PandoraHearts ~Caucus Race~, Vol. 3

by Shinobu Wakamiya

  Today was the first of the three days.

  “S-sir…”

  Forcing down her disgust, Echo managed to squeeze the words out:

  “This salon does not provide that sort of entertainment. —If you’ll excuse me.”

  She bowed slightly, turned on her heel, and left the room, hearing the dissatisfied voices of the aristocrats behind her. Once she was in the corridor, her shoulders drooped. “…Whew.” She gave a tired sigh, leaning lightly against the wall. Then she let out another weary breath.

  Vampires and pumpkin-headed monsters and walking carrots passed her in the corridor. It made one wonder what sort of haunted house this was.

  “‘The Sport of the Masks’—” Echo murmured, quietly.

  That was the special event’s official name. Apparently the salon owner had named it.

  “…How pompous. It’s just a costume party.”

  No matter how hard she tried, the words came out sounding like a complaint.

  “Tee-hee. Not used to this yet, are you, ‘Eiko’-chan.”

  A woman’s voice spoke from beside her. Echo came very close to retorting, “It’s Echo” on reflex, but she swallowed the words back just in time. The woman wasn’t wrong, she remembered. She wasn’t Echo right now. She was here under the alias “Eiko.”

  She looked in the direction of the voice. The woman who was the head server at Silver Moon Garden was standing there. She wore a black robe with a long train, and there was a pointy hat on her head. In her hand, she held a priest’s staff with a crystal ball at its tip. She looked like a first-rate witch.

  “I had some trouble adjusting, too, the first year I started working here. I’m used to it now, as you’d expect.”

  The head server smiled wryly. Echo had heard that she was thirty-one years old and married.

  In front of guests, she was a model server whose work was accurate and strict. However, when there were no guests around, she was easygoing and informal with her coworkers, and it felt easy to make friends with her. The other servers seemed to consider her highly reliable.

  Echo looked steadily at the head server.

  “Echo… Eiko would have preferred that costume.”

  She spoke enviously (although she almost called herself “Echo,” as was her habit).

  As an outfit to wear when serving guests, a witch costume was still ridiculous, but she thought it was significantly better… No, several times better than a cat-eared maid.

  “Oh, but there’s nothing wrong with yours. It looks good on you, Eiko-chan.”

  “That doesn’t make Eiko happy at all.”

  Echo answered in an indifferent tone that had an edge of weariness to it.

  As Vincent had ordered, Echo had begun working at this high-class salon that morning. As a new server, Echo had been trained by this woman, the head server, and her very first job had been…choosing a costume. Although it had been called “a choice,” all the innocuous costumes had been taken earlier by other servers, and Echo hadn’t really had a choice.

  From what she’d heard, Basil, the target of her investigation, would definitely appear at some point during these three days. Perhaps his hobby was dressing up. She had no intention of finding fault with other people’s hobbies, but Echo didn’t share his enthusiasm, and it was a nuisance.

  “Well, shall we go back to the dressing room for a bit?”

  At the head server’s prompting, Echo said, “Yes” and nodded, giving a small, relieved sigh at the idea that she’d be able to take a break. As the head server started walking, taking the lead, she spoke:

  “It’s about time to change costumes, too.”

  “………Beg pardon?”

  Echo cocked her head, puzzled. She hadn’t quite caught the head server’s words.

  Seeing her, the woman responded, “Didn’t I mention that?

  “It’s a rule. During the Sport of the Masks, servers change costumes at regular intervals.”

  “……………………”

  Echo trailed silently after the head server.

  In her head, she was already thinking of the journal entry she’d write that night. Ordinarily, she carried her journal around with her, writing down the various things she saw, but of course she didn’t take it along when she was undercover. She was planning to write down everything at once when she returned to the manor, and the day’s entry was shaping up to be a long one.

  Half of it would be grumbling about Vincent, who’d sent her into Silver Moon Garden, and the other half would be criticism and complaints about the salon owner and the aristocratic clientele. If the head of the Basil family didn’t appear today, she’d probably direct some hostile words his way as well.

  She wanted to hurry up and finish her investigation and leave this place. From the bottom of her heart.

  Frankly, tonight’s journal entry will probably be Echo’s longest ever.

  She was sure of it.

  And then…

  When the head server and Echo reached the dressing room, new costumes were waiting for them.

  “……………………………………………………………………………”

  Echo’s silence grew even deeper.

  Two new costumes were displayed in the dressing room. The owner had probably added them while Echo and the head server were working. “Wow…” Beside the speechless Echo, the head server gave an exclamation that could have been either impressed or appalled.

  She walked over to the costumes that hung on hangers on the wall and pointed to them one after the other with her staff, making sure of the count.

  Then she turned back to Echo.

  “All right, Eiko-chan, which will it be? You can have first pick.”

  “The one you’re wearing. The witch costume. ”

  With no hesitation, Echo pointed to the head server’s costume. However, the woman gave her a wry, pitying smile.

  “I’m sorry; it’s already spoken for. This is a popular costume.”

  Everyone was thinking the same thing. The other servers had their sights set on the safe costumes as well. Reality was merciless.

  “You first,” the head server said, prompting Echo.

  …There was no help for it. Reality was merciless, and fate was cruel. Echo had just two costumes to choose from.

  They were:

  A fur worn by a savage from an untamed land (very revealing).

  A full-body, poisonous horned frog suit (sort of slimy).

  Two extreme, worst-possible choices.

  · 10:15 PM

  Day One of the undercover investigation is over.

  Far too much happened, don’t want to write anything now.

  · 1:30 AM

  Woke in the middle of the night, so am adding a postscript.

  Oz-sama was in dreams again.

  2

  “Know what, Echo? They say if you have the same dream three times, it will come true.”

  Vincent had said this to Echo on the morning of her second day undercover at the Silver Moon Garden salon, before she’d left the Nightray manor.

  The moment she’d heard it, her heart had flip-flopped. She hadn’t told Vincent about the dreams she’d had over the past two days. Even so, he’d said this. Had it been coincidence, or…? Echo tried to think, then came to the conclusion that thinking about it would do no good.

  She’d tried to understand her master many times, and she’d never once succeeded.

  Right now, she decided, it was more important to concentrate on ending her investigation as quickly as possible.

  The Sport of the Masks—the costume party—was still going on.

  Silver Moon Garden was a European-style, two-story mansion that stood quietly in a district of aristocratic residences. By the time she reached it, fatigue was already weighing heavily on her back. Servers used the rear entrance. Feeling sick and tired, Echo went around to the back of the mansion.

  The sky was clear.

  The wind was a bit on the stron
g side today.

  She passed through the small gate at the back, then walked to the mansion’s back door. As she opened it, she said, “…Good morning,” in a subdued voice.

  As she did so, in a corner of her mind, she wondered whether she’d have the same dream again that night.

  “Good morning, Eiko-chan. You’re a little late.”

  When Echo entered the servers’ dressing room, the head server was waiting for her. She’d already changed into her costume. She’d flung a black cape over her shoulders, and toy fangs peeked out of her mouth; they seemed to make it just a little hard for her to talk. It was a vampire disguise, apparently.

  The words “You’re a little late” gave Echo a bad feeling. Nervously, she responded:

  “Eiko arrived earlier than yesterday…”

  “Everyone else has already been and gone.”

  During the three days of the Sport of the Masks, the head server explained, all the servers who worked at the salon practically raced to see who could get to work first.

  Servers who actively enjoyed the event did it so they could choose a costume they liked. Servers who didn’t, did it so they could choose costumes that were slightly less heinous.

  Echo hadn’t known about this. The head server spoke simply:

  “There’s only one costume left for you, Eiko-chan.”

  “…………………Again?”

  “Again.” The head server nodded.

  This was exactly what had happened yesterday. Yesterday, as today, they’d told her to “choose a costume,” but all she’d been able to do was take the last remaining one. Thanks to that, she’d ended up having to wear the humiliating maid and cat-ears headband costume.

  “…I see,” Echo murmured. Her expression was as gloomy as it could possibly get.

  What sort of ridiculous getup would she be forced into today?

  The head server brought out the costume she’d been holding behind her back and spoke cheerfully:

  “Ta-daaa! This is your first costume for today, Eiko-chan!”

  At the sight of the costume being flourished right in front of her, Echo’s eyes widened slightly. At first glance, it was fairly sedate for a costume, a practically normal outfit.

  If all the servers had competed to take the least embarrassing costumes for themselves, it seemed strange that this should have been the last one left. It was a full suit of clothes—a jacket and trousers—and its basic color was white.

  Echo’s seen this somewhere before, Echo thought.

  “It’s the Lutwidge Academy uniform. …The boys’ version.”

  As Echo murmured, the head server nodded. “That’s right.”

  It was the uniform of the school attended by Elliot, the Nightray family’s son, and Ada Vessalius, the woman Vincent was seeing.

  The head server continued with a vaguely faraway look in her eyes:

  “Lots of the servers who work here are in their late twenties or somewhere in their thirties, you know. I’m thirty-one myself.”

  “…Yes.” Echo looked blank. She had no idea what this was about.

  “Even if it is a famous school everyone wishes they’d gone to, it would’ve been too awkward for any of them to wear a school uniform. It would’ve looked…you know…sort of pathetic…”

  The woman seemed to feel this deeply, but Echo only tilted her head, perplexed; she didn’t really understand.

  The head server was looking at Echo as if she was somehow dazzling, and her expression was a bit envious. True, never having attended school, Echo did feel some slight resistance to donning a school uniform, but…compared with the barbarian fur and the poisonous horned frog suit, it was a hundred— No, a thousand times better.

  Even when it was time to change costumes, if nobody wanted this one, she might get to wear it all day long.

  Today might end up being a little easier than yesterday…

  Once Echo had changed into the Lutwidge Academy boys’ uniform, cherishing that hope, the head server spoke to her:

  “Wow, you look good in boys’ clothes, Eiko-chan.”

  “…No.” Echo blushed very slightly.

  “All right, then. First thing, could I have you take tea to the Lion Room on the second floor?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “They asked for you specifically. The guests who were here yesterday are here again, bright and early.

  “They must’ve liked you,” the head server said, smiling mischievously. Echo’s hopes were shattered in an instant.

  ………………………………………………Things couldn’t be worse.

  As Echo left the dressing room, her face was haggard and gaunt.

  She had to go to the kitchen first, in order to make the tea. Just as it had yesterday, the hall bustled with servers in haunted-house costumes, and the variety of disguises seemed to have increased since the day before.

  In addition to the costumes she’d seen yesterday, there were pirates and forest huntsmen and fairies.

  Echo was beginning to get a headache.

  She started unsteadily down the hall, one hand pressed to her forehead. —And then, from behind her:

  Ka-clang ka-clang, ka-clang.

  Hearing a metallic racket, Echo turned, perplexed…and sucked in her breath.

  “?!”

  Ka-clang ka-clang ka-clang ka-clang ka-clang ka-clang.

  A big suit of armor was clanking and crashing its way down the hall.

  From the top of its head to the tips of its toes, she couldn’t see the smallest bit of bare skin. It was full-body armor, made of thick metal plates put together in a complicated way; both arms and legs, the neck, chest, torso, and hips were completely covered. The full-face helmet hid the head entirely, and although there were thin slits for the eyes, it seemed hard to see out of.

  This couldn’t possibly be a guest. It looked like a good, old-fashioned knight costume. The armored server seemed to be struggling with the weight of the armor and the bad visibility, and they wobbled this way and staggered that way as they made their way down the hall toward her.

  Echo pressed close to the wall, waiting for the server to pass by. She watched the armor’s back as they tottered away, looking ready to topple over at any moment.

  Can they even serve customers like that…?

  She really didn’t think they could.

  However, Echo wasn’t in any condition to worry about other servers’ service. She had to get the tea and hurry to the Lion Room, where the customers were waiting for her. Whether she wanted to go or not.

  When she thought about what yesterday had been like, her heart felt heavy.

  “Yes, yes-yes, good! Wonderful!”

  “I liked the feminine maid look, but this boy look is nice, too. Quite gallant.”

  “Hey, the best part is the sweetness within the gallantry.”

  “True. You’d never get such a perfect androgynous feel with an actual boy.”

  Today, once again, the aristocrats from the day before tumultuously traded opinions, this time on Echo’s boys’ school uniform.

  A notice hung on the wall, apparently placed there at some point yesterday: PLEASE REFRAIN FROM MAKING UNREASONABLE DEMANDS OF THE SERVERS. There wasn’t a hint of “status” about this place anymore. However, possibly thanks to that sign, Echo wasn’t bothered with over-the-top requests the way she had been yesterday.

  “W-well, then… If you’ll excuse me.”

  Dizzied by the aristocrats’ enthusiasm and feeling suddenly fatigued, Echo left the Lion Room.

  …This really is……awful…

  She walked down the corridor, a little unsteadily. She’d be serving customers all day, and the day had only just begun. That alone was enough to make her light-headed, and if Basil again failed to appear today, she’d be here tomorrow as well. Just thinking about it doubled her fatigue.

  Echo reached the head of the stairs and started down on feeble feet.

  Echo will rest in the dressing room for a little wh
ile, she thought. If she didn’t, she’d never last.

  —Just then.

  Ka-clang! Behind her, at the top of the stairs, there was a violent, metallic noise. It was followed by a muffled voice saying, “Wah-wah-waaaah!”

  On reflex, Echo turned.

  She saw the big suit of armor. It was teetering on the very top step. Apparently the server had tried to go down and had stepped wrong. They were struggling in what looked like a strange dance, but in that heavy armor, there was no way they could regain their balance.

  They were going to fall.

  It would be absolutely impossible for the petite Echo to catch them.

  “!”

  Immediately, Echo tried to spring to the side to avoid them, but…

  “Whoever’s there, get out of the way!”

  She froze. That voice, the one that had come from the armor’s helmet.

  She knew it, but it wasn’t a voice she should ever have heard in this situation, in a place like this.

  Her surprise had slowed her reaction, and she wasn’t able to dodge the armor completely.

  The armor came tumbling down from the upper floor, covering Echo, and they fell onto a landing between the first and second floors. For a moment, Echo’s mind seemed to sail far away, but there wasn’t much pain. She blinked several times, taking in the situation.

  The armored server had just managed to plant their arms on the landing, to keep from crushing Echo.

  Dazed, breathing raggedly, Echo gazed at the helmet right in front of her.

  Those thin eye slits in the front of the helmet. Through them, she could see emerald eyes. From inside the helmet, a voice spoke, laced with surprise and worry:

  “Huh? Eko-chan…?”

  At the voice, Echo forgot to retort, “It’s Echo.” Instead, she spoke his name, too:

  “—You’re…”

  Why? How? She was enveloped in a storm of questions.

  “If you have the same dream three times,” Echo’s master had said. …But she’d only had it twice so far.

  And yet.

  “Oz…sama?”

  IN THE SERVERS’ DRESSING ROOM…