【”Amazing!”】
【”I’ve never seen a bath this huge!”】
【”It seems to be called an onsen, an outdoor, hot spring bath. Their culture is quite unfamiliar to me but this is splendid.”】
【”Oh, Harold.”】(Francis)
【”You came here, too?”】(Liner)
【”Don’t soak your filthy bodies inside, you idiots. You can come once you’ve fully washed yourselves.”】
【”Y-yes!”】
【”Sorry about that!”】
【”… Say, hmm, Harold, was it?”】
Hugo and Harold had been lined up while soaking in the bath, and after a brief period of silence, Hugo had started talking.
【”What do you want?”】
【”Well, recently, I met someone who was quite similar to you. I didn’t see his face but he had the same voice and tone as you.”】
【”…And, what about that?”】
【”Well, I don’t have any problem with it, and I’m not thinking of telling anyone either. It’s just that, there were two other people accompanying that man as his partners. For some reason, I’ve been wondering whether they’re all right. Well, that’s probably all nonsense though.”】
【”I don’t know anything about whatever you’re talking about, nor about those two people… But I’ll just say that you don’t need to worry about that.”】
【”Oh, is that so? Then, it’s all good.”】
【”Then, now that my head’s all cleared, let’s go peep at the women’s bath!”】
【”Hey, what the hell are the guys doing? They’re being so noisy, I don’t even feel like taking a bath anymore.”】
Apparently, the three men were so noisy as they played around that they could be heard all the way to the women’s bath. However, even though Lifa told him about that, there was not much Harold could do to help.
【”What a coincidence. I had the same problem.”】
Or rather, the place had been exceedingly noisy to him since the noises of the splashing water and of the quarreling voices had arised in his direct presence as he had witnessed the playful scene with his own eyes.
【”…Oh, I see what’s going on.”】
【”Oh right, Harold, by the way, you should tell me about those kinds of things from the get go next time.”】
【”What are you talking about?”】
【”You showed me that machine on the way to the Sumeragi territory and all you said was “Look for a way to deactivate this”, I didn’t think it was such an important matter.”】
【”No matter how I went about it, it wouldn’t have changed anything from what you had to do. So it’s irrelevant.”】
【”Like hell it is!”】
【”Seriously, you’re so self-centered.”】
【”Sure, like you’re one to talk.”】
After all, Lifa was the one who had forcefully accompanied Harold with no regards to what he had to say about that.
【”….And yet, even though you’re so selfish, you still worry about her.”】
Lifa suddenly muttered that.
【”What are you on about?”】
【”I’m talking about Erica. You insisted that she’s not your fiancee, but her elder brother seems to think otherwise.”】
【”He’s just making that claim of his own accord.”】
【”But how does Erica dissatisfy you? She’s beautiful, she’s graceful, and just earlier, she was considerably cordial towards Colette and me even though we’re not nobles. And her personality is good, too, right?”】
【”……”】
【”I guess this has nothing to do with me and I’m just poking my nose where it doesn’t belong, but what I mean is that your attitude towards Erica doesn’t seem like yourself.”】
【”It doesn’t seem like myself, you say?”】
【”That’s right. You only say cynical and harsh things, but you’re also kind of intolerant of the people who still get close to you regardless of that. I think I’m a pretty good example since you went as far as kidnapping me, telling me to go home, but still, in the end, here I am.”】
【”That’s because you’re darn persistent.”】
【”That just might be the case, but even then, why are you actively trying to keep her away? Why won’t you let Erica get any closer to you?”】
It was impossible for Harold to answer. Because in order to explain that, he would have to explain that this world resembled a game he used to play, or that he knew the future, which would make him seem insane.
【”You say that her elder brother is the only one who still keeps talking about her being your fiancee, and that you both don’t care about each other. However, if that was the truth, then I think you wouldn’t need to keep “only” Erica away from yourself.”】
【”In a certain sense, you’re quite impartial. You say harsh things to everyone, no matter who, and you have no interest in who gets driven away by that. That was how you behaved with the Laboratory’s people.”】
Lifa kept talking to Harold who was still unable to say anything back.
【”But since you only feel indifference towards them, you’re actually pushing Erica away even further away than them. Because with Erica, you’re not harsh like you usually are with others. You’re cold towards her. As if there was something you were afraid of.”】
That was mostly correct. Harold was afraid of raising death flags because of Erica. Perhaps that feeling had infected his behavior and Lifa had perceived that as him being cold.
【”Me, Afraid? What, are you Stupid?”】
【”…Well, I’m kind of just throwing accusations right now. My bad, forget about it.”】
Anyway, I hope you’ll all have a great day, and I’ll see you next week! ?
