●
After Yukinari and the others left, silence returned to the tower. Berta watched the plaza, Derrringer at the ready. She had only looked away for a second, but now she scanned the area to see if anything had changed. Derrringer’s scope afforded an exceedingly narrow field of view, so until she was actually ready to shoot, Berta took her eye away from it and simply looked down at the plaza.
There was no wind. The sky was patchy with clouds. Ideal conditions for both observation and sniping. If it had been too sunny, the light might have reflected off white walls or water in barrels, making it hard to see. And if the eyes became too accustomed to bright light, it became harder to see into the shadows or notice when they were moving.
Berta made no sound. As far as she could tell, everything in town was still the same. Aside from a few human figures, nothing moved in the plaza.
Berta examined the faces of those in the area one by one, using the scope to get a close look at them. They all seemed totally normal, yet a close look revealed a certain stiffness, a darkness in each expression. They were all scared, afraid of the invisible killer.
Nobody knew who the murderer was, nor where they might be. That made it impossible to relax. But neither was this an excuse to stop going about their daily lives. Anxiety must have been squeezing at the people’s hearts—Berta knew, because she felt it, too. So long as she was with Yukinari, she didn’t worry that she might become a victim, but the thought that someone else might, perhaps someone close to her, left her with a constant tension. This was a different kind of anxiety from what she had felt when the Missionary Order had attacked. It was shapeless, hard to grasp.
She looked back at the sign. Or rather, at the area around the sign. For the first day or two, people had been quite interested in the unusual board, some stopping to stare at it, but now no one paid it any mind. Everyone knew that Yukinari himself had put it up, and they probably thought it was some sort of charm or invocation on the part of their god. Now they all passed by without a hint of interest, or at least without anything that would qualify as a “strange reaction.”
But what is a strange reaction? Berta wondered. Maybe looking very surprised and freezing in place in front of the sign...?
This part of the assignment still didn’t make much sense to her. Maybe Yukinari himself wasn’t sure enough to say for certain what they were looking for. Essentially, they wanted someone who reacted differently from the majority of Friedlanders—but responses to the sign were so diverse that it was hard to say what such a reaction would be. It might be easier to tell now that most people had lost interest in the sign.
Maybe if they get angry and smash the sign, or look terrified and run away. Lady Dasa said this person was an angel, but what did she mean...?
Yukinari was the only angel Berta knew personally. She tried to picture what another angel might look like based on her knowledge of him, but she simply couldn’t imagine Yukinari looking terrified and running away. After all, when suddenly confronted with an erdgod, he hadn’t panicked but had simply killed it.
At length...
“...Ah...”
Berta suddenly noticed a lone young woman standing in front of the sign. She could only see the person’s back, but she had black hair and looked like she was probably a few years younger than Berta—in other words, still just a girl. It wasn’t her size, but her long black hair and her clothing that made it clear she was female.
She’s looking at it...
Just childish curiosity? The girl’s head was tilted in bemusement. Given how little interest anyone else showed in the sign, this might qualify as a strange reaction.
Maybe she’s just confused by the letters?
Berta had been told that the sign bore letters used in the world Yukinari had once been in. It wouldn’t be anything anyone from Friedland could read. Fiona was exceptionally well-educated by Friedland’s standards, able to read and write, and even she didn’t know what the sign said. The average adult had no hope of understanding it, and once they realized that, they quickly lost interest.
But children might not react in quite the same way. They might think it was pictures, not letters, on the sign. Berta thought of her little sisters at the orphanage, whose childlike imaginations allowed them to see faces or shapes in rocks and trees. It wouldn’t be strange if a child treated these letters the same way.
Even as these thoughts went through her mind, Berta put her eye to the scope with the intention of taking close note of the girl’s behavior.
That was when it happened.
The girl began to shake. Was she afraid? No, that wasn’t it. Her body bent slightly, and both her hands came up in front of her face. Was she putting her hands to her mouth? Laughter—was that what this was? She was laughing out loud. Berta saw one of the adults walking by frown at the girl in puzzlement.
That’s her, Berta thought instinctively.
The inability to understand what was on the sign made some people angry. Others were surprised or suspicious. A few simply looked mystified. But no one would look at an incomprehensible series of letters and burst out laughing so hard their shoulders shook.
Berta, of course, didn’t know what Yukinari had written any more than anyone else did. Yet that girl could read the words, knew what they meant. Perhaps she even understood his plan.
Someone else from Lord Yukinari’s home...
An “angel” who had come from the same place as him. That was why she could read the words. That was why she was laughing.
The girl—I have to keep an eye on her!
Berta was terrified of even the smallest chance of being wrong, which was why she hesitated to shoot the girl from behind. But she had to remember the child’s face. The girl couldn’t stand there with her back to Berta forever. Eventually, she would have to turn and walk off somewhere. Then Berta would at least see her face in profile—at least see where she went, what kind of clothes she was wearing, and she could tell it all to Yukinari. If the girl went into a building, she would tell him which building, too.
Feeling the adrenaline begin to flow, Berta focused all her attention on the girl in her sights. At last, the shaking stopped. Was she done laughing?
Berta started as the girl abruptly turned around. This should have been convenient for her, because she wanted to see the child’s face. But the girl’s purple eyes seemed to stare straight back through the scope, directly at Berta.
“Wha...?” She found herself speaking without meaning to.
There was distance between them. Berta was on top of the belltower, lying on the balcony with Derrringer. No one should have been able to look directly at her without knowing she was there. Yet the girl was staring straight at Berta. She obviously knew where the sniper was.
And then, to Berta’s shock and alarm, a smile began to spread across the girl’s lips. Berta let out a little gasp and jumped away from Derrringer, leaving the rifle where it lay. Berta was much higher up than the girl; if she could back up far enough, the child would no longer be able to see her.
“I... I...”
Her breath was ragged and she had broken out in a cold sweat all over her body. She put a hand to her chest and could feel her heart pounding.
I—I’ve got to calm down... I’ve got to calm down... She repeated the phrase to herself, trying to think. She can’t possibly see me... I think... She only just happened to look this way...
Yes, that had to be it. She had only seemed to look in Berta’s direction. It had been coincidence.
“I’ve got to... get a good look...”
All she could remember were the purple eyes. The girl’s face, what she was wearing—Berta could recall none of it. She had to remember so she could tell Yukinari.
Berta, her voice still stuck in her throat, crawled back to where Derrringer sat and hesitantly put her eye to the scope. Only to find...
“...She’s gone...?”
The girl was nowhere to be seen—not just in front of the sign, but anywhere in the plaza.
Berta found herself letting out a long sigh. It was partly relief, and partly frustration.
“Just when I could have done something to help Lord Yukinari...”
She hadn’t seen the moment the girl disappeared. Didn’t know which building she had gone into, or which direction she had walked away in. She didn’t even remember the child’s face clearly. All she remembered was the long black hair, and people with black hair weren’t especially unusual in Friedland.
Berta resolved to have another look. She took her eye from Derrringer’s scope and began to gaze around the town below. Slowly, carefully. Checking the shadows. But still she didn’t see the girl anywhere. It was no good. She was gone.
Berta was distraught.
She jumped as someone put a hand on her shoulder. She shook with the surprise, but she knew it was just Yukinari getting back.
She turned around to find a figure with the sun at its back, the light making it impossible to see the person’s face. But...