Chapter 17: To My Beloved Anastasia Hoshin (Patreon)

A glare!

Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill!

"Um... Felt, that expression on your face right now is genuinely terrifying. Could you please stop? If you scare off every single customer, we're done for..."

"Good riddance if they all run!"

That was quite the take. Bold words. Straight onto the hit list.

Felt, stewing in a belly full of resentment, currently looked fiercer than any demon or evil god — the kind of expression that would make a stray dog think twice about walking past her, let alone the tourists wandering through. Subaru genuinely feared she might suddenly whip out a knife and start stabbing everyone in the vicinity.

Please, please don't do that.

"Isn't the current situation pretty good, though..." Subaru chose his words with care, weighing each one carefully. He knew they'd all been exhausted these past few days — but shouldn't it be the kind of tired that came with satisfaction? After all, the money was rolling in, and everyone's reputation had improved noticeably.

"Hmph, so what if things are going too well, got a problem with that! Idiot, I'm not earning money just to earn money. Money's a rotten bastard of a thing — as long as you've got enough, that's fine. If it means working yourself to the bone like this, then what's the point of even living, if all you do is chase coin!"

Felt shot Subaru a venomous glare.

Damn it. Did she really have to spell it out? Did she really have to say something like, "I'm so tired I haven't gotten to talk to you properly in a whole day, and we don't even work in the same spot, so I don't see your face at all by the end of the day"?!

No way was she saying that. If those words ever left her mouth, this idiot would definitely misread it — misunderstand it — think she had some kind of feelings for him.

But she didn't! She'd kept herself pure and proper her whole life, never once dated anyone — there was no way she'd suddenly develop feelings for some guy this fast. He was just a friend, plain and simple.

Even if he was just a friend, though, not having a spare moment together all day was still plenty annoying. Was that not allowed?!

"When I had no money, I had to spend every day running errands and stealing stuff. Now that I've got money, I'm even busier than before — so what was the point of getting rich in the first place?"

That... was actually a fair point.

Subaru was momentarily speechless, nearly talked into agreeing with her.

Still, the money-making couldn't just be left to chance. Fortunately, the reason things had been so hectic and exhausting these past few days was fundamentally because everyone else wasn't skilled enough yet — mistakes kept slipping through, problems kept popping up, and he'd had to run around putting out fires.

Once everyone got more practiced, he and Felt would finally have some breathing room. He'd already decided, too — going forward, they'd keep to a schedule of two rest days out of every seven.

Half asking, half handing down a unilateral decree, Subaru said firmly, "How about we take a break in a few days? From now on, two days off out of every seven, fixed."

"Hmph. I guess that'll do. I'll forgive you — for now."

Felt pouted, put her hands on her hips, and strode a few steps ahead, turning her face away so he wouldn't catch her expression. Even without a mirror, she knew perfectly well she was grinning like an idiot.

"Hey— ahem, ahem!"

Her not-quite-a-ponytail half-ponytail swayed with her mood, but the moment she opened her mouth, she panicked — she sounded way too pleased, and he'd definitely hear it. She coughed hastily, forced an air of nonchalance, wrinkled her nose, and hummed, "So, how'd you pull that one off?"

Since they'd only had a week to prepare, Felt had her own long list of duties to handle, so she hadn't been present for every single trick Subaru taught the others.

Take the one going on over there right now, for instance — she had no idea how it worked.

Subaru turned his head to look. Ah, that one was the classic combo: board, apple, throwing knife.

Simple enough — set up a board, have someone stand in front of it, balance an apple on their head, then let tourists pay to buy throws. Land the knife in the apple, and you win one of the assorted prizes the organizers had prepared in advance.

Of course, they had to guard against the occasional customer who came intending actual murder, deliberately aiming the knife at the apple-holder's body or throat instead — so that part was protected by specially reinforced boards, and the person wore a wooden mask over their face too.

What struck Felt as odd was that over a dozen people had gone up to try so far, two of whom looked like they'd handled throwing knives before and should have stood a decent chance of hitting the apple — yet aside from one barely landing a single hit, everyone else's throws went wide. What was going on?

Subaru instinctively dropped his voice, low enough that only someone deliberately leaning in close would catch it. "Actually, there's a magnet hidden inside the board behind them. When the knife flies past, the magnet pulls it just enough to throw off the aim."

Naturally, being the conscientious businessman he was, he'd kept the magnet's pull weak — so a truly skilled thrower still had a real shot. It was just that this early on, people hadn't figured out the trick yet. Over time, the success rate for winning prizes would only climb.

Plus, Subaru had deliberately set the price per throw dirt cheap, refusing to squeeze customers for profit. At its core, this was a win-win, a lighthearted activity meant to give everyone a sense of participation — the whole point was to build loyal repeat visitors.

After all, the throws were cheap enough that even kids could afford a shot or two just for fun. And once someone missed the first time, they'd want to hit it. Once they could hit it, they'd want to become a knife-throwing master who never missed — to bask in everyone's admiration and cheers, that look people gave to someone they regarded as truly skilled.

That feeling was intoxicating.

So even though the tricks might get stale eventually, as long as there were a few loyalty-building attractions like the knife-and-apple game around, this stretch of land would stay alive, would always have people coming through.

"Mm-hm, so there's tricks this clever, huh — really opens little old me's eyes, gotta admit I'm a teensy bit jealous. This is the first time I've felt outdone on the whole crafty-business-scheme front. Oh, right, right, Master Subaru, what's that one over there running on? I watched for a bit and figured it's probably honey, but... it doesn't really look like it, does it?"

"Oh, that one. That one started out running on honey to attract ants, but then Otto came clean with me and said he wanted to throw in with our crew, so we switched it to running on his Divine Protection to direct them instead — much more reliable, and there's no more risk of anyone figuring out the trick..."

Hearing a girl's question, Subaru had instantly assumed it was Felt asking about something new, and his mind had gone straight into auto-answer mode.

It wasn't until he'd finished rambling through the whole explanation that he suddenly froze.

Wait, that's wrong!

Subaru whipped his head around to look at Felt — only to find her equally frozen, her expression practically asking, "Who exactly were you just talking to?"

Whoosh!

In perfect unison, the two of them spun around, eyes wide, staring at the uninvited guest who had somehow crept up stealthily, tiptoeing right behind them without either of them noticing.

What caught Subaru's eye without warning was a girl with a foxlike, cunning smile, her pale blue eyes brimming with mischief — and undeniably adorable with it.

Her pale purple hair was clearly silky-smooth, and though her chest was just as modest as Felt's, the way she wore that pure-white outfit beneath a fox-fur scarf made it obvious at a glance — she'd absolutely be soft and fragrant to the touch, comfortable beyond words!