Eternally Regressing in Another World

"Won’t you eat with me too, tomato mister?"

"Sorry, I’ve got somewhere to be."

Shiran and I had bought groceries on the way back and made it safely to the run-down inn.

"You seem really cheerful. That excited about the meat?"

Shiran shook her head, denying that.

"Not that. Up until now, that lady’s been showing up here at night, yelling out front. I’ve been scared this whole time because of it."

Right, come to think of it, I did remember hearing some crazed shouting outside when I’d stayed here before.

"Then you’re safe now. Eat that and get some proper sleep."

"Okay."

Waving, I started heading back to the carriage, but stopped.

"Right, hey Shiran. You know where a kid named Flaut Beyonetta lives?"

"Huh? Tomato mister, you know Flaut!?"

"Well, something like that, I guess."

Saying "I’m about to go meet him for the first time" would probably confuse her.

"More importantly, you two are pretty close, right?"

"Yeah, I’ve been to his place before, so I know where he lives. Flaut’s really nice, he’s stood up for me at school before."

Quite the endorsement. Might have to let Flaut know he’s got a shot here.

"Huh, well, either way, if you know the address, that saves time. Mind telling me?"

"Sure, okay."

Shiran carefully explained the route, and I jotted it all down in my notebook.

"...And then straight down that road."

"Ah I see, got it, thanks. Shouldn’t get lost with this."

Sounded like it faced a major road, should be easy enough to find even in the dark.

"Anything distinctive about the building?"

"It’s whitish, you’ll know it right away. It says Verona Academy Dormitory at the entrance, look for that if you can’t find it."

"A dorm!? He’s living in a dorm at that age?"

"...I think that’s normal? I just can’t afford to live there myself."

I blinked at the difference in common sense here. Apparently even elementary schoolers living in dorms was normal in this world. Though a dorm probably had decent security, and in a city like this, that’s probably for the best.

"Alright, I’ll meet Flaut and come right back... I promised, after all."

"Okay."

I pulled a lantern from the carriage and lit it with the lighter. Snapping the reins lightly, I got the carriage moving. Shiran kept waving until I was out of sight.

The lantern swayed, clinking with a steady metallic sound. Still not used to this kind of light source. Too accustomed to the white glow of light bulbs, this reddish light was tiring on the eyes.

"Um, ah, here it is."

I slowed the carriage and parked it along the roadside. If this matched what Shiran described, this had to be it.

"A dorm, huh... an elementary school dorm is quite something."

The building itself looked fairly ordinary. Six stories, tall and narrow, white stone construction. Angel decorations here and there gave it a somewhat upscale feel. But bigger than I’d imagined. Finding Flaut inside this place would take some real effort.

"No choice, guess I’ll ask someone."

Right at the entrance, someone who looked like a security guard was making rounds. Without thinking too much, I called out to him.

"Excuse me, would you know the residence of a student here, the Beyonetta family’s kid?"

"Ah, a parent?"

"Well, something like that."

At my answer, the man’s brow furrowed.

"That’s odd. If it’s the Beyonetta family, I’d recognize the parents’ faces."

His eyes turned unmistakably suspicious. True, thinking about it, Flaut’s father was apparently some heroic knight. Of course he’d be suspicious if asked "are you the parent" and I just said yes. Bad, at this rate I wouldn’t just fail to meet Flaut, I might be in actual trouble.

"Um, I’m actually part of the household staff..."

"If you’re staff, the butler comes by occasionally. His name was... right, something like Selva."

Ugh. Felt like I was digging myself deeper by the second.

"Um, well, Selva came down with a fever..."

"A substitute for the butler? Really now?"

At this point, my standing with this man was probably fixed at "suspicious character." Think of a good excuse... think... ...Right!

"I’ve been entrusted with some luggage and a message that Selva couldn’t deliver himself..."

"I could take that for you, and pass along the message. Go ahead."

There it is! Exactly the response I’d been waiting for.

"Um, then, please take the luggage. Though the message is a bit sensitive for a general audience... it’s slightly related to the king’s summit."

At this point, the man’s gaze started to waver. His expression shifted from suspicion to something closer to panic.

"Ah, right. I’ll write the message down on paper, please deliver that. Here’s the luggage."

Saying that, I handed over the robe I’d received from the Beyonetta family. Seeing the emblem on the back, the man’s face went pale.

"Th-this is! The Beyonetta family crest!?"

I’d noticed pegasus imagery scattered throughout the Beyonetta mansion. So that pegasus really was something like their trademark. Thinking that, I finished writing the message.

"Here, please take this paper. Sorry I couldn’t meet young Flaut directly, but I appreciate your help."

I bowed deeply. But the man bowed even deeper.

"N-not at all!! Please, go on through! Room 603!"

His posture at this point was less a bow and more of a full lean forward.

"Are you sure? Well, I’ll take you up on that then."

And so, I managed to get inside the dormitory.

"Phew, that was close. One wrong move and he might’ve called the guards on me. ...Plus this message paper trick."

But even if I hadn’t gotten in, I’d already thought of a backup way to lure Flaut out. I pulled the note I’d tucked into the robe back out. The message, disguised as a delivery note, read something like:

"Shiran is with me. There’s something I need to negotiate regarding the Beyonetta family. Once you’ve read this, come down to the front entrance immediately. Tell anyone about this, and Shiran’s life is forfeit."

Pretty ominous stuff. But something like that would guarantee Flaut coming down without fail.

"Well, glad I don’t need to actually use that. Might’ve been rough clearing up the misunderstanding afterward."

"Now then, room 603 means sixth floor, I guess?"

Looking around, no elevator in sight. ...Stairs, then. A slightly unpleasant memory flashed back, but no time to dwell on that. Loitering around in a suit would draw attention. Before people started gathering, I hurried up the stairs.

Three knocks echoed against the door. There’d been people on the first floor, but the top floor was quiet. Made the sound easy to hear clearly.

"Yeah, coming."

An oddly casual, unrefined response for a noble came from beyond the door.

"Bit early for dinner ti... huh?"

Seemed he’d mistaken me for a friend. Flaut looked up at my face, thoroughly confused.

"Wh... whoa, a giant!?"

"That’s your first reaction!?"

In a world like this, plenty of people are probably taller than 190cm.

"Got a bit to talk about. Mind if I come in?"

"You’re one of Duke Vade’s men? I don’t know where Shiran is!"

Flaut was wary but also somewhat scared. Showing this should clear up the misunderstanding, though.

"Look at this. I’m not your enemy."

I pulled the robe out of my bag, showing the pegasus emblem.

"That’s... you can come in."

"Appreciate it."

Flaut showed an expression far too serious for a child his age. He probably realized this wasn’t something safe to discuss where others might hear. I was shown in first, and Flaut locked the entrance door behind us. The room was somewhat messy inside. Discarded clothes left where they fell, books scattered around, two dishes left out, probably from a snack. Well, my own room back in my original world had looked about the same, so I had no room to judge.

"So? How much do you know, mister? ...No, how much does the Beyonetta family know?"

"The Beyonetta family knows nothing. I’m acting entirely on my own."

Hearing that, he seemed relieved and sat down where he stood.

"Thank goodness. If sis heard about any of this, she’d absolutely drop everything to come help."

"Huh, quite protective of your sister, then."

"Wha!? It’s not like that!"

Teased just a little, and he immediately got flustered. Still very much a kid. But the real matter starts here.

"Alright, where should I start..."

"Hey, you just said the Beyonetta family doesn’t know, right? So what do you know, mister?"

Taking a breath, I said with a slight frown.

"Shiran’s slavery situation. I’ve already got most of it figured out."

"Wh-what does that mean?"

Explaining it now might work, but then I’d have to repeat the whole thing to Shiran too, doubling the effort. Plus, there was something I still needed to be careful about. I stood up and told Flaut:

"Come to the front of Shiran’s inn tomorrow morning at 7. I’ll explain everything there, Shiran’s situation, the case, the duke, the whole slave trade thing."

"Wait a sec!"

Flaut grabbed my suit as I tried to leave, forcibly stopping me.

"I don’t understand anything! Can’t we just talk here!?"

He looked around the room broadly and said:

"A friend came by this room, didn’t they? About your height, probably around your age too."

"...You mean Porp? Wait, how do you know that!?"

"Who knows. But you already understand it’s not safe to talk freely in this room, right?"

Flaut said nothing. Or rather, he couldn’t say anything.

"7 AM. Don’t be late."

Saying just that, I left the room. The moment the door closed, sounds started up inside. This world apparently had something like surveillance magic, so he probably assumed there was some kind of device planted somewhere.

"Well, there’s nothing there, actually."

What I’d used was a technique called cold reading. Simply put, the art of saying plausible-sounding things to deceive people. Seeing the two dishes left out, I’d guessed someone had been there recently. Clothes left unfolded suggested a boy. And a kid inviting someone into their own room was most likely a classmate around the same age. At that age, height differences within a class wouldn’t be huge either. And when he’d answered the door earlier, he’d mistaken me for a friend, suggesting he expected someone who’d just left to come back. Nothing close to real deduction, just crude guesswork, but it had been more than enough for Flaut.

"Alright, next."

I left the dorm and got the carriage moving. Next stop, weapon procurement.