“I only told this guy that I would succeed in registering Chalice as a dedicated Guide using grounds solid enough that the facility couldn’t block it — and that it wouldn’t end at just succeeding. The part about calling Chalice into that situation, hiring him as a bodyguard, or Rodeo throwing a fit about becoming an instructor — I had no idea about any of that.”
“That’s understandable. He only told Chalice it would be bodyguard work and to come to the facility — and that was literally the day before. Honestly, even Rodeo himself probably didn’t know until the day before.”
Rodeo looked at the two of them with an expression that was, if anything, even more irritated than before — and whether they noticed or not, Chalice and Carousel both burst out laughing. Save for the one person sitting there sulking with a disgruntled look on his face, it would have appeared to be quite a warm and cheerful lunch.
“Hating each other and all. You’re both so fake.”
The softened atmosphere lasted only a moment before, sure enough, the troublemaker soured it again in an instant.
“You little — …Chalice, this is slander. Honestly, it was my persuasion that got him to make up his mind about registering as a dedicated Guide too.”
“I know. You don’t have to say it — I already know all of it. I’ve been more than grateful for all the help you’ve given over the years, and in the end, succeeding was also thanks to you…”
“How is any of it thanks to this guy?”
The effort both of them had been making to smooth things over with perfectly sociable smiles was undone once again by Rodeo’s outburst. By now, the few other eyes in the dining hall had turned toward the two Espers and the one Guide.
“I succeeded — by my plan. You said you failed more than twelve times before, didn’t you? So what exactly are you grateful for? Failing every time, never getting out from under the threat to your life — and you’re grateful for that?”
“…Would you please… just… be quiet…”
Unlike the other two, who would be leaving the facility soon, Carousel had to stay and work through the afternoon even on weekends — he held his smile with great effort and spoke through gritted teeth. Chalice took a sip of water, expressionless, then spoke as though completely unbothered.
“You wouldn’t know, since you weren’t in this world for ten years — but we have our own history. Carousel has always been looking out for me and helping me through all that time. How could I not be grateful.”
“…Oh, so what you mean is — I had an accident, got ten years deleted from my life without meaning to, and know nothing about it — so I should shut up and stop sticking my nose in where it doesn’t belong.”
At that, Chalice lifted an eyebrow as he dabbed his lips with a napkin.
“Say what you mean properly. What I’m saying is that the idiot who does something worth being thanked for and then calls it lies, who says people hate each other, who goes around making baseless accusations and ruining everyone’s mood until the gratitude itself gets forgotten — that idiot should shut up.”
“So is there anything incorrect in what I said? It’s all true. I dislike lies and I dislike pretense, so I pointed it out. That’s not slander.”
“Now delusions on top of everything. I don’t know what it is that bothers you so much — but whether you need to shut up for being out of line or for being an idiot, you’re going to end up shutting up either way, so just do it quietly. There is nothing here that benefits from you opening your mouth.”
With Chalice now also beginning to speak in a threatening tone, the atmosphere gradually shifted from the squabbling of children into something more adult. That even he had gone silent and thrown himself into this war-like current was apparently not something Carousel had anticipated — he swallowed hard, as though his breath had stopped for a moment.
“You seem to think you’re the leader of this team. Ten years have passed and your habit of bossing people around hasn’t changed one bit.”
“As long as I’m part of this plan, I have no intention of just keeping my mouth shut and being dragged along. You’d also do well to remember that your car key is in my pocket.”
Rodeo’s mouth opened — then pressed firmly shut.
“I’m sorry about this, Carousel. It’s the weekend so there aren’t many people around, but this is still your workplace and here we are making a scene…”
“Don’t worry about it. Anyone can see there’s exactly one person at fault here. Goes on running his mouth but apparently his car is precious to him.”
Chalice had dropped the formal speech in his somewhat flustered state, but Carousel smiled as though he actually found it more comfortable that way. Rather than speaking, Rodeo set his water glass down with a pointed clack to express his displeasure — and the moment it looked like Chalice was about to launch into another lecture, Carousel quickly changed the subject.
“S-so — the dedicated Guide registration has already been approved…!”
Rodeo and Chalice both turned to look at Carousel at the same time.
“Logan — ah… no, Ink — he’s certainly thorough and quick when it comes to anything involving Rodeo. I suppose it makes sense, being best friends reunited after ten years. To think he’d push through the confirmation over the weekend…”
Without a word being said, you could feel the tense, heated current between the two of them dissipate in an instant — the topic was that kind of topic — and Carousel let out an internal sigh of relief as he continued the explanation.
“The Decorker connection was already set up, so there shouldn’t be anything extra to do — you’ll get a notification sometime tomorrow after the weekend. There’ll be an update on the Decorker as well. Once you complete the Decorker update, the dedicated Guide registration will be finalized.”
The two nodded in silence.
“Since you’re both living in facility-affiliated residential housing, a lot of it will be processed automatically. Not only your individual home door locks, but all access points — each other’s fingerprints will become cross-usable. Meaning wherever Rodeo can access, Chalice can access as well, and conversely, wherever Chalice can enter, Rodeo will naturally be able to enter too. On top of that, location tracking will also be enabled. You can turn the function off, but… it would be better to keep it on if at all possible. Given the special circumstances.”
Rodeo paused, then glanced sideways at Chalice and spoke.
“Even so — let’s agree to give advance notice if we plan on visiting. Unless it’s an emergency.”
“Of course.”
Chalice nodded and said quietly.
“There are also updates regarding emergency situations. If Rodeo’s condition deteriorates — that is, if signs of a seizure or Rampage are detected — that information will be shared with Chalice in real time. So that Chalice can immediately rush over, or provide remote Guiding, or whatever it takes to resolve the situation on the spot. The priority order of methods can be set on the Decorker after the two of you discuss it.”
When Chalice said nothing, Rodeo was again the first to speak.
“As I mentioned before — I’ll be requesting contactless close-range Guiding as the primary method whenever possible. If it can be done that way, there’s no reason to use another method. If the situation is truly serious, then brief contact Guiding… and since I’m planning to have you handle bodyguard duties full-time anyway, I’m not sure there will even be situations where we’re apart. Would remote Guiding even be needed?”
“Better to not exclude it entirely, just in case.”
“…It could be removed. Though I suppose there might be situations where it’s better for you to endure a bit of pain rather than have me rush over. Keep it as the lowest priority option — don’t remove it from the list entirely.”
Chalice simply nodded. Rodeo raised an eyebrow and spoke again.
“I’ve heard that these days, a dedicated Guide isn’t really treated as a partner anymore. They say it’s because remote Guiding ends up being the only option most of the time anyway.”
“That’s generally how it is.”
“But we’re the opposite — so if either of us happens to have someone we see regularly, they might misunderstand. Shouldn’t we explain it to them?”
The fingers Chalice had been tapping against his water glass went still, and his blue eyes quietly looked into Rodeo’s.
“Someone we see regularly? There’s a word like ‘partner’ for that — you phrase things in interesting ways.”
“I said it that way because the person might not be a partner. Either way, the two of us aren’t exactly in a situation where we’re only involved in appropriate relationships like that.”
A flash of distaste crossed Chalice’s expression, and Rodeo held his gaze without looking away, waiting for an answer.
“What an unpleasant thing to say… just answer the question. I don’t have anyone I ‘see regularly.’ And even if I did — didn’t we just agree that contactless Guiding would be the primary approach? I don’t see why it would be a problem.”
At that, Rodeo withdrew his persistent gaze and smiled — a little too broadly — and shrugged.
“I was going to explain the situation to that person, if there was one — but since there isn’t, no need. Understood. I haven’t exactly been back from the Time Warp long enough to have anyone either, so it’s convenient for both of us.”
“…It sounds like you’re saying there was someone ten years ago? Someone you saw regularly — an ‘inappropriate’ relationship.”
Chalice asked without thinking, then seemed to catch himself — and raised his eyebrow as though it had been nothing more than a light, meaningless question.
“…….”
“That was a slip of the tongue. You’re under no obligation to answer — it’s fine if you’d rather not.”
“No, it’s fine. I had casual one-time encounters, but nothing regular.”
“…Ha. I thought it was a strange question to bring up — and of course, it was about yourself after all.”
“Sorry?”
Rodeo furrowed his brows at the words Chalice had muttered under his breath and asked again.
“Thank you for that. I’ve now learned information I rather didn’t need to know.”
Chalice immediately turned hostile in the conversation again. Carousel, who had been suppressing his reactions and watching the room from the sidelines, finally reached his limit and stood up from his seat.
“I think it’s fine if I remove myself from this point on?”
Rodeo, who had been about to fire back immediately, lost his moment and looked up at the rising Carousel.
“Rodeo — the name thing and the class thing still aren’t settled, so I’ll contact you later. Chalice, I’ll see you again next time.”
“Huh? Oh — right, yeah…”
“…I apologize for the scene today.”
“The details can either be explained tomorrow, or you can just read through the documents you’ll get when the Decorker updates — so don’t worry about it. Well then.”
After a rapid round of goodbyes, Carousel turned and disappeared at impressive speed. The two men were left blinking after him.
“…….”
“…….”
“With all those people who used to flock around you — you’re telling me there wasn’t a single one-time encounter? Not even once? You expect me to believe that?”
“There wasn’t.”
“Liar. From what I know, Guides tend to do more than that.”
“You keep pinning lies on someone who hasn’t done anything wrong. Trust matters — whether we end up working together or whatever else. You know that much. If you can’t bring yourself to believe me, you’ll at least have to pretend you do.”
Rodeo narrowed his eyes, then at Chalice’s words, shrugged and gave a nod.
“Fair enough. I’d appreciate it if Chalice could also try to say things I can actually believe. Because there’s been far too much that’s hard to buy.”
