if it hadn't been exposed to the elements at all. It looked young and dignified, as if it were from around the time of the Second World War. Saburo didn't seem to want to look at the statue; it seemed to stir up feelings of shame or regret.

Between Rob and Saburo, only the aromatic scent of coffee and the buzzing of the shop flowed.

***

In the early afternoon, a bit late for lunch, a wiped-out Arcelia and a still-energetic Berta entered the shop.

「I'm hungry」

Saburo didn't get angry at Berta's overly free-spirited way of speaking, either.

After lunch, Berta dragged Arcelia off again to buy accessories and cosmetics. Once the sun had completely set, they plunged straight into the nightlife district. At first, Berta led the way, but halfway through, Rob—having had enough to drink to flip his switch—started leading them around, chasing memories of his old Japan.

They went from an izakaya chain to yakitori joints, pub-style bars, and standing bars. They hopped between shops that were slightly different from, yet eerily similar to, the places Rob had visited as a student in Japan.

Perhaps remembering his own life from over half a century ago, before he was summoned, Saburo didn't stop Rob but kept him company, watching Berta—who was having fun side-by-side with Rob—and Arcelia—who was being dragged along—with a fond expression.

By the sixth shop, Saburo was in a small snack bar, arms slung around the shoulders of an unknown, equally drunk guy in a suit, singing cheerfully for some reason. The two were singing songs that sounded similar but were completely different, though neither of them noticed.

Arcelia sighed and averted her gaze from Rob, wishing that he would at least learn from the quiet Mr. Saburo, since he was supposedly a hero. She decided she hadn't seen anything.

「――Arcelia, you drinking?」

Rob, smelling of alcohol, leaned in close.

「Liriles is surprisingly good, isn't it?」

Berta, who had been getting drinks bought for her by the middle-aged men around them, was suddenly at their side, too.

「……No, I'm refraining from alcohol.」

Arcelia was on the job, after all, and had no intention of drinking in a place like this. Rob didn't push it any further. It could be considered a success of the "education" he'd been given by Arcelia on how harassment was bad, but since this was actually the fifth time, a drunkard is truly a lost cause.

But right next to Rob and Arcelia, Berta was sneakily doing something.

Unaware of that, Arcelia took a sip of the apple juice Berta had tampered with.

Immediately, Arcelia's head dropped, as if her neck had lost all its strength.

Berta, who had secretly poured distilled liquor into the apple juice, giggled happily. A little prank. She had done it just to say, "I wonder if it's okay for an investigator to be drinking."

「……*hic*」

At the sound of the ominous hiccup, Berta smiled as if to say the prank was a success.

「Ufufufufufufufufufufufu.」

Arcelia untied the cord holding her pinkish-white hair, her cheeks—already pale enough to be called snow-white—turned beet red, and she wore a wicked, alluring smile. She downed the rest of her apple juice spiked with distilled liquor in one go, then, while saying, 「One more, please,」 she hijacked the bottle of red wine that had been in front of Berta and started chugging it.

Then, she hugged the empty bottle and flopped over.

「Oh my, how cute.」

Arcelia’s way of getting drunk was unexpected, but Berta poked her cheek, deciding it was fine because she was cute.

「――KYAAAAA!」

Suddenly, a scream rang out from the back of the shop.

Everyone looked around, wondering what happened, and Rob and Saburo sobered up instantly. Angry shouts and the sound of breaking dishes followed, and the door at the back of the shop was kicked open.

Out burst a gruff man in a flashy shirt with his suit jacket hanging open, clutching a short sword. This yakuza—looking every bit the part—silently stabbed the sword into a waiter who happened to be nearby.

「Aaaahhhh…」

The yakuza glared around with bloodshot eyes as the waiter collapsed. Another yakuza in a flashy shirt leaped out from the back of the shop, and more men just like them started pouring out from behind him.

The shop was in an uproar. Women who saw the blood screamed, someone called for an ambulance, and some customers were already trying to escape. But rowdy men appeared at the shop's entrance, blocking the exit.

The one who dove in first was, unexpectedly, Arcelia.

「I was having such a good time…」

Under normal circumstances, she would have restrained herself out of her position as an investigator, but she was comfortably drunk. She clutched her shackles like brass knuckles and stepped into the chest of the yakuza who was swinging his sword around, punching him out.

He went cross-eyed in a single blow.

Arcelia immediately deactivated her unique ability after the punch, glaring around as if nothing had happened.

「……!」

Perhaps having fully woken up, Arcelia stared blankly at her own handiwork for a moment. But she immediately hardened her resolve, deciding that what was done was done. Sooner or later, she would have punched him anyway.

***

High up in the tallest building in Toto, local investigator Edmond Ristal, who had a penchant for Nichirin culture, and the Interworld Train conductor Cubas were present.

The room was floor-to-ceiling glass, but it was floored with tatami mats, and in the alcove, there was a hanging scroll of ink-wash painting and even a lacquer-coated sword rack with a Nichirin sword on it. It was Nichirin-style, but with the floor-to-ceiling glass and a Japan-obsessed, middle-aged blond man sitting opposite a humanoid slime in conductor's uniform, it felt somewhat fake.

In this room, which could be called the local investigator's office, Edmond sighed for the nth time and stared at the night view of Toto visible outside the window.

The day after they had sent Rob and the others off, the Nichirin government had discovered that Rob was a Japanese person from the same homeland as Saburo. That had made the Nichirin government a bit nervous, and government officials had been swarming Edmond's office until just a moment ago.

The Interworld Alliance was not deeply involved in this 989th World and did not need to respond to every little thing. The Alliance's policy was to keep its distance from this world, which had no integrated government or world conference and no technology of its own to travel outside the world, having only contacted the Nichirin government after the Second World War to make them abandon the indiscriminate summoning rituals.

However, after the war, the existence of the Alliance had leaked out bit by bit to foreign countries, and through discussions with the Nichirin government, the existence of the Interworld Alliance had been disclosed as a top-secret matter only to the upper echelons of the United Nations—that is, to the heads of each country and the Secretary-General.

Each country had a different stance on the Interworld Alliance, but the Alliance did nothing further, only monitoring indiscriminate summons and caring for summoning victims.

The meeting between Saburo and Rob was within the scope of this care for summoning victims, and there was originally no need to get permission from the Nichirin government every time. Even so, Edmond had informed the Nichirin government in advance, and even after such extra information leaked, he had dealt with the Nichirin government accordingly.

It was only now—late at night, past midnight on the day Rob's true identity was revealed—that Edmond could finally take the time to talk calmly with Cubas.

「Why does a witch have to stir things up so much?」

Edmond already knew that it was Berta who had spilled the beans about Rob's background.

「It's hard to say it's just because she's a witch, but it has been said since ancient times that a witch is one who leads a hero astray and also one who guides them. 'For us, it’s nothing but a nuisance.」

「……The fact that we can't blame it solely on the witch is why history and stories really can't be underestimated.」

In the first place, it was the upper echelons of the Alliance that had permitted the meeting between Rob and Saburo.

The key figure who had managed to bring the Second World War to a draw had retired. That alone was a major event for the Nichirin Empire, but immediately after that, recruitment offers had flooded in for Saburo from all over the place. Of course, the Interworld Alliance had also made an offer, but they were refused, and that was the end of it. They had made casual offers so as not to sour their relationship with Saburo, and they had a good relationship with him. The Alliance respected the individual's will.

This time, too, the offer was made only because it was predicted that Saburo would be in danger following his retirement and that the relationship between the local government and Saburo would deteriorate. However, it seemed that it had invited the distrust of the Nichirin government.

That was exactly why Edmond had been against this meeting between Rob and Saburo, as there was no need to deliberately upset the Nichirin government, and he had rejected Arcelia's application. Yet, before he knew it, the Alliance upper management had decided on the meeting.

The Alliance's fundamental philosophy of providing generous protection to summoning victims. The practical benefit of establishing a good relationship with summoning victims, and perhaps successfully recruiting them. Edmond speculated that these were the Alliance's intentions, but he had some doubts.

While Fujita Saburo's unique ability was indeed powerful, it wasn't on the level of Rob, the Demon King Slayer. Given his age, the recruitment shouldn't have been prioritized that highly.

Edmond stared at Cubas with eyes that seemed to be probing.

「If it is a business order that has gone through formal procedures, I think it cannot be helped. A mere conductor like me cannot fathom matters above the clouds.」

Cubas generated a single air bubble inside its body, but Edmond could not fathom what it meant.

「……It was a harvest of sorts to learn that this country's government is wise.」

The Nichirin government hadn't wavered upon learning Rob's identity. There seemed to be some agitation, but that had subsided when Edmond declared that he would not recruit Saburo through Rob; or so it should have.

However, countries other than the Nichirin government had begun to stir.

In the first place, foreign countries had been plotting and working in the shadows to draw Saburo into their camp by any means necessary. Having caught wind of Rob's information, they seemed to have misunderstood, thinking the Alliance was going to whisk Saburo away. For foreign countries, even if Saburo were to remain with the Nichirin government, for him to go to an organization as mysterious as the Interworld Alliance was a major, intolerable incident.

Foreign countries had previously looked at the Interworld Alliance with skepticism, but now that the reality of Saburo—the world's greatest military asset—being poached had become a reality, they recognized the Alliance's power as real and felt fear.

Socialist nations, which had already been hostile to the Alliance, reacted first, and the capitalist nations opposing them began to move as well. Furthermore, a massive developing nation tried to get its hands in, hoping to benefit as a third party.

When that happened, the police and intelligence agencies of the Nichirin Empire were forced to respond, and some fools began to cause a commotion as well.

However, Rob would be departing on the Interworld Train in less than two days. Once Rob and the others were gone, the situation would naturally calm down.

「……'The flapping of a fairy's wings cannot cause a wind, but it can stir ripples in the heart.'」

「Please don't say ominous things. If my workload increases, my bonsai will get lonely.」

It was as if they were talking about someone else's affairs.

But the next day, an urgent report reached Edmond.

Hearing it, Edmond looked down at the dusk-covered Toto with cold eyes.

*****

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