Ooh. Even a wry smile looked cute on her. Was this “moe by contrast”?
“Good thought.” Smiling, I held up the phone in my hand for her to see. I tapped over to the camera function; the LCD screen filled with an image of Amatena’s face. “In that case, how about a smile, Amatena? Nice and bright.”
“Er...? B-Bright?”
“Just like Elvia would do. Like, gri-i-in!”
“‘Gri-i-in’?”
So much for expressionless: now she was openly frowning. Well, at least she was showing some emotion. That was a start.
For a few minutes, I watched Amatena struggle to produce an “Elvia-esque” smile, and I couldn’t help grinning myself.
The photography party was pretty much a success. Okay, so it ended up more focused on cosplay than photos, but everyone had fun, and most of them seemed to have mastered asking permission before taking a picture. Rather than simply scolding them and being all “Don’t take pictures without asking!”, it turned out to be a lot easier to get the message across by showing them that asking permission was a small thing that could make a big difference to everyone’s enjoyment.
Most importantly, everyone went home with big smiles on their faces.
Granted, Petralka put up a bit of a fight (“We do not wish to go home yet!”), but I had kind of expected that. At length she was dragged off by Garius, who had come to get her. He came personally, by the way, just to be safe—because of some reports (he told me) that a Bahairamanian special forces group had crossed the border. To him, this didn’t sound like the little skirmishes we’d been having.
Anyway, later that evening...
“Everything was really great today!” Minori-san said enthusiastically as we all sat at the dinner table. “Especially that ‘reunion’ for the cast of Angelica! Her Majesty looked fantastic. We’ll have to give a copy of the picture to Garius-san and everyone else.”
“I really tried to go the extra mile for that costume,” Hikaru-san said with a placid smile. “I was sure Her Majesty would look great as Angelica. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time now. This whole day was worth it just to see her in that outfit.”
He really did sound happier than usual; it dawned on me that he had genuinely enjoyed himself. He himself could fall on the somewhat restrained, emotionless side, but when he was really having a good time, you could see it in his eyes.
“Of course,” he added, “I loved the outfits for Myusel and the others, too.”
“Yeah, they looked great in those costumes.”
“Y-You think so...?” Myusel asked a little shyly, her cheeks flushing. She must have been tired from the photo party, but it didn’t seem to have caused her to skimp on dinner. She was really diligent, or energetic, or something—in any case, a great maid.
“And Clara, thanks for all your help. You have fun?”
“Yes.” She nodded, but she did look a little tired. Given that she was probably even more nervous than Myusel the entire time, that was understandable.
“You, Elvia?”
“It was a blast! I wanna do it again!” She grinned, and her tail wagged wildly. She had been dressed as a ninja, and by popular demand, she had closed out the party by jumping, lunging, climbing the trees, and generally acting like one.
“I wish Brooke and Cerise could have been part of it,” I said.
The two lizard people, surprised to suddenly find the conversation turning to them, looked at each other.
“Us?” Brooke asked.
“You certainly don’t have to worry about us,” Cerise added.
Despite what they said, I really didn’t want to leave them out of things. Obviously, if they tried it and it just didn’t click for them, I wouldn’t force them.
“These things are always more fun when everyone’s involved,” I said.
“That so? We’ll have to take your word on it, Master.” Brooke and Cerise looked at each other again.
I did have the distinct impression that there was a limited number of costumes likely to suit a lizard person, but—no, wait. What about, like, Go***lla or something? Or go a step further: Mecha-Godzi***! Or did that leave the realm of cosplay and just turn into wearing a rubber suit?
“And Amatena, I’d love for you to be with us next time,” I said, turning to her.
“No, I...”
“We could make you Elvia’s twin!” Hikaru-san broke in excitedly.
“How’s that?” Elvia asked, perplexed.
“Like, have you wear the same clothes, or matching costumes,” Hikaru-san explained. “You see palette-swapped characters in fighting games all the time—characters who look exactly the same except for the color of their outfits. Or sometimes they even just look flat-out identical—though there’s usually a limit to the similarities.”
“You mean not just matching outfits, but making the two of them look exactly the same. Perfect twins. I like it,” Minori-san said.
“Huh! Who knew?” Elvia said, impressed. Then she turned to her sister, who looked so much like her. “You shoulda been out there today, Big Sis Ama.”
“That would have been impossible, and you know it.”
“Oh, yeah. I guess I do.” Elvia shrugged. She must have really enjoyed herself, because it seemed to have made her forget why Amatena and Clara were here. Then again, that sort of absentmindedness was very Elvia.
Suddenly, the dining area was assaulted by an earsplitting electronic noise. It wasn’t the friendly ding that accompanies an email or a phone call; it was more like the sort of screech that accompanies an earthquake notification, a siren purposely designed to be disturbing. (Anyway, we didn’t get email or phone calls here in the Eldant Empire.)
“Wh... What’s that?”
Everyone in the dining area froze. Minori-san, though, pulled her phone out of her pocket. It turned out to be the source of the noise.
“Minori-san, is that...?”
“An alarm,” she said, her face grim. She swiped across the phone screen, killing the sound.
“An alarm? Don’t tell me...”
“Intruders.”
That one word froze the atmosphere in the room.
After I had been kidnapped the last time, the JSDF set up high-fidelity security cameras around the mansion. I didn’t know exactly how they worked, but I knew they were equipped with infrared and sound sensors, among other things, and that they were connected to Minori-san’s smartphone and computer, and would let her know if anything came up. They had probably also notified the JSDF garrison.
From there to here, though, would take seven or eight minutes, even by motor vehicle. They had to take a circuitous route through the woods, a route that didn’t even really have a road, limiting their speed. Even if they jumped into action the moment they heard the alarm, including the time it would take them to get ready, we could be looking at ten minutes or more until they arrived.
“I’m seeing... seven—no, eight?” Minori-san said, studying her phone. “It’s weird, though. The camera isn’t showing any— Hey.”
“What is it?” I asked, and Minori-san showed me her phone.
I was looking at what seemed like a video clip. It showed what the camera had captured over the past ten seconds or so.
“Wh-What the heck is this?” For a second, I thought maybe there was some kind of glitch in the video. It showed a forest at night—the one just outside the mansion. It looked pretty normal, honestly. Except, there was this one part of the image that kept sort of shifting. It’s hard to describe, but it was like some of the scenery would slide out of place for an instant, then go back. Then slide, then go back.
“My guess is camouflage,” Minori-san said.
“Camouflage? You’d have to be talking, like, active camo to get an effect like this.”
I had seen this sort of thing before—but only in movies like Pre**tor or anime like Ghost in *** Shell. They were disguises that went beyond just blending in. There was an instant of lag when you moved, as they adjusted to t
heir new surroundings, but if a person wasn’t paying attention, such camouflage would be almost impossible to notice.
“Clara...”
“Yes, Elder Sister.”
Amatena and Clara both stood up.
“Wh-What’s the story?” Elvia asked, eyes wide. But Amatena didn’t even glance at her—instead, she turned to Minori-san.
“Pursuers.”
“You think you know who they are?”
“Among the beast-person units in the Bahairamanian army is one squad that specializes in concealment techniques. It’s a small unit, but they’re elite veterans. They wouldn’t be mobilized just to hide a little domestic strife. They specialize in assassination and kidnapping. When I captured Shinichi, they were the unit I used.”
We all looked at her, astounded. This incredibly advanced camouflage, though—what was it? Some kind of magic? Beast people weren’t supposed to have a lot of magical power, though. I had been told they could hardly use basic spells.
“The Eleamachi tribe?” The question came from, of all people, Brooke.
“That’s right.” Amatena nodded.
“Who or what is that?”
“A lizardman tribe that’s not quite like the rest of us,” Brooke explained. “They can change their skin color, y’see. There’s only so many colors they have, and only so fast they can do it, but in the middle of the woods? One could be standing right next to you and y’d never know it.”
“Color changers... Almost like chameleons...”
“Where are you going?!” Hikaru-san shouted. We looked up to see Amatena and Clara nearly out of the dining room.
“We can’t cause any more trouble for you. We’re leaving,” Amatena said brusquely.
“But we don’t know if they’re really after you or what,” I objected.
“Who else could they possibly be after? Frankly, I’m amazed they didn’t get here sooner. Bahairam knows that Elvia... my sister... They know she’s here. They must have known I would go to her if I were ever in trouble.”
“But—”
“We can’t afford the commotion a battle here would cause. Then the Eldant forces would know about us, too.”
So that’s why they were trying to leave. Amatena and Clara nodded at each other and made to go again.
Elvia, though, jumped out of her chair. “B-Big Sis Ama! It’s too dangerous to go now—!”
“We have no choice.”
“But you... But I...”
She was desperate to stop them, but she couldn’t seem to get the words out. And logically, Amatena was exactly right. And yet...
“I was... happy that you took our side,” Amatena said, looking at Elvia.
“Wha...? Sis...?”
Elvia was obviously taken by surprise; all she could manage were a couple of startled half-questions. Amatena, seeming to feel there was no need to say more, turned to leave.
“U-Um!” Someone else stood up and called out. Someone surprising.
“Myusel?” I said.
“Um... I agree that now isn’t the time to go out there...!” She had to force herself to speak, but she sounded convinced. She wasn’t looking at Amatena so much as at Clara.
“Don’t burden yourself,” Amatena said. “Two people who should never have been here, won’t be here. It’s nothing more than—”
“But me, I—!” Myusel didn’t seem to feel the same way. “I have someone to... to teach, and that makes me... happy... and so... well... I disagree that you shouldn’t... shouldn’t be here...!”
Amatena was completely silent. Clara didn’t speak or show any expression. But I thought I saw her tail shift almost imperceptibly. It was something I had seen any number of times back in Bahairam. I had never asked her, but I thought it was a sign that she was happy. And so...
“I agree with Myusel and Elvia,” I said. “I think you should stay here.” If there was one thing I knew about these two, though, it was that emotional pleading wouldn’t convince them. So I started talking fast, almost desperately, adding logical arguments for why they should stay. And logical arguments are, if I may say so, something I’m pretty good at. “Even if you get out of here without causing a commotion, if the Eldant authorities find out there were Bahairamanian troops in here looking for you, it might lead them back to the fact that we were hiding you. Elvia’s here, after all.”
“That’s...”
“You aren’t the only ones with skin in this game,” I insisted, and then I turned to Minori-san. “Minori-san, can you give me a rough idea where these intruders are?”
“Just behind the house, I’d say.” I could hear a note of anxiousness in her voice.
This was bad. These were enemies we couldn’t afford to take lightly.
No. The enemy’s strength isn’t the problem. The JSDF should be here any minute, so actually...
Enemies approaching the mansion.
Bahairamanian soldiers.
Amatena. Clara.
The time I had been kidnapped...
I paused for a long moment.
Ahhh. Okay.
“If they’re that close already, then that only makes it more likely they’ll spot you when you leave the mansion. Wouldn’t it be easier to pass this off as another attempt by Bahairam to kidnap me, or maybe Hikaru-san?”
“Shinichi-sama, that...” Myusel was looking at me, shocked.
I looked around the dining area at them: Minori-san, who had looked up from her phone; Amatena and Clara, still standing there; Elvia, Hikaru-san, Brooke and Cerise. I nodded with a lopsided smile. “I think the best thing would be to beat them back right here.”
Obviously, even I wasn’t stupid enough to think we could take on a Bahairamanian special-forces unit or commando squadron or whatever head-on. Elvia, Amatena, and Clara might have exceptional physical abilities, but so would our attackers, and because they were coming specifically for Amatena and Clara, they would be ready for a couple of beast girls. Toe to toe? Not happening.
If this really was the same squadron Amatena had used to kidnap me, there was also a good chance they would already know who all was in the house and what our fighting capabilities were. In other words, we didn’t have a prayer unless we could come up with something completely unexpected. But we didn’t exactly have a lot of time to set a trap or come up with a plan, either. That limited our options.
“I hope this works,” I murmured, looking at my phone where I sat in the living room. Minori-san had given me the password so that my phone could hook into the alarm system to get notifications and video. The cameras around our building gave us a good idea of approximately where the Eleamachi, the color-changing lizardpeople, were.
For the moment I had Brooke and Cerise going around, pretending to inspect the house.
No matter how well they could hide themselves, when the Elemachi moved, there was a sort of flicker. Meaning that as long as somebody was looking directly at them, they would want to stay still. Having Brooke and Cerise out there, moving around, would help slow them down. If we could buy ourselves some time that way, so much the better for us.
I also asked Minori-san to tell the JSDF to abort its mission, on the pretext that this was a false alarm. If the JSDF garrison got involved, the Eldant army was sure to know about it, and the chances of Amatena and Clara being discovered would shoot up. My plan was for us to handle the Bahairamanians without help.
“Shinichi-sama,” Myusel said as she entered the living room. She had changed into a one-piece dress, I assumed because it was easier to move in than a maid uniform. “Where are the others?”
“Not here yet. I think they’ll be ready soon.”
If this took too long, my whole strategy would go out the window. Actually, I was a little embarrassed to even call it a “strategy,” considering that it amounted to a bad joke.
“You know, you kind of surprised me,” I said.
“I’m sorry...?”
“I never expected you to be the one to stop Clara.”
; Myusel blinked. The truth was, she had no reason to stand up for Clara. Yes, they were working together as maids, but that was just a way of giving Clara cover. And Myusel was only doing it because I had asked her to; she didn’t have any special interest in Clara. If anything, it must have significantly added to her stress, having to lie to Petralka. I never expected them to get so close that Myusel would come to see Clara as a sort of student.
“I see... Yes, of course,” Myusel said with a small smile. Yes, small—but there was kindness in her eyes. “To have an apprentice, someone to lookout for... It really made me happy.”
“Yeah, that’s what you said.”
“And...” Myusel glanced at me; she almost didn’t go on.
Hm...? That little look she gave me, sort of glancing up at me—you’d think I’d be used to it by now, but it still made my heart pound.
“Talking with Clara-san has even taught me about myself. It’s shown me things I wasn’t even aware of.”
She seemed to be talking to herself more than to me. “What do you mean?” I asked, but she gave a shrug and an embarrassed smile and didn’t go on.
If I had pressed her just one more time, she might have told me what she was thinking, but at just that moment, Minori-san came up. “Shinichi-kun, Myusel.” She was holding—not her usual 9mm, or even a machine pistol, but a stun gun, something nonfatal. It probably had less to do with not wanting to kill the Bahairamanian troops than with not wanting any gunshots. “Just to be clear, in the event that Shinichi-kun or Hikaru-kun is in any kind of danger, I’m going to use my gun, understand?”
I assumed she meant her pistol. In other words, our safety was her priority, over and above keeping Amatena’s and Clara’s secret. She wasn’t going to go along with any more of my cajoling or my little plans. That was her job; I was grateful she had even been willing to call off the JSDF for me.
“Understood,” I said, trying to stay calm.
That was when Elvia and Hikaru-san came in.
“We got it!”
It was kind of nauseating to watch.
Over and over, a piece of the scenery roughly the size and shape of a human being would flicker and slide, like someone was fiddling with it in a photo program, before melting back to normal.
Outbreak Company: Volume 11 Page 14