Chapter 464

“Hmm.”

Ulrike quickly pulled a piece of meat from the pork skewer and swallowed it, then held it out to me. The weather was nice. I had been shielding my eyes from the sunlight with one hand, but I took a bite without refusing and then looked over the accessories on the stall. Ulrike pointed at a bracelet strung with green and white stones.

“The colors go well together.”

“They do.”

None of the three of us were particularly interested in accessories, though, so we moved on to the shop right next door. Ulrike took the straw hat hanging by the entrance, tried it on, shook his head, and put it back on the display.

“Are you looking for anything in particular?”

“Oh, we’re looking for gifts for our friends.”

“What do your friends do?”

“Hmm… They study.”

“University students? I thought so. This is the hat for university students.”

The shopkeeper brought out a pitch-black bowler hat. To me, it looked far too old-fashioned, but apparently they didn’t think there was anything strange about it. Ulrike looked the bowler hat over from every angle before asking, “Wow. Do you have anything a little more comfortable to wear?”

“Is your friend a man?”

“Uh…”

Ulrike looked at me and Julia, caught off guard for a moment. The shopkeeper had asked without knowing that we were New Humans. After a brief hesitation, Ulrike flashed a grin and casually brushed it off.

“Yes.”

The shopkeeper narrowed his eyes and tilted his head sharply, then gestured for us to wait a moment before bringing over a trilby and a hunting cap.

“How about these?”

Ulrike didn’t even glance at the trilby. Instead, he took the hunting cap and his eyes lit up.

“Oh, I want this one! How much is it?”

I was horrified that he wanted to buy the kind of hat some old man who spent his afternoons playing janggi in the neighborhood park might wear, but I didn’t bother stopping him. Somehow, it actually looked quite nice on Ulrike.

We had come here to buy gifts for our friends, yet the first thing we bought after arriving was—a hunting cap for Ulrike himself, not counting the street food he’d eaten.

“Hmm~ Hmm-hmm.”

“I wonder what song that is.”

Zähringen tossed out the question lightly with a smile. We left the hat shop and continued down the street, while Zähringen’s gaze wandered toward the antique shops around us.

Ulrike sang louder, as if telling us to guess. Wearing the hunting cap without a jacket, his sleeves rolled up, he looked as though he had completely blended into the street. The three of us were a little tall, but unlike when we walked around in Eszett uniforms, we rarely attracted awkward looks. If anyone noticed our height, they’d probably assume we were students from a military academy or a school for the performing arts.

Thinking that, I plucked a stalk of foxtail grass from the roadside and put it between Ulrike’s lips. Ulrike tucked it between his teeth, moved it up and down, and began humming. Zähringen listened quietly for a moment before snapping his fingers and saying, “Dichterliebe.”

“Correct! Ah, this is so nice.”

Ulrike walked down the street, letting the breeze wash over him. I asked him, “You like it?”

“Yeah. It’s so peaceful.”

Ulrike’s eyes were calm as he said it. He wasn’t excited like a child. It was only for a moment, but I could almost guess what was on his mind.

“Lukas, how’s your leg?”

“It’s fine as long as I don’t run.”

I lightly shook my right leg, which was still in a half-cast, as I answered. Thanks to drinking Elias’s blood. In truth, drinking blood shouldn’t have been enough to restore this much strength, but considering how perfectly fine I was right now…

“…….”

It meant that Elias’s blood had been an excellent material for me. The only conclusion I could draw was that it was highly compatible with my body.

‘…I hope nothing like this happens again.’

As I sank into thought, Ulrike quickly brought up Leo.

“I wonder where Leo’s wandering around right now. He barely ate anything earlier, too.”

With one of his arms out of commission, he couldn’t really help it. The head butler had prepared a separate plate for him, but he probably couldn’t have eaten comfortably.

We soon found a café. We hadn’t even properly looked at a single item, and yet here we were stopping for food. I gave a dry laugh and rubbed my forehead, already feeling drowsy. I ordered coffee, Ulrike ordered an Apfelwein, and Zähringen ordered lemonade after Ulrike strongly recommended it.

I swallowed the bitter coffee, hoping the caffeine would keep me going. Then I asked Ulrike, who had already drunk half his Apfelwein, and Zähringen, who hadn’t taken a single sip yet,

“So, how did you two get there?”

I didn’t specify where there was, but we all knew I meant the Einsiedel estate we had visited early that morning. Ulrike took another long drink of his Apfelwein before answering.

“How did we get there? Seeing you guys disappeared, we couldn’t just sit around. We searched the area around there. After a while, the air started to ripple, so we went through it.”

“When you put it that way, it sounds pretty easy.”

Zähringen said it with a laugh. I gave a dry laugh in response.

“…It wasn’t easy. I know that. More importantly, that ripple you saw must have been traces of that Einsiedel passing through.”

“That’s what it seemed like. After that, Julia and I rode bikes all the way near Ingolstadt. And then we found you!”

I was grateful that they had thought to come looking for us despite how far it was. Even if it had been farther, they probably would have come anyway. I smiled at Ulrike.

“I was glad when you came for us.”

“Me too. When I found out you were alive, I felt like I’d been given a new lease on life.”

I narrowed my eyes at the strange expression, and Ulrike quickly added, “Because I was so happy.”

As if he had another thought in mind, Ulrike immediately changed the subject.

“That mage… He didn’t look anything like Heike. His hair, his features, even his build—he actually looked more like Elias.”

“That’s what I find strange too. There was that ridiculous rumor a while back that Elias had gone to Primrose Path. Back then, some of the kids mistook a picture of someone else for him.”

“…?! Then the person in that picture was—!”

“…….”

We exchanged glances. Then, as if we had planned it, we all fell silent. Ulrike kept running his fingers over his lips before murmuring in a lowered voice, “To be honest, I was relieved after visiting that Bishop Einsiedel’s mansion that time.”

“Why?”

“Because I found out that the people trying to kill Heike weren’t the ones who had done that to him. I could never bring myself to think favorably of that bishop. But…”

“…….”

“At least, I was glad to know he was someone who cared about Heike’s safety. We still have to figure out whether he has some other motive, but at least there’s definitely hope of bringing Heike back.”

“Yeah. I understand.”

Ulrike drained the rest of his drink, crunching the ice between his teeth, then speared a piece of torte with his fork and asked, “All right! Anyone want to share what they remember about Heike?”

“Hmm… A transfer student from the foundation. A friend who drinks with Elias pretty often. And…”

Zähringen took a sip of his lemonade before continuing with a smile.

“He looked like he wasn’t listening whenever you talked to him, but he actually remembered everything pretty well.”

“Ah~ Right. He only looks like he isn’t listening because of his expression. What about you, Lukas?”

Me? I suppose he wanted me to talk about the Heike I knew too. I answered immediately.

“He seemed to like making friends.”

“Oh?”

“He really liked drinking, too. And taking pictures. Even if he seemed insensitive to emotions, he wasn’t emotionless. He was just inexperienced.”

There was plenty more I could have said. Every moment I had spent with Heike remained vivid in my memory. Even though I had only known him for a short time, his circumstances had made him particularly difficult to forget.

“Oh, I thought so too. Now it’s my turn, right? Heike is terrible at board games.”

“…….”

I nearly choked on my coffee and covered my mouth. Zähringen also looked completely dumbfounded as he laughed and said, “Heike would be sad to hear that, Luise.”

“But he suddenly gets really good when he’s cornered. I’m telling you, you have to see it for yourself. I even accused him of using his Special Ability, but he said he wasn’t. I’ve even lost three times in a row because of that.”

Ulrike set down the fork he had been eating his torte with and muttered, “Honestly, I’d been taking it easy because I thought we’d have plenty of time to get closer.”

“Taking it easy, huh.”

“I thought it was fine if we didn’t become close friends right away. I mean… if you look at it as the start of a new school year, we’re only just getting through the beginning of November. But the time we have ahead of us together isn’t just two or three months, or two or three years, or even twenty or thirty years. We have nearly a hundred years ahead of us. And then to have that opportunity taken away from us against our will…”

Ulrike trailed off, furrowing his brow and shrugging his shoulders.

“If Heike had chosen to quit on his own, I wouldn’t be like this right now. And I’m sure the same goes for you two…”

It wasn’t his closeness with Heike that drove Ulrike so much as his sense of justice. Even if Heike hadn’t been a particularly close friend, Ulrike couldn’t simply stand by and watch a friend suffer an injustice. That was why, even now, Ulrike was still growing closer to Heike. Heike himself remained frozen in place, but at least Ulrike was taking one step at a time on his own.

Ulrike continued, “Something the bishop said has been bothering me. He talked as if we didn’t know anything. …And, well, we don’t. That’s why I couldn’t just ignore what his family was saying.”

“…….”

“I started wondering about something, too. Heike wouldn’t have worked this whole thing out with his relative himself, would he? If this is really what he wanted, then I…”

Anxiety crept into Ulrike’s eyes. His face was already twisted with worry. Just as I was about to bring up the possible explanations for what he had said, Zähringen speared a piece of torte with his fork and held it out to Ulrike’s mouth.

“Ah.”

“Huh?”

Ulrike ate the torte almost reflexively, despite his confusion. With the same calm smile on his face, Zähringen held out another forkful of torte to me.

“Lukas, too.”

“I can ea—”

Before I could finish, Zähringen wiggled the fork. I lightly caught his hand and ate the torte. I gave him a suspicious look, but Zähringen merely watched us with the same expression as before. Then he leaned back against the seat and spoke.

“There isn’t much we can know right now. What’s important is that things haven’t started badly.”

“…….”

“You didn’t think it would be easy. We knew the world would get in our way. And we’re part of that world, too.”

I nodded as I looked into those golden eyes. Julia was telling us not to come up with too many theories just yet. He pushed his glass of lemonade aside and continued.

“First, you need to keep your center if you want to achieve what you’re after. Then, go wherever your center naturally leads you. Otherwise, there’s nothing we’ll be able to see through to the end.”

“…I suppose you’re right.”

Ulrike answered after thinking it over. Whatever Zähringen had said seemed to help, because he no longer looked quite as troubled. Zähringen smiled at the two of us and pointed outside the window.

“So, where should we go now? We might as well pick up a present for Heike while we’re out.”

“This is our best-selling pen.”

We had spent the past two hours wandering around outside, looking for presents for everyone, and now we had arrived at the place I wanted to visit. I took the fountain pen the shopkeeper held out and examined it.

Ulrike, watching from beside me, muttered, “Isn’t it a little too plain for a present?”

“Shouldn’t you give someone something fairly neutral for a present? Something they’re unlikely to dislike?”

“Is that so…?! So, are you going to give this to Leo?”

Ulrike’s eyes were practically sparkling with excitement. Instead of answering him, I dropped the soundproofing spell and spoke to the shopkeeper.

“I’ll take this one.”

“Yes. Please wait a moment.”

A little while later, the shopkeeper brought over the fountain pen in a neatly wrapped gift box and set it in front of me. Ulrike whispered in my ear, “I guess they wrapped it so nicely because it’s a gift!”

“Looks like it. Do you have any notebooks?”

“Notebooks…”

The shopkeeper thought for a moment, then wrote an address on a slip of paper and handed it to me.

“Try this place.”

I took Ulrike, who still wasn’t the least bit tired, and Zähringen, who still wore the same smile as before, and headed to the shop that sold notebooks. We bought a thick, hardcover notebook and left.

Ulrike spent the entire walk beside me, eyes shining as he clutched my shoulder, so I let out a dry laugh and explained.

“…It’s not what you think. I just happened to run out of notebooks recently, so I bought one.”

“Eeeh?! You bought it for yourself, Lukas?”

“Didn’t you buy a hunting cap earlier?”

“Aha~! Hahaha~!”

Ulrike stretched, feigning ignorance.

“Ah~ Since we’re also picking out Heike’s present, there’s no way to tell whose present Lukas and Julia came here to buy.”

“Why do you need to know…”

And didn’t he already know whose present I had come here to buy? I gave a dry laugh at the thought, and Ulrike whistled before answering.

“Isn’t the fun part of this game figuring out who’s giving and receiving presents from whom?”

Zähringen laughed and asked, “Exactly, Luise. So, who are you buying a present for?”

“You go first!”

“Should I? Well, I—”

“No?! No, no. I was joking!”

“Haha.”

I glanced at the bag Zähringen was carrying. He had stopped by a bookstore, then a clothing shop, and then a fruit shop. There was no way for us to know which of those purchases were decoys, which were Heike’s present, and which were meant for the person he had drawn.

Ulrike’s bag, meanwhile, contained several items wrapped up in newspaper like they were under maximum security. We had been walking around together the entire time, yet somehow he had been quietly buying things without us noticing. Of course, I had no reason to think whatever was in there was meant as a present.

‘I am curious, though.’

“Guys.”

Just then, Zähringen called out to us from a narrow alleyway.

“Shall we make one last stop here?”

He pointed to a general goods store. The sun was already starting to set, and it was about time for dinner, so it seemed like a good place to make our last stop before heading back. And besides…

As I wandered through the streets, I suddenly remembered what Leonard from the Extra Chapter liked, what he had given me as a gift, and what kinds of things he liked receiving. I remembered it all quite clearly. I was going to buy that here.

We obediently followed him inside.

The store was much larger on the inside than it looked from the street. Zähringen went upstairs to look around, so I was free to browse the displays as well. Ulrike followed right behind me, carefully judging whether everything I picked up was something I intended to give Leo.

With someone watching me like that, I naturally started announcing what I was picking up.

“A ribbon.”

“Oh.”

It was a double-layered ribbon pin in pale blue and white. What was this even for? Was it supposed to be used to tie your hair? You tied it and then attached it, right?

To be honest, I still couldn’t understand how most people wearing ribbons in their hair actually wore them. More accurately, I couldn’t believe that most of those ribbons weren’t actually tied into their hair. They were finished ribbon pieces that people simply attached on top of the tied section.

The same applied to the ribbons that were supposed to go where a necktie would normally be. Of course, a skilled servant might tie one directly for you, but there were plenty of cases where people simply attached a pre-made ribbon, like whatever this thing in my hand was supposed to be—a hairpin or a brooch or something.

‘No wonder my school uniform ribbon tie always looked so awful.’

No matter how I tried, it always ended up looking like a shoelace, so I’d once spent quite a bit of time thinking about how people in media wore their ribbon ties. Ulrike came up behind me and whispered.

“Are you going to buy this for yourself too?”

“No? This one’s for him.”

“…?!”

Ulrike’s eyes darted around before he hurriedly stepped in front of me.

“I don’t think he’ll like this very much…?!”

“Why do you think that?”

“Well, because…! Think about Leo’s fashion. This looks like a blue version of that thing they wear on the shoulders of the British Royal Guards.”

It didn’t look anything like that. Still, what he meant was that it was too much. I gave him a gentle smile and slipped past him.

“I know, Luise.”

“…!”

“He’s nice, so he’ll like anything. Hmm, what else should I buy?”

“N-no, don’t…!”

“What’s wrong with it? Oh, a cone hat. His birthday is next month, too.”

I picked up a ceramic Christmas cone hat and muttered. Ulrike immediately started trying to talk me out of it.

“That’s still a long way off…! If you buy it now, it’ll just end up in the storage room.”

“Fair point. What else should I buy?”

I walked past Ulrike and picked up a potato-shaped brooch.

“It’s a potato. Why do people in this country eat so many potatoes?”

“Because… we’d already be dead without potatoes.”

“That’s not what I asked. Why?”

“You can’t eat meat every day of the year.”

“True enough.”

I put the potato brooch—and the tomato brooch beside it—into my basket and moved on.

“A music box.”

“Oh…! This feels kind of meaningful. You have to buy it!”

“Hmm, no. He doesn’t like listening to music when he sleeps. He’s the type to study until he goes to bed. Not this one.”

“I had a feeling that’d be the case… Wait, you even know that?!”

“I told you, we’re close.”

“Then why are you like this…”

I gave a dry laugh at that. Was he saying that because I’d been putting things like ribbons that didn’t match my clothes at all and potato brooches into my basket? Either way, I put the music box in too. Maybe wondering why I was buying it after saying not this one, Ulrike’s eyes went wide.

Jingle—

Then Ulrike let out a startled, high-pitched gasp. He quickly covered my basket with newspaper and stepped in front of me.

“What? Why?”

I didn’t need to hear the answer. Leo, Narke, and Elias were walking into the shop.

“Oh—!”

Elias waved at us before running over and throwing his arms around me.

“Luka!”

“Good to see you.”

“I was looking for you anyway. So, who are you supposed to give your present to~?”

Elias started tickling me, but I just stood there blankly. After fooling around for a while, Elias apparently decided it wasn’t working and suddenly grabbed my hand and opened his mouth wide. Horrified by what he was doing, I yanked my hand free.

“…! Hey! What are you doing?! Are you trying to eat my hand?”

“What the hell, Luka? Why aren’t you laughing?! You’re not ticklish?!”

“No.”

“Whoa.”

Ulrike sounded genuinely impressed from beside us. I had no idea why. Unlike Ulrike, who seemed oddly pleased by this discovery, Elias furrowed his brows and shouted, “That makes no sense!”

“I don’t see what’s so impossible about it…”

“Gwaah.”

He made some strange noise and opened his mouth again. Before he could bite down on my finger with his molars like he was popping a cork, I shook him off and backed away.

‘…Phew.’

That was close. Not because Elias had almost bitten my hand. But because I had nearly given Elias a semi-permanent means of attacking me.

To be precise, it wasn’t that I wasn’t ticklish. I had been holding back the reflex to punch him. Cheap physical attacks like this had never worked on me before, but I learned today that had only been true for my original body. I’d suspected as much, but Luka’s body really was slightly better suited for combat magic than my original one.

Elias followed right behind me, whispering.

“Just give me a little hint. I’ll keep quiet~ Come on? Who are you giving it to?”

In any case, punching Elias would only encourage him, so that was out of the question. And Luka wasn’t so different from me that I couldn’t control my reactions in the first place. Since I wasn’t anywhere near losing control, the best option was simply to keep giving him no reaction.

Well, I could retaliate a little. I brought my fist down hard on the hand that was sneaking up beneath my jaw, then slowly turned around. I leaned my face closer to Elias.

“What about you, Eli?”

“You go first. I’ll give you a bottle of wine when we get back.”

Elias raised one corner of his mouth and shook his head. I stared at him. Then he whispered, “I’ll even tell you whose fairy Leo is~ How about that?”

Regardless of how he’d figured that out, sorry, but that was even less tempting than the wine. Elias tilted his head, his eyes sparkling with anticipation. I chuckled and patted him on the shoulder.

“I…”

“Hmm~?”

“I’m not telling you.”

“Okay, everyone, gather up again!”

It was 11 PM.

Ulrike clapped his hands and sat down on the sofa in the hall. I deliberately dropped myself onto the sofa with a loud thud.

Why?

Ever since I teased Elias that one time, he had been clinging to my back nonstop. At this point, I could probably call him my shell. I’d gotten tired of trying to pry him off, so I was just putting up with him now. Leo let out a dry laugh and asked, “Can’t we go to bed now?”

“Yeah, Luise. We need to go to bed early so we can check what presents we got tomorrow morning~”

“No! We still have something planned.”

I wasn’t looking forward to finding out what the plan was at all. It was obviously going to be another one of Ulrike’s bonding activities.

‘What is he planning to do at midnight…?’

As I clasped my hands together and rested my forehead against them, Elias grabbed my cheek and stretched it. I slapped his hand away and straightened up.

Ulrike set two large boxes down on the table. Then he opened them one by one.

“Okay! Everyone, let’s paint them!”

“Eggs…?”

I let out a dry laugh at the sight of the large white eggs. Ulrike smiled and explained, “We’re making Easter eggs~! It’s coming up soon, after all.”

“Oh no, what do we do, Luka…”

I heard a strange noise from behind me. I ignored it, but Elias kept whispering.

“Luka. Want me to draw yours too? What should I draw?”

“Oh, you’re going to draw mine? Then draw something for me.”

“Okay.”

Ulrike, who had been listening closely to our conversation, immediately waved his hands.

“Nooooo! You have to draw it yourself! Yourself!”

“That’s too bad.”

“Yeah, too bad.”

Elias echoed me before finally getting off my back and sitting in his own seat. He picked up one of the eggs and started coloring it with a green pastel.

I sighed as I watched my friends already engrossed in decorating their eggs, then picked up an egg and some pastels of my own.

It didn’t take long to finish. The eggs were so round that they were difficult to draw on, and since everyone else had mostly just colored theirs, I quickly gave up on doing anything elaborate myself. Unable to think of anything in particular, I made one egg checkered and drew an animal on another. Then I put down my pen and called out to Ulrike.

“I’m done, Luise.”

“Me too~”

“Really?”

Ulrike checked the clock and smiled.

“It’s just about 11:30. We can start now.”

He pointed toward the other side of the hall.

“There’s a forest on our estate, guys.”

“I see. So?”

“Let’s go in pairs and hide the eggs in the forest~! Narke helped me purify the forest earlier!”

“…….”

The others’ eyes went wide. Instead, I grabbed the back of my neck.

It was pitch-black outside. This wasn’t even Berlin, so there were hardly any places with their lights on in the middle of the night. And at this hour? The scenery looked downright eerie.

‘…Isn’t this dangerous?’

No. If anything, Ulrike was the kind of person who would never do anything genuinely dangerous. Judging by how confidently he had prepared and presented this little bonding activity, he must have already taken care of anything that could actually be dangerous. Maybe…

“…….”

I had a pretty good idea of what kind of picture Ulrike had painted in his head.

“I made the teams~! Leo, Lukas. You two go together. Now, who wants to go with me next?!”

“Me~”

Narke raised his hand with a grin. Leo and I were the only ones who looked completely dumbfounded.

Everyone else just snickered. They all knew what Ulrike was up to. For some reason, I felt betrayed, but there was nothing I could do about it. I hadn’t exactly given them much reason to trust me, after all.

Well, now that it had come to this, I’d get it over with as quickly as possible. I burst out laughing while staring at the ceiling, then suddenly sat up straight and asked seriously, “Luise. Do you have a hand trowel?”

We were going to use the trowel to plant the eggs. I came outside with the trowel held like a wand in one hand and a basket containing Leo’s and my eggs in the other, then trudged toward the forest.

From the back entrance of the mansion behind us, I could hear my friends cheering for us for absolutely no reason. Leo took a close look at the basket in my hand and picked a fight with me.

“What’s with this distorted coordinate system?”

“……”

I didn’t answer. I knew exactly what he was talking about—he was looking at my checkered Easter egg. I should’ve put numbers on it, you bastard…

Obviously, I couldn’t say that out loud. Leo took the basket from me and examined the eggs one by one before muttering, “It’s cold.”

“Then go back inside and put on more clothes.”

“Nah… They already half-kicked us out. You think they’ll let me back in?”

Leo let out a quiet laugh, then exhaled slowly and turned toward me. With a smile, he said, “Let’s hide these quickly and head back.”