How are you doin today?

―

Kings Without Rest

"…Alright, I think we can call it a day."

"Right."

When Leo heard the sound of Daryl's voice from the other side of the table and looked up, he realized the sun had already set. Resigned, he tossed away a portion of the enormous stack of papers before him, which—thanks to some people—seemed to reach all the way up to planet Venus at this point. Downing the rest of his now-cold coffee, he frowned at both its sour taste, and the question stewing in his mind. Should he tell his colleague about the incident he was involved in a couple of days ago?

Said incident involved "him"—a certain man whom Daryl had dealt with recently. He had previously led the Assassin's Guild, whose former members were now living out in daylight, as the newly reformed Post-War Administration Bureau. And yet, it turned out he had gone against his secret agreement with Daryl, and instead of sacrificing himself for his comrades, he was now leading a carefree life as a regular civilian. What would happen if Daryl were to find out about this?

"What's with that scowl?"

"Shut it, I just have a naturally rugged face."

"It was an honest question."

Leo's glare sharpened as he watched Daryl nonchalantly take a sip from his tea cup. He refused to be outdone by him.

"Oh, right. We'll have to handle Ky's workload for the time being. Surely that won't be a problem for you?"

"We will have to do it either way. It is our duty as kings."

"I suppose that's true."

He hoped to subtly figure out whether or not Daryl was already aware of the matter, but he was concerned enough about the future as is. Still, while he knew full well that trying to pull a fast one on his colleague was folly, Leo was not one to surrender so easily, either. And besides, the slim chance… Or rather, the admittedly quite high probability that this overconfident snob had already outsmarted him was simply too frustrating to bear.

"Well, at least the people at the Post-War Administration Bureau are actually doing a pretty good job, huh? Having a reliable team operating separately like that is bound to come in handy."

"So you're finally starting to see their merit. They've proven to be even more useful than I had anticipated… Though, I imagine the desire to repay their superior's kindness plays no small part in this."

There seemed to be… a faint hint of sadness in his eyes? That wasn't like Daryl. Yes, it could've just been a trick of the light. Even so, always getting up people's hopes that they might have the advantage for once was Daryl's forte, and Leo's weakness. Setting down his teacup on the saucer, Daryl continued:

"I do have to say, his request to secure the future of such a large organization in exchange for a single assassin's life was fairly arrogant. But since the people of his group are softhearted and respect a leader who sacrificed himself for his companions, I believed taking them in would prove to be worth our while. They are an immediate asset—excellent coordination, and their, ahem, resumes are very 'impressive' as well."

"…"

There really was nothing more futile than expecting any form of compassion out of Daryl. Just as Leo ought to have predicted, the words he said were dripping with cynicism. It was getting increasingly unlikely that he wasn't just pretending not to know. In fact, at this point he almost hoped Daryl was mocking him.

Unsurprisingly, it turned out beating around the bush and getting himself riled up like this really didn't agree with Leo. He decided to quit trying to be clever, bracing himself for the worst.

"I'll just cut to the chase. Are you aware of what the Assassin's Guild's former leader is doing right now?"

But of course, without showing even the smallest ounce of irritation, Daryl merely shrugged his shoulders, as if mildly puzzled.

"What do you mean, 'right now'? Are you suggesting he continues to exist as some sort of phantom?"

"Right, like as a phantom… baker?"

"A phantom baker."

At first, Daryl let out a low chuckle, but then it kept growing in volume, like he couldn't contain himself anymore.

"How amusing. A man who rarely even dared to show his true face becoming a baker? Heh… Heheheh!"

"I- I mean, is it really that funny?"

"Yes. You have a great sense of humor."

"Haha-"

Now feeling foolish for how tense he had been, Leo was almost ready to break into a little laughter himself.

"Speaking of bakers… There is an up-and-coming bakery around the area where that criminal organization was exposed recently. Yes, I believe it was called… 'Underside Bakehouse'? It seems to enjoy quite the reputation too, so I was thinking about going there some time."

"Ack...!"

Leo nearly jumped in surprise. After all, that exact name was painfully relevant to "his" current situation.

"You've heard of it, too? Have you been there already?"

"No, well, I mean, yes… I have been there."

"Oh, I envy you… Just the other day, someone from the Post-War Administration Bureau shared their pastries with me. The custard danish was truly delectable. It set the bar rather high."

That single comment almost sounded sincere, yet his usual poker face made it impossible to tell for certain. The thought occurred to Leo that Daryl might very well spend his entire life incapable of eliciting anything but mistrust in his peers—and he somehow felt sad on his behalf. It was almost like he lacked the sort of pain that should come naturally when being misunderstood by others.

"I-Is that so…? I only took a look at the front of the store, but maybe I'll buy something next time…"

"I can see why the storefront would draw your attention. From what I've been told, they have this robot consisting of nothing but a head acting as their barker, calling out to customers with comments that barely stay within the margins of local regulations. Its misconduct is supposedly balanced out by the owner's integrity, but I heard he's a little…"

Daryl paused, his lips curling into a smile.

"What's wrong, Leo?"

Leo's face was buried deep in his hands.

"Yes, I did hear he seems a little out of touch with reality, but other than that, he appears to be a perfectly normal, kindhearted young man, devoid of any potentially shady background, no?"

"O-Oh, right, well… Ughh… Please, just stop…"

"Haha, you lasted longer than I would have expected."

As if to fill a void, Leo scarfed down the teacake he'd thus far only nibbled at, let out a sigh, and grumbled:

"…Hrrm, so I was the only one left in the dark, huh?"

Daryl lowered his teacup.

"No? I haven't told Ky about it, either."

His response made it sound like this should be completely obvious.

"What do you mean?"

"Your faces are too easy to read."

Leo's mouth, widely agape just moments ago, quickly snapped shut. Frustration washed over him in many more ways than one.

"You really don't trust us at all, do you?"

"Far from it. I do this because I trust you. Honestly, it hurts to hear you say that."

"Oh, so you can trust the fact that you can't trust us, is that it? Damn it, you do know the fact that I know you don't trust us is exactly why I want you to know that you can, in fact, trust us, and- Wait, what am I even talking about anymore, how many times did I just repeat myself?"

Watching Leo stare off into the distance and counting on his fingers, Daryl held his head high and said:

"This is your best quality. Accept it."

"That doesn't feel like a compliment. At all."

Leo's mood deteriorated even further when he tilted his mug, only to find there was nothing left but residue. Irritated, he slammed it back on the table.

"Tch, you know, with the First Allied King gone, I could probably just force you to resign if I ever felt like it."

"Now that would be unprecedented. The thrones of the Sanctus Maximus and two out of three Allied Kings left vacant? Why, I simply cannot wait to see the full extent of your capabilities."

At this point, Daryl flashed an outright wicked grin, causing Leo to raise both hands in defeat. Satisfied, Daryl continued, a touch of seriousness emerging in his smile.

"Don't sell yourself short. I'm saying this because I don't believe it would be impossible for you."

Hearing this coming from a person with such a keen understanding of how to weigh the odds, even at the highest of stakes, almost lured him into dropping his guard and going along with it.

"Don't be ridiculous… We're bound to just talk in circles at this point, so why don't we-"

"I couldn't have brought back a single person from that godforsaken, hellish place. Not even Ky would have been able to do what you did."

"…"

Leo was stunned silent, unable to figure out why he'd suddenly bring up the past.

"Rather than clinging to misguided illusions of grandeur, you knew better than to only accept a perfectly ideal solution… Wading through blood and mud, drenched in them, you faced everything head-on, and carried everything on your back."

"So what?"

His voice held a fragment of anger. However, it was not directed at the one whom he was speaking to.

"Your situation couldn't have been much better. And yet, your defense was still considered extraordinary given your circumstances."

It was clear Leo didn't believe there was anything remotely remarkable about himself, but Daryl shook his head.

"I mean no disrespect to those who were under my command, but we could not have handled Australia."

Unable to accept those words, Leo carried on, like he was lamenting his own powerlessness.

"…You're smart. You're able to determine the best course of action, even in the midst of chaos. Or at the very least, you were able to make me believe that you are. I could only ever stand up against whatever was right in front of me. But behind my back, they're all still there. Every last person I had no choice but to abandon on the battlefield."

Daryl looked on as Leo sank deeper into the backrest of the sofa.

"Do you believe they're watching over you?"

"…No."

"So, you think they are cursing you?"

"No, that's not it, either. They're just watching me. No sympathy, no resentment. Only staring, with unblinking eyes."

Seeing the darkness in the gaze directed at him, Daryl felt a sense of nostalgia.

The man he knew during the Crusades had yet to die. Buried in smoldering ash, the embers continued to burn.

"There is nothing I can do but to determine on my own what they must think of me now. Though I can't even begin to hope my actions could ever be enough to reunite with them one day."

"…"

Daryl was about to speak up again, when—

CRASH! BANG! Loudly, the door burst wide open.

"King Leo! Oh, and King Daryl!"

It was none other than Dr. Paradigm, an independent-type Gear who had been acting as Leo's assistant. He regained his balance mid-air, and hastily adjusted his glasses. Giving Leo and Daryl not even a moment to be dumbfounded by his sudden arrival, Dr. Paradigm quickly opened his mouth:

"King Leo! Have you made a decision regarding the Finnish Observatory's budget yet?!"

"Hm? Hmm…? …Arghhh!"

The scream was loud enough to shake the whole room and make Daryl raise a brow.

"I KNEW you'd forgotten! I almost let the papers go through like this, too! I've provided a tentative answer for now, but PLEASE, make sure to have a formal reply ready by tomorrow morning! I really don't have time for this, I should be preparing for my future duties in Vialattea, you know…" (1)

Leo looked at the clock, and then at Daryl.

"…I have complete faith in you."

With nothing but those words, no smile or even a glance, Daryl walked out of the room.

―

Translation Note:

(1) In the Japanese text, Dr. Paradigm technically doesn't mention Vialattea directly, the term is instead brought up in the furigana.

Furigana are normally used to clarify the intended reading of a kanji when it's nonstandard or ambiguous, but sometimes text-based media also use them for little easter eggs or character bits.

So in this case, they had Dr. Paradigm say "次の仕事" which just means something like "(my) upcoming work", but then the furigana above instead read "ヴィアラティアの件", which means something like "regarding Vialattea".

It seems like in this case this was a way to clarify what he was referring to without mentioning it directly in his dialogue.

I decided to adapt it by having Dr. Paradigm actually mention it in English, since Leo and Daryl do seem to be aware of the matter given the context.

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