Is this what they mean when they say time stands still?
At the entrance to the alley, a girl stood alone — just like the men from moments ago.
She was a beautiful girl.
Long silver hair that reached her waist was gathered into a single bundle, and her keen, intelligent eyes pierced straight through him. Her soft features bore a mix of beauty and youth, and an air of nobility she couldn't quite hide lent her an almost precarious charm.
She stood about a hundred and sixty centimeters tall. Her navy-blue outfit was free of ostentatious adornment — its simplicity only served to make her presence all the more striking. The only eye-catching detail was the embroidery on the white coat draped over her shoulders, bearing the crest of a bird close to a hawk. Even its solemnity was merely an accessory to the girl's beauty.
"I cannot overlook any further atrocities. —That's far enough."
Words spilled from her lips once more, and a tremor ran through Subaru's entire body.
Her silver-bell voice struck his eardrums with exquisite clarity, and the words she wove carried a power to shake the hearts of others.
Subaru was so overwhelmed by her presence that he forgot even his own predicament.
The men felt the same.
With her hostility directed squarely at them, the aggressive expressions they'd worn moments ago had vanished without a trace.
The man with the knife blanched, backing deeper into the dead end.
"Wait, wait, wait! Hold on! I-I don't know what's going on, but we'll let this guy go! So just lay off us, will you—"
"I appreciate your honesty. While there's still time to fix this, return what you stole from me."
"Like I said, I'm sorry… Huh? Stole something?"
"Please. That was something precious to me. Anything else, I could let go — but that, absolutely not. —Right now, I won't take your life."
Her final words, the ones that carried an unmistakable edge of fury, stood in stark contrast to the pleading tone that had preceded them.
The girl's gaze was razor-sharp, and the palm she extended held nothing visible.
Yet everyone present could sense something ineffable gathering there.
"W-wait! …Um, I think there's been a misunderstanding here!"
"…What?"
The men pointed at Subaru, who lay at their feet.
"So, uh, we're not here to save this guy or anything?"
"…A weirdly dressed man, huh? A falling-out among you? Three-on-one isn't exactly admirable, but… if you're asking whether he has anything to do with me, I'm afraid the answer is no."
Thinking she was being given the runaround, the girl's tone sharpened with irritation.
Perhaps sensing the shift, the men scrambled to explain.
"W-wait! If he's not the target, then we're a separate matter entirely! If you're talking about something stolen, it was definitely that woman from before!"
"R-right, right! That one! She kicked off the wall and fled over the rooftops!!"
"Deeper in! Over there! At that speed, she must have crossed three blocks by now!"
As the men rattled off their excuses one after another, the girl's gaze locked onto Subaru.
Her eyes silently demanded to know whether their words were true, and unable to lie, Subaru found himself nodding.
Having witnessed this, the girl gave a reluctant "Mm" of acceptance.
"It doesn't seem like a lie. Then the thief went deeper into the alley…? I need to hurry."
She turned her back to him, her feet carrying her toward the alley's exit.
The men's relief was palpable. And Subaru cursed his own stupidity, swallowed by the air of the moment, for having squandered a once-in-a-lifetime chance.
But — "That said, this isn't a situation I can simply overlook."
Mid-turn, the girl thrust her palm toward them — and from that palm, projectiles of ice were launched at the men still standing.
The velocity was major-league, and the pitch was a textbook beanball.
Three sharp cracks rang out — the sound of hard matter striking flesh — as the men were sent flying with cries of pain.
What had hit them and then clattered to the ground near Subaru was ice.
Fist-sized chunks of ice — objects conjured in blatant disregard for season or physics — dissipated like mist the instant they'd served their purpose.
"…Magic."
The word that slipped from his lips unbidden was the one that best described what had just happened.
He hadn't heard any incantation, but that ice had clearly been born from the girl's palm and hurled from her hand.
Seeing it happen right before his eyes, Subaru finally understood something.
Which was — "It's less, uh… fantastical than I imagined. Kind of disappointingly realistic."
He'd pictured flashes of light, wild bursts of energy — that sort of thing.
In reality, chunky ice simply appeared out of nowhere and vanished just as suddenly. There was nothing poetic about it.
"You actually went and — did that, didn't you."
Setting Subaru's opinions aside, the damage to those on the receiving end of that very real strike was considerable.
Two men staggered to their feet. One had been hit in a bad spot and was unconscious, but the other two, though bleeding, were still standing. A different man from the knife-wielder gripped a rusty, hatchet-like tool, ready for another round.
"Fine! Whether you're a mage or whatever, I don't care anymore! We'll surround you and cut you down — two against one, you really think you can win? Huh?!"
The man with the knife pressed one hand against his bent nose and roared.
The girl showed not a flicker of fear in response.
"You're right. Two on one might be a bit tough."
"Then — how about two on two? That should even things out."
A new voice — androgynous and high — filled the alley's air, picking up where the girl's words left off.
Subaru's eyes darted around in surprise. The men had reacted the same way. At the alley's entrance, and certainly within it as well, there was no sign of whoever had spoken.
While Subaru and the others exchanged bewildered glances, the girl extended her left hand.
Her palm faced upward, and perched on the tip of her white fingers was — it.
"Having someone look at you with such high expectations is… well. It's a little embarrassing."
She gave a shy, bashful smile — and the object on her palm was a small, standing cat.
Its fur was gray and its ears drooped. In Subaru's frame of reference, the closest breed would be an American Shorthair — if not for its pink nose and unusually long tail.
At the sight of the peculiar cat, the man with the knife contorted his face in terror and screamed.
"A — Spirit User?!"
"Bingo. If you back off right now, I won't pursue you. Make it quick. I'm in a hurry."
Cursing under his breath, the men shouldered their unconscious companion and made for the alley exit.
Stepping over Subaru, one of them paused beside the girl and shot her a parting glare.
"Remember this, you little brat. If you're ever wandering around this area again, you better watch yourself."
"You know, if you do anything to this girl, she'll haunt your family for generations. And by 'haunt your family' — you'd be the family, in that case."
The threat had probably been issued with every scrap of pride they had left, but the reply, though delivered in a light tone, was savage.
The palm-sized cat wore a goofy grin, but the men's faces, already pale, went bluer still. This time they said nothing and bolted for the crowded street.
Once they vanished from sight, only the girl, her companion, and Subaru remained in the alley.
"Don't move."
Subaru had already forgotten his pain and was pushing himself up, intending to offer his thanks.
To him, the girl spoke in a voice devoid of warmth.
Her eyes were heavy with suspicion. She understood he wasn't part of the men's group, but she didn't believe for a second that he was benign.
That aside, her deep violet eyes were captivatingly beautiful.
Unused to dealing with such a stunning girl, Subaru flushed red and looked away.
Watching this, the girl flashed a fearless grin while maintaining her guarded stare.
"You look away because you've got something to hide. My eyes don't seem to be failing me."
"I don't know about that. That was just a guy reaction — zero evil intent involved."
"Pack, be quiet. —You. You have some idea who stole my insignia, don't you?"
The kitten fell silent as the girl turned the question on Subaru. Her smug expression was something you'd rarely see even in recent years. However — "As much as it pains me to disappoint, I have absolutely no idea."
"What!?"
The moment that confident face crumbled, the girl's real expression peeked through underneath.
Her composure from moments ago had evaporated entirely. Flustered, she turned to the cat on her palm.
"W-what do we do? Could it really have been a complete waste of time…?"
"That state of affairs is progressing by the second, I'd say. Better hurry. She was an incredibly fast runner — the culprit must have the blessing of wind, I'm sure of it."
"Why are you so nonchalant about all this, Pack?"
"*You're* the one who said hands off, feet off. Oh, and — what about him?"
As if remembering, the girl's attention circled back to Subaru, who managed a wry smile.
"Ah — " The girl seemed to finally register his existence and condition. Subaru forced himself upright with a bluff.
"Just having been helped is more than enough. You're in a rush, right? You should go."
— I'd even lend a hand if you want, so what do you say, miss?
He'd planned to say this with a casual hair-toss and a flash of teeth, but — "Oh dear?"
"Aah — standing up when you really shouldn't have is — ah, too late."
His head felt heavy, his body wobbled, and the hand he'd reached out to brace himself slipped off the wall and grasped nothing but air.
As a result, he gave the ground a second kiss — face-first. Zero breakfalls. His nose hit the ground first, and a sharp pain pulled his consciousness away.
"…So, what are you going to do?"
"Has nothing to do with me. Unless it's life-threatening, I'm leaving you."
At the far edge of his fading consciousness, Subaru caught fragments of the exchange between the two of them — or rather, one person and one cat.
Truly befitting an otherworldly fantasy — harsh in its views on human compassion, as well.
There was the negative thought: *So this is how I get abandoned in a back alley.* And beside it, the positive one: *Well, I was about to die, so the fact that I'm still breathing is a blessing in itself.* Holding both half-conclusions in his mind, Subaru's consciousness drifted farther and farther away — "Really?"
"Really!"
In the instant his awareness fractured, he caught a glimpse of the silver-haired girl turning back with a flushed face.
"The absolute, absolute — I am NOT going to help you!"
*Even when you're angry, you're freakin' cute, otherworldly fantasy.* That was Subaru's final thought before his consciousness plunged into darkness.