Beyond Memories Page 14

  That’s right — today I’m here on behalf of Aki and Masato. This was my own selfish request, Miharu thought, refocusing her mind.

  “For now, I’ll do all the talking, so you can just focus on listening to Liselotte and I converse. It’s enough if you just reply whenever Liselotte or I address you directly. A topic to be careful about would be if Liselotte brings up products appropriated from Earth knowledge.” Rio must have thought Miharu’s expression was of discomfort, as he spoke to her gently.

  “O-Okay. I’ll do my best, just like we discussed before,” Miharu said with firm determination.

  Liselotte Cretia. The fact she was appropriating knowledge from Earth to develop products in this world was basically an undeniable fact to Rio and the visitors from Earth. Consequently, they had deeply considered all the possible reactions Liselotte might show if Miharu, a Japanese person, showed up.

  “You’ll be fine, Miharu. Aishia’s here in her spirit form too.”

  “...Yeah. Please take care of me, Ai-chan,” Miharu giggled.

  “I’m counting on you if the worst happens, Aishia,” Rio said. That being said, the actual chance of ‘the worst’ happening was very low. It was nothing more than Rio’s presumption, but having interacted with Liselotte several times now and seeing her interact with the hero Sakata Hiroaki in a normal manner, he was sure her attitude wouldn’t suddenly change.

  Got it, Aishia replied curtly.

  “You see?” Rio said with a smile on his lips.

  “Fufu, even if I can’t see her, I can easily picture Ai-chan’s face right now.” Miharu also laughed in amusement. For the record, Aishia was currently within Rio’s body in her spirit form, but was able to telepathically communicate with Miharu when she was at an extremely close distance, thanks to their previous temporary contract. With Rio present, it meant the three of them could communicate with their minds.

  Then, as the three of them continued to chat casually, they arrived at the gate before Liselotte’s mansion. Rio stopped around ten meters before the gate.

  “This is Liselotte’s estate,” he said while looking at Miharu.

  “I-It’s huge. I was thinking that while we were walking too.” Miharu stared at the outside of the mansion intently. The estate was enclosed in walls, but even without the walls it would have been impossible to see the entire grounds from their position. That was how large Liselotte’s estate was.

  “She’s the daughter of a grand lord, and the president of a large merchant’s guild too. Considering how Amande wasn’t a large city to begin with, this would actually be a smaller property,” Rio explained to Miharu. Amande was still under development and continuously expanding, so if there was more spare land to begin with, the estate would have been much larger.

  The two of them discussed such things by the gate when one of the gatekeepers approached them.

  “Greetings. Do you have business with the mansion?” the male gatekeeper asked. Rio and Miharu weren’t hiding their bodies and faces with coats and hoods, so while their outfits were tidy, they clearly weren’t nobles and could have appeared to be suspicious. Miharu’s hair color was also altered with an artifact.

  “My name is Haruto. I’ve come to request an audience with Lady Liselotte. If she is busy at the moment, then a future appointment would also suffice,” Rio stated respectfully.

  “Sir Haruto... My apologies for not recognizing you. You are the same swordsman who saved my master when she was being attacked by monsters, correct?”

  “I wouldn’t say I saved her outright, but...” Rio replied modestly with a wry smile.

  “Then this girl... Are you Sir Haruto’s companion, if I may ask?” The gatekeeper looked at Miharu.

  “Yes. Her name is Miharu Ayase.”

  Rio gave Miharu’s full name, which made the gatekeeper think she was a noble from her last name. He widened his eyes and invited the two of them through the mansion gates. “...Understood. Then I shall first lead you to my master’s attendants, so please come this way. Hey, it’s Sir Haruto. Send a message to the mansion,” he said to the other soldiers at the gate. One of the soldiers ran towards the mansion to inform them of the situation first.

  Rio and Miharu were then led through the gate and onto the estate. The garden of the estate was large and spacious, capturing Miharu’s gaze wherever she looked.

  Then, once they reached the building, the front door opened to the attendants welcoming them. Cosette, Natalie, and Chloe appeared.

  “Why, Sir Haruto, welcome to the estate.” Cosette took the lead to offer words of welcome, respectfully bowing her head. Natalie and Chloe did the same.

  “Long time no see, everyone,” Rio replied to Cosette in a friendly manner. At that, Cosette raised her head and spotted Miharu for the first time, giving her a curious look. She didn’t voice any thoughts out loud.

  “Yes, it’s a pleasure to be seeing you again. I’ve heard the situation. Please, come inside,” Cosette said brightly, inviting Rio and Miharu into the mansion.

  “Thank you very much.” Rio bowed and followed Cosette’s lead inside.

  “E-Excuse me,” Miharu also bowed awkwardly, following after Rio with timid steps.

  “We’ll take over from here. Thank you,” Natalie said to the gatekeeper soldier upon their departure. The soldier promptly excused himself and returned to the mansion gate.

  “I’m sorry for dropping by so suddenly, but I was hoping to at least secure an agreement for a future meeting,” Rio said to Natalie as they walked through the mansion.

  Natalie shook her head. “No, you are our master’s savior, so we’ve been ordered to always welcome you with priority upon your visit. You may need to wait for a short while, but you should be able to meet her today, so allow us to lead you to the drawing room,” she replied warmly.

  “...I am honored to hear that.” Rio smiled in embarrassment.

  “This is the drawing room. Please, go on in.” Once Cosette had led them to the drawing room, she quietly opened the door and prompted them inside.

  “Excuse me.” Rio allowed himself to be guided inside and sat on a chair. Miharu nervously sat beside him. Afterwards, tea was promptly brought out.

  “Now, please wait a moment until my master arrives. We will be waiting outside the room, so please call for us if you need anything.” The attendants retreated from the room respectfully.

  Once Miharu was alone with Rio, she took a deep breath to calm herself. “...I-I’m feeling really nervous all of a sudden.”

  “It’ll be okay — I’m sure she’ll agree to you accompanying us. Just leave it to me,” Rio assured her readily, but it wasn’t an empty promise by any means. Even if Liselotte were to refuse, he had brought a means of negotiation along.

  “I’m sorry. Even though this was my own selfish request, everything’s left to you again...” Miharu felt ashamed of her own worthlessness and apologized.

  “I’m doing it because I want to. Don’t let it bother you,” Rio encouraged Miharu with a smile. At that moment, a knock came from the door. Rio and Miharu looked towards the door, which opened a few moments later.

  “Sorry to keep you waiting, Sir Haruto.” The one who entered was the master of the estate, Liselotte. Behind her was her head attendant, Aria.

  “It’s been a while, Liselotte.” Rio immediately stood up and placed his right hand on his chest respectfully as he greeted her.

  “N-Nice to meet you. Thank you for having me here.” Miharu also stood up promptly and bowed her head somewhat uncomfortably.

  “...Miharu Ayase, was it? My servant informed me of your name. It’s nice to meet you. I am Liselotte Cretia, the governor of the city of Amande.” Liselotte glanced at Miharu and burned her appearance into her memory before introducing herself with a sociable smile.

  “Y-Yes. It’s an honor to be in your presence,” Miharu replied, gulping nervously.

  “It seems like you have something to discuss today, so why don’t we all take a seat.” Liselotte invited th
em to take their seats with receptive ease.

  Once Rio sat down, he immediately launched into their discussion. “I’m here to discuss what I mentioned before — the reason why I requested to attend the night banquet. It’s something that involves Miharu, so she came along for this.”

  “If you would care to elaborate?” Liselotte calmly prompted him to continue, her expression remaining the same.

  “Miharu is a friend of Satsuki Sumeragi, the hero that was summoned in Galarc Kingdom. With this much information, I’m sure you can infer the rest.”

  Liselotte closed her eyes for a moment. “...Aria, please step outside for a moment. Wait outside the door and make sure no one comes in.”

  “...Understood.” Aria nodded respectfully, departing from the room as ordered.

  “I apologize for that. The truth is, the hero... Sir Sakata and Princess Flora are still here at the mansion, so it’s possible they may come here. I took the necessary means to prevent them from interrupting our conversation.”

  “Thank you,” Rio bowed his head with a faint smile. Sakata Hiroaki was certainly likely to barge into a room without any consideration, which would be undesirable indeed.

  “...Actually, from the moment I saw Miharu’s face, I had the impression her facial structure wasn’t one that I’ve seen within the neighboring kingdoms. However, that is not enough to prove that Miharu is from the same world as the hero. Sir Haruto’s testimony makes me lean towards the believing side, but if you don’t mind, may I speak to Miharu myself a little? I should be able to ascertain whether Miharu and the hero are from the same world.” Liselotte took a short but deep breath and stared straight at Miharu as she spoke.

  “Ah, umm...” Miharu looked at Rio beside her and sought permission with her gaze. Rio nodded his approval at Miharu.

  “Yes, I don’t mind,” said Miharu.

  “Once again, it’s nice to meet you, Miharu. My name is Liselotte Cretia. I was a Japanese person in my past life. Can you understand what I’m saying?” Liselotte suddenly started speaking in Japanese. Her pronunciation was a little awkward, but it was definitely Japanese.

  “Uh...” Miharu was taken aback with intense shock. She had never imagined that Liselotte would suddenly start speaking Japanese — and neither did Rio.

  Unsure of how to respond, Miharu looked to Rio for confirmation. If Rio gave the wrong order here, he would be revealing that he could understand Japanese to Liselotte, but they had thankfully established a sign in advance just for this situation.

  What should I do? Join the conversation too? But... Rio decided to observe for now, placing his right hand over his left hand and tapping his index finger twice. In other words: a yes.

  “Ah, umm... Yes,” Miharu answered hesitantly in Japanese.

  “Are you wondering why I can speak Japanese? Or did you expect that I would be able to speak Japanese?” Liselotte giggled, guessing at what Miharu could be thinking at the moment.

  “Umm, why did you suddenly speak in Japanese?” Miharu asked. While the right answer was actually the latter, she was more curious as to the reason why Liselotte suddenly spoke in Japanese.

  “It’s because you were able to speak the language of this world clearly. Your pronunciation wasn’t entirely fluent, but the movement of your lips matches the sounds, so I deduced that you were able to understand the language of this world. That is the reason,” Liselotte replied.

  “What do you mean by that?” Miharu didn’t seem to understand with just that explanation. She tilted her head dubiously.

  I see... Rio grasped the reason with just that information and was very impressed, though he didn’t show it on his face.

  “The only hero I’ve met so far has been Sakata, but he’s just been speaking in Japanese. It seems to be automatically translated into the language of our world through some ability. I believe this is one of the powers of the divine arms, but it also means that if you look closely, you’ll see his lips don’t match his words.”

  “Umm...” Miharu still didn’t look convinced.

  “In other words, he didn’t realize that the products of the Ricca Guild were named after Japanese or Earth words. But you knew, didn’t you?” Liselotte tilted her head and confirmed.

  “Ah, yes,” Miharu said honestly. She had discussed this with Rio in advance; they decided it was okay to answer honestly in this regard.

  “In that case, you must have anticipated that the item must have been invented by either me or someone from the Ricca Guild, no? In fact, that’s why you’re here, is it not?”

  “Y-Yes.”

  “That’s why I spoke in Japanese from the start, rather than hide in a roundabout way. The reason I chose to use Earth words for the Ricca Guild’s products was to search for those who were like me, as a message. I didn’t intend on hiding myself from those who received my message.”

  “That’s... amazing.” Overwhelmed by Liselotte’s sharp intellect, Miharu murmured her awe quietly. It was all she could do to keep up with her words, leaving her no room to think.

  “Thank you for the praise. But there’s one thing I’m curious about,” said Liselotte.

  “W-What is it?” Miharu asked fearfully.

  “Japanese shouldn’t exist in this world. So, how did you learn the language of this country? It seems like you’ve already acquired the language to an easily conversational level, but reaching that with self-study would require a tremendous amount of time. At the very least, it would be impossible to achieve in the time since the hero was summoned.”

  “...” Miharu listened to Liselotte’s careful words with an uncomfortable expression.

  “In other words, you would have needed an excellent teacher. Now who could have played that role... With all due respect, Sir Haruto, could it have been you?” Liselotte suddenly looked at Rio and asked in Japanese.

  “Ah, no...” Miharu’s expression stiffened as she looked to Rio in a fluster. Meanwhile, Rio’s expression hadn’t even flinched. He had prepared an excuse in advance, after all.

  “Yes, it is exactly as you suspect. Your observation skills and deductive abilities are most commendable,” Rio praised Liselotte and easily confirmed her conjecture. This time, Liselotte’s expression stiffened.

  “Then... really... Were you — were you reincarnated too? Did you regain your memories of Earth as you were living in this world? Your name — Haruto — is it...” In a rare display of impatience, Liselotte tensed up and asked one question after another, but Rio put a stop to that.

  “Please wait a moment. We have come here today for a different matter. I’m sure you must be limited on time too, so could we wrap up that business first?” Rio said, choosing to use the language of this world.

  “...Please excuse my behavior, I got too excited,” Liselotte apologized, returning to her senses.

  “No, it’s just that that discussion will take some time to get through, so we should plan another day where we can chat without interruption. For now, let’s leave this discussion at my confirmation that I have memories of my past life as a Japanese person. Can we keep this a secret between us? I have no intention of revealing this to others that I do not know well.” Rio shook his head respectfully, confirming the bare minimum. Of course he was willing to expand on this discussion later, but he didn’t want to lose sight of their original objective here.

  “Yes. At present, the hero, Sakata Hiroaki isn’t aware of this either, so I would be grateful if we could keep it that way. I don’t plan on telling anyone other than those that noticed my hint, so I can promise that I will not reveal your secret,” Liselotte agreed with a wry smile.

  “Thank you very much. I shall promise the same.” Rio bowed respectfully.

  “Then will you tell me more about this other matter? It seems I’ve made the mood a little strange...” Liselotte said, smiling faintly. As a result of what she’d started, this space was now occupied by one world hopper and two reincarnations. There was a sense of something hard to describe — almost lik
e familiarity.

  “It’s about Miharu. I wish to request that she joins us at the banquet where Satsuki will be introduced,” Rio said with a faint smile of his own.

  “Sure, I don’t mind,” Liselotte agreed readily.

  “...Is it really okay?” Rio’s eyes widened in surprise. He’d expected there to be more resistance and discussion surrounding the topic.

  “Yes. Miharu herself wants to attend the banquet, right? I do owe a great debt to Sir Haruto. That much of a request is easy to fill. Now that I know your goal, I have ascertained that you have no ulterior motives. It won’t make a difference if Miharu joins as well. More importantly, I wish to return to the discussion of our past lives as soon as possible,” Liselotte said, giggling with a smile true to herself.

  “...Umm, thank you very much, Lady Liselotte.” Miharu had been observing part of the conversation in a daze, but she suddenly thanked Liselotte.

  “No, don’t mention it. It was thanks to you that I was able to meet someone in the same situation as me.” Liselotte shook her head slowly, looking intently at Rio.

  “...By which you mean someone who has memories of their past life, right?” Rio guessed.

  “Yes. I’ve always wondered why I was reborn into this world, and whether there were other people who were reborn just like me. As I said earlier, that was the reason why I used Earth words in the Ricca Guild’s products.”

  “What made you think that?”

  “I had a hunch. Based on the situation of my death, there should have been other people who died too. And if I had been reborn, then it was possible that the same happened to those people. That was my thinking.”

  “...I see.” Rio stared at Liselotte. He had always held the same suspicion as well. He had managed to meet Latifa, after all.

  “In that case, it’s possible that I knew of you.” With a serious expression, Liselotte gulped, then took a deep breath. “Sir Haruto... Did you perhaps pass away in a traffic accident in your past life?”