The research laboratory's chimney, which had been spewing steam every day, was clean. The machines that had been running loud enough to shake the floor had all stopped.
The owner of the laboratory sat in his study, turning pages of a book. The sound from a gramophone he had deliberately turned on filled the room.
However, he closed the book after turning only a few pages. Millen, who had been called to organize the research lab, clicked his tongue. The young count's gaze was fixed on the empty sofa and neatly stacked cushions. He seed unaware of it himself.
"Millen. You don't need to stare like that for
to know."
No. This magical engineer was quite quick at understanding himself. Whether it was in a positive or negative way. Millen pretended not to notice and turned his head, placing books on the bookshelf.
"I didn't say anything."
A good servant must know how to keep their mouth shut. Millen had no sha when it ca to that principle.
"Of course you wouldn't. You'd have been fired if you had said it out loud."
"You're becoming more of a tyrannical master by the day."
"Then I should act like a tyrannical master and chase away the idle servant. Go and do your work."
Millen pretended to dawdle but quickly put down the books and left the room. He had noticed his master's uncomfortable mood. Once the door closed, Cider let out the sigh he had been holding back.
What he had just done was truly nothing more than venting his anger. After a night of calm fury had passed, the layers of accumulated emotions were manifesting in a rather childish form. He knew it was unseemly behavior.
Since that day, Esperanza had been avoiding Cider's living quarters as if she had made up her mind about it. She didn't even return to the mansion until nightfall. It was Cider who had told her to "go out," but... she wasn't even taking care of her als, he was told. Of course, it wasn't Cider who had asked, but a story Mrs. Denver had volunteered.
These past few days felt as if ti had frozen and wasn't flowing. It had been three days longer than the past nine months that had passed in an instant. And just as these three days were flowing by, the rest of his life would flow by as well. If he were "lucky" enough to survive.
He couldn't focus on his research either. He had stopped the research that had just begun. The only reason he hadn't completely overturned that research lab was due to pathetic lingering attachnt. He was well aware of that too.
At tis like this, having a quick grasp of oneself was rather poison. After much contemplation, Cider rose from his seat. Leaving the study, he stopped quietly in front of the research lab where magic stone research had been in progress until three days ago. Then he suddenly burst into hollow laughter.
A single long strand of hair had fallen at his feet. Among the people who frequented this research facility, there was only one person with such long curly hair. She must have co and gone in secret.
He bent down and picked up the hair.
That research was a failure anyway. The mont he learned that Esperanza had co from a completely different world, it should have been discarded.
Even with the original spaceti machine, it was impossible for people from this place to go to other spacetis. Even that half-successful achievent of being able to summon things from other spacetis was a rare coincidence where trendous genius and trendous luck had dramatically intersected. He knew well that such luck would never co again.
Hesitating when he knew it was impossible was unseemly attachnt in itself. Eventually Esperanza would leave, and he would remain here. That would be the end of it.
But setting aside the magic stone research, the restoration of the spaceti machine...
Cider, who had let go of the door handle, headed back to the study and ca to a conclusion with twisted feelings. The corner of his lips curved crookedly upward.
'There's no need to worry about sothing she hasn't even asked for yet.'
??????°??☆????°??????
The hair that had been fluttering as if it might tangle at any mont settled down calmly. The cityscape that had looked like a charming toy city ended, and it led to a dreary road. Esperanza pulled her hood deep down to conceal her presence and entered the depths of a narrow alley.
Confirming that the black map brightened to an amber color, Esperanza entered an old tavern.
Coachn, mine workers, chimney sweeps, farm laborers, and workers looking for day jobs at construction sites mingled together, breathing out murky air.
Avondale was a small city, but there was a magic stone mine nearby, so a steady influx of workers was needed. Mines were places where people died quite frequently.
However, people wanted even such work. The employnt office across the street was packed with everyone from small children to patients who looked like they should be in hospitals.
Esperanza walked toward a man sitting in the cleanest corner. When doing hunter work, even if she had a lot of money, she often had to co to places like this. Whether the tavern was crowded or not, Cyrus always found a corner seat.
Two glasses sat on the old wooden table.
"Soone ca and went?"
"An information broker. Since we can't use the existing routes."
Just as Esperanza had, Cyrus would also need a new place to obtain information. Especially a new place that wouldn't fall under Daria's sight. It made sense. Esperanza pushed away the glass with the back of her hand covered by her hood sleeve and glared at Cyrus as she slowly sat down.
"So? Why did you call ?"
She was asking, but the answer was obvious.
"Did Count Avondale promise to cooperate?"
He must have called to interrogate her. He seed to be in a hurry.
"No. The way things are now, he has no reason to help us either. ...Let
ask you one thing. You and Daria have very strong power here, don't you? Enough to hold even the queen in one hand and shake her."
That's why she hadn't thought of it at first.
"Couldn't you just get gold or jewels from here and take them to the original world?"
If there was a reason they had to gain power in this world, she had once thought it might be because they were people from this world. But if what Cider said about the spaceti machine being unable to send things from this world to another world was true, and if that problem hadn't been solved even thirteen years later, then it made sense why Cyrus and Daria had used such complicated thods.
"It's impossible to take things from this world out. The reverse is possible, but for us there's no reason to do so and it wouldn't be very helpful."
It would have been much more convenient to use magic power rather than bothering to obtain sothing like a pistol from the original world and bringing it in.
It seed there was no particular solution regarding dinsional travel even thirteen years later. In that case, if Esperanza returned, she truly would never be able to et Cider again.
It was a fact she had taken for granted until now, but she didn't know why it felt as shocking as if she were learning it for the first ti. Was it because she had briefly seen the possibility of another way? If that was the case, how great must Cider's shock have been when he learned the truth?
Esperanza smiled bitterly. She recalled the mory from three days ago when she had stood like a faithful wife's stone in front of Cider's bedroom door, unable to advance or retreat.
Inside the bedroom was silence, and the corridor was dark and cool. Dragging her feet as if they had weights attached, Esperanza had recalled what Cider had said that night when she first kissed him.
'If we can't et again, how is that different from dying?'
It seed even words had a reverse side. When she recalled those words again, they felt like they had a different aning than before.
When she said she would protect him, Cider had looked surprised but also happy. At that ti, he must have thought about living in the world thirteen years later with Esperanza instead of dying at the predetermined ti. He had readily decided to leap into such uncertainty.
But now that even that small possibility had been shattered, perhaps Cider had returned to how he was before? To the ti when he wouldn't deliberately drive himself to death but also had no thought of trying to avoid such crises.
An ominous thought seized Esperanza. That night was particularly chilly, and even with a hunter's body, Esperanza spent the night feeling sowhat ill.
She hoped he wouldn't die. Even after Esperanza returned. Even if he was a little less happy, she hoped he would live. ...Was that selfish? Even if it was selfish, she couldn't help it.
That's why she had responded to Cyrus's call. He had what Esperanza wanted. She could guess several of his demands as well.
Esperanza knew she wasn't a great negotiator. But since her opponent was relatively easy to handle. It would be best to get it for free, but even in the worst case, they would be able to make a good deal.
"Is what you want for Cider to remake the spaceti machine?"
"And to destroy the Golden Claw as well."
Right. That too. She had forgotten. The quest na was even 'Find the Golden Claw!' But it couldn't be helped. Things were flowing in a completely different direction than she had initially thought, making her head complicated. It wasn't entirely Esperanza's fault that her initial guess had failed. The clues were wrong from the beginning! Her complaint burst out.
"If you were planning to make a spaceti machine anyway, why did you put in the Return Ticket (Ho)? Can you even use that thing?"
"It's not for returning, but for coordinate tracking. Even if there's a machine, you can't return if you don't know which world and which point in ti to return to."
She didn't know why they had bothered to put that as a quest reward, but since they said the quest itself had turned out that way as they were making it, the reason would probably be similar. If Cyrus had received the quest from the beginning and co to this ti period, such things wouldn't have been any problem at all.
"I thought Esperanza-nim also wanted to return, but it seems that's not the case."
"The Golden Claw is your business so I don't care about that, but I do want to return too. But that's my personal matter, and I can't force Cider to help with that as well."
For now, far from forcing, even persuading would seem difficult. It had been exactly three days since she'd been avoiding Cider. Esperanza was in a pitiful state like a little kid who had run away from ho with just a backpack.
"Did you have a fight?"
"...Yeah. You saw it clearly enough yourself."
Cyrus, who hadn't budged despite the blatant complaint, filled a crude glass with rum and said:
"For the sake of our goal as well, I recomnd you make up quickly."
Was this soone else's business right now? Cyrus certainly had a share in Cider's anger. Though she couldn't deny that most of it was Esperanza's fault.
"Esperanza-nim. You seem reluctant."
Cyrus had no interest in Cider's emotions. He was treating Cider purely as a magical engineer. But Esperanza couldn't do that.
Her towering pride was broken. Her wounded appearance had been exposed, and she had even revealed the humiliation she felt at that mont. If she asked him to make a spaceti machine to send Esperanza back, he would have to wound himself every minute and second, and she couldn't force such a thing.
Cyrus looked down at the conflicted Esperanza and emptied his glass. Seeing her lips torn from gritting her teeth, it didn't seem the conflict would be easily resolved.
In that case, there was no choice but to give what she wanted. However, conditionally.
"There's no ti. The count will die soon."
"I can keep him from dying."
"How? You don't even know when or where the count will die, do you? It could be today. You might co out to avoid the count like today and end up reuniting with his corpse."
Of course, not today. The count's death would be next year. Esperanza's existence could beco a variable that might make Daria and Cyrus of this era advance their plans. However, Cyrus, who knew Daria's thods, knew that now was not yet the ti.
Attempts to recruit the genius magical engineer Count Avondale, threats, assassination attempts, and finally assassination. That series of processes was in Cyrus's head.
In this world, only he knew.
"I will tell you all of Daria's plans related to Count Avondale."
But it wouldn't be free. She knew what would co next.
"Please bring Count Avondale to the warehouse where the machine is."
"You can't force him to remake the machine imdiately."
She'd rather act crazy and stick to him all day. If Cyrus tried to threaten Cider... Esperanza's gaze aid at Cyrus's heart. It didn't seem like it would be easy to subdue Cyrus without killing him.
eting her gaze with its clear aning, Cyrus quickly examined both of Esperanza's hands. Long, wide sleeves covered the backs of her hands. Wide enough to sufficiently hide what was inside. Having never been wary of Esperanza before, the realization ca a step too late.
"...I'll just check if the machine is safe."
Esperanza, who had clicked a loaded revolver inside the sleeve covering the back of her hand, slowly nodded.
"I'll try, but if he refuses, that's the end of it."
Reviews
All reviews (0)