171 - The Azure-Eyed Man
What I saw when I looked up was a terrifyingly well-proportioned face. Even combining my past life and this one, I had never seen such a perfectly sculpted face. He was a flawless handsome man. Normally my head would go blank with the shame of mistaking someone for another person, but every last one of my thoughts was consumed by that too-perfect man's face. I forgot even to breathe as I searched for some single distorted feature that would put me at ease, but I found nothing.
I was captivated by the man's face for a while, but then his blue eyes flickered with disappointment, and his lips moved slightly.
-- Wrong.
I had no knowledge of lip reading, but from the movement of his eyes and lips, I felt I heard those words.
"...Are you looking for someone?"
I somehow managed to voice the question, and felt a little relieved. I had not actually forgotten how to breathe, either. Once I could utter a single word, it was as if a spell had been broken, and I was back to my usual self.
I was relieved to have finally returned to my normal self, but the man seemed surprised, his eyes opening slightly as if he had not expected me to answer. His face should have looked a little foolish, but after seeing that statue-like, perfectly composed expressionlessness, the signs of life actually made me feel a sense of familiarity. Strangely, I felt no wariness toward this man I was meeting for the first time.
...Ah, this person. Was he not at Itsurateru Church earlier?
I could not tell the color of his eyes from the second floor, but I remembered his black hair and dirty traveling clothes. He was the man who, in the chapel, had not been praying to the goddess statue but had been looking only at the faces of the people gathered there.
"I was being watched, was I?"
"Huh?"
Huh? Did I say that out loud just now? I blinked, and the man narrowed his eyes slightly, smiling. It really was a tiny change. When he was expressionless, his too-perfect face was like a statue and almost frightening, but when he smiled even faintly like this, it was a strange smile that made my heart warm. I could do anything for this man. That feeling naturally welled up inside me, which was frightening. Then one thing caught in my memory.
...Have I experienced something like this before?
I felt like someone had read my mind before, too. The moment I recalled that, the man's eyebrows furrowed at the same time.
"You have met that one before, have you not."
"That one?"
I tried asking who he meant, but got no answer. The man just seemed to be convincing himself. Because the presence of that one had lingered, he must have mistaken me, he muttered.
...Um, so, he mistook me for someone else and patted my head, is that what I should take from this?
The man did not answer me, so I guessed based on the information I had. The man, who seemed able to read my thoughts, averted his eyes slightly at having his mistake pointed out. I thought an awkward silence would fall, but then the man's stomach let out a pathetic growl, and my thoughts immediately switched gears.
"There are some egg sandwiches left. Would you like to eat them?"
Without waiting for his reply, I stood up, took his hand, and guided him to a chair. Nils should have been sitting next to me, but when he had left his seat, I did not know. He was nowhere to be seen now. A flicker of unease rose up and then dissipated into mist before it could take clear shape. The black dog (Oscar) who should have been waiting under the table was also gone, but I did not think that was strange.
Kalisa rummaged through the basket where she had stored the leftover lunch and placed egg sandwiches on a plate. The lunch, which had been prepared in larger quantities than usual so we could snack when hungry, seemed like it would come in handy in an unexpected way. I set the egg sandwiches in front of the man and poured some slightly lukewarm juice into a cup. I found myself enjoying taking care of the man, and a smile came to my face, but in the back of my mind, I wondered what had happened to Kalisa. Normally, I would not be the one attending to a guest. Usually, Kalisa or Bart would take care of guests before I could act. Something felt strange, but I kept watching the man. The man declined the egg sandwiches set before him at first, but when I urged him that they were leftovers we could not finish and it would help if he ate them, he obediently accepted the offer. The man reached for the egg sandwich with a relaxed gesture. His stomach might have been growling, but his manner of eating was very elegant and refined.
"Is it enjoyable to watch another person eat?"
"Huh? Oh, how rude of me... I am sorry."
Until he pointed it out, I had not realized I was staring at him. Even now, I did not feel like I had been staring. I just could not seem to take my eyes off him.
Even though he had just pointed it out, when I was not consciously paying attention, my eyes would inevitably drift to him. His hands are so big, his fingers so long, oh, his Adam's apple, I found myself staring.
"...You are a soul from another world, are you not. You should not be this affected by my influence."
Called a soul from another world, I finally realized what that feeling of unease was that kept rising up and dissipating like mist. This was it. This was the same as when I was taken by the spirits during the Divine King Festival. Under normal circumstances, it would be nothing but abnormal, but in the moment, every abnormality felt natural, and I accepted it. Once I was certain of that, everything made sense. Nils's absence, and Kalisa and the black dog being out of sight. I had wandered into another strange world again, I realized.
"Arriving at an answer with your head like that is a characteristic of souls from another world. Souls of this world simply accept things as they are."
"As they are..."
That sounds like it could be tough in its own way, I thought, tilting my head, and the man told me it was not all that difficult. For a soul originally of this world, all phenomena are natural, and there is no need to think in order to accept them, feeling no sense of wonder or strangeness.
"So that is what you mean by souls from another world not being affected?"
"A little different."
Souls of this world, he explained, could not help but kneel before him. Their souls are engraved with the knowledge that he is always their superior, and there are hardly any who would say things like eating at the same table. Moreover, being invited with a hand guiding them to a seat. That, the man said, was only the second time it had happened to him today.
"That is a rather strange story, is it not?"
I understood that he was set apart as the highest-ranking being in this world, and was treated with great care, but it also felt like he was being singled out. I thought that might be a little lonely, but my thoughts were completely transparent to the man. Even among souls of this world, he told me, his blood relatives alone are not bound to him. They can interact with him without bending their knees.
"So it is not like you are completely alone, then."
I smiled, feeling a little relieved, and he stared intently at my face.
"What is it?"
"...I thought you resembled someone, but you are different."
Come to think of it, I remembered that when he first checked my face, the man had said "Wrong." He had seemed to be searching for someone from the very beginning.
"Who are you looking for? At Itsurateru Church too, you were searching for someone, were you not."
"I am looking for a woman with one eye the same color as mine."
"There are plenty of people with blue eyes, you know?"
My eyes are blue too, I pointed out, and the man showed a brief expression of thought before saying I would probably be fine and pushing up his bangs. I knew he was just making his eyes easier to see, but it was such a captivating gesture.
"...Huh?"
The eyes that emerged from beneath his bangs were blue, yes, but a strangely colored blue. Rather than just blue, I wanted to say azure. And the depths of his pupils would normally be shadowed and look black, but his pupils were different. They were certainly dark with shadow, but deep within lurked a gleam that looked both gold and silver.
...If it is just the color, I feel like I have seen it somewhere, but I have never seen such strange eyes before.
"Plenty of blue eyes, you say?"
"I suppose that shade is quite rare."
By the end of the conversation, the man had finished his meal. Everything I had prepared seemed to have disappeared into his stomach. Nothing remained on the plate or in the cup.
"...It has been a while since I talked with someone. I was also looked after."
He said he had one more favor to ask, and I casually replied, "Sure." Since he said it was just a small extra thing, I let my guard down, thinking it could not be that difficult.
"In a little while, a black-haired man with different-colored eyes will come here. Give that man egg sandwiches and juice too, will you."
"What? But the egg sandwiches I just served were the last of them."
Would I need to have Kalisa make more? As my thoughts drifted in that direction, the man said I did not need to worry about that.
"If you grant my wish... yes, I will save you once."
"I do not need such an extravagant reward for just some egg sandwiches."
"Souls from another world bear no sin. Since you and I have met, there must surely be some meaning to it."
Saying that all he could do now was grant me his protection, the man parted my bangs. When his lips touched my exposed forehead, I knew a blessing had been bestowed upon me there.
...I have not even fulfilled his request yet, but I received the reward first.
Now I have no choice but to fulfill his wish. I might need to have Kalisa make more egg sandwiches after all.
"Whatever you do, do not give them to anyone other than the man I specified."
"What would happen if I did?"
"Nothing in particular... but it would be a pity."
The man, who tilted his head slightly, seemed to have regained a hint of expression. When we first met, his face was frozen expressionless, but now I could somehow tell he was joking. Probably because it was the first time in a while he had spoken with someone.
"Understood."
I will make sure to feed the egg sandwiches to exactly the person you specified, I thought, looking up at the man again. Just as my head was stroked from behind.
"...Huh?"
My head being patted, I reflexively turned toward the person behind me. When I looked up, this time it was Leonardo's black eyes. I made full eye contact with Leonardo, then immediately turned my gaze back to where the man had been. In the seat where the man should have been, Nils was sitting, and the black-haired man was nowhere to be seen. The egg sandwiches I had supposedly served to the man remained on the table before me, exactly as they were.
...So that was another strange experience?
My thoughts could not quite catch up, leaving me only able to tilt my head. The only one who noticed my confusion was the black dog at my feet. I felt him stir from under my feet, then he poked his head out from under the table and looked up at me. I stroked his muzzle as if to say it was nothing, and the black dog tucked his head back under the table.
"I bought some sweet-salty dumplings. Let us eat them together."
"...But we just had egg sandwiches for lunch, did we not?"
My uncertainty about the timeline lingered, and my voice trailed off at the end. After lunch, we had only been watching the play. Even if you considered it a three o'clock snack, I thought it was too early.
"Are you not hungry, Tina?"
He pointed out that the egg sandwiches, which should have been cleared away, were still on the table, and though I did not understand why, there was one thing I did realize.
...Well, if the egg sandwiches I thought I had eaten are still here, then I do not need Kalisa to prepare new ones.
That man had supposedly eaten the egg sandwiches, but here they were, still intact. Perhaps what I had done with him was no different from making him play at make-believe with a child. I was troubled by how much less sense everything made, but just as Leonardo seemed to think he would clear the plate in front of me, his hand reached for the egg sandwiches.
"No!"
I grabbed the plate before Leonardo's hand could snatch the egg sandwiches and retreated it onto my lap. Leonardo did not match the description of the man I was supposed to give the egg sandwiches to. Since I had already received the reward in advance, I had to protect these egg sandwiches no matter what until the specified person showed up.
"What is wrong? You have the sweet-salty dumplings, do you not, Tina?"
"The man I met earlier said that if I let anyone other than the person he specified eat them, it would be a pity, so Leo, you cannot have any."
"The man you met earlier...?"
Leonardo furrowed his brows suspiciously and turned to Kalisa. He asked if anyone had come, and Kalisa shook her head.
"Tina, where did you meet someone? If it was someone you met, that means it was not someone you know, right?"
"I was just talking with him here..."
I checked with Kalisa just in case. When that man was here, there was not even the black dog nearby. At the time, I had accepted it without question, but Kalisa, my nurse-maid, would never leave me alone. Since I was here, Kalisa should have been here too.
"...Young lady, you were here the whole time. Other than you, there was only Nils and Oscar."
"I thought so."
I had expected as much, but it seemed I really had experienced something strange. At my "I thought so," a question mark appeared on Leonardo's face.
"It seems there was a spirit or something here until just now."
"That is --"
Leonardo started to say something, but footsteps came from behind. Black Knights and security guards arranged by Menhishumi Church stood at the boundary between the room and the balcony, and the footsteps came from beyond them. Someone was coming here. After waiting a while, Guide Anna and a black-haired man in traveling clothes appeared from the back of the room. Noticing that our eyes were on them, Anna smiled warmly.
"You must be tired, Tina-san. How was your first official duty?"
"I was just sitting and watching the ceremony, so if anything, I am wondering if it is really okay for it to be this easy."
I answered Anna in an inoffensive way, but my interest was entirely fixed on the black-haired man standing behind her. If he was the man the mysterious man had specified, then giving him the egg sandwiches on my lap would fulfill my task. I urged Anna with my eyes to introduce him quickly, and she began to present the man behind her with a relaxed gesture.
"This gentleman is Remihio-sama. He is a pilgrim from the Divine Kingdom Quevia... He said he wished to greet the newly discovered Spirit's Favored Child, so I guided him here."
"Greetings, new Spirit's Favored Child. I am truly grateful for this encounter with you today."
With a natural motion, the tall man knelt before me. He seemed about to take my hand and kiss it, but his movement halted abruptly when he saw my hand resting on the plate on my lap. He smiled with a slightly troubled expression, and I thought he resembled someone, but that did not matter. Since I had already received the reward in advance, I wanted to fulfill that man's request no matter what.
"Lord Remihio, please show me the color of your eyes."
"The color of my eyes, you say?"
I knew it was rude, but I wanted to confirm what needed confirming first. Asking him outright to show me his eyes felt terribly impolite, but he must have taken it as a child's whim. Remihio did not seem particularly offended and pushed up his black bangs to make his face easier to see.
...At first glance, both eyes are blue, but one of them is the same color as that man's.
The same strange azure I had found so fascinating was right before my eyes. Since he said he was looking for a woman with one eye the same color, he might be searching for Remihio's sister or someone similar.
"Would it be accurate to say they are different colors?"
Since they were both in the blue spectrum, it was a little hard to judge. Remihio, who had been suddenly asked by a child to show his eyes and had complied with the request, could not hide his confusion. He asked me why I was asking him that.
"Elpoep Nesohock Sudogg Fo Gunic Eft said to give egg sandwiches and juice to the black-haired man with different-colored eyes who will be coming soon."
There, I delivered the man's message, I thought with satisfaction, and then tilted my head. The name had come out of my mouth naturally, but it was a sound I had never heard before. Since it involved that strange man, perhaps such strange things happen. The fact that I was already starting to accept it so easily showed that my senses had become numb to strange occurrences.
Important people have long names. (Just kidding)
Typos and errors to be fixed later. Fixed the typos and errors I found.