Eternally Regressing in Another World

Chapter 53: Square 47: A Memory of Red Fruit

”I’m so sorry!”

After winning, the first thing I did was apologize to Selva. Even if it was just a match, trashing someone’s home this badly and pretending nothing happened wasn’t really an option.

”It’s quite alright. Damage like this can be repaired within two days.”

Hearing that, I confessed something a bit awkwardly.

”Um, actually, I buried explosive crystals in a bunch of spots on the first floor, so before you start repairs, you should probably remove those first...”

Selva immediately sent instructions through the communication crystal.

”Suspend work immediately! Everyone evacuate the annex!”

Turning back to me, his face looked genuinely alarming.

”When you say buried, what exactly do you mean?”

”...Plan C.”

Question marks practically piled up over Selva’s head. I quickly explained.

”So, in case the earlier plan failed, I rigged explosive crystals at even intervals across the whole first floor, in pillars and under the floorboards. If they’d all gone off at once, the building probably would’ve collapsed, so I dug holes under the floor to escape underground before that happened...”

I wasn’t even finished explaining when Selva put his head in his hands. Desperate to win as I’d been, hearing it out loud now made it sound genuinely awful. Even I found myself flinching a little at my own words.

”Ohhohohohohoho! As expected of you!”

Elizabeth appeared with her usual loud laugh. Despite losing, she looked oddly delighted.

”...Um, you’re not mad? That was pretty brutal stuff I pulled.”

”Angry? Absolutely not. If someone’s going to beat me, they’d better go that far.”

While Elizabeth chatted happily, Selva cut in.

”My lady. What should we do about the annex?”

”That can wait. More importantly, bring Tender to my room.”

Elizabeth turned back to me, snapping her fan open wide.

”You can rest easy. I keep my promises. I’ll arrange things so you can have an audience with the king by tomorrow.”

We agreed to meet at the front of the mansion early the next morning. With that settled, I left the estate. I also pushed my luck and borrowed a carriage, promising to return it the next day. Handling the reins with unfamiliar hands, I checked my watch face.

”11:30, huh. Rick should be arriving at the mansion around now.”

I urged the horse on a bit faster. I wanted to meet Rick too, but there was a lot to handle right now. Elizabeth could probably sort out the audience with the king, so what I needed was solid material to actually convince him.

”Anyway, I need to find the murderer, and fast.”

Checking the Eltrick family’s address I’d noted down, I bounced the carriage off the wall more than once, driving recklessly.

”...This really is nothing like driving a car. This might be genuinely dangerous.”

Palms sweaty against the reins, the reckless man drove on down the public road.

”What’s going on here?”

After bouncing off walls repeatedly, paint scraped clean off, I finally arrived at the destination. All that was there was an empty lot with nothing but a well.

”Wrong address? No, I had Selva confirm it, so that shouldn’t be it...”

I called out to a passerby nearby.

”...Um, excuse me. Is there a house belonging to someone named Eltrick around here?”

”You related to the Eltricks?”

”Well, something like that.”

If I said I was investigating, he might mistake me for a reporter and clam up. Better to play along as an acquaintance to get him talking.

”...Well, hate to say it, but there’s no Eltricks left. You know about that, right? The murder case.”

”Yeah, well...”

”The whole family fled the country. Terrified of that killer. ...Too pitiful to even watch.”

The man turned his face away slightly and, asking ”that all?”, started to walk off. I thanked him and bowed at his retreating back. A cruel story. But frustratingly, I hadn’t learned anything useful.

”...What now.”

Checking my watch as I said that, it was almost noon. At this time, she might actually be around.

”...Out of options anyway, might as well go see her.”

I climbed back into the carriage, wiped my sweaty hands on the reins, gripped them firmly. After a few deep breaths, I snapped the reins with a bit too much force.

”...Thought I was going to die.”

Having survived three separate near-death experiences, I finally reached the plaza. Parking the carriage nearby, I carried a paper bag of tomatoes into the plaza.

”Oh, there she is.”

Shiran was, as usual, spacing out. Seemed absorbed in staring up at the sky, not noticing me at all. Might as well have some fun, I pressed a nicely chilled tomato against her cheek.

”Nyoh!”

Shiran let out a strange yelp and jumped. I couldn’t hold back my laughter at that.

”Pfft! Ahahahahahaha! S-sorry, did that scare you that much, ahahahahaha!”

”...Who are you?”

”Hm? Ah, my bad, my bad. You looked so out of it I got a little worried. I’m the kind tomato mister, nice to meet you!”

”I see... looks tasty.”

By the time she said that, a tomato was already in her hand. When did she even grab that?

”Can I eat this?”

”Yeah, take as much as you want.”

At that, Shiran looked happy and bit right in. Alright, this should be enough to bring Shiran to the underground storage. ...Though phrased that way, it sounds a lot like kidnapping.

”...Are you an acquaintance of my dad’s?”

”Nope, just an ordinary guy, nothing special about me.”

”I see.”

Shiran, uninterested, kept eating the tomato. She asked, so I answered, ...well, fine. If I led her straight to the underground storage now, she’d probably get suspicious, but with Flaut there too, she’d probably feel more at ease.

”There’s someone I want you to meet. You got time?”

From the outside, this probably looked exactly like some suspicious man trying to lure a little girl away. Helping a young girl really is harder than it sounds.

”If I can eat all of these...”

Shiran pointed at the paper bag I was carrying. I’d bought about twenty just in case, but never expected her to want all of them.

”You sure you can eat that much?”

Shiran nodded with a bit of a proud look. Well, if she says she can, no reason for me to hold back. Deal struck.

”There’s a carriage over that way. You can eat on the way. Alright, let’s go.”

The two of us headed toward where the carriage was parked. But we stopped short nearby. Two suspicious men were lingering around the carriage.

”Wait here a sec.”

I handed the bag to Shiran and approached the suspicious men.

”You two got business with my carriage?”

”N-no, nothing at all!”

They backed off more easily than expected. The suspicious men fled off somewhere immediately.

”If every enemy from here on out were that easy, this would be a breeze.”

Sighing, I opened the carriage door. On the seat sat a smartphone. Music from some musician was playing quietly from it.

”Worked better than expected, that anti-theft trick.”

I’d figured a song playing from inside would make the carriage less appealing to steal, and it seemed to have worked. An expensive-looking carriage like this needed some kind of deterrent, or it’d be a target instantly. I powered off the phone and waved Shiran over.

”You good now, tomato mister?”

”...There’s that name again.”

”What?”

Tilting her head in confusion, I gently patted Shiran’s head, climbed into the carriage, and gripped the reins.

”Alright, let’s go! Hold on tight!”

”Huh? O-okay!”

The horse let out a call, and the wheels began turning.

Destination: the school!