Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 39 - Chapter 3

Investigation and Research

Wednesday, August 31st

Today, Kotori happened to be on her own for a change as she headed to a hardware store near the station. She’d been spending most of her time with Nalfa recently, but the two of them had split up in order to get ready for the upcoming welcome ceremony. They wanted to film the event, which would require some prep work, but Nalfa had shut herself in her apartment to finish writing the speech. The setup thus fell on Kotori.

“Gosh, the panic on Nal-chan’s face when they picked her to do the speech sure was something...”

Even when they were apart, she was still thinking of Nalfa, who always put a smile on her face. Nalfa was kind, modest, and considerate. Kotori almost found it hard to believe that she was an alien, especially now that they’d grown to be close friends.

“I bet she didn’t think she’d get the star role of the ceremony.”

Everything they did together was fun, whether it was vacationing at the beach or finding out Nalfa had been chosen to give a speech. Kotori could still remember how Nalfa’s eyes had darted back and forth in bewilderment upon hearing the news. Nalfa had opened up Kotori’s world entirely. Before meeting her, Kotori had been a painfully shy girl with few friends. But she was different now. Helping Nalfa adjust to life here on Earth had helped Kotori come out of her shell too.

“Although she’s always been a star if you ask me, ahaha...”

Nalfa was flustered by the thought that everyone would be watching her on the ceremony stage, but Kotori was always watching Nalfa. As a precious friend who’d changed her life for the better, she’d always been a leading lady in Kotori’s eyes. Kotori couldn’t help being a little amused that Nalfa was only just now imagining herself in the spotlight.

“But it figures. Nal-chan’s only ever looking at Kou-niisan. Maybe that’s normal for a Forthorthian, but I think Nal-chan...”

Kotori believed that Nalfa had trouble seeing her own importance because she was perpetually spellbound by Koutarou, always watching him. Whether she was holding a camera or not, her focus was always on him. To her, Koutarou was the main character and she was just a camerawoman. To take it a step further, she felt like a princess waiting for her knight—

“...Huh?” Kotori abruptly stopped in place. Is somebody watching me?

She sensed someone staring at her and looked around, but the only people she saw were passersby minding their own business. She couldn’t pin down the source of the feeling. No one seemed to be looking at her.

“Hmm... Maybe I’m just being too self-conscious. I was just thinking about how Nal-chan only has eyes for Kou-niisan, after all,” she muttered with a smile as she continued walking.

Indeed, perhaps her romantic daydreaming was getting the better of her. When she turned her attention back to the road, however...

“Is that... Kou-niisan? What’s he doing here?”

Just up ahead, she saw a familiar figure along the crowded street by the station. It looked like Koutarou. He was walking away, not having noticed her. There was nothing inherently strange about that, but something felt... off to Kotori.

What is with this mysterious chill...?

Kotori had spent years with Koutarou, so she knew him better than most. He always seemed warm, albeit with a loneliness that had diminished over the years thanks to Kenji’s support. But right now, Koutarou seemed horribly cold and alone to Kotori. The feeling was so striking that she hesitated to call out to him, and in her moment of doubt, he disappeared into the crowd.

Was that really Kou-niisan? Could it have been someone else...?

Kotori stopped once again, lost in thought. She was certain she’d seen Koutarou, but it hadn’t felt at all like him. All she could think was that she’d been mistaken.

Maybe I’ll ask Kou-niisan about it later. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do!

One way or the other, she’d be seeing Koutarou later. She could ask him about it then. For now, she had an important job to do, so she put the matter out of her mind and continued on to the hardware store.

The man Kotori had spotted was, in fact, not Koutarou. It was the Gray Knight—a Koutarou from a different world. The gaze she’d sensed was also his. Indeed, the Gray Knight had been observing her.

“Hmm... I don’t detect any mana from Kotori. Or any significant spiritual energy. Seems she’s a dud too.”

The Gray Knight was watching her from afar. With his vision and other senses heightened via mana and spiritual energy, there was no need to get close.

“Considering the situation, it wouldn’t be strange if there were other contractors. It’s also possible that they’re different from the ones in my world, but I can’t seem to find anyone who fits the bill...”

In order to get to the bottom of the curious circumstances surrounding Signaltin, the Gray Knight was in the process of investigating the people close to Koutarou. Kotori was his tenth target. He believed that there must be a reason Koutarou’s sword retained its current form, so he was looking into anyone who had a relationship with him. The investigation, however, had yet to turn up anything.

“I’ll have to expand my search parameters. Maybe I’ll look into anyone involved in the play next. Or maybe his classmates, starting with Kashiwagi... Ah!” The Gray Knight swiftly moved into the shadows when Kotori stopped walking and began looking around. “There’s no way she saw me, but she has had a good intuition since she was a kid...”

Kotori continued to scan the area for a while before she set off again. Once she did, the Gray Knight resumed his observation.

“Still nothing— Wait! That was a flash of mana!”

As Kotori walked away, he sensed her emitting mana—but only for an instant. It was so brief that he couldn’t even be sure it had come from her.

“I’ll have to confirm it...”

With his tenth target, the Gray Knight had finally found a potential lead. Even if it was uncertain, he couldn’t very well ignore it and move on. He thus decided to approach her. He couldn’t make direct contact, but he could examine her from a closer vantage point. As she proceeded down the main road, the Gray Knight followed.

I’ll start by throwing some mana and spiritual energy at her...

He channeled waves of mana and spiritual energy toward her back. A magician or psychic would show some reaction to that, but Kotori didn’t even seem to notice. She simply kept on walking.

No response. And no sort of magic barrier activating on its own...

Even if it was just a harmless wave, magical or spiritual barriers would automatically activate if hit with unknown energy. Yet Kotori had shown no signs of having either.

Maybe I’m just overthinking this... Am I getting impatient?

The Gray Knight concluded that Kotori was just a normal girl after all. His results at a closer distance were more accurate, and he still sensed nothing from her. That had to mean she had no supernatural power.

I can’t afford to waste time. There’s no need to get hung up on Kotori. I can always come back if I hit an impasse...

It was possible that Kotori was being protected by incredibly sophisticated means, but the odds of that were very low. Rather than staying here to find out, the Gray Knight thought it better to turn his attention elsewhere. It would be more efficient to keep the possibility in the back of his mind and circle back again later if needed.

All right, let’s move on...

His interest in Kotori waning, the Gray Knight picked up his pace and walked past her. She was moving much slower than he was. In the past, he’d matched his gait to hers, but those days were long gone. He quickly put a great distance between them. She appeared to catch a glimpse of his profile just before he vanished into the crowd en route to his next target.

Although people tended to think Clan’s only hobby was research, she also liked music—particularly played from the vacuum tube amplifier and speakers she’d built herself. Because of that, she rarely used her smartphone to enjoy music. Today, however, Clan was intently listening to something on her phone. As she had headphones on, it was impossible to tell exactly what, but based on how happy she looked, it certainly seemed like it had to be her favorite song.

“...”

Yet strangely enough, she tapped at her phone screen every few seconds. If she were listening to a song, it had to be an awfully short one. She was lucky there was no one else in the Hazy Moon’s laboratory to see her... for what she was listening to wasn’t actually a song at all. It was a recorded voice.

“According to my resident genius scientist here, a robot’s ultimate weakness is the human controlling it.”

It was an audio file from their battle a few days prior. That alone meant it was worth review, but this particular clip didn’t warrant listening to over and over again.

“According to my genius scientist here...”

Nevertheless, Clan had her reasons—albeit not very scientific ones.

“My genius scientist...”

Every time she heard those words, she blushed and grinned with glee. It was enough to tickle the girlish side of her heart she kept hidden deep within.

“My... My... My...”

Koutarou had referred to her—his genius scientist—in the possessive. She never heard him talk that way, even in the heat of battle. He hadn’t exactly had time to consider his phrasing, but Clan was thrilled. She’d wasted no time cutting the audio and putting it on her phone. She listened to it repeatedly every time she had a break, and as she was doing that now...

“What are you doing?” Koutarou asked, suddenly appearing in front of her.

“Ahhh!” Clan was so surprised that she almost dropped her phone. It floated up into the air, but she managed to grab it again and hurriedly paused the track. “C-Can you not scare me like that?!”

She thought her heart might leap out of her chest. Under no circumstances could she let Koutarou hear it. She was sure he’d snub her. It would be like hell for her.

“Sorry, you just looked so happy. What were you listening to?”

“Th-That’s a secret!”

“You could just tell me. I’m pretty interested in music from Forthorthe, y’know.”

Koutarou knew about Clan’s hobby. He’d helped her build her vacuum tube amplifier, after all. That’s why he figured she was listening to music now.

“N-No, absolutely not!” Clan adamantly refused, frantically shaking her head back and forth, causing her long hair to do the same.

“Come on,” Koutarou begged, puzzled by her resistance. He didn’t see the harm in sharing her music.

“I have a secret or two of my own!” she insisted, looking up at Koutarou with crimson cheeks and tears in her eyes.

Seeing this, Koutarou figured she had her reasons and decided not to press the issue. “Guess it wasn’t music, huh?”

“No...”

Once Koutarou sympathetically relented, Clan let out a sigh of relief. Her face was still red, however. It would take some time yet for her to recover.

“Okay, forget it then,” he said.

“I wish you would,” she replied.

“I mean, I am curious what made you so happy.”

“What...?”

If Koutarou was interested in what made Clan happy, she felt that was as good as saying he was interested in her. There was no way of knowing if his words really meant what she thought—what she hoped—they did, but just wondering would keep her face bright red for a little while longer.

Koutarou hadn’t come to Clan’s laboratory to hang out. He actually had something important to discuss with her, and once she’d collected herself, he got down to business.

“Say, Clan, I’d like to talk with you,” he began.

“Isn’t that what we’ve been doing?”

“I do not mean pleasantries with my dear Princess Clariossa. Rather, it’s a matter that concerns your specialty.”

“You’re going to accuse me of being a sly schemer again, aren’t you?” Clan asked, a grudge smoldering in her eyes. She was certain he was about to tease her.

“I’d love to rib you for that—”

“See? I knew it!” Clan theatrically turned her head away.

While she was merely lying in the bed she’d made for herself, she hated being consulted for intrigue and such as a result of her former misdeeds. Especially when Koutarou was the one who brought it up.

“—but I’m actually here for something serious.”

“What is it?”

There was no playfulness in Koutarou’s voice, but his tone wasn’t grave. He didn’t sound like he was here for her help with some plot or scheme. Sensing this, she slowly turned back to face him.

“Do you remember when you made Sakuraba-senpai’s power-assisted barrier device?” he asked. “We talked about selling it to Forthorthe.”

“Ah, we did talk about that, didn’t we?”

Clan’s expression relaxed and mellowed. She thought back on developing and producing the device fondly. Koutarou had earnestly praised her skill for the accomplishment, making it a special memory to her indeed.

“If we can really do that,” he said, “why don’t we?”

“You mean sell it? To Forthorthe?” Clan asked, her eyes wide.

In the past, Harumi had suffered from a weak constitution and needed the PAF, or Power Assistance Field, to keep up with Koutarou and the others. It was functionally similar to Koutarou’s armor, but in the form of a compact personal barrier. With the PAF, Harumi had gained the physical prowess of a well-trained athlete. The instant he saw it, Koutarou was sure that it could be adjusted for civilian use to help a lot of people—and he’d come to see Clan today about making that a reality.

“DKI will handle the production and selling,” he explained. “You know, since it’s my company now.”

“You’re interested in humanitarian work?”

“It’s kinda like the only thing I can do for the Forthorthians.”

“Well, anything you try is bound to be a smashing success given your popularity...”

If DKI were to operate normally with the Blue Knight at its helm, his name alone could sell any product they offered, regardless of quality. It would be bad for fair trade, so Koutarou had declared that DKI would no longer be a for-profit company. Little did he know that this had caused DKI’s stock to skyrocket.

“We’re not trying to make money off it. I just want to get the technology out there.”

“To make it easier for other companies to copy.”

The sale price of new and innovative products normally accounted for their R&D costs. But when said products were made from technology that was already publicly available, that cut down dramatically on the upfront expenses to make them. This in turn drove down sale prices and ultimately made products more accessible in terms of affordability.

“That’s why I came to talk with you, Clan. You own the rights to the PAF, don’t you?”

“Yes, strictly speaking.”

Since Clan had created the PAF, the technology was hers. Forthorthe had laws like that too.

There’s no way that I’d refuse a serious request from you... Jeez, couldn’t you believe in me a little more?

If anything, Clan was a little disappointed that Koutarou even had to ask her in the first place—like he didn’t trust her. Nevertheless, he was doing the right thing, so she kept her complaints to herself.

“Very well... The technology is close to perfection thanks to Harumi.”

Harumi’s PAF was essentially a prototype, and Clan had already made several adjustments and improvements to it thanks to the data she’d collected during her time with it. All that remained was tempering the device’s performance for civilian use, which would make the barrier last longer and perform better for assistance purposes.

“My grandmother was very passionate about charity work, so I’ll be following in her footsteps.”

“Oh yeah, you mentioned that before.”

Koutarou was referring to their journey home from the past, when Clan had mentioned her grandmother and grappled with her impending death. That discussion was still clear in his mind. It was one of the reasons he’d had a change of heart about Clan.

“I’m sure she was just like you are now,” he said.

“Yes. It might sound strange coming from me... but she wasn’t very much like the rest of the Schweiger family.”

Clan, too, remembered her struggle well. Their unexpected slip through time had tested her greatly. She’d been forced to contemplate the value of a life. Who should be saved and who shouldn’t. As she turned the dilemma over in her head anew, she could feel Koutarou’s gaze soften as he beheld her.

“It kills me to admit this when you’re acting entirely out of goodwill, but I can’t say my motives are completely pure,” he confessed.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“It’s more believable if I’m returning to Forthorthe to put the PAF on the market rather than just to study, you know?”

“Ah, of course. The citizens will be less suspicious of the Blue Knight’s homecoming this way.”

Koutarou had left Forthorthe to avoid exerting undue influence over Forthorthe’s society and economy. The citizens understood that, yet they loved him all the more for it. So what if he were to return suddenly? He’d made no promise of marriage to any of the princesses. Would he really return as a mere transfer student after everything that had happened? The citizens were bound to worry something else was afoot.

And that was exactly what Koutarou was aiming to prevent. That was why he’d come up with the plan to sell the PAF. In other words, it was the cover story for his return to Forthorthe, and that made him feel guilty. He thought his ulterior motive diminished the value of the humanitarian gesture.

“Regardless,” said Clan, “you’re still doing something magnanimous out of the goodness of your heart. You shouldn’t let it bother you.”

“You think so?”

“Yes. You’re just being a stickler.”

Clan didn’t see eye to eye with Koutarou on the matter. If he weren’t returning to Forthorthe at all, the PAF device would remain off the market for some time yet. That meant his visit—whatever the reason—would bring good to the people, and that could hardly be considered a bad thing. The thought put a smile on her face.

“Hahaha, my princess sure is open-minded.”

Koutarou hadn’t at all considered her point of view, but she had a compelling argument. It helped ease his guilt. Clan had merely spoken her mind, but it was a huge relief to him. Thanks to her, a smile returned to his face too.

“I used to be a villain myself, so I know a thing or two about good deeds— Wait, your...?”

“Hmm? What?”

“I-It’s nothing! Nothing at all!”

For some reason, Clan blushed and shook her head. Koutarou had no idea what she was thinking, but he couldn’t help noticing she looked cuter than usual.

On their way back from the welcome ceremony rehearsal, Kotori posed a rather straightforward question to Nalfa. It was so straightforward, in fact, that Nalfa didn’t understand it at first.

“Nal-chan, do you love Kou-niisan?”

“...What?”

“I asked if you love Kou-niisan.”

It wasn’t until Kotori repeated herself that Nalfa finally grasped the meaning of those words. Her eyes shot open wide.

“Wh-Wh-Whaaat?!”

“It’s not that surprising. So, do you?” Kotori asked, leaning in to press for an answer. She was extremely interested in talk of romance—especially where it concerned her best friend.

“I-I-I wouldn’t dream of it! He’s way out of my league! I couldn’t disrespect Koutarou-sama, the princesses, and the others like that!” Nalfa insisted, frantically shaking her head so violently that her rainbow-colored hair swayed behind her.

“I’m not talking about manners or any of that. I’m asking about how you feel. I want to know what Kou-niisan means to you. Do you love him? Do you hate him?”

“That’s... Um...”

“You hate him?”

“No, I would never.” For just that brief moment, Nalfa was completely composed as she flat-out denied what Kotori had said.

That told Kotori everything she needed to know. She thus narrowed her eyes and whispered, “So you love him, then?”

“Y-Yes...” Nalfa nodded and shrank back, casting her eyes downward.

That was the truth, but she was embarrassed to reveal the depths of her heart even to Kotori. Moreover, they were talking about the legendary hero of Forthorthe—Nalfa’s feelings could easily be taken for a sort of superficial admiration. She felt like a child, and it made her uncomfortable.

“I knew it,” said Kotori.

“You figured me out?” asked Nalfa.

“There was nothing to figure out per se... It’s just that you only ever have eyes for Kou-niichan.”

“R-Really?”

“Yeah, really. Even when you’re not filming him, you’re always watching him. Like Kou-niisan’s the only person in the world.”

“Well...”

“Well what?”

“Well...”

“Ahahaha,” Kotori laughed happily, causing Nalfa to shrink back even more. Kotori felt like she was watching her past self. “All right, I’m going to lend you a hand.”

“You are? With what?”

“I’m going to help you get closer to Kou-niisan.”

Kotori had once been a painfully shy girl who always hid in Koutarou’s and Kenji’s shadows, but meeting Nalfa had slowly brought her out of her shell. Where Koutarou and Kenji had been the only ones who’d known her before, now Nalfa and her classmates were all getting to know her too. Kotori was grateful for that and wanted to repay the favor. Learning of Nalfa’s crush seemed like the perfect opportunity to make good on that.

“W-Wait a second, Kotori! You can’t do anything outrageous! This is the legendary Blue Knight we’re talking about! Empress Alaia had feelings for him, and there’s even talk about him marrying the princesses!”

The biggest obstacle in Nalfa’s eyes was the simple fact that Koutarou was the hero of Forthorthe. Even if he stepped down from his position, that would always be true. He was the very embodiment of Empress Alaia’s ideals—the man who’d left her long ago to return to the modern era in order to keep a promise sworn in his homeland. Yet even in the present day, he was a model of chivalry who’d quelled another civil war. He was a hero both in name and practice, and Nalfa would never see herself as being worthy of him.

“Don’t worry. It’s just Kou-niisan. It doesn’t matter if he’s a hero or not.”

“You can only say that because you knew Koutarou-sama before he was a hero. By the time I met him, he was already far beyond my reach...”

To Kotori, Koutarou was a slightly out-of-touch childhood friend who’d accomplished great things out of nowhere. But to Nalfa, he was a national hero she’d only recently come to know personally. She wished he’d been her childhood friend too.

“But you know, Nal-chan, Theiamillis-san managed to overcome that exact same problem. Granted, their positions were reversed back then.”

“Even Her Highness...? Oh.”

It took Nalfa a second to realize what Kotori was saying. When Princess Theia and Koutarou first met, he was just a normal Earthling. The difference between them was night and day. Even so, Theia had chosen Koutarou. It was only after that that they’d come to realize Koutarou was the Blue Knight. Theia had not pursued him because of his status.

“That might be true, but...”

“Are you going to give up?”

“...”

“Are you just going to watch Kou-niisan from afar until you graduate and then go back to Forthorthe? Is that really all you want?”

“I... I... Er... Um...”

“What do you want?”

“N-Not that! I don’t want to just watch him from afar!”

“That’s right! So we’ve gotta do our best!”

Kotori had anticipated Nalfa’s answer. Not even she thought Nalfa would be able to stay in such an indecisive state forever. Surely Nalfa wasn’t happy this way. Nalfa had connected Kotori to the outside world, and she wanted to do the same for her—she was simply going to be connecting her to Koutarou instead. Kotori felt like it was meant to be.

“But what am I even supposed to do?” Nalfa asked sheepishly.

“Don’t you worry! Just leave that to me!” Kotori assured her. “I’ve pretty much been like Kou-niisan’s little sister for years!”

“Are you sure? Don’t you also...”

“Yeah, I love Kou-niisan too, but I can’t say it’s romantic,” Kotori confessed with a shrug.

Koutarou was indeed special to her. While she tried not to let it show, Kotori had a hard time with boys. She was extremely comfortable with Koutarou, but as for whether or not she had romantic feelings for him... That was a completely different story.

“Anyway, I think getting closer to Kou-niisan is a good first step. It’s not like it’s going to happen overnight.”

“If it takes long enough, maybe your own feelings will be clearer by then.”

“Yeah, although it might lead to an all-out war between the two of us.”

“Yeesh, what a terrifying thought.”

“Okay, maybe that won’t happen. Ahaha.”

“Good.”

Kotori and Nalfa couldn’t imagine themselves fighting over Koutarou. It was easier imagining the three of them getting along. Because of that, Nalfa felt that perhaps Kotori wasn’t wrong to pursue a platonic relationship with him.

The Gray Knight’s investigation was proceeding, but the scant results left much to be desired. He’d yet to find any clues as to why Signaltin wasn’t displaying its true powers. At this rate, he was going to run out of leads before he learned anything.

“Kashiwagi Shiori was another dud... That makes twenty people now,” he muttered as he put another check mark on the paper in his hand—a list of Koutarou’s relationships he’d constructed from memory. “It has to be someone on here...”

Signaltin’s power was affected by human emotion. That was why the Gray Knight believed the sword was weakened because of someone close to Koutarou. But even though he’d investigated target after target, he had failed to discover anyone of interest. There were nearly thirty names on his list, and he was swiftly approaching the end of it.

“It’d be a pain if it turned out to be someone in Forthorthe... Maybe I should have gone with Ralgwin.”

The Gray Knight still had about ten targets left to go, but he’d prioritized the most likely suspects. Elfaria or Ceilēshu back in Forthorthe were his best remaining bets, leaving him to think it had been a mistake to stay on Earth after all.

“No point in complaining. I’ll just go to Forthorthe after I finish checking out the possibilities here.”

If the Gray Knight was headed to Forthorthe anyway, the empress and the first princess could wait until he was done on Earth. It would be pointless to leave now if he simply had to return afterward, so he instead decided to stay to see the rest of his list through. As he was flipping through the pages...

“Wha—”

He caught a glimpse of a high school girl out of the corner of his eye. Her hair glimmered with the colors of the rainbow in the sun as she passed through the school gate together with Kotori. The sight of her left him speechless.

“Nal-chan, what do you want to do with Kou-niisan?”

“I want to keep watching him.”

“But that’s no different from what you do now.”

“I mean I want to watch him even more closely... And if possible...”

“You want him to look back at you?”

“...Y-Yes...”

The two girls were talking away, but it wasn’t the content of their conversation that had shocked the Gray Knight.

“I-It can’t be... What is she doing here?!”

He was surprised simply to know that the girl with the rainbow hair existed here. He knew who she was—and he knew that Koutarou did too. Nevertheless, the Gray Knight hadn’t done any legwork for an investigation on her. He’d excluded her from the list at the very outset. After all, there was no way she should be here. It would upset the very foundation of the world.

“And why can’t I sense any power from her whatsoever?! Is it just somebody who looks like her?!”

The Gray Knight’s demeanor was a mixture of astonishment, panic, and confusion. Never in a million years would he have believed that she was here, of all places.

“Should I make contact? N-No, knowing who this is, I can’t do anything rash...”

The Gray Knight’s brain was now working in overdrive. He was too startled to think calmly. The appearance of this girl had rattled him that severely.

“Then I’ll ask Kou-niisan to come shopping with us next time. It’ll be a piece of cake if we tell him we need him to carry our bags for us.”

“I wouldn’t dare...”

“Oh, come on, just trust me! Okay?”

“Okay... I trust you.”

As he stood there aghast, the two girls slowly walked by. Neither noticed him. They simply went about their day, none the wiser as to his presence.